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Rohit Sharma says no risk, no reward as ramped-up tempo sets agenda for series win

Sidharth Monga10-Jul-2022Virat Kohli played nine balls in two innings in this T20I series against England. He attempted boundaries off five of them. Two of them resulted in vintage Kohli boundaries – a four over wide mid-on and a six straight down the ground, but the other three got him out twice. On the evidence of Kohli’s T20 career, it is perhaps true that this is not the best approach for him.However, Kohli doesn’t play in isolation. He bats in India’s top order. It is incumbent upon them to take the risks and either score quickly themselves or let those behind them face more balls. That is the approach this team wants everyone to buy into, and Kohli is no exception.”It’s a bit of both,” India’s captain Rohit Sharma said, when asked if Kohli’s new ultra-aggressive approach is a team instruction or a personal attempt to fight his way out of a rut. “We, as a team, we want to play in a certain way, and every player needs to buy into that thought process. Otherwise, you know, it’s not gonna happen for you. And all the players, all the batters, who are part of this squad, are willing to take that extra risk and go and see what extra they can do with the bat.”It’s important to find out within yourself, you know, to try and do different kinds of things. Unless you try it, you will never be able to find out [what you are capable of]. So I think it is something that we have been trying to do for a while now. Some days it might come off, some days it might not. But we don’t want to be afraid of going in and taking that extra risk. That’s how we’re going to learn as a team and that’s how we will move forward as a team. So it’s in everyone’s thought process, everyone is quite comfortable with that idea. So yeah, that’s the kind of direction the team is going to move in.”For years India played T20s as a shortened ODI, taking risks when batting first only when behind in the series or in must-win games. But this new management is quietly slipping in revolutionary ideas, such as wanting to play ODIs as an extension of T20Is. It has left observers mighty impressed. Eoin Morgan, who played an integral part in England’s white-ball revolution, has found India’s new attitude towards risk “unbelievably impressive”. Nasser Hussain believes India should be in the final of every white-ball tournament, given the quality they have.”It is important for us to understand white-ball cricket properly,” Rohit said, disagreeing with the notion that the upcoming ODI series will be of lower priority for India in a T20 World Cup year. “I mean 50-over cricket is an extension of T20 cricket. You might take slightly fewer risks than you do in T20s, but we to take risks. It is not as if we won’t take risks.Related

• Rohit Sharma bats for Virat Kohli again amid 'slump' talk

• Ganguly says Kohli 'has to find his way' to score again; Nehra wants him to take a break

• Kohli's form, Iyer vs Suryakumar, and Pandya's ODI return on India's discussion table

• Attacking mantra, Bhuvneshwar's form and Suryakumar's consistency bode well for India

• Kapil Dev: 'If Kohli isn't performing, you can't keep youngsters out'

“We need to get used to playing freely. When you try to play freely, it comes with its failures both in individual performance and in team results, but you get to learn a lot from that. We are looking at the bigger picture, not the small picture. As it is, in India we are used to two-and-a-half-hour pictures. All these matches are crucial for us because somewhere we need to change something, and we can see things have started to change slightly.”The biggest takeaway from this series has been the approach of each and every individual who has played in this series for us. How they have come and relished the moment in the middle, taking on the opportunity, taking on the opposition, taking that extra risk. The mindset is something that we are trying to change, and they are willing to do that. They’re willing to take that risk. And when I go and talk to certain individuals, I hear the same kind of response from them.”One of the biggest reasons for not playing freely, for valuing your wicket too much, is insecurity because of the intense competition for slots. If the leadership wants its players to fully realise their potential, there can be no space for mixed messages. That is why we don’t expect Kohli to be penalised for going out and trying to do what the team needs from him. So all the pressure building up from outside – look at Kapil Dev’s comments, Virender Sehwag’s tweet and Venkatesh Prasad’s too – is not likely to change their view on Kohli.”I don’t know who the experts are,” Rohit said, when asked if he found himself in an awkward position given Kohli’s lack of runs and the experts calling for him to be dropped. “I don’t even understand why they are called experts. They are watching it from outside, they don’t know what is going on the inside. We are building a team. A lot of deliberation goes behind it. There is a lot of thinking behind it. Boys are backed. Boys are given chances. People outside don’t know all these things. It is not important what is going on outside.Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer added 119 after getting together at 31 for 3•AFP/Getty Images

