Sachin Tendulkar set for return against New Zealand, Yuvraj Singh likely for World T20

August 9, 2012

sachin_yuvi Mumbai, August 9: Sachin Tendulkar is all set to return to the Test arena after a break of two months but all eyes will be on another veteran VVS Laxman's future when selectors pick the squad for the two-match series against New Zealand starting August 23.

The selectors will also pick the final squad for the World Twenty20 Championship in Sri Lanka in September and Yuvraj Singh, who is training at the NCA after recovering from a rare germ cell cancer, is in contention for a spot.

"It will depend on the fitness certificate that he will get from the NCA," a selection committee source told PTI.

The first Test against New Zealand will be held in Hyderabad while the second match will be played at Bangalore from August 31.

"There are two schools of thought on Laxman. One is that we should groom a youngster before the series against England, while the other wants to give Laxman a chance to play at home," the source said.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher will be attending the meeting.

Incidentally, this will be India's first Test series after their 0-4 drubbing during at the hands of Australia, earlier this year.

Tendulkar, who decided to take a break from the recently concluded limited overs series in Sri Lanka, will be fresh and raring to have a go at the New Zealanders, who had a forgettable Test series against the West Indies.

The series will also be important as it will be the start of Team India's journey without a man responding to the name of Rahul Dravid.

Talented India A captain Cheteshwar Pujara, who has long been touted as Dravid's ideal replacement, is likely to get a long rope to prove his worth in Test cricket.

Rohit Sharma's string of failures and Pujara's impressive show for India A in West Indies makes the latter's case stronger.

Pujara has played three Test matches in 2010 with the highlight being a 72 against Australia in Bangalore in India's successful run chase.

The most interesting part of Friday's meeting will certainly be selection committee's stance on Laxman's future.

Speculation is rife as to whether the first Test at Hyderabad could be his swansong after having had a dismal tour of Australia, where he managed a meagre 155 runs from eight innings at an average of less than 20.

His fitness and running between the wickets have also come under the scanner time and again.

Nearing 38, the 'Very Very Special' man of Indian cricket is not getting any younger.

The only thing that might force the selectors to persist with Laxman for the next 10 Test matches at home is his experience. With no Dravid, the exit of Laxman would mean that Tendulkar will be the only vastly experienced batsman in the Indian middle-order.

Virat Kohli has already established himself after his impressive show against Australia Down Under and Ajinkya Rahane will come in as the reserve opener after Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.

Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli, Tendulkar, Laxman, Pujara and Dhoni, in all likelihood, will be the seven batsmen while Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav are likely to operate with the new ball. Gangling pacer Ishant Sharma is also in contention provided he is declared fit.

The other question marks will be on Sehwag and Zaheer's fitness as they had to come back home before the one-off Twenty20 against Sri Lanka. Hopefully, with two weeks left for the New Zealand series, they would recover in time for Tests.

Irfan Pathan, after his good all-round show in Sri Lanka, may be inducted in the squad of 15 as an all-rounder but he may not readily get a chance in the playing XI.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, in all likelihood, will complete the first XI.

It will be interesting to see whether senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh gets a look in although on current form, it will be very difficult.

He has played three first-class county matches so far for Essex taking only two wickets. The first match against Gloucestershire was a wash-out where he got to bowl only 14 overs. Against Hampshire, he bowled 30.3 overs taking 1/76 in the process.

Against Leicestershire, he had figures of 1/96 from 37 overs. Statistically, he may not figure in the list but one can never discount his match-winning performances on Indian pitches.

In case, Harbhajan is overlooked once again, Rahul Sharma will make it in the squad as the third frontline spinner given that there are very few other options.

The 15th and last place would have multiple contenders. Rohit may be down on form but his sheer talent will still keep him in contention.

With no quality fast bowlers in Black Caps rank and matches supposed to be held on slow tracks of Uppal and Chinnaswamy Stadiums, Suresh Raina's chances cannot also be ruled out as he can also bowl off-breaks.

Manoj Tiwary also has a case after making full use of whatever opportunities he has been handed but he is certainly behind Rohit and Raina in this race for the final spot in the squad.



Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 10,2020

Jan 10: Australian cricketer Shane Warne’s prized 'baggy green' cap raised more than A$1 million ($686,000) on Friday for bushfire relief efforts after the former leg-spinner donated it for auction.

Twenty-seven people have been killed and thousands made homeless in recent months as huge fires scorched through more than 25.5 million acres of land, an area the size of South Korea.

The baggy green is presented to Australian players when they make their Test debut and they receive just one for their entire career. The Aussie cricketer donated the cap to an online auction site on Monday. The auction closed at 10 a.m. on Friday (2300 GMT Thursday) with a final public bid of A$1,007,500.

"Unbelievable … so generous from everyone. Totally blown away," Warne said on Twitter shortly before the auction closed.

The auction attracted global interest and the price eclipsed the A$425,000 achieved by the late Don Bradman's baggy green when it was sold in 2003.

"We have been overwhelmed and it is a fantastic result," Marc Cheah, head of marketing for auctioneers Pickles, said.

"Other baggy greens have been auctioned and Don Bradman’s got $425,000 about 15 years ago, but the Don is the Don. He’s the greatest cricketer that ever lived," Cheah said in relation to the widely held recognition Bradman was the best batsman the game has produced.

"But Shane is also right up there and that drove a lot of traffic and momentum, while the cause is also very worthwhile."

Warne, 50, is one of many local and international athletes to support the fundraising for bushfire victims with several cricketers promising to donate a sum based on the number of sixes they hit in Australia’s Big Bash Twenty20 competition.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 15,2020

Dubai, Jan 15: India skipper and batting mainstay Virat Kohli was on Wednesday named captain of the International Cricket Council's ODI and Test teams of the year, capping off a memorable season for the world No.1.

Apart from Kohli, there were four other Indians who were picked in the ICC's Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

While the Test team featured double-centurion Mayank Agarwal, opener Rohit Sharma, speedster Mohammed Shami and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav found a place in the ODI side.

Kohli enjoyed a tremendous run in both the formats in 2019. The 31-year-old hit his seventh Test double hundred on the way to a career-best unbeaten 254 against South Africa in October last year.

It was a breakthrough year for opener Agarwal, who smashed two double tons, one century and went beyond the fifty-run mark twice. He hit a career-best score of 243 against Bangladesh in November.

Kuldeep, too, enjoyed a memorable year as he joined the golden list of bowlers with two hat-tricks. The chinaman claimed his second ODI hat-trick of his career against the West Indies last month.

In the absence of Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Shami rose to the occasion making the best in the business hop, skip and jump with his pace, swing and bounce through the season. He scalped 42 wickets in 21 ODIs over the last 12 months.

The ICC's Teams of the Year 2019:

ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav

Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.