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Visitors five down and still 85 from victory after Pennington, Paterson rock top order

ECB Reporters Network19-May-2024Hampshire’s opportunity to notch a first win of the season is in the balance after a fast-moving third day of their Vitality County Championship match at Trent Bridge left them with still much work to do.Chasing a modest 169 to win, Hampshire ended the day still 85 runs away from their target at 84 for 5 and probably a man short unless Tom Prest can bat with the injured shoulder that has kept him off the field since tea on day one.Nottinghamshire had been bowled out for 209 in their second innings by tea, with veteran quick Kyle Abbott and offspinner Felix Organ taking three wickets each after Joe Clarke and Jack Haynes had made half-centuries.But Hampshire then slumped to 44 for 5 as Dillon Pennington and Dane Paterson led a determined effort with the ball by the home side before Fletcha Middleton and James Fuller saw out the final overs to calm their nerves.Still eight runs behind at 33 for 1 overnight, Nottinghamshire stumbled into early trouble as the pattern of the first two innings repeated itself.Against a ball that was only 15 overs old, they lost wickets in each of Abbott’s opening three overs. Will Young edged to wicketkeeper Ben Brown from a ball that lifted and left him, Ben Slater was pushed back in his crease to be leg before and Tom Moores saw his off stump uprooted by one angled in from wide by the veteran South African seamer.At 44 for 4 – effectively 3 for 4 – Nottinghamshire were in a difficult spot that could have turned worse still had Clarke not been dropped on 17 at 65 for 4. It was Michael Neser at first slip – substitute for the injured Prest – whose hands let him down, a second such error of the match by the Australian and a fifth for Hampshire overall.Clarke punished the mistake by passing fifty for the fourth time this season as he and Haynes added 96 for the fifth wicket before the former was out for 57, gloving a catch to Brown after being tempted by a short delivery from Mohammad Abbas.Haynes completed his half-century from 111 balls, but against the spin combination of Liam Dawson and Organ on a three-day old pitch Nottinghamshire’s hopes of building a substantial lead unravelled.Organ struck the first blow as Haynes was caught at short leg via an inside edge on to pad, picking up a second when Lyndon James, trying to help one round the corner, gave an easy catch to short fine leg.Dawson then claimed two in consecutive overs as Olly Stone’s paddle sweep looped up gently for James Vince to catch running across from slip before Dillon Pennington was trapped leg before. Organ wrapped things up by having Calvin Harrison stumped, leaving Hampshire needing 169 to win.With Nick Gubbins missing the match on paternity leave and Prest unlikely to bat, it was never likely to be a straightforward task against the Nottinghamshire attack, even with 127 overs at their disposal.Knowing the potency of the new ball so far in this contest, Hampshire made no attempt to hurry yet still found themselves two down for 15 inside the first 10 overs, thanks to two superlative catches.Nottinghamshire captain Haseeb Hameed took the first, plucking the ball out of the air one-handed at mid-on as Ali Orr mistimed his shot horribly against Pennington, who picked up his second wicket soon afterwards.This time Harrison produced the athleticism, using every inch of his 6ft 4ins plus a fully extended right arm to grab the ball a good eight feet off the ground. Organ, the man out, had aimed a rather wild slash at a ball wide of off stump but was nonplussed nonetheless that it had not cleared the cordon.It was enough for Nottinghamshire to sense an opportunity and they took full advantage of Hampshire’s frailty.Skipper Vince, on whom much seemed to rest, fell for 6, leg before to a full delivery from Paterson that he was trying to work to leg, Dawson hit James straight into the hands of short cover and Brown lost his off stump to a swinging delivery from Paterson, leaving Hampshire 44 for 5 and facing a fight for survival.

