All posts by n8rngtd.top

India’s chief selector MSK Prasad had earlier stated that Dhoni would appear for Jharkhand in the quarter-finals, much like Rohit Sharma for Mumbai

Saurabh Somani13-Oct-2018MS Dhoni will not take part in Jharkhand’s knockout matches for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018-19.Jharkhand will play their quarter-final against Maharashtra at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday, and Dhoni wasn’t present at the first nets the team had, at the adjoining NCA ground, on Saturday. Team members that ESPNcricinfo spoke to on Saturday said they weren’t expecting Dhoni to join the squad.Jharkhand coach Rajiv Kumar said that he had not received any official word about Dhoni joining, but in his opinion, Dhoni wouldn’t have wanted to disturb the team’s combination, especially since he would have been able to play only one match.”He has to go to Hyderabad on October 16 to report for the ODI series,” Kumar said. “Maybe he will come for a day, I don’t know yet what his plan is, but so far, he is not coming. But it may be possible. You know he takes his own decisions. He is saying the boys are doing well, so there is no point coming for just one game and taking somebody’s place.”Jharkhand topped Group C with 32 points from nine matches, to qualify.The semi-finals are scheduled for October 17 and 18, meaning Dhoni would not have been able to take part even if Jharkhand win their match against Maharashtra.It is understood that Dhoni linking up with the Jharkhand team in Chennai was spoken of before he left for the Asia Cup. The Asia Cup concluded on September 28, with India beating Bangladesh in the final. Jharkhand had four league games remaining in Group C after that, with the first one on October 1. They won three of the games, with one abandoned without a ball bowled. Dhoni, however, eventually didn’t join the team.At the press conference after the Indian ODI side had been announced, chief selector MSK Prasad had said that Dhoni would be playing in the Vijay Hazare quarter-final.Dhoni’s decision is rendered more curious given his recent struggles in limited-overs cricket, and questions beginning to be asked about whether he is the right man to be the first-choice wicketkeeper in the 2019 World Cup. In the Asia Cup, he batted four times, scoring 77 runs with an average of 19.25 and a strike rate of 62.09. Overall in 2018, he has batted 10 times in 15 matches, for an average of 28.12 and a strike rate of 67.36. Dhoni’s last first-class match was in the Irani Trophy over a decade ago, while his last List-A game for Jharkhand was in the 2017-18 Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final against Bengal.However, while Dhoni has decided to stay away, Rohit Sharma will be part of the Mumbai XI that takes on Bihar in the first quarter-final on Sunday. Rohit, who also didn’t join the Mumbai squad during the league stages, has flown down to be part of the first knockout match. A Mumbai team spokesperson confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that if the Indian ODI team had asked players to report by October 16, Rohit would also miss any subsequent knockout matches.

The Sri Lanka batsman expressed surprise over the rank turner in Mirpur based on how his team had “very experienced bowlers” capable of exploiting it

