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Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq put on Pakistan’s biggest partnership in South Africa to even up the match on the first day

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran14-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsYounis Khan enhanced his reputation for scoring when it matters•Getty Images

Pakistan cricket continues to confound. In the morning, South Africa’s ruthless pack of quick bowlers ran through the opposition top order yet again and all the fears over Pakistan’s brittle batting seemed to have come to pass. Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq, however, showed there was plenty of backbone in the batting by putting on Pakistan’s biggest Test partnership against South Africa to even up the match on the first day in Cape Town.Against the finest attack in the world, Younis enhanced his reputation of scoring runs when his team was in distress. The famous Younis smile was frequently on display, after particularly good deliveries – a Dale Steyn curler which beat him, a Morne Morkel bouncer which struck him on the body – and especially after completing his first Test hundred in a year.Shafiq’s century is likely to rank as the finest innings of his career so far. Initially, he wasn’t in the best touch: there was a leading edge beyond mid-off, and there were several loose drives outside off which didn’t connect, but he grew in confidence once the pitch started to lose its venom. After that he unveiled his strokes, uppercutting Jacques Kallis behind point for four and picking off the usually accurate Vernon Philander for two leg-side boundaries in an over.What really allowed the Pakistan batsmen to break free was the introduction of the weak link in the South Africa attack, Robin Peterson. His job description, especially on day one, is to keep it tight while the quicks get a breather, but he couldn’t quite play that role as he struggled to settle into a consistent line and length. There were far too many short balls early on and the pressure built up by the fast bowlers – who gave away only 14 runs in the first 12 overs after lunch – quickly evaporated as he gave away four boundaries in his first five overs.

Smart stats

• The 219-run stand between Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq is Pakistan’s first double-century partnership against South Africa. Younis features in each of the three top stands for Pakistan against South Africa.

• The partnership is also the second-best for Pakistan’s fifth wicket outside Asia, next only to the 258-run stand between Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saleem Malik in Wellington in 1994.

• Younis’ 111 is his first Test century in 13 innings in South Africa. His previous-highest was 68.

• Shafiq’s unbeaten 111 is his third Test century in 27 innings, and his highest score. It’s also his first hundred outside the subcontinent.

• It’s only the fifth time in Test history that a pair has added more than 200 for the fifth wicket after the team’s been four down for less than 50.

Pakistan’s most dominant phase came after tea, when South Africa were waiting for the second new ball. There wasn’t much reverse swing on offer, and South Africa rotated Kallis, Peterson and Dean Elgar to keep their main bowlers fresh. Younis opened out, hitting a couple of straight sixes and Shafiq launched a flighted delivery well over long-on and then crashed one behind backward point as 62 runs came in the final 10 overs with the old ball.Both batsmen reached their century just before the new ball, and Pakistan had moved along to 238 for 4 after 80 overs. Then came a critical phase of play as South Africa’s attack reverted to menacing. Steyn and Philander bowled several unplayable deliveries; Philander had the ball buzzing past the outside edge and Hot Spot saved Younis against Steyn in the first over with the second new ball. It was Hot Spot that provided the evidence to end Younis’ innings two overs before stumps, though, as South Africa reviewed an lbw decision, only to find that Younis had edged the ball through to the keeper.South Africa were just as threatening in the morning. Slicing through the opposition has become so common to them that when Philander took his first wicket of the day, he barely bothered to celebrate, merely completing his follow-through as though the batsman had left the ball alone. Even wicketkeeper AB de Villiers didn’t belt out an appeal or jump for joy after taking a regulation catch, merely tossing the ball aside and jogging up to Philander to congratulate him.Once again, the fast bowlers had the ball hooping around, the purists ooh-ing and aah-ing over the late movement and the batsmen flailing outside off. Midway through the session, Pakistan were down to 33 for 4, and any attempts to forget their record low of 49 all out in Johannesburg were pointless.For the second Test in a row, South Africa captain Graeme Smith took the unconventional decision at the toss. After choosing to bat on a difficult track in Johannesburg, he opted to bowl on a Cape Town surface that was expected to ease out after the first hour. Towards lunch, it did settle down but, as Smith hoped, serious damage had already been done.Philander started the procession with that celebration-free wicket of Nasir Jamshed, who flirted with one outside off without moving his feet. Steyn joined in with his usual away-cutters, one of which Mohammad Hafeez nicked to first slip. Morkel then had Azhar Ali wafting outside off, to give de Villiers another simple catch before he produced another of those patented rearing deliveries that Misbah-ul-Haq could only glove to short leg for a duck.It all seemed one-way traffic, before Younis and Shafiq led the recovery with centuries that gave South Africa’s bowlers increasingly rare sessions of frustration.

