Hardik Pandya picked as specialist batsman

BAN vs WI: Depleted Windies to take inspiration from India's historic win in Australia

West Indies will be missing six of their first-choice players in the ODI series against Bangladesh starting today and the stand-in captain does not have a potent team line up to win in Bangladesh. However, he is drawing inspiration from India’s historic win in the Gabba Test and the series where the team led by Ajinkya Rahane was missing all of its marquee players and won playing with two net bowlers in the last test. "It is something that we will look to (India's series win in Australia.) It depends on how you play on the day. Obviously, a lot of the guys will be making their debut. Once you have the belief within yourself and within the team that you can win games, these things are achievable. It showed in the India-Australia Tests. We have the same mindset, to play some good cricket starting tomorrow, and hopefully, results can go on our side as well,'' Mohammed told reporters on Tuesday. Notably, Jason Mohammed was asked to lead a side by the Cricket West Indies after the regular skipper Kieron Pollard had pulled out of the tour citing COVID-19 concerns. Apart from Pollard, Jason Holder, Sheldon Cottrell, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer who all could have walked into the team for the men in maroon in Bangladesh decided to give this series a miss citing Coronavirus pandemic challenges. ''We are just looking to enjoy the series and our first game. It is a big opportunity for all of us here, representing the West Indies. We just want to do well as individuals, but importantly, bring it together and do it for the team. We have a lot of positives. We had a couple of practice sessions and a game (played) within ourselves. The batters looked pretty good I must say. The main thing coming to Bangladesh is a lot of spin. We just have to play it as we see it in the game. Whether we attack, defend or rotate. It is going to be a little bit challenging but I think we prepared well, and we are up for the challenge,'' he concluded. The Windies are touring Bangladesh for a three-match ODI series starting today, followed by a two-match test series that will commence on February 03.

This is the hard work of 5-6 years, Virat Kohli deserves the credit: Shastri on Gabba win

Lauding the permanent captain of this Indian side, Virat Kohli, the Indian coach Ravi Shastri said that credit must be given to the original captain of this team as it is his ethics and hard work that has rubbed on to the team. "You must give credit to Virat Kohli. He may not be here. He has gone back home. But his character, his personality is there for everyone to see in this team,” Shastri said in the post-match press conference. Further, the coach also praised the current captain Ajinkya Rahane for taking over the team as a calm, composed head. Reminding how India were left with no choices and had no one left in the squad when the final Test started, Shastri said, “India beat Australia in Australia last time but there was not a single bowler from that tour playing in this last game. It was important to keep the self-belief going.” Addressing the media Shastri, a former India captain himself talked about the process and said, “You people believe it has come overnight. It hasn't come overnight. It is a process that has taken 5-6 years. These boys have been playing with each other for five-six years.” “They have had tough tours, they have had losses. What they have learned now is never give up. Feeling defeated is one thing. But not giving up is not in our game. And that this team has shown. And you have to give credit to Kohli," the coach added praising the captain who returned to India after the team’s humiliating defeat in Adelaide as he had prior plans to be with his wife for their first childbirth. Saying that he rarely gets emotional, Shastri also shared that he had tears in his eyes after the team pulled off a series win in the greatest series played in history. "I got emotional. I am not someone who has tears in my eyes but I really had absolutely real tears in my eyes. This is unreal. What these guys have pulled off will go down in history as one of the greatest series ever played,” Shastri, 58, said.

Watch: Ravi Shastri lauds Pujara, Shubman Gill and Pant in dressing room speech at Gabba

Indian coach Ravi Shastri lauded match-winners in the form of Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, and Shubman Gill for displaying amazing fighting skills. The video of the same was shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)'s official Twitter handle. The speech was delivered by the coach in the dressing room of Gabba, Australia's fortress where the Indian team became the first one to beat the hosts in 32 years. Lauding Pujara, who made a fighting 50, where he was hit on the body, helmet, and arm guard numerous tomes, Shastri said, "Pujji, from now on, you will be known as the Ultimate Warrior." To Pant the former India all-rounder said, "When I see you batting, you give heart attacks to every Indian, but what you have done today is simply phenomenal." Praising the Punjab boy Gill, Shastri said, "Shubman, great determination."

SMAT 2021: How Kerala lost the plot to get knocked out of the tournament

With 12 needed from the last over and a set Sachin Baby ( 66 off 34 balls), who alongside Salman Nazir scored 13 off Mohit Sharma in the last over, at the crease, facing a bowler (Arun Chaprana) who had already given 42 in his three overs in the game so far, and still the Kerala team is beaten by four runs in the match. Yes, it was that sort of a day at the office for Kerala, probably the most promising unit in the entire Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021. With this loss at the Wankhede, they were knocked out of the SMA Trophy 2021 as they ended with 12 points from five games, and Haryana, which beat Kerala and all the other teams in the Group-D qualified as the group topper. Kerala couldn’t even qualify as one of the two best second-placed teams in the elite groups because it lost to Andhra in its last encounter. Kerala, which chased a total of 196 and 212 against teams like Mumbai and Delhi failed to chase 199 against Haryana and could only make 112 against Andhra Pradesh, a side which was beaten easily by the likes of Delhi, Haryana, and even Pondicherry. The difference between the two big wins and the two losses was that in the two wins, the batsmen, who were settled, played throughout the innings to make sure that the team crossed the line. For example, Mohammed Azharuddeen banned throughout the game against Mumbai to get his team through while Uthappa got out on 95 against Delhi, only after making sure that Kerala wouldn’t lose from that situation. But in the game against Andhra, no batsman apart from Baby could connect the ball well and hence the scoreboard just ticked along, instead of racing away like it usually does in T20s. In this game against Haryana, skipper Samson and Baby did get starts, scoring a fifty each, but they just couldn't take their team across the line. And that was a big let down. In this game, chasing a total 198 set up by the Haryana team, even the opener Azharuddeen gotta start making 35 off just 25 balls, but couldn’t continue and repeat what he did against the Mumbai side For Haryana, Shivam Chauhan made 59 off 34 balls, before Rahul Tewatia finished it off in style by scoring 41 off 26 balls. Here is the Full Scorecard