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Shane Warne will be a source of captaincy inspiration for Ross Taylor as he aims to instil a winning mindset in his New Zealand side

Brydon Coverdale23-Jun-2011Shane Warne will be a source of captaincy inspiration for Ross Taylor as he aims to instil a winning mindset in his New Zealand side. Taylor conceded past New Zealand teams have sometimes felt that a draw was as good as a victory, and that’s an attitude he wants to change after being handed the leadership this week.The drawn-out process to find Daniel Vettori’s successor took nearly three months, as New Zealand Cricket waited for Taylor and the other contender, Brendon McCullum, to return home from the IPL. But it was in India that Taylor worked under the captaincy of Warne at the Rajasthan Royals, and he said he was inspired by the way Warne handled his men and never gave up.”Warnie is one of the most aggressive captains. One of the things I learnt from Warnie and admired about him was trying to get the best out of the team and individuals, and just winning from anywhere,” Taylor told ESPNcricinfo this week. “If you have a mindset of winning from any situation then more often than not those tight games will go your way.”And that’s an attitude that hasn’t always been present in New Zealand teams of recent years. They have won only two of their past 21 Tests, a stretch that goes back to October 2008, and during that time their only victories came against Bangladesh in Hamilton and Pakistan in Dunedin. It’s nearly a decade since New Zealand have won a Test away from home against anyone but Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.”I think sometimes we probably did feel that way [that a draw was as good as a win,” Taylor said. “The way Test cricket is going there are not a lot of draws these days. The only time there are draws are if the wicket is really flat or if the weather plays a part. More often than not, the way Test cricket is played, Tests are won more often than not. We need to have that mindset. If we go out there just to draw series then we’re going to get ourselves into trouble. If we go out there to win, it’s a nice positive mindset to have.”The good thing for New Zealand is that two of their next three Test series are against Zimbabwe, who are returning to the five-day format after six years of self-imposed exile. That gives Taylor four winnable Tests within his first year in the job, and after playing Australia and South Africa they next year head to the Caribbean, where they won the series on their last tour in 2002.The schedule is encouraging, at a time when New Zealand are starting afresh, with a new captain, a recently-installed coach, John Wright, a revamped selection process, and a high-performance system now being overhauled by John Buchanan. The aim is to lift the side from their current position of eighth on the ICC Test rankings table, above only Bangladesh.”We’ve got some big series coming up,” Taylor said. “We go to Zimbabwe, then to Australia, then Zimbabwe come here, then we’ve got South Africa here, then we go to the Caribbean after that. We’re eighth in the Test rankings. If we can be somewhere from fourth to sixth in 12 months I think that would be a realistic goal. That’s something I think we can attain in the next 12 to 18 months.”The ultimate is to sit up at No. 1 or 2 and it’s not that long ago, probably at the start of my career we weren’t too far away from that. But we’re down the bottom and in some ways that’s probably a nice thing – the only way to go from here is upwards. We’ve got some big series coming up, against Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. If we play like we know we can play on a more consistent basis then I’m sure we’ll go up those rankings.”

The seniors may have returned, but by no means can India anticipate an easy warm-up before taking on more fancied teams

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran15-Jun-2010

Match Facts

Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Start time 1430 (0900 GMT)Tamim Iqbal – in the form of his life•BCB Media

The Big Picture

The seniors may have returned, but by no means can India anticipate an easy warm-up before taking on more fancied teams. The Zimbabwe tour taught their under-strength side to respect weaker teams and to not take things for granted. It was also a reality check on their bench strength, exposing more weaknesses than positives. It seemed like the IPL hangover lingered for much longer than it should have.Though the results were far from ideal – there were three defeats in four games, including two against Zimbabwe – it was a learning experience. The fast-bowling back-up is still work in progress, so much will be expected from the likes of Zaheer Khan to not only carry the attack, but also guide the rookies from here on in.The pressure that comes with defeat is nothing new to the current Indian set-up, and their captain MS Dhoni is confident of a turnaround. Experimentation will continue till the World Cup, perhaps to a lesser extent, but Dhoni will have to ensure the intensity doesn’t drop against teams like Bangladesh, who are capable of surprises.Bangladesh flattered to deceive as a team in their recent Tests against England, which they lost 0-2. There were some memorable individual performaces – from Tamim Iqbal for example – but as a unit, they lost the plot. Strong top-order starts were followed by collapses, as a matter of routine. The middle order looked scratchy and incapable of carrying on the job. But their captain Shakib Al Hasan acknowledges they’re a far better limited-overs side, with their spinners having a better chance to succeed. The slow surface at Dambulla should suit them.

