Sarah Taylor back on cricket field; joins Sussex' coaching staff

West Indies great awarded ‘Best Pundit’ at British Sports Journalism Award 2020

West Indies great Michael Holding has been awarded as the ‘Best Pundit’ at the Sports Journalists Association’s British Sports Award 2020. As part of the commentary panel at the Sky Sports for the English Summer of 2020, Holding delivered a powerful monologue criticising engraved racism in society irrespective of the fields. His speech was at the time of the England West Indies series, the same time that Black Lives Matter was a raging topic as even after severe pandemic American streets were filled with supporters of the cause, after a man of colour Gorge Floyd was killed due to police brutality. Holding, 67, said that blacks have been dehumanised and their accomplishments wiped off from a history “written by people who do the harm.” Not being able to receive the award amongst audiences as the awards were hosted online, Holding thanked the SJA for the award. “It is something that has been in me and in my head for many, many years. People don’t understand what it is like to go through life and always thinking that people think less of you than what you think of yourself,” he said in his acceptance speech.

Prasidh Krishna, Krunal Pandya likely to get India call-up for England ODIs: Reports

KKR and Karnataka bowler Praisdh Krishna is likely to get India call-up for the ODI series against England as per some reports. Krishna picked up 14 wickets in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy and has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit. The right-arm bowler has so far bagged 81 wickets in 48 List A matches. Along with Krishna, Baroda all-rounder Krunal Pandya is also being considered to be picked for the ODI fixtures. Pandya scored 388 runs in five matches for Baroda in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. While Prasidh and Krunal are being considered, top run-getters Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal are not being considered for now as there are no really vacancy for the openers’ slot. Shaw ended the tournament with 827 runs in 8 matches for Mumbai and also led his side to the tournament win. Karnataka’s Padikkal was the second highest run-getter with 737 runs in 7 matches. The three-match ODI series will begin on March 23 in Pune. The second and third ODI will be played on March 26 and 28 respectively on the same venue. Earlier, India had called-up Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Rahul Tewatia for the T20I series. Ishan and Yadav made their India debuts during the second match of the series in Ahmedabad. Kishan played a vital role in India’s successful comeback in the series after he scored a half-century during the home side’s 165-run chase. Skipper Virat Kohli was also back in form after he remained unbeaten at 73 off 49 balls as India levelled the series. The third match is scheduled to take place on Tuesday at the same venue.

Remaining T20I fixtures between India and England to take place behind closed doors

The remaining T20Is between India and England will be played behind the closed doors in Ahmedabad. The decision has come as a precautionary measure after the country is once again witnessing a rise in COVID-19 cases. The BCCI had earlier allowed 50% audience in the stadium for the first two encounters between the two teams. The Vice President of the GCA Dhanraj Nathan on Monday said in a statement that the refunds for the remaining matches will be made to the fans. "Refund will be given to the spectators who have purchased tickets. Due to increasing number of Corona cases, Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) has decided to organise the remainder T20 International matches between India and England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad behind closed doors," Nathwani said. "The decision was arrived at following detailed discussions with the state and local health authorities," the BCCI added in a statement. "The BCCI will continue to comply with all the regulations put in place to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus and will always put the health and safety of its fans and stakeholders at the top." The five-match series is presently lived at 1-1 after the home side made a fine comeback in the second encounter to beat England by 7 wickets while chasing a target of 165 on Sunday. Debutant Ishan Kishan notched up a half-century while skipper Virat Kohli was back in form after he struck an unbeaten 73 off 49 during the course. The third match is slated to take place at the same venue on Tuesday.

IND vs ENG | 3rd T20: Experiments to continue as sides seek domination

Both England and India could not have made the five-match long T20I series any more riveting with either side having tasted a resounding success and an equally hurting loss in the first two games of the series. Now, with the series level at 1-1 and three more games to go, both the hosts and the tourists have all to play for both in terms of winning the series and finding their perfect combinations for the World T20. Having faced a big loss in the first game where England ripped open all the flaws in their system, the hosts came back sharply in the second game with the approach of not holding back with the bat finally coming to the fore for the Virat Kohli-led side. The bowling which looked lacklustre and short of match practice in the first game looked sharper and the wicket column was looking richer right from the start for India. A great effort with the ball was backed outstandingly by batsmen led by debutant Ishan Kishan and skipper Virat Kohli as the duo batted with supreme confidence and immaculate precision to deflate the England side. Morgan conceded India had them under pressure from the word go and that they were dragged out of their comfort zone in the second game. However, he emphasized that the tourists are not running away from trying a few things differently and taking the heart out of some hard battles they exected to encounter before the start of the series. The contrasting outcomes in the first two games established how closely this series is going to be and it will depend on which team gets it right on a particular day to seal the deal and the series. Out of both sides, India have more questions to search of England who have more or less established playing XI barring debates around on or two spots. Kishan’s debut at the top of the order brought the fresh perspective Kohli was talking about before the start of the series, but he entered the team at the expense of Dhawan, who was playing the first game, at the place of Rohit Sharma. Kohli had said that Sharma was resting for the first couple of games, and hence putting Kishan’s dream debut in perspective, the selection for the top order continues to be a riddle for the team management on whom to leave out among Rohit, Kishan and KL Rahul. For England, the decision to leave out Moeen Ali from the playing XI must have been taken considering the crowding of right-handers in the Indian top order. However, the inclusion of Kishan at the top and Rishabh Pant in the middle will case stronger for the off-spinner to get back a spot in the XI on the basis of his ability to take the ball away from the left-handers and providing Morgan with another angle of track against the duo who has been tasked to take the game to the English camp. India vs England: Match Details Match No.-03 Date and Time: March 16, 07:00 PM IST, 01:30 PM GMT Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad Broadcast and Live Stream: Star Sports, Hotstar Pitch conditions Pitches in the first two games of the series have been two-paced with the team batting second having a significant advantage over the team batting first. The balls were jumping off from length in the first T20I while in the second game, Indian pacers used cutters and slower balls to good effect on the surface that was gripping. India will look to have a surface supporting a bit more turn and bounce than the last two surfaces while England will hope to extract pace and bounce like in the first game of the series. Team News India Rohit Sharma should walk back in the playing XI if Kohli’s word during the toss in the first game has to be taken at face value. However, Kohli, the skipper has a tendency of saying one thing and doing exactly the opposite, and hence the uncertainty remains around the Indian top order. Kishan did more than enough to deserve another go at the top of the order, but that leave KL Rahul vulnerable after a string of really low scores in both games of the series. He has looked like a pale shadow of the batsman he has been and really looked tentative at the crease, and hence his case will be nothing short of a quagmire for Kohli and the team management. The bowling department should be unchanged with Hardik Pandya completing his quota of four overs in the last game. India have hinted at playing with extended batting order and hence Kohli is unlikely to walk away from the tactics of playing only five bowlers. But again, Kohli can do anything. Strongest XI Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal England Mark Wood missed the last game due to a niggle and his replacement Tom Curran was treated with disdain by Ishan Kishan right from his first ball. Howsoever the team management rates Curran highly, he is likely to be shown the door for with a returning Wood or an all-round Moeen Ali. Morgan has been hesitant to back his best with the ball and instead relied on playing matchups according to batsmen at a certain position for India. However, Archer can be given rest owing to his recurring elbow injury. The batting order is likely to be unchanged with all batsmen from the top such as Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow have not looked out of sorts. However, Buttler will be hungry for runs after walking back to the pavilion on a golden duck while Malan struggled to time the ball against deceptive Indian bowling. Strongest XI Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid