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ECB Reporters Network11-Sep-2018
ScorecardBen Slater and Kraigg Brathwaite combined to give Nottinghamshire a slender advantage by stumps on the second day of their Specsavers County Championship meeting with Essex at Trent Bridge.Batting for a second time, 56 runs adrift, the home county’s opening pair reproduced last week’s heroics with a century stand to help Notts towards 116 for one by the close, a lead of 60.A week ago, in the drawn Yorkshire fixture, Brathwaite and Slater compiled stands of 182 and 91 on their home debuts.They were parted in the first over on the opening day of this match but rediscovered their mojo to blunt the Essex attack for more than two hours.
Slater, who scored 109 against the White Rose, made 54 before being dismissed just before the close. Brathwaite remains undefeated on 47.Earlier, the visitors were bowled out for 233 before tea, with captain Steven Mullaney taking four for 68, his best figures of the season.Resuming after lunch, from 133 for five, after rain had wiped out the entire morning session, the reigning county champions lost Jamie Porter in the first over of the day, lbw to Luke Fletcher.The same bowler then had Adam Wheater spilled twice in the slip cordon but the batsman couldn’t make the most of his good fortune by then nicking Mullaney behind for 14.Ryan ten Doeschate took his side to within three of the Notts’ first innings score before falling lbw to Mullaney for 32.Emulating Nottinghamshire’s tail-wagging exploits of the opening day, Essex’s last couple of wickets helped themselves to some unexpected but welcome runs.Simon Harmer received good support from both Matt Coles and Matt Quinn as the last two wickets added a further 59.Luke Wood eventually finished things off, trapping Coles lbw for nine, before inducing Harmer to chop on for a well-constructed 48, leaving Quinn unbeaten on one after 33 minutes at the crease.Slater had an early scare when he nicked Porter at the start of Nottinghamshire’s second innings but Dan Lawrence, at third slip, could only parry the ball away at full stretch.Chances from then on were few and far between as the deficit was wiped out without too much inconvenience.Slater’s 50 was reached from 83 balls faced but he failed to see out the day after being struck on the pads by Coles.Fletcher, in as Nottinghamshire’s nightwatchman, was spilled by Murali Vijay in the final over of the day but Brathwaite, who has registered half-centuries in each of his first two outings for Notts, will resume on the third morning within three runs of extending that sequence.

Kyle Hope and Sunil Ambris have earned call-ups to West Indies’ one-day international squad for the final three ODIs of their ongoing home series against India

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jun-2017Kyle Hope and Sunil Ambris have earned call-ups to West Indies’ one-day international squad* for the final three ODIs of their ongoing home series against India. The duo came in at the expense of Jonathan Carter and Kieran Powell in Cricket West Indies’ 13-man squad named on Tuesday.

West Indies squad

Jason Holder (capt), Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Roston Chase, Miguel Cummins, Kyle Hope, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell, Kesrick Williams

Hope, the 28-year old top-order batsman and brother of incumbent national wicketkeeper Shai, captains Trinidad & Tobago in domestic cricket, while Ambris, a 24-year old wicketkeeper-batsman, plays for Windward Islands. Both players are uncapped at the international level.Hope opened the batting for West Indies A on the one-day leg of their tour of Sri Lanka last year, and turned in good performances with a century and an 81 in three matches. He was also one of the stars of T&T’s campaign in the WICB Professional Cricket League Regional 4 Day Tournament (PCL) in 2016-17, finishing second only to Yannic Cariah on the tournament run charts.Ambris was the seventh-best run-scorer in that tournament with 608 runs at 43.42. That included a double-century against Leeward Islands, when he cracked a 256-ball 231, with the help of 27 fours and five sixes, to set up Windward Islands’ seven-wicket win.”Sunil Ambris and Kyle Hope are two very promising young batsmen who have been selected on the basis of strong performances in our competitions,” Courtney Browne, Cricket West Indies’ chairman of selectors, said. “Kyle opened on our last A team one-day tour to Sri Lanka and had some very good performances. In addition, he also had a good showing opening the batting for the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force franchise in this year’s PCL competition.”Sunil did well in our Regional Super50 One-Day tournament and also had a good showing in this year’s PCL first-class tournament for Windward Islands Volcanoes, and therefore will fit within our middle order. They will be up against a good Indian team and they have an opportunity to show their skills and contribute to a stronger team performance.”The third ODI takes place on Friday in Antigua, which will also host the fourth game, before the teams head to Kingston for the fifth and final match and a one-off T20 International. India lead the one-day series 1-0, having picked up a 105-run win in Port of Spain after the first match ended in a washout.*15.40 GMT The story has been updated to reflect Kesrick Williams’ presence in the squad, per a WICB media release pointing out a correction in the squad they had sent out.