Form guide (most recent first)

India LLWLL
Bangladesh LLLLL

Watch out for…

If Bangladesh have to name one world-class batsman who can walk into any line-up, it would have to be Tamim Iqbal. Tamim is a player who combines power with elegance, traits he shares with India’s Virender Sehwag. If it is there to be hit, he will dish out the treatment, irrespective of the state of the match or his own innings. He walloped hundreds at Lord’s and Old Trafford, and was a class apart from his colleagues down the order. Like Sehwag, he also doesn’t believe in scratching around in the nervous nineties.Virender Sehwag himself is meanwhile returning from a shoulder injury. For the second year in a row, his absence hurt India at the World Twenty20, with Gautham Gambhir out of sorts in the West Indies. India will be relieved to have Sehwag back after the woes of M Vijay, Dinesh Karthik and Naman Ojha at the top in Zimbabwe.

Team news

Saurabh Tiwary is the only new face for India, but it’s uncertain if they will try him out immediately. The seniors will get first preference because they’ve had a month’s break and will have to get back in to the groove quickly. While the batsmen pick themselves, it will be interesting to see if India go in with a second spinner, in which case R Ashwin or Pragyan Ojha could edge Praveen Kumar out of the eleven.India (likely) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautham Gambhir, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Pragyan Ojha/R Ashwin/Praveen Kumar, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish NehraMohammad Ashraful was handed a lifeline in England but failed yet again. Will he get another chance?Bangladesh (likely) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 8 Naeem Islam, 9 Shafiul Islam, 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Abdur Razzak

Stats and trivia

• India have a 50% win record in Dambulla, winning four out of eight matches. Bangladesh have never played an ODI here.
• Bangladesh have won only two out of 21 matches against India. In neutral venues, they have won one out of five, with the win coming, quite famously, in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.
• India’s opening pairs have struggled to string together partnerships in Dambulla: in eight innings they average 15.50 runs per stand, with only one half-century.

Quotes

“This is a new beginning before the World cup, fielding and fitness are a priority, and the players have realised they have to work on it.”
.”The boys are really looking forward to this tournament. It is very important for us. We know it’s a very difficult task but not impossible.”

Ecclestone, Sciver-Brunt and Wyatt-Hodge turn in the command performances to order

Valkerie Baynes07-Oct-2024When the going got tough, three of England’s most senior players stepped up to preserve their unbeaten start to the T20 World Cup.Sophie Ecclestone – the spearhead of England’s four-woman spin attack – contained a threatening South Africa with her 2 for 15 from four overs, despite their 124 for 6 making them the first side to pass 120 in Sharjah’s run-scoring desert. Then came Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Nat Sciver-Brunt, two vastly experienced batters who shared a 64-run stand for the third wicket to see England home by seven wickets with four balls to spare, and give them two wins from as many games.Ecclestone has been at the top of the world T20I rankings for four-and-a-half-years, yet went wicketless in England’s tournament opener against Bangladesh.On Monday, South Africa were looking strong at 37 for 1 at the end of the powerplay, then Ecclestone entered in the seventh over and straight away enticed a thick edge from Laura Wolvaardt, although wicketkeeper Amy Jones couldn’t hold a difficult chance.Ecclestone returned in the 11th over and conceded just two runs while threatening the top of a struggling Anneke Bosch’s middle stump. Then, crucially, Ecclestone removed South Africa’s two most dangerous batters, Wolvaardt swiping across the line as the ball crashed into middle and leg and Marizanne Kapp, who was ominously poised on 26 from 17 balls when she charged and missed to hear the death rattle behind her.Sciver-Brunt said that England’s opening match against Bangladesh had taught them the best way to deploy Ecclestone in Sharjah, where the pitch has been slow and the boundaries are vast.”She’s a bowler that can bowl wherever in the innings,” Sciver-Brunt said. “Saving her for a couple overs for when batters really want to get after her, having had a go on that wicket already, we learned pretty well that’s what would be really difficult, and she executed that really well.”Both sides were left to rue chances and half-chances, and England’s run-chase spluttered early on before the senior pair hit their stride.When Maia Bouchier strode down the pitch and lofted Kapp down the ground for a one-bounce four, it was England’s first shot in anger, as they reached 8 for 0 after three overs.After the powerplay, England were 28 for 1, Alice Capsey having arrived when Bouchier was out lbw to Kapp and trying to get things moving with two boundaries off one Chloe Tryon over.Related

