All posts by n8rngtd.top

There are now six Indian players signed up for WBBL which starts next month

Annesha Ghosh29-Sep-2021India batter Jemimah Rodrigues has signed with Melbourne Renegades for her maiden stint at the WBBL and will be joined at the club by team-mate Harmanpreet Kaur.Harmanpreet, who missed the recent ODI series against Australia due to injury, produced the iconic unbeaten 171 in the semi-final of the 2017 World Cup and has previous played for Sydney Thunder.They take the Indian tally to six for the seventh season of the WBBL, with the recruitment of Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma (Sydney Thunder) and Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav (Sydney Sixers) announced earlier in the week. ESPNcricinfo understands at least one more Indian signing is yet to be made public by the clubs.Rodrigues, who is part of India’s squad for the ongoing multi-format tour of Australia, was the second-highest run-scorer at the Hundred in the UK, where she made 249 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 150.90. Her form at the competition helped her overcome a disappointing run with India side against England as she played only two ODIs, making 8 and 4, and was dropped for the T20Is altogether.In Australia, she didn’t feature in the ODI leg of the tour and is likely to face stiff competition from Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Punam Raut for a place in the XI of the pink-ball Test starting Thursday. She is, however, is expected to be in the reckoning for a return to the T20I side.Related

• Harmanpreet Kaur wants India 'to go all out' to win Australia series 'at any cost'

• Sydney Sixers confirm India pair Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav for WBBL

• India duo Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma sign with Sydney Thunder for WBBL

“I’m very excited to be here now and to be part of the Renegades,” Rodrigues said. “I think for me, the main goal over here will be just to pull back and play cricket, play some good cricket and enjoy what I’m doing. I know when I do that and when I’m in that headspace, I’m able to give it my best.”The goal is whatever happens, I want to give it my 100 percent each and every time I’m on the field…I’m really looking forward to it and there’s so much that I’m going to learn, I’m sure about that.”Renegades head coach Simon Helmot was hopeful Rodrigues, a top-order batter who can bowl offspin while adding high value as a fielder, can have a big impact on the side’s campaign this season with them having finished seventh in the previous edition.”Jemimah is an immensely talented young player, who is already making her mark on the world stage at 21,” Helmot said. “She was superb recently in The Hundred over in the UK. Jemimah is a dynamic player who can score quickly and to all parts of the ground.”On the addition of Harmanpreet, he said: “Harmanpreet’s record at international level over the past decade speaks for itself. She’s a match-winner and can take the game away from the opposition in a heartbeat. We also see Harmanpreet being an important addition for our group with her experience and leadership.”Rodrigues and Harmanpreet completed Renegades’ overseas signings alongside uncapped English allrounder Eve Jones also joined the club with their whole squad now locked in for what will be Sophie Molineux’s first season as captain.Squad Sophie Molineux (capt), Makinley Blows, Josie Dooley, Jess Duffin, Ellie Falconer, Holly Ferling, Poppy Gardner, Ella Hayward, Eve Jones, Harmanpreet Kaur, Carly Leeson, Rhiann O’Donnell, Jemimah Rodrigues, Georgia Wareham, Courtney Webb

No recall for Andre Russell, three players to miss Ireland series due to Covid-19

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Dec-2021Kieron Pollard is fit to lead West Indies in limited-overs series against Ireland and England next month, but the squads have been hit by Covid-19 positives for Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen and Anderson Phillip.Pollard had been ruled out of West Indies’ tour of Pakistan in December because of a hamstring injury, with Nicholas Pooran leading the T20I side in his absence. Shai Hope had been due to take charge in the ODIs, before they were called off due to rising Covid-19 infections among the party.Former captain Jason Holder is also back in both squads, but there was no room for Andre Russell, despite his recent spell in the Big Bash League. Obed McCoy was not included due to a shin injury suffered at the T20 World Cup.There had been suggestions that the Ireland T20I at Sabina Park could provide the stage for Chris Gayle’s farewell from international cricket, but he has not been named in the squad, amid reports a testimonial match could be arranged for later in the year.Allrounder Allen, who missed the World Cup with an ankle injury, has been passed fit despite testing positive for Covid and is expected to be available for the England series later in the month.”We have tried to maintain the general make-up of the squads from the Pakistan tour before Christmas, with the captain and some senior players coming back in,” West Indies head coach, Phil Simmons, said. “Covid-19 has also played a part in the final make-up of the squad. The challenges in the next couple months are getting the young players in both squads to not only improve on their skills but maintain the attitude and desire we saw in Pakistan.”We do need to start the year on a high. And we know both Ireland and England have very good teams, so we expect a very strong challenge as we look improve our chances of automatic qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2023 and building the T20 team for the ICC T20 World Cup in 2022.”West Indies will play Ireland in three ODIs in Jamaica, starting on January 8, followed by a one-off T20I. They will then host England in Barbados for a five-match T20I series.Ireland’s tour of the USA and Caribbean has also been hit by Covid-19. The ODI leg against USA was cancelled due to a number of positive tests, with Paul Stirling and Shane Getkate set to miss the first West Indies fixture while isolating in their hotel in Florida.West Indies ODI squad: Kieron Pollard (capt), Shai Hope, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Justin Greaves, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales, Nicholas Pooran, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Devon ThomasReserves: Keacy Carty, Sheldon CottrellWest Indies T20I squad: Kieron Pollard (capt), Nicholas Pooran, Fabian Allen (England T20Is only), Darren Bravo (England T20Is only), Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Jason Holder, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh JrReserves: Jayden Seales, Alzarri Joseph, Devon Thomas

The former Zimbabwe batter also faces the charge of failure to report an accident

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2022Tarisai Musakanda, the Zimbabwe batter, is reportedly expected to appear in court on charges of culpable homicide and failure to report an accident. Musakanda, who was driving his car in Harare on the night of January 16, was allegedly involved in a collision with a pedestrian, who has been identified as Gwinyai Chingoka – a tennis player who has represented Zimbabwe in the Davis Cup.Chingoka was 38.According to a report in , Chingoka sustained fractures on the left leg and elbow, and died in hospital on January 27.Musakanda is alleged to have stopped at the scene of the accident and driven the injured Chingoka to hospital, but that he did not report the accident to the police within 24 hours of the incident. It is alleged that Musakanda filed a police report on January 28, a day after Chingoka’s death.The post-mortem ruled that the road accident was the cause of Chingoka’s death.This is not the first time Musakanda has been in trouble related to driving. In January 2020, he returned home from Australia after his club team, New City Cricket Club, sacked him for a drink-driving conviction.The 27-year-old Musakanda has played five Tests, 15 ODIs and 12 T20Is since his international debut in 2016. His most recent appearance for Zimbabwe was in a T20I against Bangladesh in Harare in July 2021.

“The last two games, we probably haven’t competed as much as we would have liked”

Matt Roller08-Feb-2022Heather Knight has admitted that England were “mentally fatigued” and struggled for motivation in the final two ODIs against Australia with the Ashes’ fate already decided.England were bowled out for 129 and 163 in the second and third ODIs, losing with 88 and 82 balls to spare respectively. They were heavily beaten in the only T20I that was played in full – though posted a competitive 169 for 4 – and were narrowly beaten in the first ODI, with a dramatic, drawn Test match sandwiched in between.Australia retained the Ashes with their victory in the first ODI and England have struggled to strike a balance between playing their best XI and managing their squad with an eye on next month’s World Cup in New Zealand. Kate Cross (wrist) and Katherine Brunt (side) missed the third game, with Emma Lamb brought in for an ODI debut.Related

• Charlie Dean, Emma Lamb in England's ODI World Cup squad

• Ellyse Perry regains No. 1 spot as ODI allrounder; Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone also rise

• Australia's takeaways: the summer of McGrath

• Sutherland, top order give Australia unbeaten Ashes campaign

“The last two games, we probably haven’t competed as much as we would have liked,” Knight said. “We’ve been a little bit fatigued and not quite us as a side, to be honest.”It’s been a really good series, particularly the start of the Test match and a few really tight games where we went toe-to-toe with Australia but couldn’t quite win those big moments and be ruthless in finishing off games. We put ourselves in opportunities to win matches but weren’t quite able to get it over the line.”[It was an] unbelievable Test match to be involved in – absolutely brilliant. I was proud of the girls how they went about it, but I think mentally it probably took a little bit out of us. It’s the same for both teams and Australia were able to turn it around for those ODIs.”But yeah, I do think the last two games we’ve probably been a bit mentally fatigued – [we’ve had] a couple of injuries kicking around and a few people we’ve had to test a little bit with our eyes on the World Cup. That’s played a part too.”England’s opening World Cup fixture is also against Australia – in Hamilton on March 5 – and their winless run against them in ODIs now extends to six games after consecutive 3-0 defeats in the 50-over leg of Ashes series.Knight insisted that her team had “not become a bad side” and that the opportunity to regain physical and mental freshness before the start of that tournament meant the Ashes result would have little bearing on the World Cup opener.”I don’t think the last two games matter too much,” she said. “Mentally, we found it hard to stay up with the Ashes already gone. Obviously that was our aim. But I believe we can beat Australia on our day, if we get our batting and bowling together, be a little bit more ruthless – but 100 percent believe we’ve got the players to compete in that first game, and it’s a one-off game. It shouldn’t really matter too much.”[This series] was very different to 2019 I think. Our belief and mentality has been totally different. I think we’ve gone toe-to-toe and tried to go at Australia, which I think is a good strategy against them. But we haven’t been able to be quite ruthless [enough] in those big moments and they’re the sort of team that don’t give you too many chances, so when you’re on top you have to nail it down.”We haven’t become a bad side after this Ashes. We have to reassess and go again. [We’ll be] ready for the World Cup and hopefully gain some mental freshness and freshen up physically as well.”

Bahrain’s consolation win not enough; Philippines rolled over for 36 by Oman while Canada crumble to 80

Peter Della Penna in Muscat21-Feb-2022A wild day in Oman saw three blowouts and one match go down to the wire to decide the four semi-finalists still in with a shot at reaching the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia. Here’s how the final day unfolded.Group A
Bahrain and UAE experienced the full gamut of emotions in a see-saw affair that saw Bahrain prevail by two runs in the biggest upset of the tournament. However, they still failed to advance to the semi-final as UAE stayed fractionally ahead of them on net run rate.Choosing to bat first, Bahrain lost a wicket on the second ball of play as Muhammad Younis cut Basil Hameed’s offspin to backward point for a duck. But they counterattacked through captain Sarfaraz Ali and wicketkeeper Umer Imtiaz, who put on a 50-run stand for the second wicket. Sarfaraz muscled four fours and two sixes, seizing on UAE’s bowling unit going too full, to drive over the in-field on the way to 32 off 22 balls. He finally fell trying to drive over the top one time too many, as legspinner Karthik Meiyappan induced a skied catch to long-off in the seventh over to break the stand.Imtiaz eventually fell for a career-best 42 before Sathaiya Veerapathiran followed five balls later for 2. But former Karnataka player David Mathias, who hit 46* off 35 balls, teamed with Haider Butt, who got 35 from 17, in an extraordinary 76-run stand off the final 34 deliveries. UAE almost paid dearly for choosing to rest their best pace bowler Zahoor Khan, as their replacement options at the death failed to contain Mathias and Butt, who like Sarfaraz continued to seize on full lengths as Bahrain ended up with nine sixes in their innings.On paper, UAE were set a target of 173 to win the match but needed to score at least 158 to stay ahead of Bahrain on net run rate tie-breaker. UAE lost heavy-hitting opener Muhammad Waseem for 2 in the second over to a flat-footed swish, giving an edge behind off Shahid Mahmood’s medium pace. Chirag Suri then fell on the first ball after the powerplay for 26, miscuing a pull to midwicket off Veerapathiran’s medium pace.But Rohan Mustafa joined 19-year-old Vriitya Aravind for a 91-run partnership to get UAE back on course. With the score 65 for 2 after ten, it became clear that UAE’s primary focus was on getting to 158, with the match target of 173 a cherry on top. Bahrain had a chance to heap more pressure on the opposition, but failed to capitalise on a pair of chances offered by Mustafa. The first came on 18 in the 12th over bowled by left-arm spinner Muhammad Waseeq, who induced a skied chance to long-off that Junaid Aziz failed to hold on to running in from the rope.That became the only over of spin bowled in the chase as Sarfaraz took Waseeq straight out of the attack. It meant that Sarfaraz also did not give a single over to Aziz despite the fact that the legspinner had been Bahrain’s leading wicket-taker in the tournament, having turned in a Player-of-the-Match performance of 5 for 5 against Germany before following it up with 2 for 16 in four overs against Ireland.Mustafa could have been run-out on 25 in the 14th over as well following a near collision with Aravind while trying to pinch a leg-bye after the ball plopped dead adjacent to the pitch. But Veerapathiran’s throw upon collecting in his follow-through sailed wide at the non-striker’s end with Mustafa several yards short, and wound up turning into two thanks to an overthrow. Mustafa was not as fortunate in the 18th over though, as a relay from Butt at long-on caught him sleeping while coming back very casually for a second run to end his innings for 41.Kashif Daud was caught next ball heaving to deep midwicket for a golden duck, leaving UAE needing 32 off 16 deliveries to clinch a spot in the semi-final. Aravind had managed to cross with the ball in the air on Daud’s wicket, and swung momentum back UAE’s way with back-to-back sixes, bringing up a 44-ball half-century in the process.Sarfaraz then bowled a magnificent 19th over to build tension further, conceding six runs while taking the wickets of Hameed and Zawar Farid off consecutive deliveries before Muhammad Usman saw off the hat-trick ball by striking a two to end the over. It meant Aravind would have the strike for the final over, needing 12 to see UAE into the semi-final, and 27 to win the match outright and clinch the top spot in the group ahead of Ireland on points.Mahmood was given the ball but misfired on his lengths throughout the over. Aravind drove the first ball back down the ground for four before heaving over midwicket for another boundary. A two on the third delivery was followed by a six driven straight down the ground to clinch UAE’s spot in the semi-final and knock Bahrain out.With 11 needed off the final two balls to win and 10 to force a Super Over, Aravind cleared the boundary with another sizzling straight drive for six off the penultimate delivery before scuffing the final ball for two to long-off. But despite his heroics seeing UAE into the semi-final with an unbeaten 84, the match officials awarded Player-of-the-Match honours to Sarfaraz for leading Bahrain to their first T20I win over an Associate nation with ODI status.File photo: Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie added 67 for the first wicket•Sportsfile via Getty Images

Ireland finished on top of the group after thumping Germany by seven wickets with 41 balls to spare. They started the day behind Bahrain and UAE on net run rate, but leapfrogged them both after sending Germany in and restricting them to 107 before speeding to the target. Faisal Mubashir top-scored with 45* off 40 balls for Germany but found little support elsewhere. Josh Little was named Player of the Match for Ireland after taking 2 for 13 in a brisk spell of left-arm pace.Paul Stirling hit 34 off 27 balls and Andy Balbirnie 32 from 21, having added 67 for the first wicket before both fell in quick succession, followed a short time later by Gareth Delany for 11. But Harry Tector cracked three fours in his unbeaten 24 off 15 deliveries to take Ireland into the semi-final.Kushal Bhurtel and Dipendra Singh Airee completed Nepal’s paltry chase•Peter Della Penna

Group B
On the adjacent oval in Al Amerat, Oman completed their rally from behind the eight-ball after a day-one loss to Nepal by completing a nine-wicket win over Philippines. Following up on another nine-wicket victory – over Canada in which Oman chased a target of 156 with two overs to spare – Oman achieved the same result chasing a far smaller target as they bowled Philippines out for 36.After fielding first in their first two group matches and conceding back-to-back totals in excess of 200, Philippines opted to bat and responded by being bowled out for the fifth-lowest total in men’s T20I history.While the medium pace duo of Kaleemullah, with 2 for 5, and Fayyaz Butt’s 2 for 7 ripped apart the top order, legspinner Khawar Ali whittled through the lower order taking 4 for 11 in a Player-of-the-Match performance. After Kashyap Prajapati fell on the second ball of the chase, Khurram Nawaz dashed any hopes Philippines had of a historic upset by cracking an unbeaten 33 off 12 balls as Oman needed just 17 deliveries to haul down the target.The results mean that Nepal will face UAE in one semi-final, while Ireland will face Oman in the other. Each match is a winner-takes-all shootout, with the victor in each semi-final clinching a spot in the first round of the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and a spot in the final of the qualifier in Oman, while the pair of losing sides fall back into a consolation third-place playoff.

In the absence of Moeen Ali, Devon Conway could be used as a floater to target KKR’s mystery spinners

Deivarayan Muthu25-Mar-20222:34

Preview: Chawla wants Venkatesh Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane to open for KKR

Big picture

MS Dhoni Ravindra Jadeja vs Shreyas Iyer. Two new captains will kick off IPL 2022, in a rematch of the IPL 2021 final, at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. The time Dhoni has represented Super Kings strictly as a player was in 2012, in a dead-rubber Champions League T20 game against Yorkshire. A decade later, Super Kings will start preparing for life after Dhoni although a statement from the franchise said he would continue to represent Super Kings as a player this season and “beyond.”Related

• Iyer buys into KKR's 'mindset' and 'intensity'

• Moeen likely to miss CSK's season-opener

• IPL 2022: Ravindra Jadeja to lead CSK after MS Dhoni decides to step down

• Team-wise player availability for IPL 2022

Jadeja’s immediate challenge is plug the holes created by the absence of first-choice players Deepak Chahar (injured) and Moeen Ali (unavailable following visa issues). Iyer, too, will have to contend with the absence of Alex Hales and his replacement Aaron Finch, who is not available for the early part of the tournament. Iyer has vowed to follow Knight Riders’ attack-first approach, which saw them surge into the final in 2021 despite a horror start to that season.

In the news

Moeen has arrived in India and will be available for Super Kings’ second game, against Lucknow Super Giants on March 31, after undergoing quarantine for three days. In the absence of Moeen, New Zealand batter Devon Conway is likely to make his IPL debut. Head coach Stephen Fleming had previously worked with Conway when he was part of New Zealand’s preparatory camp for the 2021 T20 World Cup.Tim Southee, who got married earlier this week and joined the IPL bubble late, will miss Saturday’s game. In his absence, Knight Riders could pick Sri Lanka’s Chamika Karunaratne or an extra Indian seamer.Ruturaj Gaikwad and Varun Chakravarthy could play key roles for their respective teams•BCCI

Likely XIs

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Robin Uthappa, 3 Devon Conway, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Ravindra Jadeja (capt), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Rajvardhan Hangargekar, 10 Chris Jordan/Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Adam MilneKolkata Knight Riders: 1 Venkatesh Iyer, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Sam Billings (wk), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Shivam Mavi 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Umesh Yadav/Rasikh Salam DarDevon Conway could make his IPL debut in the absence of Moeen Ali•Getty Images

Strategy punt

There is a case for Super Kings to use Conway as a floater in the middle order to counter Knight Riders’ mystery spinners, who have strong records against most of the Super Kings batters. In the T20 World Cup game against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi, Conway threw both Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, who is now part of KKR, off their lines and lengths with a variety of sweeps, including the reverse-hit. In all T20 cricket, Conway averages 61.63 and strikes at 134.65 against spin. Against pace, the average drops to 37.40 and strike rate to 126.15.

Stats that matter

• KKR have the lowest win percentage among current IPL teams at the Wankhede: 9%. They have won just one out of 11 IPL games at this venue.
• Varun Chakravarthy has dismissed Dhoni three times in three meetings in the IPL. As for Sunil Narine, he has kept Dhoni to 44 off 83 balls in T20 cricket while dismissing him twice.
• No player has hit as many sixes against a single bowler as Russell against Bravo in T20s – 23.
• Ambati Rayudu has 885 runs in 48 IPL innings at the Wankhede. Only Kieron Pollard and Rohit Sharma have more runs than Rayudu at this venue, but both batters have had the benefit of more hits with the bat.

Openers add 287 for first wicket after Will Rhodes’ surprising decision to bowl first

ECB Reporters Network12-May-2022Ricardo Vasconcelos and Will Young racked up a record opening stand after Northamptonshire were put in by Warwickshire in their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Edgbaston.The openers stayed together until after tea to add 287 in 64.2 overs and lift their side towards a commanding 372 for two at the close of the first day.Vasconcelos, whose previous seven innings this season had yielded a combined 90 runs, stroked 156 (197 balls, 21 fours, two sixes) before falling to the second ball after tea. New Zealand batter Young scored a polished 134 (230 balls, 16 fours, two sixes), his 13th first class century and first for Northamptonshire.All that Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes could do was rotate his depleted bowling attack and rue his decision to insert. That was a surprising move, especially given that pace spearhead Liam Norwell was again ruled out by injury, so joined England seamers Chris Woakes and Olly Stone on the sidelines.Against a weakened bowling attack, on an excellent batting pitch, Northamptonshire made hay while Rhodes could only digest his ill-fortune in winning the toss.It was soon apparent that the pitch was very good for batting and, to Warwickshire’s dismay, the hazy conditions offered no swing. Olly Hannon-Dalby delivered his customary fine new ball spell (5-4-1-0) but runs then began to arrive steadily.Northamptonshire were on 119, with both batsmen on 51, at lunch, before Vasconcelos accelerated to take them to 287 at tea. The 24-year-old’s first 50 having come from 81 balls, his second took 59 and his third just 53. Young, meanwhile, advanced with quiet authority with neither batter offering a chance in the first two sessions.The breakthrough finally arrived immediately after tea when Nathan McAndrew, making his home debut, trapped Vasconcelos lbw. That ended what was comfortably Northamptonshire’s record opening stand against Warwickshire, overtaking the 176 by Brian Reynolds and Colin Milburn at Northampton in 1964.Young continue to chug along chancelessly until he departed in infuriating fashion when he tickled a leg-side catch to wicketkeeper Michael Burgess off Hannon-Dalby.The flurry of two wickets in 18 overs was as good as it got for Warwickshire. Emilio Gay, having spent two sessions waiting to go in next, batted solidly through the final session for 45 in company, for the last hour, with the in-form Luke Procter (17 not out).The visitors will resume tomorrow pretty confident of surpassing their previous record total against Warwickshire (507) and with half an eye on their record total against anyone (781). The Bears will just wish they could have today back again.

Keemo Paul is also flying to Pakistan as a late addition to the West Indies squad

Sreshth Shah08-Jun-20222:48

Pooran on Netherlands series, challenges in Pakistan and assessment of debutants

The intense Multan heat has been a major talking point ahead of the Pakistan vs West Indies ODI series. The games are set to start at 4pm local time to counter the weather conditions, but with West Indies desperate to win more World Cup Super League games, Nicholas Pooran doesn’t want to focus on uncontrollables, like the weather, at all.But, keeping in mind the heat, the in-form Keemo Paul has been flown in to bolster the squad. While lead selector Desmond Haynes said in a CWI press statement that the injury-prone Paul had earned his spot after his successful run in the regional four-day championships for Guyana, where he displayed high fitness levels while taking 20 wickets in five games, Pooran indicated that the heat meant an extra squad member would be useful.Related

• Pooran: 'We definitely need to buff up on ourselves, myself especially'

• Azam hopeful Pakistan can beat the heat and West Indies

• Multan reclaims spotlight as Pakistan, WI go to battle

“Coming from Netherlands, from the cold to heat [is not ideal],” Pooran told the media on Tuesday. “Today we had our first training session and it went really good. We trained at 4pm, and it was windy. For now, it’s okay. Hopefully it doesn’t affect us. Coming from the Caribbean, it is quite similar, so I think we’ll be alright.”The guys are coping well, the medical team is doing everything to keep us protected. You can’t see the future, but I don’t think the heat will be too much of a problem after what I saw this afternoon.”Pooran wasn’t too concerned about his own form coming into the series. He had a high score of 10 in three innings in the Netherlands, even though there were four centuries and four fifties from his team-mates. He was out all three times to offspinner Aryan Dutt in that series, but despite that, Pooran felt batting against spin remained one of his strongest suits.”No, I’m fine, this is not the first time I haven’t scored runs,” he said. “Have to check my stats, but I am always scoring runs. Obviously, I’m disappointed by my personal performance in the Netherlands. Some people may say that I should’ve scored runs in the Netherlands. But I believe I am a good player of spin and don’t think I have to overthink it too much.”It’s just a matter of time, I need to get a start and then capitalise on it.”Pooran acknowledged that for West Indies, beating Pakistan in Pakistan was a challenge from the outset, but wanted his team to accept it instead of fearing it. As for tangible goals for the Pakistan series, Pooran revealed two such plans: hold on to catches and bat long as a team, consistently.”Some world-class bowlers and batsmen here [for Pakistan], but I want the players to embrace the challenge,” he said. “If we can take our catches, get some runs, you never know what can happen, the game can turn in a couple of balls. We want to use our momentum [from the Netherlands] and continue to be consistent as a team.”Cricket is played on its day. We had three guys getting centuries [in Netherlands]. We saw Brandon King being consistent with the bat. This is obviously really good for us. As a batting group, we want to bat 50 overs. In the Ireland series, in the India series, we haven’t batted all 50 overs.”Yes we are coming to Pakistan, yes they have good bowlers as well, but I believe we have the ability and confidence to bat the 50 overs. We appreciate the small goals and as a team we want to achieve it. One step at a time, and we’ll take it from there.”

Saifuddin started training but his recovery was not good enough whereas Yasir could not start his rehab

Mohammad Isam23-Jun-2022Bowling allrounder Mohammad Saifuddin has been ruled out of the white-ball leg of Bangladesh’s tour of the West Indies. Saifuddin was deemed not fit enough to bowl after recovering from a back injury. It is the second pullout due to back injuries in as many days after Yasir Ali was also ruled out from the ODIs and T20Is on Wednesday.ESPNcricinfo understands that the selectors are likely to ask a couple out of Tamim Iqbal, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Ebadot Hossain to be part of the T20I squad as they are in the Test and ODI sides. The ODIs are the last segment of the West Indies tour, so the selectors don’t have to fly in a replacement from Dhaka.Bangladesh’s injury count for the tour has reached three after quick bowler Shohidul Islam had already been ruled out of the Tests and T20Is due to a side strain he suffered during training.Saifuddin trained with the white-ball specialists in Dhaka during the last few weeks when his bowling fitness was deemed insufficient. Yasir, meanwhile, was in the West Indies with the Test squad where he found out he had to return home.”Although Saifuddin is training, we feel that at the moment he has not reached the bowling fitness level required to cope with the intensity of international cricket. He will miss the West Indies series as he continues his rehab and works on his fitness,” Dr Debashis Chowdhury, BCB’s chief sports physician, said.Yasir, meanwhile, picked up the injury during the practice match in Coolidge which had ruled him out of the Tests.”Yasir Ali has not been recovering as anticipated from his back injury and could not start his rehab,” Bangladesh physio Bayjedul Islam said. “As he is still restricted in his physical work after nearly two weeks of rest, we can conclude that his injury time will be extended. He will be missing the remaining matches and is therefore out of West Indies series.”Yasir made his international debut in all three formats in the last eight months, rising through the ranks after being with the Test squad throughout 2021. He is seen as an understudy batter, who was going to play in Mushfiqur Rahim’s absence. Saifuddin has been injury-plagued for much of his five-year international career. He got the back injury during the T20 World Cup last year.The second Test of the series will begin on Friday before the T20Is are played on July 2, 3 and 7 in Roseau and Providence. The three ODIs will be played in Providence on July 10, 13 and 16.

“I always felt there will be at least one chance to come back. I knew I would give it 100%”

Sidharth Monga09-Jul-20222:08

Giles: India have a ‘real powerhouse of a T20 team’ available

It’s a weird old summer in England where the red Dukes Test ball is swinging less and going soft quickly and the white Kookaburra is not only swinging, it is swinging for longer than usual. It is quaint that such an integral part of the contest is not homogenised but also strange that such little research on such an integral part of a professional sport is available in the public sphere. Its practitioners are almost resigned to be at the mercy of the batch of balls they get.”Honestly I don’t know that [why the ball is swinging],” Bhuvneshwar Kumar said after helping India complete a 2-0 T20I series win against England. “Because I’ve been here quite a few times and it didn’t swing in the last few series I’ve played here.”So yes, even I was very surprised that the white ball is swinging and swinging for a long period of time, especially in the T20 format. And that there’s more bounce in the wicket as well. So yes, when the ball swings you enjoy more. But honestly, I don’t know if I’m swinging it, [if it is] some conditions or it’s the ball, but yes, I’m glad it’s swinging.”Related

• Attacking mantra, Bhuvneshwar's form and Suryakumar's consistency bode well for India

• Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Chahal help India sew up series

• Late-bloomer Gleeson leaves his mark on T20I debut

Not surprisingly, Bhuvneshwar right now is a kid in a toy store. The ball is swinging for him and swinging for long. Accordingly he is 6-1-25-4 after two matches. He admitted he is tempted to show off and bowl inswing-outswing-inswing-outswing but that’s not how you get wickets. And there are very few in contemporary cricket who know how to make use of the swinging ball better than Bhuvneshwar.”If the ball swings, which is my strength, I look to attack,” Bhuvneshwar said. “Batsmen attack on flat wickets, they play their shots there, but it swung in these two matches, and I have been on the attack. But it is important to not get ahead of yourself. You feel like bowling one inswinger, one outswinger, one inswinger, but it is important to control that urge. Bowl consistently and set the batsman up.”Even in T20 cricket, you can apparently do that. In the first T20I, the non-striker Jos Buttler watched him bowl four straight outswingers to Jason Roy. The last of those got Roy a single. It brought Buttler on strike. The first ball to Buttler was a big inswinger, castling him. In the second, he didn’t need a set-up. Starting off with a slip in place, he bowled the perfect outswinger first and up and took Roy’s edge.Twice in two matches Bhuvneshwar Kumar saw the back of Jos Buttler•Getty Images

When Buttler and Dawid Malan started to walk at him in a bid to thwart the swing, Bhuvneshwar didn’t mind bringing the wicketkeeper up. And he had Buttler for a second time this series.Bowling so well was a distant thought when people wondered if it was curtains for Bhuvneshwar when he struggled in the T20 World Cup. Aspersions were cast on his commitment, replacements looked readily available, but when India saw he had come back to full fitness, they had no second thoughts in going back to Bhuvneshwar. But did he doubt himself ever?”After an injury, you know you have to do well when you come back,” Bhuvneshwar said. “There’s no other option. I always felt there will be at least one chance to come back. I knew I would give it 100% then but there is no guarantee the results will be good.”Because when you get injured, you get frustrated. There is some disappointment. It is not strictly doubts but you are not in a good frame of mind. Luckily I got a chance and did well. Of course the way the captain and the coach have backed me, it is good… if they backed me and I am doing well, they also must be feeling good that the player they backed is doing well.”In this mood, with the ball swinging, it is a miracle the captain has been able to take the ball off him and bowl him for just three overs in each of the matches.