L Balaji has been replaced by Vinay Kumar in the Twenty20 squad to play England, following Balaji’s stress injury on his toe

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Dec-2012India seamer L Balaji has been ruled out of the Twenty20 squad against England due to a stress injury to his right big toe, the BCCI has said. Vinay Kumar, the Karnataka seamer, will replace him.Vinay has played eight Twenty20s internationals, and made his last international appearance against South Africa in Johannesburg in March this year. In the ongoing Ranji Trophy, he has taken 17 wickets in four matches at an average of 20.58.India play England in two Twenty20s later this month before a five-match ODI series.

Gareth Batty took six wickets but Surrey lost late wickets against Warwickshire to keep the match wide open

Jon Culley at The Oval24-May-2012Surrey 233 and 144 for 4 (Roy 71) lead Warwickshire 247 (Chopra 78, Batty 6-73) by 120 runs
ScorecardGareth Batty brought Surrey back into the match with a six-wicket haul•Getty Images

Inviting schoolchildren to spend a day at the cricket is always a bit of a gamble. If being hostage to the weather gods is not risk enough, there is always a chance that the cricket will be interminably dull, at least to the undiscerning eye. Little wonder, then, that Surrey’s marketing folk were grinning widely.Not only did they have the good fortune to pick a gorgeously warm day to usher somewhere approaching 3,000 schoolchildren through the gates of The Oval, they were blessed with entertaining cricket. As a bonus, given that all of the invited young guests were from Surrey or south London, the team on top – at least until most of them had gone home – was the one wearing brown hats.Then again, the cricket is seldom dull when Surrey are involved. Dismissed for 223 in 60 overs on the opening day, they responded by bowling out Warwickshire, the Division One leaders going into this round for 247, six wickets going to the offspinner Gareth Batty, who finished with his best return for Surrey.Given that Warwickshire had gone into day two only one wicket down and thinking in terms of 400, perhaps even 500 on the board in what had seemed to be ideal conditions, Surrey could congratulate themselves on an entirely acceptable half day’s work when the last wicket triggered tea almost 30 minutes hour early.When Jason Roy, in his preferred manner, raced to 71 off 85 balls, they appeared to be putting themselves in complete control, a position they might well have retained and enhanced had Roy and Rory Hamilton-Brown, a batsman with a similarly destructive approach, not both been out in the space of four deliveries.Those two blows put the brakes on Surrey’s progress rather emphatically, forcing Jacques Rudolph and Tom Maynard to adopt a much more measured approach to what remained of the day. The last 13 overs added 36 to the total and Surrey lead by 120 going into the third day, with six wickets in hand. The outcome, as you always hope at this stage, is in the balance.A drying pitch is beginning to play increasingly into the hands of the two principle offspinners, with Jeetan Patel’s success or otherwise on the third day likely to be an important factor, although not perhaps as influential as Batty could be when Warwickshire bat for a second time.Batty has had to contend himself with playing second-fiddle at key moments in his career, which has been to the detriment of his total of Test caps. When he won the last of his seven, against Bangladesh in 2005, it was only because Ashley Giles was injured. He was called into the one-day squad that toured the West Indies in 2009, but only to replace Samit Patel, who was omitted because of fitness concerns, with Graeme Swann injured.At 34 he is an experienced and difficult opponent, nonetheless, and it was by dismissing both Will Porterfield and Varun Chopra inside the first hour that he began to seize the initiative for Surrey. Porterfield squandered his wicket somewhat, edging to slip after going down the wicket but failing to get to the pitch of the ball, ending a partnership with Chopra that had put on 117 in 44 overs.Warwickshire suffered another setback when Jim Troughton’s bad run continued. The captain, yorked by Stuart Meaker, has scored only 40 runs in eight Championship innings so far. But it was Batty’s removal of Chopra for 78 that changed the face of the innings.He earned the wicket, too, with a fine piece of bowling, inviting the opener to claim his 10th boundary by offering him some width outside off stump before bringing the next one in just a little straighter and then catching him by surprise with a quicker, fuller delivery that bowled him.At 182 for 4 at lunch, there was still an opportunity for Warwickshire to secure a workable advantage. Instead they lost their next five wickets for 27 runs. Darren Maddy and Rikki Clarke were leg before to Meaker and Batty respectively, in between which Hamilton-Brown, a reluctant purveyor of offspin, took his first Championship wicket since last May to stilt Tim Ambrose’s progress.Batty subsequently took two in two balls, having Keith Barker stumped and taking a return catch to remove Patel before Chris Wright repelled the hat-trick ball. His success persuaded Surrey to delay taking the new ball until the 90th over, with the scores level, at which point, slightly ironically, Wright and Chris Woakes began to score more freely, with the ball coming on to the bat a little quicker. The last 20 balls of the innings yielded another 24.

