Misbah-ul-Haq tests positive for Covid-19

Inside Out | Virat Kohli faces toughest test in captaincy after years of bull run

Indian batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar always emphasizes the game of Cricket is a great leveller and that it balances the highs and lows of players and teams in a matter of minutes. His words could not have been more true for the Virat Kohli-led Indian team on the tour of England. After the hysteric win at Lord’s, they have been levelled to the floor by an England side that showed more discipline and consistency. The loss at Lord’s would have been mentally tough and for the hosts and as champion players do after a moment of reckoning, their henchman James Anderson went back to the drawing board and came back with the basics of the game. In complete contrast, Kohli’s India seemed to be stuck in the same euphoria that encircled them at the end of an incredible heist. There is always an argument that the current crop of Indian cricketers and the team under Kohli’s leadership is better and different than their predecessors. While there are arguments to be made and proved for the first narrative, there is little doubt about the latter presumption. The idea that this team is different from their previous generations because they have not had as bad a day in the office in an away Test match for a long long time. Yes, they have been defeated badly on numerous occasions and they have squandered their advantages due to periods of mediocrity with the ball or wrong alacrity with the bat. However, India under Kohli have not faced such a daunting day before nothing could go right for them from the very first over to the last over of the day. The Test defeats he has endured as captain came as punishment for some awful phase of play, but they always came back quickly to remain in contention. They had lost the last Test series in England 1-4, but apart from the loss at Lord’s, they were in with the chance in all the games. Even at Lord’s, they started well with the ball after a disastrous batting performance before Chris Waokes took the game away from them. The first day at Headingley would have been a surreal experience for Kohli, and his expressions while sitting on the balcony and seeing his teammates falling like a house of cards demonstrated he was not even accepting it, let alone enduring it. But, amid all the hoopla around the team being the best Indian team, why were the fans always anxious about an Indian batting collapse. How were they sure a certain moment like the one in the first innings of the Leeds Test was due in the offering. There was a certain sense of scepticism about how they would fare when Joe Root sent them in at Lord’s and fans were fearing another batting collapse like the one in the 2018 Test. How come a team that boast of such superiority give such a sense of assurance about its failure to the fans? When KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma batted brilliantly to put them on the top at Lord’s it was rated tremendous efforts on the side of batsmen and also relieving at the same time instead of normalcy from a champion side that has it in them to be a world-beating side. Well, the batting collapse every fans and watcher of Indian cricket were fearing arrived in Leeds and it did come with more troubles. The ever so reliant bowling attack that breathed fire at Lord’s, replicated their batting mates and kept on searching for help from the pitch and in the air while being mediocre at best. Also, to compound the team’s issue, there was not much on offer from the pitch and they were left to inspire one another to lift their side and for a change, they lacked in that department as well. Kohli would have felt what his predecessor MS Dhoni used to go through on the twin tours of 2011 and 2014 where his batsmen were repetitively failing to make a mark with the bat while he was watching all the agony when England batsmen were batting from behind the wicket. Kohli must have had a near same feeling on the first day in Leeds while fielding at the first slip just beside Rishabh Pant. Kohli always has come across as a character who put his heart and soul in a contest and experts of the game argue that it makes his teammates so charged up for a moment that it gets tough to switch off from jubilation. They don’t take the losses to their heart though as they always come back harder after humiliation. Remember, India came rocking back in the series against Australia at the MCG after an embarrassing 46 all out while England trumped them in all departments in Chennai some days after a historic high at the Gabba. Did the Lord’s win affect their approach and decision making coming into the Test? Did they play four pacers only because of the triumph on the final day that was achieved by the relentless pace attack and the conditions and pitch at Headingley? Did Kohli decide to bat first only based on their first-innings performance at Lord’s? The answer to all these uncomfortable questions can be both yes and no depending on how one sees the captaincy style of Kohli and the outlook of India under him. The batting did well at Lord’s but only in patches, except for KL Rahul and Rohit, who were patient enough to wait for their opportunity early on. The conditions in Leeds were different and as soon as Rahul gave up on his patience very early on, the batting group could not rise to the occasion. It is easier to mask individual problems when thighs are going too well for the team and needless to say India have been on a high-growth curve in the recent past. Did they downplay the poor run of form and low confidence of Cheteshwar Pujara and an always nervous Ajinkya Rahane? All those cracks appeared in one go in Leeds and India could not find ways to not get submerged in those big holes in the batting department. Did Kohli err in reading conditions? When Kohli won the toss, there was a big smile on Root’s face as if to suggest that he was very happy having his counterpart take the tough call of deciding what they wanted to do. England skipper suggested that pitch was “tacky” and Headingley has always been a tough place to bat first and Root, who comes from Yorkshire, must have had a fair bit of experience about the pitch and conditions. Winning the toss and batting first is the right option more often than not and captains opting for such decisions back their batsmen to fight the first session with the best they have got. Kohli too would have backed the batting order to survive the first session and then cashing in later in the day. It was a tricky decision but not a wrong one considering how little the pitch and the conditions offered to bowlers in the last session and a half of the day. Winning the toss and bowling first could have been a far bullish call than batting first and if England would have been able to survive the first sessions with just one or two wicket down, the call would have been far more terrible. Kohli would not have hoped for such a terrible performance that they would be bundled out for 78. It was tough conditions to bat in the first session but they made their life tougher or in fact, they did not even try. Rahul was lured into driving at one he could have at best defended with soft hands, while the trio of Pujara, Rahane and Kohli himself paid the price of their eagerness to put the bat on the ball. Rohit squandered his hard work yet again after soaking up the pressure for far too long and India were down in tatters by the time Ravindra Jadeja played around a straight swinging ball he should have offered a straight drive or push. India are in for a massive leather hunt after conceding a 42 run lead without taking any England wickets and how they respond on the second day will showcase and establish their mettle as a team. They have been brilliant in digging deep and coming with their best when pushed against the wall, and they need all of that to come even close to a fight in this game. The Leeds Test in all its proposition has asked some really tough questions of both Kohli, the captain and the batsman in a long time and how India come back from this disaster will set his standard in this series and many more in the near future.

