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Kevin Pietersen’s selection for England’s tour of India is looking increasing likely

George Dobell13-Sep-2012England depart for Sri Lanka today with even more baggage than normal for a touring team. The decision to delay the announcement of the England squad for the Test tour of India means that speculation over the position of Kevin Pietersen will spill over into their World T20 campaign.It looks increasingly likely that Pietersen will be included in the squad for India. While for some time there was an impasse over Pietersen’s future, the appointment of Alastair Cook as captain seems to have revitalised the process. Cook missed the last round of Championship matches as did Pietersen which would have helped facilitate further talks between the pair.Cook, who is understandably keen to begin his captaincy career with the strongest possible team, would appear to have convinced all parties to redouble their efforts to find a solution to the Pietersen conundrum. While it would be premature to conclude that Pietersen will definitely be included, the situation is swinging that way.One man who insists that Pietersen should be included is Darren Gough, the former England fast bowler who played with Cook at Essex and was best man at Pietersen’s wedding. He accepts that Pietersen’s behaviour in recent months has fallen below acceptable standards but Gough believes that others players in the squad have also been at fault and that the time has now come to “shake hands and get on with it”.”There has been some immaturity on both sides,” Gough told ESPNcricinfo. “There are issues with the parody Twitter account – I think it’s obvious that players were involved in that – and there are issues with things that were written in players’ books about Kevin that were just not right. But at the same time, some of Kevin’s words have not been acceptable. Everyone knows that.”But haven’t we all called the boss a few names at some stage? It happens. You don’t have to be the best of friends on the pitch; you just have to be prepared to work together. Nasser Hussain and I used to argue like cat and dog when he was England captain. But neither of us ever held a grudge. He got the best out of me. I’d have run through a brick wall for him.”What do you do? You look each other in the eye, shake hands and get on with it. And that’s what I expect to happen.”Alastair Cook has come in. He’s an ambitious new captain and he wants to win. And so he should. So he’s come in determined to take the best side he can to India. He knows – we all know – that Kevin is in the best team. I’m very hopeful he’ll be in the team now and I definitely think he should be.”The England squad will be named on Tuesday.

Matthew Wade is looking forward to making the most of his big break, he just wishes it hadn’t arrived because of the wrong kind of break for his good mate Tim Paine

Brydon Coverdale29-Sep-2011Matthew Wade is looking forward to making the most of his big break, he just wishes it hadn’t arrived because of the wrong kind of break for his good mate Tim Paine. When Paine was ruled out of Australia’s upcoming Twenty20s in South Africa due to a fractured finger, Wade, 23, was the logical choice to take the gloves.As Victoria’s wicketkeeper over the past four seasons, Wade has made impressive progress in both his glovework and his batting, and was second on the Ryobi Cup run tally last summer. He had moved to Melbourne from Hobart when he realised that sneaking past Paine into the Tasmania side would be a very difficult task.Wade knew from personal experience just how good Paine was. The pair had known each other from their childhood days, when they competed in games of backyard cricket that became so serious that the loser had to go and buy fish and chips for everyone.”Tim and I grew up together, so I’m disappointed for him to have to go and get another operation on his finger,” Wade told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s devastating for him. But I’m really happy to take the opportunity. I know that he’s happy for me – I got a text from him and I know that he’s happy I got the opportunity.”By winning an international call-up, Wade has already beaten the odds. It has been notoriously difficult for glovemen to force their way into Australia’s team over the past couple of decades, with Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist and Brad Haddin each monopolising the position during their respective eras.In the past 20 years, only nine specialist wicketkeepers have taken the gloves for Australia in any format, plus a few non-specialists like David Boon, Justin Langer and Jimmy Maher. During the same period, more than 50 fast bowlers, 40 batsmen and 20 spinners have played for Australia.”I’m really happy to get the chance to play for Australia,” Wade said. “It’s everyone’s dream. A lot of hard work goes into getting there. I’m just stoked that I’ve got my opportunity. Hopefully I can take it and things can go further from here.”A muscular left-hand batsman and a good keeper whose glovework has improved dramatically over the past four years, Wade is likely to slot in down the order for Australia. However, the highest score in his 27-match Twenty20 career – which included some IPL games for Delhi Daredevils this year – was 80 opening for Australia A.”I haven’t played a lot of Twenty20, it’s the least amount of games I’ve played out of the three forms,” Wade said. “But I feel like I’m getting better. I know my game very well now. I’m happy to get an opportunity in whatever form it is, and T20 I feel comfortable playing it and hopefully I can do the job.”There will be plenty of familiar Victorian faces in the Twenty20 side with Wade, including the captain – and selector – Cameron White, the batsmen Aaron Finch and David Hussey, and the fast bowler James Pattinson. The two Twenty20s in Cape Town and Johannesburg on October 13 and 16 will be followed by three ODIs and two Tests.

