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Pakistan will not tour Bangladesh this year as per schedule; the PCB said the series has been postponed indefinitely by mutual consent

Umar Farooq26-Apr-2017Pakistan will not tour Bangladesh this year as per schedule; the PCB said the series has been postponed indefinitely by mutual consent. Pakistan was to play two Tests, three ODIs and a T20I series in Bangladesh in July and August.”We had spoken about the possibility of hosting them [Bangladesh in Pakistan] this year,” PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan told ESPNcricinfo. “Pakistan have now toured Bangladesh twice without them reciprocating, and we feel we cannot tour Bangladesh for the third straight time. Therefore, we have decided to postpone the tour, and will explore another window in the next year or so.”Bangladesh last toured Pakistan in 2007-08, for a five-ODI series. Since then, Pakistan have toured Bangladesh twice, in 2011-12 and 2015. The PCB had invited Bangladesh for a two-match T20I series this year, only for the BCB to rebuff the invitation.On Pakistan’s last visit to Bangladesh in 2015, the PCB had reportedly taken US$ 325,000 and justified it by saying the series had “technically” been Pakistan’s home series. This year the BCB rejected all such proposals to share revenue, though it was open to playing at a neutral venue if necessary.The PCB, however, was not keen on that option. It is understood the Pakistan board feels that hosting teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in the UAE – its adopted home – is not financially viable.Relations between the Pakistan and Bangladesh boards have been sour in the past. During the Zaka Ashraf regime, the PCB had stopped communication with the BCB and barred its cricketers – who had already been auctioned to various teams – from featuring in the Bangladesh Premier League.Bangladesh were the fourth team – after West Indies, Ireland and Sri Lanka – to refuse to travel to Pakistan in the last two years. Nevertheless, the PCB is looking to build on hosting an incident-free PSL final in Lahore in March by inviting a team of international cricketers to play a T20 series in September. However, even the PSL final – touted a success – was marred by Quetta Gladiators’ entire foreign contingent deciding against travelling to Pakistan for the final.In another development, members of the ICC board were briefed on the security situation in Pakistan. According to Shaharyar, Giles Clarke, the head of the ICC task force on Pakistan, confirmed that Lahore would host a World XI in September.”We wanted to share the series between Lahore and Karachi but since the security assessment was focussed on Lahore only, it was decided to restrict the series to Lahore for now,” Shaharyar said. “The presentation about the PSL final was well received and all members understand that the World XI tour will further pave the way for major international cricket in the country. They were supportive overall and we are looking forward to host some of the top players of the world.”

Hong Kong have received assurance from the ICC that they are not under any greater scrutiny than other teams at the World T20 following comments earlier in the week

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-20162:31

‘Unfair to speculate on fixing’ – Richardson

Hong Kong have received assurance from the ICC that they are not under any greater scrutiny than other teams at the World T20 following comments earlier in the week.Shortly before the start of the World T20, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the head of the ACU, spoke about how an international team was under investigation. In a subsequent press conference David Richardson, the ICC chief executive, said “in recent times you would have read in the media that a particular player was suspended from his country and the investigations relate to that same team.” That promoted links back to the January suspension of Hong Kong batsman Irfan Ahmed.But Hong Kong have been told that the current investigation does not relate to them.In a statement, Tim Cutler, the Hong Kong Cricket chief executive, said: “Ordinarily, neither a Board nor the ICC comments on matters relating to ACU activities or investigations, but, following a range of comments and subsequent media reports that suggested that the Hong Kong team is under investigation, we feel it is imperative to clarify these misleading and damaging reports.”The HKCA has received confirmation from Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the Chairman of the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit, that the Hong Kong squad is under no greater scrutiny than any other squad involved in the current ICC World Twenty20 India 2016.”David Richardson also clarified in a press conference in Delhi on Wednesday that all teams involved in the ICC World Twenty20 2016 will be equally monitored, as per usual ICC practice, to isolate them from any attempts to corrupt them or the results of their matches.””Sir Ronnie Flanagan has expressed his deepest gratitude for HKCA’s assistance in the ongoing fight against corruption, and in particular, our support of recent ACU activities,” Cutler added.”Naturally, we are very disappointed that this matter has been raised in this manner and at this time, but we thank the ICC for clarifying the matter, and publicly supporting Hong Kong and our efforts to combat corruption.”We are here to play cricket, and will now move on from this matter to focus on the remainder of the tournament.”Hong Kong play their final match of the World T20 against Scotland on Saturday following defeats against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.

