IPL 2021 Auction: Harbhajan Singh, Steve Smith, Arjun Tendulkar to go under hammer

Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Unadkat, three others fail to pass BCCI's 2-km run test

The fitness regime put in place by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is once again in news for the wrong reason as six young and emerging players have failed to pass through a newly-introduced 2-km run test. These six players include promising wicketkeeper batsmen Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, batsman Nitish Rana, spin bowling all-rounder Rahul Tewatia along with fast bowlers Siddarth Kaul and Jaydev Unadkat have failed to clear the test. According to a TOI report, in this test, any batsman, wicketkeeper of a spinner has to complete a distance of 2 kilometres in eight minutes 30 seconds while the pacers have to complete the task in only eight minutes and 15 seconds. The report further said that there were players who could barely manage to complete the task. “In this test, a batsman, wicketkeeper, or a spinner has to complete the two-kilometre distance in eight minutes and 30 seconds, while for a fast bowler, the benchmark is eight minutes and 15 seconds. Six of the players failed to clear these tests. Some players barely managed to complete the run,” TOI quoted an unnamed source as saying. The BCCI has clarified that they will get another chance after a short while to pass this test as this system has been brought in very recently. However, according to the TOI report, another failure in the second attempt may affect their chances of making it into the Indian team for the limited-overs series against England. “Since this is a new type of fitness test, they will all get a second chance to clear it at a fresh date, after some gap. However, if they fail to clear it, then it puts their selection for the forthcoming white-ball series comprising five T20Is and three ODIs against England at home in doubt,” source added.

IND vs ENG | 2nd Test Preview: Under pressure hosts vow to comeback against confident tourists

The England team joined the bandwagon of touring teams trumping the hosts which has been the trend so far this year and handed India a proper hammering and also a wake-up call in the first Test at Chepauk. If at all India were struggling to move on from the incredible highs of their heist in Australia, Root’s mastery against their spinners, followed by better showing by their spinners in both innings would have surely settled the dust. No experts and fans gave England any chance and they admitted all of their predictions go wrong as Joe Root led from the front with immense concentration and hunger to succeed, aptly supported by batsmen performing judicious duties to put the Indian bowling attack which appeared toothless on the most part of the first two days in absence of Ravindra Jadeja under relentless pressure. What makes England’s performance in Chennai so impressive that they defeated India on their own peril in every department of the game. Dom Sibley held one innings strong, while Joe Root made sure runs were scored and the pressure was always on the fourth and fifth bowlers which always compelled Kohli to bring back his main weapons in Ashwin, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah. It looked like England played the game in perfectly the same manner that India have been playing at home in the recent past that chalked a path of real domination for them. Now 1-0 down in the four-match Test series, Kohli and India will be hungrier to establish the defeat in Chennai was a minor blip and it was not a product of something seriously wrong creeping in the system. He was frank in his admission on all aspects of the game and accepted that the team lacked intensity in the field and failed to bat big in the first innings and left a lot to do in the second innings. To be fair to them, they had to bowl when the pitch was at its best for batsmen, and the lack of match-practice behind one of their spinners-- Shahbaz Nadeem was clearly evident with the lack of control he had on his lines and lengths. He allowed poor balls to the English batsmen, while the off-spinner Washington Sundar could not perform the task of drying up runs from the other end that could have allowed Kohli to rotate the trio of Ishant, Bumrah, and Ashwin. They could not limit the damage and England went on with their momentum towards a score of invincibility. Come Saturday, Kohli would hope his bowlers will provide him with better control and will be reliable in terms of bowling according to the field settings. Apart from the concerns in the bowling department, Kohli had to deal with major concerns in the batting department as well, which in general has been India’s stronger suit at home. All batsmen were guilty of not converting their starts, while others such as Ajinkya Rahane and Pujara were unlucky in the first innings, while the second innings found them incapable against the art of James Anderson and discipline of Jack Leach on the fifth-day pitch. Pujara batted well in the series against Australia but he is due for a big hundred and Rahane’s bat too, has gone silent after the brilliant hundred against Australia. Both Pujara and Rahane, who bat around Kohli have been the building blocks of the Indian team in Test cricket, and their role in the team can be ascertained with the Kohli’s words in the aftermath of defeat in the first Test when he said that the duo is the ‘most important test batsmen’. Kohli will be hopeful for a better performance from them in the second Test match. On the other hand, however buoyant England will be after the win in the first Test, they will do well to remember the resilience of this team to come back stranger in the face of adversities. Last time they were defeated in India was way back in 2017 in the very first Test of the series but still came back strongly to defeat Australia in two Test matches to clinch the series. Joe Root will be telling his teammates to be focussed and bat with the same maturity as they did in the first innings of the Chennai Test, while he will back his spinners to put the lessons they learnt in the first Test to use once again. England will bank on the timeless geniuses of Anderson and Stuart Broad to provide exquisite spells in case the pinners will be put under pressure. Anderson has been in excellent rhythm in the two Tests he has played, and Root wants to make good use of him before opting him to rest under the rotation policy. India vs England: Match Details Match No.-01 Date and Time: 05th February, 09:30 am IST, 04:00 am GMT Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Broadcast and Live Stream: Star Sports, Hotstar Pitch conditions The BCCI has pulled up the pitch curator at Chepauk for failing to provide a pitch that assisted any form of competition between bat and ball on the first two days, let alone the pitch with an ‘English look’ that was promised. Red soil was used for the pitch in the last game and it took an eternity for it to break and assist spinners, and hence a mixture of black soil and red soil will be used for the pitch in the second Test. Black soil breaks up quickly and offers turn earlier than the red soil, and hence it is being predicted that the second Test will offer more turn from the first day itself. The Indian team management in the past has been critical of such pitches as they argue it makes toss much more crucial than it should and the team batting first reaps the unfair advantage of the surface playing true and comfortable for the batsmen. Team News India India will be delighted to see a fit-again Axar Patel ‘raring to go’ into the second Test match as their team combination was floundering with his late withdrawal due to knee injury. Kohli had expressed no regrets over picking Nadeem over Kuldeep Yadav in search of someone who could take the ball away from right-handers. With Axar back in the team and Nadeem out to stand-by players, there is an opportunity for Kuldeep Yadav to finally break into the playing XI in place of Washington Sundar, who had contrasting fortunes with the bat and ball in the first Test. He was hardly called upon by Kohli in the second innings, and it does show Kohli doesn’t rate Washington’s off-spinning abilities too much and the batting cushion he brings with himself can well be provided by Axar, and it opens up the door for his exit and Kuldeep’s entry into the team. The team management may also feel the need to rest Jasprit Bumrah with the return of Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav not in immediate sight. Mohammed Siraj will be itching to take the bowl and his style of full-length bowling may prove crucial for the team. Apart from the change in the bowling department, Kohli is unlikely to bring any change in the team with Pant continuing to don the gloves while Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane will find their place secured as of now, although the duo will have to deal with huge pressure. Strongest XI Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj England England have opted for rotation policy to prevent fatigue among players due to extended periods of being under quarantine and under this policy, Jos Buttler who had a nice game behind the stumps will fly back to the UK, and Ben Foakes will make his return to the playing XI. England were to rest Anderson as well with their policy of playing one of him or Broad in a Test match, but with the injury and sickness to Jofra Archer hurt their chance of rotating the senior quicks. Joe Root has confirmed both Anderson and Broad will play in the second Test. Off-spinner Dominic Bess had a missed game in the first Test as he was able to extract the big wicket of Kohli, Rahane and Pant in the first innings, but was way too wayward for a frontline spinner. The team management can be tempted to go for Moen Ali who can also provide batting stability against spin bowling, but the moves seems unlikely as Bess has been invested upon for a long time to play a match-winning role in the subcontinent conditions, and he has not harmed his chances too much as of yet. Strongest XI Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Daniel Lawrence, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes(wk), Dom Bess, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson

Super 50: Teams, venues, squads, fixtures and all you need to know about the star-studded domestic ODI tournament of West Indies

The West Indies cricket board decided to make the good use of the pandemic cool off period as they organised the Super 50, the annual domestic ODI competition. With the tournament being played at a time when all big players of the national team are at home (choosing not to tour Bangladesh due to quarantine), the tournament is sure to get a lot of traffic. It will be the first tournament of 2021 in the Caribbeans. The big names at the display will be West Indies Men's ODI Captain, Kieron Pollard, Test skipper Jason Holder, big-hitting young guns in Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer and many other players who have represented West Indies fo a long period of time. Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher, Hayden Walsh Jr., Roston Chase, Denesh Ramdin and Darren Bravo are some of the names whose talents would be at display in the 21-day affair. Talking about the opportunity to represent his home side in List A tournament after a long time, Pollard said, “It is very good that cricket is coming back to the Caribbean. Players will get the opportunity to showcase their skills and entertain our fans.” “It has been a trying 2020 for cricketers and the whole Caribbean, so it is really good that we have the CG Insurance Super50 Cup being played at this time and hopefully, it can unearth some new talent,” added the 33-year-old who would be captaining Trinidad and Tobago. The first-ever ODI tournament between the islands combining West Indies was played in 1976 and this 2021 edition will be the 45th season of it. In this year’s tournament, six teams would be participating in the competition. Among these teams, Trinidad and Tobago have won the most number of titles (11) followed by Guyana (10). While Jamaica, this time around led by Rovaman Powell has eight titles in its kitty so far, Jason Holder led Barbados would be looking to win their eighth title. Other teams which have laid their hands at the title are the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands, both of which have won four titles each. Combined Campuses and Colleges team, which represented the education institutes in all the islands combined won the tournament in 2018-19 season while the West Indies emerging side won the last edition in 2019-20 and both these sides won’t be part of this year’s edition. Teams Barbados Pride, Guyana Jaguars, Jamaica Scorpions, Leeward Islands Hurricanes, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, Windward Islands Volcanoes Venue All the matches of the competition would be played in only two grounds on the island of Antigua. The two grounds are Coolidge Cricket Ground, where 13 matches including the semi-finals and the final. The other ground, the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds, North Sound, Antigua will host only six games. Fixtures Each day one game is being played (with an exception of 09th February, when there are no games played) since the tournament started on 07th February and will continue in that fashion till the round-robin league. The round-robin fixtures, where each team play the other once will go on till 22nd February. The semi-finals are scheduled for 24th and 25th February with the fifth-place paly-off on 26th. The final game will be played on 27th February. Squads Trinidad and Tobago Red Force Kieron Pollard (Captain), Darren Bravo (Vice-Captain), Akeal Hosein, Imran Khan, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kjorn Ottley, Khary Pierre, Nicholas Pooran, Anderson Phillip, Dinesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Jayden Seales, Lendl Simmons; David Furlonge (Head Coach) Barbados Pride Jason Holder (Captain), Joshua Bishop, Shamarh Brooks, Jonathan Carter, Roston Chase, Dominic Drakes, Jonathan Drakes, Justin Greaves, Keon Harding, Chemar Holder, Akeem Jordan, Nicholas Kirton, Zachary McCaskie, Ashley Nurse, Tevyn Walcott; Dexter Toppin (Head Coach) Guyana Jaguars Leon Johnson (Captain), Shimron Hetmyer (Vice-Captain), Christopher Barnwell, Anthony Bramble, Asad Fudadin, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Tevin Imlach, Keon Joseph, Ramaal Lewis, Gudakesh Motie, Akshaya Persaud, Kemol Savory, Romario Shepherd, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith; Esuan Crandon (Head Coach) Jamaica Scorpions Rovman Powell (Captain), Derval Green (Vice-Captain), Fabian Allen, Dennis Bulli, Sheldon Cottrell, Javel Glenn, Brandon King, Andre McCarthy, Jamie Merchant, Romaine Morris, Paul Palmer, Jeavor Royal, Odean Smith, Aldaine Thomas, Oshane Thomas; Andre Coley (Head Coach) Leeward Islands Hurricanes Devon Thomas (captain), Montcin Hodge (Vice-Captain), Colin Archibald, Sheeno Berridge, Quinton Boatswain, Keacy Carty, Nino Henry, Amir Jangoo, Nitish Kumar, Jeremiah Louis, Ashmead Need, Kieran Powell, Ross Powell, Hayden Walsh Jr, Terrance Warde; Stuart Williams (Head Coach) Windward Islands Volcanoes Sunil Ambris (Captain), Andre Fletcher (Vice-Captain), Alick Athanaze, Roland Cato, Keron Cottoy, Kenneth Dember, Larry Edward, Ryan John, Ray Jordan, Desron Maloney, Obed McCoy, Preston McSween, Kimani Melius, Emmanuel Stewart, Kevin Stoute; Andrew Richardson (Head Coach) Note: Ball by ball commentary of every game will be available at our website OneCricket.

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 one of the brilliant performers alongside Hales in the recently concluded Big Bash League has been rewarded as he has been picked in the Eoin Morgan led squad. The touring party depart on Friday 26 February while the first match of the series will take place 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 the five matches of the series will take place at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera only. The squad for the three One-Day Internationals that follow the IT20 series will be announced in due course, said the ECB official release. England Men’s IT20 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).