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“I only think about improving my game and enjoying it. If I don’t do that, there is no purpose left,” he says

Syed Hussain06-Feb-2024Andhra have won three of their five Ranji Trophy games outright so far, and are second in the Elite Group B at this stage, behind Mumbai. Hanuma Vihari has contributed well in that run, scoring 365 runs in seven innings, behind only new captain Ricky Bhui’s 550 for the team. That’s helped his first-class average stay above 50 (52.68), but the chances of adding to his 16 Test appearances don’t look too bright.”I do feel sad and disappointed that I am not in the Test team, but everyone goes through ups and downs, and my job now is to score runs in the Ranji Trophy,” Vihari told ESPNcricinfo after Andhra beat Bihar in Patna for their third win on the trot. “The season has gone all right, both for the team and for me. So the ambition is to score a lot of runs and try to return to the Test team.”Vihari might not be on the selectors’ radar, though. He says that since his last Test appearance, back at Edgbaston in July 2022 where he batted at No. 3 and scored 20 and 11 in a seven-wicket defeat, he hasn’t had many conversations with the people who matter in the Indian team – the management or the selectors. Except one conversation with head coach Rahul Dravid.”No-one has spoken to me recently, but Rahul Dravid did speak to me after my last Test, and he told me what I can improve on, but no, I haven’t been in touch with anyone since then,” Vihari said. “But I only think about improving my game and enjoying it. If I don’t do that, there is no purpose left. When I go into the middle, I just want to do my best for the team and score runs.”I am at a stage [in my career] where I have no expectations. I give my best each time I bat and then whatever happens will happen.”A year-and-a-half before that Edgbaston Test, in January 2021, Vihari had scored perhaps the most celebrated 23 not-outs in Indian Test history, and played his part in securing one of the most famous draws in the game. With India set 407 for a win by Australia in Sydney, India were 272 for 5 in 88.2 overs before Vihari and R Ashwin collaborated for 62 runs in 42.4 overs. Vihari had scored his 23 in 161 balls in just under four hours, while Ashwin scored 39 not out in 128 balls, in just over two hours. The draw meant the teams went to the final Test, in Brisbane, on level terms, before India pulled off a magical win to take the series. Neither Vihari nor Ashwin played that last Test, because at the SCG, both of them were carrying injuries, making their fight against Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon all the more remarkable.”I have very wonderful memories of the Sydney Test. It was one-all. If we had lost that Test in Sydney, we would have lost our chance of winning the series,” Vihari recalled. “So Ashwin and I – we were both carrying injuries, so we couldn’t run much – decided to take it ball-by-ball, over-by-over, and see where we end up. We ended up playing one-and-a-half sessions and it was a memorable result. Then we went to Gabba and won the series, but the Sydney Test will always be a special one for me.”He is far away from international cricket now, and at 30, the road back can’t be easy. But one of his old mates, who has never played international cricket, has had a drastically different career graph from Vihari and suddenly has a shot at international cricket now.Unmukt Chand, India’s captain when they won the Under-19 World Cup in 2012, never made the cut at the highest level. Vihari, Chand’s team-mate, did. But Chand, after a struggle at home, moved to the USA and could well play the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will be held in the USA and the Caribbean. He might play against India, too.”We don’t talk much, because after the Under-19 World Cup, we moved quickly to the senior level, and his career graph was different from mine, and he is now in the USA,” Vihari said. “He chose a different route and is doing well, and I am happy for him. I am sure he will be doubly motivated when he plays against India, because after a brilliant Under-19 World Cup, he couldn’t make it at the senior level in India. So definitely he will be motivated. Yeah, we don’t talk, but I wish him all the best.”