“If you talk of form, it goes up and down for everyone. The quality of a player never goes down. We should remember that. And we back that quality, and back them based on their quality. It has happened with me, it has happened with XYZ, it has happened with everyone, it is nothing new. When some player has done so well consistently for so long, that can’t be written off in one or two series or one or two years. It takes people time to understand it completely, but those who are running the team know the importance of that quality.”However, that doesn’t mean it is going to be easy for Kohli to return to being the central figure in the T20I team that he used to be, because other batters have presented their claim while Kohli has been away. Deepak Hooda scored a hundred in Ireland before scoring a fluent 33 in the first match of this series. Suryakumar Yadav enchanted all and sundry with his hundred in the final T20I. Like Suryakumar, Hardik Pandya, too, has sealed a spot now that his bowling fitness is in order. Once KL Rahul comes back, someone will have make way for him. And these youngsters are all going to get similar backing. There is no room for mixed messaging.”The captain, the coach, selector, they all have a role,” Rohit said. “Because if we do one thing, and the selectors do something else, then it will not work. It is important for those who are building the team to be on the same page. These boys need to be given the freedom. It is very important to consistently keep sending them the message to play with freedom. Because they are very talented, and that talent will be utilised only if we give them that freedom.”We have seen some boys have been playing under pressure. We don’t want them to play under pressure. If they play with that freedom, they will do better than their own expectations from themselves. You saw an example today [Suryakumar], saw another one in Ireland [Hooda]. I won’t take names. That’s how boys emerge. It is important to let them know what we want from them as a team management. That message has to be consistent. If you say something today, something else tomorrow, it won’t work.”

Australian captain Finch has already confirmed Philippe will make his T20I debut against New Zealand

Alex Malcolm12-Feb-2021The rise and rise of Josh Philippe is set to continue as he prepares to make his T20I debut for Australia against New Zealand in Christchurch.The Sydney Sixers star is hoping to take the invaluable lessons he learned playing alongside AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL into the international arena.Australia captain Aaron Finch confirmed on Monday that Philippe would make his international debut in game one on February 22 barring any unforeseen injury. Finch also confirmed Philippe would bat somewhere in the top three, along with Finch and Matthew Wade, after a brief conversation with him on the plane.Related

• Philippe: 'Feel like I'm hitting the ball better than ever'

• Finch: New Zealand T20Is a fact-finding mission

• Australia seek middle-order answers during T20 mission in NZ

“It was nice to hear him say those words,” Philippe said. “He sort of mentioned it on the plane but then to say it to the media obviously is pretty special as well so I’ve just got to train well and try not to get injured.”Philippe is in the form of his life having just been named player of the tournament in the recent BBL season where his Sixers claimed a second consecutive title.But it is the lessons he learned in the IPL from de Villiers and Kohli that he will hope to use in his first foray into international cricket.”I think it was just being in the same dressing room as some absolute superstars like that was really special,” Philippe said. “I sort of leant on AB a lot. He gave me some great advice along the way. It was just really cool to see how they go about their business out in the middle. There was some really challenging situations out there and they keep it so simple. Every time I asked a question or asked what they were thinking it just went back down to stand still, watch the ball, some really simple clear messages. It was pretty cool to know that the best in the business just keep in simple.”While Philippe is inked in to bat in the top three at the start of the five-match series there is a chance he may be utilised in the middle order. Stand-in coach Andrew McDonald revealed that Australia is hoping to use these matches a chance to find some of the missing middle-order pieces for Australia’s T20 World Cup tilt when David Warner and Steve Smith are likely to return to the top four.Philippe has made his name as an opener in the BBL but he began his career batting at No.6 for the Sixers. He had some success averaging 27.40 at an exceptional strike-rate of 152.22 in 10 career innings at that position.If Australia do experiment with Philippe in the middle order he will again use de Villiers as the blueprint for how to play that role.”It certainly takes a little bit of a different skill set,” Philippe said. “Having the opportunity to open gives you the freedom obviously to bat the full 20 overs. When you go through little periods of a few dot balls or not quite scoring rapidly you can always catch up. One thing I noticed, especially with someone like AB is just his ability to get off strike early. He never blew the game away too early. He was always sort of 10 off 8 or 12 off 10 and he’d set a platform from there and really target the back end. I think for me if that’s where my opportunity is I just need to be really busy at the crease. Whoever is at the other end, just sort of pass the strike off to them and really set up to target the last few overs.”The Australian squad exited the strict isolation portion of their 14-day quarantine on Thursday and were able to have a full nets session on Friday but they will train while remaining in quarantine the next week. Philippe plans to use the time to prepare for New Zealand’s bowlers who he has never faced before.”I haven’t seen any of the (Super Smash),” Philippe said. “I’ve seen most of those guys play on TV for New Zealand before. It’s super exciting to be in the mix to play against an international line up.”I’m going to have to start doing my research soon on their bowlers and their variations and work out from there my plan of attack against them.”

