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Real Madrid have reportedly made their decision on Toni Kroos' future as his contract nears its expiry in the summer.

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German midfielder nearing the end of his contractMadrid mulling to hand him a one-year extensionContinues to be a cornerstone in their midfieldWHAT HAPPENED?

With Carlo Ancelotti's contract already extended until 2026, the likelihood of Kroos staying for another year has increased, reports German media outlet . The Italian manager highly values Kroos for his strategic prowess at the centre of the park and is advocating his extension, especially with fellow midfielder Luka Modric's diminished importance at the club.

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Despite the emergence of younger talents like Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni, Kroos remains a key figure in Real Madrid's midfield as he continues to impress consistently in crunch matches for Los Blancos. His recent performances have convinced the Madrid hierarchy of his enduring quality and it has been reported that talks over his contract extension are expected to commence at the end of March, with both parties keen on reaching an agreement.

DID YOU KNOW?

Kroos has allegedly made it clear to his entourage that he intends to either continue with the Spanish giants or retire from professional football at the end of the current campaign. If he chooses to try his luck for more silverware beyond the summer, Madrid are ready to offer him a new one-year contract, similar to the arrangement in 2023.

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It is believed that Kroos is also mulling over a return from international retirement and play a part for Julian Nagelsmann's Germany in the upcoming European Championship if he is indeed called up. Nonetheless, Madrid will remain a significant part of his life post-retirement as his family including his wife and children have found comfort in Spain.

Stuart Binny said he got the opportunity to spend some time in the middle against Zimbabwe, something he had not had in his previous ten ODIs

Liam Brickhill10-Jul-2015Stuart Binny has been a professional cricketer for more than a decade, and an international one for 18 months. Yet in 10 one-day internationals before this one he’d never really had the chance to show what he’s capable of with the bat. In the first ODI against Zimbabwe, Binny walked out with his side in deep trouble at 87 for 5 – but importantly there was still half the innings to be played, and he had time to express himself fully with a career-best 77 at better than a run a ball.”I’ve played 10 ODIs and I haven’t had the opportunity to bat more than five or six overs,” Binny said. “It was a great opportunity for me to go and spend some time in the middle and try and get as much as we could.”Binny didn’t have it all his way at the start of his innings. With Chamu Chibhabha in the middle of a parsimonious spell of medium pace, Binny suppressed his attacking instincts for a good half hour before biffing legspinner Graeme Cremer over long-on for six. Slowly but surely Binny and his partner, centurion Ambati Rayudu, eased India back into the game.”We didn’t set any totals when we went into bat, we just wanted to bat the next 10 overs and try not to lose any more wickets. It was a bit tough, but the wicket started to ease out a bit. Once you were set you could rotate the strike a bit more and play a few shots. But we just wanted to bat the first ten overs.”The pair eventually added 160 for the sixth wicket – a record for India – and combined to help India reap 90 runs from the last 10 overs as the hosts’ attack grew increasingly ragged. The match was ultimately a close one, with India winning by just four runs, and Binny stressed upon the advantage of having set batsmen in the crease at the death.”The difference was when we were batting it was me and Rayudu both set at that point of time, but [Zimbabwe] had one batsman set and the other one was trying to rotate the strike so two didn’t go hard at the same time. But when we were batting we set the platform. We had batsmen in the shed who could go, and we were both set on 60-plus. If you’re set you’ve got to take it as far as you can.”With all of the matches on this tour being played at Harare Sports Club, it’s likely that India will have to overcome bowler-friendly conditions again, and Binny suggested that a healthy respect for the new ball was needed.”If we get a chance to bat up front again early in the morning it’s crucial, with the Dukes ball that does swing and seam a bit, that we’ve got to give the bowlers a lot more respect, compared to playing with the Kookaburra ball in other ODIs. If you can get through the first 15 overs without losing more than a wicket or two, then we’ve got the firepower to get 300 in an ODI.”

