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Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan have been named captains of the other two teams

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Sep-2022Former India players Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan have been named captains of the franchises at Legend League Cricket (LLC). Sehwag will lead Gujarat Giants and Gambhir will take charge of India Capitals, while Pathan and Harbhajan will captain Bhilwara Kings and Manipal Tigers respectively.The upcoming edition of LLC will feature four teams contesting 16 matches across six cities. It starts on September 16 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata followed by games in Lucknow, New Delhi, Cuttack and Jodhpur.Related

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“I am excited to get back to the cricket ground again,” Sehwag said on his appointment. “I have personally always believed in playing fearless cricket and I will continue to propagate the same brand of cricket here too. We are extremely excited and eagerly waiting for the draft to pick our team.”Gambhir said: “I have always believed cricket is a team game and a captain is as good as his team. While I will be leading the India Capitals team, I will be pushing for a spirited team who are passionate and eager to go out and win as a team.”Harbhajan was quoted as saying: “Playing alongside all great players over the years, I have picked the nuances of the game which has made me a better cricketer. I love leading from the front and I hope I can do justice to the responsibility and faith shown on me.”Pathan, who played the inaugural edition earlier this year, said, “You need to enjoy what you are doing and giving 100% to that effort is all that matters. This opportunity is unique but am confident we as a team will make some heads turn.”LLC had also announced that former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly will lead India Maharajas in a curtain-raiser exhibition match against a World Giants team, led by former England captain Eoin Morgan, on September 16.In all, 53 former players have been signed by the league, including Muthiah Muralidaran, Misbah-ul-Haq, Jonty Rhodes, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Shane Watson, Ross Taylor and Dale Steyn.The squads for the exhibition match are as follows:India Maharajas: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, S Badrinath, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel (wk), Stuart Binny, Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Naman Ojha (wk), Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Ajay Jadeja, RP Singh, Joginder Sharma, Reetinder Singh SodhiWorld Giants: Eoin Morgan (capt), Lendl Simmons, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Sanath Jayasuriya, Matt Prior (wk), Nathan McCullum, Jonty Rhodes, Muthiah Muralidaran, Dale Steyn, Hamilton Masakadza, Mashrafe Mortaza, Asghar Afghan, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Kevin O’Brien, Denesh Ramdin (wk)Tendulkar to lead India legends in Road Safety World Series
Sachin Tendulkar, meanwhile, will captain defending champions India Legends in the second edition of the Road Safety World Series (RSWS).The tournament, aimed at creating awareness on road safety, also features teams from Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa, Bangladesh, England and, for the first time, New Zealand. It starts on September 10 in Kanpur, with other games set to be played in Indore, Dehradun and Raipur, where the final will be played on October 1.

England batter’s 90 lifts Kent from 63 for 3 before Yorkshire strike back

Paul Edwards06-May-2021
Zak Crawley’s batting recalls a more leisured age. One can imagine Neville Cardus rhapsodising his finest drives as ‘noble’ and ‘patrician’ or RC Robertson-Glasgow musing whether a cricketer possessed of such natural grace should have someone on hand, a valet of some sort, to run between the wickets for him. Such impressions are both true and unfair: true because Crawley’s strokeplay invites them, and unfair because the Kent and England batter is a modern professional cricketer whose innings of 90 on the first day of this match contained as much technique as art. But, of course, it is the art that lingers in the mind…One’s other reflections are probably even less suited to our obsessively egalitarian times. For 23-year-old Crawley is an old-school batter and a typical product of Tonbridge, his old school. To mention that early cricketing education neither venerates nor excoriates privilege. It merely suggests that the certainty and poise with which he cover-drove Duanne Olivier or forced Ben Coad through the off side recalled another Old Tonbridgian, Colin Cowdrey. Crawley is plainly a very different batter from Cowdrey – he is assuredly a different shape – yet his best strokes offer spectators similar joys and one recalled Ed Smith, the former national selector, saying that until he played at Lord’s the best wicket on which he had batted was The Head at Tonbridge.Of course no school can inculcate professional discipline and nous; that is the county coaches’ job and Crawley’s mentors at Kent will no doubt have been as irritated as the batter himself when he followed a Kodak square cut off Steve Patterson with the hesitant push at his next ball that merely miscued a thick-edged catch to Joe Root, at short cover. That wicket ended his 79-run stand with Jack Leaning and it was also the prelude to the further wastefulness that spoiled what had promised to be a particularly good day for Kent after they had been asked to bat first and had been lowered to 65 to 3.Related

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And even if some of Crawley’s strokes recalled golden eras and good chaps, his reaction to his dismissal reveals only an ambitious young man, one who is still making his way in a hard world. “I have high standards for myself, and I’ve definitely been below those so far this year,” he said. “I feel like I played well, but I was angry when I got out. I didn’t even want a hundred. I wanted a lot more than that.”Leaning was joined by Ollie Robinson with whom he put on another 63 runs, thus taking the visitors to 206 for 4. However, having shepherded Kent’s innings to within two overs the new ball the former Yorkshire batter attempted a wild drive at a wide ball from Harry Brook. Adam Lyth duly took his third catch of the day and Leaning departed for 47, comfortably his best score in seven innings since the first match of the season against Northamptonshire. Given these travails and his pair against Yorkshire at Canterbury, his application was impressive – it had taken him 29 balls to get off the mark – and that only made the manner and timing of his dismissal all the more disappointing.Yorkshire’s bowlers were to receive a further gift when Robinson, having stroked an attractive 38 off 71 balls, clipped Coad’s new ball straight to Jordan Thompson at midwicket, and Darren Stevens’ edge behind off the same bowler in the next over meant Kent ended the day on 224 for 7. This was hardly the harrying Patterson had envisaged when he won the toss but better than he might have feared when Crawley and Leaning were batting well.The day went deceptively well for Yorkshire, whose players are developing the knack of having the best of sessions and games even when their cricket does not appear startling. Both the skipper and the highly-regarded Thompson had bowled tightly on a wicket where the ball rarely misbehaved but it was Coad whose figures of 3 for 45 look the best of the day.Patterson had been able to keep two or three slips in place throughout the sessions and they had stood with their hands in their pockets, hoping the ball would come to them while fearing it might do so at finger-breaking velocity. Three times in the morning session it did so and on each occasion the fielders made no mistake.Indeed, the signs had looked grim for Kent when Daniel Bell-Drummond edged Coad’s sixth ball of the match to Brook, and even more so when both Jordan Cox and Joe Denly nicked catches to Lyth at slip. Although Cox could have got further forward and Denly was playing too far from his body, one could have concluded that Kent had been reduced to 65 for 3 without batting very badly. Cox’s four fours of Duanne Olivier had promised more and Crawley’s gunshot straight drive off Coad in the seventh over was the shot of the morning, if not the day. And yes, it is such art that lingers in the mind.

The 22-year-old MP batsman has cited ‘severe anxiety related to the sport’ as the reason for his decision

Shashank Kishore20-Dec-2019Aryaman Birla, the Madhya Pradesh batsman, has taken an “indefinite sabbatical from cricket”, citing “severe anxiety related to the sport for a while now”. Birla, 22, has been through a number of injury setbacks and hasn’t played competitive cricket since January this year. Rajasthan Royals, the IPL team he was part of for two seasons, released him in November.”I’ve felt trapped. I’ve pushed myself through all the distress so far, but now I feel the need to put my mental health and wellbeing above all else,” he wrote on Instagram. “We all have our own journeys and I want to take this time to understand myself better, open my mind to new and varied perspectives and seek purpose in my findings.”Birla, the son of the billionaire industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, left his hometown Mumbai as a 17-year old who was unsure of his immediate future as a cricketer trying to “fight for survival” in the city.Not wanting to lose time, he decided to take the plunge by enrolling for district trials in Madhya Pradesh in 2014. Prior to that, he had a three-month stint in England under former Middlesex cricketer Paul Weekes, playing for West Hampstead Cricket Club and the London Schools Cricket Association.Birla spent four years in the junior circuit in Madhya Pradesh before being handed a Ranji Trophy debut in October 2017. He has so far featured in nine first-class games, eight of which came during the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy. The highlight was his backs-to-the-wall maiden first-class century against Bengal at Eden Gardens in his third first-class game, which helped Madhya Pradesh salvage a hard-fought draw.”When I first came to MP, I was known more by my last name,” he told ESPNcricinfo last year. “I kept hearing ‘I was Birla’s son, Birla’s grandson.’ But through my performances, I changed perceptions, they started seeing me differently. That’s been my biggest achievement so far. Recently someone came and told me ‘you’re so (simple and straightforward), we didn’t even know you’re from the Birla family.’ That to me was a sign of change.”He further wrote on Instagram: “This phase has been difficult, but it has also helped me realise who my real friends and well-wishers are. I truly believe I’ll emerge from this phase even stronger than before.”

