The bowling coach has also identified some back-up candidates for South Africa’s international bowlers

Firdose Moonda21-Apr-2020The ability to not lose their collective cool during South Africa’s worst home season since readmission is what kept the new national staff on track during the 2019-20 summer, according to bowling coach Charl Langeveldt.South Africa won only one out of five home series across all formats and navigated through numerous obstacles, including administrative crisis, retirements and several debuts, but the team management remained level-headed and now have a clear way forward.”As a coaching staff, we were calm. I am very calm. I am not an emotional coach, so I keep my emotions in check,” Langeveldt said, in the midst of a 35-day nationwide lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus. “I think if you want to become a good coach, you need to find a balance with your emotions. As a coaching group, we could have got very upset but we just came back and said this is what we need to focus on to improve. The players listened and they went and took that out onto the field.”Langeveldt joined Mark Boucher’s backroom staff from Bangladesh, where he was working as the bowling coach after a stint with Afghanistan and a previous spell with South Africa between 2015 and 2017. He was let go when Ottis Gibson took over as head coach and assumed the bowling coach duties himself. Under Boucher, a bowling coach was once again required and Langeveldt was persuaded to return home and work with players he knew, albeit in very different circumstances.The South African team Langeveldt left had lost a Test series in England in 2017 but still had Morne Morkel, Duanne Olivier and Chris Morris in its ranks. The one he returned to had none of them and was also preparing to say goodbye to Vernon Philander, besides coping without Kagiso Rabada, who was first suspended, then rested and then injured.”We had a lot of youngsters coming into the set-up and that was really hard for us and then when you lose a big player like KG, it’s difficult to replace him,” Langeveldt said. “But in saying that, we came back and showed we can play with a young attack and we competed.”ALSO READ: Tabraiz Shamsi interview: ‘Was on the sidelines for three years, so want to take the chance now’Langeveldt’s stand-out speedster of the summer was Lungi Ngidi, who is South Africa’s leading white-ball wicket-taker in 2020 so far and rated himself as six out of 10 last week. “When Lungi Ngidi came back after a long layoff, there was a lot of pressure on him to perform. In a young attack, he was regarded as one of the senior bowlers,” Langeveldt said. “He really handled it well. He stepped up to the plate. I was so proud of him. He showed he can handle pressure.”Ngidi was particularly impressive at the death, where he took three wickets in the final over of the opening T20I against England, for example. He also worked well with Anrich Nortje, Lutho Sipamla and Tabraiz Shamsi. “Where we came from, in December, it showed there was a lot of improvement and guys were assessing conditions on the field and adjusting,” Langeveldt said. “Most of these guys come from the domestic level and they haven’t played a lot of international cricket. It showed a lot of maturity and that for us is a real plus point in going forward.”But the work is far from over and Langeveldt’s next task is to develop a second-tier of international quality bowlers who can step up, if needed, with him having already identified some candidates. “We’ve been looking around the country for young and upcoming bowlers. You always have to have replacements if somebody gets injured,” Langeveldt said. “Guys like [Under-19 players] Lifa Ntanzi and Gerald Coetzee and Glenton Stuurman from the Warriors. These are the guys that are going to be the back-up for our national team.”All those players were due to be involved in a six-day bowling camp scheduled to start on Sunday but it was postponed. Instead, Langeveldt and the rest of the coaching staff have a meeting planned for Wednesday to address their plans for the rest of the winter period. And Langeveldt is hopeful they will be able to get some intensive training in. “These camps are really important to up skill these guys to international standard,” he said.South Africa’s lockdown is scheduled to end on April 30 but the national team will not be in action until at least mid-July when they are due to travel to the West Indies for two Tests and five T20Is. On Monday, their June white-ball tour of Sri Lanka was postponed and a call on the West Indies series is likely to be made in the coming weeks with officials hopeful that the home summer, starting in September-October will go ahead as planned.