The visitors say Ish Sodhi is tracking well after ankle injury but haven’t taken a call on his inclusion yet

Alagappan Muthu20-Jan-20233:38

Jaffer: Coming in around 30th over will suit Suryakumar Yadav

Big picture: India vs NZ is a battle of titans

It finally feels like a World Cup year, doesn’t it? In an age of content saturation – organisers trying to horn in as many big events as possible and writers doing much the same to make you care about their own work – something pure happened on Wednesday night in Hyderabad. A game that needed no bigging up. A game that stood on its own. A game that will not soon be forgotten…And already, it’s time to top it, which is exactly why it feels amazing. Because this series – for all the spin put into it – was going to be just another notch in the bilateral cricket calendar. Instead, it’s become something that actually matters. it’s become something fun. There’s a buzz. There’s an expectation. There’s a thrill. As if we haven’t seen anything yet because imagine even half of what happened two days ago happening at the World Cup.Shubman Gill was so good. Like eerie good. Like, there’s over the top and then there’s this. A 23-year-old scoring a double-century in the 49th over of an ODI while single-handedly propping up the rest of his team – and we haven’t even mentioned the opposition. Somewhere in Nakatomi Plaza, John McClane is rolled up in a ball crying because he’s not the gold standard in doing the impossible anymore. Kids half his age are pulling his shtick.

LIVE in the UK and USA

You can watch the second ODI between India and New Zealand LIVE on ESPN Player in the UK and on ESPN+ in the USA.

But John, listen. It’s okay. It happens. This sport that you’ve probably never even heard of does this kinda thing all the time. Like, just about an hour later, with New Zealand at 131 for 6 in a chase of 350, this guy called Michael Bracewell was about to shatter everything we thought was sacred. The coming of age of a golden boy of Indian cricket almost always includes the humbling of the opposition. Sunil Gavaskar took down Garry Sobers. Sachin Tendulkar took down Adbul Qadir. Virat Kohli took down Lasith Malinga. Gill took down Lockie Ferguson. After that, he was supposed to ride all the way off into the sunset but he was made to wait. He was made to sweat.So here we are, still feeling the tremors of that game, and an excitement for what’s to come. Because India vs New Zealand is a battle of titans and equals.

Form guide

India WWWWW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
New Zealand LWWLW

In the spotlight: Hardik Pandya and Glenn Phillips

Once upon a time, Hardik Pandya would walk into a cricket field and start hitting boundaries. He’d come to press conferences, stop just short of Marlon Samuelsing it, and say with a perfectly straight face that “I could hit a six anytime I wanted to.” Now, five years later, a father and a future leader, some of that fire has been tempered. Two of his four slowest ODI innings (min 30 balls faced) have come in the last week. Both on tough pitches and in winning causes. India will hope their point of difference allrounder is adding to his game, and not necessarily compromising it because the Hardik of old used to put fear in the opposition – which is awesome enough – but he’d also one-up it by feeding off that fear until nothing seemed beyond his reach.Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell are two big hitters in the New Zealand side•Associated Press

We’ve all noticed there’s a bit of Steven Smith about Glenn Phillips, right? In his stance. In his backlift. In the way he refuses a run. There’s a chance that he’s copied one of the most un-outable batters of our times just to maximise the one thing he has that Smith doesn’t. Pure, beautiful power. The guy claims to do 800 press-ups a day in order to sustain the thing sets him apart. Six-hitting. West Indies, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have all seen just how destructive he can be – even from dire situations. At some point in this series, India could to see it too.

Team news: Will India try Malik? Is Sodhi back to fitness?

The middle overs didn’t go India’s way with the ball in Hyderabad. Would that tempt them to bring in Umran Malik? The upside is his pace. The downside is their batting depth takes a big hit if he comes in for Shardul Thakur.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ishan Kishan (wk), 5 Suryakumar Yadav, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohammed SirajIsh Sodhi, currently out with an ankle injury, is tracking well according to New Zealand batting coach Luke Ronchi. A call on his inclusion will be made later.New Zealand (probable): 1 Finn Allen, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Henry Nicholls, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (capt & wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Ish Sodhi/Henry Shipley, 10 Doug Bracewell, 11 Lockie Ferguson

Pitch and conditions: Raipur’s first ever ODI

A sellout crowd of over 50,000 is expected in Raipur to mark the occasion of its first ever ODI. The city is also in the running to host Women’s IPL matches in March. Seems good things happen to not just to people who wait but stadiums as well. No one’s really sure how the pitch will behave, although Mitchell Santner suspects it has more bounce than Hyderabad. Dew will once again play a role on a day where the temperature will go up to 31C in the afternoon and then down to 21C in the evening. No rain is expected.

