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Glasgow Rangers should focus on adding more creativity to their squad before the January transfer window, which opened for business on Thursday, slams shut.

Per Sofascore, full-back James Tavernier is the only player in the squad who has created more than three ‘big chances’ in the Scottish Premiership, with eight ‘big chances’ created and three assists to his name.

Most big chances created in 25/26 Premiership

Player

Big chances created

Declan John

10

Daizen Maeda

9

Alexandros Kyziridis

9

James Tavernier

8

Cameron Congrave

8

Stats via Sofascore

The Gers skipper has recorded 146 assists in 545 matches for the club in all competitions to date, showing that he has consistently provided a big threat as a creator from a right-back position throughout his time at Ibrox.

Rangers, though, have scored six fewer goals than Celtic and ten fewer goals than Hearts, the two teams above them, which suggests that they need more quality in possession, instead of solely relying on Tavernier’s creativity.

Rangers considering move for former Premiership star

Danny Rohl and the recruitment team at Ibrox appear to have identified this problem within the squad, as they are reportedly looking at a star who could be Tavernier 2.0.

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According to the Daily Record, Rohl is considering a move to bring AEK Athens left-back James Penrice to Glasgow Rangers in the January transfer window.

The report claims that the German head coach has placed the Scottish defender high up on his list of left-back targets this month, as he seeks out competition for Jayden Meghoma in that position. Rohl has already asked technical director Dan Purdy to check out his performances.

Penrice joined AEK Athens for £2m from Hearts in the summer transfer window before this season, but the report does not reveal how much of that £2m they would want back in order to cash in on him this month.

The Daily Record adds, though, that Rohl wants new signings in the building as quickly as possible in January, which means that their interest in Penrice could accelerate in the coming days.

Why Rangers should sign James Penrice

Rangers should push to seal a deal for the AEK Athens full-back because his form for Hearts in the 2024/25 campaign suggests that he can provide the creativity that the team currently lack outside of Tavernier.

Signing an experienced 27-year-old left-back option could also be a good decision, with 19-year-old Meghoma currently their only option in that role, providing Rohl with a good blend of youth and experience at left-back.

Penrice’s form in the Premiership for Hearts, prior to moving to Greece last summer, caught the eye because he ended last season with two goals and five assists to his name, per Sofascore.

The Scottish star, as shown in the clip, provides a set-piece threat with his brilliant inswinging deliveries on his left foot, just as Tavernier provides a similar threat with inswinging set-pieces on his right foot.

This means that Rohl’s team could be incredibly dangerous offensively from set-pieces on both sides of the pitch by starting two full-backs who are exceptional at putting the ball on a plate for their teammates.

Most big chances created in 24/25 Premiership

Player

Big chances created

James Tavernier

18

Alistair Johnston

15

James Penrice

14

Reo Hatate

14

Lawrence Shankland

14

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, only Celtic’s Alistair Johnston and Tavernier created more ‘big chances’ in the Premiership than Penrice last term, which suggests that the Hearts star was unfortunate to end the campaign with just five assists to his name.

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STV Radio host Ewen Cameron claims that the experienced defender would be “perfect for Rangers” because of how good he was for Hearts, and it is hard to disagree with that assessment.

Penrice averaged 3.4 tackles and interceptions per game, 1.7 key passes per game, and created 14 ‘big chances’ in the Premiership last season for Hearts, per Sofascore.

This season, meanwhile, Meghoma has averaged 2.8 tackles and interceptions per game, 0.7 key passes per game, and created three ‘big chances’ midway through the current top-flight campaign, per Sofascore, for Rangers.

These statistics suggest that Penrice would arrive at Ibrox as an instant upgrade on the Brentford loanee, whilst also solving Rohl’s lack of creativity in the squad.

Therefore, Rangers must push to get a deal done for his services in the coming days so that the manager will have a left-back version of Tavernier who can provide consistent quality as a creative threat in the Premiership.

