Category Uncategorized

Sreesanth, the India fast bowler, has returned to competitive cricket after more than a year, following a toe injury, and is keen to make the step up from club cricket to the first-class level at the earliest

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2012Sreesanth, the India fast bowler, has returned to competitive cricket after more than a year out due to a toe injury, and is keen to make the step up from club cricket to the first-class level at the earliest. Sreesanth played two club matches in Kochi over the last week and tweeted that his “rhythm is great and [he is] getting good pace … Will join the Kerala Ranji side soon.”
Sreesanth had started the Ranji season last year but pulled out after just one match to continue his rehabilitation for the toe injury. At that time, he opted against surgery and went for Ayurvedic treatment instead. He had hoped to be fit in time for India’s CB series in Australia earlier this year, and had said at the end of February that he was looking forward to playing again in three weeks.He then travelled with his IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals, but in May he confirmed that he would be out for at least five months after needing two surgeries on his toes.Sreesanth has 87 wickets from 27 Tests. He last played international cricket during India’s tour of England in 2011, in which he was part of the team for three out of four Tests.

A round-up of the action from the third day of the fifth round of matches from the Ranji Trophy Elite League 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2011

Group A

Former India left-arm spinner Murali Kartik picked up his second five-for of the season to help Railways to an incredible victory by an innings and 94 runs with a day to spare against Uttar Pradesh at the Mohan Meakins Cricket Stadium in Ghaziabad. Having been dismissed for 79, the eighth-lowest total in Ranji history, UP put up more of a fight the second time around, but lost wickets at regular intervals.Sanjay Bangar and Krishnakant Upadyay, Railways’ new-ball bowlers responsible for Uttar Pradesh’s downfall in the first innings, got rid of overnight pair of Bhuvenesh Kumar and Mohammad Kaif before lunch. Kartik, who had bowled just one over in the previous innings, overwhelmed the lower order, picking five of the last six wickets to fall and seal Railways’ first victory of the season. For Uttar Pradesh this was the second time in two years they were beaten at home. If last year it was Haryana, this time Railways enjoyed a hearty laugh at the expense of their hosts.Railways had suffered two huge defeats at the start of the season, but now with this win they have ten points in the bag and will be positive about their knockout chances with two home games against Orissa and Saurashtra. In contrast Uttar Pradesh play favourites Mumbai and Karnataka in the next two rounds. “We did not bat well at all. Now we have our backs to the wall,” Gynanedra Pandey, UP coach, said of his team’s predicament.Saurashtra achieved the enviable honour of inflicting the follow-on for the second time in three years against Mumbai, who finished 220 runs short of their opponent’s first-innings target on the penultimate day. Full report here.An unbroken 185-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Robin Bist and Rashmi Parida kept Rajasthan‘s hopes alive against Punjab. At stumps on the penultimate day the defending champions were 321 for 4 in pursuit of 597 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. They still need another 126 runs to avoid the follow-on and 276 to take the lead.The hosts started the day on a steady note as their most experienced batting pair of Aakash Chopra and Hrishikesh Kanitkar played patiently in the first hour. But immediately after the drinks break Chopra was cleaned up by Birender Sran. At 136 for 4, Rajasthan were in deep trouble but Bist and Parida combined well to quell Punjab’s determined bowling attack, which missed Manpreet Gony, who sat out after bowling 11 overs due to a side strain.The match between Karnataka and Orissa at the East Coast Railway Sports Association in Bhubaneshwar is set for an interesting final day after the visitors finished the third 192 runs ahead with four wickets remaining.Karnataka threatened to pull away at 80 for 1 in their second innings, after taking a 23-run first-innings lead, but diligent bowling on a helpful pitch by Orissa’s bowling attack had the visitors wobbling at 114 for 5. But Amit Verma, who already has a century this season in Mumbai, dug in deep and found support from Sunil Raju, to take Karnataka to 169 for 6. At the start of play Orissa needed 67 runs to take the lead and the eighth-wicket pair of Govind Podder and Basanth Mohanty gave Karnataka pair a scare with a stoic 30-run alliance. But Stuart Binny cleaned up Podder as Orissa eventually managed to add 44 runs to their overnight score of 211 for 7. Binny picked up two wickets on the day, enough to bag his maiden five-for (5-87).