A bun fight could be brewing over Dale Steyn’s national versus club duties as reports linking him to Glamorgan continue to swirl

Firdose Moonda17-May-2016A bun fight could be brewing over Dale Steyn’s national-versus-club duties as reports linking him to Glamorgan continue to swirl. Steyn may turn out for the county in part of their NatWest T20 Blast campaign, which coincides with South Africa’s participation in an ODI triangular tournament in the Caribbean.Steyn was left out of the squad for the tri-series after the selectors decided he needed rest ahead of the August Tests against New Zealand. However, Steyn may not be putting his feet up at all, and CSA may have been forced to provide Steyn with a no-objection certificate (NOC), which goes against their selectors’ wishes because the fast bowler is understood to want both game time and pounds.Although neither Glamorgan nor Steyn’s agent Dave Rundle confirmed Steyn was joining the county, Steyn’s former provincial and international team-mate Jacques Rudolph, captain of Glamorgan, confirmed there were ongoing talks. Rudolph was quoted by BBC Sport Wales as saying there was a “good possibility” of Steyn playing for Glamorgan, and that they were waiting on ” a visa issue” to confirm his availability. Steyn himself at hinted at the stint last week, when he asked about good fishing spots in Glamorgan on Twitter.
The T20 blast runs over three months from May 20 – the final is on August 20 – with Glamorgan’s first game to be played on May 26. South Africa’s tri-series in the West Indies begins on June 3 and concludes on June 26 but the next time Steyn will be needed for the country is on August 19, when a two-Test series against New Zealand begins. Steyn is also due to play for Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League, which starts on June 30. That means he could play seven games for Glamorgan between May 26 and June 24, and three CPL games before his next international assignment, which will more than double the game time he has had this year; so far in 2016, Steyn has played just seven matches, two T20 warm-up matches, four internationals and one at the IPL.He had spent the bulk of the South African summer injured, after sustaining a groin problem during the first Test against India in Mohali in November and then picking up a shoulder injury during the Boxing Day Test at home against England. Steyn recovered in time to play the T20s against Australia and then at the World T20, where he only featured in two of South Africa’s four games.Despite Steyn’s seemingly waning presence in limited-overs cricket, convener of selectors Linda Zondi said Steyn was “not out of the ODI picture” and could still feature in the September series against Australia, but the priority was to preserve him for Test cricket. For that reason the selectors did not want Steyn in action in June, but the possible deal with Glamorgan will change that and there is little CSA can do to stop it.CSA could force Steyn to rest by refusing him an NOC, a document required by all South African players regardless of whether they are nationally contracted or not to participate in other countries’ competitions. However if an NOC is refused, the South African Cricketers’ Association would scrutinise the reasons for the refusal. Steyn’s non-selection for the West Indies tri-series could work against CSA’s wanting to control that period of his time, though they have made it clear that they want Steyn to rest.This situation could open the door for discussions over the content of national contracts, which could increasingly see players advocate for more free-enterprise. CSA reserves the right to issue disclaimers with their NOCs – for example that a player cannot play more than a certain number of matches during the time he is at an overseas club – and prioritise international cricket over foreign domestic leagues. The weak Rand, which sits at 22.49 to the pound at Tuesday’s exchange rate, has been cited as the main reason for South Africans opting for stints overseas. But there has also been a suggestion that the increased focus on transformation has left many players uncertain over their futures and caused them to seek career security elsewhere.

Umesh Yadav’s first-over double-strike loosened the bolts, before Kolkata Knight Riders’ spinners took charge and the wheels truly came off Sunrisers Hyderabad’s chase

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando04-May-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:05

O’Brien: Chasing was the wrong call for SRH

Umesh Yadav’s first-over double-strike loosened the bolts, before Kolkata Knight Riders’ spinners took charge and the wheels truly came off Sunrisers Hyderabad’s chase. Pursuing 168 on a dry Eden Gardens deck, the visitors were 6 for 2, then later slipped to 69 for 6 in the 12th over, as the big shots continued to prove unfruitful, and their running between wickets faltered. They would finish 35 runs adrift, at 132 for 9.Brad Hogg and Piyush Chawla were both menacing and miserly through the middle overs, picking 3 for 33 from eight overs between them to lock up the match despite Moises Henriques’ battling 41 from 33, which was the top score in the match.Perhaps Sunrisers captain David Warner’s first mistake of the evening had been to bowl first on what appeared to be a spin-friendly deck to his counterpart, Gautam Gambhir. After his side had conceded 167 for 7, Warner made another error to see his off stump pegged back by the third legal delivery he faced. Having pulled Yadav for four previous ball, Warner played around a seaming length ball. Three balls later, Naman Ojha made the same mistake, the stump, this time, coming all the way out of the ground.Shikhar Dhawan and Henriques attempted to bash the chase into gear, but at spin’s early introduction, they became more cautious. Dhawan was out when he smoked a Brad Hogg half-tracker straight to square leg, but despite that bad ball, Hogg was instrumental in keeping the opposition pinned to their bad start. Yusuf Pathan leaked 19 runs in his solitary over, conceding two sixes and a four to Henriques, but the bowlers around him were economical enough to prevent a Sunrisers surge.Eoin Morgan’s slow start got worse when, after a moment’s hesitation, he failed to beat Gambir’s throw to the non-striker’s end, and was out for 5 off 11. The boundaries had dried up after that Pathan over, and another double-strike in the 12th over, went a long way to sealing the result.Hanuma Vihari ran past a Chawla slider fourth ball, before Bipul Sharma was run out attempting an ambitious second at the end of the over. That left the visitors needing 99 from 48 balls with four wickets in hand, and with Chawla, Yadav and Hogg all continuing to bowl tightly, the required-rate quickly climbed to unmanageable levels. In all, no boundaries were hit for eight overs in a stretch.Knight Riders’ own innings had been somewhat disjointed, with four batsmen hitting thirties, as Sunrisers’ slower bowlers also prospered. Robin Uthappa and Gambhir had put on 57 together before Gambhir holed out to deep midwicket off Karn Sharma’s bowling. Manish Pandey looked the most promising out of the top-order batsmen, finding two big sixes down the ground, before he ran himself out for 33 in the 14th over. Pathan struck four fours in a 19-ball 30 that finished the innings. Karn ended with 2 for 29, the best figures for Sunrisers.

Pat Cummins will not make a cameo appearance in New South Wales’ Sheffield Shield match against Queensland and Brad Haddin has also been ruled out of the match due to a thumb injury

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2012Pat Cummins will not make a cameo appearance in New South Wales’ Sheffield Shield match against Queensland and faces a cloudy immediate future as his sore back is examined further.Initial scans on Cummins’ back proved inconclusive, and he is now scheduled to visit Melbourne tomorrow for further consultation with medical experts after he returned home from the Champions League Twenty20 with the niggle.There had been a chance of him slotting in to the New South Wales side for the last day of their Shield match, which starts on Friday, as a replacement for one of the state’s Test players, but his injury has taken that possibility off the table. Cummins, 19, has not played a first-class match since his Test debut last November and his chances of being involved in Australia’s Test summer will hinge on the outcome of his examinations.Brad Haddin will also be on the sidelines for this week’s match after it was decided that his thumb injury, picked up during the Champions League in South Africa, had not fully recovered. A specialist diagnosed residual swelling and infection but it was expected Haddin would be available for the next round of Shield and Ryobi Cup matches.Peter Nevill will take the gloves against Queensland and David Dawson has also been included in the squad. The Blues also confirmed that Steven Smith and Moises Henriques, who are part of the Australia A match against South Africa due to finish in Sydney on Sunday, would fly to Brisbane after that game and would be available as replacements for the final day of the Shield game.Sean Abbott will also be on standby for replacement duties, as will the nominated 12th man. New South Wales could lose Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, David Warner and Mitchell Starc on the final day of the game as they may be required to join the national squad in preparation for the first Test.

On a sluggish track built to suck all skill out of cricket, Moises Henqirues found plenty of it to help New South Wales first to an improbable tie and then a win through the Super Over

The Report by Sidharth Monga28-Sep-2011
Super Over
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outHis four-over spell of 2 for 27 was only the start of Moises Henriques’ contribution to New South Wales’ win•Associated Press

On a sluggish track built to suck all skill out of cricket, Moises Henriques found plenty of it to help New South Wales first to an improbable tie and then a win through the Super Over. For the second match in a row, Trinidad & Tobago lost the script after having defended spiritedly for most of the match. Henriques manoeuvred the field – something that was arguably easier than it should have been – in the last over to help NSW get the 16 runs they needed for the tie, and then played around with the same bowler, Ravi Rampaul, some more to score 18 in the Super Over. Lendl Simmons hit a six and a four in the chase, but with four required off the last ball, drilled Steve O’Keefe straight down long-off’s throat.The tournament is fast resembling different actors acting out the same play with a little improvisation here and there, but to their credit the actors today made it very dramatic. The story for most of the Hyderabad and Chennai games has been: sizzle at the start, struggle with the slowness and lowness in the middle and scramble in the end. Both the teams sizzled to begin with (T&T score 40 in first 5.3, NSW 43 in the first six), both struggled once the ball became soft (T&T managed 21 in the next 5.3 overs, going six overs without a boundary; NSW’s next six overs brought 30, and they didn’t score a boundary for 8.5 overs). It was the scramble that would decide that match, and T&T’s 61 off the last six matched NSW’s 50 off their last five to produce the third tie in Champions League history.Like all sluggish tracks do, this one in Chennai too took a lot skill out of the equation for about 39 overs. The bowlers couldn’t bowl wicket-taking deliveries, but they could stifle the batsmen by bowling slow, stump to stump, and short of a length. The batsmen found it incredibly hard to time the ball. Simmons and Warner didn’t face those problems at the top, although Warner did play out a maiden from Samuel Badree. Simmons hit through the line, and Warner punished width as they got their respective sides to good starts.O’Keefe’s non-spinning delivery in the seventh over started the first-innings turnaround, dismissing Adrian Barath. Sunil Narine’s flicked legbreak induced the top edge from Shane Watson in the seventh over of the chase. Mud-wrestling followed in both innings as frustrated batsmen played intemperate shots to lose their wickets. Henriques got Simmons and Darren Bravo, Sherwin Ganga accounted for Warner and Daniel Smith. T&T: 69 for 3 after 11.5, NSW: 72 for 3 after 11.5.T&T’s scramble began in the 15th over when Steven Smith offered them two long hops, which were hit for fours by Denesh Ramdin. In the same over, Billy Bowden, the third umpire, reprieved Darren Ganga, who went onto add a further 11 off 7. The real game-breaking scramble came through a two-over association between Ravi Rampaul and Kevin Cooper, which brought them 25 runs. It wasn’t all skill: two of their boundaries came through pulls through long-on and long-off. Rampaul finished with an unbeaten 15 off 7.Rampaul wasn’t done with the scramble, though. He would bowl two out of NSW’s last three overs, with 36 to defend. He began with a no-ball, a call he contested heatedly. The replays showed his front foot well in, and no replays of the back foot was available. Be that as it may Rampaul came back with a smashing yorker on the free-hit, and followed it up with Simon Katich’s wicket in the same over.With 16 to defend, Rampaul began the last over with his trusted practice of going round the stumps and bowling yorkers on off and outside off. Henriques wreaked havoc with his head by walking across and flicking the first two past short fine leg. These were two incredible shots: they were not length balls but near yorkers, and he whipped them late in order to miss the fielder. He could only manage a single off the third ball, but trusted Pat Cummins enough to take a couple off the fourth.Selected earlier today for the Australian national side to tour South Africa, Cummins made room, got a length ball, and somehow squeezed it between mid-on and midwicket for four. Cruelly it came down to two required off the last ball. Would T&T still offer the tie on the platter? They bowled the last ball with just four fielders inside the circle, but one of them- midwicket – wasn’t quite at the edge of the circle. Cummins found that man, and we were going into the Super Over.NSW sent the form-man, Henriques, to bat ahead of Shane Watson. T&T persisted with Rampaul, who persisted with bowling round the stumps. He began with a dot, but a poor throw from their worst fielder – Bravo – allowed Henriques a second off the second ball. The way the game panned out, T&T would have taken any other man than Henriques on strike. Henriques hit fours off the next four balls: through such varied areas as midwicket, point, mid-on and fine leg.More drama followed just before T&T could bat their Super Over. T&T saw the ball being tossed up to O’Keefe, and wanted to promote Bravo, originally slated to bat at 3. Ranjan Madugalle, the match referee, was alert and wouldn’t have any of it. With Bravo still kicking the ground, O’Keefe began to bowl left-arm spin to two right-hand batsmen. With 15 required off last three, Simmons managed to clear a leaping long-on. O’keefe followed it up with a wide. Cummins followed it up with a misfield at square leg to allow a four. Simmons timed the last ball perfectly, but it was pitched just too close to him to allow the elevation. It was a matter of inches in the end.

Seamer Andrew Carter and left-arm spinner Graeme White have signed new two-year contracts with Nottinghamshire

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2010Seamer Andy Carter and left-arm spinner Graeme White have signed new two-year contracts with Nottinghamshire.Both players were already under contract until the end of the 2011 season but have agreed new terms on deals that commit them to the club until the end of the 2012 season.White joined the club from Northamptonshire last year and enjoyed a solid debut season at Trent Bridge, playing his first Championship game as well as being a regular in limited-overs cricket.”Graeme has quickly become a key member of our team in limited overs matches,” said Nottinghamshire coach Mick Newell. “He’s here principally for his spin bowling but he has shown promise with the bat and has the potential to become a good all-rounder.”He’ll be keen to play four day cricket and to do that he needs to show that he can bat at eight or nine which he’s working hard to achieve.”Carter had a spell on loan at Essex last season taking 13 wickets in three Championship games, including a second innings haul of 5 for 40 against Kent, and Newell feels he has gained the ingredients to perform for Nottinghamshire.”Andrew needed to gain first-class experience and did very well during his spell with Essex,” said Newell. “He has genuine pace and has developed accuracy to go with it which will help to push his case for a place in our side next season.”

The India batter has looked good in his two innings this series but will want a few more runs to show for it

Alagappan Muthu13-Dec-20245:07

Gill: We should consider this as a three-match series from now

It didn’t take long for the memories to come flooding back for Shubman Gill. People forget he played a big part at the Gabba in 2021.Only 21 years old, playing his third Test match, he walked out into perhaps the most intimidating stage Australia had to offer – their captain Tim Paine had made a point to remind them of that when they were able to salvage a draw in Sydney earlier – and looked like he belonged.Gill at his best is comes with a volume warning, because when he hits the ball, it just reverberates around the ground. Sometimes you feel like you could pick out his shots with your eyes closed because the connection is so crisp.Early in India’s chase of 329, he hit Mitchell Starc off the back foot all along the ground through cover and on commentary former England cricketer Isa Guha exclaimed, “Crunched! Sound off the bat. Shubman Gill. Wow!” It is unmissable. The 91 he made at the top of the order set India up for the miracle that followed.”Definitely very nostalgic when I came here,” Gill said on the eve of this year’s Gabba Test against Australia. “The whole team was coming and just walking to the stadium again after 2021 win, felt very nostalgic.”Related

• Khawaja, McSweeney steady for 13.2 overs before rain ruins day one of Gabba Test

• Struggling batters brace for tough test at the Gabba

• Past and present weigh on India, and Australia

• Rohit is used to leaving a mark, but not like this

Apart from that natural gift, he seems very well attuned to the vagaries of batting. He understands how things can go wrong and spends ages in the nets trying to fix them. He also understands how things can go right. Former India coach Ravi Shastri recently spoke about how Gill had gone up to Rishabh Pant at tea on the final day of the 2021 Gabba Test and pointed out that Australia might resort to Marnus Labuschagne’s legspin to tide them through to the second new ball and that was a time to cash in. (Labuschagne bowled only one over though)Gill was shaping to be an important weapon for India on this tour, but he injured himself while training and had to miss the first Test at Perth and his return in Adelaide came with a pink-ball handicap. Gill looked good in the first innings making 31 runs, 20 of them through boundaries, and then he missed a straight ball and got lbw.”When you are out there one of the challenges is can you play the game how you want to play the game irrespective of what’s happening on the other end or what’s happening on the scorecard and I think I faltered in the first innings around because of that,” Gill said, “Because what happened on the other end I kind of took that on me.”There was a period where I didn’t get to face, maybe I faced one ball in like four overs and then the next ball that I faced I kind of missed a straight ball, a fuller ball [and was lbw]. But these are the challenges that you face while playing a Test match, you might not get the strike for three or four overs, you might get the strike less or you might face like 18 balls on the trot.”1:52

How can India bounce back in Brisbane?

Looking good but not going on is part of why Gill’s Test average is at 36.45 after 30 Tests. He has crossed 20 in 33 of his 57 innings. So he’s good at getting starts but converting them is a problem. More than half of those 33 innings have ended before he could bring up fifty.In Adelaide, he pointed to the mitigating factor. “Just the dynamics of a pink-ball Test,” Gill said, “We don’t play [it] as much, and just playing at night, it is a little bit harder to gauge the seam position and the hand position at which the ball is released, so it is a bit more difficult to look as a batsman.”Sometimes when you feel like you’ve got the flow going, you start to push things. Playing on the up. On 29 off 27 against England in Chennai 2021, Gill thrust his hands out at Jofra Archer the next ball and was caught at mid-on. He’d hit five boundaries in that short stay, he thought there was one more for the taking. Reaching outside the line of his body. On 36 off 54 in Cape Town in 2024, he got sucked in by Nandre Burger’s left-arm angle and handed a catch to gully. Gill’s stillness at the crease – which is usually a strength because it keeps his head level and really helps him out when he plays his back foot shots – worked against him here.Australia will test him like that too. And in a million other ways. “I think the intensity at which the games are played here, especially Test matches is one of the most difficult things,” Gill said, “To be able to maintain that intensity throughout the course of five days is what makes touring Australia so difficult, and I think more than anything it is the mental intensity and the mental fitness that is required here in Australia, especially here [at the Gabba].”It will be fascinating to see how he comes through an examination like that.

Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna make their ODI comebacks, but Yuzvendra Chahal has been dropped from the 17-man squad

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Aug-20231:02

Will India miss Chahal in their Asia Cup squad?

KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer have been selected in India’s ODI squad for the Asia Cup after recovering in time from a thigh and a back injury respectively.The 17-man Asia Cup squad announced by chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar in Delhi on Monday included rookie left-hander Tilak Varma, who hasn’t played ODI cricket yet.Fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna, who made their international comebacks during the ongoing T20I series in Ireland after recovering from back surgeries, were also selected. Mohammed Shami made a comeback after being rested for the entire tour of West Indies, while Mohammed Siraj and allrounders Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur complete the pace attack.”In West Indies, we saw some real promise in terms of not just performances but the temperament,” Agarkar said of Tilak’s selection. “And it gives us an opportunity to take him with the team, give him some more exposure; a left-hander again, looks very promising. So fortunately we can take 17 here, it’ll be 15 at the World Cup. So when the time comes we’ll take that decision, but at the moment it at least gives the coach and captain an opportunity to have him with the squad.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Experienced legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal was dropped from the squad, with Kuldeep Yadav preferred as the only wristspinner along with two fingerspinning allrounders in Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. There was no offspinner in the squad.”We thought about an offspinner as well, [R] Ashwin and Washy [Washington Sundar], but right now you see Chahal had to miss out because we could only pick 17 players,” India captain Rohit Sharma said at the press conference. “The only way we could have picked him was if one of the seamers was missing. We can’t do that because seamers are going to play a big role in the next two months. A few of them are coming back after a long time, so we wanted to have a good look at them, get them in and see what they have to offer. Having said that, no doors are closed on anyone. Anyone can come in anytime. If we feel like we need Chahal for the World Cup, we’ll see how we can squeeze him in, same goes for Washy or Ashwin.”Ishan Kishan was chosen over Sanju Samson as the second wicketkeeper in the squad, behind Rahul, with the left-hand batter doubling up as a reserve opener. Samson, however, will travel to Sri Lanka as a back-up player.”We’ve picked these 18 guys. It’ll be in and around these guys [for the World Cup squad],” Agarkar said. “A few important guys coming back from injury, hopefully all goes well with them. They have a few games now at the Asia Cup. There’s a short camp in Bengaluru] followed by a couple of games before we announce the World Cup squad, but it’s quite obvious it’ll be around these guys.”Rahul and Shreyas had spent several weeks undergoing rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and took part in match-simulation exercises in the days leading up to their selection. Rahul has not played any competitive cricket since he was injured during IPL 2023, while Shreyas has been out of action since Australia’s tour of India in March. Agarkar said that while Shreyas was passed fully fit, there was still a question mark over Rahul.”Both are coming off long-term serious injuries. Shreyas has been declared completely fit. Rahul, not his original injury but there’s a niggle, which is why Sanju is travelling,” Agarkar said. “We’ll get a report from the physio at some stage but we all expect him to be fit. If not at the start, by the second or third game, but he’s on track. Shreyas has been passed fit, which is good news for us.”1:09

Shastri: ‘Virat must bat at No. 4 if the team needs him to’

Apart from Tilak’s inclusion, there were no surprises in the batting unit and Rohit said the team management wanted to be flexible with the batting order.”One thing I want in this team is to make sure everyone is okay to bat anywhere,” Rohit said. “You need flexibility, guys who can step up at any position. No one should say, ‘I’m good at this position or I’m good at that position’. You want guys to be able to bat anywhere, that’s the message conveyed to every individual. Not now, but over the last three-four years. I know it’s tough for guys on the outside to understand why a guy who bats at six is batting at four, but the message has been given. You don’t want to be handicapped or stuck with one player batting in one position. Having said that, you want to get the best out of players in certain positions. All seven-eight [positions] are open to anyone, that’s the message we have sent out for so many years now.”The Asia Cup begins on August 30 with Pakistan hosting Nepal in Multan. India’s first Group A game is against Pakistan in Pallekele on September 2, after which they play Nepal in Pallekele on September 4. Group B comprises Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka and the top two teams from each group will progress to the Super Four stage. The sides that finish one and two in the Super Fours will contest the final in Colombo on September 17.India squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-capt), Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna

Foakes remains in isolation after Covid diagnosis; Crawley retained despite lean run of form

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jun-2022Sam Billings has been added to England’s Test squad to face India at Edgbaston on Friday, after stepping in to the team at Trent Bridge as a Covid substitute for Ben Foakes, whose place is in doubt while he undergoes five days of isolation.Billings, whose previous Test cap had come in Hobart at the end of the Ashes tour in January, was once again called up at short notice, after Foakes missed the whole of the third day’s play at Headingley with a stiff back, before being substituted out of the game following his positive test.Under the ICC’s protocols for Covid substitutions, Billings would have been permitted to bat if required in England’s second innings, and has now officially earned his second Test cap, even though his main contribution was a bizarre caught-behind off Neil Wagner that he managed to wedge between his knees.However, having worked under Brendon McCullum at Kolkata Knight Riders, Billings is already enjoying the new atmosphere around the England team, as he told Sky Sports before the start of the final day’s play at Headingley.”[McCullum’s] got this amazing quality to be able to say something with emotion, but being emotionless, if that makes sense,” Billings said.”So the lasting effect it has on the group isn’t like it’s talked about for days afterwards. It’s to the point, it’s clear, it’s clarity, and it’s about making you feel ten feet tall”I know that’s been said a lot, but that’s probably his best quality. He absolutely puts confidence into you and together with Stokes they encapsulate exactly what this team wants to be.”The most important thing is he’s a quality human being. Everyone knows that, whoever has played against him or the Kiwi lads as well. He’s a quality human being and everything he does is with incredible integrity and honesty.”And that’s all you want as players. You want that clarity and honesty, combined with someone who’s got the best in mind for you. Yeah, it’s a really good combination.”It will be touch and go whether Billings will be required to make his third Test appearance against India on Friday, however. Having gone into isolation following his diagnosis on Sunday, Foakes is due to link back up with the squad on Birmingham, one day out from the Test.Billings’ addition is the only change to what is now a 15-man squad, with the selectors choosing to keep faith in Zak Crawley at the top of the order, despite a lean series in which he was visibly struggling for form and confidence. His final contribution was an unconvincing innings of 25 from 33 balls, which included the run-out of his opening partner Alex Lees for 9, and he finishes the series with 87 runs at 14.50.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

However, with the short turnaround to the India Test, and given that England’s management of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum are keen to reinforce a positive mindset within their players, Crawley has been backed to come good, having already made a century in the Caribbean earlier this year.One probable change for the India Test will be the return of James Anderson to lead the attack, having missed the Headingley match with an ankle niggle. With Matthew Potts having starred against New Zealand with 14 wickets at 23.28, Anderson’s return may come at the expense of either Jamie Overton, who claimed one wicket in each innings of his debut Test but was singled out by Stokes for his match-turning innings of 97, or Stuart Broad, whose 12 wickets in the series came at 35.25.