Stats and trivia

• Bracewell has an ODI strike rate of 122.22. With a minimum of 10 innings played, only three others, from Full Member countries, can say they score their runs quicker. Andre Russell, Glenn Maxwell and Liam Livingstone.
• It’s basic. But it bears saying. India have a batting line-up that now includes not one, not two, but three ODI double-centurions. What the actual…

Tamim revealed another X-ray showed a fracture of the thumb still remained

Mohammad Isam14-Nov-2021A thumb injury has ruled Tamim Iqbal out of Bangladesh’s two-match Test series against Pakistan starting later this month. An X-ray report on Sunday revealed that he had a fracture on his left thumb, which he had earlier injured during an Everest Premier League match in Kathmandu last month.Tamim completed rehabilitation work on the thumb in the last four weeks, even starting to bat against fast bowling recently at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. He was planning to appear for Chattogram Division in the National Cricket League in the fifth round that began today. But the continued swelling and pain prompted a second look, which showed that a fracture remained.”The fracture had almost healed but my thumb remained swollen,” Tamim said. “So we wanted to have another X-ray, which revealed that there was a fracture. Probably there were two, but it didn’t come out in the first scan. The finger has gone back into the split. I can’t move it. The whole process has to start again.”Tamim last played for Bangladesh in the ODI series against Zimbabwe in July before a knee injury kept him out of Bangladesh’s build-up for the T20 World Cup. He eventually skipped the tournament to give the other openers a fair chance.Bangladesh will play three T20Is against Pakistan in Dhaka starting this Friday, before the two-match Test series beginning in Chattogram on November 26. The second Test in Dhaka is from December 4. This is Bangladesh’s first series in the World Test Championship’s second cycle.Tamim will now prepare himself for Bangladesh’s tour of New Zealand where they will play two Tests in January. Bangladesh’s next ODIs, where Tamim is the captain, are against Afghanistan in February next year.

Captain doesn’t bowl for second day running after bagging golden duck as well

ECB Reporters Network24-Jun-2020Brathwaite XI 275 and 99 for 3 lead Holder XI 193 by 181 runsRaymon Reifer appeals succesfully for the wicket of Jason Holder•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Left-armer Raymon Reifer seized his chance to impress with five wickets in the space of 11 balls on day two of the West Indies’ intra-squad match at Emirates Old Trafford.The all-rounder produced an inspired spell in the afternoon session as Kraigg Brathwaite’s XI took a dominant position over the side led by Test captain Jason Holder.Holder’s team were set fair on 95 for 2 when Reifer ripped their middle order out in quick time, leaving them 111 for 7 and, eventually, 193 all out.In just a few minutes’ work he removed Nkrumah Bonner, Joshua da Silva, Holder, Shayne Moseley and Rahkeem Cornwall, paving the way for an 82-run first-innings lead.That had stretched to 181 at stumps, opener John Campbell making up for his day-one duck with an attacking 49 in a score of 99 for 3.
It was Reifer who gained most from the outing, though, making up for his lack of express pace by zeroing in on the perfect length and using his angles well. Three of his victims nicked to slip or gully – Bonner, Da Silva and Moseley all feeling for contact in the channel – while Cornwall hacked unimpressively to mid-on to seal the five-for.But in terms of advancing his outside chance of an appearance in the series opener against England on July 8, the most notable scalp would have been Holder, pinned lbw for a golden duck. The Bajan commands huge respect among his squad and is increasingly one of the most respected voices in the global game but that did not stop the fielding side whooping in the loudest celebration of the day as he was given first ball.Holder also declined to bowl himself for the second day in a row, inviting further questions over the niggling ankle injury he has been working his way back from.Reifer, who won his only Test cap in 2017 against New Zealand, finished with 5 for 60 as Kyle Mayers added a bright 45 to bring down the arrears. He was last man out to Marquino Mindley, who also dismissed Roach.Mindley had earlier uprooted Jermaine Blackwood’s middle stump as he auditioned unsuccessfully as a top-order rival for Campbell.Blackwood is one of of 14 players in the official 14-man squad – with Shannon Gabriel set to be added – while the remainder of the 25-man party are listed as reserves.It was two of those standbys who did the bulk of the scoring for Holder’s team, Moseley eking out 40 and Sunil Ambris riding his luck on his way to an unconvincing 52.Campbell and Blackwood returned to the crease for the evening session and raced to their 50 stand in just 7.4 overs. There were a few thick edges but also plenty of clean hits and good running, with Gabriel taking the brunt of the pain with 38 off his first four overs.Campbell was not always secure, and was dropped at mid-off on 29, but moved within a single of his half-century before Alzarri Joseph set him up lbw.Joseph bowled a wonderful spell late on, winning another lbw when he went full and straight to Shai Hope, who was dropped on nought and gone for two.”You can always give yourself a chance with the Dukes ball in England,” Reifer said at the close.”If you’re able to get a bit of shine on it there is always some movement to be found in these conditions. If the ball is seaming around then it is favourable for me.”I was pretty pleased with the five wickets, I just put the ball in the right areas and it started to bite.”Reifer, cousin of batting coach Floyd, has not worn the West Indies whites since his debut against New Zealand in 2017, but did feature in a pair of one-day internationals in Ireland last summer.”The ultimate dream is always to play Test cricket and to play as many Tests as possible,” he said.”I made my debut three years ago and haven’t played since, so if the opportunity presents itself I’ll be looking to play.”I’m not thinking too far ahead, we have another day in this match and potentially another chance with bat and ball then a four-day game coming up, but I’m pretty pleased with how it’s gone.”