Group B

Ambati Rayudu’s second hundred of the season helped Baroda set Gujarat a daunting target of 365 to win on the last day at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara.Baroda had ended the second day 43 runs ahead with the match still in the balance. But they took control on the third, thanks to Rayudu’s 105 that helped them 330 in their second innings. Rayudu had to deal with losing partners at fairly regular intervals – the highest partnership of the innings was 77 for the sixth wicket – but kept playing his strokes, maintaining a strike-rate of 77.20 in an innings that contained 18 fours and a six. Gujarat had an opening at 174 for 5, but Shatrunjay Gaekwad and Abhimanyu Chauhan chipped in with 30s to take the match to a position where Baroda look the only likely winners.Six wickets in the day from seamer Yo Mahesh left Tamil Nadu needing six wickets to beat Bengal, who were still 52 runs behind at Eden Gardens. Mahesh took four in Bengal’s first innings, in which they were bowled out for 176 and made to follow-on. He then struck twice early in Bengal’s second innings, sending back both openers. A counterattacking unbeaten half-century from Laxmi Ratan Shukla, his second of the match, gave Bengal some hope but they will have a tough fight on their hands on the final day.Bengal had a horrific start to the day: they slipped from 84 for 2 to 87 for 5 within the first six overs, all three wickets falling to Mahesh. Shukla tried to get Bengal back in the game and hit eight fours and two sixes in his 62 off 59 balls. But wickets kept tumbling at the other end, and Bengal conceded a 215-run first-innings lead.Their second innings was rocked early: they slipped to 8 for 2 before a 64-run stand for the third wicket between Shreevats Goswami and Writam Porel steadied them briefly. The pair was dismissed in quick succession and Bengal were in danger of losing by an innings. Shukla, though, produced his second half-century of the match, reaching 50 not out off 55 balls by stumps. For company, he had Sourav Ganguly, who had taken a more measured approach on the way to 28 not out off 68 balls.A century from Naman Ojha has made Madhya Pradesh favourites to beat Delhi at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore, though three wickets late in the day set up a tense finish. MP needed 59 runs more to snatch a victory with five wickets in hand.It had looked like MP would cruise to the total when Ojha and Devendra Bundela took them to 187 for 2 with a 186-run partnership. However, seamer Rajat Bhatia kept Delhi in the game with three strikes that left MP 240 for 5 at stumps. Ojha and Bundela’s stand came after two wickets had fallen off consecutive balls in the second over of MP’s chase, bowled by Parvinder Awana. Ojha was the aggressor, striking at 72.29 and hitting four sixes in his 107, while Bundela was more patient while scoring 68. Ojha was lucky to get away when on 13, 82 and 96, as Delhi fielded sloppily all through.

A round-up of the latest action from the Metbank Pro40 domestic limited-overs competition in Zimbabwe

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2010There have been some close finishes between Mashonaland Eagles and Mountaineers in recent times, and Mountaineers’ five-wicket win at Harare Sports Club on Thursday was another keenly-contested match. The momentum swung both ways until the penultimate over, when a burst of strokes from Prosper Utseya saw Mountaineers home with six balls to spare. Nick Compton’s superb century had given Eagles the opportunity for a big score, but the lower middle order gave him precious little support and when Eagles bowled they could not halt the determined Mountaineers from recording another win.Both teams were strengthened by the return of a few of the players that had been on national duty in Bangladesh and Eagles decided to bat on winning the toss in warm, dry, partly cloudy conditions. Tendai Chatara bowled a good opening spell that prevented the big-hitting Cephas Zhuwao from taking charge, and soon had him slashing a catch to the keeper for 6.Eagles’ total of 222, though, was composed almost entirely of the two partnerships that came next, with Compton playing the major part in both. First he added 98 in 19 overs with Simba Gupo, and then 73 in 11 overs with Forster Mutizwa, and while he was at the crease his team looked likely to build a very challenging total.He found the pull shot particularly profitable early in his innings, and settled into orthodox accumulation as the bowlers realised a short-pitched attack would not work. The score passed 100 in the 18th over as Gupo contributed a composed 35 before he was out to a brilliant leaping one-handed catch by Timycen Maruma at long-on.Mutizwa then came in and gave Compton good support in his 29, and the total had reached 183 for 2 in the 33rd over when Compton, who had just reached his hundred, departed to a top-edged sweep. The innings unravelled from that point and in the last seven overs seven wickets fell for 39 runs, with Shingi Masakadza being the main beneficiary, taking four of them for 32 runs in his five overs.Tino Mawoyo and Jonathan Beukes began the Mountaineers innings with great determination against steadily bowling that gave nothing away, Chad Keegan being the tightest of all. The batsmen had to rely on keeping the scores moving with ones and twos, but they did at least keep their wickets intact.They were not parted until the 21st over when Mawoyo, on 43, hit a low return catch to Tino Mutombodzi with the score at 101. The scoring rate slowly began to climb, and with ten overs to go 75 runs were needed – but with eight wickets still in hand, Greg Smith having gone for 13.A critical moment occurred when Beukes, on 61, was dropped off a hard low chance to the fielder on the square-leg boundary. Maruma was threatening to take control when he sliced a hard catch into the covers for 25, quickly followed by Mark Vermeulen for 2.But the balance shifted again as Beukes kept accumulating while Masakadza lashed out with much success. With three overs remaining 17 were needed, and for the first time the required rate was below six an over. At this point Beukes, with a fine 86 off 102 balls, hit a return catch to Innocent Chinyoka and the match was wide open again.Utseya scooped a vital boundary over the keeper, off Douglas Hondo, and then swung another four wide of mid-on, and the 12 required runs were completed from the penultimate over. Mountaineers had won with a final burst and an over to spare, Utseya scoring 11 off five balls and Masakadza 27 off 18. The home side had bowled well and Chinyoka had three wickets to his credit, but the Mountaineers had just enough in the tank to get home.The other match of the day, between Mid West Rhinos and Southern Rocks at Kwekwe, was abandoned without a ball bowled due to rainy weather.

