Steve Smith laments sub-continent tours as physically, mentally & emotionally challenging

Saba Karim surprised at Shubman Gill 'hiding' his injury, backs Mayank Agarwal against England

Former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim has expressed surprise over the extent of Shubman Gill’s leg injury that would well rule him out of the entire series against England. He suggested that Gill hid his injury and travelled to the United Kingdom despite being injured which should not have been the case in the first place. “I was surprised to see Shubman Gill hide his injury. He has been travelling for a long time with the Indian team. There are physios and other medical staff tracking the fitness of the players. It’s very surprising in the first place, how it happened and why it didn’t come up earlier,” Karim said. Gill’s absence from the side will open the door for Mayank Agarwal, who he said has been treated in a ‘harsh’ manner after a handful of failures against Australia. He has thrown his weight behind Agarwal’s candidature for the series against England if Gill misses out. “Mayank should be given preference. We have been harsh towards Mayank. He was sidelined after just 2-3 failed innings,” he added. Shubman Gill has suffered a stress fracture in his leg and would need rest for a minimum period of six weeks and it could well rule him out of the five-match series starting in the first week of August.

Kapil Dev rejects idea of addition in Test squad, asks Kohli- Shastri to respect selectors, players

India’s world-cup winning captain Kapil Dev has outrightly rejected the idea of another opener in the Indian squad for the upcoming Test series against England as was reported by TOI. Giving his opinion of ABP News Kapil Dev asserted that the team management that includes the skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri must have given ‘these are the players we need’ opinions to selectors, and hence theory of an extra opener is demeaning one for the selectors. He also pointed out that the squad already possess two ‘big’ openers in KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal and hence India’s search for another option does not seem to be the right move. "I don't think there is any need for it. There should be some respect for the selectors too. They have picked a team and I'm sure it wouldn't have happened without their (Shastri and Kohli) consultation. I mean, you have two such big opening batsmen in KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal. Do you really need a third option? I don't think it's right," Kapil said on the 'Wah Cricket' show on ABP News. "I want that the captain and the management should have a say, but not at the expense of over-ruling the selectors and say that 'these are the players we need'. In that case, we don't even need selectors. I am feeling a bit odd knowing that something like this has happened because if it has, it demeans the selectors and their role," he said. The conundrum over India’s opener for England Test developed after Shubman Gill developed a stress fracture in his leg that may well force him out of the entire series. Earlier this week, TOI reported that the team management is eager to get Prithvi Shaw back in the squad in England after the series in Sri Lanka although they have Abhimanyu Easwaran in the ranks as well.

Seven Bangladesh players to miss part of LPL

Seven Bangladesh players who are in the draft of the Lanka Premier league won’t be available for the initial phase of the competition due to national duties. The tournament is slated to be played between July 30 to August 22 while Bangladesh are scheduled to host Australia for a five-match series between August 2 to August 8 which will be followed by series against New Zealand and England at home. The likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar are the players in the LPL draft. ''They (Bangladeshi cricketers) will not be available from the beginning of LPL as we have series against Australia,'' BCB cricket operation chairman Akram Khan confirmed Cricbuzz on Saturday. ''We also have other series lined up but in between, we have some time and they can go at that point and play in the LPL,'' he said. Akram further added that the above mentioned players have said that they are available for selection across all formats. ''All the cricketers are ready to take part across format and they have informed national duty is their first preference,'' said Akram. ''They have said that if they are picked and if they can manage to have time to play in LPL they will play there but not at the expense of skipping any national duty,'' he said.

WI vs SA | 5th T20I: All-round South Africa clinch series after Windies' firepower fall short

South Africa ended their tour of West Indies in a perfect manner after clinching a win by 25 runs in the fifth and final T20I on Saturday in Grenada. Chasing 169, the home side was restricted to 143/9 in the allotted 20 overs after the Proteas bowling attack once again dominated the Caribbean batting line up during the course. West Indies didn’t really start off the proceedings well after losing opener Lendl Simmons early in the chase but Chris Gayle and Eoin Lewis tried to steady the ship for the side and stitched a 45-run stand for the second wicket before Gayle departed for 11 off 9. The hosts then lost wickets at regular intervals and were left struggling at 140/8 in the penultimate over only to suffer a defeat eventually. Lewis though notched up a half-century while Shimron Hetmyer scored 33 but their efforts went in vain. For South Africa, it was Lungi Ngidi who returned with a three-for while Kagiso Rabada and Wiaan Mulder bagged a couple of wickets. Apart from them Tabraiz Shamsi produced yet another brilliant and economical spell of bowling to end the game with figures of 1/11 in 4 overs. Earlier, after batting first the visitors put 168/4 in 20 overs, courtesy a super stand of 128 runs between Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram. South Africa lost captain Temba Bavuma on the third delivery of the match for a duck but the wicket-keeper batsman De Kock who has been in fine form in this series struck a 42-ball 60. Markram who came in at number three top-scored with 70 off 48. For West Indies, it was Fidel Edwards, Dwayne Bravo and Obed mcCoy who were among the wickets. Edwards picked up two wickets while Bravo and McCoy got one each. West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard expressed his disappointment about the series loss. “The total seemed like a winning total for us. We had three opportunities in this series to chase 160 but we couldn't. But the disappointing thing for us is that we keep making the same mistakes over and over and over. We set up the game well for the guys in the shed. Well played to Quinton and South Africa. He was fantastic for them, he changed the momentum of the series. The young bowlers for us, McCoy, Sinclair and Bravo coming good were fantastic. The batting was disappointing,” he said after the match. South Africa captain Bavuma was ‘delighted’ by the ‘incredible’ performance from the boys. “Delighted. Incredible from the boys. We were under pressure and we need to commend our ability to bounce back. Come the World Cup, it should be an incredible one to watch. This series can only boost our confidence. We haven't won much away from home. Looking forward to the World Cup, this win gives us confidence and belief as well. I believe things are gelling well for us. It was a hard fought series from a skill point of view,” he said. South Africa clinched the five-match series 3-2.