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Tamim Iqbal hammered a run-a-ball century but Bangladesh collapsed around him and New Zealand’s openers were in control at stumps

Mohammad Isam in Hamilton27-Feb-2019Neil Wagner upset Bangladesh’s rhythm with a trademark short ball barrage as they were bowled out for 234, after being 121 for 1 shortly before lunch on the opening day in Hamilton, undoing the good work of a blazing century from Tamim Iqbal.Wagner finished with 5 for 47, his sixth five-wicket haul in Tests, before New Zealand consolidated their position with by reaching 86 without loss at the close. Jeet Raval, still searching for a maiden Test hundred, was unbeaten on 51 alongside Tom Latham who should have fallen in the second over as a maiden wicket for paceman Ebadot Hossain only for Soumya Sarker to drop a simple chance at second slip. Bangladesh finished the day in lethargic fashion with a number of misfields.Tamim Iqbal attacks the bowling•Getty Images

It had all looked so much brighter for them after being put into bat on a well-grassed surface as Tamim flayed the new ball around Seddon Park during his ninth Test hundred. He hammered 15 fours in the morning session – for a while it appeared possible he would reach a century before lunch – and brought up his hundred off 100 deliveries early in the afternoon.However, it quickly became a lone hand as Wagner and Tim Southee shared eight wickets. Wagner’s haul began with the wicket of Mominul Haque who tickled a short ball down the leg side to wicketkeeper BJ Watling just before lunch. Soon after the break, Mohammad Mithun and Mahmudullah top edged Wagner although both shots looked avoidable in the circumstances.Mehidy gave short leg a simple catch, also off Wagner, while Soumya Sarkar also fell to the shorter length, when he was unable to move his gloves away from a Southee delivery.

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Followers in the United States can watch New Zealand v Bangladesh live on ESPN+

Wagner’s five-for was completed when Abu Jayed tried to ramp him and had Liton Das caught at fine leg. His short-ball approach is one of the most telegraphed in the world yet still so many teams have struggled to combat it.Southee finished with three wickets while Trent Boult had given New Zealand their first wicket, that of Shadman Islam, who impressed against the new ball before playing across a full delivery, after he and Tamim had provided Bangladesh a fine start with a 57-run opening stand.Tamim was the enforcer and the guiding force. He struck plenty of drives down the ground and also through the covers, while remaining steadfast against the short ball. He struck 21 fours and a six in his 126 off 128 balls, lasting just over three hours in which Bangladesh looked in better control.Unlike some of his team-mates, for the majority of his innings he wasn’t reckless. Knowing full well that being adventurous may cost his side heavily, he curbed his strokeplay to get to lunch first before branching out again either side of his century which included taking 14 off Southee in the space of four deliveries.New Zealand tried to pray on his attacking instincts, pitching the ball well outside off, and the plan worked when Tamin cut a short, wide delivery from Colin de Grandhomme – who he had previously been keen to mow down the ground – straight to Kane Williamson at gully. Tamim threw his head back in disgust, knowing that his team needed even more from him.With their talisman gone there wasn’t much else offered by Bangladesh although stand-in captain Mahmudullah could have provided more than the top edge to long leg having played himself in with some compact drives.In New Zealand’s reply, Raval did most of the early scoring with his three boundaries in Ebadot’s fifth over, to dent the promising start from the debutant, before he took on the part-timer Soumya and Bangladesh’s lone spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Latham, who enjoyed a prolific series against Sri Lanka earlier this season, then found his stride and pull Mehidy for six as the shadows lengthened. By the close, it already looked a tough situation for Bangladesh to recover from.

If West Indies concede the match, they will have to return home with nothing to show for their stay in New Zealand

The Preview by Alagappan Muthu31-Dec-2017

Big picture

It may just be arbitrary – an illusion of time even – but a new year can have a remarkable effect. Ask West Indies. They ushered in 2017 with their trophy cabinet bursting at the seams. Then they were booted out of an ICC tournament. They will have to play fringe teams in international cricket to qualify for the next World Cup. And, on the basis of their performance on Friday, even their often infallible T20 game needs work.If West Indies concede the match on January 1, they will have to return home with nothing to show for their stay in New Zealand and the only people that would be feeling worse than Stuart Law, Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite would be those who had ended up as designated drivers the previous night. So the Bay Oval better prepare itself. It’ll be hosting a hurt world-champion side looking for revenge.New Zealand may sympathise – they are apparently the nice guys of this sport, even if their bowlers keep picking up seven-fors and their fielders take leave of gravity to snaffle impossible catches – but, with their captain Kane Williamson returning, they won’t offer much quarter. They’ve written the book on winning matches without too many star players. And it isn’t a complicated read either: have plans at the ready, ensure the players buy into that and can execute them under pressure. They’ll get plenty of practice in that regard coming up against a team that has nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain.