The West Indies captain will join Harmanpreet Kaur at the top of the order

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Aug-2022West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has signed with Melbourne Renegades for the upcoming WBBL season.In five of the past seven years, Matthews has played for Hobart Hurricanes where she scored 865 runs at 18.02 and took 41 wickets.Her signing means she will team up with Harmanpreet Kaur in Renegades’ top order.”Any team that I’m part of, I try to bring a bit of West Indian flair to it,” Matthews said. “I really like to go out there and have fun every time I’m out on the field.”As a West Indian, our culture is big hitting and excitement in the field – that’s exactly what I’m looking to bring to the Melbourne Renegades.”James Rosengarten, Melbourne Renegades general manager, said: “Alongside Harmanpreet Kaur, we see Hayley playing an important role in our top four. She brings a wealth of experience at international level and in the WBBL.”Hayley’s ability to impact the game with the bat, ball and in the field – combined with her leadership attributes – makes her an exciting addition to our team.”Although Australia fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck is part of Renegades’ squad having moved from Hurricanes she won’t be available this season as she continues her recovery from the stress fracture of her foot sustained earlier this year.Current squad Sophie Molineux (capt), Sarah Coyte, Josie Dooley, Ellie Falconer, Ella Hayward, Harmanpreet Kaur, Carly Leeson, Hayley Matthews, Rhiann O’Donnell, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham, Courtney Webb

England seamer insists landmarks are not the reason he still competes at the age of 41

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2024James Anderson says he has “nothing to celebrate” after becoming the first seam bowler to reach 700 Test wickets, because he was unable to prevent the innings defeat in Dharmasala that capped England’s 4-1 series loss.Anderson, 41, achieved the feat on the final morning of the series, when he had Kuldeep Yadav caught behind to become only the third bowler in all of Test cricket to reach the 700 mark.Each of the other two, however, were spinners – Sri Lanka’s Muthiah Muralidaran (800) and Australia’s Shane Warne, whose former world-record mark of 708 could yet be in Anderson’s sights next summer.”It was a nice moment and nice to do it at a picturesque ground,” Anderson told the BBC Tailenders podcast. “My dad was here so we had a drink, which was nice. He was more excited than I was.”Maybe I would’ve felt more excited if we’d have won the Test or the series. It’s been a long series, and I don’t know how I feel.”Given the changing nature of Test cricket, Anderson’s landmark may never be reached by another seam bowler, but the man himself said that the discussion about his place in the sport’s history was “irrelevant” to him.”I don’t get anything out of that,” he said. “I don’t get anything out of what other people say. That’s not why I play cricket. I don’t play cricket to get the milestones. I want to win games. I love playing for a team and that’s when I get the biggest buzz.”That’s why I’m probably a little bit flat now, because we’ve lost 4-1 in this series. But I really enjoyed this tour. I’ve been on tours to India before where little cracks start appearing in the team and that’s not happened this time.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“We’ve stuck together really well, we really enjoy being together as a group and there is more to come from this team. Obviously we’ll come in for some criticism because we did have moments where we didn’t play particularly well but India are really good.”England do not play another Test until the visit of West Indies in July, by which stage Anderson will be weeks away from his 42nd birthday. But, having claimed ten wickets at 33.50 in India, Anderson is adamant he has got the form and fitness to keep competing for his England place.”I’m really excited for the summer,” Anderson said. “I want to make sure I’m playing well and earn my place in the team.”I’m not getting any worse,” he added. “I’m definitely in the best shape I’ve ever been in. I like where my game is at, and I still have that enjoyment of turning up every day and trying to get better in the nets. My place in the team is not a given so I’ve got to work hard to prove I’m worth a place in the summer.”Reflecting on the moment of his 700th wicket, Anderson said that his victim had predicted that he would be the landmark victim.”Kuldeep edged one down to third man for a single,” Anderson recalled. “As he got to the non-striker’s end, and as I was walking back to my mark, he said, ‘I’m going to be your 700th wicket’. He wasn’t saying he was trying to get out, he was just saying he had a feeling. We both laughed at it.”Anderson’s 699th wicket had been Kuldeep’s team-mate, Shubman Gill, with whom he had exchanged words on the second day.”I said something to him like, ‘Do you get any runs outside India?’ and he said, ‘It’s time to retire’,” Anderson said. “Then two balls later, I got him out.”