Debutant Zulfiqar Babar, 34, took 3 for 23 and hit the winning runs off the last ball to take Pakistan home in a thriller against West Indies

The Report by Abhishek Purohit27-Jul-2013Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsZulfiqar Babar, 34, had a dream debut for Pakistan•WICB Media

You get a chance to play international cricket at 34, becoming the second-oldest debutant for your country. You are hit for six second ball. What do you do? You dismiss three key batsmen for just 23 runs. You are then called on to finish the game. With the bat. Understandably, you are tied down. But with six needed off six, you loft over extra cover for four. You think you have more than pulled your weight as a debutant. You have, but it is not over yet. It comes down to the last ball. One run needed. Everyone is in the circle. No sweat. You go big over mid-off, so big that you clear the rope. Zulfiqar Babar, welcome to international cricket.It should not have come down to the last ball the way Shahid Afridi sensibly steered the chase from 86 for 5. After that became 116 for 6, he did it with the tail for company. He made 46 off 27, but barring the 27th delivery, he hardly hit a desperate, reckless stroke. With eight needed off 11 though, he tried to seal it with a straight six, and mishit to long-on.West Indies sensed a chance. Babar played out a few dots. Despite that early boundary in the last over, Saeed Ajmal was run out off the fifth with the scores tied, before Babar roared one final time.The way they bowled and fielded, West Indies were lucky to have taken it down to the last ball. Shannon Gabriel took three wickets, but he crumbled under pressure each time he was called upon to deliver. Umar Amin, who played a blinder on T20 debut, took three fours off Gabriel’s first over, with a flick and two pulls.Amin then took Samuel Badree apart on a turning pitch. Never giving the ball a chance to spin, he repeatedly stepped out to loft Badree down the ground. When the bowler dropped it short, Amin pulled. When he overpitched,
Amin drove. Even as Amin was toying with West Indies, the hosts were striking at the other end.The Pakistan top order fell to miscalculated hits, but Amin’s brilliance meant the asking-rate was always under control. That still didn’t stop Amin from walking out to Samuels and getting stumped to make it 86 for 5.Afridi took over now, striking Samuels first ball for six over long-off and drilling the third to the extra cover rope. Thereafter, he settled down into cruise mode, rotating the strike, picking the odd boundary and also lofting Sunil Narine to become the first man to reach 400 international sixes. He did everything right except the stroke on the ball he got out to, but then, it was to be the debutant’s day in the end.Babar, and the other Pakistan spinners, had shocked West Indies initially on the turner but the hosts recovered and then took apart the fast bowlers to post a challenging total. Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard came together at 42 for 4 and put on 56 before Darren Sammy cracked 30 off 14. Pakistan’s slow bowlers did their job, taking 5 for 74 in 14 overs but the fast bowlers, missing the yorkers too often, disappeared for 1 for 73 in six. Mohammad Hafeez, who opened the bowling and dismissed the openers, gave himself just two overs.Babar squared up and bowled Lendl Simmons with his fourth delivery and in his next over, found himself in the way of a powerful hit from Samuels, but managed to hold on. Samuels had been cutting Mohammad Irfan for boundaries amid all the wickets.Bravo and Pollard, although not always in control, rotated the strike, a refreshing thing coming from a West Indies pair. Bravo was quick to hit with the turn through the off side, and Pollard made sure he put away the rare half-volleys for boundaries. Sammy went after the fast bowlers as he and Pollard looted 53 in four overs. As Sammy said after the game, 152 should have been defended on that pitch, but Babar was to have the perfect debut.

