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Anil Kumble remained coy about Ravi Shastri being overlooked, but was more comfortable talking about his own role in his first press conference as India’s head coach

Sidharth Monga in Bangalore29-Jun-2016The last time Anil Kumble was part of an India camp was at his home ground, M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, in 2008. Two men were under immense pressure to keep their places in the side: Captain Kumble and former captain Sourav Ganguly. Just before the series both had struggled in Sri Lanka: Ganguly had scored 96 runs in six innings, and Kumble had taken eight wickets for 400 runs in three Tests. Just before the home series against Australia, Kumble answered in the negative when asked about retirements. A few days later, Ganguly announced this series was to be his last, and an injured Kumble ended his career even before Ganguly.Eight years later, Kumble and Ganguly have emerged as an unlikely duo shepherding the Indian team from the management perspective. Unlike Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, Ganguly has turned out to be pretty hands-on as a state association president and a member of the cricket advisory committee. Kumble, too, has had a stint as a state association president, actually winning an election, willing to put his reputation on the line by entering the contest. Now Ganguly is believed to have played a key role in getting Kumble as the coach of Indian team.Sitting in the same spot that Ganguly had been in when he uttered words that still resonate – “just one last thing lads, before I leave, I just want to say that this is going to be my last series,” Kumble was asked for his opinion on the way Shastri had been overlooked. Shastri had alleged Ganguly was not even present to interview him when he made his presentation. The underlying suggestion being that the decision had already been made before the interview process.Kumble was a relentless bowler, always at the batsman, but here he did a good impression of leaving this swinging ball alone outside off. “I was the first one to call Ravi after I was chosen as head coach,” Kumble said. “He did a wonderful job with the Indian team. It is not about Anil or Ravi, it is not about the head coach. It is about the players, it is about the team. And from my point of view, whether it is me or Ravi or any Indian, we all want the Indian team to do well. We all want the Indian team to perform at its best. We all believe that there is potential for the Indian team to be the best in all three formats.”And If I’m part of the journey, that’s all I have to say. He congratulated me. I told him it’s a fantastic team, a young team that we have. It could be someone else tomorrow [in place of me]. I’m not permanent in this role. I have an opportunity to make a difference. I have an opportunity to be part of the journey and if I can be part of the journey where we see Indian cricket rise to where we all want it to be, then I think it’s wonderful. I feel privileged, like I already mentioned. And an honour again to be a part of the team.”Kumble was more comfortable and open talking about his own role. At the outset he repeated that he and his support staff were going to be in the background, that his legendary status as a cricketer himself was not going to overpower his team. About his preferred support staff – Sanjay Bangar and Abhay Sharma as batting and fielding coach are temporary appointments for the upcoming West Indies tour – Kumble didn’t reveal much except that he was keen to work with the bowlers himself. A fast-bowling coach couldn’t be ruled out, though.”At this point in time, I thought I can get close to the bowlers, for a start,” Kumble said. “Yes, we are considering options, I don’t want to say what because this is my first trip as coach with the team and I’d like to observe and try and see how the team is shaping up. At this point in time, I thought that with the bowlers, it is the strategy that I can certainly play a part of and that’s something which I am looking at, trying to get closer to the bowlers, understanding what their needs are and then looking at probably bringing in, if you are looking at a fast bowling coach I think is what you are trying to say. There are considerations that I am thinking of but at this point, I don’t know if it will be possible to take someone to the West Indies. If that doesn’t happen, then certainly I am keen to look at the bowlers. I feel that that is certainly an area where I can contribute a lot more.”Kumble was asked what he, as a player, used to look for in a coach. The answer to this was the most definitive in his 20-minute press conference. “As a coach, all I sought was organised preparations for the team and informed inputs to the captain and the team to strategise better. Inclusive of every player. You have to include every player. It’s not about just the 11 who are to play. Also abut the six or seven who are not going to play.”That’s something I sought as a player because it was not always that I played in every team that played for India during my time. I was dropped, I was not chosen for tours. So I understand [what it means to] be the most important member in the team to being dropped. I understand all of that, I understand that communication at such times is very critical. For the coach to pick up the phone and send the message, ‘Don’t worry you are still part of the team.’ That’s what I will look to do. Hopefully I will be able to succeed in telling people who are part of the system that they will always be part of it.”Kumble had earlier remarked it felt a little odd being interviewed by three of his long-time team-mates. Having stepped into the team atmosphere, though, Kumble doesn’t feel odd at all. “Obviously you know the roles and boundaries as a coach,” Kumble said. “Other than that it’s no different. All of us want Indian cricket to be doing really well, and these are exciting times. I feel privileged to be a part of that journey, and in whatever way I can help Indian cricket achieve that. It was no different walking into a meeting room with the entire team, although the faces were different. I’ve played with some of them; I’ve mentored a couple of them in various capacities. To be back in the changing room is always special.”

Asian Cricket Council says holding the tournament now poses too high a health risk

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2020The 2020 edition of the Asia Cup stands cancelled, the tournament’s governing body confirmed on Thursday, ending weeks of speculation. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is looking at a window in June 2021 to host the tournament.The T20 tournament was to be played in Sri Lanka in September after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) offered to swap hosting rights in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was to feature the four subcontinent sides along with Afghanistan and an Asian qualifier.”Travel restrictions, country-specific quarantine requirements, fundamental health risks and social distancing mandates have posed as substantial challenges to holding the Asia Cup,” read a statement from the ACC. “Above all, the risks related to health and safety of participating players, support staff and commercial partners, fans and the cricketing community were deemed to be significant.”On Wednesday, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had unofficially confirmed the tournament’s cancellation during an Instagram Live with the Indian news channel .As per the original ICC calendar, the Asia Cup T20 was to be a precursor to the men’s T20 World Cup that was to be staged in Australia in October-November. However, the ICC continues to remain tight-lipped about the possibility of staging the event this year. An announcement is expected soon.With Sri Lanka set to host the Asia Cup in 2021, Pakistan have been awarded the hosting rights in 2022. The previous edition was hosted by the BCCI in UAE in September 2018, with India emerging winners.

A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy Group C matches on October 10, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Jalaj Saxena was unbeaten on 99, and put up 181 for the first wicket with Aditya Shrivastava•MPCA

Baroda opened their Ranji account with a bonus-point win in Vadodara, as the hosts toppled Railways by an innings and 113 runs inside three days. Baroda were already at a commanding 448 for 6 when the day began, and Hardik Pandya’s 85-ball 64 lifted the team to 500, after which they declared. Railways needed to score at least 334 to make Baroda bat again, but just like in the first innings, the visitors lost early wickets to stumble to 44 for 5. Prashant Awasthi (67) and Karn Sharma (51) put up a brief resistance by stroking fifties and stringing together a 108-run partnership, but no other batsman contributed with a significant knock. Pandya capped off a fine all-round display by picking up 3 for 30 – taking his match tally to eight wickets – as Railways were eventually bundled out for 221. Yusuf Pathan, Bhargav Bhatt and Sagar Mangalorkar ended with two scalps each.
ScorecardThere was little to separate Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in Indore, as Tamil Nadu compiled 596 for 9, only for the hosts to make a solid reply, scoring 181 without the loss of a wicket by stumps. Tamil Nadu, who began at 517 for 7, suffered an early setback as their overnight centurion Malolan Rangarajan was dismissed for 131 five overs into the day. However, the visitors’ tail continued to frustrate MP, as L Vignesh, the No.10 batsman, stroked a brisk 50 to take the team close to the 600-run mark, after which Tamil Nadu declared.MP, though, were unfazed, as the openers Aditya Shrivastava and Jalaj Saxena batted together for 65 overs without any damage. Shrivastava stroked 10 fours for his 73 not out, while Saxena was unbeaten on 99, with 17 fours.
Scorecard A brace of middle-order half-centuries from Murumulla Sriram and D Siva Kumar helped Andhra consolidate their strong start and take a first-innings lead of 113 against Gujarat.Having begun the day on 196 for 1, Andhra lost Srikar Bharat early for 127, but Mohammad Kaif went on to score a half-century and take his team towards earning first-innings lead points. He added 66 for the third wicket with AG Pradeed but then there was a slump during which Andhra lost four wickets for 29 runs.Sriram and Siva Kumar, however, took Andhra past Gujarat’s score of 308 during a seventh-wicket stand of 94. Rush Kalaria had taken a five-for for Gujarat, claiming five of the top six wickets, and his team-mates mopped up the tail – taking the last four Andhra wickets for 27 runs. The hosts were dismissed for 421.Gujarat lost Samit Gohel for 1 in reply, and ended the day on 24, 89 runs behind with nine wickets in hand.Mumbai v Punjab – Punjab fight, but Mumbai inch towards win

Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim also gained after Bangladesh’s sweep of West Indies

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2021Bangladesh offspinner Mehidy Hasan and Ireland batsman Paul Stirling have made notable gains in the ODI rankings for bowlers and batsmen, respectively, after the latest round of bilateral engagements. Shakib Al Hasan, who returned to international cricket after a one-year ban during Bangladesh’s series against West Indies, also moved up two places to No. 13 among bowlers.Mehidy, who was the highest wicket-taker against West Indies with seven strikes – including a career-best 4 for 25 in the second ODI – has climbed up nine spots to No. 4, while Stirling’s three centuries in his last five ODIs against the UAE and Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi helped him rise eight steps to No. 20 among batsmen. His 131 not out against UAE was followed by scores of 128 and 118 against Afghanistan, though all three knocks came in losses.ICC ODI Bowling Rankings•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Shakib, meanwhile, was just behind Mehidy with six wickets against West Indies – four of which came in the first ODI. In other gains for Bangladesh, left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman – who also claimed six wickets in the three matches – has jumped 11 spots to No. 8 among bowlers, while wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim, captain Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah and Mohammad Saifuddin also made slight gains in the charts.Though West Indies comprehensively lost all three ODIs against Bangladesh, Alzarri Joseph moved up by 11 places up to No. 34 among bowlers.

Bailey has retorted to questions about bias by saying “I’m not going to pick myself”

Daniel Brettig25-Nov-2019Former Australia ODI captain and current Tasmania batsman George Bailey is set to become the third member of the national selection panel alongside chairman Trevor Hohns and head coach Justin Langer, adding the contemporary voice that Cricket Australia has been searching for in their deliberations for the national team.Bailey, who is widely respected in Australian cricket circles, will be a departure from tradition by taking on a selection role while still a player, though numerous cricketers have been selectors either as captain or in the summers immediately after retirement, including Hohns, Peter Taylor and Greg Chappell. It was Chappell’s retirement from his role as selector following the Ashes series this year that opened up the place taken by Bailey.CA had previously flirted with the concept of having a current player as a selector when Hohns floated Darren Lehmann as a candidate prior to his retirement, before the concept was thwarted at board level. Usman Khawaja, the Queensland captain, spoke favourably of the prospect of choosing a current player as a selector when asked about it on Monday.”I think there is always an option there. I think there is no one more involved and more relevant in the game than people who are actually playing the game,” Khawaja said. “I think players are one of the biggest stakeholders, sometimes the most under-utilised and undervalued stakeholders in the game. I think it’s always important to have someone in the skin of the game.”Communication between selectors and players has improved over the years, but it is believed that the players have suggested it can get better still, something that Bailey will be keenly aware of. Equally he will bring along the perspective of a cricketer who has played more or less his entire career in the Twenty20 era, leading Australia to the global tournament in Sri Lanka in 2012 when they reached the semi-finals.Other candidates to make the final three included the former Victoria and South Australia batsman Michael Klinger and also Greg Shipperd, presently the coach of the Sydney Sixers. Langer had also spoken positively of wanting to find a role in Australian cricket for Trevor Bayliss after the conclusion of his time as England coach this year.”Really pleased with the people who put their hat in the ring for that role,” CA’s head of national teams Ben Oliver said on Monday. “There will be some people who are really disappointed no doubt [at missing out on the role] but they should all take great encouragement and they all have a lot to offer. Really looking forward to getting to the end of that process. Not quite there yet, but we’re not far away.”The panel, and all three, will be responsible for all Australian men’s teams. What we’ve tried to achieve in this recruitment process is adding in some complementary skills to support Trevor and Justin, and one of those is a consideration around short-format cricket.”Oliver explained that the national pathways manager Graham Manou, who had previously worked closely with Chappell in his role as national talent manager, would have a major linking role to keep the selectors abreast of developments in junior and pathway competitions, though like the national captains Tim Paine and Aaron Finch he will not be formally added to the panel.”It’s important for our selection panel to be across the talent that’s emerging through domestic cricket,” Oliver said. “Graham Manou as the national talent and pathway manager has a key role to play in connecting the domestic system but certainly we’re looking for this particular role that we’re recruiting for now, to have a close connection to Graham and to our domestic teams and our domestic coaches.”Sticking with three and Graham’s an important conduit between the panel and domestic cricket. He’s been helping throughout this period as well. At the moment sticking with three [selectors].”Bailey has retorted to questions about bias by saying “I’m not going to pick myself”, while Paine revealed during the Gabba Test against Pakistan that he was firmly in favour of the appointment. “In last week’s Shield game he was batting at five, I was batting at seven, so we were both sitting in the change rooms and set up a mock interview,” Paine told ABC radio. “He’s ready to go, so hopefully he gets the nod, I think he’d be ideal.”

