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Six teams, 33 matches, a majority under lights, all of them in a bio-bubble – the tournament begins Nov 24

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2020Bengal captain Abhimanyu Easwaran, one of the state’s stalwarts Anustup Majumdar, and up-and-coming allrounder Shahbaz Ahmed will lead three of the six teams at the inaugural chapter of the Bengal T20 Challenge, to be played at Eden Gardens in “a bio-bubble eco-system” from November 24.Each of the teams (all clubs) – Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Tapan Memorial, Town, Kalighat and Customs – have 15 players in their ranks; seven of these were retained by the teams from their existing squads, and eight were picked up at a draft, with four more players named as stand-bys. There will be a total of 33 games in the tournament, with each team playing the others twice, followed by the semi-finals and the final, with a “majority” of them under lights. The schedule is expected on Saturday, which may include triple-headers on some days.”Majority of the matches will be played under the floodlights at Eden Gardens. All the players, coaches and match officials will continue to remain in the bio bubble during the entire course of the tournament,” Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Avishek Dalmiya said after the draft, conducted on Tuesday at a Kolkata hotel. “The thought process behind this tournament is to nurture the talents of the state of West Bengal and also enable this competition to act as a talent feeder to the various age groups representing the association.”

Abhimanyu Easwaran tests positive for Covid-19

Bengal captain Abhimanyu Easwaran tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday and will be in quarantine for the next two weeks. His participation in the inaugural Bengal T20 Challenge, therefore, becomes doubtful.
“He underwent a mandatory COVID-19 test and was found positive. He is however asymptotic. He is now quarantined and under the treatment of medical panel of CAB,” CAB joint-secretary Debabrata Das said in a media statement.
Easwaran had joined Bengal’s pre-season training a few days back, PTI reported.

On the absence of corporate-owned teams, and the decision to field prominent cricket clubs of the region, Dalmiya said, “This tournament is a CAB property and it will continue to remain the same without franchises. We are trying to ensure all the top brands are associated, top players are associated. We took suggestions from our think tank, the Bengal support staff and the coaches.”Similar T20 tournaments have been organised by some of the state cricket associations around the country over the past few years – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Saurashtra, Jharkhand, Andhra, Mumbai, for example – and, like them, the CAB is also hoping to make the competition an annual affair. This year, though, the Covid-19 situation has made things slightly more complex that it would be otherwise.”These are very difficult times and to make this tournament successful, we must adhere to the (Covid-19) guidelines and protocols,” Dalmiya said. “There will be health officers who will be ensuring that the bio-bubble norms are followed and if anyone’s out of the bio-bubble, he’s out of the tournament.”For the duration of the tournament, expected to be around three weeks, all the players, support staff, and everyone else associated with the tournament will be stay in a city hotel and not interact with anyone from outside the “safety zone”.The timing of the tournament is a good one from the point of view of Bengal-based cricketers, as it will end before the BCCI’s domestic season kicks off – on January 1, according to board president Sourav Ganguly.”If one can perform here, he can open the gates to greater opportunities. I have been telling the marquee players that this is a godsent opportunity; this has never happened to any of the Bengal players before. By the time we start the season, a couple of board tournaments are over and for the selection process we have to look into last year’s performance,” Arun Lal, the state team coach, was quoted as saying on the CAB’s Facebook page. “I believe you can do a great service to Bengal cricket if you can dislodge the entrenched players, they are the ones under pressure not the youngsters. This is a great opportunity for the youngsters and the players who are forgotten.”While Mohammed Shami and Wriddhiman Saha, senior Bengal players, are in Australia with the Indian side and Ishan Porel, the young quick, has also travelled with the team as a net bowler, there is no dearth of prominent players in the teams. Apart from Abhimanyu, Majumdar and Ahmed, there are the likes of Manoj Tiwary, Shreevats Goswami, Abhishek Raman, Mukesh Kumar, Debabrata Das, Akash Deep, Sudip Chatterjee and Aamir Gani scattered among the six teams.