England suffered a middle-order collapse against the recalled Mitchell Marsh before a late counterattack helped save face

The Report by Andrew McGlashan12-Sep-2019This was a strange day of Test cricket. Tim Paine raised a few eyebrows by bowling and for the first half Australia’s performance suggested that the Old Trafford celebrations might have been a touch more exuberant than the two out of ten Justin Langer suggested. Yet they surged back into the ascendancy through a man playing his first match of the series as Mitchell Marsh bagged 4 for 35 with some brilliant swing bowling only to be stopped in their tracks when Jos Buttler flicked the one-day switch.So much fitted to type for England as they slid from 170 for 3 to 226 for 8 and it appeared they wouldn’t bat out the day. But all of a sudden, Buttler changed gear – perhaps deciding to live by the two-letter expletive on his bat handle – with a pair of straight sixes off Josh Hazlewood on the way to his first half-century of the series and alongside Jack Leach added an unbroken 45 for the ninth wicket. It made things look a little better for England, but in reality it was a rescue mission that shouldn’t have been needed.The top seven all reached double figures (before today a top five in the series hadn’t managed that) including Joe Root’s 57 as the captain again couldn’t convert into three figures despite being dropped three times between 24 and 30, extracted by another off-stump rip-snorter from Pat Cummins.However, the game really swung, in every sense, in the hands of Marsh who found significantly more movement than any of his team-mates. A short ball accounted for Ben Stokes, but it was full-length movement that removed Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes. Cramp stopped him one ball into his 16th over and though he returned the chance for a maiden five-for had to wait.There had also been movement – of the seam variety – with the new ball after Paine inserted England, citing a decent covering of grass and some cloud cover. Only Joe Denly succumbed, though, driving loosely at Cummins with Steven Smith taking a juggling catch at second slip. Root and Rory Burns moved along at a decent clip against bowling that lacked the consistency of much of the series.Playing a Test on his homeground for the first time, Burns, who was given lbw to Hazlewood on 4 before DRS overturned it, looked in excellent touch as he got off the mark with a well-timed square drive before adding an on-drive and cover drive to the tally before lunch. Root, too, started with a sparkle, making a concerted effort to get forward to Australia’s quicks rather than be caught on the crease, before the innings took on a very different character.On 24 he hooked Cummins and got a top edge to deep backward square where Siddle’s under-par morning got worse when he couldn’t hold on. In Cummins’ next over, Root aimed a back-foot drive at Cummins which produced a thick edge that Paine palmed away. Then, in the first over after lunch, Smith dropped a tough chance at second slip off Siddle. It was looking as though Root should play Friday’s EuroMillions which is worth £143million.Life now looked much harder for Root, although there was one moment of relief when he drove Hazlewood through the covers to take him to 7000 Test runs – the third youngest batsman to reach the milestone after Alastair Cook and Sachin Tendulkar – before a fortunate fifty came from 105 balls.By then he had already lost two team-mates to poor cross-batted strokes. Burns miscued to mid-on and Stokes, batting at an elevated No. 4, skewed a big top edge to point to give Marsh his first. Be like Stokes had been the message to Marsh, this wasn’t a bad start.For all that England had been solid for large parts of the first two sessions there was always the feeling of it being an innings on the edge. Either side of tea Australia really turned the screw and they earned their rewards swiftly at the start of the final session. Only one run, a leg bye, had been scored since the interval when Cummins shot one past Root’s outside edge for the second time in two innings.Then it was over to Marsh. He produced a wicked inswinger to trap Bairstow who had faced 21 consecutive dot balls and been set up beautifully by a series of outswingers. Curran edged a booming drive to slip to end a skittish stay which included a hooked six of Cummins and a reprieve when he was lbw only for Cummins to have over-stepped. Marsh’s fourth came from another swinging yorker which took Woakes on the back leg.When Jofra Archer edged Hazlewood, England had lost 5 for 56 and thoughts were turning to how many Smith might score but Buttler, who had kept his place ahead of Jason Roy when Stokes’ shoulder injury forced a reshuffle, produced a calculated counterattack. Two straight sixes gave Hazlewood neck-ache and he added a third with a pull over deep square leg before he unfurled a reverse sweep against Marnus Labuschagne.Such was the woeful over rate that just 82 overs were bowled in a six-and-a-half-hour day and by the time the second new ball was briefly taken there were weary Australian bodies, and perhaps minds. However, this is far from an overwhelming total (although Buttler may have power to add in the morning) and England will still need to find a way of stopping Smith.