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Parthiv Patel scored a 51-ball 49, but Gujarat were bowled for out for 228 © AFP

ScorecardGujarat, struggling at 155 for 9, managed to reach 228 and then reduce Assam to 56 for 4 at stumps on day one in Ahmedabad, with two former Tamil Nadu batsmen – S Ramesh and S Sharath – in the middle.Put in, Gujarat made a cautious start, but didn’t get a partnership going until the very end. Parthiv Patel, who had scored five centuries in his last five first-class innings, upped the scoring, but fell one short of 50, after which the rest of the line-up folded easily. Digant Popat, the No. 6 batsman, found a good partner in No. 11 Siddharth Trivedi, and the two put on 73 runs in 12 overs. Popat top scored with a 72-ball 63. Trivedi carried the confidence from his batting through, and as if out of inertia got Assam opener Sauran Bhagawati to edge one in the first over.
ScorecardJammu & Kashmir denied Railways a wicket for the first 37.5 overs and 104 runs, but thereafter collapsed to 194 all out. Madan Yadav, the Railways left-arm spinner, bowled a miserly spell of 22.3-12-22-4. The wicket of Ian Dev Singh, who fell to Yadav for 62, triggered the collapse. Ian’s opening partner Sajjad Shaikh soon followed, caught by Amit Pagnis off Harvinder Singh, for 40.The second-highest partnership came for the seventh wicket: 34 runs between captain Vijay Sharma, who made and unbeaten 34 and Samiullah Beigh. Harvinder, who toiled for more overs than Yadav, had four wickets to show for his efforts.
ScorecardNine of Services’ batsmen failed to reach double figures as they were bowled out for 102 in Agartala. Timir Chanda, Tripura’s captain and right-arm opening bowler, started the slide, reducing Services to 8 for 2 by the sixth over.It could have been worse for Services but for the 32-run stand for the ninth wicket between No. 3 Devendra Israni and left-arm spinner Arun Sharma. Israni was caught and bowled by off-break bowler Jayanta Debnath, who finished with 4 for 13 in 11.4 overs. Sharma stayed unbeaten on 24 and extras, 13, were the third-largest contributor.Manoj Singh and Subal Chowdhury consolidated after Tripura lost a quick wicket, and finished with the lead all but erased and eight wickets still in hand.
ScorecardAfter a delayed start because of overnight rain, scoring was not high on the priority list as Madhya Pradesh crawled to a total of 100 for 4 in 50.3 overs at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur. More than half the runs came from Jatin Saxena’s bat: he was also the quickest batsman with a strike-rate of 46. Opener Mudassar Pasha took 47 deliveries for his 6, and Devendra Bundela, No. 4, took 35 balls to score 1 run. Shankar Rao, the right-arm medium pacer, took two wickets.
ScorecardAn unbeaten half-century down the order by Aditya Angle helped Goa to 258 for 8 against Haryana at Margao. After choosing to bat, the Goa got off to a steady start, with the openers adding 55, but Haryana took the initiative after bagging four wickets within ten overs. Captain J Arunkumar resisted with 55, before legspinner Amit Mishra picked up three middle-order wickets to peg the home side back again. Angle, who finished unbeaten on 54, added 57 for the ninth wicket with Ryan D’Souza as Haryana were unable to wrap up the innings, especially after Goa were struggling at one stage at 159 for 7.

Scorecard

‘I don’t think I am lazy, for outsiders it looks like that’ – C Raghu © Getty Images