CPL 2021 | Team Preview: Can Dwayne Bravo and Chris Gayle combine to win the elusive trophy for Patriots?

St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots will be playing on their home ground throughout the season during the Caribbean Premier League 2021, which would be the ninth edition of the league. They have got this chance of playing all home games because the CPL Governing Council and West Indies Cricket Board decided to host all 33 games of the season at Warner Park in St. Kitts and Nevis. Apart from the home ground advantage, the Patriots would have in the ranks two of the most celebrated and fiercest T20 competitors in the world, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo. While Gayle has played for the Patriots for two seasons and has led them to a Final as well where they eventually lost to incidentally, Bravo’s Trinabago Knight Riders. Now that both Gayle and Bravo are on the same side, the two wouldn’t be captaining as the side will be captained by Rayad Emrit. Along with the top two cricketers in Gayle and Bravo, Emrit and Ravi Bopara are the other two cricketers who too are above 35 in the team, in fact, Emrit is 40 years old. So it’s an ageing XI no doubt, but all that would matter is 40 overs on that particular day and players in the Patriots are capable of ruling the game at this age as well. St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots Squad Rayad Emrit (c), Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Dominic Drakes, Joshua Da Silva, Chris Gayle, Devon Thomas, Colin Archibald, Mikyle Louis Overseas Asif Ali, Ravi Bopara, Fawad Ahmed, Paul van Meekeren Head Coach Simon Helmot Assistant Coaches Malolan Rangarajan, Donavan Miller Gayle, Lewis and Rutherford: The deadly southpaw trio There is no doubt that batting would be the favoured department of the team from St. Kitts and Nevis. In batting too, they would like to bank on their left-hand trio of Gaye, Evin Lewis and Sherfane Rutherford. All of them have been in good form coming into the competition especially Lewis and Gayle are coming in the back of a lot of international cricket, while Rutherford too had been brilliant in the Pakistan Super League. While gayle has to his credit almost 450 matches and might become the first person to score 15,000 T20 runs in some time, but the others are equally dominant at their peak, especially Lewis at the top of the order. For the Patriots to surge ahead in the league a good start from Lewis is necessary. Along with the trio, the Patriots have in store the likes of experienced Ravi Bopara who has travelled across the globe playing this game and PSL superstar Asif Ali who can hit the ball as hard and as long as anybody else on the park. After the pure batters would come all-rounders like Fabian Allen and Dwayne Bravo and in the recent international series against South Africa and Australia, they have shown how brilliant they could turn out to be with the bat given a chance. Thus batting seems to be no big issue with the Patriots. Experienced but not world-class bowling attack The bowling attack apart from Bravo looks relatively less known compared to other teams. Emrit with his experience of playing all the eight seasons of the CPL and Fawad Ahmed with his wily leg-spin. Sure, Sheldon Cottrell, Allen and Bopara can chip in with their overs and not only chip in, but pick wickets as well, but in terms of depth, considering that someone gets injured, it would really hard to find replacements. The team signed Pakistani speedster, Naseem Shah, on August 25 and he could be a handful if he gets a chance to make it to the XI. Apart from Naseem, Paul van Meekeren, the dutch player who applies his trade in English domestic cricket looks like the only known and good enough replacement option for a fast bowler. Rest Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Dominic Drakes, Colin Archibald and Mikyle Louis are players that haven’t really been tested at such a big stage, so what they might hold is something that can’t be predicted. Can they finally win it? Now the big question is can they finally end their wait and can they be that new team to win the league for the first time? If things go as planned and both Bravo and Gayle fire and so does the rest of the players like Allen, Bopara, Cottrell and Asif Ali there is no doubt that the Patriots could go all the way. It’s all about clicking as a team because as far as pedigree and big match experience is concerned they have got players who have done it in the past. Probable Playing XI Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Asif Ali, Ravi Bopara, Sherfane Rutherford, Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Rayad Emrit (c), Fawad Ahmed, Sheldon Cottrell

