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ESPNcricinfo previews the first ODI between India and New Zealand in Guwahati

The Preview by Sriram Veera27-Nov-2010

Match Facts

Sunday, November 28

Start time 08.30 (03.00 GMT)
The five-match series will be the last chance for both teams to test themselves in the subcontinent before the World Cup•AFP

The Big Picture

This is the last opportunity for the two teams to play one-dayers in Indian conditions, before the World Cup. In that regard, this is an important series for them to get their combinations right, ahead of the big tournament.India’s stand-in captain, Gautam Gambhir, and Suresh Raina will want some runs for themselves, but it’s the comeback of Yusuf Pathan that will be closely monitored. He was touted to be the answer to India’s search for a big-hitting allrounder in the lower order in ODIs, but never quite managed to replicate his IPL success on the international stage. And later, even in the IPL, his weakness against short-pitched deliveries was exposed. He was released from the ODI squad and has now returned after scoring some big runs in the domestic circuit. All eyes will be on him as he could be a tremendous asset, considering the World Cup is in the subcontinent. But does he have the game to do it? This New Zealand series will let us know. It will also be an important series for R Ashwin, the offspinner.Usually, teams sport a settled side in Tests and experiment with young players in the ODI team. New Zealand does the opposite. Right from the John Bracewell-era they have been a better ODI outfit than a Test one and have an experienced squad for this series. Six of the seven replacements, that include the likes of Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey, and Kyle Mills, are in their 30s. Jamie How, 29, who had a pretty decent outing in the Champions League held in South Africa in September, makes a comeback after nearly two years. New Zealand started the Test series short of confidence but ended it with enhanced reputations.

Form guide

(most recent first)
India: WLWLW
New Zealand: LLLLL

Watch out for…

Ross Taylor had a pretty average Test series. He got starts but rarely carried on. He has the game to turn it around quickly and he will be the key player in the middle-order in the absence of Jesse Ryder.Ashwin has impressed many with his performances in pressure situations in the IPLs. It was a puzzle why his IPL captain MS Dhoni hasn’t given him more breaks in the national team. Ashwin’s time seems to have come now. Can he capitalise? He has the carom-ball and several other variations, but does he have the discipline over his stock ball?

Pitch and conditions

This will be the last international game to be played at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati as the Assam Cricket Association is building a new ground on the outskirts of the city, which will host all future international games. The curator Sunil Barua copped a lot of criticism after the last ODI played on the ground, when a dicey pitch let Australia dismiss India for 170. “This is the best wicket I’ve ever made. It will suit batting,” Barua said this week. “All I can say is it will be a lively and sporting wicket. There will be a good total if a team bats the full quota of overs.” Barua said that he had given the pitch a top-dressing with special clay collected from outside to ensure less wear and tear. Dew is likely to play a role as there will be an 8.30 am start.

Teams

James Franklin has replaced Jesse Ryder and Ashish Nehra, who cleared a fitness test, was brought in for Praveen Kumar, who is suffering from fever. There is a question mark over Brendon McCullum, though; though Vettori said he’d keep wickets if fit, the player himself, in a newspaper column, said his back was “not too good” and “it would be sensible to give Sunday’s game a miss”.New Zealand (probable): 1 Jamie How, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Kane Williamson, 7 Daniel Vettori (capt), 8 James Franklin/Nathan McCullum, 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Daryl Tuffey/Andy McKay
India (probable): 1 M Vijay, 2 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Yusuf Pathan 7 Saurabh Tiwary, 8 Wriddiman Saha (wk), 9 R Ashwin, 10 Vinay Kumar/Munaf Patel, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Stats and trivia

• Scott Styris is one of the seven New Zealand batsmen to have scored over 4000 runs in ODIs.
• New Zealand have won only six out of their 16 completed games in 2010, and have lost their last six consecutive games.
• Nehra averages 30.52 in the ODIs but does a lot better against New Zealand against whom he averages 22.47 from 16 games. His economy-rate too climbs down to 3.87 (his career rate is 5.12)

Quotes

“Honestly I’m not thinking about the World Cup at the moment. I don’t want to lose focus and don’t want to think much. The idea is to stay pressure-free. My job now is to perform in the first two matches.”