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2018If one was looking to take a bit of pleasure in the Mirpur Test, it was either in seeing a parade of spinners turning the ball a mile or watching how Roshen Silva tackled those vicious deliveries. The 29-year old may only be playing his third Test match, but he didn’t seem too perturbed by the conditions. Playing the ball as late as he could, he has scored two high-quality half-centuries to put Sri Lanka 312 runs ahead.Roshen now has four successive scores of 50 or more in his first five innings at the Test level. Only three other players have managed such a sequence: Herbie Collins (1921), Sunil Gavaskar (1971) and Mohammad Azharuddin (1985). Roshen’s only blemish was a duck on Test debut last December. A veteran of 110 first-class matches, he struck his maiden Test century in Chittagong, but that effort came on a featherbed and as such might pale in comparison to his knocks in Dhaka.Roshen took a refreshingly realistic view of proceedings on the second day at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. He didn’t sugarcoat anything, saying it wasn’t easy out there but that a batsman has to be mentally prepared that there would be far more deliveries spitting off the edge of the bat than those hitting the middle.”Before going to bat, praying is the best thing,” Roshen said. “I am just joking. But if you get a good ball on this wicket, you can’t help it. You can lose one or two wickets suddenly. You must get runs from the loose balls. We play in similar kind of wickets back home. We just wanted to play as normally as possible. I am not going to say it is a good wicket, but mentally we knew it was going to turn.”Roshen said that he was lucky to survive the initial skirmishes. “Thank God I didn’t get out in the first few balls to Mustafizur Rahman. You must have seen it was really bad. I didn’t think that this would happen.”But once he got a hang of the pitch, like in the first innings, his ability to play the ball close to his body, and with soft hands, thwarted the Bangladesh spinners. He cut them away forcefully whenever they dropped it short and when they went too full – like Mehidy Hasan did – he struck fours thorough midwicket.Roshen was surprised to see Bangladesh lay out a rank turner against a side that has experienced spinners. Keeping in mind how the hosts batted in the first innings, he said Sri Lanka’s 312-run lead is enough to get them a win. “I thought it would be a good batting wicket. In the subcontinent, when Aussies or other teams come, we give this wicket but Sri Lanka has a good spin attack. I don’t know why they gave a wicket like this.”I think this [lead] is enough. All the batsmen from the Bangladesh team also know this wicket is not going to be easy. We have a much more experienced spin attack. They also have really good bowlers but Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera are very experienced bowlers. Rangana has 400-plus Test wickets; Dilruwan 700 first-class wickets. Suranga and Akila Dananjaya bowled well too. We are in a good position to win this match.”

Had they been able to complete two more balls, Uganda would have clinched promotion to WCL Division Three later this year

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Kuala Lumpur05-May-2018No result
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsCoach Steve Tikolo and captain Roger Mukasa are stoic after rain denied Uganda victory•Peter Della Penna

The World Cricket League has already thrown up its fair share of drama in the first half of 2018, beginning with the miracle that was Nepal’s 51-run tenth-wicket stand on the last day of group play to beat Canada at Division Two in Namibia. On Saturday in suburban Kuala Lumpur, the heavens opened up for a different kind of miracle to save Jersey and deny Uganda promotion.Having already sat through a two-hour delay in the ninth over that reduced Uganda’s original target from 127 to 105 off 35 overs, Riazat Ali Shah had just clubbed the fourth ball of the 20th over through wide long-on for four to put Uganda on 55 for 3, four runs ahead of the DLS par score for 20 overs. But as the ball bounced over the ropes, another storm that had closed in on the ground in the previous over let loose with heavy rain, forcing the umpires to take the players off the field 80 minutes before the official cut-off time of 5:45 pm. Even though the shower lasted only 20 minutes, it was enough to render the bowlers’ run-ups unplayable.The umpires took a final inspection at 5:05 pm before waving Uganda captain Roger Mukasa and his Jersey counterpart Charles Perchard out to deliver the news. The pair shook hands, Mukasa waved his hands apart while Perchard gestured a throat slash. Both gestures were met with silence from their respective camps before a full handshake line commenced with Uganda frustrated and Jersey relieved. Under the tournament rules, the match will be replayed from ball one on Sunday, with the playoff round scrapped and turned into a reserve day as league matches take precedence in determining promotion and relegation.Had they been able to complete two more balls, Uganda would have clinched promotion to WCL Division Three later this year while Jersey would have stayed in Division Four. However, thanks to Denmark’s loss to Vanuatu at Kinrara Academy Oval, where play went on uninterrupted just 16 miles northwest of UKM-YSD Oval in Bangi, Jersey can sleep on the knowledge that a win over Uganda in Sunday’s replay could see them overtake Denmark on the net run rate tie-breaker for promotion. Uganda, however, remain firm favourites to move up regardless of a win or loss.The rain spoiled another brilliant performance from Mohammed Irfan, who took the new ball and ripped through Jersey’s top order to leave them 36 for 5 during an unbroken 10-over spell of spin after Uganda sent Jersey in at the toss. Whether it was defending on the front foot (Peter Gough), back foot (Nick Ferraby), charging down the pitch (Jonty Jenner) or sweeping from the crease (Harrison Carlyon), Irfan found all sorts of ways to defeat the Jersey batsmen to claim 4 for 26.First-drop allrounder Ben Stevens held firm in the face of Irfan’s assault, building a 92-ball 66 that prevented Jersey from crumbling altogether and helped drag the innings out to 42.2 overs. Irfan’s new-ball medium-pace partner Bilal Hassan then returned to rip through the tail as Jersey were dismissed for 126.