Paul Horton guided his side to 99 for 1 chasing 230 to win at Hove after Sussex collapsed during the morning

ECB Reporters Network07-Apr-2019Leicestershire were on course to claim their first County Championship win over Sussex for 17 years after making a positive start to their pursuit of a target of 230 at Hove. Skipper Paul Horton made an unbeaten 53 to take his side to 99 for 1 when rain arrived at tea and play was abandoned for the day at 5.35pm with Leicestershire still needing 131.Debutant Hasan Azad helped Horton put on an unbroken 72 for the second wicket after David Wiese had pinned Ateeq Javid lbw with an in-swinger for 11.Horton reached his half-century off 79 balls with seven fours but he needed a check by the Leicestershire physio after ducking into a Chris Jordan’s bouncer which struck him on the helmet.Their victory charge had been set up earlier in the day by offspinner Colin Ackermann, who finished with career-best figures of 5 for 69, and seamer Tom Taylor, who claimed four more victims to add to his six in the first innings for a match haul of 10 for 122, also a career-best.Sussex had resumed on 211 for 2 – a lead of 132 – and in good batting conditions must have been confident of setting the visitors a target of more than 300. Instead, they lost their last eight wickets in adding a further 97, three of them for 11 balls at a cost of two runs during the morning session.Taylor made a breakthrough in the first over when Stiaan van Zyl (41) feathered an outswinger to Lewis Hill, one of four catches for the Foxes’ wicketkeeper.Luke Wells and Harry Finch added 23 with few alarms before Sussex’s middle order was wrecked by Taylor and Ackermann. Wells lost patience on 48 and also lost his middle stump aiming an expansive drive at Taylor. In his next over Taylor had Wiese leg-before to a ball which kept a touch low while Sussex captain Ben Brown was lbw playing back to Ackermann for his second duck of the match.Sussex rebuilt through Finch and Jordan, who added 49 for the seventh wicket, but when it appeared that they were wresting back the initiative Ackermann completed his five-for with two wickets in three balls thanks to athletic catches at short leg by Azad. Jordan was held off a top-edged sweep and Ollie Robinson became the sixth Sussex batsman to go for a duck in the match, again off a misjudged sweep.The innings ended shortly after lunch. Danny Briggs was caught behind off Taylor’s outswinger and Finch, with only last man Mir Hamza for company, drove at Chris Wright and Hill did the rest behind the stumps.

The former Australia captain fills the void left by Rahul Dravid’s departure

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jan-2018Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting will return to the IPL this season, this time as head coach of Delhi Daredevils. Hemant Dua, the chief executive of Daredevils, made the announcement on Twitter.Ponting takes over from Paddy Upton and former India captain Rahul Dravid, who had stepped down after the previous season owing to BCCI’s conflict-of-interest regulations. While Upton’s contract wasn’t renewed, Dravid chose to coach India A and India Under-19 teams over the IPL franchise.Delhi were in contention for a playoff berth last season, only to taper off towards the end of the group stage. They eventually finished the season sixth, with six wins in 14 matches. The franchise is yet to win a title in 10 attempts.Ponting had coached Mumbai Indians to their second IPL title in 2015, but the franchise chose to not renew his two-year contract when it expired in 2016. He had joined the franchise as a player in 2013, but stepped away midway through the tournament due to poor form.Ponting also worked with Mumbai Indians in an advisory capacity in 2014. Prior to that, he was briefly part of Kolkata Knight Riders for the inaugural edition in 2008.