An unbeaten 92 from Middlesex captain Neil Dexter frustrated Derbyshire hopes of chasing down victory on the final day of their County Championship Division Two match at the County Ground

28-Aug-2010
ScorecardAn unbeaten 92 from Middlesex captain Neil Dexter frustrated Derbyshire hopes of chasing down victory on the final day of their County Championship Division Two match at the County Ground. By the time Dexter chose to declare his side’s second innings at 221 for 7 half an hour after lunch, bottom-of-the-table Derbyshire were left needing an unlikely 303 to win in 53 overs.
Chris Rogers led the Derbyshire charge after tea with 96 but the home side fell well short at 189 for 6 as the contest finished in a draw.The clatter of 21 wickets on the previous day breathed life back into a match that had lost four full sessions to the weather but Derbyshire needed to quickly wrap up the Middlesex second innings on the final morning to stay in with a realistic chance of snapping a winless streak stretching back to late April.They did break through in the sixth over of the day when Gareth Berg was caught by wicketkeeper Steve Adshead off Steffan Jones to make it 98 for 5 – but Dexter proved far tougher to shift. He did lose another partner before lunch, when Tom Smith was bowled by left-arm spinner Robin Peterson for 33, but by then the Middlesex lead overall was 258 and time was against Derbyshire.With his primary concern to allow Derbyshire little hope of winning the game and so increase his side’s chances of avoiding the wooden spoon, Dexter stretched that lead beyond 300 but resisted the temptation to push on for his own century. He left the field having struck 10 fours and a six and having made virtually sure that Middlesex would go home with at least a draw.Derbyshire laid a solid base at 56 for nought when a shower forced an early tea, though Wayne Madsen was dropped on one by substitute fielder Dan Housego at point at the beginning of the second over.Rogers, his side’s top scorer with 75 in the first innings, was the main cause of concern for Middlesex again as Derbyshire came out after tea to chance their arm. The openers pushed their stand on to 131 before Madsen skied a sweep at the bowling of veteran spinner Shaun Udal and was caught at midwicket by Owais Shah for 41.That was to prove the end of the Derbyshire challenge and after Rogers was caught behind reaching for a bouncer from Toby Roland-Jones at 156 for 4, two more quick wickets meant a Middlesex victory could not be ruled out. Peterson and Adshead saw out the remaining 13 overs but Middlesex finished the happier of the two counties.

DDCA to request both senior players to stay but “final decision will be theirs”

PTI11-Aug-2023Former Delhi captain Nitish Rana and the side’s highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy last season Dhruv Shorey have sought No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the DDCA to play for other states in the upcoming domestic season.The development was confirmed by DDCA joint secretary Rajan Manchanda on Friday although he assured that both cricketers will be spoken to and given a patient hearing to find out why they want to take such a decision.”Yes, it is true that both Dhruv and Nitish want to leave Delhi and have sought NOC,” Manchanda told PTI. “We will definitely request them to stay as both are senior players and have served Delhi cricket. But the final decision will be theirs. If they don’t agree, we will certainly give them NOC.”Delhi couldn’t qualify for the Ranji knockouts last season despite Shorey ending with 859 runs. He was the fourth in the list of the highest run-getters after Mayank Agarwal (990), Arpit Vasavada (907) and Anushtup Majumdar (867).When Manchanda was asked if Rana and Shorey will have their grievances addressed, he said: “How can we talk about selection matters? It is the prerogative of selection committee.”Himmat Singh, the middle-order batter, is likely to take over captaincy and Abhay Sharma is unlikely to continue as head coach.

Defending champions knocked out as India set up semi-final clash against Australia

Sreshth Shah29-Jan-2022Bangladesh’s hopes of defending their U-19 World Cup title ended in the quarter-final stage as India’s bowlers rolled them over for 111.Left-arm seamer Ravi Kumar took three wickets in his first spell. Left-arm spinner Vicky Ostwal then took two. Two Bangladesh batters were run out, and if it wasn’t for SM Meherob’s 30, India could’ve been chasing even lesser.Although India had a brief hiccup in the chase, they eventually got home with five wickets in hand.The returning Yash Dhull opted to field on a surface where the Afghanistan-Sri Lanka quarter-final had produced only 264 runs across both innings, and Ravi found swing and rattled Bangladesh with his 3 for 14 up top. He first broke through Mahfijul Islam’s defense before Iftakher Hossain cut a wide ball to backward point. Then, soon enough, Prantik Nawrose Nabil was walking back after edging an attempted drive that was going across him.From the other end, Rajvardhan Hangargekar troubled Bangladesh with his pace, his yorkers, and a mean short ball. Together, Ravi and Hangargekar strangled the run flow, aided by sharp fielding inside the circle.Left-arm spinner Ostwal then found grip off the surface and was rewarded when he had Ariful Islam nicking. Then he clean bowled Md Fahim as he attempted a reverse sweep. Aich Mollah, the No. 4, batted patiently for 47 balls to make 13 before he was run out. At this point, Bangladesh were tottering at 56 for 7.Meherob, the No. 8, offered a brief resistance by putting on a 50-run partnership with Ashiqur Zaman (16) to drag Bangladesh’s score into triple digits. But both fell in one over and Hangargekar then finished off the innings with a short ball.India lost Harnoor Singh for a duck, but Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44) and No. 3 Shaik Rasheed (26) consolidated by reining in their shots early on with Mondol and Zaman bowling full to induce them to drive.The longer they batted, the more Bangladesh erred, with boundaries a common fixture in the second half of their 70-run partnership. Raghuvanshi whipped boundaries off his hips, Rasheed played in the ‘V’, and both put away half-trackers offered by the spinners.Their stand effectively quashed whatever little hope Bangladesh had despite both falling in quick succession. Mondol returned to take three more wickets to finish with 4 for 31, but it was too little too late for the defending champions.Dhull, back into the XI after a Covid-enforced break (along with vice-captain Rasheed), remained unbeaten on 26 along with Kaushal Tambe (11*) as they he saw off what could’ve been a tricky final period of play. The match was sealed when Tambe hit a six over long-on.India now face Australia in the second semi-final on February 2. The first semi-final is on February 1 between England and Afghanistan.

Central Zone were 68 for 6 chasing 218 before Hom and Jaker took the game away from South Zone

Mohammad Isam06-Jan-2022A day after Bangladesh’s incredible win over New Zealand in Mount Maunganui, the domestic first-class final, too, culminated in a longer-version spectacle in Dhaka. Central Zone lifted their third BCL title, beating favourites South Zone by four wickets in a tense final day.With his second hundred in the match, veteran Shuvagata Hom took Central Zone to the winning 218-run target after the side slipped to 68 for 6. Shuvagata, who was unbeaten on 114 in the fourth innings, added 153 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket with Jaker Ali, who struck the winning runs, making 41 in 124 balls.It was the perfect finish to a seesaw game. Batting first, South Zone got off to a superb start when openers Anamul Haque and Pinak Ghosh put on 137. Both struck fifties before Zakir Hasan and Farhad Reza added 119 for the sixth wicket.Mohammad Mithun struck his maiden first-class double ton in the BCL final•Walton