Captain Jason Holder says squad have “a duty to show solidarity”

Matt Roller28-Jun-2020West Indies will wear a Black Lives Matter emblem on the collars of their shirts during July’s Test series against England.Captain Jason Holder hinted in his first press conference of the tour that West Indies would look to support the movement in some way, and said in a statement on Sunday: “We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness.”The logo used will be that worn on the shirts of all 20 Premier League football clubs since the sport’s restart earlier this month, designed by Alisha Hosannah, whose partner Troy Deeney is Watford’s captain. Deeney was contacted by CWI for approval, and the ICC gave permission for the emblem to be worn on the teams’ collars.ALSO READ: Holder says ‘world must come together’ as West Indies arrive for historic tour“This is a pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team,” Holder said. “We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the fight for justice and equality.”As a group of young men, we know of the rich and diverse history of West Indies cricket and we know we are guardians of the great game for generation to come.”We did not take our decision lightly. We know what it is for people to make judgments because of the colour of our skin, so we know what it feels like, this goes beyond the boundary. There must be equality and there must be unity. Until we get that as people, we cannot stop.”We have to find some way to have equal rights and people must not be viewed differently because of the colour of their skin or ethnic background.”Jason Holder sports the new West Indies shirt•CWI

Deeney said: “Alisha and I are immensely proud to be asked and take part in a monumental moment in world sport, this amazing decision by the West Indies cricket team to show their support for Black Lives Matter.”Watching cricket with my grandad, and seeing Brian Lara transcend from being a cricketer to a worldwide superstar, shaped my childhood, so it’s great to be able to help West Indies cricket show their support in such a meaningful way.”The shirts are expected to be worn for the first time in this week’s first-class, four-day warm-up match at Emirates Old Trafford, which starts on Monday.The ICC had previously told ESPNcricinfo that they would operate a “common-sense approach to the implementation of regulations” regarding demonstrations of solidarity with the movement, which would be assessed on a “case-by-case basis”.England are also expected to mark their support for the movement during the series following discussions within the squad, and may also wear blue armbands in recognition of the contribution of NHS staff during the Covid-19 pandemic. The ECB announced last week that players would wear the names of cricket-supporting key workers on their training shirts ahead of the first Test.West Indies’ shirts will also be the first to feature a chest sponsor, like those seen in football since the 1970s. The ICC’s chief executives’ committee ratified a change earlier this month to allow a relaxation of rules on apparel logos for the next 12 months, seemingly to help them maintain relations with sponsors during a difficult financial period.Logos on the fronts of players’ shirts will not be permitted to exceed 32 square inches in size, as per the regulations for ODI and T20I kits. England are also expected to release a shirt with a chest sponsor in the next few days.

Captain says selections driven by need to have “experienced guys making good decisions under pressure” for coming World Cups

Alan Gardner29-Jul-2020England will play their first ODI on home soil since last summer’s successful World Cup campaign when they take on Ireland in a three-match series from Thursday, with captain Eoin Morgan hailing the “unbelievably talented” group of players at his disposal.Despite six members of the World Cup final XI being unavailable while on Test duty (plus the absence of the discarded Liam Plunkett), Morgan said that selecting the first white-ball squad of the reshaped English summer was “particularly difficult”, with a number of young batsmen pushing for inclusion during the intra-squad encounters.Players such as Phil Salt, who scored a 58-ball hundred for England Lions against Ireland on Sunday, and Sam Hain, who averages 59.78 in List A cricket, were left on the sidelines, as England chose to give further opportunities to a clutch of candidates who were in and around the World Cup group last year, such as James Vince, Joe Denly and Sam Billings.ALSO READ: Topley wins recall, Billings and Willey return to face IrelandMorgan said that England’s depth in white-ball cricket was “definitely” greater than at any previous time during his involvement.”Being able to see more and more of the Lions players or the guys outside of the Lions over the last couple of weeks has been exceptional,” he said. “There is such a big pool of players who are unbelievably talented. Yes we don’t know whether they will succeed in international cricket but you are comfortable selecting them in the squad for if you need them at any stage.”Selection was particularly difficult. Over the last four-and-a-bit years we’ve always had tough decisions to make and I think everybody who was left out was a tough call. The standard and skill level that has been produced since guys have come together has been exceptional. It’s been way above the standard that I expected given the time we had off. Certainly [Salt and Hain] were unlucky to miss out along with others.”I think we’re blessed with a high-calibre group of top-order batters, not only in the first XI but also sitting in the wings. Even the guys that will play this series and the guys that are left out will probably need some injuries to get call-ups. It’s a product of having a consistently strong team over the last period of time, it’s allowed players to spend more time at county cricket so your highly-talented players aren’t playing a handful of county games and then automatically being called up to the national team… It’s a huge positive even though it’s bad news for the guys who have missed out.”Eoin Morgan and Jonny Bairstow head to the nets•Getty Images

