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Five SA players will leave for the IPL after the second match

Firdose Moonda01-Apr-2021

Big picture

Christmas in July? No, it’s cricket in April, which is still somewhat of a rarity for South Africa as the country approaches autumn.Three years ago, a Test series against Australia finished on April 3, but we have to go back more than a decade for anything that started in this month. South Africa hosted Australia for five ODIs between April 3 and 17 in 2009. The current visit from Pakistan will be longer in match terms, with three ODIs and four T20s scheduled, but shorter in days, as all seven matches will take place in two weeks.The full tour will take place on the Highveld, between Centurion’s SuperSport Park and Johannesburg’s Wanderers, necessitated by bubble conditions, which means we won’t get to see coastal wickets and can expect conditions to suit seam bowlers. While that could mean a feast for fast-bowling aficionados with both teams known for the pace prowess except that five first-choice South Africa players will leave after two matches.The IPL is the other reason we don’t often see cricket in April in this country. A standing agreement between Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the BCCI has meant that South Africa keeps the April-May window reasonably empty even as the number of their players at the IPL has reduced. This season Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, David Miller and Quinton de Kock will leave the national squad to link up with the franchises in India which may take some of the gloss off this series.South Africa’s new white-ball captain Temba Bavuma is unlikely to see it that way, though. He will be around for all of it and will want to use these matches to establish a style of leadership to take South Africa through the next three World Cups, after being appointed until 2023. Ultimately, that’s what the three ODIs are about. South Africa have yet to begin collecting points on the World Cup Super League after last year’s matches against England were postponed when the visitors left early and questioned the integrity of the bio-secure environment. Pakistan are currently eighth on the table (remember only eight teams qualify for the World Cup) after playing three matches and dropped points when they lost in a Super Over to Zimbabwe late last year. That, and a series against Sri Lanka, are the only ODI cricket Pakistan have played since the 2019 World Cup and they too need to start building towards the next tournament.Pakistan have travelled with a big, youthful squad for this trip to Southern Africa (they will also head to Zimbabwe for three T20s and two Tests later in the month) with six of their 18 ODI players under the age of 23 and three uncapped players. This is an opportunity for Pakistan to find combinations and consistency against an opposition who have not known either of those things for some time.South Africa have not played an ODI series in a year and have been through another cycle of administrative upheaval and on-field slumps. They beat a depleted Sri Lanka at home but lost soundly in Pakistan. All while the boardroom shenanigans rumble on. This series will be played under threat from the sports minister to intervene in CSA’s affairs unless the Members’ Council – the body made up of 14 provincial presidents- and interim board agree on a Memorandum of Incorporation to usher in a new board by next week.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa WWWLW
Pakistan TWWWWDanish Aziz is set to become Pakistan’s 229th ODI player after a successful run in domestic cricket•PCB

In the spotlight

Even though he is no longer the captain, there will still be plenty of eyes on Quinton de Kock who was stripped of the leadership in all formats last month and has recently returned from a mental-health break. De Kock has played just one competitive match in almost two months since returning from South Africa’s Test series defeat to Pakistan – a fairly low-key first-class match for his domestic team, the Titans. Now, back and freed from the burden of captaincy, it is hoped he will return to being the destructively carefree cricketer who set the international alight.Danish Aziz is expected to become Pakistan’s 229th ODI player after a successful run in the domestic fifty-over competition in January. Aziz scored 297 runs in seven matches, which included a century and two fifties at an average of 74.25, finishing as the fourth-highest scorer in the competition. In the absence of Imad Wasim and Haris Sohail, Aziz has the opportunity to make the No.5 position in the batting his own on this tour.

Team news

With World Cup Super League points up for grabs and five players leaving after the second game to the IPL, South Africa will want to field their strongest XI. That’s likely to include the full India-bound quintet. There’s a bun fight at the top of the order with four opening candidates in the squad. Coach Mark Boucher said Bavuma “will probably” bat at No.3 which means Aiden Markram may have to wait his turn after the departure of the IPL players. A middle order of Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen may leave no room for Kyle Verreynne with Andile Phehlukwayo likely to slot in as the allrounderSouth Africa (possible): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk) 2 Janneman Malan 3 Temba Bavuma (capt) 4 Rassie van der Dussen 5 David Miller, 6 Heinrich Klaasen, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Anrich Nortje 10 Lungi Ngidi 11 Tabraiz ShamsiMiddle-order batsman Aziz is expected to slot into an important role behind the top four with Asif Ali and Shadab Khan to follow. Pakistan will want their seamers to make a strong statement early on but may not be able to play their first-choice attack. Although Babar Azam declared Hasan Ali “100%” fit after his recovery from Covid-19, it is expected that he will be given more time to prepare and 20-year-old fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain could be given the opportunity to add to his 10 ODI wickets.Pakistan (possible): 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam (capt), 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Danish Aziz, 6 Asif Ali, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Mohammad Hasnain, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Haris Rauf

Pitch and conditions

Late-summer pitches may be unpredictable with Bavuma expecting a little more for the bowlers and Mark Boucher thinking it may get slower as the weather cools off. That could mean matches are not as high-scoring as modern-day matches can be. The storm season has just about ended with summer and conditions in Centurion are set to be warm and sunny, with a light breeze.

Stats and trivia

• Temba Bavuma has only played six ODIs but that does not make him South Africa’s least experienced captain. Clive Rice debuted in his first match in charge on South Africa’s return to international cricket in 1991 and Kepler Wessels had only played three ODIs for Australia before turning out as South Africa’s captain in 1992. Aiden Markram was made temporary ODI captain after two matches and Graeme Smith had played 22 ODIs before being given the job.
• Pakistan were the first team from the subcontinent to beat South Africa in an ODI series at home. They won a three-match series in 2013-14 2-1, and have lost two series before and after that by close margins of 3-2.
• Fakhar Zaman needs 40 runs to reach 2,000 ODI runs.

Quotes

“Unfortunately we won’t have some guys available for selection after the second ODI. It’s not ideal for preparation in a World Cup year. At least those guys are going to go and play in a good, strong competition against strong opposition. They are going to be getting first-hand information about the different venues in India and playing against players they are going to meet up against in the T20 World Cup. It would be a different story if they were going on holiday.”

BCCI president also said he was waiting to have a word with MS Dhoni on his future

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Oct-20197:18

Will support Kohli in every way possible: Ganguly

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has assured the Indian team management led by captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri that his board will make “life easy” and not “difficult” for them but pointed out that performance would be the ultimate yardstick. Ganguly also said he was waiting to have a word with MS Dhoni on his future, pointing out “champions don’t finish quickly.”The 47-year old former India captain was speaking after his formal election as BCCI president, marking the end of the 33-month tenure of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA). Others elected today were Jay Shah (secretary), Arun Singh Dhumal (treasurer), Jayesh George (joint secretary) and Mahim Verma (vice-president).ALSO READ – Meet the new BCCI officialsGanguly was all praise for Kohli who he said had taken Indian cricket to a “different level” since he took over as captain in 2015. India are currently the No. 1 Test team and are perched comfortably atop the World Test Championship table. In ODIs, they are behind England and in T20Is they are ranked fourth.In light of that success, Kohli and Shastri became two of the most powerful people in Indian cricket. Ganguly is scheduled to meet them on Thursday at the BCCI office where the teams to play the home series against Bangladesh would be picked.”I really don’t know what had transpired with the CoA [the previous regime] and Virat and Ravi,” Ganguly said in his first media briefing as BCCI president in Mumbai. “But the new body has taken over, the new office bearers have taken over, it will be a proper discussion and everything would be mutually discussed. But be rest assured that we are here to make their life easier, not make their life difficult. And everything will be on the basis of performance. Performance is the most important thing and that’s what will decide the future of Indian cricket.”Ganguly made it clear that Kohli was the “most important” person in Indian cricket at the moment. “We will be there to support him. We will there to listen to him because I have been a captain myself and I understand from that position and we will deal with it. It is a mutual respect which will be there, so discussions will be there and we will do what is best for the game.”MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly share a light moment•AFP

On Tuesday, after India’s 3-0 Test series win over South Africa, Kohli felt Test cricket should be hosted by a maximum of five key venues, a system which is followed in England and Australia. Kohli said it helped bring in better crowds and add to the Test-match culture in those countries and it might be something for the BCCI to look into.The issue had come up in light of poor crowds in two of the three Tests (Pune and Ranchi) and there had already been a precedent – Dhoni had made a similar suggestion in 2010. Ganguly was open to a discussion around it, saying “in terms of the Test venues, we have a lot of space, lot of venues. So we will have to sit with him [Kohli] and see what he wants and take it forward.”With a selection meeting scheduled for Thursday, the question on Dhoni’s future came up once again. The 38-year old hasn’t played for India since the end of the World Cup in July and it doesn’t seem likely that he will be back to play the series against Bangladesh. “It is unlikely Dhoni would be picked for the Bangladesh series which comprises three T20Is and two Tests considering he has not played any cricket after the World Cup.”When asked if he had reached out to Dhoni, Ganguly said, “I have not spoken to him yet. Hopefully we will meet soon and have a word with one of the greats in Indian cricket.”Ganguly was not shy about recalling instances from his own career – which began in 1992 and ended in 2008 -when asked about how long Dhoni could continue playing for India.”It depends on him,” Ganguly said. “I’ve always said that even when I was left out [in 2005] and when the entire world said he’ll never make it I believed in myself and came back [in 2007] and played for four years [domestic cricket included]. You know champions don’t finish very quickly. I don’t know what’s on his mind, what he thinks about his career. So we will deal with that. He is one of the greats of the game. India is very proud to have MS Dhoni. When you sit down and make note of what he has done, you still say “wow”.”Ganguly also brushed aside the question of whether India needed to look at the split captaincy. “It is the job of the selectors (to decide that),” he said before adding, “India is winning, so the question is not necessary at the moment. India is the best team in the world right now so that question is not necessary right now.”

With Bancroft’s nine-month suspension expiring in December, he is expected to turn up against the Hobart Hurricanes on December 30 in the eighth edition of the Big Bash League

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Sep-2018Banned Australia batsman Cameron Bancroft will be part of a new-look Perth Scorchers squad that will see Mitchell Marsh filling the captaincy position left vacant by Adam Voges. With 25-year-old Bancroft’s nine-month suspension expiring in December, he is expected to turn up against the Hobart Hurricanes on December 30 in the eighth edition of the Big Bash League (BBL).Bancroft was among the three Australia players who were banned for roles in the ball-tampering scandal during the Cape Town Test in March. While Steven Smith and David Warner were suspended from playing international and Australian domestic cricket for 12 months, Bancroft was banned for nine months which will end after Christmas this year. He had returned on the field in the Northern Territory Strike League in Darwin in May and the BBL is expected to be his return after the ban.Marsh’s elevation follows Voges taking up the coach’s role – with both the Western Australia and the Scorchers sides – in the wake of Justin Langer’s appointment as Australia’s head coach. Currently, only England’s David Willey features as their lone overseas recruit, leaving the second foreign players’s slot vacant.With their campaign scheduled to get underway on December 20, against the Melbourne Renegades, Scorchers will look to better their semi-final finish from last season and gun for a fourth BBL title. Voges, on his part, is confident the season will augur well for his team, particularly the young faces in the mix, some of whom are regular members of Australia’s white-ball cricket sides.”To retain our core group of players has been really important for us and we’re pleased everyone has decided to stay,” Voges said. “With WA having such a strong presence in the Australian white-ball teams it means a lot of our younger players will get more opportunities for the Scorchers, and many of those guys played for us last summer so I’m excited for them to build on that experience.”We have wanted to be consistent with our squads across all three formats,” Voges said. “So naming Mitch as captain was a good fit. He’s an exciting leader and I’m sure the Scorchers fans are going to be happy.”Meanwhile, left-arm fast bowler Josh Lalor who has been part of the Brisbane Heat squad since the 2015 edition, has earned an extension and will be part of their 16-member squad.Current Scorchers squad: Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Michael Klinger, Mitchell Marsh (c), Shaun Marsh, Joel Paris, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman, David Willey (England).Current Heat squad: Max Bryant, Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Brendan Doggett, Sam Heazlett, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Lalor, Chris Lynn, Brendon McCullum, James Pattinson, Jimmy Peirson, Jack Prestwidge, Matthew Renshaw, Alex Ross, Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson

Jofra Archer gave Sussex a glimpse of victory but it was not to be as Ggloucestershire steadied a failed run chase to take draw points

