Nepal were out of contention for the Super Sixes, but they kept their hopes of securing ODI status alive

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2018
ScorecardNepal chased down 155 against Hong Kong, but were out of contention for the Super Sixes. The result, however, put pre-tournament favourites Afghanistan in the Super Sixes. Afghanistan, Nepal and Hong Kong have lost three of their four matches in this tournament, but Rashid Khan’s men progressed to the next round by virtue of a superior run-rate of 0.038.However, all was not lost for Nepal. The five-wicket win kept their hopes of securing ODI status alive. Nepal will need to beat Papua New Guinea in the first consolation bracket playoff and may have to win the seventh place match, too, depending on Group A results.After opting to bat, Hong Kong had slumped to 153 all out with the Nepal bowlers sharing the spoils. Seventeen-year-old legspinner
Sandeep Lamichhane continued his excellent form to finish with 3 for 17. Fifty three of his 60 balls were dots. He was complemented by seamer Karan KC (2 for 35) and left-arm spinner Basant Regmi (2-20).Opener Nizakat Khan made 47 off 84 balls before he was the sixth Hong Kong batsman to be dismissed. Apart from Nizakat, No. 9 Ehsan Khan was the only other Hong Kong batsman to pass 20.Seamer Aizaz Khan dismissed both Nepal openers Gyanendra Malla and Anil Sah early in the chase, and captain Paras Khadka and Aarif Sheikh fell soon after to leave their side wobbling at 61 for 4 in 18 overs. When Dipendra Singh Airee was dismissed two overs later, Nepal were 66 for 5. Fifteen-year-old Rohit Kumar Paudel and Sompal Kami then stablilised and sealed the chase with an unbroken 89-run partnership – the only fifty-plus stand in the match.Ehsan Khan, the Hong Kong offspinner, who had his bowling action cleared by the ICC before this match, ended with 2 for 34.

After three successive losses, they desperately need the likes of Ben Stokes and D’Arcy Short to fire as they take on the in-form Kings XI Punjab for the second time in three days

The Preview by Sruthi Ravindranath07-May-20184:33

Hogg: Royals need to get their batting order right

Form guide (most recent matches first)

Kings XI Punjab: beat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets, lost to Mumbai Indians by six wickets, lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 13 runs
Rajasthan Royals: lost to Kings XI Punjab by six wickets, lost to Delhi Daredevils by four runs (DLS method), lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 11 runs

Big picture

If you had told someone right after this year’s auction that a team containing Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, D’Arcy Short and Jofra Archer would be languishing at the bottom of the table after nine matches, you might have provoked a few sneers. If you had told them this team also had Ajinkya Rahane, Jaydev Unadkat and Sanju Samson, they would have called you the biggest pessimist out there.Well, if you had made that prediction, this is probably the time for you to say, “I told you so.” With just three wins, Rajasthan Royals find themselves on the brink of elimination. They have lost each of their last three games, with a failing middle order the common thread across all three losses, including the most recent one against Kings XI Punjab on Sunday, when they slumped from 84 for 2 in the 11th over to finish at 152 for 9.Now, when they meet the same opponents for the second time in three days, they will desperately want the likes of Short and Stokes – who haven’t managed a fifty between them in 15 innings – to belatedly find some form.Kings XI, meanwhile, occupy the top half of the table despite having faced similar issues of depending heavily on one or two players – particularly with the bat – to carry them over the line. It is an issue they too will need to iron out as the playoffs approach. Where better to start than at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, where they have never beaten Royals in four previous attempts?

Previous meeting

The teams faced each other for the first time this season on Sunday. Thanks to KL Rahul’s 84 off 54 balls, Kings XI romped home by six wickets at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.