Graeme Swann has crowned a remarkable year, in which he has taken 54 wickets in 11 games, by rocketing to No. 3 in the world rankings, ahead of Muttiah Muralitharan

Cricinfo staff31-Dec-2009Graeme Swann has crowned a remarkable year, in which he has taken 54 wickets in 12 games, by rocketing to No.3 in the world rankings, ahead of Muttiah Muralitharan.His man-of-the-match performance at Kingsmead, where he completed match-figures of 9 for 164, earned him an eight-place jump to the number-three spot, the highest of any England bowler since Steve Harmison was crowned No.1 in August 2004.Stuart Broad, who partnered Swann to condemn South Africa to defeat in Durban with 4 for 43 in the second innings, also gains, up six places to No.7 in the bowling rankings.Not surprisingly, the picture isn’t as rosy for most of South Africa’s bowlers. Under-pressure Makhaya Ntini has slipped four places to eight, after failing to take a wicket in the match while Paul Harris has dropped five places, out of the top ten, to No.12.On a more positive note, Morne Morkel, who has been the biggest threat for South Africa in the series, has gained six places and now sits in 24th position. Dale Steyn has managed to cling on to No.1 spot although he is under pressure from Mitchell Johnson, after Steyn’s mediocre return from injury in Durban.As far as the batting rankings are concerned, Andrew Strauss’s 49-ball 50 has helped him gain four places to joint-13th position, level with Rahul Dravid and AB de Villiers, who drops one place.For a full list of the rankings click here.

Having missed South Africa’s previous game with an elbow problem, he returned with a match-winning 64 off 56 balls against England

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-20251:49

Is Klaasen among the best batters against spin?

Heinrich Klaasen wants to prove he is “the best in the world”, after his 64 off 56 balls helped South Africa cruise to a seven-wicket win over England on Saturday, confirming their place in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy.Klaasen missed South Africa’s first match of the tournament with an elbow problem but extended his impressive 50-overs form against England in Karachi. He made his fifth consecutive ODI half-century, scoring freely from No. 4 as South Africa romped to their target of 180 inside 30 overs.Speaking to after Saturday’s match, Klaasen revealed that, along with head coach Rob Walter, he had set himself a lofty ambition to prove himself as the world’s best player over the course of the Champions Trophy.”I gave myself a challenge with Rob Walter this trip: I want to be the best in the world,” Klaasen said. “But I want to be the best in the world, and I know I can play situations well and for me, just to keep hitting it on the ground for as long as possible, like I did tonight [is important]. I’m quite pleased with my innings tonight. [I scored runs] by standing still and just trusting my technique. I know my swing is good, so as long as it clicks then I am quite happy.”Heinrich Klaasen hit 11 fours and no sixes in his 56-ball knock•AFP/Getty Images

