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Ravindra Jadeja was at his jovial best at Tuesday’s optional training session ahead of India’s final group game against Hong Kong in Dubai. And when he appeared for the pre-match press conference, he was greeted with a huge cheer in the room.” (Found your sacrificial lamb, have you)?” Jadeja said with a laugh as he settled into his chair. And over the next ten minutes, his answers alternated between funny and insightful.” book (your question is out of my syllabus),” he joked when asked whether Rishabh Pant would continue to be benched.Related

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” (you seem to think a lot, I don’t think so much),” he quipped when asked about his role of primarily being a bowler in Test cricket, as opposed to being more multi-dimensional in white-ball cricket.Chuckles turned into full-blown laughter when Jadeja responded to a question on how he dealt with rumours about his sudden injury during the IPL and the possibility of him not being selected for the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup.”Once I even heard a rumour that I had died; it can’t be bigger than that,” he responded. “I don’t think too much about it. I just focus on my work, try to play well and perform.”Jadeja’s answers were quick. He can go through half a dozen questions in the time he takes to bowl an over, which he does faster than perhaps anyone else in the world.It wasn’t all fun and banter, though, as Jadeja elaborated on his new role, especially as a batter.In India’s Asia Cup opener against Pakistan, Jadeja was promoted to No. 4 in the absence of a left-handed batter in the top six.With Pakistan playing a legspinner in Shadab Khan and a left-arm spinner in Mohammad Nawaz, Jadeja was sent up the order to negate the threat of a right-hand batter having to face a ball turning away from him. Jadeja responded with a 29-ball 35 and his partnership with Hardik Pandya helped India win the game with two balls to spare. He revealed that he had been preparing to bat anywhere in the order, and that the decision to move up was something he had expected.”Definitely, sometimes it happens if a left-arm spinner or legspinner is bowling, it’s easier to have a left-hander,” Jadeja said. “In the top seven I was the only left-hander. I knew there would be such situations, where they have a left-arm spinner and legspinner so I may have to bat up.”I was preparing myself mentally for it. Luckily, I got the runs, and whatever I did, it was crucial. I can’t say [the same will happen against all teams]. Every opponent has different bowlers, we’ll plan from that point of view.”1:06

Sending Jadeja above Suryakumar made Pakistan change their plans

Jadeja rued not finishing the game off but expressed satisfaction at having delivered a key performance in a pressure situation. “If you play for India, there will be pressure always,” he said. “You need to play with responsibility sometimes. When you get a chance to bat when the team is in trouble and then you have to win it from there, it’s challenging.”You can sometimes come to bowl in similar situations. If you perform well in such situations, it gives you satisfaction and confidence as a player.”And how would Jadeja bowl to a batter like Jadeja? “If there’s someone like that in T20s, I’ll look at the areas the batter plays in, what his strong zones are, which end I’m bowling from, and which part of the outfield is bigger.”In 2018, the Asia Cup was Jadeja’s launchpad for a comeback after he fell out of favour for close to a year. Four years on, Jadeja and Pandya are key pieces of India’s T20I puzzle as they look to win a tournament – the T20 World Cup – they haven’t won since 2007.Jadeja isn’t focused on Australia just yet. He’s looking to do his best against Hong Kong, and then take the Super 4s on. “One game at a time, one game at a time,” he laughed, before walking off sipping ice-cold water.