ECB Reporters Network29-Jun-2017
ScorecardJofra Archer was in the wickets for Sussex [file picture]•Getty Images

Another eye-catching performance from Jofra Archer allowed Sussex to glimpse an improbable fourth championship victory over Gloucestershire at Hove.Gloucestershire had been set 351 to win in 75 overs – a motorway maximum of seventy an hour over five hours.At lunch, at 30 for three, they were out of it. Once again Archer had been at the heart of the Sussex challenge, with two wickets. He had Chris Dent caught behind and then plucked out Gareth Roderick’s off stump with a snorter in the last over before the break. Abi Sakande had taken the first wicket, bowling Cameron Bancroft for 13.After lunch it was Archer the fielder who inspired his side, with two magnificent catches at long-leg off the bowling of Chris Jordan. First he dismissed Phil Mustard, high above his head and inches away from the ropes. Then, just before tea, he pulled off an even better one, this time diving forward to catch George Hankins. The obdurate Hankins had provided Gloucestershire’s main middle-order resistance, with a two-hour 51.That left Gloucestershire in serious danger of defeat, at 117 for six with one session to go. But Jack Taylor played a feisty innings in the gloaming, scoring 69 not out, and they did not lose another wicket.Gloucestershire had declared their first innings overnight, on 150 for one, conceding a disadvantage of 208 runs.When Sussex batted in their second innings it resembled the sort of pre-declaration bowling that was so common on Tuesdays and Fridays in the days of three-day cricket.But with 150 overs lost to bad weather, including the whole of the second day, both sides needed to do something positive to produce the excellent finish we saw on Thursday.Sussex thrashed 142 from 18.1 overs in their second knock, for the loss of just one wicket. It took them only 55 minutes. Harry Finch scored 74 from 59 balls, with a dozen fours, and Luke Wells hit five fours and a six in his 44.The bowling, though, was very friendly, opened by Will Tavare and Bancroft, a fine young batsman, an occasional wicket-keeper but only a very occasional bowler, with only six balls in first class cricket before this spell, in which he conceded 67 runs from seven overs. Some lobbed-up leg-breaks from Mustard added to the general geniality of the attack. But it all contributed to an absorbing conclusion.

Brendon McCullum has been brought in to help upgrade Middlesex’s white-ball cricket but as Hampshire’s spinners took control at Radlett the task looked far from easy

Will Macpherson at Radlett07-Jun-2016
ScorecardLiam Dawson led Hampshire to victory•Chris Whiteoak

There was something rather contradictory, yet ever so appropriate, about Brendon McCullum’s first meaningful act as a Middlesex player taking place at Radlett.Beyond the fact that Radlett is not actually in Middlesex (it is in Hertfordshire), it is a funny little place. So little, in fact, that T20 cricket – the game from which McCullum now makes his living – cannot be played here. The boundaries are just too diddy, as the New Zealander showed in this Royal London Cup fixture with four simply-struck sixes in his 74. One easily cleared the sightscreen, another – towards cow – hit a tree 15 metres up.But Radlett is also the ground that proves that Middlesex, like the All Blacks, and like McCullum’s Black Caps, as he so eloquently explained when giving the Cowdrey Lecture on Monday evening, have a no-d*ckheads policy.It has a different name in these parts – Angus Fraser speaks of the ‘Middlesex DNA’ – but the comparison rings true. When the county played at Radlett in previous years, it had been felt that one end, which leads down to a clear field, meant that plenty of time was being wasted chasing the ball. So, this off-season, Middlesex’s squad were brought up here, and they built a fence. This was not just a practical benefit for Radlett and Middlesex, but a neat team-building exercise too.

Dawson’s Lions lift

Liam Dawson, Hampshire’s match-winner, said he felt his time with the England Lions last winter had helped his all-round game and added: “This is a great win. We have been struggling in one-day cricket recently, and we have been a little bit low in confidence across all formats so it’s nice to start this competition this year with two wins.
“Chasing down targets is something I have got better at over the last year or so. My game awareness is better. I had a few thick edges and a little bit of luck but you need that in one-day cricket. I enjoy the 50-over competition and this victory is a real boost to our dressing room.
“I think Mason Crane and myself complement each other well as spinners. Mason’s young and will bowl some bad balls but we have to accept that at the moment because he is a wicket-taker and, in this type if cricket, if you keep taking wickets in the middle overs you are always in the game.”