Pakistan batter will retire with 97 Tests to his name – the sixth most for his country

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2022Azhar Ali will retire from Test cricket after the Karachi Test against England, bringing to an end one of modern Pakistani cricket’s more accomplished careers. If he does play – and captain Babar Azam was unwilling to confirm that he would – he will finish three Tests short of 100 Tests (becoming only the sixth Pakistan player to that landmark). But he will finish either way in fifth on their all-time runs-scoring charts, an immense achievement for a player who started out as a legspinner.Azhar made the announcement on the eve of the third and final Test of the series against England. “It has been a great honour and privilege for me to represent my country at the highest level,” he said. “Deciding on when to call it a day is always tough, but, after contemplating deeply, I realised that this is the right time for me to retire from Test cricket.”There are many people who I am grateful to in this strenuous, yet beautiful journey. I want to make a special mention of my family without whose sacrifices I would not have been where I am today. My parents, wife, siblings, and children have been my strength throughout.Related

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“I have been blessed to share a dressing room with some of the most outstanding cricketers with whom I share a strong bond. I feel much richer by calling these people my friends. I am also blessed to have played under some wonderful coaches to whom I will always remain grateful.”I retire from international cricket as a fulfilled cricketer who ticked most of the goals he had set for himself. Not many cricketers go on to lead their countries, and that I was able to captain Pakistan is a matter of great pride for me. From being a kid who started as a legspinner to becoming a mainstay in the Test batting line-up, I had the loveliest moments of my life that I will cherish forever.”Whether or not he plays will only be known on Saturday morning at the National Stadium. He was dropped after a failure in the high-scoring series opener on a flat pitch in Rawalpindi. Pakistan captain Babar Azam said later a decision had not yet been made. “We’ll decide tonight, so let’s see,” he said. “But I’d like to congratulate him on his career, and how much he inspired us. He gave Pakistan some great performances. When I came in he was a senior player and gave us a lot of confidence. He backed the players and was someone who brought positive vibes to the dressing room.”Azhar, 37, captained Pakistan in nine Tests, appointed full-time captain after Sarfaraz Ahmed was sacked in 2019. Pakistan won two home series under him, against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, but a slump in personal form and growing criticism of his methods meant Babar took over less than a year later. He had also overseen Pakistan in ODIs from 2015 – taking over after the World Cup, from Misbah-ul-Haq – to 2017, a tumultuous period in the format for them, when they slipped to No. 9 in the ODI rankings.”Everything has an end just like it has a beginning,” Azhar said. “My heart and head told me this was the right time. It’s been an honour for me to represent Pakistan. Great memories. I’d like to thank all my coaches and colleagues. I haven’t seen a better bunch of players.”The writing appeared to be on the wall after the Rawalpindi Test. Azhar managed 67 runs across both innings and was the only member of the top three from either side not to score a hundred. And though he was dropped, Azhar said he had made the decision by himself.Azhar will finish with 97 Tests to his name•AFP/Getty Images

