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

ENG vs IND | Bairstow, Stokes return as England name strong Test team for first two Tests

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow is all set to return to the England Test side for the first Test against India scheduled to start on August o4 in Nottingham. Bairstow were to lead the Welsh Fire in The Hundred but the side’s coach Gary Kirsten has said to TalkSport that he is “becoming a Test cricketer again”. “We’re hearing that Jonny Bairstow, who we’ve designated as our captain, is now suddenly becoming a Test cricketer again. So we could have him for maybe one or two games,” Kirsten said. Bairstow would consider himself lucky to be able to return in the longest format after a horrific last series with the bat against India batting at the all-important number three position. He was rested from the first two Tests of the series played in Chennai and his returns in the last two Tests of the series were abysmal. It was feared and speculated that Bairstow will be one of the scapegoats for England’s big defeat in India but the latest developments would give him much-needed relief. If he returns to the squad and then in the playing XI, the all-powerful coach Chris Silverwood, who also oversees the selection of players now, may well look at him as a number three batsman in place of Zak Crawley, who was found wanting agast New Zealand. Or else, he could well come in the squad as a second wicketkeeper other than Buttler after James Bracey’s rather unceremonious introduction to Test cricket. Notably, England have hinted they will continue rotation of their big and multi-format players and it could open a door of opportunity for Bairstow to come into the playing XI at some point during the series against India. The squad could also see the return of Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran after they missed the last home series against New Zealand last month. Stokes will be coming back after a finger fracture and an ODI series against Pakistan where he led the England side in absence of Eoin Morgan while being in “ridiculous pain”.

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.