MISBAH-UL-HAQ DOESN’T SUPPORT THE DIVISION OF TEST CRICKET IN TWO TIERS

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MISBAH-UL-HAQ DOESN’T SUPPORT THE DIVISION OF TEST CRICKET IN TWO TIERS

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq opposed the planning of division of Test Cricket saying that lower ranked teams will suffer, if they do not play with top order teams. ICC wants seven top teams to play the higher tier and next five to play the lower grade over a period of two years, 18 Tests on home and away basis. The bottom two teams will be relegated to second tier while the top two teams in the second tier will be promoted to play the top league.

Misbah questions on this format saying that, “I think if the ninth number team does not play the top team how will it improve, People will get bored by watching the same teams play again and again”. Misbah further went on to say that, “I think all teams should get equal opportunities to play against each other and only through this there will be equality and teams will improve.”.

England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Greaves has suggested the Tests be reduced to four days with longer plays on each day. Misbah-ul-Haq also opposed the idea of 4-day Test saying that, “I think the beauty of Test lies in five days. If you reduce it to four days then the probability of draws will increase and interest will wane.”

Hales and Roy power England to crushing win

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An England record opening partnership of 256 between Alex Hales and Jason Roy led their side to a crushing 10-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international in Birmingham on Friday.

Both made centuries, with Hales 133 not out and Roy 112 not out as England stormed past Sri Lanka’s 254-7 in 34.1 overs at Edgbaston. The convincing win took England into a 1-0 lead in the five-match series after the first game was tied.

Sri Lanka opted to bat first after winning the toss but their total always looked insufficient on a good batting pitch at Edgbaston as England took wickets at regular intervals.

Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews shared a fourth-wicket stand of 82 to give their side a platform but it was never going to be enough against the mighty English batting line up.

Once Mathews fell for 44 and Chandimal was run out for 52 by Roy, things got bad to worse for Sri Lanka. Thanks to Upul Tharanga who struck an unbeaten 53 off 49 balls to give Sri Lanka some hope but England’s bowlers maintained a tight grip throughout, leg-spinner Adil Rashid the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2-34 from 10 overs.

Hales and man-of-the-match Roy were completely in command against a toothless Sri Lanka attack. Hales smashed an unbeaten 133 off 110 balls with 6 sixes and 10 fours while Roy went to his second one-day international century (112 not out off 95 balls) with his fourth six before driving Seekkuge Prasanna to the cover boundary to seal the victory.

“Jason Roy and Alex Hales were absolutely exceptional,” England captain Eoin Morgan said. “They put on a clinic for everyone here watching.”

“It was fun but it started off with the bowling. They bowled well at the start, kept us subdued in the first 10 overs. Got a bit lucky I guess. I’m enjoying my cricket, love being back with these England guys. They give me a lot of confidence,” said the Man of the Match Jason Roy.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 254/7 in 50 overs (Upul Tharanga 53*, Dinesh Chandimal 52; Adil Rashid 2-34, Liam Plunkett 2-49) lost to England 256/0 in 34.1 overs (Alex Hales 133*, Jason Roy 112*) by 10 wickets.

I WAS NOT SURPRISED BY KUMBLE’S SELECTION AS INDIA’S HEAD COACH SAYS RAVI SHASTRI

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I WAS NOT SURPRISED BY KUMBLE’S SELECTION AS INDIA’S HEAD COACH SAYS RAVI SHASTRI

After Anil Kumble was selected as head coach of Team India, Ravi Shastri said that he was not surprised by Kumble’s selection as India’s head coach. Ravi Shastri said in an interview that, “Anil called me as soon as the appointment was made. I told him that he has a fantastic bunch of boys to work with and I’m sure he’ll take them to greater heights. He asked me if he could talk to me further, and I said any time. I wish him only the very best”..

Ravi Shastri also said about his tenure as director of Indian Team that, “I’m immensely proud of what we achieved in those 18 months. The boys were at very low ebb at the time I took over as team director”. He further went on to say that, “From there, we went from strength to strength. We were briefly No. 1 in the Test rankings, No. 2 in ODIs and No. 1 in T20s,”

Ravi Shastri also said about India’s overseas successs during his tenure that, “What gave me greatest satisfaction though were the performances overseas. We showed great heart and character in Australia. We won a one-day series in England for the first time in 24 years. We beat Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka for the first time since 1993. And the icing on the cake was the World Cup – seven wins on the trot before losing to the eventual champions in the semifinal”.

