Shikhar Dhawan, Yuzvendra Chahal make significant gains in latest ICC ODI rankings

Avesh Khan to take no further part in the warm-up game, remains under observation

Standby Indian fast bowler Avesh Khan who surprisingly came out to play for the County Select XI against India in the first-class game ahead of the Test series against England has been ruled out of the rest of the warm-up game and won’t take any further part on Day 2 and Day 3. Given the fact that it was an official first-class game, the County Select XI will be a bowler down for the rest of the match. The host team had requested the Indian team management to allow two of their players to play for the County XI due to the unavailability of some of their players and they readily obliged. Rohit Sharma, the stand-in skipper for India in the warm-up game won the toss and opted to bat and Avesh Khan was handed the new ball with Craig Miles. He was all over the place and didn’t managed to find the perfect line and was smashed for 24 runs in the first three overs as Mayank Agarwal played him beautifully and made full use of his poor lengths. However, he started off his second spell quite well as he finally found the correct channel. It was on the 5th delivery of the 35th over that Avesh Khan had to leave the field owing to a thumb injury. Hanuma Vihari who was looking in good touch drilled a full delivery outside off straight back to the bowler and Avesh Khan instantly knew that he was in trouble. He called for the physio straight away and by the look of things, he had dislocated his left thumb as the physio tried to get that back on place. He was sent for scans are remains under observation. India posted a challenging 311 on the board in the first innings courtesy a sensational century from the blade of KL Rahul who batted at No 5. Along with Ravindra Jadeja, he shared a crucial stand and bailed India out of trouble after they had lost 4 wickets for 107. When the piece was written, the County Select XI had reached 12 in the 5th over without losing any wickets. Haseeb Hameed and JD Libby were at the crease while Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yada opened the bowling for the Indians.

We're all emotional: Charith Asalanka after 2nd ODI defeat against India

India’s Deepak Chahar won the match for the side with the bat after the right-hander struck career-best 69* off 82. India won the match by 3 wickets while chasing 276 and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in Colombo. Sri Lanka’s Charith Asalanka expressed his disappointment after the hosts let the match slip away from their hands. "We're all emotional - the team and coaches are all emotional," Asalanka said after the game. "We're a young team. We haven't won much recently, and we're trying to do our best to play together for our country. Everyone tried hard and took it to the final over, but unfortunately we couldn't win,” he added. Talking about the strategy, Asalanka said that Sri Lanka wanted to increase the required rate and put India under pressure. "What we talked about in the 40th over was to push the game deep," Asalanka said. "We wanted to increase their required rate. But they were successful because they didn't lose any wickets.” The visitors were left tottering at 193/7 when Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar stitched an unbeaten stand of 84 runs for the 8th wicket and won the match for the team. Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav who was playing his second ODI for India notched up a fifty while Krunal Pandya chipped in with valuable 35 off 54. The two teams will now play the third and final ODI at the same venue on Friday.

Rahul Dravid hails 'incredible and fantastic' fightback after Deepak Chahar's magical batting

Rahul Dravid, whose reputation as a coach has been on an upward curve with each passing day hailed India’s “incredible and fantastic” run chase against Sri Lanka in the second ODI of the series. He said that the men in blue were aware of the challenges of a Sri Lankan comeback after a humiliating defeat in the first game, but they were equally prepared to up their game as well and establish their dominance as a “champion side”. “Obviously we finished on the right side of the result, which is incredible and fantastic but even if we didn’t finish on the right side of the result, it is the fight all the way through was absolutely brilliant, so well done to all of you,” Dravid said in a dressing room video released by the BCCI. “We said they were going to respond, we knew we had to respect the opposition. The opposition was going to respond, they’re also an international team. They responded, and we responded back like a champion team. With our back to the wall, we found a way to break them. So really well done to all of you. Fantastic job.” The partnership between Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bailed India out of trouble when all seemed out of their sight. Before them, Suryakumar Yadav had hit his maiden ODI fifty to keep India in the game. However, Dravid chose not to talk about individual performances but also did not downplay their efforts and achievements one bit. “It is not the right time to talk about individuals at this point, obviously there were some fantastic individual performances, especially towards the end. We had talked about that, we acknowledge and recognise every player’s contribution in this game. If you look at the whole game, there were some very good team performances. So many good performances in our bowling, batting, even at the start, fantastic team performances from all of you,” Dravid added. One of the principal architects of India’s win, Suryakumar Yadav also hailed the “special” batting credentials of Chahar and Bhuvneshwar. He rated the second ODI between Sri Lanka and India as one of the best games he has been part of as after India triumphed the game by three wickets. “I don’t have words, I think it is one of the best games which I have been part of, I have seen live… it is an unbelievable victory. Bhuvi, our vintage man and DC, we have been talking about his batting, and today he has proved himself, it was a complete team effort. It was something special from Deepak Chahar,” Suryakumar Yadav said. The third ODI of the series will be played at the same venue on July 23.

WI vs AUS | 1st ODI: Starc, Hazlewood rattle Windies to give Australia a dominating start

Australia had a perfect start to the ODI series against West Indies in Barbados after they defeated the hosts by 133 runs in a rain-curtailed match. In a match that was reduced to 49 overs per side, West Indies were asked to chase 257 according to the DLS method but Mitchell Starc ripped apart the batting line up and scalped a five-wicket haul. The hosts had a terrible start to the chase after they were reduced to 27/6 before captain Kieron Pollard and Alzarri Joseph tried to steady the ship for the team but their efforts eventually went in vain. The two batsmen put 68 runs for the seventh wicket before Joseph departed for 17 off 33. Pollard on the other side went on to score a half-century but no other batsman looked in the groove and West Indies were bundled out for 123 in the 27th over. While Starc picked up a fifer, Josh Hazlewood also returned with a three-for. Earlier, Australia were without their regular skipper Aaron Finch after he had sustained a knee injury in the fifth T20I against the Caribbean side while batting. Wicket-keeper batsman Alex Carey had donned the captain’s hat in Finch’s absence. The Aussie team batted first and started the proceedings well with openers Philippe and Ben McDermott stitching a stand of 51 runs for the first wicket but then lost some wickets at regular intervals before Carey and Turner chipped in with a 104-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Carey struck 67 off 87 while Turner missed out on a fifty by just one run. For West Indies, it was Hayden Walsh who was the pick of the bowlers after he picked up a five-for during the course. Carey, who was the stand-in captain for Australia in this match said that it was a”special” moment for him. “Yeah it was (special). Not only for me but the three other guys on debut. Obviously the two quicks up front were pretty special as well,” he said. Pollard admitted that the failure with the bat led them to defeat against Australia. ”I think we did pretty well with the ball. Par score here is 260-270 and being able to restrict them to 250 was a fantastic effort. It is what it is (how does he assess the batting effort?). My biggest thing is I want the guys to fight. We have practiced long and hard enough. Most disappointing factor is we didn't show fight,” he said. The two sides will now take on each other in the second clash at the same venue on Friday.