Thirteen years ago, Chandrasekhar Raghu was just another cricketer. They come in dozens in India, rushing home after school, picking up a cheap bat and rushing to join the neighbourhood tennis-ball . It’s all very simple: whack the ball, indulge in a bit of hit-and-giggle, and retire home at sunset to bury your face in homework. It doesn’t happen to most young enthusiasts, but something changed, for the better, where Raghu is concerned.When he was 11, a neighbour who happened to be the secretary for the local Hanumant Nagar Cricket Club, picked him out of the street cricket milieu and invited him to come and practise at the club. “I owe a lot to Balaji,” Raghu told Cricinfo at the end of the first day’s play at Mysore’s Gangothri Glades Ground. From there his journey to state-level cricket started. Soon he was playing for under-13 cricket.Was he afraid of the leather ball, having never played before? “No,” he says with a smile, “I just used to go out and play.” But that’s where my transformation as a bowler happened. I used to be just a batsman but suddenly I discovered that with the leather ball, I could bowl pretty useful offspin.” In fact, Raghu played in an under-19 tournament as a spinner.Even though he found his touch as a batsman and became prolific at the league level, where he used to bat at No. 3 or 4, at the Ranji Trophy level he was still treated as a bowler. He admits, “I used to play at No. 8 for Karnataka, and they used to consider me as an ODI player.” An average of 12.72 in 10 first-class matches is a proof of that. “I was very disappointed in those times. I used to bat at No. 3 or 4 in the leagues, but when it came to playing for Karnataka, I would be relegated down the order and treated as a bowler. I never used to get a chance to prove myself. It was very tough. I was stagnating.”Others’ misfortune, as it would turn out, gave Raghu the opportunity he was looking for. “I was feeling very down but then suddenly two or three batsmen flopped last season and I got my chance.” And he grabbed it. Two centuries and a fifty in the P Subbiah Pillai tournament in February 2006. He rates his 117 against Hyderabad in that tournament, as his best and the turning point of his career. All of a sudden the bowler was publicly recognised as an allrounder.There were other innings that Raghu remembers fondly. “I got a hundred against Western Australia recently,” he said. “I wanted to prove to the selectors that I can do well in three-day matches. Those knocks gave me confidence – and possibly the selectors too.” It definitely did. Within months, he was picked for the Challenger Series where the best young talents in the country get a chance to play with senior cricketers.Raghu is one of those batsmen that make the game look easy; lazy elegance seeps through his batting. Though he admits otherwise – “I don’t think I am lazy, it looks like that to others” – Raghu has been a victim of his own fluent batting style. “Yes, so many times I have got out like that,” he said. “When playing very well, I would think this bowler is easy to play and I have got out trying few things. I used to get 30, 40 quickly and then get out. I have matured now. That’s why I maintain this is a mental game. Now I am learning to play to big innings.”His preference is to keep the ball on the ground but he remains a busy player, constantly looking for singles. While Joginder Sharma, who grabbed seven wickets in Haryana’s match against Andhra – including a hat-trick – was troubling some of the other batsmen today with his bounce off a length, Raghu played him with ease.So what does he think when he stands at the crease waiting for the ball to be released? “Nothing,” comes the answer with a smile. “I keep my mind blank, I don’t think about anything.” Sensible ploy. Like many Indian batsmen, he makes his living off the front foot. Without disagreeing, he says today it was part of a plan: “I thought on this pitch – it was keeping low at times – it was better to get on to the front foot. I got out playing the wrong line though”.One other amazing thing about him is that he has never had a batting coach. So where did this pleasing stroke play come from? “There was no coach, I just play like this,” he said. “No one taught me how to play. This game is played more in the mind. Its 70% mental. Venkatesh Prasad [the Karnataka coach] has helped to improve on the mental aspect. My aim is to score runs and I go about finding ways of doing that. I just play ball by ball, I don’t think much.”For Raghu, each day is taken in his stride. “I am sticking to the present,” he said. “I just have to do well in the Ranji Trophy as I want Karnataka to be the Ranji Champions. I want to score at least three centuries this season. I am not thinking too much ahead, just want to stick to the process.”

