It felt like going into a war: Shubman Gill on making debut against Australia

Temperament of a player is more important than technique: Vikram Rathour

The Indian team has tasted success in recent times, courtesy some fine performances from the youngsters in Australia and then against England at home. Batting coach Vikram Rathour in a chat with ESPNCricinfo has said that the temperament of a player keeps more importance than his technique. Rathour further suggested that the game is about handling pressure. “Any day. Temperament combined with game plans. Technique is an important aspect, but a lot of people give it too much importance. They put everything on technique, which I don't believe in. Cricket is about handling pressure, making the right decisions, picking the right balls to play your shots, which are the bowlers you can score against, what are the areas, where are your singles, where are your boundaries… All of this comes under game plans and tactics,” he said. “Technique is important, yes. But again, if you can keep the other aspects of your batting very clear, if your mindset is clear, if you keep making the right decisions, keep picking the right balls, you can still score runs. And those are the things that are more important at this level than only technique,” Rathour further added. India were bundled out for 36 in the second innings of the first Test against Australia but then made a fine comeback in the series. The former India player revealed that the talk the coaches had with the players after the disappointing performance in the first Test was about building partnerships. “All the talk throughout, after being 36 all out [in Adelaide], or after winning the Test [in Melbourne] was only on building up partnerships, playing the sessions well, looking to score runs without taking too many risks. The message going out all the time was, let's not worry about results, results will take care of themselves if we keep batting and doing things correctly,” he said. India first won the four-match Test series 2-1 against Australia away from home and then thumped England 3-1 on the home soil recently to march into the final of the World Test Championship slated to take place in Southampton in June against New Zealand.

IPL is huge tournament & monetary rewards are obvious: Jos Buttler

England wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler has said that the ECB had never given him an option of skipping the IPL and be available for the Test series against New Zealand. The right-handed batsman is now in India for the limited-overs fixtures and will stay in the country till the end of Rajasthan Royals IPL campaign. "No nothing of that sort (was discussed with me) and I don't know about other players. I think an agreement about participation in IPL was in place well before the New Zealand Test series was announced," Buttler said during a media conference. Buttler further admitted that the IPL gives you “monetary rewards” and it is an advantageous tournament to a lot of people in terms of money. "We all know the benefits of IPL. It's a huge tournament and monetary rewards are obvious and also the experience you gain and it has its pluses too. And it's obvious in the upturn of white ball games in England, and the number of players participating in it and how beneficial it is to all of us," he said. "IPL is advantageous to a lot of people with the money that's involved. It's the biggest tournament in cricket in terms of money and careers can be short but we know that playing for England can be a huge draw and we are very well remunerated playing for England," he added. The gloveman suggested that it was an achievement for the England team that 12 players were in demand for the tournament like the IPL. "It is also a big feather in the cap for the England side that 12 players were in demand in the world's biggest tournament," he said. The IPL 2021 is set to begin from April 9 with defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on three-time finalists RCB in Chennai in the opening clash.

Varun Chakravarthy fails fitness test again

Spinner Varun Chakravarthy has failed his fitness test while left-arm fast bowler T. Natarajan is at the NCA in Bengaluru and is yet to join the squad in Ahmedabad due to a shoulder niggle. “Varun Chakravarthy was selected because he recovered from his shoulder injury that ruled him out of the Australia series. He did his rehab at the NCA and started throwing normally,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity. “However, he has failed to clear the YoYo test mark stipulated for a 2km run at least twice,” the source added. The questions have raised on Chakravarthy’s selection as he hasn’t played competitive cricket since October. “We can understand he was doing his rehab during Mushtaq Ali (T20 Championship). But then again, he didn’t play a single Vijay Hazare Trophy game. How do you assess his match fitness based on games that he played five months back? I guess Varun Chakravarthy is a lesson for selectors,” said the source. Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar might join the team. Chahar has been in the bio-bubble since the beginning of the Test series between India and England. The two sides are slated to play five T20Is and three ODIs in Ahmedabad and Pune respectively. The T20I series begins on Friday at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The home side earlier won the Test series 3-1 and marched into the final of the World Test Championship to take place in Southampton against New Zealand in June.

Jhulan Goswami, Smriti Mandhana lead India’s comeback in ODI series vs South Africa

It was Jhulan Goswami show on display in batting while Smiriti Mandhana stole the show in batting to thrash South Africa in the second game of the five-match series. Jhulan was at her vintage best as she broke two partnerships in her two spells, eventually claiming four wickets for 42 runs in her 10 overs. Mandhana, 24, was at her very best as India started the chase of a modest 158. She and Jemimah Rodriguez got India to a brisk start making 22 in the first four overs. Jemimah though got out trying to pull a boat down the leg and chopping it on to her stumps, Mandhana continued on her way. She was joined by Punam Raut and the two carried on till India eventually won the game and levelled the series. Mandhana, on her way to 80 off 64 balls also became the most accomplished female opening batsman of India, going past Jaya Sharma’s tally of 2039. While Jaya had scored those runs in 72 games, Mandhana achieved the feat in only 52 games. She now has 2119 runs in 52 games at an astonishing average of 44.15. Raut also brought up her 14th fifty scoring an unbeaten 62 as India chase down 157 in just 28.4 overs. Earlier in the morning, Mithali Raj, the India skipper won the toss and decided to field first. Manasi Joshi, making a comeback into the Indian team gave early blows to South African eves along with Jhulan. However, after the fall of those two wickets, skipper Sune Luus and Lara Goodall added 60 runs trying to steady the ship. But Jhulan came back to break the partnership and once it was broken, the floodgates opened and Indian bowlers kept on striking one after the other. Goodall was the highest scorer for women in green and yellow, getting removed for 49 by Harmanpreet Kaur. Apart from Jhulan’s four-for, Rajeshwari Gayakwad took three wickets while Joshi picked up two. With this win at the Atal Bihari Bajpayee stadium, Indian eves have now levelled the five-match series and the two teams would now faceoff in the third game on 12th March at the same venue.