Gloucestershire coach Richard Dawson to lead eight-match tour to Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2019Marcus Trescothick and Jonathan Trott will form part of the England Lions’ coaching staff in Australia next year as batting coaches for the white-ball and first-class legs of the tour respectively.Both men worked with the England set-up during this summer, joining training ahead of Test matches in unofficial batting consultant roles.Richard Dawson, the Gloucestershire coach, will lead the tour, while Somerset coach Jason Kerr (pace bowling), Carl Hopkinson (fielding) and Bruce French (wicketkeeping) form the rest of the staff.Mo Bobat, who was appointed as David Parsons’ replacement in the performance director role at the end of the summer, said that the tour will give the ECB a chance to look at the next generation of English coaches coming through.”This tour provides us a good opportunity to recognise two coaches who have excelled in their roles in county cricket in Richard and Jason, as well as two high potential newcomers in Jonathan and Marcus,” he said.Richard Dawson coached Gloucestershire to promotion in 2019•Getty Images

“I’m delighted to have Richard on board as head coach for the Lions’ tour of Australia. He’s an excellent leader and provides great technical knowledge as a spin-bowling coach.”Richard, Marcus and Jonathan all have experience of touring Australia with England as players so the advice they can pass on to our players will be invaluable.Dawson, whose Gloucestershire side won promotion from Division Two of the County Championship this season, said: “I’m excited for this opportunity to coach the England Lions, working alongside some excellent coaches.”It will be a challenging tour and one that the coaches and players will all learn a great deal from. Australia is a testing place to tour as an England player, both on and off the field. I look forward to working with some of this country’s best young cricketers as they progress on the Performance Pathway.”The tour comprises five one-day games and three four-day games, with a day/night game against Australia A at the MCG the highlight.England Lions tour of Australia, 2020February 2 – One-day match v Cricket Australia XI (Metricon, Gold Coast)
February 4 – One-day match v Cricket Australia XI (Metricon, Gold Coast)
February 6 – One-day match v Cricket Australia XI (Metricon, Gold Coast)
February 9 – One-day match v New South Wales XI (Drummoyne Oval, Sydney)
February 11 – One-day match v New South Wales XI (Drummoyne Oval, Sydney)
February 15-18 – Four-day match v Cricket Australia XI (Blundstone Arena, Hobart)
February 22-25 – Four-day match v Australia A (MCG, Melbourne, D/N)
March 2-5 – Four-day match v New South Wales XI (North Dalton Park, Wollongong)

“I’m not insecure about where I bat,” says Indian captain on moving down the order to accommodate all three openers

Vishal Dikshit in Mumbai13-Jan-20203:21

Happy to bat at number four – Kohli

KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan are both in form in the lead-up to India’s ODI series against Australia starting Tuesday, and India captain Virat Kohli revealed that playing both of them, along with Rohit Sharma, in the XI could be a possibility. Rahul and Dhawan opened together and made useful contributions in the recent T20Is against Sri Lanka, and with the return of Sharma, who was rested for the T20Is, it appeared that India would be forced to pick one out of Dhawan and Rahul. But India are now considering a new combination for the upcoming ODIs.

Kohli reiterates openness to d/n Test in Australia

India captain Virat Kohli has reiterated that India are “open” to playing a day-night Test in Australia when they tour for four Tests in 2020-21, after the T20 World Cup. India recently played their inaugural day-night Test, against Bangladesh in Kolkata, winning the game by an innings and 46 runs.
“We played the day-night Test here, we’re pretty happy with how it went and it’s become a very exciting feature of any Test series so we’re absolutely open to play a day-night Test,” Kohli said. “We’re ready enough for the challenge and whether it’s Gabba or Perth, doesn’t matter to us, we do have the skillsets as a team to compete against anyone in the world, anywhere, in any format of the game – whether it’s white ball, red ball or pink ball. We’re ready to play anything.”

“All guys in form is always a good thing for the team,” Kohli said in Mumbai, where the three-match series begins. “You don’t want a guy out of form for him not to start in the XI. You obviously want to have the best players available and then choose from what the combination should be for the team. We’ll figure out what combination we want to go in with, there’s a possibility all three might play.”Rahul has been in more prolific form of late, having scored three half-centuries and a century against West Indies in three T20Is and as many ODIs, before making 54 and 45 against Sri Lanka in the T20Is. Dhawan missed the games against West Indies with an injury and he slotted back straight in the XI against Sri Lanka in Sharma’s absence, finishing the series with an impressive 52 off 36 to stake his claim for the opening slot again.Playing Sharma, Dhawan and Rahul together would push Kohli to No. 4 and Shreyas Iyer to No. 5, but that would then create a problem for the lower order. India will be forced to pick one out of Rishabh Pant and Kedar Jadhav for No. 6 as dislodging Ravindra Jadeja from the No. 7 slot would reduce the bowling options to four. Kohli said he was “very happy” to move from his usual No. 3 spot to accommodate the in-form batsmen, but he did not say anything about the lower-order combination.Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul share a light moment•AFP

“Yeah, big possibility, very happy to [change my batting position],” Kohli said. “I’m not possessive about where I play and I’m not insecure about where I bat. Being the captain of the team, it’s my job to make sure that the next lot is also ready as well. A lot of the other people might not look at it that way but your job as the captain is not only to look after the team right now but also to prepare a team that you can leave behind when you eventually pass it on to someone else.”So I think these are times where you need to be aware, it’s very easy to get into a personal zone saying, ‘no, I need to get runs’. It’s not like that, it doesn’t work like that. The vision has to be always on the larger picture and figure out how you can make these guys more confident. If at all someone has to take responsibility, it should be me and give the other guys opportunities as well. I’m very open to it and I really want to see guys stepping up and taking responsibility. That’s part and parcel of being captain and it’s good to see players finding their game, realising their own potential when you’re captain. I think that’s probably the most satisfying thing you can feel as a captain.”In order to slot both Jadhav and Jadeja, India could consider leaving Pant out, hand the wicketkeeping gloves to Rahul and play Jadhav at No. 6 as the sixth bowling option. Batting coach Vikram Rathour had said on Sunday they had not considered that option then, but the management was open to giving it a thought.”Rohit is an obvious choice, of course. Shikhar and Rahul are playing well, Shikhar has done tremendously well in one-dayers, Rahul is in great form. There are still a couple of days to go, the management will sit down and make a choice. I don’t see an issue, one of them will have to sit out, so that’s okay,” Rathour had said.When asked if Rahul would keep, he had said: “We haven’t really started thinking on those lines yet. At this point I think Pant is the first wicketkeeping option. Rahul can keep, that’s a skill he has so it will depend if the team management feels at any stage we require that.”

Pakistan have lost eight of their last 10 T20Is, including a series defeat to Sri Lanka last October

The Preview by Mohammad Isam23-Jan-20202:51

When a bowler bowls 140-plus, nobody can ignore him – Haris Rauf

Big picture

The sight of Bangladesh players walking down from their chartered aircraft at the Allama Iqbal Airport in Lahore, late on Wednesday evening, was an assuring sign for cricket lovers from both countries. Not too long ago, the tour was nearly called off after the BCB stuck to their position of only playing T20Is, while Pakistan sent a fresh proposal of only Tests.But it all changed dramatically when, over the course of a meeting in Dubai last week in the presence of ICC chairman Shashank Manohar, the two parties reached a deal. Bangladesh are on the first of three legs of touring Pakistan over the next three months, this time to only play the T20Is.Bangladesh will be without Mushfiqur Rahim, who opted out of the tour due to his family’s concerns, while five members of the coaching staff have also been excluded from the travelling party. It has unquestionably made Bangladesh a lesser side, with added responsibility on Tamim Iqbal and captain Mahmudullah. Bangladesh have an experienced pace attack to call upon, but lack a genuine spinner. The batting line-up has form, but needs careful organising and reshuffling.Bangladesh performed admirably in the T20Is in India in November, where only a sensational Deepak Chahar spell stood between them and a famous series win. The same cannot be said about Pakistan, however. They have lost eight of their last ten T20Is, including a series defeat to Sri Lanka at home in October last year.In the need to improve their record, the coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq has included some newcomers like Amad Butt, Ahsan Ali and Haris Rauf, as well as veterans Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik to beef up the batting line-up.

Form guide

Pakistan LLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)Bangladesh LLWWW

In the spotlight

Sixteen wickets at a strike-rate of exactly ten, economy rate of 6.89 and 11.56 bowling average in the BBL has not only landed Haris Rauf a place in the Pakistan T20I side, but his tape-ball to BBL story has made fans quite excited to see him bowl at home.Mohammad Naim’s 81 against India in Bangladesh’s last T20I made heads turn, and he followed it up with an impressive BPL campaign for Rangpur Rangers. Naim, too, is a virtual unknown in Bangladesh cricket, but fans have noticed the youngster’s unassuming strokeplay.

Team news

Pakistan are going with a whole host of changes from the side that last played a T20I. Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and Shaheen Afridi are likely to return while Ahsan Ali and Haris Rauf are set to be handed T20I debuts. Three places would obviously open up in the absence of Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir and Haris Sohail who don’t feature in the squad.Pakistan (possible): 1 Ahsan Ali, 2 Babar Azam, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Imad Wasim, 7 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Haris Rauf, 10 Shaheen Afridi 11 Mohammad HasnainBangladesh’s team management will have a tough time replacing Mushfiqur Rahim, and maneuvering the five openers within the line-up. Coach Russell Domingo said a few days ago that many of them may have to bat out of position, although the bowling line-up is likely to be similar to the one that faced India in November.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Mohammad Naim, 3 Afif Hossain, 4 Liton Das (wk), 5 Mahmudullah (capt), 6 Soumya Sarkar, 7 Mahedi Hasan, 8 Aminul Islam, 9 Shafiul Islam, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Al-Amin Hossain

Pitch and conditions

The brownish wicket is projected to be a belter, giving the chasing side enough of an advantage to go after even a 200-plus total. The weather forecast seems perfect, with a high of 17 degrees.

Stats and trivia

• This will be only be the second T20 to be played during the day at the Gaddafi Stadium in the last six years.
• Only Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah have played in Pakistan from this current Bangladesh side.
• Mohammad Hafeez, who has made a comeback into the Pakistan T20I side, is 92 runs short of 2000 T20I runs, while Shadab Khan is four scalps away from 50 T20I wickets.

Says she wants to get the best combination ready for the T20 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-2020India women’s T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur is all for experimenting with the side by giving chances to youngsters in the ongoing tri-series against England and Australia, in order to get the “best combination” ready for the upcoming T20 World Cup, starting February 21.”We went out to Australia earlier than a lot of teams and are in the midst of a tri-series with England and Australia, which will be a perfect platform for us,” she wrote in her column for the ICC. “We’ll also be able to experiment with selection and we’ll look to find our best combination during that series. One thing is for sure – we won’t be afraid to give chances to newcomers.”While 16-year old batter Richa Ghosh was rewarded for her good run in the Women’s Challenger Trophy by earning a call-up for the tri-series as well as the T20 World Cup, Shafali Verma, the 15-year old opener who has been impressive for India since her debut last year, will also be playing her first big tournament.”We have brought Richa Ghosh into our squad recently on the back of her great performances in the Women’s Senior T20 Challenger Trophy. We have to find out what our best team is and those games will give us a chance to decide that before the World Cup,” Kaur wrote.India, who have won just one out of the three games so far in the tri-series, will be facing hosts Australia on Saturday, where a loss will put them out of contention for the final. They’re yet to find a solution for their long-standing middle-order issues, which has affected them in this series as well. They’ve been impacted by the form of Veda Krishnamurthy and Taniya Bhatia, who average 18.75 (10 innings) and 6.66 (eight innings) in T20Is respectively since last year. Even in the ongoing series, they’ve made just 17 and 19 runs respectively in three games.Following the tri-series, India would be playing the warm-ups ahead of the big tournament, and with middle-order options in Harleen Deol and Ghosh, India could make some changes in the line-up.”If I look back two years, India’s 50-over side was doing well and our T20 was struggling. But in the past two years, we have transformed as a T20 team and are very positive going to Australia. We haven’t always managed to deliver on our potential as a team and winning games is always about how well you’re able to execute your skills.”While Kaur has been a lynchpin for India in the ODIs with her big-match temperament, she has not shone through as much in T20Is, registering only three 40-plus scores in her last 17 innings. She smashed her career-best 103 in the format in November 2018 after which her form has not been as impressive, but she hopes to “step up” soon and win some games for her team.”Each and every member of the squad has a part to play and we need to give our all to win any game,” she said. “I’m just hoping I can step up and win some games for my team when they need me.”

“Shift in business objectives” ends two-year Test deal, but Covid-19 outbreak causes county termination

Andrew Miller10-Apr-2020Specsavers, the opticians and eye-test specialists, have confirmed their withdrawal as sponsors of both the County Championship and England men’s home Tests for 2020, citing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic for the former, but a change in “business objectives” for the latter*.Specsavers came on board as the County Championship’s principal sponsor in February 2016, on a four-year deal that was due to end after the 2019 season. Two years later, they took over from Investec as principal sponsors of England men’s home Tests, on an initial two-year deal that encompassed high-profile series against India in 2018 and Australia the following year.And though the company said in a statement that they have “left the door open” to further opportunities to work within English cricket, it means that the ECB’s precarious finances are likely to take a further hit in the short term, with no replacement deals yet being confirmed for either competition.It is, however, understood that the ECB can expect to recoup some of their losses incurred during the pandemic through their insurance, having taken out “Communicable Disease Cover” in the wake of the SARS outbreak in 2002-04.”We have had a phenomenally successful partnership with the ECB during the past few years. Sadly, as a result of the current pandemic and incredibly challenging trading conditions, we have been forced to review our commitments,” read a statement from Specsavers.”As a result, we have taken the extremely difficult decision to bring to an end our sponsorships of the County Championship and the domestic umpires. In addition, we will not be renewing our partnership for Test cricket … however, this decision was taken at the end of last year due to a shift in business objectives.”The timing of Specsavers’ withdrawal from the Test deal is particularly notable, given the huge publicity the company received during last summer’s thrilling 2-2 Ashes series, particularly after the third Test at Headingley in which the bespectacled Jack Leach played a key role in England’s famous victory.Last Thursday, Specsavers branding was removed from all social-media references to the County Championship and England’s Test series in 2020, as well as from the ECB’s official website.”Our partnership has allowed us to be part of some fantastic cricket; the incredible performance from Jack Leach in the Ashes at Headingley was an obvious highlight,” added the statement.”The partnership with the ECB has also allowed us to raise awareness of the importance of regular eye and hearing tests and we are incredibly proud of our work with the ECB. We would like to wish the ECB the best of luck and success for the future and we have left the door open to work together again in the future, if circumstances allow.”This year’s County Championship had been due to get underway over the Easter weekend, with the first round of four-day games originally scheduled to start on April 12. However, the season has been postponed to May 28 at the earliest due to the Covid-19 outbreak, and further delays are anticipated with the UK currently implementing social distancing measures to combat the spread of the virus.The ECB is mapping out a series of contingency plans, depending on how much of the English season is still available to be staged, as and when the current restrictions on live sport are lifted. Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, recently stated, in a letter seen by ESPNcricinfo, that a complete cancellation of the English season could cost the game up to £300 million.Last week, the PCA announced that, following discussions with the ECB and the 18 first-class counties, £1 million of domestic prize money would be redistributed to help fund player wages. An agreement was also reached for counties to furlough their playing staff if required, an option that several have since confirmed they will be taking up.England’s contracted players recently donated £500,000 of their salaries to the ECB and selected good causes, with the women’s squad also accepting 20% pay cuts in line with those of their coaching and support staff.West Indies were due to arrive in England next month to begin a three-Test tour, with the first match scheduled to start at The Oval on June 4, but that prospect looks increasingly unlikely.”The deadline of 28 May still stands, but it’s looking less and less likely that we’re going to be out there in June,” said Ashley Giles, England men’s director of cricket.Confirming the news, the ECB thanked Specsavers for being “a wonderful partner for many years”, and reciprocated the company’s willingness to seek further deals “if circumstances allow” in the future.*3pm BST – This story, originally published on April 10, was updated with confirmation from Specsavers and the ECB

