Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has glimpsed a few weaknesses in New Zealand’s batting line-up and believes his varied attack can bring it down

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Christchurch16-Nov-20161:30

Fernando: Pakistan attack can exploit NZ conditions

When South Africa returned from a 0-3 drubbing in India in 2015, they went on to lose the subsequent home series against England. When Australia returned from a 0-3 drubbing by low-ranked Sri Lanka this year, they went to lose the subsequent (and ongoing) series against South Africa.New Zealand hope to break the trend; they hope their 0-3 in India will not have a similar effect on their home summer. Misbah-ul-Haq, though, has glimpsed a few weaknesses. He believed his varied attack can bring an ailing New Zealand top order down.”If you see, after the Indian tour, most of the Kiwi batsmen have been struggling and short of confidence,” Misbah said. “I know this is their own territory and they’ll be confident playing here, but as a batsman, and a cricketer, confidence can play a big role. Being short of confidence – we’ll look forward to exploiting that.”While New Zealand’s batsmen seek a return to collective form, Pakistan’s own top order must resist the likes of Trent Boult and Tim Southee on Hagley Oval’s green top. Pakistan did win two Tests in England this year, but both those matches were played in London, where pitches were less seam-friendly than elsewhere. It had, in fact, been the legspin of Yasir Shah that defined the Lord’s Test, as well as playing a crucial role in the second innings at The Oval. Tracks in New Zealand have not been so spin friendly recently.”If you look at the UAE conditions and New Zealand conditions, these are totally different,” Misbah said. “That’s the biggest challenge for us, especially for our batting. Most of our players have been to New Zealand before, and they know how these conditions can be different from what we are used to. We need to make sure that we bat with discipline and put good scores on the board. Our bowling is very much capable of performing well in any sort of conditions.”There may be rain in the air in Christchurch, but Pakistan had also had their three-day practice match in Nelson completely washed out, meaning their preparation in New Zealand has been less than ideal. Misbah said his team would fall back on their recent experience in England, and hoped the lessons learned on that tour would hold true here.”The England series was a tough series for us. That experience will really help us here, because of the confidence we gained from that. The players are up for this challenge, and we can prove ourselves here also. We need to learn some things from that tour – those conditions, and how we go about business. How we’ve batted, how our disciplines are, and how we’ve bowled.”It’s going to be a key for us because we missed the practice game here. A couple of practice sessions are the only experience we’ve got before the Test match. As professionals, we need to use that information and be ready enough for the Test.If India lose the series against England, Pakistan have an opportunity to reclaim the no. 1 Test ranking they had briefly held following Australia’s loss in Sri Lanka. Misbah said the prospect continued to spur his team.”Always the no. 1 ranking is a big motivation. If you play any sport, you want to be the best. That’s what we are looking forward to. That said, we need to improve ourselves every game. Every series and game becomes important for us. Looking forward to playing well in this series and in Australia.”

Ravindra Jadeja took seven wickets in an innings for the first time to bowl India to victory over England by an innings and 75 runs to give them a 4-0 series win

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy20-Dec-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:50