When Graeme Smith declared South Africa’s first innings he did something South African cricketers are not known for. He got creative

Firdose Moonda at The Oval22-Jul-2012When Graeme Smith declared South Africa’s first innings with his team 252 runs in front and four sessions left in the game, he did something South African cricketers are not known for. He got creative.Many observers expected him to allow the record run-scoring to continue for a few more overs, especially with Jacques Kallis approaching a double hundred, before unleashing his attack for a short burst. Instead he took the situation by the scurf of the neck and handed the challenge to England’s top order; the end result was four wickets which has put South Africa in prime position for victory.Hashim Amla, who was undefeated on a South African-record 311 when he was told to stop, offered some insight into the captain’s decision. “We saw the wicket is good to bat on and we’d rather have a lot of time to bowl and chase whatever we have to than bat on for 10 or 15 overs that we may need later on,” Amla said, indicating that South Africa have prepared to bat again if needs be. “You’d rather be in our change-room without a doubt.”Despite the unresponsive surface, Amla believes there is something in it for South Africa’s attack, particularly Imran Tahir who already has the scalp of Andrew Strauss. “There’s quite a bit of rough. Even though they don’t have many left-handers to come, the rough is always a danger for the left-handers so maybe Imran can get a bit there,” he said.Amla predicted a tough first hour which has been the pattern throughout the match. He negotiated two days’ worth of first hours; day three when South Africa managed just 32 and day four when they scored 36. “It’s tough going early doors. Fresh bowlers in these conditions are never easy.”England will know that only too well, as they faced the first hour on day two and lost three wickets in that time. With South Africa’s attack proving dangerous, England face a battle early on the final morning “Dale, Morne and Vernon got the ball to move a bit,” Amla said. “It’s their good skill that is coming through.”Skill has been the winner in this match, whatever happens on the final day, with Amla’s masterclass the highlight. His marathon innings resulted in the first triple hundred by a South African in Tests but he said it was not always easy. With Smith, he had to “just hang in there and hang in there,” until conditions allowed for freer flowing play.”Graeme batted superbly,” Amla said. “His knock was a major stepping stone for us in our big total: the way he managed to grind it out. We went through patches where we didn’t score a lot and then either he would score freely or I would. That’s the beauty of a big partnership.”A second sizeable stand, with Kallis, guided Amla to the milestone and he credited his partner with providing “guidance,” during their time together. “You keep encouraging each other as you go on and you keep building,” he said. “You want to put the team in the best position as possible.”Amla had not had much time to think about his achievement by the end of the day’s play but took immense satisfaction from putting his team in control. “The biggest pleasure is that we are in a really dominant position to win this position, that’s the great joy. You want to contribute handsomely to the team. I try not to get into the psycho-babble about it and try and maximise opportunity.”Breaking a record and making history were things Amla had never thought about before and will not put on his to-do list in future. “I didn’t ever dream about getting 300, although I would have loved to,” he said. “I’ve always been the kind of person to never set goals. Fortunately, that means you can keep going without being limited by having set something up.”

Cheteshwar Pujara, the Indian batsman, will be out of action for four months after undergoing knee surgery

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2011Cheteshwar Pujara, the India batsman, will be out of action for four months after undergoing knee surgery. He injured his right knee during the IPL earlier this year, missed out on much of that tournament and was forced to skip the recently concluded West Indies tour as well.Pujara, 23, is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, and still needs the help of crutches to walk. “The last time I injured my left knee, during the second IPL, there was a lot of pain,” he told the . “This time there was no pain at all and doctors believed I could get fit for the tour of England. But I was asked to consult Dr Andrew Williams [in England] who advised me to undergo surgery.”The surgery puts the brakes on Pujara’s attempts to seal a permanent spot in the Test XI. After several seasons of heavy run-scoring in the domestic circuit, he delivered on Test debut last year with an enterprising second-innings 72 to seal a home-series win against Australia.His absence from the West Indies tour and the forthcoming visit to England allows other contenders like Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh to make their case for the only middle-order opening available in the Indian team.”I don’t know what the future holds. I’m hopeful of making a comeback,” Pujara said. “I think I have given my best during the opportunities I have got.”Another, more senior, member of the Indian team is also at the NCA recovering from injury. Virender Sehwag, who had shoulder surgery in May, spent 40 minutes on Tuesday afternoon facing gentle throwdowns. He hasn’t played since the IPL, and will miss at least the first Test of the England series.