Alex Wakely and Rob Keogh score fifties as Northamptonshire reply to Worcestershire’s 186

ECB Reporters Network18-Aug-2019Brett Hutton took 6 for 57 to help Northamptonshire bowl Worcestershire out for just 186 on the first afternoon at Wantage Road before Alex Wakely and Rob Keogh shared a century stand for the third wicket as the home side then replied with 140 for 3.Hutton’s first five wickets came in the opening 50 minutes of play as he shot out the visitors’ top order. But from 108 for 8 just after lunch, Jack Leach made a 38-ball fifty to help cobble something together for Worcestershire after choosing to bat first.Twice Hutton was on a hat-trick as he claimed his eighth first-class five-wicket haul on a breezy day in Northampton. He began with a perfect delivery that moved away to flick the off bail of Championship debutant Jack Haynes and soon trapped Callum Ferguson lbw for 1 shuffling across his stumps.Alex Milton nicked a lifter to wicketkeeper Adam Rossington and although Riki Wessels survived the hat-trick ball and sliced an edged at catchable height past between third and fourth slips, he soon fell for 6, lbw to Hutton. Next delivery Ben Cox edged to Keogh at third slip but in his next over, Moeen Ali kept out Hutton’s second hat-trick ball of the morning.Moeen’s return for Worcestershire was unconvincing. Very short of form this summer, he looked unsure, driving loosely and twice in successive balls from Hutton, on 12 and 16, should have been held behind the wicket, slicing past third slip’s shoulder and then between the wicketkeeper and first slip. He also drove in the air through cover before eventually slapping Nathan Buck to extra-cover. His 42 may have looked reasonable on the card but in terms of playing himself back into form, this knock would have counted for little.By contrast Ed Barnard looked very assured, leaving the ball well and surviving 79 deliveries for a calm, composed 27 before he dragged Dwaine Pretorius into his stumps.His was the second wicket to fall after lunch after Hutton struck again just after the break, finding the outside edge of Wayne Parnell whose chancy 30 was ended by Keogh’s catch. But Worcestershire added useful runs from the tail, including a 52-run stand for the 10th wicket.Leach led the progress making a merry unbeaten 53, playing positive but never reckless strokes. Josh Tongue providing competent company in making 20 before edging Buck to first slip.In reply, Rob Newton dragged Tongue into his stumps for 2 and Ben Curran was given out lbw to Parnell for 10 – but replays suggested the ball would have missed leg stump and was possibly high too.But Wakely and Keogh ensured Northants ended the first day firmly on top. Wakely skipped down the wicket to lift Moeen over long-on for six and turned Leach through square-leg for a sixth four to reach fifty in 101 balls – his third in the Championship this summer.Keogh wristily drove Leach through the covers to raise the half-century stand and punched Moeen past extra-cover before competing his own fifty in 60 balls. But with six overs remaining in the day, went to work Parnell through midwicket and got a leading edge that was sharply held by Mitchell at second slip.It rewarded a sustained period of pressure from Parnell and Moeen and forced Buck to come out as nightwatchman to see out the day – he got within three balls of doing so before ducking into a bouncer from Tongue, forcing play to a marginally premature end.

The South Africa fast bowler was punished for a level two breach of the ICC’s code of conduct, when he brushed against Australia captain Steven Smith’s shoulder while celebrating a wicket

