England include uncapped David Payne in Eoin Morgan-led squad for WI T20Is

England have announced a 16-man squad for the T20I series against West Indies away from home. The selectors have included uncapped David Payne in the side that would be led by Eoin Morgan.

Payne was also named in the ODI squad earlier after England’s first-choice squad had to go under isolation ahead of the series against Pakistan. The English squad that does not include the likes of Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer would find themselves in testing waters as far as their fast bowling department is concerned with most of the first-choice players nursing their respective injuries.

However, the team looks strong in the top order with the inclusion of promising players like Tom Banton and James Vince. The series will have major ramifications over the ongoing Big Bash League side who will be further depleted of their overseas strength in the knockout stages of the tournament.

Former England cricketer Paul Collingwood will take up the head coach’s post for the tour as Chris Silverwood is in Australia for the Ashes series.

"We have selected a strong squad with some serious batting power and a balanced attack as we begin preparations ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia," Collingwood said.

"I have good memories winning a World Cup in Barbados and I'm really looking forward to going back there with this squad to face a very good West Indies who will test all aspects of our skills."

The series is slated to begin on January 22 while the squad for the Test series which is scheduled to begin in Antigua on March 8 will be announced soon.

Squad

Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Liam Dawson, George Garton, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Tymal Mills, David Payne, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, James Vince.

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Ravi Shastri puts his weight behind Team India to win first Test series in South Africa

India are all set to play South Africa in a three-match Test series and are looking to win their first Test series on their soil. But before that former India head coach Ravi Shastri has come up with some anecdotes in an advertisement by Star Sports Network. Shastri was the part of the first Test that India played against South Africa in Durban in 1992 while the present head coach Rahul Dravid was the skipper of the side when the Indian team first defeated the Proteas in the longer format. India have tasted success in Australia in the recent past and Shastri made a special mention about it in a sarcastic manner. “This Indian team has a huge First ka Thirst. Just ask the Aussies (winks),” he said. The Virat Kohli-led Indian team will begin the Test series on December 26, 2021 in Centurion. The visitors suffered a blow ahead of the tour after newly-appointed Test vice-captain Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja were ruled out due to injuries. Rohit who was also appointed the new skipper of the limited-overs side, is expected to return for the ODI fixtures against the Proteas. The three-match series will start on January 19, 2022 in Paarl. India batter KL Rahul was named the deputy of Virat in Sharma’s absence for the Test series.

Steyn, Lara & Muralitharan included in Sunrisers Hyderabad coaching line-up for 2022 season

The Sunrisers Hyderabad have announced a star-studded support staff line-up ahead of the 2022 mega auctions. The six-member team is led by Tom Moody, who is the most successful coach in SRH history having won the tournament in 2016. Alongside Moody, SRH have acquired the service of Simon Katich who was with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last IPL season and he will be acting as Moody’s deputy in the dugout. SRH have chosen to keep an Indian counterpart in Hemang Badani as the fielding coach and scout. Badani, a former India international is currently well regarded in the domestic circuit as an able tactician and has won the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) three times with the Chepauk Super Gillies. He will be in charge of bringing in domestic talent. Given SRH’s consistent failures in all departments last season, the franchise has chosen to bolster the key areas with world-renowned talents. The team has roped in Dale Steyn, Muttiah Muralitharan and Brian Lara as the pace bowling coach, spin bowling coach and batting coach respectively. Going into the mega auction, the team has chosen to retain just three players. Among those three, the team has shown faith in two uncapped Indian stars in Umran Malik and Abdul Samad - two players that are fairly untested in the domestic circuits as well. The side will be led by Kane Williamson for the 2022 season.

The Ashes | Justin Langer keen on staying head-coach across all formats

Ahead of the Boxing Day Test match between Australia and England, coach Justin Langer has confirmed that he would like to stay as the head coach across all formats. Langer confirmed his stance in a press conference ahead of the third Test match of the Ashes after speculations had risen over the last year that he had strained his relationship with the first team players. "I've never thought differently to be honest," Langer said on Thursday, 23 December. "I've been consistent with what I've said for the last four years. I love my job. And the boys are playing well. No doubt about it. It's a great team to be involved in. So nothing's changed from my point of view." Langer had admitted back in July 2021, that he had been hurt by critical reports of his methods that emerged after the historical loss at the Gabba against India earlier this year. Reports suggested that several players including senior members of the team did not take too kindly to Langer’s headmaster-like approach, something that was dubbed as ‘uncompromising’. However, things got straightened after Australia’s win at the World T20 event, a tournament where they were tagged as favourites by a long margin. While the chatter about his coaching tenure went down after the WC win, it was once again speculated by the Australian media that Langer could be moving out if he wins the Ashes as well. However, the head coach has made his intentions clear ahead of the game that he would like to stay in charge going into the busy schedule of the T20 World Cup in Australia next year and the ODI World Cup in India in 2023. His current tenure ends in June 2022.

Having done well in England & Australia will give us confidence against South Africa: Cheteshwar Pujara

India and South Africa are slated to lock horns with each other in a three-match Test series commencing on December 26, 2021 which will be followed by a three-match ODI series. Talking about the team and the preparations, Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara said that the Indian team is an experienced one and the players know what is expected from them. “Most of the players have played in South Africa, we are an experienced side and we know what is expected from us,” he said on BCCI.tv. India have played some good cricket in England and Australia in the recent past and Pujara insisted that the players will be riding high on confidence after the way they fared in those overseas conditions. “Having done well in England and Australia will make a big, big difference in this squad’s confidence and set belief that we can win overseas and in any condition. I’m very confident that we have the capability to win a series in South Africa considering the batting and bowling line up that we have,” Pujara said. Talking about the South African bowling line up, the right-hander said that the Proteas have one of the most lethal units especially in the home conditions and it’s going to be challenging to negotiate them. “Most of the teams play well in their home conditions and it's the same with the South African team. They are one of the best bowling line ups and facing them in South Africa is always challenging.” India would be without the services of the new Test vice captain Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja due to injuries. KL Rahul was named Virat Kohli’s deputy for the series in Sharma’s absence.