Scorecard
If Michael Vaughan’s England side was let off the hook by bad light in Faisalabad, then the – or verdict – on the women’s side against India on the final day at Delhi was slightly more heartening. Resolute batting from Charlotte Edwards (46), the captain, Arran Brindle (46), and Jenny Gunn (32) staved off defeat and thwarted India’s bid for a maiden Test win against England, Edwards’ side finishing the day on 210 for 6.The Indian women gave nothing away though. The fielding was enthusiastic, the bowling tight, but in the end the resolve of the English batsmen shone over all else. Veteran spinner Neetu David consistently found turn from a slow pitch, and she beat the bat on numerous occasions. Nooshin Al Khader, however, was the pick of the bowlers, sending down 32 miserly overs for just 30 runs, picking up the wickets of Laura Newton, Clair Taylor and Lydia Greenway to stymie England’s run chase.Earlier, England’s batsmen produced a good morning session by adding 109 to their overnight 3 for 0, with Edwards standing tall with a 94-ball 46. She was eventually out, leg before, to the persistent Jhulan Goswami, with England 73 for 3. Brindle and Gunn then added 73 for the fourth wicket before Brindle was run out for 46 as the scoring rate slowed. She hit four boundaries as well as the solitary six of the match, but was unlucky to be dismissed just four short of a deserved fifty. Her dismissal, on the stroke of tea, meant England were 146 for 4, still 165 runs adrift of their target.At this stage, Mithali Raj, India’s captain, used an attacking field to try and put pressure on England, and the efforts of her fielders would have pleased her. A hard punch down the ground just after lunch by Gunn was met by a diving mid-off fielder, saving a certain boundary. Al Khader struck again to have Greenway caught by Raj for a laborious 6 off 51 deliveries, and England looked in trouble at this stage.Yet, as it became evident that a win was out of reach, Rosalie Birch and Laura Harper put their heads down and avoided any further checks to their progress. A loud appeal for a very close lbw against Harper was turned down by umpire RD Singh – to the clear frustration of Al Khader – but it was to be the last tense image on a day in which determination was the name of the game.Goswami was eventually adjudged Man of the Match for her spirited showing with the bat and ball throughout the match.

The top spot was a no-contest. VVS Laxman’s coruscating, series-turning, once-in-a-lifetime 281 against Australia at Eden Gardens in 2001 emerged the overwhelming winner in the Greatest Indian Test Innings survey conducted by Wisden Asia Cricket magazine on the occasion of its third anniversary.Laxman’s 281, that turned a hopeless situation for India to a match-winning one, garnered 268 points, more than Rahul Dravid’s 233 against Australia at Adelaide in 2003 which was ranked second. However, Sunil Gavaskar emerged the most valuable batsman. Though his highest ranked innings – a stirring 96 against Pakistan on a crumbling pitch at Bangalore in 1987 – came at number six, Gavaskar had two other innings in the top ten, underscoring his worth to Indian cricket in a period when the team’s batting revolved around him.Rahul Dravid, whose stellar performances have underpinned India’s recent success, came out shining too with all four of his nominated innings being ranked in the top 25. Sachin Tendulkar – whose unbeaten, match-winning 155 against Australia at Chennai in 1998 occupied the number nine position – won five nominations in all, and three of them in the top 25.A total of 63 innings were nominated by the 35-strong jury comprising former players, broadcasters, sportswriters and analysts. They were asked to nominate their own top ten, and each selection was assigned a point value in descending order – 10 for the top-ranked innings, nine for the next, and so on all the way down to one for the tenth-ranked innings.Gundappa Viswanath, rated by many of his contemporaries, including Gavaskar, as the best Indian batsman of his generation, won five nominations. His gutsy 97, a bulk of which came in the company of tailenders, against West Indies at Madras in 1975, was ranked third. One place lower was Virender Sehwag’s thrill-a-minute 309, the highest individual score by an Indian batsman. Performances from the early era were not ignored either, with Vijay Hazare’s 145 against Don Bradman’s Australians at Adelaide in 1948 being rated fifth and Vinoo Mankad’s towering 184 against England at Lord’s in 1952 at number seven.The 40-page cover story feature in the December issue of Wisden Asia Cricket features eyewitness accounts of the top 25 innings as voted by our jury. Those contributing their memories of these performances include: Justin Langer, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Bishan Bedi, Glenn McGrath, Madhav Apte, Rajan Bala, Angus Fraser, Scyld Berry, Ramachandra Guha, Tony Cozier, Saqlain Mushtaq, Ajit Wadekar, Mike Whitney and many others.The top 25

Player	Score	v	Venue	Points
VVS Laxman	281	Australia	Kolkata, 2001	268
Dravid	233	Australia	Adelaide, 2003	133
Viswanath	97*	West Indies	Madras, 1975	132
Sehwag	309	Pakistan	Multan, 2004	118
Hazare	145	Australia	Adelaide, 1948	115
Gavaskar	96	Pakistan	Bangalore, 1987	106
Mankad	184	England	Lords, 1952	104
Gavaskar	221	England	The Oval, 1979	83
Tendulkar	155*	Australia	Chennai, 1998	81
Gavaskar	220	West Indies	Port of Spain, 1971	58
Dravid	148	England	Leeds, 2002	56
Viswanath	139	West Indies	Calcutta, 1974	54
Dravid	180	Australia	Kolkata, 2001	46
Pataudi	75	Australia	Melbourne, 1967-68	40
Vengsarkar	102*	England	Leeds, 1986	37
Tendulkar	114	Australia	Perth, 1992	34
Sardesai	112	West Indies	Port of Spain, 1971	29
Mushtaq Ali	112	England	Manchester, 1936	28
Tendulkar	136	Pakistan	Chennai, 1999	26
Dravid	270	Pakistan	Rawalpindi, 2004	26
Lala Amarnath	118	England	Bombay, 1933	25
Azharuddin	121	England	Lords, 1990	22
Mohinder Amarnath	91	West Indies	Bridgetown, 1983	22
Vijay Manjrekar	133	England	Leeds, 1952	17
Chandu Borde	96	West Indies	Delhi, 1959	17

The Jury
Khalid Ansari sportswriter, Madhav Apte former Test player, Abbas Ali Baig former Test player, Rajan Bala sportswriter, Bishan Bedi former Test player, Harsha Bhogle sportswriter and broadcaster, Chandu Borde former Test player, BS Chandrasekhar former Test player, Chetan Chauhan former Test player, Nari Contractor former Test player, Raj Singh Dungarpur former cricketer and administrator, Gulu Ezekiel sportswriter, Anshuman Gaekwad former Test player, Karsan Ghavri former Test player, Ramachandra Guha historian and cricket writer, Mukul Kesavan novelist and cricket writer, Boria Majumdar cricket historian and writer, Sanjay Manjrekar former Test player and broadcaster, Madhav Mantri former Test player, R Mohan sportswriter, Ayaz Memon sportswriter, Suresh Menon sportswriter, Clayton Murzello sportswriter, Bapu Nadkarni former Test player, H Natarajan sportswriter, Vasu Paranjpe former cricketer and coach, Mudar Patherya Sportswriter, Sandeep Patil former Test player, K N Prabhu sportswriter, Vasant Raiji cricket historian and writer, G Rajaraman sportswriter, V Ramnarayan former cricketer and writer, Suresh Saraiya broadcaster, Sharda Ugra sportswriter, Ajit Wadekar former Test player.

In 1922 Hampshire defeated Warwickshire in the county Championship at Edgbaston after having been bowled out for 15, and asked to follow on. In fact the two captains had organised a game of golf the 3rd day. Although todays victory over Glamorgan did not emulate those heights, it was the first time since that 1922 fixture that Hampshire asked to follow their innings went on to an amazing victory.The seeds of doubt were sown in the Glamorgan camp the evening before, at 33-3 John Derrick their coach decided that the evening planned for a team dinner had to be cancelled.Two young men stepped up for Hampshire. Chris Tremlett already tried and trusted although prone to injury, playing his comeback match after split shins shone the brightest. Although there was cloud about to assist the seamers, Tremlett’s extra strength and bounce made the batsmen struggle, but it was James Bruce the other trojan of the day that made the early breakthrough when a quicker ball decieved the dangerous Michael Powell and he was well caught by substitute wicket-keeper Iain Brunnschweiler.Matthew Maynard who many of the Welsh supporters looked to to bring this game back managed to survive for 22 balls, before he was trapped by Tremlett for just 3. Dean Cosker the night-watchman then became Bruce’s third victim with a palpable lbw. Harrison, Croft and Dale all went to Tremlett giving the tall bowler a career best haul, before Dimitri Mascarenhas finished the match when he had Kasprowicz caught superbly in the slips by Simon Katich.Dale who was diagnosed with a broken rib bravely came out.History was made, but perhaps for the season remaining it could be a turning point.One down point of the match was that Nic Pothas has become the third player to sustain a hamstring injury, and is likely to be out for up to three weeks.

Part II: Fond memories from Port of SpainSunil Gavaskar’s favourite ground abroad is the Queen’s Park Oval inPort of Spain, for good reason. But then again, why Gavaskar’s alone?It would probably rank among the favourite foreign venues of manyother Indian cricketers too. After all, where else has Indiaregistered two famous Test victories abroad? If the win in 1971 wassignificant and historic, the triumph five years later was, to put itsimply, one of the greatest in the history of Test cricket, verily amiracle.When India took the field on the opening day of the second Test of the1971 series, it was the 25th encounter between the two countries, andIndia had not won any of the previous 24. Indeed, in 23 Tests, Indiahad not even taken the first innings lead and had achieved this featonly in the previous Test at Kingston. Given their infamous recordabroad, the visitors were given little chance of winning the secondTest, but it was reckoned that a draw was not beyond them.

Historic as that victory was, it pales before the scale ofachievement of the 1976 triumph. The third Test of the four-matchseries was to have been played at Georgetown but was shifted to Portof Spain because of incessant rain in Guyana.

The first signs that India could emerge victorious came on the firstday when West Indies were all out for 214. Now the onus was on theIndian batsmen to consolidate the good work done by the bowlers, and a21-year-old debutant named Sunil Gavaskar provided the perfectspringboard with a patient 65. Ashok Mankad came good with a valuable44, and the two put on 68 runs for the first wicket. The in-form DilipSardesai, who had scored a double hundred in the previous Test, thistime got 112 and with Eknath Solkar (55) added 114 runs for the fifthwicket. Despite the Herculean performance of Jack Noreiga, the offspinner who took nine for 95, India obtained a first innings lead of138 runs. But, by scoring 150 for one in their second innings bystumps on the third day, West Indies came back strongly.The match seemed to hang in the balance as the fourth day commenced,but first Salim Durrani and then Srinivas Venkatraghavan got among thewickets. The veteran left-arm spinner dismissed Clive Lloyd andGarfield Sobers (for a duck) in one over, and then the off-spinnerpolished off the tail. West Indies were bowled out for 261, leavingIndia to get only 124 runs for victory. Not wasting any time, theIndians, spearheaded by another fine innings by Gavaskar (67 not out),who capped a memorable debut by hitting the winning boundary, werehome shortly before stumps on the penultimate day for the loss of justthree wickets. It was the sole decisive result of the five-matchrubber, and that is why the 1971 Port of Spain triumph is doublyfamous.Historic as that victory was, it pales before the scale of achievementof the 1976 triumph. The third Test of the four-match series was tohave been played at Georgetown but was shifted to Port of Spainbecause of incessant rain in Guyana. West Indies, already one up inthe series, led off with 359, thanks in the main to a mighty 177 byVivian Richards, then in the midst of the golden run that was to gethim a record 1710 runs during the year.When India were all out for 228, West Indies had all the time in theworld to consolidate, which they did admirably. With AlvinKallicharran getting an unbeaten 103, Lloyd was able to declare at 271for six, midway through the afternoon of the fourth day. This leftIndia a victory target of 403, in the face of which the chase seemedjust a formality. West Indies had ample opportunity to register theirsecond victory of the series ­ which would have given them the rubber­ and it would have been a Herculean effort for India to even draw thematch. After all, there had been only one precedent in nearly 800 Testmatches of a team scoring over 400 runs to win, and that was in 1948when the Australians, led by Bradman, defeated England at Leeds.However, displaying a positive, never-say-die attitude, the Indianspicked up the gauntlet. Openers Gavaskar and Anshuman Gaekwad, pairedtogether for the first time, put on 69 runs; then Gavaskar andMohinder Amarnath added 108 runs for the second wicket. The dismissalof Gavaskar for 102 at 177 early on the final morning was a majorblow, but Gundappa Viswanath and Amarnath brought the target firmlyinto focus by figuring in a third-wicket association of 159 runs.”India planned their tactics with the perfection of a cricketingLester Piggott, ” Tony Cozier was to write later. Believing that notarget was beyond them, the Indians relentlessly pushed on towardsglory. After Viswanath left, having made 112, Amarnath, who had playedthe sheet anchor role to perfection, and Brijesh Patel carried theIndians to the doorstep of victory before the former was run out for85, made in 442 minutes.By the time he left, though, an unbelievable victory was just roundthe corner, and Patel (49 not out) hastened it with some splendidshots, the winning runs being hit with seven of the 20 mandatory oversstill left. The closing total of 406 for four set a record for thehighest score ever to win a Test match. It still constitutes one ofthe most remarkable victories in Test cricket and, for many, it isstill India’s greatest ever triumph.

Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Marsh will join a group of fellow Test contenders to play for a Cricket Australia XI against New Zealand in a two-day tour match this weekend. The match in Canberra follows on from the Prime Minister’s XI game on Friday and Usman Khawaja will captain both outfits, with four changes to his team for the two-day game on Saturday-Sunday.The Marsh brothers will replace the Hussey brothers and use the match as a warm-up for a possible inclusion for the first Test against New Zealand at the Gabba, while wicketkeeper Sam Whiteman and fast bowler Billy Stanlake will join the side to replace Ryan Carters and Mark Steketee respectively.Shaun Marsh may find himself competing for a place in the Test line-up with openers Cameron Bancroft and Joe Burns, both of whom are in the CA XI as well as the PM’s XI. Adam Voges, Peter Siddle, Jason Behrendorff and Ashton Agar round out the side and will play in both Friday’s PM’s XI game and the two-day contest.”Similar to the Prime Minister’s XI squad, this two-day match will provide an opportunity for us to monitor a group of highly-rated players ahead of the first Test at the Gabba,” national selector Rod Marsh said. “Shaun, Mitch and Sam all are all very talented players and we’re keen to see what they can produce against New Zealand.”Billy Stanlake grabbed our attention when he made his debut in this year’s Matador Cup with an intimidating display against South Australia, taking 3 for 43 from nine overs.”This is also another good leadership opportunity for Usman Khawaja. He performed well when he captained Australia A side on the recent tour of India and this will allow him to build on that experience.”Cricket Australia XI Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja (capt), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Sam Whiteman, Ashton Agar, Peter Siddle, Jason Behrendorff, Billy Stanlake, Ben Taylor (ACT, 12th man).

ScorecardCharlie Hemphrey struck a brisk 79, featuring eight fours and a six•Getty Images

Charlie Hemphrey’s sensible half century guided Queensland to a comfortable victory over Tasmania on the fourth day-night of the Sheffield Shield match at the Gabba.Queensland had restricted Tasmania to 233 in their second innings through an even bowling effort, most notable for the wicketkeeper Chris Hartley’s 500th catch.That left the hosts with a last-day chase of 158, and after Marnus Labuschagne was out early, Hemphrey and Matt Renshaw combined for a stand that soothed any nerves in Queensland’s viewing area and condemned the visitors to defeat.While Renshaw fell one run short of 50, Hemphrey endured, pushing along at a good rate to take Queensland home with plenty of wickets and time to spare.

The team will go on a victory march to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai © Getty Images

The Indian team has been awarded a bonus of US$ 3 million by the Board of Control for Cricket in India for their victorious campaign in the ICC World Twenty20. Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, also announced a cash award of Rs 1 crore [US$ 253,000] to Yuvraj Singh for hitting six sixes in an over in the match against England.The team, which will land in Mumbai on Wednesday morning, will go on a victory march to the Wankhede Stadium where they will be received by Pawar and be presented the prize-money. Pawar appealed to the people and former cricketers to join the march to provide a fitting welcome to the team.Each of the team’s support staff will be awarded Rs 15 lakh [US$ 38,000] for their efforts. India beat Pakistan by five runs in a thrilling final in Johannesburg.Meanwhile, a few state governments too have chipped in with cash rewards for its players. Joginder Sharma, who took the wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq to seal the victory, is set to receive a cash reward of Rs 21 lakh [US$ 52,920] from Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh each [US$ 25,250] for Mumbai players Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar. Rohit Sharma was one of the biggest finds for India after playing crucial roles in the victories over South Africa and Pakistan in the final.Air India, the international airline which employs six players in the squad, announced out-of-turn promotions for each of them. Praful Patel, the civil aviation minister, said that all the 15 members of the winning squad and their family members would also be given additional free travel benefits for five years.The team lost just one match, against New Zealand, in the Super Eights. Following the defeat, the side knocked hosts South Africa out of the tournament and Australia in the semi-final.