Firdose Moonda12-Mar-2018Kagiso Rabada will not play any further part in the ongoing series against Australia after he was found guilty of a level 2 code of conduct offence. The incident took place on Friday when the South African fast bowler made physical contact with outgoing batsman Steven Smith.Rabada received three demerit points, taking his total to eight within 24 months. According to the ICC’s rules, that activates a suspension of two Test matches.CSA and Rabada have 48 hours to decide whether to will appeal the decision and are seeking legal counsel to that end. Should they opt to appeal, the ICC then has 48 hours to appoint a judicial commissioner to hear the appeal, which must take place within seven days of the commissioner’s appointment. In total, the whole process can take a maximum of 11 days. But the third Test in 10, which should rule Rabada out, even if he appeals successfully.There is a chance, though, that CSA could present an argument to the judicial commissioner to allow Rabada to play while the appeal is pending. If the commissioner agrees, that could open the door for Rabada to be part of the XI at Newlands.Rabada was found guilty of a Level 2 ICC code of conduct offence for ‘inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a player,’ and fined 50% of his match fee by match referee Jeff Crowe. The 22-year old had come under the scanner in the 52nd over of the Australian first innings, when he trapped Smith lbw. In celebration, Rabada screamed “yes, yes, yes,” in Smith’s face and then brushed his shoulder as he went through to the slips.Though Rabada maintained he did not feel any contact at the time, Crowe felt otherwise. “I found that there was contact between Rabada and Smith, and in my judgement the contact by Rabada was inappropriate, and deliberate. He had the opportunity to avoid the contact, and I could not see any evidence to support the argument that the contact was accidental,” he said. “It is also disappointing that this has happened the day after the pre-match meeting I had with both teams, where the importance of respect for opponents was highlighted.”The briefing Crowe referred to took place after an incident-filled first Test, after which three players were charged with disciplinary breaches. Nathon Lyon earned a demerit point and was fined 15% of his match fee for a Level 1 offence while David Warner and Quinton de Kock were involved in a stairwell stoush which escalated to unpleasant levels involving personal insults. They were fined 75% and 25% of their match fees respectively with Warner receiving three demerit points and de Kock one.The nature of the de Kock-Warner spat opened a debate about sledging and Crowe took it upon himself to address the captains and team managers about their behaviour on the eve of the Port Elizabeth Test, where he stressed the need for players to avoid bans.”The conversation we had with the match referee after the Durban Test – he was telling us that it’s important for the rest of the series that we don’t just get players out of matches,” Faf du Plessis said at the post-match press conference. “Obviously talking about Davey Warner’s issue, that he still wanted to keep him in the series. Level three would have been suspension straight away. So I just said I would like the same to apply to KG [Rabada].Faf du Plessis and Kagiso Rabada’s love extended into the press conference•Getty Images

“The charge against KG is a level 2 with three demerit points, and the charge against Davey is a level two with three demerit points. For me, if you look at those incidents, one is brushing of the shirt, the other is a lot more aggressive. My question was: why are both these incidents labeled the same? For me they are not. The contact was very minimal, it was a shirt flick of two players and you would get one or two demerit points as a slap on the wrist because it wasn’t full body contact. But that’s where I’m sitting as a player, not as an official.”The difference lies in the players’ track records. Warner had to be physically restrained from de Kock and could have faced a level three charge but it was his first offence under the current demerit points system and so received the lesser sanction. Rabada also only faced a level two charge but was carrying five demerit points into the match. South Africa carried hope that Crowe would not rule Rabada out of the series, but the trend of repeat offences worked against them.”I take no pleasure in seeing a player suspended, particularly a young player of Kagiso’s talent, but he has now breached the ICC Code of Conduct on a number of occasions,” Crowe said.Rabada also admitted guilt in a separate charge – brought against him in the same match – for his send-off of David Warner on Sunday. He had violated clause 2.1.7 of the code of conduct, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his or her dismissal” and was a further 15% fine of his match fee. That means he will only take home 35% of the fee for this Test – and an additional demerit point bringing his total to nine. The next threshold for sanctions is 12, which would result in a three-Test ban.Rabada was not the only one in trouble after the second Test. Australia’s Mitchell Marsh accepted a Level 1 charge after violating section 2.1.4 of the code for “using language or gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an international match,” and was fined 20% of his match fee. Marsh was caught on television saying “f*** you, c***” to Rabada after he was dismissed in the first over of the fourth morning.While it may be hoped the dust settles during the break, with three code of conduct violations on each side and the series poised at 1-1, tempers may still flare in the next two matches. Both Smith and du Plessis have endorsed an aggressive, engaging style of play but du Plessis called for consistency in applying sanctions and allowance for personality to come through.”Everyone asks for consistency. One match referee or umpire interprets in another way. For me, if you make it so sensitive, guys will interpret it the wrong way, that’s why I think we’re just going too far on the sensitive side, because every incident on the cameras it’s, ‘Did you see that? Did you see that? Did you see that?'” Du Plessis said. “It’s Test cricket. We as a team have got no issues with the way the Australian team play their brand of cricket. It’s good for the game of Test cricket. People talk about where is the future of Test cricket. This, for me, is an important part of Test cricket – the battles that you face. That is KG running in for 15 overs trying to get someone out and eventually when he gets him out, he has to show that passion. Otherwise you could just put a bowling machine and a robot to bat.”