Justin Broad takes seven but match called off after suspected broken finger for Vasconcelos

ECB Reporters Network29-Aug-2024The Vitality County Championship Second Division match between Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire was abandoned owing to concerns from the umpires over player safety on a hybrid pitch.Umpires Chris Watts and Sue Redfern called a halt early on in the final session after Northants batters Ricardo Vasconcelos and Rob Keogh had been struck blows on the hand by Gloucestershire paceman Ajeet Singh Dale and retired hurt.Northants were 116 for 2 in reply to Gloucestershire’s 125 when the contest was abandoned at 5pm, the umpires consulting with both captains before leading the players from the pitch and then holding a consultation with groundstaff to explain their decision.Watts and Redfern then talked with match referee Jason Swift before contacting ECB pitch inspectors at Lord’s to seek advice. The decision was then taken to abandon the match.Gloucestershire scored in excess of 500 runs on a neighbouring pitch against Leicestershire earlier in the week, but were unceremoniously shot out in just 36.1 overs on this occasion. The county deployed a hybrid pitch for their home Championship match against Middlesex in May without any issues arising. But this was an altogether different set of circumstances, with Vasconcelos being taken to hospital with a suspected broken finger.When Keogh was struck during the final session, the umpires, concerned for the safety of the batters, made their intervention. Northants will collect 11 points for a draw, including three bowling bonus points, but Gloucestershire will receive none. It remains to be seen whether or not the county will face any further sanction but the matter has been passed to the Cricket Regulator for investigation.The umpires issued a brief statement, which read: “The match has been abandoned because there was a foreseeable risk to the batters. In the opinion of the umpires, it would be unreasonable to continue.”Gloucestershire declined to speak to the media at the close of play, and later issued a statement in anticipation of further action.”Whilst we acknowledge that this is not something anyone would have wanted to happen, we need to see, understand and discuss the match referee’s report before making further comment on the decision,” the club wrote. “We expect there will be an ECB investigation and we will of course assist them at all stages of that investigation.”Justin Broad had reason to feel aggrieved, having produced a career-best bowling performance to put the skids under Gloucestershire. In the absence of pace spearheads Ben Sanderson and Jack White, both rested ahead of next week’s Vitality Blast quarter-final against Somerset, batting all-rounder Broad was handed the new ball and returned startling figures of 7 for 33 in 15.1 overs with seven maidens.Of the Gloucestershire batters, only Ollie Price managed to cope with exaggerated nip and seam off the pitch, top-scoring with 52 and staging a stand of 60 for the fifth wicket with Graeme van Buuren, whose dismissal for 40 sparked a collapse which saw the home side lose their last six wickets for 22 runs in 11.1 overs.Despite having to field a weakened attack, Procter did not hesitate to bowl first on a green-tinged surface and it proved an exceedingly good toss to win, Gloucestershire losing openers Cameron Bancroft and Ben Charlesworth inside six overs as Broad and his captain made the new ball talk.Although Broad boasted just 11 wickets at 43 apiece in 13 previous first-class matches, he looked the part when persuading a length ball to straighten up and clip the top of Bancroft’s off stump. Having scored a maiden double hundred in his last innings, Charlesworth was brought down to earth with a bump when pushing tentatively at an angled delivery from Procter and offering a straightforward catch to second slip.Procter struck again in his next over, Miles Hammond swishing at a ball outside off stump and nicking to second slip as Gloucestershire slipped to 16 for 3. Unlike Hammond, the in-form James Bracey could not be held accountable for his dismissal, the Championship’s leading run scorer being unfortunately run out when Dom Leach diverted an Ollie Price drive onto the stumps with the batter at the non-striker’s end backing up.Price and van Buuren enjoyed better fortune against the change bowlers, the latter taking on Gus Miller with a top-edged hook that went for six and then twice pulling Leach to the mid-wicket boundary to afford the innings momentum.But van Buuren flirted with danger and was twice dropped on 25 and 30 before pursuing a wide delivery and feathering a catch to second slip to gift Broad his second wicket. The South African’s dismissal for a run-a-ball 40 with the score on 93 sparked a calamitous collapse, Tom Price falling lbw to Broad in the final over before lunch, which was taken with the hosts on 113 for 6. Gloucestershire’s slide continued unchecked after the interval, Zafar Gohar shouldering arms to a straight one from Broad, who then pinned Ollie Price lbw for an 85-ball 52 to register his maiden five-wicket haul.Broad then accounted for tailenders Dom Goodman and Zaman Akhter in quick succession on his way to achieving the best figures of any Northants bowler in matches at Bristol since George Thompson took 8 for 14 in 1910.Batting continued to be a hazardous affair when Northants replied. Prithvi Shaw and Vasconcelos staged an opening partnership of 50 in 11.1 overs, only for the latter to then edge a catch behind off Singh Dale. Vasconcelos advanced his score to 21 before retiring hurt, after which Procter and Keogh added an unbeaten 49 for the third wicket.