Nottinghamshire became the first team to qualify for the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals by clinching a 10-run victory over Worcestershire at New Road

05-Jul-2011
ScorecardNottinghamshire became the first team to qualify for the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals by clinching a 10-run victory over Worcestershire at New Road.With a crowd of little more than 1,000 in the ground on a gloomy evening, the hosts had looked on course to cause a surprise after dismissing the north group leaders for 152.This was Nottinghamshire’s lowest total in 10 attempts when batting first in T20 matches this summer, but it proved to be enough as the Royals stumbled after an eye-catching half-century in 35 balls by Moeen Ali.Samit Patel halted the flying start on his day release from England’s one-day squad. The alrounder had Jack Manuel stumped for 21 while conceding only 21 runs in four overs and then ran out Moeen for 51 after the opener had hit 10 boundaries.Manuel, deputising for the injured Vikram Solanki, and Moeen put on 69 by the ninth over, but Worcestershire’s challenge petered out when Alexei Kervezee (21) and Shakib Al Hasan (20) departed in the space of four balls from Andre Adams and Steven Mullaney.Nottinghamshire also lost momentum after a opening stand of 69 in eight overs by Tamim Iqbal (35) and Alex Hales (39). As soon as the first pair had fallen to Moeen’s off-spin – Tamim stumped by Ben Scott and Hales caught at deep midwicket – the innings went into gradual decline against Worcestershire’s trio of slow bowlers.Shakib’s dismissal of Adam Voges, the Australian trapped leg-before for 16, was the first of eight wickets to tumble for the addition of 50 runs in 46 balls. Saeed Ajmal continued to make an impact on the competition, bowling Patel for 11, and the Pakistan off-spinner went on to take three for 28, giving him 15 wickets in six games so far.Worcestershire’s fielding was strewn with errors at first but after Tamim and Hales had survived chances in the same over from Shakib, the home side lifted their levels in the rest of the innings. James Cameron held three well-judged catches in front of the pavilion and also ran out Adams with a smart return from deep extra cover to the bowler’s end.

Rajasthan’s unbeaten run this tournament owes, in large part, to a collective effort and consistency in implementing their strategies