Ganguly: Kohli’s captaincy, India’s bench strength stood out

In Mumbai, England had slipped to an innings defeat after batting first and scoring 400. In Chennai, they batted first again and scored 477. At lunch on the fifth day, they were 97 for no loss in their second innings, trailing by 185. This was a flatter pitch than Mumbai, less bouncy and a lot slower. Surely it couldn’t happen again?It did. This time, they lost by an innings and 75 runs, their punishing seven-Test tour of the subcontinent ending at 3.56pm IST, with a draw nine overs away. In Mirpur, they had lost all ten wickets in one session. Here, in less frightening conditions, they lost all ten in 48.2 overs, for the addition of 104 runs, after their openers had added 103.Ravindra Jadeja was India’s match-winner, taking seven wickets for the first time in a Test innings and ten for the first time in a match as well as grabbing two catches, including what was surely the catch of the series. England, though, were their own worst enemy, batsman after batsman getting himself out to hasten India to a 4-0 series win.England still had six wickets in hand when the final session began, and, in Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes, batsmen at the crease with three hundreds between them in the series. But Jadeja hounded them, pounding the rough outside their off stump relentlessly. Moeen stepped out, looking to hit him off his length, and only found a leaping R Ashwin at mid-on. Stokes went on the back foot, looking to work him with the turn. The ball stopped and popped to midwicket.This was no longer an entirely flat pitch. It still wasn’t doing much for the bowlers from the Pattabiraman Gate End, but there was something in it now for those approaching from the Anna Pavilion End. England could have negotiated it if the decisions made by their top order hadn’t exposed Nos. 8 and 9 to it. Amit Mishra bowled the No. 8, Liam Dawson, with a googly as he looked to drive against the turn. Umesh Yadav had the No. 9, Adil Rashid, caught off the leading edge, at point, by, who else, Jadeja.Out of the attack for seven overs, Jadeja returned with 12 overs remaining. Stuart Broad saw out the first over of his spell, but could do nothing about the first ball of the second; it jumped out of the rough as he stretched out to defend, and popped up off the glove to leg slip. Three balls later, it was all over. Turn and bounce again, this time to the right-handed Jake Ball. The No. 11 poked, and Karun Nair caught the ball at slip.Broad and Ball, the Nos. 10 and 11, were the only two England batsmen dismissed while trying to defend. It was an indictment of their approach after they had made the best possible start to the fifth day, a wicketless first session.Both sides of lunch, Jadeja had threatened to dismiss Alastair Cook for the sixth time in the series. He produced a loud lbw shout with his first ball of the day, turning the ball past the inside edge when Cook, on 25, pressed forward to defend. India did well not to review umpire Marais Erasmus’ not-out decision: replays suggested the ball struck Cook in line with off stump but would probably have spun past leg stump. Then, on 47, Cook shuffled across his stumps and missed a flick; this time India reviewed, and ball-tracking suggested the ball was turning too much to hit leg stump.Eventually, Cook’s shuffling unease about getting lbw caused him to play at a ball fired a long way down the leg side, and he effectively glanced the ball straight to leg slip. He fell one short of a half-century in his final innings of this long and difficult tour of the subcontinent, and what might possibly be his final innings as England’s captain.It was a typical innings in cussedness if not in length, taking no risks and forcing India to bowl their best balls at him even as he struggled against both Jadeja and Ashwin, who had beaten his outside edge frequently in the first hour. There was a dropped catch too, Ashwin finding dip and turn in the third over of the day to find his outside edge, but not the desired support behind the wicket, the ball bouncing off Parthiv Patel’s gloves.Keaton Jennings had played the spinners well, sweeping and reverse-sweeping confidently and also using his feet to try and get to the pitch and work Jadeja and Amit Mishra with the turn. This enabled him to clip both of them for fours through midwicket, but having done this to go from 50 to 54, he stepped out again, premeditatedly, and Jadeja fired it in low and full. The ball hit Jennings on the front foot, and then bounced up into the face of his bat, and looped back for a simple return catch.Joe Root, England’s best batsman of the series, got himself out six overs later, sweeping unwisely off the line of the stumps. The ball was too full for the shot, and it sneaked under his bat and hit his front pad instead. India reviewed Simon Fry’s not-out decision – a fair call, given it wasn’t immediately apparent whether the ball had straightened enough to hit the stumps – and ball-tracking said it was hitting more than 50% of leg stump.Jonny Bairstow was next to go, perhaps unfortunate to see a perfectly acceptable flick, off a full, leg-stumpish Ishant delivery balloon into the air, the ball perhaps stopping on him. He was even more unfortunate that Jadeja was the fielder sprinting from midwicket towards the square leg boundary with his back to the pitch, looking over his shoulder to keep his eye on the ball. Perhaps no one else on the field would have been able to pull off the catch.

MS Dhoni also said that he had waited for Virat Kohli to settle in as Test captain before deciding to step down as India’s limited-overs leader

