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India’s captain has asked every member of the team to reflect on the soft dismissals and errors made by them

Sidharth Monga in Centurion17-Jan-2018The message from a dejected and hurting Virat Kohli to the rest of his team-mates is clear: it is unacceptable to lose the way India did in home-like conditions in Centurion despite given a chance to escape by South Africa throwing their wickets in the final session on day one. Kohli asked every individual to reflect on the soft dismissals and errors made by them.This was widely considered India’s best chance to win a Test in South Africa: the pitch was flat and slow for the first three-and-a-half days, South Africa failed to seize the advantage after winning the toss, India had the best batting conditions of the match to themselves in the first innings, but they let it slip with two silly run-outs, a few loose shots, and dropped catches on the field.”At the end of the day one team has to lose,” Kohli said. “As a team you always try to win. You can accept defeat but not the way we played, the way we let the advantage slip out of our hand, that is not acceptable from a team’s point of view. So many soft dismissals in one match hurt a lot. Because you work so hard, you prepare for a match, you get into good situations, shift the game towards you, and then the momentum shifts because of these mistakes. That feels very bad as a team. Individuals have to sit and reflect on these things themselves. They do it, I am not saying they don’t reflect on it, but we have repeated these mistakes in both matches.”Kohli asked the team to be ask itself tough questions. “We have not come here to play the way we have done,” Kohli said. “That is something that we need to definitely speak about. We need to be hard on ourselves. We need to ask ourselves if we are giving 120% for the team every time we bowl a ball or play a ball or field a ball. That is something individuals need to reflect on themselves, but as a team we are definitely going to lay out these things in the open.”We will ask the guys to be honest about what they were feeling at particular stages in the game. Unless you speak about it and lay it out in front of everyone, there is very little chance of improving. The mistakes that we made have been really about not putting attention to detail at important stages of the game. It is something we definitely need to take into account and sit down and discuss as a team.”However, Kohli didn’t feel the selections of the XIs in both sides had any bearing on the result. Ajinkya Rahane, India’s best all-conditions Test batsman, has been sitting out on “current form”. It was a shocking move to Indian cricket’s followers the morning Rahane was left out of the first Test, but Kohli said “no one” wanted Rahane in the XI, and the outrage has only come after the results. In this Test, India left out their best bowler from Cape Town, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and also lost out on his batting: he faced the most balls by an India batsman in Cape Town. Kohli was asked if having too many options might have confused them.”Look when something doesn’t work, obviously it’s going to be spoken against,” Kohli said, pointing to media and fan reaction. “We are pretty used to that. We as a team don’t think of what the opinion going around is, and I’ve clarified that before also. There are many people that are involved in making a decision for the playing XI. A lot was spoken about Bhuvi as well but Shami performed in this game. So now no one is talking about that.”So you know it’s all about whoever goes out on the field and performs. We obviously look at the conditions that we are playing in and we decide as a management group and the captain myself sitting together that what is the best XI that we can take on the field. And then we don’t sit back and think, ‘Oh we could have done that or we should have done that.’ You make one decision and you back it. It’s always that scenario.”While he refused to concede that there needs to be a debate on the XIs, Kohli said the team would need to assess every move it had made on tour. He didn’t agree that more preparation, or coming early to South Africa, might have helped, which somewhat went against his comments about the crowded international schedule, during the home series against Sri Lanka that preceded this tour.”See, I don’t believe in that,” Kohli said when asked if coming early would have helped them counter the conditions better, particularly in Cape Town. “We had a result in three days in Cape Town, and we had no complaints and we really enjoyed the pitch we played on because we had an equal chance of winning the game there. We were not good enough to do that, that’s a different thing, but it wasn’t like we were set a total, the team had declared, and we were outplayed. We had opportunities in both the games, that’s probably the smallest positive that we can think of at this moment.”Look, I am not going to sit here and try to comfort anyone, we need to be hard on ourselves if we need to do special things. We need to sit down and ask ourselves whether we are giving enough every time that we go out on the field. We should be reflecting on all our decision-making and all the actions that we have made in this game and the previous game and act upon them.”Kohli said a team needed a certain obsession, a “madness”, to win away from home in such conditions.”It doesn’t feel nice that you come out and you feel good as a team and then you are not able to execute what you want to,” Kohli said. “It almost has to be a madness to be able to win away from home. And you have to live that every minute, every day of being on tour. As I said it is a very individual thing but we need to discuss this as a team for sure.”I can’t speak on behalf of selectors as to what they are thinking. Obviously the selectors will come into the conversation as well when we are looking at planning for future tours also because we have a lot of cricket away from home. This was not the only tour. We have to identify all the areas that need improvement. And accordingly act on those. Obviously the selectors are going to be a big part of that conversation.”Kohli admitted South Africa were the better team irrespective of the conditions, but this defeat hurt a little more because India had conditions in their favour. “Well, we were quite disappointed in Cape Town as well, there was an opportunity to win also,” Kohli said. “Look, Test cricket, it doesn’t matter where you are playing. Teams have beaten us also at home at times but these conditions are something that we are used to playing at and we should have certainly done better than what have.”Having said that it’s about which team plays collectively better. South Africa collectively were a much better team than us regardless of the pitches we played on. Their bowlers put relentless pressure on us as a batting unit, and their batsmen as well, after losing a few wickets, they would string in a partnership. They showed more character than us.”