The game, however, was less impressive for Middlesex and went a long way to explaining why they were so keen to bring a white-ball cricketer of McCullum’s pedigree and calibre to the club.His innings had got them off to a flyer on a slow pitch yet, having been 190 for 2 in the 30th over, they contrived to limp to just 295, with Mason Crane’s legspin claiming four vital wickets, including McCullum himself, a ball after he had plonked him down the ground for six.Then, after a two-hour rain delay spat out a DLS equation that seemed to favour Middlesex (the visitors needed 202 from 26 overs), Hampshire cruised home with greater ease than the scorecard – three balls remaining – suggested. Middlesex, as McCullum’s T20 debut v Gloucestershire proved last Thursday, still do not know how to close out white-ball games.That they did not was largely down to Liam Dawson, who shared 89 in nine overs to turn the game with Sean Ervine, and finished unbeaten on 68 from 40. Dawson, such a canny cricketer, pulled beautifully and knew exactly where the gaps in the deep lay, with the six twos he found proving vital.Middlesex managed to feed the strengths of both he and Ervine, who was rather more belligerent in his approach, with only Toby Roland-Jones, who earlier claimed the vital wicket of Jimmy Adams, caught at deep cover, able to limit scoring.Shortly after Adams fell, Paul Stirling, who, with damp ball in hand, would be relentlessly attacked by Ervine and Dawson, had Adam Wheater stumped outside off and Middlesex were back in control. Dawson, even after James Fuller yorked Ervine, always looked to have a tricky chase in hand. His non-playing role in the England squad at the World T20 is unlikely to be his last involvement with the national side.Middlesex’s innings had seen a progression of batsmen get settled, and then, emboldened by McCullum’s gung-hoism, depart. The top three breezed to 190 but Crane bowled Dawid Malan and McCullum’s knock – not always fluent but with those brilliant wrists and powerful forearms to the fore – came to end when he tamely edged a turner to slip. Nick Gubbins, as strong on the cut as ever, was pinned in front trying to flick to leg.And that is when the stuttering started. Eoin Morgan looked ready to explode, a beautiful late cut followed by a fine cover drive and a six down the ground, but then – with 19-year-old Crane bowling the first ball of a new spell – he slapped straight to deep midwicket.Crane had seemed unperturbed by being given some tap – his ten overs did cost 80 compared to Dawson’s 32 – but he returned to bowl the 46th over, dismissed a fourth set batsman, James Franklin, and ended Middlesex’s hopes of the score their start had demanded: all but one of the top seven passed 20 but none reached 75. All of which, as Dawson calmly negotiated the target Hampshire’s spin pairing had set up, seemed very important indeed.

Adam Voges are at opposite ends of their careers but their brace of 90s held Middlesex together against Somerset at Taunton