Likely XIs

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Jos Buttler (wk), 2 D’Arcy Short, 3 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 4 Sanju Samson, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Rahul Tripathi, 7 Stuart Binny, 8 K Gowtham, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Shreyas Gopal, 11 Jaydev UnadkatKings XI Punjab: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 KL Rahul (wk), 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 Yuvraj Singh/Manoj Tiwary, 5 Karun Nair, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Axar Patel, 8 R Ashwin (capt), 9 Andrew Tye, 10 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 11 Ankit Rajpoot

Strategy punt

Given how vital he has been to Kings XI’s fortunes, Royals will want to get KL Rahul out early, and one way to do that could be to use Shreyas Gopal with the new ball. In 15 matches since IPL 2015, legspinners have dismissed Rahul eight times. Shreyas, moreover, has dismissed five right-hand batsmen in seven games.

Stats that matter

• Andrew Tye has picked up two or more wickets in five of Kings XI’s six wins this season.
• Chris Gayle needs 64 runs to become the seventh player to 4000 runs in the IPL
• Kings XI are the best batting team in the Powerplay this season, scoring at a run-rate of 9.22 and averaging 55 per wicket in this phase.

Fantasy picks

Losing faith in Rahane? Don’t, just yet. He averages 45.8 in Jaipur in T20s. He also made an unbeaten 65, although in a losing cause, against Sunrisers Hyderabad last month. Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer are among the in-form options from Royals’ squad, while it’s a no-brainer to pick Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rahul or Gayle from the visiting side.

The development ends the long search for Chandika Hathurusingha’s successor after he resigned from the post in October 2017

Mohammad Isam07-Jun-2018Former England wicketkeeper Steve Rhodes took little time to accept his new job as Bangladesh’s head coach. Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the BCB’s chief executive, made initial contact in March, soon after Paul Farbrace had turned down the job in the last stages of their negotiation.Eventually, after his name also featured in Gary Kirsten’s shortlist of head coaches, the BCB, earlier this week, asked Rhodes to appear for an interview in Dhaka. Having arrived on Thursday morning, the interview included a presentation in which Rhodes charted his plans for the Bangladesh team for the next two years.Three hours later, the BCB president Nazmul Hassan made the announcement at his office in Dhaka with Rhodes standing next to him. The former Worcestershire coach said that he was proud to be offered the job as well as being recommended by Kirsten, in what will be his first stint as an international head coach. His contract will run until the end of the World T20 in 2020.”I spoke with Nizam originally,” Rhodes said. “I am proud that Gary Kirsten, a very respected cricketing figure, put my name forward. The temptation straightaway was to say, ‘yes, of course’. It didn’t take long at all to show my interest to coach this wonderful country.”Rhodes’ appointment ended the BCB’s search of a head coach that lasted seven months. During this time, Tom Moody, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Andy Flower, Justin Langer, Farbrace and Geoff Marsh turned down the Bangladesh job while Richard Pybus and Phil Simmons gave interviews in Dhaka in December but didn’t get a call back from the BCB.
Rhodes, therefore, is a slightly different choice than what Bangladesh were seeking at least for the first four months of their search. Rhodes is a well-known talent spotter in the county arena, having become a reputed coach in Worcestershire until his abrupt departure last year.He said that while coaching would essentially remain similar for him, dealing with the workload in the international arena was going to be vastly higher. He hoped that his overall experience in cricket would help the Bangladesh team.”I am very lucky to be involved in some of England’s preparations which include their tour to Bangladesh in 2016,” Rhodes said. “I have had a flavour of international coaching. There’s not a lot of difference in how you go about your coaching, but obviously the international programme is quite heavy.”Trying to keep the boys up for the game isn’t easy to do. Ultimately, I feel as though I am qualified now. You can see I have grey hair, which tends to mean you’ve gone through hard times. Hopefully my experience will be of real value to the Bangladesh team.”Rhodes also said that he had the energy to be the head coach in all formats. Last month, the BCB and Kirsten had both said that they were considering different coaches for red and white-ball cricket. “I don’t see it as a major problem at all. I know that Gary had initially thought along those lines. Lots of coaches do all formats. I am a very hard working person so I think I will have enough energy to cover all three formats well,” he said.Rhodes further said that he would be building towards the 2019 World Cup over the next 12 months, with a target of getting Bangladesh to the final. “I just told the president and board members that Bangladesh did well in the Champions Trophy in England. They’ve proved they can play well in English conditions. To get to a semi-final in that competition was a marvelous effort by Bangladesh.”If we can get to that stage or even further, I am now thinking along the lines of what a dream would be to see Bangladesh lined up for the final. It would be a fantastic occasion.”Rhodes, who will turn 54 next week, played 11 Tests and nine ODIs and is known for his talent-spotting skills. He had been in charge of Worcestershire since 2006, having played for them from 1985 to 2004. However, he was sacked last year by the county and relieved of his duties as head coach of the England Under-19 squad just before the World Cup, after it emerged that he had failed to report the arrest of a young allrounder – Alex Hepburn – in a timely fashion.Rhodes also oversaw the promotion of Worcestershire to Division One of the County Championship at the end of the 2017 season and had been recently made an England scout. His work with Worcestershire involved promoting a young and homegrown squad.