Ed Joyce made his first hundred in one-day league cricket as Sussex Sharks improved their chances of defending their Clydesdale Bank 40 title with a crushing 159-run win over Worcestershire Royals at Hove

19-Jul-2010

ScorecardEd Joyce stroked 16 fours and a six during his 117•Getty Images

Ed Joyce made his first hundred in one-day league cricket as Sussex Sharks improved their chances of defending their Clydesdale Bank 40 title with a crushing 159-run win over Worcestershire Royals at Hove.The Irish left-hander’s 117 and a swashbuckling 95 from Luke Wright propelled the Sharks to 313 for 6 and it was way too much for the Royals who were dismissed for 154 and have now lost all six games in Group A.Sussex’s fourth win moved them to within a point of second placed Surrey Lions, although they have played a match more.Joyce looked in good touch from the start against an under-strength Worcestershire side who gave one-day debuts to England under-19 batsman Jack Manuel, wicketkeeper Ben Cox and slow left-armer Shaaiq Choudhry.He helped give Sussex an ideal platform with 76 in 12 overs with Chris Nash before adding 119 in 16.4 overs with Wright. Joyce timed the ball superbly throughout and reached his fourth one-day hundred for Sussex by slog-sweeping Choudhry for six.His innings ended disappointingly when he top-edged to short fine leg but it was a classy effort nonetheless containing 16 fours off 91 balls. Wright then took up the attack after reaching his half-century from a relatively sedate 53 balls with just three fours.When Sussex called their second four-over powerplay in the 31st over he hit six more boundaries and a straight six off Jack Shantry to move to 95 only to sky Shantry’s slower ball to long off when only the second one-day hundred of his career was in sight.Robin Martin-Jenkins, in his final game before he retires to take up a teaching job after 16 seasons and 459 matches, took Sussex past 300 with two sixes and he then bowled eight wicketless overs as the Royals lost wickets regularly in an increasingly forlorn run chase.James Kirtley took two wickets with successive balls in his third over including Royals’ skipper Vikram Solanki who lost his off stump in spectacular fashion shouldering arms after Manuel had mis-timed a drive to extra cover. Kirtley also removed Alex Kervezee while Daryl Mitchell and Moeen Ali were run out by direct hits from Joe Gatting and wicketkeeper Ben Brown respectively.Monty Panesar bowled superbly to pick up two wickets with his left-arm spin, conceding just 11 runs in his eight overs. Choudhry hit out breezily at the end to top score with 39 including seven fours but the outcome had long since been decided.

On a day when his fast-bowling colleagues weren’t at their best, Mahmud led the way with his command of length and movement in both directions

Mohammad Isam19-Sep-20240:59

Manjrekar: Mahmud sacrificed pace for line and length

Hasan Mahmud stuck to bowling fuller lengths for most of the first day of Bangladesh’s Test tour of India. When he wasn’t bowling gentle outswingers to tempt the Indian batters to go for the cover drive, he was trying to hit the stumps or the pads.Taskin Ahmed, who has played more Tests than Mahmud, and Nahid Rana, who bowls much quicker, did not stick to this simple approach. They bowled too short, too wide or too full, giving the batters plenty of freebies. Mahmud simply used the devices available to him – seam, swing, pace and the right lengths – and became the first overseas quick in nearly 15 years to take three wickets in the first session of a Test match against India in India.”It is obviously great to take Test wickets,” Mahmud said. “I took a five-for against Pakistan so it was about trying to be consistent in my effort to contribute to the team. Today’s plan was very simple. I tried to shape the ball with the seam up. I kept trying to do it and [it paid off]. After the morning session which we dominated, the wicket got settled. The ball was coming onto the bat nicely. Still, I was getting some movement later on. Maybe tomorrow we can create more chances.”Related

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Every wicket Mahmud took on the first day in Chennai was well thought out. He built up a case against each batter, whether over a short or long period. Mahmud got the ball to hoop in slightly overcast conditions and tested both of Rohit Sharma’s edges. A skewed edge got Rohit an early boundary before he survived an lbw shout in the fourth over, when the ball ducked in from a slightly shorter length. Then came a subtle outgoing delivery that took his outside edge, well taken by Najmul Hossain Shanto at second slip.India’s No. 3 Shubman Gill, who couldn’t get Mahmud away for seven balls, also survived an lbw shout. His dismissal was a lucky one perhaps, when he was caught down the leg side, but it looked like Gill was itching to get off the mark. A batter strangling one down the leg side is often the result of early dot-ball pressure.Mahmud then had Virat Kohli caught behind chasing an outside-off-stump delivery. The ball before, Kohli had played a confident forward push, but Mahmud stuck to his guns. He got the seam to wobble again and lured Kohli out for a drive.Shanto gave Mahmud a first spell of seven overs, mainly because of the overcast conditions and how well he was bowling at that time. As he had shown in Rawalpindi, though, Mahmud isn’t only about the new ball. He took a wicket shortly into his second spell, getting Rishabh Pant caught behind. This time too, he tested Pant outside the off stump. When he was cut for a boundary, Mahmud dragged the next ball across but moved the line slightly closer to Pant, who edged it to the wicketkeeper.Mahmud kept creating chances in his later spells too, having R Ashwin edge one between slip and gully, and having Ravindra Jadeja given out lbw before the decision was overturned on review. He got another to nip back into Ashwin but this appeal didn’t have a lot of merit.Hasan Mahmud picked up four wickets on day one of the Chennai Test•Associated Press

Mahmud built his foundations as a seamer on predominantly flat or dry pitches in Bangladesh’s domestic scene. They brought him rewards when there was a bit of help available in the two Tests in Rawalpindi. He took eight wickets, the most by a Bangladesh fast bowler on the tour, at an average of 24.12. He paired well with Shoriful Islam to give Bangladesh an opening burst in the first Test, removing both openers Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub on day one. On the crucial fifth day, Mahmud again gave the visitors a good start by removing opposition captain Shan Masood. He came into his own in the second Test, taking his maiden five-wicket haul. While Nahid Rana’s pace generated more headlines, it was Mahmud who kept giving Bangladesh vital breakthroughs to reinforce their dominant position.Bangladesh were certainly not in a dominant position at the end of day one in Chennai, but with the second new ball available, Mahmud felt they could still fight their way back into the contest.”If we can get early breakthroughs tomorrow, we will be back in the game,” he said. “We want to restrict them below 400 runs. It is however a good wicket now. The conditions here are almost the same [as Pakistan], but it is the bowlers’ duty to bowl aggressively, or cut down the boundaries, whatever is required.”We were in a dominating position in the morning but the wicket is very good now. We are all trying to minimise the boundaries. The momentum has shifted today, but we could bring it back with better bowling tomorrow.”Mahmud also has some experience in white-ball cricket, where he has usually bowled with both the new and old ball, but he has gone down the pecking order in recent times, with Tanzim Hasan Sakib playing ahead of him whiile Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman are mainstays.Mahmud’s transition into red-ball cricket now means Bangladesh’s pace attack is ever-expanding. They have Khaled Ahmed in the Test squad in India. Shoriful Islam, Tanzim and Mustafizur are go-tos in T20Is, while Ebadot Hossain is close to full fitness and could be available from the home Test series against South Africa next month.Despite their recent uptick, the pace attack remains a work in progress. It seemed like the Bangladesh bowlers took their foot off the gas as the day went on, letting Ashwin and Jadeja build a counterattacking stand. If the pace attack’s development is anything to go by, though, they can be expected to come up with better plans on the second morning.