Arun Venugopal in Pune13-Jan-20173:18

Wanted Virat to ease into Test captaincy – Dhoni

MS Dhoni has revealed that his reservations with split captaincy were a factor in his decision to give up the role of India’s limited-overs captain. Speaking at his first press conference since stepping down as India’s ODI and T20I captain last week, Dhoni said he had waited for his successor, Virat Kohli, to settle in as Test captain before making the decision.”Right from the start, when I left Test captainship, I knew split captaincy doesn’t work in India, doesn’t work in our set-up,” he said at a press conference in Pune, where the first ODI against England will be played on Sunday. “I was waiting for the right time. I wanted Virat to ease into the Test format. With so many games, I feel he is right there. With this kind of decision, there is no wrong decision in it. It is just the timing. I feel this is the time.”And specially Virat, starting from Champions Trophy, to win the Champions Trophy in England. I felt it was the right time to move on. If I would’ve stayed till the Champions Trophy, nothing much changes.”Kohli had taken over as Test captain from Dhoni in December 2014, after Dhoni retired from the format during India’s tour of Australia in 2014-15.Dhoni explained that the rationale behind quitting Test cricket midway through the tour was to give someone like Wriddhiman Saha, who was being groomed as the second wicketkeeper, greater exposure.”A lot of people were like why did I quit mid-series in Australia, but you have to look at the bigger picture, what is more beneficial,” he said. “One more game into my numbers, it doesn’t make a lot of difference. But, since Saha was there, he gets a chance to play one more game in Australia. And if everything goes well, he will be the person to be going on foreign tours, so he has that exposure. And Virat also has the same kind of exposure.”Dhoni said he would continue to be a de facto vice-captain in Kohli’s team by virtue of being the wicketkeeper. From his position behind the stumps, Dhoni felt he was well-placed to give the new captain counsel whenever required.”I think the wicketkeeper is always a vice-captain of the side irrespective of whether he is announced vice-captain or not,” he said. “One thing is the field setting is usually given to the vice-captain or the wicketkeeper. In this scenario, I will have to keep a close eye as to what the skipper really wants, as to what are his preferential field positions.”I already had this chat with Virat about how he likes his fielders, where he wants them to be. In the sense I have to be more aware of whether he wants a short third [man] fine or he wants it slightly wider because different people have different opinions. If you had a short third or a fine leg, I always preferred it closer to me so that it’s slightly more difficult for the batsman to play a shot to get it through the right side of the field. All of that I have to adapt, but overall I don’t think much changes.”I will be there to give as many suggestions as possible to Virat as and when required. The field positioning is something I have to keep a close eye on. I will have to consult him and tell him because if it is strategically positioned in a particular place I can become a bit of a problem if I start moving around, but it’s not something that’s a big trouble to cope with. It’s just that I will have to keep a close eye, especially in the first few games, maybe a couple of games I can read the field positioning and everything and use it properly.””I already had this chat with Virat about how he likes his fielders, where he wants them to be”•Associated Press

In an insight into his methods as captain, Dhoni said his main job was to extract the best out of his players without unreasonable expectations of them. He said he played both good cop and bad cop when it came to handling players, and spoke of the importance of identifying match-winners and giving them a fair run. Dhoni didn’t take names, but he could well have been referring to players like Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, who weren’t consistent initially but went on to establish themselves as key players in his tenure.”The main job is to make sure that whatever is the potential of the player, he is performing to 100%,” he said. “Usually if you can achieve something between 90 to 110%, you know you’ve done really well.”You can’t really get 150% performance from a player who is 80%. That’s where you have to be very practical, very honest. There are different ways to handle everyone: for some it is a kind word, for some it is a harsh word. For some it may be just an expression with your eyes. At times it may be the false confidence you give the guy because that is what is really needed at that point of time. You have to be clever enough to evaluate as to this is what is needed at that point of time.”If you know the potential of the team, you can definitely make sure that they perform to the potential. You may face a few problems at times, say, you have two or three batsmen who are not performing at the same time [and] that maybe a hindrance. But, more often than not, you look at the bigger picture and say once it comes to the ICC events and the big tournaments and the knock-out stages, who is that person who can really win those big games for you. But, at the end of the day, you can give only a few games to an individual. Maybe two or three or four more games that is provided by the team if they are doing really well. Overall you can’t do much but you still need to have that faith.”Dhoni said he did not have any regrets during his tenure, or in life – “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” – and stated there were several moments, good and bad, which brought a smile to his face. High on the list was how the team handled the period of transition following the retirements of Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag.”When I started there were a lot of senior players in the side and as we progressed there was a time when the senior players had to leave and we had to make sure the transition is smooth,” he said. “The only good thing is over the period – once the seniors left us and the juniors came into the side – it is the same juniors who have started to do well.”We invested in them and over the period they started proving they are the ones who will take the legacy forward when it comes to Indian cricket, so that was a very satisfying thing to see. Overall it was a journey I really enjoyed and it is something that brings a smile on your face whether it is the tough periods or the winning periods. Overall it is the journey that is more important.”

Virat Kohli has said Yuvraj Singh was included in the ODI and T20I squads against England to reduce the burden on MS Dhoni in an inexperienced middle order

