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A squad that contains nine players who have played fewer than 20 ODI matches is on the path to find consistency before the World Cup

Varun Shetty in Guwahati20-Oct-20181:31

Chance for new faces to show what they have got – Holder

It’s time for another West Indies series, and that means, once again, it’s time for Jason Holder and the team’s leadership to try and achieve results in the face of forced changes. While opener Evin Lewis’ withdrawal from the limited-overs leg of the India tour for personal reasons isn’t in the same vein as some of the more controversial pulling outs West Indies have seen in recent years, it is a massive setback for a squad that contains nine players who have played fewer than 20 ODIs.

Nobody’s given us a chance. That’s incentive for us – Law

Although the West Indies squad is inexperienced, the head coach Stuart Law insisted that they had more than enough talent to surprise their doubters.
“[This series] is all about opportunity. These kids have been identified throughout T20 tournaments and domestic cricket back home,” he said. “So they’re really green. But sometimes the greener you are, the less fear you have. You don’t know the unknown. I notice in the press that everyone’s given us absolutely no chance to win a game. That’s incentive for us. It’s great for us to also have no expectations from the media and the public. We’re supposed to get our backsides handed to us but it’s great motivation for us to show that we’re not just here to make up the numbers.”

“It’s hard to lose a player who has been around and has some success in the particular format we’re playing in. No doubt, it’s tough,” Holder said. “You obviously set your plans and you formulate your plans around the composition you would have selected. [To have someone pull out at] such a late time is tough.”I’ve got to only cope with what I can, I’ve got to control what I can. I’ve been given a task to marshal the troops that we have here. Know that I’ll be going out on the field trying to give my best with the side. For me, it’s just leading from the front and leading by example with my own personal performances. We’ve set up roles for everyone, so everyone can carry out their roles and make the team’s success a lot easier.”Holder has been on a steep rise over the last 18 months or so, particularly in Tests, where along with a vast improvement in his all-round skills, he has led West Indies to six wins alongside coach Stuart Law. He has emerged with a reputation of being an up-and-coming young leader of a young team, but that is far from the case behind the scenes.”Funnily enough, I’m staring down the barrel of my 27th birthday next month,” Holder said. “I’ve been around for a little, but I’m relatively still young as well. I’m playing the father figure role, trying to mentor and nourish the young talent we have. It’s enjoyable for me. I like things like this. I love challenges. The talent we have in the Caribbean is something that really excites me.””You see young people like Fabian Allen who has come into this team or [Obed] McCoy… he’s done really well for us in domestic cricket, so we’ve got good talent here. This is the future for West Indies cricket. Obviously for anyone coming into international cricket, there’s a bit of nerves and pressure trying to solidify yourself into the side. Hopefully, those guys can put that aside and channel the nervous energy in the right direction.”That direction is next year’s World Cup, for which West Indies qualified with some difficulty earlier this year. And there are spots to be filled. Before pulling out of the tour, Lewis rejected a contract with Cricket West Indies; Chris Gayle, who was part of the team that played in the qualifiers, has been told that he won’t have an automatic place in the World Cup squad, and Andre Russell has been battling his own hamstrings, which are currently incapable of getting him through 50-overs cricket. With that reality, West Indies and their plethora of youngsters have 13 ODI matches between now and the World Cup to emerge as a settled team. And there are specific challenges they are looking to overcome.”Consistency is one of the main things we need to look at,” Holder said. “Particularly in our batting. We haven’t really been able to get consistent scores in excess of 300. A lot of times you’ve got to be able to set your benchmark around 300 or 320. That’s one area that our batters really need to look at. We’ve spoken about it in our dressing room and we need be to hitting that mark more often than not and be consistently doing it.”It’s a big test to play against India in India. This gives us a really good gauge to see where we’re at. This team is fairly competent in terms of one-day cricket. We had a really good time in the World Cup qualifiers, which was a challenge you know, playing in Zimbabwe – turning tracks playing against opponents you know very little about. That was a challenge in itself and we had a Test series against Bangladesh, one we felt we should have done a lot better in but we weren’t able to clinch it with confidence. So, all to play for here. Again, it’s another opportunity for players. No doubt it’ll be very competitive in terms of selection.”

