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Skillful bowling from the Pandya brothers and sensible batting from Mumbai Indians’ captain Rohit Sharma launched them to No.1 on the points table, setting up a mouth-watering clash against Chennai Super Kings in the first qualifier at Chepauk on Tuesday.The result knocked out Kolkata Knight Riders and put Sunrisers Hyderabad in the playoffs. Despite their defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday, Sunrisers will now face Delhi Capitals in the Eliminator in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.Asked to bat first on a slower-than-usual Wankhede track, Knight Riders stuttered to 133 for 7 with Robin Uthappa’s go-slow encapsulating their struggles. Hardik Pandya was Rohit’s fifth-bowling option on Sunday, but he made the biggest impact by dismissing Chris Lynn and Shubman Gill in back-to-back overs. At the other end, Krunal Pandya kept cramping batsmen for room and although he ended wicketless he was also central to Mumbai’s smothering of Knight Riders.Rohit then led the chase with a measured half-century, sounding out a warning to Super Kings, whom they have beaten five times in seven matches at Chepauk.#Lynnsanity hits Wankhede
When Sunil Narine was his opening partner, Chris Lynn often took a backseat and worked his way into the innings, which wasn’t quite his strong suit. Since Shubman Gill was bumped up to the top, Lynn has bashed his way to three successive forty-plus scores, the latest being his 41 off 29 balls on Sunday. With the ball coming onto the bat in the early exchanges, Lynn simply did his thing: he cleared his front leg and smote sixes. After rattling the seamers, he imperiously launched legspinner Rahul Chahar twice into the stands beyond long-off. Knight Riders were 49 for 0 after the end of the Powerplay – and Lynn alone had contributed 38 to that score.Make way for the Pandya brothers
Then, just like that, Hardik struck with his first ball – a slower one that trapped Gill for 9. In his next over, he hung up an offcutter wide of off and asked Lynn to manufacture the pace for himself. All he could do was to top-edge it into the hands of Quinton de Kock behind the stumps. In the four overs the Pandya brothers bowled in tandem, they conceded just 12 runs with Hardik dismissing both the in-form KKR openers. Mitchell McClenaghan, much like Hardik, took pace off the ball and bowled a maiden over to Uthappa.Uthappa kept helplessly swishing and missing outside off – and even left Krunal outside off – in a passage of play that lacked intensity according to Knight Riders’ coach Jacques Kallis. Dinesh Karthik, who had promoted himself ahead of the side’s MVP Andre Russell, was then caught at short midwicket, thanks to Krunal’s athletic intervention. In the same over, Lasith Malinga ventured around the wicket and bounced out Russell for a golden duck.In isolation Uthappa took Jasprit Bumrah for a brace of boundaries, but he could barely go at a run a ball. Nitish Raina was more fluent and moved to 26 off 13 balls before holing out in the 18th over. Bumrah was back to his usual self in the final over and he closed out the innings with the wickets of Uthappa (40 off 47 balls) and Rinku Singh (4 off 6 balls).KKR KO’d
Russell’s evening went from bad to worse when de Kock and Rohit hit 21 runs off his first over, including two fours and two sixes. Prasidh Krishna then stopped a rampaging de Kock in his tracks, when he drew a top edge that was snaffled by Karthik running back and diving across to his right.Rohit would be unstoppable, though. He didn’t take any undue risks – he didn’t need to – and just knocked the ball into the gaps. He raised his second half-century of the season off 44 balls when he punched Harry Gurney to sweeper cover in the 15th over. With the asking rate dropping to under six, Suryakumar Yadav also had the luxury of taking his own sweet time to find some form. But from 19 off 17 balls, he zoomed to 46 off 27 balls to seal Knight Riders’ fate. Mumbai wrapped up the victory with nine wickets and 23 balls to spare.