Kenya’s tail wagged feebly, but their efforts served only to delay Afghanistan’s victory on the third day of their Intercontinental Cup match in Dubai

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2013
ScorecardKenya’s tail wagged feebly, but it served only to delay Afghanistan’s eight-wicket victory on the third day of their Intercontinental Cup match in Dubai.The day had begun brightly for Kenya with Hiren Varaiya and Shem Ngoche hitting a four each in the second over. Their stand fetched 30 runs for the ninth wicket before 19-year old seamer Sayed Shirzad bounced Ngoche out to claim his third wicket. No. 11 Elijah Otieno resisted as long as he could while Varaiya collected three of his six fours to push himself to 36 and Kenya to 140.The target of 69 was always going to be straightforward with opener Javed Ahmadi taking Afghanistan eight runs short of victory before nicking to the keeper. The Odhiambo brothers, Nelson and Nehemiah, picked up a wicket each. Rahmat Shah, whose century proved the difference between the two sides in a match that featured 28 wickets falling in two days, was awarded the Man of the Match.The next match for Afghanistan in the Intercontinental Cup is the final against Ireland in December.

Chris Gayle’s prospects of representing the West Indies again look grimmer than ever after he was left out of the WICB’s 30-man training squad ahead of the home series against Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Mar-2012Chris Gayle’s prospects of representing West Indies again look grimmer than ever after he was left out of the WICB’s 30-man squad for a fitness and training camp ahead of the home series against Australia.While the squad featured a host of other players not contracted directly to the WICB – Tino Best, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Denesh Ramdin among them – 32-year-old Gayle was conspicuous by his absence, following earlier calls by the board’s chief-executive Ernest Hilaire for the former captain to make his priorities clear.Gayle has not played for West Indies since last year’s World Cup, in large part due to comments he made against the board and the coach Ottis Gibson during a radio interview.The WICB asked Gayle to retract his comments and the batsman has refused to do so.West Indies training squad

Contracted players: Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh, Devendra Bishoo, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Kirk Edwards, Shannon Gabriel, Nelon Pascal, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Shane Shillingford, Devon Thomas.

Non-contracted players: Samuel Badree, Tino Best, Nkrumah Bonner, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Shane Dowrich, Danza Hyatt, Garey Mathurin, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Krishmar Santokie, Dwayne Smith

“The Board requires you to provide a general public retraction of the comments made in the interview in question and the effect it has had on the team, coach, captain and management, and to express a commitment to team and management,” Hilarie told Gayle in an email in January.”If the terms of that retraction can be agreed, WICB will be happy to consider you eligible once again for selection.”In the meantime, Gayle has taken part in various Twenty20 competitions around the world, including the IPL, the Big Bash League in Australia and the BPL in Bangladesh.He is currently in South Africa as part of the Dolphins’ T20 squad in Durban, but is yet to make his debut due to a groin injury.The other notable absentee from the training squad was Ravi Rampaul, who could not be considered for the camp due to illness.Rampaul had earlier this month been ruled out of regional matches for Trinidad and Tobago due to a shoulder problem.Editied by Daniel Brettig

It took Darren Sammy and Andre Russell 5.4 overs of mayhem to undo an afternoon of impressive work from India, and plot their first defeat in 12 home ODIs

