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The former Rajasthan Royals spin bowling coach replaces Sunil Joshi

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Oct-2025Former India legspinner Sairaj Bahutule has joined Punjab Kings (PBKS) as their new spin bowling coach ahead of the 2026 IPL season. He replaces Sunil Joshi, who held the role from 2023 to 2025.ESPNcricinfo understands Joshi decided to leave as he is set to take over as spin coach at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.”Sairaj’s deep understanding of the game, particularly his extensive experience in grooming domestic bowlers and managing strategy, will be invaluable to our side,” PBKS CEO Satish Menon said. “His expertise aligns perfectly with our vision of building a strong and cohesive bowling unit for the season ahead.”Bahutule joins a backroom team that has Ricky Ponting as head coach, Brad Haddin as assistant coach, James Hopes as the fast bowling coach, and Trevor Gonsalves as assistant bowling coach.”I’m really excited to join Punjab Kings as a spin bowling coach for the upcoming IPL season,” Bahutule said. “This is a team that plays a different brand of cricket, and I can see the potential is massive. They have a bunch of talented players, and I’m looking forward to working with them to refine their skills and help them reach new heights.”Bahutule was the spin bowling coach at Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2025. He had also been RR’s spin bowling coach from 2018 to 2021 before joining the National Cricket Academy and serving as support staff for India A assignments.Bahutule’s exit from RR follows Dravid’s departure from the franchise as head coach. Dravid has been replaced by Kumar Sangakkara.PBKS finished runners-up in IPL 2025 after finishing top of the points table in the league phase. They lost the final to Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six runs.

Ben Duckett set for final outing of busy summer before being rested for T20Is

Matt Roller06-Sep-2025

Ben Duckett has been backed to end his international season in style in Southampton on Sunday, keeping his place for the third ODI against South Africa despite England’s decision to rest him for next week’s T20Is.England have made a single change from the team that lost by five runs at Lord’s to go 2-0 down in the three-match series, with Jamie Overton replacing Saqib Mahmood. It means that they will again be relying on Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks and potentially Joe Root to share the workload of a fifth bowler, after Bethell and Jacks returned combined figures of 1 for 112 in 10 overs on Thursday.Duckett is one of three England players – along with Harry Brook and Jamie Smith – who has featured in all 14 of their home internationals this season: six Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is. Since the start of the Hundred last month, he has only gone past 20 once in 10 innings and followed his 5 in the first ODI at Headingley with an uncharacteristically scratchy 14 off 33 balls at Lord’s.Related

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He has since spoken to Brendon McCullum, England’s head coach, and reached the decision to miss next week’s T20Is, with Sam Curran replacing him in the squad. Marcus Trescothick, one of McCullum’s assistants, said that the call was designed to ensure Duckett is “firing” ahead of a busy winter schedule, which includes the Ashes in Australia followed by a T20 World Cup.”Brendon spoke to him over the last few days, trying to get a gauge of where he’s at,” Trescothick said. “You look at every situation individually and in its own way, looking at the volume of cricket they’ve played and by chatting with them to see how they’re feeling… This is the best [decision] to maximise performances going forward as we head into a big winter.”We need certain players to be firing, and Ben is certainly one of those… We need the boys firing going into November, December, January. That’s an important time. It’s not to say things aren’t important coming up, but sometimes you just have to take your foot off the gas a bit and rejuvenate the mind. Then, you can get back on the horse and crack on.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Duckett’s retention means that Tom Banton, the spare batter in their squad, will not feature in the series barring a late withdrawal. But he has not been released to play for Somerset in their T20 Blast quarter-final against Warwickshire on Saturday night, and will instead stay in Southampton on standby.McCullum took over England’s white-ball teams in January – becoming coach across formats – but has failed to address their slide in 50-over cricket. They have lost eight out of 11 ODIs this year, including all three matches at the Champions Trophy, and sit eighth in the ICC’s rankings after a sustained run of poor results.Eight teams will qualify for the 2027 World Cup automatically via the rankings – with South Africa and Zimbabwe guaranteed spots as Full-Member co-hosts – so England would likely have to slip below both West Indies and Bangladesh to miss out. But the mere notion of having to play in the global qualifier is a source of embarrassment for the 2019 world champions.”We’re in an interesting position where we need to climb those rankings,” Trescothick said. “Longer term, there’s a bigger picture: we need to look at being at the top of those rankings and beyond. We want to go and compete in the biggest competitions and we’ve got to be a team that has grown from where we have been to compete like we did in 2019.”The journey hasn’t been easy, of course not, but I definitely feel we’re improving and moving in the right direction even though the last two results have been disappointing… We’ve made a few changes in recent times since Brendon took over, and we feel like we’re starting to play better cricket generally.”Overton’s inclusion means he will make his first appearance for England since his decision to put his red-ball ambitions on hold took the team’s management by surprise. Rob Key, England’s managing director, said Overton’s decision was “unexpected”, but his selection for the third ODI confirms that he remains part of their white-ball plans.England XI for the third ODI vs South Africa: 1 Jamie Smith, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Jacob Bethell, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Jamie Overton, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Adil Rashid