The allrounder says he would rather get out playing the way he wants rather than way other people tell him

George Dobell12-Jun-20180:51

England better for Scotland defeat – Morgan

Moeen Ali has defended the choice of stroke that led to his dismissal in Edinburgh and vowed not to change the way he plays.Moeen appeared to have taken England to the brink of victory over Scotland with a fluent innings of 46 when, with 25 more required from the final 28 deliveries of the match, he tried to thrash a six and was caught on the long-on boundary; the eighth wicket to fall. It seemed an unnecessary risk from England’s last front-line batsman.But Moeen insisted it was the right choice of stroke and he wasn’t going to allow “negativity” to change the way he plays.”The ball was there to hit and I just mis-hit it,” Moeen said. “I’d hit two or three for six. When they are going for six and you’re playing well, everyone is trying to big you up. Mis-hit one, get out and all the negative people come out.”I could have knocked it for one, but then Liam Plunkett would have been on strike and could have been out. Then Adil Rashid could have been out. And then you’re in the same position.”From my point of view, it’s best not to have any sort of doubt. I have to stay true to myself; don’t doubt myself.”When I went out of the Test side, I sat down and realised that you have to be true to yourself. I’d rather get dropped playing the way I want to play rather than playing the way people want me to play. So that’s what I’m going to do.”I’m going to stay true to myself and not worry about what people say. There is a lot of negativity around. Scotland played really well, we couldn’t stop them from scoring runs and they made it really hard for us and they deserved to win.”Moeen also insisted he was growing into the ‘finisher’ role that and it is true that, a little after he came to the crease with the score on 276 for 7, England were in deep trouble. A stand of 71 with Plunkett appeared to have put England back on course”We were struggling big time but Liam and myself got us back in the game,” he said. “I feel good in my game: batting and bowling. I want to try to stick to my mindset and not let anyone change that.”If there was any lesson from the Edinburgh experience it was, perhaps, that England may not have the strength in depth they thought. Certainly Ben Stokes, who would have played in place of Alex Hales, and Chris Woakes, who would have played in front of David Willey, were sorely missed.Without a frontline sixth bowler – England did have the option to try Joe Root in Scotland, but were persuaded not to bowl him by the short boundaries – they had no insurance option should one of the main bowlers have an off day. As it transpired, pretty much all five of them did. They may also have missed Woakes’ calm head in the run-chase.”I always feel you’re better off having six bowlers in one-day cricket,” Moeen said. “The best thing is that Stokesy bats in your top six. If you can have two guys in the top six who bowl, I think you’re sitting pretty with the balance of the team.””It was a very good game in the end. They scored a lot of runs that we had to try to chase. It was a small ground and we should have chased them. Good for Scotland, bad for us.”

The match spilling into a second day made the New Zealander lose sleep, but he remained confident about the total they got given the conditions on offer