Rohit Sharma’s century against South Africa in Southampton was the slowest of his ODI career. Yet, the timing, the composure and the manner in which he scored his runs prompted his captain Virat Kohli to label the century Rohit’s “best ODI innings”.It is a significant statement by Kohli. Rohit has scored several centuries, including three double-tons, so what makes this one so special?First up, Kohli said, there was the pressure of playing in the World Cup, and then the pressure of India needing to win their tournament-opener, in a format where each of their nine league matches will carry equal significance. “In my opinion this is by far his best ODI innings because of the kind of pressure the first game brings from a World Cup point of view,” Kohli said at his post-match media briefing.According to Kohli the goal set for the top order, comprising Rohit, Shikhar Dhawan and himself, was for one of the three batsmen to anchor the innings, bat deep, and build partnerships. After Dhawan and Kohli fell early, Rohit had to carry that responsibility.The target was not steep, but the bounce was. South Africa fast bowler Chris Morris said there was “something in the pitch”, which India’s quicks, led by Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, exploited well. Even Hardik Pandya got one of his hard-length deliveries to climb awkwardly and hit Faf du Plessis’ gloves.”He [du Plessis] said it was like facing the first hour of a Test match,” Morris said.Rohit Sharma pulls the ball for four•Getty Images

Kagiso Rabada and Morris attacked India’s top order, bowling tight lines and pushing them on the back foot with good hard lengths. Rohit was lucky more than once to get away with balls pinging off his edge and gloves and landing away from the reach of the fielders.Keeping the mounting challenge in mind, Rohit still managed to keep his head. “As a batsman when you go in and a few balls bounce like that, it is not easy to gather yourself again and play in a calm manner.” Kohli said. “A lot of times batsmen tend to hit their way out of the situation. But he was very composed, he was very – he’s played so many games, we expect a lot of maturity and a lot of responsibility from someone like him.”Even Rohit agreed that it was an atypical batting performance. “I couldn’t play my natural game,” Rohit said to the host broadcaster. “Certain shots that I love to play, I had to cut down and make sure that I play close to the body. I had to try and leave as many balls as possible in the initial spell. It was not a typical Rohit Sharma innings.”Rohit now is joint fourth among ODI centurions in chases. Kohli, who tops that list, said Rohit played the “perfect” innings. “In my opinion, of all the brilliant innings I have seen him play, I think this, for me, was the top of the pile because of the way he compiled his innings, and at no stage did we feel like, or he felt like he is going to throw it away.”I think controlling the game so beautifully from one end and allowing the others to display themselves and string in small little partnerships, looking at the fact that they were only chasing 228, he played the perfect innings for that kind of a situation, on that kind of a wicket, against a bowling attack that was threatening to pick up wickets at any stage. So, yeah, in my opinion, by far his best knock.”

India are monitoring the fitness of Vijay Shankar closely after the allrounder was hit on the left foot by a yorker from Jasprit Bumrah during their training session on Wednesday. Vijay did not train full-tilt on Thursday, but Bumrah said Vijay was fit.On Sunday, Vijay played his first World Cup match, against Pakistan in Manchester. He scored an unbeaten run-a-ball 15 after coming in at No. 6, in the 46th over of India’s innings, and was impressive with the ball, taking a wicket with his first ball and bowling 5.2 overs to fill in for the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar.With KL Rahul pushed up to open thanks to the injury that has ruled Shikhar Dhawan out of the World Cup, Vijay remains the frontrunner to occupy a middle-order slot in India’s remaining matches. His medium-fast bowling could also be handy in conditions with some help for the seamers.The blow to Vijay’s foot occurred midway through his batting session on Wednesday, while facing Bumrah. It was India’s first training session ahead of their game on Saturday against Afghanistan, and he had already had a bowl.Vijay Shankar is ecstatic after taking his first World Cup wicket•Getty Images

On Thursday, Vijay only ambled around training, watching the other players. Towards the end he bowled a few deliveries off a short run-up, but appeared to be walking gingerly.”We don’t want to injure the batsmen but but sometimes in nets when you bowl, nobody tells the batsmen not to hit,” Bumrah said, with a smile. “So it was not the aim [to hit Vijay]. Unfortunate he got hit, but he’s okay. He’s fine. But you have to do your preparation. So best preparation for me is to bowl to batsmen, so I try to do all of that. Sometimes you get hit but that’s part and parcel of the game.”India are not training on Friday. It remains to be seen what team they will play against Afghanistan. Dinesh Karthik could potentially replace Vijay if he were to be ruled out. Karthik batted extensively on Thursday, first facing throwdowns in the main ground and then joining the nets.Vijay will hope the injury is not serious, considering he already had to sit out India’s two warm-up games after being hit on the forearm while batting in the nets soon after the squad landed in England. The selectors had spoken of Vijay being the main contender for the No. 4 slot when they named the squad, but it eventually went to Rahul, who scored a century in the warm-up game against Bangladesh. Pushed up to open in the match against Pakistan, he also made a crucial half-century during an opening stand of 136 with Rohit Sharma.

