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New Zealand Spinner Ajaz Patel Loses Sleep Over Comeback After Long Time

New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel loses sleep over comeback after long time

Making a comeback into the Test team after a long time away from the game due to injury, New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel felt like making a fresh start to his Test career, and could not sleep throughout the night leading up to the first day of the second Test against England.

“There were definitely nerves. I couldn’t get to sleep last night, I couldn’t figure out why… I got into bed quite early but the eyes just weren’t helping me. There was excitement as well, a long time between drinks,” Patel said in the post-match press conference.

Patel last played for the Blackcaps in the home series against India and missed the entire New Zealand summer due to injury. However, the spinner said he remained ‘positive’ and focussed more on improving other aspects of his game during his forced break.

“It’s been challenging. The injuries didn’t really help my cause, and our conditions not really favouring spinners much. At the same time, I always try to take the positive out of a negative. I used that time to work on a few things in my game; my fitness and my batting,” Patel added.

The pitch at Edgbaston offered Patel decent purchase for a first-day pitch and he said that spinners should be itching to ‘thrive’ on opportunities on such pitches to bring change in fortune for their sides. He expressed his readiness to change the game for the Blackcaps by taking extra responsibility if the team can set things up nicely in the first innings.

“As a spinner, you thrive on opportunities like that, Test cricket on a surface where it’s giving you some assistance to pull something together for the team. That’s something I enjoy the challenge of and extra responsibility. I’m looking forward to that, and hopefully we can set the game up and I can bring myself into my own,” Patel asserted.

Ajaz Patel was picked in the playing XI in place of Mitchell Santner, who cut his finger in the last Test against England. He was always on the money against English batsmen and picked up two wickets of Ollie Pope and Olly Stone while giving away a mere 34 runs in his 14 overs.

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Having good bench strength gives a lot of confidence to team management: Rahul Dravid

Former India captain and National Cricket Academy Director Rahul Dravid has said that during his stint as coach with India ‘A’ teams, he made sure that all the players who travelled with him were given a chance to showcase their talents. “I tell them upfront, if you come on an A tour with me, you will not leave here without playing a game. I’ve had that personal experience myself as a kid: going on an A tour and not getting an opportunity to play is terrible,” Dravid told ESPNcricinfo. The former cricketer further said that it was harsh on players to not get international exposure after scoring runs or picking wickets at the domestic level. “You’ve done well, you scored 700-800 runs, you go, and you don’t get a chance to show what you’re good at. And then you’re back to square one from the selectors’ point of view, because the next season you have to score those 800 runs again,” he said. The former skipper lauded the bench strength that has been created in the Indian team. "There's a good bench strength being developed and I think it gives people a lot of confidence that there are players, if the situation arises, who are in good touch and playing well," Dravid said. One of Dravid’s successful stints as a coach came in 2018 when India lifted the U19 World Cup under the captaincy of Prithvi Shaw. He doesn’t travel with the U19 and ‘A’ teams anymore but will be the head coach for the Indian side that will tour Sri Lanka in July.

Would pick Shardul over Siraj as he gives an extra batting option: Sarandeep Singh

Former selector Sarandeep Singh has said that the Indian team should prefer picking up Shardul Thakur over Mohammed Siraj for the WTC final against New Zealand if there are overcast conditions. "If conditions are overcast, then you can play an extra fast bowler after Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami. My pick would be Shardul though Siraj has also done very well," Sarandeep told PTI. Sarandeep further went on to suggest that Shardul can provide the team with a batting option in the lower middle order. "You will need batting options in the lower order and Shardul gives you that. The ball will do a bit at Southampton and Shardul is good at swinging the ball,” he said. Both Shardul and Siraj impressed with their performances in Australia where the Indian team won the four-match series 2-1. The visitors made a fine comeback after they were bundled out for 36 in the first match. While India defeated Australia away from home, they thumped England 3-1 on the home soil to march into the WTC final. The Virat Kohl-led side will now face the Blackcaps in Southampton for the title clash scheduled to begin on June 18. The WTC final will be followed by a five-match Test series between India and England in August. The Indian team has begun the preparations for the final. New Zealand on the other side are battling it out against England in a two-match Test series. The first encounter at Lord’s ended in a draw while the two teams are up against each in the second and final clash in Birmingham.

My father wanted me to play for India: Chetan Sakariya

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the limited-overs fixtures against Sri Lanka away from home. The selectors have called-up some new faces which include KKR batsman Nitish Rana, RCB’s Devdutt Padikkal, RR’s Chetan Sakariya, CSK’s Ruturaj Gaikwad and K Gowtham. In a conversation with The Indian Express, left-arm pacer Sakariya talked about his selection. “I wish my father had been here to see this. He wanted me to play for India. I miss him a lot today. God has made me see ups and downs in a span of one year. It has been a very emotional ride so far,” Sakariya said. The RR bowler had also lost his younger brother before he bagged the IPL contract. “I lost my younger brother and a month later I got a big IPL contract. I lost my father last month, and god has handed me an India call-up. This is an irreplaceable void. This one is for my late father and for my mother, who allowed me to continue with my cricket,” Sakariya went on. The Indian team will be led by Shikhar Dhawan while Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been named his deputy. The first ODI of the three-match series will be played on July 13 at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo with all the fixtures taking place at the same venue. The ODI matches will be followed by a T20I series scheduled to begin on July 21. India’s squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya Net Bowlers: Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh

WI vs SA | 1st Test, Day 1: South Africa pacers baptise West Indies in hellfire

The South African bowlers thoroughly dominated the West Indies batting line up in the first innings of the first Test between the two teams on a bowlers’ day out at St Lucia. Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje demolished the batting as the pacers shared nine wickets among themselves. Apart from them, Kagiso Rabada also picked up one wicket to bundle out West Indies for 97 on Day 1. West Indies didn't really start off the proceedings well and lost the openers to Nortje early in the innings. The home side never really made a comeback and were soon left tottering at 74/8 to eventually get bowled out. Jason Holder top-scored for the Caribbean side with 20. Ngidi’s scalps included the wickets of Roston Chase, Holder, wicket-keeper Joshua de Silva, Cornwall and Kemar Roach to return with figures of 5/19. The West Indies bowlers though created some problems for the South African batsmen in the initial phase of the innings as Roach sent captain Dean Elgar packing for a duck while Jayden Seales removed Keegan Peterson early. But opener Aiden Markram was then joined by Rassie van der Dussen and the two batsmen steadied the ship for the side to stitch a 79-run stand for the third wicket. Markram later departed for 60 and his dismissal was soon followed by Kyle Verreynne who was undone by Seales for 6. Earlier, the hosts made a concussion substitute after batsman Nkrumah Bonner suffered a blow to the helmet and was ruled out of the Test match. Kieran Powell was announced as concussion substitute for the rest of the game, as permitted by the ICC rules. Ngidi who bagged a four-wicket haul talked about the lead that the visitors have got. “We'll take that. Not very often you bowl a team out for 97. There was a bit in the wicket and we explored that as much as possible and we have a bit of a lead. We wanted to be ruthless in terms of lines and lengths,” he said. South Africa were 128/4, leading West Indies by 31 runs with Van de Dussen and Quinton de Kock at the crease when the stumps were called on.