Moises Henriques questions Chahal's place as Jadeja's concussion substitute

BBL 2020 Team Preview: Will it be the third time lucky for Dawid Malan-strong Hurricanes!

Hobart Hurricanes along with Melbourne Stars are the only two teams in an eight-team strong Big Bash League tournament that haven’t won a single final yet, even after being consistent throughout all campaigns in the last three years. It has always ended up getting too difficult for Hurricanes in terms of chases in the finals, be it the 2013-14 season or the 2017-18 season. The foreign signings This time around though, the planning is different as they have signed up World Number one T20I batsman in Dawid Malan, and he has been a master when it comes to chasing. In the 11 innings that he has played while batting second, the 33-year-old has remained not out in two of them and has scored more runs (451) in the second innings than the first. His average in the second innings is also above fifty with five half-centuries coming while chasing as compared to four while batting first. Over the years he has proved in various leagues across the world that he is worth the chance. In 213 T20 games, Malan has 5852 runs at a healthy average of 33 and a brilliant strike rate of 130, which has kept on growing as his recent international form suggests. And Malan is not the only one that Hobart will be banking on. They have recruited the Nepalese talisman spinner Sandeep Lmichchane, who is a great asset, considering his exploits in the BBL so far. In 20 innings, the leggie has 26 scalps with an economy of under 8. Sandeep, 20, has a knack for picking wickets as is evident through his superb record of 117 wickets in 88 T20 games in leagues across the world. He alongside the young teenager from Victoria, Will Parker signed up this year by the Hurricanes, combined with the occasional wrist spin of D’Arcy short and off-spin of Tim David could be the combination that Hobart had been looking for for years to provide semblance to their bowling unit. Even coach Adam Griffith believes in his abilities. “We have seen how Sandeep can change a game with his mystery spin, and he can bowl at any stage of the innings. He’s a proven wicket-taker who will add yet another dimension to our bowling group,” Griffith said on signing the Nepal star. Keemo Paul is as strong addition as there could be, although he would not be available for the initial games. The West Indian is a proven talent and alongside the express pace of Scott Boland and Nathan Ellis, he could turn out to be the wicket-taker, as suggested through his record in the T20s ( 60 wickets in 62 games, for a bowler coming first change) Paul is no muck with the bat either, he is rather a capable lower batter and the Aussie conditions would suit both his batting and bowling as it’s ‘hit the deck’ hard that he is good at. Hobart Hurricanes BBL|10 Squad Scott Boland, Tim David, Jake Doran, Nathan Ellis, James Faulkner, Peter Handscomb, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, David Moody, Mitchell Owen, Tim Paine, Will Parker, D'Arcy Short, Matthew Wade, Nick Winter, Mac Wright. Overseas players: Dawid Malan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Keemo Paul. Overseas replacement players: Will Jacks, Colin Ingram Support Staff: Head Coach- Adam Griffith Senior Assistant Coach- Jeff Vaughan Assistants- Ben Rohrer, Allister de Winter, Wade Townsend, Xavier Doherty, Matt Clark, Daniel Salpietro Left will turn it right for Hurricanes The Hobart team has got a host of left-handed superstars in the form of Dawid Malan, last season hero, and skipper Matthew Wade, Malan’s replacement Colin Ingram and the destructive opener from Western Australia D’Arcy Short as well. Even in the bowling department, they have experienced left-handers in James Faulkner and Nick Winter. It is these players who would be banked on and who would have to turn it right for the team. Wade (351 runs) and Short (357 runs) are proven BBL talents while there is no questioning of Malan. Even Ingram has had a terrific outing for Adelaide strikers in past seasons. In fact, In 25 games for the Strikers, the powerful left-hander plundered 610 runs at an average of 30.5 and strike rate of 138.95. Underlining Ingram’s importance, Griffith said, “Although he won’t be with us for the whole tournament, he will provide stability and explosive power to our batting order before Dawid joins the group.” Hobart success story will need all-rounders as heroes Any t20 team would find it hard to be successful for a long time without having quality all-rounders. Hobart, this time around have actually got a ‘pool’ of quality all-rounders, led by Vitality Blast MVP England’s Will Jacks, who have only recently developed a knack of picking wickets with his orthodox off-spin. Jacks, playing for Surrey, which was the runners up in the competition, scored 306 runs in 13 games alongside picking 13 wickets. Then there is the old fox James Faulkner who has 25 wickets in 20 games for the Hurricanes, and although hasn’t got much opportunity to prove himself with the bat, his recent hundred and fifty for Tasmania University are signs that he is itching to let loose with the willow. Added to this list the Hurricanes have the West Indian Keemo Paul and Australia-born Singapore international Tim David as two all-rounders as well. “Keemo uses different types of slower balls and loves bowling at the death. He's also a hard-hitting batsman that can clear the fence, adding more power to our lower-middle order to finish off an innings," Griffith had said on the Guyanese signing with the Hurricanes. Along with these Short and Jake Doran’s (if he plays) bowling skills could be utilized as well. Not available full time! Hurricanes' biggest worry The biggest problem that the Hurricanes might face is the non-availability of key platters at crucial times. Tim Panie and Wade, two of the most experienced players for Hurricanes would not be available until the 9th round for the team. Similarly, Malan and Lamichchane, the most important pillars in the Hurricane hopes would also not be available before the 4th round, neither would be Keemo Paul, posing a great threat to ‘great start’ as the fans might be expecting. Talent will win you games, camaraderie the tournament Hurricanes have all the right recipes for a perfect blend and just so that they don’t get too dependent on those stars, a natural dose of struggle (initial absence of star players) has been injected as well. Most of the players in the Hurricanes squad are here to get their hands on a trophy, most having been witness to the saying ‘close yet so far’ would be raring to win it this time. This is where the character, team spirit, and camaraderie play an important role, and Griffith the coach, Piane and Wade the senior pros know it. If the team gels together, which looks like a will, they are right at the top of the contenders’ list.

Continuous Abuse of Sanjay Manjrekar is Petty, It Has to Stop!

We know how much Indians love cricket. But as the extremely high number of crimes committed by jilted lovers in this country shows, intense passion could manifest itself in perverse forms. This applies to cricket fans also. The love Indians have for the game of cricket is admirable, except when it leads to behaviour that is lacking in grace and dignity. One's mind goes back to the booing of Lasith Malinga at Wankhede Stadium in 2011. His crime was doing his job and getting the wickets of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar in the World Cup final. Malinga, a bowler who played without a scowl or foul temper, apparently, had become hateful just for doing what he is supposed to. Something similar has been going on in India for more than an year. Sanjay Manjrekar, former India batsman and a leading commentator, has been repeatedly trolled in social media. What really about Manjrekar angers cricket fans is unclear. Of late, it has been his supposed tiff with Ravindra Jadeja that originated during the World Cup 2019. Despite Manjrekar humbly accepting that he was wrong in his assessment of Jadeja, Indian fans have been continuously abusing and insulting the broadcaster. On Friday, after India's victory where Jadeja starred with the bat, there was again a spike in mentions of Manjrekar on Twitter. Again, Indian fans were doing their best to mock the former India batter. This has to stop! Manjrekar has been a dedicated commentator who has covered cricket as a broadcaster for more than two decades. One can have a divergent view as to how good or bad he is at his job, but to continuously ridicule a man is downright petty. Besides, far from being biased against Jadeja, Manjrekar over the years has been among his biggest admirers. Besides, which commentator hasn't been occassionally wrong about a player or two in his broadcasting career. The late Dean Jones once remarked that he thinks Ajantha Mendis will pick up 600 wickets in his international career, Ravi Shastri kept asserting that Suresh Raina's short-ball problem is only temporary. There are multiple examples. Also, what exactly has the former Mumbai batsman done to continuously draw this opprobrium. Is it that he is meticulous in his commentary? Is it because he has an independent mind and, unlike a Harsha Bhogle, doesn't shape his views to stay on the good side of public opinion? Is it because he doesn't fill his commentary with anodyne comments. Some may argue that he was an ordinary player in his day, so doesn't have the right to criticize others. This view just doesn't hold up. By that logic, neither Akash Chopra nor many of his colleagues have the right to criticize anyone, and certainly not Harsha Bhogle! And for those who think Manjrekar was an average batsman, here are some facts for you. He scored a hundred in West Indies, on the fastest wicket of the region - Barbados - against a bowling attack that included Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, and Ian Bishop. For all his bat-twirling, Jadeja hasn't come remotely close to facing such an attack on such a surface. On India's tour of Pakistan, in 1989 - Sachin's debut series, Majrekar raked up more than 500 runs in the series. It was that performance which earned him the moniker - The Wall - before Rahul Dravid earned it later. He was, in that sense, the Proto-Wall before the arrival of the actual Wall. To mock and ridicule such a player continuously shows, not just a lack of respect, but lack of manners. In 2013, when England toured Australia for the Ashes, an overzealous Australian newspaper decided that it won't publish Broad's name because of him not walking during the previous series, in England. That was obviously an act of imbecile petulence. So is continuously making fun of a completely respectable commentator without any provocation.