Hardik Pandya captains the side which will play five games against West Indies in August, with Suryakumar Yadav named his deputy

Alagappan Muthu05-Jul-2023Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma’s stellar performances in the IPL have paved a way to the Indian T20I squad with the two quick-scoring left-handers chosen as part of a 15-member squad to play against West Indies from August 3. It is their first call-up to the senior side in the shortest format.Hardik Pandya captains the team which will play five games in the Caribbean and the USA, with Suryakumar Yadav named his deputy. Some of the other heavy hitters are missing though. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli haven’t represented India in T20Is since their semi-final exit at the 2022 T20 World Cup. Ravindra Jadeja, the hero of the 2023 IPL final, was absent as well. Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj has not been picked either.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

This is the first squad chosen by the newly installed men’s senior selection panel and they appear to have bought into the idea of needing batters who can go big from ball one, starting with the two rookies. Jaiswal has already developed a reputation as a powerplay smasher, with a particular emphasis on taking apart the first over of the innings. Varma, who had a fan in Mahela Jayawardene even before he faced a ball of IPL cricket, has only grown in stature since then. The middle-order batter averages almost 40 from 47 T20s, without compromising on his strike rate, which is a healthy 142.54.Shubman Gill and Hardik might act as failsafes if things go wrong but Ajit Agarkar, the new chief of selectors, and his panel have put their trust in a line-up that hits boundaries first and asks questions later. Rinku Singh, who became a revelation by playing that very same brand of cricket in this year’s IPL, remains on the outside. This despite the squad looking light on finishers with Hardik being the only recognised option.India last played T20Is in February 2023, against New Zealand, and seven members of that squad have been sidelined. They are Prithvi Shaw, Rahul Tripathi, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar and Jitesh Sharma, who has been left out without getting a go in the XI.Related

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The bowling group will be led by Yuzvendra Chahal, who is India’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is, and he will have two other wristspinners, including his old friend Kuldeep Yadav, for company. Axar Patel ticks the fingerspin requirement.The seam attack looks a bit inexperienced but it does contain variety with Arshdeep Singh providing swing and seam from a left-arm angle and Umran Malik providing raw pace. Mukesh Kumar retains his place in the T20I team as well having earlier secured his first-ever Test call-up. Avesh Khan, who played the last of his 15 T20Is in August 2022, has been given another shot. IPL winner Deepak Chahar, who returned from injury to play the latter half of the campaign for Chennai Super Kings, wasn’t picked.Sanju Samson, who is part of the ODI squad on tour, and Ishan Kishan are the wicketkeeping options.India’s tour of West Indies begins with the first of two Tests in Dominica on July 12. Then they play three ODIs from July 27 to August 1 before moving on to the T20Is, the final two of which will be played in Florida, USA.

Unlike in international cricket, batters are sure to face a lot of spin in the IPL, making it a crucial shot, the former India coach says

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Mar-20223:24

Shastri on Kohli: “If he uses his feet and starts to play the sweep, any spinner will think twice, thrice about what to bowl”

It’s great that Virat Kohli is using his feet against the spinners, but he must start playing the sweep more often, and “with freedom”, to make it tougher for the opposition, Ravi Shastri has said.”The thing I liked most about Virat was his fluency [in the 29-ball 41* against Punjab Kings],” Shastri said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out ahead of Wednesday’s game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. “He was prepared to use his feet against the spinners. Now he has to bring out the sweep. It’s a very important shot. He doesn’t play it much, but he should, with freedom.Related

