The clock struck quarter past four. About six television channels simultaneously telecast live the announcement of Team India’s 15-man provisional squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in June. This, at a time when the fervour of Lok Sabha general elections is engulfing the entire nation. Needless to say, the pervasive influence of cricket manifests in the ordinary act of squad announcements, transforming it into a captivating spectacle. “Chacha, World Cup ka sapna bhul jaao. Iss baar bhi samjho hamare haat se gaya (Uncle, give up on your hopes of seeing India win the World Cup. It is out of our reach now),” a resounding voice pierced through the air. “Koi baat nahi beta, bharosa rakho. Jeetna haarna toh khel ka hissa hain (Don’t worry, get your hopes up. Winning and losing is a part of the game),” replied 67-year-old Vinayak Tiwari, a tea vendor outside Bandra’s MIG Cricket Club. As Tiwari busied himself with preparing and serving tea, his stall evolved into a hub of discussions and debates surrounding the World Cup squad. Indian cricket is facing a dilemma at the moment, albeit a good one. There are simply too many decent batting options for the T20 format, but only limited spots remained for grabs for the World Cup. Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube are to blame for making selectors scratch their heads while formulating the batting setup. Rinku was a future prospect that was meant to be kept under the wings for grooming, but who knew he would disobey and take off on his own given the opportunity? A 26-year-old put out there to get some exposure ended up rattling those up the ranks when it came to exhibiting his prowess across all facets of cricket. Life, however, decided to change his fate on Tuesday. Dube, another all-rounder, who was considered too slow to pick up wickets, was boldly put into the squad ahead of in-form Rinku to toil hard alongside big names. Dube has managed to produce magic over the last two IPLs for CSK and the selectors must have considered his power-hitting abilities during India's recent T20 series win in January. Sure, in that case, why not spare some thought into Rinku’s faultless performance since his India debut? If IPL really bore no influence on squad selection, how was Rinku’s stellar strike rate of 176.23 across 15 T20Is brazenly disregarded? Being relegated to reserves is no less than a snub in itself, does a player of his stature deserve to be at the mercy of another? Experienced wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul must have, in all probability, on Tuesday, found himself in a state of apprehension akin to watching a horror film unfold, as his name appeared nowhere on the screen. But selectors thought differently this time, having prioritised flamboyance over reliability, favouring Pant’s consistency with keeping as well as batting. A batsman who has shots all around the park in crunch situations, Rahul's experience, consistency and technique is second to none. His exclusion leaves us a lot to think about. Is this a mere slap on the wrist to get his act together, or is it the end of the road for Rahul in the T20 format? Selectors can at least take pride in the fact that they have won a few hearts down South after Samson’s inclusion. The Royals skipper is truly an unsung hero, his stats show why! If not better, but for some odd reason, he never managed to garner the same love from selectors. Usually always selected to warm the bench, and occasionally asked to play when everyone else has failed, his chest should be swollen with pride. Newly-appointed Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya seemed imbued with pure happiness as his side took the field against Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday. His captaincy and recent performances have landed him in hot water. Questions regarding his dip in form are circulating in the media and while he hasn’t been completely ineffective, he is leaking runs more than usual. Under such circumstances, I dare say his absence could have made little to no difference in the squad, given how Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja can turn things around with the willow besides bowling. At least that would have helped a more deserving candidate have a crack at the opposition. One need not spend long wandering about to know that nearly every Indian fan thinks he or she would do a better job of selecting squads than those presently tasked with doing it. Tuesday was no different. Hopefully, if India does reach the final again this year, they won’t watch it with their heads buried in the sand. Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views and do not represent the views of Mid-Day.
