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Suresh Raina requested Pravin Amre to help him with few technical issues with his batting ahead of India A’s match against England

Amol Karhadkar29-Oct-2012Immediately after arriving in Mumbai on Sunday morning for the warm-up game against England, India A captain Suresh Raina called Pravin Amre, the former India Test batsman who is now a coach, and requested him to come over to the Brabourne Stadium to help him with few technical issues with his batting ahead of the crucial game.Amre, who knows Raina since his age-group cricket days and had last worked with him before he left for Australia for the tri-series earlier this year, obliged and spent a long time with Raina during the A team’s practice session on Sunday.Amre has coached Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy team for five years and has been associated with the Mumbai Indians and the Pune Warriors. However, it wasn’t the first time Amre was dealing with an individual batsman. For the last three months, he has been working as a batting coach for Robin Uthappa, the Karnataka opening batsman, who has been trying to regain his spot in the India team.So is it time for top batsmen to appoint personal batting coaches? “It’s up to the players. I’m earning a lot of money in cricket and I can choose who I want to train with. If I’m not fit, I can ask doctors or physios at the NCA to come and train with me for two months to get me fit,” Raina said on Monday.”With so many formats to switch between, it sometimes gets difficult and you need somebody to observe you and guide you all the time. Look at sports like tennis and shooting, the coach always travels with the sportsman. So when you are making a lot of money, why shouldn’t you hire a specialist who can help you out? It’s something that I can look at in the future. Cricket is all about sharing one’s knowledge and it’s more about skills than technique, if a coach can tell you about your skills and improve them, it will help you play different formats.”Raina also spelt out his bond with Amre, who has been coaching his employer Air India’s team for almost a decade now. “When I was 14 or 15, I played a lot of matches at the Under-19 level for Air India and have known Pravin sir since then. He knows my batting well,” Raina said. “When you’re not in the team, you need somebody to work on your game all the time. Pravin told me I’ve been batting well, but the time has come to change my game now. The button has to be pressed. That’s somewhere England have done well. Graham Gooch has been a big addition to the side. Look at how he changed Alastair Cook’s game and performances.”I asked him [Amre] about [Graeme] Swann. He troubled me a lot in England and got me out four or five times. He asked me to keep my shoulder over the ball and my eyes in line with the ball.”While a player may feel the need of closer assessment from a personal coach, Amre feels it’s more challenging for a coach to work on an individual basis.”When I used to work for a team like Mumbai, I knew I had six batsmen to rely on. It didn’t matter who scored runs. What mattered the most was the team’s performance,” Amre told ESPNcricinfo. “Here, there is just one batsman who I am working on and I would be assessed only based on what he does. So it’s imperative that the player-coach partnerships works for the better. When it comes to Suresh, we share a personal bond and there’s no contract. Whenever he asks me to work on his batting, I cannot say no.”It remains to be seen if Raina makes the most of his time spent with Amre over the next three days.

Arun Karthik produced the six most important runs of his 15-match Twenty20 career off the last ball of the CLT20 league phase to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore past South Australia Redbacks in a game that had everything except for a Super Over finish

The Report by Nitin Sundar05-Oct-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsVirat Kohli, who played a key role in RCB’s chase, celebrates an extraordinary finish•Associated Press