“It’s my own decision. Nobody coerced me into it. I’m very happy with the way youngsters are coming through. This was going to be my last season anyway. I wanted to play 100 Tests, and if I’d played every Test this season, that would have happened. That won’t happen, so it’s better to make way for youngsters. I’d also like to consider my own well-being and the life I have ahead of me. It was my own decision, not someone else’s.”I’d like to thank my parents. My dad, who believed in me more than I did. And my mother, who’s no longer around. Her sacrifices meant the world to me. I miss her.”Azhar ends his career as one of Pakistan’s most prolific Test batters, with over 7000 Test runs and 19 hundreds. His unbeaten 302 against the West Indies in Dubai makes him one of just four Pakistan cricketers to have scored a triple century, and the only cricketer to have scored one in day-night cricket – that came in the purplest of patches for him across 2016-17, when he also hit a double hundred at the MCG. Among Pakistanis, only Younis Khan, Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousaf have scored more Test runs.Azhar Ali made his debut in 2010 against Australia in the wake of the 2009 terror attack on Sri Lanka in Lahore that forced Pakistan to play home matches outside the country. He soon established himself as a mainstay, making the number three position his own for several years. In the second half of his career, Pakistan’s opening struggles meant he was deployed in that position too, scoring 1556 runs at 45.76 in 37 innings.But it wasn’t until 2019, nearly a decade after he made his international bow, that he played an international match in Pakistan. It finally came in 2019 against Sri Lanka, and in just his second Test at home proper, he scored 118. A dip in form soon after followed, though there remained flashes of the trademark grit that saw him squeeze so much out of his abilities. There was an unbeaten 141 in Southampton, 93 in Christchurch, as well as 185 at home against Australia in Rawalpindi.”It was massive to play at home,” he said. “I genuinely thought a few years back that I would not be able to play a Test at home because of the duration of the game and no one would come to play just one Test to give us home Test but credit to Pakistan Cricket Board and government to making that happen and making other teams believe that it was safe to play in Pakistan. To score a hundred on home ground was massive.”

Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, has declared Australia as “very beatable” ahead of the Perth Test and said their batting was not as strong as in recent years

Cricinfo staff10-Dec-2009Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, has declared Australia are “very beatable” ahead of the Perth Test and said their batting was not as strong as in recent years. Gayle was the Man of the Match in the draw at Adelaide Oval and his team will be aiming to level the series 1-1 when the third and final Test begins on Wednesday.They are in that position because of an excellent performance in Adelaide, where they had a realistic chance on the final day of being the first West Indies side to win a Test in Australia since Courtney Walsh’s team in 1996-97. Gayle said Ricky Ponting’s side of 2009-10 was very different to Australian teams he had faced in the past.”The Aussies still have a lot of quality players and they are still a strong unit, but I am sure they are very beatable,” Gayle wrote in his column in Australia’s News Ltd papers. “There is no doubt we really pushed them in Adelaide and had them under a lot of pressure for long periods of the second Test. It was a shame we couldn’t quite finish them off, but they do have quite a long batting line-up.”Having said that, Aussie sides I have played before have had much bigger and stronger batting line-ups. Their bowling attack is also not very experienced – Mitchell Johnson is a good bowler, but it might say something that he is easily their most seasoned quick.”Gayle praised his own players for the character they displayed after a “terrible” performance in losing the Gabba Test in three days. He said every player stood up, including the young fast bowler Kemar Roach, who Ricky Ponting has already conceded will be tough to face on the WACA pitch.”Kemar Roach will be a huge handful with his pace on the bouncy pitch,” Gayle wrote. “I think we will see something extraordinary from him. Trust me, he has some serious wheels. I really don’t like facing him in the nets – usually I have to tell him to slow things down so I can see the ball!”Ricky Ponting is a top-class and experienced player, but Kemar really ruffled him and hustled him with sheer pace in Adelaide. Kemar won’t back down against Ricky in Perth and will ask even more questions of the Aussie captain on a pitch I hear should be very quick and bouncy.”West Indies are unlikely to make any changes to their side for the Perth Test following their impressive showing in Adelaide. Australia are waiting to find out if Peter Siddle recovers from a hamstring strain, with the Victoria fast bowler Clint McKay in line for a Test debut if Siddle does not prove his fitness.