Arun Venugopal in Pune14-Jan-2017Virat Kohli, India’s new limited-overs captain, has said Yuvraj Singh was included in the squads for the ODI and T20I series against England to reduce the burden on MS Dhoni in an inexperienced middle order ahead of the Champions Trophy in June.Kohli also said Ambati Rayudu, who made a century for India A in a warm-up against England, was not picked in the squads because he had not had enough game time after missing the Ranji Trophy season because of an injury.Yuvraj, on the other hand, scored 672 runs at an average of 84 in five matches for Punjab, with score of 260 and 177. Though he had averaged only 18.53 in his last 19 ODIs going back to 2012, Yuvraj was selected because there wasn’t enough time to groom a younger batsman: India have only three ODIs before the Champions Trophy.”We cannot leave so much burden on MS alone in the middle order,” Kohli said on the eve of the first ODI against England in Pune. “I am willing to take responsibility up the order, but there needs to be one more guy with him down the order in case the top order doesn’t fire.””If the top order doesn’t fire, you are left with MS alone and he is guiding the youngsters more often than not, which is fine if you have 15-20 games till a big tournament. When you have only three games, you need to make sure the guys who have been picked are in good form. That’s why I said we brought in Yuvi, to have the best batting combination possible, and Yuvi has had a very good first-class season. This just gives the team much more balance in the middle and lower-middle order with MS and Yuvi.”Yuvraj and Dhoni have scored 2795 runs in partnership at an average of 50 in 63 ODIs, and Kohli said Yuvraj’s return would allow Dhoni to play shots without worrying about the thinness of the line-up after him.”I think he [Dhoni] will have a bit more assurance knowing that he doesn’t have to think twice before attempting a big shot,” Kohli said. “They feed off each other’s momentum and one can play the aggressive role and one can keep knocking it around in singles. I’m sure they will be looking forward to doing it together.”To have two experienced guys compared to one is a massive difference. I am sure Hardik [Pandya] and Kedar [Jadhav] can learn a lot from them batting along with them.”In his first series as full-time ODI and T20I captain, Kohli said he wanted to learn from Dhoni. “I think he’s been so successful because he’s been able to find the right balance in being offensive with his plans as well as understanding the game when it is dominated by the opposition on how to slow things down,” Kohli said. “I think that’s his biggest strength. It happens in Test cricket but in the shorter format you have to make it happen even quicker because the game can drift away quickly.”Having played a lot of white-ball cricket batting at No. 3, I have a good understanding of how situations can go wrong or turn immediately. It helps when you are a top-order batsman yourself, to understand what the opposition batsmen would be thinking at what stage and which are the bowlers they would find uncomfortable.””But again, MS’ views will be priceless for me as well. It’s just that I am in charge of decisions now and he will be giving his views, which was the case before as well where I’d be giving my views and still his decision was paramount. I think we both understand as professional cricketers, and it’ll be pretty smooth.”With India having begun to use the DRS – one review per innings in ODIs – Kohli said Dhoni’s role was “priceless”. “I saw a stat yesterday that 95% of his appeals that he’s made in his career have been successful,” Kohli said. “He’s one voice, if he tells me it’s outside the line or it is missing, the decision stands there – it’s not left for any further debate. His word will be the one that I will trust as far as DRS is concerned because he is in the best position, plus he’s the most intelligent cricketer around.”Kohli also said he would like to take the bulk of the responsibility with the bat and free up Dhoni to experiment more with his attacking game. “I’m sure having that extra burden of taking responsibility, sometimes it can restrict you,” Kohli said. “I’ve also felt that quite a few times but maybe because my game is dependent on me playing in an offensive way, I haven’t had to curb my game too much. I know it won’t improve my game and it won’t benefit the team.”MS was able to absorb that pressure for a long time. But I’m sure he’ll be able to experiment a bit with his offensive game that he displayed when he came in. Not that he didn’t later on, but he was calculative with it, understanding the team situation. I’m not saying he will go out there and slog every ball. He’s a smart cricketer and we’ve all seen that.”

R Ashwin and Cheteshwar Pujara on the Smith-DRS incident, on needling David Warner, and the forehead-pointing incident that mimicked Mitchell Starc

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2017R Ashwin has said Steven Smith’s look towards the Australian dressing room for DRS advice on day four of the Bengaluru Test was “completely unheard of”. Speaking to his team-mate Cheteshwar Pujara in a video, Ashwin said the incident reminded him of his junior cricket days.”Steven Smith actually turned back and asked the dressing room if he could take a review,” Ashwin said. “That is completely unheard of. The last time I thought that to happen was in an Under-10 game, when my coach used to suggest where point fielders and cover fielders used to stand.”It was really surprising. I have a lot of respect for Steven Smith, but that was very very surprising.”

BCCI comes out in support of Kohli

A day after the Bengaluru Test ended, the BCCI issued a release in support of Virat Kohli and his team with regards to the Steven Smith-DRS referral issue. The Indian board said it had asked the ICC to “take cognizance” of the matter.
“The BCCI, after due deliberation and seeing the video replays of the episode, steadfastly stands with the Indian cricket team and its captain Mr Virat Kohli,” the release said.
“Mr Virat Kohli is a mature and seasoned cricketer and his conduct on the field has been exemplary. Mr. Kohli’s action was supported by ICC elite panel umpire Mr Nigel Llong, who rushed in to dissuade Mr Steve Smith from taking recourse to inappropriate assistance.
“BCCI has requested the ICC to take cognizance of the fact that the Australian skipper Mr Steve Smith in his press conference admitted to a ‘brain fade’ at that moment.”