Alex Winter at Taunton27-Apr-2015
ScorecardGetty Images

Adam Voges and Nick Gubbins are at opposite ends of their careers but they combined to move Middlesex back into the contest on the second day at Taunton. Both were dismissed in the 90s and both will reflect on opportunities missed for their first centuries for Middlesex. Their stand of 139 for the third wicket helped the visitors mount a steady reply but fears over the solidity of their batting line up were renewed as they lost five wickets after tea to close facing a first-innings deficit.Jamie Overton, at 21, is tipped among the next generation of England fast bowlers. He is used in short bursts and after an initial quick four-over spell in the evening session where he removed Gubbins, he returned in the last knockings of the day to clean bowl both John Simpson and Ollie Rayner to tip the balance of the match back to the hosts.For much of the day, with the weather and entertainment value of the second afternoon in stark contrast to the first, a 38-over partnership between Voges and Gubbins did justice to the work of their bowlers on the first evening. Their defiance was welcome for Middlesex, who were bowled out for just 181 in the first innings against Durham, entailing a lengthy rearguard from the lower order on the final day to rescue a draw.Voges’ plans for 2015 were dramatically altered by his call up to the Australian Test squad but he was determined to honour as much of his deal with Middlesex as was possible. It only amounts to four matches but he has began well with 75 to contribute to a battling draw against Notts and 98 here.Gubbins, the 21-year-old left-hander, impressed during four Championship matches last season with three half-centuries in his first four matches, including 95 against Somerset at Uxbridge, when he ran himself out. But after a composed innings here, was dismissed in the 90s again, having cruelly been forced to resume after a lengthy delay for rain and bad light only nine short of a century.He faced another exciting youngster in Overton who steamed in from the pavilion end for a sharp four-over spell on resumption. He put Gubbins on his backside avoiding a sharp bumper, then hit him, painfully it appeared, on the thigh before forcing an edge to second slip with a rising delivery, caught low by Marcus Trescothick. Gubbins hung his head in disappointment. He said it was the quickest spell he has encountered since facing Tymal Mills.Voges dealt more comfortably with Overton, smartly fending off a short ball past gully and cutting another boundary backward of square in the manner of James Hildreth on day one. Middlesex looked to be closing the second day in good shape to reach parity but Overton changed ends and took the second new ball to take out Simpson and Rayner.Their position would not have been as strong had either set batsman advanced their strong positions. Voges also fell narrowly short of a century, lbw to Lewis Gregory, one of his four wickets. Gregory impressed last season with 43 Championship wickets at 26.06. In the morning he also had Sam Robson caught at second slip to the second ball of the day and Nick Compton, who edged behind and looked very unhappy with the decision by Alex Wharf.Thereafter, Voges and Gubbins ticked over under heavy skies. There were few crashing boundaries of day one but Gubbins did pull two sixes into the Somerset stand off Gregory.The break for poor weather worked in the hosts favour. 17 overs were lost either side of tea which gave way to a competitive final session of 31 overs where Somerset took five wickets to raise hopes of a first innings lead. As Middlesex demonstrated on the first evening, a run of wickets is possible on a wicket offering some assistance to the bowlers. A result remains alive.

Virat Kohli has said there would be nothing unfair with making England play on spinner-friendly pitches in the Tests against India

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2012In wake of the criticism leveled at India over the absence of spinners in the A-team squad that will play England in a warm-up game, batsman Virat Kohli has said there would be nothing unfair with making England play on spinner-friendly pitches in the Tests. On India’s tour to England and Australia last year, he said, the conditions during the warm-up games and those in the Test matches were vastly different, which was not ‘fair’ to India.”Why not [turning pitches]? We were given flattest of tracks during practice matches in England and Australia and then suddenly presented with a green-top during the Tests,” Kohli told . “During practice matches, we would face those 120kmph bowlers … If they [England and Australia] wanted to be fair to us, they could have provided us with same kind of tracks for practice matches, like what were used in Tests.”Especially, when they knew that visiting teams get very less time to practice. Now they would be playing on turning tracks and definitely would know where they stand.”The tour of India marks the return of Kevin Pietersen to the England side, after a 10-week stand-off with the team. Kohli said he will be under a lot of pressure to perform, especially taking into account England’s traditional struggles against spin.”There will be huge pressure on KP as he has been playing in India for quite some time and considered to be a good batsman against spin.”You may say that the senior England cricketers have an understanding of these conditions but let me tell you, it’s not that easy. You might feel they would like to hit spinners but end up doing exactly opposite.”He pointed to England’s tour of the UAE, where they were whitewashed 3-0 by Pakistan in the Tests, as an example of England’s continuing issues with spin. “That particular series, there wasn’t much turn on offer but England couldn’t negotiate one quality spinner [Saeed Ajmal]; they lost the battle in their heads.”Kohli also defended his team-mates, saying the talk about them being poor against short-pitched bowling did not make sense. “I have never really understood this theory. Are people like Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag poor players of short-pitched bowling? Show me how many Indian players were out to short-pitched deliveries in Australia?”No batsman in world cricket is comfortable against a good bouncer. If you get a good bouncer, give credit to the bowler rather than finding chinks in batsman’s armoury.”Similarly, he backed MS Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher, saying any criticism directed at them for India’s recent poor overseas form was unfounded. “Under him [Dhoni], we have won the World Cup, been No. 1 in Tests … He has also encouraged the juniors.””Duncan is also a thorough professional. He would quietly stand in one corner and observe. If he needs to say something, he would come up and give a suggestion. He believes international cricketers know their jobs. If we have lost eight Test matches, blame us and not the coach.”

