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Partnership of 200 puts visitors within one run of Leicestershire with just two wickets down

ECB Reporters Network23-Aug-2020Openers Ben Slater and Haseeb Hameed put together a partnership of 200 as Nottinghamshire laid the foundations to build a formidable first-innings lead in their Bob Willis Trophy match against Leicestershire at the Fischer County Ground.In so doing they broke a record for the first wicket for Nottinghamshire against Leicestershire, beating the 159 compiled by George Gunn and Garnet Lee at Trent Bridge in 1919.Notts had resumed on 48 without loss, with Hameed on 34 and Slater on 12, and neither batsman gave a chance during the morning session as the Leicestershire seamers struggled to bowl a consistent line and length on an unrewarding pitch.Tom Taylor came closest to making a breakthrough, beating both batsmen with deliveries that swung late, but edges were rare, and when they came fell short of the waiting slips. Hameed, after picking up two boundaries in the first over of the day, played circumspectly, reaching his half-century off 80 deliveries, while Slater – who earlier this season had spent two weeks on loan at Leicestershire – mixed steady accumulation with the occasional flowing cover drive, reaching his 50 off 103 balls.By lunch they had beaten the previous highest first-wicket partnership in the Bob Willis Trophy, 153 between Slater and Hassan Azad, for Leicestershire against Lancashire.Rain meant only 5.1 overs were possible in the afternoon and the evening session saw Leicestershire bowling a better containing line. Even so, both batsmen looked odds-on to reach a century until Hameed, on 87, left a delivery from Alex Evans that swung back in and hit his back leg to be dismissed leg before.Ten runs later Slater – who had passed the landmark of 5,000 first-class runs earlier in his innings – was also dismissed, for 86, edging the persevering Taylor to second slip where Colin Ackermann held a sharp chance at the second attempt.Bad light saw play end when 10.5 overs remained to be bowled, but with better weather forecast to come over the final two days, Notts are in a strong position to end their run of 24 first-class county matches without victory.

Knight Riders CEO says LED walls, VR simulation could be used when cricket resumes behind closed doors

ESPNcricinfo staff14-May-2020″When is the next time we’ll see a packed Eden Gardens?”Kolkata Knight Riders chief executive Venky Mysore is trying re-imagine the world of cricket for the near future, confronted by the immense challenge posed by the Covid-19 pandemic which continues to surge globally. Some of the innovative ideas Mysore believes are likely answers to make up for empty stadia in future include LED walls and simulating crowd atmosphere while allowing the fan an immersive experience from his home.Mysore is clear that when cricket returns, it would have to be played in “stadium lockdown” mode. However, rather than getting deterred, Mysore said cricket has the opportunity to “re-imagine” its business strategy if lucrative tournaments like the IPL are to keep going.The IPL was postponed indefinitely by the BCCI after the Indian government put the country into lockdown since late March. Although there is no clarity on if and when the IPL will be played this year, Mysore said technology would play a bigger role once cricket returned.”We’re definitely going to have some challenges,” Mysore told ESPNcricinfo on the Stump Mic podcast. “If we’re lucky enough that things will settle down or the tournament will take place later this year, it’s clearly going to be in what they’ll call as a stadium lockdown mode. Which means straightaway the ticket revenues are affected, your food and beverage revenue is affected, the merchandising sales at the stadium is affected. The challenge to us is how do you activate the sponsors? Are there ways in which you can compensate for this?”Luckily, due to the lucrative media rights deal BCCI signed with Star India in 2017 for five years, all eight IPL franchises are assured a healthy sum of money annually. However, the biggest challenge for the franchise is how they retain sponsors, evolve their business model and generate profits.Mysore felt technology companies now have the opportunity to fill a void, and said fan experience and immersion could be engineered in many different ways. For instance, during the 2014 edition of the IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders had developed an app that allowed remote fans to be able to send in a specific types of chants or encouragement to the DJ at the stadium, who would then produce that sound live at the ground. At the very least, an artificial aural atmosphere can be established in stadiums, something England bowler Jofra Archer also suggested recently.”Technology is going to play a massive role,” Mysore said. “I am just saying, if you’re thinking out of the box – an LED wall in stands where, through social media, [fans] can virtually be present there. There are people who’ll be reacting the same way if they were physically at the ground. People have said something about simulation too.”I lived in the US for several years and became an American football fan. Home games and away games are big events there, because the crowd becomes your twelfth man. So what visiting teams used to do when they practised was blast the crowd noise on the speakers, just to get used it. The noise can be deafening in matches.”Even as leaders in all walks of life have been forced to think creatively, one change Mysore is not willing to accept is the IPL being played without overseas players, keeping in mind the restrictions on travel imposed by various countries. The issue was discussed at a face-to-face meeting in March between the BCCI and the franchise owners, where most of the owners agreed they would prefer the overseas players’ to be present as far as possible.The Kolkata Knight Riders – at home in front of a jam-packed Eden Gardens crowd•BCCI

“Why [IPL] has caught the imagination of the country and the world is the quality of the product. The best of the best – this is the pinnacle,” Mysore said . “So I’m of the strong view that the format of the tournament should not be tinkered with. It should not be a glorified domestic tournament.”Another idea discussed at that March meeting was conducting the IPL at limited venues like Mumbai and Pune, who have enough venues between them to conduct the whole tournament. Mysore pointed out the IPL had already done that exercise successfully in 2014 when the first half of the tournament was played in the UAE. “We did this in the UAE – we played in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah. There were no flights, just buses that were taking players back and forth. If we were to think of something like that, the idea that was tossed around was what if you think of a city like Mumbai. There are already four grounds here if you include the Reliance Ground. And if you think about Pune, which is only two and a half hours away, you could easily contain the whole activity.”You can assign one hotel to each team, make sure each team has two buses, fully sanitised and proper distancing maintained. So the logistics of travel is completely removed – no airports, no flights. You reduce the risk to a level people feel comfortable and can live with it. This is obviously based on the premise that things are under control and we get some kind of a blessing from the powers that be. I think it’s a doable model. And in this environment if we could pull it off, it would be fascinating, without touching the quality of the product that we’ve all so carefully built. “

Pakistan bowling coach will rejoin the team by Jan 17 to prepare for the South Africa series

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-2020Waqar Younis, the Pakistan bowling coach, has been granted leave after the Boxing Day Test against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui to spend time with his family – he hasn’t met them for over six months. They will meet in Lahore after the end of the first of two Tests before Younis rejoins the team by January 17 to prepare for the home series against South Africa.Younis has been with the team since the tour of England in the summer. He had attempted to meet his family, based in Sydney, in September, but after landing in Australia, he had to serve a mandatory 14-day quarantine in a hotel. However, on the eighth day of his quarantine, his father died in Lahore, and Younis flew across to attend the funeral. He has been travelling with the team since.Related

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“Considering Waqar has not seen his family since June and taking into account that our home series against South Africa, which follows the series against New Zealand, doesn’t finish until 14 February, we took a pragmatic view of his request and have allowed him to return home early so that he can spend additional time with his wife and children,” Mansoor Rana, the Pakistan team manager, said. “If he had returned to Lahore with the side after the second Test, he would have only got a week to spend with them.”For all of us, families always come first and we have in the past made similar exemptions so that our team members are able to achieve the correct work-life balance.”The second Test in New Zealand will be played from January 3 in Christchurch. South Africa’s tour of Pakistan starts with a two-Test series, the first of which will be played from January 26 in Karachi. The two teams will play three T20Is after that.

The BBL’s two most successful clubs meet in their fourth final and their three most recent meetings point to a fascinating match-up

Alex Malcolm05-Feb-2021Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers are historically the two powerhouses of the BBL. The teams will meet on Saturday night for the fourth time in BBL finals and the fourth time this season. The Scorchers are chasing a record fourth title while the Sixers are hoping for back-to-back trophies to draw level with the Scorchers on three overall.But more relevant to Saturday night is the three most recent meetings this season and specifically the last two. The Scorchers humbled the Sixers in Perth earlier in the season but the Perth Stadium surface is a completely different prospect to the SCG. There has not been a single BBL game played at the venue this season due to Covid-19 although there were two high-scoring T20Is between Australia and India.The two most recent meetings between the sides occurred in Canberra with the Sixers claiming both with relatively comfortable chases. Here are the key points that could decide the Final.Josh Philippe is one of a host of in-form top-order players on show in the final•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

