All posts by n8rngtd.top

The Report by Danyal Rasool09-Mar-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIslamabad United are beginning to get that 2016 feeling all over again.After having made a shaky start to this year’s campaign, they have been building momentum steadily. Friday’s hapless opponents, Peshawar Zalmi, were crushed by 26 runs. It could well be the day when Islamabad’s train became a juggernaut. With the game long gone, Wahab Riaz and Umaid Asif strung together a 55-run ninth-wicket stand to reduce the margin of defeat.A splendid unbeaten 73 by JP Duminy laid the foundation for the hammering, with Asif Ali’s blazing 45 at the end taking Islamabad to within one run of the tournament’s highest score. Peshawar had, in truth, bowled poorly; no one except Wahab was able to hit either the yorker or bouncer lengths accurately enough, and the 81 runs Misbah-ul-Haq’s men pillaged off the last 37 balls reflected that.No Peshawar batsman was able to spearhead the innings. It was trial by spin here with eight of the nine wickets falling to spin. Samit Patel, the left-arm spinner, was stellar again. He enjoyed grip and turn off the surface to sort the top order out. But it is Zafar Gohar who could generate excitement in the Pakistan cricket circles. Playing in his first game, he exhibited splendid control and flighting the ball up to some of the most fearsome hitters in the game. He took three wickets to effectively end the contest.Where the match was won
None of Peshawar’s top eight managed to score more than 22. Compare that with Islamabad, where Duminy, carried his bat through and took the pressure off the other end. He was supported by cameos from Talat and Luke Ronchi, who scored 29 and 27 respectively. Those scores would’ve been the second-highest for Peshawar. Throw in the scorching 24-ball 45 from Asif at the end, and it’s clear where they won.The men that won it
Peshawar were 53 for 1 after seven overs. They’d set themselves up nicely, until Samit struck several crippling body blows. Kamran Akmal was trapped plumb in front, before Andre Fletcher and Dwayne Smith fell off successive deliveries to the Englishman to expose Peshawar’s middle order sooner than they’d have hpped From there on, the asking rate inexorably went up, which meant they had to take more risks. That resulted in more wickets. Peshawar had been trapped in a vicious circle, and it was Patel who had run rings around them.The magic delivery
Gohar bowled exceptionally well, and was rewarded for it with figures of 3 for 25. At one stage those figures had read 3 for 4. That included a dream ball to Darren Sammy off the second delivery he faced. Flighted nicely, it pitched just outside leg stump, and Sammy closed the face of the bat to flick it to the onside. However, upon bouncing, it gripped and turned so sharply Sammy’s bat was barely in the same postcode. The ball went on to clip off stump.Where they stand
Islamabd go top with 10 points, having one each of their past four games. Peshawar stay fifth, with three wins and four losses.

Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody said that the England opener would complement Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Apr-20184:07

Runorder: Can Sunrisers overcome Warner’s absence?

Sunrisers Hyderabad suffered a huge loss – their first-choice captain and best batsman David Warner was barred from playing the 2018 IPL because of the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa – but the franchise is confident his replacement, England’s Alex Hales, will succeed as an opener.”We strongly felt that he is of international quality, and being a right-hander, should be the perfect complement to left-handed Shikhar Dhawan,” Sunrisers coach Tom Moody said in Hyderabad. “So we opt to use him at the top of the order for a left-right combination.”And he’s recently dedicated to white-ball cricket. He’s fully committed to develop and grow as a white-ball cricketer, and that’s important to our philosophies as a management group. We believe in identifying talent prepared to grow as individual cricketers because we, obviously, as a franchise will grow with them.”Hales will have big shoes to fill. Warner led Sunrisers to the IPL title in 2016, with 848 runs – the second-highest tally in the season – at a strike-rate of over 150. Last season, he was the tournament’s top scorer as Sunrisers made the knockouts.Moody was confident the Sunrisers bench strength would make up for Warner’s absence. “Yes, Dave has been important for us the last couple of years, and he’s led the team well. He’s batted very well, but we feel that the players we have in our squad are capable of taking the opportunity.”Other teams have lost players to injuries too. We’re replacing a good captain in Warner, who was vice-captain of Australian team, with another international captain. There’s nothing we can do with what’s happened with Warner. We’ve moved on from that, so it’s probably a good opportunity for everyone else to move on.”PTI