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• England loss puts Kapp's batting position and spin efficacy in focus for South Africa

Capsey’s soft return catch to Nadine de Klerk prompted Wyatt-Hodge to get creative. She lapped Nonkululeko Mlaba, though the shot only went for two, and tried a couple of times to launch Sune Luus down the ground before latching onto one over the bowler’s head for four.Her 41 from 40 deliveries had been the standout performance of England’s victory over Bangladesh, and her run-a-ball 43 kept England in a close contest against South Africa while being more patient than usual.”It’s funny because she’s been very frustrated for both of the innings,” Sciver-Brunt said. “She’s probably used to being 70 off 40, but the innings that she’s playing for us are so important, and just being able to hit it in areas that only she can [find] probably makes her quite difficult to bowl at, even in these conditions. Hopefully she can continue doing that and not get too frustrated.”Sciver-Brunt, by contrast, is characteristically unflappable, and she moved up a gear in the 15th over with twin leg-side fours off Kapp’s fourth.By the time Wyatt-Hodge was stumped off Mlaba, England needed 11 off the last two overs and two more boundaries from Sciver-Brunt, including the winning runs clubbed over extra cover off Ayabonga Khaka saw them home.”When I came to the middle, obviously we were a little bit behind the rate,” Sciver-Brunt said. “But I knew that [would change] if me and Danni stayed together, put a partnership together, ran really well. I think that from the first game, that’s something we really wanted to do, run really well between the wickets, knowing that boundaries are quite hard to hit on that wicket. The importance of running twos and then maneuvering fielders out the way so that you can hit into a gap a bit easier. That was the plan.”England’s next match is against Scotland on Sunday, meaning an extended period of down-time before they return to Sharjah again with qualification very much in their own hands.”Two wins out of two, we’re pretty happy,” Sciver-Brunt said. “We’ve got about a five-day gap now until our next game so we’ll be taking that time to reset, have a couple of days off and then go again. We’re really happy to get over the line today and I’ll just be celebrating that.”

Centuries for Luke Wells, Josh Bohannon keep Northants under pump on shortened day