England’s former World Cup goalkeeper turned out for Shrewsbury in his first league cricket match since 2007

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2018Club cricket up and down the country took a back seat to World Cup football at the weekend, with England’s 3pm quarter-final against Sweden on Saturday causing postponements galore as captains struggled to rally their teams.One man who had more reason than most to take his eyes off the events in Russia, however, was England’s former World Cup goalkeeper Joe Hart, who chose instead to turn out for Shrewsbury in what would prove to be his first league match since 2007.Hart, 31, won the last of his 75 England caps against Brazil in November and had been his country’s first-choice keeper at both the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016.However, he was overlooked for the 23-man squad for the on-going World Cup, with Jordan Pickford, Gareth Southgate’s preferred pick, going on to make a string of world-class saves in a man-of-the-match-winning display in Samara.Hart’s contribution to his day of sport on Saturday was rather less telling. He came in to bat at No.9 for Shrewsbury, who started the day in third place in the Birmingham & District Premier League, and made 6 from 11 balls in a total of 250 for 8 from 55 overs.And despite a best haul of 5 for 13 in his previous appearances for the club, Hart was not called upon to bowl as Knowle & Dorridge made 203 for 9 in reply. Mike Barnard (6 for 48) and Henry Blofield (2 for 52) shared the bulk of the honours as Shrewsbury fell just short of forcing the win.”Joe was a credit to himself, his cricket club and his community yesterday,” tweeted Knowle bowler Chris Cheslin. “Great to see him back on the cricket field enjoying the game surrounded by his friends and family.”As a teenager, Hart had been in the same Worcestershire youth team as Steven Davies, the former England wicketkeeper, but put his cricket ambitions on hold as his football career developed.

Coming off the back of a defeat via the Super Over, Gujarat Lions are set to miss the services of fast bowler Andrew Tye for the remainder of the IPL owing to a shoulder injury he picked up on Saturday

The Preview by Annesha Ghosh30-Apr-2017

Match facts

Rising Pune Supergiant v Gujarat Lions
Pune, May 1, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)2:36

Hogg: Christian a better option than Stokes for Pune

Head-to-head

This season: Gujarat Lions’ hat-trick hero Andrew Tye led his side to a seven-wicket victory at home, where Lions nailed a 172-run chase with two overs to spare.Overall: Lions have won all the three games played between the two teams and have done so while chasing.

Form guide

Rising Pune Supergiant (fourth): defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 61 runs, lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets, beat Mumbai Indians by three runs
Gujarat Lions (sixth): lost to Mumbai Indians in the one-over eliminator, defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets, lost to Kings XI Punjab by 26 runs

In the news

Rising Pune allrounder Ben Stokes, who has missed a couple of matches due to an injured shoulder, has regained fitness and is likely to be available for selection.Gujarat Lions bowler Andrew Tye is slated to head back home after dislocating his shoulder. The Australian quick was stretchered off the ground midway through Lions’ match against Mumbai Indians after he fell on his left shoulder while diving for a ball at the boundary. Nathu Singh, who was replaced by Irfan Pathan in Lions’ previous game, is understood to be recovering well from a back niggle.

