David Boon, Matthew Hayden and Betty Wilson will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the Allan Border Medal ceremony in Sydney on Monday

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2017Two of Australia’s finest modern top-order batsmen, Matthew Hayden and David Boon, and legendary women’s allrounder Betty Wilson will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame on Monday.Boon played 107 Tests from 1984 to 1996 and scored 7422 runs at 43.65, mostly as an opener and No.3 of tremendous fight, and he also featured in 181 one-day internationals. Since retirement, he served as an administrator with Cricket Tasmania and as a national selector, and in 2011 took up a position as an ICC match referee.”David Boon was a key figure in the rise of the Australia side under Allan Border that went from easy-beats to winners of the ICC Cricket World Cup in India and Pakistan in 1987 and then the best Test side in the world,” Peter King, the Hall of Fame chairman, said.”He was player of the match in the 1987 World Cup final against England and was a reassuring presence either as opener or number three with more than 13,000 international runs across more than a decade at the highest level.”He played a crucial role in putting Tasmania cricket on the map and did much the same for English county side Durham, where he ended his career in 1999 with a tally of more than 23,000 first-class runs, plus more than 10,000 runs in List A cricket. He epitomises the tough-as-teak Australian cricketer and his induction into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is thoroughly merited.”Hayden played 103 Tests from 1994 to 2009 and, with 8625 runs at 50.73, sits fifth on Australia’s list of all-time Test run scorers. An opener who combined patience with an ability to bully the bowlers, Hayden plundered 380 against Zimbabwe at the WACA in 2003, which was the highest Test score by any player until surpassed by Brian Lara’s 400 the following year.”Matthew Hayden featured prominently in the Australia squads that went unbeaten to win successive ICC Cricket World Cups in 2003 and 2007,” King said, “and his role as an intimidating opening batsman and outstanding slip fielder mark him out as one of the greatest players this country has ever produced.”Wilson, who was sometimes known as the “female Bradman”, will be the second women’s cricketer in the Hall of Fame, after 2014 inductee Belinda Clark. Wilson, who died in 2010 at the age of 88, averaged 57.46 in Test cricket during the 1940s and 1950s, and took 68 wickets at the remarkable average of 11.80.She was the first player of either gender to score a century and take 10 wickets in a Test, doing so against England in Melbourne in 1958; two years later Alan Davidson became the first man to match the feat. In that same Test, Wilson also became the first woman to take a Test hat-trick.”Betty Wilson was a woman ahead of her time, thanks to her brilliant all-round skills as a batter and off-spinner,” King said. “It was cricket’s misfortune that she only played 11 Tests – due in part to World War II, but also because her career spanned a period when far fewer women’s cricket matches were played than in the modern era.”It is fantastic that Betty can take her rightful place in the pantheon of great cricketers produced by this country through her induction to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame and it is an honour that is wholly justified.”Boon, Hayden and Wilson will officially be inducted at the Allan Border Medal ceremony in Sydney on Monday evening, where the Betty Wilson Young Player of the Year Award will for the first time form part of the ceremony. This year’s group takes the number of Hall of Fame inductees to 46 since its inception in 1996.Hall of Fame inductees Warwick Armstrong, Richie Benaud, John Blackham, David Boon, Allan Border, Sir Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Alan Davidson, George Giffen, Adam Gilchrist, Clarrie Grimmett, Wally Grout, Neil Harvey, Lindsay Hassett, Matthew Hayden, Ian Healy, Clem Hill, Bill Lawry, Dennis Lillee, Ray Lindwall, Charles Macartney, Rod Marsh, Stan McCabe, Glenn McGrath, Graham McKenzie, Keith Miller, Arthur Morris, Monty Noble, Bill O’Reilly, Bill Ponsford, Jack Ryder, Bob Simpson, Fred Spofforth, Mark Taylor, Jeff Thomson, Hugh Trumble, Victor Trumper, Charlie Turner, Doug Walters, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Betty Wilson, Bill Woodfull.