As if to underline the point about hitting along the ground, Klaasen hit 11 fours and no sixes before he was caught at short third, trying to hit the winning runs off Adil Rashid with six runs required. “I want to jump off this building, the way I went out tonight,” he joked, but said he was happy with his recent form, and explained that he has looked to keep things simple in training since his elbow injury.”I think I’m very blessed at the moment where I’m with my game, and understanding my game quite well,” he said. “I’m not a guy that faces all our seamers in the nets. I just do a couple of drills and face a little bit of spin. At the moment, I’m meeting the ball out of the middle of the bat. That’s my piece that I go with, and as long as my technique is good, I’m quite happy.”Klaasen, 33, has been in career-best form since turning 30 and said that he has tried to keep things as simple as possible, reacting to each ball rather than premeditating. “It’s about standing there still,” he said. “It was about three years ago that I really worked hard on that, just standing there still, not premeditating the game too much.”Aiden Markram, who stood in as South Africa’s captain for the unwell Temba Bavuma, said of Klaasen, “It’s always great to see him out in the middle. He’s been in a ridiculous patch of form over the last many months, and for him to walk out after having a little niggle on his elbow and for it to look like he’d never really left is a great sign for us.”

Shreyas Iyer, meanwhile, will leave the ODI squad after the first game to prepare for the Test series

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2023 • Updated on 17-Dec-2023Mohammed Shami will miss the upcoming two-Test series in South Africa because of an ankle injury. Shami wasn’t part of the Test contingent that left for Johannesburg on Friday, and is currently under the watch of the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy. India will also be without Ishan Kishan, who had kept wicket for them in their previous Test assignment in the West Indies in July; the BCCI said in a statement that Kishan had “has requested the BCCI to be released from the upcoming Test series against South Africa citing personal reasons”.*Deepak Chahar, meanwhile, will not be available for the ODI series in South Africa because of a “family medical emergency”.While announcing the Test squad late last month, the BCCI had said that Shami was “currently undergoing medical treatment” and that his inclusion was subject to fitness. A media release on Saturday confirmed that Shami “was not cleared by BCCI’s medical team” and was subsequently withdrawn from the squad.Shami last featured in a Test in June when he played the World Test Championship final against Australia. He was rested for the Caribbean tour that followed to manage his workload ahead of India’s busy white-ball season that ended with the 2023 ODI World Cup, where Shami topped the wicket-takers’ chart.Related

• Chahar eyes T20 World Cup spot after overcoming personal setbacks

• Avesh to join second Test squad to replace Shami

• Prasidh and Shardul impress for India A ahead of SA Tests

The selectors haven’t named a replacement for Shami. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar and Shardul Thakur are the other fast bowlers in the touring party.

Bharat named Kishan replacement

KS Bharat, who last kept wicket for India at the WTC final in June, has been called up to the Test squad in Kishan’s place. Bharat had also been India’s first-choice keeper during the home Tests against Australia earlier this year but had to pass the gloves on to Kishan for the West Indies series in July, Kishan’s debut in the long format. Bharat is already in South Africa, on tour with the India A team, which is playing two unofficial Tests against South Africa A.India also have KL Rahul in the squad, who is looking to reclaim his place in the Test XI and said yesterday he would be happy to take on keeping duties in the format.As for Chahar, he also missed the T20Is in South Africa last week. Chahar made his comeback during the T20Is at home against Australia last month, but featured in just one game – the fourth game in Raipur – before flying home for personal reasons.Akash Deep, who was earlier part of India’s Asian Games-winning squad, has been called up into the KL Rahul-led ODI squad.In another update, Shreyas Iyer will leave the squad after the first ODI in Johannesburg on December 17 to prepare for the Test matches that will follow.Iyer is likely to play the intra-squad three-day fixture in the lead-up to the Boxing Day Test. His last Test was against Australia in March, after which he was sidelined with a back injury. It’s likely Iyer will reclaim his middle-order spot, which had been occupied by Ajinkya Rahane in his absence.With Rahul Dravid and his team of Vikram Rathour (batting coach), Paras Mhambrey (bowling coach) and T Dilip (fielding coach) involved in preparing the Test squad for the two-match series, India’s second assignment in this WTC cycle, the ODI side will be assisted by India A’s coaching staff: Sitanshu Kotak (batting coach), Rajib Datta (bowling coach) and Ajay Ratra (fielding coach).India’s updated Test squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KS Bharat (wk), KL Rahul (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-capt), Prasidh Krishna.India’s updated ODI squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad, B Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (capt, wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep

We have what we often cry out for, a T20I outside the World Cup with something on the line

Danyal Rasool01-Sep-20220:29

Pakistan players sweat it out in the nets

Big picture

It still feels like early days in the Asia Cup, but one of Hong Kong or Pakistan will see their tournament draw to a close on Friday. The format for the first round means one defeat can place any side under instant pressure. With India having pulled clear through wins over both opponents, there is clarity to the mission for both the Associate and the Full Member, the giants and the would-be giant killers.There may be limited cricketing or historical evidence to suggest Hong Kong could mount a serious challenge to a side with Pakistan’s firepower, but they will be well aware a knockout in the shortest format presents a golden opportunity to spring an upset. Against India, it was the bowling that let them down, even if a spirited batting performance demonstrated the threat the side can pose. Babar Hayat, Zeeshan Ali and Scott McKechnie provided the big hitting, while Ayush Shukla, Ehsan Khan and Yasim Murtaza kept things tight, allowing just 82 runs in their 12 combined overs.

Watch live on ESPN+

If you are in the USA, you can watch the Hong Kong-Pakistan game live on ESPN+, both in English and Hindi.

Pakistan, however, might feel this game plays into their hands to some extent. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan do not come flying out of the blocks, but the template they follow was similar to one that India executed against Hong Kong on Wednesday. They opened their innings conservatively, before the middle order put the bowlers to the sword, smashing 98 in the final seven overs. And while India’s approach may have been a game plan tailored to the opposition they were facing, scoring their big runs in the final overs is how Pakistan play anyway against nearly all opposition.And so we have what we often cry out for, a T20I outside the World Cup with something on the line. It might, on paper, be a mismatch, but across the tableau of relatively context-free bilateral T20Is, it is rare to find a game with as much riding on it as Pakistan against Hong Kong on Friday. It’s a game Hong Kong will savour, but they will tell themselves it might just be one they could also win.

Form guide

Pakistan: LLWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)

Hong Kong: LWWWL

In the spotlight

At his best, Khushdil Shah is perhaps Pakistan’s most powerful hitter of the ball, but in Pakistan’s colours in T20I cricket, he has never come close to hitting those heights. In the game against India, which saw a limp performance from almost every Pakistan batter, Khushdil’s innings – a timid 2 off 7 balls – still stood out for its total lack of intent. Perhaps a game against Hong Kong, whose bowlers don’t quite offer the same threat as India’s is just what he needs to produce a statement innings.Kinchit Shah has come into the Asia Cup on the back of some decent form•AFP/Getty Images

Hong Kong vice-captain Kinchit Shah has had a memorable time of late. The allrounder was in decent form at the Asia Cup qualifiers and the Cricket World Cup Challenge Group, striking a half-century against Uganda and 139 against Bermuda, and picking up a four-wicket haul against Kenya. He was steady, if not quite explosive, with the bat against India, scoring 30 in 28 balls. Off the field too, things have been good. After the game against India, he proposed to his partner. A win against Pakistan to go through to the next stage would cap a blissful few days for Kinchit, both personal and professional.

Pitch and conditions

The weather is expected to be oppressively hot throughout the tournament, and Friday in Sharjah will be no different. The slower bowlers have tended to prosper here of late, although the small boundaries might be a temptation for the batters too

Team news

There’s a cloud around Naseem Shah’s fitness. In the event of his absence, Mohammad Hasnain would be the like-for-like replacement.Pakistan: (probable): 1 Babar Azam (capt) 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk) 3 Fakhar Zaman 4 Iftikhar Ahmed 5 Khushdil Shah 6 Shadab Khan 7 Asif Ali 8 Mohammad Nawaz 9 Mohammad Hasnain 10 Haris Rauf 11 Shahnawaz DahaniDespite the defeat to India, Hong Kong will have been encouraged by their performance, with the bat in particular. Expect an unchanged side.Hong Kong (possible): 1 Nizakat Khan (capt) 2 Yasim Murtaza 3 Babar Hayat 4 Kinchit Shah 5 Aizaz Khan 6 Zeeshan Ali 7 Scott McKechnie (wk) 8 Haroon Arshad 9 Ehsan Khan 10 Ayush Shuka 11 Mohammad Ghazanfar

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan are yet to win a T20I in 2022. The two games they played in the format – against India and Australia – have ended in defeat
• Haris Rauf is five wickets shy of matching Shaheen Afridi’s T20I tally of 47. Should he get there against Hong Kong, it will have taken him five fewer innings than Shaheen to get there.

Sri Lanka will arrive in Dhaka on May 16, shortly after the Eid ul Fitr weekend, and complete a three-day quarantine

Mohammad Isam05-May-2021The upcoming three-match ODI series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be held at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, the BCB has announced.The matches, part of the ICC’s ODI Super League, will be held on May 23, 25 and 28, within a bio-bubble stretching between the team hotel and the ground.Sri Lanka will arrive in Dhaka on May 16, shortly after the Eid ul Fitr weekend, and complete a three-day quarantine. Their first practice session will be on May 19 at the National Cricket Academy ground, adjacent to the stadium. The visitors will then play a practice match at the BKSP on May 21. At the conclusion of the ODI series on May 28, the Sri Lankan team will depart on the following day.This will be Bangladesh’s third ODI series within the ICC’s World Cup qualifying campaign. They are currently in sixth place, having beaten the West Indies 3-0 at home in January, but lost to New Zealand 3-0 in in March. Sri Lanka lost to West Indies 3-0 last month, are now in 12th place.The two teams only last week played out their final World Test Championship series, which Sri Lanka won 1-0 after a 209-run win over Bangladesh in Pallekele.Sri Lanka will become the second international team to arrive in Bangladesh since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The BCB successfully hosted West Indies in January-February this year, in a three-ODI and two-Test series in Dhaka and Chattogram.This will however be a different situation, since Bangladesh are in the middle of a strong second wave of Covid-19 cases. The country has been under a lockdown since April 5. The international flight suspension ended on May 1, but the country’s lockdown has been extended till May 16.Bangladesh will be without their fast-bowling coach Ottis Gibson, with the team opting to use a local coach instead.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel has been named vice-captain in the squad of 15

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2019Priyam Garg will hope to join Mohammad Kaif, Virat Kohli, Unmukt Chand and Prithvi Shaw, the India Under-19 World Cup-winning captains over the years, when he leads the team at the 2020 edition in South Africa in January-February. Wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel, Garg’s team-mate from Uttar Pradesh, has been named the vice-captain.Garg is already a first-class regular for his state team. He finished the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy as the second-highest run-scorer for Uttar Pradesh, making 814 runs at an average of 67.83, with two hundreds including a career-best 206. He also featured in the Deodhar Trophy recently, top-scoring with 77 for India C in the final. He has played 15 List A matches and 11 T20s.The 15-member squad also features 17-year-old Mumbai batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has been making waves in the 50-overs format. During the Vijay Hazare Trophy in September-October, Jaiswal became the youngest player to hit a List A double-century, while also topping the run charts for Mumbai. In all, he made 564 runs at an average of 112.80 with three hundreds and a fifty.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

ALSO READ: Yashasvi Jaiswal: From selling pani-puris to smashing List A double-tonAtharva Ankolekar, another Mumbai player who has also been making headlines, has also named in the touring party. The left-arm spinner had helped India Under-19 defend only 106 against Bangladesh Under-19 in the Asia Cup final in September with returns of 5 for 28.Karnataka’s spin-bowling allrounder Shubhang Hegde, who recently led India U-19 for three games in their 3-2 series win over Afghanistan Under-19 in Lucknow, was in the squad too. He first impressed as a 15-year-old in the Karnataka Premier League and has a solitary first-class game under his belt too.Tilak Varma, from Hyderabad, forced his way into the squad on the back of a solid Cooch Behar Trophy in 2018-19, scoring 779 runs in just six matches, including four hundreds and three half-centuries, averaging 86.56. In the one-day competition, the Under-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy, he followed that up with 507 runs in eight games at 84.50, with one century and four half-centuries.”We are very confident with the process and preparation we’ve set up,” Rahul Dravid said last week on the sidelines of the series against Afghanistan in Lucknow.Atharva Ankolekar celebrates a wicket with Dhruv Jurel•Sri Lanka Cricket