Tamim has not played an international game since September 2023 but now the selectors are hopeful he will make the trip to Pakistan next month

Mohammad Isam08-Jan-2025Bangladesh’s selectors are waiting for Tamim Iqbal to make up his mind about a possible comeback to international cricket ahead of the Champions Trophy next month. The deadline for announcing squads is January 12, and the BCB is willing to wait till the last minute to see if Tamim wants to play. Chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain led the talks with Tamim at the Fortune Barishal team hotel in Sylhet; Tamim is captaining the side in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).Tamim retired from international cricket in July 2023, before reversing his decision the next day after intervention from then Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Tamim had a falling out with then BCB president Nazmul Hassan. Both Hasina and Hassan left the country during the anti-government protests in mid-2024 which left several hundred protesters dead.Tamim gave up the captaincy during that run-in with the board in 2023 but returned to play two ODIs against New Zealand in September before the then selectors, led by Minhajul Abedin, dropped him for the 2023 World Cup. That was followed by then captain Shakib Al Hasan blasting Tamim in a televised interview.Tamim Iqbal has been a key cog for Fortune Barishal at the BPL•Fortune Barishal

Tamim has not played an international game since then but continued to play domestic cricket, including winning the 2024 BPL with the Barishal franchise and finishing as the Player of the Tournament. Tamim is currently defending that title in Sylhet, where the meeting with the national selectors took place.”We held a primary discussion with Tamim,” Gazi Ashraf Hossain said. “We have to announce the Champions Trophy team by January 12, so we have a bit of time. We want to let him take time, not be in a hurry to decide. We have spoken to him on behalf of the board. The player has to come to a decision after speaking to his family, friends and well-wishers. He is also in the middle of a tournament so he will need a bit of time.”We have four days left [before announcing the squad]. We have done our homework, so we know how things will shape up. We pay respect to a cricketer like Tamim Iqbal, so he can take his time before informing us. I think it’s fair enough. The board is fine with this, so everyone now has to be patient.”Gazi Ashraf said that ODI captain Najmul Hossain Shanto is in faour of Tamim’s return. “We are always speaking to the captain. He wasn’t however there when we spoke to Tamim. We have spoken to the captain separately about the squad. I think everyone wants Tamim back in the Bangladesh team.”Tamim also recently played in the National Cricket League T20s, where he was the top scorer for Chattogram Division.Gazi Ashraf said that showed Tamim is match fit, though he will have to take a call himself if he can make the step up to international cricket. “There’s a huge gap between domestic and international cricket. A player who is at a crucial juncture in his career, he has to consider a lot of things. I think it will be hasty for everyone to take a call in just one meeting, given that Tamim hasn’t been around international cricket for quite some time.”He is playing the BPL. He played in the NCL T20s. There’s no question about his ability. We are all waiting for his return to the Bangladesh team. He is most welcome from our side. You just have to wait. Let there be suspense.”

England Test captain beefs up his pleas to protect players’ wellbeing upon his ODI retirement

Vithushan Ehantharajah19-Jul-2022Ben Stokes has urged the authorities to stop considering players as “cars” and hopes his ODI retirement will be a wake-up call.The allrounder was speaking ahead of his 105th and final ODI after taking the decision to retire from the format. In a statement detailing his decision, he spoke of a desire to lighten his loads, citing playing all three international codes was “unsustainable for me now”.Having taken on the Test captaincy at the start of the summer, Stokes will continue to give “everything I have” to the longest format, as well as Twenty20. As it happens, the 31-year-old Stokes missed the T20 series against India to rest after Test matches against New Zealand and India, and will not play in the T20s against South Africa that follow the ODI series, or The Hundred ahead of the three Tests with the Proteas.Speaking to the media ahead of Tuesday’s match, he went firmer on his comments the previous day of an unsustainable schedule and believes the on-field product will suffer if nothing changes.”We are not cars,” he stated to Test Match Special. “You can’t just fill us up and we’ll go out there and be ready to be fuelled up again. We had a Test series and then the one-day team had a series going on at the same time – that was a bit silly.”I just feel like there is too much cricket rammed in for people to play all three formats now. It is a lot harder than it used to be. I look back to when I used to do all three and it didn’t feel like it was as jam-packed and all that. Obviously you want to play as much cricket as you possibly can but when it is making you feel tired, sore and you’ve got to look towards five or six months down the road for what you’re doing in the here and now it is probably not the best thing.”The more cricket that is played, the better for the sport, but you want a product that is of the highest quality. You want the best players to be playing as much as you possibly can, all the time, and it isn’t just me or us. You see it all around the world now where teams are having to rest some players in a certain series so they feel like they are getting a break.”Related

