With dreams of playing Tests, Deepak Chahar backs Shikhar Dhawan as captain for Lanka tour

India limited-overs pacer Deepak Chahar believes that Shikhar Dhawan should be made the captain for the team’s upcoming Sri Lanka tour. Chahar, who had a good outing in the Indian Premier League (8 wickets in 7 games) before the tournament was suspended is also hopeful that the Indian team would be victorious on the tour of the island nation.

"Shikhar bhai will be a good choice (for captain),” the Rajasthan man told Times of India. He further argued that not only is Shikhar in a good form but also has a lot of experience to gain players’ respect in the team. “He has been playing for a long time and has a lot of experience. For me, a senior person should become a captain. Because players see that player as a senior and respect him and obey him with honesty. Players should respect their captain. He (Dhawan) will be a good choice,” said Chahar.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, after the suspension of IPL due to a rise in Covid cases in India, decided that a second strung Indian team would be sent to Sri Lanka in July. At the same time, the main team led by Virat Kohli would be on a tour of England for the World Test Championship Final against New Zealand and the subsequent five-match Test series against the host country.

It has been a matter of debate as to who among Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer (if fully recovered) and Prithvi Shaw should be given the opportunity to lead the second-string Indian side on the Lankan shores. Although it is not yet decided team India is likely to play three ODIs and an equal number of T20Is on the tour.

Chahar, who is predominantly a swing bowler and burst onto the scene with his red ball exploits on Ranji Trophy wishes to make his Test debut for India sometime in near future as well.

Wishing the best to the Test team in England, Chahar who has 126 First-Class wickets in 45 games with 8/10 as his best said, "Bowling in English conditions has its own charm. I have played in England and I have enjoyed bowling there. I am sure the selectors will give me a chance someday.”

“I have played T20Is and ODIs and I have to prove myself a lot in these two formats and I hope I make it to the Test team someday. I look forward to playing Tests for the country," said the 28-year-old who has represented India in 13 T20Is and three ODIs and also holds the record for the best figures in T20Is. He took six wickets for seven runs against Bangladesh in Nagpur in a game played at Nagpur.

Discover more

Boyd Rankin calls it quits from international cricket

Lanky speedster Boyd Rankin, who represented Ireland and England in international cricket, announced his retirement from the game. Rankin was part of Ireland playing XI during their inaugural Test match against Pakistan. He is among those 15 players in Test history to have represented two countries. The 6’8’ speedster made his international debut for Ireland during the 2007 World Cup where they registered a historic victory against Pakistan. Rankin’s career was separated by a three year period where he played for England having made his Test debut in an Ashes Test in 2014. Rankin, known to extract steep bounce from any pitch due to his stature, ends his career with 229 wickets to his name at an impressive average of 23.39. He can also swing the ball both ways and will definitely finish his career as the best fast bowler to have emerged from Ireland. He finishes his career as the 8th highest Irish wicket-taker at the international level. Rankin who started his professional cricket career way back in 2003 had a successful time in the county circuit as well. Having spent 11 years with Warwickshire, Rankin felt that it was the right time to step away from the game. “I feel now is the right time to step away. I have put my heart and soul into playing cricket professionally since 2003 and have loved every minute of it. I never dreamt I would play for Ireland as much as I did and to travel the world playing in numerous World Cups and to pull on the Irish jersey is something I will never forget," said Rankin. “To have also a long career in county cricket especially during my 11-year stint with Warwickshire where we won the County Championship, 50-over competition twice and the T20 Blast in 2014 was very special and something I am very grateful for. The dream of most cricketers is to play Test cricket and Rankin was no different. When he was at his peak, Ireland was yet to become a Test team so he had to change his base and went onto make his Test debut for England in an Ashes Test. “I always strived to be the best player I could be and to play at the highest level possible, so to make my Test debut for England during a time when Ireland wasn’t a Test-playing nation was a very proud moment. I will miss all the guys I played alongside the most and enjoying the wins we had along the way,” Rankin said. Playing their first World Cup in 2007, Ireland managed to script history when they defeated Pakistan in the group stage to qualify for the next stage of the competition. Rankin rated the victories against Pakistan and Bangladesh in the 2007 World Cup as one of his most memorable achievements. “My best memories and achievements that stick out for me would be the World Cup wins - in 2007 World Cup beating Pakistan and Bangladesh to put Irish cricket on the world map, and the 2011 win against England. Being part of the team to play Ireland’s first men’s Test match was a special moment, as well as taking Ireland’s first Test wicket,” Rankin further added.