Minto stars for England with five-for, but Ratan takes 4 for 9 to seal comfortable victory

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay05-Sep-2025Bangladesh U19 292 (Hossan 100, Minto 5-68) beat England U19 205 (Mohammed 75, Ratul 4-9) by 87 runsRizan Hossan’s authoritative century off 101 balls outdid a five-wicket haul from Durham’s James Minto and a sparkling 75 from Isaac Mohammed as Bangladesh Men U19s beat England Men U19s by 87 runs in the first Youth One-Day International at Loughborough.Despite a confident start, a target of 293 proved too much for the hosts, as England dramatically collapsed from 132 for two to 205 all out. Bangladesh’s spinners combined to take eight wickets. Samiun Basir Ratul stood out with outstanding figures of 4.2-0-9-4.Bangladesh openers Zawad Abrar and Rifat Beg made a brisk start, reaching 31 for none after five overs. Abrar’s brace of sixes over fine leg during an expensive opening spell by Minto typified their approach. Progress was halted when Leicestershire’s Alex Green claimed Beg’s wicket with his first ball, which grazed the leg stump and ended the 44-run opening stand.Bangladesh captain Azizul Hakim Tamim, who was dropped on four, was next to depart, caught by Kent’s Ben Dawkins off Yorkshire new-ball bowler, Matthew Firbank, for 11. England struck again when Abrar gloved Minto down the legside, at 69 for three in the 13th over the Young Lions appeared to gain a foothold in the game.However, a fourth-wicket partnership worth 148 between Kalam Aleen and Hossan allowed the visitors to regain the initiative.Initially Hossan was the main aggressor, he got to his fifty off 58 balls with a stylish boundary over midwicket. Aleen’s half-century, characterised by strong sweep shots, soon followed off 68 balls, as both batters manipulated the field effectively.The partnership was broken by Minto in the 39th over, who took two wickets in consecutive balls, leaving the score on 217 for five. Firstly, Aleen played across the line and was trapped LBW and then Mohammad Abdullah was the victim of another legside strangle, with captain Thomas Rew completing a regulation catch.England’s impressive death bowling meant that only 66 runs were added in the final 9.2 overs of the innings. The late flurry of wickets included Hossan, dismissed by Nottinghamshire’s Hatton-Lowe, one ball after getting to a deserved century. In the final over, Minto mopped up the innings, bagging two tailend wickets in two balls, the left-armer finishing with five for 68.England’s chase of 293 began badly, as Fahad castled Dawkins, in the first over of the reply. Joe Moores followed in the sixth over for 14, a looping top edge offering Tamim a catch off his own bowling.That brought Will Bennison to the middle, the Yorkshire batter in partnership with Mohammed proceeded to dominate the powerplay, accelerating the score to 129 for two after 15 overs. Isaac’s fifty, off only 34 balls, contained a ramped six along with several conventional boundaries.Bangladesh’s breakthrough came via Shadin Islam’s off-spin, bowling Bennison through the gate for 36 off 32 balls. Soon after, Mohammed’s fine innings of 75 ended with a catch to cover, leaving two new batters at the crease and 151 runs needed off 32.2 overs.Skipper Rew and debutant Jack Nelson maintained the pressure until a critical passage saw Middlesex’s Nelson undone by Ratul. The slow left armer also accounted for Rew as England faltered at 189 for six after 26.2 overs.The situation considerably worsened when Ralphie Albert was needlessly run out. The very next ball, Hatton-Lowe was then caught behind off Shahdin.Ratul closed out the game a few overs later with Firbank’s wicket, a sharp catch of his bowling.Mohammed said: “I really enjoyed it to be fair, I just felt good, I’ve doing a lot of training recently and I feel like a lot of that paid off today. At the end of the day the result didn’t go our way but when Sunday comes hopefully we can put it right.”When I’m batting, I like to stay positive, whatever the scenario is, I’m backing my ability.”Speaking about the Bangladesh spinners claiming eight wickets, he added: “At the start it was quite a fresh ball so it wasn’t doing as much. When the spinners did come back on, I’d just got out before that.”But looking at some of the videos, it looked like it was starting to grip, so if we are playing on the same wicket on Sunday, that could be something to look into.”Mohammed, whose Worcestershire are in the men’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup final against Hampshire later this month, to cap a breakthrough season for the batter said: “I’m loving it, and hopefully in the (Metro Bank) final against Hampshire, we can bring home the trophy.”

