Going into this six-ODI series, he won’t have the same trepidation he might have had going into the Tests. Just like Quinton de Kock for South Africa, Rohit Sharma will be looking forward to this change in format

Sidharth Monga in Durban30-Jan-20184:58

Manjrekar: India can be relied upon to win ODIs across the world

Rohit Sharma is ready to put behind him the Test series in which he was preferred to Ajinkya Rahane for the first two Tests and then dropped. Rahane made a crucial contribution in the Test that India won. Rohit is a genius ODI batsman, and that confidence just shows vis-a-vis when he is playing Tests and still looking to establish himself. In ODIs, he has proved himself almost all over the world and in big tournaments, and South Africa is a blip he will be keen to correct.Going into this six-ODI series he won’t have the same trepidation he might have had going into the Tests. Just like Quinton de Kock for South Africa, he will be looking forward to this change in format.What is different in Tests then? Two days before the start of the ODI series, Rohit, India’s limited-overs vice-captain, might have unwittingly given away a little bit of a peek into his mind when playing different formats. He was asked if the changes for the ODIs will be more technical or mental, and he ended up putting Test batting in perspective.”You need to tell yourself that the shots you played in Tests and shots you play in ODIs are different,” Rohit said. “I am talking about myself. Every individual has their own plan, but when you play Test cricket it is important to analyse the situation, where the game stands at that point, and one bad shot can change the course of the game.”Rohit has had that experience in Tests, which possibly makes him bat unnaturally. In Southampton in 2014, with India leading the series, Rohit holed out off Moeen Ali just before a break, and India went down after that, both in the Test and the series.Now comes the contrast in limited-overs cricket. “In ODIs you think two steps ahead and want to put pressure back on the bowlers,” Rohit continued. “And change it around. There are a lot of Test cricketers who think in the same fashion in ODI [and Test] cricket. For me, it is different and nothing changes other than mentally. Technical aspect remains the same. Yes, the shot selection and certain technical aspect of your game changes but mentally you have to keep telling yourself that you have to read the situation and try and analyse where the game is going and where you want the game to be going after the day’s play.”Rohit is not a natural opener but he can tell you how to build an ODI innings even if you wake him up in the middle of the night and give him a situation. It is rightly feared that Rohit can come close to scoring an individual triple-hundred in ODIs. Rohit, though, doesn’t want to take it for granted, especially in the light of walking from a format he struggled to one that comes naturally to him.”See, nothing is comfortable in cricket, in sport rather,” Rohit said. “There will always be times when things are not going your way, and then when things are going your way. It is important for you to keep things going. I’m not going to talk about Test cricket so much because it’s over now, and we have a big job at hand winning the ODI series here.”I think every batsman who will be taking part in this ODI series will have a huge role to play. I’m here to make an impact in the series, I want to try and do that. Both are different formats. It’s not that I don’t try so much in Test cricket and try a lot in ODI cricket. I give the same effort in all the formats that I play, but sometimes it comes off and sometimes it doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean that you have to change things too much. You’ve got to believe in yourself, you’ve come so far and played and got success. So you have to believe in your ability and know how to take things forward. I’ve been in a difficult situation before many times, so for me it’s all about taking it one game at a time and responding to situations.”Rohit wants to put his good form in ODIs to good use in the upcoming series. “I’m enjoying batting quite a bit,” Rohit said. “Of course, the last six-seven months have been really great. Since the Champions Trophy in England, we’ve had a great run except for the loss against Pakistan [in the final]. That was a little disappointing. But yes, since then it’s been a good run and I hope I can continue and put the team in a good situation. We want to get those victories away from home. It’s always important what you do outside India.”There will be a personal record to set straight too. Rohit does have good memories of South Africa. He played a big part in winning the World T20 final in 2007 here, he won his first IPL here, but his last two international trips have not been memorable. In Tests, he has had eight innings for just 123 runs in the country. He averages only 12.28 in South Africa after seven ODI innings. He was part of the side that was streamrolled in the ODIs on the last trip. He will set about this job with the knowledge he has done it before elsewhere.

Bangaldesh’s most experienced players came to the fore on a dodgy pitch, contributing important runs before Shakib dented Zimbabwe’s top order

The Report by Mohammad Isam23-Jan-2018
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan bump fists during their partnership•AFP

Zimbabwe made a complete hash of their 217-run chase against Bangladesh in Mirpur, as they were bowled out for 125 and lost by 91 runs. In the process, they also lost control of their path to the tri-series final. Sri Lanka now have a chance to overtake them on the table if they beat the home side in the last league game on Thursday.Bangladesh’s spinners and medium-pacers combined impressively to bowl Zimbabwe out in 36.3 overs, helping their side to a third consecutive win with a bonus point. This was Bangladesh’s lowest total in a win against Zimbabwe. The win was also Mashrafe Mortaza’s 30th as Bangladesh captain, making him the most successful in terms of wins. He overtook Habibul Bashar’s 29 wins.Shakib Al Hasan took three wickets, like he had in the two previous games, while there were two each for Mortaza, Sunzamul Islam and Mustafizur Rahman. Shakib made a fifty in the first innings as well, adding 106 for the second wicket with Man of the Match Tamim Iqbal, who scored his third fifty in a row.Mashrafe and Shakib hurt Zimbabwe’s chances by taking four wickets in the first 10 overs. Hamilton Masakadza edged Mashrafe to Sabbir Rahman in the fourth over before Shakib dismissed Solomon Mire and Brendan Taylor off successive balls in the seventh over. Mire had missed a long-hop that kept low, while Taylor played back to a fullish delivery first ball to be trapped in front.Craig Ervine’s poor form continued when he edged Mashrafe to slip, for the third time in a row, where Sabbir took a sharp catch. His 11 in this innings took him to 15 runs in four innings in the tri-series.Sikandar Raza and Peter Moor held back the home bowlers for 13.1 overs, but Sunzamul Islam struck two blows in as many deliveries in the 23rd over. Moor and Malcolm Waller were both given out leg-before, with the latter using up the review.Raza and Cremer tried mending the situation for a while but that didn’t last long either. Raza, who had struck two fours and a dismissive six during the steady fall of wickets, hammered Mustafizur down the ground for his fourth boundary before playing on to his stumps in the same over to end all hopes for Zimbabwe. Shakib added a third before Mustafizur closed out the innings.It wasn’t just Zimbabwe who struggled against spin. Graeme Cremer took four wickets. The three Zimbabwe spinners – Cremer, Raza and Waller – gave away just four boundaries in 27 overs between them, and gave away runs at 3.81 per over. Medium-pacer Kyle Jarvis chipped in with three wickets.Even during the 106-run second wicket stand between Shakib and Tamim, Zimbabwe’s spinners had a major say. The pair couldn’t find any boundaries in one phase of their partnership. That phase lasted 12.2 overs in a partnership of 25 overs. Raza, Cremer and Waller put the brakes on with their accuracy and the slow pitch too played its part.Tamim managed to reach two milestones during this time – he first became the highest scorer in a single venue in ODIs and then when he moved to 66, he became the first Bangladeshi to reach 6,000 ODI runs.There was hardly any acceleration during the innings and when they made an effort, they ended up giving away their wickets. Shakib was stumped trying to charge Raza before Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah fell to Cremer in quick succession. Then, Tamim was stumped for 76 off 105 balls off a Cremer googly, before Mashrafe fell to give the Zimbabwe’s captain his 100th wicket in ODIs.Sunzamul, Mustafizur and Rubel Hossain added 45 runs together in the last 7.4 overs to frustrate Zimbabwe and used the momentum to good effect when they came out to bowl.

He last played 50-over cricket for his country in May 2017, but has been brought in as back up with fitness concerns over the team’s frontline spin options

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2018Ish Sodhi was named in New Zealand’s squad to play the first two ODIs of a five-match series against England. The 25-year old last played 50-over cricket for his country in May 2017, but has been brought in as back up with fitness concerns over the team’s frontline spin options.

New Zealand’s ODi squad

Kane Williamson (capt), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor
In: Ish Sodhi
Out: George Worker

“Both Mitchell Santner and Todd Astle have had injury concerns recently,” selector Gavin Larsen said. “So having Ish travel with us gives further options in the spin department.”Sodhi has been one of New Zealand’s first-choice players in T20 cricket, and was recently ranked No. 1 in the format. In 2018, he has taken nine wickets from 10 matches at an economy-rate of 8.25.New Zealand have kept faith in almost all the players who helped secure a 5-0 whitewash over Pakistan in January. Only batsman George Worker and fast bowler Seth Rance have missed out on selection.”Having won the previous eight matches, we’ve been able to keep good consistency in selection with our ODI squad,” Larsen said. “We still have a number of guys pushing their case in domestic cricket and that’s pleasing, but this is the squad for the first two matches of the series.”The first ODI against England will be played in Hamilton on Sunday.

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.”