The ECB could be about to lose one of the key architects of their new T20 competition more than two years before it is launched

George Dobell20-Feb-2017The ECB could be about to lose one of the key architects of their new T20 competition more than two years before it is launched.ESPNcricinfo understands that Gordon Hollins, the ECB’s chief operating officer, has been shortlisted for the role of chief executive at MCC. Derek Brewer, the current MCC chief executive, has already announced his intention to retire at the start of 2018.Hollins has been with the ECB since 2007. In that time, he has performed the role of Head of Venue Partnerships (2007-2012), Managing Director – Professional Game (2012-14) and, since 2014, the COO role which gives him responsibility for professional and recreational cricket in England and Wales.In those roles, he has been heavily involved in the major match allocation process as well as the Morgan Report (2011-12), which saw the revival of 50-over cricket, the re-scheduling of T20 cricket on an ‘appointment to view’ basis and recommended a cut to the County Championship programme. Before joining the ECB, he was commercial director at Durham CCC.Often acting as the bridge between the ECB executive and the counties, it was noticeable that the relationship between them deteriorated sharply during a period when Hollins was absent due to ill health. Now fully recovered, he has been heavily involved in thrashing out something approaching an agreement between the ECB executive and the counties over the introduction of the new T20 competition in 2020.With his experience across the game and his relationships with those in power at the ECB, the attraction of Hollins to MCC is not surprising. Concerned at the prospect of losing one of the two Tests they currently host most years, MCC seem increasingly keen on being at the forefront of the new domestic T20 competition.Others favoured for the MCC role are understood to be John Stephenson, who is currently head of cricket at the MCC, and Guy Lavender, who is currently chief executive at Somerset CCC.

South Africa, who could barely push their scoring rate above two-an-over, closed with a lead of 191 and four wickets in hand

The Report by Andrew McGlashan11-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:59

Moonda: Elgar has bedded in as senior opener

Could New Zealand’s twin-spin attack prove a masterstroke? It may yet depend on the Dunedin weather, with rain forecast for the final day of this nip-and-tuck Test, but late wickets under leaden skies set up what could be a wonderful final day. South Africa, who could barely push their scoring rate above two-an-over, closed with a lead of 191 and four wickets in hand.The shape of the day – a grey, chilly day that demanded deep resolve from players and spectators alike – changed deep in the final session. After Jeetan Patel removed Dean Elgar, 11 short of becoming the sixth South Africa batsman to make two hundreds in a Test, he cleaned up his bunny, Quinton de Kock, with a beauty (the tally of four successes in four innings not escaping Patel as he celebrated). Between Patel’s brace, Temba Bavuma also departed, the ball rolling back off his defensive shot to dislodge the off bail – success for Mitchell Santner who had been ignored for almost 60 overs.New Zealand’s strong end to the day came after being deprived the services of Trent Boult who did not appear after tea due to a sore hip. The second new ball initially went to the two spinners due to poor light, then the immense Neil Wagner – who has had a vast workload – wound himself up for another burst. Boult won’t be able to bowl for the first 90 minutes on the final morning and with a tight turnaround of three days to Wellington his prognosis will be a very significant factor.By close, when the light finally did close in with eight overs remaining, Faf du Plessis suddenly loomed as a crucial figure, unbeaten on 56 from 155 balls with the bowlers for company to try and push the lead over 250. The success for Patel and Santner will encourage him as Keshav Maharaj, who took five wickets in the first, could be a crucial weapon in defending a target alongside his pace trio.For most of the day it was about Elgar – given out caught behind 73 but saved by the DRS – as he took his time at the crease in the match to almost 13 hours before skipping down the pitch to Patel and finding deep mid-off. However, New Zealand had their chances to remove him earlier and put the heat on South Africa with more time to play with.On 35, James Neesham found his outside edge from round the wicket but BJ Watling could not gather the chance low to his left. It was the second time in the match that Watling had given an Elgar a life; in the first innings he was spilled down the leg side on 36. Then, on 48, a drive was drilled through the hands of substitute fielder Colin de Grandhomme at cover as Elgar went to his fifty from 144 balls.Coupled with poor use of the DRS, missing a chance to review against Duminy when he would have been lbw on 20 but using it when he got an inside edge, and dropping the same batsman on 6, it had been a messy first half of the day for New Zealand. However, as events later showed, South Africa’s scoring rate meant they were never out of touch and at risk if wickets fell in a flurry.South Africa resumed just five ahead and Hashim Amla departed early, flicking Wagner to the leg-side trap at midwicket to continue his poor time in New Zealand. Wagner returned after lunch to pin Duminy for a scratchy 39. At that stage South Africa’s lead was only 80. Duminy should have gone early when Boult, in the midst of a luckless opening spell, found the edge but Tom Latham, deputising for Ross Taylor at first slip, missed a regulation chance.For most of the first two sessions Williamson put the onus on Wagner, Boult (with potentially damaging results) and Patel – the latter bowling a 28-over spell – not using Santner until the 65th over. The left-arm spinner created an opportunity first ball when Elgar flicked firmly into Latham at short leg, but the ball ballooned in front of midwicket. Elgar then played a rare attacking stroke, advancing down the pitch to loft Santner straight, but the ball spinning into him created uncertainty and an outside edge fell just short of slip where Neesham and come up from his stance too quickly.Du Plessis was in no rush to try and escalate the scoring rate against accurate bowling. Late in the day he moved to his half-century off 142 balls with a hint of more aggression, with a brace of boundaries off Wagner, but it was South Africa who were the relieved players when the day ended. Du Plessis will have walked off knowing that his side have not been allowed to dictate terms in this match. Please, don’t rain.