Siddhartha Talya26-Dec-2010It’s been a dream campaign for Rajasthan, emerging from the Plate League to all but go past the defending champions Mumbai and book their place in a Ranji Trophy semi-final for the first time in 25 years. “It’s a huge thing for Rajasthan, to all those players who’ve been associated with Rajasthan for such a long time,” Aakash Chopra, the former Delhi and now Rajasthan opener, told ESPNcricinfo.A determined batting performance from Rajasthan has given them a big first-innings lead, but did the conditions play any role in the contrasting performances of the two teams? “Not at all,” Chopra said. “It was a good wicket to bat on on day one as well. That’s why Mumbai won the toss and decided to bat. It goes on to show that they also thought the track was dry. There is a grass covering but the grass is basically brown, and it’s there to hold the track more than anything else. So there wasn’t any exaggerated sideways movement or movement in the air. There were no demons in the track. It’s more about the way we have played our cricket and how Mumbai have played their cricket.”The chief architect of Mumbai’s collapse in the first innings was seamer Pankaj Singh, whose six wickets set the game up for Rajasthan. His victims included the Mumbai openers and one of their most successful batsmen this season, Rohit Sharma, each of the three either bowled or lbw.”Pankaj, throughout the season, has been bowling his heart out, running in hard and bowling in the right areas with good pace,” Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the Rajasthan captain and their highest run-getter this season, said. “And he’s never given up and it’s solely his hard work that is helping him.”The approach adopted by the Mumbai batsmen also worsened their prospects, Chopra added. “The Mumbai batsmen were flamboyant, going after the bowling and perhaps played into Pankaj Singh’s hands because he bowled a probing line, asked the right questions and they didn’t apply themselves as well as they would have liked.”They were bowled out for 252, not a par-score for this track. We had thought, considering their depth in the batting line-up, of chasing a score of something like a minimum of 450.”Rajasthan’s unbeaten run this tournament – although a nominal fourth day in the quarter-final still remains – owes, in large part, to a collective effort and consistency in implementing their strategies. “The teamwork has been the highlight,” Kanitkar said. “We’ve really stressed on that in all our meetings and practice sessions. Throughout this season, in each game, we’ve had sets of players step up, which has helped us succeed consistently.”A committed plan to make the most effective use of their bowling resources and extract as much assistance from the tail with the bat made this success possible, Chopra said. “As far as our bowling is concerned, we’ve tried to swing the ball all the way.” And the ploy’s worked, with seamers Pankaj and Deepak Chahar splitting 63 wickets in six games. “That’s where our strength lies. We’ve tried to pitch the ball up, maintained a good aggressive line of attack. We may not have been the most economical side in the competition but we’ve created enough chances. For our batting, we had decided to have a set batsman batting right till the end and in most of the games we had one pure batsman batting with the tail.””It’s just one of those things where we bowled really well, a disciplined line and length and continued to get wickets,” Kanitkar said. “Mumbai have batted well throughout this season, but our discipline paid off.”

The Pakistan wicketkeeper has said he is keen to move on and improve as a wicketkeeper following a tough tour of Australia, where he came under great scrutiny

Cricinfo staff06-Feb-2010Kamran Akmal, the Pakistan wicketkeeper, has said he is keen to move on and improve as a wicketkeeper following a tough tour of Australia, where he came under great scrutiny. He said it was normal for all players to go through a bad patch once in a while and that the important thing was to learn from each experience.The nadir for Akmal was the second Test at the SCG, dropping Michael Hussey three times off Danish Kaneria on the third day after missing a run-out chance. He also dropped Peter Siddle off Mohammad Sami on the fourth morning. Hussey went on to score an unbeaten 134 and helped stretched Australia’s lead from 80 – at the end of the third day – to 175. Pakistan were the favourites to win on the fourth day but folded for 139 and lost the match by 36 runs and with it the series. Sarfraz Ahmed replaced him for the third Test.”Even the greatest players who have played the game have gone through rough patches in their career. Even the likes of Ricky Ponting have gone through slumps in their form,” Akmal told “The most important thing for me to concentrate on is how I bounce back from this. The Sydney Test match was a horrible experience. There is no point in making excuses over events in Sydney.”All I can do is to work hard on my cricket, learn from the events of Sydney and take on board the advice from colleagues and friends.”Akmal said advice from former wicketkeepers like Ian Healy and Wasim Bari has been forthcoming. He said his Australian counterpart Brad Haddin also spent time with him in Hobart, the venue of the third Test of that series.”Ian Healy has been very helpful to me and given me some excellent technical advice and tips,” Akmal said. “You can’t ignore advice from a wicketkeeper of such experience and pedigree. Brad [Haddin] chatted with me in Hobart about some technical issues and told me to keep my chin up. I’m so appreciative of the advice and time that both Healy and Haddin gave me and I’ll always be grateful to them.”He was also contacted by Bari, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper, who is now an official with the Pakistan Cricket Board. “Wasim Bari phoned me up after the Sydney Test match and we had a good chat. Wasim encouraged me and also told me to keep my spirits up. He is a very experienced wicketkeeper and his advice was also much appreciated.”Pakistan endured a miserable tour, losing all three Tests, five ODIs and the Twenty20. Akmal said that despite the series of defeats, the whole team had learnt plenty by just observing the professional work ethic of their opponents.”It’s tough, cricket in Australia, it’s hard work and you are thoroughly tested in every aspect of your game. The preparation of the Australians and their attention to detail is something that we can all learn from. There are so many things we can take from this tour and use to improve our cricket.”