Moody said the new Sunrisers captain Kane Williamson was an astute reader of the game. “Strategically, Kane’s very, very sound,” Moody said. “He played an important role for the Sunrisers over the last couple of years as an assistant, even though he was not a noted leader, named vice-captain or anything. He showed his leadership in support to Warner in the last few years, and clearly showed that not only is he a natural leader, but he’s someone who’s prepared to step up and stand out.”The upshot of Warner’s success at the top of the order, however, is that he took pressure off the rest. Sunrisers’ middle order has been strengthened this season with the additions of Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan.”There are four, five top-class batsmen in the line-up, which makes it a well-rounded unit,” VVS Laxman, the Sunrisers mentor, said. “It was a conscious effort going into the auction, because over the last two, three years we felt our middle order did not perform to expectations. Shikhar and Warner have been exceptional, and I’m sure Shikhar will continue his good run even this year. This year, we’ve got players who can do well in middle overs, and players who can finish games. We have the liberty of picking from four to five combinations in any given situation to take the field, which not many teams can boast of.”The Sunrisers bowling attack will be spearheaded by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who along with Warner were the only players retained by the franchise. Now, with Shakib Al Hasan, Billy Stanlake and Chris Jordan joining Bhuvneshwar and Rashid Khan, the Sunrisers bowling is stronger.”This time around, it is definite that we will be playing two spinners since Shakib Al Hasan will fit the bill as an allrounder,” Muttiah Muralitharan, the bowling coach, said. “The best part is that Shakib can bowl well in both Powerplay and death overs, while Rashid Khan has been a wicket-taking bowler for us last season. Maybe, we will switch roles between them as far as Powerplays and death overs are concerned.”

Imam-ul-Haq produced the match-winning contribution for Pakistan as they chased down 160 in the fourth innings and denied Ireland a fairytale win

The Report by Alan Gardner15-May-20183:11

Deutrom hopeful of ‘three or four’ Ireland Tests a year

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIn the end, Ireland were beaten in their maiden Test, suffering the same fate as eight of the other ten members of cricket’s most exclusive club. Imam-ul-Haq, the debutant opener, and Babar Azam fashioned the significant partnership Pakistan needed to avert disaster after they had slipped to 14 for 3 chasing 160. But that hardly begins to tell the story of Malahide.Although Ireland only managed to added 20 runs to their overnight 319 for 7, century-maker Kevin O’Brien falling to his first ball on the fifth morning, they had everyone in the ground – and many far beyond – dreaming of a victory worthy of folklore when Tim Murtagh and Boyd Rankin plucked out three wickets in the first five overs of Pakistan’s chase. Not only could Ireland envisage becoming the second team after Australia to win their first Test, they would have done so after following on – a feat achieved three times in the history of the game.Pakistan, haunted by recent failures when set a small-but-testing target, knew they were being set up as the falls guys. Having dismissed Ireland for 130 first time around, it was galling enough that they had managed to pass 300, led by O’Brien’s historic innings. Now Pakistan were in trouble on a green seamer against green opponents (in Test terms), with their two most-experienced batsmen back in the dressing room.Instead, the youngsters stood up. Imam has already dealt with the pressure of expectation – his uncle, Inzamam-ul-Haq, is one of Pakistan’s greatest batsmen, as well as the chief selector – and he played an innings of calm authority to record his maiden half-century, characterised by composure and sound shot selection. He has a tale to tell of Malahide, too, having seemingly been knocked unconscious going for a single from the first ball of the match.The fourth-wicket stand between Imam and Babar, eventually worth 126, steered Pakistan away from calamity, but it was one that Ireland should have broken when the game was still very much alive. In the second over after lunch, Murtagh located his groove once again – and located Babar’s outside edge, only for Andy Balbirnie to drop a straightforward catch diving to his left at third slip. Pakistan could have been 60 for 4, but instead they added 50 runs in the next ten overs. Ireland’s chance was gone.Imam-ul-Haq brought up a fifty on Test debut•Sportsfile/Getty Images