To bowl or not to bowlThe bat flip could be vital again. Firstly, there is rain forecast for Saturday night which could give an advantage to the chasing team although the Sixers won last year’s rain-affected final batting first. Dew isn’t normally a factor in Sydney but a wet ball might be. Ashton Turner admitted on Friday that he got the toss decision horribly wrong in the Qualifier as the dew played a big part in the Sixers’ winning chase. However, the Scorchers trademark is to bat first and defend. The Sixers love to chase and are the best chasing team in the BBL by far. The SCG is also a chasing ground. In the last three years, the chasing side has won seven of 12 matches at the SCG with the average first innings score being just 156. If Turner wins the toss, he will have a dilemma on his hands, whereas Moises Henriques will be unlikely to hesitate in choosing to bowl first.Related

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Josh Philippe and James Vince vs Jhye Richardson and Jason BehrendorffThis is a mouthwatering match-up on both sides. The Sixers batting Powerplay could well decide the match. It virtually has done in the last three meetings. In the first face-off at Perth Stadium, the Scorchers’ new-ball duo came out on top. Jason Behrendorff bagged Josh Philippe and Jhye Richardson claimed James Vince to leave the Sixers 2 for 10 chasing 184 and they lost handsomely.The Sixers duo exacted their revenge twice in Canberra with Philippe making 84 in the home-and-away win and Vince’s 98 not out in the Qualifier to each claim Player of the Match honours. The match-ups are as clear as day. Philippe has scored 37 off 20 balls against Richardson for one dismissal, while Vince has scored just 31 off 30 against BBL’s leading wicket-taker. The opposite is true for Behrendorff. Vince has a better career record against left-arm quicks, with a high strike-rate and average. He has also scored 29 off 16 without being dismissed against Behrendorff, although Behrendorff did knock him over with a peach in the 2019 World Cup. Philippe has enormous trouble against left-arm quicks with his strike-rate dipping to just 6.25 per over, and it dips to 5.47 against Behrendorff. The Scorchers pair will think long and hard about the lines and lengths they bowl to the inform Sixers duo having strayed far too straight in previous encounters.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Surge mentalityThe two sides have been among the best Surge batting teams in the competition and possess some of the most destructive Surge batsmen. The league scoring rate in the Surge has been 10.23. The Sixers have four players, Jordan Silk, Daniel Christian, James Vince, and Moises Henriques who exceed the league average with Silk and Christian among the most prolific Surge players this season. The Scorchers have three in Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Turner, and Josh Inglis.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Turner and Inglis clattered 34 off Sean Abbott and Ben Dwarshuis in the Qualifier while Marsh scored 28 on his own in the Surge against Brisbane Heat. The question for both teams will be the bowling match-ups to the bevy of hitters on both sides. The Scorchers have been the best bowling team in the Surge with Richardson and Andrew Tye doing the job almost exclusively all year with both going at less than 9.58 runs per over. The Sixers have been the worst Surge bowling side in the BBL taking just seven wickets for the season and conceding 13.45 per over. Statistically, their best Surge bowlers are Jake Ball (three wickets at an economy rate of 10.66), who may not make the final Sixers’ XI but could be an X-Factor, and Carlos Brathwaite (two wickets at 12). The Sixers will need to choose their options wisely.Spin to winCuriously, both sides will likely play the final with just one specialist spinner. Fawad Ahmed has been the lone hand all season for the Scorchers with Ashton Agar out injured. The Sixers have used two spinners at times but settled on Steve O’Keefe as the sole spinner in the Qualifier with the other 16 overs being bowled by pace bowlers.The Scorchers haven’t got a strong record against spin, particularly legspin, but the Sixers resisted the urge to pick Lloyd Pope in the Qualifier and will likely avoid doing so in the final after Liam Livingstone’s assault on the Heat’s two legspinners in the Challenger. But spin traditionally has been more effective at the SCG in the last three seasons with spinners taking 50 wickets at an economy rate of 7.44. The quicks have taken 84 wickets but conceded 8.20.O’Keefe and Ahmed may hold the key for their respective sides. O’Keefe has choked the Scorchers’ top order in recent meetings. There is a case to made for Turner to face as many balls as possible of O’Keefe as he has scored 45 runs off 25 balls against him in six career meetings. But O’Keefe will likely bowl in the first 10 overs, and therefore Livingstone and Inglis will be the best match-ups. Both score at more than 10 an over against O’Keefe but both have fallen to him. Ahmed hasn’t been a wicket-taker against the Sixers this season, with just three, but he has been able to hold the run-rate somewhat. He’s conceded 79 runs in 60 balls in the three meetings with only one six being struck off him. Vince and Philippe will look to attack him but would need to be careful not to expose the middle order to him.