There was a lot of chat on the field between the Indian and Australian players through the Test match, and Ashwin and Pujara detailed specific instances during their conversation. Pujara said he had been in David Warner’s ear, telling him about Ashwin’s record against him. Ashwin ended the match having dismissed Warner in both innings – and nine times over his career.”Well, see, they were talking a lot and probably sledging is something which, as a unit, we felt that we can give them back,” Pujara said. “They were always under pressure when they walked in to bat, and I wanted to make sure their batsmen were thinking about it, especially David Warner. Whenever he walks in to bat, Ash [Ashwin] is always happy, so I always keep reminding him that Ash is the one who picks [up his wicket].”After dismissing Mitchell Starc, Ashwin sent him off by repeatedly pointing to his own forehead – mimicking the gesture Starc had made after Abhinav Mukund had top-edged him for six in India’s second innings.”I saw yesterday, Abhi [Mukund] pulled Mitchell Starc for a six, he top-edged it for six,” Ashwin said. “But yes, I don’t think he was in any sort of hurry when he pulled that ball, and Mitchell Starc suggested that he would hit him on the helmet. I don’t know, people generally have the habit of saying I’ll hit you back on the helmet at Gabba.”It doesn’t matter, this is Bangalore, so I thought I must tell him that he got hit off me, in the first innings, on the helmet.”Pujara also revealed that he had batted with a sore neck while scoring 92 in India’s second innings.”It was my neck which was troubling me a lot,” Pujara said. “To be honest, it was a serious issue when I went in to bat in the second innings. I would like to thank Patrick Farhart, our physio, who made it possible for me to bat, and bat at No. 3, because there was one stage where I felt I might not be able to bat No. 3 because my neck was really sore. But he worked on it and ultimately I achieved the goal for the team.”

New Zealand will wait till the eve of the second Test to determine Trent Boult’s availability. The left-arm pacer is nursing a sore hip from the first Test in Dunedin

Firdose Moonda in Wellington14-Mar-2017Trent Boult’s availability for the second Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington will be decided on the eve the game. Boult is nursing a sore hip from the Dunedin Test and didn’t train full tilt with the squad on Monday.Boult left the field on the fourth day of the first Test after bowling just 15 overs in South Africa’s second innings. He was touted to return on the final day that was washed out. Should he be ruled unfit, New Zealand can choose from Tim Southee, left out in Dunedin to accommodate an extra spinner and Matt Henry, who joined the squad ahead of the game. Henry, incidentally, isn’t reinforcement; his inclusion was planned leading into the series.South Africa expect Southee to return on a surface with the most bounce and carry in the series, although there is also a possibility of New Zealand including both Southee and Henry if Boult is ruled out.”Southee is a quality bowler, very skilled, especially in these conditions,” Temba Bavuma said on Monday. “Fortunately, we’ve played against him, I’ve played against him. We are aware of what he brings to the party. We will make sure we pay as much attention as we can to him and make sure he is not successful against us.”Bavuma has not yet looked at Wellington pitch that was uncovered on Tuesday, for the first time since Friday when the city’s rains began More than 70 mm of rain has fallen over the last four days. Two days before the Test, the strip was covered in green grass, which may not have the batsmen smiling but should suit South Africa’s attack.”I haven’t had a look at the pitch. I never really have a look at the pitch. We are expecting something quite close to Dunedin, maybe a bit more pace, maybe a bit more bounce,” Bavuma said. “On the first day, we will just have to assess the conditions. In Dunedin we didn’t do that as well as we could have. We’ll make sure that we learn from that and make sure that in the first session, whether with bat or ball, we are able to throw the first punch.”With rain around, the groundstaff are racing against time to get the surface ready. “With the weather we’ve had we’re just trying to produce the best wicket possible. It’s been pretty tough going,” Hagen Faith, the groundsman told “We’re focusing on getting the surface hard and having the wicket ready for day one. That’s the ultimate goal.”Heavy clouds and high winds dominated Tuesday but the weather is set to improve and clear up in time for the match, which Faith expects to be a cracker. “A lot of first-class stuff has gone down to that last day, final session, and we have seen that here with Test matches as well.”