Mushfiqur Rahim said that while defeat against Sri Lanka in Bangladesh’s ongoing ODI series was disappointing, it didn’t mean that the progress Bangladesh had made in the past few years amounted to nothing. Bangladesh lost the second ODI, giving Sri Lanka an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.The loss comes on the back of a World Cup campaign that fizzled out after promising much at the start, with Bangladesh eventually finishing eighth on the table.Against Sri Lanka on Monday, the visiting team were in deep strife at 117 for 6, but Mushfiqur’s unbeaten 98 steered them to a competitive 238 for 8. Mushfiqur was a study in patience as he held back his shots for a long time, ensuring there was no collapse.”It is always disappointing to lose, no matter how many runs I score individually,” Mushfiqur said. “After our World Cup campaign, this series was an opportunity to prove that we are on the right path. Maybe we haven’t been able to do in the last two matches but that doesn’t mean our progress from the last five to seven years will vanish suddenly. We are certainly going through a struggling period, so the challenge is to turn it around quickly. We are all trying our best to make it happen. We have another opportunity in the next match.”Mushfiqur didn’t regret missing out on a century, though if his final-over plan of farming the strike and going big had worked, he might well have done so.”I was trying to get the team to the 250-mark, which wouldn’t have been easy to chase,” he said. “I was trying to keep strike in the last over so that I can retain strike with twos, fours or sixes. Ultimately it is not a problem [to not get to a hundred]. Our focus is to win the next game, because it is a matter of pride.”Mushfiqur agreed that the senior duo of Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah being out of form – their struggles have coincided with Bangladesh losing their last four ODIs – meant greater pressure on the other players. “Tamim and Riyad bhai have been performing for years but when they are not clicking, the pressure is a little more on the other players. Big players can soak up the pressure in big games, and counter-attack,” he said. “I think we are a little behind in that regard, but they are trying heart and soul. The quicker they can come back, it will be better for the team.”

Usman Khawaja has revealed he is one full running session away from being cleared to play in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston starting Thursday. Australia missed his presence in the top order during their World Cup semi-final loss to England, a tournament he felt “in my heart” Australia would win.While rain kept the majority of Australia’s optional training session indoors on Sunday, Khawaja bided his time in preparation for a final sprinting session, having slowly built his hamstring strength up since straining it in the final round robin game against South Africa at Old Trafford.He has been doing plenty of batting in the nets and in centre-wicket training at the end of Australia’s Southampton warm-up game, and now needs only to jump through the final hoop to line-up for the first Test.”Hammy’s good, very good. Doing all the rehab. I think it’s going really well at the moment,” Khawaja said on Sunday. “I’ve sort of been ticking them [fitness tests] off as I’ve been going. There’s running components I have to do, then strength hamstring stuff in the gym I’ve had to do and I’ve been doing them over the last three weeks, just ticking them off. I’m just about running at full speed now, did a session yesterday (Saturday) that was just about at full speed. So not too far off.”I’ve done most of the stuff. I’ll do some more running tomorrow (Monday). Tomorrow will probably be the last big one I do, probably the last level of running that I have to do. Highest level. If I do that then I think I’ll be available for selection.Along with his fitness sessions, Khawaja also enjoyed some batting time towards the end of the warm-up game, even though he felt the wicket wasn’t ideal. “I was fortunate I got to bat in the middle at the end anyway, after the game [in Southampton] was finished,” he said. “I really enjoyed