Vijay Shankar promises to become next Kallis or Watson if given higher batting position

Once touted as a three-dimensional player for India in the ODI format, Vijay Shankar has gone off the radar very quickly. His ouster from the national fold has happened rather quietly compared to the noise that his inclusion created during the ICC World Cup 2019.

Now, having faced a lot of time away from the limelight of the game, Shankar laments lost opportunity and inconsistent batting positions he has been offered over the last few years. Terming it as a major factor behind his poor run of form with the bat, Shankar has made statements seeking consistency from the team management.

He has sought consistency from the Indian team and his Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad and said if he does not score at number four or five he should be rightly axed from the team.

“If I have to score runs, I need to spend more time on the crease. So I’m not saying I want to open the batting. Just saying, even if I bat at No. 4 or 5, let it be one slot at least for domestic. And then if I don’t score runs, drop me, I’m okay. That’s what I have missed out in the last two years,” Shankar said in an interview with News18.

He also discarded the belief that all-rounders such as him should only bat at the lower order and said that he believes he could be the next Jacques Kallis and Shane Watson for India if given the chance.

“I’m an all-rounder, but I’m known for my batting. So just because I’m an all-rounder, it shouldn’t be like I should bat only at No. 6 or 7. I can also be someone like Jacques Kallis or Shane Watson. They open the innings or bat at No. 3 and bowl. It’s not a compulsion that an all-rounder has to bat at No. 6-7. If I can score runs at the top, and pick wickets, it’s good for the team too, right?” Shankar added.

Shankar was dropped from the team after the ICC World Cup 2019 and multiple injury setbacks pushed him further away from the reckoning.

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Indian players failed to handle fame and money: Purnima Rau on rift in women's cricket

Former India women’s head coach and an established international cricketer during her heydays, Purnima Rau lambasted the current crop of players in the Indian team suggesting that success and money tend to get the better of them. She felt that while the triumphant Indian team from the 2015-16 T20 series in Australia was a happy and innocent bunch, things started to take a U-turn when they were offered huge sums of money and quite a few got the opportunity to ply their trades in Women’s Big Bash League. “When we won the T20 series for the first time in Australia in 2015-16, I remember the team to be a very innocent, happy, hungry bunch. It was nice to see them in the World Cup final in a matter of months,” Rau was quoted as saying during an exclusive interview with News 18. “But, after tasting success, the contract system, social media becoming powerful, Big Bash League, media attention, money, captaincy issues, everything started snowballing into a big issue between them. There is no camaraderie, no bonding between the players. Suddenly everything could change with the whiff of money. They could not handle success and money,” she further added. The context of having no team bonding and camaraderie has been quite prevalent in the Indian women’s cricket set-up. It was reported that there was unrest in the team following Mithali Raj’s omission for the playing XI in the 2017 World T20 semi-final. Ramesh Powar was sacked as the head coach but not before both Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana wrote a letter to BCCI insisting to keep Powar as the coach which was against the views of Mithali Raj. However in response to her equation with Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet had vouched that she doesnt have a problem with the former skipper. “I don’t think there has been any problem between me and Mithali. I can speak for myself. You have to speak to her and ask if she has a problem with me. I have always respected her as a senior. We are mature enough to handle the situation. We will have to play as a unit to take the team forward. We are more team players than individuals. If you think about the team cause, you will put your head down and work towards that. I have met her and spoken to her after all these events and we seem to have moved on,” Harmanpreet was quoted as saying by The Mumbai Mirror. Without mentioning any name, Rau said that this is nothing new among former players. When power comes in, everything else takes a backseat and in return, it affects women’s cricket. She urged the BCCI President Sourav Ganguly to come forward and solve these issues.

England coach Chris Silverwood to take a break after NZ Tests

England head coach Chris Silverwood will go on a break after the team’s two-match Test series against New Zealand at home. The responsibilities would be taken up by his assistants for the limited overs series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan on the home soil. “I’ll be passing the reins on for the ODI series. It’s not fair on the players if I am operating at less than 100% and it is not fair on myself either,” Silverwood was quoted as saying by the British media. “Thorpey will do one and Colly will do the other and I’ll use it as my break to refresh and get ready for what is ahead of us,” he added. England will begin the Test series against Blackcaps on June 2 which will be followed by 12 white-ball internationals at home. They will first host Sri Lanka with the T20I series beginning on June 23 and would be followed by as many ODIs. The Pakistan team will tour England for a three-match ODI and three-match T20I series. After completing the home fixtures which includes seven Tests and 12 limited-overs games, England will tour Pakistan and Bangladesh ahead of the World T20 and will then travel to Australia for the Ashes series. “I’m not going to deny it’s not easy for me,” Silverwood said. “Obviously I am wholly on board with what we are doing. I am very embedded in it now. I do find it hard to switch off but I’ll do my best,” Silverwood further added. England would be naming the squad for the Test series against the Kiwis next week.

Simon Harmer picks nine to rattle Derbyshire

Essex bowler Simon Harmer rattled Derbyshire during the County Championship match in Chelmsford after he bagged career best figures of 9/80 for the side. In reply to Essex’s 412/3 (D), Derbyshire were bundled out for 146 to hand them a lead of 266 runs in the first innings before the end of the second session on Day 3. Harmer first trapped opener Luis Reece in front of the stumps for two while Daniel Lawrence who was the only other bowler to get a wicket removed the other opener Billy Godleman six runs later for 9. Derbyshire were 27/3 when Brooke Guest was joined by Alex Hughes in the middle. The two batsmen put on a partnership of 44 runs for the fourth wicket before Hughes departed for 22. The Wayne Madsen-led side didn’t really get any resistance after Hughes’ dismissal and lost wickets at regular intervals to get reduced to 127/7 before eventually getting bowled out. Guest top-scored for Derbyshire with 49 while Hughes and skipper Madsen were the only other two batsmen to get to the double-figure mark during the course of the innings. Essex had enforced a follow-on. Earlier, Essex had rode on some brilliant batting from their top four and posted a mammoth total on the board. While openers Nick Browne and Alastair Cook notched up individual fifties, captain Tom Westley and Daniel Lawrence went on to score individual tons. Lawrence top-scored with an unbeaten 152 for the side.

Put them in their place - Former coach Purnima Rau fumes over power hungry cricketers

Former Indian women cricketer and coach of the national team, Purnima Rau has lambasted the culture of the women’s cricket team. Calling it a rot, Rau in a fiery interview to news18 has suggested that every single person who is hungry after power has to be thrown out for the system to heal. “Former players have been doing it for ages. When you get a little bit of power, everything else goes out of the window. It is infectious,” said Rau. Alleging that coaches are easy targets in the current system, Rau argued that the culture of coaching sacking is being encouraged by people inside the administration. “Coaches are taken for granted. There seems to be no respect for us. It is a rot and everybody is responsible. The players, administrators, support staff, everyone. Now it has come to a stage where it is affecting the game.” Stating that the people with vested interest need to be weeded out of the system, Rau urged that someone in the position of power has to be proactive about rebuilding the entire system. “Put the players in their places, put the former cricketers in their places. Ask them to work for a few months without being paid. Let them identify amongst these people who are genuine without any vested interests,” he added. It must be noted that Purnima Rau was the last woman head coach of the national team. She was ousted just a couple of months before the 2017 World Cup. Following his removal, Tushar Arothe took over from her with Ramesh Powar and WV Raman being his successors. Powar was removed from the post after a fall-out with Mithali Raj in 2018 as the reign was handed over to WV Raman.