Greg Chappell feels that Rahul Dravid's vision wasn't backed by his teammates

The tenure of Greg Chappell as the Indian head coach was an eventful one. While he was the one responsible for the ouster of Sourav Ganguly as the skipper, not many cricketers especially the senior campaigners was happy with the atmosphere in the environment when Chappell was at the helm. One of the greats of the game, Chappell felt that Rahul Dravid who succeeded Ganguly as the captain of the team had the vision to make India the best team in the world. However, he wasn’t backed by the other seniors in the team which was recalled by Chappell in the Cricket Life Stories Podcast. “Dravid was really invested in India becoming the best team in the world. Sadly, not everyone in the team had the same feeling. They would rather concentrate on being in the team. There was some resistance from some of the senior players because some of them were coming to the end of their careers,” Chappell said. It was under Chappell that India had an embarrassing campaign in the 2007 World Cup getting knock out at the group stage. Dravid was appointed as the Indian skipper when Ganguly was shown the exit door and though India managed to win a few bilateral series, they were far from their usual best when Chappell was at the helm. Ganguly after being out of the Indian team for more than a year made a dramatic comeback against South Africa at Johannesburg in 2007 before calling curtains on his illustrious career. Chappell felt that it was the team members’ resistance that paved way for Ganguly’s return as no one wanted to change. Chappell further revealed that he was offered a new contract by BCCI but he decided not to renew the contract as he was not ready to be under too much stress. “When Sourav got dropped from the team, we had a lot of attention from the players, because they realized if he can go, anyone can go. We had a great 12 months, but then the resistance got too much, Ganguly came back into the team. “The message from the players was loud and clear – ‘We don’t want change.’ Even though the board offered me a new contract, I decided that I did not need that kind of stress,” he added.

Have learnt a lot under MS Dhoni's captaincy: Deepak Chahar

India and Chennai Super Kings bowler Deepak Chahar has credited MS Dhoni for helping him improve his bowling in the power play overs. Chahar further added that the former India skipper backed him and taught him how to take up the responsibility. “It was a long-cherished dream of mine to play under Mahi bhai. I have learnt a lot under his captaincy. I have taken my game to another level under his guidance. He has always backed me. He taught me how to take responsibility. There is no one in my team (CSK) who bowls three overs in the powerplay. I do that. That’s because of Mahi bhai,” Chahar told TimesofIndia.com. “Mahi bhai has made me a powerplay bowler. He always says ‘you are my powerplay bowler’,” he added. The right-arm bowler has been an integral part of the CSK unit for quite sometime now. In 55 matches that Chahar has played in the IPL, he has scalped 53 wickets at a healthy economy of 7.67. CSK were placed at the second spot in the now suspended IPL 2021 with five wins and 10 points from 7 games. The IPL 2021 was suspended on May 4 after there was a rise in the Covid-19 cases within the franchise teams. CSK’s bowling coach L.Balaji and batting coach Mike Hussey had tested positive for the disease earlier.

Tim Southee backs 'refreshed' Blackcaps to 'rock on' in consecutive Tests against England & India

New Zealand pacer Tim Southee reiterated the comment from his bowling partner Neil Wagner and ruled out the possibility of treating the upcoming series against England as a warm-up series before the World Test Championship against India. He said that the Test series against the hosts is Blackcaps’ ‘first and foremost focus and they are ‘really looking forward’ towards competing against the hosts and winning the series. "Nah, I think anytime you get a chance to play a Test match for New Zealand, it's an amazing opportunity and it's something that you treasure, so I don't think you would treat them as warm-ups. It's a two-match Test series against England and so our focus is first and foremost on those two matches against England,” Southee said in a virtual press conference. "For us, it is great to have those matches in the lead-in to the final that follows on afterwards. It's great preparation for the final but in saying that, for us, it's a two-match Test series that we're really looking forward to, and the quality English opposition in these conditions. He took reference to the recent past and said that the Test series will be highly competitive as England will be playing at their home conditions albeit they have selected some new faces in the squad for the series. "England are very tough in their own conditions. They obviously perform pretty well in these conditions. They've got a few new guys who are probably going to be very excited at the opportunity to play for England and try and get their mark on international cricket over the summer. I'm sure, as it always is, when New Zealand plays England that's usually a pretty exciting, pretty close Test series and I imagine this is going to be no different,” South added. New Zealand do not play a lot of Test matches in a year and now they will be playing as many as three in a span of 20 days. Southee asserted that the series against England and WTC final against India will not be concerning in terms of excess workload as they are returning fresh from a long break. "It's exciting to play three Test matches in a short space of time. It is something that the team doesn't get to do that often. We've come off a bit of a break, which has been nice, and (we have) been able to get some conditioning into our bodies, the guys that have come from the IPL and are going to be playing some cricket,” Southe asserted. "So the guys are refreshed in some sort of way, using the next couple of weeks to get ourselves prepared and ready to play three Test matches. They are in quick succession but we have had a chance to prepare physically leading into this with some strength and conditioning stuff. Now, it's just getting our loads to a point over the coming weeks so that we can rock on to those three Test matches." Tim Southee has been central to New Zealand rise as a Test side over the years and his role will be more crucial against England as his equally able partner with the ball in Trent Boult is set to miss the first two Tests of the tour of England.