Rashid Khan single-handedly ended Sunrisers Hyderabad’s four-match losing streak to beat Kolkata Knight Riders in the virtual semi-final of the IPL

The Report by Sidharth Monga25-May-2018Rashid Khan goes for the big one•BCCI

Thirty-four runs off 10 balls when his team was struggling to post a competitive total. Three wickets, including of the highest scorer and the biggest hitter in the opposition. One run-out of a batsman proving to be a great tactical move. Two catches. Rashid Khan single-handedly ended Sunrisers Hyderabad’s four-match losing streak to beat Kolkata Knight Riders and set up fourth bout against Chennai Super Kings this season, this time for the IPL title.Sunrisers were 134 for 6 in 17.5 overs when Rashid came out to bat. He produced an innings to rattle the young Knight Riders bowlers much like their captain Dinesh Karthik had recently done to the Bangladesh bowlers in the Nidahas Trophy final. Then Rashid came on to bowl with Knight Riders cruising at 67 for 1 in six overs, but took out Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, and crucially, Andre Russell in the last over that he bowled. There was a run-out in between to dismiss Nitish Rana, whose promotion had upset Sunrisers’ plans.Kuldeep Yadav lands lethal blowsBecause they don’t have David Warner, because their middle order has been out of form, Sunrisers Hyderabad have been conservative with the bat. Against a side whose batting looks like the future of T20, they got off to a cautious 45 for 0 Powerplay score, the lowest in Kolkata this season. In the eighth over, Kuldeep Yadav took out Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson, two men who had accounted for nearly half their runs in the season so far. Dhawan missed the length on a sweep, and Williamson added himself to the highlight reel of great batsmen who have fallen to wrong’uns this season: AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.Muddle in the middleAt 60 for 2 in 7.5 overs, Sunrisers needed someone in the reimagined middle order to play out of his skin but that didn’t happen. The Knight Riders spinners choked the life out of them, and the low run rate kept bringing wickets. When Carlos Brathwaite ran himself out in the 18th over to become the sixth wicket to fall, Sunrisers were looking at nothing short of another bowling miracle if they had to make it to Mumbai.Rashid RichardsPossibly, Knight Riders dropped the guard with Brathwaite’s wicket. There was some luck involved. And there was some sensational hitting. Young Prasidh Krishna, who had bowled a good 18th over until then, suddenly ditched the yorker and bowled a wide length ball with third man up. The edge flew over him. In the next over, with Yusuf Pathan gone too, Piyush Chawla left his station at the cover boundary and charged in, only to be lobbed by a Rashid mis-hit. Had he stayed on the boundary, he would have been offered a sitter. And then Rashid just went berserk. The best of his four sixes and two fours brought back memories of Viv Richards shuffling across and flicking the last ball of the 1979 World Cup final innings for a six. This was the fourth ball of the last over. He added one more six of the last ball of this innings.Perfect start to chaseA bit of a tactical tinkering, and Knight Riders were off to a perfect start. Sunil Narine did his thing with 26 off 13, by the virtue of being a left-hand batsman, Nitish Rana was promoted to delay the introduction of Rashid and Shakib Al Hasan, who in turn would have troubled Lynn whose strike rate against quicks is twice that against spin. As a result, Lynn had to face only two balls of spin in the first eight overs, by when he reached 36 off 21, taking Knight Riders to 81 for 1.The slipAnd then Rana slipped when turning for a second. Not only did he slip, he found himself taking on Rashid’s arm when he got up. The throw was flat, quick, and by the stumps. This brought Robin Uthappa in, and Williamson immediately went to Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a third over inside the first 10. Before this match, in this season, Bhuvneshwar had bowled 11 balls to Uthappa for four runs and one wicket. Unlike against CSK in the first qualifier, Williamson was not holding back here. Five balls and one run in this over put Uthappa under pressure, who as a result tried a reverse sweep on the first ball of the next over and was bowled by Rashid.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The endgame before the endgameThe two balls of spin that Lynn had faced in the first eight overs had been sweeps. The next three he faced from Rashid were sweeps again. On one of them, his glove saved him from the lbw. On one, he hit an uppish boundary. Rashid, though, could sense he was getting closer to the prey. In Test cricket you can torture this prey at leisure and get him. In T20 you don’t have time. One shot, and he can get away. Rashid didn’t let him. With the sixth, he adjusted the line a little, went for lbw on the off stump rather than middle, and beat the bat. Only Russell remained now.Williamson persisted with Rashid, deciding to bowl him in the 15th over, with 58 required off six overs. Russell knew what was happening. He started to block Rashid. A slip came in. Another block. Then Williamson made Russell wait. A helmet and a box came on to the field. The short leg fielder took his time to put it on. The faithful local crowd got twitchy. Rashid knew he had three balls to get Russell in. He bounded in, bowled a wrong’un, not particularly great as it was short, Russell went back to cut, got an edge, and Dhawan took an amazing catch as the ball swirled away from him at slip. It wasn’t a great ball, but Kumar Sangakkara said on air this is what happens when you are not sure which way the ball is turning and you make the decision a split second late.The endgameIn the qualifier, Williamson had made a mistake by bowling Brathwaite in the 18th over, thus not even utilising all of Bhuvneshwar’s over. This time, no such thing happened. Siddarth Kaul and Bhuvneshwar bowled excellent overs No. 17, 18 and 19 to shut the chase out. And defending 18 in the last over at the same venue where he chased 19 in the last over of the World T20 final two years ago, Brathwaite managed two wickets with two length balls to finish things off. It was fitting both those catches went to Rashid.