Paul Edwards27-Jul-2023
If anything is to help this game reverse up Stalemate Close, it is probably the black saucers of earth that lie at each end of the pitch. Batters regard them with suspicion while spin bowlers, of which Lancashire have two specialists, view them with delight. If only our top order can build a lead, they thought this morning, we could frolic in the footmarks on Friday. So as expected, when play began at Emirates Old Trafford on this third day, three hours late and with 29 overs snipped from our ration, Lancashire put the hammer down on an attack lacking Ben Sanderson, Tom Taylor and Rob Keogh.Carnage followed. Big style. And Phil Salt played one of the innings of the season, scoring a century which outshone even those of Luke Wells and Josh Bohannon and reminding everyone, perhaps including Salt himself, that his talents need not be confined to white-ball cricketThat said, Northamptonshire’s injured bowlers have taken 39 of their side’s 108 Championship wickets in 2023 and this day’s two sessions showed how sorely they are missed. To a degree, it also revived memories of the evening’s cricket at Blackpool just over a fortnight ago, when Lancashire’s attack was shredded by Dan Lawrence and Doug Bracewell. This time, however, it was Keaton Jennings’ batters who did the shredding, scoring 377 runs in 67 overs and ending the day with a lead of 156 runs and power to add on the morrow.Even in the present era, such fast-forward cricket lent the evening unreality. The achievement of bonus points every 50 runs, significant partnerships and the batter’s individual landmarks blurred into each other and passed with notebook-defeating speed. Rounds of applause blended into each other, for there always seemed something for home supporters to clap. Wells reached his first century of the season off 171 balls, Bohannon his second off 143 balls and Salt also made his second three-figure score of the campaign, reaching that landmark off 74 balls with his third straight six to add to his 11 fours. So yes, there were plenty of big shots but what was most noticeable, particularly during Bohannon’s 126-run stand for the third wicket in 19 overs with Salt, was the whippet-speed of the running between the wickets as ones became twos if the fielder had to make any ground towards the ball.And as so often on such occasions, catches went down, some more culpably than others. White had little choice but to throw his catch at deep square leg back inside the boundary as he toppled over the rope, thus giving Wells a life on 78, but shortly afterwards Lewis McManus had no such excuse when he spilled a very straightforward chance off Dominic Leech. McManus was standing back, Leech was standing aghast and Wells was still standing on 85 not out.The one Northamptonshire fielder to emerge from the massacre with any credit was Ricardo Vasconcelos, who took an unremarkable catch to dismiss Wells off White for 119 and then a very remarkable, one-handed, diving effort off the same bowler to remove Bohannon for 128. But the loss of those wickets was acceptable collateral damage for Lancashire, although the same could hardly be said when Croft received a box-splintering blow in the knackers from White and fell to earth like a lightweight on the end of a haymaker.Salt’s dismissal, caught at deep square leg off White for a 77-ball 105 brought the curtain down on chaos. Nine overs from the close, Bell was caught on the deep square leg boundary by Vasconcelos for 15 and Croft and Tom Bailey later fell to Luke Procter, who, along with White, was the only Northamptonshire bowler who will wish to consult his bowling figures this evening. But those late successes seemed taken from another game, one far detached from the mayhem of a post-tea session in which 222 runs were scored in 35 overs, and one even further removed from the sight of Salt hitting fours and sixes that astounded even his batting partner.

Young Sussex side succumb to Hutton, James and Patterson-White with Fletcher absent

Paul Edwards10-Apr-2022
By the time this match ended, competitors in the Brighton Marathon, which had caused multiple road closures on Sunday morning, were probably soaking in a hot bath. The County Championship, cricket’s version of such an event, has barely left the stadium before heading down holloways and trails, most of which have yet to be properly explored. And yes, there will be an irritating month-long pause in August. Any conclusions about a team’s prospects, therefore, are bound to be only marginally less provisional than they were on Thursday morning.But on the evidence presented in this match at Hove it is plain that Nottinghamshire’s status as favourites to win the Second Division is thoroughly justified. Talk about promotion places is riskier. We do not yet know whether the ECB’s propeller-heads will propose six divisions of three, Owzthat dice or relocating the whole thing to Balochistan in November. Astonishingly, the first-class season has begun without the counties knowing what is truly at stake.Nevertheless, let us recall that halfway through the second afternoon of this game, when Nottinghamshire were 52 for 4 in reply to Sussex’s 375 some members of the home side will have toyed with the notion that they might win the match. Fair enough, of course, but three sessions later they were faced with the brute recognition that all they could do was save it. For young cricketers – and in the case of this under-strength Sussex team that meant everyone bar Steven Finn – such a realisation was probably hard, but Finn may have reminded them that it was also part of chosen trade.Related

