Hasan Ali rested for first T20I against England

With an eye on World T20, Morgan willing to explore 'strength in depth' against Pakistan

England have already established and showcased enormous depth in their white-ball set up by thrashing a full-strength Pakistan 3-0 in the just-concluded ODI series. The hosts had to field a completely new side in wake of the Covid-19 crisis in the camp that found all first-choice players in close contact. It opened windows of opportunity for fringer players to showcase their offerings to the team management in absence of big players. Players such as Lewis Gregory, Brydon Carse, Saqib Mahmood took their opportunities with both hands and showed they can be as good as England have sought at the international level. Now, even as all those big guns including the skipper Eoin Morgan are set to return in the T20 series after serving a period of isolation, the trend of providing opportunities to fringer players is set to be continued. In the pres-series presser, Morgan asserted that the team management is willing to explore more options to understand the ‘strength in depth’ leading up to the ICC World T20 later this year in UAE. Morgan called the series against Pakistan as the last stop of trying people at various positions and roles in order to come at the best possible conclusion before selecting squad for the big event. “Knowing what is ahead, we need to look a little bit more into strength in depth. You’ll see us giving opportunities and going through various little options in the next three games for possible injury replacements for certain players. The priority will be to give guys opportunities and we’ll be treating it as though it is our last chance to look at guys in various positions,” Morgan said. There will be no dearth of opportunities for players as well with the likes of Ben Stokes, who will manage his finger injury, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran going away from the T20 set up to prepare for the Test series against India. Morgan hailed the players for stepping up in the hour of need against Pakistan and said that the brand of cricket England have employed in the aftermath of a disastrous world cup campaign in 2015 is now being fully embraced by the players in domestic cricket. “Guys recognise that opportunities are few and far between. But when they do come in, the method the team plays is starting to resonate with people around the country, which is great,” Morgan added. The three-match long T20 series between England and Pakistan will start tonight in Nottingham with the other two scheduled to take place on July 18 and July 20.

BCCI refuses to send additional players to England even after Covid-19 in India camp: Report

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has said that it is not sending any extra players to the UK despite the Covid-19 scare for the England Test series scheduled to begin on August 4 according to The Indian Express report. A BCCI official said “No” when asked whether the board is planning to send additional players. Earlier, the wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant had tested positive for the virus on July 8 and was in quarantine while Wriddhiman Saha had been under self isolation after coming under close contact of training assistant Dayanand Garani. Garani had also tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday and is isolating in the team hotel in London. Apart from Saha, bowling coach Bharat Arun and batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran are also under self isolation as they had come under close contact of Garani. “Pant, who had not stayed in the team hotel during the break period, tested positive on 8th July. He is asymptomatic and currently undergoing self-isolation at the place where he reported positive. He is being closely monitored by the BCCI Medical Team and is on his way to recovery. He will be able to join the squad in Durham after returning two negative RT-PCR tests,” said the BCCI press release. The selectors had earlier picked a 20-man squad and four standbys players for the tour. The visitors though suffered a blow after opener Shubman Gill was ruled out of the series after he suffered a shin splits which would take at least three months for recovery.

Shadab Khan banks on T20 exposure of Pakistan players to do well against full-strength England

Pakistan vice-captain Shadab Khan feels that the T20 exposure of his team and the presence of experienced players like Mohammad Hafeez and Imad Wasim would help the Babar Azam led side stage a good comeback in the T20I series against a full-strength England side. The all-rounder feels that they were outdone in the ODIs because they prepared for England main team but squad change took them by surprise. “For the one-dayers, we prepared our attacks as per their main team players so that would work in yurt favour going into the T20I,” Shadab said in a video uploaded by the PCB on their official Twitter handle. He further conveyed that the presence of experienced players like Hafeez and Imad will help in boosting the side’s confidence. “It’s a different format and we have a different set of players and with the experience of Hafeez Bhai and Maddy Bhai, I am sure we will give a better account of ourselves in this series,” Shadab said. “Moreover, we have done well in the T20 format and have come from the Abu Dhabi leg of the PSL, so that experience will work in our favour,” the 22-year-old added. The first of the three T20Is take place at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Friday, July 16. Eoin Morgan is back to lead the English side which wouldn’t have Ben Stokes in it.

Will Rhodes to lead select County XI against India in three-day practice game

The England and Wales Cricket Board announced a 14 man squad which includes the likes of Haseeb Hameed and James Bracey to be led by Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes to face India in a three-day practice game at the Riverside Ground in Durham. The squad would be coached by Young Lions head coach Richard Dawson and has names from across the counties. ECB said that the players would undergo Covid-19 testing before being allowed to form the squad for the game that begins on July 20. “The county players will bridge into a team environment and undergo Covid testing before being cleared to play in the match,” the board said in a press release. “The ECB would like to place on record its thanks to the first-class counties for their continued support to make players available for this fixtures and to Durham County Cricket Club for providing facilities for this match to be staged,” it added. Apart from the live broadcast of the game on Durham CCC’s Youtube channel, ball-by-ball commentary would also be available on BBC radio. County Select XI squad: Will Rhodes (Warwickshire - captain), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Tom Aspinwell (Lancashire), Ethan Bamber (Middlesex), James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Jack Carson (Sussex), Zak Chappell (Nottinghamshire), Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire), Lyndon James (Nottinghamshire), Jake Libby (Worcestershire), Craig Miles (Warwickshire), Liam Patterson-White (Nottinghamshire), James Rew (Somerset), Rob Yates (Warwickshire).