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'There are Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul' - Ravi Shastri suggests captaincy prospects

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri indicated the names of future captaincy options for India, saying that the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season could bring more light on the topic.


As Virat Kohli is no longer India's captain in any format, Rohit Sharma has been given command of the team. Although Rohit has been giving good results as a skipper, his age would force the selectors to constantly look for his successor till they find a suitable option.


Speaking upon the same, Shastri mentioned the names Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul. Notably, all these players would be seen leading their respective franchises in the upcoming edition of the IPL.


"Virat is not being captain anymore, but Rohit has also been outstanding, especially in white ball. India will be looking at who will be captaining the team (in future) — there are Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul," Shastri said during a press conference on Tuesday.


"India will be looking for a solid captain for the future and here is the opportunity," he added.


Citing Venkatesh Iyer's example, the World Cup-winning cricketer added that IPL brings many opportunities along with itself.


“… That is the beauty of the IPL, last IPL we saw Venkatesh Iyer, no one had heard of him and by the time it got over he was in the Indian team. So you expect the unexpected."


Further, Shastri commented on Hardik Pandya, who would be returning to competitive cricket after the 2021 T20 World Cup. Hardik had been suffering from a lower-back injury for quite some time now and doubts still remain on his bowling.


"The whole county would be very closely watching Hardik Pandya in the IPL, we all know what he is capable of," Shastri asserted.


With the next T20 World Cup in October in Australia, fast bowlers would be closely observed, stated Shastri.


"One thing I can say is that they would be watching the fast bowling department more than anything else as they are going to Australia in four months’ times after the IPL.


"I would rather focus on players who have been just given the opportunity and how they do in IPL…. Now it will be important to see how these players perform in the IPL and strengthen their positions," the 59-year-old said.


As two new teams- Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans are about to debut, the competition this year will go a notch up.


"Competition will be terrific this time, with two new teams coming in... Now there are quite a few teams that will give you a real good run for the money. The mix has been very good and it promises a very strong league," Shastri concluded.


Meanwhile, Star India today announced that Shastri will be returning to the commentary box after a 7-year hiatus. Former India cricketer Suresh Raina has also been included in the commentary panel for IPL 2022.

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PAK vs AUS | 3rd Test | Naseem Shah’s reserve swing headlines Day 2 as game still hangs in balance

Things were following their usual path in the third Test match of the series between Pakistan and Australia as Cameron Green and Alex Carey went on to hit individual 50s early Tuesday, 22 March. The pitch has turned out to be a notorious point of contention this series, with bowlers having little to no assistance from the deck for large parts of the Test matches. However, when things looked bleak for Pakistan on Tuesday, Naseem Shah used every bit of his Pakistani charm to find the slightest bit of reverse swing on the deck, to plough through the Australia lower middle order helping Pakistan make an unlikely comeback in the first innings. Naseem’s spell came at a time when Green and Carey were finding middle of the bat with most of their attacking shots, leaving senior pros like Hasan Ali clueless as to what should be done. Naseem first got Green with a stunning ball, pitched at a teasing length, that tailed at the very last minute, leaving Green look like an amatuer. He bowled the Australian through his defence and affected the downfall of the Australian order. Shah alongside another Shah in Shaheen found the energy and the spirit to ping in two thundering yorkers bowling out Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Swepson respectively to cap the Australian innings at 391 runs, something that at a point of time looked like could go on to 500-550 by the end of the day. Both pacers took four each while the spinners Nuaman Ali and Sajid Khan took one each - prized wickets of Alex Carey and Usman Khawaja respectively. Three batsmen this innings were denied centuries, with all of them playing tremendous innings of their own. Alex Carey seems to have found form after falling into the hotel pool in Karachi hitting one 90s and one 60s already. Alongside Carey, Cameron Green was also left stranded at 79 against a brilliant delivery after batting valiantly for 163 balls. Coming into bowl, Australia were able to manage the lone wicket of Imam-ul-Haq, who was caught plumb in front by Pat Cummins, who has made it a habit to produce moments of magic in dead pitches. At the end of day’s play, Pakistan’s cautious approach bore them 90 runs after 39 overs at the loss of just one wicket. Opener Abdullah Shafique (45 off 117) was in the crease alongside Azhar Ali (30 off 79). The moving day of the Test match can prove to be crucial for the result of this game. If Pakistan do not choose to push for a result, they could end up batting slowly for long sessions and kill the game. But if Australia can manage to find reverse like they did in the first innings of the second Test match, things could get very interesting in the final Test of a dry series.