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The left-hander is looking forward to returning to the Indian squad and partnering with his old friend and captain

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jan-20171:14

Yuvraj’s many limited-overs comebacks

Yuvraj Singh feels MS Dhoni has a lot to contribute to Indian cricket as a player and is looking forward to batting “fearlessly” with his old team-mate on his return.In an interview with , Yuvraj said Dhoni was “extremely good” as captain, but had stepped down at the right time; Dhoni gave up the ODI and T20I captaincy last week.”I think he’s been an extremely good captain for India. We’ve won World Cup and the Champions Trophy under him. We were the No. 1 Test team under him. These are amazing achievements and I’m not sure how many [other] captains have that,” Yuvraj said.”I think he took a very good decision stepping down because I’m sure he felt that it’s [time for] the next guy to take over before the World Cup and I’m sure he saw that in Virat.”He has a lot to contribute as a player in the team. I think he’s gonna play the way he used to. We were both very fearless when we used to play together, so hopefully we can do the same in the upcoming series.”Yuvraj, who was recalled for the upcoming series against England, has spent more than three years out of the Indian ODI team, and hasn’t played an international match since rolling his ankle in a World T20 game against Australia in March 2016. He was picked on the basis of his form in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy – 672 runs in five matches for Punjab, at an average of 84.00 – and said he had been working on his fitness, especially considering he is now in the mid-30s.”I’ve been working pretty hard on my fitness because as you grow older, you’ve got to work harder on your body. In your mid-30s your body asks for a lot of training and recovery time. I’ve changed my diet completely and I’ve been putting in some extra hours because I need to be careful after what my body went through.”He is also aware that the new captain demands a 100% from his team.”Virat commands [] performance. He’s been very consistent throughout his career, and that consistency and fire has converted him into a very good captain,” he said. “He demands 100% effort from the team and that is the hallmark of a good captain.”He gets better every year – early in his career he got a lot of runs, then he got a lot of hundreds and now in Tests he’s getting double hundreds. I don’t know who else averages more than 50 in all formats. Hopefully he continues that and takes India to the next level.”

Afghanistan board says postponement “due to the inability of arranging the required broadcasting services by the host country”

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2022The Afghanistan Cricket Board said on Saturday that its team’s tour of Zimbabwe, scheduled for early February, has been postponed. The series cannot take place as scheduled “due to the inability of arranging the required broadcasting services by the host country,” the ACB said in a statement.This is the second time the series has been pushed back – it was initially meant to be played in December 2021, but was put off then at the ACB’s request following the Omicron outbreak.”We were in contact with Zimbabwe Cricket [in December] on how to proceed with the series upon the breakout of a new Covid-19 variant in Zimbabwe. Then considering the circumstances in Zimbabwe, both parties agreed to proceed with the series in February,” ACB cricket operations manager, Abdul Wali Amin, was quoted as saying in the board’s statement. “We had then assessed and negotiated the concerns related to Covid-19 and travel restrictions in Zimbabwe. We had also reached an agreement with ZC to proceed with the series as planned in February.”But we were informed by ZC that they are unable to secure the required broadcast services including the Decision Review System, so the tour was postponed for the second time.”The series was scheduled to include three ODIs, which count towards the World Cup Super League, and five T20Is.The ACB is now “working on” firming up Afghanistan’s tour of Bangladesh in February, for three ODIs (World Cup Super League) and two T20Is, as per the ICC’s Future Tours Programme.

The worm turns again. There is some wonderful Test cricket being played at the moment and the Edgbaston Test could bubble up into a humdinger after Alastair Cook and Alex Hales wiped out Pakistan’s lead with an unbroken stand of 117

The Report by Andrew McGlashan05-Aug-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAlastair Cook continued his fine form with another half-century•Getty Images