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Nottinghamshire’s players are abundantly skilled in that trade and they revealed as much in achieving a victory that was completed half an hour after tea. Beginning the day 130 runs in arrears with nine wickets in hand, Sussex already knew that they would have to bat most of the three sessions in order to scrape a draw. They were also aware that a shoulder injury would prevent Dan Ibrahim batting. Nottinghamshire, therefore, needed to take eight wickets on a true pitch and would have to cope without Luke Fletcher, who had a tight hamstring.For nearly an hour all went well for Sussex. Then they suffered two self-inflicted reverses. Having batted sensibly for 79 minutes the nightwatchman, Jamie Atkins, hooked a Brett Hutton bouncer straight to long leg, where Calvin Harrison, the tall substitute fielder, took a two-handed catch above his head. Atkins could be consoled that he had done his job, but no such kindness was available to Tom Alsop, who made six runs in 16 minutes before chasing a very wide one from Lyndon James and nicking a catch to Tom Moores. All the same, a lunch score of 89 for 3 was probably reasonably acceptable to the Sussex coaches; it was only in the first hour of the afternoon’s play that the innings all but disintegrated and the match was decided.Steven Mullaney’s captaincy and the response of his players were outstanding during this period. Fletcher’s injury meant that Mullaney had to use Hutton, his other new-ball bowler, relatively sparingly and with a precise plan in mind. Immediately after lunch, though, Hutton was called into the attack for a fierce five-over spell from the Cromwell Road End and enjoyed instant success when Oli Carter’s insipid forward defensive to a straight ball left Mark Saggers with one of the easier decisions he will make all season.Ali Orr, though, was a trickier opponent. Having decided that the Sussex opener was more likely to be caught in front of the wicket than in the slips, Mullaney had put four fielders in short positions on either side of the pitch before lunch. Now he went the full monty and placed the entire quartet on the leg side with two more behind them on the boundary.Ali Orr batted 219 minutes for his 45•Getty Images

These shock and Orr tactics gained their reward. Hutton worked the opener over with a series of short balls, the whole enterprise was spiced with liberal chirp and Orr eventually prodded a sharp catch straight to Ben Slater at short leg. He had batted 219 minutes for his 45 and 440 minutes for 113 runs in the match. Such statistics will have been noticed by Grant Flower, Sussex’s new batting coach.Nottinghamshire’s bowlers now pursued victory without relent. Tom Clark came down the wicket to Liam Patterson-White and nicked a catch to Mullaney via Moores’s gloves; Delray Rawlins tried to pull a ball from James but only diverted it onto his stumps; Archie Lenham batted pleasantly but matches are rarely saved by neat little 18s. And yes, it had long been plain that Sussex would miss Ibrahim more than Nottinghamshire would miss Fletcher. As so often in their great years, the side from Trent Bridge was finding a way to win a game.Sussex’s tail battled away gamely but Patterson-White took the last two wickets courtesy of lbw decisions either side of tea. He thereby returned match figures of 8 for 138 from 76.1 overs and certainly deserves a hot bath, too. Haseeb Hameed’s three boundaries off Clark and Slater’s push for two off Atkins were the last actions of a fine game, one from which Tom Haines and his players should have learned so much that it would take a morning seminar rather than a press conference to list them.For on Saturday evening 33-year-old Finn had spoken about how much he was attracted by Sussex’s ‘project’ and you can be sure that whenever sportsmen talks about their club having a project, they are acknowledging that honours may take a few years in coming. That is to be expected at Hove. The average age of Haines’ team was 21.6. Defeat to Nottinghamshire does not invalidate in the slightest the strategy developed by Ian Salisbury and heartily supported by the new chairman, Jon Filby, who is a cricket man in his very heart. It should not surprise anyone if Sussex take a couple of seasons or so to achieve their aims.

The six limited-overs matches in Sydney and Canberra have almost sold out

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2020The prospect of the opening Test between Australia and India remaining in Adelaide has received a boost with South Australia to come out of its strict Covid-19 lockdown three days early on Saturday.The state was put into a hard six-day lockdown on Thursday amid growing concerns around a Covid-19 cluster which emerged last weekend, but on Friday it was announced that new information had come to light which would allow an early loosening of restrictions.Last week Cricket Australia flew international and BBL players into New South Wales to avoid the risk of them being unable to travel if further borders were closed.A number of players who had been involved in the Sheffield Shield hub which finished in Adelaide earlier this month had to go into self-isolation in their home states when the cluster emerged, but CA was able to get approval for those involved in the limited-overs and Australia A squads to fly to Sydney.Currently the South Australia-Victoria border is closed but it is hoped that it can reopen on December 1 if the Covid cluster is kept under control. That will be a key part of staging the first Test in Adelaide on December 17 because the teams then need to be able to travel to Melbourne ahead of the Boxing Day Test.Throughout last week CA remained committed to hosting the opening Test as planned in Adelaide even if restrictions mean reduced or no crowds.The tour starts with the first ODI at the SCG on November 27 with the three ODIs and three T20Is split between Sydney and Canberra. As of Friday, all but one of the six limited-overs game had sold out with just under 2000 tickets remaining for the first ODI. Both venues are operating at 50% capacity.

West Indies player called in a substitute despite being instructed otherwise by the on-field officials

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Aug-2019Kieron Pollard has been pulled up for “disobeying” the on-field umpires’ instructions during the second T20I against India in Florida on Sunday, picking up a 20% match fee fine and a demerit point.The incident in question took place during the Indian innings, when, according to an ICC statement, Pollard “called a substitute onto the field despite having been repeatedly told by the umpires that a request must be made for a substitute to come onto the field and being advised to wait until the end of the next over” and he “failed to follow the umpire’s instructions”.After being charged by Nigel Duguid and Gregory Brathwaite, the on-field umpires, third umpire Leslie Reifer and fourth official Patrick Gustard, Pollard denied his guilt in the matter and that necessitated a formal hearing with match referee Jeff Crowe, who found him guilty and handed out the penalties.Pollard didn’t bowl in the match and scored a run-a-ball 8 not out as West Indies got to 98 for 4 in 15.3 overs after India had put up 167 for 5, which meant a 22-run win for the visitors on the DLS method, giving India the three-match series 2-0 with one game left to play.Pollard did have a better outing in the first game of the series in Florida – his first game for West Indies since November 2018 – where he scored 49 in 49 balls in a poor West Indies batting effort of 95 for 9.The third and final match of the series will be played at Providence Stadium in Guyana later today.

After crushing Bangladesh in a warm-up match with a second-string side, Afghanistan are firm favourites, but Bangladesh have the nous to counter the opposition’s spinners and exploit their weaknesses with the bat

The Preview by Mohammad Isam02-Jun-20181:44

‘Mujeeb takes pressure off me’ – Rashid Khan

Big Picture

In two weeks, Afghanistan’s players will take part in possibly the most important game of their lives – their first ever Test match – and on Sunday, they will be preparing for it by going crash, bang, wallop in a T20I against Bangladesh.If that seems a bit odd, don’t worry, it’s just the way cricket works these days. The BCB opted for T20s because Bangladesh don’t play them often enough, and the Afghanistan Cricket Board, being the smaller board, had to oblige. The shortest format is right up Afghanistan’s alley though. Their second-string side crushed Bangladesh by eight wickets in a warm-up match on Friday.Afghanistan are also placed higher than Bangladesh in the ICC rankings. They trounced Zimbabwe in their most recent T20 series and possess a spin attack that has quickly become the envy of the world. With Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Afghanistan can bank on controlling more than half of their bowling innings.To tackle them, Bangladesh will rely on the experience of Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah, and hope Liton Das, Mosaddek Hossain and Sabbir Rahman live up to their promise. Their bowling will almost entirely depend on Shakib, but Rubel Hossain, Mehidy Hasan and Nazmul Islam can provide good back-up.Mohammad Shahzad is expected to be a major threat in the top order, but Afghanistan’s batting is otherwise an area of concern. Rahmat Shah, their highest run-getter and only centurion in the last 12 months, is not in the T20 squad. Given their focus on youth, Afghanistan will want one of the younger batsmen, like Darwish Rasooli and Najeeb Tarakai, to step up in this series.

Form guide

Afghanistan WWLLL
Bangladesh LWLWL

In the spotlight

Bangladesh have already identified Rashid Khan to be their biggest threat. His stellar IPL campaign adds to his reputation of being a dangerous legspinner, particularly when he delivers them at a high pace.Mushfiqur Rahim could be one of the Bangladesh batsmen best equipped to take on Rashid and the other Afghanistan spinners. He was a major reason for Bangladesh making the final of the Nidahas Trophy in January; his unbeaten 72 against Sri Lanka to help chase down a target of 215 was characterised by superb death-overs boundary-hitting and Bangladesh would love more of the same in Dehradun.