Form guide

New Zealand: WLWLL
West Indies: LWWWWThe perfect on-drive from Martin Guptill•BCCI

In the spotlight

With so many of West Indies’ frontline players in T20 cricket missing, it may be time Chris Gayle produces one of his single-handed demolition jobs. Not so long ago, after winning the Bangladesh Premier League, he proclaimed that he was the best to ever play the game. He would be able to lend that statement a little more oomph if he were to, say, beat an international team.New Zealand have their own marauder at the top, even if he is coming off a break. Martin Guptill. An average above 30 and a strike-rate of 130 suggests he likes playing longish innings even in the shortest format and should he do so in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand’s job of winning a third successive trophy, and staying on course for a tour-wide whitewash, will get a little bit easier.

Team news

Ross Taylor won’t be in action on Monday; he was only picked for the first T20I. Williamson will take his place.New Zealand (probable): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Colin Munro, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Glenn Phillips (wk), 5 Tom Bruce, 6 Anaru Kitchen, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Doug Bracewell/Lockie Ferguson, 9 Seth Rance, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Ish Sodhi*There may be some thought about bringing in Shimron Hetmyer into the batting line-up and Sheldon Cottrell into the bowling attack simply for the sake of variety.West Indies (probable): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Chadwick Walton, 3 Andre Fletcher/Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Shai Hope (wk), 5 Jason Mohammed, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Carlos Brathwaite (capt.), 8 Ashley Nurse, 9 Samuel Badree, 10 Jerome Taylor/Sheldon Cottrell, 11 Kesrick Williams

Pitch and conditions

There have been three T20Is at Bay Oval and runs have so far come by at a rate of 8 and above. Perfect conditions for a Gayle storm. The actual weather, though, is expected to be cloudy, with the possibility of showers late in the night.

Stats and trivia

• Williamson goes into the T20I with 133 fours, three less than Gayle. Of course, Gayle (103) has hit six times as many sixes as Williamson (16) has
• New Zealand have never lost a T20I in Mount Maunganui – and over their last 12 matches at home, they’ve only lost two
• Under the condition of at least 100 overs bowled, Samuel Badree has the second-best economy rate in T20Is; his figure of 5.78 is only just behind Daniel Vettori’s 5.70

Quotes

“Fantastic player, probably the best T20 record in the game and can take the game away at any time”

While the BCB release didn’t specify the nature of the breach, ESPNcricinfo understands that the incidents took place during the Chittagong leg of the ongoing season

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-20161:25

Isam: Fine amounts unprecedented

Sabbir Rahman and Al-Amin Hossain have been handed heavy fines for “serious off-field disciplinary breaches” during the Bangladesh Premier League.While the BCB release didn’t specify the nature of the breach, ESPNcricinfo understands that the incidents took place during the Chittagong leg of the ongoing season.”A Governing Council investigation has found both players guilty of serious off-field disciplinary breaches during the current tournament,” a BCB press release read. “As a consequence, Al Amin has been penalised 50% of his BPL contract fees while Shabbir has been fined 30% of his BPL contract amount.Sabbir, placed in Grade A+ in the BPL player draft, was acquired by Rajshahi Kings for Tk 40 lakh (approximately USD 50,000), while Al Amin in Grade A was retained by Barisal Bulls for Tk 25 lakh (approximately USD 31,000).”The players have been reminded of their responsibility as national cricketers and have been warned that any repeat of similar acts of indiscretion in the future will result in harsher penalty,” the statement said.

