AUSW vs INDW | Day-night Test: Historic pink-ball Test ends in a draw

Mickey Arthur pins hopes on 'work in progress' batsmen for Sri Lanka's World T20 campaign

Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur has had his eyes set on the developments in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League being played in the UAE as he believes his side will play on similar surfaces in the T20 World Cup scheduled to follow the Indian T20 tournament. He also suggested the outlook of Sri Lanka’s team in the big tournament and hinted at the possible team selection calls to qualify for the main draw of the vent after being pushed down to the qualifying round. He said that there is a high possibility of playing two pacers and two spinner bowling combinations, but did not rule out the possibility of playing “ three out-and-out spinners”. "I've been watching the IPL very intently because we're going to be playing on the same wickets [during the World Cup]. Looking at the conditions, we'll probably go two seamers and two spinners, and then our all-rounders, and potentially another part-time spinner from our top-order batsman. But we are flexible enough - if the wickets dry out considerably - to go with three out-and-out spinners,” Arthur said before embarking on the tour of Oman where Sri Lanka are scheduled to play two T20Is before the warm-up games and qualifying round of the T20 World Cup. Arthur made bullish claims on “dramatic” improvements in the fielding department and a “very good” bowling attack but pinned the hopes of qualifying for the main event on the shoulders of batsmen. However, he also sought some bargain for his batsmen, who are “work in progress” and will learn the craft with maturity at the highest level. He outlined the team’s preparation and highlighted the areas and ways of scoring they want to capitalise and said that Sri Lanka will be banking on employing sweep shots to get on the top of the bowlers. However, he did not downplay the “real art of batsmanship” of strike rotation and finding gaps in the shortest format. "I think if our batting clicks it'll give us a really good chance because I think our bowling attack is very good and our fielding standards have improved dramatically. That is an area we've worked extremely hard on over the past nine days. We've had three practice games, we've had some skill sessions to prepare players to sweep, we identified where and how we want our players to play. We've almost scripted a game," Arthur added. "We've been very clear in what we want our players to do in terms of our match practice, and then we've gone to nets after that, reviewed it and practised it. So, I'm really comfortable now that we have got better at it. But it's certainly a work in progress.” “There's no magic wand here. It's easy to stand and try and hit boundaries, but having the ability to deflect a ball into a gap off a good ball is a real art. That's the real art of batsmanship. So, we've done a lot of drills during this phase, and we've harped on that. That's something I've been working on for the last nine months with our group." Arthur’s emphasis on batsmen is understood as he had to swallow a “bitter pill” that came in the form of suspension of the experienced trio of Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella, who were found guilty of breaching the bio-secure bubble in England. Calling their ban a big setback for the side, Arthur said that the absence of the trio meant that Sri Lanka were on the verge of going back to the drawing board while chalking out a strategy for the T20 World Cup. However, he highlighted the window of opportunities that “adversity” of suspension opened up for other players such as Dinesh Chandimal, Charith Asalanka, Pathum Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis, who have been shown signs of being ready to grab the opportunity. "That [the suspensions] was a massive blow for us. You're talking about three of your top-five batters in the white-ball format there. That was a bitter pill to swallow for sure. You suddenly got back to square one in terms of your planning again. It was really disappointing, but it led us to find the likes of Charith Asalanka, who has come on beautifully, Kamindu Mendis, who's playing beautifully, Pathum Nissanka probably got another opportunity again. It's allowed Dinesh Chandimal to come back into the mix. Bhanuka Rajapaksa to come back into the mix. So out of that adversity, it's allowed opportunities to other players." With the experienced players missing, Sri Lanka’s chances with the bat are more reliant on the shoulders of Kusal Perera’s bat than it was before and it will be tricky for the ideas the former skipper has just made a comeback after injury. Arthur Provided an update on his injury and said the wicketkeeper-batsman has been showing no signs of injury while maintaining that his return will not be rushed which can make him vulnerable to further injuries. Calling him one of their “major” players for the tournament, Arthur said that the left-hander will arrive in the competition in a “tip-top condition” but before that, his involvement will be limited to two out of the four games to ensure a smooth return to the international arena. "absolutely no signs of injury" - though the plan was still to ease him back into the side. "He has been working unbelievably hard with the physio. He batted today, he went out and set up the innings beautifully with young Pathum Nissanka. He played an exceptional innings and showed absolutely no signs of any injury. We'll still take it slow with him because he's one of our major players. We'll have him in tip-top condition come the first game on the 18th. But how do we use him in the coming games? Perhaps he plays two out of four,” Arthur concluded. Sri Lanka are set to play two T20Is against Oman on October 7 and 9 before starting the qualifying round of the T20 World Cup against Namibia, Ireland and the Netherlands.