Without the likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, England could have been tempted to include a few more faces from their up-and-coming generation – Tom Banton is the only batsman under the age of 29 in the squad – but Morgan gave an indication of the value he places on experience when asked about the retention of Vince and Billings.”I think a lot of the perception is that they’ve almost had their chance and their time has gone – whereas we see it as, going into the next World Cup, we need experienced guys making good decisions under pressure, that’s exactly what we’re after, and experience lends itself to that. We’ll continue to give opportunities but it’s to those guys we feel might have an impact in selection on the next two T20 World Cups or the next 50-over World Cup.”Morgan also talked about the “framework” of England’s ODI batting, and the importance of selecting players to fill certain roles. “We have an abundance of top-order batters and possibly an area that we need to fill is in the lower and middle order where we need a bit more strength in depth,” he said.To that end, England look set to continue with 34-year-old Denly at No. 5, where he made scores of 87 and 66 in South Africa back in February, and Banton a place lower down – despite his regular role as an opener for Somerset – with Morgan encouraging both to stake claims for further involvement.”Joe played really well in South Africa, a long time ago but he’s still a high-quality player,” Morgan said. “Creating opportunities for him is important to us. With Joe, age is not something we talk about – he’s fit and agile as anybody. It’s just his desire and hunger to play and succeed. I think the opportunities that both of those guys might get will determine how they long they might go or what direction we go in.”While the greater part of England’s white-ball focus has recently been on T20, the postponement of this year’s World Cup allows for some breathing space, and perhaps a celebration of the format that Morgan and his team finally cracked in 2019. As World Cup holders, Morgan admitted “it creates a level of expectation everywhere we go” – particularly against an opposition like Ireland, hungry to take advantage of their limited opportunities on the biggest stage.Tom Banton plays a cut shot•Getty Images

“That sits well with some of our guys but for a lot of our guys, they haven’t experienced that, so it’s important to recognise what is expected of us moving forward,” Morgan said. “Because we want to win more trophies.”Following the ECB’s successful implementation of bio-security protocols to enable the Test series against West Indies to go ahead, Morgan said the one-day team were happy to be back playing, even behind closed doors, and thanked Ireland for bringing forward their tour amid uncertainty about whether planned series against Australia will go ahead.”I think given the context of everything that’s gone on over the last five months or so, we are extremely happy to be playing,” he said. “Things are moving quite quickly outside of the bubble, I know Middlesex and Surrey over the weekend did have spectators and things like that, so potentially down the line that might progress. But given the context and the serious nature of the virus, we’re just delighted both to be back playing but also to have cricket back on TV. I think there’s a huge and monumental effort gone into everything to make it happen so we’re extremely grateful for that and also grateful for Ireland coming over.”

Sammy among those critical of Trinidad-based players getting an unfair advantage in terms of preparation