Talking about the disappointment of not selecting as a head coach, he said that, “Yes, for the work put in, and results produced in the last 18 months. But if it (tenure) was for only one year then, not really. It’s time to move on and do what you do best. I must say I had the ultimate experience with a young and happening side”.

Why Rahul Dravid rejected the Team India coaching offer ?

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Anil Kumble was named as the Team India head coach on Thursday (23rd July) evening. 57 candidates had applied for this high profile job job, which was later trimmed down to 21 and interviewed in Kolkata. Shastri and Kumble were the front runners for the post and eventually Kumble was chosen by the committee. But, before all this happened, Rahul Dravid was offered the job.

Rahul Dravid, who coached the India U/19 boys during the World cup earlier this year was approached by the BCCI for the job but he rejected it.

“I requested Rahul Dravid to coach the Indian team. He didn’t say no, but said that he will work for the junior team. That is the good thing about Dravid. He didn’t go for the senior team post, big money and all. He wanted to work for the junior cricketers and not the senior team”, Anurag Thakur said.

Rahul explained, “I can only do only short-term assignments for now, I can’t stay away from home for long periods of time, short assignments suit me better.”

Live Blog : England vs Sri Lanka 2nd ODI 24th June 2016

Nick Compton to take immediate time off from Cricket

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Going through the poor form since the start of the year England batsman, Nick Compton has decided to take an immediate break from cricket. The grandson of English batting great Denis Compton, will take a leave from Cricket for an unspecified length of time after an awful season for both England and Middlesex. Since his comeback knock of 85 against South Africa in December last year, Compton hasn’t done anything off-note to save his spot in the England playing XI that too batting at the most critical position at number 3.

“Middlesex County Cricket Club and the England cricket team management have agreed for Nick Compton to be given a period of time away from cricket. Following a challenging start to the 2016 season, both physically and mentally, it has been agreed that the best way forward is for Compton to spend some time away from the game,” Middlesex said in a statement.

Compton, who himself had admitted that he was battling just for his place in the England Test team, “I want to score runs, because I want to feel good about my batting and contributing to the England team. If you don’t play well enough you get dropped. That’s fundamentally how it works.”

Compton could only manage 51 runs in the recently concluded three match Tests against Sri Lanka at an average of 12.75, while batting at the most pivotal number three position.

“Nick sets himself very high standards and makes a huge commitment to cricket, we all believe that some time away from the game now will allow him to refresh, recharge and return to play the sort of cricket we all know he is capable of producing. During this period Nick will receive the full support of Middlesex CCC and the England cricket team management.” said Angus Fraser, an England selector and Middlesex managing director of cricket.

Mini Version of IPL could take place in September: BCCI

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India is considering to start a mini version of the Indian Premier League in September this year. The tournament will be held overseas.

The President of BCCI Anurag Thakur said the dates and format of the mini IPL will be announced later. All eight IPL teams are expected to participate in a two-three week long championship.

The mini-IPL will be played in the same time slot that was reserved for the Champions League T20, which used to involve the top T20 teams from South Africa, Australia, England New Zealand, West Indies and India.

The Champions League T20 was scrapped due to the lack of interest and sponsorship. The last and sixth edition was played in 2014.

Ravi Shastri disappointed on missing out as India’s head coach

Former Indian team director Ravi Shastri expressed his disappointment after losing the high profile Indian head coach post to Anil Kumble. The former all-rounder had served team India as a director in the difficult times when India were losing all their matches to England in 2014. During his 2 years stint with the team as a director, India have had quite a lot of success at home and away in all the three formats.

Shastri took over after India‘s 1-3 humiliating Test series defeat against England in August 2014 and the team had a great run after that – winning the ODI series against England in England. India reached the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 without losing a match in the group stages, India became the first team to whitewash Australia in Australia in any format (3-0 in T20Is) ealier this year, won the Test series (2-1) against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka after 22 years, beating South Africa in a Test series (3-0) at home after a long time, winning the Asia Cup T20 and progressing to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2016.