Suryakumar Yadav, the batsman who was omitted from the Mumbai Indians squad for the Champions League T20 on account of injury, has scored an unbeaten 182 in an under-22 tournament in Mumbai on Thursday

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2011Suryakumar Yadav, the batsman who was omitted from the Mumbai Indians squad for the Champions League T20 on account of injury, has scored an unbeaten 182 in an under-22 tournament in Mumbai on Thursday. Yadav’s omission from the MI squad on September 22 had left them with seven Indian players, which prompted their request for an additional overseas player for the tournament and resulted in theirs being the only team allowed to field five foreign players in the final XI.Yadav was captaining the Chandrakant Pandit XI against Dilip Vengsarkar XI in a three-day match of the Shalini Bhalekar Trophy; on Wednesday he had fielded the entire day and bowled 6.3 overs as well, according to . The paper also reported that he’d had surgery on an injured finger, which was the reason for his being withdrawn from the Mumbai Indians squad.”As soon as we heard he was available, we picked him for this tournament,” Yadav’s team coach Deepak Patil told ESPNcricinfo. “We wouldn’t play an unfit player. Our selectors had assessed and approved his fitness, and picked him to play.”The current event is aimed at selecting the Mumbai squad for the CK Nayudu Trophy, the national Under-22 tournament. Yadav is seen as a sure-shot pick and a possible captain.He was one of six Indian players to be ruled out of MI’s CLT20 campaign, along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel, Ali Murtaza and Dhawal Kulkarni.In addition to those six injured players, the CLT20 technical committee had announced that they had also received medical reports ruling out two more Mumbai players – Aditya Tare and Pawan Suyal – from the tournament. That left eight out of Mumbai’s 23 contracted players unavailable for selection. It also meant the final 14-member squad had an equal number of Indian and overseas players, without a buffer to handle any potential injury to an Indian player. The organisers then allowed Mumbai to field five overseas cricketers in their playing XI, though other other IPL sides continued to be limited to four.The MI media manager refused to comment on the issue.

Brendon McCullum has said his decision to give up wicketkeeping in Tests in order to prolong his career was “gutsy” and could the “worst call” he’s made in his career

Cricinfo staff10-Sep-2010Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand batsman, has said his decision to give up wicketkeeping in Tests in order to prolong his career was “gutsy” and could the “worst call” he’s made in his career.”This has no side-door options for me,” McCullum told . “You go from being one of the major certainties in the team to now being in the mix and being relatively unproven. It’s a huge challenge and hopefully it’ll be the right decision.”McCullum announced his decision to quit wicketkeeping in Tests in June but said he would continue to keep in the limited-over formats. He also said he wanted to move up the batting order and that his attacking style, which has resulted in an average of 34.90 in 52 Tests, could help improve New Zealand’s results.”I’m not saying I’ll be successful. I’m not saying I deserve to walk straight into the role,” he said. “I believe I’ve got a game which can help us win more Test matches by batting at the top of the order.”McCullum is set to rejoin the New Zealand squad following a break. He had skipped a short tour of the USA after the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies and was granted paternity leave during the tri-series in Dambulla involving Sri Lanka and India.His impressive form during the previous season won McCullum two New Zealand Cricket awards – the Walter Hadlee Trophy for best ODI batting, because his performances in the UAE helped New Zealand achieve their first away series win against Pakistan, and the John Reid Best Allrounder Trophy for his batting and wicketkeeping. During the period under consideration, McCullum made three centuries and took 55 catches in all forms of the game and his success came after he was relieved of the vice-captaincy.”It wasn’t a mutual decision at all,” he said. “I went from vice-captain, led with title, to now a senior player. I was lucky enough to put it all behind me and have the best season throughout my career. I’m confident I’m heading in the right direction and don’t need a title to contribute to my team.”