The Report by Nitin Sundar05-Dec-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe irrepressible Ravi Rampaul ensured West Indies pulled one back•AFPIt took Darren Sammy and Andre Russell 5.4 overs of mayhem to undo India’s impressive afternoon, and plot their first defeat in 12 home games. They came together after Ravindra Jadeja pulled off an outfield catch for the ages to remove Kieron Pollard, West Indies’ most dangerous batsman on paper. Sammy and Russell proceeded to test that assumption with an unbroken partnership of delightful ferocity that yielded 79, propelling West Indies to 260. The bowlers, led by the irrepressible Ravi Rampaul, then sliced through India’s top order and set up West Indies’ first win on tour.Two things have been constant in this series – Rohit Sharma’s pristine form, and the game-changing capabilities of the last wicket pair. Under lights, West Indies did enough to overcome both and finish on top. Rohit stroked a pleasing 95 as India crumbled around him, but ran himself out in a desperate effort to manipulate the strike to be the ninth man dismissed. Abhimanyu Mithun and Umesh Yadav then lashed 28 for the final wicket to keep West Indies on edge, before Rampaul yorked Mithun to close the game.Barring Rohit’s stunner, which puts him firmly in the frame for a Test debut in Australia, almost nothing went India’s way. Yadav and Vinay Kumar impressed with the new balls before being pounded at the death. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir bagged first-ball ducks to extend their worrying runs of poor form, with Australia looming. To make matters worse, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina perished to umpiring errors that could have been reversed if the DRS had been in place.It was a stunning turnaround for India, who could scarcely put a foot wrong earlier after winning the toss. Seam and swing weren’t supposed to be part of the agenda on a sweltering afternoon, but Vinay produced away seamers, Yadav pace and swing, and Mithun a raft of indippers. India’s spinners backed them up well to ensure they kept winning the big moments. The half-centurion Marlon Samuels exited just as he was primed for assault. The man most likely to assist him, Darren Bravo, was forced to retire hurt with a hamstring strain. And then Pollard was caught spectacularly to leave the innings faltering. The Sammy-Russell show was only getting started, though.Smart stats

India’s 11-match winning streak in home ODIs came to an end with the 16-run defeat. Their previous loss at home came against South Africa in Nagpur during the World Cup.

West Indies’ win is their fifth in seven ODIs at the venue. It is their most successful venue in India followed by Guwahati and Jaipur where they have won three matches each.

The stand of 79 between Darren Sammy and Andre Russell came off just 34 balls and is the fourth-highest sixth-wicket stand for West Indies against India. The partnership run-rate of 13.94 is the highest for a fifty-plus stand for West Indies against India.

The 73 runs scored by West Indies between overs 46 and 50 is third on the list of most runs scored by them in the last five overs of ODIs played since 2000. The highest is 79 against Canada in 2008.

Ravi Rampaul’s 4 for 57 is his sixth haul of four wickets or more in ODIs. It is also his third-best bowling performance against India after the 5 for 51 in Chennai in the World Cup and the 4 for 37 in Kingston in 2009.

Rohit Sharma scored his third consecutive half-century of the series and his fourth in four ODIs against West Indies. He now averages 75.57 in 12 ODIs against West Indies with six half-centuries.

The 91-run stand between Rohit and R Ashwin is the highest seventh-wicket stand for India against West Indies. It surpasses the previous best of 88 between Rohit and Harbhajan Singh in North Sound in 2011.

West Indies’ score of 44 is the second-lowest aggregate in the first 15 overs in Ahmedabad in ODIs since 2000. Sri Lanka had scored the fewest (37) against South Africa in 2006.

