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Fit Umesh Yadav drafted in India squad for last two Tests, Shardul released

Fast bowler Umesh Yadav is back into the Team India squad after regaining full fitness. He had got injured during the second Test in Melbourne in the Australia series and had come back home. Shardul Thakur, his replacement in the squad has been released to represent Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. 

“Team India fast bowler Umesh Yadav appeared for a fitness test on Sunday, 21st February at Motera. He has cleared his fitness test and has been added to the squad for the last two Tests of the ongoing Paytm India-England Test series,” a BCCI press release read. 

“Shardul Thakur has been released from the squad to take part in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.”

Umesh Yadav has so far played 48 Tests for India and in them, he has taken 148 wickets at an average of 30.55. The 33-year-old has taken 42 wickets in the last 10 innings and would most certainly start in the XI in the Pink Ball Test at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera against England. 

India squad for the last two Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj, Umesh Yadav

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CA releases advisory for Australian cricketers involved in IPL

Not being part of any advertisement involving alcohol, fast food and/or fast-food restaurants, tobacco and betting are some of the many restrictions that Cricket Australia has imposed on its players involved in the Indian Premier League. A guideline conveyed to all franchises by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and released by Cricket Australia carries all the information about the restrictions imposed on Aussie players, playing in the IPL. "A full team photo - for use only by the sponsors of the relevant IPL team in print media in India and any such photo should not involve or include the name or branding of a company primarily engaged in the business of alcohol, fast food/fast-food restaurants, tobacco or betting," said the BCCI’ letter to the franchises as quoted by Cricbuzz. The CA also made it clear that not more than one Australian cricketer on a contract by CA, or any other State Board or a BBL team can be part of any advertisement in any media outlet. "In any specific advertising or promotional activity featuring any Australian player (in any medium including TV, radio, press, outdoor, internet, point of sales or on-pack advertising), each Franchisee may only use: (a) no more than 1 Player who has a Central Contract with Cricket Australia; and/or; (b) no more than 1 Australian Player from the same Australian State; and (c) no more than 1 Australian Player from the same Big Bash team," the letter said. The mail further reads, "By way of example: A Franchisee may, subject to compliance with the remainder of these Player Regulations, the Player ID guidelines and the Player Contract, use three Australian players in any advertising material as long as no more than one has a Central Contract and all three are from different States and Big Bash teams." More specifically, a team cannot use two New South Wales (an Australian State) or Sydney Sixers (a BBL side) players in one campaign. This ploy has been adopted by CA mainly to make sure that their own advertisement policies and their contracts with prime sponsors are not ambushed by a rival board. For example, KFC, a fast-food chain that is the principal sponsor of Big Bash League the primary T20 tournament of Australia, would not want the same Australian players to be seen endorsing in any other similar brand.

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Vijay Hazare Trophy: Vishnu Solanki continues form as Baroda thump Tripura

Just four days after the IPL 2021 snub, Vishnu Solanki followed his hundred with a fine 97 off 108 balls for Baroda against Tripura in Surat during the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Chasing 303, Baroda went over the line by 6 wickets with one over to spare. While Solanki scored 97, captain Krunal Pandya notched up an unbeaten 127 in 97 balls. Baroda lost a couple of early wickets and were later reduced to 66/3 before Solanki and Pandya struck a partnership of 168 runs for the fourth wicket. Solanki eventually departed after he was cleaned up by Pratyush Singh. Earlier, Tripura complied 302/7 in 50 overs. Udiyan Bose and Bishal Ghosh scored individual half-centuries during the course. Solanki had scored 108 against Goa in the first match in a winning cause. Sreesanth scalps fifer Fast bowler S Sreesanth returned to 50-over format with the Vijay Hazare Trophy playing for Kerala. The right-arm pacer has now bagged a fifer against Uttar Pradesh. He scalped the wickets of Abhishek Goswami, Aksh Deep Nath, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohsin Khan and Shivam Sharma. UP who batted first were bowled out for 283 in 49.4 overs. Later, Kerala rode on Robin and Sachin Baby’s batting to go over the line by 3 wickets. In other clashes of the day, Hyderabad defeated Chhattisgarh by 7 wickets, Gujarat won by 8 wickets against Goa, Jharkhand beat punjab by 2 runs, Andhra beat Tamil Nadu by 7 wickets, Vidarbha won by 4 wickets against MP, Karnataka beat Bihar by 267 runs and Railways beat Odisha by 8 wickets.