South Africa will want to finish the job here, with only win one out of this and the next Test needed

Firdose Moonda28-Dec-2024A return of 6 for 52 should not be described in terms other than glowing, but even Marco Jansen will tell you that none of the four deliveries he got wickets with at SuperSport Park on day three of the first Test against Pakistan on Saturday were a true reflection of his abilities.”I’ve struggled the whole game, to be honest,” he said after the day’s play. “I feel like I’ve not been as consistent as I should be – if that makes sense – regarding line and length. Everything wasn’t clicking.”That assessment applies to parts of the bowling in all three completed innings so far. In Pakistan’s first, Kagiso Rabada was by far the most threatening of South Africa’s attack but went wicketless, while Corbin Bosch admitted some of his wickets came off balls the batters didn’t need to play at.Related

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In South Africa’s first innings, Pakistan were at times listless, and offered too many boundary balls to Aiden Markram initially, and Bosch later on. Then, in Pakistan’s second innings, Rabada and Dane Paterson struggled for rhythm initially, and Bosch was off the mark before Temba Bavuma turned to Jansen to make something happen.Jansen’s fifth ball was short and wide, and Babar Azam, who had just got to his fifty, could not resist. He slashed it to deep point, where Bavuma had positioned Bosch, and Jansen received his first post-Christmas gift. Two overs later, Mohammad Rizwan got a short ball angling down leg and followed it with a half-hearted pull to be caught behind. In the over after that, Salman Agha drove leaden-footed at a full, wide ball. There are questions to be asked about all three batters’ shot selections, but South Africa always expected them to choose those kinds of strokes.”We know most of their batters like to play a positive brand of Test cricket. So we know that if we stick to our lines and lengths, they might leave one or two [balls], but their tendencies are they’ll go at one,” Jansen said. “We always knew that we’re in the game, and we always knew that something’s going to happen.”The most comical was yet to come when Saud Shakeel, on 84, was the recipient of a full toss that struck him on the pad, as he missed an attempted flick. Shakeel was hit under the knee roll, which says something about where Jansen planned for the ball to pitch before he got it a little wrong.Toni de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs were dismissed late on Day 3•AFP/Getty Images

“I wanted to go for the yorker, but I probably missed it by a shin’s length,” Jansen said. “At the end of the day, people can say what they want. [But] he missed it, and it’s a wicket. So I’m happy for that.”There was laughter all around when Jansen said that, which is a reflection of how entertaining this Test has been, although the quality of cricket has sometimes been questionable. Because both sides have provided some underwhelming cricket, it created a contest, albeit perhaps not an elite one. That was saved for the last 40 minutes, when Pakistan’s seamers, while defending only 147, dished up spicy opening spells as the clouds gathered overhead to gawk on South Africa’s increasingly knotted nerves.Three of their top four were dismissed to the new ball being bowled on the right lengths, which was just short of a good length, even as the Pakistan quicks also took advantage of the extra bounce and nip on offer. Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs have all had their last say on this match, and South Africa could not be too unhappy with what happened to them.”The three wickets they got were three good balls, so it’s not like we threw our wickets away,” Jansen said. “That’s not to make it seem better. But as long as they get us out with good balls, there’s only so much you can do as a batter. You can only play what you see – you can’t pre-empt or pre-meditate what you want to do – because on this pitch, you’re going to get yourself in trouble.”If Jansen ends up batting in the chase, that might mean South Africa are in some trouble, although they bat deep and he has a plan.”My mental point of view is to be as disciplined as possible for as long as possible. We know that with the new ball, it moves quite sharply here – especially in the second innings of the game,” he said. “Once the ball gets older, it gets a lot easier to bat, and it’s a nice scoring ground. So with the new ball, [it is] definitely going to move sideways, and then the odd ball will shoot up and the odd ball will also keep low.”From my perspective, if the ball shoots up, just get your hands out of the way, and then if the ball keeps a bit low, just stay nice and tight in terms of your bat next to your pad. Those two are the difficult ones to keep out. The balls that move sideways, we’re used to that, so I think those are going to be the challenges for tomorrow.”Explained in those purely cricketing terms, it sounds as though South Africa have a good grasp of what is required of them. But there will be much more than just bat vs ball going on on Sunday. There is the expectation of securing this win to reach next year’s World Test Championship final, and the pressure of being South African in a chase. You may think there is also some cushioning because South Africa only need to win one out of this and the next Test. But putting themselves in a must-win situation at Newlands will come with its own set of mind games.South Africa will want to finish the job here, but for that, they will need the kind of steel that has not yet been on display at SuperSport Park. But with so much at stake, it may be time for something we’ve not seen so far.