that.”I didn’t enjoy it because the wicket had divots in it, it was tough work, it wasn’t a very nice wicket. But being out in the middle, seeing fielders around and not being in the nets all the time. I enjoyed it, batted for 30 mins and really enjoyed it. Still a little bit different but i think I got enough out of it in the end anyway.”After leaving the field against South Africa, Khawaja admitted to feeling somewhat helpless against England in the semi-final, on a day where the team led by Aaron Finch sorely missed his technical ad tactical acumen to deal with the ball zipping about on a fresh pitch. It’s a feeling Khawaja is hoping to avoid repeating during the Ashes, having played in England in 2013 but been missing from the team in 2015.”I was riding every ball. It’s hard to watch when you’re invested in the game,” Khawaja said. “When you’re in the game you feel like you can do something but from the other side of the fence – felt like my mum and dad would, like my wife. It’s a lot harder watching the game because you feel like you don’t have any control over it.Getty Images

“It’s disappointing because I honestly thought in my heart that the way we were playing, we were going to win the World Cup. But knockout stage of the tournament, that’s the beauty of the World Cup I guess – if you don’t perform at the right time, last few games is when you have to perform. So there was a lot of disappointment. To be sitting out too. But I didn’t start thinking about the Ashes until long after that semi-final was finished.”Australia’s coach Justin Langer had pointed to Khawaja’s injury as critical to the team’s elimination. The Queensland captain said he would take some confidence from the knowledge that his contributions had helped ease the Australians through to the pointy end of the World Cup with numerous calming innings in difficult circumstances.”Confidence is great because you feel like playing with freedom,” he said. “That’s the hardest thing as a batsman, playing with freedom. So that’s what I try to do, every time I go out there. It’s obviously a lot easier when you’re scoring runs, because you have a clear head. When you’re not scoring runs it’s a little bit harder. The thing is you have to be able to find yourself in that space more often than not, that clear head space. That’s what I try to do – T20, one-day or Test cricket.”The World Cup, the big thing was that SOS [Shaun Marsh] and I both got injured at the same time. SOS had already played a few games already in the World Cup, been playing one-day cricket for a long time and could have come in. It was just really bad timing that both of us got injured like a day out from each.”I guess that does throw the team off a little bit. but it’s never easy. Even for someone like Petey [Handscomb], who has played beautifully over the last year, it’s never easy coming in to a tournament in the last game, a semi. it’s always tough work, especially against a good side in tough conditions.”Reflecting on the travel, train, play treadmill of international cricket, Khawaja said that he had long given up on the search for winning routines because he did not find it helpful to lapse into superstations.”There’s no right or wrong,” he said. “If you don’t train – there’s been times when I haven’t hit a ball at all and scored plenty of runs and nobody said anything. And I’ve had times when I haven’t hit as many balls and haven’t scored runs – and people are like ‘ maybe you need to hit some more’.”Honestly there’s no magic formula. Cricket has so many different variables. All anyone ever really concentrates on as a batsman is if you’re scoring runs, as a bowler if you’re taking wickets, as a team if you’re winning games, but I haven’t found the magic formula.”That’s why I don’t have a routine per se, I don’t have a certain way I need to do things. I go with how I’m feeling. If i feel like I need a hit for a long time, I do, if I don’t then I don’t. I found when game day comes up, I’d go and have the routine and do everything right and it was almost turning into superstitions to some extent. I was like ‘this isn’t helping at all’. I just threw them all out. Itwas a long time ago, go with the flow.”