Stokes picked up a back problem during the one-day series, which was his return to international cricket, and was unable to bowl in the first Test at Eden Park

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Apr-2018Ben Stokes has been “frustrated” by his back injury in New Zealand but has also been heartened by the pace he has been able to achieve off a shortened run-up.Stokes picked up a back problem during the one-day series, which was his return to international cricket after missing the Ashes and one-day series in Australia, and was unable to bowl in the first Test at Eden Park. In Christchurch he sent down six overs in New Zealand’s first innings and is hopeful he will be back towards full tilt in a couple of weeks.”It’s been frustrating. I had a few injections into an injury I had when I was a kid,” Stokes told . “At the same time it’s getting slowly better. It’s a patience game, a day-to-day thing. Hopefully in a week or two times it will be good to go.”Stokes has been working with Chris Silverwood, England’s bowling coach, on trying and get his delivery stride into a straighter line to ease the pressure on his back.”I’m working alignment…it’s more a long-term plan,” he said. “I think if I can cancel out my dip-in, which obviously loads my lower back where I’ve had the pain recently, that will do me good in the future”When I was looking at my paces off that [short run-up] I was bowling as fast as I normally do. I don’t think I’ll resort to that short of a run-up but it proves to me that I don’t need to over-try. Sometimes I’ve been guilty of that.”Stokes most significant performance so far in the two Tests was his second-innings 66 in Auckland which gave England hope of saving the game before he fell to ill-judged hack at Neil Wagner in the over before dinner. Stokes batted at No. 5 in that match, a position coach Trevor Bayliss sees as a long-term option, though he was back to No. 6 in Christchurch.”I won’t look back on the dismissal with too much pleasure but I had time at the crease which was a pleasing thing,” he said. “Going forward it’s a template I can use, I have the game to push games on but also the patience to survive.”Stokes will head to the IPL at the conclusion of the New Zealand tour to join Rajasthan Royals before returning to England ahead of the Test series against Pakistan which starts on May 24.

India A fired a warning to England Lions and West Indies A ahead of the forthcoming tri-Series with an emphatic victory over an ECB XI

ECB Reporters Network17-Jun-20182:25

‘Important to play close to the body in England’ – Shaw

ScorecardIndia A fired a warning to England Lions and West Indies A ahead of the forthcoming tri-Series with an emphatic victory over an ECB XI in the first game of their tour at Headingley.India A, coached by Rahul Dravid, had been due to play Yorkshire, but the ECB put together alternative opposition from county cricket because of Yorkshire’s progress in the Royal London One-Day Cup.India A fielded a team including three players with senior international experience and plenty of others who have made an impact in the IPL, and they quickly adapted to English conditions to post a total of 328 for 8 – then dismissed the ECB XI for 203.Prithvi Shaw, who captained India to victory in the ICC Under-19s World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year, set the tone with a sparkling innings of 70 from 61 balls including seven fours and three sixes.Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, the tour captain who has made 12 white-ball international appearances, added half centuries at quicker than a run a ball, although the ECB XI did slow the run rate for periods with the Gloucestershire allrounder Ryan Higgins the pick of the attack, earning 4 for 50 from his 10 overs.Higgins had Shaw caught behind edging a drive to Alex Davies, the Lancashire wicketkeeper who was captaining the Board XI, and later in the same over bowled Hanuma Vihari off an inside edge.Sussex allrounder Delray Rawlins picked up the wicket of Vijay Shankar, chipping to mid-on where Surrey’s Will Jacks took the second of his three catches, having already snapped up Mayank Agarwal at backward point off Tom Barber.Rawlins then took two catches in consecutive balls to give Higgins his third and fourth wickets, following a simple take at long-off to dismiss Kishan with an acrobatic effort at mid-off to send back Iyer.Ollie Robinson and Jamie Overton each picked up a wicket in the closing overs, although the Mumbai Indians all-rounder Krunal Pandya kept up the attack with 34 from 28 balls including two sixes.The Indians were equally impressive with the ball, with their seamers especially relishing the gloomy conditions as the Headingley floodlights were switched on.Deepak Chahar had Davies flicking to mid-wicket, and a promising innings from the Gloucestershire opener George Hankins ended on 27 when he pulled Khaleel Ahmed to mid-on.Jacks hit two sixes before falling lbw to Axar Patel, a left-arm spinner who has played 38 ODIs for India, and the Derbyshire left-hander Ben Slater played some of the day’s best shots in making 37 from 38 balls before he edged Shankar behind.That turned out to be the second top score of the innings, behind Slater’s county team-mate Matt Critchley, who was ninth out for 40.Rawlins swept two boundaries off Patel but was bowled going for a third, Harry Finch was bowled by a beauty from Prasidh Krishna, and Higgins was run out after a mix-up with Critchley.Chahar, a 25-year-old seamer who was an IPL regular for Chennai Super Kings, polished off the last two wickets to end with 3 for 48.

