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Stuart Broad Feels Much More Could Resurface From Sandpaper Gate After Key Players Retire

Stuart Broad feels much more could resurface from Sandpaper gate after key players retire

England pacer in the longest format, Stuart Broad has chanced his scepticism at the Sandpaper gate claiming that it has more to offer than what appear on papers. The incident has been troubling Australian cricket ever since the infamous sandpaper gate saga at the Newlands Ground in South Africa back in March 2018.

England's second-leading wicket-taker in the longest format felt that it is very difficult to simply deny the fact that only three players were involved in scuffing up the ball without any other members having an idea about it.

Giving an example of how a bowler easily comprehends the change in the ball, Broad said, "I've obviously never bowled within the Australian bowling attack but I can talk about how, in an England Test team, if I miss the seam by four millimetres, Jimmy Anderson is on me.” "He'll be saying 'why has this ball got a mark on it here? It's because you've missed the seam! Start hitting the seam, will you’,” the 34-year-old added while speaking at a sanitisation promotion event partnered by ECB.

Broad, who has 517 Test scalps to his name feels that the Aussies wanted the episode to be over by now, but if it lingers on, the England support team could use it to their advantage in the Ashes Down Under. “I can't see it still being a conversation [when the Ashes start] in November, December, but I can see it being sung in the Barmy Army stands if they're allowed,” he said.

The Nottingham born went on to predict that maybe David Warner, one of the three Aussie players suspended after the Newlands incident may go on to write a book about it.

"I have seen a couple of comments from David Warner's agent, too, and I think it will be an interesting time when he stops playing for Australia and writes a book,” said Broad who is gearing up for the Test series against New Zealand beginning June 2 with the first Test at Lord’s.

England will lock horns against New Zealand in a two-match Test series ahead of the Test Championship final between India and New Zealand. In August, they will host India for a five-match Test series which will commence from August.

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Too much pressure and overthinking behind India's lull in ICC tournaments feels Deep Dasgupta

Former India and Bengal wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta feels that India’s inability to win any ICC tournaments since the 2013 Champions Trophy has been largely due to several external factors. While India lost the 2015 World Cup semi-final against Australia largely due to their performance, their exit from the 2016 T20 World Cup was largely due to the dew factor. The toss played a crucial factor as the eventual champions West Indies went onto chase down a stiff target of 193 runs. Two no-balls in crucial junctures of the game didn’t help either as exceptional knocks from Lendl Simmons and Johnson Charles sealed the deal for the Caribbeans. In the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan, India was again severely jolted by a no-ball from Jasprit Bumrah. Fakhar Zaman who was dismissed of a no-ball went onto smash a match-winning century and the target proved to be way too much in the end. India will look to end their lull in ICC tournaments when they face New Zealand in the World Test Championship final slated to be played in Southampton between 18 and 22 June. "Think about the choker remark the fact is that India has not won a knockout game in the ICC events since 2013. Again, there is no particular reason for that apart from that fact that maybe taking too much pressure and overthinking just because it's a big game in an ICC tournament," Dasgupta was quoted as saying during an interaction with Sports Today when a fan asked him whether India are the new chokers in world cricket. "Also, think of the New Zealand game, I think India should have won that. 2017, the Champions Trophy game (final) against Pakistan, that no-ball, let's not get into that. We have spoken a lot about that no-ball. Then, in the West Indies Wankhede game (2016 T20 World Cup), the toss played a crucial role. 180 (192) was not a bad score, but the dew factor and all that played a role," he further added.

Ian Chappell backs Pat Cummins to take over the mantle once Tim Paine retires

Former Australian legendary skipper Ian Chappell is not in favour of Steve Smith being re-appointed as the skipper of the national team and has backed speedster Pat Cummins to take over the mantle whenever current skipper Tim Paine calls it quits from international cricket. The views of Chappell are in total contrast to Paine as the wicket-keeper batsman recently conceded that he won’t have any issues in Smith returning to the post once he decides to bring down curtains on his international career. “I think it’s time to move on. To me, if you go back to Smith, you’re going backwards. It’s time to look ahead, not in the rear-vision mirror,” Chappell was quoted as saying by Wide World of Sports. The sandpaper gate scandal which rocked the cricketing world back in March 2018 has again gained prominence after new revelations from Cameron Bancroft. In a recent interview with the Guardian, Bancroft had hinted that the bowlers might have been aware of the ball being scuffed up with a foreign substance. However, when reached by the Cricket Australia Integrity Unit, Bancroft backtracked on that issue and said that he doesnt have any new information to disclose. Chappell feels that Cummins’ hopes of leading the side shouldn’t be dented even if he was aware of the ball-tampering scandal three years ago in Cape Town. “If people start jumping up and down about Pat Cummins captaining Australia if he knew, well the answer is pretty clear because it falls back on Smith,” Chappell said. “He’s (Steve Smith) the bloke who should have stopped it. The captain’s got the overall say and power to stop it, and he didn’t. I don’t think it should count against Cummins, even if they decide the bowlers did know. Smith is the bloke who should have made sure the whole thing never started,” he further added.

Ed Smith probably didn’t rate me as much as other players: Stuart Broad

England pacer Stuart Broad is of the opinion that despite being a successful Test cricketer, he won’t mind missing out on one or two games as long as there is a proper communication which he believes lacked with former selector Ed Smith. “Is it realistic I’m going to play every Test? No. But if the communication is done well then you understand the reasons for it,” the 34-year-old Broad told the British media. “You understand why you might miss certain games to be fit for other games. That along with building experience into different players,” he further added. The right-arm fast bowler further said that Smith probably didn’t rate him as much as other players. “He probably didn’t rate me as much as other players,” Broad said. Broad was dropped from the opening Test against West Indies and the quick bowler had expressed his disappointment for the same. “…I was disgruntled because the selectors had said the first Test team of the summer will be our best team. For someone who had been through the Ashes successfully, been through South Africa successfully and stayed fit, I felt it was my shirt,” he reasoned. The Test mainstay is now preparing for a busy schedule which comprises seven Test matches. England are slated to play a two-match Test series against New Zealand at home which starts on June 2 while they will later face India in a five-match tie on home soil.

Wriddhiman Saha recovers from COVID-19, set to be part of England tour

Indian wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha who had contracted COVID during the truncated 14th edition of the Indian Premier League has recovered from the deadly virus and will be part of the 20 man squad for the England tour. Saha who was part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad in the IPL returned two negative tests during his quarantine period. One of the finest modern-day wicket-keepers, Saha had contracted the virus just a day before the tournament came to a halt abruptly on 4th May. Saha was included in the 20 member squad for the Test Championship final against New Zealand and the five-match Test series against England subject to his fitness clearance. Now that he has recovered in time, he in all likelihood will board the flight to the UK. Saha will join the rest of his teammates where they will be quarantining in Mumbai before leaving for England. The Indian players and all the support staffs have been allowed to travel to the UK along with their family members where they will be spending more than three months. The stumper had confirmed last week that he had tested positive in one of the two mandatory RT-PCR tests during his quarantine period. However, after his clearance, Saha will be India’s second wicket-keeper for the England tour with Rishabh Pant expected to retain his place in the XI. "My quarantine period is still not over. As a part of the routine check-up, 2 tests were done, out of which 1 was negative and the other one came as positive. Otherwise, I am doing much better. Requesting everyone not to spread misleading stories/information without the whole context," he had said in a social media post. The No 1 ranked Test side in the world, India will go head to head against New Zealand in the ICC Test Championship final between 18 and 22 June. After a month-long gap where they will lock horns against England in a five-match Test series which will be part of the next Test Championship fixture. While the players in the Test squad will be practising in UK for the whole of July, a specialist limited-overs team will visit Sri Lanka for a five-match T20I series and a three-match ODI series.