The Quaid-e-Azam trophy, Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament, is set to start from Tuesday with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) defending their title in the 31-match event.Five other teams – Northern, Central Punjab, Southern Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan – will be taking part in the tournament, which will kick off with three simultaneous games in three of the five venues: Abbottabad, Rawalpindi, and Faisalabad. Karachi and Islamabad, which were initially slotted as venues, have been replaced by Multan and Lahore due to logistical challenges. The larger part of the tournament is slotted in the Southern and Central Punjab region with the final scheduled for November 26.Five of the six teams will be led by Test players, the only exception being KP, who will be captained by veteran domestic allrounder Khalid Usman. Hasan Ali has moved from Central Punjab to South Punjab as captain while Azhar Ali will be leading Central. Sarfaraz Ahmed – who last played a Test for Pakistan in 2019 – will take Sindh’s reins. Umar Amin will lead Northern while legspinner Yasir Shah will captain Balochistan.The Cricket Associations Championship, which is a non-first-class red-ball tournament consisting of second-XI players (Grade 2), will commence simultaneously at three different venues within Karachi. The majority of the Associations Championship will be played in Karachi – with UBL complex, NBP sports complex and KCCA stadium the designated venues – and three games are scheduled for Quetta’s Bugti Stadium.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Recapping last season
Northern and KP faced each other in the final in December 2021. KP’s 169-run win was fuelled by Iftikhar Ahmed’s hundred. Sindh finished third, despite having the same number of wins, losses, and draws as KP while Central Punjab (fourth) and Southern Punjab (fifth) had two and one wins respectively. Balochistan were winless and finished last.Muhammad Hurraira, who was 19 at the time, became the first player to top the run charts in his debut season. He made history by becoming the second-youngest batter to score a first-class triple century in Pakistan, behind Javed Miandad, who made 311 in the Kardar Summer Shield final, at 17 years and 310 days. Hurraira’s knock was the second triple-hundred of the season, following Ahsan Ali’s 303* for Sindh.Mubasir Khan, the offspinning allrounder, was the player of the tournament. He amassed 458 runs at 32.71 – mainly at No.6 – along with 30 scalps, adding to the run-fest from his brief 2020/21 season where he made 307 runs at 51.16. His exploits earned him a PSL call-up with Islamabad United in the emerging category.Last season was also the season where Pakistan opener Abid Ali, who was batting on 61 for Central Punjab against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, withdrew from the match abruptly due to chest pain. After being taken to hospital, he was diagnosed with a case of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) and underwent a stenting procedure in his artery. He did return to white-ball cricket after extensive rehab, but the upcoming Quaid-e-Azam will mark his return in the longer format.Left-arm spinner Ali Usman was the leading wicket-taker with 43 dismissals at 27.93 while Sohail Khan (30) and Sameen Gul (31) were the only two pacers to be among the top five leading wicket-takers. Mohammad Ali (32) and Mubasir (30) were other prominent spinners. Rohail Nazir, with 21 catches and ten stumpings, was the wicketkeeper with the most dismissals. He was handy with the bat, too, scoring 198 in 10 games.How is this season different?
The tournament continues to be played on a double-league basis though the arrival of foreign coaches to lead a couple of teams will be worth following. Nottinghamshire assistant coach Paul Franks will be the head coach of Central Punjab while Leicestershire head coach Paul Nixon will take up the same role with Sindh.Bilal Shafayat, who is working with Notts’ age-group levels and second XI, will be assisting Franks as fielding coach for Central Punjab. John Sadler will be Sindh’s fielding coach, while some other names include Richard Stonier (Central Punjab), and Ian Fisher (Sindh), who will help with strength and conditioning.The second XI Cricket Championship will also be played on a double-league basis, across formats. The three-day tournament that used to be played as a pathway to first-class cricket will now extend to a four-day league [though they will not be officially recognised as first-class fixtures.] And just like the T20s and the 50-over tournaments, each side will get a minimum of ten matches.New and improved central contracts
Ahead of the tournament, the PCB has given an increment to the 192 domestic players in their monthly retainers and match fees – across all formats and levels – for the season. As per the new financial model, a player featuring in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy will now get a match fee of PKR 100,000 as opposed to the previous sum of PKR 60,000. Similarly, the match fee for the Cricket Associations Championship has been increased from PKR 25,000 to PKR 40,000.

Ben Stokes has left the door open for a possible U-turn on his ODI retirement for England’s defence of the 50-over World Cup next winter.The allrounder, currently in Pakistan captaining the Test side on their first tour of the country in 17 years, retired from one-day cricket in the summer to focus on the other two international formats. In doing so, he said managing his workload in a convoluted schedule was “unsustainable”, urging administrators to get a firmer grasp of the fixture list to prevent other multi-format cricketers from taking a similar decision.However, following England’s T20 World Cup win earlier this month in Australia, of which Stokes was a key part with 52 not out – a first half-century in the format – to take his side to victory in the final against Pakistan, limited-overs coach Matthew Mott floated the prospect of Stokes going back on the decision. “When he spoke to me about his ODI retirement, one of the first things I said was that I’d back any decision he made, but I said to him he didn’t necessarily have to retire, he could just not play 50 overs for a while,” Mott said.Related

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Coming into the tournament, Stokes had not played a T20I since March 2021, and given how the 31-year-old performed – 110 runs at an average of 36.66 and six wickets – the consensus is he could play a similar peripheral role ahead of the 2023 50-over World Cup in India, particularly as ODIs are perhaps his best format, with averages of 38.98 and 42.39 (and 74 dismissals), with bat and ball respectively.Speaking ahead of the first Test against Pakistan, Stokes revealed director of men’s cricket Rob Key had floated the idea of an ODI return to him during the training camp in Abu Dhabi last week. While dismissive at the time, the 2019 player of the final stopped short of ruling himself out of contention.”Keysy pulled me to the side in the UAE and as soon as he said ’50-over World Cup’ I just walked away,” said Stokes.”Who knows? At the moment, being out here, my focus is solely on this series (against Pakistan). But it’s one of those things. But who knows how I might feel towards a World Cup at the time. Going to a World Cup is an amazing thing to do, to represent your country. But at the moment I’m not even thinking about that.”At the time of writing, Stokes faces a very front-heavy 2023. These three Pakistan Tests will take him into the New Year ahead of a two-Test tour of New Zealand in February. He will then move onto the Indian Premier League having put himself forward for the draft which takes place on December 16. Upon returning from the IPL, he heads straight into a four-day Test against Ireland before a five-match Ashes series which finishes at the end of July. There are also four T20Is against New Zealand shoe-horned in at the end of the home season.Should he hold firm on his ODI retirement, he would be twiddling his thumps during the World Cup, which begins in October, ahead of a five-match series in the Caribbean during December. If he does have a change of heart, there would be six ODIs in the summer, split evenly between New Zealand and Ireland to get back into the 50-over groove.

First they said it couldn’t be done beyond one lucky Test at the start of the summer. Then, after they did it twice more to New Zealand, India were supposedly going to stop them in their tracks. Cue 378 being chased down with ease.Ah, but what of South Africa? Sure, that didn’t work at the start. Defeat by an innings and 12 runs inside three days at Lord’s drew plenty of pent-up derision from the sidelines, most of it from traditional supporters – many of them English – who were slightly put out by the suggestion that they were the ones who had got this format all wrong. Cue victories by an innings and 85 runs and nine wickets to take that series with ease, too. Six wins out of seven, two series in the bag, another all-square from 2021. What were you worried about?Now, of course, the ever-shifting “gotcha” has moved to “can you do it on a sunny (but chilly) and perhaps also hot and sweaty month in Pakistan?” And to be honest, quite rightly. Just as those hypothetical stumbling blocks were posited early in the Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes tenure, so the challenge of taking this high-wire act abroad is a new one altogether.”We’ll find out,” McCullum shrugged, when asked how different things could be here compared to the English summer. “There will be times where it could be more extreme in regards to the conditions, there will be times we have to absorb more, and times to put it back on more, and I think that could be the difference between playing, say, in English conditions and playing these. But we’ll find out, as long as guys are living in the moment and they’ve got a positive mindset heading into it, we’ll give ourselves the best chance.”There are no preconceived notions for England’s first visit to Pakistan in 17 years. “Be where your feet are” and “if you’re present, you give yourself a better chance to adjust” were two phrases that stuck out when McCullum veered close to talking tactics, without ever quite taking his shoes off to dip a toe into those waters. He didn’t quite go full Henry Cooke and say: “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”. But he wasn’t far off.McCullum did, however, appreciate that the contrast between home and away will be felt this week. The first Test, starting in Rawalpindi on Thursday, will have shorter days, with play beginning at 10am because the sun gives it the Irish goodbye not long after 5pm. Conditions, naturally, will be different.And if the crowds prove to be as packed as they were at times during the summer, they are unlikely to be as supportive. “But we can still bring the same sense of belief among the group,” McCullum said. “To have the same ambition to play entertaining cricket and, hopefully, when the time arrives, win the key moments. Isn’t it the greatest challenge? To win away from home and be successful.”As much as the noise and funk established in the UK is about to be brought around 4,000 miles away and five hours ahead, there is something tangible at play over here that will have a knock-on effect to cricket back home. So much of the domestic game is up for grabs at the moment, whether through the high-performance review or private equity interest. But the opinion of the England Test coach is one that matters. And it is when running the rule over two of his picks – Liam Livingstone and Rehan Ahmed – that you get an insight into McCullum’s thoughts on where the domestic game is right now.McCullum gives directions during England’s practice session at Rawalpindi•Getty Images