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Stokes also referenced the examples of James Anderson and Stuart Broad for what he hopes will be a prolonged career in the remaining two formats. Anderson and Broad last played white-ball cricket for England in 2015 and 2016, respectively, and are still vital cogs in the Test attack in 2022. Stokes even spoke to Broad about how the 36-year-old found the lighter workload and was left convinced he had made the right decision, especially if he is to replicate Anderson and Broad’s tally of over 150 appearances in Tests.”I asked Stuart if he felt that not playing white-ball cricket was a reason he is still playing now, 160 Tests. He said without a shadow of a doubt, yes. I want to play 140-150 Tests for England.”It’s come a lot earlier than I would have liked at 31 years old, giving one of the formats up. T20 bowl, 2-3 overs here and there. Longevity I have thought about. Hopefully when I’m 35, 36, still playing Test cricket, I can look back on this decision and say I’m very happy with it.”Stokes also revealed he had come upon the decision after the first ODI against India at the Oval on Tuesday, July 12. As he consulted others, one told him “if there’s any doubt, there’s no doubt” that he should step away from 50-over cricket. He then spoke to Jos Buttler, the limited-overs captain, about his thoughts, which centred initially on not being able to bowl his full complement of 10 overs. That inability to play a full, all-round part in matches was ultimately the deciding factor.”After that one-day game it hit me in the face. A quick chat with Jos after the game, I said that if the game was in a different position I’d have bowled more for him. We had five minutes together, he said you don’t owe the team anything and that I had a lot of cricket coming up. That was nice to hear.”I went away and had five minutes to myself, I told him I almost felt a bit useless that I can’t do that. It’s not a nice feeling, knowing I have to look after myself, the captain is trying to look after me, the medical team and the coach as well. It’s international cricket you can’t be doing that.”

Hosts record first win of the season after Sunrisers limited on used pitch

ECB Reporters Network27-May-2023England trio Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone and Emma Lamb impressed with the ball and the latter with the bat as well to help Thunder secure a commanding Charlotte Edwards Cup victory over Sunrisers at Emirates Old Trafford – the region’s first success of 2023.All three are in contention to play in this summer’s home Ashes from next month and shared five wickets to limit Sunrisers to 116 for 8 having elected to bat, laying the platform for a seven-wicket win with 21 balls remaining.They were miserly with either seam or spin, with Cross’s 2 for 20 from four overs of seam the most encouraging having battled against a tropical disease in recent weeks. Ecclestone struck once with her left-arm spin and Lamb twice with her offspin.After her 2 for 24, Lamb then added 31 in Thunder’s aggressive chase. But it was her opening partner Liberty Heap who shone with a career best 46 off 49 balls. It was also the 19-year-old’s highest score in senior regional cricket.This was Thunder’s first victory in eight 50-over and T20 matches in 2023, including back-to-back defeats at the start of the Charlotte Edwards Cup. For Sunrisers, they have now played three and lost three in this competition.Cross, who recently revealed that she had to go through nine courses of antibiotics to treat an illness picked up abroad in pre-season, set the tone with the second ball of only her fifth match of the season.She uprooted the off stump of former South Africa international Dane van Niekerk for nought, a peach of an away-swinger leaving Sunrisers at 0 for 1.Cordelia Griffith came in and played positively for 36 off 35 balls, including two boundaries in as many balls against the offspin of Fi Morris – the first lofted over mid-off and the second seared through cover. But she was the second wicket for Cross when she miscued high to mid-off, leaving the score at 64 for 3 in the 12th over.Crucially, only one other batter, Flo Miller from No. 7, reached 20. She was bowled by former team-mate Naomi Dattani in the final over an innings which saw Thunder captain Ellie Threlkeld chop and change through seven different bowlers to deny Sunrisers any rhythm on the same pitch used for Thursday’s T20 double-header day.While Lamb returned 2 for 24 from her four overs, Ecclestone was the most economical bowler on show with 21for 14 from her four.Her wicket of Amara Carr caught at mid-off following a miscue was sandwiched in between the two Lamb strikes as Sunrisers slumped to 81 for 6 in the 15th over. Lamb had Grace Scrivens caught at cover and bowled Jo Gardner.Lamb later gave Thunder the ideal start to what proved a serene chase, clipping a boundary through midwicket as 10 came from Kate Coppack’s first over.Both openers played their shots, and Heap made the most of being dropped on 16. Thunder reached 50 without loss after seven overs, by which time the game was only going one way.Heap maintained pace with her more experienced partner and overtook her after Lamb had been trapped lbw sweeping at captain Kelly Castle’s offspin – leaving Thunder 64 for 1 in the 10th over.Morris flicked the offspin of Mady Villiers to short fine leg shortly afterwards, leaving the score at 74 for 2 in the 11th, but Heap gained support from West Indian overseas Deandra Dottin to get their side over the line.Unbeaten Dottin crashed two big straight sixes in 26 off 15 balls, while Heap was bowled by Eva Gray just shy of 50 with only 10 to win.