If Kyle Abbott thought he had it rough after only appearing in 11 Tests in four years, Wayne Parnell has had it rougher

Firdose Moonda08-Jan-2017If Kyle Abbott thought he had it rough after only appearing in 11 Tests in four years, Wayne Parnell has had it rougher. In seven years, Parnell has collected just four Tests caps, mostly because injury has stunted his international progression but also because he has battled to break into a pace pack that has been well stocked. Now, with Abbott unavailable after going Kolpak and Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel unfit, Parnell could be in the perfect position for a long run.He was included in South Africa’s squad to play Sri Lanka despite no first-class cricket this season and could be in the starting XI for the Wanderers Test after a strong performance for Cobras at the weekend. Parnell took six wickets and scored an unbeaten 103 opening the batting in the second innings in their victory over Lions in Oudtshoorn.Cobras interim coach Ashwell Prince, who was a national selector as recently as last September, believes Parnell should make a Test return later this week. “I’d play him. A left-armer complements what South Africa already have,” Prince told ESPNcricinfo.South Africa’s current attack includes Vernon Philander who offers seam movement and Kagiso Rabada, who provides pace. Even though Abbott’s job was more containing than attacking, Prince believes Parnell could be a handy third prong.”They have got someone who has control in Vernon Philander and Wayne will add to the strike force. He is looking really good and starting to swing the ball back into the right-hander, which is something he had lost.”Parnell’s ability to find movement waned as his injuries mounted. In 2010, less than a year after an impressive World T20 performance and with three Tests to his name, he suffered a groin strain at the IPL which ruled him out of most of the next season. He lost ground to Philander in the longer format and in 2013 was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat while playing for South Africa A against India A and had to wait even longer for a Test return.It was only in 2014 that Parnell wore whites again, in Port Elizabeth against Australia. He took a wicket with his first ball and another with his third but only bowled eight more overs before leaving the field with another groin strain. Abbott replaced him in the South Africa squad and played the following match; Parnell has not featured in a Test since. He has been injured three more times – hamstring (September 2015), foot (November 2015) and rib (October 2016) – moved from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, from Warriors to Cobras, got married and put in first-class performances that have put him in line for a third recall.Despite playing only half the matches in last season’s first-class competition, he finished as Cobras’ player of the season with took 23 wickets at 20.56 and scored 337 runs at 48.14. Prince has noticed some marked differences in Parnell’s action, specifically at delivery point. “He has been working with [national bowling coach] Charl Langeveldt on his approach to the crease. It is not as fast as it used to be and that gives him a lot more control. Instead of sprinting in, which used to affect his stability at the crease, he is running in with nice rhythm. He has also done work on his wrist and release point.”Prince said the adjustments mean Parnell can offer a lot more consistency than he used to but more important than any of that has been a change in attitude. At 27, Parnell is older, wiser and has a greater understanding of what it takes to make it on the biggest stage. “There is a lot more maturity to his game. He is in his later 20s and married, maybe that has made the difference,” Prince said. “He works as hard as anybody in the gym and on his fitness and his game. He is ready.”Parnell is competing with the rookie call-up Duanne Olivier for a place in the XI but South Africa may choose to include both quicks on the fastest, bounciest strip of the series. The Wanderers surface is generally spicy but heavy rain in the lead-up to the match could see it offer even more in the third Test. On Sunday, the pitch was being prepared under a tent and with showers forecast throughout the week it may not see any sunlight at all. South Africa also fielded an all-pace attack against England at the venue last year.

ESPNcricinfo previews the third ODI between Pakistan and England

The Preview by Andrew Miller16-Nov-2015

Match facts

November 17, 2015
Start time 1500 local (1100 GMT)

Big Picture

As in the first Test, so too in the one-dayers. After an inauspicious start in Abu Dhabi, England’s bouncebackability has ensured that this contest will now go down to the wire. If Eoin Morgan blamed his batsmen for their shortcomings in the six-wicket defeat in Wednesday’s opening fixture, then the voracity of their response was a delight for the skipper to behold. A maiden ODI hundred for Alex Hales that included a century stand with his opening partner, Jason Roy; a serene example of mid-innings run-harvesting from Joe Root, and another probing display from a young seam attack who shared eight wickets between them were plenty reasons to believe in the continuing development of an upwardly mobile squad.A change of venue beckons for Tuesday’s third ODI, however, and if the lessons of the Test series are anything to go by, then the surface in Sharjah is likely to favour the slower bowlers on both teams, which in turn should play comprehensively into the hands of Pakistan. That said, England’s neutering of the legspinner, Yasir Shah, was a major factor in Friday’s 95-run win – his nine overs were milked for 70 runs – and there is some concern about his fitness for this match. However, with Shoaib Malik still displaying the confidence with the ball that led to seven series-sealing wickets in the third Test earlier this month, the onus will surely be on England’s spin twins, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, to at the very least match the control and penetration of their Pakistani counterparts.Nevertheless, England do appear to be the more settled of the two teams at present. The reverberations of Younis Khan’s surprise retirement are still being felt by Pakistan’s squad. Their coach, Waqar Younis, echoed the sentiments of the PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan in criticising the timing of Younis’s departure, and the plugging of that sizeable hole in the middle order has led to all manner of upheaval elsewhere in their line-up. Neither Bilal Asif nor Babar Azam, who played a vital role from No.6 in the opening victory, has looked comfortable as a makeshift opener, while Azhar Ali, the captain, has seemed devoid of intent at the top of the order. Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan’s in-form Test opener, was bagged for a duck by David Willey from No.3, arguably the decisive moment in England’s victory push on Friday.If there was an area of concern for England in the second match, it centred around the failure of their own middle-order to build on the start provided by Hales and Co. At 165 for 1 in the 30th over, conventional wisdom suggested that a score well in excess of 300 was on the cards. However, thanks in no small part to another supreme spell from Wahab Riaz, England were forced to settle for 283. It proved, on this occasion, to be more than enough, but with Jos Buttler in particular still struggling for the form that he had been displaying at the start of the English summer, England’s line-up is still some way short of full efficiency.

Form guide

Pakistan: LWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
England: WLLWW

Players to watch …

His twin failures in the Sharjah Test match undermined his status as the world’s No.1 batsman, but Joe Root’s ability to translate his talents across formats is currently unrivalled among England cricketers. If Hales’ hundred rightly took the plaudits on Friday, then Root’s fuss-free strike rotation was every bit as vital to England’s finished article – no fewer than 46 of his 77 deliveries were nurdled away for singles, a skill that his compatriots have so often lacked against spin bowling on slow, low Asian pitches.His stated aim, in the aftermath of his Test retirement, is to play in the 2019 World Cup, and Shoaib Malik is so far making a tidy case to be selected as a front-line spinning option. England’s early-summer wickets may not be quite as conducive to his angular offspin but, right now, it is the second string to Shoaib’s bow that is justifying his presence in Pakistan’s line-up. Nevertheless, he was averaging exactly 100 in ODI cricket since his recall after the World Cup, and his Test-best 245 is not yet a distant memory. In light of Younis’ absence, Shoaib’s experience with the bat takes on an extra significance.Alex Hales celebrates with Joe Root after his maiden ODI hundred•Getty Images

Team news

No qualms about Pakistan’s pace attack – Wahab’s class allied to Mohammad Irfan’s cloud-scraping angle of attack, plus Anwar Ali’s consistency with the new ball – means that their seam options are plentiful. There is, however, a concern over Yasir’s fitness. He sustained a knee injury during practice on the eve of the match and may be forced to sit this one out. Bilal would be the obvious stand-in. At the top of the batting order, Ahmed Shehzad could become Azhar’s third opening partner in as many matches.Pakistan (probable) 1 Azhar Ali (capt), 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Iftikhar Ahmed, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Babar Azam, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Anwar Ali, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Yasir Shah, 11 Mohammad Irfan.No reason for significant tinkering to England’s balance or line-up. The top five looks as solid as anything that the selectors have conjured up since the pre-World Cup panic that unseated Alastair Cook, while Buttler’s struggle for form is no reflection on his obvious class. Not for the first time this tour, the role of Moeen is raising some eyebrows – he is arguably under-utilised in the lower middle-order – while the temptation to play an extra paceman in Liam Plunkett must be strong. But if Rashid’s legspin is to develop as a one-day threat, with next year’s tour of India an obvious staging post, then these are the fixtures in which he needs to play.England (probable) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 James Taylor, 6 Jos Buttler, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 David Willey, 11 Reece Topley.

Pitch and conditions

England fielded three spinners at Sharjah during the Test series and there’s a strong likelihood that this surface will be conducive to slow bowling as well. It is the same surface that was used for the third Test in Sharjah a fortnioght ago and still has significant scarring.

Stats and trivia

• Sharjah is set to host its 219th ODI, already a world record for any ground in the format. However, this will be England’s first one-day fixture at the venue since April 1999.
• Root requires three more runs to pass 2,000 runs in all formats for the calendar year.
• After going wicketless in the second match, Malik still needs one more wicket to reach 150 in ODIs.

Quotes

“”England bounced back and bounced back well. We probably were not thinking that they are going to play that well and now we have to play out of our skins to make it 2-1.”
“I have to maintain a positive mindset. If I don’t, things go wrong and it’s not the way I play.”

Royal Challengers Bangalore finally got their first away win of the season, beating bottom-placed Pune Warriors by 17 runs

The Report by Kanishkaa Balachandran02-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAB de Villiers’ daredevilry made the difference•BCCI