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Aug-2020A week before the 2020 CPL takes off, disgruntlement has been brewing among several franchises who are unhappy with Trinidad-based players and staff, most of whom represent Trinbago Knight Riders, being allowed to remain outside the bio-secure bubble and continue to train while rest of the squads are cooped up in their hotel rooms for more than a week.Among those being critical is Daren Sammy, the St Lucia Zouks’ captain, who said “everyone” should have been part of the bubble from the first day to “guarantee” that the health and safety of all stake holders is not “compromised.”Some of the Knight Riders players who are from Trinidad include internationals Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons and emerging young talent Jayden Seales.On Tuesday, the CPL sent out a media release saying Zouks and Knight Riders were the first two teams to be allowed to train. The release also said the local Trinidad players and staff had cleared the mandatory testing process and would start entering the bubble this week.On Monday, Sammy posted two messages without naming any player or team. “How can everybody else be in a bubble no access to training or practice games while others on the outside in a covid infected area be training and playing practice games. Then allow to join the bubble without self isolation,” Sammy said in his first post.An hour later he put out another tweet, saying: “everyone should have been in the bubble from day 1. That the only way you can guarantee everyone’s health and safety is not compromised. But hey I’m no covid expert.” In addition to Sammy, it is understood even defending champions Barbados Tridents had approached the CPL, raising the red flag about why the local contingent from Trinidad was not asked to enter the bubble and undergo the mandatory week-long quarantine. Rival teams felt that the Knight Riders were getting an unfair advantage in terms of preparation as most of their squad players were not just training but had also played few practise matches.As per the CPL protocol, it is mandatory for all team members coming from outside of Trinidad to quarantine in their hotel rooms for one week. After that, each member will need to report two negative tests before heading into training.Michael Hall, the tournament operations director, said that the CPL has been “extremely careful” about “introducing those who are resident in Trinidad & Tobago into the tournament bubble”.Although the Knight Riders have made no comment, it is understood that they are satisfied that they have broken no rules. It is understood that Trinidad-based players who are part of other teams like Nicholas Pooran, who represents Guyana Amazon Warriors, were also approached to participate in the practice matches, but they refused.One person privy to developments said he found nothing wrong with the local Knight Riders players training, considering the Covid-19 pandemic had not allowed them that opportunity since the country went into a lockdown. As for the unfair advantage, the official said the same could apply to Tridents, some of whose players had been part of the Test series in England, including their captain Jason Holder and Shai Hope.Anyone coming into Trinidad a ‘potential threat’On August 8, Dr. Akshai Mansingh, the CPL’s chief medical officer, sent a note to all teams, explaining the quarantine norms both for team members coming into Trinidad from outside and for locals.With regards to team members resident in Trinidad, Mansingh said in an email seen by ESPNcricinfo, that they “can join the bubble having had a negative test after day 8. Thereafter they must remain in the bubble and comply with the above mentioned guidelines.”While other teams are undergoing mandatory quarantine, Trinbago Knight Riders are stepping out to play practice games•CPL T20/Getty Images

Mansingh said with Trinidad recording eight deaths and less than 300 Covid-19 positive cases until Tuesday, “anyone coming in from outside” was seen “as a potential threat.” The country has closed its borders and the bubble was hence mandatory and would also apply to all incoming people, including Trinidadians travelling home from overseas. As for local citizens, there were no restrictions on their movements. “They have not restricted movements of their citizens as they have not had large community spread,” Mansingh said. “This of course could change in the future.”According to Mansingh, even Caribbean players who were part of the England tour recently would need to undergo the quarantine. “For those of you coming from the English tour, I just want to point out the difference between the two bubbles. When we went to England, we were coming from countries with few cases of Covid-19 into a country where it was rampant. As a result, all that was done was to keep us safe from what was happening outside, and hence people were allowed to move in clusters and meet in rooms etc.”Mansingh pointed out that all teams had to abide by the “law of the land” and the Trinidad Health Ministry was “very strict” that rules applicable to the bubble had to be adhered to. “We understand that this has been taxing physically and mentally for all, but we have to comply with the rules laid down by the Ministry of Health. We continue to be in dialogue with them and represent the realities in the bubble.”

He took four wickets in his first two overs, a blow from which the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots could never recover

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy27-Aug-2020A maiden T20 five-wicket haul from Mohammad Nabi led the St Lucia Zouks to their fourth win in six matches, against the bottom-placed St Kitts & Nevis Patriots who could never recover after their top order imploded on a square turner in Port-of-Spain.The Zouks won the toss and chose to bowl, and Nabi set the tone straightaway with two wickets in the first over of the match, and two more in the third. The Patriots slipped to 38 for 5 at one stage, and even if they recovered to get past the 100 mark, they fell well short of setting a target that could have put pressure on the Zouks line-up.A brief spell of Test cricketThere was some moisture in the Queen’s Park Oval surface early on, and Daren Sammy threw the ball to Nabi straightaway to see if there was any grip for his offbreaks. There was plenty, and Nabi bowled at a slower pace than usual, to try and induce errors by making the batsmen reach for the ball. That plan immediately brought two Test-match-style wickets: Chris Lynn caught and bowled, done in by dip and sharp turn while trying to drive against the turn, and the left-hander Nick Kelly caught at slip while trying to defend.Spin, spin, spinScott Kuggeleijn bowled the second over, but thereafter it was all spin until the end of the 17th.Nabi picked up two more wickets in his second over, with Denesh Ramdin and Evin Lewis both done in by the ball stopping, turning and bouncing while they tried to sweep. From 11 for 4, it was a hard slog for the Patriots to get any sort of total on the board, and even though the Zouks’ other spinners didn’t achieve Nabi’s level of wicket-taking penetration, they were all extremely hard to hit on a pitch where the ball turned big and, by and large, slowly.On such a surface, the sweep remained one of the few run-scoring options, even if it remained a risky shot. Ben Dunk played it often, with a reasonable degree of control, and scored 33 off 39 balls to give the innings some semblance of shape, with no one else in the top six getting into the double figures.Dunk’s only boundaries were a pair of sixes down the ground on rare occasions when Rahkeem Cornwall and Zahir Khan fed him loopy half-volleys. Those two sixes and another early on from Ramdin were, in fact, were the only boundaries in Patriots’ innings until the end of the 17th over – the last of Nabi’s quota, when he came back and dismissed Sohail Tanvir, off another top-edged sweep, to complete his five-for.Rahkeem Cornwall smashes one over long-off•Getty Images

