Pumped to be in the WTC final: BJ Watling

Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin should play together in WTC Final: Sunil Gavaskar

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is of the opinion that the Virat Kohl-led side should play both R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the final XI as the spinners might get some help as the match progresses during the final of the inaugural World Test Championship against New Zealand in Southampton beginning on June 18. “In Southampton, it’s been boiling hot over the last few days so the pitch will definitely be dry and help spin as the match progresses, so yes both Ashwin and Jadeja will play,” Gavaskar told PTI in an exclusive interview. Gavaskar further added that both the players would provide depth in the batting as well. “That (Ashwin and Jadeja together) also gives depth to the batting as well as give a fine balance to the bowling attack. For the series later (vs England) much will depend on the weather and pitch conditions,” he said. The Indian team recently announced the 15-man squad for the WTC final. Shardul Thakur and Mayank Agarwal didn’t find a place for themselves in the side. Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma would be opening the innings for India while Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj form the pace attack. India made a cut into the WTC final after beating Australia 2-1 in a four-match series away from home while thumped England 3-1 in a four-Test bilateral tie on home soil.

David Warner, Pat Cummins opt out of WI, Bangladesh tours

Australia opener David Warner and fast bowler Pat Cummins won’t be featuring in limited-overs fixtures against West Indies and Bangladesh away from home. Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Jhye Richardson and Kane Richardson are the other four players who have opted out of the tours while former captain Steve Smith has been left out on medical grounds as he has an elbow injury. National selector Travis Head expressed his disappointment after the players opted out of the tours. "We are naturally disappointed not to have all players available for the Australian team at this time however the NSP (National Selection Panel) respects the decisions of those who have opted out of this tour," head selector Trevor Hohns said in a statement. "Steve Smith was unavailable for selection due to an elbow injury and will now be able to use this time to fully recover ahead of the World Cup and home Ashes series. Steve was disappointed to miss the tour with the decision made on medical grounds." The side would be led by Aaron Finch and has Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Riley Meredith, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade and Adam Zampa as some of the prominent names in the line up. Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Wes Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Dan Christian, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Nathan Ellils, Tanveer Sangha.

PSL 2021 | PSZ vs KRK: Hazratullah Zazai, bowlers help Zalmi make easy work of Karachi Kings

Hazratullaz Zazai, playing his first Pakistan Super League game made sure that it would definitely not be his last, rather there would be many more to come. The left-hander hit eight fours and four sixes to lead Zalmi to a comprehensive six-wicket win and climb to the second spot in the PSL Points Table. Be it experienced Mohammad Amir or domestic pace bowlers in Aamer Yamin, Abbas Afridi and Wasqas Maqsood, the talented Afghan didn’t spare anyone as he dealt in boundaries to make a scintillating 26 balls 63. Even when he got out, it was only while trying to hit the winning runs quickly that he missed straighter delivery from Karachi Kings skipper Imad Wasim. Peshawar was chasing a small target of 109 and Zazai made sure that there were no hiccups even as experienced opener Kamran Akmal departed in the second over of the innings. The 23-year-old paired up with Haider Ali and added 84 runs in just 38 balls for the second wicket. The Afghan, who hit the fastest fifty by an overseas batsman (17 balls) and joint fastest for any batsman in PSL, was chosen as Man of the Match for his brilliant performance. Hadn’t it been for the three quick wickets within just one run, most likely Zalmi would have won it by nine wickets and a few more balls to spare. Imad picked up two wickets in his first over of the game as Shoaib Malik once again fell for a duck trying to hit a six to finish the match early. Haider was stumped scampering out of his crease as Noor Ahmad bowled it wide outside off for wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton to remove the stumps. Two West Indians Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford stayed till the end to watch Zalmi through. Karachi captain Imad was clearly upset with the loss but showed his determination by saying, “Nothing to lose now, we have our backs against the wall, and we just have to win now.” “If we think we can't make it, there's no point in playing, so we'll give it our best shot. Let's see how it goes,” he added in his post-match interview. Earlier in the night, Zalmi skipper Wahab Riaz won the toss and took the new ball himself. In the very first over he struck with a toe crushing inswinger to Babar Azam who was removed for a golden duck. Sameen Gul, another player playing his first PSL 2021 game then bowled two brilliant swing deliveries to get the wickets of Martin Guptill and Walton. While to Guptill it was an unplayable outswinger, Walton had no answers to an angling inswinger that hit the new man’s pads even before he could react. From there on wickets just kept falling as a third first timer in PSL 2021 for Zalmi, Abrar Ahmed helped himself to three dismissals. In fact, he was the pick of the bowlers for Zalmi with figures of 3-14. At 73-7 in 16 overs, Karachi were staring at getting bundled out under 100 but for Abbas Afridi, who with the help of his lusty blows got the Kings past 100. He was the top-scored for the blue brigade with an unbeaten 27 from 18 balls. Reacting to the win and promotion in the Points Table, Zalmi captain Wahab was happy with the win but cautioned his batsmen against their attitude. “The way Zazai batted, he took the pressure off, and he made the opposition-run out of bowling options,” Riaz said during the post-match presentation. “In the last three games we have been losing wickets in clumps and we have to work hard and think about it. The batsmen who are playing have to carry it through, otherwise, good teams don't let you make a comeback,” he added. Both these teams will be in action once again on Thursday, June 17. While Zalmi would be up against Shadab Khan’s men from Islamabad who have already qualified, Karachi would look to bounce back from three defeats in a row when it takes on Lahore Qalandars, who themselves have been struggling for the last two games. Both these games would be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

ENG W vs IND W | One-off Test: Know India Women's possible playing XI

The Indian Women’s team led by Mithali Raj would be playing its first Test in eight years when it takes on England Women in a one-off Test in Bristol starting Wednesday, June 16. When India last played a Test match in England, it was in 2014 and on this tour, they have seven players who were part of the historic win seven years ago in Taunton. As things stand, among those seven players, most likely one would miss out. The selection of the playing XI is going to crucial keeping in mind the English condition. OneCricket tried coming out with the best possible India Women XI for the Test at Bristol. Openers: Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma The Indian Women would look to go with the tried tested Smriti Mandhan as the opening batter. But alongside her, sending Shafali Verma could turn out to be a great move considering that she is free-flowing in her approach and can dampen the English pace attack very early. In English conditions, sending Verma might be a tricky choice given that she has not even played an ODI let alone red-ball cricket. But that is the risk that India can take as they have the luxury of experienced Middle order and Smriti at the top as well who can do damage control if Verma falls cheaply. But if Verma does fore as is expected of her, it would give India Women the much-needed advantage. The 24-year-old Mandhana though has experience of both ODI and red-ball cricket as well. Although she hasn’t had much success in three Test innings but has 4000 international runs behind her to give her confidence in England. Middle Order: Punam Raut, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma Once the foundation is set by the two openers, then the experienced middle-order consisting of skipper Mithali with her more than 10000 international runs which include 663 Test runs, Test centurion Punam Raut and explosive Harmanpreet Kaur can join the party. While the 38-year-old skipper has a double hundred to boast of and an average of more than 50, Kaur and Raut are also more than capable of enough of getting the game moving. In fact, Raut’s comeback to the Indian team was on the back of her performances in Days game at domestic level and then the Test hundred against South Africa Women in 2014. Harmanpreet is already pumped ahead of the game as she said in the pre-match press conference that she is looking to emulate the team’s victory in 2014. An explosive batter, she and Deepti also provide bowling options. Deepti is actually the fifth bowler in the squad having already picked up 119 international wickets in 109 international appearances. Yet to play a Test match, the 23-year-old Bengal player is already an Arjuna Awardee. Wicket Keeper: Indrani Roy This Bengal born Jharkhand player received her maiden call up to the national team on the back of a brilliant outing in the Senior Women’s National ODI Trophy in March- April this year. She is most likely to make her debut for India and that too Test cricket directly as her batting skills overpower those of other selected wicket-keepers, Tania Bhatia and Sushma Verma. Originally an opener for her domestic side, the 23-year-old would have to bat down the order in this lineup. She scored 456 runs at an unbelievable average of 76 with two centuries and a fifty. Bowlers: Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Poonam Yadav With the inclusion of Indrani, the Indian team would have seven pure batters and would thus have a chance to play an extra bowler. In that case and to utilise the English weather and pitch conditions properly, India would most likely go for three fast bowlers in the form of the experienced pair of Jhulan Goswami and Shikha Pandey alongside Madhya Pradesh Express Pooja Vastrakar. Jhulan even at 48 can generate enough bounce with the red ball to trouble any batter in the women’s game and Shikha, along with her ability to move the ball, also has a history behind her when she alongside skipper Mithali chased down the English total to seal the win seven years ago. Though Vastrakar hasn’t had much success in the six ODIs she has played so far, not being able to pick even a single wicket. But in the 20 T20Is, the 21-year-old has had 16 scalps. She is quick, can bat and most importantly is accurate and that’s why gets into the playing XI ahead of Arundhati Reddy. As far as Poonam Yadav being picked over Radha Yadav and Ekta Bisht, both left-arm spinners is concerned, it is mainly because she provides the wrist spin option which would be any day beneficial against the English batters as compared to orthodox spin. A case for Jemimah Rodriguez Jemimah Rodriguez might get a game as well. But not in our XI. Although a gifted batter, who could roll her arm as well, the only place she fits in is opening with Smriti Mandhana. But her recent outings (55 runs in five innings) aren’t in her favour and thus getting a go-ahead of someone as dominating as Verma is a bit difficult. Note India would be targeting a record fourth successive win, which no other team has done so far in Women's Test cricket. Would they be able to do it? We will find out. The match would start at 03:30 pm IST and you can catch all the action along with ball by ball commentary and pre-match discussions from 03:00 pm itself on the OneCricket app and website.