01 May,2024 11:30 AM IST | Mumbai | Srijanee MajumdarIt’s a good toss to win these days, and thus, Delhi Capitals’s decision to bat first on Monday took most by surprise. “We’ve been having some success putting big scores on the board and trying to defend them, and we knew there wasn’t going to be much dew and there wasn’t,” DC’s bowling coach James Hopes justified the choice after the seven-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders. “I think it was a good option, but we did not bat well enough,” said DC skipper Rishabh Pant. Three of Capitals’s five victories had come while defending totals, most notably the ones leading up to Monday’s match, with both Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians falling short last week. Lost, of course, was the fact that Eden Gardens was lending itself nicely to high-scoring chases and the Knights were recent victims twice, with Punjab Kings getting past their 261 for a T20 world record. Man-of-the-Match Varun Chakravarthy, who snared three for 16 in his four overs, said KKR weren’t defending well of late and “that we got to bowl first was good”.
01 May,2024 06:57 AM IST | Kolkata | Arup ChatterjeeAn inconsistent Chennai Super Kings will have to display all-round solidity when they face an unpredictable Punjab Kings in their Indian Premier League match here on Wednesday. The Super Kings have 10 points from nine matches, similar figures as that of Lucknow Super Giants, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals, and the defending champions would certainly like to breakaway from that mid-table gridlock with a win. However, the defending champions will be a worried lot as Punjab Kings, who have six points from nine games, are coming to this match after scaling down 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders, the highest chase in T20 history. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
01 May,2024 06:54 AM IST | Chennai | PTIIt ought to have been a joyous day for Mumbai Indians as four of their players, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah were included in the Indian T20 team for the World Cup. Besides, on his birthday, Rohit Sharma was confirmed as the Indian captain while Hardik was named his deputy. But things did not go well for them on the field in the first half of their IPL match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium on Tuesday. Also Read: Rinku, hang in there! Rohit could manage just one boundary before being caught in the covers, SKY was caught down the leg-side after making 10 while Hardik was caught behind the first ball off a beautiful delivery by Naveen-ul-Haq. It was indeed disappointing for the spectators who had come to witness fireworks. The spotlight was hogged by the LSG bowlers who maintained a good line and length initially to give early jolts to MI. As a result, MI managed just 28 runs for four wickets in the Powerplay. If at all they built up a decent total of 144-7, it was due to Nehal Wadhera, who played a fighting knock of 46, Ishan Kishan (32 off 36) and a late flourish by Tim David (35 not out from 18 balls).
01 May,2024 06:50 AM IST | Lucknow | Santosh SuriThe upcoming T20 World Cup-bound England players who are currently fulfilling their IPL commitments will “return in time” for a preceding four-match T20I series against Pakistan, the country’s cricket board said on Tuesday. England on Tuesday named a 15-member squad for the T20 showpiece. The same squad has been selected for the T20I series against Pakistan, which will commence on May 22 in Headingley. “Selected players, currently playing in the Indian Premier League, will return in time for the series against Pakistan, which gets underway at Headingley on Wednesday 22 May 2024,” the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
01 May,2024 06:48 AM IST | London | PTIFit-again pacer Jofra Archer expectedly returned after a one-year injury-forced hiatus, while rookie all-rounder Tom Hartley also made the cut in the 15-member preliminary T20 World Cup squad announced by defending champions England here on Tuesday. Archer last played for England in a T20 International series against Bangladesh in March last year. “Jofra Archer has recovered from his right elbow injury and is named in the squad,” said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in its media release. England will be led by Jos Buttler, who had guided them to the title in Australia in 2022. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
01 May,2024 06:45 AM IST | London | AFPFormer chairman of the national selection committee, Sandeep Patil reckoned that the T20 World Cup team ought to have included Shubman Gill instead of left-spinner Axar Patel. “Too many spinners,” Patil exclaimed about the inclusion of four tweakers—Jadeja, Kuldeep, Chahal and Axar. “I would have had Axar in the reserves and Gill in the actual squad. There will not be a good batsman in the reserves in this current scenario now,” said Patil, whose committee picked teams for the 2014 and 2016 T20 World Cups.