Arun Karthik produced the six most important runs of his 15-match Twenty20 career off the last ball of the CLT20 league phase to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore past South Australia Redbacks in a game that had everything except for a Super-Over finish. It featured an astonishing century from Daniel Harris – only the third in Champions League history. It had a five-for from Shaun Tait, in a game where 429 runs came off 40 overs. It also featured sublime stroke play from Virat Kohli, who played his best T20 innings. It had strong helping hands from Callum Ferguson and Tillakaratne Dilshan.It all boiled down to the last ball, off which six were needed, and Karthik stepped up to smash Daniel Christian into the stands beyond midwicket. The crowd went up as one, the RCB dug-out exploded in joy, and even the usually laidback Chris Gayle walked out shirtless with a broad smile.In a game that unfolded like a Hitchcock whodunit, it was fitting that the winning blow came off the bat of someone who was playing only because AB de Villiers was injured. At the other end was S Aravind, the worst bowler of the day, who got close to redemption with a boundary off the third ball of that electric final over. Christian bowled a slower ball on the fourth, which Aravind slogged for two, making it seven needed off the last two. Aravind couldn’t connect with the fifth, but the batsmen scrambled through for a bye. Six needed off one, and Christian delivered a slower ball as hittable as Chetan Sharma’s infamous full toss to Javed Miandad in Sharjah. Karthik coolly stayed in his crease and heaved with all his might over midwicket to become a hero.It was heartbreak for the Redbacks, who had somehow regrouped after a virtually unstoppable 100-run stand between Kohli and Dilshan off 8.5 overs. By the time Kohli fell, he had reduced the equation to 50 off the last five overs, but RCB’s light-weight middle order gave the Redbacks a chance. Nathan Lyon piled on the pressure with a four-run 16th over, but Tait ceded the advantage with two sixes in the 17th, though he managed to dismiss Saurabh Tiwary. The next over from Aaron O’Brien also produced two sixes and a wicket, making it 18 required off 12 balls. Tait then lasered Dilshan’s stumps with a stunning yorker and got Daniel Vettori to miscue, before completing his five-for with Raju Bhatkal’s wicket. That set up the last-over climax, Christian blinked after five balls, and Karthik held his nerve to complete the first win for an IPL side against an Australian team.The performances from Tait and Karthik dominated the ending, but the contest got its substance from Harris and Kohli. Both produced innings that had no business featuring in an unabashed exhibition for T20 batting. Harris’ effort stood out for the shots he didn’t play – he went almost 18 overs without trying to hit a six, and yet coasted to a century with time to spare. Kohli’s was elevated by the shots he chose to play. Faced with an asking-rate nearing 11, and with Gayle dismissed, Kohli unfurled a series of astonishingly correct strokes.Equally telling were the chalk-and-cheese support acts from Ferguson and Dilshan. With the spinners pulling things back after Harris’ Powerplay boundary blitz, Ferguson took his time settling in before opening up in style. Dilshan, on the other hand, ignited RCB’s chase with a series of outrageous strokes, which included a couple of trademark scoops.Gayle was more subdued at the start, but he gradually found his range to muscle three sixes, before Michael Klinger caught him in the deep even as he collided grievously with Tom Cooper. Kohli walked in like he belonged in the cauldron, and opened his account with a pulled six through wide long-on. The slowness of the pitch and the variations of the Redbacks attack could not stop him from hitting through the line, and repeatedly in front of the wicket. He charged out to O’Brien and launched him with the turn over long-off, before carving Richardson for the shot of the day – an inside-out six into the stands behind extra-cover. He then gave Harris a taste of his own medicine, taking him for two sixes and three fours in the 13th over to put RCB on course for a heist.The script was completely different in the first half of the match as, for the second night on the trot, an IPL side took a hiding from an Australian batsman. Aravind’s pathetic lengths made this considerably easy – he finished with figures of 4-0-69-0, the second worst in T20 history – but that could not take any credit away from Harris.The floodgates opened in the second over, when Aravind sent down a series of slow freebies angled into the hitting zone. Harris gratefully opened up his stance and carved boundaries straight, square and fine through the off side to set the Redbacks on their way. Kohli missed a run-out in the next over, and Harris celebrated by smashing seven of his next eight balls for fours. Vettori daringly persisted with Aravind for the fourth over, only to see him repeat his predictable lengths from either side of the stumps. Harris indulged himself to move to 43 off 19 balls by the fourth over, and Vettori was left playing catch-up for the remaining 16.With the spinners coming on, Harris settled into cruise-mode, while Ferguson assuredly got his eye in. Just when the momentum seemed to be flagging a touch Aravind returned, and the Redbacks resumed their run-glut. Having taken two fours and a six off Aravind’s 16th over, Ferguson thumped Nannes emphatically for a six off the first ball off the 17th. He holed out in the 18th over, prompting Harris to finally attempt a big hit. He pounded Bhatkal over midwicket for his first six, before dumping Nannes behind square-leg to bring up the century. Incredibly, Aravind got the 20th over, and Christian duly bludgeoned five more fours to take the Redbacks to 214.Twenty overs later, Christian and Aravind had their roles reversed. And how.

Kent have signed England Under-19 batsman Daniel Bell-Drummond from their academy on a three-year deal

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2010Kent have signed England Under-19 batsman Daniel Bell-Drummond from their academy on a three-year deal.Bell-Drummond, 17, played a crucial role in England Under-19s’ six-wicket win to level the series against Sri Lanka Under-19s, anchoring a fourth-innings run chase with a mature 88.Another graduate of Millfield School – that produced Craig Kieswetter, James Hildreth and Rory Hamilton-Brown – Bell-Drummond is looking forward to improving his game with a professional contract at Kent.”I’m grateful to the club for backing me and offering this long-term contact,” he said. “I enjoyed a good 2010 and hope that I will continue to develop as I move forward. I would like to thank the club’s academy director, Phil Relf, and my coach at Millfield School, Mark Davis, for the help and encouragement that they have given me.”Kent coach Paul Farbrace was delighted Bell-Drummond had committed his future to the club.”He is, without doubt, one of the most talented young players in the country,” said Farbrace.”He is yet another great example and role model for young cricketers across the county. We have all been excited by his potential for many years, and he really is a product of the Kent youth development system.”

The full list of players retained by IPL franchises ahead of the IPL 2025 auction

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-20241:06

Mumbai Indians make Bumrah their top retention

Mumbai Indians

5 players retained: Jasprit Bumrah (INR 18 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (INR 16.35 crore), Hardik Pandya (INR 16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (INR 16.30 crore), Tilak Varma (INR 8 crore)
Purse remaining for auction: INR 45 crore (out of INR 120 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 1
Players eligible for RTM: One uncapped player
Big players not retained: Ishan Kishan, Tim David
Top takeaways: Hardik has been named MI captain for IPL 2025, while Jasprit Bumrah has become MI’s top paid retention for the first time. The big challenge for MI was to retain their marquee Indian players within the INR 75 crore and they have managed to do that and keep their core intact heading into the IPL 2025 mega auction.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

5 players retained: Heinrich Klaasen (INR 23 crore), Pat Cummins (INR 18 crore), Abhishek Sharma (INR 14 crore), Travis Head (INR 14 crore), Nitish Kumar Reddy (INR 6 crore)
Purse remaining for auction: INR 45 crore (out of INR 120 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 1
Players eligible for RTM: Only one uncapped player
Big players not retained: Washington Sundar, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Top takeaways: Heinrich Klaasen is the most expensive player retained at INR 23 crore, ahead of Virat Kohli and Nicholas Pooran at INR 21 crore each. SRH have retained three overseas players, the most among the ten teams.

Chennai Super Kings

5 players retained: Ruturaj Gaikwad (INR 18 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (INR 18 crore), Matheesha Pathirana (INR 13 crore), Shivam Dube (INR 12 crore), MS Dhoni (INR 4 crore)
Purse remaining for auction: INR 55 crore (out of INR 120 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 1
Players eligible for RTM: One capped or uncapped player
Big players not retained: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Mahesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande
Top takeaways: Dhoni retained as an uncapped player at a cost of only INR 4 crore from CSK’s purse. This is because the IPL revived a rule, which had been scrapped in 2021, that allows an Indian player who hasn’t played international cricket for five years to be considered as an uncapped player.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

3 players retained: Virat Kohli (INR 21 crore), Rajat Patidar (INR 11 crore), Yash Dayal (INR 5 crore)
Purse remaining for auction: INR 83 crore (out of INR 120 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 3
Players eligible for RTM: One uncapped player and two capped players, or three capped players
Big players not retained: Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Faf du Plessis, Cameron Green
Top takeaways: RCB have retained only three players, the second fewest among the team teams after Punjab Kings. Virat Kohli is the top retention, which raises the question of whether he will return as captain.

Delhi Capitals

4 players retained: Axar Patel (INR 16.50 crore), Kuldeep Yadav (INR 13.25 crore), Tristan Stubbs (INR 10 crore), Abishek Porel (INR 4 crore)
Purse remaining for auction: INR 73 crore (out of INR 120 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 2
Players eligible for RTM: One uncapped player and one capped player, or two capped players
Big players not retained: Rishabh Pant, David Warner, Anrich Nortje
Top takeaways: Rishabh Pant was not retained by DC, which means they need a new captain for IPL 2025, unless they buy him back at the auction and make him captain, which appears unlikely. DC are paying their capped retained players – Axar, Kuldeep and Stubbs – a total of INR 43.75 crore, which is less than the aggregate deduction from their purse (INR 47 crore).