While spotlight remains on Matheesha Pathirana, CSK bowling consultant Eric Simons credits “unsung heroes” Shardul Thakur and Tushar Deshpande for victory

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Apr-20241:35

Gavaskar on Hardik: ‘Ordinary bowling, ordinary captaincy’

Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians captain, felt Matheesha Pathirana was the difference between the two sides on Sunday night as the heavyweight clash billed as the IPL’s “” ended in victory for Chennai Super Kings.Pathirana, who missed CSK’s last two games with a hamstring niggle, was a late inclusion. And he finished with figures of 4 for 28; this included the wickets of Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav in his very first over, the eighth of the innings, to put the skids on Mumbai after a 70-run opening stand.”Definitely it was gettable,” Hardik said of Mumbai’s 207-run target. “But I think they bowled pretty well, Pathirana was the difference. He came and got the wickets, at the same time they were also quite smart with their approach. They used the longer boundary well.Related

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“It was about batting well and keeping our intent, which we did till Pathirana came in. We were on course to get the total, those couple of wickets [in his first over] we lost set us back. From there we were chasing the game.”CSK had a number of bowlers who used their slower variations well and bowled into the pitch to extract something off the deck in the face of some dew. Shardul Thakur was taken for 33 off his first three overs, but came back superbly in his final over to concede just two to deny a set Rohit Sharma and Hardik with Mumbai needing 77 off 36.Then Tushar Deshpande got into the act, dismissing Hardik by having him hole out to the longer boundary at deep midwicket. Soon, the equation turned into a daunting 72 off 24. Pathirana then came back for his final over to send back the big-hitting Romario Shepherd with a fuller ball that splayed his stumps.While it was natural for Pathirana to get the spotlight after his four-for, CSK bowling consultant Eric Simons felt Thakur and Deshpande turned the game. “The unsung heroes tonight were Tushar and Shardul,” Simons said at the post-match press conference. “Shardul bowled one of the best overs I have ever seen. At that stage they were looking at 12s-13s an over, the game’s very much in the balance. He bowls the over and it goes up at 14. The game turned there.”Matheesha will get a lot of accolades and he deserves it because of the way he bowled and the breakthroughs he gave us. But those two gentlemen did extremely well for us to push the rate out of reach out of MI.”Tushar is a very intelligent bowler. Our conversations are around his tactics, his understanding of conditions and oppositions. One of the things we try and do is make sure bowlers have clarity when they arrive at game and they know exactly what they have to do and also understand the tactics. So not just what the tactic is but also why it is like that. And he has a very clear understanding of the tactic and also why it is like that.”Hardik Pandya’s Mumbai Indians came out second best in the IPL’s “El Classico”•AFP via Getty Images

