Sanjay Bangar appointed batting consultant of RCB


Former India player Sanjay Bangar has been appointed as the batting consultant of the Royal Challengers Bangalore for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. The official Twitter handle of the RCB confirmed the news tweeting, “We are delighted to welcome Sanjay Bangar to the RCB Family as a batting consultant for #IPL2021! Welcome aboard, Coach!”

Bangar, 48, had previously served as the batting coach of the Indian men's national team for five years till the 2019 World Cup, eventually being replaced by Vikram Rathour. In IPL too, the former Railways man has coached Kings XI Punjab in previous editions. 

Bangar, a gritty all-rounder played 12 Tests and 15 ODIs for India scoring a combined of 650 runs and taking a total of 14 wickets. He will join the team of former New Zealand coach and currently, the director of cricket operations at RCB, Mike Hesson and Head Coach Simon Katich in the Virat Kohli led side’s support staff. 

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Bullish Kohli justifies overlooking Kuldeep Yadav, backs Rahane as 'important Test batsman'

India were handed out a massive drubbing in the opening Test of the four-match Test series against England in Chennai, but for the skipper Virat Kohli, it was just a game where they failed to execute their plans. He downplayed the magnitude of their first loss at home in four years and appeared bullish on the prospect of a comeback in the series from his side which he said has been doing great things in the recent past. The team selection, especially picking the left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem in the place of Kuldeep Yadav who has been warming the bench for a very long period of time raised many questions about the consistency in decisions over team selection. Kuldeep last played a Test match against Australia in 2019 where he picked up a five-wicket haul at the SCG and his performance earned high praise from the head coach Ravi Shastri who called him the number one spinner in overseas conditions. Two years later, Kuldeep can’t find a place in the team even in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja or both Jadeja and Ashwin (in Brisbane). Kohli was asked whether he considered in the hindsight, playing Nadeem who could not provide control to him and leaked too many runs from one end over Kuldeep who could have been more lethal in terms of wicket-taking options was a mistake. Kohli freed himself and the team management from any regret of preferring Naddem over Kuldeep and he asserted that the team always knew the combination it wants to play with and that the result of the first Test won’t make much difference in the thought process of the team. "Not really, not at all. When you playing two off-spinners, Kuldeep becomes more or less same kind of spinner taking the ball away. We were quite clear on what we wanted to play, what combination we wanted to play. There are no regrets whatsoever on that decision. Moving forward, we will think of combinations, which brings us variety as a bowling attack. And not one dimensional, turning away from the bat. These things are very important,” Kohli said in the post-match press conference. The onus of saving the game was on the Indian batsmen on the fifth day but the lack of runs from the senior players such as Rahane, and Rohit along with a rare failure for Pujara in terms of staying st the crease made the case very weak for the hosts on the fifth-day pitch. His deputy Rahane got a lot of flakes for getting out cheaply on the fifth day and failing in yet another home Test match. Rahane was bowled neck and crop by James Anderson for a two-ball-duck and social media was flooded with people questioning his place in the Indian Test team, especially at home. Kohli was belligerent in his defence of Rahane and rated him along with Pujara as the mainstays of the Indian Test team. He said that the team has trusted the qualities of Rahane and he has been an impact player for the side in the past in tough conditions. Kohli was unapologetic about the infinite backings Rahane has received from the team management over the last three-four years even while the Rahane has not been able to put brilliant performances on a consistent basis. "Ajinkya Rahane is, I have said this many times in the past as well, along with Cheteshwar Pujara is our most important Test batsman and he is going to continue to be. We believe in his abilities, we have believed in his abilities for a long time now. He is an impact player,” Kohli added. He reminded that Rahane stood up tall to lead the Indian batting order in the Boxing Day Test against Australia with a fighting hundred which eventually turned out to be a turning point of the series. "In the MCG Test, he stood up and scored a hundred for his team when we wanted it the most. You can look at the number of innings and what happens from there on, the reality of the situation is we won the series in Australia,” Kohli further said. “And here, there is just one test, two innings. Today, yes, you can put that innings aside. In the first innings, he wanted to score a boundary. It was a brilliant catch by Joe Root that got rid of him. If that had gone for a boundary and he had scored runs, we are not having this conversation.” Kohli was asked how he could manage to bat so confidently and comfortably against the English bowlers in the second innings when his teammates struggled to cope up with the pitch conditions. He picked up a comment about Gill’s batting where it was said that the batsman from Punjab struggled in the second innings. Kohli has always been appreciative of Gill’s batting abilities and he did not let the opportunity of appreciating the class of Gill go by this time either. He asserted that the right-hander was the best batsman for Indian in this Test match. The second Test of the series is slated to be played at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai only and will begin on February 13. Kohli will be looking to bounce back strongly from this defeat and he has expressed full confidence in his team on doing so.

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Ramesh Powar appointed head coach of Mumbai ahead of Vijay Hazare Trophy

Former Indian spinner Ramesh Powar has been named as Mumbai head coach ahead of the Vijay Hazare Trophy slated to start on 20th February, 2021. Powar had also served as the head coach of the women’s national team before an ugly spat with Mithali Raj led to his ouster in 2018. A former Mumbai player, Powar will replace Amit Pagnis who resigned from his post after Mumbai’s horrendous showing in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Having confirmed Powar’s appointment as the head coach, the Mumbai Cricket Association on Tuesday stated that the former spinner has been appointed as the head coach for the ongoing domestic season. “The appointment is for this season for now and going forward, we will see,” an MCC office-bearer said. Powar also thanked the Lalchand Rajput-headed Improvement Committee and the MCA for giving him another opportunity and expressed his excitement at the prospect of coaching the Mumbai team. Powar who played 31 ODI’s and a couple of Tests for India said that he is grateful to MCA for showing trust in his abilities. “I am grateful to the MCA and CIC for trusting my abilities. I am looking forward to creating a positive environment in the side and playing a positive brand of cricket for which Mumbai is always known. I am looking forward to the assignments ahead.” His first assignment as the Mumbai coach will start off with the Vijay Hazare Trophy where Mumbai is placed with Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Pondicherry in Group D.

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Anderson's mastery, Leach's discipline help England breach India's fortress in Chennai

At the start of the fifth and final day of the first Test of the series, the hosts India had a huge task of combatting the English bowling line up for 98 overs, and in the end, the task proved to be too big, even for the power-packed Indian batting line up comprising Chetehswar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane. England handed India their first Test defeat at home in four years by a huge margin of 227 runs and more than the loss, the manner in which they were outplayed by the tourists in every department of the game will be hurting for the hosts. India had to own the first session of the day as they had already lost Rohit Sharma late on the fourth day, and their hopes averting defeat were hinging on the shoulders of Pujara while Gill was expected to play as per the situation of the game. Pujara was to be the main man if India were to salvage a draw in the Test and for England the prime target. Joe Root was banking on his spin twin to do a lot of damage and started the proceedings with the left-arm spinner Leach from the one end. Leach had got the better of Rohit with a peach that turned away from the line of the right-hander’s middle stump, and he produced yet another jaffa to get the most-prized scalp of Pujara. Pujara was guilty of closing the face of his bat against a delivery that appeared to be going down the leg side before turned sharply and took the splice of his bat. England were cock-a-hoop at the sight of Pujara’s departure from the pitch as it opened up the game from both the ends, but the threat of Virat Kohli remained as the Indian skipper joined a fluent Shubman Gill at the crease. Gill was showing all of his class and exuberance and most importantly for both him and Kohli at the other end, he did not allow either Leach or Bess to settle down in their line of attack. He was quick on his feet whenever spinners tossed the ball up while rocked back to the backfoot whenever he got the slight margin of that luxury and eliminated the threat of getting bowled or beaten in the manner Pujara or Rohit got out. For a brief period of time, both him and Kohli were looking to dig in for big innings, but Root was proactive to bring James Anderson back into the attack to see if the veteran was finding any help in the air and off the pitch to replace Bess who was offering run-scoring opportunities on a platter to Kohli and Gill Root was aware of the help Ishant and Bumrah got on the fourth day and expected Anderson to play a similar role to what Indian pacers played for the hosts on the previous day. Anderson looked toothless in the first innings, and he is too good a bowler to look ordinary for a long period of time, and he decided to put his hands up when it mattered the most for the England side. In the very first over of his spell, he breached the defence of Shubman Gill with a one that swung in the air. Gill the batsman looks pure in his technique but has a trigger movement back and across in his crease, and Anderson, with all the experience of 600 Test wickets was smart enough to push the length of his delivery further up and found out the gap between Gill’s pad and bat. Anderson is a master of reverse swing and with Gill’s dismissal he was able to get it going in Chennai and the next man in, Ajinkya Rahane was worried about prodding forward to his balls in view of sharp inswing. He tentatively left the first ball that went away in the air, while getting flummoxed on the next ball and was left only on the mercy of umpire Nitin Menon who found him outside the line of the off-stump. Anderson was in the relentless mood and it turned out a nightmare for Rahane as the right-hander could not quite handle the extravagant movement inside towards him. Two wickets in an over and India’s hopes of surviving the final day were all but squashed in the span of an over by Anderson. The wonder-boy for India in the last few games, Rishabh Pant who had resurrected the team in one crisis to another had one more to deal with, but it was not to be his day as Anderson was too wily for him. An off-cutter from around the wicket found Pant playing early towards the leg side and Root was more than delighted to pouch the catch at the cover position. Anderson finished his spell with his figure reading 5-3-6-3 and the three wickets of Gill, Rahane and Pant broke the backbone of the Indian batting order and any chance of their survival in the Test. At the other end, Virat Kohli was playing after a long time but appeared to be batting on a different pitch to his teammates on the final day as he was watchful and looked under control against almost all the bowlers. He was watching the ball like a hawk and playing it late from the backfoot against spinners, while against Anderson, he was out of the crease to negate the reverse swing that his most famous nemesis was extracting in the air. He had a zero false shot percentage against Anderson who was whopping the ball round compared to 34 per cent by his teammates. The next man in after Pant’s dismissal was Washington Sundar who has been impressing with every opportunity with the bat in his hands. He was the second-best batsman for India in terms of run scored in the first innings, but his heroics was limited to in the second innings by an accurate Jack Leach who looked on a mission reem himself after the rumbling he got at the hands of Pant on the third day. Defending 98 0vers on the final day was anyway a tough task, and the first session was touted to be very crucial for both the side. England emerged as the clear winner as India were left with only Kohli and Ashwin who could pose a serious challenge to the tourists on a fifth-day pitch. Leach showed that there was enough in him to keep challenging the batsmen every now and then and he found the edge of Ashwin’s bat once more in the game. With Ashwin gone back to the pavilion, the writing was on the wall for the hosts, and it was just certified when Ben Stokes who has been known for making things happen for England got through the strong defence of Kohli. The ball did not bounce enough for Kohli to even touch the lower part of his bat. Kohli was found shortly after batting with so much control, but the wicket established England’s perfect planning and spotting the area of pitch they had to target and then finally executing more than Kohli’s failure at that moment. Leach finished with a four-wicket haul while Anderson took three wickets in that match-winning spell and England went 1-0 up in the series leaving a lot at stake for the hosts in the remaining three Tests of the series. England were coming off from a triumphant series in Sri Lanka while India too were buoyant after historic series win in Australia, but the loss in Chennai will force the hosts to ask some tough questions about the team selection and lack of penetration in the bowling department which was exposed on a flat surface on the first two days of this Test. Joe Root was awarded the man of the match for his splendid double century in the first innings that set up the game for the tourists and put a lot of pressure on the host batting line up. Experts and fans were not giving the chance to win any game on this tour, but their win in Chennai has heated up the contest in the series going forward. They have set the tempo and have put the onus of playing well and bouncing back on India who started and still are the favourites to win the series.