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Australia's tour of Pakistan is 'reasonably well down the track'

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National selector George Bailey says the two boards are “still working through some of the minor details”

Andrew McGlashan25-Jan-2022No Australian player has yet indicated to the selectors that they will be unwilling to tour Pakistan, as the trip awaits the final sign-off between the boards.Australia are due to tour for three Tests, three ODIs and a single T20I from early March in what will be their first visit to the country since 1998. It will also be Australia’s first overseas Test series during the pandemic, having not played the format away from home since the 2019 Ashes.Related

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  • New Zealand limited-overs tour of Australia postponed

George Bailey, the national selector, said that the squads would be named once the final approval comes through but as things stand he is expecting to be able to pick from a full roster of first-choice names.”I believe the boards are still working through some of the minor details around that tour. Once that gets the formal tick of approval, we’ll announce the squad but we’re reasonably well down the track,” Bailey said. “The two [security] briefings that I’ve sat in on, the security sounds very, very robust.”There are expected to be minor changes to the itinerary of the tour, which is scheduled to start from March 3, but not, ESPNcricinfo understands, a change to the venues or their allocation. As it stands, the three Tests are to be played in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi and a decision on crowd attendances will be taken closer to the time.Last week, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers’ Associated Todd Greenberg said he did not expect any withdrawals from the tour.”I think everyone will go,” he told SEN. “It’s a very significant tour with three Test matches. Talking to players, they want to test themselves against the very best in the world and they want to play in different conditions.”An indication of the planning for the trip came with David Warner and Mitchell Marsh being rested from the T20I series against Sri Lanka which runs from February 11 to 20. Marsh was called into the Ashes squad as cover after Travis Head tested positive for Covid-19 and is now set to offer another batting-allrounder option in Pakistan alongside Cameron Green.Jhye Richardson will not be part of the tour as a cautious approach is taken to his workload but after the 4-0 Ashes series victory there will not be many holes to fill – spin may not be as big of a factor as it will be in Sri Lanka later in the year and in India in 2023 – although there may be a debate about players who offer specialist skills for the subcontinent. Glenn Maxwell’s name is again gaining some traction.Although the postponement of the New Zealand limited-overs tour to Australia has freed a little space over the next couple of weeks, it will be a hectic few months for multi-format players. However, Bailey insisted there was no issue with any of the players who have put their names forward for the IPL auction next month. That won’t include Mitchell Starc, but the list does feature Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.The IPL is expected to begin on March 27 which is while Australia will still be in Pakistan. ESPNcricinfo understands that one option being considered for players who end up with an IPL deal and are also on the tour is to briefly return home to Australia before heading to India.”Absolutely it’s tough for the multi-format guys to work out that balance of where they do get time to physically replenish their energy reserves,” Bailey said. “Particularly for fast bowlers [around] when they get the time to make sure that they fit and strong and able to deal with the workload. But that’s part and parcel of the modern cricketers’ life.”It continues to be a tournament that offers a huge amount for players both from a learning perspective and I don’t think the monetary side of things can be discounted. For a reasonably brief period of work the pay day is pretty enormous for a certain percentage of them.”But I do think more so than that is the opportunity to play with the best players around the world and to have access to a different range of coaches. I think that’s a terrific opportunity.”

Sajid Khan on how he set Warner up: 'The shot he played was one of impatience'

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The offspinner ended a 156-run stand at a time when the Australia opener offered no real chances

Danyal Rasool in Rawalpindi06-Mar-2022It’s hard to put any spin on it. Not the ball (though that, too), but the fact this Test won’t rank among Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium’s finest moments. The cricket hasn’t been especially engaging – even if the batters might disagree; 747 runs have been scored, with six wickets falling across three days.On a day when Australia raced away to 271 – hovering around four an over for much of the day – there was limited respite for bowling. The day started brightly enough for Pakistan with Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah comfortably outperforming their Australian counterparts with the new ball. Both Usman Khawaja and David Warner were cagey against the new ball. A few edges flew through the slips, one from Khawaja went straight to Fawad Alam at gully, who put down a bit of a sitter. In a game where wickets have been as scarce as hen’s teeth, it was an unforgivable error. The pressure bubble popped, and Australia’s openers took over.Related

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So it was perhaps understandable, with just two wickets falling until bad light put a halt to play about 20 overs early, that Pakistan offspinner Sajid Khan dedicated much of his brief post-match presser gushing about how he’d set up Warner. With the batter on 68 and having offered no real chances, Warner went back to a full one and saw it sneak through the gate, ending a 156-run stand.”The wicket is slow,” Sajid said. “I’ve used some variations but I try and set the batter up before deploying them. I bowled 27 overs, and the shot Warner played was one of impatience. I set Warner up and he kept playing back foot to full balls. So I went even fuller, and he made one mistake and I got a wicket there. David Warner’s wicket is big, and he’s a very good player.”It’s standard enough, the game of cat and mouse between spinner and batter. But curiously enough, it was the slowness of the wicket that got Sajid that wicket. With the batters having enough time to go back foot to everything, Warner began to push his limits, just as Sajid tested his. By the time he was dismissed, he was playing back to a ball that, had he stepped out of his crease, could almost have been a half-volley, and eventually paid the price.It was perhaps just a small footnote to a Test that would have been a footnote in itself were it not for the historic nature of the occasion. With inclement weather set to have a final say – it began raining heavily shortly after stumps were called, with puddles forming across the ground.The prospect of a result is remote in the extreme, though Sajid insisted Pakistan were still in with a shot. “There are very few overs to the new ball,” he said. “It’ll grip and there are some footmarks. If any of these got out, [Travis] Head and [Alex] Carey come in; both are left-handers so we should find it easier to get them out. We’re in this game because a lot of runs are left. Nauman is turning the ball now, too.”The clue, though, lay perhaps in some of the things he didn’t say, or didn’t mean to say. The Test has been so devoid of incident Sajid briefly got his days confused, believing tomorrow was day three. (If that were the case, the smart money would still be on a draw, for what it’s worth). But Sajid also said, three times in five minutes, that the new ball was due, suggesting perhaps best Pakistan’s hopes lie in a quick, explosive burst from Shaheen and Naseem.”The wicket is such that they played well. The wicket was a bit suitable to spin but it’s good for batting. The new ball is coming, we’re in the game and we’ll try and get a result. It’s a bit more suitable for spinners, and the new ball is coming soon, too. If we get spin on one end and pace on the other, that could work.”It’s hard to lay any blame upon Sajid, who will bowl worse and get more wickets – he arguably bowled no better than he did today in Mirpur, where he walked away with 12 wickets and the Player of the Match award. But on a day that even the most ardent fan would struggle to recall by the time the series is done, Sajid sounds like he’s going home playing the Warner wicket in his mind’s eye on a loop. He’ll get many more such scalps if he can maintain this level. Just don’t expect too many to come in the next couple of days.

Maddinson century and Sandhu five-for leave game evenly poised

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Harris and Handscomb fall in the 90s before Queensland induce a Victoria collapse of 7 for 24

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Feb-2022Nic Maddinson made a fine unbeaten century before Gurinder Sandhu’s second consecutive Sheffield Shield five-wicket haul sparked a stunning collapse to help Queensland avoid a significant first-innings deficit at the Junction Oval.Maddinson’s innings, along with 92 from Peter Handscomb, 91 from Marcus Harris, and 48 from Matthew Short had put Victoria in a strong position at 3 for 336, just 14 runs shy of taking the first-innings lead.But Sandhu and Mark Steketee combined to take 7 for 24 in 10 overs to rip through Victoria’s lower order and bowl the home side out for 360 with a lead of only 11. Sandhu picked up 5 for 65, following on from his 6 for 57 in Adelaide in November. It was just his third first-class five-wicket haul having claimed his first on debut.Maddinson and Short had been in cruise control during a 140-run stand having come together after the early loss of Harris and Handscomb on day three. Both men fell within sight of their centuries inside the first hour. Harris closed the bat face trying to work James Bazley through midwicket and the thick edge was well held by Bryce Street in the gully. Handscomb moved from 74 to 92 before trying to cut a slider from Mitchell Swepson that zipped through and crashed into off stump.Maddinson then proved why he’s on the fringe of Australia’s Test side with his second Shield century of the summer. He struck 12 fours and a six and attacked both pace and spin with equal skill. He now has two centuries and two half-centuries in seven Shield innings this season while averaging 80.80. But when Short holed out hooking Steketee down fine leg’s throat the game turned in an instant. Five of the last six Victoria batters registered ducks as Steketee and Sandhu tore through the tail while Maddinson watched helplessly at the non-striker’s.Queensland knocked over the deficit without loss but Mitchell Perry and Jon Holland made three key breakthroughs before stumps, removing Joe Burns, Matt Renshaw and Street to leave Queensland three down with a lead of just 58 and one day to play to force a result.

Chris Cooke holds firm after Andrew Salter seven-for ignites wicket flurry

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Durham left to rue rain earlier in match as Glamorgan recover from top-order wobble

ECB Reporters Network10-Apr-2022Despite a flurry of wickets in the morning session, the final day of the LV=Insurance County Championship match between Glamorgan and Durham in Cardiff finished in a draw after half centuries from Kiran Carlson and Chris Cooke took the home side to safety.The day started with seven Durham wickets falling for 32 runs as Andrew Salter claimed career-best figures. Durham had a first-innings lead of 149 with Alex Lees finishing undefeated on 182.Four early Glamorgan wickets gave Durham some hope of claiming victory but the stand between Cooke and Carlson took the home side to safety with the teams shaking hands with 16 overs un-bowled.Durham will be left ruing the bad weather that took so much time out of this game on the first two days as they were the team best placed to push for a positive result.Durham resumed their first innings 114 runs in front with seven wickets in hand. In a madcap first hour they went from 351 for three to 383 all out. The destroyer-in-chief was Salter who finished with 7 for 45, his first five-wicket haul in the format, as the Durham middle and lower order attempted to press home their advantage with quick runs.Salter dismissed David Bedingham in the second over of the day, well stumped by Cooke with a ball that appeared to swing away from the batter. What followed was a succession of Durham players giving away their wickets with attempted big shots.As his side collapsed around him Lees stood firm, carrying his bat for the second time in his career on his way to his highest first-class score for Durham. While a quick conclusion of the Durham innings may not have been their plan as they started out the final day of this match, it did give them more time to claim the ten Glamorgan wickets they needed for victory.In the 14 overs they bowled before lunch, Durham claimed three Glamorgan wickets with the home side still trailing by 116 at the break. It could have been four wickets before the interval but Paul Coughlin put down a relatively simple chance at third slip that would have dismissed Colin Ingram without scoring.While the morning session was hectic, things settled down after lunch. Durham had Glamorgan 66 for four when Ben Raine had Ingram bowled but a partnership of 90 between Carlson and Cooke took Glamorgan into the lead.It was a breakthrough year for Carlson in 2021 with the Welsh batter scoring 928 first-class runs at an average of 48.84 and he was playing exceptionally before edging one through to the wicket-keeper on 61 off the bowling of Matthew Potts. Glamorgan will be hoping for more eye-catching innings like this one in 2022.Cooke made 59 in the first innings and was 85 not out in the second, those runs combined with the 205 not out he made in the last match of the 2021 season it is an impressing run of scores for the Glamorgan wicket-keeper.Durham take 15 points away from this match while Glamorgan claim 11.

Wiese, Williams power Namibia to big win over Zimbabwe

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The series is now level at 1-1, with three games to go

ESPNcricinfo staff19-May-2022Namibia 124 for 2 (Williams 62*, Erasmus 36) beat Zimbabwe 122 for 8 (Shumba 29, Wiese 3-27, Frylinck 2-17) by 8 wicketsA dominant all-round performance saw Namibia ease to victory by eight wickets over Zimbabwe to level the five-match T20I series. David Wiese provided the stand-out bowling performance, taking three key Zimbabwean wickets to stymie the first innings, with the home side limping to 122 in Bulawayo. In response, Namibia were never in any real danger of falling short, with a dominant unbeaten half-century from Craig Williams shepherding the chase as the visitors cruised to victory with two overs to spare.Zimbabwe got off to a nightmare start, losing their first five wickets for 49, by which time more than 11 overs had passed. Wiese was responsible for removing opener Regis Chakabva and number three batter Craig Ervine, but there was an element of self-destruction to the Zimbabwean performance, with two run-outs thrown in to compound their worries. Milton Shumba, Tony Munyonga and Ryan Burl provided some contributions at the back-end to take the score above 120, but it never quite looked like they had given their bowlers enough to work with.Namibia began cautiously, with Luke Jongwe dismissing Divan le Cock in the sixth over, by which time they had allowed just 26 runs. However, once a partnership between Williams and captain Gerhard Erasmus developed, Namibia were soon lifted out of trouble. The pair put on 65 off 53 balls as Zimbabwe found inroads difficult to come by. The dismissal of Erasmus for a 26-ball 36, bowled by Tendai Chatara, might have raised hopes of an unlikely comeback, but in Wiese, Namibia had someone with the experience and quality to see the game through.

Malinga appointed Sri Lanka's bowling strategy coach for white-ball series against Australia

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The former fast bowler had held a similar role when Sri Lanka visited Australia for a T20I series in February

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jun-2022Lasith Malinga, the former fast bowler and captain, has been appointed Sri Lanka’s bowling strategy coach for the white-ball leg of the team’s home series against Australia, which gets underway on June 7 in Colombo.”Malinga, during the tour, will support Sri Lanka’s bowlers, providing tactical insight and technical expertise to help the on-field execution of strategic plans,” SLC said via a press release.Malinga had held a similar role when Sri Lanka visited Australia for a five-match T20I series in February this year. While Sri Lanka lost 4-1, the bowlers did manage to keep a lid on the scoring to an extent. The highest total that Australia could manage across five games was 164 for 6.Related

  • Near full-strength Australia brace for trial by spin as Sri Lanka search for formula

  • Sri Lanka call up Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwanidu Fernando for T20I series against Australia

  • Malinga appointed Sri Lanka's bowling strategy coach for Australia tour

  • Malinga named Rajasthan Royals' fast-bowling coach for IPL 2022

“Sri Lanka Cricket is confident that Malinga’s vast experience and renowned death-bowling expertise, especially in the T20 format, will help the team immensely going into this all-important series,” the release added.Malinga, one of the greatest limited-overs fast bowlers Sri Lanka has produced, retired from all forms of the game in 2021. He was the leading wicket-taker in T20Is at the time with a tally of 107 in 84 outings, before being overtaken by Shakib Al Hasan.Malinga served as bowling mentor of Mumbai Indians, back in IPL 2018, and more recently, was Rajasthan Royals’ fast-bowling coach, in 2022. The Sanju Samson-led Royals reached the final of the tournament for the first time since winning the trophy in 2008 but lost to Gujarat Titans by seven wickets. Through the course of the season, several Royals players, including the likes of Trent Boult, praised Malinga for his ability to simplify the art of T20 bowling.Sri Lanka will host Australia for three T20Is, five ODIs and three Tests. Cricket Australia had been monitoring the ongoing unrest in the island, sparked by an economic crisis, but they were always confident the tour would go ahead as planned.Sri Lanka’s Matheesha Pathirana and Nuwanidu Fernando earned maiden call-ups for the T20I series, while there was no place in the team for allrounder Dhananajaya de Silva or wicketkeeper batters Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella, all of whom played a key role during Sri Lanka’s 1-0 win in the two-Test series in Bangladesh last month.Pathirana, 19, earned a call-up on the back of an impressive stint with Chennai Super Kings, in the IPL. While he played only three matches, his unorthodox action turned a lot of heads.

Mumbai Cricket Association proposes retainer contracts for senior men and women's teams

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CIC comprising Paranjape, Kulkarni and Kambli to work out technicalities before start of 2022-23 season

Shashank Kishore and Afzal Jiwani02-Jul-2022Domestic contracts, one of the first promises of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly upon taking over in November 2019, could soon become a reality for at least Mumbai’s cricketers.A proposal made by Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Vijay Patil, in the wake of Mumbai’s excellent showing in the 2021-22 domestic season, has been approved, in principle, during the association’s apex council meeting earlier this week. This will have to be ratified at the AGM, likely to be held in August.”Mumbai has performed extremely well this year and there was always this question of providing security to our domestic players and making sure that we retain the talent pool which we have in Mumbai cricket,” Patil told ESPNcricinfo. “I think the gradation contracts will give us an opportunity to invest in our young talent. I am very happy that the apex council has unanimously approved this.”Retainers for senior men and women’s teams have been proposed, similar to BCCI’s gradation system for its national players. The number of contracts up for grabs is yet to be decided. However, it is likely that those who have a BCCI central contract could be excluded from the list, given the aim is to bring as many players under the umbrella as possible.Related

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MCA’s Cricket Improvement Committee, consisting of former players Jatin Paranjape, Nilesh Kulkarni, and Vinod Kambli, is likely to work out the technicalities. As such, the aim is to have contracts in place before the start of the 2022-23 season in September.”Once we have the ground rules laid out, we’ll be good to go,” Patil said. “I know that there will be issues and that will take some time. I think it is important that we roll it out and then it can be fine-tuned as we roll along.”Nothing is like a perfect system, but we’ve got to make a start. Once that start is made, I think everything else will fall into place. This is the association’s commitment to the players. Given the performance of our various squads across different age groups, everyone was of the same opinion that this needed to be done. I am happy that this proposal has been approved and I am looking forward to it.”Talks of player contracts have been gaining momentum ever since hundreds of domestic cricketers around the country were deprived of their earnings during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the BCCI truncating its domestic season. In fact, 2020-21 was the first time that the Ranji Trophy had to be shelved because of the pandemic situation in the country.The players have welcomed the news, even though there is a tinge of apprehension on how and when it would eventually come to fruition.Last September, the BCCI hiked the match fees for domestic cricketers, with the senior men earning between INR 40,000 and 60,000 per day while senior women taking home up to INR 20,000 per day. But the spin-off effect was hardly felt given the BCCI’s domestic season was curtailed in 2021-22.The Ranji Trophy, for example, was shrunk to just three league games followed by the knockouts. The players hope the board would revert to the original format, which would guarantee a team at least eight or nine group games. This would then help significantly increase earnings.INR 1 crore prize money for Ranji Trophy runners-up
Even as Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) announced an INR 2 crore reward in addition to the INR 2 crore allotted by the BCCI to first-time winners MP, the MCA has announced a prize money of INR 1 crore for the team that finished runners-up at the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy under Prithvi Shaw’s captaincy. The MCA has also matched the prize money announced by the BCCI for the age-group teams.Mumbai has had an excellent domestic season. The senior men’s side reached the Ranji final after six years, the Under-25s were crowned champions of the CK Nayudu Trophy, and the Under-19s finished runners-up in the Cooch Behar Trophy.The MCA also awarded retired umpires a one-time payment of INR 50,000, while also announcing a prize pot of INR 25 lakh for the ground staff for their work during the IPL, which was staged across three venues in the city.In May, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had announced a reward of INR 1.25 crores combined for the ground staff and curators of six venues – including two practice facilities – for IPL 2022.

Jimmy Peirson's unbeaten tour: 'I'm not even meant to be here'

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The Queensland wicketkeeper-batter reflects on his late Australia A call-up and the runs which then flowed

Andrew McGlashan18-Jul-2022Which Australian batter had the best tour of Sri Lanka?Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith both made excellent centuries. Cameron Green played a match-winning hand in the first Test. Glenn Maxwell had his moments in the white-ball matches.However, none of them made 208 runs in three innings without being dismissed.That honour went to Jimmy Peirson, the Queensland wicketkeeper-batter, who was a late addition to the Australia A squad and produced a magnificent performance in the second four-day game against Sri Lanka A in Hambantota, where he made unbeaten scores of 67 and 128 – the latter as the Australians successfully chased 367 for victory.Related

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  • Progress made, but subcontinent cracks still present for Australia

Add in a little unbeaten 13 not out during the first four-day match when he was subbed in after Travis Head was called into an injury-hit ODI squad and Peirson had the ultimate red-inker.Peirson knew he was a reserve for the A tour, and had been training in Brisbane alongside the rest of the squad before they departed, and some of the senior group who used the year-round facilities to get up to speed. He also had to renew his passport, which, as many people are finding out now that travel is reopening, can easily be overlooked.”It was a good job I got that done because it all happened pretty fast in the end,” Peirson told ESPNcricinfo. “My mindset going into the tour was, I’m not even meant to be here so, I didn’t even expect to play, thought I’d be running drinks. So to get one-and-a-half games I was just over the moon. Just so pleased to have an impact.”I wouldn’t say it exceeded my expectations, but I certainly didn’t go out thinking I’d score [those] runs and not be dismissed. But I knew in the conditions we had, there was no reason if I applied myself and did the basics for a long period I couldn’t score runs.”Ahead of the tour, Peirson had trained extensively alongside Nathan Lyon before he flew out for the Tests and had also leant on the experience of Queensland team-mates Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns. He worked on improving his sweeping, including adding a reverse, but in the end, more traditional skills worked well on the tour where the pitches for the A series were much flatter than those produced for the Tests.”Conversations I had with the guys who had been there were probably the most beneficial rather than the actual skill component itself,” he said. “In terms of how I’d play spin, I spoke to Gaz [Lyon] and Uzzie [Khawaja] about some technical tweaks and they spoke about how you defend the ball over there when it’s spinning.”Joe Burns said go there expecting the wickets to be flat for the A series because often that’s the way they do things. So don’t go across with preconceived ideas, and I was so glad we had that chat because I was like, okay, it’s going to be good batting conditions and if it spins I’ve done the work. If it’s flat, fill your boots.”It was Peirson’s first trip to Sri Lanka and his first time in the subcontinent since a Queensland Cricket sponsored trip in 2016. He had also previously been on an Under-19 tour in 2011-12 but admitted he was now a very different cricketer.”Felt my game is entirely different now to when I was over there as a youngster,” he said. “I was very immature and didn’t really think about the game a whole lot. Going across now is massively important to my game in terms of the learning side and loved every minute.”Of the second match, where Australia A ended up knocking off their hefty target with relative ease, Peirson said that conditions had remained good for batting for right-handers throughout, but the challenge was greater for the left-handers. That is borne out by the scorecard where he, Henry Hunt and Aaron Hardie did the bulk of the scoring while Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw fell cheaply to offspinner Lakshitha Manasinghe, who was later added to Sri Lanka’s Test squad.”The whole time we were speaking about winning the game, how we’d do that, so to contribute was a lovely reward for confidence in my own game,” Peirson said. “It’s an A series, but to do it at that level, if a chance was to come at Test level, it’s another thing ticked off. I feel as though I have a game that can adapt and be successful in various conditions. It was such a great experience.”Alex Carey, the No. 1 wicketkeeper-batter in Australia, seemingly has the Test spot locked down for the foreseeable future•AFP

So what of the chance to play Test cricket? It’s a fight for a lone position. Alex Carey, despite a difficult second Test in Galle, came out of the Pakistan and Sri Lanka tours in credit and seemingly has the spot locked down for the foreseeable future. Josh Inglis has been the back-up gloveman across all formats over the last few months, but Peirson has put together two impressive seasons on both sides of the stumps for Queensland.He has an eye on more opportunities for Australia A with that programme set to expand after being largely dormant during the pandemic and the lure of next year’s Ashes tour to England is strong.”It’s the age-old thing, especially in places like Australia and England, you’ve always got all these keepers,” he said. “Think it’s a good problem to have, all scoring runs and keeping well, and all you can do is if you get opportunities take them. Prepare the best I can do.”Obviously there’s an away Ashes next summer. I’d love to get over and play some sort of cricket in England. I’ve played premier league cricket quite a few years ago now but would love to experience those conditions again and develop my game.”If I don’t play Test cricket that would be a frustration, but all I can do is when I’m done, sit in my armchair and know that I did everything I could. If that opportunity doesn’t come, that’s the way it is. The game has been very good to me.”It’s not to say I don’t want to do it, [it] drives me every day to play Test cricket. But if circumstances don’t see that happen, that’s the way it goes. You can’t control those things. I’m just loving my cricket, in a really nice place with my game, my family life, so just appreciating every opportunity I get.”

KL Rahul to captain India in Zimbabwe after being passed fit

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He was not part of the initial 15-man squad, but was added to the list on Thursday; Shikhar Dhawan moves to vice-captain’s role

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Aug-2022KL Rahul has been drafted in as the 16th member of India’s squad that will tour Zimbabwe for three ODIs between August 18 and 22. Rahul will also captain the squad, with Shikhar Dhawan, who was earlier set to lead, now named his deputy.Rahul’s inclusion follows a clearance from BCCI’s medical team that has earlier advised a two-week post-Covid-19 recovery time frame. Rahul is believed to have contracted the virus a week prior to his scheduled departure for the West Indies mid-July, for the five match T20I-series. Last week, Rahul was named in India’s full-strength squad for the Asia Cup that will be held in UAE from August 27.Since recovering from Covid, Rahul has had to pass the mandatory cardiovascular test following which he has slowly amped up his training routine. ESPNcricinfo understands Rahul has resumed batting and training full tilt over the past week, following which he underwent a medical assessment. Prior to contracting Covid, Rahul had been recovering from a surgery he underwent for sports hernia in Germany in June.Rahul hasn’t played any competitive cricket since IPL 2022, where he led debutant-franchise Lucknow Super Giants to the playoffs. He was initially set to be part of the England tour party for the fifth Test in Birmingham in early July, but had to pull out due to a groin strain, which was later revealed as a sports hernia.This will be Rahul’s second stint as India captain. His first stint was far from memorable, with India being blanked 3-0 in the ODIs in South Africa earlier this year.

Injury scare for Washington Sundar

Washington Sundar, who is also part of the squad, suffered an injury scare on Wednesday. In the midst of a stint with English county Lancashire, Washington landed heavily on his left shoulder after diving from mid-on to stop a drive in a Royal London Cup fixture against Worcestershire. He left the field immediately and didn’t take any further part in the match as a precautionary measure. Washington is likely to link up with India’s squad directly in Harare after Lancashire’s clash against Hampshire on Sunday.Like Rahul, Washington too has had a run of injuries this year. In February, he was sidelined from the West Indies and Sri Lanka T20Is at home due to a hamstring injury. During the IPL, he injured his bowling hand while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He then underwent a month-long rehabilitation at the NCA in June and it is understood he had a shoulder issue to sort out before making his County Championship debut.The Indian team will depart for Zimbabwe later this week. All three ODIs will be played at Harare Sports Club, with the hosts on a high after an impressive 2-1 win over Bangladesh. While the series is part of the ICC World Cup Super League and massively important for Zimbabwe – finishing in the top eight on the Super League table means direct qualification to the World Cup – India qualify for next year’s World Cup automatically by virtue of being the hosts.Updated India squad: KL Rahul (captain) Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar.

Kohli: 'I was desperate to do something that wasn't in my game' before the break

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Batter’s focus is back on playing good shots instead of strike-rates and six-hitting and he credits Rohit for giving him the space to figure that out

Shashank Kishore09-Sep-20223:08

Is Kohli back to his best?

Rohit Sharma has hailed Virat Kohli’s “work ethic” and his attitude of “never letting things go no matter what” following his first T20I century in India’s Asia Cup fixture against Afghanistan. In turn, Kohli credited the “space” Rohit and Rahul Dravid have given him upon his return from a six-week break for the recent success.”Personally, since I’ve come back from a break where I didn’t touch the bat for the longest time in the 13-14 years I’ve played, a lot of things were put into perspective,” Kohli told Rohit in a chat on BCCI’s official portal. “I got a lot of clarity from you guys [pointing to Rohit] and the team management, to just allow me to bat. That was very important.Related

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“The space I got made me feel very relaxed. When I returned, I was excited to see how I could contribute to the team. Playing this way was important for me because the World Cup is big and if I play well, I can contribute big for the team.”I’d spoken to Rahul [Dravid] three-four days back, where batting first, especially the middle overs phase, how I can improve my strike rate. My only goal was to work on whatever I need to improve, I will try it at the Asia Cup. I honestly didn’t expect it [to score a T20I century]. I was shocked, [and] as you also mentioned after that, no one expected a century from me in this format after a long time. I was pleasantly surprised, grateful and honest.”Kohli finished the Asia Cup with 276 runs in five innings, striking at 147.59. After India’s game against Afghanistan, he was the leading run-getter in the tournament, 64 ahead of second-placed Mohammad Rizwan. He had made two fifties and a century, his 71st in international cricket and first in over three years.The standout aspect of that hundred was his end-overs acceleration after having opened the batting. On 59 off 40 going into the last five, he switched gears and scored his next 63 runs off just 21 balls. There were no nerves even as he approached a landmark that had eluded him for 1020 days. On 94, he played a disdainful pull to bring up his century. It was a drought he broke in style.”I got a lot of clarity from you guys [pointing to Rohit] and the team management, to just allow me to bat,” Kohli said•AFP/Getty Images

Equally noteworthy was Kohli’s propensity to step out of his crease, especially against spin, something he’s done quite a lot at the Asia Cup, seemingly to try and increase his scoring options. Between April 1, 2018, and the start of the Asia Cup, Kohli stepped out once every 7.9 balls on an average in all T20s. This Asia Cup, as per ESPNcricinfo’s data, he stepped out once every 4.9 deliveries.In trying to raise the bar, Kohli also brought out shots he doesn’t often play, like the conventional sweep. The one he hit off Mujeeb Ur Rahman was only his 24th sweep against spinners in all T20s in this time period, out of the 1200-plus deliveries he has faced from them. This includes all kinds of sweeps, including the slog, so the numbers for the conventional sweep would be even lower.Kohli explained how his focus has been on playing good cricket shots, without worrying too much about strike rates and six-hitting, something he said had bothered him prior to his break. He admitted to having been “desperate to do something that wasn’t in my game” at that point.”My aim was to always to play all three formats, and I banked on good cricketing shots,” he said. “I always came to every tournament or series thinking six-hitting is not a big strength of mine. I can [hit sixes] when situation demands, but I’m better at finding gaps and hitting boundaries, so as long as I can hit boundaries, it will still serve the purpose for the team.”I told the coaches as well that I’m going to try and hit gaps rather than thinking I’ve to hit sixes to improve strike rates in T20 cricket. That thing I removed from my system in this tournament, and that helped because I was able to come back to my template. But it’s about being in a good space and enjoying your batting.”We can play in many ways, but my role is to play as per the situation and if it demands I have to take the scoring rate higher, I should be able to do it. My aim was if I can be in this zone, I can be relaxed because I know if I’m set for 10-15 balls, I can accelerate. I’m very happy that especially from the team’s point of view, I’m back to being in my template I’ve played for a while, which I was going away from because I was desperate to do something that wasn’t my game.”Rohit, who was conducting the interview, agreed that the knock against Afghanistan was a fine lesson in pacing an innings. “Obviously in T20 cricket we talk about big hitting and all of that. But that [century] was the perfect example of how to craft an innings without focusing so much on the big hitting,” he said. “That was wonderful to see. I know it personally because I’ve seen you bat long enough.”