Rookie becomes first graduate of SACA to make an England senior squad

Vithushan Ehantharajah02-Oct-2024Yorkshire legspinner Jafer Chohan has earned his first England call-up for the men’s limited-overs tour of West Indies, which begins at the end of October, becoming the first graduate of the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) to earn international recognition.Launched in 2021 by Dr Tom Brown, the scheme aimed to remedy the under-representation of British South Asian players in the professional game. Dr Brown co-founded SACA with former England bowler Kabir Ali, after researching the subject during a four-year PhD at Birmingham City University, in which he found that British Asians represent just 5% of the cricketers at the top level of the men’s game, a sharp drop-off from the 30% that play recreational cricket in England and Wales.Chohan, who was released by Middlesex five years ago, aged 17, is one of 10 players and two coaches to have moved into the professional game from SACA, who showcase their talent in fixtures against county second XIs and sessions open to county scouts. Having joined Yorkshire in 2022, Chohan has established himself in their T20 side, and his England call-up comes off the back of a solid 2024 Vitality Blast campaign, taking 17 wickets at 15.52, with a standout performance of 5 for 14 against Durham – the third-best figures in Yorkshire’s T20 historyDespite that form, and the value of wrist-spin in the shorter formats, Chohan has yet to feature in the men’s Hundred. However, on Tuesday, Yorkshire announced he had signed a three-year contract to remain at Headingley until the end of the 2027 summer. He has also been drafted by Sydney Sixers for the upcoming Big Bash League season.England are keen to explore their spin options following the international retirement of Moeen Ali, who also happens to be president of SACA, while they also need to line up an eventual successor to Adil Rashid, whose international career has entered its 16th year. Although Rashid last month insisted that he has no immediate plans to retire after claiming his 200th ODI wicket during the Australia series, he namechecked Chohan as one of the young players he has been mentoring, both at Yorkshire and at his own cricket centre in Bradford, as part of the SACA programme.Jafer Chohan claimed five wickets for Yorkshire against Durham in this season’s Vitality Blast•Getty Images

“It feels like an absolute dream to be selected,” Chohan said. “It’s what I’ve worked for my whole life.”I’ve had a great week – having it announced about another three years at Yorkshire as well as having a call up now with England.”For me this is a really good opportunity to be around some of the best players in the world, learn as much as I can and just really sharpen up my game as much as possible. Having big England names in the Yorkshire dressing room, it doesn’t get too much better than that in terms of helping me improve.”Warwickshire’s off-spinning allrounder Dan Mousley and Hampshire quick John Turner are the other uncapped members of the 14-man group. Both were part of the limited-overs squads against Australia at the end of the summer but did not feature.Chohan’s selection, despite a professional career of just 23 T20 appearances, is in keeping with an unconventional approach adopted by England’s selectors. Since taking over as managing director at the start of the 2022 summer, Rob Key has put the onus on picking players on attributes rather than solely on domestic averages. That has come to the fore in 2024.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The year began with Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir playing prominent roles in India based on their release points and action on the ball, with little focus on their modest first-class records for Lancashire and Somerset respectively. Hartley had 40 dismissals at 36.57 and Bashir 10 at 67 heading into that five-Test series, with the latter going on to feature across home series against West Indies and Sri Lanka, at the expense of county team-mate Jack Leach, who had been Ben Stokes’ primary spinner for the first two years of his tenure as Test captain.Leicestershire’s Josh Hull was the beneficiary of this radical approach at the end of the summer, debuting in the final Test against Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval. With the 2025-26 Ashes in mind, Hull’s 6ft7in height and left-arm action set him apart as a point of difference and trumped the fact he had taken just two wickets at 182.50 in three Division Two appearances this season. All this after England legend James Anderson was forced into retirement at the start of the summer.With Test head coach Brendon McCullum set to assume the limited-overs job at the start of 2025, it is perhaps no surprise to see this left-field thinking filter into England’s plans as they look to rebuild after disappointing showings at the 2023 ODI and 2024 T20 World Cups. The West Indies tour will be Marcus Trescothick’s last as interim white-ball head coach, ahead of McCullum combining the roles in the new year.Related