The former India captain believes England should play two fast bowlers and three spinners, given their depth in batting

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Nov-20161:11

Ganguly: Not the same Anderson as 2012

England have tried everything within their means to get their most successful Test bowler ever fit in time for a major part of the series in India, but former India captain Sourav Ganguly wouldn’t pick James Anderson in the playing XI even if he was available for selection.”I wouldn’t play him [Anderson] in India to be honest,” said Ganguly, who will be part of ESPNcricinfo Match Day, the analysis show that will be aired both on ESPNcricinfo and on the SONYESPN channel on every day of the five-Test series.”It’s not the same Anderson as 2012,” Ganguly said. “I saw him in the Test series in England recently. He has lost a bit of pace. And I think Stuart Broad and Steven Finn and Ben Stokes [will be more effective] because you will need a bit of pace in these conditions to get that ball to reverse. So I don’t know whether he will make the side when he comes back. Not in Vizag [Visakhapatnam] where the ball will turn square.”In a recent ODI in Visakhapatnam, legspinner Amit Mishra took five wickets to bowl New Zealand out for 79, which is a sign of the conditions that England can expect in the second Test. If everything goes right with Anderson’s rehab – he has not bowled since August because of a shoulder injury – he could be fit in time for that Test. However, Ganguly feels Anderson shouldn’t play the rest of the series either.”I don’t see him playing in the second Test,” Ganguly said. “And if I were the England captain, I would go in with two fast bowlers: [Stuart] Broad and Ben Stokes [along with Chris Woakes]. A bit of zip, a bit of pace, reverse. And play three spinners. Moeen Ali, Gareth Batty and another spinner. The advantage is, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes can get runs with the bat. It makes the batting a lot longer, and you still have three spinners for these conditions. That’s the way I will go, and I don’t think Jimmy Anderson bowling at 80 miles an hour will find a place in my side.”Doubts about Anderson’s fitness, in light of his integral role in the 2012 series, is part of a larger reason why Ganguly doesn’t expect England to win a Test in the five-match series. He knows England have a good record against India, and that they won the last series in India, but the teams have changed a lot since then, he said.”They have a great record in India to be honest,” Ganguly said. “In 2006 when they came it was 1-1, when they won in Mumbai. In 2012 they won the series 2-1. India going to England and losing 4-0 and then 3-1. So England have got a great record against India but whether this England team can get past India in a five-Test series, I am not sure. Because when you look at the side that played in 2012, the most important part was those two spinners: Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann. Both high-quality spinners, and both match-winners. And Jimmy Anderson at his best. The Jimmy Anderson of four years ago.”Also the India team wears a completely different look. “When they caught India in 2012, it was a side that had lost 4-0 in Australia,” Ganguly said. “A side whose confidence was pretty down. It was battered overseas for a long period of time. But England are now facing a side that is high on confidence. New captain. Results have come the team’s way. It’s going to be very, very tough for England. That’s what I believe. But in sport, anything can happen.”For anything to happen, it won’t be just any old thing, it will have to be “magical” if England are to compete. “England will have to play very, very well to get past India in this series,” Ganguly said. “Not just play very, very well, do something absolutely magical. Like Alastair Cook did last time in 2012. Three back-to-back Test hundreds. Kevin Pietersen played that unbelievable knock in Mumbai. Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott getting hundreds. Somebody or the other stood up for them. Whether they have that same quality in batting, I am not too sure.”1:28

‘This England side lacks firepower to beat India’