Royal Challengers Bangalore finally got their first away win of the season, beating bottom-placed Pune Warriors by 17 runs. The margin of victory suggested a comprehensive win, but Royal Challengers were run close by Robin Uthappa, who showed his potential with a blazing fifty which gave Warriors hope of chasing a tall 188. AB de Villiers was at his innovative best with the bat, smashing an unbeaten 50 off 23 balls to launch Royal Challengers past 180. His blows were the difference in the end.De Villiers’ assault helped Royal Challengers ransack 68 off the last five overs. Warriors needed 66 off the last five overs, but with a set Uthappa at the crease, Royal Challengers couldn’t afford to relax. Angelo Mathews too gave the visitors a scare with his cameo, but his untimely departure only piled further pressure on Uthappa. Uthappa’s form was good news for Warriors, but had he received better support, the result could have been different.The pitch at Pune has been one of the slower ones in the IPL and one that was going to test the batsmen more than the one in Bangalore when the teams last met. Chris Gayle found out the hard way early in his innings when he found the spinners hard to get away. It was a clever ploy by Warriors to take the pace off the ball, giving Ajantha Mendis the new ball and bringing in the part-timer T Suman. A repressed Gayle plodded to 15 off 19 balls before lofting Suman over the sightscreen for a six. It was hardly a sign of things to come as he tried to repeat that shot the following the ball and miscued it to deep extra cover, falling for a sluggish run-a-ball 21.Since there was no blazing launchpad by Gayle for a change, it was unusual watching Royal Challengers scrap to 59 after nine overs. Saurabh Tiwary and Virat Kohli gave the innings some impetus with a rousing stand of 63. Tiwary, who has batted in the middle order, had requested to go up the order and he justified his promotion with a half-century.The most decisive phase in the match came in the final over. De Villiers was on 24 off 17 balls when Ashok Dinda – not the most reliable death bowler – ran in. De Villiers moved across his stumps and smoked a full delivery outside off stump to deep midwicket for a flat six. The second was smashed over the bowler’s head for four, the third over long-off for six, the fourth reverse-swept to third man and the fifth scooped over short fine leg. De Villiers had raced to 50 off 23 by the end of the over, rousing Royal Challengers and demoralising the Warriors before the chase began.Warriors needed a pacy start but they too found the going difficult early on, moving to 49 for 2 after eight overs. Yuvraj Singh gave the innings a push with two exquisite sixes and his confidence began to rub off on Uthappa, who was starting to peak when he launched Muttiah Muralitharan over the sightscreenRoyal Challengers bounced back with two wickets in an over from Vinay, but Uthappa’s was the wicket they needed. The equation narrowed after one over when Uthappa and Mathews targeted the most experienced of the lot, Muralitharan, smashing three clean sixes in one over. Forty-five off 24 was achievable, but Vinay provided some relief to the visitors when he had Mathews caught at backward point. Uthappa’s heroics ended the following over when he top edged Murali Kartik to point. The chase was all but over when he walked back.

Uday Shankar, the CEO of the Star Group that bagged the broadcast rights for Indian cricket for 2012 to 2018 for approximately $750 million, speaks to ESPNcricinfo

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Apr-2012Uday Shankar, CEO, Star Group: ‘Our confidence comes from the popularity of cricket [in India].’•Associated Press

How big a deal is this for Star TV?
Indian cricket is the biggest property in the game. The frequency and consistency of the BCCI’s calendar is its biggest strength. It is a very important investment.Star TV does not have an exclusive sports channel. Where will Star telecast the matches?

The decision is that we will exploit [the rights] or we will broadcast in collaboration with ESPN STAR Sports* [ESS].The BCCI has always controlled production. Will the board continue to produce international matches?
Yes, the board will continue to produce matches. That does not mean it will hinder our approach. Somebody has to produce the cricket. It is a question of working along with them and I do not see any issues arising out of this. As for the question of allowing the BCCI to have an authority to appoint commentators, I cannot answer that at the moment. We have just made the deal. In any case, we will be taking such decisions in collaboration with ESPN STAR Sports, who are a lot more experienced in this regard.You are paying 40-odd crore per match. The bid almost defies the market situation currently. What did you have in mind when you worked out the figure?
Given the viewership that cricket has in this country we feel that the value that we have attributed to it [each match] justifies itself. Our confidence comes from the popularity of cricket. And we think as the reach of media grows in this country, the penetration and popularity will automatically grow.You also have to recover the money and in the recent past we have seen how Nimbus struggled to pay the BCCI its dues on time for various home series…
What Nimbus did or did not do is not something for us to talk about. Star is the most robust and the most dynamic media company in this country. We have a bigger reach than any other media company. We could not have built up that reach if I had not satisfied our viewers over a long period of time.Excessive intrusion of advertisements has been a major irritant for viewers in the past. How will you ensure it will not happen?
There are very clear norms for advertising in cricket, which the Indian board has laid out. Naturally, the rights holders have to follow the norms. We at Star and ESS are very, very particular about ensuring that the viewing experience is not compromised.*ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.), the parent company of ESPNcricinfo, and News Corporation Limited (STAR)

Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach, has said that his team will target Australia’s new captain, Michael Clarke, during the three-ODI series, which begins on April 9 in Dhaka

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2011Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach, has said that his team will target Australia’s new captain, Michael Clarke, during the three-ODI series, which begins on April 9 in Dhaka. The Australian team left for Bangladesh today and they will play a warm-up game on April 7 before the series begins.”Every team targets the captain and we will be wanting to get rid of him [Clarke],” Siddons told the . ”If we get to him, it means we will have got through the openers and [Ricky] Ponting, and we’ll be happy to have a crack at him. Obviously if you cut off the head the rest will fall. That’s the theme – to take the captain out.”Bangladesh will focus on stalling Australia with their spinners, and Siddons was hopeful that the left-arm options at his disposal, and the captain Shakib Al Hasan in particular, would play a crucial role in the series.”He [Shakib] doubts himself very little against the best players in the world and he is probably the best left-arm spinner I’ve seen. He and [Daniel] Vettori are very close. [Shakib] spins the ball a lot more and as far as street-smarts go, he is the same as Vettori, I reckon.”I’ve got a long memory so I remember all these things from when I was on tour with the [Australian] boys. We just think we can hold them up a bit with our left-arm spinners and make some inroads into their batting order.”Bangladesh had a disappointing World Cup: they were eliminated from Group B after winning only three league matches, though one of those victories was against England. Siddons’ contract as Bangladesh coach is up for renewal in June but in the event it is not renewed he said he would accept a position at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence.

Mark Cosgrove has missed out on a contract with South Australia to end an eventful eight years with the state

Cricinfo staff13-Apr-2010Mark Cosgrove, who played for Australia in 2006, has missed out on a contract with South Australia to end an eventful eight years with the state. A gifted left-hander, Cosgrove has often struggled with the demands of first-class cricket, with his weight and fitness analysed as closely as his batting average.While still only 25, Cosgrove has been over-looked because Jamie Cox, the state’s director of cricket, said he had not fulfilled his potential. “Mark has made a valuable contribution to South Australian cricket over many years, and I certainly hope there are other opportunities out there for him,” Cox said. “We have worked hard with him during this time, but the unfortunate reality is that we were unable to help him fulfil his full potential.”The decision comes after Cosgrove scored 511 first-class runs in 2009-10, including two hundreds, and also averaged more than 40 in the one-day competition. He contributed as South Australia progressed to the Twenty20 domestic final, but will not be part of the squad for the lucrative Champions League later in the year. The good news for Cosgrove, who appeared in three ODIs in 2006, is he has interest from two other states.