That CSK’s bowlers found themselves with 206 to defend was down to Shivam Dube’s 38-ball 66 and Dhoni’s cameo – including three sixes in the final over. For much of Dube’s innings, Hardik held his spinners back and preferred to go with pace into the wicket. Offspinner Mohammad Nabi bowled three overs for 19, while Shreyas Gopal, their legspinner, bowled just one over.”It was about what was best at that point,” Hardik said of his tactic to hold back his spinners. “In hindsight we can see how we could’ve used our spinners and done something different, but in the longer term I like to play with what I can work with, that’s percentage cricket. On that wicket, for seamers, it was much more difficult for him [Dube] to do what he did [to pacers] than to the spinners.”The defeat was Mumbai’s fourth in six games. It broke a sequence of two straight wins. Currently eighth on the table, they now get on the road for four away fixtures and are in need of a big second half to remain in contention for the playoffs.In looking for this, Hardik wants the team to keep it simple. “We just need to keep our intensity high, be smart about our plans,” he said. “If we can do that, we can get the goal we want.”

Coach Dravid confirms the wicketkeeper-batter’s unavailability for the Asia Cup games against Pakistan and Nepal

Shashank Kishore29-Aug-2023KL Rahul, who has been recovering from an injury, has been ruled out of the Pallekele leg of India’s Asia Cup campaign – matches against Pakistan and Nepal.He will not travel to Sri Lanka on Wednesday with the rest of India’s squad and, instead, continue to work with the physios at Bengaluru’s National Cricket Academy (NCA) in a bid to be “fully fit” and available for the Super Four stage of the competition. Rahul will undergo a fitness assessment on September 4 before a call on his travel to Sri Lanka is taken.Head coach Rahul Dravid said Rahul had been “progressing really well” and that the team management doesn’t see his unavailability for the early part of the Asia Cup as a setback.”From our perspective, it’s only two less games that he is going to [play],” Rahul said at the conclusion of India’s conditioning camp in Alur, near Bengaluru. “He is batting really well, he’s keeping… well, he is doing everything. It’s just a slightly more cautious approach with him leading into the World Cup.Related

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“He’ll have a couple of match simulations over the course of the next few days, which gives him a little bit of a longer time out there in the middle. We are hoping that it should be only two games that he misses, and then he should be available for the later part of the tour.”There is an Australia series as well, so I’m not too worried about it. He’s an experienced player, both him and Shreyas [Iyer, who is also on a comeback trail after a long injury layoff] have played a lot of cricket. They are very experienced players and hopefully we can give him the game time.”Rahul’s unavailability for part of the Asia Cup raises the question about his participation in the World Cup – he hasn’t played competitively since early May, when he picked up the injury during the IPL. The plan is for the selectors to finalise the 15 for the World Cup after India’s second match in the Asia Cup, on September 4 against Nepal, to meet the September 5 deadline set by ICC to submit the World Cup squads.When the squad for the Asia Cup was named on August 21, Rahul was only deemed conditionally fit. While he had fully recovered from the thigh injury he sustained during IPL 2023, which required surgery, Rahul picked up a “minor niggle” subsequently, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar had said.At the time, the NCA medical team was understood to have been satisfied with Rahul’s batting workload, but were concerned about his wicketkeeping after he complained of soreness after one of the practice games.

Rahul displays batting form in Alur nets

On Tuesday, the final day of India’s six-day camp in Alur, Rahul hit the nets and batted for nearly 35 minutes, facing up to pace, spin and the throwdown specialists after some light warm-up drills. He didn’t keep wickets, though.Rahul began his session against spin, presumably because of his role at No. 5. He seemed in sparkling form; he used his feet well in stepping out to hit legspinner Mayank Markande against the turn, used the depth of the crease to nudge deliveries, and then appeared to bring out full-blooded sweeps against the two left-arm spinners R Sai Kishore and Manav Suthar.Rahul then faced up to Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna in the second net against the new ball. Rahul’s focus seemed to be on aligning himself with the bounce, getting behind the line and playing straight or using the pace to steer the ball behind square.Then, finally, he was at the throwdown specialist’s net, Rahul was seemingly trying and duck and get into good positions against the short ball. After the session, Rahul had a chat with Dravid and Virat Kohli.Over the past couple of days, while Rahul hasn’t been in any physical discomfort the team management has carefully ensured his wicket keeping drills haven’t been too exhausting.On Monday, he went through keeping drills that focused on sideways movements, especially to spin. However it was a brief session. He was also seen chatting with Rishabh Pant, who spent some time doing rehab and fitness drills with the team.India have Ishan Kishan as a wicketkeeping option in the Asia Cup squad, while Sanju Samson has been named a travelling reserve.