West Indies’ cause was aided by India’s inexperience, as Yadav and Mithun delivered despicable lengths in the slog. Sammy wound up for the fun by redirecting Vinay for two fours, before Russell carted Yadav for a monster six. Next, Sammy turned his attention towards Mithun, scything a wide ball, and hammering a length delivery for fours. He then unfurled two sixes dripping with typical Caribbean audacity on either side of the wicket – a slash over cover and a merry whiplash over midwicket. Russell then went ballistic in Yadav’s last over, drilling a near yorker down the ground and fore-handing a length ball for fours, before teeing off towards the press box.India seemed hung-over from the onslaught when they began their chase. Sehwag was yet to make a significant score since the World Cup, but still chased a short and wide first delivery from Rampaul without moving his feet. Gambhir followed immediately, shouldering arms after misreading an inswinger that straightened to catch him plumb on the crease. Parthiv Patel and Kohli responded with a slew of boundaries, but West Indies’ spinners, and a couple of umpiring errors were about to derail India.Kohli was struck in front as he looked to work the debutant offspinner Sunil Narine to leg, but the ball was sliding further down the leg side. The umpire Sudhir Asnani was convinced, though, and Kohli left the pitch spewing a litany of invective in his wake. Samuels then slipped a ripping offspinner past Parthiv’s forward prod to disturb his stumps. Suresh Raina exited soon after, when umpire Tony Hill wrongly ruled him caught behind as he hopped across to glance Rampaul. India were tottering at 105 for 6 when Jadeja was run out, but Rohit carried on with a sense of remarkable calm.He opened his account with a stunning inside-out lofted drive for six, and his shot-making through the covers and down the ground remained sublime all evening. But his rotation of strike, with an uncertain tail to shepherd, was equally exemplary. R Ashwin bottled up one end, West Indies backed away to allow the singles, and a 91-run stand was raised just like that. Sammy dropped both batsmen to aid India’s progress, and West Indies were sweating by the time the batting Powerplay came on. Rohit plundered boundaries at will, and India were back in the chase, but it was time for another twist.Narine, who displayed an ice-cool temperament for a debutant in front of a raucous crowd, gave Ashwin a taste of his own carrom ball to end the partnership, with India 65 runs away. Rohit stretched his luck decisively in the 44th over after pushing the ball to mid-on, and Sammy blasted the stumps out with a laser-sharp throw. The captain celebrated like a man relieved to finally pull a win back. Mithun slugged a couple of monster sixes to keep West Indies waiting, but they weren’t enough to extend India’s streak.

Brad Hogg is adamant he will be more than a 40-year-old sideshow in Australia’s Twenty20 plans, starting with two matches against India in Sydney and Melbourne

Daniel Brettig29-Jan-2012Brad Hogg is adamant he will be more than a 40-year-old sideshow in Australia’s Twenty20 plans, starting with two matches against India in Sydney and Melbourne.Having earned his spot in the national Twenty20 side via a startling return to the game in the Big Bash League, Hogg now intends to prove his worth for a second time in international cricket, having carved out a successful ODI career before his retirement in 2008.While his selection has provoked some debate about the state of Australia’s spin stocks, Hogg said he had grown immeasurably in his confidence since turning heads with the Perth Scorchers.”I’m not here for anything other than helping Australia prepare for a Twenty20 World Cup,” Hogg said in Sydney where the Australian Twenty20 team convened. “I’ve been out of it for three and a half years and to get selected after what’s happened with the Perth Scorchers [losing BBL finalists] has been fantastic. I’ve got a lot of pride in myself and I want to make sure I do what I did three and a half years ago – and that was work hard and do my best out on the field.”Hopefully I can get two or three more years out of it but we’ll just see how it plays out. Am I going to embarrass myself? Those sort of thoughts were going through my mind when I signed up [for the BBL], but once I got over those initial thoughts I thought, ‘no stuff it. I’ve been out of it three and a half years, I’m feeling good, go and give it a go. Life’s all about opportunities and this opportunity won’t come again.”Mickey Arthur [then the Scorchers coach] rang me up and he said ‘are you interested?’ I’d been playing a bit of grade cricket up until then and I sat there and had a look at a few things, I thought am I good enough to play first-class cricket again?”The first ball I bowled in the BBL wasn’t too flash and I thought ‘what the hell have I done here’, and I got run out in that particular game as well, but after that first ball the nerves went away and I was fine it felt like I hadn’t been out of the game really, I just felt like I was home again.”Hogg’s place in Australia’s plans is geared heavily towards the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September, and he has already been told a place on the Twenty20 leg of the West Indies tour in March is unlikely. A pair of decent displays against India will go close to assuring Hogg of his spot at the global event, while also strengthening his chance of being picked up in this year’s IPL auction.”I’ve spoken to the selectors, they’ve got a plan for it,” he said. “I’ve told them my interest is to play a couple of tournaments around the world and to make sure my form is up to it leading into selection for the Twenty20 World Cup. I’ve been told I probably won’t be going to the West Indies because it’s probably a waste of resources and I’m getting enough cricket around other competitions.”I’m hoping to get picked up [in the IPL] because when I made the comeback to the Perth Scorchers I thought stuff it, I’m fit enough to play and I want to make the most of my playing days, I’ve probably only got two or three more minutes to be able to play cricket, I’ve been commentating over in India for the last two or three years, and I thought I haven’t played IPL, I want to go out and experience it.”The Hogg story is the latest chapter in spin bowling’s Twenty20 renaissance, the flurry of slow bowlers encouraged by aggressive batsmen and shrewd captaincy to tempt their opponents into error. Hogg admitted he had held grave fears for the place of spin bowling in Twenty20 when it first began.”I must admit when Twenty20 cricket came out I thought oh no, that game’s not for spinners and all of a sudden it is,” he said. “Because you take the pace off the ball and batsmen are trying to hit you out of the park, so you’re there as a wicket-taking option but you’ve also got to have the ability to try and dry up runs when things aren’t going well. So spinners do play their part and most teams are playing two frontline spinners and you wouldn’t expect that in 50-over cricket four or five years ago, and opening the bowling too.”