The umpires Tony Hill and Billy Bowden suspected one of Mohammad Amir’s colossal no-balls in the Lord’s Test was deliberate, but only as a means to intimidate the batsman Jonathan Trott

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-2010The umpires Tony Hill and Billy Bowden suspected one of Mohammad Amir’s colossal no-balls in the Lord’s Test was deliberate, but only as a means to intimidate the batsman Jonathan Trott. The major overstep from the third ball of the 19th over was a central part of the spot-fixing allegations against Amir first published in the .It was a short delivery that troubled Trott, who was on 21 at the time and went on to finish with 184. Hill said he and his fellow New Zealander Bowden had no inkling about any possible spot-fixing, but the extent of the no-ball raised questions in their minds about whether it was intentional.”We never suspected a thing,” Hill told the . “There had been the big overstep in particular and in our minds that was more a deliberate overstep to have a go at Trott, who had been batting so well.”Billy and I chatted about that and thought it seemed deliberate, especially as it was dropped in short. But it all seemed to be one of those things that fast bowlers have been known to do to get an advantage.”Hill was the man who called another no-ball from Mohammad Asif, which was also mentioned in the original allegations. He said the Asif delivery was much less of a concern as he stepped over by only a narrow margin.”The one at my end from Asif was not a helluva lot over,” Hill said. “He is generally pretty accurate [with his front foot]. It is the Glenn McGrath type thing where the foot comes down always in the same spot. When it alters slightly you think it is unusual but like McGrath, or anyone when they try harder, can occasionally go over.”Hill said he and Bowden were kept up to date on the allegations after the third day’s play and it turned into a later night than usual for the officials. He described as “eerie” the feeling out in the middle on the morning of the fourth day, as England wrapped up the match quickly.”It was very quiet out there,” he said. “Both teams were very quiet. You always expected something to be said out there but it wasn’t. They just got on with playing the game.”From our point of view it was a matter of trying to concentrate like hell so we weren’t caught up in the moment. I was expecting a few verbals, but thankfully both sides concentrated on the cricket side of things. It was almost quiet.”

India captain says the fast bowler “had a swelling in his knee”, which put him back in his recovery and bid to return to action

Ashish Pant15-Oct-20241:41

Will Shami be fit in time for the Australia Test series?

India captain Rohit Sharma confirmed that senior quick Mohammed Shami’s return to the international fold might get further delayed after he suffered another “recent setback”. Shami, who underwent surgery on his right Achilles tendon in February this year, has now developed a swelling on his knee which has “put him back a little bit in his recovery”, according to Rohit.”Right now, it is pretty difficult for us to make a call on whether he will be fit for this series or the Australia series,” Rohit said on the eve of India’s first Test against New Zealand, in Bengaluru. “He recently had a setback – he had a swelling on his knee, which was quite unusual.”He was in the process of getting fit – getting close to 100% – and he had a swelling in his knee. That put him back a little bit in his recovery, so he had to start again fresh.”Related

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Shami’s previous game for India came in the final of the World Cup last November. He was India’s highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets in seven matches at an average of 10.70 and strike rate of 12.20 at the tournament. He played through pain during the World Cup, taking injections to treat his ankle.Shami then underwent surgery in London earlier this year and would have been in contention for the five-match Australia series which starts next month, but the latest blow has set him back further. While Shami is at the NCA working with the physios as things stand, Rohit also said India didn’t want to risk taking him to Australia when he isn’t fully fit.”Right now, he is at NCA – he is working with the physios, [and] the doctors at NCA,” Rohit said. “We are keeping our fingers crossed. We want him to be fit; we want him to be 100%. More than anything else, we don’t want to bring an undercooked Shami to Australia. That is not going to be the right decision for us.”Having not played international cricket for nearly a year, Rohit also suggested that it would be tough for Shami to get right back into the thick of things.”He has not played any cricket for over a year. It is quite tough for a fast bowler to have missed so much of cricket and then suddenly to come out and be at his best,” Rohit said. “It is not ideal. We will want to give him enough time to recover, and be 100% fit.”The physios, the trainers, [and] the doctors have set a roadmap for him. He is supposed to play a couple of games before he plays international cricket. We will see where he is at after this New Zealand series, and then take a call at what stage of Australia [series] he will be fit for us.”India have eight Tests left in the current WTC cycle. They play a three-match series against New Zealand after which they will travel to Australia for five Tests starting November 22.

Nepal were dismissed for 230 before rain reduced India’s chase to 23 overs in Pallekele

Deivarayan Muthu04-Sep-20231:57

Uthappa: Rohit can afford to take time to get set in ODIs

Two days after the Pakistan-India game was washed out in Pallekele on Saturday, a similar rain threat hung over India’s first meeting against Nepal in international cricket at the same venue. But the rain wasn’t as persistent on Monday and relented by 9.30pm to cut India’s target to 145 in 23 overs. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill then sparkled with an unbroken 147-run opening partnership to crash Nepal’s party and put India in the Super Fours round. Pakistan have already qualified for the next stage from this group.Nepal’s fans, though, had plenty to cheer about in the afternoon, especially when Aasif Sheikh made a solid half-century. Aasif’s innings was bookended by some fluid strokeplay from Kushal Bhurtel in the powerplay and Sompal Kami’s muscular blows in the slog overs. When Aasif reached his half-century off 88 balls in the 28th over, he had the Nepali fans grooving in the stands. The Nepali beats that played at the ground added to the revelry, with Rohit Paudel’s team eventually posting a fairly competitive total of 230 on a two-paced pitch.It was short-lived, though, for Nepal as Rohit launched an opening salvo after a lengthy rain break. He scooped, slog-swept, and reverse-swept his way to a 39-ball half-century. Gill, who had belted Kami for three fours in an over before the rain break, largely rode in Rohit’s slipstream upon resumption. By the time Gill got to his own fifty, India were just 29 away from victory. Rohit and Gill finished it off with 17 balls and all ten wickets to spare.Related

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India weren’t as dominant in the early exchanges. Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan dropped three catches in the first five overs, allowing Nepal’s batters to ease in.Nepal’s batters were more comfortable against pace, driving languidly in the ‘V’ and also ramping audaciously in the ‘V’ behind the wicket. Bhurtel, who was reprieved twice, punished India with his attacking intent and enterprise. He played arguably the shot of the day when he hooked Mohammed Siraj over square leg and out of the ground. Siraj kept digging the ball into the deck and kept leaking runs.Allrounder Shardul Thakur provided India the opening breakthrough in the last over of the powerplay, but he was also lacklustre during his short shift of four overs.1:11