Left-hander Zakir made an unbeaten 107 off 161 balls, his eleventh first-class century. Farhad struck a quick-fire 67-ball 71 with three sixes and nine fours. Left-arm spinner Hasan Murad took 5 for 101.Central Zone’s reply got off to a terrible start when Farhad’s four-wicket burst sunk them to 16 for 4 in the eighth over. But there was an incredible turnaround too. Shuvagata and Mohammad Mithun added 283 runs for the fifth wicket. Mithun struck his maiden double-hundred. He struck 27 fours and three sixes in his 306-ball 206. Shuvagata made 116.Jaker also struck 53, adding 75 for the sixth wicket with Mithun. Farhad didn’t take any more wickets after his initial four strikes, while Kamrul Islam Rabbi also took four wickets.Central Zone took advantage of the 51-run lead, reducing South Zone to 119 for 7 on the fourth afternoon. Rishad Ahmed, from No. 9, though, then struck ten fours and four sixes but he missed out on a maiden first-class hundred when he fell on 99.But his knock kept South Zone in the game. He notched up partnerships of 44 for the eighth wicket, 61 for the ninth wicket and another 44 for the tenth wicket.Central Zone slipped to 26 for 3 in the final hour of the fourth day, and had an even worse fifth morning when they lost Soumya Sarkar, Taibur Rahman and Salman Hossain.But Shuvagata and Jaker changed the course of the final with their big partnership, without taking too many risks as they had enough time through the rest of the day.

Glamorgan into semis as Surrey and Yorkshire take quarter-final spots

ECB Reporters Network12-Aug-2021Glamorgan fell to a four-run defeat in their final Royal London One-Day Cup clash with Yorkshire Vikings, but still managed to top Group 1 and bag a home semi-final on Monday.They were able to stay on top of the table despite their loss thanks to a superior net run rate over the eight pool matches. That put them ahead of Surrey and Yorkshire, who took the two quarter-final spots, with Surrey gaining a home tie.The Vikings posted 230, with an eighth wicket partnership of 84 between Jonathan Tattersall and Matthew Waite crucial in their total, while Glamorgan got off to a solid start with a stand of 121 for their first wicket between Hamish Rutherford (58) and Nick Selman.Selman eventually went on to make 92 and the home side were left with 11 to win off the final over. Matthew Waite restricted them to six runs and two more wickets fell to leave the Welsh country stranded on 226 for 8.Having won the toss Glamorgan did what they did to the Notts Outlaws at the weekend and put the Vikings in to bat. The visitors got off to a solid start and Will Fraine hit four boundaries on his way to a quickfire 25 before falling to a catch at the wicket by Tom Cullen off the ever-reliable Michael Hogan in the seventh over.The 50 came up in the 11th over before another paceman, James Weighill removed Will Luxton, who spooned a thick edge to Steve Reingold in the covers three overs later. The introduction of the off-spinner at the river end put a brake on scoring and when he bowled opener Harry Duke for 20 the Vikings were 70-3.It was another spinner, Steve Reingold, who made the next breakthrough in his first over. His first ball was swept to the boundary by Vikings skipper Gary Balance, but four balls later he got his revenge when he forced the left-hander onto his back foot and bowled him to make it 88 for 4 in the 20th over.The 100 came up with a four through mid-wicket by Hill in the first ball of the 26th over, only the third boundary in a very neat 11 over spell from the home bowling attack. Then James Cooke clean bowled George Hill with a ball that stayed low and had Matthew Revis caught behind with the next ball.Dom Bess foiled the hat-trick, but the Vikings were rocking a little at 121 for 6. The England spinner was then lucky to survive a steepling catch at deep mid on which Selman couldn’t quite deal with as Salter ended his quota of 10 overs with 1 for 34.Bess wasn’t able to make much of his reprieve as in the very next over he was trapped lbw by the returning Weighill. Jonathan Tattersall and Mattew Waite steadied the ship and took the score to 178 for 7 at the 40 over mark, Waite clearing the boundary rope with one shot back over the head of Reingold as their highly productive partnership went through the half-century mark.The pair steered their side through the 200 barrier in the 44th over before Billy Root took a brilliant catch on the boundary to remove Waite for 44 off Cooke and end a partnership that yielded 84 runs for the eighth wicket.Cooke ended his 10 over spell with 3 for 40, while Tattersall’s 50 came up off 58 balls and contained two boundaries. He succumbed to a catch by home skipper Kiran Carlson off the bowling of Hogan in the 47th over for 53.The Vikings closed their innings on 230 when Josh Sullivan holed out to Hogan off the bowling of Weighill eight ball short of their full allocation of 50 overs. There were 25 extras.Glamorgan’s slow, but solid start was finally ended when Ben Coad bowled Rutherford with the score on 121. The patient approach continued and with 10 overs to go Glamorgan still needed 58 runs to win. Hill then struck twice in the same over to send back Reingold and Carlson and the Vikings’ noose began to tighten.Selman then became Hill’s third victim when he was caught by Gary Balance for an excellent 92 and the home side were 187 for 4 still needing 44 runs off 41 balls to win. As wickets tumbled, and the run rate rose, so Glamorgan paid the price for their slow start.Hill ended as the most successful bowler for the Vikings, taking 3 for 49 in his 10 overs.