Sophie Devine, who picked up two wickets and made 65 not-out, and Tahlia McGrath steered Strikers to their first-ever WBBL final

The Report by Daniel Brettig07-Dec-2019Sophie Devine marched the Adelaide Strikers all over Perth Scorchers and into Sunday’s WBBL final, and in doing so closed to within 14 runs of surpassing Ellyse Perry’s 777-run tournament aggregate record, on a sweltering day at Brisbane’s Allan Border Field.The Strikers had taken the initiative from the first few overs after sending the Scorchers in, Devine claiming the pivotal first wicket of Meg Lanning while Megan Schutt played her customary stymieing role at the other end, ultimately conceding just 14 runs from her four overs.Despite a recovery led by Georgia Redmayne, the Scorchers were held to 7 for 126, a total that was defendable only if Devine could be seen off quickly. Instead, she took control of the innings as she has so often this competition, gliding to a ninth half-century this season at the WBBL. She was aided by Tahlia McGrath and Bridget Patterson to rush the Strikers to their first-ever tournament final. The Scorchers, whose coach Lisa Keightley is set to take over as England coach, did not help themselves by dropping two catches and missing a stumping.Devine, Schutt get the early breakAn early start at Allan Border Field offered the chance for the bowling side to get the most of any movement in the air or off the pitch. Thanks to Devine and Schutt, the Adelaide Strikers were able to do both.Critically, this reaped them the wicket of Meg Lanning in only the day’s second over. After being corralled by Schutt’s inswing in the opening over, Lanning leant forward to drive at Bates, only to slice an away-swinger into a well-staffed backward-point region, where Alex Price held the catch.The Strikers’ glee at dismissing the Australian captain was unconfined, but more was to follow as Schutt found a way past Chloe Piparo and Nicole Bolton in consecutive deliveries. A tally of 3 for 26 from the Powerplay meant the Scorchers were starting their innings from an awful long way back, requiring high skill, patience and stamina to rescue things as temperatures ticked towards the high 30s.Redmayne, Barsby fight backInitially, the Scorchers had to be principally concerned with the preservation of wickets, and as 10 overs ticked past with only 45 on the scoreboard, Redmayne and Barbsy knew they needed to add acceleration to occupation. The telling moment arrived when Redmayne hoisted the first ball of Sarah Cotye’s third over high beyond the midwicket boundary for her first-ever WBBL six, starting an over that was to cost the Strikers 17 runs and allow the Scorchers to wriggle clear.In mounting heat, the Strikers’ earlier pristine fielding and bowling began to fray, as wides and byes accrued. Devine returned to end the stand at 88, and Schutt completed an outstanding analysis of 2 for 14 from four, but the Scorchers were able to pile up 81 runs from the final 10 overs of their innings, meaning that the Perth side had given themselves something to bowl at – the average winning score by teams batting first at AB Field being 129.Devine takes charge…Desperate for an early wicket to mirror the loss of Lanning, the Scorchers were able to manufacture one when Suzie Bates, who had looked out of sorts, sliced a ball to gully and set off, only to be foiled by a brilliant diving save and throw into the wicketkeeper by Bolton.But where Lanning’s exit had been followed by two more, Devine was soon able to find her stride in the company of Tahlia McGrath, negotiating the new ball with a combination of vigilance and the occasional rasping shot through the off-side field. Given how dominant she has been all tournament, Devine’s calmness and control were perhaps not surprising, but she benefited from McGrath’s willingness to drive the game forward herself.That approach came with some risk, and she was to be dropped twice – by Redmayne when McGrath had only four, and again when Bolton turfed a straightforward chance at long-on with the Strikers No. 3 on 19. These chances allowed the Strikers to get to the midway point of their innings needing 68 from the last 10 overs, making a favourable comparison with the back-end of the Scorchers’ innings.…and sees the Strikers homeWhen McGrath was out, ending the second-wicket partnership at 79, the Strikers still needed 45 from 38, no sure thing. Bridget Patterson, another strong performer for Adelaide this season, had a few early jitters, notably a stumping chance spurned by Redmayne. But Devine did not for a moment lose her poise, even laughing with the broadcasters about how her swimming ranks rather poorly next to her cricketing skills.The end duly arrived quickly, as 12, 11 and 16 were piled up from the 16th, 17th and 18th overs. That left Devine with just one more run to get, and her drive down the ground was about as commanding a finish as anyone could want.