The fast bowler also explored the possible reasons behind his effectiveness in the second innings

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jun-2020Mohammed Shami thinks India’s depth of pace resources is unprecedented in ‘history’.”You and everyone else in the world will agree to this – that no team has ever had five fast bowlers together as a package,” Shami told the former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta on , a Hindi talk show on ESPNcricinfo. “Not just now; in the history of cricket, this might be the best fast-bowling unit in the world.”Apart from Shami, India’s core Test-match fast-bowling group also includes Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Who bowls with the new ball, Shami said, is often a difficult choice, especially when the first-choice trio of himself, Ishant and Bumrah play together.”We surround Virat Kohli and ask him to make the decision,” Shami said. “But he normally says, ‘don’t get me involved in all this; you decide among yourselves, I don’t have an issue.’ That is the kind of fun we have in our team meetings. I let the other two start. I have no objection to bowling with a semi-new ball.”Since recovering from a career-threatening knee injury, Shami has featured in 27 out of India’s 30 Tests since July 2017. There have been a number of highlights – a match-winning second-innings five-for in Johannesburg in 2018, 16 wickets at 26.18 during India’s maiden Test series win in Australia in 2018-19, and 36 wickets at 18.63 in the ongoing 2019-21 World Test Championship. He has had a tendency to pick up his wickets in bursts – he attributed this to how he approaches bowling in different situations.”If the batsman is set and we haven’t been able to pick up a lot of wickets, we try to bowl a tight line and length by dropping our pace,” he said. “As soon as we get a wicket, you increase your pace by about 8kph. This difference in speed is pretty visible. If the bowler was bowling at around 140kph earlier, after picking up a wicket he gets his rhythm back, picks up the pace and the same ball is now delivered at 145kph.”My mindset while bowling is that if the batsman is playing well, bowl a tight line and length, dry up the runs, and he will surely make a mistake. Once the set batsman is dismissed, I go for the kill as a bowler. That’s why it seems like I bowl in two different ways. The ‘second-innings Shami’ label – that has been created by you guys (the media).”That label has a lot to do with Shami’s contrasting records in the first – 92 wickets at 32.50 – and second – 88 wickets at 21.98 – innings of Test matches. On the 2017-18 tour of South Africa, for example, 12 of his 15 wickets came in the second innings.”I’m not sure, it just happens,” Shami said, when asked about this. “I use the game very smartly in the second innings. Like in the recent match we played in Vizag [Visakhapatnam Test against South Africa] where I got a five-for, the pitch was pretty dead and wasn’t offering any bounce. It wasn’t turning that much either for our spinners to run through the opposition. But once in a while the ball was staying low. Batsmen find it tough to play when there is uneven bounce, so you need to bowl within the stumps. It is important to understand how the pitch is behaving.”Now that we have played enough cricket in various conditions, we are experienced enough to gauge the conditions. You need to use the available conditions smartly. I am usually pumped up in the second innings when everyone else is tired. Everyone has spent three days on the field. Diesel engines take time to pick up compared to petrol ones. I wait patiently for everyone to tire out. You have five days in a Test match. Once everyone is tired, I step up.”Cricketbaazi

There has been no international cricket for women since the T20 World Cup final in March