‘Runs are the currency’, says assistant coach, as clamour for white-ball batting berths hots up

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2018Paul Farbrace, England’s interim coach, has backed Joe Root to bounce back strongly after being dropped for the series-deciding T20I against India at Bristol on Sunday, but reiterated that “runs are the currency” by which all of England’s batsmen need to be judged in the current clamour for white-ball berths.Despite being acknowledged as England’s finest multi-format batsman, Root found himself under pressure following scores of 35, 0 and 9 in his three previous T20 innings against Australia and India. He made way for the return of Ben Stokes in Bristol after Alex Hales had made his own place in the side secure with a match-winning half-century at Cardiff on Friday.Root’s omission would have seem unthinkable two years ago, when he was the glue in the England T20 line-up that came so close to victory in the World T20 in India, and prior to the series Farbrace insisted Root was a fixture in the side. However, Farbrace – who has been standing in for the head coach, Trevor Bayliss, during the T20I series – said that Root remained a shoo-in to play in the first ODI against India at Trent Bridge on Thursday.”Every player goes through a period where you either find it tough or you’re left out the side,” said Farbrace. “We all know that [Joe’s] response will be to work harder, try harder and score more runs – that’s the nature of him.”I’m sure he was bitterly disappointed to be left out because he wants to play every game for England and he wants to show he’s a high quality player in all forms of the game, but we all know Joe very well – he’ll be spurred on by that and he’ll do all he can to make sure he’s ready come Thursday’s game at Trent Bridge.”Root’s role in T20 cricket has come under inadvertent scrutiny in recent months, partly as a consequence of his huge importance to England’s fortunes in the longer formats. In the aftermath of a gruelling Ashes campaign, he was rested during England’s T20 tri-series in Australia and New Zealand in February, and also missed out on an IPL deal after being overlooked in this year’s auction.And, now in the aftermath of a T20 series decider when even a target of 200 was shown to be some 20-30 runs short, Root’s value – as a man who can keep the strike rotating and soak up the pressure moments of an innings – has been undermined by the sheer muscularity required to put a defendable total on the board, at least on the sort of flat deck that was served up at Bristol.”It is important in low-scoring games on tough wickets, you need people who can manipulate the strike, who can play spin bowling well, and can keep you in tight games,” said Farbrace. “That’s a skill that Joe has – he has the ability to hit boundaries. He might not have the raw power of a Stokes or a Bairstow but he has strong cricket shots, even in 20-over cricket, which will get you your reward.”In the game at Cardiff, a low-scoring game, the idea of him going in when he did [at No.3] was to rotate the strike, knock it around and get you close to winning the game. In the end, he got out playing the sweep shot – which is fine, because that’s a shot that he plays exceptionally well.”I still think, and I genuinely believe it, that if England are to be successful in T20 cricket over the next couple of years leading into the World Cup, Joe Root will play a magnificent and big part in that. He’s our best player – a fantastic player in all forms of the game.”Yes, he hasn’t got any runs in the last couple of games and, yes, that does make you vulnerable in any side. Runs are your currency – that’s what you’re selected on. It’s the same for bowlers – it’s about wickets and economy rates in T20 cricket.”Despite the disappointment of losing the series decider, Farbrace said that England would take confidence from their Cardiff win into next week’s ODI series, which arguably has far more significance for the two teams leading into next year’s World Cup, and which England will begin as the No.1-ranked side in the world.”It was really important that we showed that we could learn very quickly from the first game and we showed that we are capable of beating India in tough conditions,” said Farbrace. “It will be a brilliant series – they’re a magnificent side, they’ve got a lot of experience, a high level of skill, and you can see that they’re definitely here to get stuck into the challenge.”That’s the way that you’d expect all of [Virat] Kohli’s teams to play, so we’re going to have to play extremely well to win it.”

Asaduddin, who has no first-class experience, is part of a pre-season camp, and could break into a side that is set to be mentored by his father