Bell finished unbeaten on 145 as Warwickshire chased down 300 in a match featuring four individual centuries

ECB Reporters Network01-Jun-2018Warwickshire 300 for 5 (Bell 145*, Trott 100) beat Durham 299 for 8 (Smith 119, Richardson 111, Patel 3-51) by five wickets
ScorecardIan Bell scored a brilliant unbeaten century to guide Warwickshire to a five-wicket win over Durham in their Royal London One-Day Cup match at Emirates Riverside.Bell was outstanding with fellow former England man Jonathan Trott, who also scored a hundred, as the two players shared a stand of 202 to grind down Durham’s total before Bell saw his side through to the victory. Will Smith and Michael Richardson both scored centuries for the home side, but their efforts were in vain as the Bears edged the contest.The visitors won the toss and elected to field. Olly Stone and Keith Barker struck early to remove Paul Collingwood and Graham Clark, while Tom Latham also fell cheaply for 13.Smith joined Richardson with the score at 54 for 3. Richardson found his rhythm, although before his first milestone of the day he was dropped by Sam Hain on 47.Richardson made his half-century off 49 balls, maintaining his solid form in the 50-over game. Smith too relaxed into his innings, and the pair were able to put Warwickshire under pressure. They reached their 100-partnership off 102 balls before Smith brought up his fifty in style with a massive six off Stone.Durham passed 200 with back-to-back boundaries from Richardson, who reached his second List A century. He reached his highest 50-over score of 111 before he was dismissed, ending his partnership of 161 with Smith. Smith upped the ante to reach his hundred off 98 balls, including eight boundaries and a six. He fell in the final over for 119, although the home side were still able to post 299 from their 50 overs.Warwickshire were put on the back foot in their reply as Ed Pollock and Sam Hain were dismissed within the opening three overs. However, Trott and Bell proved their quality to stabilise the innings.Trott played with a fine tempo to his innings and was the first of the experienced pair to reach his half-century off 68 balls, and soon brought up the 100-partnership with Bell from 125 deliveries. Bell took slightly longer than his partner to score his fifty, getting over the mark in 74 deliveries, scoring five boundaries as the visitors continued to grind down the total.The experience of both former England players took the game away from Durham. The two veterans displayed nous to knock the ball around the park and dispatch the ball to the boundary when necessary to keep the required rate down. They continued the imperious nature of their batting, working the ball around the ground, reaching the 200 partnership off 207 deliveries.Trott was the first to three figures, calmly stroking the ball down the ground to reach his 22nd List A century, although he fell drilling a Collingwood delivery straight to Richardson. Bell remained focused and brought up his hundred from 108 balls.The wickets of Adam Hose and Tim Ambrose did not deter Bell as finished his flawless innings with a flurry of late boundaries to secure the vital victory.

With Phil Simmons pulling out of the race, the shortlist has shrunk from six candidates to five

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Aug-2019India are gearing up to announce their next head coach. Former captain Kapil Dev and his Cricket Advisory Committee made up of former coach Anshuman Gaekwad and former women’s captain Shanta Rangaswamy are conducting meetings with the candidates and are expected to make a final call on Friday evening. ESPNcricinfo understands that the shortlist shrunk from six candidates to five on Friday, with Phil Simmons pulling out of the race.Of the candidates appearing in front of the CAC, Shastri, who is in the West Indies with the India squad, was the last to take his interview. Here’s a quick look at everyone still in the running.Ravi ShastriThe incumbent and the favourite. Shastri has been on the job since the end of the Champions Trophy in 2017 and received strong and public endorsement three weeks ago when India’s captain Virat Kohli backed him to keep the job. India were ranked No. 1 in Tests and ODIs at various times during Shastri’s last tenure, made it to the World Cup semi-final and beat Australia in Australia for the first time in Test history.Mike HessonThe strategist. You might have noticed him on cricket broadcasts explaining how teams could go about getting players like Kane Williamson out. Well, imagine that info going directly to the Indian dressing room. Hesson coached New Zealand to the World Cup final in 2015 and is widely considered to be quite astute at reading conditions and helping his players adapt to them. New Zealand showed that during the World T20 in 2016 when they went into their opening game on a rank turner without their two best bowlers Trent Boult and Tim Southee and bowled India out for 79.Tom MoodyThe franchise heavyweight. Moody’s been everywhere. He led Sunrisers Hyderabad to their first IPL title in 2016. He’s been with Rangpur Riders in Bangladesh, Multan Sultans in Pakistan, Melbourne Renegades in Australia (as director of cricket) and has been sought after in international cricket as well. He was coach of Sri Lanka for a while and was in line to take charge of England before losing out to Trevor Bayliss.Robin SinghFour-time IPL champion. He’s been with Mumbai Indians for nearly a decade and that trophy cabinet keeps getting bigger. Robin has also worked with the Indian team previously – he was the fielding coach when they won the inaugural World T20 in 2007. Outside of that he’s had stints with India’s Under-19 and A teams, the Hong Kong national team, USA’s women’s team, CPL side Barbados Tridents and domestic teams in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.Lalchand RajputThe outsider. But, he was India’s manager when they went on that fairytale run in the 2007 World T20 followed by the tri-series win in Australia. As a player, he was one of those opening batsmen that was very hard to get out. And as a coach, he’s had brief stints with Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and India A.

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The Kapil-led CAC was formed after the previous panel, comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, had to be disbanded owing to the BCCI Ethics Officer finding the last two subject to conflicts of interest under the new constitution of the board. Incidentally, a conflict complaint has been lodged against all three members of the Kapil-led CAC with the BCCI’s ethics officer DK Jain yet to give a verdict.In fact, the former India women captain, Diana Edulji, who sits on the three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA), the supervisory authority of the BCCI, was against the formation of the Kapil-led CAC saying the CoA did not have the powers to appoint the ad-hoc panel. However, her two other CoA colleagues, Vinod Rai and Ravindra Thodge, approved the Kapil-led CAC even though Jain has not yet given his clearance.GMT 1055 The article was updated with the news of Simmons pulling out.

On managing workloads of Jasprit Bumrah & Co: “We’re going to take a call on a match-to-match basis,” Shubman Gill says

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-20252:50

‘Nothing is pre-decided’ – Gill on Bumrah’s workload

It’s “very important” for India to do well in the two-Test series against West Indies after they were blanked 3-0 in their previous home Test series by New Zealand, Shubman Gill said on the eve of the first Test in Ahmedabad.”We are looking to play some hard, grinding cricket. Over the past few years, if you see the Test matches, they haven’t got to five days. So what we are looking to do is play some good, hard cricket,” Gill said at a press conference. “All the Test matches that we played in England went pretty deep [all five Tests went into the fifth day]. And I think what you can expect from us is good, hard, grinding cricket and we won’t be looking for any easy options.”And I think we have the skills to dominate in any kind of situation and the kind of talent we have got in the team, we can turn around from any situation, so that’s what we will be looking to play.”Related

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In recent years, when India have hosted teams for Test cricket, spin-friendly pitches have been prepared more often than not. Seeing how well India competed in the 2-2 series in England earlier this year, what sort of pitch should we expect?”I can’t speak about the conversations before I came, but we would be looking to play on wickets that offer [something] to both the batsmen and to the bowlers,” Gill said. “But, having said that, any team that comes to India, the challenge is the spin and reverse swing. These are the two things that, if teams can play spin well and if they can challenge the reverse swing, they are going to get good success.”So keeping these challenges in mind, you’d be looking to play on wickets that offer [something] to the batsmen and the bowlers.”In England, India picked a pace-heavy bowling attack, and the only spinners in the mix were the allrounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, with Kuldeep Yadav sitting out all five Tests. Two days out from the Test, the Ahmedabad pitch appeared to be greener than anticipated.”The weather and wickets we have in India, it will be difficult to follow that template [employed in England],” Gill said. “We have such quality in our team. Someone like Kuldeep, such a wicket-taker for us in all formats, didn’t get a chance to play in England, which was very unfortunate. Here, I think, playing four spinners, and spinners of such quality, you are always tempted to look at the batting depth, you have to just weigh in your options, what can give you a bit more.”6:18

Aaron on Bumrah: India not taking any chances after NZ drubbing

Will Jasprit Bumrah play both Tests?