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Aug-2020When Austria and Germany hit the field for the first of their five women’s T20Is at Seebarn Cricket Ground earlier today, it marked the return of international women’s cricket after a gap of more than five months. The T20 World Cup final, where Australia beat India at MCG, was the last international fixture for women before the Covid-19 pandemic brought the game to a standstill.Germany, who are ranked No. 27 in the format, last played a T20I series against Oman in February when they won 4-0, while Austria, ranked 50th, haven’t played since taking part in a quadrangular series in France in July-August last year, with Jersey and Norway the other teams. Austria finished third, only above Norway.”We are excited to take the field again after a seemingly long break,” Anuradha Doddaballapur, the Germany captain, said in a statement released by ICC. “The girls have worked hard in the last few months to stay fit and to up their skills, so I am confident we will put on a good show. We look forward to some exciting games against Austria whom we haven’t faced in T20 cricket in a long time.”Andrea Mae Zepeda, the Austria captain, said: “The team is really excited, and we are looking forward to some competitive cricket in Europe after months of lockdown due to Covid-19.”Some teams could not take part in this tournament due to travel restrictions, but we are happy those restrictions have been eased between Austria and Germany and we are able to get some international cricket this year.”All the five T20Is will be played in Seebarn, and after the opener, two games will be played on August 13, and one each on August 14 and 15.

They will receive a monthly stipend of PKR 25,000 (approx US$150) each from August to October

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Aug-2020To fight with the economic challenges thrown up by the Covid-19 pandemic, the PCB has announced a three-month financial support package for 25 unemployed national women cricketers. Under this scheme, the players who meet the eligibility criteria such as featuring in the 2019-20 domestic season, and are presently without a contract for the 2020-21 season as well as a day job or business, will receive a monthly stipend of PKR 25,000 (approx US$150) each from August to October.In June, the PCB had announced a list of women’s contracted players, which included nine centrally contracted cricketers and as many emerging contracted players. These are 12-month contracts, which commenced on July 1. The latest PCB decision takes the count of women cricketers receiving PCB support to 43.”The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a halt to all women cricketing activities worldwide. This has adversely affected our women cricketers, some of whom are the sole breadwinners of their families,” Urooj Mumtaz Khan, the head of the PCB women’s wing, said in a statement issued by the board.”As the women’s game is making steady progress, it was imperative that the PCB came up with this scheme to not only protect and support our players but to also make them understand and realise that the PCB values them and will look after them in difficult times.”Forty-eight players featured in the 2019-20 national domestic season out of which 25 became eligible to benefit from the scheme. The remaining players are either contracted by the PCB or employed elsewhere.”In May, the PCB had offered one-time support to 161 stakeholders through an identical scheme, including former men’s first-class cricketers, match officials, scorers and curators.

An incisive new-ball display from Ali Khan and Jayden Seales restricted the Jamaica Tallawahs

The Report by Peter Della Penna21-Aug-2020Trinbago Knight Riders 136 for 3 (Narine 53, Munro 49*, Mujeeb 1-13) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 135 for 8 (Phillips 58, Seales 2-21, Ali Khan 2-25) by seven wicketsAn incisive new-ball display from Ali Khan and Jayden Seales put the Jamaica Tallawahs into a hole which they could not climb out of as the Trinbago Knight Riders dominated wire to wire in a seven-wicket win on Thursday night. Sunil Narine and Fawad Ahmed continued to keep the Tallawahs pinned down in the middle overs, including a wicket maiden from Ahmed, while Andre Russell failed to launch at the death – scoring 25 at under a run a ball – as the Tallawahs sputtered to 135 for 8.Fidel Edwards produced a wicket maiden of his own for the Tallawahs at the start of the chase, claiming Lendl Simmons with a skied slog to mid-off. But Narine bashed his second fifty in a row to steady the Knight Riders, and teamed with Colin Munro in a 75-run stand before falling in the first over after drinks on a top-edged sweep off Sandeep Lamichhane to deep fine leg for Carlos Brathwaite’s second catch. But Brathwaite grassed two subsequent efforts in the field to sum up a subpar night for the Tallawahs. Munro ended unbeaten on 49 as a wide from Brathwaite down leg clinched the match with 11 balls to spare.Ameri-KhanThe Knight Riders’ favourite son from the USA struck in the first over for the second match running, this time getting a top-edge from Chadwick Walton to swirl into the hands of Ahmed at short fine leg on the second ball of play. Seales then followed that up by trapping Nicholas Kirton on the back leg in front of middle with a beautiful inswinger before Khan induced a mistimed pull from captain Rovman Powell that travelled gently to mid-on where Dwayne Bravo’s tumbling effort made it 19 for 3 in the third over.Glenn Phillips did his best to breathe life back into the innings. He struck five fours and four sixes in his measured knock but his good fortune departed when he whipped a leg stump half-volley from Seales straight to Bravo on the rope at deep backward square leg in the 16th over to make it 99 for 6. Solid death bowling from Khan and Bravo ensured Russell was held in check until he drove Bravo to Munro at long-off to extinguish the last remaining threat.Narine stays hot at the topThe new-age allrounder pounded the boundary all around the ground in his 53 off 38 balls, but perhaps most impressive were a pair of lofted drives over extra cover on one leg against Russell. The left-hand batsman showed his flair with a pair of pirouette punches to clear the off side and leave the Tallawahs flummoxed.For the most part, both he and Munro countered the challenge of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Lamichhane well. Munro took guard well outside off stump to counter Mujeeb’s line of attack that aimed for the wide lines while both Narine and Munro mostly stayed deep to play Lamichhane late with his steady diet of googlies landing short enough to be worked comfortably through the off side. Narine was finally undone trying to go through the leg side against the turn of Lamichhane’s wrong-un, but not before he had put the Knight Riders on course to complete a mostly stress-free chase.