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2019For the longest time – the first day if you like – it did look like New Zealand had fallen behind and India had the edge in their World Cup semi-final at Old Trafford. It turned out that the 239 for 8 they got was 18 runs too many for India, a target that Ross Taylor said his team were quietly confident about. “We thought 240 was a target that we wanted to get to, and be very competitive,” he said.It was a tricky pitch to bat on right through the 99.3 overs of action, with only Ravindra Jadeja getting the better of the conditions in his 59-ball 77.”We fell a little bit short (of 240) and we knew we needed early wickets and the way the two opening bowlers set the tone, 240 looked a long way away,” Taylor told newspersons after New Zealand had made the World Cup final for the second edition in a row. “We all knew in ourselves that we deserved to be here and we wanted to … not to prove anyone wrong, but to prove it to ourselves that we were good enough.”We were quietly confident, I think. When our backs are against the ball, quite often we have played our best. We talked about that, we have nothing to lose, just go out there and sum up the situation. We have obviously got quite a few level heads, from playing the semi-final and winning at home [in 2015]. We trusted ourselves, we trusted ourselves yesterday – strange to play over two days – but we got the right result.”With rain pushing the semi-final into the reserve day, a lot of focus was on Taylor, who came into the match on the back of middling form in the tournament. He looked scratchy during his innings in the semi-final too, but he hung in, and was on 67 not out when play was called off on Tuesday. He carried on to 74 and New Zealand got from 211 for 5 to 239 for 8.”I woke up at 3 o’clock this morning, wondering how I was going to bat these last 23 balls. I texted my wife at about five saying I still can’t go to bed. She said, ‘Oh dear.’ So I just turned my phone off because there were a lot of messages from back home. So in terms of my sleep, I had terrible sleep,” Taylor said with a laugh. “But my main focus, everyone kept saying, ‘come on, get to 250’, my mind set was to get to 240, as Kane and I discussed yesterday. I get to go to sleep now, though.”Once New Zealand had got their competitive total, the bowlers took over. In 3.1 overs, India were 5 for 3, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul all back in the hut. Man of the match Matt Henry picked up two of the wickets and Trent Boult accounted for Kohli, with the umpire’s lbw decision upheld despite an India review.”Starting up with the ball, we just wanted to put as much pressure on the opposition as we can. And yeah, to nudge him [Kohli] in the pads and see the finger go up, yeah, it was pretty exciting,” Boult said. “But obviously you’re always nervous if the decision goes upstairs. So it was good to see the bails just falling off. It was good fun.”I don’t want to say I am a magician against the best player in the world, but yeah, it was nice to see everything line up and I think we saw them at 3 for 6 [5] at one stage. So yeah, we bowled extremely well, it was good pressure from both ends, and it was nice to come out on the right side.”Virat Kohli reviews after being given out lbw to Trent Boult•Getty Images

From 5 for 3, India got to 24 for 4 and then 71 for 5 and 92 for 6 before MS Dhoni and Jadeja added 116 for the seventh wicket, Jadeja, especially, taking the fight to the opposition – he hit four of the six sixes hit in the entire match.”We know for a fact that if we can get sides three down inside the first ten, and put pressure on the middle order, it’s going to be challenging for anyone,” Boult said. “It was about keeping it simple and nice to put a bit of pressure on those guys. I thought they absorbed it very nicely to get into a position to need 25 [31] off a couple of overs. The end was … it was a great game, great fun, we’re in another final, and we can’t wait.”The moment that turned a fast-swinging game decisively in New Zealand’s favour was Martin Guptill’s direct hit to run Dhoni out in the 49th over. With Bhuvneshwar Kumar at the other end, Dhoni wanted to keep the strike and took on Guptill, who threw down the stumps from around the 30-yard circle after running in from the deep. The wicketkeeper had chased after the ball, so it had to be a direct hit, and it was. It was a spot of redemption for Guptill, who has had a horror run with the bat at the World Cup. After hitting 73 not out against Sri Lanka in New Zealand’s first game, he has totalled just 94 runs in eight innings.”He is down on confidence, we talked about it after he missed out yesterday, and this morning, he was going to go out there do something brilliant,” Taylor said. “Jimmy Neesham’s catch [to send back Dinesh Karthik off Henry] was fantastic, and Dhoni has won from that situation many times. Once we did break that partnership – Jadeja and Dhoni – we weren’t still out of the woods yet, but once we got Dhoni… Brilliant run out, no keeper, if the keeper had been there, he [Dhoni] would have been safe by the time he took the bails off.”But to have the confidence to do that, in a semi-final… hopefully that’s a bit of luck that he takes from his fielding to his batting and maybe he can have a bit of luck and make the most of it.”Cricket’s about small margins. When we came in to the huddle, the boys were joking that Gup always misses the stumps. When there’s a run out on, he always missed the stumps,” Taylor smiled. “All those misses over the years, he only hits when there’s nothing to worry about, but he did it now, and we celebrated accordingly and we’re very happy for him.”