It was a constant talking point in England after it had been announced before the series that Jasprit Bumrah would play only three of the five Tests to manage his fitness. What happens now?”We’re going to take a call on a match-to-match basis depending on how long a Test match goes on and how many overs our fast bowlers bowl,” Gill said. “Nothing is pre-decided. We’re going to take the call once the Test match is over and how our fast bowlers feel and how their bodies feel after the match.”And what about Gill himself? Going from red-ball cricket in England to white-ball cricket in the UAE and back to red-ball cricket, on a red-soil pitch this time, just three days after winning the T20 Asia Cup?”For a batsman, I don’t think it’s physical fatigue. It’s more mental for a batsman. That’s a little different for a bowler,” he said. “As of now, I feel fresh and my body is ready. I am just looking at what I have to do this week and next week and that’s how I will be taking my decisions.”

Next year’s edition will be the fourth time Bangladesh women will participate in the T20 World Cup after 2014, 2016 and 2018

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Sep-2019Thailand women made history on Thursday by qualifying for their maiden Women’s T20 World Cup, to be played in Australia next year. They did so with an emphatic eight-wicket win by chasing 68 against Papua New Guinea in Dundee, where Thailand dominated the game with an all-round display that saw a frugal bowling performance, two run-outs and a convincing batting show.Thailand’s feat was achieved in the 18th over with 15 balls to spare when left-handed Nattaya Boochatham flicked a full toss from medium-pacer Ravina Oa to midwicket where a fumble helped the batsmen complete a quick single. As soon as Boochatham and her partner Nannapat Koncharoenkai completed the winning run, their team-mates burst on to the ground, some with arms raised, some running joyously towards the pitch, and eventually all of them huddled around the two unbeaten batsmen. After the necessary handshakes with their opponents and match officials, the entire team came together once again to form a line and thank the crowd with their hands pressed together and a slight bow, before breaking out into wilder celebrations.Thailand’s journey to the 2020 T20 World Cup first saw them winning the seven-team T20 World Cup Asia Region Qualifier at home in February this year, which was part of a 17-match winning streak in T20Is from July 2018 to August 2019 that saw them qualify for the main qualifiers in Scotland. In this tournament, they topped Group B with three wins out of as many matches to set up semi-final clash with PNG. The winners of the two semi-finals were to qualify for the T20 World Cup and Thailand did so along with Bangladesh, who beat Ireland earlier in the day.Thailand’s chase was led by No. 3 Naruemol Chaiwai, who scored 32 runs out of their total of 68. She scored briskly in the two substantial partnerships for Thailand, of 31 and 33. Thailand were only four runs away from the historic moment when Chaiwai lobbed a simple catch to mid-off in the 16th over, before Boochatham scored the winning runs nine balls later. Chaiwai struck two fours whereas her opening partner Nattakan Chantam scored three during her 31-ball 18. PNG used as many as seven bowlers but their total wasn’t big enough to provide a fight.PNG had opted to bat but their battling line-up stuttered to 27 for 4 in the tenth over and then 46 for 6 in the 16th. Only three batsmen, including opener Sibona Jimmy, were able to score in double-digits as their biggest partnership could put together only 16 runs, for the seventh wicket. Kaia Arua’s unbeaten 16 stretched the score past 50 with Chanida Sutthiruang’s medium-pace fetching her two wickets, and two run-outs denting PNG further. Sutthiruang is the tournament’s leading wicket-taker so far with an impressive tally of 12 from four innings, averaging only 3.91 and conceding 3.52 runs per over.In the end, Thailand won their fourth straight match and made history by chasing down a total for the first time in the tournament.ACC

Bangladesh sealed their berth for the T20 World Cup, with a four-wicket win against Ireland in the first semi-final of the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers in Dundee. Next year’s edition will be the fourth time Bangladesh women will participate in the T20 World Cup after 2014, 2016 and 2018.Bangladesh chased down their target of 86 with nine balls to spare after bowling out Ireland for 85 in 20 overs. Ireland couldn’t build much on their decision to bat as their top three batsmen scored only eight runs in all. Jahanara Alam, Nahida Akter and Salma Khatun made the early strikes. Captain Laura Delany steered the innings after they were reduced to 44 for 5. Delany’s innings of 25 and her partnership of 30 for the sixth wicket with the experienced Eimear Richardson, who struck a quick 25 off 17, helped Ireland along but legspinner Fahima Khatun dismissed both of them within the space of three balls in the 18th over. From 75 for 7, Ireland managed another ten runs in the last two overs as Fahima struck again to finish with 3 for 18.Bangladesh were also led by their No. 4, Sanjida Islam, whose unbeaten 32 off 37 balls saw them home. They were given a scare when they were 30 for 4 in the ninth over before Sanjida and Ritu Moni stitched together a stand of 38 runs for the fifth wicket. Bangladesh lost two wickets to run-outs from there but Sanjida sealed their win.

From dropped catches to blinders, from 2 for 2 to completing a record chase; Pakistan were at their most mercurial, but they had a match-winner with an appetite for the big occasion

Liam Brickhill08-Jul-2018″Muscled” is a term that might be applied quite liberally to Australia’s approach to T20 batting. They huff and puff and heave and swing at the ball as if they mean to rip the leather clean off it. Slightly built and a shade under six feet tall, Fakhar Zaman doesn’t have the hardware to follow the same method. Pakistan’s free-wheeling opener’s game instead marries hand and eye and has made him the leading run-scorer in T20I cricket this year, with 516 runs in 13 innings capped by a career-best 91 when it really mattered against Australia in the tri-series final.”I think nowadays he’s in the best form of his life,” reckoned Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed. “The way he’s batted throughout the series has been good for us and good for his career. If he keeps playing like this, he’s only going up and up.”It’s not just how Fakhar’s been scoring his runs, but also when. His century in the Champions Trophy final last year is an obvious case in point for big match temperament, and his innings in the tri-series final will only enhance that reputation.”Yes, he’s definitely [a big-match player],” said Sarfraz. “He performs in big games, consistently. Like the Champions Trophy, in the final, he got that hundred. In New Zealand, he scored a fifty and then a 40-odd (in successive T20Is, to help Pakistan come from 1-0 down to win the three-match series). He’s a big-game player and he’s getting better day by day.”His innings against Australia was all the more remarkable considering the early strife Pakistan were in. Flummoxed by Glenn Maxwell in the first over, they were 2 for 2 needing almost 10 an over pretty much as soon as their innings began. That’s a position most other teams would be unable to rise from, but an hour later Pakistan’s fans at the ground (and a few hundred turned up to support them) were singing “” and “” as their team improbably, inexplicably romped home. Pakistan can drop Aaron Finch first ball, concede 10 an over for the first 10 overs and then surge back into the game with eight wickets in the next 10. They can be 2 for 2, and then complete a record run chase with five balls to spare. It’s become an obvious cliche, but Pakistan remain an absorbingly mercurial team.”We know they’re an emotional team, and they’re a highly skilled team,” Australia captain Finch said. “When they’re on, they’re incredibly good. We let them back into the game with bat and ball today. We had a chance to get up around that 200 mark and almost put the game to bed after that start with the ball. To chase 10 or 11 an over for 18 or 19 overs is incredibly hard. So if we’d had a few more runs, if we’d squeezed a little more with the ball early on and made them take risks. They didn’t have to take too many risks to get boundaries early on.”Fakhar’s batting wasn’t entirely risk free, but his aggressive strokes came in a calculated manner. In that regard, he’s not entirely dissimilar to his current batting coach Grant Flower, who came close to mastering the delicate risk/reward balance with his own batting, particularly towards the end of his career. Flower and Fakhar have certainly spent enough time together in the nets. Flower has been Pakistan’s batting coach for four years now, which is enough time for the famously committed former Zimbabwe batsman to have sent down tens of thousands of throwdowns.”He works really hard with the boys,” Sarfraz said of Flower. “He’s worked very hard for the last four years. He’s always in the nets.” Whatever he’s doing, it’s working for Fakhar, who has also looked to learn from the old heads around him in the playing XI.”In the start in T20 cricket I was hitting every ball in my striking zone, and after playing eight to 10 games I sat with some senior players like Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed, and spoke about my gameplans with them,” Fakhar had said after Pakistan’s previous match. “I realised that I could play proper cricket shots and be successful, and that’s what I’ve been doing recently.”Fakhar has certainly made an impression on the Australians. Finch called him “a thorn in our side” earlier this week, today adding: “We’ve all seen the form that Fakhar has been in. We saw with Shoaib Malik there, towards the end, if you have a batter who’s in, they can control the game, they control the strike.”Capped by Fakhar’s career-best 91 and Malik’s masterclass, Pakistan had veered between ordinary to extraordinary all morning. Shadab Khan dropped a sitter at point and then pulled off a one-handed blinder at mid-off. Hasan Ali’s massive, ballooning no-ball didn’t even bounce before it landed in Sarfraz’ gloves, leaving Pakistan’s captain – finally – lost for words. Two balls later, Hasan shattered Ashton Agar’s stumps, brilliance and farce bookending the over.Whether it’s letting the opposition sprint to 95 for 0, or slipping to 2 for 2 at the start of a record chase, Pakistan are the sort of team who get themselves into these situations. But they’re also the sort of team that can get themselves out of them. “You can’t take anything for granted against the number one team in the world,” said Finch. “Or any international team.” But especially if that team is Pakistan.

