Tom Moody eyes Indian coaching job

Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody is expected to apply for the job of coaching team India with the current head coach Ravi Shastri is all set to vacate the position after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup.

"It's understood the former World Cup-winner and well-travelled coach is eyeing the Indian coaching job, which is set to be vacated by (Ravi) Shastri following the impending T20 World Cup," Foxsports.com.au reported.

Tom Moody, who is currently the Director of Cricket for IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad and Sri Lanka national team, has applied for this job three times including in 2017 and 2019 but has not been considered.

Ravi Shastri has not sought to extend his tenure given the age restrictions and has confirmed that he will not be continuing as the head coach after the T20 World Cup.

The report also suggests that Moody’s aspiration to coach Team India led to the decision to strip Warner from captaincy earlier this season and then drop him from the playing XI in the last few games.

"It's believed the Sunrisers' owners are influential figures in the BCCI, which could explain the decision to leave Warner out for their past half-a-dozen matches and turn to youth. Warner, too, has been approached by a number of other IPL franchises, who have been shocked by the run-scoring machine being sidelined," the report stated.

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‘Smriti Mandhana to lead India soon,’ feels coach Powar

Head coach of India’s women cricket team Ramesh Powar feels that India’s star batter Smriti Mandhana is all set to wear the cap of captaincy in the near future. However he said that he was not sure of the format that she will lead to. "We are always looking at her (Mandhana) as leader. She has been the vice-captain and some day she will lead this side. I don't know which format. BCCI, selectors and I will discuss it and decide," said Powar after the Australia tour that ended with India losing the T20 series. He also said that he wasn’t setting any timeline for the change in leadership. "There was no doubt she had the talent. The only thing we told her was to spend time in the middle and she performed very well. We take pride in the way she played in the pink-ball Test as it inspires a lot of girls in the team who look up to her," he added. India lost the ODI series by 1-2 and the only Test ended in a draw. India also failed to win the T20 series and lost it by 0-2. However, Mandhana was the highest scorer of the side on this tour. She scored a magnificent century (127 runs off 216 balls) in the first inning of the only Test played.

‘Those calls are made on field,’ Ponting on last over decision that cost Delhi Capitals

As the audience witnessed a vintage Mahi in action yesterday, finishing the game with a boundary and leading his team to the 9th Final of IPL, the onus fell on the Delhi Capitals’ skipper Rishabh Pant’s choice of bowlers in the death overs. Delhi Capitals lost the hold of the game in the very last overs against CSK in the first qualifier when they went with Tom Curran and Avesh Khan instead of going with Kagiso Rabada. It was difficult to conjecture the reason behind this but coach Ponting shed a light on the issue. "And Tom had bowled his first three overs for 16, had bowled really, really well. And done a good job. So that's down to the gut feel of the captain in the middle at that time. And Rishabh obviously thought that Tom was the right man to bowl that last over on the back of how well he had already bowled in the game. It didn't pay off for us tonight. I think it will be a good learning experience for Tom again," said Ponting after the match. Ponting also said that such decisions are entirely up to the captain to take. "I haven't had a chance to ask the captain that yet. Obviously, those calls are made on the field.” DC will be playing against the winner of the second qualifier scheduled to be played on 11th October between KKR and RCB.

Nabi to lead Afghanistan in T20 WC as ACB released revised 15-member squad

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced a revised 15-member squad. Mohammad Nabi will be leading the team in the upcoming T20 World Cup. Last month, the ACB released a 18-member team which players like Sharafuddin Ashraf and Dawlat Zadran were a part of. But in the revised squad, they have been chosen as reserve players. At the same time, left-arm spinner Fareed Ahmad Malik has been promoted to the 15-member list. Last month, Rashid Khan stepped down from his captaincy after alleging that he was not a part of the selection process. After his resignation, these changes were expected in the squad. Mohammad Nabi, who has earlier led the team in 2015 ODI world cup will be accompanied by Andy Flower as a consultant, while Lance Klusener will be the head coach and Shaun Tait as bowling coach. Afghanistan is placed in Group-2 along with India, New Zealand and Pakistan. They will be playing their first match against a qualifier from Group B. on 25th October at the Sharjah cricket stadium. Earlier, there were uncertainties surrounding the fate of the game in Afghanistan after the takeover by the Taliban but on Sunday, ICC Action CEO Geoff Allardice said that Afghanistan was preparing ‘normally’ for the upcoming tournament.

T20 World Cup 2021 | Sri Lanka name final 15-member squad, Pathum Nissanka surprise entry

The Sri Lankan team announced its final 15 member squad for the T20 World Cup 2021 on October 10, set by the International Cricket Council as the deadline for all teams taking part in the first round of the World Cup to submit their final squads. The core group of Lankan players have been retained and there are no surprise inclusions apart from Pathum Nissanka, who was added into the squad for the Oman tour and was not originally part of the extended squad selected for the World Cup in September. Players such as Ramesh Mendis, Praveen Jayawickrama, Nuwan Pradeep and Kamindu Mendis, who seemed like getting a chance in the final 15 have been left out. Nissanka played both the games against Oman and scored eight and 26 respectively. The Sri Lankan team will face Netherlands, Ireland and Namibia in Group A of Round 1 in their quest to qualify for the Super 12 stage of the tournament. Their first match will take place against Namibia on October 18 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The Lankan team recently beat Oman in two T20Is, which they played as part of their World Cup preparations. Sri Lanka T20 World Cup Squad Dasun Shanaka (Captain), Dhananjaya De Silva (Vice Captain), Kusal Janith Perera, Dinesh Chandimal, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana, Akila Dananjaya, Binura Fernando