Australia’s new-look batting group will be unveiled on Friday when the squad for the first Test against New Zealand is named

Brydon Coverdale29-Oct-2015Australia’s new-look batting group will be unveiled on Friday when the squad for the first Test against New Zealand at the Gabba is named. Openers Cameron Bancroft and Joe Burns, and top-order batsman Usman Khawaja are all hoping to be part of the squad despite failing in their final chance to impress the selectors during their Sheffield Shield innings on Wednesday.All three men, plus Shaun Marsh, were part of the 15-strong outfit named last month for the Test tour of Bangladesh, but the abandonment of that trip has left question-marks over who will be favoured for the first Test of the home summer. The Brisbane match will be Australia’s first Test since the retirements of Michael Clarke and Chris Rogers, key members of the top five over the past two years.David Warner was set to miss the Bangladesh tour due to a fractured thumb, but he is fit to play in Brisbane and the identity of his new opening partner remains a mystery. Bancroft, 22, may get the nod as a red-ball specialist and long-term prospect, although Burns scored a century in a tour match against New Zealand at the weekend and performed well in two Tests last summer.Khawaja appears likely to move into the No. 3 position, with captain Steven Smith considering a move down to No. 4, and Adam Voges looks set to retain his place at No. 5. That would mean the only way Burns and Bancroft could both fit into the XI would be if the selectors abandon their preference for an allrounder at No. 6, an improbable move given how keen they have been on a fifth bowling option.It is not out of the question that Bancroft, Burns and Khawaja could all be named in a 13-man squad, with a final decision on the XI to be made in the lead-up to the Test. All three men were comprehensively outperformed in the ongoing Sheffield Shield round by Michael Klinger, whose double-century was his 14th hundred of the past year across all formats, but his age – 35 – will go against him.Retired captain Michael Clarke wrote in his News Ltd column on Thursday that his preference would be for Shaun Marsh to open with Warner, but that would seem a retrograde step given the opportunities he has already had. Marsh scored two centuries in the recent Matador Cup competition but managed 0 and 2 when called into the Test team during the Ashes at Trent Bridge.Mitchell Johnson will be back in the squad after he was to be rested for the Bangladesh tour, and Josh Hazlewood may also slip back into the group after being dropped for the final Test of the Ashes series. Mitchell Starc should be a guaranteed starter given his recent form, and Peter Siddle will hope to retain his place in the squad after impressing when he replaced Hazlewood at The Oval.Gone from the 15-man squad named for the Bangladesh tour will be fast bowler Pat Cummins, who has again suffered a back injury, and there is unlikely to be room for any of Andrew Fekete, Steve O’Keefe or Glenn Maxwell, all of whom were part of the Bangladesh squad. The squad will be named early on Friday afternoon in Adelaide.Probable squad David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Joe Burns, Steven Smith, Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

Tamim Iqbal, the Bangladesh batsman, has been ruled out of the rest of the ODI series against Sri Lanka due to a hairline fracture on his right thumb

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Mar-2013Tamim Iqbal, the Bangladesh batsman, has been ruled out of the rest of the ODI series against Sri Lanka due to a hairline fracture on his right thumb. Tamim picked up the injury while fielding in the first ODI in Hambantota, a match in which he had earlier hit his first one-day century in three years.Tamim was hurt attempting to stop a powerful shot from Kushal Perera in the seventh over of the chase. He started wringing his hand in pain after being struck by the ball and went off the field. He was taken for scans to a hospital, where an X-ray revealed the fracture.”It is a fracture which normally takes around 4-6 weeks,” Tamim later said. “For further information, I will go to Dhaka day after tomorrow. I will have an MRI, but it is definitely a fracture.”The news is a major blow for Bangladesh, who are already without two of their most experienced players in Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza. Tamim had returned to fitness little over a week ago after a wrist problem that he suffered at the Bangladesh Premier League forced him out of the opening Test in Galle.Sri Lanka are currently 1-0 up in the series, with two more ODIs to play. The tour ends with a Twenty20 on March 31 in Pallekele. Bangladesh’s next assignment is a Zimbabwe tour, with the first match scheduled to start on April 17.