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PSL 6: Sultans look to bury last game mistakes against wobbly Zalmi

Going from 103 in 13 overs to getting only 150 at the end of 20 overs, was something that Multan Sultans couldn’t afford once again. The Mohammad Rizwan led side would be up against Peshawar Zalmi in their next game at the National Stadium in Karachi on 23rd February. On the other hand, Zalmi, who almost barged into the game against Lahore Qalandars courtesy of a brilliant reverse swinging spell from Saqib Mahmood, would be trying to get heavy with the bat. If they are able to score big with the bat, they would cause all sorts of problems to the Multan batting lineup with their three-pronged pace attack of skipper Wahab Riaz, Saquib Mahmood and Mohammad Imran. Death overs batting needs to get better for Sultans Sultan in their first game looked too much dependent on Mohammad Rizwan’s batting. If his 71 runs are taken out, there hardly remains an inning that can be talked about. It is the likes of Chris Lynn, James Vince and Rilee Rossouw who need to bring in their experience, occupy crease and blast in the last overs to get Zalmi to a strong total. The bowling of the Multan side was brilliant till the 19th over in the last game. It was only after Sohail Tanvir bowled some wayward deliveries that Lewis Gregory took the game away from them. Had he maintained discipline, it would have easily been Multan’s victory. However, areas, where they need to work, are Mohammad Umar’s run leaking tendencies and getting Imran Tahir in the squad to have two genuine spinners. They might also get in Sohail Khan in place of Sohaibullah. Batting a big worry for Zalmi The Peshawar Zalmi squad has one of the best batting lineups with the likes of Imam-Ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal at the top, followed by Shoaib Malik, Haider Ali and Ravi Bopara. But in the last game, they could not get the combination right as most of them failed at execution. It was due to the failure of the top order that Sherfane Rutherford, Bopara and Amad Butt were unable to play their natural hitting game. Thus Zalmi’ innings could only get to 140, which is below par T20 score in any conditions. In this game, they need to sort out the batting problem of they are looking to dominate the Multan bowling lineup. Peshawar Zalmi vs Multan Sultans Match Number- 05 Venue- National Stadium, Karachi Date and Time: 23rd February, 07:30 pm IST, 07:00 pm Local, 02:00 pm GMT Broadcast and Live Stream: Sony Ten and Sony LIV Pitch Report The National Stadium square has so far been a genuine T20I wicket with a lot on offer for both the batsmen and the bowlers. If the ball is kept on the stumps and variation in pace is regularly applied, scoring does get difficult for the batting team, especially when more than four fielders are outside the circle. Otherwise, the pitch has true bounce and the ball comes on to the bat nicely. Weather and Toss At this time of the year, the weather in Karachi remains moderate with bearable temperatures, even turning chilly in the evening and dew remains a constant feature throughout the winters and even most parts of the summers in the entire subcontinent. Karachi too would have a lot of dew. The skipper winning the toss would therefore choose to bowl first. Probable XIs Peshawar Zalmi Kamran Akmal (wk), Imam-ul-Haq, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, Ravi Bopara, Sherfane Rutherford, Amad Butt, Wahab Riaz (c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Saqib Mahmood, Mohammad Imran Multan Sultans Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Chris Lynn, Shaan Masood, James Vince, Sohaib Maqsood, Khushdil Shah, Carlos Brathwaite, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Imran Tahir, Sohail Khan Dream XI / Fantasy XI Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Rizwan (c) James Vince, Chris Lynn, Sohaib Maqsood, Ravi Bopara, Shahid Afridi, Amad Butt, Saqib Mahmood, Sohail Tanvir, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

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Anderson chooses to see larger picture behind rotation policy; rules out reverse swing in 3rd Test