Anil Kumble has stepped down as India coach, four days before a limited-overs tour of the Caribbean

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Jun-20173:19

Bal: Kumble’s exit sends bad message to next coach

Hours after resigning as India coach, Anil Kumble has said he was “informed for the first time yesterday [Monday] by the BCCI that the captain had reservations with my style and about my continuing as head coach”. While stating that the cricket advisory committee (CAC) charged with deciding on who will be coach had backed him for the job, Kumble said “it was apparent the partnership [with Virat Kohli] was untenable, and I therefore believe it is best for me to move on”.Kumble stepped down as coach four days before the limited-overs tour of the Caribbean begins, even as the team was mid-flight to the West Indies. Kumble had remained in London after the Champions Trophy which ended on Sunday; as chairman of the ICC’s cricket committee, he will be attending the chief executives committee meeting there.Two days before the Champions Trophy had kicked off in England, it emerged in the media that India captain Kohli had told BCCI officials that some players were uncomfortable with the “intimidating” style of Kumble’s man management. As a result, despite India’s success in Kumble’s year in charge, during which the team climbed to No.1 in the Test rankings, the board advertised for fresh interviews for the head coach’s position instead of extending his contract.Kumble, whose original contract ran till the end of the Champions Trophy, had already reapplied for the job and only last week accepted the BCCI’s offer to extend his contract to include the West Indies series. However, Kumble said, in light of the reservations he came to know about through the board, he could not continue.It is understood that, on Monday, before Kohli departed for the West Indies, he met the BCCI’s top brass in London, as did Kumble in a separate meeting. The meetings were attended by BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary, board chief executive officer Rahul Johri and MV Sridhar, general manager of cricket operations. The meetings were necessitated after the three-member CAC, comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, informed the BCCI that it had failed to resolve the impasse between Kohli and Kumble.The BCCI had received six applications including that of Kumble for the fresh interview process. But, considering it was the CAC that had recommended and shortlisted Kumble as the final choice last year, it still felt he remained the first choice for the head coach position going forward. However, given the current relations, it is understood that the CAC did not meet Kumble at all after it was asked by the BCCI to make the final decision.1:06

How the Kohli-Kumble saga played out

Kumble confirmed he had the CAC’s backing in his statement, which began thus: “I am honoured by the confidence reposed in me by the CAC, in asking me to continue as head coach.”The BCCI was left not much choice other than accepting Kumble’s resignation, given that the efforts of board officials, the CAC and the Committee of Administrators had failed to bridge the divide between Kohli and Kumble. Officials well versed with the meetings with Kohli realised that the differences with Kumble could not be “resolved” and the relationship could not be “sustained”. “The differences seem irreparable,” a board official, who is privy to the discussions, said. He said that Kohli was not ready to take a step back.Once the CAC realised the relationship was beyond repair, it asked the BCCI to take the negotiation process forward. “It was not a pleasant meeting,” the board official, who has knowledge of Monday’s meetings, said. According to this official, Kohli remained “adamant” about his stand, which might have helped Kumble make up his mind.”The CAC is likely to have told BCCI that the differences were not cricketing related but more of a personal nature,” the official said. “If he were to stick on, it would be very awkward on Anil’s part. It is not good to handle someone as big as Anil in this manner.”The BCCI said that MV Sridhar will travel to the Caribbean to “supervise the team management”, while batting coach Sanjay Bangar and fielding coach R Sridhar will continue in their roles.Besides Kumble, the other people who had applied for the India coach job were former India opener Virender Sehwag, former Australia allrounder Tom Moody, former Pakistan coach Richard Pybus, former India medium pacer Dodda Ganesh, and former India A and current Afghanistan coach Lalchand Rajput.

Steven Finn has been confirmed as Chris Woakes’ replacement in England’s Champions Trophy squad

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jun-20171:50

‘Finn’s experience will come in handy’

Steven Finn won’t be worrying too much about his economy rate if he gets his Champions Trophy chance against New Zealand on Tuesday having been confirmed as Chris Woakes’ replacement.Woakes was ruled out of the tournament after suffering a side strain in the opening game against Bangladesh at The Oval. He managed just two overs before leaving the field.Finn was the most significant omission from the original 15-man squad and was called up for the final ODI against South Africa at Lord’s last week. He has since played two matches for England Lions against South Africa A in which he has taken five wickets.Finn, who has 102 ODI wickets from 69 matches, will immediately come into the reckoning for a place in the XI against New Zealand in Cardiff on Tuesday with a number of England’s other pace resources under scrutiny.Jake Ball has conceded over 80 in two of his last three outings while David Willey struggled to make the white ball swing in his one outing against South Africa. There also remain question marks over Ben Stokes’ ability to get through 10 overs due to his ongoing knee problem and Finn believes he can boost England’s wicket-taking threat.”Taking wickets is always something I try to do. I never take a backward step and try to be negative or defensive,” he said. “I think trying to take wickets is the mantra we have tried to adopt as a one-day bowling side and I can help that.”I think I’ve got a good record in one-day cricket. I think I am slightly taller than the other guys and can therefore get a bit more bounce. I’ve played a lot of ODIs. There is experience there. I think we have got a really well balanced squad and hopefully my personal attributes can bring something to that.”England could be keen to retain the balance of five quick bowlers alongside Moeen Ali because of the short, straight boundaries in Cardiff which make it a challenge for spinners. In their previous two ODIs at the ground they played just one frontline spinner – Adil Rashid against Sri Lanka and Liam Dawson against Pakistan – so Rashid, who was omitted against Bangladesh, could be sidelined again.Finn was part of the three-match one-day series in West Indies during March which were his first ODIs in 18 months. He admitted feeling a little pressure during Saturday’s Lions match before getting the tap on the shoulder from national selector James Whitaker to confirm his call and also revealed he had to shake off a stiff back in recent days.”It was just a case of making sure my back was 100%. It was a result of doing a bit of travel and bowling on top of each other in the last few days. I knew that James Whitaker and [selector] Mick Newell were there watching me. You feel that pressure I suppose knowing that they are watching you to call you up for this game. But that is no different from every time I pull on an England or Lions shirt.”Finn was always the frontrunner to replace Woakes although Toby Roland-Jones, who made his debut against South Africa, and Surrey’s Tom Curran could have been other options.

