All posts by n8rngtd.top

Sickness concerns mean no handshakes for England in Sri Lanka

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Medical staff advise precautions after squad was laid low by illness in South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Mar-2020England’s players will not be shaking hands with one another on their tour to Sri Lanka, captain Joe Root has revealed, using “the well-established fist bump” as a greeting instead.Amid the coronavirus outbreak and following a tour to South Africa that saw more than half of the Test squad suffer from gastroenteritis or flu, players have been given immunity packs and advice by their medical team to prevent the spread of illness within the camp.ALSO READ: If South Africa are wounded buffaloes, England are sickly lions“After the illnesses that swept through the squad in South Africa, we are well aware of the importance of keeping contact to a minimum,” Root said before the team’s departure on Monday night.”We’ve been given some really sound and sensible advice from our medical team to help prevent spreading germs and bacteria.””We are not shaking hands with each other – using instead the well-established fist bump – and we are washing hands regularly and wiping down surfaces using the antibacterial wipes and gels we’ve been given in our immunity packs.”There has only been one confirmed case of coronavirus in Sri Lanka to date, and England are not expecting the outbreak to affect their tour significantly.”There is no suggestion that the tour will be affected,” Root said, “but of course it is an evolving situation so we are in regular contact with the authorities and will proceed as advised, but at this stage we fully expect the tour to continue as planned.”The series in Sri Lanka could prove vital to England’s World Test Championship chances, with 60 points for a win on offer in each of the two Tests, and Root said that India’s 2-0 defeat in New Zealand had “thrown things wide open”.”With it being a two-match tour there are a lot of Test Championship points to play for and with New Zealand turning India over twice, it has thrown things wide open,” Root said.”With these matches and then six games at home in the summer coming up, it feels like it is a great opportunity to get ahead of things and give ourselves a real chance of pushing for one of those top two spots.”We respect how good a side [Sri Lanka] are in their own conditions and we’ll find ourselves up against a stiff challenge.”Jack Leach, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali share a joke at training•Getty Images

England’s last series in Sri Lanka saw a three-pronged spin attack comprising Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Jack Leach take 48 wickets between them, underpinning a 3-0 win. Their spin options are depleted this time, with Moeen opting to continue his self-enforced break from Test cricket and Rashid’s shoulder preventing him playing red-ball cricket.And while Leach is the senior spinner in the squad, he has endured a difficult winter, flying home early from the South Africa tour following a bout of sepsis, while he had to spend last week bowling at Loughborough following a calf niggle.But Root backed Leach to play “an important part” in the series, and confirmed he had recovered from his injury.”It has been a really frustrating winter for Jack, not being able to get on the park through illness and then picking up a little bit of a niggle,” he said. “He has recovered well from it and is back strong. He’s been up at Loughborough doing some work up there to make sure the physios are happy with his condition.”He’s been looking after his physical state as well and he’s very much looking forward to getting out there and getting some game time in the middle.”He’ll be very excited at playing out there again with such fond memories from the last time we were there and the wickets he took. I can see him being full of energy and playing an important part in the two games for us.”

PCA stall on ECB's request for players' 20% pay cut

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

A letter from Tom Harrison encouraged the PCA to support a 20% wage cut for players

George Dobell01-Apr-2020England’s centrally contracted players appear – at this stage – to have declined the offer to accept a temporary pay cut as part of the sport’s efforts to combat the challenges set by the COVID-19 pandemic.Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, wrote to Tony Irish, his counterpart at the Professional Cricketers’ Association (the PCA; the players’ union who negotiate pay on behalf of centrally contracted players), on March 29 to broach the subject. ESPNcricinfo has a copy of this letter.In the letter, Harrison revealed that he personally would be taking a 25% pay cut “for at least three months” as the ECB “confronted… the biggest challenge the sport has known in the modern era.” It is understood that other ECB executives have volunteered a 20% pay cut and some staff will be informed on Wednesday morning of a decision to furlough them.It is unclear how much direct input the players had on the decision, although writing on Twitter, Ben Stokes responded with fury at the suggestion that England’s centrally contracted players had personally turned down the request.While there were some exchanges between the PCA and the players on WhatsApp groups, the PCA stance has remained that pay cuts should only be seen as a last resort. Jos Buttler, meanwhile, is auctioning off the shirt he wore when England clinched the World Cup to raise money for a health service charity.ALSO READ: Losing whole summer would cost over £300m – ECB chief executiveWhile the ECB understood they could not compel the players to accept a pay cut, they had hoped they might volunteer one as a “gesture” in an unprecedented crisis. But, after receiving a less than enthusiastic response to the idea, in a media conference on March 31, Harrison said the ECB “are not seeking pay cuts from England players”.”In these circumstances,” Harrison wrote, “it is my strong belief that a leadership example must be set.”These measures will be far more effective with the support of our professional players and we seek your help and understanding in this. We are rightly proud of the role our England players play in wider society and how they are helping people through these difficult days and across the country we recognise the valuable role that professional cricketers play in support of the cricket family. In unprecedented times like these, it is important for the whole cricket family to show a willingness to be part of the solution.ECB chief executive Tom Harrison sent a letter to PCA CEO Tony Irish last week•Getty Images