At England Under-19’s match against Australia in Townsville, the Overton twins, allrounder Craig and fast bowler Jamie, performed creditably in defeat

George Binoy in Townsville11-Aug-2012Caught C Overton bowled J Overton. A fielder-bowler combination that is almost certain to appear in many Somerset scorecards of the future. It appeared twice today, in England Under-19’s match against Australia in Townsville, where the twins, allrounder Craig and fast bowler Jamie, both tall and strong, performed creditably in defeat.Craig top scored for England, making 35 in tough conditions, and bowled 8.1 overs for 31 runs without a wicket. Batting at No. 4, he was in as early as the ninth delivery of the morning, after his team had slumped to 8 for 2. Under attack from Australia’s three quick bowlers, Craig watched the situation steadily get worse.”It did a bit early on,” he said. “So we had to battle through it and unfortunately today we didn’t do it. Not ideal losing the toss, but you’re never going to win a game batting like that. A disappointing performance really.”Craig battled 81 deliveries for his runs, playing the quicks with care and attacking when he could. “They bowled really well, made it a struggle for us to score runs. They never let us get away. I just tried to stay there, just to battle through it, bat as long as possible.”His resistance ended in the 27th over, by which time England were 96 for 7. Jamie managed 14 off 15 deliveries and England were eventually bowled out for 143 in the 39th over.Australia had a short period to bat before the lunch break and during that time Jamie did his thing, bowling at speeds approaching 150kph. With the equally impressive Reece Topley troubling the batsmen from his end, Jamie hustled and harried the Australians with his pace.”Even with [about] 140 we felt comfortable, we have a really good bowling attack and we felt we could have bowled them out,” Jamie said. “We probably would have liked to stay out there [at lunch], the way the situation was.”England had Australia at 54 for 4 but the next breakthrough never came. For his part, Jamie may have got carried away because of the pace and bounce in the pitch. In his first over, he had dug in a bouncer that soared over the keeper’s head. Later on, he began to pitch on the shorter side, as England’s desperation for wickets grew. He’ll be wiser for the experience.Jamie did find two edges, though, on either side of lunch, and Craig caught both at slip. “I rely on him quite often,” said Jamie. “He’s been in the slips often and I normally get quite a few edges [while bowling]. He doesn’t drop that many and has a good pair of hands.”After the backyard cricket when they were toddlers, where Jamie would bowl “little medium pacers at Craig”, the broken windows and the shattered vases, the twins started playing together in teams from the age of eight. They played together in Devon’s age-group sides, working their way up towards the Somerset Second XIs. Their progress has not always been simultaneous, but the twin behind never took long to catch up. The competition helped their growth.”Say I’ve gone ahead,” said Jamie. “He [Craig] has always tried to catch up with me. When he’s gone ahead, I’ve always caught up with him. We’ve always been really competitive with each other.””I did,” said Craig, when asked who made their first-class debut for Somerset first. “We were told that one of us wasn’t going to play. So we just knew that if one didn’t play, we’d support him as much as possible. That’s what we do, try and get each other going, try and get our performances going.”Craig made his Somerset debut against Lancashire in April this year. Less than a month later, Jamie was alongside him. “It made me want to get it more,” said Jamie. “Hopefully we’ll get a few more chances together with them [Somerset].”In the years to come, Craig and Jamie Overton may get chances with England’s Emerging Players and Lions. They probably won’t get it together, but the twin behind will strive to get there too, with the twin ahead hoping he does.