Team news

Karim Sadiq is the only Afghanistan player missing from the XI that beat Zimbabwe in their last T20I in February. Tarakai, who is returning after more than a year, would hope to take Sadiq’s place in the batting line-up. Young allrounder Karim Janat and Under-19 batsman Rasooli also remain in contention.Afghanistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 2 Asghar Stanikzai (capt), 3 Najeeb Tarakai, 4 Mohammad Nabi, 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Shafiqullah, 7 Sharafuddin Ashraf, 8 Gulbadin Naib, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Aftab Alam, 11 Mujeeb Ur RahmanBangladesh are searching for a replacement for Mustafizur Rahman, who is missing with a toe injury. And they are mainly looking at Abul Hasan, Abu Hider or Abu Jayed. Soumya Sarkar’s spot in the line-up is also under threat with Mosaddek and Ariful Haque waiting in the wings.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Liton Das, 3 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 4 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Sabbir Rahman, 7 Mosaddek Hossain 8 Mehidy Hasan, 9 Abu Hider, 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Nazmul Islam

Pitch and conditions

The pitch was slow and low and two-paced on Friday. The one for the match doesn’t look as soft but don’t expect big fireworks. Advantage Afghanistan spinners. Weather is expected to be clear.

Stats and Trivia

• If he can pick up two wickets in the first T20I, Shakib will become only the third cricketer to take 500 wickets and score 10,000 runs in all formats of international cricket. Shahid Afridi and Jacques Kallis are the others, but they needed more than 500 matches to do so. Sunday will be Shakib’s 300th.
• If he can take one wicket on Sunday, Rashid will become the fastest to 50 T20I wickets in terms of time taken – two years and 220 days – and second-fastest in terms of matches played.
• Mohammad Nabi is 39 runs away from becoming the fifth allrounder, after Afridi, Shakib, Thisara Perera and Dwayne Bravo to amass 1,000 runs and 50-plus wickets in T20Is.
• The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Dehradun will become India’s 21st venue to host T20 internationals.

Rajinder Goel and Padmakar Shivalkar will receive the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, while India’s first Test captain Shantha Rangaswamy will be the inaugural recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Women

Nagraj Gollapudi and Bharath Seervi27-Feb-2017Former left-arm spinners Rajinder Goel and Padmakar Shivalkar will receive the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award this season. Starting this year, the BCCI has also decided to institute the Lifetime Achievement Award for Women with India’s first Test captain Shanta Rangaswamy being the inaugural recipient of the honour. The trio would each get a cash prize of INR 25 lakhs too.

The unheralded four

Goel and Shivalkar are two of only four non-Test players, the others being wicketkeeper Bhausaheb Nimbalkar and journalist KN Prabhu, to receive the BCCI’s lifetime achievement award. Here is the full list
1994 – Lala Amarnath
1995 – Mushtaq Ali
1996 – Vijay Hazare
1997 – KN Prabhu
1998 – Polly Umrigar
1999 – Hemu Adhikari
2000 – Subhash Gupte
2001 – MAK Pataudi
2002 – Bhausaheb Nimbalkar
2003 – Chandu Borde
2004 – Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, S Venkatraghavan, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar
2007 – Nari Contractor
2008 – Gundappa Viswanath
2009 – Mohinder Amarnath
2010 – Salim Durani
2011 – Ajit Wadekar
2012 – Sunil Gavaskar
2013 – Kapil Dev
2014 – Dilip Vengsarkar
2015 – Syed Kirmani