Ahmed’s addition to the full squad last week – a plan all along, said Rob Key, the team’s director – is, without question, an educated punt. His displays in three first-class games for Leicestershire, along with his limited-overs work, both at Grace Road and for Southern Brave, have shown him worthy of acceleration.McCullum echoed many of the sentiments already voiced by Key and Ben Stokes in the past week: “a rough diamond… who can spin the ball both ways, dynamic in the field and he’s got a power game and likes to play the game at a high tempo”. However, he decided to go a little further still, perhaps pre-empting future questions if Ahmed simply bowls in the nets and carries drinks throughout this trip, which is a distinct possibility given the pitches will be tough to predict.”He’s nowhere near the finished article, we know that, but what’s the alternative? Leave him in a system which may not come through necessarily as the product you’d hope for in the end? So we get him in here and it’s a great feather in the cap for the skipper and the senior lads, the coaches, that we believe we can help get his talent through quicker. If we can’t, that’s our problem, not his. He’s a rare talent worth investing in, and we’ll make sure we’ll try to look after him.”Related

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It was a shot across the bows of County Cricket, though previous national coaches have administered similar. Duncan Fletcher was famously irked by the drop-off from international cricket to the domestic codes and others have dished out facsimiles of his complaints, particularly on the topic of spin. Given the dearth of reliable spin alternatives beyond Jack Leach, Ahmed’s inclusion – whether made in October or November – and that of Livingstone, has merit.When asked if it mattered that Livingstone had not played a competitive red-ball match since August 2021, McCullum responded simply: “Not really. I think he’s a good player, so we’ll find out I suppose.”That view is no surprise given it was the entire premise of Livingstone’s selection. The of Livingstone is the greatest pull, though that perhaps does a disservice to his previous red-ball work, which is worthy of respect. All but one of his seven first-class centuries came in his first two years in the format. While he has been pulled in other directions by the white ball, you don’t have to meet the logic too far along to understand why he is such an attractive proposition to this team.”I’ve seen a bit of him on the T20 circuit and international cricket and enjoyed his style of play – he bowls off-spin, leg-spin, fields well and smacks the ball out of the park – it’s hard not to get around a player who plays like that.”Beyond that, there is a view that Livingstone’s selection is a win for English cricket. He has not struggled for offers elsewhere, and was even the first draft pick for the BBL this season before having to pull out for this Test series. At a time when boards are fighting off encroaching franchises, Livingstone’s presence in the squad sticks out as a statement piece.”He carries himself in a great way and in a great manner. It’s a real feather in the cap for the skipper and some of the senior players within the group that one of the best T20 players in the world is desperate to be part of the squad, because of the goodwill that’s been built up over the last few months.”There is a sense, however, that McCullum’s suggestion that the Test side can itself make up for the shortcomings of County Cricket is unsustainable. And that, really, is what all the queries around his brand of Test cricket were concerned with – sustainability.But, maybe even to worry about that is to miss the point entirely. Internally it has been about rediscovering the enjoyment of Test cricket, and no-one can say that has not been the external effect. The twin objectives of success and entertainment have skipped down the road hand-in-hand up to this point. Even in defeat, who’s to say it won’t continue?English Test cricket has always been its own island, but right now there is a real sense that it is drifting further away from its roots. And while that seems alarming when you read it aloud, at this juncture, it may not be a bad thing.One of the most sought-after T20 batters and a fearless leg-spinning allrounder are knuckling down for the longest format, in a part of the world where an English Test side has not set foot, since 2005. Who knows how this will end up in the next month let alone beyond that? Perhaps it really is about being where your feet are.

Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal has been ruled out of the ODI series against India, which begins on December 4 in Mirpur, due to a groin injury. He is also in doubt for the Test series that begins on December 14 in Chattogram. Tamim picked up the injury during a warm-up match at the same venue on Wednesday.Earlier on Thursday, fast bowler Taskin Ahmed was ruled out of the first ODI due to a back injury.Related

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“Tamim has a Grade 1 strain on his right groin which has been confirmed following an MRI,” Bangladesh team physio Bayjedul Islam Khan said. “We will maintain a conservative treatment protocol for him for two weeks after which his rehab will begin. Unfortunately it means he will not be available for the ODI series and will be doubtful for the Test series.”The BCB are yet to name a captain or a replacement for Tamim. They have however called up Shoriful Islam as a back-up for Taskin from the Bangladesh A side who are currently playing against India A in Cox’s Bazar.”Taskin is out of the first ODI and we will know about his availability for the rest of the ODI series only after another fitness test,” Bangladesh’s chief selector Minhajul Abedin told ESPNcricinfo earlier on Thursday.Taskin suffered the injury during a BCL match on November 20 for which he has been taking a pain-killer injection for the last few days. He has emerged as the bowling attack leader in the last 12 months after making a stellar comeback to international cricket. But earlier this year, he was out of action for a few months due to a shoulder injury. He picked up the back injury during a BCL match on November 20.The first ODI will be held in Dhaka on Sunday followed by the second one at the same venue on December 7 and the final match on December 10 in Chattogram.

Shane Watson, Delhi Capitals’ assistant coach, has said he will be “blown away” if David Warner, the franchise’s under-fire captain, doesn’t “set the IPL alight” in the rest of the season after struggling for rhythm in the first four games.Warner is the second-highest run-scorer in IPL 2023 and has hit three half-centuries in four games, but has scored at a sluggish strike rate of 114.83 and is yet to hit a single six this season.Warner punched his bat in frustration upon reaching a 43-ball half-century during Delhi’s loss to Mumbai Indians on Monday night, their fourth defeat out of four this season. But Watson stressed that he had shown a “more fearless mindset” during that innings, and said that he was “so close” to recapturing his best form.Related

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“The other night, Dave [Warner] definitely had a [much] more fearless mindset with the way he was batting,” Watson said on the podcast. “He was taking the game on… yes, he missed a few balls that in the past he would have hit for four or six, he’s mis-hit a couple of balls, but that’s all part of Dave just working through the technical side of his game.”That’s also part of my role as well, as a coach. Because I know Dave so well from batting with him and playing with him, there’s one or two little things that I know he’ll get right over the next couple of days and I’ll be blown away if he doesn’t – yes, he’s been scoring runs, but from a scoring perspective – if he doesn’t set the IPL alight from now on, knowing that he’s so close.”He’s batting very nicely. He’s just mis-hitting some balls that he’d normally hit for four or six. Once you do that, once you start really finding the middle of your bat, then your scoring rate just goes through the roof.”Warner became the fastest man to reach 6,000 runs in his IPL career during Delhi’s defeat to Rajasthan Royals, and Watson said that his stellar record in the competition underlined his ability. “His strike rate across his career in the IPL is nearly 140,” he said. “He’s been a great player in the IPL for a long period of time.”He added that Warner had been “working through” a “challenging inner battle” in the first three games of the season, grappling with whether or not to take risks as wickets fell at the other end. “It goes against a lot of the things that you’re taught as a kid growing up,” Watson said. “You lose a wicket, you’ve got to establish a partnership – even in T20 cricket – for five or six balls.”But then, if you do that and you keep losing wickets after five or six balls, before you know it, you’re three overs down and you’ve just been rotating ones to try and build a partnership. Dave was just working through that himself in the first few games.”Delhi play their next game away against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday afternoon, and will have Mitchell Marsh available again after he missed their last two games due to his wedding back home in Australia.”It’s never perfect when you lose your first four games,” Watson said, “but that is the beauty of having someone with the skill of Ricky Ponting as a coach, and just his understanding of people. That’s the beauty of being a coach, to be able to help the guys where they need it.”These are the times when you really see the true colours of people and coaches, when things aren’t going well. It’s a true sign of character: how you can work through the little things that are not going how we want them to, to turn them around and be more consistent.”