On a fifth day pith at the Chepauk in the first Test against India, Joe Root’s eyes and fans’ expectations were on the shoulders of spinners Dominic Bess and Jack Leach to delivery a victory for the tourists. They started the final day on a perfect note when Jack Leach got the big wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara, but very soon, they were put off their line of attack by Shubman Gill’s belligerence and Virat Kohli’s strong defence. Joe Root sensed Indians were settling in and they might put a lot of pressure on spinners and end up saving the game, and in search of magic, went to his oldest horse--James Anderson who has been managed well like a jewel by the England team management. What he produced in the very first over of his spell justified the level of cautions the England team management put on the workload of Anderson. He banked on the art of reverse swing which he has mastered over the years and used sparingly to get the best for his team in the subcontinent conditions. He beat an in-form Gill in one of his strongest defensives strides with a ball that swung late to sneak through the gap between his bat and pads. The next man in, Ajinkya Rahane looked nervous to start his innings, and Anderson breached his defence very early to put a big stumbling block on India’s chance of batting out the whole day to earn yet another escape. Albeit he produced a match-winning spell in the first Test and picked up wickets of Gill, Rahane and Rishabh Pant, the England management went on its way of rotating players and Anderson was next on line to sit out in the second Test. His exclusion from the second Test came under severe scrutiny from former players and some of them went on to say that the management has not been flexible enough to prioritize the big short-term achievements while planning for the distant future. For Anderson, the break was frustrating, but he is aware of the fact that England have to play 17 Tests in this year and players have to go through the process of sitting out in order to retain fitness and ensuring a player does not go through complete burnout. "The idea was if I missed that one, that would give me the best chance of being fit and firing for the pink-ball Test. So that's where I am at, at the minute: I am feeling good and fresh and ready to go again if called upon. It's hopefully going to keep me going for longer, and Stuart has said the same too,” Anderson said in a virtual press conference. "I've seen the last couple of years - 2019 when I missed the Ashes, and the start of 2020, when I got an injury in South Africa when the workload goes up, and it's the same for all bowlers, not just me. Those injuries do happen.” "We've got 17 Test matches this year and the best way of getting your best players firing for as many of those as possible is to take little rests every now and then it's just a case of trying to make sure you're not wearing someone out until they completely break in half." The reverse swing was Anderson’s weapon of choice in Chennai and hence his exclusion raised question marks on the priorities set by the England team. Going into the third Test though, Anderson is pragmatic on the prospects of reverse swing in Ahmedabad in the Pink-Bal Test. He has said that the chance of the pink ball swinging in the air after getting old is unlikely as the seam is more pronounced and it stays harder for a longer period of time than the red ball. "I think we will be unlikely to see the reverse. It depends on the pitch - if the pitch is really abrasive you might see a bit of reverse, but from how we've bowled it in the nets I would be very surprised if it does reverse. It may well stay a bit harder for longer. We'll have to wait and see how it reacts after 40-50 overs,” Anderson said in a virtual press conference. "For us old guys who don't have the chance to play white-ball cricket any more, it's a chance to play under lights again. I just feel it's something a little bit different - it's quite special playing cricket under lights. There has been a lot of controversies around the quality of pitches used so far in the series and the amount of assistance the spinners get out off the surfaces. Add to it the complexity of playing conditions in a day-night Test and the talks leading up to the third Test are cantred around the quality of the pitch and how tough it will be for batting given the pink ball is deemed to be more helpful for bowlers, especially seamers. Anderson joined the chorus of England cricketers who have been saying that the colour of the ball will not matter much and that the pitch will for sure assist the spinners. He said that although there are grasses on the pitch at the moment and it may help seamers in getting bounce off the surface, but the red soil underneath the upper surface is bound to help spinners. He also pointed out that the different playing conditions in a day-night Test such as playing under different lighting will play on players’ mind in the third Test in Ahmedabad. "I saw the pitch over the last couple of days and it's got a lot of grass on it but I can see a lot of red soil underneath which says to me it could well spin if they take a bit of grass off. All the seam bowlers want really is a bit of carry, which we haven't really had throughout the series. We're keeping our fingers crossed there's a bit more in it for the seamers,” Anderson added. "There is not a difference in how it behaves as such. The difficulty will be adjusting the eyes to different lights. Twilight, the guys have said has been a bit tricky. We've found that in all the [day-night] Tests we have played, whether in England, Australia or New Zealand. It does take that bit of time to get used to as the light fades and the floodlights take over from the natural light. Anderson is all set to walk back in the playing XI while the questions remain on his partner with the new ball in the third Test. If England persist with the rotation policy, Stuart Broad will be benched in the third Test and one among Jofra Archer and Mark Wood can come in if the tourists decide to play three frontline pacers, or else, if they show a bit of flexibility the experts are asking them to show in terms of team selection, Broad and Anderson will play together come this Wednesday.