“Whilst the health of the nation is under threat, the future of our sport depends on every single one of us sharing the load right now. In light of this, I am encouraging the PCA and all professional players to support the recommendations the first-class counties present to you next week, which may very well propose a 20% reduction in salaries for April and May, with a view to revisiting this on a monthly basis until we have navigated through the crisis.”I am hopeful that our players are able to contribute in rising to this unprecedented challenge. If we can all pull our weight in working together and come through this, then we will not only reinforce the truly inspiring spirit of the cricket family, but we will safeguard the future of our sport and the livelihoods of everyone who works within it.”An excerpt from Tom Harrison’s letter to Tony Irish•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

ESPNcricinfo understands that the PCA is yet to receive a proposal from the first-class counties, and will wait for that to arrive before considering it. Irish’s most recent public comments stressed the need for collective solutions. Many county players have now been
furloughed. While some counties are making-up the full difference between the government contribution and their full salaries, some are
not.There is an additional element of negotiation for centrally contracted players due to the Team England Player Partnership (TEPP), which effectively decides the value of central contracts for international players. Irish is also chair of TEPP.It remains possible that the PCA stance will change but it does seem they have not taken the first opportunity to act in this unprecedented situation.

Cricket South Africa terminates Clive Eksteen's contract

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

He was the former head of sales and sponsor relations

Firdose Moonda14-Jun-2020Cricket South Africa has terminated the contract of Clive Eksteen, its former head of sales and sponsor relations, after finding him guilty of “transgressions of a serious nature”. Eksteen was suspended in October last year, alongside then interim director of cricket Corrie van Zyl and COO Naasei Appiah and faced charges of dereliction of duty relating to unpaid commercial rights fees for players during the inaugural edition of the Mzansi Super League (MSL).Van Zyl has since been cleared and has returned to work at CSA, under new director of cricket Graeme Smith while both Eksteen and Appiah were found guilty of wrongdoing and appealed the outcome of their cases. Eksteen’s is now concluded, but Appiah’s appeal continues.That means CSA still has two ongoing cases from the seven it accumulated in 2019. Appiah and suspended CEO Thabang Moroe, who attempted to return to work this week, are both unresolved while Eksteen, financial manager Ziyanda Nkuta, procurement manager Lundi Maja, and administrator Dalene Nolan, have all been dismissed.Moroe’s case is the most high-profile with the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) claiming CSA’s board is deliberately delaying the matter and lack the will to move forward on it. CSA has denied this, citing its incomplete forensic audit as the reason Moroe’s disciplinary proceedings have not progressed. Moroe faces, among other charges, allegations of credit card misuse. There is no indication as to why Appiah’s case remains open.This was the second instance in which Eksteen was suspended from CSA, after previously becoming entangled in an episode of reputational damage. He was involved in the Sonny Bill Williams mask saga during Australia’s tour to South Africa and suspended in March but returned to work in May of that year. Eksteen’s role at CSA was particularly important in maintaining corporate relations, something the organisation is desperate to rebuild in the face of a financial crisis.At the end of April, CSA lost a major sponsor in Standard Bank, whom they have yet to replace while its other big backer, financial services company Momentum, had previously indicated they wouldn’t review their relationship with CSA if the current president, Chris Nenzani, remains in his role. Nenzani has served two terms as CSA’s president, the second of which was extended by a year, but he is set to step down in September. Both SACA and several sponsors lay the blame for the administrative upheaval the organisation has faced in recent months at Nenzani and the board’s door.

