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No Positions available says Justin Langer responding to Steve Smith's captaincy ambitions

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One of the modern-day greats of the game, Steve Smith has come to the public for the first time since his return to international cricket and have spoken on his intentions of captaining the national side again. He stated that he is ready for another captaincy stint if he is bestowed upon the role again. However Australian head coach Justin Langer has clearly said that both the Test and the limited-overs side is in good hands and there is no captaincy position available in the near future. 

 

“We have two very good captains and two important competitions coming up – an Ashes and a T20 World Cup. Our future looks good,” Langer was quoted as saying by ABC. “Despite the media chatter there is no captaincy position available,” he further added.

 

Smith who is one of the finest batsmen of the modern era was suspended from international cricket for a year and from leadership roles for two years due to his involvement in the sandpaper gate scandal which rocked the cricketing world in Cape Town back in March 2018. 

 

He was among the leadership group along with David Warner who instructed Cameron Bancroft to apply sandpaper on the ball to alter the condition of the ball. Following his confession, Smith along with Warner and Bancroft was sent back home and was subsequently suspended from international cricket. Tim Paine has taken over the captaincy duties in Test cricket and has done a good job so far despite losing a few series here and there. 

 

On Monday Smith finally made a comment on his captaincy ambitions when asked about the same during his conversation with News Corp.  

 

“I guess now I’ve got to a point where if the opportunity did come up again I would be keen. If it was what Cricket Australia wanted and it was what was best for the team at the time, it’s certainly something I would be interested in,” Smith said.  

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IPL 2021: Chris Morris excited to lead the pace bowling cartel of Rajasthan Royals

South African fast bowling all-rounder Chris Morris made history during the mini IPL Auctions when he fetched the highest amount in any IPL Auction till date. He was snapped up by the Rajasthan Royals at a whopping price of Rs 16.25 crores and the tall fast bowler is looking forward to leading the Rajasthan Royals pace cartel in the absence of Jofra Archer. Despite the added responsibilities for Morris, he feels that it won’t change his role in the team. The absence of Jofra Archer will surely be a huge void to fill. Archer has been their spearhead in the last two seasons and has weaved his magic with the ball. An elbow injury sustained during the recently concluded England tour of India has ruled him out of the entirety of the competition. In his absence, Chris Morris will lead the attack and will play an instrumental role if Rajasthan harbours hopes of repeating their heroics from the inaugural year. “Every single team that I have played in the IPL, my role has been with the new ball and at the death. That doesn’t really change. I have always had fast bowlers in the team and I’ve been there supporting act,” Morris was quoted as saying during a virtual press conference. “It won’t be a new role if I am leading an attack, won’t be new if I am supporting. There is a little bit of responsibility when it comes to leading the attack. But like I said, since it wouldn’t be able to be alien to me,” he added. There is no doubt about the fact that Morris will be under some sport of pressure because of the price tag. Not even an Indian player has fetched this gigantic amount in any of the auctions. Speaking on the same, Morris said that he will feel a few butterflies in his stomach but this is not the first time when he has fetched a big sum in the auctions. “I think it’s natural to have a little bit of pressure when something like that has happened. I’d be lying to you if there wasn’t any pressure but fortunately enough in the past, I have been coming in with quite a big price tag on my head. At the end of the day, you need to perform, no matter what the price tag is.” Meanwhile, the all-rounder feels that his role in the team if different to that of Ben Stokes who is a magician on the field. The southpaw can do freakish things on the cricket field and Morris said that facing them as a dup will be quite an interesting challenge for their opponents. “I think we have got different roles Stokes opens the batting. He is one of the best in the world if not the best. My role is to finish off games with the bat which I hope I can do more of this year. With the ball it’s different I think he bowled a lot less in the IPL last year than he did in the previous years. But the guy has got the magic touch when it comes to cricket. So, you know, if we feeding off each other in our different roles on the team, you know, I think we could be quite a quite an interesting duo to come up against,” Morris said. Sanju Samson has been named as the new captain of the Rajasthan Royals and Morris has shared the dressing with Samson before. Morris is of the opinion being a youngster and someone who also keeps wicket and fields will have a lot to offer while leading the side. “I’m obviously quite lucky I’ve got a very good relationship with Sanju, I have batted with him at Rajasthan and in Delhi. I don’t see him a young captain I see him as a seriously good cricket player, who’s got a great cricket brain. For a guy who can keep wickets and field, he’s seen different angles, different approaches from the back and the side. So, you know, I’m sure it’s got some good ideas, I’m sure it’s got some interesting things that we can discuss when it comes to tactics and to what the plans are.” Morris said that it’s always a confidence booster for him individually to see so many teams trying to buy him the auctions. “I didn’t expect to be bought for that much and so many teams to employ my services. It’s humbling, I never thought I’d be playing these many IPLs.” Morris ended his virtual press conference by stating that their main goal now is to win the tournament which has been eluding them since their historic victory in the inaugural edition. “Whether T20 World Cup or not it’s going to be a very important season. Your main focus is to win the IPL. It’s the second biggest trophy, if not the biggest in the year without a World Cup, you want to win as a domestic cricketer,” Morris concluded.

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Coach Misbah-ul-Haq confident of Pakistan's chances on 'true' pitches in South Africa

Pakistan team has not had the best of times touring in the recent past and the upcoming tour of South Africa will be another steep one for them. However, head coach Misabh -ul-Haq is not losing his sleep over the fortunes of his team in the ODI and T20 series against the hosts. Speaking about the preparations for the tour, Misbah exuded confidence in the technique of Pakistan batsmen and said that players such as Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, and Babar Azam have gained significant experience of playing in South Africa. The latest entrant into the Pakistan batting line up—Mohammed Rizwan has tasted huge success in the recent past, both in Pakistan and on away tours, and hence Misbah said that Pakistan will have a batting line up that relishes the prospect of batting on backfoot. "As a batsman, you enjoy that, you get full value for your shots. Previously, in this team, some of the players have played here and performed - Imam, Babar, Fakhar was here. These players love that pace and bounce, now Rizwan is in form, a very good backfoot player. Those previous series and experiences definitely count, they play a role in your confidence as a player and team. When I was playing, suddenly, you just went to a ground where you've performed and your confidence level was always different,” Misbah said on Monday. Pakistan will be playing all their matches against South Africa in Centurion and Wanderers where the pitches support the pace and carry and help batsmen in stroke-making. He said that batsmen will find it easier to adjust to the pace and bounce and will enjoy batting on such wickets, while pacers can also extract help from the surface to surprise the hosts. "I think especially with white-ball cricket, the pitches are very good, they're true pitches, with good bounce and pace and for batters," he said on Monday. "In white-ball cricket, it is easier to adjust to these conditions and you get good value for shots. Obviously, Pakistan has also always had the luxury of good fast bowlers. That is the reason Pakistan has done well here,” Misbah added. Pakistan have had success on their previous tours of South Africa and went on to win the ODI series against the hosts in 2013-14. They have an impressive win-loss ratio of 6-7 against South Africa in their home conditions since 2013-14 and hence Misbah is quite confident in the prospects of the team before the start of the ODI series.

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IPL 2021: No soft signal, 90-minute time restriction introduced

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to revise the playing conditions during the upcoming IPL 2021 according a Cricbuzz report. The BCCI has said that the 20th over needs to be finished in 90 minutes. Earlier the last over used to begin by the 90th minute. In a mail to the teams, the BCCI said, "As a measure to control the match timings, the 20th over in each innings is now included in 90 minutes, earlier the 20th over was to start on or before the 90th minute." The mail further said that the over-rate shall be 14.11 overs per hour during the IPL matches. "The minimum over rate to be achieved in IPL Matches shall be 14.11 overs per hour (ignoring the time taken by time-outs).” "In the event of any time allowances being granted to the fielding team under clause 12.7.3.4 above (time wasting by batting team), then such time shall be deducted from the allowances granted to such batting team in the determination of its over rate. The fourth umpire should ensure that the batting captain (if not at the wicket) and the team manager are both aware of any warnings,” it further added. Apart from this, the BCCI had removed the soft signal in the IPL.”The on-field umpire giving soft signal while referring the decision to the third umpire will not be applicable," the BCCI stated. The changes made by the board will be effective from April 1. The IPL 2021 is slated to begin on April 9 in Chennai with defending champions Mumbai Indians locking horns with RCB in the opening clash.