01 May,2024 06:42 AM IST | Mumbai | Clayton MurzelloAfter restricting Mumbai Indians to paltry 144, Lucknow Super Giants huffed and puffed to victory in a rather dull match of the IPL 2024 so far. Marcus Stoinis was the star of the day as his all-round performance of 62 with the bat and 1 for 19 with the ball helped LSG register a crucial four-wicket win over MI at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, here on Tuesday. In the chase of below par score of 145 at the slow wicket, Nuwan Thushara landed an early strike, dismissing Arshin Kulkarni for the golden duck. KL Rahul dropped the anchor role as he was 5 off 13 after three overs and already set up to stay there till the end, giving up the responsibility of making a play to the other batters. Thushara and Gerald Coetzee had given KL Rahul two freebies down leg side and he was unable to connect with either of them. But Coetzee was smoked for 15-runs in the second over courtesy of back-to-back boundaries from Stoinis. LSG lost skipper Rahul on 28 to a wonderful catch by Mohammad Nabi off Hardik Pandya which pulled Mumbai back in the game as both added 58 off 40 deliveries for the second wicket. Stoinis was looking good and Deepak Hooda was decent in the four balls he had faced. It was an uphill task for MI as they needed a few wickets to script a turn around on a wicket which looked slightly sluggish. Stoinis was impressive with another fifty, but LSG stumbled toward the end, taking the game until the last over. The experience of Nicholas Pooran came in handy as the home team successfully went past the finish line with 4 balls to spare. Also Read: More than luck… pluck! LSG moved to the third spot in the IPL 2024 points table, leapfrogging CSK while MI are ninth in points table with just 3 wins in 10 matches. Even if MI win their remaining 4 matches, they might not be able to reach the playoffs. Earlier, Nehal Wadhera's 46 and Tim David's late fire of 35 propelled Mumbai Indians to 144/7. Lucknow came with a different bowling plan in the Powerplay overs against Mumbai, and it paid off well as Marcus Stoinis in his second over of the spell got rid of dangerous Suryakumar Yadav on the score of 10. Before that Mohsin Khan dismissed skipper Rohit Sharma for four runs in the second over of the inning. Tilak Varma got run out in the chaos of an lbw appeal by Ravi Bishnoi guiding the backward point, as he forgot about where the ball was. Then walked skipper Hardik Pandya in the crease. He got out for a first-ball duck. Mumbai were in serious trouble with 28 for 4 on the scoreboard in the powerplay. Mayank Yadav, on return from injury bowled the seventh over of the innings and was a fairly long first over and got smoked for eight runs in the over. And once the field spread and LSG went to their spinners, it became harder to score boundaries for MI. Five boundaries in eight overs and Kishan trying to go for more was out caught for 32 off 36. Ravi Bishnoi, nominally a leg spinner, took out another left-hander with his googly. Nehal Wadhera and Ishan Kishan added run-up ball 53 for the fifth wicket. In the midst of a difficult time for Mumbai, Nehal Wadhera was leading Mumbai forward. He finished on 46 off 41. It was the kind of innings no batter wanted to play in T20s. Much of his acceleration was the result of him taking on Mayank. Their head-to-head was 21 off 12 with two fours and two sixes. Mayank left the field due to injury with the figure of 1 for 31 in 3.1 overs. However, the nature of the injury is still unknown. Brief score:Mumbai Indians 144 for 7 in 20 overs (Nehal Wadhera 46, Tim David 35; Mohsin Khan 2-36, Naveen-ul-Haq 1-15) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 145 for 6 in 19.2 overs (Marcus Stoinis 62, KL Rahul 28; Hardik Pandya 2-28, Nuwan Thushara 1-30) by four wickets. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