Last call for England's fringe players to make their mark in series decider

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Imminent return of England’s big guns puts spotlight on understudies

Andrew Miller31-Aug-2020

For England in particular, this series has been all about building for the future, broadening their selection base ahead of next year’s postponed T20 World Cup, and ramping up the competition for places that was such an integral aspect of their rise to become last summer’s 50-over champions.But if it has been hard to give the rookies in the current set-up the full bells-and-whistles “Big Match” experience, given the echoing stands at Emirates Old Trafford and that unavoidable vibe of glorified training session, then the timing of today’s squad announcement will serve to heighten the jeopardy as Eoin Morgan’s men prepare for Tuesday’s series decider against Pakistan.The impending return of Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and, fitness pending, Jason Roy, for the upcoming series against Australia means that this final contest of the Pakistan tour could also be the final appearance of the year for many of England’s fringe candidates, some of whom have advanced their cases for long-term inclusion rather better than others.On the batting front, in particular, two players have stood tall and confirmed their intentions to go toe-to-toe with their more vaunted rivals. After taking a few matches to find his feet at this level, Tom Banton announced himself in unambiguous terms during Thursday’s first-match washout, transcending the conditions and his team-mates in a 42-ball 71 that was all the more impressive given England’s stodgy start in tricky batting conditions.And while Banton’s follow-up effort of 20 from 16 balls in the second game wasn’t quite in the same league, it did at least contain the most eye-popping stroke of his career to date, a preposterous switch-slap for six over backward point off Imad Wasim. It showed he is beginning to buy into Morgan’s stated team ethic of backing oneself and one’s ability, and letting the doubts slide into the ether. It’s safe to presume he’s here for the long term, even if, as Graham Thorpe hinted last week, he may yet have to wait for more regular opportunities.But what then of Dawid Malan, England’s eternal T20I understudy? His performance on Saturday was a microcosm of his T20I career to date – a match-winning 54 not out from 36 balls, which mirrored his career average of 54.60 and strike rate of 150.00, and lived up to Morgan’s pre-series acknowledgement that, time and again, he seizes his rare opportunities in the first XI and presses his case for a permanent berth. And if Morgan has been critical of Malan’s attitude in the past, most notably his curious highlighting of a non-run off the final ball of his century in New Zealand, then the man himself seemed to go out of his way to address that on Saturday with a conspicuously low-key acknowledgement of his fifty.All the same, it is surely Malan and Sam Billings, a star in the ODIs against Ireland last month but once again a fringe performer in this series, who have the most at stake in this final outing – certainly among England’s batsmen. Jonny Bairstow, ballistic from the get-go on Saturday, is set to slip to No. 3 when Roy is fit again and may yet fill that role if Banton opens with Buttler against Australia, and with Morgan embracing his floating role in the middle order, it means that specialist batting berths are at a premium – even before we get onto the curious cases of Joe Root and the still-absent Ben Stokes.As Michael Vaughan put it during the BBC’s return to terrestrial broadcasting on Saturday, England used to have about six men who could be considered automatic picks for their white-ball teams. These days, it’s more like 20-25. Disappointment is an inevitable by-product of such unprecedented riches.England’s seam bowling too will have received something of a hurry-up from the inclusions of Wood and Archer, the latter for the first time in white-ball cricket since the World Cup final last summer. While there is promise galore in England’s current bowling stocks, not least in Saqib Mahmood, who is surely a star in the making, there was little about their bowling effort on Saturday that inspired much confidence for the here and now. Chris Jordan and Tom Curran both struggled to hit their lengths while Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez were cutting loose, and if David Willey feels he’s worthy of another chance in this final outing, he’s likely to feel equally miffed at his exclusion from both Australia squads.As for Pakistan, they will doubtless rue their missed opportunity in the rained-off opening game, in which – Banton’s onslaught aside – they dominated with the ball, particularly through their spinners. They had plenty of reasons to believe during the second match as well, at least until Bairstow opened his shoulders from the outset of England’s reply, and if their conservative team selection has raised eyebrows, then at least the incumbents have shown the value of their experience, in particular the ageless Mohammad Hafeez.All the same, youth and regeneration is what Pakistan cricket is famed for, even at the most straitened times in their recent history, and the teenager Haider Ali is waiting in the wings for his chance to seize the stage. Tuesday would be as good a time as any to do so, where a share of the series would be a worthy reward for Pakistan’s efforts in this most curious of summers. They aren’t far away from being a mighty fine side in all formats, but at some stage they’ll need the results to start coming again.

England WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)

Pakistan LWWLL

What is to be done with Moeen Ali? He’s been out of sorts before, and generally come storming back with a sweetly timed mow for six to trigger another torrent of runs. But his slumps in form at England level have rarely been as long and lasting as this current one. Despite a lengthy break from action after the World Cup last summer – during which he lost his starting berth – he’s simply not yet found his mojo with bat or ball alike. Four innings this summer, including the ODIs against Ireland, have yielded 10 runs from 17 balls; and he’s yet to claim a single wicket in 26 overs. At the age of 33, time is not on his side either.It’s not for nothing that Babar Azam is currently ranked as the No. 1 T20I batsman in the world. Pakistan’s captain, opener and general envoy of all things optimistic produced another sweetly timed declaration of his pedigree in the second match, as he caressed the first ball of the match through midwicket for four off Mahmood, and added six further boundaries in his 44-ball 56. But you once again got the sense that he had left a few runs unaccounted for in that performance. Had he and Hafeez been in harness for the remaining seven overs, England would surely have been hunting down something way in excess of 200. And that’s been the tale of his summer all told, with a glut of cameos in the Tests as well but a highest score of 69 on the tour to date. He has got one last chance to put on a show to remember.

There’ll be time enough for changes when the Australia series begins, so it’s hard to see England tinkering excessively with the side that secured a solid victory in Sunday’s second outing. Moeen is likely to be given another chance to find his form, while Lewis Gregory, England’s most economical bowler in a high-scoring contest, hasn’t yet had a chance to display the death-hitting skills for which he has truly been selected. Willey is itching for a chance after his command performances against Ireland and is the obvious candidate for inclusion, perhaps at the expense of Chris Jordan, about whom England already know plenty.England (possible): 1 Tom Banton, 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Sam Billings, 7 Lewis Gregory, 8 Tom Curran, 9 Chris Jordan / David Willey, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Saqib MahmoodPakistan are likely to be without Mohammad Amir, who reported soreness in his hamstring during Sunday’s game. The veteran Wahab Riaz is the like-for-like left-arm option on the bench. Despite some criticism of their old-boy-orientated team selection, Hafeez in particular justified his retention at the age of 39 with a power-packed half-century. The rookie Haider – half of Hafeez’s age – may get his first outing of the series, probably at the expense of Shoaib Malik.Pakistan (possible): 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Haider Ali, 5 Shadab Khan, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Iftikhar Ahmed, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Shaheen Afridi

A cloudy but broadly dry evening is in store for the third and final instalment of this Manchester trilogy. The batting conditions for the opening fixture were slow and tacky as England struggled to make consistent headway, but the same strip had turned into a belter two days later once the sun had dried it out.

Stats and trivia

  • If England avoid defeat in this final contest, they will secure their sixth consecutive series victory in T20Is, dating back to the visit of India July 2018.
  • Pakistan, by contrast, are in danger of losing their fourth series out of five, having won 11 in a row between 2016 and 2018-19, during their rise to No.1 in the ICC rankings.
  • During his innings of 69 from 36 balls on Sunday, Hafeez became the second Pakistan batsman after Shoaib Malik to reach 2000 T20I runs, and the ninth overall.
  • Both Hafeez and Malik played in Pakistan’s first T20I, against England at Bristol in 2006.

“Before I became captain I didn’t feel that comfortable jumping up and down the order. But now it’s my decision I feel more at ease, say, slipping down to No. 6 and having Jos Buttler ahead of me than I would have beforehand.”
“The total was good but we didn’t go well in the bowling, credit to Malan and Morgan the way they played. We’ll learn a lot, talking to the bowlers under pressure and I will try to learn from this.”

Chennai Super Kings' Ruturaj Gaikwad unavailable for IPL 2020 opener against Mumbai Indians

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Gaikwad was one of the two players who had tested positive for Covid-19 from the CSK contingent