Gautam Gambhir and Jaik Mickleburgh got Essex off to a strong start in reply to Glamorgan’s 322 on the second day at Chelmsford, a match they need to win to maintain their promotion challenge

18-Sep-2013
ScorecardJaik Mickleburgh will hope for more runs on day three as Essex chase victory over Glamorgan to keep up in the promotion race•Getty ImagesGautam Gambhir and Jaik Mickleburgh got Essex off to a strong start in reply to Glamorgan’s 322 on the second day at Chelmsford, a match they need to win to maintain their promotion challenge.They put on 95 in 23 overs before Gambhir fell victim to slow left-armer Dean Cosker but the home side steered clear of further trouble before the close to reach 107 for 1.Both openers had punctuated the field with some fine driving and pulling before they were separated with Mickleburgh completing his half-century from 62 balls with the help of eight boundaries. He is due to resume on 68 accompanied by Greg Smith, who was yet score and arrived at the crease on the fall of Gambhir, who had scored 37 when he was caught at extra cover.But with unsettled weather forecast for Thursday, it seems likely that the captains will have to come to some agreement to contrive a positive result. Certainly Essex will be hoping so because this is a match they must win if they are to keep alive their slender promotion hopes.Earlier paceman David Masters claimed his fourth haul of five wickets or more in an innings this season, one of them being against Glamorgan in May.After the visitors had resumed on 103 for 2, Masters was soon adding to his overnight two wickets by trapping Ben Wright lbw for 45 to bring an end a partnership of 107 with Murray Goodwin in 44 overs. He also got rid of Goodwin caught in the slips by Owais Shah as he pushed forward after the Zimbabwean had struck a solid 65 that had taken him nearly four hours. His 169-ball effort contained just five fours.But Goodwin’s departure only paved the way for the most entertaining partnership of the innings which featured Chris Cooke and Mark Wallace who went boldly for their strokes while gathering 95 in 21 overs against bowlers who, apart from Masters, struggled to find a consistent line and length.It was broken when medium-pacer Ravi Bopara breached the defence of Wallace who had scored 38 and eight runs later, with the total on 234, left-arm spinner Monty Panesar claimed an lbw verdict to get rid of Cooke. His 67 came from 106 balls and included eight fours and a six.John Glover struck an unbeaten 39 and Glamorgan reached 300 to claim their third batting point but that total would have been less imposing had Masters received better support. His unerring accuracy was illustrated by his figures of 5 for 68 from 36 overs, during which he collected his 50th Championship wicket of the summer.

Rasmus Hojlund insists he was never “worried” that an untimely injury would dash his dreams of completing a transfer to Manchester United.

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Danish forward snapped up from AtalantaSuffered stress fracture in his backWorking his way towards full fitnessWHAT HAPPENED?

The highly-rated Denmark international became a top target for the Red Devils early in the summer window as they sought to bring another goalscorer onto their books. Atalanta were willing to do business, but Hojlund picked up a back problem that threatened to throw a spanner into the works.

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A deal was eventually done, with the 20-year-old becoming a record-setting £72 million ($90m) addition at Old Trafford, but he was forced to wait 29 days after moving to England before making his Premier League debut off the bench in a 3-1 defeat at Arsenal.