After the protracted saga preceding his own appointment as the new India coach, Ravi Shastri is eager for the focus to shift to his players and their cricket

Arun Venugopal in Mumbai19-Jul-20171:50

‘Arun knows these boys better than I do’ – Shastri

After the protracted saga preceding his own appointment as the new India coach, Ravi Shastri is eager for the focus to shift to his players and their cricket. Speaking ahead of India’s departure for Sri Lanka on Wednesday, Shastri provided a peek into the kind of coach he might be, placing the credit for a team’s success squarely on its players, and saying that coaches like him and Anil Kumble will “come and go”.

Shastri hails under-rated Arun

Ravi Shastri hailed newly-appointed bowling coach Bharat Arun’s “outstanding” track record and cited his familiarity with the team’s players as his strength. Arun was appointed by a four-member committee on Tuesday, following Shastri’s recommendation.
“Fifteen years [of] his life he has been coaching,” Shastri said of Arun. “You look at that track record, it is outstanding. Right from junior level to A teams to Indian junior World Cup teams, he has been a part of them. He knows these boys better than I do because he has been in the system for the last 15 years.”
Shastri suggested Arun was under-rated because he hadn’t played much international cricket – representing India in two Tests and four ODIs.
“You look at the last World Cup, India took 77 out of 80 wickets,” he said. “If Bharat Arun’s name was someone else who has played a lot of Test cricket, you would have put him on top of the tree. So, I don’t need to elaborate too much on what he is good at, what are his strengths. It is there for everyone to see”.