Ravindra Jadeja Ruled Out of Rest of T20I Series Due to Concussion

After his controversial absence during Australia's innings in the first T20I of the three-match series between India and Australia, Ravindra Jadeja has been declared unfit for the remaining two matches. India have declared Shardul Thakur as the replacement for the all-rounder. A formal statement from BCCI stated: "The diagnosis was confirmed based on a clinical assessment in the dressing room during the innings break by the BCCI Medical Team." The concussion which forced Jadeja to be replaced by Yuzvendra Chahal as the concussion substitute has, apparently, been more serious than initially imagined. Jadeja was hit on the helmet by a Mitchell Starc bouncer in the final over of India's innings. He continued to bat and added a vital nine more runs to the innings. However, when the news of the all-rounder being replaced midway through the game was communicated to Australian camp, it brought on a furious reaction from the team's coach Justin Langer. He was seen arguing animatedly with match refereee David Boon. The issue didn't escalate as Aussie captain Aaron Finch didn't question it during the post-match presentation ceremony and expressed his approval of the medical examination that judged Jadeja to be concussed. The protests are going to die down completely with the injury having been judged serious enough to deny the in-form player's services to the team. Shardul came back into the Indian side for the third and final ODI at Canberra, where he picked up three crucial wickets in an impressive performance. Even though he isn't an all-rounder like Jadeja, his bowling prowess has been deemed valuable enough by the Indian team management to get him back in the squad. However, Jadeja's absence will hurt India's chances as it was his batting that proved to be the difference between both teams in the first T20I as well as the last ODI. In the first match of the ongoing series, he scored an unbeated 44 off just 23 balls to give India a target they successfully defended.

AUS vs IND 1st T20: What Experts said as India wins series opener amid concussion substitute row

It was a game that was marred by the controversy around the concussion substitutes and yet India, the team trailing in the first innings,m before the Jadeja storm, came back strong after the powerplays in the second innings to hand the Aussies an 11 run defeat at Manuka Oval. If Ravindra Jadeja was the difference with the bat, his concussion substitute Yuzvendra Chahal turned out to be with the ball. However, the works of T. Natarajan with the ball, especially him taking the all-important wicket of Glenn Maxwell And Sanju Samson’s brilliant catch to dismiss a potential and proven game-changer Steven Smith were as consequential as Jadeja’s or Chahal’s performance. Captains' Viewpoints It was obvious that Concussion was going to be a burning issue and the Indian skipper was seen addressing that as his first question in the post-match presentation. Virat Kohli, while explaining the substitution said, “Jaddu got a knock on the side of the head and was a bit dizzy and still is.” Saying that playing Chahal was never in the plans, Kohli did attribute to him the credit for India’s comeback in the second innings. “Concussion replacements are a strange thing, today it worked for us maybe another time he wouldn't have found a like-for-like. He came in and bowled really well. The pitch offered him enough,” Kohli said. The Indian team showed character to fight back and the skipper too acknowledged it. However, he was not shy of letting it be known that at some places they were lucky as well. “The batters offered us a few wickets. That is T20 cricket for you. In Australia, you need to play hard and show intensity till the end,” the 32-year-old concluded. Standing on the losing side for two games in a row, Aaron Finch revealed that he too has got some niggle but also said that it would be resolved before the first game. “It got progressively worse as the game went on,” Finch said about his hip injury. Speaking about the concussion substitute, Finch said, “Their doctor had ruled Jadeja out due to a concussion. You can't be challenging a medical expert's opinion.” Talking about the reasons for the loss, Finch said, “We probably leaked too many runs at the death. Then while chasing, we didn't hit too many boundaries in the 6-over period.” Expert Opinion The concussion substitute became too large an issue that it was difficult to get other things into focus. But most of the experts, even while talking about the controversial substitute call, praised the likes of Jadeja, Natarajan, and Chahal. D'Arcy Short stayed at the wicket for the longest time and yet he was not able to see the team through exposing his weakness at playing spin. Freddie Wilde, an English cricket analyst pointed it out saying that the Australian team would have to look at other options, which are good in sub-continental conditions for the Kangaroos World Cup campaign. Boria Majumdar, the Indian TV host, and cricket expert was full of praises for the Indian pacer Natarajan and how he has evolved over time to become a force in the Indian lineup. He even went on to say that Natarajan would be a crucial fidel in India's 2021 T20 World Cup campaign. Sambit Bal, editor of a well-known cricket website and a known cricket expert called for a change in the concussion substitute rule, but at the same time termed India correct in its use of the law as concussion cases are reported late as well. Cricketer turned Pundit of the game, Aakash Chopra saw the funny side of the concussion saying that Indian is having the best of both worlds. As with the tradition, no experts opinion piece is complete without a 'pun'-tastic one from Gaurav Kalra, the Broadcast cricket journalist. Only this time, his tweet was a rather straight forward 'substitute' used in place of his hilarious one-liners. The bandwagon of cricket would now move back to Sydney for the second as well as the 3rd and final T20I of the series, where Australia would look to find their lost touch and extend the series to the third T20I.