The likely XIs

Rising Pune Supergiant: 1 Ajinkya Rahane/Mayank Agarwal, 2 Rahul Tripathi, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Manoj Tiwary , 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Dan Christian, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Lockie Ferguson, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Imran Tahir 11 Jaydev UnadkatGujarat Lions: 1 Ishan Kishan, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Aaron Finch, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dwayne Smith, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Basil Thampi, 10 Nathu Singh/ Irfan Pathan, 11 Ankit Soni

Strategy punt

Jadeja has dismissed Steven Smith four times in nine innings in the IPL; no other bowler has dismissed Smith more than twice. Against Jadeja, Smith has scored only 45 runs off 46 balls. In the recently concluded Test series, Jadeja got Smith out three times, while the other India bowlers could collectively dismiss him only four times. It will, thus, be no surprise if an encore of the Jadeja-Smith contest unfolds at the MCA Stadium again on Monday.

Stats that matter

• That Gujarat Lions rely heavily on Finch to deliver is established by his contribution in the team’s three wins: 33* off 19 against Rising Pune, 31 off 15 against Kolkata Knight Riders and 72 off 34 against Royal Challengers Bangalore. His highest score in a losing cause is only 19.
• Among 16 players who have opened the innings and scored 100 or more runs in the tournament so far, Ajinkya Rahane has the worst strike-rate – 121.26. Barring the first game, where he made 60 off 34 at 176.47, he has struggled to score at a rate in excess of 130.
• Suresh Raina has scored 310 runs in the nine innings so far this year – the most he has in any season in the first nine innings. The last time he crossed 300 after playing nine games was in 2009, where he had made 309.
• Brendon McCullum has struggled against Jaydev Unadkat’s pace, having fallen to the left-arm bowler twice in two innings. McCullum has, however, had more success against Imran Tahir, scoring 38 off 15 balls without being dismissed once in two innings.
• Ravindra Jadeja has been effective against both MS Dhoni and Manoj Tiwary, conceding 26 off 18 and 32 off 29 respectively. He has dismissed both Dhoni and Tiwary twice in the IPL.

Mashrafe Mortaza has urged his players to isolate themselves from the emotional outpouring back home following their heart wrenching loss to India, and instead focus on the positives that a win against New Zealand would bring

Arun Venugopal in Kolkata25-Mar-2016Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has urged his players to isolate themselves from the emotional outpouring back home following their heart-wrenching loss to India, and instead focus on the positives that a win against New Zealand would bring.While Bangladesh fans were shocked by the one-run defeat that knocked their team out of the competition, there has been no shortage of sympathy and support for the players – like the reactions to Mushfiqur Rahim’s apology on Facebook would tell you. Mashrafe admitted it wasn’t easy to recover quickly from such an enervating experience, but said there was no point in clinging on to it either.”The boys have had 48 hours to think about it. Nobody broke down but everyone was upset. I think [now] you have to play hard,” Mashrafe told reporters on the eve of Bangladesh’s last group stage match against New Zealand. “At the moment, you can’t just think about [what] others [are thinking or feeling]. We have to think we have one match left to play. But we should think positively that we have one match left and if we get a chance to win, we will grab it.”All Bangladeshis are passionate about cricket and it [the loss to India] is disappointing. The way we lost you just can’t describe [it]. There’s no words [left] for any player [to say]. Even if we say sorry, it’s not good enough.”We needed two from three balls and we should have won it easily. We have to accept the criticism. Whatever people say, we don’t have anything to say. It’s acceptable.”Mushfiqur’s premature celebration after bringing down the target to two off three balls against India is an image that will haunt him and his team for a long time. Bangladesh’s excitable nature on the field has at times been held against them, but Mashrafe couldn’t make up his mind on whether it worked for or against his team. “Yes, you are right [about Bangladesh being an emotional team]. [But] emotion is something that is difficult to change. It can help sometimes, I feel, and it’s been working for us. But it’s very difficult to say [whether remaining calm like MS Dhoni would work for us]. It varies from person to person, so I don’t know what to answer.”But he wasn’t nearly as unsure about disputing the line of thought that Bangladesh had a patchy record in Twenty20 cricket, and said they were a much improved side across formats over the last two years. “We have prepared a good team. We have reached a stage in the last one-two years,” Mashrafe said. “We reached the quarter-final in the [2015] ODI World Cup. We made it to the final of the Asia Cup. There is still inexperience but it is an almost settled team now. Even in this World T20 we ran teams like Australia and India really close. So there are a lot of positives. Hopefully we will be a different team in the next World Cup.”With many careers winding down at the end of the World T20, there were predictably questions about Mashrafe’s own future. He, however, dead-batted them saying he would think about it only after getting back to Bangladesh.