Jaffer: India ‘need to pull their socks up’ in the Super Fours

Aasif displayed stickability, something Nepal’s batters lacked on their Asia Cup debut against Pakistan in Multan. Siraj then returned to the attack with the old ball to dismiss Aasif for 58 off 97 balls.The left-arm spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav worked in tandem to help India seize control. Jadeja proved difficult to get away with his turn – and lack thereof – claiming figures of 3 for 40 in his ten overs. It wasn’t until Jadeja’s eighth over that Nepal scored a boundary off him. Kuldeep wasn’t among the wickets on Monday, but he was almost as thrifty as Jadeja with his stock ball and wrong’un on a helpful surface.Dipendra Singh Airee and Kami then showed that they could also cut it against India’s superstars. Kami, in particular, lined up the short balls from Siraj and Hardik Pandya during his 48 off 56 balls while Airee contributed 29 off 25 balls.Playing his first ODI since March, and only playing because of Bumrah’s unavailability on Monday, Mohammed Shami combined with Siraj to bowl Nepal out for 230 in 48.2 overs.Gill’s calm and the Rohit storm then blew Nepal’s attack away in a truncated chase.

Just one wicket falls after lunch following 23 in the preceding four sessions

Alan Gardner03-Jun-2022Sometimes the key to success in sport is to calm the nerves, throttle the adrenalin and slow. Things. Down. That is just what New Zealand did during the second afternoon at Lord’s, as a methodical, unbroken century partnership between Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell helped the touring side take control of a Test that was more like a runaway train for the first four-and-bit sessions.By the close, New Zealand’s fifth-wicket stand stood at 180, three times bigger than the next-highest partnership in the match. No batter had reached fifty before Blundell got there during the evening session, with Mitchell following him in the subsequent over. Their timely show of resistance tipped a see-sawing Test in the direction of New Zealand, after they had been precariously placed on 56 for 4 shortly after lunch.England were briefly in the ascendant as ball continued to dominate bat during another six-wicket morning session. But although they had managed to eke out a slim first-innings lead, which was followed up by another impressive opening salvo from Matthew Potts, the rest of the day offered Ben Stokes an extended chance to contemplate the challenges ahead for his captaincy.The wicket of Devon Conway, gloving down the leg side off Stuart Broad, was the only one to fall in 63 overs after lunch, as Mitchell and Blundell applied themselves to mastering both the conditions and the opposition attack. Stokes brought himself on for a sustained spell of short-pitched bowling – similar to the one at Sydney during the Ashes which left him with a side strain and little else besides – and although Mitchell almost fell on the hook, his shot ballooning over mid-on, the tactic caused New Zealand few other alarms.Related

