Jeetan Patel applies for full-time spin bowling coach of England

Sarfaraz Ahmed takes a dig at Mohammad Hafeez

Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed has taken a dig at Mohammad Hafeez. Hafeez had appreciated Mohammad Rizwan for his T20I ton against South Africa in the first match in Lahore. “Congratulations @iMRizwanPak on scoring T20 Hundred. U r a Star shining star,” wrote Hafeez before adding: “Wonder how long u need to prove that u r NO1 wicketkeeper/Batsman in pakistan in all formats of the game. Just asking," wrote Hafeez in a tweet. Sarfaraz replied to this and wrote, “Hafeez bhai Sb, whoever has played for Pakistan from Imtiaz Ahmed, Wasim Bari, Tasleem Arif to Saleem Yousuf and from Moin Khan, Rashid Latif to Kamran Akmal and even Rizwan right now has always been number ONE for the country and have been respected accordingly.” Pakistan rode on some fine performance from Rizwan to win the first T20I. The hosts put 169/6 in 20 overs after batting first and then restricted South Africa to 166/6 to win the match by 3 runs. Reeza Hendricks scored 54 before getting runout while Janneman Malan was dismissed for 44. No other Proteas batsman was able to be among runs. Haris Rauf and Unman Qadir scalped a couple of wickets apiece while Faheem Ashraf picked up one wicket during the course. The two teams will not meet each other at the same venue for the second T20I scheduled to take place on Saturday. Pakistan earlier celebrated the return of Test cricket to with a clean sweep win in the two-match Test series.

Composed Conway leads Wellington Firebirds to Super Smash title

Devon Conway played a tremendous inning, helping the Wellington Firebirds chase down 176 against Canterbury Kings at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. With this win, the Firebirds became only the second team after Auckland Aces to win back to back Super Smash titles in the 16-year history of the tournament. This victory also pushed Firebirds to their fourth overall title, equalling Aces for most Super Smash titles in the history of the league. Conway, 29 was at his very best playing one of the finest innings of the tournament. His knock became even more important as the highest run-getter in the tournament, Finn Allen of the Birds got out cheaply for just 16. Soon After Tom Blundell departed for a duck as well, forcing Conway to change his role from just being a sheet anchor to an accelerator as well. Combining together with Troy Johnson at first and Jimmy Neesham later on, Conway paved the way for a Firebird win. But that did not come about without any hiccups. At one point in time when Neesham got out in the 15th over, the chase seemed to be getting away from the Firebirds. Only 22 runs came off the next three overs including the fall of skipper Micahel Bracewell’s wicket. 21 runs were required of the last two overs and Conway decided to matters in hands, hitting matt Henry for 15 runs to make the final over a formality. South Africa born Conway’s 63 balls 93 turned out to be the difference between the two teams. Earlier in the evening, Canterbury Kings were put to bat first after losing the toss. They could not get going at any point in the game as wickets kept falling at regular interval. The highest partnership for the Kings was 65 runs for the second wicket between Chad Bowes and Daryl Mitchell. Skipper Cole McConchie was the highest run-getter for the Kings, scoring 44 off 39 deliveries. Logan van Beek was the best bowler for the Firebirds, finishing with 3-28 in his four overs.

IPL 2021 Auction: Dhoni-Fleming ponder tough choices; attacking openers on target to move on