Cheteshwar Pujara has said the pitch in Bengaluru gets better as the day progresses, and hence India are well in the game if they can bowl the visitors out early on the third day

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Bengaluru05-Mar-2017By stumps on day two of the Bengaluru Test, Ravindra Jadeja was India’s most successful bowler, with figures of 3 for 49 from 17 overs. He had, however, sent down significantly fewer overs than each of his bowling colleagues. R Ashwin had bowled 41, Umesh Yadav 24, and Ishant Sharma 23. It seemed as if Jadeja had been underbowled, a curious occurrence given India were only playing four specialist bowlers.Cheteshwar Pujara, though, suggested Virat Kohli’s sparing use of Jadeja was down to the conditions at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.”I think there was enough help for Ashwin,” Pujara said at the post-match press conference. “When Jadeja was bowling there wasn’t enough help from the centre of the wicket. There was enough rough for Ashwin and that was the reason Ashwin had to bowl more overs.”Apart from that, as a bowling unit we had to make some changes. Fast bowlers had to bowl many overs because the ball was staying low.”Pujara said the pitch, while still offering the bowlers plenty of help, had probably been more difficult to bat on on the first day, when KL Rahul had suggested Nathan Lyon profited from early dampness to generate extra turn and bounce.”About the wicket, it got better,” Pujara said. “When I was batting yesterday Rahul told me that it was getting easier to bat on so I think that’s what we are expecting in the second innings. If the wicket gets better we will have a big total on the board.”Australia ended day two six down, with a lead of 48. Pujara felt India were still very much in the Test match, regardless, and hoped they could take the remaining wickets quickly.”If we can get them out for another 25-30 runs it will be great,” he said. “We will focus on bowling right line and length and wickets will come. I think there is enough help from the pitch for the spinners and fast bowlers.”The bowlers will have some plans tomorrow for [Mitchell] Starc and the Matthew Wade. We will think of what we could have done better but overall I feel we have bowled well.”Pujara said conceding only 197 runs and taking six wickets represented a strong showing from the bowlers.”Throughout the day we bowled very well. Especially the fast bowlers. It wasn’t easy for the fast bowlers because there wasn’t much help. Obviously there was the odd ball that stayed low but they had to put in a lot of hard work. And the spinners as well. All the bowlers [did well] – we can see the run rate, they were not able to score many runs.”In a way, it was a victory for us and we bowled tight lines. Lengths were very good from the fast bowlers. All in all, we bowled well and took six wickets but they didn’t score many runs.”On a pitch that didn’t offer too much bounce, a number of edges fell short of the slip fielders, and Pujara said they had tried moving themselves closer to the bat without much avail.India continued to have a tough time with the Decision Review System•AFP

“They [the slip fielders] were trying to adjust and stay a little up but it just didn’t carry and at times you just have to accept it,” he said. “When the bowlers were bowling well, a few were going through the slips but it wasn’t carrying. As a bowler, it is a bit frustrating. But that is something we can’t help.”Another frustration for India was their continued trouble with the Decision Review System. They failed to review a not-out decision when Shaun Marsh gloved Umesh Yadav to the wicketkeeper, had an on-field lbw decision against Marsh chalked off after the batsman reviewed, and used up two reviews speculatively late in the day.”We have been working on it,” Pujara said. “At times there were some close calls and we didn’t get it right. We will work on it more. There was one incident where Shaun Marsh was out and we didn’t take the review.”This was the time when they were already five [two] down and if we had got another wicket it would put some pressure on them. We had to take that chance but we didn’t go for it. Probably that’s something that we can work on but we are getting better with DRS.”Australia’s batsmen, particularly the half-centurions Matt Renshaw and Shaun Marsh, seemed to trust their defence against India’s spinners more than some of India’s batsmen had done on day one against Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe. Pujara, though, didn’t feel this was the case.”I think the most important thing was we didn’t get a good partnership. When we had partnerships, things were getting easy for us but we kept on losing wickets. I think there is nothing wrong with the Indian batting line-up and we are known to play spinners well.”Apart from last three innings, we have been batting well. So we just have to have a gameplan. We had a chat this morning. We will have a different gameplan in the second innings, and at the same time we are confident of doing well. We have to accept that we didn’t bat well in the last three innings. We will put up a better show in the next innings.”

After more than two decades and 164 Test matches, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, one of West Indies’ finest batsman, has retired

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Jan-20165:03

Holding: Chanderpaul always did what was necessary

After more than two decades and 164 Test matches, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, one of West Indies’ finest batsmen, has retired. Chanderpaul finishes as the second-highest West Indian Test run-maker, 86 runs short of Brian Lara: Lara got 11,953 (11,912 for West Indies and the rest for the ICC World XI), while Chanderpaul scored 11,867 (all for West Indies).Chanderpaul, 41, had not played for West Indies since May 2015; the West Indies selectors dropped him after a weak performance during the three-Test series at home against England. While Chanderpaul entertained hopes of a comeback, the selection panel, headed by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, had provided enough hints that they had moved past Chanderpaul as they ignored him for the various series in the last eight months. Chanderpaul was also not part of the 15 players handed annual contracts by the WICB in December.Last June Chanderpaul had said he would decide by the end of the year when he would exit the international scene. “Definitely, but I am on the outside, just waiting to see what is happening,” Chanderpaul told cricket365.com, when asked if he wanted to play Tests again. “Retirement isn’t on the cards at the moment. Not for now, probably the ending of the year maybe then.”That his desire to play on continued to be strong was evident from the fact that he remained part of the regional domestic tournaments and, in fact, played his last match just three days ago, in the semi-final of the Nagico Super50 one-day tournament for Guyana.The WICB said in a release that Chanderpaul formally notified the board “in an email that he will no longer be available for selection for West Indies”. “The WICB acknowledges the invaluable contribution Shiv has made to the game globally, and we wish him all the best,” WICB president Dave Cameron said.One big reason for Chanderpaul to re-think his international career could be his involvement with the Masters Champions League (MCL), a tournament for players who have left all professional forms of the game including domestic cricket, which begins on January 28 in Dubai. To participate in the MCL, players have to get no-objection certificates from their respective boards stating that they have retired from all forms of cricket. Incidentally, till Thursday the WICB had not been approached for an NOC by any player. Chanderpaul was signed for $30,000 to represent Gemini Arabians in the tournament.Chanderpaul is only the second modern-day player, after Sachin Tendulkar, whose career stretched over two decades. He might not have been as celebrated and revered as Tendulkar, but Chanderpaul had worked hard, quietly, to become one of the strongest pillars of West Indies cricket.He scored 30 Test centuries and averaged 51.37 in the format, and held numerous records that are likely to last for a long time, including batting for more than 25 hours in a Test series between dismissals – he did it against India in 2002, when he faced 1050 consecutive deliveries without losing his wicket.Unorthodox stance and great determination aside, Chanderpaul never allowed his emotions to overpower him or pour over on the outside. Perhaps that reserved nature of his explained why he led West Indies only 14 times in Tests. He also played 268 ODIs for 8778 runs at 41.60 (the last of which was during the 2011 World Cup), and 22 T20Is.