The winners were chosen by a three-person jury comprising the pair of Ramachandra Guha and Diana Edulji (both of them sit on the Supreme Court-appointed committee of administrators that presently supervises the BCCI) along with senior journalist N Ram. Former India and Tamil Nadu legspinner VV Kumar and the late Ramakant Desai, former India and Bombay fast bowler, will have been named as recipients of a Special Award for their yeoman services to Indian cricket. This award also carries a cash prize of INR 15 lakhs each.Both Goel, who played for Haryana and Delhi, and Shivalkar, who represented Bombay, never played for India. Still, their legend is well-known in Indian cricket history. In the mid-1960s, when Bishan Singh Bedi was making his mark, the question that was asked was, “is he as good as Goel?” Ironically, one reason Goel never played for India was because Bedi had cemented his position in the Indian team. The closest Goel came to play for India was in the unofficial Test against Ceylon in 1964-65.In 1985, Goel retired aged 43. He had 637 wickets in the Ranji Trophy, a record that stands to date, going past VV Kumar’s tally. He had an incredible 53 five-fors and 17 ten-wicket match hauls. Overall, Goel played 157 matches and got 750 wickets.Another young man who was denied an India berth as his career clashed with that of Bedi was Shivalkar. A product of the famous Shivaji Park Gymkhana, Shivalkar’s accuracy to land the ball repeatedly on the same spot and then spin it viciously made him unique. He made his Ranji debut at 22 and retired when he was 48. During that time, Shivalkar finished with an aggregate of 589 first-class wickets at an average of 19.69 in 124 matches, between the 1961-62 and 1987-88 seasons. Shivalkar’s 361 Ranji wickets came for Bombay, most by any bowler. He had 11 ten-wicket hauls (joint-second).Rubbing shoulders with the greats: Rajinder Goel (left) with MAK Pataudi•Rajinder Goel

While recognizing their efforts, the awards committee praised Goel and Shivalkar saying: “The two left-arm spinners traumatized the batsmen picking wickets in a heap.”Rangaswamy, who is 63, played 16 Tests for India out of which she led in 12 matches. In her own words, Rangaswamy was a batting allrounder. She shared the new ball and was a hard-hitting, middle-order batsman. There were many other notable firsts attached to her name: she scored the first Test century, hit the first six and led India to their first series victory (against West Indies in 1976). Rangaswamy, who was the chairman of the selectors till 2016, had also won the Arjuna Award in 1976.Rangaswamy was thrilled to receive the BCCI honour, and felt it was a reward to the collective brilliance of the “pioneers” of Indian women’s cricket. “It is more a recognition of the services rendered to the game of Indian women’s cricket by the pioneers, those founding mothers if I can use the word. Because had we done badly in the initial stages the game would have just withered away. We did well. We could rub shoulders with international teams and that ensured the longevity of the game. And that I feel is the single-most significant contribution of all of us. With pride I can say – yes, we did it.”

Rahul Dravid will be team mentor and Paddy Upton head coach in a re-jigged coaching team for Delhi Daredevils

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-20162:33

‘Great to be part of a young, exciting team’ – Dravid

Former India captain Rahul Dravid has been appointed team mentor of Delhi Daredevils. Dravid will head a refurbished coaching bench at Daredevils, who have also hired former South Africa and India assistant coach Paddy Upton as head coach.Dravid and Upton will work with a team of assistants: Zubin Bharucha (technical director), former India batsmen Sridharan Sriram and Praveen Amre (batting coaches), and former Tamil Nadu and India fast bowler TA Sekhar (bowling consultant).”I am very excited by the challenge of taking Delhi Daredevils on to the next level. From what I have seen I have been impressed by the ambition and energy demonstrated by the team and I look forward to working with a group of players that I believe have what it takes to succeed,” Dravid said.”Along with the rest of the support staff, I am fully aware of what this franchise means to its supporters and I intend to do everything possible to help build a team that the fans can be proud of.”The franchise was forced to ring in changes to the coaching staff once former South Africa batsman and coach Gary Kirsten’s three-year contract was terminated after two seasons. Under Kirsten, who took charge in September 2013, Daredevils finished bottom of the table in IPL 2014 and second from the bottom last year. Daredevils also axed Kirsten’s assistant Rob Walters, who was the trainer.Incidentally, the trio of Dravid, Upton and Bharucha were part of the core team at Rajasthan Royals, which has been suspended for two seasons by the Lodha Committee. In 2014, having served as captain in previous seasons, Dravid assumed the role of team director cum mentor at Royals. In the 28 matches Dravid oversaw, the franchise won 13 matches and lost 12, with two ties and one no result.One of the most sought after coaches in the T20 format, Upton recently won the Big Bash League with Sydney Thunder, before also coaching Lahore Qalandars in the inaugural Pakistan Super League.”I relish the privilege to work again with Rahul and Zubin, and to have the opportunity to do so at a franchise like Delhi Daredevils,” Upton said. “I am constantly learning about the Twenty20 format as I move around the world, and look forward to applying and furthering this knowledge at the coming IPL season with Delhi.”