ESPNcricinfo previews the Asia Cup match between India and Pakistan, in Mirpur

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran17-Mar-2012

Match facts

March 18, 2012
Start time 1400 (0800 GMT)Pakistan look more settled overall, with a superior bowling attack•AFP

Big Picture

If India had beaten Bangladesh, their match against Pakistan would have been a preview to the final. Thanks to their inept bowling in the dying stages of their previous match, and some fearless Bangladesh batting, this tournament is still open. No team has bowed out of the tournament yet, including Sri Lanka, who are yet to open their account. If India and Bangladesh win their remaining games with bonus points, it will leave three teams tied on nine points, meaning the finalists will be decided on net run-rate. If the same two teams win without bonus points, then Bangladesh will go through because they beat India in the head-to-head. A win, tie, no-result, or even a loss without conceding a bonus point, for Pakistan tomorrow will guarantee them a place in the final.Bangladesh’s stunning turnaround has given tomorrow’s clash greater context. However, a downpour at the Shere Bangla Stadium the day before the game means the groundstaff will have to work to ensure the match goes ahead as scheduled. Should weather intervene, there is a reserve day on Monday.The encounter promises to live up to the tournament’s top-billing because these teams have hardly played each other, due to political reasons. India trumped Pakistan in the semi-final of the World Cup, so Pakistan have a score to settle. Despite being drubbed by England in the one-day series in the UAE, they still look a far more settled unit than India.The gulf between the two teams lies in the bowling. Both attacks are spin-heavy, but Pakistan’s is a league ahead in terms of experience and penetration, with the likes of Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi. Ajmal’s doosras derailed Sri Lanka in the batting Powerplay and from that point on Sri Lanka were playing catch-up. India failed to run through the Bangladesh batting but they were still well-placed to defend 290. Swinging yorkers from Praveen Kumar and Irfan Pathan gave India a sniff, but the consistency was lacking. Yorkers made way for length deliveries and full tosses, which were either muscled over the ropes or sliced over point.India’s top order looks more reliable than Pakistan’s, with their top three each having scored a century in the tournament. Sachin Tendulkar may well play with the kind of freedom missing over the last 12 months, after getting the monkey off his back. The Pakistan top order didn’t look fluent against Sri Lanka, and the slow run-rate early led them to throw away their wickets.

Form Guide

(most recent first)
Pakistan WWLLL
India LWWLL

In the spotlight

Ravindra Jadeja is yet to justify the US$2million contract he earned from Chennai Super Kings with performances on the field. He underperformed in the Commonwealth Bank series with both bat and ball, though his fielding remains an asset. He was not used much as a bowler and failed to convert his opportunities with the bat, struggling to clear the bigger Australian grounds. There have been calls for the big-hitting Yusuf Pathan to replace him. However, Jadeja offers the variety of left-arm spin, to go with three offspinners.Fifteen, 5, 12, 2 – scores you would not normally associate with Younis Khan. His last ODI half-century came against Afghanistan, and he has struggled against quality opposition. His shot-selection against Sri Lanka was poor; he attempted an extravagant flick to midwicket and ended up chipping it to mid-on. With Asad Shafiq in the reserves, Younis will have to justify his place with a big score. He is too experienced to endure a prolonged slump.Misbah-ul-Haq’s calm presence is the reason for Pakistan’s upswing, and they would not want to lose his services for a crucial game because of a slow over-rate. The Pakistan captain will be suspended for one game if his side makes another transgression in the next 12 months after the team fell two overs short of the target against Sri Lanka. For tips on how to ensure a quick over-rate, Misbah would rather not consult his counterpart MS Dhoni, who has already been banned for a Test and ODI in recent months for the same offence.

Pitch and conditions

Despite the rain on Saturday evening, the forecast for Sunday suggests a full game will be possible. Both captains will be unsure of how the rain would have affected playing conditions, in particular the usually lightning-quick outfield. In general, the pitches have become better for batting in the evening, and the team defending a target will also have to watch out for possible dew. After Bangladesh’s heist, the captains may back their teams to chase down any target.

Teams

Ashok Dinda was all over the place against Bangladesh, going for 38 off 5.2 overs, so India could consider bringing back Vinay Kumar, if he recovers from injury. There’s still no indication that Manoj Tiwary, who has warmed the bench for so long he may have set it on fire, will get a game.India 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 MS Dhoni, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja/Yusuf Pathan, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Ashok Dinda/R Vinay Kumar, 11 Praveen KumarWith Shahid Afridi not in the best of form with the bat, Pakistan are likely to play an extra batsman, with Umar Akmal taking the wicketkeeping gloves.Pakistan 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Nasir Jamshed, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Umar Akmal (wk), 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Hammad Azam, 8 Shahid Afridi, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Aizaz Cheema

Stats and Trivia

• The head-to-head record between the two sides in the Asia Cup stands at 4-4.
• India have the better head-to-head record in matches played in Bangladesh, winning five and losing three.