New competition continues cricket’s attempts to rid itself of elitist tags, as revealed in ICEC report

Andrew Miller30-Jun-2025Lord’s is well on its way to proving it is not the “Augusta of cricket”, according to MCC’s chair Mark Nicholas, following the launch of a new nationwide T20 competition, the Knight-Stokes Cup, aimed specifically at state-school pupils.The tournament, named in honour of England’s former women’s captain Heather Knight and current men’s Test captain, Ben Stokes, is for Year 10 pupils (ages 13-14) with separate events for boys and girls. It will begin in April 2026 with a season-long qualifying process, followed by regional knockouts and a finals day at Lord’s in September.The initiative, spearheaded by another former England captain Michael Vaughan, is a continuation of the sport’s bid to rid itself of the “sexist, classist and elitist” tags that it received following a damning 2023 report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC).The creation of a “national Under-15 state school finals’ day for boys and girls” was one of the report’s specific recommendations, alongside a call for MCC to discontinue its hosting of the annual Eton-Harrow and Oxford-Cambridge fixtures – two of the longest-running annual sporting contests in the world.A decision on the future of those historic fixtures has since been deferred until 2028, but Nicholas insists that MCC has made, and will continue to make, significant strides in broadening the reach of cricket’s most famous venue.”We’re an open-hearted body,” Nicholas told ESPNcricinfo. In particular, he contrasted the club’s bid for greater inclusivity with the explicitly exclusive offering of Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, the home of the annual Masters tournament, and a venue that is renowned for its strict rules and entry criteria for members and patrons alike.”People who say, ‘oh, we’re the Augusta of cricket’, we’re not at all,” Nicholas added. “Augusta is a fabulous exclusive place. Its mystery comes from its exclusivity. We want Lord’s and MCC to be inclusive. The fact that children can come here is very important for the future of cricket, and very important for the future of MCC and Lord’s.”Children who attend private school are significantly more likely to play professional cricket than those in the state sector, with the ICEC report citing 2021 statistics that showed 58% of England players were privately educated, out of a nationwide figure of 7% of pupils.Various factors contribute to this, including the cost of equipment and the standard of playing facilities. However, as Nicholas pointed out, the private sector also acts as a conduit for the best young talent in the country, citing the example of Harry Brook, England’s white-ball captain, who attended Sedburgh School in Cumbria on a sports scholarship.”It’s not absolutely right to say that there’s no state-school players involved in the England team,” Nicholas said. “But state schools have other priorities, and it’s not easy to fit cricket into the curriculum, especially when there’s pressure on GCSEs in the summer term.”While the incentive for state-school pupils to play at Lord’s is a strong one, Vaughan also recognises the importance of role models in driving interest in cricket. Twenty years on from his role in captaining England to glory in the 2005 Ashes, he backs the current men’s and women’s teams to provide similar star billing to the sport.”We talk about 2005 all the time, and all the stories been told,” Vaughan said. “But the proudest bit is when people of that age come and say, ‘I got into cricket because of ’05’.”They might be 28, they might be 30-35, but they would have been at school, and not necessarily at independent schools either. It’s then that you know you’ve done something great.”[The current men’s and women’s teams] have also played a part in changing people’s lives, and that’s why this tournament’s so important. Because, yes, it’d be great to create a new Heather [Knight] and a new Ben [Stokes], but it’s not about that. It’s about creating fans and cricket lovers.”That’s why this has been created, to make sure that, for the first time, a state school is going to be represented at Lord’s next year, and that’ll be every year going forward.”Speaking ahead of the announcement, Knight said: “As someone who played cricket from a young age at my local state school and then here at Lord’s including in a World Cup final, I’m proud to have my name associated with this new competition which will inspire thousands of state-school children across the country and continue the vital work that cricket is doing to create more opportunities for children from state schools to play and access the talent pathway.”Stokes added: “Coming from a state school myself, when I was informed that they wanted to name this competition after me, it was a pretty easy ‘yes’. Playing at Lord’s is the pinnacle of any cricketer’s career and something I dreamed of when I played cricket at my school so to open up the opportunity for boys and girls to play here is fantastic. I can’t wait to see the competition get underway next year and start to see some of the incredible talent that’s out there in our state schools come through the system.”