All posts by n8rngtd.top

“Perhaps message from team management is that he has to wait,” Ganguly says about Shubman Gill’s Test future

PTI27-Feb-2023Sourav Ganguly isn’t surprised at the criticism KL Rahul has been getting, saying “when you fail for a while, obviously there will be criticism”. Ganguly also said that Rahul’s problems in Test cricket – he hasn’t crossed 25 in his last ten innings – are both technical and psychological.”When you don’t score runs in India, obviously you will get flak. KL Rahul hasn’t been the only one. There have been players in the past also,” Ganguly told PTI on the sidelines of a Delhi Capitals pre-season camp. “There’s so much focus and attention with lot of pressure on players. The team management thinks he is an important player for the team. At the end of the day, what coach and captain thinks is important.”In the ongoing series against Australia, Rahul, opening the innings alongside Rohit Sharma, has returned scores of 20, 17 and 1. His last half-century came in Johannesburg in January 2022, the same series in which he scored his last Test century. Overall, after 47 Tests, he has an average of 33.44, which dips to 13.57 in the last 12 months (though the sample is of just four Tests).Related

• Rohit hints India could request green pitch in Ahmedabad

• KL Rahul or Shubman Gill? It won't be an easy decision either way

• No ladders left, only snakes lurk in Rahul's Test path

• Stump Mic podcast: Australia swept away in Delhi

• How Shami and Siraj put the skids under Australia

“He has performed [over the years] but obviously you expect a lot more from a top-order batter playing for India because the standards set by others are so high,” Ganguly said. “When you fail for a while, obviously there will be criticism. I am sure Rahul has ability and I am sure as and when he gets more opportunities, he will have to find ways to score.”When asked whether Rahul’s problems were technical or psychological, Ganguly said, “Both.”The criticism has been severe. Rahul’s statemate and senior colleague Venkatesh Prasad has perhaps been the most vocal, while on ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day programme, Wasim Jaffer said earlier in the series that Rahul would have been dropped by now, and replaced by Shubman Gill had he not been the vice-captain of the team.As such, while Rahul was the vice-captain for the first two Tests, no vice-captain has been named for the last two Tests of the series against Australia.”It also makes it hard if you are playing on these sort of pitches as the balls are turning and bouncing,” Ganguly said of Rahul’s struggles. “There’s uneven bounce and when you are not in form, it makes it even more harder.”0:55

Jaffer: If Rahul wasn’t vice-captain, Gill would have replaced him

Shubman Gill ‘has to wait’ – Sourav Ganguly

While Rahul has struggled, Gill, who has been in red-hot form in white-ball cricket in the recent past and has an average of 32 from 13 Tests, the last of them in December last year, has sat out. Ganguly suggested that Gill would have to wait his turn.”I am sure when his time comes, he will also get a lot of opportunities,” Ganguly said. “I think the selectors, the captain and the coach think of him and rate him very highly. That’s why he is playing ODIs and T20Is, and he has performed as well.”But at the present moment, perhaps message from team management is that he has to wait.”Though Rahul has faced the brunt of the criticism, it’s true that most of India’s top-order batters have had a rough time on the tricky pitches of Nagpur and Delhi. While the Australians have crossed 200 just once in four innings and recorded a sub-100 total once, none of the specialist Indian batters bar Rohit have had much success. India’s three top run-getters are Rohit (183), Axar Patel (158) and Ravindra Jadeja (96), with Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, of the batters who have played both Tests, aggregating 76 and 38, respectively, so far.And while R Ashwin and Jadeja have been incredible with the ball, Todd Murphy and Nathan Lyon have been impressive too.”These are very tough wickets. I saw in the first two Tests and it’s not easy, boss,” Ganguly said. “Playing Ashwin, Jadeja, Lyon and the new guy, Todd Murphy, it is never easy with odd ball turning square. There is unevenness, there is everything happening for spinners.”

Batting feat follows five-wicket haul for 18-year-old allrounder

ECB Reporters Network29-Sep-2022Rehan Ahmed scored a superb maiden century to save Leicestershire from defeat in the LV=Insurance County Championship match against Derbyshire at Derby.The England Under-19 allrounder decorated the last day of the season at the Incora County Ground with a breathtaking 122 off 113 balls to provide a memorable finale to a miserable season for Division Two’s bottom club.It was also a record-breaking performance as he became the first Leicestershire player to score his first hundred and take his maiden five-wicket haul in the same match. The 18-year-old was well supported by Lewis Hill who scored 60 off 157 balls and shared a fourth wicket stand of 163 in 35 overs with Ahmed.Harry Swindells, with 48, and Tom Scriven, (30), added a further 70 and although Sam Conners celebrated his county cap by taking his 50th Championship wicket for the summer, Leicestershire were 86 ahead at 405 for 7 when rain consigned the game to a draw with 20 overs remaining.Derbyshire probably sensed the chance of an early finish when Ben Aitchison struck in the fourth over of the morning. Sam Evans had driven the fast bowler square to the boundary but the next ball drew him into playing and Wayne Madsen held a low catch at second slip.Leicestershire’s top order had collapsed in the first innings but Ahmed joined Hill to provide another impressive demonstration of his talent.After a frenetic start, Ahmed settled in to bat with controlled aggression, playing shots all around the wicket to reach a brilliant hundred. An upper-cut for six off Aitchison was one of the memorable shots in a maiden fifty which came off 60 balls and he needed only 39 more to reach three figures.There were no signs of nerves as he waltzed down the pitch after lunch to deposit Leus du Plooy’s left-arm spin over the long-off boundary and he dished out the same treatment to off-spinner Alex Thomson. Another six off Thomson took him to 99 and the next ball he drove through the covers for his 12th four to reach three figures in only his third first-class match.Ahmed is now in the distinguished company of former England allrounder Phillip DeFreitas who was the last Leicestershire player to score a century and take five wickets in an innings in the same game, in 2003 against Sussex at Grace Road.It was the first time it has been done in a first-class game between the two counties at Derby since Derbyshire’s Garnet Lee made an unbeaten 107 and took 5 for 31 in 1928.Ahmed drove Thomson for a fifth six but in the next over he skied a slog-sweep at du Plooy and Luis Reece ran in to take the catch at mid-on.Hill had played a valuable supporting role but he fell to the second new ball when he tried to cut Aitchison and was caught at first slip.Conners beat the bat numerous times before he struck twice in consecutive overs, having Scriven caught behind pulling before Swindells dabbed the fast bowler into the gloves of Brooke Guest. But the light was fading before rain swept in just after 4.30pm with Derbyshire finishing fifth in Division Two while Leicestershire end the season without a Championship victory.

Kaverappa takes a five-for but Karnataka’s hopes fade away in Bengaluru

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Feb-2023
Saurashtra are all but through to the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy final, after having taken a 120-run first-innings lead on the fourth day of their semi-final against Karnataka in Bengaluru.Saurashtra batted out 174.4 overs and ate into the time that Karnataka needed to wipe out the deficit and then bowl the visitors out to secure an outright win, having conceded first-innings points.The prospect of an outright win for Karnataka seems unlikely, though, as they were effectively 3 for 4 at stumps. While their scoring rate is a healthy 4.61, the cream of their batting line-up is in the pavilion and they will have a maximum of 90 overs on the final day.Mayank Agarwal, who had made a marathon 249 in the first innings, laid down the marker in the second with an aggressive 55. However, Saurashtra hit back late in the day through their spinners. Dharmendrasinh Jadeja dismissed Agarwal while Parth Bhuth got Manish Pandey three overs later. Karnataka ended the day on 123 for 4, with Nikin Jose unbeaten on 56.The day had belonged to Saurashtra captain Arpit Vasavada, who converted his 11th first-class century into a superb 202. His 142-run stand with Chirag Jani, who made 72, allayed any fears of a lower-order meltdown that Karnataka would’ve hoped to trigger in their hope of limiting the lead.Once Jani was out, legspinner Shreyas Gopal and seamer Vidwath Kaverappa ran through the lower order. Kaverappa, among the finds for Karnataka this season, ended with 5 for 83. In the absence of Prasidh Krishna, who is nursing a back injury, Kaverappa shouldered much of the responsibility and helped bowl Saurashtra out for 527.

Australia do not have any T20s on their schedule until next August

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-20223:40

Glenn Maxwell: Every time we were one wicket too many down to go hard

Aaron Finch won’t rush into a decision over his international future following Australia’s exit from the T20 World Cup, instead giving himself a chance to see how this season’s BBL goes.Having retired from ODIs in September, there are no international commitments for Finch until next August when Australia have T20s in South Africa. The next T20 World Cup is in West Indies and the USA in mid-2024 when Finch will be 37.”No, I’m not going to retire. Not just yet,” Finch told as he arrived back at Melbourne airport on Sunday. “I’ll play Big Bash and see where we sit after that, but I’m still enjoying playing cricket, playing T20.”It still feels unlikely that Finch will pad up again for Australia and if that’s the case he will finish with 3120 T20I runs at 34.28 and a strike-rate of 142.53 including a top score 172. He continued to struggle for form at the World Cup with a painful innings against Sri Lanka, but rebounded somewhat with 63 off 44 balls against Ireland in what may have been his last international innings after a hamstring injury keeping him out of the Afghanistan game.Related

• Hayden: 'Australian team has some thinking to do' after T20 World Cup exit

• Finch: My innings was poor, I just couldn't hit the ball

• Australia's hometown exit: a campaign that started badly and never got going

“There’s not another international T20 until August, so there’s quite a long break,” he said. “Still plenty of time to be able to weigh all that up. It’s been a pretty good ride regardless of what happens.”Finch’s BBL season with Melbourne Renegades will start on December 15 against Brisbane Heat.Speaking earlier in the day, head coach Andrew McDonald did not preempt any decision from Finch but noted that once conversations about retirement start that’s often the way they play out.”Any time that you, I suppose, start to think about it then the end will be one day closer, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “I think the Big Bash will probably determine his future – how he goes there, his performances, how his body is holding up.Is it the end? Aaron Finch won’t be making that call just yet•ICC via Getty Images

“His body has failed him here in terms of a hamstring strain that put him out of the World Cup…the next game is not until August next year so that gives him a lot of time to repair if he is willing to go on.”If not, then I am sure that over the next couple of weeks he will have a think about that and call it a little bit similarly to what he did in the one-day international scene.”McDonald, who took over as head coach from Justin Langer earlier this year, offered no excuses for Australia’s Super 12s exit of their home tournament.”We have only got ourselves to really blame,” he said, while forecasting personnel changes ahead of the next T20 World Cup. “We will go through what that looks like in terms of building towards the next World Cup”There will be some natural turnover because of the gap and space and also the age profile of the team. So there will be some people that get some opportunities, albeit next August when we play T20 again.”Australia’s next international action is a three-match ODI series against England which starts four days after the World Cup final. McDonald hinted that the early end to their tournament could mean a stronger-than-expected squad will be named. Pat Cummins was announced as the new ODI captain last month although he is not expected to feature in every series.

Pat Cummins’ team has struggled in all facets, while their opponents have leaked runs at an alarming rate and also lost Dasun Shanaka to injury

Andrew McGlashan15-Oct-20231:39

Moody: This Australian team is far from the previous champion sides

Big Picture

Even in a tournament with nine group-stage matches which allows room for a slip up or two, you don’t want to be 0-3 early in the competition. But that’s exactly the situation which will confront one of Australia and Sri Lanka after they face off in Lucknow in what already shapes as a contest to retain realistic semi-final hopes. It has been a tough start for both sides, but two points in this fixture will revive belief that they can still challenge for the top four.The struggles of Australia, with their World Cup pedigree, are creating headlines. They were handed a demanding start to the tournament by facing hosts India and a confident South Africa, but they have been significantly off the pace in all three disciplines. Sri Lanka have managed to put runs on the board – more than 300 both against South Africa and Pakistan – but their problem has been that they have conceded runs at an even higher rate: 773 from 98.2 overs in two games at 7.86 runs an over, meaning even Kusal Mendis’ sparkling century against Pakistan wasn’t enough.To add to their problems, they have lost captain Dasun Shanaka to a tournament-ending injury, which means Mendis will now take on the captaincy. However, even though the bowlers have been put to the sword, the spinners will fancy their chances of having an impact against the Australians.Related

• Tired and tested: Australia's challenges at this World Cup

• Head hopeful of joining World Cup squad in India on Thursday

• Is Kusal Mendis finally going to be Sri Lanka's Mr Consistent?

• Finch: Australia's body language 'quite flat' at the moment

• Chamika Karunaratne replaces injured Dasun Shanaka in SL squad

In what was quite an un-Australian move, they made two changes after just one match. The omission of Cameron Green was largely expected against South Africa, but the axing of Alex Carey was a major talking point even if his form had been patchy. They are still competing with a 14-player squad, with Travis Head yet to rejoin the group, and it’s only Sean Abbott who has yet to feature.The batting is becoming a concern with no one yet to reach a half century – Australia currently have the lowest batting average of any team in the tournament at 18.80, and have failed to reach 200 in the first two outings.In ODIs, the most recent meetings between these teams came in mid-2022 in a five-match series, when Sri Lanka had prevailed 3-2.Kusal Mendis now has captaincy added to his workload•AFP via Getty Images

Form guide

Australia LLWLL
Sri Lanka LLLWL

In the spotlight: Adam Zampa and Kusal Mendis

Australia gambled in their final squad by not replacing Ashton Agar with a like-for-like player, and while Glenn Maxwell has held up his end of the bargain with his part-time offspin, their problems have been compounded by a rare loss of form for Adam Zampa. Since taking 4 for 48 in Bloemfontein, he has claimed 7 for 430 with an economy of 7.41 in six games. Zampa battled niggling injuries leading into the tournament, while former captain Aaron Finch said he also has a hip problem, and is currently struggling to either take wickets or keep the economy rate down.”Don’t think he’s bowled as much in the lead up as he would have in the past,” Finch told ESPNcricinfo. “He’s had neck and shoulder issues. I know he’s got a bit of a hip niggle at the moment. Whether that’s just affecting him technically slightly – legspin bowling is not my expertise – but he didn’t bowl [at] his absolute best against India. But you are also bowling against the best players in the world. I think back to the first over he bowled, and he got cut for two boundaries. One of them was a good ball – might have hit the top of off stump to KL [Rahu] – and it slides past backward point for four. Then you are on the back foot because your best ball has been hit for four. You start overthinking it at times and you might stray away from your No. 1 plan.”On the flip side, Kusal Mendis is in spectacular form. If you include his warm-up innings against Afghanistan, he has made 356 runs in his last three knocks, with his 122 off 77 balls against Pakistan a career-best in ODIs. But the question will be whether he can sustain such a free-flowing nature with the additional burden of captaincy, adding to an extensive workload with him also being the wicketkeeper. Mendis has a good one-day record against Australia, averaging 50.33 from 11 innings.There is pressure on the big three quicks to lift their game and make early inroads•BCCI

Team news: Australia likely unchanged; Sri Lanka need reinforcements

Australia are likely to be unchanged, which means Josh Inglis will retain the keeping gloves, but there is pressure on the big three quicks to lift their game and make early inroads. There have previously been issues with Marcus Stoinis playing back-to-back matches but he only bowled two overs against South Africa, so that shouldn’t be a factor.Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Josh Inglis (wk), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodShanaka has been ruled out of the tournament, replaced by Chamika Karunaratne, a bustling seam bowler and a hard-hitting lower-order bat, who could come straight into the mix. They may also be without slingy fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana, who has a right shoulder problem and is “under observation” according to the team manager.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Kusal Mendis (capt, wk), 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Dunith Wellalage, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Dilshan Madushanka

Pitch and conditions

The surface at the Ekana Stadium had got trickier as the match wore on when Australia faced South Africa, and it had certainly nipped around for the quicks in the second half. That may have a bearing on what the captain who wins the toss decides to do. However, Pat Cummins and Shanaka, before his injury, had won both their tosses, done different things each time, and watched their team get beaten on each occasion. So they may just want to leave it to the other to decide. Meanwhile, it’s set to be another hot day in Lucknow.

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka have not beaten Australia in seven attempts at an ODI World Cup since they claimed the title in 1996.
• Don’t be surprised to see Dhananjaya de Silva given an early bowled against David Warner: Dhananjaya has dismissed Warner four times in ODIs, the most he has claimed any batter.
• Australia have caught barely half their chances in the first two matches: eight from 14. It gives them the lowest catch percentage of all the teams so far at this World Cup.

Quotes

“A lot of Australian teams, when they’re backed into a corner, play their best cricket. We find ourselves in a corner early on in this tournament, but we’ve got to come out and put in a really good performance against Sri Lanka.”