Lewis, Pooran flickered briefly for West Indies, but a flurry of wickets in the middle overs derailed their chase

The Report by Hemant Brar11-Aug-20196:19

Ganga: WI batsmen failed to seize the crucial moments

Virat Kohli spoilt Chris Gayle’s 300th ODI celebrations with his 42nd century in the format, helping India win by 59 runs via the DLS method. With this victory, India have taken an unassailable 1-0 lead in the three-match series as the first game was washed out.Kohli, assisted by Shreyas Iyer’s half-century, helped India to 279 for 7. Rain had reduced West Indies’ target to 270 in 46 overs and, at one stage, they needed 91 off 71 balls before slipping from 179 for 4 to 182 for 8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up three of those four wickets – and finishing with figures of 4 for 31 – to effectively seal the game.After failing to convert five 50-plus scores into a hundred at the World Cup, Kohli ended his relative drought with 120 off 125 balls. During his chanceless knock, he surpassed Sourav Ganguly’s tally of 11,363 ODI runs. Among Indians, only Sachin Tendulkar (18,426) now has more ODI runs than Kohli’s 11,406.ALSO READ: Krishnaswamy – Iyer sticks to the nuts and bolts of middle-order ODI battingIyer too made full use of his first innings on the tour with 71 off 68. He played the perfect foil to Kohli, finding singles and boundaries with regular frequency as the duo added 125 in 115 balls for the fourth wicket.West Indies conceded only 67 from the last ten overs but, as it turned out, India had got enough by then.Kohli had opted to bat first on a humid day after winning his fifth successive toss on this tour but India didn’t have a great start. Shikhar Dhawan fell in the first over of the innings to a Sheldon Cottrell delivery that seemed to be swinging away before coming in off the seam to trap the batsman lbw. Rohit Sharma didn’t get off the mark until his 11th delivery but Kohli ensured the scoreboard was always ticking. The second ball Kohli faced, he drove Kemar Roach for four through extra cover. A similar delivery in Roach’s next over was flicked wristily to the deep-midwicket boundary, and when the West Indies pacers bowled straight, Kohli milked them for runs on the leg side.Kohli reached his fifty with a four to third man but Rohit never got going at the other end. In an attempt to break the shackles, he ended up slicing Roston Chase towards cover where Nicholas Pooran completed the catch over his shoulder, running backwards.Continuing at No. 4, Rishabh Pant hit a couple of fours – a whip through midwicket and a cut behind square – but was bowled for 20 off 35 when he failed to connect a pull off Carlos Brathwaite.Virat Kohli pulls one away•Randy Brooks/AFP