Kolkata Knight Riders

6 players retained: Rinku Singh (INR 13 crore), Varun Chakravarthy (INR 12 crore), Sunil Narine (INR 12 crore), Andre Russell (INR 12 crore), Harshit Rana (INR 4 crore), Ramandeep Singh (INR 4 crore)
Purse remaining for auction: INR 51 crore (out of INR 120 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: None
Players eligible for RTM: None
Big players not retained: Shreyas Iyer, Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana
Top takeaways: Russell emerged as a late confirmation for KKR, and Rinku Singh has become their top retention for the first time. They have not retained their title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer and the most expensive player ever in IPL history, Mitchell Starc, who bowled match-winning spells in Qualifer 1 and the final last year. KKR are one of two teams – along with Rajasthan Royals – to have retained the maximum of six players, but they have paid only INR 57 crore for them, while the amount deducted from the purse is INR 69 crore.

Rajasthan Royals

6 players retained: Sanju Samson (INR 18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (INR 18 crore), Riyan Parag (INR 14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (INR 14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (INR 11 crore), Sandeep Sharma (INR 4 crore)
Purse remaining for auction: INR 41 crore (out of INR 120 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: None
Players eligible for RTM: NA
Big players not retained: Yuzvendra Chahal, Jos Buttler, R Ashwin
Top takeaways: RR have gone batting heavy with their retentions, keeping five batters and only one bowler. They are one of two teams – KKR being the other – to retain the maximum of six players. Jurel gets a massive boost with a retention price tag of INR 14 crore.

Gujarat Titans

5 players retained: Rashid Khan (INR 18 crore), Shubman Gill (INR 16.50 crore), Sai Sudharsan (INR 8.50 crore), Rahul Tewatia (INR 4 crore), Shahrukh Khan (INR 4 crore)
Purse remaining for auction: INR 69 crore (out of INR 120 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: One
Players eligible for RTM: One capped player
Big players not retained: Mohammed Shami, David Miller
Top takeaways: With Mohammed Shami sidelined by injury for a prolonged period, GT have no fast bowlers among the five players they have retained.

Lucknow Super Giants

5 players retained: Nicholas Pooran (INR 21 crore), Ravi Bishnoi (INR 11 crore) Mayank Yadav (INR 11 crore), Mohsin Khan (INR 4 crore), Ayush Badoni (INR 4 crore)
Purse remaining for auction: INR 69 crore (out of INR 120 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 1
Players eligible for RTM: One capped player
Big players not retained: KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Quinton de Kock, Krunal Pandya
Top takeaways: LSG will need to name a new captain for IPL 2025 after not retaining KL Rahul. Pooran is the second-most expensive retention along with Kohli, after Klaasen at INR 23 crore.

Punjab Kings

2 players retained: Shashank Singh (INR 5.5 crore), Prabhsimran Singh (INR 4 crore)
Purse remaining for auction: INR 110.5 crore (out of INR 120 crore)
Right-to-match (RTM) options at auction: 4
Players eligible for RTM: Four capped players
Big players not retained: Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada
Top takeaways: PBKS have retained the fewest players – two, both uncapped – and therefore have the largest purse at the auction. They will need a new captain and pretty much an entire squad for IPL 2025.

England coach asked the allrounder if he would play the India series in early 2024

Matt Roller02-Aug-2023England coach Brendon McCullum asked Moeen Ali if he would consider playing the five-match series in India in early 2024 during their win at The Oval but was told: “That’s me done”.Moeen retired from Test cricket in September 2021 but made himself available for the Ashes after Jack Leach was diagnosed with a stress fracture. Ben Stokes, England’s captain, sent him a text saying, “Ashes?” and Moeen could not resist the temptation to return, but insisted after the fifth Test: “If Stokesy messages me again, I’m going to delete it.”He joked that confirmation of the venues for England’s tour to India – with none of the five Tests due to be held in the bigger cities in the country – had played a part in him recommitting to his retirement, but said that Stokes and McCullum had been fully aware that he never intended to play beyond this summer.”They knew from the start,” Moeen said, laughing. “Especially when those India venues came out! Baz asked me again when I had my day off on the second day. I said no. I’m not going [to India]. There’s no way I’m going. That’s me done. It’s nice to finish like this and be part of an amazing day.”Related

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Moeen suffered a groin strain while batting on the first day of the fifth Test and did not field in Australia’s first innings, but returned to bowl 23 overs in their second, taking 3 for 76 as England squared the series with a 49-run win on the final day.”Test cricket is the best cricket,” Moeen said. “I wish I could rewind time. Although my career has been a bit up and down, I wouldn’t change it. I’ve loved it. I would have regretted it later in life. It was quite daunting, because I’ve never done well against Australia.”I still don’t believe I’ve done that well, but it was great to finish like this. It was daunting, but I had nothing to lose, it was a free hit. I had a call from Baz and Stokesy, I felt like I was bowling alright, but the finger was the only issue. I wasn’t worried about the bowling.”Moeen said his groin strain was “real sore” when he initially pulled the muscle, and it remains to be seen how much of a part he plays in the Hundred over the next four weeks, when he is due to captain Birmingham Phoenix.”It’s something called an adductor. I’d never heard of it before,” he explained. “It’s only when I’m running. It’s great actually, because you can get away with being rubbish in the field. Guys are moving their positions for me to go into the easiest positions.”Apparently it settles down quick. Not bowling in the first innings and having a day off allowed me to bowl today. It was real sore at first and I was quite sore [on Monday]. It crossed my mind that I might not be able to bowl, but I knew it was my last day in Test cricket.”

The former New Zealand batter has emerged as the frontrunner following the first tranche of interviews

ESPNcricinfo staff11-May-2022Brendon McCullum has emerged as the frontrunner for the vacant role as England’s Test coach following two days of interviews at Lord’s, and may be unveiled in the role this week.McCullum, who is in his third season as Kolkata Knight Riders’ coach at the IPL, has never coached a first-class game and was widely expected to be a candidate for the white-ball job, with the ECB splitting the main coaching roles down format lines due to England’s jam-packed schedule and the growing divergence between their sides.However, several British newspapers reported on Tuesday night that McCullum is now in line for the Test job following the first tranche of interviews at the start of this week. It is possible that an appointment will be ratified before the end of the week, with England’s first Test of the summer against New Zealand – McCullum’s home country – on June 2.McCullum’s coaching experience has come exclusively in the limited-overs game but as a captain, he was a key part of the leadership group that brought about New Zealand’s revival as a Test side along with coach Mike Hesson from 2012 to 2016.Rob Key, the ECB’s new managing director of men’s cricket, has led the interview process and revealed during his first press conference at Lord’s that he had sought opinions on the Test side from Eoin Morgan, McCullum’s close friend and Knight Riders’ captain last year during their run to the final.”I’ve spoken to Eoin about red-ball cricket as well,” Key said. “I asked his opinion. You want good people with good brains around you to work stuff out, so Eoin Morgan is someone I would speak to about so many different things.”McCullum’s attacking style would chime with how both Key and Ben Stokes, England’s new Test captain, play the game. After scoring 145 off 79 balls in his final Test against Australia, McCullum said he wanted to be remembered “as a good team man… a guy who played for the right reasons and who, if in doubt, was prepared to take the positive option”.Key has also previously confirmed that he would be willing to let an England head coach work in the IPL if necessary, saying: “I would much rather have the best person for 10 months of the year than someone not as good for 12.”Whether such logic applies to a Test coach as well as a white-ball coach remains to be seen, while McCullum’s job at Knight Riders may come under scrutiny after a poor season to date in which they seem highly likely to miss out on the playoffs.Other leading candidates for the Test role are understood to include Gary Kirsten, Simon Katich and Graham Ford while Paul Collingwood is among the applicants for the white-ball job.

