With one match to spare, Prithvi Shaw becomes the highest run-getter in Vijay Hazare Trophy

Desperate England considering special preparation to regain Ashes in Australia: Report

Desperate to regain the Ashes scheduled for the end of this year, England are considering to send early a batch of approximately 25 players to Australia ahead of the official schedule. The players who represent England only in Test format are likely to travel in the first England contingent for the tour down under. As per a Daily Telegraph report, Test specialists such as Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, and Ollie Pope are likely to board the flight with the England Lions who are scheduled to play first-class games in Australia before the start of the Ashes. Multiformat players such as Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, and Jofra Archer can only arrive for the preparation of Ashes after their participation in the World T20 scheduled to end on November 14 if England can make it through to the finals. On the other hand, other senior members of the side including the skipper Joe Root, James Anderson and Stuart Broad too will arrive before the white-ball starts will return from India. England are keen to be ‘battle-hardened before the Ashes and hence they are likely to prefer playing few intra-squad matches instead of convention warm-up games. The idea of intra-squad games has picked up pace in the last couple of years as the substandard quality of oppositions in the warm-up games before any series and then the Covid-19 related regulations have propelled sides to opt for playing among others by dividing talents in the group into two parts. Australia had opted for similar tactics in the time leading up to the Ashes in England. In recent months, West Indies have decided to play an intr-squad game before the Test series against Sri Lanka at home. Later during the English summer, India will face India -A in England in pursuit of acclimatisation with weather conditions and preparing against quality bowling and batting combinations. England lost the just-concluded Test series against India by 1-3 and their lack of preparation on turning pitches due to undergoing hard isolation came into the fray, although they were coming off from a series in Sri Lanka.

Heartening to see how fearlessly Prithvi Shaw is striking the ball: Pravin Amre

India and Mumbai batsman Prithvi Shaw had a forgettable Australian tour after he failed to leave an impression during the Test series Down Under after he only managed to score 4 runs in two innings. But the right-handed batsman was back in form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021. Shaw who has been leading Mumbai in the domestic 50-over tournament notched up four tons till the semi-finals including a double-century during the course. Pravin Amre who is with the Delhi Capitals as their batting coach revealed the secret behind Shaw’s success in an interaction with Gulf News. ‘‘The Delhi management asked me to work with Shaw as he is one of our key batsmen and it’s imperative that he gets his touch back as soon as possible. I could just work with him for five days as he had to join the Mumbai camp,’’ said Amre. Amre further added that he worked on Shaw’s confidence and batting techniques. ‘‘See, the idea was to bring his confidence back, work on areas like how he could present a full face of the bat and a few other things, We were working at my clinic at Shivaji Park in Mumbai, where Shaw had played a lot of his cricket and was extremely comfortable,’’ he said. ‘‘Ours is still a work in progress, but it’s heartening to see how fearlessly Shaw is striking the ball again,’’ Amre added. Shaw scored two consecutive hundreds in the quarter-final against Saurashtra and then in the semi-final against Karnataka on the trot. His double-century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy came against Puducherry in Jaipur.

Hales is out of the squad & our position on him remains same: Morgan

England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan has said that it’s difficult for Alex Hales to make a return back ahead of World T20. "Our position on Alex still remains the same," Morgan said. "He's out of the squad. The squad is very strong at the moment.” "You look at the strength of our squad at the moment and the areas that we're trying to improve… one area we don't struggle for players, it's probably in the top three,” Morgan added. "Could he return ahead of the World Cup? Only time will tell. But time is a great healer." But the skipper didn’t rule out the possibility of getting Hales in the training sessions. "One area, every summer, that we try to grow and learn more about players outside the squad is trying to bring them in, in the build-up to the series say, two days out, a practice day," Morgan explained. "We'll have guys come in and bowl, bat in the nets and just be around the group.” Hales scored 543 runs in 15 matches in BBL 2020 at an average of 38.79. India and England will lock horns in the five-match T20I series slated to begin on Friday in Ahmedabad. The T20I series will be followed by a three-match ODI series in Pune. The home side thumped England in the Test series 3-1 at home and marched into the final of the World Test Championship. The Virat Kohl-led side will play the WTC final against New Zealand in June in Southampton.

Suryakumar, Kishan get important suggestions from Rohit Sharma ahead of potential debut

India’s new entrants in the T20 series against England—Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have come into the team with a lot of expectations behind them after piling on loads of runs in the Indian Premier League and domestic cricket. The weight of those expectations can put them under huge pressure and they might get drawn into over thinking about their performances and place in the team, and hence the Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma, who has been their captain in the IPL has come forward to make things simpler for them from the outset. Rohit underlined the need for understanding the process of the Indian team and enjoying the moments instead of too much thinking having seen what works for both of them in the shortest format of the game over the last few years. He did not rule out them making big matter out of joining the men in blue at the international stage, and subsequently getting worried about how they can shape their and team’s fortune with the performances. Rohit took it upon himself and other senior members of the team to make life easier for the newcomers by giving them a set up so that they take it as any other team, and enjoy moments that come their way. "I don't want them to be thinking about anything. That's how they bring their best performance out. Having watched them closely for a few years now, I have realised it's important for them to be part of this wonderful team, a great set-up, which the team has. So I just want them to have fun and understand what this team is all about,” Rohit said in a virtual press conference. "Keeping in mind that this is their first time in the squad, they will be a little nervous, they will be thinking about performance and all. But it's important for people like me, other senior members and the coaching staff to tell them that it's just another team that you got to be part of and they just have to enjoy that moment because thinking about performance and what they need to do when they get an opportunity will only put pressure on them.” "So just have fun, relax and be part of this wonderful set-up first and when the opportunity comes… These guys have done really well in the last few years, especially the last year, and it's just about carrying that form and putting it out there. It's not going to be that easy here. They will be challenged every now and then but that's what international cricket is all about. How you respond to those challenges is crucial. So you need to keep telling them about having the right mindset to counter those challenges." India have handed maiden call ups to both Yadav and Kishan as they are on their way to zero in on the perfect squad leading up to the World T20 scheduled to be played in India later this year. They are likely to rest and rotate players over the eight-match long white-ball leg of the series against England to find and fix a group of players who will form part of the squad for the World Cup. A vital element of India’s team combination in the T20Is and also ODIs have been marred due to lack of bowling from their star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who has been reduced to only a specialist batsman due to injuries he has faced in the last few years. He was seen practising his bowling in the net session during the Test series against England, and although he never got the chance to play Test against England, the upcoming T20 series will serve him the opportunity to stake a claim as an all-rounder. However, Rohit did not reveal anything about the team’s plan over Hardik Pandya’s fitness and whether he will be playing in the T20 series England as an all-rounder or a batsman. "I cannot reveal who starts and who doesn't start. Of course, he has been with the squad and has been an integral part of the squad. He has been working on his bowling, he has been working on his batting and the particular skill set he has. He has been trying to sharpen those skillsets as well,” Rohit said on Hardik Pandya. "It has been a good month-and-a-half that he has been with the team and has done pretty much everything he needed to do to get ready for this limited-overs series. It seems that the time has come for him to get ready and start doing what he does. He has worked hard on his bowling and hard on his batting in the last few weeks. I hope he is ready to do what the team expects him to." The five-match T20Is series between India and England is scheduled to commence on March 12 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The caravan then will move to Pune for the three-match ODI series to wrap up the England tour of India.