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There remains no place for Hartley, who has not added to his international caps since the Test tour of India, which he finished as England’s leading wicket-taker with 22 dismissals. He was a non-playing member of the T20 World Cup squad in the Caribbean, but was subsequently overlooked for the T20I and ODI series against Australia.Chohan’s selection also presents a challenge to Rehan Ahmed, who was presumed to be the heir apparent to Rashid. The Leicestershire legspinner has 17 international caps to his name but hopes to add to that this month, having travelled with the Test squad on Tuesday to Pakistan, where he made his debut two years ago.Rehan, 20, could yet challenge Chohan in the Caribbean with that squad due to be supplemented with two players from the Test tour. A decision on who will travel across will be made after selection for the third and final Test in Rawalpindi, which begins on October 24 – a week before the first ODI in Antigua. Hull, who picked up a season-ending quad injury on Test debut, could also be considered if fully recovered.As expected, Jos Buttler will slot back in as captain following a calf injury, and is set to make his first competitive appearance since the T20 World Cup semi-final defeat to India at the end of June. However, a decision on whether he keeps wicket will be made nearer the time. Phil Salt is the only viable stand-in in the original 14-man squad, although both Jordan Cox and Jamie Smith are potential inclusions from the Pakistan Test party.England limited-overs squad: Jos Buttler (capt), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Jafer Chohan, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid , Phil Salt, Reece Topley, John TurnerItinerary

1st ODI: Antigua, October 31

2nd ODI: Antigua, November 2

3rd ODI: Barbados, November 6
1st T20I: Barbados, November 9

2nd T20I: Barbados, November 10

3rd T20I: St Lucia, November 14

4th T20I: St Lucia, November 16

5th T20I: St Lucia, November 17

Coach Langer said “it’ll be probably difficult” for Mayank to play in the playoffs

Neeraj Pandey04-May-2024Mayank Yadav, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) quick, is set to miss the remainder of IPL 2024, although there may be a small chance that he could still feature in the playoffs if LSG make it.When asked if Mayank was completely out of the tournament, head coach Justin Langer said: “No, we’ll be praying that he can play, hopefully, in the playoffs, but I’m a realist as well. It’ll be probably difficult for him to get up for the back-end of the tournament.”He’s had a scan. He’s got a small tear in a similar area to where his last one was. So it’s very unfortunate. We saw the impact he had when he came back into the game. But we can all sleep.”There will always be a lot of discussion about fast bowlers, and I know he spoke to [Jasprit] Bumrah after the game and he reassured him that if he’s going to be a fast bowler, part of his journey as a young fast bowler, he’s going to get injuries.”So in my experience, every young fast bowler, probably until they get to 25 or 26, is going to experience different injuries. And it’s the most unfortunate. He’s got huge potential. But his rehabilitation was excellent. He went into the game [against MI], had a couple of bowls before the game. He was completely pain free. So it’s very sad for him and it’s disappointing for LSG as well that he might [not] play the rest of the tournament.”Related