England name 16-strong squad as fixtures unveiled for ODI, T20I series in February-March

Valkerie Baynes14-Jan-2021Anya Shrubsole will miss England’s upcoming tour of New Zealand because of a knee injury, with Tash Farrant earning a recall to the national women’s squad.The vastly experienced Shrubsole was ruled out of a 16-strong England squad named on Thursday to play three ODIs and three T20Is in February and March, as was fellow seamer Katie George, who has suffered another stress fracture in her back. George, the 21-year-old left-armer, has been troubled by back injuries during her career and has played just two ODIs and three T20Is since making her international debut in 2018.Sophia Dunkley retains her place in the squad, having scored 0 and 3* upon breaking back into the England T20 team after 18 months during the five-match T20 series against West Indies in September.While there was room for another left-arm seamer, Farrant, who impressed during last year’s inaugural Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Georgia Adams missed out on selection despite being the domestic 50-over competition’s leading runscorer with 500 runs at an average of 83.33 and including a highest score of 154 not out. Farrant made her solitary ODI appearance back in 2013 and played the last of her 14 T20Is against New Zealand in England in 2018.Related

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Talented 18-year-old pace bowler Issy Wong will travel with the group to New Zealand as part of her on-going development, having spent time around the squad during the series against West Indies. Georgia Elwiss returns after missing that series with a back injury.The England touring party will fly out on January 24 and spend 14 days in quarantine as required by the New Zealand Government. During that time, they will follow Covid-19 testing protocols which will allow them to train ahead of the first one-day match on February 23 at Hagley Oval in Christchurch with two fixtures at the Universtiy of Otago to follow. The T20Is will begin on March 3 at Wellington’s Sky Stadium before moving to Eden Park and then Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.Jonathan Finch, director of England Women’s Cricket, said that despite the challenges posed by a shortened 2020 season and ongoing limitations due to the global coronavirus pandemic, players were already working towards major tournaments in 2022-23.”We’re hugely excited about getting over to New Zealand and maintaining our commitment to play international cricket despite these challenging times” Finch said. “We have a really important 24 months in front of us with two ICC global events, the Women’s Ashes and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Our ambition is to be successful across all these events and this tour is the first step towards achieving that.”The T20 series against West Indies was the only international women’s cricket played in England last year after travel restrictions prevented India and 2023 T20 World Cup hosts South Africa from touring as was planned before the pandemic hit. New Zealand will host the ICC Women’s World Cup, where England will be defending champions, in early 2022 after the event was postponed for a year.England squad: Heather Knight (capt.), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Tash Farrant, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver, Mady Villiers, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt.FixturesODI series:
Tuesday February 23: 1st ODI, Hagley Oval, 1am GMT
Friday February 26: 2nd ODI, University of Otago Oval, 10pm GMT
Sunday February 28: 3rd ODI, New University of Otago Oval, 10pm GMTT20I series:
Wednesday March 3: 1st T20I, Sky Stadium, 2am GMT
Friday March 5: 2nd T20I, Eden Park, 2am GMT
Sunday March 7: 3rd T20I, Bay Oval, 11pm GMT

The pair will link up with their respective teams in Bengaluru Tuesday night

Shashank Kishore22-Oct-2019Less than 24 hours after playing key hands in India’s 3-0 series whitewash of South Africa, Mayank Agarwal and R Ashwin will be back on the field, playing for their respective states in the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-finals in Bengaluru.They won’t be on opposite sides on Wednesday though, with Ashwin’s Tamil Nadu taking on the Parthiv Patel-led Gujarat at the Just Cricket Academy grounds. Agarwal, meanwhile, will link up with Karnataka for the semi-final against Chhattisgarh at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.Rains have lashed the city for the past fortnight, and forecast for Wednesday looks grim. With the drainage facility far from being top notch at the Just Cricket Academy, on the outskirts of Bengaluru, there is a real threat of a truncated contest or a no result, as was the case on Monday, with Tamil Nadu pipping Punjab because of more wins in the group stage.If there is a washout, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka will progress to the final owing to more wins in the group stage. Tamil Nadu were unbeaten in nine games, while Karnataka won seven out of their eight fixtures to top Groups A and B combined, before seeing off Puducherry’s threat in their final-eight fixture on Monday.ALSO READ: Pandey, Jaiswal lead list of top performers in Vijay Hazare TrophyAgarwal’s inclusion could give the Karnataka team management some healthy selection headaches. While he’ll replace Abhishek Reddy in the squad, it remains to be seen if the team management would want to disturb a successful opening combination of KL Rahul and 19-year old Devdutt Padikkal, who has been among the most impressive batsmen in the tournament.Rahul has made 458 runs in nine innings, with a century and three fifties while Padikkal is the sixth-highest run scorer overall, with 506 runs in nine innings, with two centuries and four half-centuries.Meanwhile, Ashwin, whose inclusion could force Tamil Nadu to play two specialist spinners – legspinner M Ashwin being the other – recently became the joint-fastest to 350 test wickets along with Muttiah Muralitharan. He achieved the feat in his 66th Test.Ashwin (357) is India’s 4th highest wicket-taker in tests, with only Harbhajan Singh (417), Kapil Dev (434) and Anil Kumble (619) ahead of him in the list.