Both captains said there was no instruction to keep emotions in check when they face each other in the Asia Cup, in context of the geopolitical tensions between the two countries

Shashank Kishore09-Sep-20251:56

Salman Agha: There are no favourites in T20 cricket

India captain Suryakumar Yadav has said there has been no instruction to tone down aggression or keep emotions in check, even when they play Pakistan in the Asia Cup on September 14 in Dubai. The question was asked in the context of the prevailing geopolitical tensions between the two countries.”Temper? Aggression is always there when we take the field,” Suryakumar said. “And without aggression, I don’t think you can play this sport. I’m very excited to take the field.”Pakistan captain Salman Agha echoed the sentiment, saying there was no need for special instructions to his players either.Related

• Nothing in mind apart from cricket – India batting coach Kotak on playing Pakistan

• 'No agenda, just honesty' – Hesson defends assesment of senior players

• Asia Cup 2025: Politics, passion and a stage for new rivalries

• Grassy Dubai pitch leaves India with tricky selection calls against UAE

• Back-to-back games plus travel 'not ideal' – Asalanka, Rashid on gruelling schedules

“You don’t need to say anything to any player,” Agha said. “Everyone is different individually. If someone wants to be aggressive on the field, they are more than welcome to do that. When it comes to fast bowlers, they are always aggressive and you can’t stop them because that’s what keeps them going.”From my side, there is no instruction to anyone, as long as it stays on the field.”The other aspect of the India-Pakistan clash – their first in T20Is since last year’s World Cup fixture in New York – is that both teams have moved on from their superstars. India are without the retired Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, while Pakistan have chosen to move on, for now, from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.Unlike Pakistan, coming off a steady diet of T20I cricket over the past three months, reigning champions India will be playing their first T20I since the England series in January. Despite looking strong on paper, Suryakumar brushed off suggestions that India were runaway favourites.Both teams have moved on from their superstars, with Virat Kohli now retired from T20Is and Babar Azam out of the side•AFP/Getty Images

“? (Who said?),” he asked with a laugh.When told that was the [discussion] on social media, Suryakumar responded: “I haven’t heard of it. But you have played in this format and you know how your preparations are. If your preparations are good, then you will be very confident when you take the field.”We are playing T20 as a team after a long time. But we were here three-four days back, had some good time together as a team, and we are really looking forward to this tournament.”In the lead-up to the Asia Cup, Agha led Pakistan to a tri-series win over Afghanistan and UAE just two days ago. Prior to that, they had mixed outings – beating West Indies 2-1 in the USA and losing 1-2 to Bangladesh in Bangladesh. Agha felt the format was far too fickle to have clear favourites.”In T20, I don’t think anyone is favourite,” he said. “On a particular day, you just have to play good cricket. T20 is a very fast game. In one or two overs, the game can completely change.”The tri-series was always preparation for the Asia Cup. If we won it, that’s very good, but the focus was always on this tournament. We still have to come here, play good cricket, and win the Asia Cup. That’s all that matters.”We are playing very good cricket. I think for almost four months, we have won three series out of four. So we are doing very well as a team and at the same time, we are very excited. A lot of the boys will play in the Asia Cup for the first time but they are ready for the challenge.”

