Shafali Verma continues to be at helm in ICC Rankings for women's in T20Is

Ross Taylor banks on county experience, backs Kane Williamson to thwart England's plans

A lot of New Zealand’s fate is riding on the shoulders of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor’s shoulder in the series against England starting tomorrow at Lord’s. England, too, realise that and hence the newbie Ollie Robinson getting excited and making the plan of setting up Williamson when he will come out to bat public before the series. But Taylor has said that many teams and bowlers have devised tactics to induce errors from Williamson but the Blackcaps skipper has always found a way around it to score a truckload of runs. He said if England will have plan A, B, and C to stop Williamson, then the right-hander will have plans D, E, F up his arsenal as well. "Swinging it away from him, setting him up, pulling him across the crease and then using the crease with the nipbacker to get him lbw looks like a solid option," Robinson had said. "That will be Plan A, but if he gets a few more we have got a few Plans Bs and Cs in the background." "D, E, F… there's always going to be a few plans for everybody. Some work, some haven't. Kane's got a fantastic record all over the world,” Taylor responded to the excitement of Robbinson before the Test series. Taylor himself has some plans in place to counter English bowlers, particularly Stuart Broad, who has dismissed him on numerous occasions and was also his teammate in the county championship. He lamented not knowing about Broad’s bowling tactics well in time to bring it to his own and New Zealand’s use but knows few tricks about Broad after sharing the dressing room with Broad "I'll keep those to myself. I'm fortunate to play with him (Broad) at Middlesex and Notts. Saw the way he went about things and heard him talking to bowlers, and asked him a few questions. I wish I had that knowledge up my sleeve before a few more of those series. He's got me out a few times as most bowlers have. He's a very good bowler, with the rest of them. With the Dukes (ball) in hand, they're world-class bowlers… I guess under any conditions. However, he is not sure of the composition of England bowling attack in the first Test at Lord’s considering the rotation policy adopted by the hosts over the last year due to a busy schedule. "Not sure what England's plans are in terms of rest and rotation, they've got a big summer ahead, so there's been a bit of talk about rest and rotation. We'll just have to wait and see who is playing on Wednesday morning." Taylor has been a long-standing member of the Blackcaps side and was the leading member of the ODI team that lost a heart-breaking World Cup final against England at Lord’s and just like his teammates the memory has not faded one bit for Taylor as well. However, he rated the ICC World Cup 2019 final as the ‘best world cup final’ albeit with fair shade of disappointment. "I was sitting in the chair watching the Super Over, it brought back a few memories. But first and foremost, it was the best game of a World Cup final. Obviously, it was disappointing to be on the wrong end of that, (but) it was good to be a part of it. Different format now, a couple of new stands to add to it." New Zealand may very well hand out a debut to the left-handed Devon Conway who has grown in stature with games he has played for New Zealand in the white-ball formats. Taylor too has been impressed by Conway’s batting abilities and former Blackcaps captain has said that the newcomer will only get better with experience at the top level and will replicate his white-ball performances against the red-ball as well. "He's had a fantastic start to his career in T20s and one-dayers. Couldn't think of a better place to make a debut than at Lord's. He's just going to get better and better with experience. I watched him in a first-class game from the first slip against Wellington, the last time I played for CD (Central Districts). He hits balls in different areas and plays it very late. One of his strengths is he's very strong and he trusts his game-plan. If he does make his debut, I'm sure that how he's taken to international cricket in the other two forms, he'll do that again,” Taylor backed Conway. The Test series will start at Lord’s tomorrow followed by another Test at Edgbaston following before the Blackcaps will travel to Southampton for the World Test Championship final against India.

Will focus on bowling dots against Kane Williamson: Mohammed Siraj

India pacer Mohammed Siraj has said that he will try to “frustrate” New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson with dot balls and force him to play some shots during the final of the inaugural World Test Championship slated to take place in Southampton from June 18. "I will try to bowl in a particular spot tirelessly. I will focus on bowling dots against Kane Williamson, the best batsman in the New Zealand line-up, to create pressure on him. It will provoke him to go for shots and there will be a high chance of getting him out," said Siraj. The right-arm fast bowler who was one of the key members of the Indian team that defended the Border-Gavaskar trophy earlier this year suggested that the tracks in Australia offer much more pace and bounce while the pitches in England are favourable for swing bowling. Siraj further stated that he would try to make the batsmen play on the front foot. "Australian pitches offer more bounce and pace. I used to bowl back of good length there. But in England, there will be more swing. So I will try to make the batsmen play on front-foot," Siraj told ABP News. The quick bowler admitted that the New Zealand side who have already reached the UK and will play a two-match Test series against the English team ahead of the WTC final will get more time to adjust to the conditions. “New Zealand will play a Test series against England and they have reached there much before us. So they will not only be among matches, they will also get more time to adjust to English conditions,” Siraj said. The Indian team will play a five-match series against England after the completion of the WTC final.

Our main focus is on completing this edition of IPL: Rajeev Shukla

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajiv Shukla has cleared that the IPL 2021 won’t face any issue even if some of the overseas players are not available. Shukla further added that the board is focused on completing the tournament and would go ahead with the players who can be available to feature in the remainder of the cash-rich league. "We have discussed that (availability of foreign players) issue also. Our main focus is on completing this edition of the IPL. It should not be left halfway through. So whichever foreign players are available is fine. Whoever is not available, it is not going to stop us from hosting the tournament," Rajiv Shukla told Khaleej Times on Sunday. "The Indian players are there, foreign players are there, but few foreign players will not be available. As I said, we have to complete our tournament.” "So the franchises will definitely look for other players. Whoever is available, we are going to have the tournament with them. That's our policy," Shukla added. The vice-president further said that the BCCI office-bearers will have a discussion with Emirates Cricket Board before they finalise the schedule. "We will be having discussions with the cricket board here and the other authorities. And accordingly, the schedule will be made, so the tournament happens in a very smooth manner as it happened here last year (in 2020)," he said. The IPL 2021 was suspended on May 4 after there was a rise in cases within the franchise teams.

Never claimed to be vegan, always maintained that I'm vegetarian: Virat Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli is known for his strict diet and his workout regime. But the right-handed batsman’s fans and followers were left in some confusion after he said that his diet includes vegetables, some eggs, 2 cups of coffee, quinoa, and lots of spinach during a Q/A session on Instagram on Tuesday, when Kohli was asked about his diet. "Lots of vegetables, some eggs, 2 cups of Coffee, quinoa, lots of spinach, love dosas too. But all in controlled quantities," the Indian skipper said. The fans were left wondering as to how Kohli has eggs in his diet after he has claimed to turn a ‘vegan’. The captain has now made the clarification for the same and said that he never claimed to turn ‘vegan’. "I never claimed to be vegan. Always maintained that I'm vegetarian. Take a deep breath and eat your Veggies (if you want )," he wrote in a tweet on Tuesday. Kohli will be travelling with the Indian team to the UK for the final of the inaugural World Test Championship which would be followed by a five-match Test series against England. India made it to the final of the WTC after beating Australia 2-1 in a four-match Test series away from home and then carried the form against England to thrash them 3-1 in a series comprising four matches. The Kohl-led side will now meet Kane Williamson’s New Zealand in Southampton where the final is scheduled to begin on June 18. New Zealand have already reached England as they will be taking on the home side in a two-match Test series ahead of the WTC final.