The Chennai Super Kings have been the most consistent team in the history of the IPL, however, the team has lost out to the Mumbai Indians in terms of winning the title on most occasions. Only one man, MS Dhoni has led the franchise over the 11-year long journey in the league, and he has seen some of the greater heights with the side, but the last season turned out to be a complete trough for the side, with them plummeting to territory alien to them over their long history-- the bottom half of the points table. The team failed to manage their resources well and backed their senior players to do the job once more which backfired horribly on the Dhoni-led side and the management came under severe scrutiny and criticism for not allowing younger players access to the opportunities on offer. MS Dhoni has been a reluctant captain in terms of bringing wholesome changes in the team, and it went one step further in the last season when Dhoni kept on backing players who were out of form and did not back youngsters to come good. Its competitor Mumbai Indians tasted the first success in 2013 when they clicked the title by defeating them in the finals and have been able to win three more in the next seven seasons. So, what did the Super Kings do wrong in their last season, and what are their main challenges. How can MS Dhoni and the team management resurrect the franchise in the upcoming edition of the league, and also, what will be the way forward for them in terms of the transition from the experienced players to players of future generations? We answer everything here. Strengths The Super Kings, unlike some of the teams in franchise cricket, know what their strengths are and their skipper Dhoni has been a master of manoeuvering resources with limitations. They have always gone for judicious utilisation of players and have in general refrained from buying swashbuckling players after settling on a core group. They trust their players in the long run and invest in their prowess in terms of what they can offer in future. They had once bided aggressively for Jadeja who could not justify the big price he got immediately, but eventually, he has now developed into a proper match-winner for them. The success of Jadeja in a way symbolises the thought process in the CSK camp. In the seasons before the last edition, Dhoni was blamed for backing players for far too many occasions, but their success at crucial junctures ratifies the Modus Operandi of MS Dhoni, the CSK captain. They have been credited with nurturing players in terms of their temperament and it shows up on the big nights when they face knockout games or pressure situations. They take pride in their performances which come in high-stakes situations. This year too, they will be rich in experience with the presence of big players such as Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja while the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sam Curran will provide the exuberance of youth to the team when in search of fresh energy during and after the game. Weakness Your strengths can also be your weaknesses and it turns out that the Super Kings suffered from the same problem in the last season. The team management banked on the experience to do the job one season more and turned out the expectations were too much to be fulfilled as all senior players such as Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, and MS Dhoni himself struggled to get going. Faf du Plessis put on big runs but he was slow to get going and it put a lot of pressure on the middle order which was already missing the reliability and consistency of Suresh Raina. The batsmen at the top of the order found it tough to strike big in the power play and during chases, the batsmen batting at lower down the order failed to redeem the team and the team was reduced a to a shallow image of the team which once possessed so much of brilliance in terms of match-finishing abilities. The burden of ageing batsmen who were coming off a long break and were taking a lot of time to settle down at the crease became too much for the younger lot such as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sam Curran to muster and the team eventually floundered to protect their legacy. Had it not been for the late spark of Gaikwad and Curran’s belligerent attitude, the campaign would have been more worrisome for the men in yellow. One more aspect of their game plan which has always been their strengths in the past—spin bowling, also disappointed in the last season with the likes of Piyush Chawla, and Karn Sharma leaking a lot of runs without buying wickets in return. To make the matter worse for Dhoni, Jadeja too looked off-colour with the ball and Dhoni struggled to find a reliable force with the ball. There was no end of crisis for Dhoni and it prompted a man of his nerves to call the campaign as ‘a boat with too many holes to plug.’ Retained players MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, N Jagadeesan, Faf Du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sam Curran, Ravi Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma, KM Asif, Imran Tahir, R. Sai Kishore, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi. Players released Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay, Monu Kumar, Harbhajan Singh First XI before the auction Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c &wk), Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi/Josh Hazlewood/Imran Tahir Auction strategy Squad Size: 25 India players: 18 Overseas: 07 Total Money spent: Rs 62.1 cr Purse remaining: Rs 22.9 cr Available slot: 07 Overseas: 01 Going into the auction, the franchise would be desperate to find names who can provide late innings bursts and take the team over the line from pressure situations. Also, they would be looking for reliable openers to back up the likes of Robin Uttahapa who was traded before the retention window closed and Faf du Plessis who had returned mixed fortunes in the last season. As they have released Piyush Chawla after a horrendous season last year, they will be itching to get spinners in the rank as well, but given the auction scheduled on February 18 is not a grand one, they can hold their horses for the big one after the season where they will have a lot tougher ask of starting the building up of new team which will take the baton from MS Dhoni and his contemporaries. Probable targets There have been players who have been shining in T20 cricket across the globe. There are openers who have taken the recently-concluded Big Bash League in Australia by storm and the Super Kings may well target them to start the transition process. However, with only one slot remaining for overseas players, the Super Kings will have their hands tied and will have to make a choice to choose batsmen or an all-rounder who can provide late innings flourish along with balance to the playing XI or openers to provide early innings blitz which was missing in the last season. Here are the players the Super Kings can target For the opening slot, it’s Englishmen all the way with as many as three men running as the front runner to don the yellow jersey in the next edition of the marquee event. Dawid Malan Dawid Malan has emerged as one of the brighter spots for England white-ball cricket in the last 18-24 months. He has been at the top of his game for England in all conditions across the world. Although he could not quite own the recently concluded Big Bash League in Australia, the left-hander will be a prize pick in the Indian Premier League. If the CSK get Malan, they can expect him to do roles similar to Michael Hussey who brought both stability as well as aggression at the top of the order in their successful years in the league. Alex Hales Hales has gone out of favour from England set up but his form has not left him yet as he has been travelling to dominate the world. He was in ferocious form in the Big Bash and in the last six games of the season, he had one century and two half-centuries to his name. He was an instrumental figure at the top of the order who propelled the Sydney Thunder to the knockout stage of the tournament. Hales has played in the IPL before and his game against spinners has not been poor. He should be a tempting option for the Super Kings if they are looking at an option with both present and future prospects. Jason Roy Roy, like his other compatriots, is among front runners to be in the eyesight of the Super Kings who are in desperate search of players with flair and substance at the start of the innings. Roy has also shown signs of having strong nerves for the big occasion and these sort of characteristics are picked up easily by Dhoni and Fleming who will look to Roy to replicate his form for England in the IPL as well.

WATCH: Moeen Ali castles Virat Kohli

England all-rounder Moeen Ali castled India skipper Virat Kohli with a stunning delivery during the first day of the second Test between the two sides in Chennai. Moeen removed Kohli for a duck in the 22nd over of the first innings. It was a length delivery that took a sharp turn into the batsman and went past Kohli’s drive to disturb the woodwork behind him. Earlier, India elected to bat first after winning the toss but had a disappointing start after opener Shubman Gill was trapped in front of the stumps by Olly Stone for a duck. Cheteshwar Pujara and vice-captain Rohit Sharma then steadied the ship and stitched a partnership of 85 runs before Pujara was sent back to the pavilion for 21 by Jack Leach. Kohli followed him soon to leave India tottering at 86/3. While Pujara and Kohli failed to leave a mark in the first innings, Sharma notched up a fine half-century before the lunch was called. Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit added 20 more runs before the end of the first session. India trail the four-match Test series 0-1 after losing the first Test at the same venue.