Even though Zimbabwe dominated most parts of the third day by taking a 64-run lead and then building on it, three wickets in the last nine balls of the day brought the Pakistanis back and has given both the sides almost equal chances of winning the Test

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2013Even though Zimbabwe dominated most parts of the third day by taking a 64-run lead and then building on it, three wickets in the last nine balls of the day brought the Pakistanis back and has given both the sides chances of winning the Test. Pakistan’s bowling coach, Mohammad Akram, said they were confident of getting a few wickets by keeping their line and lengths tight to build the pressure.”Our plan was to keep it tight,” he said. “We knew that if we did that, at some point the door would open and then we could push through it.”Zimbabwe had taken a first-innings lead in the first Test too but they had to bat last which put added pressure on them when they were set a target of 342 with a little more than a day left. This time, Pakistan will be batting last and are already 185 runs behind with six Zimbabwe wickets remaining. The pitch, Akram said, has not been causing difficulty till now and said it is still a “good wicket” for both bowlers and batsmen.”So far the pitch has played well,” he said. “Everyone was thinking there would be too many snakes in it but it has been good for batting, once you are in. Stroke-making was not easy but there is still something in it for batsmen and bowlers and it’s been a good wicket.”

‘Not a bad decision to open with Utseya’

Two of the four wickets Zimbabwe lost on the third day were of bowlers as Vusi Sibanda could not open due to illness and Prosper Utseya accompanied Tino Mawoyo at the top of the order in the second innings. Panyangara, the nightwatchman who fell for a duck, said Utseya was the right replacement to open with, instead of sending another top-order batsman. Even though Utseya scored only 5, Panyangara defended the decision of openng with him.
“He [Sibanda] was off the field after lunch because he was not feeling well,” Panyangara said. “The team decided Prosper would be the best one to go and open for us. If you look at it now, it wasn’t that bad. As much as we didn’t want to lose those wickets at the end, we are still in a good position because two of the guys who are out are not top order batsmen.”

Tinashe Panyangara also said the pitch had not deteriorated much so far but hoped that it would on the last two days. “I hope so,” Panyangara said with a laugh when asked if he thought the pitch would get worse. “Every day we’ve thought it would get worse and it hasn’t really. But maybe on the final two days it will. It has been playing up a bit but I wouldn’t say it’s got much worse so far.”Just like Pakistan who had plans of bowling tight, Panyangara said they had planned to bowl around the off stump to keep Pakistan’s scoring rate down. Pakistan had started the day at 163 for 3 but collapsed to 230 after lunch, losing their last six wickets for 19 runs. Brian Vitori, who had not been picked for the first Test, claimed the last three wickets in two consecutive overs to take his first five-for in only his fourth Test.”Our plan was to stay around off stump all the time and keep the run-scoring down,” Panyangara said. “If you look at the run-scoring especially after lunch, they never scored at more than three an over. We knew if we did that right, we would get wickets.”Despite Pakistan’s lower-order collapse, Panyangara said they would need “a day at the least ” to bowl Pakistan out in the fourth innings after setting them a target. With six wickets in hand, he said they did not have any target in mind and would try to get “as many as possible” before bowling in the fourth innings.