Following the 5-0 T20I loss to Australia, the West Indies captain bemoaned his team’s consistency

Andrew McGlashan29-Jul-2025West Indies captain Shai Hope has bemoaned his side’s inability to put together a complete game with the bat after they were swept 5-0 by Australia in the T20I series.The visitors completed a three-wicket victory in the final match in St Kitts, after West Indies had been bowled out for 170 – the lowest total of the series. They reduced Australia to 60 for 4 inside the powerplay, and Akeal Hosein later took 3 for 17, but the loss of Alzarri Joseph to injury one ball into his third over removed a vital part of their attack.The first three matches of the series had been characterised by West Indies being unable to build on promising starts. In the opening match in Jamaica, they were 123 for 1 in the 13th over but managed just 189. In the second, 63 for 0 became 172 for 8. When the series moved to St Kitts, Hope and Brandon King put on 125 for the first wicket, but the middle order couldn’t flourish.Related

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In the last two matches, they somewhat overturned their poor starts – 67 for 4 became 205 and 9 and 32 for 3 became 170 – but on all occasions, Australia were able to get home with room to spare.”I just didn’t think we put together a proper batting display,” Hope said at the post-match presentation. “We either started well and finished poorly or the other way around. When you’re playing against quality opposition like Australia, you’ve got to put things together for a more complete game.Alzarri Joseph was injured one ball into his third over•Randy Brooks/AFP via Getty Images

“As a batting group, we didn’t really give ourselves the best chance to put a big score on the board consistently. And that’s probably where we fell short… We’ve always been one step behind the eight ball.”Hope wore a rueful smile when asked about the fact that his team didn’t get the chance to chase once in the series as Mitchell Marsh won all five tosses.”I think here in the Caribbean, we all know the stats show chasing is always the better thing to do,” he said. “Whether it’s the dew factor, wind factor, you always have that scoreboard in front of you, so you have an idea of how to go about the chase. But it’s something that I can’t control. Unfortunately, I didn’t win any [tosses]… It’s just one of those things for us.”However, despite the scoreline, Hope did see signs of encouragement from his bowling attack as the series developed: Jediah Blades, the young left-arm seamer, took three wickets in the fourth match. Alzarri Joseph’s pace made an impact in the final game too, before he was forced off the field. Hosein impressed after a belated entry with the ball on Monday.Jediah Blades struck crucial blows in the final match•Randy Brooks/AFP via Getty Images