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Matt Parkinson, the legspinner brought in for his debut as a concussion sub, was also given a first bowl in Tests, although there were rather too many release balls and the closest he came to a breakthrough was when deflecting a Blundell drive into the non-striker’s stumps – only for Mitchell to have regained his ground.Both batters reach stumps within sight of Lord’s hundreds, having taken it in turns to slipstream each other through the day. Their resolve was all the more remarkable given what had gone before: namely 24 wickets, one fifty partnership and sundry examples of culpable shot selection.The last time that both teams had scored fewer than 150 in the first innings of a Test at Lord’s was 1954.Mitchell started watchfully, before switching into a more aggressive mode midway through the afternoon: twice he went hard at James Anderson, the first producing an edge that flew high and wide of the cordon, the second a big air shot. The next over, bowled by Stokes, featured a pair of controlled fours, off the pads and then down the ground.He continued to drive judiciously, reached his fifty after tea with a nudged single off Broad, and despite a couple of nervous moments grew into the short-ball challenge, twice swatting Stokes for four. Another burst of three boundaries in an over came against Anderson, before Mitchell returned to ticking over as the shadows began to lengthen.Blundell, too, was happy to grind when required and then pick off the bad ball. Parkinson was taken for four of his 12 boundaries, and he went to his half-century with a flowing square drive off Potts, before whipping Broad flamingo-style through midwicket. Never mind the flourishes, the substance of Blundell’s contribution was comparable to that of his predecessor as wicketkeeper, BJ Watling, whose firefighting qualities were so valued by New Zealand.Such surety seemed a long way from the rolling chaos of the second morning at Lord’s, as wickets continued to tumble. The debutant Potts struck twice, removing Kane Williamson cheaply for the second time in the match, as New Zealand stuttered again with the bat after completing a resurgent display with the ball.It only took 35 minutes for New Zealand to wrap up England’s first innings, claiming the last three wickets for the addition of 25 runs, but they were still in arrears when, for the second day in succession, Anderson found Will Young’s outside edge with the first ball of his second over – Ben Foakes this time completing the dismissal with a diving grab.Williamson and Tom Latham, New Zealand’s two most-experienced batters, briefly drew the sting of opening spells from Anderson and Broad, before the introduction of Potts sent the visiting dressing room scrambling once again.Williamson had survived an edge off Anderson that landed inches short of second slip, but he soon fell to Potts’ nagging examination outside off. The Durham seamer struck with his fifth ball in the first innings, but this time was made to wait until his eighth, Williamson taken comfortably at third slip aiming a back-foot punch. Potts then removed Latham in his next over, grazing the outside edge so gently that neither the batter nor Foakes behind the stumps were convinced – but DRS confirmed Rod Tucker’s decision.England resumed on Friday still 16 runs behind on first innings, having suffered a dramatic collapse on the first evening. They were eight down in the second over the day, Broad bowled by Southee two balls after pumping him for four through mid-on, and that became nine when Foakes was lured into dabbing to slip, with England still two runs short of parity.Anderson brought the scores level with a push down the ground off Trent Boult, and there were ironic cheers when Parkinson’s flick for two put England into the lead, as well as earned him his first Test runs. Parkinson, who was handed his cap in the dressing room before play by Jeetan Patel, managed one nicely timed drive for four before steering Boult to first slip. At that stage, it was doubtful whether his bowling would be required, but the grit shown Mitchell and Blundell banished any such thoughts.

Saif Hassan, Aminul Islam Biplob picked in squad alongside U-19 stars Akbar Ali and Rakibul Hasan

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2021The BCB has named Saif Hassan and Aminul Islam Biplob in the 20-member preliminary Bangladesh Emerging players squad for their upcoming home series against the Ireland Wolves – the Ireland A side. The visitors arrive on February 18, to play a four-day game, five one-dayers and two T20s.The Wolves’ tour begins in Chattogram, where they will be in quarantine for three days before the four-day game takes place at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium from February 26.The one-day series begins on March 5 at the same venue, before the tour moves to Dhaka for the fourth and fifth games. The two T20s, on March 17 and 18, will also be held in Dhaka.The home side have picked several players who triumphed in the Under-19 World Cup a year ago, including Akbar Ali, Rakibul Hasan and Tanzid Hasan. Among the slightly older players are Saif, Biplob and Mahidul Islam.Bangladesh’s squad has already started to train in Chattogram from earlier this week.The tour assumes greater importance for Ireland, given the postponement of the team’s tour of Zimbabwe. Richard Holdsworth, High Performance Director for Cricket Ireland, had said after the postponement was announced on Monday that they would look at this tour as a way to “to provide many of our players the volume and quality of cricket we need to keep the momentum in player development we have been seeing over the last few years.”Bangladesh Emerging squad: Saif Hassan, Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Shahadat Hossain, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Towhid Hridoy, Anisul Islam, Shamim Hossain, Shafiqul Islam, Mukidul Islam, Shahin Alam, Sumon Khan, Noman Chowdhury, Rejaur Rahman, Aminul Islam, Rakibul Hasan, Tanvir Islam, Rishad Hossain, Mahidul Islam, Akbar AliIreland Wolves squad: Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Peter Chase, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell (red-ball capt), Stephen Doheny, Jonathan Garth, Shane Getkate, Graham Hume, Jeremy Lawlor, Josh Little, James McCollum, Neil Rock, Harry Tector (white-ball capt), Lorcan Tucker, Ben White.