ESPNcricinfo previews the second Test between India and New Zealand in Bangalore

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran30-Aug-2012

Match facts

Friday, August 31-Tuesday, September 4
Start time 0930 (0400 GMT)Can New Zealand attack the India spinners in Bangalore?•AFP

Big Picture

It’s not often than an Indian Test win fails to top the sports pages, never mind the cricket pages. India’s comprehensive victory over New Zealand in Hyderabad though was relegated to a sideshow last week as Unmukt Chand’s Under-19 team won the World Cup in Australia. That India’s first five-day success in nine months was so overshadowed was a measure of how lightly New Zealand are treated as a Test opposition, and how heavily India are expected to win.
New Zealand’s Test fortunes seemed on an upswing after upsetting Australia in Hobart, following that up with their biggest Test win ever – an innings-and-301-run thumping of Zimbabwe – and the emergence of several talented young quick bowlers but the optimism has faded over the past few months. The home series against South Africa was always going to be a difficult challenge, but the capitulation on the tour of the Caribbean and against India last week has led to despondence among New Zealand fans. Much has already been written about the frail batting, the scarcity of centuries and the doubts against spin. The Bangalore Test presents a chance to show they are better than they have shown in recent times.
India, meanwhile, couldn’t have asked for a better series to gauge how to fill the void left by the retirement of middle-order stalwarts Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Cheteshwar Pujara will be relieved after marking his return to the Test arena following a one-and-a-half year absence with a big century. Virat Kohli also solidified his position with a fifty and, after a wretched Australia series, India’s attack finally looked Test-quality again.

Form guide

India WLLLL (Most recent first)
New Zealand LLLDL

Watch out for

Suresh Raina has been an integral member of India’s limited-overs sides for several years now, but Test cricket has proved tougher to crack. Kohli and Pujara have earned themselves middle-order spots at least for a handful of Tests, leaving Raina’s place as the most vulnerable. The Test against a feeble New Zealand offers Raina the chance to make the runs necessary to keep a host of challengers at bay.
Ross Taylor has repeatedly stressed on the need for his batsmen to make centuries if New Zealand are to compete in Tests. He himself has only one hundred in more than two years, and that too against a lightweight Zimbabwe. With Jesse Ryder sidelined, Brendon McCullum promoted to the opening spot, and Daniel Vettori injured, New Zealand need Taylor to shore up the middle order.

Pitch and conditions

The Chinnaswamy track isn’t expected to be as spin-friendly as the one in Hyderabad last week, and the quicker bowlers are likely to have more of a role to play. The big concern for the organisers, though, is the weather. There have been evening showers over the past few days in Bangalore, and the predictions are for rains over the weekend as well.

Team news

MS Dhoni has ruled out experimenting with the India line-up ahead of the tougher Tests against England and Australia later in the season, which means the same XI which won the first Test is likely to feature in Bangalore as well. There have been some fitness concerns over Pujara, who was struck on the knee while fielding at short leg in the first Test, but Dhoni said Pujara is expected to play. “Pujara is a bit sore, but the good thing is he batted today at the nets and fielded also,” Dhoni said. “He got a hard hit which means it will take some time to heal but I don’t think it is restricting him in the field.”
India (likely) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Virat Kohli, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Pragyan Ojha, 11 Umesh Yadav.New Zealand also aren’t expected to make too many changes. Taylor said he was backing his batsmen to deliver after the dismal performance in Hyderabad. The one change they could consider is bringing in either Neil Wagner or Tim Southee for Chris Martin, who was dropped as recently as the second Test against West Indies last month.New Zealand (likely) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor (capt), 5 Daniel Flynn, 6 James Franklin, 7 Kruger van Wyk (wk), 8 Doug Bracewell, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Jeetan Patel, 11 Neil Wagner/Chris Martin.

Stats and trivia

• The Chinnaswamy Stadium isn’t India’s happiest hunting ground, with only one Test win in close to 17 years. Against New Zealand, though, India have won both Tests at the venue.
• After his pair in Hyderabad, Martin is now level with Glenn McGrath on 35 Test ducks, with only Courtney Walsh (43) ahead. Martin’s seven Test pairs is a record.
• Brendon McCullum is 45 short of becoming the sixth New Zealand batsman to reach 4000 Test runs

Quotes

“Sachin Tendulkar may score 45 or 50, still people think he has not scored runs. He has always been under this kind of pressure. He is enjoying cricket and he wants to still improve in every practice session.”

“You have to reach a stage where mentally as well as with your stroke-play in attack and defence, you can dominate them. Not the other way around by letting them dominate you.”