Other notable players who will feature in the tournament include Rishabh Pant, Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Shikhar Dhawan, Axar Patel and Ambati Rayudu

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2017Rohit Sharma and Parthiv Patel have been chosen to lead the India Blue and India Red teams, respectively, in the Deodhar Trophy scheduled to begin on March 25. Tamil Nadu were the third team in the tournament, having clinched the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Monday.

Squads

India Blue: Rohit Sharma (capt), Mandeep Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwary, Rishabh Pant (wk), Deepak Hooda, Harbhajan Singh, Krunal Pandya, Shahbaz Nadeem, Siddarth Kaul, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, Pankaj Rao
India Red: Parthiv Patel (captain & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Mayank Agarwal, Kedar Jadhav, Ishank Jaggi, Gurkeerat Mann, Axar Patel, Akshay Karnewar, Ashok Dinda, Kulwant Khejroliya, Dhawal Kulkarni, Govinda Poddar

Rohit returned to competitive cricket earlier this month – with scores of 16 and 4 for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy – following a thigh injury that had sidelined him for four months. He had sustained the injury in the series-deciding fifth ODI against New Zealand in October 2016, when he top-scored with 70.The other notable players in the India Blue roster were batsman Shreyas Iyer, offspinner Harbhajan Singh, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and 19-year old wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.Rohit’s long-term opening partner in ODIs, Shikhar Dhawan, was part of the India Red squad, which also featured Kedar Jadhav, who had made 232 runs in three ODIs against England in January, and Manish Pandey, who had also played his last international game in that series-decider against New Zealand.The tournament is set to begin on March 25, with the final scheduled for March 29. All matches will be played in Vizag.

Yorkshire finished in second place to progress to a quarter-final eliminator following a 20-run victory over Leicestershire at Headingley

ECB Reporters Network16-May-2017
ScorecardAzeem Rafiq swung things Yorkshire’s way [file picture]•Getty Images