With those two wickets, West Indies – and especially Chase – applied brakes on the scoring rate. Chase bowled unchanged for his ten overs and finished with 1 for 37.Kohli though kept collecting his runs: a nudge here for one, a push there for two and putting away anything loose for four. A majestic six off Jason Holder over long-off took him to 89. Four overs later, Kohli brought up his hundred, off 112 balls. However, a tired shot – it was very humid, and draining – in the 42nd over brought an end to his knock; he mistimed a Brathwaite slower ball to Roach at long-off.A light drizzle halted play in the 43rd over for about 25 minutes. Iyer and Kedar Jadhav returned to take the side to 250 in the 45th over but India could never really accelerate from there.Still, the hosts needed to pull off the highest successful chase at this venue in order to register a win.Gayle became the leading ODI run-scorer from the West Indies, going past Brian Lara’s tally of 10,405 runs (those scored for ICC combined teams included) with a four off Khaleel Ahmed but was lbw soon after to Bhuvneshwar. Shai Hope didn’t last long either as he chopped Khaleel onto his stumps.Rain once again made an appearance in the 13th over of the chase and this time forced a reduction of four overs with ten runs taken off the target.Lewis who had struck four fours and a pulled six off Bhuvneshwar before the break resumed with another boundary, a swept four off Kuldeep Yadav. But Shimron Hetmyer ended up skying a quicker one from the wristspinner to Kohli at extra cover.Struggling with a calf injury, Lewis brought up his maiden ODI fifty in the Caribbean but became Kuldeep’s second victim after failing to middle a cut shot. Kohli at extra cover leapt in the air and plucked a one-handed catch.Pooran was severe on both Kuldeep and Jadhav, while Chase kept rotating the strike. The latter also had a slice of luck in the 33rd over when Mohammed Shami failed to latch on to a return catch with the batsman on 10.But Bhuvneshwar, returning for his second spell, removed both batsmen in the same over to peg West Indies back. Pooran ended up top-edging a knuckle ball to Kohli in front of square, while a brilliant one-handed return catch sent Chase back.Brathwaite fell to Ravindra Jadeja in the next over and Roach chopped one on to his stumps to give Bhuvneshwar his fourth wicket. There were some fireworks from Cottrell towards the end but West Indies were all but out of the game by then.

Paarl Rocks did well to pull back with the ball but their chase never got going

The Report by Liam Brickhill30-Nov-2018Heino Kuhn’s second fifty of the competition and cheap wickets for JT Smuts and Sisanda Magala set up a 48-run victory for Nelson Mandela Bay Giants over Paarl Rocks at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth. Kuhn was the fulcrum around which Giants’ innings turned, with three of the top five also making 20s, and all of the top order keeping their strike rate at a run-a-ball or better before a mini-collapse kept them to 168 for 9.Despite Aiden Markram’s fifty, that proved to be plenty with Smuts leading an excellent performance from Giants’ spinners with 3 for 17. Magala also chipped in with 3 for 17 to clean up the tail as Rocks were bowled out for 120.Rocks burst out of the blocks in their chase, but after Junior Dala rattled Henry Davids’ stumps via the inside edge and Chris Morris deceived Faf du Plessis with a canny slower ball in the Powerplay, the spinners squeezed the middle overs, drying up the boundaries. Markram,
who had launched the innings with three quick boundaries off the seamers, should have been stumped off Aaron Phangiso in the seventh over, but wicketkeeper Rudi Second couldn’t collect cleanly when the batsman was out of his ground.While Markram motored on towards his fifty, Giants chipped away at the other end. Smuts brought himself on in the ninth over and struck with his second delivery to remove Vaughn van Jaarsveld, nipping a 23-run stand in the bud. Smuts conceded just four runs in that first over, but he was even more incisive in his second.Smuts tumbled to his left to hold a catch off his own bowling to get rid of Patrick Kruger, and then struck the decisive blow when Markram holed out to deep midwicket immediately after bringing up a 38-ball fifty. Smuts had 3 for 7, Rocks were rudderless at 79 for 5, and the required rate was over 11.With the required rate continuing to balloon with every dot, the Giants seamers returned to close the chase down at the death. Magala rushed David Wiese to have him caught behind off the glove, and then had Mangaliso Mosehle chipping to mid-off. With Fortuin skying Morris to long-on, Rocks were 115 for 8 and Giants were in sight of a bonus point.For that, they had to keep Rocks to 134 or less, and Tahir made the job a little easier when Dane Paterson top-edged a sweep in the 19th over. With the St George’s Park brass band in full flow, and cheered on by loyal spectators, Magala wrapped up the win with his third wicket, bowling Tshepo Moreki around his legs with a slower ball. The victory solidified Giants’ position on the points table, putting them just a point behind leaders Cape Town Blitz.Rocks were limp with the bat in conditions that the home side, lead by the experienced Smuts, read perfectly. They weren’t at their best in the field either, spilling three chances. Kuhn and Christiaan Jonker were both dropped in the course of their 70-run fourth wicket stand, as was Ben Duckett early on.Giants stormed through the Powerplay at nine an over, despite the loss of Marco Marais and Duckett, but it wasn’t until Kuhn and Jonker came together in the eighth over that they were able to build a partnership of any significant substance.Aided by the lapses in the field, they collected regular boundaries, with Kuhn playing the sweep to particularly good effect against both spin and seam. Both also hit sixes out of the ground, and the fourth umpire had to run out twice with replacement balls. Kuhn brought up the fifty stand in the 14th over by hitting Dane Paterson over the roof of the stands beyond square leg, and Giants had a perfect platform when they reached 140 for 3 in the 15th over with both batsmen well set.The Rocks seamers struck back to seize the initiative, with Wiese and Paterson executing their yorkers to perfection. The last five overs brought six wickets and just 28 runs, and Giants stumbled a little in reaching what seemed a gettable total. But the home bowling attack never let the match out of their grasp, and Giants’ fourth win of the league was their biggest so far, and came with a bonus point.

Paraag Marathe is the highest-profile appointee, having been with the NFL’s San Francisco franchise since 2001

Peter Della Penna01-Sep-2018San Francisco 49ers executive vice president of football operations Paraag Marathe, one of the highest-ranked Indian American officials in the big four American pro-sports leagues, has been named as one of the inaugural three independent directors to round out the ten-person board of directors for USA Cricket. Marathe was added to the board along with Catherine Carlson of the NBA’s Orlando Magic and Rohan Sajdeh, a senior partner and managing director of Boston Consulting Group (BCG).Marathe is the highest-profile appointee on the inaugural USA Cricket board, having been with the NFL’s San Francisco franchise since 2001. He also serves on the board of directors for Leeds United, currently in the English football championship. He is a graduate of the University of California-Berkeley and obtained an MBA from Stanford University.”I am looking forward to this unique and exciting challenge,” Marathe said in a USA Cricket press release. “I believe the United States has the potential to be a major player in international cricket and we can inspire this country to fall in love with this great game. This is an incredibly talented and passionate board of directors and I am looking forward to working with them so that this major international sport can achieve its potential here in the United States.”Carlson, an Australian native, is a senior vice president of corporate partnerships with the NBA’s Magic, where she has worked since 2009. Prior to her role with the Magic, Carlson worked from 1998 through 2009 at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.Carlson’s initial brush with the US cricket came in her time with Disney when she was involved in a proposal, called Project USA, between the ICC and the USA Cricket Association. The plan called for a cricket stadium to be built at the Wide World of Sports Complex where neutral site matches would be staged with the anticipated revenue funnelled to cricket developments in America. The proposal collapsed in 2005 amid administrative turmoil with USACA not long before the first of three suspensions leading to their eventual expulsion in 2017.Sajdeh, an Australian of Indian origin, played first-class cricket for Cambridge University in the UK before moving on to Northwestern University in Chicago where he completed his MBA at the Kellogg School of Management. He is familiar to ICC administrators, having been involved in the design of the ICC Test Championship model in his work with BCG. Like Sajdeh, fellow USA Cricket board member Usman Shuja is a graduate of Northwestern’s KSOM MBA program and was a former colleague of Sajdeh at BCG.The three independent directors were confirmed following a process that included 61 applicants who were reviewed by the USA Cricket’s nominating and governance committee. The four-person committee, which included the ICC chief executive David Richardson, narrowed down the field to six finalists who were interviewed in mid-August before the three independent directors were chosen.”USA Cricket now has a governance structure and a high calibre board that we believe positions the organisation well to achieve its enormous potential,” Richardson said. “A successful US cricket administration is great for world cricket and we are delighted with the quality of board candidates who have been selected from an incredibly impressive field and we think the global game will benefit from their expertise.”The three independent directors join the seven constituent directors who were elected in early August. The full ten-person board will have their inaugural meeting later in September where the chairman of the board will be chosen from one of the three independent directors. Once the role is finalised, USA Cricket will put forward their formal application to be recognised as the ICC’s member governing body in the USA to fill the void left by the expelled USACA.