Trinbago Knight Riders have called upon the services of overseas internationals like James Neesham and Seekkuge Prasanna, and local Trinidad and Tobago talent, for an exhibition game that the T20 franchise will host ahead of this year’s CPL. Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard will captain the two sides that will lock horns in the one-off fixture, named the Selector Fan Cup, on September 1, in Port of Spain.New Zealand allrounder Neesham and Sri Lanka’s Prasanna will line up for Pollard’s side, which will also feature Denesh Ramdin and Khary Pierre.Brian Lara, the former West Indies captain who recently worked with the men’s national team ahead of the ongoing Test series against India, will be part of Bravo’s team. Lara, a Trinidad native, last appeared in a high-profile exhibition game in the Masters Champions League in the UAE in 2016 and the Cricket All-Stars Series in the USA the previous year.Current West Indies internationals in the likes of Sunil Narine and Lendl Simmons will turn out for Bravo’s side, with young players like Ali Khan, Tion Webster, Amir Jangoo and Akeal Hossein also featuring in the mix.Defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders will kick off their CPL 2019 campaign on September 4, against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, in Port of Spain.Bravo XI: Brian Lara, Lendl Simmons, Amir Jangoo (wk), Tion Webster, Dwayne Bravo (capt), Javon Searles, Yannic Cariah, Sunil Narine, Ali Khan, Akeal Hossain, Sheeno Berridge, Jayden Seales, Isiah Rajah, JP Barrie, Dexter SweenPollard XI: Denesh Ramdin (wk), Mark Deyal, Kieron Pollard (capt), Jimmy Neesham, Seekkuge Prasanna, Joshua De Silva, Khary Pierre, Terrance Hinds, Anderson Phillip, Jon Russ Jaggesar, Jalarnie Seales, Leonardo Julien, Nicholas Alexi, Kjorn Ottley, Yannick Ottley, Daron Cruickshank

Keep up to date with all the movements around the counties during the off-season as preparations are made for the 2020 seasonDerbyshireIN: Michael Cohen (EU passport), Tom Wood (unattached, 50 overs)
OUT: Alfie Gleadall (both released), Hamidullah Qadri (Kent), James Taylor (Surrey), Daryn Smith (retired)
OVERSEAS: Ben McDermott (Aus, May-Aug), Sean Abbott (Aus, April-July)DurhamIN: Paul Coughlin (Notts), Farhaan Behardien (Kolpak), David Bedingham (UK ancestral visa)
OUT: Will Smith (retired), Ryan Pringle, George Harding (both released)
OVERSEAS: Cameron Bancroft (Aus)EssexIN:
OUT: Ravi Bopara (Sussex), Matt Coles (released)
OVERSEAS: Peter Siddle (Aus), Adam Zampa (Aus, T20), Moises Henriques (Aus, T20)GlamorganIN:
OUT: Jeremy Lawlor, Kazi Szymanski (both released)
OVERSEAS: Marnus Labuschagne (Aus)GloucestershireIN: Jerome Taylor (Kolpak), Josh Shaw (Yorkshire), George Scott (Middlesex)
OUT: Will Tavare, Chris Liddle, Michael Klinger (all retired)
OVERSEAS: Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind, April-May)*, Qais Ahmad (Afg, May-September)HampshireIN:
OUT: Gareth Berg (Northamptonshire)
OVERSEAS: Nathan Lyon (Aus)*, Shaheen Afridi (Pak, T20)KentIN: Tim Groenewald (Somerset), Hamidullah Qadri (Derbyshire), Jack Leaning (Yorkshire)
OUT: Mitch Claydon (Sussex), Adam Riley (retired)
OVERSEAS: Mohammad Nabi (Afg, T20), Matt Henry (NZ, Apr-May)*LancashireIN: Luke Wood (Nottinghamshire)
OUT: Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: James Faulkner (Aus, T20), Glenn Maxwell (Aus, T20), BJ Watling (NZ, Apr-Jul)LeicestershireIN: George Rhodes (Worcestershire)
OUT: Aadil Ali, Neil Dexter, Ateeq Javid (all released)
OVERSEAS: Janneman Malan (SA, Apr-Jul)MiddlesexIN: Miguel Cummins (Kolpak)
OUT: Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), George Scott (Gloucestershire), Ollie Rayner (retired), Paul Stirling (released), Tom Barber (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: Peter Handscomb (Aus, CC and 50), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afg, T20), Mitchell Marsh (Aus, T20)NorthamptonshireIN: Gareth Berg (Hampshire), Brandon Glover (Netherlands)
OUT:
OVERSEAS: Faheem Ashraf (Pak, April-July), Kieron Pollard (WI, T20), Paul Stirling (Ire, T20)NottinghamshireIN: Haseeb Hameed (Lancashire), Peter Trego (Somerset), Tom Barber (Middlesex)
OUT: Luke Wood (Lancashire), Nick Kimber (Surrey), Jake Libby (Worcestershire), Paul Coughlin (Durham)
OVERSEAS: Mohammad Abbas (Pak, April-July), Dan Christian (Aus, T20)SomersetIN: Vernon Philander (Kolpak)