Pace travels the distanceFrom thereon, Sammy went to his faster bowlers to finish the innings. With some pace to work with finally, the Patriots got some big hits away, with Rayad Emrit and Alzarri Joseph hitting a four and three sixes between them – mostly off short balls clubbed over midwicket – off Kuggeleijn and Kesrick Williams. Thirty-seven runs came off the last three overs of the Patriots’ innings, enabling them to set a target of 111.The shape of their innings should have given the Patriots some clue as to which bowlers to entrust with the bulk of their overs. They started with the pace of Sohail Tanvir, however, and the Zouks immediately took full toll. They shaved 20 runs off their target in the first over, courtesy the effortless power of Cornwall, who hit the left-armer for two fours and two sixes – an effortless pick-up shot over square leg and a flat-bat thump over mid-off.Chase, Zadran steer Zouks to victoryCornwall muscled another big leg-side six, off the legspinner Imran Khan, in the third over but fell two balls later to one that shot through low. A brief rain interruption followed, and Imran had another wicket immediately upon resumption as Mark Deyal miscued an unnecessary slog – the required rate at that stage was under five an over.Imran picked up another wicket – Andre Fletcher caught at midwicket – in the seventh over of the Zouks’ innings, but by then they were already nearly halfway home. Roston Chase then played simple, risk-free cricket from one end and Najibullah Zadran took some calculated risks – including a pair of clinical reverse-sweeps off the offspinner Jon-Russ Jaggesar – from the other, as a fourth-wicket stand of 47 put the Zoyks within sight of victory.Zadran fell with just 12 runs required, but only the formalities were left; Zouks had 32 balls to spare when Chase swatted the winning boundary.

Mumbai Indians bowling coach wants his team to exploit KL Rahul’s middle-overs sluggishness

Shashank Kishore30-Sep-2020Fast bowlers need to show adaptability – quickly – in the face of changing surfaces in the UAE as IPL 2020 progresses, according to Shane Bond, the Mumbai Indians bowling coach, who has been spending a lot of time with his bowling group as the team looks to rebound after two losses in their first three matches.”We have to adapt as quickly as we possibly can,” Bond said ahead of Thursday’s clash against Kings XI Punjab. “We have a simple theory: we try to bowl seven metres as a fast-bowling group, five metres as a spin-bowling group [from the batsman]. We practise those lengths consistently. Regardless of the pitch and conditions, if you are in those areas, you are in the right slots.”Bond insisted yorkers may not always be the most effective delivery in a given match situation. With the Mumbai Indians having played two games in Abu Dhabi, he feels short deliveries into the pitch, especially at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, which has bigger boundaries, could prove equally effective. In their previous game, Jasprit Bumrah went searching for yorkers at the death but missed his lengths and was dispatched for 14 runs off three balls by AB de Villiers. However, he was able to find the perfect length in the Super Over. When he later switched over to a short ball, de Villiers managed to find a top-edge that flew to the boundary to effectively seal the game. “It comes down to if you have to change your pace, go wide or straighter, depending on the pitch and conditions, the boundaries,” Bond explained. “So we talk about them. I think the yorker is one of the many balls fast bowlers have in their armory. Abu Dhabi has got big square boundaries and the pitches are on the slower side. So you could argue that a length ball or a slower bouncer is harder to hit for six rather than perhaps taking pitch out of play, miss your yorker and get hit back over your head.”It’s definitely not a ball that’s been just ruled out for us. I think you saw Bumrah bowl that at AB de Villiers but missed it and got hit for a couple of sixes. But he went back to it in the Super Over and executed it brilliantly. Look, it’s a tough ball to hit under pressure and also, if you miss that ball, the likelihood that it’s going get hit for a boundary back over your head goes higher.”Mumbai are big on match-ups. They meticulously look at past records, which batsman has fared well or has struggled against what kind of bowling. As he spoke of their plans for Thursday, Bond touched upon KL Rahul’s form and his past record – he scored 100 off 64 balls when the two sides met in Mumbai last year.”From our point of view, we have a whole range of different balls. We look at the batsmen and analyse where they score at the back of the game, what are their preferred zones,” Bond said. “And we try to make it as hard as we possibly can with an element of unpredictability, so that the batsman isn’t quite sure what length or line the bowler is bowling and has a field that gives the bowler options to bowl two or three different balls.”Bond stopped short of revealing Mumbai’s plans for their upcoming game, but identified shortcomings in the opposition line-up they could look to exploit. One such weakness is Rahul’s tendency to slow down against spin once he settles down.Among all the batsmen to have scored 100 or more runs against spin after the powerplay since IPL 2019, Rahul is the slowest to find the fence and has lowest boundary percentage of 35.30. In the record-breaking thriller between the Kings XI and the Rajasthan Royals, Rahul nearly batted through but his sluggishness against spin and in the middle overs was only covered up by Mayank Agarwal’s aggression as the latter brought up his maiden IPL century.”He has got runs against us in the last few games against us as well,” Bond acknowledged. “We know he’s a dynamic player who scores all around the ground. We also know that he takes his time generally through the middle overs, so that’s perhaps an opportunity if he gets that far to create that pressure on him and the batsmen around him. We will have specific ideas about how we’re going to get him out.”In the end, we can’t allow him to score in areas where he’s very strong. He scores well over extra cover, the pick-up over fine leg. We have a quality bowling unit, so we just have to put as much pressure on him and Mayank who have been the two key batters for Kings XI. If we can get those boys out early and put pressure on the middle order early, hopefully we can restrict them or stop them from scoring the runs we can get on the board.”

The Royals have a lot of questions to deal with, their captain’s poor form one of them

Shashank Kishore16-Oct-2020

Big picture

Who would have imagined that Virat Kohli vs Steven Smith would become a bit of a no-contest at the halfway mark of IPL 2020? Kohli started slowly, but has found his rhythm, and is making a difference. Smith, in comparison, has gone off the boil after a promising start, when he hit two half-centuries in winning causes. There’s more to the contest, of course: the Royal Challengers Bangalore are well-placed with five wins from eight games, and the Rajasthan Royals are struggling with three wins from eight games.The Royal Challengers are at the end of a hectic week. By Saturday, they would have played four games in eight days. Their previous outing – against the Kings XI Punjab – made headlines for their tactical mix-ups: the Royal Challengers sent in two left-handers – Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube – ahead of the in-form AB de Villiers to combat two legspinners on a slow surface. Kohli agreed the execution was off.Now, data goes beyond conventional logic. It shows de Villiers may have gotten out to a legspinner, as he has against bowlers of other varieties, but that is no reason to hold him back. If it was M Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi on Thursday, he will have Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia, or maybe even Mayank Markande, coming at him on Saturday. Since the start of 2019, de Villiers has averaged 52.5 against legspin while striking at 135.77. That alone is enough reason to ensure he gets enough time to set himself up, whether they bat first or chase.The Royals have questions over their batting order too. Do they continue opening with Ben Stokes? Or can they do with his insurance in the middle? What do they do with a misfiring Robin Uthappa? Do they bring in a youngster, at a crucial stage, or keep their faith in the veteran? How do they balance out their bowling to ensure Jofra Archer isn’t the lone man standing? There’s more. Like Sanju Samson’s dwindling returns. Saturday could either answer a few of these questions or throw up new ones.

In the news

• The Royals are not fretting over where they are on the points table. “We’ve been in this situation before and have come back from this, so we’re not panicking about this,” Jofra Archer said. “We know it can be done and I believe in this team to do it. There are wins out there and we just as a team need to go out there and get those wins.” Well, last time they played an afternoon game in Dubai, they pulled off a heist courtesy Riyan Parag and Tewatia.
• Mohammad Siraj had an off day in Sharjah. RCB have tactically strengthened their bowling by playing seven options at the smallest ground. In Dubai, it’s possible they could go back to Gurkeerat Singh. If they are willing to look beyond, they could even hand Shahbaz Ahmed a debut. The allrounder bowls Axar Patel-like left-arm spin apart from being an excellent lower-order batting option.

Previous meeting

The Royals huffed and puffed to 154 after Yuzvendra Chahal applied the brakes with a three-for. The Royal Challengers hardly broke a sweat as they cruised home by eight wickets, with Devdutt Padikkal and Kohli hitting half-centuries.AB de Villiers smacks one through the leg side•BCCI

Likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Devdutt Padikkal, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 AB de Villiers (wk), 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Chris Morris, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Navdeep Saini, 10 Mohammad Siraj/Shahbaz Ahmed, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal Rajasthan Royals: 1 Jos Buttler (wk), 2 Ben Stokes, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Sanju Samson, 5 Robin Uthappa/Manan Vohra, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Shreyas Gopal/Mayank Markande, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Kartik Tyagi

Strategy punts

• Why fix something that isn’t broken? Kohli held Washington back for Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran, the two big-hitting left-handers, on Thursday and it backfired. At the first sign of attack, Washington was taken out of the attack. In all other games, he’s bowled superbly in the powerplay, conceding at just 4.5 runs an over. He’s also dismissed quality batsmen like Rohit Sharma, Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis. Kohli might want to go back to the tested formula, irrespective of whether Stokes opens or bats in the middle.
• Padikkal likes pace on the ball, but against spin, especially early on, he has tended to lose his shape at times while playing the big shots. Aaron Finch, meanwhile, has been out to spin five times this season, the most for a top-order batsman, while only averaging 16.8 against it. Perhaps there’s a case for the Royals to give the Royal Challengers a taste of their own medicine and getting their spinners bowl in the first six.

Stats and trivia

• RCB haven’t lost a game when they have picked up a wicket in the powerplay this season.
• After the first ten balls, de Villiers’ strike rate zooms from 122 to 224, and he finds the boundary once in three balls.
• Shreyas Gopal has struggled this IPL, but now he’s up against his favourite team. He has taken 13 wickets against the Royal Challengers, almost double of what he has taken against any other team. He also concedes at less than six an over against them. He even has a hat-trick against them.
• Halfway into the tournament, Archer is the only bowler to bowl 100 dot balls. This is more than 50% of the balls he has bowled, the highest for anyone.

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.”

The BCCI will make its decision by December 2 after seeking opinion from the states

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2020The 2020-21 Indian domestic season could be limited to just white-ball cricket as several state associations have told the BCCI that they prefer to play the 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. A final decision is expected to be made by the BCCI soon after it seeks opinion from the states by December 2.With the Indian domestic season failing to start on time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the BCCI sent out an email on Sunday, asking state associations to pick their preference from four options by Wednesday. The options included: only Ranji Trophy, only Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, both the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Ranji Trophy, or only the limited-overs tournaments – along with tentative dates for each, in the timeframe between December 20 and March 18.ESPNcricnfo understands several states, including defending Ranij Trophy champions Saurashtra, domestic heavyweights Mumbai and Tamil Nadu, along with Baroda and Punjab, are all in favour of playing primarily the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare tournaments.The outliers among those contacted by ESPNcricinfo are the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) along with the Andhra Cricket Association and the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA), who have chosen the option of playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy followed by the Ranji Trophy.The BCCI had listed December 20-January 10 as the window for the domestic T20s. The Ranji Trophy would span 67 days starting January 11 through March 18. The Vijay Hazare Trophy has been proposed between January 11 and February 7.The major concerns that the states have expressed are centered around preparation and team selection. While some states have gradually begun to restart operations, training camps, and local tournaments over the last few months, the majority of them will be forced into a hurried pre-season based on BCCI’s current proposed dates.According to Shah the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy should also be conducted “group-wise” and preferably in the same zones to avoid travel hurdles amid the pandemic. Most states associations also pointed out that based on the conduct of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and the state of the pandemic in the country at the time, the BCCI could look at staging the Ranji Trophy thereafter.Rohit Pandit, chief executive officer at the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, said that the central Indian state was “more or less okay” with the BCCI’s proposed dates. Given that cricket in the state has been ongoing since July, he pointed out that logistical challenges aside, the team should be ready.In a press release, the KSCA said they were pushing for all kinds of cricket – men and women, across age groups – to resume to safeguard the welfare of those who are involved in the game. They are also understood to be willing to play hosts, with at least eight first-class standard grounds available in the state.”We, KSCA, have suggested to the BCCI to conduct T20 and Ranji Trophy, and later Vijay Hazare Trophy,” the release said. “We have further suggested to conduct all tournaments for both men and women, for all age groups for the season 2020-21. We have further said, if need be, skip the Duleep Trophy, Irani Trophy and Deodhar Trophy. We have said in case the activities are not held, then all the direct stakeholders including players, especially the age-group category cricketers, umpires, scorers, video analysts, coaches, support staff and others will stand to lose substantially on the cricketing front as well monetary front.”Bengal, who finished runner-up in the Ranji Trophy last season, are in favour of playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Ranji Trophy. The Cricket Association of Bengal, which is currently headed by Avishek Dalmiya, has also expressed keenness to be one of the six bio-secure venues for the forthcoming domestic season.A senior office bearer at Mumbai Cricket Association said that it was “it was a difficult ask which BCCI has to handle” and hence in its response the MCA had not put any conditions, including when the tournament should begin.Incidentally, the MCA is yet to resume cricketing activities and Mumbai are currently without a selection committee as well as a head coach. VCA has also asked the BCCI to facilitate resumption of cricketing activity in Maharashtra in order for players to get ample time for preparation.Some states like Tamil Nadu have already set the ball rolling and have called for a selection meeting later this week to pick a longlist of probables. Most states have asked the BCCI to make their decision soon and provide the tournament dates so that they can pick the teams accordingly. They have also sought details of the bio-secure hubs, where the teams would be based during a domestic tournament, and quarantine requirements.