“Yes I feel disappointed, for the work put in, and results produced in the last 18 months. But if it (tenure) was for only one year then, not really. It is time to move on and do what you do best. I must say I had the ultimate experience with a young and happening side,” Shastri shared his feelings, while speaking to mid-day.

Shastri also wished Anil Kumble and team India “all the luck” for their future endeavours.

ENGLAND vs SRI LANKA 2nd ODI PREVIEW : BOTH TEAMS WILL PLAY FOR UPPER HAND IN THE 2nd ODI

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ENGLAND vs SRI LANKA 2^nd ODI PREVIEW : BOTH TEAMS WILL PLAY FOR UPPER HAND IN THE 2nd ODI

After a memorable opening match of the series, both teams will be looking forward to take lead in the series by winning the second ODI. Both teams had ups and downs in the first match of the series but somehow they managed to avoid defeat. But England would be more euphoric as how the managed to tie the match after Liam Plunkett’s massive six in the last ball of the inning. On the other hand, Sri Lanka will take mixed feelings from the first match.

Sri Lanka’s batting effort was not so impressive in the first ODI. Although they managed to put a respectable total of 286/9 in 50 overs thanks to the fighting efforts from Angelo Mathews (73 off 109) and Seekkuge Prasanna (59 off 28 balls). In the bowling department, Sri Lanka were outstanding till 18th over as England were 82/6. On that time, Sri Lanka had almost won the match but Chris Woakes (95* off 92 balls) and Jos Buttler (93 off 99 balls) put 138 runs stand for the 7th wicket and took the game away from Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan bowlers lost the momentum and bowled some loose delivery by virtue of which both the batsman played their shots freely.

On the other hand, England batting performance was also not up to the mark. Apart from Woakes and Buttler, no other batsman did manage to counter the Sri Lanka’s pace attack as they were on backfoot after loosing 6 wickets in just 82 runs in 18 overs. After the great partnership of 138 runs between Woakes and Buttler for seventh wicket, England came back strongly in the game and after that Liam Plunkett’s handy knock of 22* off 11 balls with 2 fours and a historic six in the last ball of the inning turned the result into tie, England’s camp will be the happier one considering that they were down and out at one stage, on the other hand Sri Lanka would not want to repeat all those mistakes in the second ODI which they had committed in the first ODI after such a brilliant start.

SANJAY BANGAR LAUDS MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI’S CAPTAINCY SKILLS

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SANJAY BANGAR LAUDS MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI’S CAPTAINCY SKILLS

After beating Zimbabwe in the 3^rd and final T20I by narrow margin of 3 runs, India clinched the T20I series with 2-1. This was M S Dhoni’s 324^th win as a captain and he equalled Ricky Ponting’s record. Sanjay Bangar who was the interim coach of Team India for Zimbabwe Tour lauds Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy skills.

Sanjay Bangar said that , “I definitely felt that he opened up quite a bit, “He had a lot of interactions with the players. He made that effort to go out and mingle with them, he probably invited them for dinners and they [spent time] over Playstations together.”

“He went out of the way to make them comfortable, shared his experience with the younger guys, probably emphasised on the value of how to handle pressure, under match situations what are the things that are required to be done. So I think those were enormous learnings.” Bangar further went on to say.

Sanjay Bangar said about Axar Patel also. He said that, “I think not only today but throughout the series, “Probably, he was our most economical bowler. I don’t really know the exact stat, but he was very, very consistent. He maintained that pressure throughout, and not only his bowling, but generally, the way he fielded, a couple of catches that he took, and the way he finishes the innings. He got an opportunity in two T20s, the first and the third game, and he is proving to be a very good developing player at No. 7 or No. 8, who is capable of hitting the big shots. That’s really encouraging for Indian cricket.”

Kedar Jadhav who palyed a brilliant knock of 58 runs off 42 balls and helped India to put a respectable total on the board. Bangar also praised Kedar Jadhav for his knock and said that, “The last time he played for India, probably it was again a year ago, he got a hundred in the series, He didn’t get too many opportunities in this series, this was only the second time that he could go out and bat, and he played an amazing innings because he was having some issues.”