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Mayank, 21, set the tournament alight when he made his debut for LSG on March 30. He was blowing teams away with pace. Generating speeds of 155kph – and consistently at that – he became the first man in IPL history to win the Player-of-the-Match award in his first two matches. But then, after combined figures of 6 for 41 against Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he hit a setback. Mayank bowled only one over in his third game of the season, and sat out the next five that followed as a result of pain in his abdomen.Mayank made his comeback earlier this week, in the win against Mumbai Indians, but had to leave prematurely again. “Looks like he is sore in the same spot,” Langer said at the time.Later, at the post-match presentation, KL Rahul, the LSG captain, said, “He was out in the last game because of a slight pain in his side, not a side strain, but slight pain is there. After the first ball [of his fourth over vs MI], he said the same thing: ‘ [it’s hurting a bit]’. So I said [he] might as well go out and not risk the next five balls. He is still young and precious to us, so we need to look after him.”Rahul had been keen to get Mayank back in the playing XI as quickly as possible. At the toss for the MI game, he said, “[Mayank] has bowled really well in the couple of games that he has played and has a huge impact for us. As a captain, I am always tempted to bring him in the team as quickly as possible,” Rahul said. “So I have been pushing the physios and the medical team to get him ready as quickly as possible. Even if he is about 95[% fit], I keep pushing them to give him the confidence to play the game. But obviously, they know better than I do. I will make emotional decisions, and so will Mayank.”That raised questions about whether Mayank was fielded before he was ready, but that day Langer said, “His rehab has been perfect, he bowled pain-free in the last week and looked in great condition.”Against MI, Mayank had bowled his first three overs – cranking up his pace as he went – for 31 runs before he was given the 19th over. His first ball crashed into Mohammad Nabi’s stumps but Mayank then went off the field, and his over was completed by Naveen-ul-Haq. Mayank did not look in visible discomfort when he went off and was later subbed out as the Impact Player for Arshin Kulkarni.Mayank had started his day in dramatic fashion when he came on after the powerplay and his first delivery, at 144.1kph, struck Nehal Wadhera in the helmet. He also went past the 150kph mark later in the over but largely bowled in the 140-147kph range and pitched most of his deliveries in the short or short-of-good-length area.LSG are currently placed third on the table with six wins from 10 games and will play their next one at home against KKR on Sunday before hitting the road for three away games – against SRH, DC and MI – which will end their league stage on May 17.

He had left the PSL just over a week ago, citing bubble fatigue as the main reason for his withdrawal

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Feb-2022Alex Hales will make a surprise return to the PSL to help an injury-battered Islamabad United progress to the final of the seventh season.United are due to take on Peshawar Zalmi in the first eliminator at Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday, a game Hales is now expected to be available for. His return will be a massive boost to the two-time champions, who have been hit especially hard by injuries and absences this season.Hales had left the PSL just over a week ago, citing bubble fatigue as the main reason for his withdrawal. But a couple of amendments to the existing health and safety protocols, approved today, have allowed Hales to return and play immediately without the need to isolate beforehand once he arrives. Hales will have to clear a Covid-19 test on arrival.The amendment means that at this late stage teams can bring in players and make them play the day of their arrival. They will, however, be kept apart from the team as much as possible, including not having access to the team’s dressing room, staying in a separate area of the hotel and traveling in a separate car to the stadium.The other amendment has been to cut the isolation period for asymptomatic cases from seven to five days – with a negative rapid antigen test required to exit isolation. A number of members of the Zalmi and Multan Sultans squad have tested positive in the last couple of days, including Tim David. This tweak allows some room for positive cases – depending on when they tested positive – to return should their teams make the final on Sunday.According to the PCB, “the amendments were presented and unanimously approved by the six franchises this afternoon and were run past the Medical Advisory Panel before being introduced.”United, though, will be happiest, given how crucial Hales was to their fortunes this season. Despite not playing three games, Hales is United’s top-scorer this season, averaging over 40 at a strike rate of 156.44. Along with Paul Stirling – who had to leave for national duty with Ireland – his starts meant United were among the highest-scoring sides in the Powerplay earlier in the season.But Hales’ abrupt departure was part of a string of changes to what would’ve been their first-choice XI; Stirling and Rahmanullah Gurbaz both had to leave for international duty; Shadab Khan, the captain, has been injured; Colin Munro is injured; Zeeshan Zameer, their promising young fast bowler, is also out for the season. That has impacted United’s performances, the franchise stuttering into the playoffs with three defeats in their last four games (the last two especially comprehensive). Even with a close-to-full strength side early on though United had won three and lost three of their first six games.There is cautious optimism within United that Shadab might be fit to play in the first eliminator against Zalmi. Given the season he – and Hales – have had, they will be very welcome returns.