“I have matured immensely in the last two weeks [during the coach-appointment process],” Shastri said. “Mine will be a refresh button that will be pushed. I carry on from where I left. I don’t come with any baggage.”The team has done exceedingly well over three years and they are the people who deserve the credit more than anybody else. These Ravi Shastris, Anil Kumbles will come and go. The fabric of Indian cricket will remain and the credit should go to everyone who has participated in this Indian team over the last three years. If they are No. 1 today [in Tests], it is their efforts they have put in over that three-year period and they deserve the credit. People like us will come and go”.India enjoyed considerable success under both Shastri as team director and Kumble as coach. During Kumble’s one-year reign, India won series in West Indies, and at home against New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia, losing only one of 17 Test matches along the way. Under Shastri, whose earlier tenure as team director lasted almost two years, India made it to semi-finals of successive global events – the 2015 World Cup and the 2016 World T20, and also won their first limited-overs bilateral series in Australia, whitewashing the hosts 3-0 in T20Is.In his second coming, Shastri will work with his core team – Sanjay Bangar (assistant coach), Bharat Arun (bowling coach) and R Sridhar (fielding coach) – from his previous stint. Shastri said his job was to make the player focus on his game “without a care in the world for anything outside”.”When you play the game, you want your mind clear,” he said. “You want to be able to focus inwards without a care in the world for anything outside. That happens with good communication with the support staff. My job is to do exactly that with every player – to put him in a frame of mind where he is thinking only about his role and he is thinking about the team he is playing for and, of course, the opposition which we always respect. And that’s his job, period.”Captain Virat Kohli felt working with a coaching staff the team was familiar with meant everybody knew what to expect from one another. “We have worked together for three years – 2014, 2015 and 2016 – so that amount of understanding is bound to be there,” he said. “Since we have worked together in the past, we know what’s expected and what’s going to be on the plate and what’s worked for us in the past.”I think understanding and communication is something that works in every walk of life. The changing-room environment is nothing different. You need to have all those aspects for any relationship to work in life. It’s not just confined to cricket.”We follow the same rules of life that are followed everywhere else. I don’t see anything different that can be elaborated upon this. Everyone has gone through experience of relationships somewhere or the other in their lives. The same rules apply here”.Asked if there was extra pressure to perform since he now had a familiar coaching staff, Kohli replied in the negative and said he shut out external factors. “I don’t think there is any added pressure because what has to happen will happen, I believe in that, regardless of what happens around on the outside world,” he said. “As a team, we aspire to achieve what we want to achieve. Every one of us has faced hardships in the past. Criticism and being criticised is nothing new, so we understand that aspect of playing sport as well.”I only have the bat in hand and my job is to go out there on the field and control what’s being done on the field. And, that’s something that I have focused on in the past couple of months, two months and I continue to do so. [A] lot of speculation and lot of things fly around and those things are not in my control. As I said, my job is to go out there on the field and try to bring the best out of this team along with the management and try to perform to the best of my abilities which I believe in.”I only started off as a player and I wanted to do the best for the team. And, I continue to take up this responsibility and will continue to do so in the future years, till the team I am the captain or I am kept at this position. That’s what I see of it. I mean you only have to look at the series you are going to play ahead of you. If you focus only on these external factors, it’s very similar to you going out to bat and thinking what if I get out. It can happen in any scenario, so you just need to take care of your mindset and move forward.”Ahead of the Sri Lanka tour, where India will play three Tests, five ODIs and a T20I, Kohli looked back on the 2015 series as a “landmark” tour in setting the template for India’s performances overseas. Particularly heartening to him was the manner in which India came back from 1-0 down to win the Test series 2-1. It was Kohli’s second Test series as a full-time captain after India had drawn the only Test in Bangladesh under him in June 2015.”If you look at the average age of that team a couple of years back – I mean obviously the players have matured from then on and it’s been 24 months, but that tour for us was a sort of start of the belief system that we can win away from home and we do have the side required to win away from home,” he said. “And, we do have the culture that’s been created in the team to win whatever Test matches or Test series that we play.”So, the mindset immediately was to try and win series and losing the first Test was a shock to us. The way we bounced back was only because of the team culture that was created at that stage where our players were the less experienced if you compared us and Sri Lanka. The comparison of number of Tests was not even close. But, we showed more belief in our abilities and that we could win from any situation and that really turned our mindset around. From then on, you can see the results that we have had so far.  We have away series coming up, so the same mindset would apply now what we started back in 2015”.

Centurion Rachel Priest and captain Heather Knight shared the highest stand in the KSL’s brief history

ECB Reporters Network20-Aug-2017Rachel Priest struck a powerful century•Getty Images

Centurion Rachel Priest and captain Heather Knight led Western Storm to a record-breaking Kia Super League win over Yorkshire Diamonds at York as they chased down 161 to win by 10 wickets with three overs to spare.New Zealander Priest led the way with some fearsome hitting, albeit taking advantage of a bit of luck along the way as the Diamonds spilt a couple of boundary chances.She finished with 106 not out off 65 balls and Knight unbeaten on 48 off 38. The pair shared the highest stand in two seasons of the KSL.A second win from three matches puts Storm level on eight points with the Diamonds in third place with a game in hand in the race to reach Finals Day.Home captain Lauren Winfield, batting in her home city, had earlier posted 58 off 44 balls as England’s World Cup winning hero Anya Shrubsole returned to action following a side injury with 1 for 30 from four overs.Despite the early loss of Sri Lankan Chamari Atapattu, run out by a direct hit at the non-striker’s end from Stefanie Taylor from mid-on, the Diamonds got off to a healthy as another Kiwi Sophie Devine cut loose with 41.Devine hit offspinner Claire Nicholas for two big sixes over long-on and midwicket as the score reached 55 for 1 after five.Devine played on trying to hoist Shrubsole to leg with 75 on the board in the eighth over before Winfield, happy to take few risks, reached 50 off 38 balls in the 16th over as the score reached 132 for 3.The Diamonds then lost four wickets for 19 in the last three overs, the first of which was Winfield bowled by a Davies slower ball, to slip from 141 for 3.Hollie Armitage then dropped a couple of catches at long-on, with Priest on 25 being the most costly.Her 39-ball fifty included two sixes over long-on, the second off compatriot Devine’s first ball in the tenth over as Storm reached halfway at 81 without loss. Fours and sixes continued to come at ease as Yorkshire’s heads dropped.Priest reached her century off 64 balls, the second in KSL history, with 13 fours and three sixes with the penultimate ball of the match.Storm’s next fixture is against Surrey at the Oval on Wednesday, while Yorkshire’s final game comes against Southern Vipers at Arundel on Saturday.