01 May,2024 06:40 AM IST | Lucknow | IANSThe Indian selectors have picked four spinners—Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, both left-armers, and wrist spinners, right-armer Yuzvendra Chahal and left-armer Kuldeep Yadav—for the upcoming T20 World Cup. The chief concern is that there is no off-spinner. Former India off-spinner and selector Shivlal Yadav was disappointed at the non-inclusion of R Ashwin. Yadav said: “They should have gone for variety. What is the point in having two left-arm spinners and two wrist spinners? Ashwin would have been a perfect choice. They should have picked Ashwin instead of Axar. Okay, they may have thought of Ashwin’s fielding, but in T20, with just four overs, he would have been handy against left-handers. Jadeja is indispensable. But no point in having two left-arm spinners.” Shivlal Yadav and V Raju Meanwhile, former India left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju told mid-day that the choice of four spinners in the squad was fine. “It will depend on the type of pitches in the West Indies and USA. Let’s not forget that USA have drop-in pitches,” Raju said. However, Raju, a national selector when India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007, was concerned about the lack of international cricket in the recent past for leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Also Read: Rinku, hang in there! Chahal, 33, was left out of the T20 squad after the tour of West Indies last August. He also missed the T20 series against Australia (November 2023) and Afghanistan (January 2024) at home and in South Africa (December 2023). Chahal has played in 80 T20Is and needs four more wickets to touch 100. Raju added: “I’m happy Chahal is a part of the team in this World Cup. But, after performing in international cricket, he did not find a place in the Indian team of late. The current IPL has helped him return to the team. But there is a lot of difference playing in international cricket and in the IPL. Chahal has formed a successful pair with Kuldeep Yadav. My only concern is that there is no off-spinner. Who will bowl off-spin? India have two left-arm spinning all-rounders and two wrist spinners in KulCha. When we won the World Cup in 2007 the team had enough all-rounders and quite a lot of experience in international cricket leading up to the tournament.”
01 May,2024 06:38 AM IST | Mumbai | G KrishnanThe Impact Player rule, which has made IPL contests quite literally a “12-a-side affair”, has dealt a raw deal to power-hitter Rinku Singh, who couldn’t make the Indian main squad for T20 World Cup as he simply did not have enough game time to his credit. The 26-year-old Aligarh left-hander, who captured the cricketing world’s imagination with five sixes in an over during the previous IPL, made way for Shivam Dube in the main national squad while his name ended up being among the reserves. Dube got in thanks to more game time for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during the first 10 games of the league. Those who were privy to the selection meeting held in Ahmedabad on Tuesday unanimously agreed that Rinku became an easy omission for the panel because he couldn’t be fitted alongside Hardik Pandya and Dube in the same 15. ‘Risky to drop Hardik’ “No doubt, Rinku paid the price for the Impact Player rule. He is plain and simple unlucky. Hardik might be in poor form, but he is still India’s best seam bowling all-rounder, and it would have been a risk dropping him considering he is the only one who has bowled,” a BCCI source said. So how did the Impact Player Rule become Rinku’s undoing? Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) treated Rinku as a finisher and he never got a chance to bat in the top five. In eight innings before selection, he played merely 82 balls, which is just about 10 balls per innings. The two Iyers—Venkatesh and skipper Shreyas—along with Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who is anything but a power-hitter got a majority of the overs, leaving Rinku with very little to do in the end. Also Read: Wait for the knives to be out! One can’t blame KKR for not promoting Rinku, but truth be told, the two Iyers were never in contention for national selection. Their names weren’t even up for discussion. In contrast, CSK and their shrewd tactician Mahendra Singh Dhoni have been making optimum use of Dube ever since he came in during the 2021 season. Dube has got to play 203 balls in nine games so far for CSK. That’s around 23 balls per game—13 more than Rinku, which enabled him to muscle 26 sixes apart from 24 fours. Rinku, in his 82 balls, hit nine fours and six sixes. Lack of batting time The 13 extra balls that Dube, as Impact Player, got made all the difference, especially on flatter decks where one could hit through the line. Rinku, didn’t even get his fair share of batting on tracks where Raghuvanshi and the Iyers consumed more deliveries. Dube hasn’t been bowling his medium pacers as Dhoni has rightly judged that his bowling ability is below par and on most days, he will be a stationary target for batters keen on range hitting. If there wasn’t an Impact Player rule, it is not clear if Dhoni and current CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad would have been able to use Dube in his current avatar. 69No. of runs scored by Rinku Singh in his last T20I innings against Afghanistan at a strike rate of 176.92 176.23 Rinku’s strike rate in T20Is. He has scored 356 in 11 innings at an impressive average of 89.00 This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
01 May,2024 06:35 AM IST | New Delhi | PTI
A distinct slant towards spin, evidenced by the presence of four tweakers, and the non-inclusion of Rinku Singh, a designated finisher, were among the biggest talking points as India’s selectors named the 15 for the T20 World Cup, starting in a month’s time. India will play their four initial-round games in New York (three matches) and Lauderhill, and the universal consensus is that surfaces at these two venues, as well as in the Caribbean, will have more in them for the spinners than the faster bowlers. That has facilitated a comeback to the T20 scheme of things for the first time since August last year of Yuzvendra Chahal, the leg-spinner who is in the middle of another wonderful IPL. Chahal ahead of Bishnoi Chahal forms a potent quartet alongside left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, the selectors opting for the experience and pedigree of Chahal ahead of Ravi Bishnoi, who has been tidy, but is shy of wickets in the IPL. Rinku had been a shoo-in for the World Cup at the start of the IPL, but in a straight shootout, he lost out to Shivam Dube, also an explosive left-handed middle-order powerhouse who can also bowl handy medium pace. Dube hasn’t bowled a single ball for Chennai Super Kings, but the fact that he can chip in if required has earned him the nod as one of two fast-medium all-rounders alongside Hardik Pandya, who has been named Rohit Sharma’s deputy even though he hasn’t had a great run for Mumbai Indians in his first stint as his franchise’s designated skipper. Rinku versus Dube was one of several straight contests; the others involved Sanju Samson and KL Rahul for the second wicketkeeper’s slot behind Rishabh Pant, and Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill for the right to open alongside Rohit. Samson’s stunning consistency and his calmness under pressure, both of which have shone through this season, tilted the scales in his favour and even though Gill has been the more prolific of the two openers in contention, the nod went to Jaiswal, his left-handedness perhaps doing the trick. Rinku, Rahul and Gill must consider themselves desperately unlucky to miss the bus, but with so many options at their disposal, any call the selectors make will have both supporters and detractors. Also Read: Wait for the knives to be out! The selection panel hasn’t gone entirely by IPL numbers, though. That is clear from their continued faith in both Pandya and Mohammed Siraj, who is only just beginning to hit his straps after an iffy start to the tournament. The temptation to turn to Tilak Varma, one of the few bright spots this season for MI, might have been overwhelming, but the logjam at the top of the batting order precluded the young left-hander’s inclusion. Consistent Kohli It was impossible to look beyond Virat Kohli’s blazing consistency—his 500 runs have come at a strike rate of more than 147—and Suryakumar Yadav’s standing as the best T20 batsman in the world, which automatically meant that several potential left-field contenders fell by the wayside. In any case, India’s selectors have seldom been known to go with out-of-the-box choices for a tournament as high-profile as a World Cup, so the touch of predictability to the 15-strong party is understandable. The peerless Jasprit Bumrah helms a trio of specialist quicks—Arshdeep Singh provides the left-arm variety—in a further indication of how the think-tank expects the pitches to behave in North America. In the final analysis, there is balance and depth in the squad; there is also oodles of experience and an obvious trust in the tried and the tested. Previous campaigns with a similar approach haven’t paid dividends for over a decade now, but hope always springs eternal, doesn’t it? T20 World Cup squad Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan
01 May,2024 06:32 AM IST | Bangalore | R KaushikADVERTISEMENT