Sparks crushed by 56 runs despite Amy Jones half-century as Blaze make it three from three

ECB Reporters Network26-May-2023England batter Nat Sciver-Brunt showed she is warming up nicely for this summer’s Ashes with a brutal unbeaten 96 as The Blaze crushed Central Sparks by 56 runs in the Charlotte Edwards Cup in Leicester.It’s three wins from three in the tournament for Blaze after a powerhouse performance with the bat saw them pile up 212 for 5. Sciver-Brunt led the way with her high-class knock from 50 balls and it was her third-wicket partnership of 94 off 49 with Georgie Boyce that took the game away from Sparks.The flow of the match never changed after that as accurate bowling restricted Sparks to 156 for 6. Sciver-Brunt’s England team-mate Amy Jones made a sprightly 55 but Kirstie Gordon’s 1 for 19 from her four overs and Lucy Higham’s 1 for 12 off three kept a brake on the scoring while Nadine de Klerk picked up 2 for 26.Blaze were put in but imposed themselves from the start. Tammy Beaumont chipped the fourth ball of the innings over mid-wicket for six and former Sparks batter Marie Kelly struck three successive fours in the second over.The openers added 35 in four overs but then fell in the space of three balls. Grace Potts bowled Beaumont through a quixotic ramp and Kelly chipped Georgia Davis’s second ball to mid-off.Sciver-Brunt and Boyce were sooner scoring rapidly against bowling which offered them too much width. The former greeted Hannah Baker into the attack with a sweet six over long-off on the way to a 28-ball half-century.Issy Wong broke through with a slower ball that bowled Boyce but Kathryn Bryce and Sarah Glenn batted brightly for a brief time to offer Sciver-Brunt valuable support and keep the momentum high.With 200 on the board already, the question going into the last over was whether the England star could reach 100. She began the over on 90 and hit the first ball for four, her 15th to go with two sixes, but then lost the strike for three of the last four balls.Under immense scoreboard pressure, Sparks lost Bethan Ellis in the third over when she chipped Higham to mid-off. Higham conceding just four runs from two overs to deny the Sparks the flying start they desperately needed.Skipper Eve Jones’s quest for rhythm was not helped by facing just 16 balls in nine overs and when she lifted de Klerk to long-on, she departed with her side needing 147 from 11 overs.Amy Jones struck seven fours and two sixes but when she fell lbw slog-sweeping, Sparks were left needing a miracle. Erin Burns departed in similar fashion to Gordon and the visitors entered the last five overs requiring 102. Abi Freeborn struck three fours in the first of those overs but, even then, the over came in well short of the required amount and, in glorious sunshine, Blaze cruised to victory.

Allrounder will take over from Gayle, who will play for Jamaica Tallawahs

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-2019West Indies’ T20I captain Carlos Brathwaite will lead St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League, taking over from Chris Gayle, who will turn out for Jamaica Tallawahs this season.The allrounder has been part of the franchise for four successive seasons, since the introduction of the team in the CPL, and has been among the side’s leading run-getters since then. He said his focus this year would be to ensure Patriots end up in the top four for the third consecutive year: in 2017, they finished runners-up, losing to Trinbago Knight Riders in the final, and in 2018, the side finished third.”I think we had a good last couple of years where we challenged really well on the field, we went to the final and then we made it to the playoffs as well,” Brathwaite said. “So, this year is about trying to continue that same thought process, that same set of game plan and try to be as attacking as we could potentially be. Obviously, we had Chris [Gayle] and Evin [Lewis] at the top,”Chris is now gone so we need to find a replacement for Chris, probably not in the same style that he would play, but with the results that he would normally bring to the team. Obviously, that’s another big character gone in the dressing room as well, so we have to manoeuvre slightly differently, but we need the same results where we challenge for the top four and then once we get to the top four, we challenge for the title.”Brathwaite credited Gayle for his calm presence as captain over the last two seasons, apart from his run tally of 659 runs in 23 matches in the 2017 and 2018 seasons.”I think people look for the shouting and the ‘hurrah’ and Chris is not necessarily that. He’s more calm, collective, cool. He leads by example. He has the respect of everyone in the dressing room, so whenever he speaks you know his words are worth the weight in gold. I think a lot of people take his coolness and his calm persona for granted but there’s very much a whole heap of respect in all the dressing rooms I’ve been fortunate enough to play alongside him in, everyone in the dressing room gives him maximum respect”The Patriots squad for this season includes four players from West Indies’ World Cup squad – Brathwaite, opener Evin Lewis, left-arm spinner Fabien Allen and fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell – while the international contingent includes Sri Lanka quick Isuru Udana and Pakistan allrounder Mohammad Hafeez. The latter replaced South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen, who withdrew from the tournament due to international commitments. Patriots will play the opening match of CPL 2019, against Trinbago Knight Riders in Port of Spain on September 4.