Gary Ballance went past 1,000 runs for the season in all cricket as Yorkshire beat Leicestershire in their final Royal London one-day Cup group match at Headingley tonight, although it was not enough for the hosts to seal a home semi-final.The Foxes recovered from losing Mark Pettini four balls into their chase of 259 in 45 overs to reach 107 for 1 in the 14th over with a play-off place beckoning.But they slipped to 165 for 7 in the 29th over and later 238 all out as they lost by 20 runs and failed to qualify for the knockout stage.Yorkshire came into this engaging match already qualified, but a Worcestershire win at Derbyshire has consigned them to a home play-off match against the third-placed side in the South Group next month.White Rose captain Ballance hit 71 off 66 balls in his 14th innings of the summer as the Vikings made 258 for 7 from 45 overs.Ballance is the country’s leading run-scorer with 1,027 at an average of 93.36.But spinners Azeem Rafiq and Karl Carver also had a huge impact on a match delayed by an hour due to rain.Off-spinner Rafiq hit a scintillating 30-ball 52 not out and took two important wickets, while left-arm spinner Carver was superb for his 3 for 24 from nine overs as the Foxes lost 6 for 58 through the middle of their innings.The took 5 for 70 from 18 overs between them.Adam Lyth hit 52 before Rafiq cut loose at the end of the home innings.Leicestershire were well placed after Gavin Griffiths took two of Yorkshire’s first four wickets to fall for 26 as they slipped from 72 without loss.But Ballance, later out hit wicket for the second time this season, and Tim Bresnan shared a fifth-wicket partnership of 73 inside 15 overs to kick-start a recovery which later saw 72 runs come from the final six overs.Rafiq offered a skied return catch to Dieter Klein on two, although keeper Lewis Hill perhaps should have got there.Rafiq went on to hit three fours and as many sixes in a 29-ball fifty.Yorkshire then made the ideal start to their defence when Bresnan had Pettini caught at slip for a duck.But Cameron Delport and Ned Eckersley did not let that deter them and blazed a trail, reaching 100 for 1 in the 13th over.Left-handed Delport hit three sixes in a 36-ball fifty before holing out to long-off off Rafiq for 68 midway through the 14th over, ending a second-wicket stand of 107 in 13 oversHe then bowled Mark Cosgrove for a duck two balls later.Carver, given his chance because of the absence of Yorkshire’s quartet of England players, then really put the skids under the Foxes.He bowled Eckersley, had Hill caught at square cover and got Parkinson caught and bowled as the score fell to 165 for seven.Leicester skipper Clint McKay later hit 35 in a ninth-wicket stand of 42 with Klein to give the visitors a glimmer at 231 for 8 in the 40th before Matthew Fisher and Matthew Waite claimed wickets at the death as the visitors fell 21 short.Leicestershire head coach Pierre de Bruyn said: “It’s a very quiet changing room. We were that close to making the play-offs, but we just missed a trick at 107 for 1 after 13.4 overs. We’d set the platform for ourselves. Unfortunately our dismissals were soft, very sloppy.”We managed to pull it back at the end. But if you look at our dismissals, we’re much better than that.”

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) hopes that the state associations will distill their objections to the Lodha Committee recommendations to one or two points when they meet on Sunday (June 25) in Mumbai

Arun Venugopal23-Jun-2017The Committee of Administrators (CoA) hopes that the state associations will distill their objections to the Lodha Committee recommendations to one or two points when they meet on Sunday (June 25) in Mumbai, a day before the BCCI’s SGM. This, the CoA believes, will be a significant step towards firming up the BCCI’s model constitution.The Vidarbha Cricket Association is the only one so far to draft a new constitution as per the Lodha recommendations, and it has subsequently been ratified by the BCCI. A number of state associations, however, have filed petitions in the Supreme Court objecting to different recommendations of the Lodha Committee. The CoA feels this is counter-productive to all parties concerned. “We are focused on making sure that the Lodha Committee report gets implemented, which requires the model constitution to be adopted,” a CoA official told ESPNcricinfo.”For this, the states need to be aligned. We told them even in the last meeting that going to the court with multiple petitions won’t work. We have asked them to narrow it down to two points that are absolutely critical from their standpoint. If they are going to withdraw all their petitions and ask the court to consider two points, it’s much easier for the court to deal with the matter rather than dealing with 15 different petitions with different permutations and combinations.”My hope is in that meeting we will be able to narrow it down and then consider and work with the court to see if it is possible to amend one or two these things and then move forward to get the constitution finalised. Then you can conduct elections and hold AGM in September.”The CoA is given to understand that a majority of state associations are opposed to four recommendations – one-state, one-vote; the age cap of 70 for office bearers; the cooling-off period of three years for office bearers between terms in office; and restriction on the number of selectors to three as opposed to the earlier five. A Cricket Association of Bengal official, for instance, told ESPNcricinfo that the age-restriction was a major stumbling block since “more than 60%” of the state body’s officials were over 70.While the Kerala Cricket Association objected to the cooling-off period, it also sought clarity on the role of the Apex Council. “We have 11 office-bearers as opposed to the nine-member Apex Council that has been prescribed by the Lodha Committee for the BCCI,” a KCA official said. “We want clarification on whether the formation of an Apex Council applies to us as well; that is should a state association like ours need to have an Apex Council like the BCCI.”The CoA official indicated that the Supreme Court might be inclined to reconsider one or two recommendations so long as they didn’t tinker with governance issues. “We have indicated to the state associations that if they try and dilute anything surrounding governance, it is unlikely to fly,” the official said. “So, within that context, let them decide what they want to take to the court but it is unlikely the court will dilute any governance-related clauses. One-state, one vote, and three selectors, I think, the court may be willing to consider.”The state associations might still want to take [governance-related clauses] to the court and the court might strike it down. They might want the court to specifically say that they are unwilling to make amendments. But, if they adopt all the recommendations except one or two points that they object to, the court will at least feel they have a genuine inclination towards reform. That’s what we have been telling them to do, so that it is in their interest as well that if the court wants to consider something, if the court feels that they are moving forward.”The CoA is also likely to discuss other issues such as the Deloitte report that has dealt with financial irregularities in certain member associations. “Even in our previous meetings, we tried to talk to them on various matters, including governance,” the official said. “In this case, there might be something to discuss on ICC-related matters, obviously on what is coming up for voting in the SGM on June 26. There are other things that we sent to them to respond to – the Deloitte report and appointment of Ombudsman and redressal officer.”