Allrounder Kainat Imtiaz was recalled in the touring party of 17 for the three ODIs and T20Is each

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Dec-2020Pakistan have named Javeria Khan as the stand-in captain for the South Africa tour next month after regular captain Bismah Maroof pulled out for “family reasons”. A 17-women squad was announced for the three ODIs and as many T20Is, as Pakistan prepare for the Women’s World Cup Qualifier in July 2021 for the main event in early 2022 in New Zealand.Twenty-eight-year-old allrounder Kainat Imtiaz, who has been in an out of the team since 2010, was recalled after an impressive show in the domestic circuit. She averaged 111 from four games with a half-century and also picked up three wickets with her medium pace. Iram Javed, who was part of the squad for the T20 World Cup earlier this year, was dropped as the selectors recalled Ayesha Zafar, Kainat, Nahida Khan and Nashra Sandhu.As many as 27 players had been training for the tour in a biosecure bubble in Karachi in the lead up to the tour. The upcoming series will be Pakistan Women’s first after a gap of 10 months.The selections were broadly based on the performances in the recent National Triangular T20 Women’s Championship, played from November 22 to December 1 in Rawalpindi, and also took into account the form and fitness of the players in the recent camp. Nahida, 34, finished the Women’s Cricket Championship as the leading run-scorer with 154 runs at an average of 51, and Zafar was the fourth-best batter with a tally of 111. Muneeba Ali (with two hundreds and a fifty) and Omaima Sohail (one hundred) were retained in the squad because of their current form.”We have seen significant improvement over the last three months in the intent and mindset of the players and the team is shaping up well for the upcoming series,” chief selector Urooj Mumtaz said. “The squad is well balanced and possesses a good blend of youth and experience for what promises to be an exciting tour.”Javeria Khan is an experienced campaigner and has the desired understanding of the game which is necessary to lead the national women’s team. She has undertaken this responsibility in the past and I am certain she will rise to the occasion and inspire the players. Our last tour to South Africa in 2018 produced high-quality cricket and we are looking forward to yet another competitive tour, which will be instrumental for the new head coach David Hemp as well as in our preparations for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers.”The selected squad will continue to stay in Karachi and depart for Durban on 11 January. They will start training and play intra-squad matches from January 13 before the ODIs begin on January 20, followed by the T20Is, with the tour finishing on February 3.Squad for ODIs and T20Is: Javeria Khan (capt), Aimen Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Ayesha Naseem, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Kainat Imtiaz, Muneeba Ali Siddiqui, Nahida Khan, Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Nawaz (wk) and Syeda Aroob Shah