The former India captain said more questions will be asked of Dhoni’s World Cup spot if he doesn’t do well in Australia and New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2018Shikhar Dhawan and MS Dhoni’s decision to skip India’s domestic tournaments has not gone down too well with Sunil Gavaskar. The former India captain has questioned the selectors for allowing this practice even as India gears up for a hectic next six months, culminating with the World Cup in May-June 2019.”We shouldn’t ask Dhawan and Dhoni ‘Why you are not playing domestic cricket?’. We should, in fact, ask the BCCI and selectors why are they allowing players to skip domestic cricket when they are not on national duty,” Gavaskar told . “If the Indian team has to do well, players have to be in prime form and for that they have to play cricket.”Dhawan isn’t part of the Test squad in Australia, and is currently in Melbourne, where he lives during the off-season. He hasn’t been part of the long-format plans since the tour of England in September and was replaced by Prithvi Shaw for the two home Tests in West Indies.Dhoni who hasn’t played long-form cricket since his Test retirement in 2014, is in the middle of an enforced break in international cricket following the ODI series against West Indies last month. Dhoni was dropped from India’s T20I squad for the series against West Indies and Australia, the first time he’s been dropped since his international debut in 2004.In all likelihood, his next assignment could be the three ODIs in Australia in January, which effectively means he wouldn’t have played any cricket over a two-month window.”He (Dhoni) didn’t play the T20Is against Australia, before that he didn’t play the West Indies Tests, and then he is not playing the Test series against Australia,” Gavaskar said. “So, he last played in October and will next play in January, which is a huge gap. But if he doesn’t do well on tours of Australia and New Zealand, then there will be more questions asked on his place in the World Cup.””As you grow older and if there is a gap in your [competitive] cricket, your reflexes will slow down. If you play any form of cricket at the domestic level, you get an opportunity to play long innings, which serves as a good practice for you.”

The Sri Lanka captain has pinned his hopes on the inexperienced quicks to deliver in the absence of injured seniors Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Pallekele11-Aug-2017Sri Lanka are willing to try just about anything to win. There was the “high altitude” training camp at Pallekele before the Champions Trophy, the high profile appointment of Allan Donald ahead of the same tournament, three trips to Kandy’s Temple of the Tooth over the past 13 months, a fast-bowling workshop with Wasim Akram, the appointment of a cricket manager, the appointment of a number of supplementary coaches and the elbowing out of Graham Ford.In this series alone, they have tried to beat India on a flat deck. They have tried to beat India on a dry track. Now, they appear to be pinning their hopes on fast bowling, with what appears to be a seam-friendly surface unveiled at Pallekele. The only problem is that with both Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal unavailable for this Test, Sri Lanka are forced to rely on a seam attack even greener than the pitch they will play on. The most experienced frontline quick in the battery is Lahiru Kumara, who has played all of seven Tests. Dushmantha Chameera has played six Tests, Vishwa Fernando has played one, and Lahiru Gamage is uncapped in this format.Despite the inexperience, Dinesh Chandimal did his best to appear upbeat ahead of what could be another rough Test match. Kumara and Chameera have both had impressive outings on such surfaces before, and they will need to recapture that form to end India’s batting dominance in this series. Chameera, in any case, may not play ahead of Vishwa Fernando, who has been in the squad since the start of the series. Chameera was only added to the squad on Thursday.”Lahiru Kumara and Vishwa Fernando are bowling really well these days,” Chandimal said. “As the two senior bowlers are not in contention, it’s a good opportunity for them to put their hands up, put us on track to a win, and show us what they’ve got. I think they’ll take that opportunity. It’s a big challenge for both of them, and for me as a captain.”Among the other things Sri Lanka have tried is trimming their training hours – partly also due to the prevailing bad weather in Pallekele. Though it seems counterintuitive for a losing team to practice less, Chandimal believed refreshed minds could put his team in better stead for this game than further sweating in the nets. In any case, Sri Lanka had had an extensive training schedule ahead of the first two Tests, and that approach had not prevented two thumping defeats.Sri Lanka’s practice two days out from the Test was optional. There was no training at all on the eve of the game.”We did practice yesterday (Thursday) at the indoor nets because it was raining, but certain batsmen are not that keen on batting in indoor nets,” Chandimal said. “Today, we were going to practice in the morning, but it rained and we lost the opportunity. The trainers gave us some exercises and we did them. We also thought it’s good to come for tomorrow’s game with a bit of a rest to the mind as well.”While the team has searched for creative solutions to their many problems, SLC has also intervened, having requested the team to attend a “recoup and regroup” meeting on what would have been the fifth day of the second Test, in Colombo. With SLC’s top coaches also in attendance, presentations had been made and motivational speeches delivered. As is often the case, it is difficult to tell where the PR stunt ends, and where the cricket value of such an event begins. In any case, Chandimal said the meeting, which had also featured a pep talk by Aravinda de Silva, had helped raise spirits.”That was a very important meeting. All the players were there and we discussed how we could take our game forward, and how we’re going to win games. All the players also contributed their ideas to that. A lot of positives came out. At the end of the meeting, all the players were in a bit of an upbeat mood and that looks really good. After Aravinda talked to us, the players also felt confident.”