As with the last series, Cook will have to set the tone. “He has had success in India so he will be confident when he comes to that series,” Ganguly said. “I thought he played well in Bangladesh on those tough pitches but he has got to fire. He has got to stand up for his team. Lead from the front. And people need to support him. The likes of Joe Root, who I think is an outstanding player. Ben Stokes, who I think will have a huge role in this series. These three have to fire for England consistently if they have to have some chance in the series.”The three superstars won’t be enough. Moeen Ali, who did well against India in England in 2014, will have to be at his best too. “He is definitely a threat for India,” Ganguly said. “The wickets will spin. His confidence against India will be high as a bowler. He has definitely become a better batsman than since that trip of 2014 when he was peppered with short deliveries from Ishant Sharma and the Indian bowlers. He has definitely become a better cricketer than then. He will be tested. He needs to get runs and get wickets as well, but do they have a Graeme Swann or Monty Panesar? I don’t think so.”The one advantage England have is they are not turning up blind. They played Test cricket in some testing conditions in Bangladesh just before this trip. It was so testing they didn’t even feel the need for a warm-up game in India. Ganguly doesn’t expect the conditions in India to be as extreme as Bangladesh, but sees it as good preparation for England.”Those wickets to be honest were absolute minefields,” Ganguly said. “Although the series was drawn 1-1, it can’t get worse than that for them in terms of the surface. And I saw the pitch in the last Test. It spun from everywhere. You just had to put the ball in the right place, and it did everything. In India they are going to encounter better pitches. That sort of pitch will be on day five of the Test. But when I saw the ball land on the first day of the Test in Bangladesh, it was actually like a day-five pitch.”They [England] haven’t played well in Bangladesh, but it will get them used to the conditions. I firmly believe when teams from the subcontinent go away or when it is the other way around, it is about getting used to the conditions as quickly as possible. I think it is going to help them in that aspect, but I still maintain [doubts] that whether they have that spark in this side to beat India in this series.”Ganguly will be joined on ESPNcricinfo Match Day by Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott, who were both part of the series-winning England team to India in 2012-13 in which Anderson played an important role.

Chandrakant Pandit marks a return as the Mumbai coach after over a decade, when there isn’t a single Test player in the squad for the first two matches

Amol Karhadkar30-Sep-20153:39

Jaffer has been a pillar of Mumbai cricket – Pandit

The last time Chandrakant Pandit was in charge of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy team, for the 2004-05 semi-final against Punjab, the team had five Test cricketers. During his three-year stint as coach, Mumbai won two titles, thanks to the presence of a plethora of experienced and international players in the side.In 2015-16, when Pandit marks a return as the Mumbai coach after over a decade, there isn’t a single Test player in Mumbai’s squad for the first two matches. Naturally, Pandit has his task cut out to get Mumbai back to winning ways.”Mumbai have always had experienced players, that is something we are probably missing out on,” Pandit told ESPNcricinfo ahead of Mumbai’s season-opener against Andhra. “Some of the players have been around for four-five years. That four-to-five years’ experience has to be utilised. One has to stand up as a role model especially when we have six-seven youngsters who can look up to them. I always believe whatever force we have, we should believe in it and go forward.”Its legacy of winning the Ranji Trophy as frequently as the local train logjam in the monsoon aside, Mumbai Ranji teams have always seen a plethora of current and former Test players in action. The old Mumbai fans would not have imagined a Ranji squad without a single Test player.It has happened this year. Even last season, with Wasim Jaffer being injured for most of the season, Mumbai had to field a team without a Test player but Jaffer was present in the dressing room and worked as a mentor for most of the season.Jaffer has switched to Vidarbha as a professional now. With Zaheer Khan unfit and the duo of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane on India duty, Mumbai have had to field a relatively young squad. More than his run-scoring ability, it is the experience factor for which Mumbai will miss Jaffer the most.”You think about every experienced player who has contributed in the dressing room, there is no replacement at all. Wasim Jaffer has been a great player. He was a pillar for Mumbai,” Pandit said. “What he has done in the last so many years, I think that will be missed in the dressing room. He was looked at [as] one of the role models in the dressing room. When I was young, we looked at Vengsarkar, Gavaskar, Patil who inspired us. That is what something will be missed this season.”A young outfit led by Aditya Tare will begin the quest for winning Mumbai’s 41st Ranji title. But it will be a humongous challenge for Mumbai, considering seven of the 15 squad members have had single-digit caps in first-class cricket. Pandit feels it’s a “huge challenge” to get the best out of youngsters.Thanks to their consistency in pocketing Ranji titles in the past, anything but a title-winning performance is traditionally treated as a failure. Pandit believes Mumbai cricket is coming to terms with that fact.”People who are involved in Mumbai cricket, they do understand you can’t win it every year. But everyone wants to win,” he said. “I am sure they understand that now. We may miss out for another one or two years but the plan is to dominate for five years thereafter [in succession].”I don’t really think about it because some other states have really improved. The competition level, infrastructure and facilities have improved. Naturally every state is going to take advantage of that. We cannot underestimate any other team.”