The worm turns again. There is some wonderful Test cricket being played at the moment and the Edgbaston Test could bubble up into a humdinger after Alastair Cook and Alex Hales wiped out Pakistan’s lead with an unbroken stand of 117 on a day that England showed commendable resilience.Cook closed on 61, during which he become England’s leading run-scorer across all formats – overtaking Kevin Pietersen – although of more immediate relevance was the assurance with which he played, reaching fifty off 67 balls. Hales was less fluent, but showed the determination he had against Sri Lanka earlier in the season and brought up his fifty from 116 balls off the final delivery of the day. The century stand was this pair’s first in Test cricket, in their 18th innings together, and England’s first since Cook and Moeen Ali in Abu Dhabi last October.Pakistan’s eventual advantage of 103 was good, but perhaps short of what they would have hoped for late on Thursday before Azhar Ali edged the final delivery of the day. In total, their last eight wickets fell for 143, with the last five managing just 42 as the flimsy lower order was exposed once Misbah-ul-Haq’s diligent half-century was ended.England’s seamers bowled well (Moeen was only entrusted with two overs in the day) although James Anderson was ordered out of the attack after encroaching on the danger area for a third time – the second time in the year he had been removed having also transgressed in Johannesburg. But by then Pakistan were eight down and England were able to soak up his absence. Chris Woakes continued to impress to finish with three wickets while England earned another scalp through their fielding when Yasir Shah was run out.Unlike the opening day, England’s openers were able to start in sunshine and the surface remained placid. The Pakistan seamers fed Cook with too much width early on and the fifty stand came up in the 15th over, with Cook contributing 36 of them. The pace did not slow, aided by Hales also finding his groove after some hard work, notably when he flicked Yasir over the leg side. There was little help for Yasir, although he did spin one to bring an lbw appeal against Hales which went to review but had pitched outside leg.It was Hales who took England into the lead with a textbook back-foot punch off Sohail Khan who struggled to replicate his first-innings performance. Mohammad Amir was the pick of the quicks, but Misbah will need a telling contribution from Yasir on the fourth day. When the players walked off, with nine overs unbowled due to various delays, there was a very different feel to the match than a few hours earlier.A key element to this match could yet be the control England managed to exert with the ball, meaning that even when wickets were not falling the innings did not run away from them. The third morning, which began with Pakistan 40 adrift, started in a similar manner to the previous day with them willing to soak up the pressure: Anderson’s opening five-over spell cost just four runs and while Pakistan had plenty of wickets in hand they were content, but their approach did mean the lengthy tail remained a get-out for England if they could break through.Younis Khan was slightly less jumpy than in the first two Tests but could not escape his rut, providing England their first wicket of the day when he glanced Woakes down the leg side – a similar dismissal to the first innings at Old Trafford off Ben Stokes.Misbah continued to leave and defend against some tight bowling, only occasionally breaking free when he drove Stuart Broad for consecutive boundaries, in a manner very similar to how he has played throughout this cluster of England Tests in the last eight months. By lunch, the runs had started to come more freely.Asad Shafiq started brightly at Lord’s but has been slightly less productive since and could not break the shackles in an 18-ball stay before losing his off stump when Broad made a delivery nip back which he was late on. At that point, Pakistan were yet to take the lead and England sniffed a chance to keep the Test even.Not for the first time, Sarfraz Ahmed’s appearance brought energy to the innings, both in his punchy strokeplay and eagerness to keep the strike rotating. Misbah’s early caution was also rewarded as he moved from 7 off 39 balls to a half-century off 93, although one of his boundaries came when an edge flashed past Joe Root who was stood at a very close third slip.His dismissal had a dose of bad fortune about it, although Anderson was unlikely to see it that way, when he defended at a ball which then came off pad and boot into the stumps. It gave England an opening at the lower order and brought a period where the umpires were in the thick of the action.A superb piece of fielding from Woakes at deep square beat Yasir attempt to come back for a second, Jonny Bairstow doing well to gather the throw and break the stumps with his elbow – a dismissal which led to a thumbing of the Laws: it was perfectly legal, a run out can be completed by hand to arm providing the ball is under control.Amir’s wicket also needed the intervention of the TV umpire when Woakes rightly thought the lbw shout had struck pad first, while Sohail was lbw walking across his stumps at Broad. By then Anderson had been removed from the attack by Joel Wilson, following further feedback from the third umpire, and his over was completed by Steven Finn who was destined to end wicketless again when Cook added to England’s list of dropped catches by shelling Rahat Ali at slip. It was the last moment that did not go right for them.

Kraigg Brathwaite the biggest mover in the Test batsmen’s table, up 21 places to No. 43

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Apr-2021Fakhar Zaman’s 155-ball 193, which almost took Pakistan to an unexpected win over South Africa in their second ODI before it ended in controversial circumstances, has helped him move up seven spots to No. 12 in the men’s ODI rankings for batsmen. Also moving up after two big innings – 123* and 60 – was Rassie van der Dussen, up to a career-best 22.van der Dussen, however, had to skip the final match of the series – a decider in Centurion on Wednesday – after picking up a quad injury, but Zaman has the chance to build on his position on the table.Of the others to gain on the table, South Africa’s new ODI captain Temba Bavuma’s 92 in the second ODI took him up to a career-best 88th spot among batsmen, while Anrich Nortje’s 4 for 51 and 3 for 63 in the two games, before he left for the IPL, helped him get to 73rd place, also a career-best position.The rain-curtailed final T20I of the series between New Zealand and Bangladesh also took place in the period under consideration, and in it, Finn Allen smashed 71 in 29 balls to lead his team to a 65-run win and a 3-0 series sweep. That helped him enter the top 100 after just three matches, while Tim Southee’s 3 for 15 in that game meant he remained the top-ranked fast bowler in the format, at sixth place.Namibia’s Gerhard Erasmus, meanwhile, scored an unbeaten 62 in the first T20I against Uganda as his team won 3-0, and that helped him get to 66th place, the best for his country.The major mover from the second and final Test of the West Indies vs Sri Lanka series, which ended 0-0, was Kraigg Brathwaite. The new West Indies Test captain scored 126 and 85, and went up 21 places to 43rd. Oshada Fernando’s 66* in the second innings took him 11 places up to 61, while Jason Holder remained the best allrounder after hitting 30 and 71 not out and picking up two wickets in the first innings.

Non-disclosure agreements lasting for 10 years are preventing progress on the debate over the future direction of domestic T20, according to county officials

George Dobell09-Sep-2016Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) lasting for 10 years are preventing progress on the debate over the future direction of domestic T20, according to county officials.The ECB insisted that the agreements were signed before counties could be shown plans for a new competition. But now the counties – most of which are owned by their members – say they are constitutionally, morally and perhaps fiducially obliged to consult them before coming to any conclusions. Several clubs, who are unwilling to be named for fear of being seen to have broken their NDAs, state they would need to hold Special General Meetings before progressing.While the ECB claims the non-disclosure agreements are due to the “commercial sensitivity” of the discussion, some county executives fear they are an attempt to stifle opposition and present plans for a new tournament as a .It is true that the ECB is anxious to end an argument that has rumbled on for several years, with occasional outbreaks of cricket. The board has told the counties it wants to “reach consensus” on the shape of the proposed new tournament at a meeting on September 14.But some of the counties say that this timeframe does not allow discussion with members, or any other cricket lovers, or further examination of the consequences of their decisions. They point out that, while sponsors, broadcasters (some broadcasters, anyway), players and the counties have been given details of the potential options, spectators have been informed only by media reports. They also point out that many questions about the new competition remains unclear.The last time the ECB conducted a consultation process into domestic T20 – the Populous survey of 2012 – it suggested that spectators preferred a predictable schedule that didn’t demand too much of their time or their money in the space of a few days. It increasingly looks as if the new competition will see games played every day of the week in a July block.At this stage, though, there is no official preferred option. The ECB presented five options to the counties for discussion: these range from the ‘no-change’ option that almost nobody favours, to proposals for a new-team, city-based competition. Increasingly, option four – featuring a city-based competition co-existing with the current NatWest Blast T20 – has emerged as the frontrunner.Packaged as a compromise – or a wolf in sheep’s clothing, depending on your view – it has won over a number of counties (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and, perhaps, Sussex) that might otherwise have resisted a city-based tournament and seems to have an even chance of gaining the two-thirds majority required to see it adopted as the shape of the season from 2018. The ECB is promising the counties a minimum of £1m each if they do so. It is clear that, officially or not, this is its preferred option.There are, though, huge questions to answer before anything can be confirmed. What other cricket will be played in the July window while the city-based competition is on and is it not a concern that the quality of the Championship (or Blast competition) will be diluted? What evidence is there that audiences in England and Wales will warm to new teams? Can the money promised really be considered new if it comes at the expense of a watered down Blast (with fewer ‘name’ players, less interest from broadcasters and sponsors and the sense that it is a lesser competition) and can the money even be guaranteed even if broadcasters subsequently fail to deliver on the estimates that the ECB has received or if they fail to reach their audience target?The ECB hopes to drum up bids from broadcasters to televise a new competition•Getty Images

Furthermore, won’t the gap between the Test-hosting counties and the rest grow if a city-based competition is held only at the bigger grounds and there is no distribution of non-cricket income (bar receipts, for example)? Especially if they are benefitting from the supply of players from smaller counties, without further compensation. Equally, it seems odd that all hosting grounds would be paid a flat fee (far below the amount some sides make for hosting Blast matches) whatever their capacity or hospitality facilities.It is understood that the ECB has also been asked to provide assurances that the ‘independent’ broadcast experts utilised to provide information on the likely value of tournaments do not stand to gain should the city-based tournament win favour. The ECB has a close working history with Sky and appears to have valued the existing competition far below comparable events.Premiership rugby, for example, a sport with similar supporter numbers as county cricket, receives something approaching £40m for its broadcast rights. The ECB currently ascribe a nil value to county cricket and seems to think the Blast is worth as little as £7.5m a year. That’s less than it can expect to earn from gate receipts. A city-based competition, despite lasting less than a month and not being offered exclusively, is said to be worth up to £40m.In the longer-term, the ECB has also been asked whether the international schedule will be cut to make space for the new city-based competition – and to allow England players to take part – and what the cost implications of that might be. Again, if it diminishes the money gained in the next broadcast deal, it would be wrong to view the city-based revenues as new rather than replacement. It seems unlikely that England players will be made available in 2018.But most of all the question remains: why is the ECB not interested in the input of those that, indirectly, pay the wages of the administrators, the media, the players and the broadcasters? One day, and it may not be a distant day, the spectators will tire of the £6 pints, the soggy chips, the slack over rates that short-change them of their £90 Test tickets and spend their money elsewhere. The ECB disrespects them at its peril.

Ashish Nehra and Gary Kirsten to join coaching staff; Vikram Solanki set to be team director

Nagraj Gollapudi17-Jan-2022Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill are set to be a part of the Ahmedabad franchise for the upcoming IPL season.The Ahmedabad franchise, which was bought last October by CVC Capital Partners (Irelia Company Pte Ltd), has also finalised its coaching staff – they will be led by former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra, and former South Africa batter and head coach Gary Kirsten. Former England batter Vikram Solanki, who is currently Surrey’s head coach, will be the team director.Related

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• Dhoni, Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah retained by IPL franchises for 2022

• $1.6 billion for two IPL franchises: does it add up?

• Lucknow and Ahmedabad become home to the two newest franchises

This is the second IPL franchise where the trio of Nehra, Kirsten and Solanki will work together: the previous instance was at Royal Challengers Bangalore.Ahmedabad and Lucknow, the two new teams in the IPL, are yet to disclose the players they have bought but the deadline for doing so is fast approaching: January 22. Both teams were given the same purse – INR 90 crore – as the existing eight franchises. However, unlike the other teams, which could retain four players, the two new ones can buy a maximum of three players with the overseas slot limited to one.While the IPL has set INR 15 crore, INR 11 crore and INR 7 crore for franchises retaining three players, ESPNcricinfo has learned that Ahmedabad have decided to pay both Hardik and Rashid the same amount – INR 15 crore. It is also learnt that Hardik is likely to take charge as Ahmedabad captain, a first experience for the allrounder in the IPL. The third player – Gill – will be paid INR 7 crore. This means the franchise will go into the auction in February with a purse of INR 53 crore.This is the first time Hardik and Rashid will play for the same team in the IPL, having previously represented Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively. Hardik’s rise, since he was bought as an uncapped player for a mere INR 10 lakh in 2015, has been exponential. By 2018, he had established himself as the best allrounder in India and Mumbai duly retained him as their second pick at the auction that year, paying INR 11 crore. In the next two seasons, Hardik scored 762 runs and took 32 wickets in 29 games. He is a four-time title-winner: 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.Hardik struggled with fitness issues over the last two IPLs, and did not bowl at all in this period. His batting, too, hasn’t been as effective as before. That forced Mumbai to look in a different direction as they retained the in-from Suryakumar Yadav, who has proven he can bat and accelerate at any position. Hardik is currently focussing on regaining complete fitness and has not been part of any of the Indian white-ball squads since the T20 World Cup.As for Rashid, the Afghanistan legspinner became a big talking point immediately after Sunrisers decided to retain Kane Williamson, who will be full-time captain from IPL 2022, along with the uncapped Jammu & Kashmir pairing of Abdul Samad and Umran MalikIn 2017, Sunrisers bought Rashid for INR 4 crore and, a year later, they retained him for INR 9 crore. Remarkably, Rashid featured in all 76 matches played by Sunrisers since his debut, picking up 93 wickets at an economy rate of 6.33. Only Jasprit Bumrah has taken more wickets (104) than Rashid in the last five IPL seasons.Both social media and rival teams were aghast that Rashid had not being retained in 2022. ESPNcricinfo has learnt that while Sunrisers did want to keep Rashid, they told him that he would be their second pick behind Williamson. The talks got derailed thereafter, which freed Rashid to weigh up his options, including going into the auction.For Gill, this will be his second team in the IPL having been picked by Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2018 auction for INR 1.8 crore. The 22-year old, who has already played 10 Tests and three ODIs, has been earmarked as one of the brightest young talents of this decade, and at one point was even looked upon as a future leader by the Knight Riders. However, the Knight Riders had several other options when it came to retention and Gill had to be left out.