Kevin Pietersen has insisted he still has the hunger for one-day internationals after being rested from the current series against India

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2011Kevin Pietersen has insisted he still has the hunger for one-day internationals after being rested from the current series against India. That decision from the England selectors was followed by reports that Pietersen wouldn’t play again this year, but he says he hopes to be on the plane to India next month.Before then there are two Twenty20 internationals against West Indies, at The Oval, which have been added to the end of England’s season and Pietersen also has his sights set on them. He played against India, at Old Trafford, last week and is still seen as a key part of the 20-over outfit as they prepare to defend their world crown in Sri Lanka next year.”I’ve got two Twenty20s versus the West Indies later this month at The Oval and then we leave on October 3 for the one-day series in India. I’d love to play in all six games in India,” he told the . “You can never say you won’t have an injury or that you’re a dead cert for selection, but I’d love to play in every game, of course. I’m planning to play on for another four or five years, which will incorporate another couple of Ashes series.”Part of the reason behind Pietersen’s rest has been revealed as a wrist injury that needs treatment and he believes that it is England’s careful management of the players that has helped them rise to the top of the Test rankings.”There’s no doubt that England’s success is also partly down to the fact that the players are rested when they can,” he said. “International cricket can be a constant slog. I think India have got to that point now. The demands on the top players, especially if they play all three forms of international cricket, are immense. Maybe that’s why we haven’t quite got there yet in one-day cricket. But we’re working on it.”Another player who isn’t involved in all three formats for England at the moment is James Anderson, who hasn’t been part of the Twenty20 side since the trip to South Africa two winters ago. Anderson, who took his 200th ODI wicket in the abandoned match against India at Chester-le-Street on Saturday, is keen to regain his place and is considering a stint at the IPL to press his case.”My immediate priority is to play my part in winning the ODI series against India, but if I bowl well enough perhaps that will push me back into their thinking,” Anderson told the . “If not, one option might be to try to play in the Indian Premier League next spring or elsewhere, something I’m really going to have to consider.”With a maximum of only nine T20 matches for England between now and the next World Twenty20, time and games are running out for me to convince the selectors I still have something to offer,” he said. “I understood my omission from the World T20 in West Indies last year on tactical grounds and the variety offered by Ryan Sidebottom’s left-arm seam and swing, and the reasons for my absence ever since.”I can also see where they are going with this younger-looking team,” he added. “But I do feel I can transfer the skills I’ve developed in one-day and Test cricket to the T20 arena and it’s frustrating that I haven’t had the opportunity to play any domestic T20 cricket in which to try to press my case.”Anderson, 29, has not built up quite the same reputation in cricket’s shortest format as he has in Tests and ODIs but has a reasonable record. With international commitments taking precedence, he also hasn’t been helped by the fact that he’s played just three domestic Twenty20 games in the last two seasons, his solitary match this summer coming against Durham in June.”I’m sure the selectors know my feelings,” he said. “I want to play T20 cricket for England, I’m disappointed that I’m not and it’s down to me to persuade them I should be.”

Cricket Australia will consider dismantling its out-dated board structure in favour of a more streamlined and representative model

Peter English13-Aug-2010Cricket Australia will consider dismantling its out-dated board structure in favour of a more streamlined and representative model. Talk of a move towards a commission-style executive was the result of a board meeting on Friday that also confirmed the start of an eight-team domestic Twenty20 competition for 2011-12.Currently six state sides play in the extremely popular Twenty20 Big Bash but that will be expanded to include regional outfits. “We’ve been asked to consider all the issues to go full-steam ahead with the league and launch it a year earlier,” James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, said.The board meeting came at the end of a week-long Australian cricket conference to plan for the future and the potential remodelling covers all levels. The initial top-level structure under discussion is a six-person board, with one member from each state, along with up to four invited directors. Changes to the six state boards are also expected.”There’s a whole range of reasons why the board has chosen to implement a review of the governance of CA,” Sutherland said. “Certainly one of the things we talked about quite often [at the conference] was the importance of cricket ensuring that we had the interests of the whole Australian community represented throughout cricket, from the board to volunteer level.”It is something the board wants to get into with some haste, there is some work that needs to be done between now and the next [board] meeting to see how it is to take place. There are numerous moves afoot in various sports for them to be changing their governance model, and one of the considerations for us will be to benchmark world’s best practice.”