The team that wins on Tuesday will be guaranteed of a spot in the final, but while West Indies will have a second chance against South Africa, Smith’s men face elimination if they lose

Brydon Coverdale20-Jun-2016

Match facts

Tuesday, June 21
Start time 1300 local (1700GMT)

Big picture

The wash-out between Australia and South Africa in Barbados on Sunday has left all three teams still in with a chance of reaching the tri-series final. Two round-robin games remain – West Indies against Australia on Tuesday and West Indies against South Africa on Friday. Should Jason Holder’s men defeat Australia on Tuesday, the final will be settled – West Indies would play South Africa, and Australia would go home.But if Steven Smith’s team prevails, Australia will be guaranteed of a place in the final and West Indies and South Africa would play off for the other spot on Friday. And despite South Africa’s two bonus points, it would be a straight shoot-out, because the tri-series rules state that number of wins takes precedence if teams are equal on points. A West Indian win on Friday would put them level with South Africa on points, but with one more win.The upshot is that this game is must-win for Australia, but not for West Indies. Like all three sides in this tournament, Australia have been up and down throughout. The likely presence of Mitchell Starc is a potential key – his workload has been managed throughout the series and Australia have only lost the matches in which he did not play. His ability to swing the white ball could well turn a chase – West Indies’ preferred option is always to bat second.

Form guide

Australia LWLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies LWLWL

In the spotlight

It has been a tough tour so far for Glenn Maxwell, who made 0 and 3 in the first two games before being dropped. Maxwell was recalled against South Africa in Bridgetown on Sunday. He is expected to retain his place and Australia need something from him, not only with the bat, but also in the field. Their fielding was sloppy in St Kitts, and Maxwell might be just the man to lift that with his sharp work.Nearly 16 years ago, Marlon Samuels first played Test cricket against Australia. He was still a teenager, and was viewed as a young man of great potential. Say what you will about Samuels’ career, one thing is undoubtedly true: he has rarely shown his best against Australia, averaging 21.06 against them across formats. But if the old cliché is true, that you’re only as good as your last innings, the Australians had better watch out, for Samuels plundered 92 against them to help West Indies to a win in St Kitts. It was Samuels’ highest score against Australia in any format.

Team news

In Sunday’s wash-out, Maxwell, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland came in for Travis Head, Adam Zampa and Nathan Coulter-Nile. Maxwell and Starc are likely to retain their places but Boland, with little cricket behind him, is expected to make way for this must-win clash. Australia’s selectors must decide whether to go for pace and bring Coulter-Nile back, or perhaps more likely, recall the impressive young legspinner Zampa, who was left out against South Africa only because of the wet conditions.Australia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodThe West Indies selectors have dropped Jerome Taylor from the squad, forcing at least one change to their XI. Fast bowler Shannon Gabriel and offspinner Ashley Nurse both must be hoping for an ODI debut in this match. Including Nurse would leave Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite as the only pace options, so Gabriel would appear the more likely debutant.West Indies (possible) 1 Andre Fletcher, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Jason Holder (capt), 8 Carlos Brathwaite, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Sulieman Benn, 11 Shannon Gabriel / Ashley Nurse

Pitch and conditions

The Kensington Oval surface is generally good for batting, but was a little tacky on Sunday, when there was rain around. The forecast for Tuesday does suggest that there is the possibility of rain again, although it looks more promising than Sunday’s weather.