SRH have named left-arm fast bowler Prithvi Raj Yarra as replacement

Nagraj Gollapudi06-Oct-2020In a significant blow to the Sunrisers Hyderabad, India fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been ruled out of IPL 2020 due to a thigh injury he picked against the Chennai Super Kings last week. The Sunrisers have announced left-arm fast bowler Prithvi Raj Yarra as replacement.Concerns grew over Kumar’s fitness and further participation in the IPL after he sat out the Sunrisers’ last match, on Sunday against the Mumbai Indians. Kumar had limped out of the field in the previous match against the Chennai Super Kings, having bowled just one delivery while into his fourth over.At the time, Kumar was seen holding his hip, but it is understood he has injured his thigh. It cannot be confirmed how serious the injury is. However, the Indian team management and selectors would be concerned, considering he would be in the reckoning for India’s upcoming tour of Australia – which is likely to be start in late November – although no official itinerary has been announced.Kumar is the third player – and second for the Sunrisers – to miss this year’s IPL due to injury. Australia allrounder Mitchell Marsh was the first to be ruled out due to ankle injury in the first week of IPL. Also, on Monday, the Delhi Capitals announced that legspinner Amit Mishra would not participate further in the tournament, having hurt the ring finger on his bowling hand.The Sunrisers are bound to feel the absence of Kumar, their most experienced and best strike bowler. Even though he had just taken three wickets this IPL, he was among the most economical bowlers in the tournament, having given away just 6.98 runs an over.Kumar, who is 30, would be disappointed that another injury has disrupted his return to cricket. Recently, talking on , a show hosted by former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta on ESPNcricinfo, he had pointed out of being wary of picking niggles upon returning to cricket after several months in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.Who is Prithvi Raj Yarra?Prithvi Raj Yarra is a 22-year-old left-arm fast bowler, who has played only ten first-class matches for Andhra. However, he has become one of their prime bowlers whenever available for selection over the last three seasons, having taken 39 wickets at 21.51.His speeds are similar to that of fellow Sunrisers’ fast bowler Khaleel Ahmed. Yarra was picked by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2019 IPL and played only two matches. Incidentally, his only IPL wicket came on debut against the Sunrisers when he foxed David Warner with a slower ball. Despite a low number of senior-level matches since debuting in the 2017-18 season, Raj has already played in the Duleep Trophy for India Red and in the Deodhar Trophy last year for India A. His last T20 match came for the Knight Riders against the Rajasthan Royals in last year’s IPL.Yarra travelled with the Sunrisers’ squad as a net bowler and hence would be automatically assimilated into the squad without having to undergo the six-day quarantine for anyone coming into the IPL’s biosecure environment.