He also addresses the issue of India’s opening batsmen in Tests, saying, ‘we need to find a way for them to be more consistent’

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2019The World Cup has come and gone, the Caribbean tour has ended too but India’s No. 4 debate in ODIs isn’t close to over yet. The responsibility of grooming the ideal batsman for the position will now land on Vikram Rathour’s shoulders when he takes over as India’s new batting coach later this month.Speaking for the first time since his appointment, Rathour backed Manish Pandey and Shreyas Iyer for the middle-order spots, stating they “are capable of doing the job”.”It is not just about the World Cup. It is one slot [we must look at],” Rathour told . “The middle order in one-days is not doing well and we must, of course, sort it out. Shreyas Iyer has done well in the last couple of games and we also have Manish Pandey. These two guys have done very well in domestic cricket and with India A. These are the batters who are capable of doing the job and I have no doubt about it in my mind. It is a matter of getting it right at the top level. We need to back them and provide them with the right preparations so that they can be there for a longer time. They have enough talent in them to do well.”Pandey was in the squad, but didn’t get a game in India’s recently concluded ODI series in the West Indies. After the first match was washed out, Rishabh Pant got the opportunity at No. 4, where he scored 20 and 0. It was Iyer, batting at No. 5 in both completed matches, who was the only India batsman apart from Virat Kohli to cross 50 twice and ended the series with an average of 68 and strike rate of 124.77, the best in the series for anyone who scored more than 40 runs.His second half-century came off just 33 balls during a 41-ball 65 after India were 92 for 3 while chasing a stiff 255 in 35 overs, and after the win Kohli said Iyer “understood the value of performing in these situations”.Pandey and Iyer were then given captaincy responsibilities for the India A one-day side against South Africa A. Pandey batted at No. 4 and 5 in the first three games, and scored 39, 13 off 14 (21-over match) and 81 off 59 (30 overs) before Iyer took his place in the side for the last two games and made 26 off 23 (25 overs) and 36 off 19 (20 overs).Another concern for the Indian think tank is the opening combination in Tests. Even though KL Rahul’s series tally read 101 compared to Mayank Agarwal’s 80, it is Rahul’s spot under following a prolonged period where he has not been able to capitalise on his starts, attracting criticism from Sourav Ganguly, Sunil Gavaskar and VVS Laxman recently.”We have options and there is healthy competition. We need to find a way for them to be more consistent,” Rathour said.Another option for India is Prithvi Shaw, who is suspended until November 15 for a drug violation. Hanuma Vihari had also impressed as a makeshift opener while opening in Australia last year, but his recent scores in the West Indies have given India a solid batsman at No. 6.Whether India stick with these names or try out other batsmen from the domestic circuit will be decided by the selectors, a role Rathour has played in the past. Rathour had retired as a player in 2003 and moved to England for six years before returning to coach Punjab and then become a selector in September 2012. He said it was during his captaincy days for Punjab that he realised he had it in him to become a coach. He then completed his coaching qualifications of Levels A and B from the BCCI and C from Cricket Australia before being roped in by Kings XI Punjab in the IPL, and is now replacing Sanjay Bangar as the batting coach for India.”At this level, man-management is the key. How you support them, how you look after them in tough times has been my strength,” Rathour said. “The three courses have given me an edge in understanding the technique and technical aspect. I have been the Head Coach with Punjab and Himachal and also the Director of Cricket at Himachal and know what the players expect.”I want to create an environment where players aren’t scared of making mistakes, where mistakes are not looked down upon because they are learning opportunities. You can fail once in a while, but you must learn from your failures and get better.”

The current high temperatures across England was the chief reason for India’s team management asking to shorten the warm-up match by one day

Nagraj Gollapudi in Chelmsford24-Jul-20181:12

Bumrah returns to training as India prepare for Essex

Virat Kohli stood in his position. Hunched over. Hands relaxed. He was practising slip-catching to a right-hand batsman. R Sridhar, the India fielding coach, nicked one off the outside edge. The ball zipped low to Kohli’s left. Kohli leaned to his left before picking a one-handed catch. It was a beauty.Ajinkya Rahane, India’s vice-captain, standing about 20 yards behind Kohli, acknowledged the captain’s attempt. “Catch,” exclaimed Rahane. Sridhar squealed in delight, loud enough to ring across the ground at Chelmsford, where Indian will play their one-off practice match against Essex from Wednesday.Originally, the match was meant to be a four-day game, and some even suspected it could be a first-class match. However, India’s think-tank opted to play the match plainly as a warm-up and reduced it to a three-day game.The current heat wave across England was one of the chief reasons for the team management to shorten the match to three days. Temperatures in London this week are forecast to be minimum 30C. Under the prevailing scorching conditions, the management decided that a three-day game was appropriate to trigger the intensity levels of the players going into a long five-match series.The extra day gained could then be utilised for training at Edgbaston, where the first Test of the five-match series against England begins on August 1. Originally, India would have reached Birmingham on July 29 (accounting for a four-day finish against Essex) but now they will arrive a day earlier and are likely to have three days of nets before the Test.The Essex website had listed tickets for a four-day match as recent as Monday, but discussions with India and the ECB resulted in the change. Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, was spotted at the ground, speaking with India coach Ravi Shastri.Once the India squad had left, Essex confirmed the development through a media release, saying that the current “high temperatures” was the main factor. “Essex Cricket and the England & Wales Cricket Board have today agreed, at the request of the BCCI Management Team, that the scheduled Tourist match between Essex and India will now be played over three days.” People who have bought the tickets for the fourth day will now receive a full refund.Virat Kohli with coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharat Arun•AFP

The last-minute change did not have any impact on the intensity levels of the India players on Tuesday, the first day of training for the Test-match leg as the squad assembled to train for the first time. All the 18 players named were on the field, including Jasprit Bumrah who injured his left thumb in India’s first match of the UK tour against Ireland in June. Bumrah, who will be available for selection from the second Test (at Lord’s), only bowled off a couple of paces on a practice pitch and had his left thumb still protected in a blue brace.Otherwise, the rest of the squad trained assiduously during the session, which lasted for close to four hours. Although the match has been shortened, a few hints emerged about the kind of batting and bowling attack India will aim to field at Edgbaston.Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul are likely to comprise the top order followed by the engine room of India’s Test batting in Kohli and Rahane. Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya will bolster the lower order.Despite the hot conditions, the pitch wore a greenish cover and is likely to be on the harder side. Regardless of the nature of the pitch, India will want to see how Kuldeep Yadav fares with the red Dukes ball. This is Kuldeep’s first tour of the UK and so far he has shown impressive form with the white ball, taking two five-fors. However, the England batsmen threw back the challenge at Kuldeep after finally starting to read his left-arm unorthodox spin from the hand in the final two matches of the ODI series, which India lost 2-1.Kuldeep bowled on one of the practice pitches which was totally green, in the company of the senior spin twins, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Although they could not impart much spin off the pitch, all three spinners focused on varying the flight and pace to get an upper hand over the batsmen. Of the three men, Ashwin got the best results and even embarrassed Pandya more than once as the batsman charged him.With no cap on the number of players, India are likely to field all their fast bowlers – Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur – in the practice game. Essex meanwhile named a squad featuring several first-team regulars, including Tom Westley, capped in the Test team last year, as captain.

Half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner and Kane Williamson set up Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 207 for 3, a total they defended comfortably with the help of Rashid Khan’s legspin

The Report by Nikhil Kalro28-Apr-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:33