OUT: Tim Groenewald (Kent), Marcus Trescothick (retired), Tim Rouse, Paul van Meekeren (all released), Peter Trego (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: Babar Azam (Pak, May-July), Corey Anderson (NZ, T20), Matthew Wade (Aus, Apr-May)*SurreyIN: Reece Topley (Sussex), Nick Kimber (Nottinghamshire), James Taylor (Derbyshire), Hashim Amla (Kolpak)
OUT: Arun Harinath, Freddie van den Bergh (both released), Stuart Meaker (Sussex)
OVERSEAS: Michael Neser (Aus, April-Jun)*, Shadab Khan (Pak, T20), D’Arcy Short (Aus, T20)SussexIN: Mitch Claydon (Kent), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Tom Clark (youth), Stuart Meaker (Surrey)
OUT: Michael Burgess (Warwickshire), Abi Sakande (released), Reece Topley (Surrey)
OVERSEAS: Travis Head (Aus), Rashid Khan (Afg, T20)WarwickshireIN: Michael Burgess (Sussex)
OUT: Alex Mellor, George Panayi (both released)
OVERSEAS: Jeetan Patel (NZ), Chris Green (Aus, T20)WorcestershireIN: Jake Libby (Nottinghamshire)
OUT: George Rhodes (Leicestershire)
OVERSEAS: Hamish Rutherford (NZ), Ashton Turner (Aus, T20)YorkshireIN: Dawid Malan (Middlesex)
OUT: Jack Leaning (Kent), Josh Shaw (Gloucestershire), Karl Carver, Bilal Anjam, Matthew Taylor (all released)
OVERSEAS: Nicholas Pooran (WI, T20), Keshav Maharaj (SA, April), R Ashwin (Ind, May-Sept)*denotes deal cancelled

Rishabh Pant has been the topic of a lot of debate in recent times and Rohit Sharma, for one, feels the young wicketkeeper-batsman must be “allowed to do what he wants to do on the field” and be left alone.After criticism about his shot selection, Pant the wicketkeeper came under scrutiny after he fluffed a chance to stump Liton Das in the second T20I when he collected the ball marginally in front of the stumps, which resulted in the delivery being called a no-ball.”There’s a lot of talk happening about Rishabh Pant, every day, every minute,” Rohit said on the eve of the third T20I in Nagpur. “I just feel that he needs to be allowed to do what he wants to do on the field. And I would request everyone to just keep your eyes away from Rishabh Pant for a while.He is a young guy, probably 21-22 now, trying to make his mark in international cricket, every move he makes on the field, people start talking about it.”While that might be Rohit’s position on Pant, other senior members of the Indian team set-up haven’t shied away from speaking about the youngster in the recent past. Ravi Shastri had called for a “rap on the knuckles” for Pant for his reckless batting, Vikram Rathour had spoken about the importance of being fearless without being careless, and captain Virat Kohli had called on him to read situations better.”I think it’s not fair, I think we should just allow him to play his cricket, which he also actually wants. And yes, focus on him a lot more when he is doing good things also, not just the bad things,” Rohit said. “He has kept well, he is learning every game, and yes, he is just doing whatever the team management wants him (to do). He is a very fearless cricketer, and we want him to have that freedom. And if you guys just keep your eyes a little bit away from him, it will allow him to perform even better.”Since the start of the year, Pant has scored just one half-century across limited-overs internationals, making 195 runs in 12 matches at an average of 21.66 in T20Is and 188 runs in nine games at 23.50 in ODIs. He played all three formats in the West Indies in August, but though he was retained in the T20Is against South Africa, he was replaced by Wriddhiman Saha for the Tests.While former players including Yuvraj Singh have backed Pant, India’s selectors have also made it clear that they want to persist with him across formats.On being asked what would be his piece of advice to youngsters like Pant – and Shreyas Iyer – Rohit said: “Both of them (are) very talented, have great abilities in whatever they do, and yes, definitely the future of Indian cricket, for sure. And they have proved it whenever they have played for their franchise, domestic cricket. They are just trying to make their mark in international cricket.Rishabh Pant exchanges notes with Rohit Sharma in the nets•Getty Images