Babar is also a batsman under great scrutiny, as Pakistan adapt to life after the retirements of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan. His ODI batting average is 51.11; going into this match, he averaged less than half of that from 11 Tests. This was his fifth half-century, but he was run out with Pakistan still 20 from victory – Balbirnie half-atoning for his drop with a good bit of fielding.Still Ireland would not lie down, Stuart Thompson claiming the wicket of Sarfraz Ahmed lbw to narrow the margin further. Until the final ball was bowled, and the winning runs struck by Imam, the first Irish men’s Test XI in history did their ICC Full Member status proud.Ireland arrived at the ground in the morning knowing that plenty needed to go their way if the “Miracle of Malahide” was to be fully realised. O’Brien going on to a big hundred would have been the first target, but he could only lean on his bat handle and curse himself after driving hard at Mohammad Abbas in the second over of the day and sending a simple catch to slip. Abbas pocketed the last two wickets, as well, to finish with his second five-for in six Tests.Instinct said that Pakistan might contrive to make life difficult for themselves yet. Murtagh set nerves jangling in his opening over, as Azhar Ali edged a curving delivery to first slip, his attempts to walk down the pitch and combat the swing in vain. Haris Sohail struck one boundary before fencing a rising Rankin delivery to gully and when Asad Shafiq lost his off stump prodding forward at Murtagh, the roars around the ground fuelled Irish belief.Ireland fought to become a Test nation, and believed that they were good enough. Now the rest of the world, surely, believes them too.

Alex Marshall says he has written to known unscrupulous elements on ACU’s radar and warned them they are “not invited” to the World Cup

Nagraj Gollapudi in London24-May-2019An officer from the ICC’s anti-corruption unit (ACU) will, for the first time, travel alongside each of the 10 participating teams in the World Cup. The move is part of the ACU’s drive to stave off the ever-increasing, ever-present danger of corrupt elements who have been frequently implicated in various sport-fixing scandals. However, the ACU is confident that the World Cup is “well protected”.Alex Marshall, the ACU general manager, said that the advantage of having an officer from his unit travel with each team was to instill confidence among the players and support staff in reporting any approach from corruptors. “We have put an anti-corruption manager from my team with each of the squads, my people who work all around the world. Usually this is someone who has worked with the team anyway, goes on tour with them, knows all the players and support staff, and has a good relationship so they can report any concerns,” Marshall said at a media conference at the Oval on Friday.Marshall said the exercise proved to be fruitful when ACU officers travelled recently with a few international teams. “It’s something we’ve used at some of the T20 events around the world, and being away from the ground, it just allows anti-corruption managers to get to know the entire squad very well.”The person who’s with Bangladesh has been on tour with Bangladesh in recent months, knows all the players and all the squad. The person with Afghanistan has been on tour with Afghanistan, knows all the management, knows all the players. We’ve developed a much closer relationship with all the players and the squads, and having them (ACU officers) with them (the squad) throughout the whole of the World Cup just perpetuates that good relationship. The indicators that it’s working are the amount of reporting we’re getting from players.”Unlike his predecessors, Marshall has been more open and aggressive in his stance and words with regards to sending a message to unscrupulous elements. The ACU has identified that the corruptors, having found it hard to tread around players, have been trying to influence people on the “edge” which includes support staff, selectors, administrators, and groundsmen. Recently the ACU charged five people in Sri Lanka, including former captain Sanath Jayasuriya, as part its wide-ranging and longstanding investigations into alleged match-fixing activities. The others who were charged were Sanath Jayasundara, Dilhara Lokuhettige (twice), Nuwan Zoysa (twice), and Avishka Gunawardene.Marshall said the ACU had identified about a “dozen” corrupt elements globally, whose images were being shared with all 10 teams as well as the UK police. “This World Cup will be very, very well protected by anti-corruption (unit) working with police, National Crime Agency and gambling organisations. You can never guarantee any event will be free of an issue – what I can say is that the corruptors know how well protected this event is, they know how professionally it’s run and we have an anti-corruption manager with every single squad, not just at the matches, but away from the matches looking out for these people. And it’s around a dozen people who have had the ‘disinvite’ to the Cricket World Cup 2019 and who we will keep away.”If anymore pop up, we will be speaking to them as well. They are people who live all over the world, but the majority of the corruption we deal with has its origins in the sub-continent, unregulated betting markets.”In an interesting move, Marshall said the ACU had reached out to some of the corruptors – through solicitors and direct communication in some cases – alerting them they would be barred from the World Cup as soon as they were spotted. Some wrote back saying they would not come to the tournament. “I have either written, called or Whatsapped all the corruptors and the other main corruptors we know operating around the world to tell them not to come anywhere near the World Cup. So far they have all promised me they are not coming. But sometimes with corruptors, you find they don’t always tell the truth. So we will be very proactive in keeping on top of them, keeping them away from the tournament.”And that’s going to be enough to keep the corruptors away? “Who knows? I can’t actually prevent somebody getting on plane somewhere, but what I can do is keep communicating with the corruptors, tell them they are not invited to the World Cup, if they are seen here, at the ground, they will be thrown out. We have shared their details with the law enforcement and the police here in the UK – if our guys see them anywhere around the World Cup, they will be asked to leave.”Marshall was confident the various safeguards put in place would make it really difficult for the corruptors to disrupt the World Cup. “When they look at the World Cup they see a very well organised, professional, well governed, well protected event. This is a very tough event for corruptors to come near.”ICC ACU open to amnesty across all cricket?During the probe in Sri Lanka, the ACU also offered amnesty to encourage people to come forward with information. Marshall said the exercise had proved “pretty successful” with about 11 people coming forward. Asked whether the ACU planned to repeat the exercise in other countries, Marshall said he was open, but wanted to first wrap up the Sri Lanka investigation. “Not at the moment. We are still digging with what came from the amnesty – you will see we charged three people last weekend from Sri Lanka and there are more cases in the pipeline.”When we come to the end of that, we will then evaluate whether we repeat that elsewhere or in fact across the whole of cricket. It was pretty successful – 11 people came forward and we got quite a lot of new information.”

A win will take Afghanistan to the top of the Group B points table

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-20252:26

Abhinav Mukund impressed by Afghanistan’s on-field trial

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat against Afghanistan in their Asia Cup clash in Abu Dhabi.Bangladesh captain Litton Das said the pitch looked a bit on the slow side, despite the Abu Dhabi surface having been better for batting recently. Rashid Khan said Afghanistan would have liked to bat first as well.Bangladesh made four changes with Saif Hassan, Nurul Hasan, Taskin Ahmed and Nasum Ahmed coming in. Mahedi Hasan, Pervez Hossain Emon, Shoriful Islam and Mahedi Hasan missed out. Afghanistan, meanwhile, named an unchanged XI.Related

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A win for Afghanistan On Tuesday will take them to the top of the Group B points table.Bangladesh: 1 Tanzid Hasan Tamim, 2 Saif Hassan, 3 Litton Das (capt & wk), 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Nurul Hasan, 6 Jaker Ali, 7 Shamim Hossain, 8 Nasum Ahmed, 9 Rishad Hossain, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Taskin AhmedAfghanistan: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Sediqullah Atal, 3 Ibrahim Zadran, 4 Gulbadin Naib, 5 Karim Janat, 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan (capt), 9 Noor Ahmad, 10 AM Ghazanfar, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi

Century opening stand with Zak Crawley sets the platform as Sean Dickson ends the day unbeaten on 146

ECB Reporters Network30-Jun-2019Sean Dickson put Warwickshire’s patched-up side to the sword with a season’s best 146 not out as Kent cantered to 338 for 2 on the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship match in Canterbury. In the best batting conditions of the summer, Dickson featured in two century stands for the sixth-placed hosts that ensured Warwickshire, in seventh, had plenty of leather chasing to do during a one-sided opening day of 96 overs.Batting first after winning the toss, Zak Crawley and Dickson made hay with their season’s best opening stand of 132 against a makeshift Bears’ attack shorn of six first-choice bowlers through injury or unavailability.With such a lengthy list of absentees, Warwickshire named two loan signings in Ben Mike, brought in from Leicestershire, and Toby Lester, as well as James Wainman, the former Yorkshire left-arm seamer, recently signed on a short-term deal as a free agent.Sensing their opportunity, Dickson and Crawley latched onto anything loose to post 50 at a run-a-minute with Crawley plundering five boundaries to Dickson’s brace. Some brief cloud cover allowed Warwickshire to re-group and send down four maidens through Wainman and Will Rhodes, but the return of blue skies rekindled Kent’s dominance with the bat as Crawley stroked his ninth boundary through extra cover to move to a 68-ball 50 and take Kent into lunch on 116 without loss.After the resumption Dickson posted his second half-century of the summer from 99 balls and with five fours as he and Crawley went past 128, their previous best opening stand of the season scored against Surrey at Beckenham in May.But soon after notching his 700th first-class run of the season Crawley fell leg before for 72 after missing an attempted flick through midwicket to a Rhodes inducker. Their stand of 132 was Kent’s best first-wicket partnership on the ground in Championship cricket since David Fulton and Joe Denly hit 123 against Middlesex in 2006.Dickson and Denly, now in his second stint with Kent, both ploughed on adding 54 inside 16 overs before Denly, tied down on 22 after an hour at the crease, needlessly flung the bat at a wide one from Matt Lamb to be caught at slip.Kent secured a first batting bonus shortly before tea, then Dickson reached his second century of the summer early in the final session from 212 balls with 10 fours. With a second batting point under their belts, Dickson and Daniel Bell-Drummond tried to accelerate, but Jeetan Patel, the Warwickshire offspinner and skipper, sent down 21 frugal overs either side of tea to keep the run-rate in check.Even so, Kent’s third-wicket partners notched a century stand in 34 overs with Bell-Drummond reaching his half-century from 122 balls that also raised Kent’s 300.Patel finally rested, allowing Lester and Wainman to share the second new ball, but Warwickshire’s wicketless run increased to 43 overs as Kent reached stumps without further alarm with Bell-Drummond on 68 not out.