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan is confident of declaring a date for the board elections within a month after getting an ICC directive

Mohammad Isam01-Jul-2013Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan is confident of declaring a date for the board elections within a month after the ICC confirms they have assessed the BCB constitution amendment. Hassan has been occupied with concerns over the World Twenty20 venues and the impending ACSU report on corruption in the BPL of late, but his inability to hold elections within 90 days of taking office, as the ad-hoc committee had promised, has also been a long-running issue.BCB’s amended constitution has been held up after the High Court in Bangladesh deemed the process of amending the draft as “illegal”. Hassan had warned last month that the ICC would cancel Bangladesh’s membership if they did not hold elections soon, but the meeting with the ICC has given him hope.”The ICC hasn’t given any timeframe for the elections, but I feel that we will declare the elections in one month’s time,” Hassan said. “We have discussed the two constitutions with the ICC. The one on which the 2008 elections were held, is no longer approved by the ICC. They don’t have a problem with the 2012 NSC-approved constitution. We will get an official letter from the ICC with their comments very soon.”Hassan also refuted claims made by former president Saber Hossain Chowdhury that the BCB is dawdling on the elections. Chowdhury had said in a TV interview recently that the delay in the Premier Division Cricket League was linked to the elections because each of the Super League teams (those who make it to the second phase of the competition) from the previous season’s league had demanded two councillorship positions (effectively voters) per club. This was approved by the National Sports Council, the regulatory body of sports in Bangladesh. Another former BCB director, Mobasher Hossain, has sent an e-mail to ICC CEO Dave Richardson complaining of the delay.”I haven’t heard what he said. If he has said this, it is completely a bogus claim,” Hassan said. “There is a specific reason to delay the elections, and I have said it publicly. There is no room for such comments. I am not concerned about who becomes president, it is unimportant to me, but I want to fix cricket in the country.”

Bangladesh have picked eight players with Test experience in a 28-member A squad that will attend a training camp on June 25 to prepare for the Shafi Dharshah Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-2012Bangladesh’s selectors have picked eight players with Test experience in a 28-member A squad that will attend a training camp on June 25 to prepare for the Shafi Dharshah Trophy in India next month.Shahriar Nafees, Imrul Kayes, Nazimuddin, Naeem Islam, Raqibul Hasan, Enamul Haque jr, Shahadat Hossain and Robiul Islam will join the non-Test players at the camp at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur.Bangladesh A and Sri Lanka A are the two foreign sides in the tournament that will be staged in Bangalore and Mysore. They will compete against top teams from India’s domestic first-class competition, the Ranji Trophy, including the champions Rajasthan. The final will be held on August 16.Stuart Barnes, the former Gloucestershire fast bowler, will accompany Bangladesh A as head coach for the tournament. Bangladesh A lost the unofficial Test and one-day series against West Indies A in November last year. However, they beat England Lions 3-2 in a one-day series and drew the Twenty20 series in January.Preliminary Squad: Shahriar Nafees, Nasiruddin Faruque, Imrul Kayes, Nazimuddin, Mominul Haque, Naeem Islam, Shamsur Rahman, Farhad Hossain, Marshall Ayub, Rokibul Hasan, Mahmudul Hasan, Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury, Mohammad Mithun, Dhiman Ghosh, Saqlain Sajeeb, Arafat Sunny, Enamul Haque, Mosharraf Hossain, Sohag Gazi, Shahadat Hossain, Robiul Islam, Mukhtar Ali, Alauddin Babu, Al Amin, Shabbir Rahman, Dollar Mahmud, Kazi Kamrul Islam, Tasamul Hoque.