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“The four days you get in the nets [between matches], he should get rid of Raghu [D Raghavendra, the throwdown specialist], and the fast bowlers – he has played them a lot in the last one-and-a-half to two years. Get a spinner and keep playing the sweep. Because if he uses his feet starts to play the sweep, any spinner will think twice, thrice about what to bowl.”Shastri, as head coach of the Indian team for four-and-a-half years up to November 2021, worked closely with Kohli, who was India’s all-format captain through the tenure. He explained that though Kohli did play the shot in the nets, he didn’t need to employ it too much in international cricket since the numbers of spinners in operation are usually fewer than is the case in the IPL.”He does play the shot at training. But this [IPL] is the sort of tournament where he can practice it with some conviction, because he to play the shot,” Shastri said. “It’s not like you are playing it in the nets and you won’t get a chance to play it [in a game], in Australia or England. So there is no point. Maybe against Nathan Lyon, but he won’t get to face much spin there, it’s mainly fast bowlers.”But here, he will definitely get to face a lot of spin. We will move into May soon, it will be quite hot, the pitches will get drier. The sweep will become a very important shot. Play at least one. It’s such a shot that if a batter can play it, the spinner won’t know where to pitch the ball. Because the range of the shot is from in front of square leg to short fine-leg.”There is a process – how much back lift should be there, how to use the pace of the ball, what the position of the feet should be if you want to hit it along the ground… it’s important to practice it, and it’s important to get the position of the feet right.”Against Punjab Kings, a game Royal Challengers lost by five wickets with one over to spare despite putting up 205 for 2, Kohli had to face Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar, in the main, but against Knight Riders, there will be the two-pronged threat of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy.”If he uses his feet, the bowlers will start thinking, then he can play it,” Shastri said of playing a shot Kohli doesn’t play much against such quality spinners. “Maybe the sweep in front of square will be tricky, but the paddle sweep or the reverse paddle sweep can be played. Because both of them bowl quick, so he should use their pace.”

The tour, expected to start in January, could be curtailed because of quarantine regulations

Mohammad Isam02-Dec-2020Cricket West Indies (CWI) officials, currently in Bangladesh to inspect the bio-security plans and health protocols in the country ahead of a proposed tour next month, are “very impressed” with the “concise and tight” arrangements. The three-format tour could yet be shortened, but question marks hanging over it might have been dispelled for the time being.Dr Akshai Mansingh, the CWI director, and security manager Paul Slowe arrived in Dhaka on November 28, and conducted a survey of facilities in Dhaka and Chattogram, including at airports, hotels, stadia, practice facilities and hospitals over the past few days. They will now report their observations to the CWI board of directors, who will then make a decision on the tour.”The protocols that were described to us by the BCB were very, very well thought out,” Mansingh said at a press interaction. “The fact that there has been three competitions prior to our coming and one [Bangabandhu T20 Cup] going on now obviously, they are well practiced [with bio-secure bubbles]. We are very happy with what we saw in Dhaka and Chattogram. The facilities are excellent. The Covid protocols are concise and tight.”The national approach, both in the hotels and hospitals that we visited, comply with all international standards recommended for Covid-19. From a medical point of view, we are very happy and we now have to present our findings to the board of directors of CWI. I am very confident what we saw is probably as good an arrangement as you can have anywhere in the world.”Mansingh said that the tour dates hadn’t yet been firmed up, mainly because of the quarantine protocols that the West Indies team would have to adhere to before and after arriving in Bangladesh.”According to Covid protocols, there will be at least seven days where we have to make sure we are not contaminating Bangladesh,” he said. “So we have to make sure we are in quarantine. It is not just days, but negative tests as well. There have to be at least one negative tests before coming and three negative tests while in Bangladesh. That period is usually seven days, and that’s why the exact dates have to be worked out now.”Certainly for the first three days, we suggest in-room quarantine. After the third day, we do a second test. After that is negative, we would like to do some practicing within our squad, but not exposing ourselves to anybody else until seven days are passed. We will have inter-squad practice and activities. After Day 7, the recommendation is that we should have net sessions with Bangladeshi players,” he said.The BCB hasn’t hosted any international cricket during the pandemic, with Australia and New Zealand having postponed their tours scheduled for June and August respectively. Bangladesh also haven’t toured any country, having come close to going to Sri Lanka before that tour was called off in September.