Mumbai Indians did what was asked of them quite emphatically, to win the game and move to fourth. And then after nearly five hours of waiting, had their playoff spot confirmed following Gujarat Titans’ win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru.*Having chased down 201 courtesy a 47-ball 100 not out from Cameron Green, Mumbai needed RCB to lose their fixture, and that’s what happened in the end. Having got to 16 points, they now face Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator on May 24.Victory at one stage seemed far-fetched for Mumbai when Sunrisers openers Mayank Agarwal and Vivrant Sharma blasted an opening stand of 140 in just 13.5 overs. Then Mumbai hit back in the death overs to take the momentum with them; Sunrisers managed just 32 off their last four overs. It seemed as if the slowdown at the time would prove costly, but the manner of Mumbai’s chase made it amply clear that even another 20 runs would perhaps not have made any difference.Only just briefly in their defence, Sunrisers had it under control when Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed Ishan Kishan early with the first three overs going for just 24. The turning point came in the fifth over when Rohit Sharma was reprieved on 12 by Sanvir Singh. He made them pay along with Green.

The Mayank-Vivrant show

But long before the carnage that the majority of the strong 30,000 crowd anticipated, Agarwal and Vivrant overcame a slow start to set the game up. Vivrant ended the powerplay with two bludgeoning hits down the ground off Piyush Chawla to go from 10 off 16 to 27 off 24.The slow start wasn’t due to lack of trying, though. It was possibly a case of nerves and some good shots finding the fielders. He soon brought up his half-century off just 36 deliveries.Agarwal said ‘I’m in too’ as he galloped to his half-century by hitting Jason Behrendorff superbly inside-out over cover for six and scything the follow-up wide yorker behind point. His half-century was up off just 32 balls. Now, Sunrisers were beginning to get into overdrive.

Madhwal leaves a mark

Tasked to deliver the tough overs, Akash Madhwal brought Mumbai some interim relief when he had Vivrant caught at the boundary for 69. It was the highest score by an Indian in a debut IPL innings, and second-best overall. But any joy at having broken through quickly dissipated as the in-form Heinrich Klaasen helped himself to a first-ball four.Agarwal then galloped towards a century, racing from 62 off 36 to 83 off 45, courtesy of a sensational takedown of Kumar Kartikeya and Chawla off successive overs. But his dismissal to Madhwal off a knuckleball dug in to have him heaving across the line and nicking, brought Mumbai back.Sunrisers went for 19 balls without a boundary in the death overs as Madhwal also removed Klaasen and Harry Brook off consecutive deliveries to finish with 4 for 37. The last four overs produced just 32 as Sunrisers eventually just past 200 after a last-ball six by Aiden Markram.Akash Madhwal nailed his yorkers at the death•BCCI

The Rohit-Green run torrent

After removing Kishan early, Sunrisers could have had a second when Rohit mistimes a heave to midwicket. Sanvir put down a straightforward chance to open the floodgates.The next ball was pummeled over deep midwicket by Green. It was the difference between young Nitish Kumar Reddy having figures of 2-0-12-1 and 2-0-19-0 in the powerplay. Kartik Tyagi too kept bowling hittable lengths and compounded his misery by overstepping. Green hit four fours and two sixes off his first 10 balls to kick Mumbai into high gear.He soon brought up his half-century off just 20 balls, while Rohit went past 11,000 T20 runs as runs bled against spin with Sunrisers unable to have any grip over proceedings. A part of this was down to some poor bowling by the spinners, who were all over the pace on a surface where there was hardly any purchase as the ball slid on nicely.Rohit had a second reprieve, again by Sanvir on 51, but fell soon after. But when Suryakumar Yadav coolly walked in and lofted his first ball inside-out for four, it seemed as if he was in a hurry.Suryakumar and Green next took down an erratic Umran Malik for 20 off the 16th to bring down the equation from 41 off 30 to 21 off 24. From there on, it was a walk home with two overs to spare, the winning runs also delivering Green a maiden T20 hundred as Mumbai ensured they did enough.1950 GMT: The report was updated after Mumbai’s fourth-place finish was confirmed.

Former India bowler Ajit Agarkar is the frontrunner to be the next India men’s chairman of selectors after applying to the vacant spot in the selection committee. The BCCI advertised on June 22 for the vacancy that has not been filled since February when the last chairman of selectors, Chetan Sharma, resigned following a news channel sting operation on him. Agarkar applied on June 29 evening, a day before the deadline. If selected, the 45-year-old Agarkar, who played 26 Tests and 191 ODIs for India, will become the most experienced member of the panel, and thus also the chairman of selectors.Chetan represented North Zone in the panel, so Agarkar’s appointment will result in the panel having two selectors from West Zone, Salil Ankola being the other one. In the BCCI constitution, drafted as per the RM Lodha-committee recommendations, there is no mention of selectors being appointed on a zonal basis; just that the five selectors should have been retired for at least five years and played a certain number of matches. While the BCCI has followed an unwritten rule of picking a selector from each of the five zones traditionally, the advertisement for the role never specified it was looking for a candidate from a specific zone.Shiv Sunder Das, S Sharath and Subroto Banerjee are the other three selectors. With the most international experience among them, Das serves as the chairman as of now.Related

• Selecting the selectors: a key job in Indian cricket, but who'd want to take it up?

For a team in transition, as India is, a settled selection panel with vision, clarity and continuity is of utmost importance. But the selection committee has been anything but settled since last year when the BCCI moved away from the convention of giving a chairman two terms and asked for new applications for Chetan’s role following the semi-final loss in the T20 World Cup. However, the board failed to attract a better option, and re-elected Chetan the chairman of selectors only for the sting operation leading to his resignation, which has never been acknowledged by the BCCI.One big challenge for India is that the chairman of selectors is paid just over INR 1 crore per year. Any former cricketer easily makes more with work in the media, which comes without the scrutiny a national selector faces, and also coaching gigs in T20 leagues.Agarkar himself was part of the Delhi Capitals’ coaching staff in the IPL apart from doing media work. Capitals’ Twitter handle on June 29 announced Agarkar, and Shane Watson too, had parted ways with them. Agarkar has also served as a chairman of selectors for Mumbai in domestic cricket from 2017 to 2019, when the entire panel abruptly stepped down.Agarkar brings the heft and the experience that the BCCI is looking for in a perspective chairman of selectors, but it remains to be seen if the board will review the compensation for the selectors.

Finn Allen’s return to Auckland after three seasons with Wellington, and Kyle Jamieson’s move back to Canterbury after four seasons at Auckland, are some of the major talking points as New Zealand’s six major associations released their first list of contracted players for the 2023-24 season.Cam Fletcher also returned to Auckland after almost ten years at Canterbury, who signed up fast bowler Michael Rae and left-arm wristspinner Michael Rippon from Otago. Ajaz Patel is back with Central Districts after not getting a New Zealand contract for the 2023-24 season.Jack Boyle got his first Central Districts contract, having previously played for Canterbury, while Otago signed former Wellington allrounder Luke Georgeson.There were first-time contracts for seam bowler Harjot Johal (Auckland), Will Clark (Central Districts), Muhammad Abbas (Wellington), Gareth Severin (Wellington), Nick Greenwood (Wellington), James Hartshorn (Wellington) and Thorn Parkes (Otago).The major associations can name up to 15 players in the first round of contract announcements, followed by a two-week transfer window during which uncontracted players can assess their options with another association. Following this, each association will name one more player to complete their 16-man contract list.