WHAT THEY SAID

Quizzed by on whether he feared a stress fracture would prevent him from linking up with the club that he supported as a boy, Hojlund said: “Well, there is not much else to say, other than that it was a small thing, and I have never really been able to feel any pain myself at any time. It was just something that had to be respected, and it has been done, so now it's just out of the way. Many things happened in those days. There was a lot to focus on, so it was a rollercoaster ride in many ways, but I wouldn't say that I was worried at any point.”

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Hojlund is still working his way back to full fitness and has figured off the bench in both of Denmark’s games during the international break. He will be hoping to play a more prominent role for United when they return to action on Saturday in a home date with Brighton.

The preview of the fourth ODI between Bangladesh and West Indies in Mirpur

The Preview by Mohammad Isam06-Dec-2012Match factsDecember 7, 2012
Start time 1430 (0830 GMT)Marlon Samuels showed the value of grinding it out and it’s up to the other batsmen to follow suit•Associated PressBig PictureHaving got one must-win game out of the way, West Indies are facing another in order to draw level with Bangladesh in the five-ODI series. One wrong step in Mirpur on Friday could make the final match on Saturday a dead rubber and consign West Indies to a series defeat, a backward step after their recent success in international cricket.West Indies made amends for their poor showing in the first two matches in Khulna by changing their approach to batting. In Khulna, the batsmen were guilty of trying to hit out every time they were bogged down. In Mirpur, however, Samuels led the change, by battling more than batting on a pitch that had irregular bounce and lots of turn. West Indies now need their other batsmen – Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy – to follow the Samuels way. The visitors also had another positive in the third match – Sunil Narine finally found form on this tour with a four-wicket haul.Bangladesh are leading the series 2-1, and despite their struggle in the previous game, they scored 227, an indication of their increasing comfort levels in ODIs. They will be heartened to see the bowling unit put up a fight. A worry, though, is the form of Rubel Hossain, who looked rusty during a five-over spell that cost 42.Form guide (Most recent first)
Bangladesh LWWLW
West Indies WLLWWIn the spotlightBangladesh offspinner Sohag Gazi was wicketless for the first time in an international match, in the third ODI in Mirpur, where he had figures of 9-1-36-0. He has been a revelation for Bangladesh this winter, and will hope that the previous match was a blip in an otherwise encouraging start to his career.Kieron Pollard has become a figure of ridicule in Bangladesh for his comments after the first ODI in Khulna. He hasn’t been in form either and has thrown away his wicket at crucial times. He will be expected to hit a few into the stands at least, if not out of the city, like he threatened to.Team newsMushfiqur Rahim and Bangladesh’s interim coach Shane Jurgensen will not tinker too much with the team combination as it offered balance to the attack. Bangladesh however have the option of playing left-arm spinner Elias Sunny, who was added to the squad for the final two ODIs.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Anamul Haque, 3 Naeem Islam, 4 Nasir Hossain, 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 7 Mominul Haque, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza, 9 Sohag Gazi, 10 Abdur Razzak, 11 Rubel Hossain.West Indies possibly got it right by picking both spinners in their line-up and are likely to continue with the winning combination.West Indies (possible): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Dwayne Smith, 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Devon Thomas, 9 Ravi Rampaul, 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Veersasammy PermaulPitch and conditionsThe pitch for the third ODI was a challenge for the batsmen, but the one for the fourth game could be a batting paradise. In that case, batting second will be much easier under lights.Stats and trivia The last time West Indies came back from 1-2 down to win a series was against Zimbabwe in the 2003-04 season. Bangladesh have a poor win-loss record in Dhaka – 24 won out of 84 – compared to other venues in the country – 18 wins out of 36.Quotes”We can’t focus on two games so we will take it step by step. We can’t afford to pressure ourselves when we are coming from the back.”
“We will go hard and aggressive to win the last two matches, we are not feeling too much pressure.”