Batting coach admits World Cup has taken physical and mental toll on players but makes no excuses

George Dobell at Lord's24-Jul-2019Graham Thorpe admitted there were “no real excuses” for England’s poor performance with the bat at Lord’s but suggested the experience could prove just “the jolt” required to focus minds ahead of the Ashes.England’s first innings amounted to just 85. It was the first time they had been bowled out before lunch on the first day of a Lord’s Test and the shortest innings, in terms of balls received, in their history of home Tests. It was also the fourth time in three years they had lost 10 wickets within a single session; a phenomenon that was almost unheard of until 2016.But while Thorpe, England’s batting coach, accepted the World Cup campaign – which finished little more than a week ago – had taken a toll on players both physically and mentally, he defended the decision to pick members of the limited-overs squad for this match. The five players from England’s World Cup squad involved here contributed seven runs between them and were also responsible for at least one dropped chance. The first Ashes Test begins at Edgbaston on August 1.”We can’t run away from today’s performance,” Thorpe said. “And we can’t make excuses. There are no real excuses for us being bowled out for 85 against Ireland. It’s been a bad day. I’m very surprised and disappointed.”It was a tough tournament, no doubt about it. And I don’t think there’s any harm in admitting where some of our players are [mentally]. There aren’t too many sports where you win a World Cup and are playing again a week later. We have to accept that some players are in maybe a different headspace to others. That’s natural and totally understandable.”The players have to show an enormous amount of character and mental strength as well to be able to come back down from last weekend and to be playing this week. I’m sure some of the lads would have liked to stay up on Cloud 9 for longer but this is the nature of our sport and this is the nature of our schedule so we have to accept it.”But we have to react to the fact we have an Ashes campaign coming up as well. Sometimes [experiences like this] can be a little jolt as well. In some respects, it will refocus minds. Hopefully the bump in the road puts some of the players back in a better place and we will be ready for Australia next week.”All the players involved in the World Cup were asked if they felt ready for this match by the England management ahead of selection. But while Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler were rested, the other five (Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy) expressed a willingness to play.”Those players were all asked if they wanted to play,” Thorpe said. “And if we’d turned up at Edgbaston next week and been rolled over for 100 – and I’m not saying that can’t happen – without having given anyone the opportunity [to play here] then in a way you’re handing an excuse to the players also. So there’s a balancing act and I think everyone would understand that.”Sometimes you have to accept you have a bad day and you have to answer some questions. But you can’t bury your head in the sands. The schedule is what it is and we have to do our best to give the players the opportunities to put them in the best place to start an Ashes series. This will probably stand the guys in good stead in red ball cricket.”Disappointed as he was in England’s performance, Thorpe was pleased for his former teammate Tim Murtagh, who claimed a maiden five-wicket haul at Test level. The pair played together at Surrey”Murts bowled fantastically well for Ireland,” he said. “Ireland put our top order under pressure and didn’t let go. It was a disappointing batting performance but congratulations to Ireland.”I am really pleased for Tim. He has had a fantastic first-class career and he did the simple things well today. He put the ball in the right areas and put our batsmen under pressure. From a human perspective, I am pleased for him. I am disappointed we weren’t able to respond to it but I am pleased for him. He is a workhorse as a bowler, he’s very consistent and he will be over the moon to get on the honours board.”England require 122 in their second innings to avoid an innings defeat and make Ireland bat again.

The 28-year old Sri Lankan legspinner has been punished for conduct that was in breach of his player contract

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-2018Sri Lanka have sent legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay back home from the tour of West Indies owing to conduct that was in breach of his player contract. A press release from the board said the team management had reported an “incident” following which this decision was taken.Sri Lanka have had a difficult time in the Caribbean. They lost the first Test by a huge margin, became the subject of a ball-tampering controversy in the second, and the penalties handed out mean they won’t have the services of their captain Dinesh Chandimal in the third.Chandimal along with the coach Chandika Hathurusingha and manager Asanka Gurusinha are awaiting sanctions on another charge, relating to their role in holding up play for two hours on the third day in St Lucia in protest against the umpire’s suspicions that they had altered the condition of the ball.