Shashank Kishore29-Aug-2018Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin is set to offer advice to the Goa team, but the possible selection of his son Asaduddin has caused a stir among the players.Goa’s pre-season camp is currently underway in Hyderabad, where Asaduddin is among 27 players in participation. The side will play pre-season matches after which the final squad of 15 will be picked for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the domestic 50-over competition, starting September 19. The GCA implied he isn’t an automatic pick, but former players and a number of fringe players in the group are miffed at why he has even been brought into the mix.Shadab Jakati, the 37-year old allrounder who has picked up 275 wickets in 92 first-class matches, lashed out at the Goa Cricket Association (GCA) for picking players according to their “whims and fancies”. However, Daya Pagi, the GCA secretary, insisted Asaduddin’s selection was subject to performance at the pre-season camp and that he has been picked out unfairly.”We have two other professionals, no one is talking about them,” Pagi told ESPNcricinfo. “A legend like Azharuddin came forward to help, and we have accepted his offer. We haven’t signed any formal agreement, he has just agreed to help out. It’s just a verbal understanding. His son is also a cricketer, and we thought why not give him a chance and see how good he is, after all we can’t afford to pay big money to some other professionals. There is no other motive.”The selection of 29-year old Asaduddin, a left-handed top-order batsman, became a talking point because he has no first-class experience and he last played a competitive match in 2009, for a Hyderabad Colts side. Asaduddin had previously attended IPL trials with a number of franchises and even moved to Uttar Pradesh to pursue first-class cricket, but couldn’t get a break.”This isn’t about me being dropped,” Jakati said. “Even last year, I was left out after picking five wickets against Punjab, so it’s not like I am suddenly coming out and saying this. They wanted to give young players an opportunity. Me, Asnodkar and Saurabh Bandekar weren’t even considered for the probables camp because of that, but the next thing I find out is they’ve inducted Asaduddin, who is 29 years old. On what basis? Just because he’s son of a former India captain?”Jakati picked up only seven wickets in three first-class matches last season – including a five-for – but he was Goa’s highest-wicket taker in 2016-17, with 41 wickets in nine matches. While Jakati said he wasn’t bothered by his omission, he questioned the GCA’s logic of picking players after he was informed that it was the management’s decision to give younger players a chance.It’s not just Asaduddin’s selection that has angered Jakati and many fringe players. The association has roped in Amit Verma, the Karnataka allrounder, and Aditya Kaushik, a 26-year old batsman, from Delhi. While Verma has won a Ranji Trophy with Karnataka, Kaushik too, like Asaduddin, has no first-class experience and played the last of his 11 T20s for Delhi in 2016. Jakati alleged that Kaushik is being pursued to play as a local player because his father has business interests in Goa.”I’m not against picking professionals, many teams do that, but my fight against the GCA is in how they go about picking them,” Jakati