With David Warner injured, Pucovski has firmed to open the batting for Australia in Adelaide

Andrew McGlashan04-Dec-2020A likely Test debut. Filling the shoes of David Warner. Forming a new opening partnership with Joe Burns. Tackling the pink ball. Facing Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and the rest of the India attack. While that may read like a daunting list, Will Pucovski is keeping it all perspective ahead of a fortnight that, barring some unlikely events, will see him open the batting for Australia at Adelaide Oval.”It’s still just another ball coming down at you,” was a common refrain from Pucovski as he spoke two days out from the Australia A match against the Indians at Drummoyne Oval.Until Warner injured his groin in the second ODI at the SCG last week, it was looking unlikely that Pucovski would debut at the start of the Test series despite back-to-back double hundreds in the Sheffield Shield. A host of names including the national selection Trevor Hohns, coach Justin Langer, captain Tim Paine and Warner himself had vouched for the incumbent Burns despite his lean start to the season.ALSO READ: Joe Burns rediscovers the fundamentals of opening ahead of David Warner’s absenceNow, however, with Warner seemingly scrubbed from at least the opening Test of the series with what is expected to be a four-week recovery, Pucovski is set to walk out alongside Burns to open Australia’s innings.Pucovski had not been paying any attention to talk of a “bat-off” between him and Burns in the Australia A match – instead, he is training at Junction Oval in Melbourne and enjoying some trips down the coast after the Shield hub finished – and the fact a Test debut is now far more realistic is not changing much.”Selection, injury and stuff like that is out of my control,” he said. “Obviously, you never want anyone to be injured, especially such a good player and as a group, we would love to be available for the first Test. If I play in Adelaide, I play; if Dave gets up and I don’t play, it’s just one of those things. Hope he gets better as fast as possible.””If you are in the 17-man [Test] squad you know you are pretty close either way. It’s not a huge difference, to be honest.”One of the reasons Pucovski was appearing unlikely to debut before Warner’s injury was the successful opening stand formed between the latter and Burns in which they have an average partnership of 50.55 across 27 innings.”Joe and I get along really well, which is obviously a good start,” Pucovski said. “We haven’t batted together heaps, but that’s cricket, you end up batting with people you don’t bat with very often – so long as you know how to bounce off each other, get each other going or know what each other requires that’s all that matters. We’ve had a few conversations, just about little things, to help each other through.”Depending on how the opening Test plays out, there is a chance that Australia’s openers will have to combat the most challenging period of a day-night Test during dusk as the lights take hold into the final session. Pucovski has played two day-night first-class matches, against England in 2017-18 and Pakistan last season, with scores of 4, 5 and 1 but is currently a player riding a wave of form and confidence.”It can be a bit different, but it’s pretty cool and pretty fun especially once it gets into that dusk evening time,” Pucovski said. “It’s one of those things growing up you never really thought would happen but that’s part of Test cricket now and it’s an unbelievable atmosphere.”I haven’t been playing in a Test with a crowd and the pink ball, but just watching, when Australia played New Zealand at Adelaide two or three years ago, I just happened to be in Adelaide and we went down for an hour or two and it was an incredible atmosphere.”Neither is Pucovski overthinking the step up in class when he faces the Indian attack. “Obviously they are very good bowlers, but I’ve faced a lot of very good bowling in first-class cricket. At the end of the day, I look at it as it’s just a ball coming down and you and I just have to do my best to react in the best way possible.”Overall, there was excitement in Pucovski’s voice about what lies ahead. “It’s pretty cool, you watch these blokes on TV dominating around the world and never think that could be me facing them one day,” he said. “But it could become a reality.”

Muhammad Musa Khan, Khushdil Shah and Usman Qadir are the new faces in the T20I squad

Danyal Rasool in Lahore21-Oct-2019Not only is Sarfaraz Ahmed absent from the Pakistan Test and T20I squads bound for Australia, in a major shake-up, head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq has named a host of new faces in both the touring groups.

Pakistan squads

T20Is: Babar Azam (capt), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz
Tests: Azhar Ali (capt), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Nasim Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah

Muhammad Musa Khan, the 19-year-old seamer, has been included in both the squads. Khushdil Shah, the 24-year-old middle-order batsman, and Abdul Qadir’s son Usman Qadir, the 26-year-old legspinner, were the new faces in the T20I squad, to be captained by Babar Azam, while Azhar Ali’s Test side included Kashif Bhatti, the domestic veteran who bowls left-arm spin and is the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy this year, and Nasim Shah the 16-year-old fast bowler, who was a surprise pick. He rose to prominence with a six-wicket haul on his Quaid-e-Azam Trophy debut last year, and has fast become something of a regular for Central Punjab.ALSO READ – Usman Qadir: lost in Pakistan, found in AustraliaIn Pakistan’s post-World Cup shake-up, Sarfaraz had been sacked as captain of the Test and T20I sides and a decision on the ODI captaincy was put on hold, as Pakistan’s next 50-over assignment isn’t until July next year. Also out of the Test side are Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, who is nursing an injury, Shadab Khan, and Mohammad Amir, who had announced his retirement from the longest format earlier this year.In T20Is, there was no place for Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal, who were selected in controversial circumstances for the series at home against Sri Lanka recently, while Ashraf and Mohammad Nawaz were also left out.”A series to Australia has always been a challenge for Pakistan, and is very important, too,” Misbah said. “Being a player, it was always our wish to go to Australia and perform well, and win games and series there. because Australia, England and South Africa are places where it is incredibly difficult to win, and when you do, the world sits up and takes notice. We want to play competitive, aggressive, fearless cricket there, because this is the only way to beat them at home.”The team we have selected has been chosen with that in mind, and we have a number of surprise packages in our team that we feel confident will be able to challenge Australia. Be that T20Is or Test cricket, you will see young, exciting players. My message is clear: we want youngsters to get a chance, we believe in them and they are our future. If you go to Australia and want to compete, you have to have firepower in the fast-bowling department. We aren’t just going to compete, we are going to win, and we are confident these boys will perform.”There are a number of surprises in the squad, but the call-up of Qadir perhaps tops them all. Just last year, a disillusioned Qadir had declared that he didn’t want to play for Pakistan, and wanted to represent Australia instead.Less than a fortnight ago, Misbah rhetorically asked a packed press conference which legspinners he was ignoring in Pakistan cricket, indicating there was no one coming through, and Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan were the only options. When a journalist mentioned Qadir’s name, there was a ripple of laughter, and even Misbah joined in, and pointed out that Qadir hadn’t been playing domestic cricket in Pakistan.In another notable recall, Mohammad Irfan was named in a Pakistan squad for the first time since September 2016, with the previous coach Mickey Arthur deeming him incompatible with the high-performance fitness culture he believed was necessary to make Pakistan a modern-day limited-overs force. The 37-year-old paceman will be the oldest player in a side that’s otherwise notable for its youth.One of the less surprising – but still notable for its significance – changes was the introduction of Mohammad Rizwan to Pakistan’s T20I and Test squads as the first-choice wicketkeeper after a long wait on the sidelines. Between the start of 2017 and the start of 2019, Rizwan didn’t feature in a single international game but with Sarfaraz now out, the path for Rizwan to come back is clear. He has, however, only ever played a single Test match, which came nearly three years ago in New Zealand.Imran Khan, meanwhile, is also back in the side for the first time since Pakistan’s last tour of Australia in January 2017. Incidentally it was on that tour, under Misbah’s captaincy, that then coach Mickey Arthur publicly questioned the fitness of bowlers such as Imran and Sohail Khan – the former was not picked after that series. Three of his nine Tests have come in two separate series against Australia.Azhar and Babar will captain the Test and T20I squads respectively, with the T20I series a chance for Pakistan to bounce back from the 3-0 home defeat to Sri Lanka and reinforce their claims as one of the favourites for next year’s men’s T20 World Cup, to be held in Australia. The Test series will be the first assignment for Pakistan in the World Test Championship, and it could not have been a more challenging start; Pakistan have lost each of their last four series in Australia 3-0, representing 12 consecutive Test losses.The action in Australia begins with the first T20I on November 3 in Sydney, followed by games in Canberra (November 5) and Perth (November 8), before the Test matches take place in Brisbane (November 21-25) and Adelaide (November 29 to December 3).

Usman Khawaja has gotten leaner and fitter in the past few months as he looks to get into the best physical shape ahead of Australia’s tour of the UAE later this year

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Aug-2018Usman Khawaja says he’s lost up to seven kilos since Australia’s ill-fated tour of South Africa to get into the best fitness of his life ahead of the next stage of his career. Khawaja, 31, has only played 33 Tests since making his debut to much fanfare in 2011, and even though he has been more of a regular over the past three years, he doesn’t want to leave anything to chance.”I wanted to get fitter, lose a bit of weight and keep my strength,” Khawaja told . “I’d found it a bit difficult in the past few years, especially after coming back from my [knee reconstruction], to get in the work. It’s always hard coming back from a major injury and it’s only the last 12 months I’ve felt in a good place again, ready to go a bit harder.”The last few months have seen a clearing out in Australian cricket, with three players with whom Khawaja would normally be jostling for places – Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft – banned for up to a year for the ball-tampering controversy that marred the tour of South Africa in April. There’s also a new coach in charge, with Darren Lehmann having left to be replaced by Justin Langer, and though Khawaja wasn’t selected for the ODI tour of England – Langer’s first assignment in charge of the national team – he feels confident about making the squad to play against Pakistan in the UAE later this year.”We had long conversations,” Khawaja said. “He knew I was disappointed. We had some really good chats. I know the expectations, and I know where I stand.”So Khawaja’s gone back to what he can control – his own fitness – and as far as that goes, he feels he’s getting better results than he’s ever previously had. “I’ve dropped seven kilos since South Africa – I’m down to 77kg. I got just about 7:30 in my 2km time trial, which is a personal best. I did jump testing the other day and I jumped higher than I have before. So all the markers have been better than I’ve had for at least the last five years.”I did it all on my own pretty much. I had a month-and-a-half on my own (after South Africa) just doing fitness stuff, going to the gym. I had a space downstairs where I’ve set up my own gym now, I invested some money in that and it’s great. I can just walk downstairs now, do what I want to do.”Khawaja is part of an Australia A tour of India, which is effectively an audition ahead of the Pakistan tour. Asia has not been a happy hunting ground for Khawaja, with the left-hander averaging just 14.62 from nine innings in the region. Walking into a team where he played a Test before any of the current Australian squad, he will need to bear a greater share of the responsibility if Australia are to overturn what has been a wretched recent record away to subcontinental sides.But it isn’t just in physique where Khawaja feels he is lighter than ever; he’s not placing too much psychological pressure on himself either. After having let the pressure get to him a number of times in the past, he’s not obsessing over how the next few months’ work out.”You do have to enjoy what you’re doing. I remember working my arse off before the 2013 Ashes and I went there and only scored one fifty and didn’t play well, and got dropped. But I probably wasn’t in a good space (mentally); if you’re doing fitness work, you’re starving yourself and you’re in a bad headspace, then I don’t reckon you’re going to score runs – no matter how fit you get.”But this is the first time I haven’t really given a crap about what anyone else thinks – I’m doing this for myself, trying to be the best version of myself, and I’ve been enjoying it. Hopefully I can go out there and do really well in the ‘A’ stuff and the rest will take care of itself. But if I don’t, I know it’s not the end of the world.”He isn’t looking too closely at all that’s changed around him in the wake of the Newlands ball-tampering scandal, which saw three key players get hit with long bans and the coach resign.”JL (Langer) is my fifth coach of Australia now [after Tim Nielsen, stand-in Troy Cooley, Mickey Arthur and Darren Lehmann]. I’ve been through it all, I’ve seen a lot of different coaches, and I’ve been in and out of the team a lot – especially in my younger years. I’ve learnt to just realise there are some things you can’t control.”What he can control, though, he appears to have been doing very well indeed lately.