Samit Patel’s 62-ball hundred heaped untold levels of suffering upon the Leicester crowd as Notts raced to new batting heights on the ground

ECB Reporters Network23-May-2018
ScorecardA brilliant century from Samit Patel, hit off just 62 balls, steered Nottinghamshire to a ground record score of more than 400 in beating Leicestershire by 93 runs on a flat pitch at the Fischer County Ground.Put in to bat by Leicestershire captain Michael Carberry, Notts’ openers Riki Wessells and Chris Nash set the tone by compiling a partnership of 118 in just 15.1 overs before Wessells, having hit four huge sixes in racing to 76 from 44 balls, steered Neil Dexter’s first ball into the hands of Mark Cosgrove at backward point.Nash’s 56 (his highest score since joining Nottinghamshire from Sussex) was relatively circumspect, coming at slightly over a run a ball before he clipped a Gavin Griffiths’ delivery high to deep backward square, but although New Zealand international Ross Taylor went relatively cheaply, Leicestershire paid dearly for dropping Tom Moores on 21: the diminutive left-hander added another 55 runs in going to 76 from 62 balls before failing to clear Paul Horton at mid-off.Patel took over, first in ensuring the run rate did not slip below seven runs an over, and then in the company of captain Steven Mullaney and Billy Root, accelerating past 400. The former England international, who earlier this week signed a new contract keeping him at Trent Bridge until the end of 2020, hit 14 fours and two sixes as Nottinghamshire went on to register their fourth highest List A scoreColin Ackermann’s outstanding catch to dismiss him, caught above his head as he was falling over the boundary rope at deep extra cover, lobbed back in and caught again diving back on to the field, was of scant consolation for the Foxes as they conceded the highest score made against the county in List A cricket.Leicestershire’s reply could hardly have begun more badly, the driving Carberry inside-edging a wide half-volley from Jake Ball on to his stumps in the first over.Ackermann did not last much longer, Patel making good ground running back to hold a skied drive in Ball’s next over to leave the home team struggling on 13 for 2.If Leicestershire were to retain any realistic hopes of reaching their target they needed a big innings from Mark Cosgrove, but the Australian bottom edged a pull at a short ball from Harry Gurney into his stumps for just 11. When Paul Horton followed for 35, caught down the legside by wicketkeeper Moores off Gurney, the game was effectively over, but Leicestershire’s middle and lower order worked hard to reduce the dame to their net run-rate, with Tom Wells and Callum Parkinson both passing 50.

The six teams each in men’s and women’s categories are set to be decided based on the top-ranked team from each continent

Nagraj Gollapudi31-Jul-2025The ICC is set to approve a continental qualification system to decide the six participating teams in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. That means that Full Members such as Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka among others, could miss out on cricket’s much-anticipated return to the Olympics after over a century.ESPNcricinfo understands that the board discussed a proposal at the recent AGM which allows for one team from each continent. Though some details still need to be finalised, in essence, the majority approval for a regional qualification system is in place, with a minority of members expressing dissent.Six teams each in the men’s and women’s categories will contest for Olympic medals between July 14 and 29 in 2028 after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed cricket to be added to the roster for the first time since the Paris 1900 Olympics. While the ICC’s initial thinking was that it would shortlist the top six-ranked teams at a pre-determined cut-off date, several Full Member countries believed such an approach wouldn’t allow for a wider representation of countries from across the globe.Related