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed will succeed the retired Misbah-ul-Haq as Pakistan’s Test captain

Danyal Rasool04-Jul-20173:59

Bazid: Sarfraz is first name on team sheet

As had been widely expected, Sarfraz Ahmed will become Pakistan’s 32nd Test captain. At a reception held at the prime minister’s residence in honour of Pakistan’s Champions Trophy victory, PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan announced he had offered the role to Sarfraz, who accepted it.Sarfraz will now lead Pakistan in all three formats. He took over the T20I captaincy after the 2016 World T20, when Shahid Afridi stepped down following Pakistan’s early exit, and became ODI captain when Azhar Ali resigned in February this year.
Tuesday’s announcement ends speculation over the identity of Misbah-ul-Haq’s successor as Test captain. Misbah, who retired at the end of Pakistan’s tour of West Indies in May, was Pakistan’s longest serving and most successful Test captain, leading them to 26 wins in 56 matches. And even though Sarfraz is unarguably Pakistan cricket’s most prized asset at the moment, Misbah’s will be a tough act to follow.This is also the first time in five years that Pakistan have had one man at the helm across formats; Misbah was the last man to lead all three sides, and he stepped down from the T20 leadership following the 2012 World Twenty20.
Sarfraz’s appointment had been expected ever since chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq expressed a desire to see one captain across all formats. And it became all but inevitable after the 30-year-old wicketkeeper batsman led Pakistan all the way to a stunning, against-the-odds triumph at the ICC Champions Trophy in June.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Sarfraz is also one of a handful of Pakistan players whose place in the starting XI is assured in all three formats. Even before he took over as Pakistan’s limited-overs captain, he had plenty of leadership experience, having led the Under-19 side to a memorable World Cup win in 2006. He has also been Quetta Gladiators’ captain in the Pakistan Super League since the tournament’s inception, and has led them to successive runners-up finishes.”It’s an honour to captain Pakistan in all three formats,” Sarfraz said at the reception. “Like we have done with ODI and T20 cricket recently, I would like us to improve our Test performances as well. I wish to thank Shahryar Khan for placing his trust in me, and we would like to ask everyone to put their trust in the Pakistan cricket team.”Sarfraz’s first Test assignment will be a ‘home’ series in the UAE against Sri Lanka, which starts on October 19 and will comprise three Tests, five ODIs and two T20Is.

Michael Lumb, the Nottinghamshire and England batsman, has been forced to retire with immediate effect because of an ankle injury.