“All I would tell them is (to) just understand their game, which is very, very important in whatever format you play, and feeling confident about yourself is very important. I think they are working hard towards their game, and I don’t see any reason why they can’t get the results on the ground. They have everything that is required to be successful at the international level. They work really hard on their games and yes, at the same time they are learning also. They are very new to this set-up. They are learning every game and with experience in a year or two, you will see them batting differently.”All we want them to do is to just go out there and enjoy, and be fearless. That would be the message from my side. Because as a young player when you are coming into the side, that is what you look forward to, having that freedom from the management. That is what we are here to assure them, that ‘you have all the backing that you need, you have all the freedom that you need, so just go out there and express yourself’. That is when players like these give you the best performance.”Over to the bowling unit, and while India have been attempting to give more and more players a chance in the lead up to the T20 World Cup next year, not all of them have grabbed their chances yet. Khaleel Ahmed, for one.”This is the time for youngsters to learn. We always say that playing domestic cricket is important and learn more. Till you don’t play international cricket you won’t know where you stand as a bowler,” Rohit said. “I think this is a good challenge for our bowling group because you’re playing against an international team. They will always challenge you, batsmen will play shots and challenge you. You won’t know where is your bowling until you’re put under pressure. I think for these bowlers it’s a good time to know where they stand.”

Rory Burns has only played a dozen Tests but looks set to link-up with his fifth* opening partner later this week in Mount Maunganui. But this time, at least, there will be a familiar face at the other end when he takes strike.While Dominic Sibley may have left Burns’ county, Surrey, a couple of years ago, the pair played a huge amount of cricket together as they were growing up. As well as providing many lifts to training and matches, Burns was also at the other end when Sibley made his Surrey debuts for the first-team and the seconds, as well as his debut in an England shirt last week in Whangarei. (Indeed, it is probably a reflection of England’s reliance upon private schools that three of England’s last four openers – Burns, Sibley and Jason Roy – all attended Whitgift.)ALSO READ: England settle for draw in tour matchAs a result, Burns is well placed to offer a view on Sibley’s capabilities as opener.”I’ve known Sibbo for – we were trying to work it out the other day – since I was 12 or 13,” Burns said. “I don’t really remember him at school because I left Whitgift at 16. But I remember seeing him down at academy stuff, Surrey stuff and he only lives a town down so I gave him a lot of lifts when he was coming through in the second team. I remember driving him to most of those games. I won’t have to drive him to this week: we’ve got the coach”It would be a pretty cool feeling to open with him on his Test debut, too. I’m very proud of him to have got to where he has, particularly having left Surrey and doing what he’s done at Warwickshire. That’s a testament to him as a character.”He showed all his attributes: his determination and his character to bat for days at a time, to put up the weight of runs he did and to bat the number of balls he did in tricky conditions you get in county cricket with a lot of assistance for bowlers a lot of the time. He’s earned his spot.”While Burns is somewhat defensive of Roy’s record – and not just because Roy served as one of his best men only a few weeks ago (Surrey seamer Matt Dunn was the other) – he accepts that Sibley may be more obviously suited to the role of Test opener.”Obviously Jason’s main grounding is white-ball cricket, but his red-ball cricket is very good as well. I don’t think we can judge him on his Test career batting out of position,” Burns said. “But I think him and Sibs’ styles are slightly different. Sibs is more traditional in terms of opening the batting in red-ball cricket because that’s where he’s learned most of his stuff.”His concentration levels and determination to go about that process are his strong points. He likes batting time, he can bat days at a time and he’s willing to grind bowlers down and not necessarily race away at the start of an innings. He’s willing to build an innings and wait for people to come to him and pick them off when he can. Sibbo was the standout batter in the country regardless of position.”Dominic Sibley removes his helmet on reaching three figures•Getty Images