Reece Topley clinches one-wicket nail-biter after Tymal Mills stars with ball

ECB Media06-Aug-2025Reece Topley carved his first ball and the penultimate ball of the match for four to take Southern Brave to a dramatic and unexpected one-wicket win against Manchester Originals in the Hundred.Last man Topley walked out with three runs needed from two balls, after Craig Overton (18 not out off 8) and Tymal Mills (8 off 4) had wrestled the game back from the home team’s grasp with a vital 25-run partnership.The equation was 28 needed from 13 when Scott Currie (4 for 28) had Michael Bracewell caught behind, and the smart money would have been on Manchester Originals. Indeed, Phil Salt might wonder how his team didn’t get over the line, across an innings that saw both 43-year-old James Anderson (0 for 36) and 17-year-old Farhan Ahmed (0 for 8 off five balls) make their debuts in the competition.Reece Topley and Craig Overton were the unlikely heroes with the bat•Joe Prior/Getty Images

“We managed to somehow get ourselves in a position where it was in our hands, one hit away,” Mills said. “Credit to Manchester Originals, they bowled really well for the best part of the innings but Craig pulled out some big hits at the end. It’s always good to win close games like that and it stands us in good stead for the rest of the season.”Bat on ball was the main thing. We needed to hit every ball and scamper as best we could, and obviously we managed to get a couple of boundaries in there as well – that was a brilliant knock from Craig. We just wanted to take it as deep as we could and Toppers finished it off brilliantly.”Mills was awarded Meerkat Match Hero partly for his efforts with the bat, but he had earlier taken 3 for 22 – with the wickets of Salt, Jos Buttler and Heinrich Klaasen – as Originals made 132 for 4. Salt was the stand-out for the home team, making a 41-ball 60 and overtaking James Vince to become the all-time leading run-scorer in the men’s Hundred as he did so.Tymal Mills dismissed Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and Heinrich Klaasen•Joe Prior/Getty Images

Mark Chapman added some late impetus to the Originals batting effort and the home faithful would have been confident throughout much of the Brave’s reply that their total would be enough to see them to a winning start, but they weren’t counting for the late intervention of Overton, Mills and Topley.”I think it was a wicket that rewarded you for hitting the pitch hard,” Mills added. “We saw in the Powerplay that we were perhaps a little bit full, but once we dragged our lengths back and hit the pitch hard there was a little bit of bounce there and we saw that when Manchester Originals were bowling as well. We were happy halfway with that score, and we were confident of chasing it, but we probably made a little bit more hard work of it than we would have liked.”

Harshit Rana or Mayank Yadav is likely to make his international debut for India

Mohammad Isam05-Oct-20243:00

Takeaways: A first look at Mayank Yadav

Big picture: T20 world champions return home

A T20I series in the middle of a Test season can be a hard sell but both India and Bangladesh will have their own priorities in the three-match series starting in Gwalior on Sunday. While India have rested their key players – and will additionally be without Shivam Dube who was ruled out with injury on Saturday* – the ones on the fringes will look to establish themselves as back-ups and will also be keen to increase their IPL value.Suryakumar Yadav leads a side that’s less experienced than Bangladesh in T20Is, but his players are more skilled and versatile than Bangladesh’s in the format. Suryakumar, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh are among the experienced players in India’s side, but even the ones with less than ten T20I caps are stars. Newcomers Mayank Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana are the uncapped players, while Abhishek Sharma, who made his debut against Zimbabwe in July, has a chance to add to his five T20I caps.The home side are also without most of their first-choice fast bowlers, which could open up debuts for Mayank Yadav, who hit 150kph for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, and Harshit, who won IPL 2024 with Kolkata Knight Riders. Hardik offers them seam-bowling support while Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi and the returning Varun Chakravarthy make up the spin group.Related

• Dube out of Bangladesh T20Is; Tilak named replacement

• Suryakumar: 'Mayank has the X factor, important to manage him well'

• International cricket returns to Gwalior after 14 years, at a brand new venue

• Mayank's fitness, Jadeja's replacement among India's priorities in T20Is

As for Bangladesh, who don’t play enough T20Is, this is a huge opportunity. From developing their game against a strong opposition, to having an outside chance of being picked in the IPL, there will be excitement in the visitors’ camp.The likes of Mahmudullah, Mustafizur Rahman, Litton Das, Taskin Ahmed and Mahedi Hasan, all of whom have at least fifty T20Is under their belt, have to put their act together if Bangladesh are to beat India. Even relative newcomers like Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rishad Hossain and Tanzid Hasan have growing reputations. All of this is vital when they know who is no longer in their line-up.Shakib Al Hasan, who is arguably Bangladesh’s greatest cricketer, has announced his retirement from Tests and T20Is.