In his role as the director of the NCA, Dravid oversees the progress of the Under-19 team and attended the junior selection committee meeting at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Sunday as a special invitee. “We have got a good balance in the team,” he said. “Depending on the conditions in South Africa, if they aid fast bowlers, we have got a pretty good attack. We have got batting all the way down to seven-eight-nine. We have got spinners, if conditions suit.”The World Cup begins on January 17 with India slotted in Group A with New Zealand, Sri Lanka and first-time qualifiers Japan. There are four groups with 16 teams in all and the top two sides from each will qualify for the Super League stage. The final will be played in Potchefstroom on February 9. This will be the 13th edition of the Under-19 World Cup and India have won four titles so far, the most, including the last edition in 2018 in New Zealand.The junior selection committee also picked a squad of 16 that will tour South Africa just before the World Cup for a bilateral series of three one-dayers with the hosts and a quadrangular series also featuring New Zealand and Zimbabwe. The only addition to the squad for those series will be Hyderabad’s CTL Rakshan, who played three matches against Afghanistan Under-19 last week.Squad for South Africa bilateral and quadrangular series: Priyam Garg (capt), Dhruv Jurel (vice-capt & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Divyaansh Saxena, Shashwat Rawat, Divyansh Joshi, Shubhang Hegde, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Atharva Ankolekar, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil, CTL Rakshan

Former captain endorses David Warner’s aggressive style, but old adversary Simon Katich says he’s ‘missing the point’

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-20184:28

A Nation’s Shame: How do Australia bounce back?

“Australia are ‘not going to win s**t” by playing nice, according to former captain Michael Clarke. But an old adversary of Clarke has said that he is “missing the point”. Simon Katich, whose relationship with Clarke fell apart after an argument over singing the team song in 2009, said that Australia’s problems stemmed from more than just their aggression, but rather that they premeditatedly cheated.Clarke endorsed the aggressive style in which David Warner played his cricket even though he was seen as a central figure in some of the most controversial episodes, including the ball-tampering scandal at Newlands, which tipped Australian cricket into the abyss.In the wake of the South Africa tour and cultural reviews, new coach Justin Langer and captains Tim Paine and Aaron Finch have made a conscious effort to rein back the team’s approach on and off the field, including pre-match handshakes, the introduction of a Players’ Pact, and the emergence of the term “elite honesty”.None of this has gone down well with Clarke while the team continues to struggle on the field ahead of the Test series against India, which begins next week.”Australian cricket, I think, needs to stop worrying about being liked and start worrying about being respected,” Clarke told Macquarie Sports Radio. ”Play tough Australian cricket. Whether we like it or not, that’s in our blood.”If you try and walk away from it, we might be the most liked team in the world, we’re not going to win s**t. We won’t win a game. Boys and girls want to win.”Katich, however, differed and felt that Australian cricket needed to rectify the reputation garnered from the Newlands incident and years of bad on-field behavior.”Once again we find someone missing the point,” he told SEN radio. “What’s been forgotten in all of this is we blatantly cheated. The point is, we were caught for blatantly cheating and we have to rectify that as soon as possible to earn back the respect of the cricketing public in Australia and worldwide.”We’ve been a disliked team for a number of years through that on-field behaviour and it obviously came to a head in Cape Town.”Speaking specifically of Warner, who had confrontations with England and South Africa players during the two series before his year-long ban, Clarke said the aggression Warner showed on the field was an attempt to have it fired back at him when he batted, and described it as a “turn on”.”He brings that positive approach to the Australian cricket team. You can’t ask him to bring that and then, on the other hand, blame him or ask him to be a pussy cat when it comes to giving it,” Clarke said. “David Warner gives it to certain blokes on the field because he wants them to give it to him when he’s batting. It’s like a turn on, it makes him play better.”It’s his style; he’s very upfront, in your face. What you see with David Warner is what you get. Your greatest strength can be your greatest weakness. To me, I always loved having him in the team I was captaining because he brought that aggression that I wanted. In saying that, there was always a line, he knew that. We had a number of conversations one-on-one about that line he couldn’t overstep.”Oppositions have noted Australia’s attempts to change their ways, with South Africa captain Faf du Plessis saying they felt “tame” as compared to in the past, something Langer took him to task on.”I’m not sure what people want from us,” Langer said. “We can’t confuse the messages. On the one hand, we’re too aggressive and probably stepped over the line. Now we’re getting called tame.”We’re going to play good, hard cricket. It’s what the fans want to see. It’s what Australia wants to see. When you lose a series, it’s easy for someone to come out and say we’ve been a bit tame. You can’t have it both ways.”