“We understood the struggles of bowling spin here on this ground and surface,” he said. “But [Hosein] is a quality bowler and we just backed him to come and do the job, and he did exceptionally well for that four-over spell. Just unfortunate that, again, we didn’t have as many runs on the board as we would have liked.”I still must commend the guys for the effort that they showed in the back end, to give ourselves a chance to win the game. But once you don’t have that many runs on the board, then you [have] got to hope everything goes perfectly in the field. It just didn’t happen for us.”There is not much time for Hope and his team to reflect. West Indies face a quick turnaround before they play Pakistan in the first of the three T20Is in Florida on Thursday.”I think that we’re a little bit clearer in the bowling unit,” Hope said of what can be taken from this series. “We certainly executed a lot better than we did in the first few games. We’ve got to put this one behind us, and look ahead for the Pakistan series, and see where we can get that combination and that success going.”

“Faf has lent on him quite a lot and we’re pretty sure that Rajat will be leaning on him too,” RCB’s director of cricket says

Ashish Pant13-Feb-20252:25

Why did RCB overlook Kohli as captain?

Virat Kohli might not be the new Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain, with the franchise opting for Rajat Patidar, but for Mo Bobat, RCB’s director of cricket, Kohli does not need a “captaincy title” to be a leader in the team.”Of course, Virat was an option and that goes without saying and I know that the fans would’ve probably lent towards Virat in the first instance, but we’ve seen a lot of love for Rajat too,” Bobat said in an event in Bengaluru where Patidar was unveiled as the captain for IPL 2025. “Look, my point on Virat would be that Virat doesn’t need a captaincy title to lead. I think leadership, as we’ve all seen, is one of his strongest instincts. I think it just comes naturally to him. He leads regardless.”Kohli led the RCB franchise from 2013 to 2021 before he stepped down from the role. He led the team for three matches in 2023 when regular captain Faf du Plessis was injured and played as an Impact Player.Related

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Bobat was confident that despite Kohli not being the designated captain, Patidar would lean on him like his predecessor du Plessis did.”Everybody in the country and everyone in the world knows that Virat’s a leader in every sense of the word,” Bobat said. “Andy [Flower, head coach] and I lean on him quite a lot. Faf has lent on him quite a lot and we’re pretty sure that Rajat will be leaning on him too.”Even last year with Faf as captain, we saw every bit of that. He leads as an example with the bat, the volume of runs and the strike rate that he scored at last year was so impressive and so important for us. He set the tone, he leads in the field. I can think of two or three specific instances where he’s actually created run-out chances and wickets from nothing. Everyone in the field knows that they’ve got to be up to their standards because of him. He sets the tone with his energy. Everyone has seen how much he likes a fight and a scrap and how much he wants to be the person getting us over the line.””His experience and ideas will definitely help me in my leadership role,” Patidar said of Kohli•BCCI

Bobat also said that Kohli was actively involved in discussions surrounding Patidar being named captain.”Andy and I spent some time with Virat earlier this week actually in Ahmedabad and it was really nice getting some time with him and talking things through with him [about captaincy],” Bobat said. “And what was so obvious was he had so much energy and excitement for this decision and this appointment. He’s so pleased for Rajat, like us. He knows how deserving Rajat is of this opportunity and is right behind him.”Kohli was front and centre of RCB turning their season around in IPL 2024. Having won just one out of their first eight games, RCB won six on the bounce to make a miraculous entry into the playoffs. While they went down in the eliminator, Kohli, with 741 runs in 15 innings, won the purple cap.
“I think Virat’s energy and motivation and drive is really something special to behold in a 36-year-old cricketer that’s done everything in the game,” Flower said. “I really respect him for it and it’s great role modelling for the younger players and younger overseas players to come and work with him as well. It was nice to watch it from within the same dressing room last year.”My experience with him, particularly in the first half of the last season when we were struggling and he was a huge part of turning that season around for us, in the way that he carried himself in his role modelling of how he works at the day and thinks about the day, that experience with him only made my respect for him grow. And I would say the same thing about our discussions over the captaincy of RCB coming season.”Patidar also said that having had plenty of good partnerships with Kohli over the years, he does not mind leaning on him for suggestions and that it would help him in his leadership role.”It’s a great opportunity for me to learn from one of the best,” Patidar said. “I have had a lot of partnerships with him, so I think I know him very well. So yeah, his experience and his ideas will definitely help me in my leadership role.”