ENG vs IND | 3rd Test, Day 1: Disciplined Burns-Hameed, hurting Anderson demolish India's hubris

One could wonder which side of the beds both the England skipper Joe Root and the Indian skipper Virat Kohli would have woke up by the complete turnaround in fortunes of them and their side on the first day of the Third Test in Leeds. Whatever that could have gone wrong for the tourists did go horribly wrong while the hosts make merry on the back of a pumped-up bowling attack. India were down to nothing in the first session itself with the big four wickets back to the pavilion and any chance of resurgence as this Kohli-led side have been known for in the recent past, was thwarted by despicable shot selection by batsmen. England’s bowlers have been there and thereabouts so far in the series and it was their batting that was failing them for so long. However, on a day when nothing could have gone wrong for them, a rejuvenated opening pair of Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed put them in a commanding position from where they can dictate the flow and the terms of the game. Anderson’s box of tricks, India’s indiscipline James Anderson is a champion bowler, who has shoulder the burden of winning England uncountable number of games on home soil. He always was a genuine swing bowler but the advent of wobble seam deliveries have made him ever so lethal in the series. He has been masterful with the length whenever he has used the wobble seam ball and it was all on display in the first spell of bowling that produced a remarkable figure of 8-0-6-3. He started with a genuine outswinger to Rohit Sharma and followed it up with three in swingers to KL Rahul in order to lure him to playing at deliveries outside off stump. Rahul has been watchful across all the innings in the series and Anderson came determined to create doubts in Rahul’s mind. The first three balls bowled at him came towards him with some degree of movement in the air. Those deliveries were pitched at good length areas and allowed the right-hander to leave on the bounce. The pacer was not worried through and he adjusted to a fuller delivery around off stump that shaped to come into him significant that drew Rahul into driving and England were ecstatic to see the back of the batsman who has become a thorn in their flesh so far. Cheteshwar Pujara’s cluttered mind did not help him one bit and Anderson employed the same tactic he used against him in the first innings at Lord’s. The ball was angled in from wide of the crease and Pujara’s indecisiveness lured him into poking at one he could afford to leave at the last moment. With both Rahul and Pujara went even before Rohit could set his eyes in, the onus was on Kohli to lead from the front. He has been found out in the series around the off stump line in what analysts have termed “opening up of 2014 problems”. Anderson teased him with outswingers at the fourth or fifth stump line and the skipper showed early confidence by leaving them all alone. Anderson could not have been more precise in the morning session and he brought his line of attack back closer to off stump with each passing ball. Kohli was watchful to not have a drive against him until a full-pitched ball that straightened came on his fourth stump and he let a booming drive coming out of his blade. The edge went safely into Jos Buttler’s gloves, who were in with a fantasy ride behind the wicket in the next few hours of the day. Burns, Hameed’s dream run against off-colour pacers When things start to go downhill, it goes off pretty quickly and India must have got through the same embarrassment as their counterparts went through on the final day of the Lord’s Test. They were coming into the final day with a lot to do for competing against the hosts but they turned out to be winner in the end. The story changed quickly as India were wiped out for a mere 78 after heist at Lord’s and any chance of their revival in the game by thwarted by the new opening pair of Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed. Remember, it was the failure of the English top order that had put enormous pressure on Joe Root and ultimately his failure had cost hosts the last game. The script had changed completely as it was the turn of Indian bowlers to have a complete off the day with the ball, and they could not have picked the worst day for not turning up at their best. Indian pacers hardly challenged the openers around their off stump as their English counterparts had done to their teammates early on in the day. They made sure to capitalize on getting the opportunity to get their eyes on with a lot of deliveries they could leave outside off. They stitched an unbeaten partnership of more than 100 runs—England’s first 100-run partnership in the 24th innings to completely deflate India on the very first day of the third Test. Looking forward to the second day England have already taken a lead of 42 runs and have all their 10 wickets intact going into the second day. The delight on the faces of Root and coach Chris Silverwood and the reception they gave to the unbeaten openers emphasized the desperation of a good start to the Test match the hosts needed after a demoralising defeat at Lord’s. They would be looking forward to keeping India in the field for a long time, at least for the whole of the second day. If they will be able to do so, they might earn eh luxury of not needing to bat again. India, on the other hand, will have to accept that they were below par in every moment of the game on the first day. They would be looking forward to starting afresh and challenging the England batsmen from the scratch. India could also ponder not throwing everything they have in their body and may well play a hiding game. However, those tactics seem to be an impossible scenario for the Kohli-led side and four days is a lot of time to play the hiding game. If India won’t be able to get England all out around the 200 or 250-run mark, they would be all but out of the game and Kohli- Ravi Shastri duo needs to draw a tactical line of what their objectives will be for the second day.

CPL 2021 | GAW vs TKR, Preview: Clash of the titans await fans to start the Caribbean extravaganza

The Caribbean Premier League is finally here and what could be better than a Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Trinabago Knight Riders clash to start it with. It is like Manchester United vs Liverpool or Real Madrid vs Barcelona or in cricketing terms Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings of the CPL. The only difference however is that the Guyanese team has not been able to win even a single title so far, having appeared four times in the Final out of the eight seasons. To compensate for that though, they beat most of the teams at league stages including the Trinidad and Tobago team. However, the record has swung in favour of the Knight Riders recently, so much so that in the last 10 meetings the Knight Riders have won six games. Now, to get things in balance, the Warriors would be edging to get one past their biggest rivals in the inaugral match of another Covid restricted edition of the league. Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Trinbago Knight Riders: Details Match Number-01 Date and Time: August 26, 2021, 07:30 pm IST, 10:00 am Local, 02:00 pm GMT Venue: Warner Park Broadcast and Livestream: Star Sports Network and Fancode Pitch Report The pitch at Basseterre has generally proved high scoring as far as T20 is concerned. In 38 domestic T20 matches, the average score at the ground is 166 while in seven international T20 games, the runs have gone down with the average score being 136. However, the pitch has always favoured chasers with 23 times out of 38, the team winning batting second in the league games. Thus if a captain wins the toss, there would be no surprise if he chooses to bat second. Weather Forecast With 72% humidity, it would be very difficult conditions at 10 am in Basseterre. The temperature would be only 30 degrees, but BBC weather tells that it would feel like 41 degrees so imagine the toughness for players. However, one thing that is great for viewers is that there are fewer to no chances of rain. Team News Guyana Amazon Warriors The team would be looking to utilise the experience of the two Pakistanis in Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik to go with the aggression of Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer in the batting. In the bowling department, they would again bank on the experience of Imran Tahir and mix it with the youth of Kevin Sinclair Romario Shepherd. Probable XI Brandon King, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Mohammad Hafeez, Shimron Hetmyer, Shoaib Malik, Nicholas Pooran (c) (wk), Anthony Bramble, Romario Shepherd, Kevin Sinclair, Imran Tahir, Naveen-ul-Haq Trinbago Knight Riders The Trinbago Knight Riders on their part would be looking to get on the road straight away. With the extra responsibility of vice-captain, Sunil Narine would be looking to contribute more with the bat while Kieron pollard would look to trust two New Zealanders in Tim Seifert and Colin Munro at the top with ever-reliable Lendl Simmons. In the bowling department, Isuru Udana is likely to play a key role along with new kid on the block Jayden Seales and Pakistan born USA player Ali Khan in the pace battery. For spin, Narine would have the company of either Akeal Hossein or Khary Pierre. Probable XI Colin Munro, Tim Seifert, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard (c), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Sunil Narine, Khary Pierre, Isuru Udana, Ali Khan, Jayden Seales Dream XI Fantasy team Batters Colin Munro, Lendl Simmons, Shimron Hetmyer All Rounders Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Isuru Udana Bowlers Ali Khan, Kevin Sinclair, Imran Tahir Wicket Keepers Tim Seifert, Nicholas Pooran Captain Kieron Pollard Vice-Captain Nicholas Pooran