Hales ignored, Livingstone rewarded as England name their T20 squad for India series

The England and Wales Cricket Board once again ignored Alex Hales as they named a 16-man squad for the five-match T20 series against India. Liam Livingstone, another brilliant performer in the Big bash League alongside Hales has been rewarded with a call-up in the Eoin Morgan led squad.

The touring party depart on Friday, 26 February, ahead of the first match of the series scheduled to be played on 12th March at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. Joe Root has once again been sidelined for the shortest format while Jake Ball and Matt Parkinson have been named as the two reserves in the side. All five matches of the series will take place at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera.

The squad for the three One-Day Internationals that follow the T20I series will be announced in due course, said the ECB official release.

England Men’s T20I Squad:

Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) (captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Sam Billings (Kent), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Reece Topley (Surrey), Mark Wood (Durham).

Reserves:

Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Matt Parkinson (Lancashire).

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Anil Kumble, Manoj Tiwary and Vidarbha players support Jaffer after he is labelled communal

Former India captain and coach Anil Kumble has come in support of Wasim Jaffer who has been called communal by the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand. Saying that he stands with Jaffer, Kumble also appreciated his decision of quitting as the coach of the Uttarakhand team. India and Bengal cricketer Manoj Tiwary too came in support of Jaffer asking the Uttarakhand cm to intervene in the matter. Apart from Kumble and Manoj Tiwary, players from Vidarbha team also supported Jaffer, saying that he has been like an elder brother to them. “It’s very shocking. I have played four seasons with him. He is just like a big brother to every Vidarbha player. He is a true gentleman. I have never found anything wrong in his conduct of behaviour with each player,” Faiz Fazal, the captain of the Vidarbha side told Lokmat Times. Jaffer played the last few years of his domestic cricket for Vidarbha, having moved away from his original home side of Mumbai. He even won two revered Ranji Trophy and two Irani Trophy titles back to back with Vidarbha. Akshay Wadkar, the wicket-keeper of the Vidarbha team also supported Jaffer saying that the 42-year-old always favoured deserving players. “Jaffer has always given first priority to the deserving players and the performances. I don’t think he will select the players on religion basis. In fact, he equally treated each player when he was playing with us. Such allegations are shocking for us,” said the gloveman. Jaffer resigned from his position as Uttarakhand's head coach citing interference by the Secretary Mahim Verma in player selection. Verma, with the help of team manager Navneet Mishra, turned the interference accusation upside down, saying that Jaffer was communal in his team selection.

Ind vs Eng | Manoj Tiwary chalks out plan to dismiss Joe Root in 2nd Test

In the lieu of Joe Root’s remarkable knock in the first Test match against India, former Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary has chalked out a field plan to stop the England captain who has been in the form of his life. Taking to Twitter, Tiwary shared an image of a 7/2 on-side fielding plan stating that it could take out most right-handers on a spin-friendly track. He argued that for someone like Root, who has been playing the sweep shot so well over the last year, chocking his attacking options would mean that India could get him out quickly. Noticeably, Root looked comfortable against everything that was thrown at him and became the only player to score a double hundred in his 100th Test match. He eventually was dismissed by Shabaz Nadeem at 218. When pointed out the lack of slips and a cover fielder in his comments, Tiwary said that there is no point keeping players on the offside if the ‘ball is turning big.’ “Not required when the ball is turning big and if the bowler doesn’t land the ball in the area consistently then one more fielder can b brought to off side but the accuracy of this two bowlers I don’t think it will b needed,” Tiwary wrote. The former Bengal captain has been sidelined from the Vijay Hazare Trophy due to a cartilage injury and will be in rehabilitation. Veteran Anustup Majumdar will be leading Bengal in the premier domestic 50-over tournament.

Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of entire Ind-Eng Test series: Reports

India’s dynamic all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out for the entire India-England Test series. If reports are to be believed, Jadeja’s injury, suffered during the third Aus-Ind Test in Sydney has not healed till now. Stationed at the National Cricket Academy, it is almost certain that Jadeja, who was ruled out of the first two Tests wouldn’t be moving to Ahmedabad for the third and fourth Test reported Cricbuzz. It would be interesting to see if the 32-year-old would get fit by the time of the limited-overs series in March. With Jadeja unavailable, either one between Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel might get a long run of three Tests. This is mainly due to the fact that Shahbaz Nadem couldn’t deliver as per expectations in the first Test and skipper Kohli wanted variation in his attack. "There are no regrets whatsoever on that decision. Moving forward, we will think of the combinations which bring us variety as a bowling attack, and not one dimensional, turning away from the bat," Kohli said in the presentation ceremony of the first Test.

T Natarajan released from Vijay Hazare squad after BCCI request: Reports

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association released India pacer, T Natarajan, from their Vijay Hazare Trophy squad after Board of Control for Cricket in India’s request. TNCA secretary told Cricbuzz that BCCI wanted the left-arm pacer to remain fresh for the limited-overs fixtures against England, which is scheduled to begin from 12 March. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the team management want him fresh. It is in the national interest and so we are ready to oblige," the TNCA official said. For the gap that Natarajan leaves out in Tamil Nadu’s pursuit of India’s elite 50-over trophy, the official further stated that TN had already named a replacement in case Natarajan was to remain unavailable for the campaign. It is believed that BCCI made the request so that India’s best left-arm seamer does not have to go through two stages of quarantine, one for the domestic trophy and the other before entering the national team bio-bubble. Natarajan is scheduled to practice at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore. Earlier, Natarajan made his international debut in all formats of the game in the series Down Under. He picked 11 wickets from 5 matches and was an integral part of the Indian team that defeated Australia in the historic final Test match in Brisbane.