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Kusal Mendis’ recent string of poor scores may be a result of mental fatigue. That, at least, was the diagnosis of batting coach Avishka Gunawardene, ahead of the fifth ODI against India. Though he hit an excellent hundred in the second Test at the SSC, Mendis is yet to make a substantial impact in the ODIs, producing scores of 36, 19, 1 and 1.This is despite Mendis’ having begun his ODI career well – hitting 11 fifties and a century in his first 28 innings. In his last eight knocks, however, Mendis has returned five scores of one or zero.”We had a chat about Mendis after the last game, and we feel that he is mentally drained,” Gunawardene said. “He is still 22 years old. It’s nothing to do with any technical issues. We will see what the management comes up with. I think it’s better to give him a break before the next tour rather than keep playing him throughout.”Mendis has more reason than any of his teammates to feel a little weary of Sri Lanka’s very busy schedule. Although he is often the youngest man in Sri Lanka’s XI, Mendis has made 62 international appearances – including 17 Tests – since the start of 2017. That is five more matches than any of his teammates have managed. Incredibly, that is without having debuted in limited-overs cricket until the middle of last year.Gunawardene believes Mendis should be deployed more sparingly, given his age and the stage of development he is at. “Personally, I think someone who is young like that should only be playing the longer version of the game and ODI cricket,” he said. “I would rather keep him out of T20 cricket. He is still a player who is developing. Obviously we are looking at having him around for the next so many years. Better keep him for the longer formats – that’s my personal opinion.”Elsewhere in the top order, Sri Lanka have more problems to solve. They have not passed 250 once in the series, and even batsmen who did score runs have largely played laboured innings. None of Sri Lanka’s four half-centuries in the series have come at quicker than a run-a-ball.”Dot balls have become a big issue for us,” Gunawardene said. “Our dot-ball ratio in the last 12 months is something like 145 in a game. That is almost 50 percent, and that is one area we have rectify. We have set a target to improve that area by about 15 percent. We are trying to see whether we could improve our singles ratio while cutting down on dot-ball ratio.In fact, Sri Lanka’s dot-ball percentage in this series is even higher than those figures – they have not scored off 57% of the balls they have faced. India’s dot-ball percentage, meanwhile, is 47%. Though the teams are neck-and-neck in terms of dot balls faced in the first 10 overs, India are much better at rotating the strike through the middle. Sri Lanka have also had issues putting partnerships together.”Another target is that we try to tell the top five that someone has to bat for 45 overs. Then batting partnership is something that we have also spoken about – where we ask players to give us one 100-plus stand and one 75-plus stand. If we can do that the batsmen are capable of getting a decent score.”

File Photo – Shreyas Iyer’s counter-attacking 97-ball 108 rescued India A from a precarious position•PTI

With the national selectors trying out different options at No. 4 in the one-day set-up, Shreyas Iyer continued to present his case across formats. A month after hitting an unbeaten 140 that helped India A win the tri-series in South Africa, his counter-attacking 97-ball 108 rescued the side from a precarious 114 for 4 and put them on the road to victory on the second day of the first unofficial Test against New Zealand A in Vijayawada.Iyer, who walked in to bat at No. 5, following Karun Nair’s dismissal, amassed 78 of those in little over an hour before lunch to put New Zealand on the defensive quickly. In Rishabh Pant, Iyer found a partner who matched him stroke for stroke. Pant, who was not considered for the longer format during the A tour in South Africa, made an impression immediately, hitting 67 to swell India A’s lead to 173.In their second innings, New Zealand were on 64 for 2 when bad light forced a premature end to proceedings, and they once again wasted a steady start from the openers Jeet Raval and George Worker, who had added 41 runs. The visitors still need 109 to make India A bat again, with the possibility of a three-day finish looming large.The post-lunch session was particularly entertaining as it turned into a mini-contest between Iyer and Pant, both capable of playing audacious shots at different times. While Iyer drove, slapped and walked down the pitch to flat-bat fast bowlers over their heads repeatedly, Pant backed himself to clear long-off and long-on when spinners bowled in his hitting arc. Not even Iyer’s dismissal forced Pant to adopt a circumspect approach, an inside-out hit over long-off against the turn proving there was more to his range than just brute force. His 26-ball half-century was a chanceless fare in which he favoured the straight boundaries – six of his nine fours and both sixes coming in the region.The day began with much promise for New Zealand A as Ish Sodhi, who prised out Priyank Panchal and Sudip Chatterjee late on the opening day, had Nair chop on in the 31st over. The India A captain, who had battled calmly until then shaped to cut but erred in trying to play back to a flipper that cramped him for room. R Samarth, who progressed to make his third successive half-century for India A, then fell into the short-ball trap to give New Zealand more voice.Samarth gloved an attempted hook off Scott Kuggeleijn to George Worker, who was strategically placed at leg slip, to leave India A wobbling at 114 for 4. With the ball still fairly new, the visitors went full tilt with their pace battery. Setting attacking fields came with the risk of conceding runs in pursuit of wickets. On Sunday, however, Iyer’s breathtaking onslaught, which got him into his groove, had a cascading effect as Pant’s fearless innings handed India A a convincing lead.Amidst the carnage, Sodhi held his own, picking five wickets. Initially branded a flat and skiddy bowler, Sodhi, who spoke of having to reinvent his methods, tossed it up to get the batsmen to commit mistakes, even if it came with the risk of being tonked. The delivery that got Iyer proved his efficacy at doing the same. After being hit for a huge six over long-off, he tossed the ball again, but landed it wider, as an another attempt from Iyer at clearing the ropes resulted in a slice to cover. Pant carried on from where Iyer left off, but once he fell, the innings swiftly ended, with Todd Astle, the legspinner, bagging two lower-order wickets.New Zealand A started well in their second innings, with Jeet Raval and Worker blunting the India A attack for over an hour, the focus clearly being on crease occupation over run-scoring. But being circumspect against spin, even to deliveries which batsmen may try to put away most times, resulted in two false shots. Raval misjudged a sweep and was bowled to a Shahbaz Nadeem delivery that spun back in to hit the leg stump, while Henry Nicholls, the captain, was out lbw to Karn Sharma, beaten by sharp turn back in from the rough. Will Young and Worker, however, ended the day without any further hiccups.

The PCB wants an apology from the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) for its response after a bomb blast in Kabul on May 31. Ties between the boards were effectively severed in the wake of an attack that left more than 80 people dead and nearly 500 injured. But on Sunday*, after a meeting of the board, the ACB chief Atif Mashal said: “our relations with other cricket boards, including PCB, are based on mutual respect and national interests and we do not see the need for an apology”Soon after the blast two months ago, ACB tweeted that it was cancelling “agreed terms of mutual cricketing relationship” with its Pakistan counterpart. And the issue escalated when the ACB, in an expanded statement, blamed Pakistan for the attack, saying that no agreement could be “valid in a country where terrorists are housed and provided a safe haven”.”One day, their chairman [Mashal] met me and was very positive about having good relations,” Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, said in Lahore. “But next day he gave an extremely political statement about Pakistan, so then we told them that we don’t have anything to do with you. He later did express his regret on making the statement and had also apologised privately. But we, the board, have taken a position that until they apologise in public, we should not be reviving any cricketing ties with them.”Three days before the May 31 blast, a delegation led by Mashal had met Khan in Lahore. After lengthy discussions, the Pakistan board expressed its willingness to provide Afghanistan with venues for training and conditioning camps, and laid the groundwork for Pakistan’s youth and senior teams to play reciprocal tours. Both boards had agreed, in principle, to play T20 friendlies – as opposed to internationals – as part of their efforts to renew ties with each other. The matches were set to take place in Kabul and Lahore in July and August.But, following the blast, the ACB changed its stance. The PCB issued a strong response extending its sympathies to the victims of the attack, but hit back at the “baseless allegations levelled by the Afghanistan Cricket Board”. After the ACB had cancelled the itinerary, the PCB then said that the matches were simply an “informal understanding with ACB”. The Pakistan board also said that the tour was subject to conducive security conditions in Afghanistan and therefore stood cancelled due to the continuous “insecurity and instability” there.Afghanistan were recently awarded Full Member status at the ICC and are now eligible to play Test cricket. The PCB has played a lauded role in Afghanistan’s cricketing progress over the years.That rise, over the past eight years, has been steady ever since they gained ODI status in 2009 after the World Cup Qualifier in South Africa that year. That was followed by three-consecutive promotions starting from the fifth division of the World Cricket League. Over the past 12 months, Afghanistan have been fairly successful against other Full Members, securing three ODI wins over Zimbabwe and tying West Indies in an ODI series in June.*1025 GMT The story has been updated with the ACB’s response

Ravi Shastri, the former India allrounder and team director, has been appointed head coach of the national side until the 2019 World Cup. Zaheer Khan has been named bowling consultant for the same tenure, while Rahul Dravid will be India’s batting consultant for overseas Test series.The confirmation came late on Tuesday night after the CoA impressed upon the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendullkar and VVS Laxman, the urgent need to end the uncertainty over the next India coach.The vacancy arose because Anil Kumble resigned after the Champions Trophy in June, stating that his partnership with India captain Virat Kohli had become “untenable”. India went to the West Indies to play a limited-overs series without a head coach.Shastri was one of five candidates the CAC interviewed for the role, along with Virender Sehwag, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus and Lalchand Rajput. He had not applied when the BCCI invited applications for the first time, but did so after Kumble was no longer in the fray.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Shastri had applied for the role in 2016 as well, and was disappointed to lose out to Kumble, because India had done well during his tenure as director.He had been appointed team director in August 2014 and under him, India made it to semi-finals of successive global events – the 2015 World Cup and the 2016 World T20 – and also climbed to No. 1 on the Test rankings for a period of eight weeks until February 2016. During that time, India also won their first limited-overs bilateral series in Australia, whitewashing the hosts 3-0 in a T20I series. While he worked alongside Duncan Fletcher in the early part of his tenure, Shastri had sole responsibility of the team after the 2015 World Cup.Zaheer, a former India fast bowler, has no formal coaching experience but he has been part of the Delhi Daredevils thinktank in recent IPL seasons. He was offered the role of bowling consultant last year by the BCCI, but both parties could not come to an agreement over remuneration.Dravid recently gave up his position as the Daredevils mentor, after accepting a two-year contract to coach the India A and Under-19 teams.The appointments bring to an end a period of uncertainty over the India coaching job that began at the end of May, when Kohli told BCCI officials that some players were uncomfortable with Kumble’s approach to man management. Following Kohli’s feedback, the BCCI advertised for the position and Kumble was one of several candidates to apply. While Kohli maintained in public that there were no problems with Kumble, the issue came to a head soon after the Champions Trophy when, with no new coach in place, Kumble was offered an extension to cover the tour of the West Indies but decided to step down instead.Shastri’s first assignment as head coach is the Test series in Sri Lanka, which begins on July 26.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:45

Agarkar: Complete performance from Pakistan

Never mind the damp conclusion; this is Birmingham in June, what did you expect? The weather shouldn’t detract from the fact that Pakistan pulled off an upset in the game of the tournament so far. It is a shame the contest wasn’t able to carry on till its natural conclusion, because it could have been the day the 2017 Champions Trophy finally came to life. Instead, it was the day Pakistan ensured they remained alive, beating South Africa by 19 runs via the DLS method to complete a turnaround only they seem to be able to manage, and with inexplicable regularity.Pakistan put on a vastly improved bowling display as they shackled South Africa’s batsmen to restrict them to 219. It might have been nearer 150 when Pakistan got rid of six South African batsmen inside the first 30 overs for 118, but David Miller, so often required only to provide late firepower, showed his all-round batting credentials. He anchored the innings with an unbeaten 75 off 104 balls. Hasan Ali finished with 3 for 24.It turns out you can open the bowling with two quality fast bowlers in England conditions, after all. Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan were tight and disciplined, bowling to a plan, meticulous in ensuring South Africa’s openers were not allowed width. Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock had to shuffle around to manipulate the ball past the inner circle, never quite looking as comfortable as they so often do. A superb opportunity to get a wicket was missed as early as the second over, with de Kock setting off for a suicidal single, and only Shoaib Malik’s inability to hit the stumps spared him.The seamers might have started well, but the spinners wounded South Africa. Imad Wasim – brought on inside the first Powerplay – removed Amla with his second delivery, the batsman missing his nudge off a straight ball.De Kock joined him soon after. He had survived an lbw shout off Mohammad Hafeez as Pakistan failed to review an lbw call that would have been overturned, but he hadn’t learned his lesson and missed a sweep off Hafeez. South Africa’s innings went from shaky to all-out panic just an over later, when captain AB de Villiers slashed Imad Wasim first ball straight to backward point. Pakistan suddenly had complete control of the game.Miller tried to take some control of the South African innings, stepping out to hit two sixes, but South Africa simply could not get partnerships going. Duminy and Parnell were victims of contenders for ball of the tournament, each pitching around off stump and tailing away. Duminy got an outside edge that carried to first slip, while Parnell could put no barrier between ball and off stump. South Africa were 118 for 6, and Pakistan were running through them.Chris Morris gave Miller some company as South Africa looked to get as close to 200 as possible, but there were no signs of the ragged death bowling that had been a feature of Pakistan’s performance against India. Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan were unplayable at times, bowling reverse swinging yorkers almost on demand.Miller was able to hold his side’s innings together though. It was a small win in an innings where Pakistan had the upper hand almost from start to finish. Other than Morne Morkel’s bowling, it was the only positive South Africa could cling to on a day even the most conniving spin doctor could struggle to describe as anything other than a disappointment for the world’s top-ranked side.Set 220, Pakistan approached the run chase the way modern teams have been doing all around the world, but coming from Pakistan, it still felt like a novelty. Fakhar Zaman was clearly given a job to do, but actually doing it against Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell under gloomy skies on debut is altogether different. He was dismissive of any width, slashing the ball through the covers and behind point at every opportunity, and even creating width when there wasn’t any to smash the bowlers square of the wicket either side.But it’s the nature of quick hitting that it is always likely to be ephemeral. Morkel, whose place in the side has been a subject of such debate of late, reigned in a galloping Pakistan. Both openers were dismissed in one over as the tall fast bowler exploited both his variation and the bounce he invariably seems to generate on every surface. That over was followed by 20 straight dot deliveries as South Africa neutralised Pakistan’s flying start and came roaring back into the game. Morkel’s opening spell reading 5-1-7-2.Hafeez and Babar Azam were stuck with negotiating the sustained pressure the bowlers were putting on them by now, the renewed energy in the fielding side palpable. Both were hanging around without ever looking especially comfortable, and South Africa always seemed to be on the cusp of a wicket. That arrived, somewhat inevitably, with the second ball of Morkel’s second spell, as Hafeez tried to pull one that grew too big on him, leaving Imran Tahir to take his second catch of the evening.Rather than add pressure on Pakistan, that somehow relieved it, and what followed was their most free-scoring spell since the first six overs. Rabada and Morkel went for two boundaries each in their subsequent overs, and by the time rain intervened, Pakistan were 19 runs ahead on the DLS equation. That was good enough, on a day an unfancied Pakistan side had generally been exactly that.

ScorecardA devastating spell of bowling from Mark Footitt – or perhaps that should be Mark F00000itt – powered Surrey into an overwhelmingly dominant position at The Kia Oval.Footitt claimed 6 for 14 as Warwickshire were bowled out for just 91, the lowest first-class total by a visiting team to The Oval since 1999 and their fourth lowest total this century, to give Surrey a first innings lead of 363 runs.At one stage Footitt, generating sharp pace on an easy-paced wicket, claimed six wickets for three runs in 32 deliveries as Warwickshire collapsed from 30 without loss to 48 for 8. It was a passage of play that saw five Warwickshire batsmen – including Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell – dismissed for ducks and gave Footitt a five-wicket haul for the fourth Championship match in succession.No other bowler in this match – and there are several who have been in international reckoning in recent times – has come close to replicating the bounce and pace achieved by Footitt as he charged in from The Vauxhall End. In one over before tea he accounted for Trott, set-up by some back of a length deliveries and then pinned by a lovely full inswinger as he fell over to the off side, and Bell, edging a peach of a ball that bounced and left him, while Sam Hain, drawn into a poke outside off stump, fell in his next over.William Porterfield was beaten by another beauty that bounced and took his outside edge, Rikki Clarke played across another that swung in and Keith Barker was bowled by one that may well have kept a bit low.While a couple of Warwickshire batsmen – not least Bell, who received one that scuttled along the pitch two balls before he was dismissed, and Barker, who was struck by a bouncer the ball before he was bowled – may point to some variable bounce as mitigation for their dismissals, the fact that their tenth-wicket pair posted the equal highest stand of the innings underlined the failings of the top-order and they may reflect that it was their choice to bowl first. Chris Wright, coming in at No. 10, finished as their highest scorer with an unbeaten 28 as reward for some application and a straight bat.It may well be that Footitt’s England chance has passed him by. He made it into the squad during the 2015 Ashes and then went on the tour to South Africa but, after an understandably nervous performance during the warm-up games, was overlooked for the start of the series. He came tantalisingly close to selection for the final Test in Pretoria but, in the end, the England management went for Chris Woakes instead. There is every chance that was as close as Footitt will get to a Test cap.But in form like this, he really does present a compelling case for a recall. Offering left-arm pace and swing, all delivered amid an awkward flurry of arms and legs, he challenges batsmen in a variety of ways and has the ability to unlock strong line-ups in good batting conditions. Certainly he looked a far more dangerous bowler than the relatively sedate Sam Curran, another left-arm swing bowler who has been tipped for selection, and he might yet – aged 31 – add some bite and variety to the England attack.It might be that he did not help himself at the start of last season. Having come back from what was, ultimately, a bit of a disappointing tour of South Africa from a personal perspective, he went into his first season with Surrey a little short of match fitness. He subsequently suffered a side strain in the opening weeks of the season after coming up against better batsmen on flatter tracks and finding it took more out of his body than had been the case at Derbyshire. It has taken time to recover his confidence, rhythm and pace.It would be a risk to take him to Australia. He is, despite his age, relatively inexperienced and might well find the aggression and pressure of an Ashes series a huge culture shock. He would have to learn to swing the Kookaburra ball, too. But if he can bowl like this, he will enjoy the pace of Australia pitches and no batsman will fancy facing him. It would be a stretch to compare him to Mitchell Johnson – he’s not that quick or awkward – but the challenges he offers are not so different.”I still have the ambition to play for England,” he said afterwards. “If it’s too late, it’s too late. But Gareth Batty went on the last tour and we was 38, so I’ve not given up and I don’t think you’re ever too old.”Would I like to go to Australia this winter for the Ashes? I’ve never even been there, so it would be nice just to go. Perhaps I wasn’t quite there fitness-wise this time last year but I feel strong now and I have my pace back.””I’ve seen a few spells over the years,” Jim Troughton, Warwickshire’s first team coach said, “but that’s right up with the best of them. He got pace and shape and bounce. I wouldn’t say any of our batsmen threw it away but we weren’t up to it and we’re going to have to front up in a big way over the next couple of days. I still think it’s a pretty decent track.”At least Warwickshire showed a little more resolve having been asked to follow-on. But any doubts Ashley Giles, Warwickshire’s new director of sport, had about the enormity of the task facing him upon his return to Edgbaston should now have been dispelled. An ageing side lacked the pace to extract life from the surface and the batting line-up looks overly reliant upon two men in their mid-30s. There are few obvious reserves pushing for selection, either. These are early days, but it could well be the start of a painful transition for Warwickshire.They had actually enjoyed the best of the first half of the day. Bowling with excellent discipline, they slowed the Surrey rate of scoring to a crawl and then picked up wickets as the batsmen’s frustration mounted. From a platform of 314 for 2 in the 86th over, Surrey lost their last eight wickets for 140 runs in a further 55 overs – and the last five for 49- with Wright recovering from an expensive start to finish with a five-wicket haul for the first time since July 2015. It was nothing compared to what followed from Footitt, though.

The PCB has provisionally suspended Mohammad Irfan from all forms of the game for allegedly failing to report an approach. The 34-year-old fast bowler was sanctioned on Monday as the board’s investigation into alleged corruption in the Pakistan Super League gathered steam.ESPNcricinfo understands that Irfan broke the PCB’s anti-corruption code twice and that the latest incident happened at the PSL in February. He had been pulled up for questioning during the tournament but was allowed to keep playing for his team Islamabad United. Last week, however, the PCB summoned Irfan to appear before the anti-corruption committee again. He was one of two players called before the committee, the other being Karachi Kings batsman Shahzaib Hasan.”The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in furtherance to its investigation issued a Notice of Charge and provisionally suspended Irfan under the PCB Anti-Corruption Code,” a press release from the board said. “Irfan has been charged with two violations of Code Article 2.4.4 and now has 14 days to respond to the Notice of Charge. He has also been provisionally suspended with immediate effect from participating in all forms of cricket.”The article that Irfan was found in breach of dealt with “failing to disclose to the PCB Vigilance and Security Department (without unnecessary delay) full details of any approaches or invitations received by the Participant to engage in Corrupt Conduct under this Anti-Corruption Code”.Irfan is the fourth player to be suspended in relation to this case. Batsmen Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif were charged in February but since they were contesting some of the charges an independent tribunal has been set up to look into their case. The former Pakistan opener Nasir Jamshed was suspended and arrested in the UK as part of the same investigation, later being let out on bail.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said that the board is in talks with former India spinner Sunil Joshi for a role as the Bangladesh team’s spin consultant for their series against Sri Lanka next month. On Sunday, BCB’s operations committee chairman, said Joshi would join the team for the Sri Lanka series, and former South Africa batsman Jonty Rhodes is also in the mix for the series as fielding consultant.*”At least for now, we are getting Joshi for the Sri Lanka series,” Akram said. “We have held talks with him. We will decide whether to keep him for a longer period after seeing his work. Jonty [Rhodes] is also nearly confirmed.”Joshi, who played 15 Tests and 69 ODIs for India between 1996 and 2001, is currently coach of the Assam side in India’s domestic circuit and also had a stint as Oman’s spin-bowling coach during the 2016 World T20.*09.25GMT, February 12: This article was updated after Akram Khan spoke.

Contrary to the usual convention of bringing in a lot more youth for T20 matches, India have gone back to veterans like Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and Amit Mishra for the three Twenty20 internationals against England.Dhoni’s inclusion is perhaps to groom and ease in a young wicketkeeper, such as the uncapped Rishabh Pant. Others like Yuvraj, Raina and Mishra will be under pressure to perform to keep their own places.Yuvraj struck a century in the second ODI last week, and Mishra has been in and around the mix – he played two home Tests against England and took 18 wickets in five ODIs against New Zealand. Raina, though, hasn’t had much cricket coming into the tournament. He last played for India in March 2016; he was left out after being originally included in India’s ODI squad for the New Zealand series because of an “illness”. He also missed a majority of Uttar Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy campaign.That means he will have to hit the ground running straightaway, should he be picked in the XI. Virat Kohli believes Raina will have a lot to offer this team. “We still believe that he has enough to contribute in the short formats for India,” Kohli said. “Again, this series will be an opportunity for a lot of guys to get back into the groove or seal their spots or whatever you want to call it. The reason why everyone is included in the squad is because we believe in them, we have faith in them; they can contribute now and in the future as well.”At the end of the day it’s up to the individual after that, how well prepared he is or how eagerly he is waiting for the opportunity. From the management and the selectors’ point of view, they can only do so much in showing faith and getting a guy into the squad and it’s up to the individual. It’s about striking the right balance and hopefully he does get back into his groove because I feel he certainly has a lot to offer for Indian cricket, especially in the shorter formats and he can start with this series onwards, there’s no problem with that.”Yuzvendra Chahal has proved himself to be a handy T20 bowler over the last three IPL seasons•BCCI

Mishra’s inclusion also occurred only because frontline spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were rested ahead of five more home Tests – one against Bangladesh and four against Australia. He was picked as a replacement along with Parvez Rasool, with Yuzvendra Chahal already in the squad.Mishra has played only one T20I since the 2014 World T20 and would be eager to stamp his mark during the series, knowing the other spinners will be breathing down his neck, especially with Rasool’s added batting skills.”The guys who are coming in have done well in IPL and in domestic T20,” Kohli said. “They are pretty consistent; the areas that they are bowling are pretty good. Chahal, obviously, everyone has seen his performances. Rasool played under me at Royal Challengers Bangalore. So I have seen the way he bowls. He is pretty confident and can bowl with the new ball against some of the attacking batsmen of the world.”These two guys are smart. They know how to create pressure and bowl to get you wickets. I am pretty confident about both of them and am sure they will extend it to this level as well. This is a breakthrough series for both them. They have not played a big series yet. This might be the perfect opportunity for them to seal their spots as T20 specialist spinners.”Since India do not play three-match T20 series frequently, except before a World T20, the selectors opted for youth in Pant and others like Mandeep Singh, given the series does not have as much context as the ODIs did because of the upcoming Champions Trophy. That meant there could be more experimentation in the T20 series and more chances could be given to youngsters, than just sticking with the old horses.”The squad has been selected like that,” Kohli said. “We’ve got in quite a few youngsters now who we want to groom with the senior guys in the team. Eventually the idea is to groom them enough to give them confidence from hereon and then maybe push them to the ODIs and then give more confidence and then from thereon have that gradual progress to get them to the highest level which is Test cricket.”But it’s very important to back them enough in T20 cricket, get some confidence behind you and then extend your career graph as I said. The vision has to be that, you have to understand that even me or anyone can’t play forever so you need to understand who are the guys who are going to slowly blend in and take Indian cricket forward. That has to be kept in mind all the time.”India are carrying plenty of batting reserves with KL Rahul, Pant and Mandeep Singh as openers, and Raina and Manish Pandey for the middle-order spots along with Dhoni and Yuvraj. Kohli, without divulging any plans about the XI for Thursday’s match, said it was “easy” to pick a line-up in the beginning of a series, compared to later when it would be tough to decide whether to drop a batsman or give him more chances.”The problem always arises when you don’t have consistency,” Kohli said. “But in the first game it’s not much of an issue because you already have a set batting line-up that you want to start with. If there are consistency issues with a particular batting place or position, then it becomes difficult if you want to replace the guy or if you want to give him a couple of more goes. I think starting the first game is never an issue, you have a set XI in your head and you go ahead.”

David Peever, the Cricket Australia chairman, has delivered a pointed message to nations opposing proposed changes to the structure of international cricket – tradition must not stand in the way of progress.Speaking at the official banquet to mark Australia’s series in Sri Lanka on Tuesday night, Peever stressed the importance of keeping the game relevant and balancing tradition with progress. Sri Lanka Cricket and its president Thilanga Sumathipala have been outspoken critics of the proposal for two-tier Test cricket and radical changes to the game’s financial model.”There is no better community of people than the cricket community. But I have to say I think in terms of responsibility and the place that cricket needs to hold globally today and tomorrow,” Peever said. “I do respect traditions but am conscious of not loving them at the expense of progress. Progress and tradition, in our view, need to have at least equal weighting.”Cricket is the people’s game. Without fans it would have little value or relevance. Fans provide the money for us to sustain the game, to invest in the pathways, to help us support the grass roots. We have to always be guided by what they want, but also continuing to stay ahead of the curve and keep the game relevant, in all parts of our society. We need to continue to be a sport of choice for all, men women, boys and girls and girls of all backgrounds all over the world.”Since replacing Wally Edwards as the CA chairman, Peever has kept a low profile, but his words at the dinner marked a statement of intent, even as he sat next to Sumathipala. The pair are expected to hold further talks over the next two days, with SLC’s opposition to ICC reforms likely to be a major topic for discussion. The ICC chairman Shashank Manohar is believed to desire any constitutional and structural change to be approved by unanimous vote.”Sri Lanka Cricket has decided not to support two-tier Test cricket as we have decided it’s detrimental to SLC and for its future,” Sumathipala said last month. “We feel that to make it a top seven – you are virtually relegating the bottom three to a different level.”Among other topics in a wide-ranging address, Peever pointed towards day-night Tests as a major reform, and thanked Australia’s cricketers for taking part in the inaugural pink ball match in Adelaide last year. At the same time he admitted the concept “needs some further refinement”.”In Australia recently we embarked on innovation in our last season and held our inaugural day-night Test in Adelaide,” he said. “We did this to encourage more fans to the game, both watching at home and attending the ground at times when it fits their lifestyle, to make the game more accessible to fans.”We do accept the concept needs some further refinement, and I want to thank the New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa players and their boards for helping us with this important reform. In particular I want to thank our Australian players for the way they have helped lead this change in putting the long term health of the game first. They’re leading change in a way that was similarly led back in the World Series Cricket era.”Peever also argued that international cricket had to be maintained as the game’s pinnacle, rather than allowing further erosion of contests between nations by domestic Twenty20 leagues. We’re very lucky in cricket that we have three viable formats of the game,” he said.”T20 cricket is enticing kids and families to become fans, and I want to take the opportunity to stress here the importance and primacy of international cricket to continue nourishing the game. Money is fundamental to our game, but it has to follow strategy and not the other way round.”