The Ashes can wait for now as white-ball campaign prepares to get underway in Christchurch

Cameron Ponsonby16-Oct-2025Christchurch. The city of scooters.Contrary to popular belief, not everything runs smoothly in New Zealand. The Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre, for instance. A $500 million major sports complex was scheduled for completion in 2015, but when you walk past the site that’s a kilometre down the road from Hagley Oval, the builders are still there. A flat white occasionally takes four minutes to arrive rather than three – and cricket is being played in October.This month’s T20I against Australia, on October 1, was the earliest New Zealand had ever played a home international. Two weeks later, Wellington and Otago are currently playing a pre-season friendly, even though the start of the domestic season is still over a week away. The only team playing competitive cricket in New Zealand currently, is New Zealand. The scooters are good though.But if the timing of this series is considered far too early, and the construction of the local swimming pool considered far too late, then the vibes and morale in both camps is just right.Unusually, in such a crammed cricketing calendar, both sides managed to carve out quality time together in the lead-up to their showdown, which will consist of three T20Is followed by three ODIs. England were down in Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world, with bungee jumps, skydiving and jet boats available to all.”I was just playing golf,” said Harry Brook.Meanwhile, New Zealand were in Hanmer Springs. An idyllic location consisting of thermal pools, hiking and quiet pubs where the team could get to know one another, and new head coach Rob Walter, that bit better. There are also, at the thermal pools, waterslides.”They got a hammering,” said former No.1-ranked T20I bowler, Jacob Duffy.Jordan Cox will be given a chance at No.7 after his maiden fifty against Ireland•PA Photos/Getty ImagesConditions in Christchurch, where the first two T20Is will be played, are mixed. The mornings and afternoons consist of a strong sun and a jumper wrapped around your waist, while the evenings require multiple layers all at once. The wind that whips round Hagley Oval isn’t for the faint-hearted, and the night-time T20Is will see hands shoved in pockets and jumpers required for players and spectators alike.But, in an oddity of the modern bilateral series, both teams are at close to full strength. Injuries, rather than rest and rotation, are the core reason for any absence. England have left Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith and Jofra Archer at home until the ODIs, but otherwise captain Brook has his full deck to play with.”We’ve got a great opportunity here against a very strong side to go out there and try and capitalise on the momentum we’ve already made,” Brook said. “The last game we played together as a full group, we got 300.”Because of England’s recent ODI woes, it is easy to forget that in T20Is they have been strong, losing only one of their last seven bilateral series. Similarly, New Zealand’s recent T20I record is excellent. The recent defeat to Australia aside, they have lost just one of their previous 11 bilateral series. While a lack of context remains the perennial problem for these series, quality is one thing that the coming week won’t be lacking.As has become customary with this England side, they named their team a full two-and-a-half days before the start, with Sam Curran and Jordan Cox the notable inclusions at No. 6 and 7 respectively.Related

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Curran, previously unfavoured by the McCullum regime, will play a full role as an allrounder, as he has also been included as the fifth bowler. While Cox, off the back of winning the PCA Player of the Year award, will play an unfamiliar finisher role to stake his claim for a place at the World Cup. Jos Buttler, who went down with a stomach bug on the journey over, is now fully fit and will open the batting and keep wicket.England are at pains to stress that the focus of this series … is this series. A bit of T20 World Cup preparation, yes, but the Ashes will come later. And while they may mean it, it’s hard to imagine they really believe it. How could they?Gus Atkinson, for instance – who is not part of the white-ball squads – arrived today to begin his individual preparation to take on Australia, while Mark Wood and Josh Tongue are due to land next week to do the same.They will work with bowling consultant Tim Southee, the former Kiwi legend who has been part of England’s coaching staff over the summer. He had been expected to leave his role following this series and not be part of the Ashes coaching squad. However, this looks subject to change with Southee currently earmarked to stay with the group in Perth for the warm-up against the Lions and for the first Test before leaving to play in the ILT20.”It’s something I’d love to be a part of,” Southee told talkSPORT. “But obviously there’s a few things to go through first.”New Zealand are boosted by the return of Rachin Ravindra and captain Mitchell Santner, but are still missing several players through injury including Finn Allen, Adam Milne, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips and Lockie Ferguson. Kane Williamson and Ben Sears are also absent.”I think we missed him last series,” Duffy said of his captain Santner, whose return has seen Ish Sodhi miss out on selection. “Not only his four overs, but his leadership too. There’s still a few guys missing out, but to have a couple big more horses in the tanks is not going to hurt us.”Even with their number of injuries, New Zealand’s pace attack remains daunting, with Duffy backed by the likes of Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson and Zak Foulkes. The exciting Bevon Jacobs, who was picked up by Mumbai Indians just under a year ago, before he’d even made his international debut, is also expected to feature.All in all, whether it’s October or not, the contest is well poised and an exciting series of high-quality cricket awaits. And that can never be too early in the year.England XI: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt), 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Tom Banton, 6 Sam Curran, 7 Jordan Cox, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Liam Dawson, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Luke Wood.