Lancashire Thunder’s new coach believes the arrival of Indian stars Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana is good for the KSL

Annesha Ghosh21-Jul-2018The recruitment of Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana to the Kia Super League (KSL) is an “endorsement” of the pair’s impressive T20 calibre. That is the verdict of former Australia vice-captain Alex Blackwell, who will be debuting in a coaching role in the third edition of the English T20 tournament.Harmanpreet, India’s T20I captain, and her deputy Mandhana will represent Lancashire Thunder and Western Storm respectively, the first Indian players to participate in the KSL. The signings have increased the buzz around the tournament, which begins on Sunday with a triple-header.”From a coach’s point of view, I don’t see much more than that we’re recruiting the best players in the world,” Blackwell, Thunder’s head coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “We want to be attracting the best players from around the world to make sure the Kia Super League is a world-class tournament. One of the highest priorities is to ensure it produces the highest-quality England players, but also to make sure it’s highly engaging for the fans.”Mandhana has also been an opponent of Blackwell in the Women’s Big Bash League, playing for Brisbane Heat in 2016. As for Harmanpreet, few have seen her big-hitting skills from closer quarters than Blackwell, who has captained her for two consecutive seasons at Sydney Thunder. It’s no surprise then that Blackwell, Australia’s most-capped female international player and an astute cricketing mind, attaches such currency to the value the signings.”I think it’s wonderful to have a diverse group of players in a tournament like this and have young players learn from this diversity, how these players go about their business,” Blackwell said. “For instance, Harmanpreet goes about her business quite differently to what I do – there’s no right or wrong. As elite cricketers or even as coaches, you accumulate knowledge from all parts of the world and to your exposure to different players. So I think the addition of Harmanpreet and Smriti will be great to both teams they are part of.”Later in the year, after the World T20, Harmanpreet will join Blackwell for her third season at Sydney Thunder. The two-year extension of Harmanpreet’s WBBL contract, on a back of her prolific debut season in 2016 and, more memorably, her match-winning 171 not-out in the World Cup semi-final last year, is further proof, according to Blackwell, of Harmanpreet’s stand-out qualities as an all-round T20 cricketer. That may have played a bigger part in Lancashire roping in Harmanpreet than Blackwell being coach.”It’s a huge endorsement, yes, to try and get Harmanpreet on. I was coach here so she may have found that appealing, but I’m not so certain, to be honest [if that was a factor]. I have been in touch with her through the process, letting her know I would love to work with her [as player and coach]. Knowing how huge an addition she could be to the team, I was keen to let her know I would love to have her here.”It’s quite remarkable how a person of such slight built can hit the ball so powerfully, and I guess it comes down to her flair and her technique. It’s lovely to watch. We’ve enjoyed the time we’ve interacted together at Sydney Thunder and I’m looking forward to working with her here in Lancashire in a slightly different capacity.”Harmanpreet is most likely to miss Thunder’s tournament opener on Sunday, due to a delay in her visa. The season, however, presents her with an opportunity to bring the focus back on her cricket in the wake of a tumultuous time back home. For Thunder, it’s a chance to improve on their last-place finish in both editions of the six-team competition; for Blackwell, to make the most of an offer that came about through her final game for the NSW Breakers, where she captained the state side to the title against Western Australia.”I think it was a case of right place and right time for both me and the team,” Blackwell said. “At the end of my final match for NSW, our 19TH WNCL title, I was talking to [England and Lancashire seamer] Kate Cross, one of the senior players, and Nicole Bolton was heading over to play for Thunder. Theirs is a very talented team but may not have had the kind of success they had been hoping for.”I understood they were looking to bolster the resources for the team. So they were looking for an injection of new ideas maybe, I guess with someone like me, with my 17 years of experience in domestic cricket, 17 domestic titles, five world cups, having seen many successful domestic teams and led many of them.”