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jul-2017
Michael Lumb, the Nottinghamshire and England batsman, has been forced to retire with immediate effect because of an ankle injury.Lumb, who made a century on his ODI debut, against West Indies in Antigua in 2014, is one of only 11 England players to have won a global ICC trophy, following his vital role in the World T20 campaign in the Caribbean in 2010.Lumb’s opening partnership with Craig Kieswetter, who was also forced to retire early due to injury in 2014, provided the foundation of a triumphant campaign for Paul Collingwood’s squad, who beat Australia by seven wickets in the final in Barbados.Born in South Africa, Lumb began his career at Yorkshire, the county club of his father, Richard, and moved to Hampshire before relocating to Trent Bridge in 2012, where he helped Nottinghamshire to victory in the Yorkshire Bank 40 and Royal London One-Day Cup trophies in 2013 and 2017 respectively.Until his record was surpassed by his fellow opener, Alex Hales, in this year’s final at Lord’s, Lumb held the Nottinghamshire record score in List A cricket, 184 against Northamptonshire at Trent Bridge in 2016. His prowess as a hard-hitting opening batsman also earned him stints in the IPL with Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers, and Australia’s Big Bash League with Sydney Sixers.”I have had the best time at Trent Bridge, in my view the most productive years of my career, and Nottinghamshire is the club I have most enjoyed playing for,” he said.”I’m extremely disappointed I’ve had to retire from cricket, particularly in the middle of the season, but I have to respect medical opinion.”I would like to thank all my team-mates, the coaching staff and everyone else at the club for making my stay at Nottinghamshire such a memorable one. Those sentiments also go to everybody at both Yorkshire and Hampshire, who have made my career so enjoyable.”Last, but by no means least, I couldn’t have achieved what I have without the total support of my wife Lizzie and all the rest of my family.”Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, Mick Newell, said: “It’s very sad news for Michael. He’s a hugely talented batsman that has entertained cricket followers all over the world. He’s a great role model to others and a superb professional.””Michael is an immensely popular senior player in the dressing room and highly respected for what he has achieved during his career. We wish him every success and thank him for all he has contributed to the club.”In first-class cricket, Lumb amassed more than 11,000 runs in 210 matches, with his career-best 221 not out coming for Nottinghamshire against Derbyshire at Trent Bridge in 2013.Lumb’s domestic one-day career included more than 11,500 runs, including in excess of 6,500 in List A games and almost 5,000 in T20.His retirement is Nottinghamshire’s second significant injury setback in the space of a week, following the blow to the head that Luke Fletcher sustained while bowling in the T20 Blast at Edgbaston, which has resulted in him sitting out the rest of the season.

With tours by New Zealand and Zimbabwe A postponed, the board hopes the functioning of the High Performance unit will bridge the gap between the levels of cricket in Bangladesh

Mohammad Isam11-Aug-2017Training camps and tours for the High Performance unit are ensuring that Bangladesh’s fringe players stay fit in the absence of A-team cricket. Bangladesh A have been made to wait for cricket after visits from New Zealand and Zimbabwe A were postponed last month but Akram Khan, BCB’s cricket operations chairman, has said that Ireland A are likely to tour later this year.Currently, the senior men’s team are preparing for the series against Australia, while the HP unit is being run under new head coach Simon Helmot. The Under-19 squad have also begun training for the 2018 World Cup in New Zealand. The Bangladesh A team, however, have not played a series since the tour to Zimbabwe and South Africa in October 2015.Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha has also highlighted the importance of A-team cricket for the country.”Since we haven’t been able to keep the Bangladesh A team active, we have instead ensured that our HP unit has been training properly and touring too,” Akram said. “They have toured Australia last month and will go to England next month to play against county second XIs. We were in talks with New Zealand and Zimbabwe for A team tours but they aren’t coming. Ireland A are supposed to come later this year.”The current HP squad includes eight international players. But some of the country’s top domestic performers over the last three seasons — Shahriar Nafees, Nasir Hossain, Tushar Imran – have been waiting for a higher standard of cricket to strengthen their push for spots in the senior team.Among the ten uncapped players who were in the Bangladesh A team during tours to India, Zimbabwe and South Africa in 2015, five have made their international debuts including Mossadek Hossain, Nurul Hasan and Kamrul Islam Rabbi. Players like Mustafizur Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Mosaddek and Taskin Ahmed have also made the senior side without much representative cricket after playing at the age-group level.Despite plenty performing players in domestic cricket, the selectors aim to pick those with the technical and mental ability to tackle the higher levels in the A side. In the previous two years in Bangladesh though, there has been a substantial gap.

Hardik Pandya single-handedly won India the first ODI of the series, setting up his 2 for 28 by rescuing the hosts from 87 for 5

The Report by Sidharth Monga17-Sep-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
1:33

Gambhir: ‘Playing two wristspinners gives you an attacking option’