List of contracted players

Auckland
Adithya Ashok, Cole Briggs, Louis Delport, Danru Ferns, Cam Fletcher, Matt Gibson, Ryan Harrison, Harjot Johal, Simon Keene, Ben Lister, Robbie O’Donnell, Will O’Donnell, Sean Solia, Quinn Sunde, George Worker.Northern Districts
Joe Carter, Katene Clarke, Kristian Clarke, Henry Cooper, Matthew Fisher, Zak Gibson, Brett Hampton, Scott Johnston, Scott Kuggeleijn, Bharat Popli, Tim Pringle, Jeet Raval, Tim Seifert, Fred Walker, Joe Walker.Central Districts
Jack Boyle, Doug Bracewell, Tom Bruce, Will Clark, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver, Liam Dudding, Joey Field, Greg Hay, Jayden Lennox, Ajaz Patel, Brett Randell, Brad Schmulian, Ray Toole, Bayley Wiggins.Wellington
Muhammad Abbas, Nick Greenwood, James Hartshorn, Troy Johnson, Nick Kelly, Callum McLachlan, Iain McPeake, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Gareth Severin, Ben Sears, Michael Snedden, Nathan Smith, Peter Younghusband, Logan van Beek.Canterbury
Chad Bowes, Matt Boyle, Leo Carter, Sean Davey, Zak Foulkes, Mitch Hay, Cole McConchie, Angus McKenzie, Edward Nuttall, Ken McClure, Will O’Rourke, Michael Rae, Michael Rippon, Fraser Sheat, Henry Shipley.Otago
Matt Bacon, Max Chu, Jacob Cumming, Jacob Duffy, Dean Foxcroft, Luke Georgeson, Jake Gibson, Andrew Hazeldine, Llew Johnson, Ben Lockrose, Jarrod McKay, Travis Muller, Thorn Parkes, Dale Phillips, Hamish Rutherford.

New Zealand central contracts

Finn Allen, Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Kane Williamson, Will Young.

Nottinghamshire 87 for 5 (Holland 4-19) trail Hampshire 166 (Gubbins 49, Fuller 46, James 3-38) by 79 runsThe odds continue to lengthen against fourth-placed Hampshire finally claiming the crown this season exactly fifty years since last they won the title. But they revived from a disastrous start at Trent Bridge courtesy of a fine late flourish from James Fuller whose belligerent 46 from 49 balls helped them to 166 all out before Ian Holland reduced Nottinghamshire to 87 for five.Inserted in the LV= Insurance County Championship following a morning wash-out, Hampshire lost both openers with no run scored in the opening two overs and, though Nick Gubbins made 49, they were 88 for seven four balls after tea. The trio of Lyndon James, Dane Paterson and Brett Hutton, the season’s leading wicket-taker overnight, each finished with three.But, supported by Felix Organ, Fuller latterly surged forward. Surviving a difficult chance in the deep off James when nine, he mixed authentic drives with periodic swipes as the stand reached 73 from 12 overs before he aimed one flash too many.Nottinghamshire, facing 29 overs to the close, soon confronted problems of their own on this seamer’s surface. Holland, coming on second change, took three wickets in his first ten balls and another 15 minutes from the close to put the visitors’ earlier struggles firmly in context.On a day when just one stand lasted even 55 minutes, Hutton had initiated the general calamity when he followed his wicket with the second ball of the previous match with that of Holland from the fifth ball of this. Toby Pettman, in only his fourth championship start and his first for Nottinghamshire, made it successive wicket-maidens when Fletcha Middleton also went without score, lobbing tamely to mid-wicket.Not until the sixth over did runs scored exceed wickets lost and unsurprisingly Gubbins and Vince tried to bed in on a pitch of no great pace or bounce but persistent seam movement. Briefly accelerating after 70 minutes of defence, and a very short Bridgford Road boundary, they were soon checked by James, however.After their third-wicket recovery had posted 68, James followed his maiden five-wicket haul in the last game by removing both captain Vince and Ben Brown, for the third duck of the innings, in three balls. Vince, whipping across the line for 22, and Brown both fell leg-before in his second over.In eleven balls either side of tea, James also then knocked over Liam Dawson before Paterson did for both Gubbins with a beauty and, on resumption, Keith Barker, edging a lifter to third slip.Time may be running out for Hampshire to achieve the title that their own high-quality pace attack has long threatened to secure. No fewer than eight of this present eleven have already passed a 32nd birthday and both Barker and fellow seamer Kyle Abbott are now 36.In contrast, Nottinghamshire’s ranks have been so depleted by injury, Test calls and loss of form that half of the dozen men who played their first two games in April were absent from this. Thoughts of the championship have realistically given way some while ago to an outside threat of relegation.This threat loomed again when acting skipper, Haseeb Hameed, soon became just the latest right-hander to fall to left-arm Barker with a defensive edge to the ‘keeper and Holland, introduced at 47 for one, had Will Young bottom-edgeing a cut into his stumps and, in succession, Ben Slater, Joe Clarke and Matt Montgomery caught behind. Some day: a wicket fell on average every 31 balls.