Stats and trivia

• Denesh Ramdin needs 14 runs to reach 2000 in ODIs, and he would be the first West Indies wicketkeeper to reach that milestone
• Marlon Samuels needs 67 runs to reach 5000 in ODIs, and he would be the 10th West Indies batsman to reach that milestone
• Mitchell Starc needs five wickets to reach 100 in ODIs, and if he does so in his next three games he will be the quickest man in history to the milestone

Quotes

“It’s good to see guys under pressure, and this is a little bit more pressure than a normal one-day international, on Tuesday”

Brendon McCullum was conscious not to be drawn into the Kevin Pietersen debate but was happy to expand on his and New Zealand’s team philosophy, which has underpinned their rise up the Test rankings

Andrew McGlashan at Lord's20-May-20152:00

A Lord’s Test is a wonderful experience – McCullum

Trust has been one of the buzzwords around English cricket since Andrew Strauss uttered it when explaining – or trying to, at least – his decision to tell Kevin Pietersen he would not be selected this summer. From many of those desperate for a reason for the continued exile it was not a phrase that went down very well, but in Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain, there is a man seemingly of a similar mindset when it comes to values.McCullum was very conscious not to be drawn into the Pietersen debate, but was happy to expand on his and New Zealand’s team philosophy, which has underpinned their rise up the Test rankings to No. 3. It has been a climb engineered by McCullum and Mike Hesson who came together during a fractious change of leadership in late 2012.Although they have not had a situation exactly like that of Pietersen, they had to deal with a disenfranchised Ross Taylor – the man who McCullum replaced as captain – and took the call to abort attempts to find a space for Jesse Ryder at the World Cup.”The way we run a cricket team may not work in other cultures,” he said. “In New Zealand we are small and have the ability to be dynamic, be innovative but you need buy-in to be able to do that. That’s a lot easier to do when you are a small country and have a small nucleus of players. That’s the way we have tried to build our group, there is a lot of trust in that. Guys trust you are leading them in the right direction, but that might not work in different environments. We know that’s the best way for us.”Neither was McCullum willing to take the bait over whether this was in ideal time to be playing England with the pressure surrounding Alastair Cook and Paul Farbrace in temporary charge. In fact, there was a feeling approaching empathy from McCullum, who still has fresh memories of the chaos that surrounded his side not too long ago.”Every team has its challenges, we’ve had ours that I’ve alluded to. The way we skin the cat is that we need everyone having total buy-in to the team environment. Every environment is different and without being among the England team it’s very hard to make an informed decision on KP and the relationships within the group. It would be foolish of me to make outlandish statements.”They are obviously going through some challenges, we’ve been there as well and understand what every team has to go through, but they are still stacked full of world-class players. In their own conditions they will be a tough proposition and we are by no means thinking we have got them. We know we’ll have to play extremely good cricket.”New Zealand’s recent record suggests they are capable of that level of cricket. Last year was their most successful in Tests, with five victories, and they have elevated themselves from seventh in the world rankings. However, despite fewer resources than some nations, McCullum remains far from satisfied.”We’ve made some significant changes and are starting to play some really good cricket, but are only No. 3. Yes, we started down the order but there are still improvements to make,” he said.”You want to get to the top, and when you get there you want to stay there and when you stay there you want to push the game forward. That’s the motivation we’ve got, but it will take a lot of hard work. This will be a tough challenge, but if we can perform here then we take another stride in the right direction.””We also play the game with a level of respect that a couple of years ago we perhaps didn’t have and I think that’s one of the proudest things. We’ve seen guys become good cricketers but good people as well. As a captain, I’m pretty proud of that.”For McCullum and Cook two years has been a very long time. Perhaps, if the chance arises, they can share a chat over beer. They would have a few tales to tell.