On a slow Delhi pitch, the West Indies bowling was disciplined without being penetrative

Sidharth Monga10-Oct-20252:11

Aakash Chopra: Jaiswal’s range of batting tempo is ‘remarkable’

Yashasvi Jaiswal consolidated his stature among best current Test batters with his seventh hundred, and B Sai Sudharsan moved closer to answering India’s call for a No. 3 with a near-flawless 87 as they piled on 318 for 2 after their captain Shubman Gill won his first toss in seven attempts.On a typically slow Feroz Shah Kotla track, the West Indies bowling was disciplined – no extras through the day – without being penetrative in the first and final sessions; in the middle session, they lost all accuracy as India plundered 126 runs without a wicket.Jaiswal just reacted purely to what was bowled at him. He was watchful for the first hour, then cashed in on some loose bowling, and then tightened up again as West Indies found their bearings in the final session. At one point, when Jaiswal was on 93, the fast bowlers had served him six half-volley boundaries, four short-ball boundaries, and one off just fuller than good length. Against good-length balls, Jaiswal didn’t try to score boundaries.Jaiswal is now level with Graeme Smith for most centuries as an opener under the age of 24. Among all India batters, only Sachin Tendulkar scored more hundreds before his 24th birthday. Of course, for the fifth time out of his seven centuries, Jaiswal went past 150. Only Don Bradman had more scores of 150 or more before turning 24.The other 23-year-old, Sudharsan, would have desperately wanted to get his count going. Chosen to play Test cricket with a first-class average under 40, he must feel under a little pressure as the No. 3 in a country full of batting talent. He came out to join Jaiswal early on after Jomel Warrican spun one alarmingly past the bat of KL Rahul. Sudharsan added 197 for the second wicket with Jaiswal, played his first false shot on 58 and was dropped, and got out to only his third false shot in a 165-ball innings: again a Warrican delivery that turned alarmingly.Sai Sudharsan was afforded a relatively easy start•AFP/Getty ImagesHowever, these were possibly the only threatening deliveries all day. Absent that, West Indies needed continued discipline to test India at a venue where they haven’t lost in 38 years. There was enough of it from the three seamers in the first hour: 12 overs, 29 runs, openers kept honest. Once the openers had sussed the conditions and the bowling out, though, runs started to flow more easily.Out of character, Rahul lofted the left-arm spin of Khary Pierre over long-on in only the second over of spin on offer. When he looked to do the same to Warrican, the more established left-arm spinner beat him in the air and then the ball turned 8.4 degrees to have him stumped for 38 off 54.Jaiswal, who missed out in the first match, likes to hit sixes more than Rahul, but stayed away from aerial hits in this innings. A nudge here, a flick there, and he went into lunch having accelerated from 10 off 35 to 40 off 78.Sudharsan was given a gentle welcome with a full toss on the pads, which he put away for four, but no generosity measures up to the start of the second session. Jayden Seales began with two short and wide balls, which Jaiswal put away for fours. You would hope Seales wasn’t bowling for the cut shot, which has got Jaiswal out five times in his career, because it is also a shot that is extremely productive for him. In the same over, Seales also bowled a half-volley for four.Sudharsan joined the party from the other end. Roston Chase started the middle session with a delivery similar to the one that got Sudharsan lbw in the first Test, but Sudharsan played the punch as opposed to the pull for four.0:57

Akash Chopra: WI bowlers were ‘much better’ and ‘a bit more disciplined’

West Indies were all over the place. There was a boundary ball almost every over of the first hour after lunch. Sudharsan got another full toss outside leg, then a half-volley for four to bring up his second Test fifty. In between, he played excellent punches off the back foot, something that would prove to be his downfall eventually.Seales ended the session as he began, getting cut for four, but came back immediately after tea to bowl a spell of 4-0-6-0 with the reversing ball. Nine overs at the start of the final session brought 24 runs, but West Indies needed someone to keep that pressure up. Pierre, though, offered five easy singles in one over immediately.Against the run of play, Warrican trapped Sudharsan lbw with a ball that turned 6.4 degrees. As with Rahul, though, the main job was done in the air. Bowled flat, but still full, it caught Sudharsan back when he should have been forward. Because it turned more than it had usually done, it gave Sudharsan no time to recover from the misjudgement of length.Jaiswal and Gill took India to stumps without any further loss. They were largely watchful except for two aerial sweeps from Gill. They even saw through a 44-ball period without a boundary, which ended with a full toss. Before going into stumps, the ever-hungry Jaiswal took another go at the buffet before packing up, scoring 17 in overs 87 and 88 to end up on 173 off 253.