Two new faces named in 15-man squad to take on Pakistan in the UAE later this month

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2017Uncapped batsmen Sadeera Samarawickrama and Roshen Silva have earned call-ups to the Sri Lanka Test squad touring the UAE.Back in the fray, meanwhile, are two relatively experienced hands. Lahiru Thirimanne, who last played a Test in June 2016, has been recalled, as vice-captain no less. Opener Kaushal Silva, whose most recent Test was in South Africa in January, is also in the squad.Among those absent are Asela Gunaratne and Kusal Perera , who remain unavailable through injury, and Upul Tharanga, who has ruled himself out of contention from Test cricket for six months. Angelo Mathews will also miss the first Test, at least, due to a calf injury.On the bowling front, Sri Lanka have opted to omit the pace of Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara, and will instead rely on seam movement and control. Leading the quicks will be Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal, who had both performed creditably on Sri Lanka’s most recent tour to the UAE, in 2013-14. Left-arm seamer Vishwa Fernando, and Lahiru Gamage – who is uncapped in Tests – are the other frontline seam options.Sadeera Samarawickrama bats for Sri Lanka Under-19s•ICC

A familiar trio form the slow-bowling contingent: left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan has been picked alongside fingerspinners Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera. There is no place, however, for Malinda Pushpakumara, the left-arm spinner who debuted during Sri Lanka’s home series against India in August.Samarawickrama’s call-up was somewhat expected, given his returns in the Premier League Tournament this year. He topped the Tier A run-charts, hitting 1016 runs at an average of 59.76, while also keeping wicket for Colts Cricket Club. In February, he had also made 185 against an England Lion’s attack featuring Toby Roland-Jones and Tom Curran, in Dambulla. Even if Niroshan Dickwella – the other wicketkeeper-batsman in the squad – takes the gloves, Samarawickrama could be in line for a middle-order position.While this is Samarawickrama’s first entry into the national squad, Roshen Silva had been in a Sri Lanka Test squad last year, though without breaking into the XI. He has also been selected on the basis of solid first-class performance. He scored 614 runs at 55.81 in this year’s Premier League tournament, and has maintained an average of 48.19 over 156 first-class innings, typically batting in the middle order.Places for these two batsmen means Dhananjaya de Silva – who had been so impressive in 2016 – no longer even finds a place in the main squad. He is among five players who are on standby – the others being spinners Akila Dananjaya and Jeffrey Vandersay, allrounder Dasun Shanaka, and fast bowler Kumara.Sri Lanka are set to depart for the tour on Sunday, and will begin their first Test in Abu Dhabi from September 28. The second Test, in Dubai, will be a day-night encounter.Sri Lanka squad: Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne (vice-capt), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Rangana Herath, Lakshan Sandakan, Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Gamage