India have missed the April 25 deadline to submit their Champions Trophy squad to the ICC

Sidharth Monga and Nagraj Gollapudi26-Apr-2017India have missed the April 25 deadline to submit their Champions Trophy squad to the ICC. ESPNcricinfo understands the BCCI told the ICC that it could not submit the squad for “operational” reasons. The other seven countries have all announced their squads.According to a BCCI official, the delay was inevitable. With the BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhury and CEO Rahul Johri attending the ICC meetings this week, and captain Virat Kohli playing the IPL, all concerned parties couldn’t be in one place at the same time to pick the squad.”We have told the ICC the reason behind the delay,” the official told ESPNcricinfo. “We have told them we will announce it soon.”However, the delay is being seen as a message from the BCCI to the ICC that it can still withdraw from the Champions Trophy should its demand to retain its share of revenue not be met. The ICC had earlier initiated reforms to undo the big-three revenue model, which could have brought the BCCI’s share down from $570 million to $290 million.Earlier in the week, ESPNcricinfo revealed negotiations in the lead-up to the crucial ICC meetings, in which the ICC offered to raise the BCCI’s share to close to $400 million.

Can India withdraw from Champions Trophy?

6.4 Member may terminate this Agreement as a whole (but not in part only)
(c) if there are any material changes that are materially adverse to Member to (i) the structure of the Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee of the IDI Board; (ii) the structure of the Executive Committee of the ICC Board; (iii) the membership of (i.e. the ICC Members represented on) the Finance and Commercial Affairs Committee of the IDI Board or the Executive Committee of the ICC Board; or (iv) the percentage of “Contribution Costs” of IDI receivable by Member as approved by the IDI Board; or
(d) if there is any other material change to any of the resolutions passed by the ICC Board in Singapore on 8th February 2014 (as amended by the ICC Board in Dubai on 9th April 2014) that (i) has not been approved in advance by Member; and (ii) has a materially adverse effect on Member.

The ICC board meets on Wednesday and Thursday to ratify the proposed reforms. These changes are part of the draft constitution, which comprises key resolutions like the latest finance model and the governance structure reforms devised by a five-man working group led by ICC chairman Shashank Manohar.Although the BCCI official denied there was any realistic chance of India pulling out of the Champions Trophy, there has been growing speculation that the BCCI might issue the threat. The ICC will not be perturbed at this juncture: the threat has to be presented in a written form, and neither of the BCCI office bearers attending the ICC board meeting has the power to renege on the Members Participation Agreement (MPA). The Supreme Court has given that power to the Committee of Administrators (COA).”To pull out you have to revoke the MPA, which is a legal document,” the board official said. “All the legal authority sits with the COA. The office bearers will need to consult the COA. You can make a threat, but you have to follow it up with a letter to become a reality. Then if the COA approves then it will direct Johri, who is the only one authorised to sign such a letter.”The ICC said it was “working with the BCCI to ensure that it meets its obligation under the MPA”. According to the MPA, which has been signed by all eight participating teams, the squads had to be submitted – but not necessarily publicly announced – a month before May 25, which is when the tournament’s support period begins. During the support period, teams will play warm-up matches leading up to the start of the tournament proper on June 1.Teams are free to make changes to their submitted squads until May 25. From then on, changes can only be made on medical grounds, and only after they have been approved by the event technical committee.The April 25 date was not necessarily a deadline for boards to announce their squads publicly. The BCCI could have submitted a provisional squad to the ICC by April 25 without making an announcement. The main reason for the early deadline was to ensure the smooth completion of flight and hotel bookings, promotion, publicity and merchandising. This practice is similar to those carried out before other major world events.In the past, teams have asked for extensions of a day or two, and have been granted that extension by the ICC, but the BCCI had not made such a request. There is no sanction or penalty if a member board fails to meet the deadline. The BCCI has not told the ICC when it will submit its team.