IPL 2021 | RCB vs PBKS: Twitter reacts as third umpires continue to make blunders in the UAE leg

The third umpires in the Indian Premier League have come under the radar of the fans after some very pathetic decision making in the last three days. The latest blunder was made when Ravi Bishnoi managed to get a nick on the bat of a reverse sweeping Devdutt Padikkal in the eighth over of the Royal Challengers Bangalore innings. While the onfield umpire gave not out, KL Rahul, the captain and wicketkeeper of the Punjab Kings, who caught the ball immediately asked for a decision review and the call was sent upstairs to the third umpire. In the Ultraedge, it seemed very clear that the ball had got a feather touch of the gloves. However, everyone was just dumbfounded to see the not-out decision on the big screen. Earlier, in another match involving Punjab Kings, the third umpire has given KL Rahul controversially not out when everyone thought that he was caught cleanly by Rahul Tripathi against Kolkata Knight Riders. Although Padikkal couldn't make much of that opportunity, because of that call, Punjab also lost its review and that lingered on the mind of skipper Rahul. He even dropped Glenn Maxwell on nought and as a consequence, he went on to top score for the Challengers and with the help of his 57 off 33 balls, the team got past 160, which is a tough score at Sharjah.

Devon Conway outlines New Zealand's 'massive goal' of wining Tests in India

One of New Zealand’s newest sensations with the bat, Devon Conway, has said that defeating India on their home soil in the upcoming series will be a “massive goal” and “serious achievement” for the Blackcaps and rated the challenge tougher than defeating the Virat Kohli’s men in the ICC World Test Championship final earlier this year. He "Definitely. That's a massive goal that we'd like to achieve. To beat India in their home conditions is probably a bigger challenge than beating them in England. It would be a serious achievement, if not as big as the World Test Championship final. "That will be a very important series to try and prove that,” Conway told stuff.co.nz. However, he said that subcontinent conditions demand batsmen to be mentally ready for the challenges of the longest format while not being in defensive mode with the bat. He said that one should trust their defence and stick to their own methods that work for them to succeed in those conditions. "Travelling to the subcontinent and being presented with surfaces that turn, that's where you've got to be really strong mentally within your defence, trust your defence, and you've got to have a method in which you can score. If you're not looking to score runs you won't be in good positions. You've got to nail down a plan and stick to it as much as possible, even though it's going to be challenging,” Conway added. Conway announced his arrival on the big stage in the Test series against England right before the World Test Championship final against India. He was on the money from the word go and batted with the mind and class of a Test veteran to help the Blackcaps win their first Tests series win in England after 1999. Blackcaps would bank on him to provide an equally good start at the top of the order on the tour of India scheduled after the ICC World Cup, which is at the forefront of Conway’s agenda now. T20Is have been his first introduction to international cricket and Conway is looking forward to his first T20 World Cup scheduled to start this month. Discussing his mindset and batting position, Conway said that he is looking to bat at number four behind Martin Guptill, Tim Seifert, and Kane Williamson, where he would be trying to “manipulate” the field and run hard between wickets to keep the scoreboard going in the middle phase of the game. "We've got Martin Guptill up top and Tim Seifert who's done really well, and you've got the master, Kane Williamson, at three. If I could slot in at four it would be really good for the team's sake, try to manipulate those middle periods against spin and run hard between the wickets,” Conway concluded.

I always look to take wickets rather than looking to contain runs: Avesh Khan

Delhi Capitals pacer Avesh Khan who has been one of the leading wicket-takers in this season of the IPL has said that whenever the skipper hands him the ball, he tries to pick wickets rather than looking to contain runs. "Thanks to Rishabh, he has given me the opportunity to play this season, whenever I bowl, I always look to take wickets rather than looking to contain runs. I was trying to take the wicket of Hardik Pandya, the ball reversed a bit and hence I was able to dismiss him," Avesh told teammate Axar Patel in a video posted on IPLT20.com. Khan has picked up 21 wickets in 12 matches that he has played so far in the competition and is sitting at the number two position in the wicket-taker’s tally. Delhi Capitals have already qualified for the playoffs and continued form against Mumbai Indians on Saturday in Sharjah. Riding on some fine piece of bowling from Avesh and Axar Patel, DC first restricted MI to 129/8 in 20 overs and then chased down the target by 4 wickets. Avesh returned with figures of 3/15 in 4 overs while Axar scalped three wickets at the cost of 21 runs in 4 overs.