Eoin Morgan will return to the IPL if he isn’t selected in the England squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka at Cardiff

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2011Eoin Morgan will return to the IPL if he isn’t selected in the England squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka at Cardiff. On the opening day of the England Lions match at Derby he hit an unbeaten 156 but it is unlikely to be enough to earn him the No. 6 spot.His franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, are well on track to reach the play-offs and Morgan revealed he’ll be straight back on a plane to India if he isn’t needed by his country next week. The tour game against Sri Lanka ends on May 22, and the England squad will be announced the same day. So, if not selected, Morgan could make it back in time for the IPL play-offs which start May 24.”If I’m not picked I’ll make other plans,” he told reporters at Derby. “We are looking good at the IPL so if we make the final I’ll fly back out.”Morgan hasn’t made a huge impression at this year’s IPL with 137 runs from nine innings and a top score of 66. He had limited opportunities with the bat but was then moved up to open which afforded him a little more time in the middle.However, he is adamant that his experience in India has made him a better player. “The conditions out there are difficult and I’ve learnt a lot, but it was tough,” he said. “I got very few opportunities early on so it was all part of the learning curve.”Although Morgan’s return to the IPL will be with the blessing of the ECB, he is still taking a gamble because if any of England’s top six suffer an injury in the days leading into the first Test he won’t be around to take their place.

India have two games to salvage the tour, and build some confidence for the players who head to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup, but Zimbabwe are the favourites

The Preview by Nitin Sundar11-Jun-2010

Match Facts

Saturday, June 12 and 13, 2010

Start time 1300 (1100 GMT)
Spin with the new ball could be India’s answer to Brendan Taylor•AFP

The Big Picture

So far this tour has been a misadventure for India. The experiment with rotation went awry during the tri-series, with the selectors sending a squad unbalanced in both experience and skill. The manner in which they lost their games, especially against the hosts, has led to doubts over the quality of India’s next line of cricketers.
The visitors have two games to salvage the tour, and build some confidence for the players headed to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup. Can their batsmen shrug away their inhibitions and hit out in IPL-like conditions that won’t test their vulnerability against the short ball? Can their inexperienced fast bowlers pull one back on the Zimbabwe top order that bullied them in the ODIs?The hosts go into the series with fewer doubts. In the Twenty20 format, against this second-string India outfit, they will believe they are favourites. From the time they shocked Australia in the inaugural World Twenty20, Zimbabwe have been regarded with caution in the shortest format.Their army of spinners has perfected the art of asphyxiation, and in recent times they have surprised West Indies, followed by victories in 2010 World Twenty20 warm-up games against Australia and Pakistan. Despite being thumped by Sri Lanka in the tri-series final, the hosts are on the ascendancy following their strong show in the league games. If they can trump India again, it will be a major boost to their ongoing quest to reclaim past glory.The forecast promises clear skies on Saturday, which also plays into Zimbabwe’s hands: their batsmen struggled in overcast conditions during the tri-series, and their spinners are most effective when it is dry. Things could get interesting on Sunday though, with a 40% chance of showers.

Form guide (most recent first)

Zimbabwe LLWWL

India LLLWW

Watch out for…

Rohit Sharma‘s twin hundreds in the ODIs have silenced some of his critics, but doubts remain over his temperament, fitness and consistency. Runs in this series could go some way in addressing them and in sealing a spot in the starting XI for the Asia Cup.Brendan Taylor was unstoppable in the tri-series, and will look to loot some more runs over the weekend. The protagonist of Zimbabwe’s finest moment in the Twenty20 format has taken a liking to India’s inexperienced fast bowlers, so the visitors may open with a spinner against him. R Ashwin was impeccable with the new ball in the IPL, and may well be India’s answer to Taylor.

Team news

Somehow, the selectors have managed to make India’s squad even more unbalanced, by including Piyush Chawla at the expense of a fast bowler. India now have four spinners to choose from, in addition to two spinning allrounders, of whom Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha will expect to make the cut. The seamers were uniformly unimpressive in the ODIs, and it could be a toss-up between Umesh Yadav, Ashok Dinda and Pankaj Singh for two spots. Lack of options could force the side to field Dinesh Karthik and Yusuf Pathan, both notable exclusions for the Asia Cup.India (possible) 1 M Vijay, 2 Dinesh Karthik/Naman Ojha (wk), 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Pragyan Ojha, 10 and 11 Two out of Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav and Pankaj Singh.Zimbabwe may decide to bench Chris Mpofu and resort to their spin-heavy strategy. In that event, they will like to have Andy Blignaut’s back in the scheme of things.Zimbabwe (possible) 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Brendan Taylor, 3 Tatenda Taibu (wk) 4 Charles Coventry, 5 Andy Blignaut, 6 Craig Ervine, 7 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 8 Graeme Cremer, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Greg Lamb, 11 Ray Price.

Stats and trivia

• This will be the first clash between these two sides in the Twenty20 format. So far India have 12 wins and 11 defeats, while Zimbabwe have only played ten games, winning three of them.
• Suresh Raina is one of only four centurions in T20Is, the others being Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum and Mahela Jayawardene. Of the four, only Raina’s did not come from the opening slot.
  

  Quotes

  “We haven’t looked good throughout the tournament. We were unconvincing and I am not happy at all.”
  
  
  “It is very satisfying to get where we have, the guys have worked hard. Everybody did well in the series and we expect to move forward step by step from here.”

أعرب سيموني إنزاجي المدير الفني لفريق كرة القدم الأول بنادي إنتر ميلان الإيطالي، عن سعادته بتأهل النيرازوري إلى نهائي دوري أبطال أوروبا على حساب ميلان.

وفاز إنتر ميلان بنتيجة مباراتي الذهاب والإياب 3/0، ليتأهل إلى النهائي الأول لـ دوري أبطال أوروبا منذ 13 عام، بعد الفوز على بايرن ميونخ في 2010 بثنائية دييجو ميليتو على ملعب سانتياجو بيرنابيو.

وقال إنزاجي في تصريحات بالمؤتمر الصحفي بعد المباراة: “سندرك ما حدث في الأيام القليلة المقبلة، لقد كان حلمًا في البداية، والآن نحن في نهائي دوري أبطال أوروبا”.

وأضاف: “لقد أظهر كل لاعب القوة والتصميم والعدوانية والتركيز، كل هذا في نفس الوقت، كانوا رائعين، فزنا بـ 4 ديربيات منذ يناير، ولم نستقبل أي هدف، نحن نعلم أن ميلان هو بطل إيطاليا، لكن اللاعبين كانوا ممتازين ويستحقون الاستمتاع حتى الصباح”.

طالع أيضًا.. زانيتي يختار منافس إنتر في نهائي دوري بطال أوروبا ويتحدث عن مستقبل لاوتارو مارتينيز

وأكمل: “لقد قلت منذ فترة طويلة أننا سنبذل مجهودًا كبيرًا دون النظر للمنافسة، حاولنا وكنا نلعب كل 48-72 ساعة منذ 1 أبريل، لكننا في النهاية وصلنا إلى نهائي دوري الأبطال، وكذلك كأس إيطاليا، وفي الدوري الإيطالي الأمور تسير كما نريد”.

وعن الفريق المفضل مواجهته من ريال مدريد ومانشستر سيتي، قال إنزاجي: “كلاهما من أفضل فرق أوروبا، سأشاهد مباراة الغد وننتظر الفائز، دون تفضيل فريق على الآخر”.

وردًا على الانتقادات: “أعرف من كان بجانبي دائمًا، ومن تبخر لحظة حاجتي، لدي طاقم عمل رائع، وفريق يدعمني ويثق في قدراتي، وإدارة تعرف كيف تلبي طلبات المدرب، أنا فخور لوجودي في هذا النادي الرائع والعظيم”.

وشدد: “عندما وصلت إلى إنتر، طلبوا مني أنه خلال موسم ونصف، أكون قد وصلت إلى دور الـ16 من دوري أبطال أوروبا، وهو ما لم يحدث في النادي منذ 2011، اعتقدت أن مسيرة دوري الأبطال الموسم الماضي كانت جيدة، لكن لم نكن محظوظين، الآن ابتسمت لنا الأمور، ونتواجد في النهائي”.