Hardik Pandya, who has one century and one five-for in professional cricket, continued to make mockery of conventional selection principles as he single-handedly won India the first ODI of the series. On a pitch with more bounce than an average Indian ODI surface, Pandya’s sensational six-hitting combined with MS Dhoni’s pragmatism to lift India from 87 for 5 to 281, but persistent drizzle converted the 282-run target into a theoretically-easier 164 in 21 overs. Pandya then introduced the world to his knuckle ball to send back Steven Smith and Travis Head.Smith had a rare shocker of a match, dropping two catches at slip, including Pandya, who went on to score 83 off 67 balls, and made Adam Zampa his fourth victim of three successive sixes in three months in international cricket. When Smith came out to bat, he looked to blast everything out of the ground, displaying uncharacteristic panic before failing to pick the knuckle ball and falling to an excellent catch by Jasprit Bumrah at short fine leg.The two wristspinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, then did their bit in the middle overs to shut the chase out. Kuldeep followed a ripping legbreak with a cross-seam delivery to account for David Warner, making it 35 for 4 in eight overs. Glenn Maxwell then hit four sixes in 18 balls to raise Australia’s hopes, but this time Yuzvendra Chahal outsmarted him with a wide legbreak that he could only mistime to long-on. That, at 76 for 5 in 12 overs, was game over for all practical purposes.It was Maxwell in the first half of the match that started Australia’s ascendancy with a sensational catch to send back Virat Kohli, who had chosen to bat first expecting the pitch to slow down considerably in the chase. This came just after reserve opener Ajinkya Rahane had fallen to extra bounce on a drive.Like Rahane, Kohli, too, drove at Nathan Coulter-Nile, getting a thick edge, which seemed to be sailing over point before Maxwell jumped and hung on, like plucking stationery fruit from a branch. Two balls later, Coulter-Nile soon made it 11 for 3 with the scalp of India’s new No. 4 Manish Pandey.It could have been worse had Smith done his bit in a near-perfect over bowled by Pat Cummins just before Kohli’s dismissal. Cummins troubled Rohit Sharma through the over before delivering the coup de grace with the edge on the last ball, but Smith couldn’t latch on at second slip. Rohit failed to cash in on that life. As did Kedar Jadhav after a good start. Both fell – for 28 and 40 respectively – to short balls from Marcus Stoinis, one of three allrounders in the Australian line-up.India’s next man in was their only allrounder. He walked in to join the man who might as well have been the only one batting for the Chennai crowd. Dhoni is captain, the , as far as Chennai is concerned. Even though Dhoni played sedately – as the situation demanded – his every move drew big cheers from the crowd. Making potentially decisive moves was Smith, bringing back first Cummins and then Coulter-Nile to actively look for wickets and not just wait for them.In his first over back, the 28th of the innings, Coulter-Nile duly produced the edge for his captain, but Smith was up too early at slip, and let it through for four runs. Had he held on, Pandya would have been dismissed for 13 off 18. Instead Coulter-Nile was through his middle-overs spell, and Smith had to eventually go back to Zampa in the 33rd over.Hardik Pandya’s innings featured five fours and five sixes•AFP

Pandya fancied Zampa immediately, winding up to each of the three deliveries he faced from him first up. All three were too full for him to hit in the air so he got singles down the ground. In the 37th over, though, Pandya found the perfect length to hit, but only after nearly falling in freakish manner.To the second ball of this over, Australia had a straight mid-on despite there being long-on and long-off behind him, a fielding position Dhoni has previously used for big straight hitters such as Pandya’s Mumbai Indians team-mate Kieron Pollard. Pandya managed to chip a full toss just over the man’s outstretched hand. The fielder was removed after that ball.With the next three balls it wouldn’t have mattered where the fielders were as Pandya found each of them to be in his swinging arc and hit them clean and straight for sixes. He did the same to a Stoinis slower ball later before Smith backed Zampa to bowl another over with Pandya still unbeaten. Pandya managed another six off him before Zampa found a bit of drift, making him go across the line towards midwicket, and getting an edge for short third man to gobble.The Chennai crowd had let itself be wooed by a man other than Dhoni momentarily, but after Pandya’s brilliance, the focus was back on the original darling. At 207 for 6 in the 41st over, it was now time for Dhoni to tee off. And tee off he did, although smartly, as he took 39 off the last 22 balls he faced.He had not hit a four in the first 66 balls he faced for 40 runs, but now he laid into James Faulkner, the weak link in that attack. So deliberate was Dhoni’s innings that outside the one top-edged hook off Coulter-Nile, he hit boundaries only off Faulkner.Bhuvneshwar Kumar provided Dhoni ample support with 32 off 30 before giving India a good start in the defence, cramping up his Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner with movement back in. Australia’s allrounders-filled line-up panicked in the face of the tight start and threw their bats at everything.Only Maxwell tasted reasonable success, hitting Kuldeep for three successive sixes, but by then his team-mates had left him no room for error. The error arrived through the only big hit he attempted off a wide ball, ending Australia’s challenge in a match that they would have thought they had secured at various points.