said. “If you want to build a team and get players from outside, you want to be bringing those who can lend their experience to youngsters here, guide them and take some ownership. If you’re bringing players who themselves have no clue of first-class cricket, how are you helping the cause of young players in the state? What is the message you’re sending out?”So far, neither Azhaduddin, who is yet to join the camp in Hyderabad, nor Asaduddin have offered to comment on the selection controversy. Prakash Mayekar, the head coach, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he hadn’t been consulted in picking their professional players.”This is the decision of the management. They sent him here for the camp to look how good he is. I have not seen him much, very frankly, so it’s just the call of the management,” Mayekar said. “The decision of selecting him [Asaduddin] is not final. Five-six days before this controversy, they told me ‘he is going to join your camp and he is not decided yet.’ Let’s see how good he is.”In his response, Jakati, who wasn’t sure of his immediate future, asked if Azharuddin’s involvement in a mentorship capacity didn’t equate to a conflict of interest under BCCI’s guidelines. “I want some clarity, how is this not conflict of interest?” he asked. “I have nothing against him but my stance is to fight for Goa cricketers. I am not interested in playing even if picked this season after what has transpired. But I hope there is justice met because the careers of many is at stake.”

Left-arm spinner Sharafuddin Ashraf returns to the 17-man squad for the first time in six months

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Sep-2018Afghanistan have picked three specialist spinners – a legspinner, a mystery spinner and a left-arm spinner – in their squad of 17 for the Asia Cup to be held in the UAE later this month.Sharafuddin Ashraf, the left-arm spinner, is among just two new additions – uncapped wicketkeeper Munir Ahmad being the other – to the squad that beat Ireland in the ODI series last week. Fast bowler Dawlat Zadran misses out.Sharafuddin has featured in 14 ODIs so far, the last of which came at the World Cup Qualifiers in March this year. He has also played six T20Is. In all, he has 17 top-flight international wickets.This is a maiden call-up for Munir Ahmad, who has been picked as a second wicketkeeper, an understudy to Mohammad Shahzad, the hard-hitting opening batsman.Ashraf aside, Afghanistan’s spin arsenal boasts of Rashid and Mujeeb, who have emerged richer in experience through county stints in England earlier this year apart from featuring in the IPL. Both of them also featured in the country’s maiden Test in India. They can also call upon a fourth option in offspinner allrounder Mohammad Nabi if needed.The squad is captained by Asghar Afghan, who along with Shahzad, Javed Ahmadi, Ihshanullah Jannat, Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi makes up the top order. In addition to Nabi, they have a second allrounder in Gulbadin Naib, capable of bowling handy seam-ups. Aftab Alam, Sayed Shirzad and Wafadar constitute their pace attack.Squad for Asia Cup: Mohammad Shahzad, Javed Ahmadi, Asghar Afghan(c), Rahmat Shah, Samiullah Shenwari, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Aftab Alam, Ihsanullah Janat, Sayed Shirzad, Wafadar, Munir Ahmad Kakar

But the West Indies captain was confident that Gayle would be part of the team’s World Cup plans next year

Alagappan Muthu in Hyderabad10-Oct-2018It was odd to see a player as massive as Chris Gayle opting out of West Indies duty to play in T20 – and this time even T10 – leagues. Even odder considering the 2019 World Cup is only eight months away. But Jason Holder didn’t find this turn of events surprising. The West Indies captain felt the opener was “tapering off” and hoped that in his absence, some of the younger players seized the opportunity.”Chris is an all-star and I think it’s clear he’s probably at the back end of his career now. He’s probably tapering off a bit. I just saw him play his last List-A game for Jamaica, scoring a hundred against my home team, which is great to see. I enjoy having Chris around. I think he’s one of the most entertaining players in the world but his absence gives another player opportunity.”We have a limited time leading up to the World Cup and it’s a good option to see what we have in the tank, in terms of our pool of players, when one door closes another one opens and hopefully it’s an opportunity to see another young guy coming through.”West Indies currently have 13 ODIs between now and the end of May when the World Cup begins. Holder was completely confident that Gayle will be part of the squad heading to England and Wales, and brought up the point that the 39-year old had made himself available to play the qualifying tournament in March “really only because he wanted to play the World Cup” and that he would be “welcomed into the team”.”He’s definitely going to play the World Cup once his body holds up and he’s fit,” Holder said. “We’d welcome him into the team. If you go back to the beginning of the year, Chris made himself available for the World Cup Qualifiers. He only did that really because he wants to play the World Cup, he wants to play well for West Indies and he wants to do well.”When he does that – he has plenty of options around the world to make money – it says something about the individual, says something about what he wants and I really admire that. He was obviously a pivotal part in us qualifying to the World Cup. Guys like him, Marlon Samuels, who really made themselves available in that instance, credit must go to them and not only them, to each and every individual who has come up to represent West Indies.”They knew the significance and importance of that tournament; we played against teams we probably weren’t accustomed to playing against. It was difficult. But as the series went on, we rallied well and we achieved the objective.”ESPNcricinfo understands Courtney Browne’s selection panel told Gayle that he would not be picked for the T20 series in India and Bangladesh as they were building a squad keeping in mind the 2020 World T20 in Australia. Gayle is understood to have told the selectors that, in that case, it would be better for him to step aside for the ODI series in both countries to allow the selectors to look at some younger players. Gayle told the selection panel that he would play a few matches for Jamaica in the Super50 followed by the Afghanistan Premier League and the T10 League in the UAE.According to a CWI official, Gayle was “aware of the risks” because his position could go to any player that performs well on the tours of India and Bangladesh, but the former captain wanted to “manage” his workload to keep himself ready for the World Cup.

Franchise owners keen to allow newly appointed head coach Mike Hesson to build his own support staff and strategy

Nagraj Gollapudi03-Nov-2018Virender Sehwag’s innings at Kings XI Punjab has come to an end. Having played for the franchise for two seasons, Sehwag served initially as Kings XI mentor in 2016 before taking up the additional role of head of cricket operations and strategy last January. However, having roped in former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson as the head coach, the Kings XI owners felt that retaining Sehwag could lead to complications at a later stage.The parting seems to have been cordial as Sehwag himself made the decision public on his Twitter feed, saying: “All good things must come to an end and I’ve had a wonderful time at Kings 11 Punjab, for 2 seasons as a player and 3 as a mentor. My association with Kings 11 comes to an end and I am thankful for the time I have had here and wish the team all the very best for the times ahead.”Incidentally, Sehwag’s contract was up for renewal, but ESPNcricinfo understands the owners were keen to allow Hesson the freedom to take decisions and build his own strategy and support staff. Retaining Sehwag would have meant there would be two people in charge of the team, which could have created confusion among both players and team management.During Sehwag’s tenure, Kings XI won 17 matches and lost 23. In 2017, when he was just the mentor, they came within one match of qualifying for the playoffs, but lost to Rising Pune Supergiants in a key game. They would end up fifth on the points table that season, their best under Sehwag.Hesson, who replaced Brad Hodge as the Kings XI coach, met the franchise’s leadership group this week to start planning which players will need to be released and to formulate the strategy for the IPL auction in December. In IPL 2018, Kings XI were led by R Ashwin, and finished second from bottom, having been joint leaders on the points table at the halfway stage.

PCB and CA mulling pushing ODI series from March to April, with World Cup in mind, even while Pakistan push for games in Pakistan

Daniel Brettig19-Nov-2018Steven Smith and David Warner may return to international cricket as soon as a matter of hours after their bans are lifted at the end of March, after it was revealed that Pakistan’s board is open to the concept of shifting its ODI series with Australia into April ahead of next year’s World Cup.As Cricket Australia’s (CA) Board deliberates on whether to make any alterations to the bans imposed on Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft, possibly freeing them up to play Sheffield Shield matches ahead of the time originally stipulated in their suspensions, ESPNcricinfo has learned that the PCB would be eager to see the ODI series played in April, rather than the late March dates currently pencilled in.Such a shift would aid both teams in terms of World-Cup preparation, with squads due to be finalised and submitted to the ICC by April 23. But it would also allow Smith and Warner to play under the terms of their penalty.A clue as to the possibility was raised last week when CA’s interim team-performance manager Belinda Clark released the governing body’s position on player availability for the IPL, which stated “Players who are participating in the One Day International series versus Pakistan will not be released until its conclusion”.Earlier discussions between the two boards are believed to have taken place against a backdrop of CA concern over interfering with the IPL “window”, but this now appears to have changed. The PCB, with none of its players considered for the IPL due to political tensions between Pakistan and India, will have a full ODI complement available to play in April.One of the other factors in discussion is the PCB’s eagerness for more teams to break the nearly decade-long dearth of international matches in Pakistan. There is hope on the PCB side that CA would consider playing at least part of this five-match series in Pakistan, before the remainder of the fixtures take place in the UAE. The PCB’s new chairman Ehsan Mani made his feelings clear during Australia’s recent Test series against Pakistan.”Obviously they rely on the [Australian] High Commission’s advice, but a lot of it is a matter of perception,” Mani said. “I am yet to meet people who, once they’ve been to Pakistan, have any concerns about going there. On the sidelines, we’ve certainly raised this with them, that they should consider this.”It will certainly happen sooner or later. It’s a matter of comfort levels. We are getting PSL matches played in Pakistan, foreign players are coming for that. We’ve had a couple of other teams come and play, but I really want Australia, New Zealand, England to come. One thing we need to explain to Cricket Australia properly is that where we are planning to host the matches is away from troubled areas.”The bans on Smith, Warner and Bancroft have polarised views for some months, and the Australian Cricketers Association submission to CA about reducing their terms has forced the Board, its interim chairman Earl Eddings and new chief executive Kevin Roberts to consider the state of play.Should Smith and Warner be given dispensation to return to Shield ranks for the final four rounds of the season, ahead of the expiry of their 12-month bans, there is a sense that Bancroft, too, should be afforded similar treatment. To do so would require him to be made available for the next two rounds of Shield matches, meaning a decision either way would need to be reached this week.Nathan Lyon expressed hope that the trio would be allowed to return to domestic ranks before the end of the home summer. “Always want to see them playing Shield cricket, I think the whole of Australia would like to see them playing Shield cricket,” Lyon said in Canberra. “It’s up to the powers that be to make that decision, and no matter what decision they make, we’ll respect that.”I actually think the way Steve and Davey are going about it, they’ve been absolutely incredible and what they’re doing for grade cricket in Sydney has been exceptional. I actually take my hat off to them.”Should they be allowed to play in the Shield, Smith and Warner in particular would be able to build a legitimate case for inclusion in the ODI team to face Pakistan via their performances. In turn, participation in the ODI series would also mean the selectors and coach Justin Langer could see them in action, and observe their behaviour in the context of a touring team, before making a final call as to the composition of the World-Cup squad.