Nagraj Gollapudi16-Sep-2020Ruturaj Gaikwad, the second player in the Chennai Super Kings contingent to test positive for Covid-19 last month, will not be available for selection for the team’s opening game, the IPL 2020 tournament opener against Mumbai Indians on September 19. Gaikwad has finished his two-week quarantine and is understood to be asymptomatic, but he is yet to clear the two mandatory Covid-19 tests put in place by the IPL for him to re-join the squad.”We are waiting for BCCI to give us a clearance on Gaikwad. He has to undergo the fitness tests [as well],” Kasi Viswanathan, Super Kings’ chief executive officer, told ESPNcricinfo. Viswanathan said it could take “another two days at least” to get a clear idea on when Gaikwad could return.Viswanathan said Gaikwad continues to remain in a separate isolation facility, outside the team hotel. Less than a week after landing in the UAE on August 21, 13 members of Super Kings’ set-up had tested positive for Covid-19 and were moved out of the team hotel immediately.As per the IPL’s medical guidelines, any player in the bubble testing positive first has to isolate for 14 days followed by testing negative twice. The two tests are carried out on consecutive days. After that, he has to undergo medical tests put in place by BCCI’s team before he can start training.India fast bowler Deepak Chahar, who was the other Super Kings player to test positive for Covid-19 last month, underwent a similar process. Chahar recovered in time to be ready for the opening match.ALSO READ: Ruturaj Gaikwad in power-packed band of uncapped Indian batsmenIn the wake of Super Kings stalwart Suresh Raina’s sudden withdrawal from the IPL last month, the franchise had said it was confident Gaikwad could fill in for Raina. Gaikwad has scored more List A runs than anyone for India A in the last two years – 843 runs in 15 innings. All those runs came while batting at No. 3, the position Raina mostly batted at for Super Kings.Gaikwad began the 2019-20 season with a below-par Vijay Hazare Trophy, the 50-over competition, but bounced back in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the T20 tournament. His tally of 419 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 146.30 was only second to Devdutt Padikkal’s 580 runs in 12 innings.Hazlewood and Curran’s availability for first match remains unclear
Viswanthan also said that the IPL has not yet given its final word on whether players arriving from the England v Australia series, which concludes on Wednesday, will be exempt from the mandatory six-day quarantine.Super Kings have two players arriving from England series: Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood and England bowling allrounder Sam Curran. Considering the players would be moving from one bubble (in England) to another (in the UAE), franchises have been requesting the IPL to reconsider the quarantine period to make them available for the teams’ first games.ALSO READ: David Warner, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins set to miss start of IPL 2020The IPL is understood to have told franchises that it needs to be absolutely certain about the commute from England to the UAE – which would be on a charter flight – being safe. Only then can it take a final call, in coordination with the local government authorities in the UAE.Viswanthan confirmed that all the players arriving from the Caribbean Premier League, including former South Africa legspinner Imran Tahir and West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo were fit and available for selection for the first match.Super Kings, who finished runners-up last season in the IPL, are schedule to play three matches in the first week of the tournament. After the opening match against Mumbai in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, Super Kings play Rajasthan Royals in Sharjah on September 22 and then travel to Dubai to take on Delhi Capitals on September 25.

PCB, PSL to settle financial dispute out of court

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The PCB agreed to meet with the PSL owners on October 7 to try and resolve their long-standing issues

Umar Farooq01-Oct-2020The PCB and six PSL franchises have agreed to settle their outstanding issues related to the league’s financial model out of court. The legal suit has thus been disposed of by the Lahore High Court. Both parties will meet on October 7 in Lahore to try and find a resolution.Last week, the six franchises had collectively filed a writ petition in a bid to force the PCB to change the financial model, a long-running demand from the franchises. Their central grievance is that the PSL has apparently made the PCB richer while the franchises have run losses every season. The petition asks the court to direct the PCB to “formally redress the grievances of all franchises” and “revise the model of PSL in accordance with its statutory mandate and make it financially viable”.The PCB had been offering to rework the model and had several meetings over the years on the matter with various suggestions put forward, but little definitive action has resulted from these discussions. The lawyers for the franchises argued in the court that “the existing structure and arrangement are inherently inequitable and the said inequity of the model needs to be removed”.It was further argued by the franchises that, in the wake of Covid-19, discussions around restructuring the model had been deferred further by the board. It was argued that the “PCB has a statutory duty under the Sports Ordinance 1962 to promote and develop the sports and all its measures should be in conformity to the said purpose including the franchise arrangements and other structures. Franchise owners are continuously suffering losses under the present model and they cannot continue like this.”The drastic escalation, to take the matter to the courts, began after years of apparent frustration for the franchises. The model of revenue distribution was a contentious issue almost from the outset. The franchises have a number of demands, from wanting tax exemptions, to better distribution of gate money, to more favourable exchange rate terms.Five out of six franchises have ten years’ rights for their respective team and after five years in business, no franchise has broken even in the first four full seasons of the league. Multan Sultans, the most expensive team – they were bought for USD 6.35 million in 2018 – have ownership rights for seven years. The PSL was played with five teams for the first three seasons and when Multan Sultans entered the fray, it resulted in a dilution of payments to each club from the central pool that the PCB has set up for revenue.Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi, who was hearing the petition, questioned PCB lawyer Tafazzul Rizvi asking why “they do not sit with the PSL owners and address their genuine grievances”. The court adjourned the case following PCB representative Salman Naseer stating the board was prepared to invite the PSL owners on October 7 to begin the process of redressing their grievances.”It was sad that the matter was taken to the courts,” Salman Naseer later said in a statement. The PCB has always tried to sit down and amicably resolve such issues. The coverage that this case has received has damaged both the PCB and the PSL globally. We have always tried to sit down and talk to the franchises. That was true before the case and will remain so after it, too. We have invited the franchises to meet on October 7 and discuss the matter in good faith to resolve these difference. We have also extended an offer not to take any adverse action against them until 9 October. In return, they have promised us that they will immediately pay us whatever they owe from 2019 and 2020.”

Rohit Sharma 'has a long career and not just this IPL or the next series' – Sourav Ganguly

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Ishant Sharma recovering well from injury, and should play Test series in Australia, BCCI president says

PTI03-Nov-2020Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI president, wants injured opener Rohit Sharma to be cautious when deciding whether or not to compete for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2020 playoffs, as he risks aggravating the hamstring tear that led to his exclusion from the Australia-bound India squad. At the same time, Ganguly sounded a positive note on Ishant Sharma, who is also out injured, saying that the quick’s side strain should heal in time for the Test series in Australia.”Rohit is injured at the moment. Otherwise, why would we leave out a player like him? He is the vice-captain of the national (limited-overs) team,” Ganguly said. “We will have to assess him. I don’t know (when he can come back). He hasn’t played so far since the time he has got injured. We want him to recover.”It’s the BCCI’s job to get their best players on the park. If he recovers, he plays.”Rohit has been out of action since playing against Kings XI Punjab on October 18 because of a left hamstring tear, and Ganguly stressed that the board would do everything possible to get an “asset like Rohit” back in action.When asked about the videos put out by the Mumbai Indians – who are playing the last league game of IPL 2020, against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, today – where Rohit is seen batting in the nets, Ganguly said, “Yeah, you don’t want him to get injured again. He has a hamstring tear and it will get ruptured again. It will then get longer for him to come back. But yes, there are people working with him.”The Mumbai Indians physio is working with him. The Indian physio [Nitin Patel] is there. Rohit himself knows that he has got a long career ahead and it’s not just this IPL or next series for him. I am sure he is mature enough to do what is best for him.”I can tell you that things you do easily at the practice might be a bit of struggle during a match situation. The muscles react differently to pressure situations.”ALSO READ: Rohit ‘in danger of injuring himself again if not careful’ – Shastri

Ganguly on the Ranji Trophy

“We have zeroed in on venues where we can create a bio-bubble for Ranji Trophy but we will not make an announcement till we discuss with the state associations. There are 38 state units and some of the members have offered to host as they all have multiple grounds in their main cities. We will create what’s the best secure environment for the players.”

As for Ishant, Ganguly said his recovery has been going well, and he should be available for the Tests, starting mid-December.”Yes, we are expecting Ishant to be back for the Test matches,” Ganguly said. “He has already started bowling from shorter run-ups and short spells. He has bowled at NCA. But as there is a BCCI protocol for fast bowlers, Ishant will be playing the two first-class games in Australia.”There have been a few injuries in the ongoing IPL, including to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Ganguly said that it was bound to happen after such a long break – because of the Covid-19 pandemic.”Injuries are a part of sport and it will happen. The lesser you play, the more injured you will get. The more you keep playing, your body gets fitter, stronger and you will get less injured,” he said. “All of them came back after seven months of being locked at home with literally no activity. I don’t think injuries should be looked at like ‘Oh god, something is not right’.”That’s what sport is all about. High intensity part of life and you will have injuries.”Ganguly also backed Rishabh Pant, whose batting returns have tailed off after a reasonable start in IPL 2020, and who has been left out of the white-ball squads in Australia, to come good sooner rather than later.”Don’t worry. His bat swing will come back. He is a young guy, and all of us need to guide him. He’s got tremendous talent,” Ganguly said. “Rishabh will be fine. He and Wriddhiman Saha are our two best wicketkeeper-batsmen in the country.”After returning from Australia in the new year, India are expected to play England at home, and there have been doubts about India’s preparedness to host the series, given the situation with the pandemic in the country.”We will have the England series in India. I can assure that there are no apprehensions from the England side,” Ganguly said, adding that IPL 2021 could also happen in India, and not the UAE: “IPL is a tournament for India, we want it to happen in India. There’s still six months. We will keep assessing.”

Just 40 good overs… up-and-down Delhi Capitals look to thwart the Mumbai Indians juggernaut

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Mumbai, four-time winners, have won all their three games against Capitals, who are in their first final

Karthik Krishnaswamy09-Nov-20203:55

Aakash Chopra: Ashwin in the powerplay will be key to Capitals’ success

Big picture

You could twist that famous Gary Lineker quote and make it about the IPL. Eight teams play 60 games of 40 overs each and, at the end, the Mumbai Indians win – unless it’s an even-number year.The Mumbai Indians have won every IPL that’s taken place in an odd-number year since 2013, but they have failed to make the final in each in-between season. Until now.It was bound to happen at some point, given the ruthless, relentless T20 machine they have turned themselves into, and IPL 2020 will conclude with the Mumbai Indians looking to win their fifth title, and become the second team – after the Chennai Super Kings in 2010 and 2011 – to win back-to-back titles. They have been the best team in the competition this year by pretty much any metric you can think of, but it’s both the charm and the flaw of a league-cum-playoff competition that the best team won’t necessarily get their hands on the trophy.It’s a year of bubbles, and the Delhi Capitals have floated on one that’s come close to bursting on a few occasions, but they have evaded the jagged outcrops and reached the final for the first time. They might have lost five of their last seven games, and each of their three meetings with the Mumbai Indians, but all they need now is 40 good overs.If you looked at the two line-ups at the start of the season, you wouldn’t have thought one was significantly better than the other. But where most of the Mumbai Indians’ players have been touched by the gods of form, some of the Capitals’ key performers, who have had outstanding seasons in the not-too-distant past, have struggled, and it’s caused their line-up to look unbalanced and disjointed.The Mumbai Indians have the form, and a formidable amount of title-winning experience. Rohit Sharma has won five IPL titles, Kieron Pollard four, Hardik Pandya three, and Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav two each. But the Capitals aren’t short of match-winners, and the likes of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer remain the same players they were at the start of the season even if they have not always looked it. And they will know that past IPL finals have been won by players who have had indifferent seasons.The rest of the tournament is over. Both teams begin anew, knowing they only need 40 good overs. And maybe a Super Over or two.Kagiso Rabada poses after reclaiming the Purple Cap•BCCI

In the news

Trent Boult only bowled two overs during Qualifier 1 against the Capitals, and had to go off with a groin strain. Boult bowled in the nets on the eve of the final, and his captain sounded hopeful about his chances of playing the final. “Trent looks pretty good,” Rohit said. “He’s going to have a session today with all of us and we’ll see how he goes. He pulled up pretty well in the last few days so fingers crossed, hopefully he plays.”

Previous meetings

The Mumbai Indians did the double over the Capitals in the league phase, winning by five wickets in Abu Dhabi courtesy quick fifties from Quinton de Kock and Yadav in a chase of 166, and by a comprehensive nine wickets in Dubai following incisive spells from Boult with the new ball and Bumrah through the middle overs, which kept the Capitals to 110 for 9.It became 3-0 following Qualifier 1, also in Dubai, where they piled on 200 after being sent in, with vital contributions from de Kock, Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Hardik. The Capitals then floundered against Boult and Bumrah once again, slipping to 0 for 3 before a face-saving 65 from Marcus Stoinis narrowed their margin of defeat to 57 runs

Likely XIs

Mumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Ishan Kishan, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Trent Boult/James Pattinson, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.Delhi Capitals: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Marcus Stoinis, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Praveen Dubey/Harshal Patel, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 R Ashwin, 11 Anrich Nortje.Ishan Kishan pounces on a short ball•BCCI

Strategy punt

  • With Hardik not bowling at all this season, the Mumbai Indians’ one real weak link has been the lack of a genuine sixth bowling option. This means they haven’t always been able to shield Krunal’s left-arm spin from the opposition’s left-hand batsmen, and the Capitals have a wealth of those to use against Krunal and the legspinner Rahul Chahar. It’s imperative that these left-handers – Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer, Pant and Axar Patel, who could be used as a pinch-hitter – go hard against Krunal and Chahar, and maximise their returns from their overs.
  • To be able to do this, however, the Capitals would need to minimise the damage they suffer in the powerplay. Boult has more powerplay wickets this season than anyone else, and five of his 14 wickets in that phase have come against the Capitals. Bumrah also has two powerplay wickets against the Capitals. It might be worthwhile for them, therefore, to bat slightly within themselves in this phase – unless they are chasing a big target, of course – and go hard against the spinners when they come on.
  • There is a case for the Mumbai Indians to bowl their spinners early, to minimise their exposure to the left-handers in the Capitals middle order, and also to target Stoinis, whose IPL record against spin (average 26.08, strike rate 123.71) is significantly worse than his record against pace (32.00, 147.55).
  • How the Capitals use R Ashwin could be one of the key tactical questions of the final. Ashwin has excellent IPL numbers against Sharma (79 runs off 95 balls, two dismissals), de Kock (68 off 56, four dismissals) and Kishan (27 off 31, no dismissals), and while Pollard has scored 51 runs off the 34 balls he has faced from the offspinner, he’s also been dismissed four times. The Mumbai Indians, meanwhile, would like to have Yadav at the crease when Ashwin is on. That head-to-head has brought 72 off 51 balls, and no dismissals in eight meetings.

Stats that matter

  • Mumbai are the most successful IPL franchise and the Capitals have only just made their first final, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell that from their head-to-head record, which was 12-12 at the start of the season. Mumbai have pulled away since then with three wins on the bounce.
  • One finalist has had a 3-0 record against the other in each of the three previous IPL seasons. The Mumbai Indians overcame their losing streak against the Rising Pune Supergiant to win the 2017 final, while the Chennai Super Kings made it 4-0 over the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018 and the Mumbai Indians made it 4-0 over the Super Kings last year.
  • Kagiso Rabada currently wears the Purple Cap with 29 wickets, but Bumrah is close on his heels with 27.
  • If he scores 68, Dhawan will overtake KL Rahul’s tally of 670 runs and end the season with the Orange Cap.
  • Four Mumbai Indians batsmen – Kishan (29), Hardik (25), Pollard (22) and de Kock (21) – have hit at least 20 sixes in IPL 2020. No Capitals player has reached that mark, with Stoinis (15) their most frequent boundary-clearer.)
  • Stoinis has scored 352 runs and taken 12 wickets this season. He’s one of only 12 allrounders to complete the 350-10 double in an IPL season. Hardik and Andre Russell did it last year, and Sunil Narine in 2018.

BCCI: Rohit Sharma 'clinically fit' but must work on his endurance while in quarantine

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The senior batsman has been given a detailed training programme for his 14 days of quarantine in Sydney

Varun Shetty12-Dec-2020Rohit Sharma has been declared “clinically fit” by the medical team at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru after his three-week rehabilitation stint for a hamstring injury.On Saturday, the BCCI issued a statement clarifying that Sharma had been assessed for his batting, fielding, and running between the wickets, and that the NCA medical staff had found his physical fitness “satisfactory”.As reported by ESPNcricinfo on Friday, Sharma has cleared the NCA’s assessment and is expected to fly to Sydney from Mumbai via Dubai on Sunday to begin a 14-day hard quarantine outside of India’s current bio-secure bubble. The statement also said that Sharma would have to, nonetheless, continue to work on his endurance during his hard quarantine in Sydney – his participation in the final two Tests will depend on the assessment of his “fitness status” by the Indian team’s medical staff.Related

  • Virat Kohli on Rohit Sharma's injury: 'Lot of uncertainty and lack of clarity'

  • Rohit Sharma clears assessment, to fly to Australia on December 13

Sharma has also been given a detailed training programme for the period of quarantine.If all goes well, Sharma will be available for India’s last two Tests – of the four-match series – in Australia in January.While there is the question on whether Sharma will come out match ready after the 14-day quarantine, the eight-day gap between the second and third Tests – which begins on January 7 – is understood to have encouraged the management to have the senior batsman in the mix.This official communication from the BCCI potentially ends a weeks-long saga about Sharma’s fitness and availability for the Australia tour, a subject that had left even India captain Virat Kohli confused last month.Sharma had initially been left out of the tour because of the hamstring injury he picked up during the IPL, with the BCCI saying he would be “monitored”. Sharma sat out four matches for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL at the time, but returned – after being left out of the squads for the Australia tour – to lead his team to the title. At the time, on November 9, the BCCI had sad that the selectors had decided to “rest” Sharma from the white-ball leg in Australia in order for him to get more focused rehabilitation at the NCA and be in contention for the Tests. He was subsequently named in the squad for the last two Tests, subject to how his rehabilitation went.Sharma was the incumbent opener before missing India’s last Test series, in New Zealand earlier this year, also because of injury. India currently have a number of opening options with the squad as they prepare for the start of the Tests, but Sharma is expected to bolster the line-up, particularly after Kohli goes on paternity leave after the first Test in Adelaide.

Game
Register
Service
Bonus