Harbhajan Singh has played just one Test since the end of the England tour in the middle of 2011 and made no pretensions of the fact that he’s on a comeback trail and is keen to be selected for the Test series against Australia

Siddhartha Talya at the Wankhede Stadium05-Feb-2013Harbhajan Singh has played just one Test since the end of the England tour in the middle of 2011 and made no pretensions about the fact that he’s on a comeback trail and is keen to be selected for the Test series against Australia starting later this month. The Irani Cup game against Mumbai starting on Wednesday, he said, “is the best game I’ve got” ahead of the series to make a lasting impression.”I just want to be relaxed and look to bowl rather than running after wickets,” Harbhajan told reporters on the eve of the Irani Cup game. “The wickets will come, today or tomorrow, but my aim is to bowl well. I’m sure I’ll get those rewards if I bowl well.”Harbhajan led Punjab in five Ranji Trophy games this season, picking up 16 wickets at 32.25. He has an impressive record against Australia, picking up 90 wickets at 29.35, and shot to fame against them in 2001 in a three-match series at home in which he collected 32 wickets. “I always look forward to playing cricket, whether it’s against Australia or England or Mumbai. It’s one of those things that’s there in my blood. I want to be there, play cricket, and enjoy the moment. Australia, I’ve done well against them, if I get a chance to play against them I’ll try to repeat what I’ve done against them.”At 99 Tests, Harbhajan is just one game away from becoming the 10th Indian cricketer to have played 100 or more Tests. Though he admitted it did play on his mind, his experience, he said, has taught him to not pay undue attention to such landmarks. “Somewhere it does get into your head, you’re close to 100 Test matches, even when you’re batting between 90 to 100 or when you’ve taken four wickets and looking to get five. But somehow as a player you just need to go with the game rather than thinking too much ahead. If you just concentrate on the process, things will automatically happen for you. If not today, tomorrow it will happen.”Last year onwards, I’ve been trying too many things to play my 100th Test, but when I started playing I never thought I’ll come this far. I’ve come this far because I was just looking to enjoy the game, just looking to go back into the whole system of trying to enjoy the game and playing with lot of passion, things will start happening.”

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will hold a teleconference on Saturday in an effort to resolve the impasse between the board, the Guyana Cricket Board (GICB) and the Guyanese government

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2012The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will hold a teleconference on Saturday in an effort to resolve the impasse between the board, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and the Guyanese government. Earlier this month, the GCB was locked out of its premises by the Guyana government, which appointed an Interim Management Committee (IMC) headed by Clive Lloyd to govern the sport in the country.Lloyd is also a non-member director of the WICB; last week, Anand Senasie, the secretary of the GCB which has been replaced by the IMC, wrote to the WICB president Julian Hunte, asking him to remove Lloyd from his role as non-member director.The WICB refused to recognise the IMC, and the impasse, it was feared, would prevent Guyana from competing in the Caribbean T20, though that didn’t happen. But the board is set to meet ahead of the Regional Four Day Competition, the first-class tournament starting on February 3.”The WICB is making every effort to find a solution. On Saturday we will be holding a teleconference to discuss it as well as an issue with Jamaica. Both (the GCB and IMC) have been at each other and clearly that can’t continue. The players’ business must come first,” WICB director Dr Allen Sammy told .The IMC has named a provisional 30-man squad, with Ramnaresh Sarwan as captain, for the first-class competition, and the WICB said efforts should be made to ensure the players are not distracted by the ongoing problem. “What is most important is that players must be given an opportunity to play for their country and without any burden on their mind. They are playing to win for Guyana and to get on the West Indies team but the right environment must be there for that to happen,” Sammy said.The current standoff between the Guyana government – represented by sports minister Frank Anthony – and the GCB, and by extension the WICB, dates back to the disputed Guyana board elections in July 2011.