Mumbai appoint Shams Mulani as captain of squad touring Oman ahead of T20 World Cup

Batting coach Rathour wants Rohit to be 'more selective', rules out fault in Kohli's technique

Rohit Sharma has proved his batting credentials so far on the tour of England. He has been watchful around his off stump and very selective about what to play at and leave outside his off stump against impressive England pace bowlers. However, even after five complete innings on the tour including two against New Zealand, he has not gone onto score a century, and on two out of four occasions he has gone out, he has scripted his own downfall rather than bowlers earning his wicket. He was batting in sublime touch before Ollie Robinson had induced a top edge of his bat while the right-hander was trying to pull a short delivery for six. His dismissals restarted the debate if he wastes his starts by poor selection of shots but a confident Rohit said that the pull shot has been the most productive shot for him and he will carry on playing that shot. True to his words, he kept on playing that shot in the second Test at Lord’s as well and ultimately was perished in the second innings against Mark Wood. More than the manner of his dismissals, his critics were very critical of him for not being able to pick the right balls to put the pressure back on the bowlers. He was guilty of falling prey to a trap laid out by Joe Root just a ball before the wicket wall and Rohit’s lack of game awareness and brazenness was questioned. India’s bating coach Vikram Rathour was asked the question that whether the team management has had some words with Rohit over his pull shot, which has also emerged as a dangerous shot for him so far in the series. Rathour made it absolutely clear that the team don’t want him to curtail his style of batting and instead they will back him to trust his own methods. However, he asserted that the right-hander must be more “selective” about which balls to attack and that the team management will have some “conversation” with him over the issue. “We will be having a talk of what happened and what they were thinking while playing that shot. As far as Rohit is concerned, he has made it clear that pull shot fetches him runs so he is going to play those shots and we will back him playing those shots. The only thing, he needs to be a little more selective, if he can have that conversation and we will have that conversation with him,” Rathour said in the virtual press conference after the end of the fourth day’s play at Lords. Rathour was also asked about the Indian middle-order that has not contributed much over the last couple of years. The trio of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara has not been at their best and especially, Kohli has been found out around the off-stump which some experts are calling reminiscent of the horror tour of 2014. Rathour ruled out coming back of those issues around the off stump that haunted Kohli in the entire 2014 series and labelled his dismissal against Sam Curran as a result of a “lapse of concentration”. “Kohli, I do not think there was an issue, it was just a lapse of concentration. I do not think there is anything old coming back,” Rathour asserted. Discussing the overall middle-order issue, Rathour refused to put down their batting form as a concern and said that it would have been worrying had they were not planning enough to improve their batting. Instead, he said that they are going through a “rough patch” which is a usual phenomenon for people playing for a long time at the international level. “Our job is to work on the processes, I will be concerned if they are not working hard or planning well. But they are working really hard, they have their game plans. As I said, in cricket these phases will come, especially with the guys who have been playing for so long, there will be times when they will not score runs, so again, as long as they are trying their best, I do not think we are concerned at all," he said. India managed to get out of the jail courtesy of a fighting century stand between Rahane and Pujara on the fourth day and a swashbuckling partnership between Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah in the first session of the final day. However, Rathour and India will be hoping the duo of Rahane and Pujara will build on the form they earned after impressive innings in the second innings of the Lord’s Test.

South African David Wiese to play for Namibia in T20 World Cup 2021

Former South Africa all-rounder David Wiese will be turning out for Namibia in the upcoming T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman in October- November this year. Wiese, who is South Africa born and represented the Proteas from 2013-16 in six ODIs and 20 T20Is has qualified to play for the neighbouring country on the basis of his descent. Weise’ father was born in Namibia and hence he qualifies to play for them immediately, by virtue of first descent. Cricket Namibia CEO Johan Muller also confirmed this development to cricket website ESPNcricinfo. Though the 36-year-old has made himself available, the Nambian squad has yet not been finalised. The ICC has given September 10 as the deadline for the teams to submit their squads for the World Cup. Namibia qualified for their first-ever T20 World Cup after beating Oman in the Semi-Final playoffs and eventually finishing fourth in the tournament with the top six teams making the cut for the 2020 T20 World cup, which was initially to be played in Australia. With Covid causing postponement, the 2020 edition has been now shifted to 2022 and instead 2019 qualification was treated as the qualifying process for the 2021 T20 World Cup to be hosted by India in UAE and Oman. Weise, who joined the Kolpak deal with Sussex in 2017 would be in the company of his fellow South Africans Pierre de Bruyn and Albie Morkel who have joined the Namibian team as support staff for the tournament.

To believe and stay positive: Kemar Roach’s mantra in thrilling one-wicket win against Pakistan

West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach became the unlikely hero with the bat for West Indies as they chased down 168 set by Pakistan in the first of the two-Test matches taking place at Sabina Park, Jamaica to win the game by one wicket. Roach, who scored unbeaten 30 and was instrumental in taking West Indies from 114-7 to the victory, said that the only thing that kept him going was belief and staying positive. "I have never been in a situation like that before, batting with the tail. I am part of the tail, so for me, it was to go out there and believe. That was the biggest thing - to believe and stay positive - and it worked, and I give thanks,” said the 33-year-old during the post-match interview. Explaining the plan when he got together with wicket-keeper batter Joshu Da Silva, with 54 runs still required and only two more batsmen in the dressing room, the Barbadian said, "The plan was to just stay positive. That's me. I was just trying to take on every ball as it came.” “This is by far the most important innings so far. I was just trying to pick the gaps and run hard,” he added further. Roach and West Indies were in a spot of bother with youngster Jayden Seales walking in to bat at number 11 and the team still requiring 17 more to win. Roach was asked about his plans and pep talk to Seales. To that, he replied, “My advice to Jayden was ‘just protect the stumps’. The biggest threat is the straight ball. He did it very well. He is a star for the future. His five wickets today speaks wonders about our cricket. All the best to him, and I wish him a great career!"

Lord's Test | Mohammed Shami smashes fifty to lead India's fightback

India’s number nine and 10, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah frustrated England with a valiant fifty-run partnership on the final day of the Lord’s Test. Their contributions with the bat propelled India past the 250-run mark and took the lead beyond the 230-run mark. India were knocked off early when Ollie Robinson got the better of Risbah Pant and Ishant Sharma inside the first hour of the play, but Bumrah and Shami put their head down and played shots on the merit of balls to hold England off. At the start of Bumrah’s batting, England players such as Mark Wood and Jos Buttler decided to give it back to him for his bouncer barrage against James Anderson on the third day. However, Bumrah took it upon himself to reply to England with his bat. At the other end, Shami was batting with patience and capitalised on loose balls bowled at him. He played some crisp shots of Anderson and Moeen Ali to impress his teammates including the skipper Kohli sitting on the Lord’s balcony. India were struggling at the end of the fourth day’s play when Moeen Ali had dismissed Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja in the late hours of the day.