Quotes

“You cannot take revenge on anyone, but we will try to give our supporters the joy we could not give during that game.”
Edited by Dustin Silgardo

Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, is aware England will be hurting after their loss to Ireland and will look to come back in the game against South Africa on Sunday

Firdose Moonda in Chennai05-Mar-2011While Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, was waxing lyrical about the merits of having a varied bowling attack and the advantage of an attacking spinner, an abrupt sound silenced him. It was an electronic sheep bleeting its way out of someone’s cellphone.”Well, that’s just beautiful,” Smith said before guffawing in his usual meaty fashion. If he’d been gearing up for a match against Australia, it may have been considered sabotage instead of a big joke, but with Smith’s new, relaxed attitude, there’s a good chance it wouldn’t have fazed him even then. Smith hardly moved a muscle in anger when he was asked about South Africa’s first real test of the World Cup.”England and South Africa is always a big game, it’s always been competitive,” Smith said. “I expect tomorrow to be no different.”After brushing aside West Indies and Netherlands, both of whom South Africa had lengthy unbeaten records against, they now face an England side that has beaten them in seven of the last eight completed one-day matches between the two teams, including in a series in South Africa. Smith refused to read too much into that bit of history, saying the reason for England’s success against his men was really, quite obvious. “They played better than us in those eight games.”Since England last played South Africa, they have lost almost as many one-day games as they’ve won – losing 12 and winning 14. They notched up series wins against Bangladesh, Australia and Pakistan but much of the good work was undone when they crashed to a 6-1 defeat in the post-Ashes one-day series in Australia, and have yet to settle at this World Cup. “They are a very proud team; they’ve had some really good ups in the last two years and their performances have been credible over the last while,” Smith said.More pressingly for England, they’ve just come off the event’s first upset: a three-wicket loss to their little brothers Ireland and although they don’t have the same instincts that scream ‘backlash’ like Australia do, they’ll still feel as though they have something to prove. That something could come against the team they knocked out of the 2009 Champions Trophy.Graeme Smith has not scored a one-day century since September 2009•Associated Press

Smith was aware England would be determined to fight back. “The Ireland game would have hurt them a lot. It was terrific for the spirit of the World Cup but they will be looking to bounce back.” This was not a man bracing for a backlash, it was a man who had anticipated it and who knew it was coming.There’s always been a psychological element to matches between these teams, intensified by the number of South African-born players in the England side. While that story has become old, with Smith saying it was “about the fiftieth time I’ve had to answer that question,” he did say South Africa would try to capitalise on whatever mental frailties conceding 959 runs in three matches may have caused in England’s bowlers. “Maybe we can take advantage of that lack of confidence,” Smith said, referring specifically to the opening pair of James Anderson and Stuart Broad.Smith and Hashim Amla will be the two batsmen best placed to hurt Anderson and Broad, but Smith has problems of his own. In his last 23 one-day innings, he has not scored a century and while he has a 92 and a 77 under his belt against Pakistan and India respectively, he has looked awkward in the tournament so far. “I’ve got starts in all the warm-up games, and it will be nice to turn one of those into a big score.” That was all he was willing to say, preferring to steer away from analysis of individuals and concentrate on the group.South Africa have the advantage of having been in Chennai just three weeks ago. It was the first stop on their tour and the place where the World Cup preparations started. Smith said he was looking forward to the warmer climate. “Being in Chennai is more like the real India, the warmth, after coming from the cold.” Delhi and Chandigarh, where South Africa played their first two matches of the tournament, had temperatures hovering between 20 and 25 degrees while Chennai was topping 35.India is also a place where South Africa have been more successful than England, winning seven out of 13 matches to England’s six out of 23 in the last ten years. That may not be on either captain’s mind going into the match, but it may be something they can keep in the bank for next time.

Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler is confident that his side will successfully defend their World Twenty20 title

Cricinfo staff17-Apr-2010Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler, is confident that his side will successfully defend their title during the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies.”I only know that Pakistan are favourites and we will win the World Cup” Asif told PakPassion.net. “The training camp has been very good preparation for all of the boys. Yes it’s been hard work, but I believe it will definitely help ahead of the World Cup in the West Indies. The preparation for such an important tournament has to be spot on.”The fast bowler was full of praise for Waqar Younis, the side’s bowling coach. “Waqar has been very helpful with his thoughts on my bowling. He analyses the art of bowling very well and has constantly provided me with feedback, advice and support. We have worked together on some new things, a few variations here and there, and they have worked out very well.”The camp has provided me with an opportunity to once again work with one of Pakistan’s greatest ever cricketers. We had already worked together on the tours of New Zealand and Australia and we have continued in Lahore the work that we put in on those tours. Waqar hasn’t spotted any major technical flaws in my bowling, but as I said, we have worked on some minor adjustments and new ideas here and there,” Asif said.The bowler revealed his game-plan in the shortest format involved being one step ahead of the batsman. “Twenty20 cricket is totally different from the other versions of the game and as a bowler I believe you have to try and out-think the batsman. My objective is to outsmart the batsman, try and be one step ahead of your opponent. This form of the game is mentally very tough as a bowler and I always try to dodge the batsman,” he said.Asif said he was ready to take on different responsibilities with the ball, depending on the requirement. “I am prepared to bowl whenever the captain or the team needs me to. In twenty-over cricket you know the batting side is looking to attack you continuously. If the team needs me to bowl four overs at the start, I am happy to do that, if they want me to bowl some of my spell at the start and then come back later in the innings, I am more than happy to do that for my team and skipper.”What I do look to do is to try and get an early breakthrough for my team, as I feel that if you get early wickets you put the opposition onto the back foot. They have to reassess their strategy and the new batsmen will have to come in and will realise that they have already lost one or two top order batsmen,” he said.

Karun Nair left out of the 15-man squad while Pant remains injured

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-20253:28

What does the squad for the WI Tests tell us?

Ravindra Jadeja has been named the vice-captain of the India Test squad for the two West Indies matches next month – it’s his first time in the position, though he has been vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is in the past.Shubman Gill will lead in his second Test series after debuting in the position in England earlier this year, but the injured Rishabh Pant, who was the vice-captain on the tour of England, hasn’t recovered sufficiently to make the squad. Pant, who had fractured his foot while batting in the fourth Test in England, is currently recovering at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. Dhruv Jurel and N Jagadeesan are the two specialist wicketkeepers in the squad, with Jurel expected to be the first choice to stand behind the stumps.Jasprit Bumrah is also part of the squad, although there is only three day’s gap between the Asia Cup final, on September 28 in Dubai, and the start of the first Test against West Indies from October 2 in Ahmedabad.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

From the expanded squad that toured England, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh and Shardul Thakur have missed out, along with Pant. Abhimanyu, Akash Deep and Kamboj have been included in the Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup, which will be played against Vidarbha from October 1 in Nagpur. Of them, Akash Deep had reported to the CoE recently to recover from a niggle he had picked up in England, which kept him out of the Duleep Trophy and recent India A matches.Coming in are Axar Patel, Devdutt Padikkal and Jagadeesan, who had been flown in for the final Test after Pant picked up his injury.On the exclusion of Nair, who had scored 205 runs in eight innings in England with a best of 57, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar said at a press conference in Dubai while announcing the squad: “We expected more from Karun. Padikkal offers a little bit more at this point. Wish we could give everyone 15-20 Tests, unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. Padikkal was in the Test squad in Australia, played against England in Dharamsala, got a fifty there. He’s shown some decent form. Frankly, we expected a bit more from Karun.”Related