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That has now changed to a one-country-per-continent qualification system, which is thought to be more in line with the Olympic participation ethos.Which countries are shortlisted will be based on the rankings on a set date. But if the ICC plan goes through, it could mean the Olympics may not have one of the most widely watched contests in global sport: India vs Pakistan. Based on the current ICC T20 rankings, in both men’s and women’s competitions, India will qualify from Asia, Australia from Oceania, England from Europe, with one between USA or one of the islands from the Caribbean from the Americas, while South Africa qualify from Africa. ESPNcricinfo understands that the ICC is still discussing the participation of USA, who potentially get direct entry as hosts.But questions remain around the make-up of the USA men’s team, the majority of whom are US residents but not naturalised US citizens. The ICC is also concerned that the USA women’s team are not in the top 20-ranked teams at the moment. A final decision is likely to be taken at the ICC’s next quarterly meeting in October.The ECB, along with Cricket Scotland and Cricket Ireland, have formed Great Britain Cricket as an entity, which will help facilitate players from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland to represent Great Britain at the Games.An artist impression of Brisbane Stadium in Victoria Park for Brisbane 2032 Olympics•Queensland Government

As for West Indies, CWI wrote to ICC in May, pitching two ideas that could allow one of the regional countries to represent the Caribbean in the Olympics. One suggestion was an internal qualifying tournament conducted among the Caribbean countries with the winner heading to the Olympics. The other involved conducting a global qualifying pathway that would pit countries in the five ICC development regions alongside regions in the West Indies.For the sixth team, the ICC is considering the option of a global qualifier, the structure for which is still being fine-tuned.Speaking on Thursday to BBC’s , ECB chairman Richard Thompson said that the IOC was keen on having a team from each continent which satisfies the Olympics charter. “The preference from the IOC is to work to the ‘five ring’ principle, which is teams from each of the continents represent their continent,” Thompson said.The ICC is also optimistic about increasing the number of participating teams in the next two Olympics – in 2032 in Brisbane and in 2036, the venue for which is yet to be finalised by IOC. Thompson said that with India expected to bid hard to host the 2036 Summer Games, cricket could receive a massive boost.”The hope is, when we get to Brisbane, we might be up to eight or ten teams, and in 2036, there’s a three-way shoot-out between Qatar, Saudi and India, and clearly the real hope is that India get in it 2036, in which case, cricket will be front and centre. Who knows? It could be ten or 12 teams by that stage.”At this stage, we are there by the invitation of the IOC and on that basis, you abide by their rules, and that is to play the geography of your game as opposed to necessarily the top six playing nations.”

Former Test opener believes Smith should stay at the top against India after requesting the role last summer

Yash Jha08-Oct-2024Who will open for Australia? Who should open for Australia? Should Steven Smith continue at the top of the order or shift back to number four? These questions have surrounded the Australian Test set-up for a while, and are only gaining traction ahead of India’s visit to Australia next month.”Steve Smith made the call to be able to go and open, and I think he should stay there”. That’s the verdict from Shane Watson as the clock ticks down to the year-end Border-Gavaskar Trophy.”Obviously the safety blanket for him would be moving back to No. 4, but I would love to see him continue to take on the opening spot because he’s got the skill to be able to do it,” Watson said at the sidelines of the launch of the International Masters League in Mumbai on Tuesday.Related

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Smith’s move up the order following David Warner’s retirement after the New Year’s Test against Sydney has been a subject of widespread debate, with no clear winner. Watson himself had backed Cameron Green to succeed as Test opener before Smith’s promotion, but has been convinced otherwise by Green’s performances – headlined by a career-best match-winning 174 not out against New Zealand in Wellington.”Cameron Green came in and batted at No. 4 and did a brilliant job,” Watson said. “His hundred that he got in New Zealand was something very special and he’s the perfect No. 4 candidate now with the future, moving forward.”As if not tricky enough already, Australia’s situation has been further complicated as they sweat on Green’s availability for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which starts in Perth on November 22. The 25-year-old allrounder was flown home from the UK following the third ODI against England after complaining of soreness in his lower back. He has had four previous stress fractures prior to his Test debut in 2020 but the exact nature of his current injury has yet to be confirmed. Cricket Australia’s medical team have been carefully assessing scans over the past two weeks to map out a plan for his recovery with an announcement on his availability for the India series expected to come this week.Smith’s four-Test stint as opener so far has yielded 171 runs – over half of which came in one innings against West Indies – at an average of 28.50, but Watson thinks it’s not a problem caused by his batting position.”I believe the reason why he didn’t do so well over the previous couple of Test matches is just [that] he was a little bit off with his technique,” Watson said. “You see [saw] him getting out a couple of ways which I’ve never really seen him get out before.”I know he would’ve had time just to go away, make some little technical adjustments, and if he opens and he makes those little adjustments, he can be incredibly successful as an opening batter knowing the incredible skill that he’s got.”

