WI vs SL: Angelo Mathews to fly back home

Angelo Mathews, who captained Sri Lanka in the three-match T20I series against West Indies in the absence of Dasun Shanaka, will be flying back home, to attend family matters. 

The battle-hardened veteran is the backbone of the Sri Lankan batting line-up. In the first ODI game, where Mathews got run-out for 5, the Sri Lankan was wrapped up for 232 after Dhanushka Gunathilaka, running in great form was controversially given out obstructing the field. 

The Windies team chased it down easily thanks to a brilliant hundred from Shai Hope. 

The second ODI would be played on Friday at the same venue - Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound. The final would also be played there on Sunday before the two-match Test series begins on 21st March. 

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Virat Kohli backs KL Rahul over Dhawan as opener, rules out R Ashwin's comeback in WT20

The Indian team across formats are beaming with serious depths and the team management has a problem of plenty before their hands as a five-match T20I series is scheduled to start in Ahmedabad tomorrow. Out of all the spots of the playing XI up for debate, the name of the second opener has been widely speculated by media and cricket fans. However, in the views of the team management, KL Rahul is the certainty to partner Rohit Sharma at the top of the order and Kohli made no hiding of how both he and the team rate Rahul’s prowess with the bat. However, the experienced Shikhar Dhawan has not been completely overlooked yet, and his chances will come in due course of time, Kohli suggested in the pre-match press conference. “If Rohit plays, it’s simple. KL and Rohit have done well for us consistently. If either of them take rest, Shikhar is the third opener. Rohit and Rahul will start against England," Kohli said in the pre-match press conference. The ongoing series against England and India were to comprise a five-match Test series initially, but both ECB and BCCI came to the conclusion that playing a five-match T20Is would serve the purpose better for both sides with the World T20 scheduled at the end of the year. Kohli too realises the fact and outlined the importance of the upcoming series in context to the World Cup and said that the team is shaping up nicely in terms of balance leading up to the big tournament that India will be hosting. “These are the only five games we have as a team before the World Cup and we want to see how these guys fare in the middle. I feel the squad right now we have barring Jaddu, who will come back whenever fit, is the most balanced in terms of the options available to take the field as and when required,” Kohli added. The Indian top-order which has comprised Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, and KL Rahul at different points of times in the recent past has attracted severe criticism for batting with a measured approach and eating up too many balls. Kohli did not hide away from this issue and said that the team will look to address that aspect of the game, and now that that the team has added some players who will bring their X-factors with them, the team can set a template of playing an aggressive brand of cricket, instead of looking to spend time at the crease from this series onwards. “We have played with a certain kind of pattern in the past. We did not have a big tournament to work towards in the past. If you look at the squad, the additions we have made we have tried to address a few things we needed in specific,” Kohli said. "We want to play free cricket, we have explosive batsmen in the team now. That's exactly what we are trying to address. This time around you will see players bat more freely. I see us being much more free with our approach from this series onwards. Considering the World T20 will be played on Indian pitches, the cricketing world, along with the touring England team has put the onus on the hosts and labelled them the favourites to win the cup for the second time after their triumph in the inaugural edition in 2007. However, Kohli recognises England as the firm favourites to win the trophy for their second time as well after 2010. He said that the England team under the leadership of Eoin Morgan has leapfrogged other teams in terms of firepower and strengths and the world will have a close look at the Englishmen in the World Cup. "I think it's England who will be the team to beat. They are the number one side in the world and the prime focus will be on them in this World Cup. All the other teams will be wary of the strengths that they bring onto the park and every other team would agree with what I say. It's England who are the favourites and that will not change regardless of how they think," Kohli added. After winning Man of the Match in the second Test of the series against England, Ravichandran Ashwin had said that he was not dreaming to play for India in the limited-overs cricket, instead, he was realistic and eager to play in the play for India again in the blue jersey. Kohli was asked about Ashwin’s contention for the T20 world cup, but the Indian skipper outrightly ruled out the return of the veteran off-spinner who has just won the Man of the Series award in the Test series against England. Kohli said that the Washington Sundar has done really well as an off-spinner in the limited opportunities he has got and that the team is not looking forward to playing two bowlers of the same kind in the shortest format. He said that the way back for Ashwin in the World T20 would come only at the expense of Washington who is unlikely to be replaced in the foreseeable future, and hence the question lacked logic in the absence of a place for Ashwin in the playing XI. "Washington has been doing really well for us. So you cannot have two players of the same discipline, playing in one spot. So unless Washy has a drastically horrible season and things go south for him. I mean the question has to be asked with some kind of logic as well. You suggest where you would add Ash, and play him in the team? Washington already does that job for the team. It's easy to ask a question but you should have a logical explanation to it yourself," said Kohli. The five-match T20 series between India and England will commence at the Narendra Modi Stadium tomorrow and the jury is out for Virat Kohli’s captaincy in the shortest format as the absence of any major ICC trophy in his cabinet will start to feel as the World T20 is looming large on the world cricket.

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PCB eyeing PSL return in June

The Pakistan Super League that was postponed earlier this month with immediate effect will resume in June. The Pakistan Cricket Board and the franchises are targeting the month of June to resume the tournament. “June emerged as the most preferred and practical window due to Pakistan men’s national cricket team’s international commitments in March/April and late August/September,” a release from PSL said. There are 20 matches remaining to take place in the tournament. These fixtures are now being planned after the men’s team return from Zimbabwe on May 13 and before their departure for England on June 26. “The PCB management will now look into the operational and logistical challenges and revert to the franchise owners and stakeholders,” the release further added. The PSL was postponed after a rise in the COVID-19 cases within the league. The PCB CEO had earlier said the decision of postponing the league was taken after a discussion with the franchise owners. "We had a discussion this morning with the franchise owners and we came to the conclusion that it was best to postpone the event. We entered that meeting with the franchisees with one or two possible solutions, one in terms of looking to halt proceedings for five days until we were able to make sense of what was going on and see whether we could move forward. There was a strong consensus that it was untenable to continue based on the fact that it was outside of ours and others reasonable sort of areas because of what had taken place."