There is little doubt Sibley has earned this opportunity. He not only scored more than 300 more runs than any man in Division One of the Championship in 2019, he faced more than a thousand deliveries more than anyone else in that division. But the New Zealand bowlers will have noted that he was struck on the grille of the helmet by an excellent short ball during the game against the New Zealand A side and flashed at one outside off stump a few minutes later. More short balls are likely.As for Burns, he is probably as established as any England opener since the years of Andrews Strauss and Alastair Cook. He has already achieved something Cook never could – a century in a home Ashes series – while his tally of runs in that series (390) also surpassed anything Cook ever achieved against Australia at home. Bearing in mind how tough opening the batting was in the summer of 2019 – David Warner averaged 9.50, remember – his average of 39.00 was a fine effort.He has also looked an asset in the field, taking some sharp catches in the cordon, and there have been early whispers that he could, one day, emerge as a leadership contender.”You’re never truly settled because there’s always another Test coming,” Burns said. “New Zealand have got a fine bowling attack to try and expose any weaknesses in your game. It’s a summer to build on for me, but at the end of it there were a few scores I left out there. So there’s a lot to keep improving upon.”There sure is. But, in picking two specialist openers to combat the new ball, England are, at last, giving themselves the best opportunity to improve in New Zealand.*Oh, and just in case you are wracking your brain trying to remember Burns’ Test opening partners, they are: Keaton Jennings, Joe Denly, Jack Leach and Roy.

Justice (retd) RM Lodha, who was appointed by the Supreme Court in 2015 to reform the BCCI, has said the board’s move to amend the constitution he had framed was “unfortunate”. The constitution, which provides for sweeping changes to the way in which Indian cricket is run, was approved by the Supreme Court in August 2018.Lodha referred to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and said a former cricketer would never have headed the board if it wasn’t for his reforms in the first place.The most radical amendments include altering the rules concerning the cooling-off period for administrators that currently bars them from office for three years after serving a six-year period in office, relaxing various disqualification criteria and removing the need for any changes to the constitution to be approved by the Supreme Court. Ganguly and BCCI secretary Jay Shah are currently set to serve only till June 2020 since they had been heads of their respective state boards for more than five years before their current roles.Among the other amendments proposed by the BCCI board is watering down the “conflict of interest clauses” that exist in the constitution and giving more power to the board secretary. That is a distinct shift from before where the CEO held more power.”It’s very unfortunate,” Lodha was quoted as saying in an interview by Hindustan Times. “I thought a cricketer at the helm of affairs will understand that it was only our reforms which brought him to this position.”If the earlier system was in vogue, perhaps no cricketer could have ever dreamt of heading a body like the BCCI,” Lodha said. “The way politics is played in cricket administration, I don’t think any cricketer would have been able to get this position but for these reforms.”That’s all the more reason for those in charge now to respect the reforms and try to fully implement them, instead of changing them,” Lodha said. “Let reforms work over a period of time and see how transparency, accountability come into the administration.”Lodha conceded that it was legally impossible to stop family members of former board members from contesting elections. But he hoped that more “independent” people would come to the fore in the long run.Lodha also said he wished that the Committee of Administrators, led by Vinod Rai, implemented the reforms much faster. “They took a lot of time in implementation,” he said. “Their job was to implement the SC order by which our committee’s report was accepted. It should have been done a long time back. They took three years.”As a matter of fact, the second election should have been due by this time because the first order was passed in July, 2016. The first election after reforms has taken place in 2019.”The Lodha Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court in 2015, was headed by Lodha, a former Chief Justice of India, along with former Supreme Court Justices RV Raveendran and Ashok Bhan.