<Should Brisbane have been the venue for the first Test instead of Perth?

The Gabba will not host the first Test this summer•Getty Images

Watson also voiced his dissatisfaction with the decision to keep Perth as the venue for the opening game of the five-Test series and not Brisbane, traditionally the starting point of Australian Test summers.”I’m a traditionalist at heart. Growing up, the Gabba was always the first Test match and that’s the Test match I used to go to,” the former Australia allrounder said before highlighting the challenge Gabba poses to visiting sides.”The Gabba is a more challenging place to play for the foreign teams because there’s bounce, there’s seam, there’s swing, and it’s hot and humid. So it just provides a few more challenges, whereas Perth, for example, it’s not humid, the ball doesn’t swing as much, doesn’t necessarily seam as much as well.”I always just love the Gabba as being the place for the touring team to be able to come in and have to try and just take on the Australian conditions at their most challenging.”The ‘Gabbatoir’ had been an Australian stronghold for decades, with Australia boasting a 16-2 win-loss record in Tests in Brisbane in the last 20 years. But the fortress has been breached of late. West Indies claimed an upset 8-run win in January, while India famously clinched the 2020-21 series by handing Australia their first Test defeat at the Gabba in 32 years. The ground is also coming towards the end of its use for life with CA only signing a two-year agreement to play Test matches there with doubts over the Gabba’s viability beyond that as Brisbane requires upgraded infrastructure to host the 2032 Olympic games.

Mohammed Siraj has lost his place to Arshdeep Singh in India’s 15-man squad

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jan-20256:08

Rohit: We have all bases covered in the spin attack

Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav have been named in India’s provisional 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy, which begins on February 19. The same squad will take on England in three ODIs in early February, with Harshit Rana coming into the set-up as back-up for Bumrah, who may not be ready for the first two matches of the bilateral series.There were injury concerns over both Bumrah and Kuldeep ahead of the selection on Saturday, with Kuldeep not having played any competitive cricket since his hernia surgery in November, while Bumrah had suffered a stress-related injury during the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Kuldeep has been building up his bowling load at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and is understood to be bowling 10-12 overs at a go.The 15-man squad will be led by Rohit Sharma, with Shubman Gill as his vice-captain, and also includes Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was picked for the first time in ODIs. He is likely to be the reserve opener for the Champions Trophy.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

With Virat Kohli the No. 3, the middle order has the same look as the squad for the 2023 ODI World Cup with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul retaining their spots, along with allrounders Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Apart from Rahul, Rishabh Pant is the other wicketkeeper in the 15, preferred ahead of Sanju Samson who did not take part in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy. Washington Sundar is the fourth allrounder in the squad, which includes only four specialist bowlers.Mohammed Shami, who was recently named in the T20I squad for the upcoming home series against England following a long injury layoff, was also named in the Champions Trophy squad. He last played international cricket at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where he was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets.Related

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Mohammed Siraj did not find a place in the 15, with the left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh earning a spot after finishing as the highest wicket-taker in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and impressive performances in international cricket – he was the top wicket-taker in India’s ODI series in South Africa in 2023.The final squad for the Champions Trophy must be submitted to the ICC by February 11.India play three bilateral ODIs against England on February 6, 9 and 12 – their first 50-over games since the tour of Sri Lanka in August last year – before the Champions Trophy. India are in Group A in the Champions Trophy and begin their campaign against Bangladesh on February 20, after which they play Pakistan on February 23, and New Zealand on March 2. India play all their matches in Dubai because their government refused to let the team travel to Pakistan.

India squad for Champions Trophy 2025

Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill (vice-capt), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja