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India captain says his spinners have “so much skill” to apply pressure on batters in home conditions

Andrew Fidel Fernando01-Nov-20236:42

How do you stop India? Do SL have any chance?

If required, India will not hesitate to field a three-spinner, two-seamer attack, particularly as they await the return of Hardik Pandya. This is what captain Rohit Sharma said on the eve of India’s seventh match in the World Cup, in which they have only once played an XI featuring all three of Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and R Ashwin – against Australia, in Chennai.But then in their last game, in what was always expected to be a spin-friendly track in Lucknow, India continued to keep Ashwin out of the side, and had Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah in the XI instead.Related

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As it happened the quicks claimed seven wickets between them. But then the spinners only bowled 15 overs in total, as England collapsed to 129 all out inside 35 overs.”All sorts of combination are possible,” Rohit said. “We can still play three spinners and two seamers if need be. In this tournament you’ve seen that spinners are actually the ones stopping that run flow in the middle overs. I’m keeping my options open whether we have Hardik or not. If the situation demands we play three spinners, we will play three spinners. A lot of skillsets can put a brake on the scoring rate in the middle overs. Our spinners have got so much skill in these conditions.”So far in this World Cup, spinners have been a little more effective at keeping a check on the scoring between overs 15 and 40. Where seam bowlers have conceded 5.97 runs per over during this period, spinners have gone at 5.23 run an over. Seam bowlers have been a little more penetrative during these overs though – their average is 35.69 through this period; the corresponding number for spinners is 39.22.Will R Ashwin get another game in this World Cup?•AFP/Getty Images

If there was a thought to resting India’s key bowlers ahead of the knockouts, though – particularly when India have a bowler of the quality of Ashwin on the bench – Rohit insisted India’s attack remained fresh. The hosts have not quite qualified for the knockouts, but a victory over Sri Lanka would put them in the clear. From there, they would still be keen to finish as high on the table as possible, with the first-placed team set to play fourth place in the semi-final.”As far as resting for the bowlers is concerned, they are in great rhythm at this point in time,” Rohit said. “They don’t want to rest. Their bodies are fine. This is the feedback that I’ve got from all the bowlers. They are happy to play games.”This is despite India having racked up some serious miles through the course of this campaign. Having traveled to practice matches in Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram – two opposite ends of the country, essentially – India have also been to Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune, Dharamsala, Lucknow, and have now arrived in Mumbai. They cover significantly more ground than any other team in the competition. But that’s just part of the job, Rohit said.”We are actually enjoying from one end to the other end – it’s nothing new for us,” he said.”And I’m sure all 15 of us – when you travel through India, whether you’re playing matches or not, there are people at the airport, in the flight next to you, or anywhere you are traveling, they will talk about your game. ‘We want a hundred.’ ‘We want to see you taking five wickets.’ ‘We want to see you winning games, tournaments,’ and all of that. I don’t think it’s pressure, but it’s nice that people are expecting a lot of things from us.”

It is understood that his involvement is subject to visa clearance

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Aug-2022India batter Shubman Gill is set for his maiden stint in the County Championship after signing with Glamorgan for the remainder of the 2022 season, subject to visa clearance.If all goes to plan, Gill will be the seventh India player to be signed by a county team this season, after Cheteshwar Pujara (Sussex), Washington Sundar (Lancashire), Krunal Pandya, Mohammed Siraj (both Warwickshire), Umesh Yadav (Middlesex) and Navdeep Saini (Kent). He will be the third Indian to feature for Glamorgan in County Championship after Ravi Shastri (1987-91) and Sourav Ganguly (2005).The top-order batter is coming off a superb run in the ODI series against West Indies and Zimbabwe, where he scored 205 runs at 102.50 average and 245 runs at 122.50 average respectively. Gill has experience of playing 11 Test matches in which he has scored 579 runs at an average of 30.47. His last red-ball game was the fifth Test against England in Birmingham in July this year where he made scores of 17 and 4 in India’s defeat.Related

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He has also featured in 12 first-class matches for his home team Punjab in the Ranji Trophy, India’s domestic red-ball tournament, where he has scored 1176 runs at an average of 65.33.Glamorgan are currently third in the Division Two table with five wins in 10 matches. They still have four more matches left and will resume the season against Worcestershire on September 5 in Cardiff.None of the three overseas players they have used in the Championship will be available in September, with Colin Ingram at the CPL and Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser back in Australia. The club previously announced that Ajaz Patel will play the final month of the season for them.

Ishant, Dhawan, Pujara, Shikha, Umesh, Rahane are few of the others to have as well

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2021Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Cheteshwar Pujara and Shikha Pandey are among a batch of Indian cricketers to get their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.India’s top cricketers are among several athletes in the country, including those who have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, to have started receiving their vaccines after the Indian government threw open the drive for those aged 18 and above from May 1.The move comes a week after the BCCI was forced to postpone IPL 2021 due to several cases of Covid infections across teams. The Indian men’s and women’s teams are scheduled to leave for the UK on June 2 via a charter flight.Related

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While the men’s team will be on a three-and-a-half months-long tour, where they will first play the World Test Championship final against New Zealand (June 18-22) followed by a five-Test series against England in August-September, the women will play a one-off Test – their first in over six years – followed by a limited-overs series.In a chat with ESPNcricinfo last month, Dave Musker, ICC’s biosecurity head, had underlined the importance of players being vaccinated at the earliest.”All the vaccines have a wide spread of efficacy against various mutations, but all of them do offer significant mitigation, in that you are unlikely to get very sick if you are vaccinated, regardless of mutations and variants,” he had said.”At some point there will be a phenomenon called ‘vaccine escape’ – the virus will mutate to a position where the current crop of vaccines will have limited impact upon transmission or effectiveness. That will happen, but that’s why you are seeing so much about second-generation vaccination.”India is amid a second wave of the virus, recording in excess of 350,000 new cases every day over the last fortnight. A few prominent players, including Chetan Sakariya, Veda Krishnamurthy and Piyush Chawla have lost family members to the virus.

He made this intriguing comment on Wednesday, without elaborating on what he exactly meant

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2019MS Dhoni has added to the speculation on his future with an intriguing comment – when asked the question by a reporter at an event in Mumbai on Wednesday, Dhoni simply said, “January (don’t ask until January).”Dhoni did not elaborate on what was meant to happen in January, leaving his words open to interpretation. This is the first time he has spoken about his future – even in this cryptic manner – in the time that he has spent away from India’s limited-overs teams.Dhoni hasn’t played any competitive cricket since India’s World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand at Old Trafford in July. He opted out of the West Indies tour that followed the World Cup, in order to spend a fortnight with the Indian territorial army, and since then has not featured in the squads for the home series against South Africa and Bangladesh and the upcoming one against West Indies. He hasn’t played domestic cricket in this period either.The selectors have kept faith in Rishabh Pant as the limited-overs keeper in this time, with Sanju Samson picked as his back-up for the last two T20I series. In October, chairman MSK Prasad had said the selectors were “moving on” from Dhoni.On Tuesday, India head coach Ravi Shastri also weighed in on the Dhoni question. Asked whether there was still a chance of Dhoni making a comeback for next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia, Shastri said it would depend on the form of the incumbents as well as his own form, particularly during the IPL.”It all depends on when he starts playing and how he is playing during the IPL,” Shastri told IANS. “What are the other people doing with the wicketkeeping gloves or what is the form of those players as opposed to Dhoni’s form. The IPL becomes a massive tournament because that could be the last tournament after which more or less your 15 is decided.”

Team meets with affected fans on outfield during Test after many are forced to switch hotels due to booking oversight

George Dobell15-Nov-2018Joe Root has written to England spectators inconvenienced by the booking fiasco in Kandy’s hotels expressing his sympathy for their trouble and his gratitude for their support.Around 100 England supporters, some of whom had booked and paid many months ago, were told a week or so ahead of the second Test that their rooms at the Earls Regency Hotel on the outskirts of the city were no longer available.Due to a remarkable oversight, the bookings of the teams and officials at the same hotel had not been confirmed. But, in a desire to ensure their accommodation was at a good-quality hotel in reasonably close proximity to the ground, the Sri Lankan government insisted supporters had to be moved to accommodate those involved in the game. The only other option, they suggested, was to move the Test.As a result, those supporters were relocated to hotels much further from the ground. Some were anticipating journeys of up to three hours each way from Dambulla, though those times have been mitigated somewhat by police escorts. Spectators were also underwhelmed to be ‘compensated’ with a fruit platter in their hotel rooms.While the ECB and England team are blameless for the debacle – such responsibilities lie with the hosting board – it is clear they have been embarrassed by the inconvenience caused to supporters who have spent their holiday allowance and money on watching them play.So Root and his team met with around 100 of those affected on the outfield during lunch on the second day of the Test, posed with pictures and handed out letters expressing their sympathy.
“As England Test captain, I would like to thank you on behalf of the team and the ECB for your support here in Sri Lanka,” Root wrote.”We all feel the loyalty, commitment and passion that you and our travelling supporters show. It is unmatched in world cricket and must never be taken for granted.”So it has been a huge disappointment to all of us that your plans for the Kandy Test match have been badly disrupted, with your accommodation moved so far from the Earl’s Regency.”You would have made your plans some time ago and looked forward to an incredible experience, seeing this country and watching Test cricket.”It was a big surprise to us to hear of Cricket Sri Lanka’s booking issue and the threat that the match itself might be moved altogether. I can assure you that the ECB has made its views clear.”I also know how hard our tour manager here and his colleagues at Lord’s have worked to find a solution and that, whatever additional arrangement made by our hosts, this has had an impact on you and caused difficulties for your trusted tour operators.”As leader of this group of players, I promise that we will do all we can to give you a performance to remember and thank you for your part in this Test match.”Thanks too for your continued support – we hope to see you at the ground.”Each letter is hand-signed by Root.The relationship between the England players and their travelling supporters is genuinely warm. Each day of away Tests, a group of supporters sing the hymn Jerusalem – often accompanied by The Barmy Army’s trumpeter, Billy Cooper – during the first over of play. It is usually acknowledged or applauded by the players.Meanwhile The Barmy Army have told supporters “don’t be an idiot” after the Galle Test was twice interrupted by streakers.”Entering the field of play is illegal,” The Barmy Army said in a Tweet. “Streaking is considered the height of offence and an insult to the religious beliefs of the Sri Lankan people. Offenders will be arrested, placed before court and imprisoned. Don’t be an idiot.”

Moeen Ali produced one of the most breathtaking batting assaults in international history, a 53-ball hundred that included an incredible eight sixes in the space of 14 balls, as England withstood a withering riposte from the mighty Chris Gayle to seal an

The Report by Andrew Miller24-Sep-20170:36

The might of Moeen

England 369 for 9 (Moeen 102, Root 84, Stokes 73, Cummins 3-82) beat West Indies 245 (Gayle 94, Plunkett 5-52, Rashid 3-34) by 124 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMoeen Ali produced one of the most breathtaking batting assaults in international history, a 53-ball hundred that included an incredible eight sixes in the space of 14 balls, as England withstood a withering riposte from the mighty Chris Gayle to seal an unassailable 2-0 series lead in the third ODI at Bristol.The final margin of victory, 124 runs, may have been comfortable for England in the end, but it required a performance of rare brilliance from Moeen to put his team’s total beyond the range of a spirited West Indies side, who rallied with impressive resolve from a humiliating final six overs in which their seamers were panned for 93 runs.Set a daunting 370 to win, having at one stage had England wobbling on 217 for 6, West Indies stayed in the hunt until Gayle’s dismissal for 94 from 78 balls in the 27th over. At 176 for 4, it was an insurmountable loss, especially after Marlon Samuels had been sent on his way for 11 via a contentious DRS overturn, although Jason Holder cracked a brisk 34 from 26 balls to maintain the defiance into the 40th over. It was left to Adil Rashid – the man whose dead-eyed shy from midwicket had sawn Gayle’s innings off in its prime – and a maiden five-wicket haul from Liam Plunkett to snuff out the last of West Indies’ resistance.For much of the contest, a packed Bristol crowd might have assumed that a 132-run stand for the fourth wicket between England’s two biggest names, Joe Root and Ben Stokes, would be enough of a treat to mark their day out. But Moeen had other ideas. The sheer audacity of his hitting is best expressed in the purity of his final 14 balls – 6, 6, 2, 4, 6, 6, 6, 6, 2, 4, 1, 6, 0, 6 – with which he transformed a meandering run-a-ball 39 into the fastest ODI hundred ever made on English soil.As the blows rained down, West Indies’ resolve went to pot – and it had been pretty resolute up to that point, with England forced twice to battle back from uncompromising scorelines – first when Root and Stokes rescued them from 74 for 3, and then when Moeen and Chris Woakes came together at an awkward 217 for 6 in the 35th over.But the ferocity of the dead-eyed Moeen ripped the contest from their clutches. His onslaught was triggered by the return to the attack of Miguel Cummins, who up to that point had been West Indies’ outstanding bowler with a haul of three prime wickets – namely Root, Alex Hales and the off-colour Jos Buttler. But Moeen cleared his front foot from the very first ball he received, battering him for back-to-back sixes to bring up his fifty from 41 balls.And that was just the start. Another six from the final ball of Cummins’ over segued into three more in a row off Holder, as West Indies conceded a grim 50 runs in two overs. Jerome Taylor might have ended the fun thereafter but Gayle dropped a slashed cut at point with Moeen on 87, whereupon the hapless Cummins was slammed into the stands twice more in three balls to bring up a stunning century.The final moments of Moeen’s innings had a touch of comedy about them as he was dropped twice in two balls by Ashley Nurse, the second an absolute howler off a top-edged slog, before picking out Holder one ball later. Poor Nurse had already clung onto a blinder two overs earlier, as he intercepted a scudding slog from Woakes to long-on, only to fling the ball over the boundary for six as his momentum took him over the rope.It was all a far cry from the tentative beginnings to England’s innings. After being asked to bat first on an unnerving greeny-brown surface that Eoin Morgan hoped would “play better than it looks” (not half…), England’s openers struggled initially for timing. When Jonny Bairstow popped a leading edge back to Holder to fall for 13 – his lowest completed ODI innings in his last eight visits to the crease – England were 28 for 1 after six overs, and braced for an attritional afternoon.Hales, widely touted for an Ashes call-up, showed flashes of his form in making 36 from 35 balls before being pinned lbw by Cummins, whereupon Morgan, bereft of runs in the course of his nomadic T20-led late-season, was done in first ball by Holder, a perfect lifter on off stump that kissed the edge of a tentative bat through to Shai Hope.At 74 for 3, the innings was in the balance, but Stokes and Root were unruffled as they set about laying the groundwork for what would prove a monstrously successful rebuild.After milking the spinners throughout the middle orders, Root signalled a change-up in tempo with an emphatic slog-sweep for six over midwicket off Nurse, and Stokes was all too willing to take up the challenge, crashing Nurse for consecutive sixes down the ground to threaten carnage. However, Rovman Powell, sticking to his guns in a restrictive spell of seam-up, tempted Stokes into a rash swipe to deep point for 73, and when Cummins produced a snorter to tickle the off bail of Buttler, he followed up by luring Root into a loose waft across the line. It could have been a decisive intervention. Instead, it merely unleashed the fury of Mo.And that could well have been that, so far as a contest was concerned. West Indies, however, have found a rare means of battling back in adversity on this tour – from their response to humiliation at Edgbaston in the Test series, to their victory in the Durham T20 after the Lord’s defeat, and now with the return of the Universe Boss from last week’s hamstring strain.With nine fours and six sixes in his 94 from 78 balls, including three in a row off Moeen to rebalance his overall match figures, Gayle’s presence alone kept the contest bubbling going into the final half of the innings. But then, a familiar shortcoming sold him short. With England forever on the alert for his increasingly fallible running between the wickets, Rashid at midwicket pinged down the non-striker’s stumps, and West Indies’ top gun was gone by a matter of millimetres.By then, the deck-hitting excellence of Plunkett – another man, maybe, with distant Ashes aspirations – had cranked open the top of West Indies’ batting order. In particular his early extractions of Hope and Samuels – albeit contentiously – were reward for the time-honoured virtue of pace and bounce outside off stump. And fittingly, it was Plunkett who wrapped up the contest with 65 balls remaining, as Holder holed out to long-off.