• Agarkar: We don't want a repeat of New Zealand Test series

• Iyer to lead India A in one-dayers against Australia A

• BCCI okays Iyer's request for break from red-ball cricket

• Pant to miss home Tests against West Indies

Meanwhile, one of Nair’s likely replacements, Sarfaraz Khan, is currently recovering from an injury.The rest of the squad wears a familiar look, and with spin expected to play a bigger part at home than pace, India have named Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Axar as the three spin-bowling allrounders, as well as Kuldeep Yadav. Nitish Kumar Reddy is the fast-bowling allrounder, with Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna the frontline quicks.On Bumrah’s availability – it had been confirmed before the five-Test tour of England that he would play only three Tests to manage his workload – Agarkar said, “This team has been picked for both the Tests, so he’s available for both Tests. We’ve had a fair break after England. He didn’t play the fifth Test [at The Oval] either. So there’s been a five-week break. Even this tournament [Asia Cup] has been fairly spaced out till the last week. So no, he’s ready and keen to play both Test matches.”India’s two Tests against West Indies, starting on October 2 in Ahmedabad and October 10 in Delhi, is their second of six series in the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle. Their cycle began with the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series in England, where India drew the five-Test series 2-2.Having earned 28 out of the maximum of 60 available points for five Tests, India are third in the WTC points table, with 46.67 percentage points. Australia and Sri Lanka are above them with 100 and 66.67 percentage points respectively. West Indies have zero percentage points, having lost three Tests to Australia in June-July.

India’s squad for West Indies Tests

Shubman Gill (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, B Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-capt), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, N Jagadeesan (wk)

“You don’t want to play with my colleagues and you want to play with me? It means I’m putting my colleagues down as well”

Nagraj Gollapudi16-Apr-2024Rashid Khan is “hurt” by Cricket Australia’s decision recently to indefinitely postpone Australia’s scheduled three-match T20I series against Afghanistan. In response, Rashid, who is currently playing for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024, will reconsider participating in the 2025 edition of the BBL.The T20I series, a part of the ICC’s future tours programme, was scheduled for August at a neutral venue, but CA said in January that it was postponing the engagement after consultations with the Australian government because of “a marked deterioration in human rights for women and girls” in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.”It does hurt you,” Rashid told ESPNcricinfo on Tuesday in Ahmedabad, where Titans will play their next IPL 2024 game, against Delhi Capitals, on Wednesday. “You do want to play against the best teams and that’s where your cricket is going to improve more and more. You only get the opportunity playing against them [Australia] in the World Cups, but not in bilateral series.”Related

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Rashid, who will lead Afghanistan at the 2024 T20 World Cup in June, said that playing against top-ranked teams would be hugely beneficial for the growth of his team. As an example, Rashid cited the three-match T20I series Afghanistan played this January against India, which they lost 3-0.”Recently, we played three T20s against India, and it helped us a lot,” he said. “We nearly chased 200 [212] against India. Imagine if you wouldn’t have played that, where would the confidence come from? Playing against big teams is huge for us.”This was the third time CA had chosen not to honour a bilateral engagement with Afghanistan: in 2021, what would have been the first Test match between the two teams, was postponed, and then, in 2023, an ODI series was called off.”As a player you can’t do much about it,” he said. “It’s the issue of governments to resolve. But what hurts me the most is when things like that happens, why it is hurting cricket [in Afghanistan]?”If something is [in the hands of the] governments, why is hurting cricket? Why it comes to cricket? Can cricket solve those issues? I think if cricket is solving those issues, then it’s fine, then I’m happy with it.”Rashid stressed that cricket was a “source of happiness” for Afghanistan, and that was something Australia needed to understand.”Cricket is the only source back home in Afghanistan which give people happiness,” he said. “And if you are taking that happiness [away] from the people as well, you are hurting more people as well back home. And that is something which I feel like is more hurting as a captain where you are so excited as a youngster playing against Australia and then this thing just happens.”Rashid Khan and the other Adelaide Strikers’ players high-five fans•Kelly Barnes/Getty Images

Rashid on BBL: ‘Nothing is bigger than my country’

Last year, Rashid had threatened to withdraw from the BBL, but changed his mind and entered the BBL draft, before missing the tournament because he had to undergo a back surgery. Rashid said that CA’s latest move had again forced him to reassess his stance on participating in the BBL, where he has represented Adelaide Strikes since 2016-17.”Lots of things come in the mind,” he said. “Like, if you don’t want to play against my team, then why you want me to play in your country? Because I’m not allowed then in your country as well to play cricket.”You don’t want to play with my colleagues and you want to play with me? So what’s the difference? It means I’m putting my colleagues down as well. My country down as well. So if I’m playing there, if money in these things comes, nothing is bigger than my country. Money will just go and come. That’s not the point.”If they play with us and we play against them, that’s the only way we can play there as well. That’s the only solution for this problem to be solved.”