Jamie Overton injury offers route to recall for 35-year-old allrounder, with Hartley also set for inclusion

Vithushan Ehantharajah and Matt Roller29-Apr-2024Chris Jordan is set for an England recall as part of their provisional T20 World Cup squad, which will be announced on Tuesday.Jordan earned the last of 88 T20I caps at the end of the 2023 summer against New Zealand, and missed the white-ball tour of the Caribbean in December. However, with Jamie Overton ruled out through injury, Jordan is the beneficiary as a bowler capable of valuable cameos with the bat lower down the order.ESPNcricinfo understands that Jordan’s recall is expected to spell bad news for Chris Woakes, who is yet to feature for Punjab Kings at the IPL this season. Ben Duckett has also made the cut as England’s spare batter – and a rare left-hander – while the uncapped Tom Hartley is expected to edge Rehan Ahmed out as the second frontline spinner, behind Adil Rashid.Jordan brings a wealth of experience, with five previous World Cups under his belt and two seasons as Surrey’s T20 captain. The 35-year-old played two matches in England’s successful 2022 campaign, which was his fourth global T20 tournament. Though he is likely to feature sparingly in the Caribbean, he remains an exceptional fielder – often used as a sub – and a willing death bowler.Possible England World T20 squad•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

England tracked Overton closely through the winter and were keen on him as a genuine allrounder. But inconclusive scans on a back injury have resulted in his omission from the provisional squad. In his absence, Jordan’s recent improvement with the bat is a relevant factor: since the start of the 2023 Vitality Blast, he has averaged 30.05 and struck at 160.53 in all T20 cricket.Despite his omission from England’s squad that lost 3-2 in the T20I series against West Indies, Jordan had a busy winter, representing Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL, Gulf Giants in the ILT20 and Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League. He has not played since March, but will tune up for the World Cup with England’s four-match T20I series against Pakistan from May 22.Related

• England at the IPL: 'Refreshed' Buttler, rusty Livingstone, and WC tune-ups for fringe players

• Rashid: 'Things change quickly… we have the mindset of champions'

• Jamie Overton back injury hands England T20 World Cup selection dilemma

• India's T20 World Cup squad: IPL form unlikely to heavily influence selection

• South Africa's batting options for T20 World Cup: de Kock? Hendricks? Du Plessis?

England are expected to pick a top four comprising Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Will Jacks and Jonny Bairstow, all of whom have found form at the IPL. Buttler (twice), Jacks and Bairstow have all hit centuries for their respective franchises, while Salt’s first eight innings brought him three half-centuries and a strike rate of 176.08.Jofra Archer is also expected to feature in the provisional squad, despite a long-standing elbow injury that has prevented him from playing a competitive fixture since May 2023.Though Archer recently admitted that another “stop-start year” could lead him to consider his future at the age of 29, the ECB hope the four-match Pakistan series can offer him a return to international cricket, ahead of a World Cup campaign that could include a maiden England appearance in front of his friends and family in his native Barbados. There is the possibility that he will warm up with some T20 appearances for Sussex’s 2nd XI in the coming weeks.England will also be missing the services of Ben Stokes, their matchwinner in both the 2019 (50-over) and 2022 World Cups, who announced last month that he would not be making himself available as he continues his rehabilitation following recent knee surgery.Possible England T20 World Cup squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Phil Salt, Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali (vice-captain), Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Tom Hartley, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Reece Topley

WPL player auction expected to take place in first week of February

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2023The 2023 IPL final is likely to be played on May 28, with the start date likely to be March 31 or April 1. ESPNcricinfo has also learnt that the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) is likely to be played from March 4 to 24.The window for the WPL has to be squeezed into the gap between the women’s T20 World Cup, which will be played in South Africa from February 10 to 26, and the start of the men’s IPL, which will be played on some of the grounds that will host WPL games too. The idea is to finish the WPL around a week before the men’s IPL starts, to allow the grounds to be fresh.On Wednesday, the BCCI sold the five WPL teams at an auction in Mumbai, with the owners of Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, as well as the Adani Group and Capri Holdings winning the bids.Related

• USA to host additional 2023 FairBreak Global Invitational T20 in September

• Women's IPL – All you need to know about the bidding process and auction

• Healy – 'Women's IPL is going to change women's cricket for the better'

The schedule and itinerary for the tournament, as well as a decision on how many grounds would be used, are a “work in progress”, Arun Dhumal, the IPL’s chairman, said after the Wednesday auction. Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, said that the player auction would most likely be held in the first week of February.”With regard to [the venues for the] first season, we are still talking,” Dhumal said. “That is work in progress. We will have to see logistical challenges involved in case it [WPL] has to be multi-city value or single-city value.”The WPL team owners will have an auction purse of INR 12 crore (USD 1.47 million approx.) each to build their squads, which will have between 15 and 18 players.

Sophie Molineux gave Australia the breakthrough after they had dropped Shafali Verma three times

Andrew McGlashan30-Sep-2021After a 15-year wait for these two teams to face each other again in Test cricket, Smriti Mandhana’s square drives and pulls were the highlight as India took the early honours on pink-ball Test debut. The less pleasing aspect was the Gold Coast rain which arrived shortly after dinner in torrential style and never really left, wiping 56 overs from the day to leave everyone frustrated.After Meg Lanning put India in, Australia had a first hour to forget as Mandhana latched onto some loose bowling with a 51-ball half-century brought up before the drinks break. The home side offered a considerable helping hand by giving Shafali Verma three lives as the opening stand reached 93 before the spinners, Sophie Molineux and Ashleigh Gardner, offered Lanning some control – probably not Plan A at the start of the day. They had already used seven bowling options in 44 overs.The heaviest rain arrived with India 114 for 1, causing close to a two-hour delay, and there was only a brief resumption possible during which Mandhana added to her boundary count with two crunching pulls off Tahlia McGrath, the first of them whipped off her hip for six backward of square. She made 66 of her 80 runs in boundaries. Showers then returned and there were no gaps big enough to get further play. There are 100 overs a day in women’s Tests, which are played over four days, and time can also be made up, but Friday’s forecast isn’t promising either.After six new caps were handed out between the teams India had raced away, reaching 70 without loss at drinks, but Australia were then able to dry up the scoring rate. That brought the reward of Shafali’s wicket when she was taken at mid-off against Molineux, trying to go over the infield. It ended an opening stand of 93 which followed the 167 the pair had added against England in the first innings in Bristol earlier this year.Shafali’s three lives came on 3, 19 and 25. The first was a tough, low outside edge to Lanning at first slip off Ellyse Perry who produced a far steadier performance in her seven-over opening spell than she managed in the ODIs. She was then dropped by Lanning again, this time off left-arm spinner Molineux, before the easiest of the three chances was put down by debutant Annabel Sutherland at mid-on.Mandhana’s innings was full of superbly timed shots off the front and the back foot although the Australia bowlers fed her with too much width and, overall, were too short with the new ball. She had been out of the blocks quickly by pulling Darcie Brown’s first ball in Test cricket through midwicket and in Brown’s fourth over took her for four boundaries.Brown’s opening spell ended with 4-0-28-0 while fellow debutant Stella Campbell went for 14 in her first three-over burst where the slowness of the surface negated her attempts to bang the ball in. Lanning was forced into more defensive fields to try and slow the rate and she was given some control by Molineux and McGrath, and then by Gardner with 18 overs up to lunch bringing 31 runs.The pressure showed on Shafali, who had found life tougher than Mandhana throughout her innings, when she tried to break the shackles with Australia, in the form of McGrath, taking a catch at the fourth attempt. It was a good piece of bowling from Molineux, but with India in such a strong position it was an unnecessary risk from Shafali especially with a similar stroke bringing her third reprieve.Punam Raut played herself in cautiously and was 1 off 22 balls at dinner but during the brief period of play possible afterwards was building a useful stand with Mandhana just as the ball was starting to nip around with the floodlights taking hold.The home side handed out four debuts – Brown, Campbell, Sutherland and Georgia Wareham – with Mitchell Starc helping with the cap presentations while India fielded two new players in Yastika Bhatia and Meghna Singh who had both impressed in the ODIs. Spin-bowling allrounder Sneh Rana, who made a rearguard 80* against England in the Bristol Test, was left out.