Two rounds have been cut from the Sheffield Shield while the Marsh Cup is a five-game season plus the final

Alex Malcolm10-Feb-2021Two rounds have been cut from the Sheffield Shield and the Marsh Cup will be a five-game tournament in the restructured Australian domestic calendar, but the completion of all the fixtures hang in the balance because of the uncertainty regarding state border controls around the country. Western Australia remains a major concern for Cricket Australia’s schedule, with the state government maintaining strict Covid-19 border rules for travellers coming in.CA and the state cricket associations ticked off on the new revamped domestic schedule late last week with each state to play eight Shield matches in total, including those already played, and five 50-over Marsh Cup matches with the top two teams in each competition to play off in the finals in April. The Marsh Cup final will be played on April 11 and the Shield final on April 15-19.The Australian Cricketers’ Association agreed to a reduction of games this season on the understanding that it would return to ten rounds and a final next season.The first half of the Shield season took place in October and November in a hub in Adelaide but the rest of the fixtures will now be played in all six states, with teams to fly commercially alongside the general public and arrange their own accommodation as has been the case in previous seasons. The bio-security rules are set to be far less stringent than they were during the BBL.Related

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• Cummins named NSW captain for the rescheduled 50-over Marsh Cup

The season recommences next Monday with New South Wales hosting Victoria in a Marsh Cup fixture in Sydney, where Pat Cummins will make his NSW captaincy debut before the two sides meet in a Shield game at the SCG two days later.WA were initially scheduled to face New South Wales in Sydney on that date but the entire schedule was restructured because of WA’s complicated border situation.Travellers entering WA from states where there has been a community Covid-19 case in the previous 28 days are required to do 14-days strict home isolation upon arrival. With the BBL final being played in Sydney, where there has been a recent case, WA and Perth Scorchers’ entire coaching staff, as well as WA and Scorchers players Cameron Bancroft, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Joel Paris and Corey Rocchiccioli have been forced into home isolation in Perth for the next 14 days, with the period to end on February 21, a day after the first two rescheduled Shield games have been completed. Had the final been played in Canberra, where both the Qualifier and the Challenger were played, none of the coaches or players would have needed to do home isolation.David Moody delayed his return to WA in the hope that borders would open, only for Victoria to report multiple Covid-19 cases in the past week•Getty Images

Shaun Marsh and Hilton Cartwright, who played in the BBL with the Melbourne Renegades and the Melbourne Stars respectively, are currently in home quarantine, having started 14 days earlier than those coming back from Sydney. David Moody, who was with the Hobart Hurricanes, is also starting a 14-day quarantine having travelled home from Melbourne. Moody delayed his return to WA in the hope that borders would open, only for Victoria to report multiple Covid-19 cases in the past week. The remainder of WA’s squad that aren’t in New Zealand with Australia’s T20I squad, including Test player Cameron Green, have been in WA during the BBL, although Green and Australia coach Justin Langer had to serve 14-days quarantine after returning home from the Brisbane Test against India last month.The WACA has secured training exemptions for staff and players to attend three training sessions at the WACA ground next week on the proviso there are no further cases in NSW.WA is set to host three Shield matches and three Marsh Cup matches under the new schedule, including fixtures against Victoria in both competitions from March 23 to March 28. WA is also set to travel to Sydney to face NSW in a Marsh Cup fixture on March 14. If the current WA border rules remain in place, both NSW and Victoria would need to have 28 consecutive days from now without a community Covid-19 case for those fixtures to go ahead as planned.CA executive general manager of high-performance Drew Ginn said CA would remain agile and open to shifting fixtures if and when necessary as it was during the BBL.”Today’s announcement safeguards the integrity of the Marsh Sheffield Shield and Marsh One-Day Cup competitions while managing the physical and mental wellbeing of players, officials, and staff on account of the extraordinary demands placed upon them this season,” he said. “Every person across Australian Cricket has worked incredibly hard to deliver this summer of cricket and should be proud of those efforts. At the same time, the lived experience of operating through the pandemic has provided us all with new appreciation and perspective for the increased workloads required to deliver elite, national sporting competitions.”It is out of this duty of care that, with the input and support of the States and Territories Associations and the ACA, we have elected to shorten the Marsh Sheffield Shield and Marsh One-Day Cup, while ensuring both competitions are of a sufficient length to ensure a high-level of competition for teams and players.”As has been the case throughout the summer, we will need to remain agile and responsive given the public health situation across the country. The health and wellbeing of players, officials, and staff remains the top priority.”