After Grant Flower, Sri Lanka team analyst tests positive for COVID-19

Ruturaj Gaikwad open to bat in middle order for India in Sri Lanka series

West Indies vs Australia | 1st T20I: Powerful Windies look to dismantle second string Australia

After losing the five-match T20I series against a resurgent South African team, the strong Caribbean outfit will be up against a second-string Australian side in a five-match T20 series that kicks off at Gros Islet in St. Lucia tomorrow. Despite languishing at 9in the latest ICC T20I rankings, it doesn’t reflect how good a team West Indies is with most of the T20 specialists there in the squad ahead of their title defence of the T20 World Cup slated to be played in UAE later this year. On the other hand, Australia will be playing for the first time since the home series against New Zealand in March and with so many players backing out of this tour due to fatigue issues, it presents a golden opportunity to quite a few to come in the mix for the showpiece event later this year. The new-look side has some exceptional talents and will look to seize their opportunity in a high octane series against the defending world champions in this format. All teams are currently preparing for the T20 World Cup and with so many players backing out for Australia, captain Aaron Finch has made it pretty clear that the players missing out in this series won’t be an automatic pick in the showpiece event if the fringe players grab their opportunities. He had also stated that the eventual World Cup team could be significantly different to what it was looking 12-18 months ago. Meanwhile, West Indies won’t be too disappointed with the series defeat against the Proteas. They made a good account of themselves but eventually lost to a better team. However, the hard-hitting batting line-up looks in good shape but have been inconsistent in the recent past. Only Evin Lewis scored over 100 runs in the series against South Africa. While skipper Kieron Pollard did make a match-winning impact in the 4th ODI, the rest of the unit couldn’t quite convert their starts. West Indies vs Australia: Match Details Match No- 1st T20I Date and Time: July 10, 2021, 05:00 AM IST, 11:30 GMT, 7:30 PM Local time Venue: Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia. Pitch Report and Toss : The pitch at St Lucia should be a belter for the batsmen especially in the second part of the match. Teams batting second has a far better record than the team batting first. Hence it should be a sensible option to field. In the 13 T20s played in this stadium, teams batting first have won on 8 occasions. The two intra squad games which Australia played was a good batting deck and Dan Christian felt 170 will be a par score. Weather Forecast: The temperature is expected to hover around 27 degrees with very slim chances of rain. It should be a good contest between bat and ball and we hope that the rain gods stay away. Team News West Indies The West Indies outfit looks a strong one with Jason Holder among the only regular missing out from this series. He has been rested as a part of the workload management. The top order looks star-studded with the likes of Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons and Chris Gayle making the top three. Captain Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Spieceman Fletcher, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer you can keep on going but the list won’t end. Such is the firepower of the Windies batting line-up. Each one of them has the ability to turn any match on it’s head within a blink of an eye. The return of experienced campaigner Fidel Edwards had added a new variety to the squad with the likes of Obed McCoy and Sheldon Cottrell forming the pace cartel. Probable Playing XI Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Kieron Pollard ©, Andre Russell, Nicholas Pooran, Dwayne Bravo, Akeal Hosein, Obel McCoy, Fidel Edwards Australia The return of veteran Dan Christian should bolster the side with so many first-choice players absent from the squad. Aaron Finch will be leading the side and will look to handle his new look troops. He will open the batting with Matthew Wade with all-rounders Moises Henriques occupying the middle order positions. Josh Philippe who is a natural opener might not get a chance in his preferred position. He might have to do the finisher’s role alongside Dan Christian who has been in terrific T20 form off late with both bat and the ball. The bowling line-up will be led by Mitchell Starc and will be backed up by Riley Meredith or Josh Hazlewood whoever gets the nod. Probable Playing XI Aaron Finch, Matthew Wade, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Josh Philippe, Dan Christian, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Riley Meredith. Dream 11 team Wicket-keepers- Matthew Wade, Nicholas Pooran Batsmen- Aaron Finch, Kieron Pollard, Evin Lewis, Josh Philippe All-rounders- Andre Russell, Dan Christian Bowlers- Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Akeal Hosein.

Kieron Pollard backs Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer to reap rewards of their 'talent'

After an impressive win in the first T20I of the series against South Africa, West Indies suffered an unlikely series defeat as their brittle middle-order could not rise to the occasion of dealing with a perpetually challenging Proteas bowling attack. The series loss served as a harsh reminder to the Windies side who have been dominating the world in the shortest format of the game but the skipper Kieron Pollard has thrown his weight behind the side. He has chosen to work with young and talented people such as Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer, who have not best of times with the bat against Proteas, to see if they can translate their potential into performances. "When Hetmyer wasn't playing people were asking for his inclusion, now he's playing, he comes in and is trying to fulfil a role. He's a guy who is really, really talented, we have a lot of time for him. Let him play and see if we can reap the rewards of his talent. We are willing to work with him and he's willing to work. We just want him to succeed,” Pollard said before the start of the T20 series against Australia. "Nicholas Pooran, again, a young individual finding his craft, we know he's talented, and in any sportsman's career you will go through a period like this," Pollard said. "It is an opportunity for us to be there for these youngsters and give them this sort of hug and protect them then let them come out of it. Emphasizing the need to back younger players who can turn up their game in the near future, Pollard said that dropping them from the side would be the easiest decision for his side but it has not worked for them in the past and hence it would be a wrong move. He said that the team management knows ‘deep down’ that what these pliers bring to the table for West Indies and hence sticking with them while they are down on confidence and short of runs is the way forward. "As a team we are willing to work with these youngsters because we know in the future what they can do. Sometimes the easiest suggestion is to put them on the sidelines but is that going to help? Has it worked before? "We are going to stick with these guys because we know deep down inside that these guys are talented and have what it takes to take West Indies cricket forward." West Indies as a side have been known for brutal hitting of the balls and their batsmen, in general, rely on boundary hitting more than rotating strike compared to the other teams across the world. The trend was all too similar in the lost series against South Africa and Pollard took cognisance of higher dot ball played by his batsmen. However, he said that the fact which has emerged as an issue can be a ‘two-fold’ case and it also shows that the Windies batsmen hit a lot more boundary shots than their opponents. "Yes, we've had a high percentage of dot balls throughout the series and the one prior to that. It has been spoken about time and time again, I can assure you that we try not to leave any stone unturned. We have a wealth of experience and wealth of coaches who take time to go into details of where we need to improve as a team. "There's a lot of conversations taking place but we still need to put it into practice. Some things might take longer, but that's the nature of life. It's like going into school, some persons need extra lessons to get it right. It can become a concern but is it a concern when you look around at the other teams and we hit more boundaries than them at different times. That's our strength, so it's two-fold." Windies will take on Australia in a five-match long T20 series starting July 10 in St. Lucia and a three-match ODI series starting on July 21 in Barbados.

BCCI reminds team management of 'system' after confusion over player replacement

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has said that the team management led by captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri has not followed due process of addressing any sort of challenges while being on the tour of England. An unnamed BCCI official has said to news agency ANI that the team management should have addressed their letter to Secretary Jay Shah or the acting CEO instead of the selection committee albeit they needed help in terms of selection. "It is time for the team management to focus on the tour after the break. There has been a lot of chatter around this whole replacement business and the email from the team management to the chairman of selectors, which has apparently caused confusion in the minds of a lot of people except possibly the team management and the selectors. I think this is on account of the fact that the team manager addressed the email to the chairman of selectors rather than to the BCCI's acting CEO or the secretary," ANI quoted an unnamed BCCI official as saying. "It is very simple, when you are on tour, if there is any requirement or difficulty, you are to speak or write to the secretary or the CEO or their office since they are your point of contact. You have to keep in mind that this is the Indian team's tour and not a private tour and a system has to be followed.” The official explained that the selection committee by itself does not have the power to initiate a decision-making process to send players abroad and that the responsibility of arranging facilities fall under the ambit of the board. "If funds are required, you do not just speak to the accountant and request a funds transfer because till the approvals are in place the chat would not mean anything, there is a system of checks and balances. Similarly, the selection committee is not empowered to unilaterally take a decision on the basis of an email. However, the selection committee can -- if they feel the necessity -- request the board if they wish to make changes and the board does usually accord approval for this,” the official emphasized. Reports have emerged that the team management and the selection committee led by former pacer Chetan Sharma are at loggerheads over the issue of a backup opener for an injured Shubman Gill. The team management has written an email to the Sharma-led committee but the selection committee is yet to respond with their objection or acceptance for a backup opener. The official said that the team management will have to accept that the issue of selecting a team and players do not fall under their power alone and hence the selection committee’s views on the selection of players or not selecting players will have to be respected. The official said that the episodes of differences coming to the public and creating a storm will set wrong precedents for Indian cricket and the team management should be wary of creating such situations. "Over the last year the selection committee has been giving the team management the replacements they have asked for and that is because of the fact that the choice of the selection committee has been coinciding with the choice of the team management. They would however do well to accept the fact that it is not the job of the team management to select the squad or to insist on specific players as that can prove to be deeply conflicted decision making. That job is of the selection committee alone and even the office bearers cannot play a role in the selection," the official said. "It is no surprise that the one time that there is a divergence in views, stories with motives being attributed to selectors start appearing and this must be avoided as this is unhealthy for Indian cricket and for the team management.” Indian team is on a break after the conclusion of the World Test Championship final against New Zealand and will rejoin as a group for a tour game against a selected county side in the last week of July. The first Test of the series against England will be held in Nottingham in the first week of the next month.