Form guide

India WWWWW (last five T20Is, most recent first)
BangladeshLLLWWRishad Hossain can bowl the legbreak as well as the wrong’un•AFP via Getty Images

In the spotlight: Sanju Samson and Rishad Hossain

With India having picked just one opener in Abhishek, Sanju Samson will be pushed up to the top to partner Abhishek – Suryakumar confirmed as much on match eve. Samson has ducks in his last two T20I knocks, against Sri Lanka, but it will be his IPL form from earlier this year, that will give him and the team management the confidence going into this series. Samson scored 531 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 153.46 in IPL 2024, once again underlining his ability in the format, something that he would like to bring into his international game quickly.Legspinner Rishad Hossain finished the T20 World Cup earlier this year with 14 wickets, level with Rashid Khan, at an average of 13.85 and economy rate of 7.76. He emerged as Bangladesh’s top wicket-taker in the tournament has now comes the second act: impressing IPL scouts in India. It will be tough to back up such a strong performance and even in the past many Bangladesh players have struggled to build on early success. Rishad has played just one competitive game since the 2024 T20 World Cup but has since been training in Dhaka to get up to speed.

Team news: Mayank Yadav or Harshit Rana could be in line for debut

India have a new-look top order and seam attack as a number of regulars are missing from their T20I squad. They have brought in Tilak Varma for the injured Dube, but it’s likely Nitish Kumar Reddy will slot into his place in the XI. Tearaway Mayank didn’t train much in the lead up to the series opener which could mean a debut for Harshit on Sunday.India (probable): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Rinku Singh, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Harshit Rana/Mayank Yadav, 11 Arshdeep SinghMehidy Hasan Miraz returns to the Bangladesh T20I side to play as a batting allrounder. Parvez Hossain Emon could be picked ahead of Tanzid Hasan.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Litton Das (wk), 2 Parvez Hossain Emon, 3 Tanzid Hasan, 4 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 5 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 6 Towhid Hridoy, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Tanzim Hasan Sakib, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

Pitch and conditions: Good weather on Sunday evening

The pitch is bit of an unknown, given this will be the first international at the Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, where there is extra security measures in place given some calls for a boycott.Teams batting first in night games in the last 12 months in India have averaged in excess of 190 runs, with four out of the eight teams scoring 200-plus batting first.The weather is likely to be slightly cooler than the usual daytime heat on Sunday evening.

Stats and Trivia

• This is the first international match at the Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, which is located 12km to the west of Gwalior city. The last match held in the region was in February 2010 when Sachin Tendulkar struck the first double-hundred in ODIs, at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium.
• Bangladesh (644 caps) have a more experienced T20I squad than India (389 caps) in this series.
• At 37 years and 180 days, Shakib recently became Bangladesh’s oldest Test cricketer. Mahmudullah, part of this T20 squad, is second oldest in all formats for Bangladesh, now playing at the age of 38. Overall, Jahangir Shah is Bangladesh’s oldest international cricketer who played an ODI against New Zealand at the age of 41.
  

  Quote

  “From this series, you will see our players trying to play with a new approach. Everyone will play to win. I think the players that are here [for the series], and four or five others, will be the ones playing the 2026 World Cup. So, I think from this series, our preparations will properly begin.”
  “It’s a good opportunity [for newcomers]. They have good potential; they have made impact for their state, their franchises. If they get a chance, I hope they would perform the same because there is no need to do anything different.”