The final night in the NatWest Blast group stages leaves just about every county involved in an extraordinary dash to the line

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Aug-2017Fifteen of the 18 counties could still qualify for the quarter-finals of the NatWest Blast ahead of Friday’s final round of matches in the most remarkable climax to the group stages that the tournament has ever known.The last eight games began with only Notts Outlaws, in the North Group, and Glamorgan and Hampshire, in the South, assured of a place in the last eight.North Group leaders Notts can already anticipate a home quarter final at Trent Bridge – their seventh in eight years – whereas Glamorgan, top in the South, need to take a point from their home game against Middlesex to be certain of staving off a potential Surrey challenge for second place.In South Group, if Hampshire beat Somerset at the Ageas Bowl, they will guarantee themselves a home quarter-final. Similarly, the winners of the Kent-Surrey game in Canterbury will qualify – and might even steal a top-two finish and a home tie.But the fact that Kent are playing Surrey opens up the chance for the bottom four sides – Middlesex, Sussex Sharks, Somerset and Essex Eagles – to overtake the losers of that game, and snaffle the fourth qualifying spot.If teams are level, qualification will be decided by Net Run Rate. Significantly, the bottom four all have better rates than both Surrey and Kent, which partly explains why the losers of that game in Canterbury will be eliminated.In the North Group, Yorkshire currently lie second, a position secured by Adam Lyth’s record T20 score in English domestic cricket, made against Northants at Headingley on Thursday.But it was a bitter-sweet victory. Derbyshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Lancashire can all overhaul them tonight – although in Lancashire’s case it would take something extra special to get their Net Run Rate ahead of their Pennines rivals.To make matters worse for Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Birmingham and Leicestershire only need a point to pass them – which could be relevant, with an uncertain weather forecast for the Midlands.However, rain would not automatically take Derbyshire, Birmingham and Leicestershire through because the defending champions, Northants, can still hit the top four if they beat Durham at Wantage Road and other results fall in their favour.Even seventh-placed Lancashire could still sneak in, if they beat Birmingham, and two of Northants, Leicestershire and Derbyshire also lose.Spare a thought for Durham, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire – the only three counties who have already abandoned hopes of a place in next week’s quarter-finals. Gloucestershire have played their final game but the other two could still influence the final line up of next week’s quarter-finals.

New Zealand batsman “surprised” to be included in the 13-member squad for the first two Tests against Pakistan

Cricinfo staff21-Nov-2009Peter Fulton, the New Zealand and Canterbury batsman, has said he was “surprised” to be included in the
13-member squad for the first two Tests against Pakistan. Jesse Ryder’s absence through injury has given Fulton a chance to cement his place in the middle order a day after he helped Canterbury beat Otago in the Plunket Shield.”It’s a nice surprise to get, especially after a game like that,” Fulton told the . “When I missed out on the [New Zealand Invitation] team to play [Pakistan] down in Queenstown, I was obviously pissed off. At the back of your mind, you always sort of know that if you score enough runs you can force your way into contention, and that’s how it’s worked out.”Missing out on Queenstown was obviously an indication that I wasn’t really in the frame last week, but the runs I’ve scored this week has helped push my case.”Fulton made 172 in the first innings against Otago to help Canterbury post 440 and then hit 77 as they declared on 265 for 5 in the second, setting Otago a massive 471 to win. They were bowled out for 355.”I was really pleased with how I batted, actually,” said Fulton. “Just the amount of time I was able to spend at the crease and the tempo that I batted with. It was quite even all the way through.”Fulton, 30, has not played a Test since December 2008 and was eager to improve on improve on a batting average of 24.72 from eight matches. “The last nine to 12 months have obviously been pretty disappointing selection-wise, and missing out on a [New Zealand Cricket] contract,” he said. “I’ve had time to reassess where I’m at, and Test cricket is where I want to be, and I worked pretty hard over the winter.”

They were the only cricketers among the pool of 19 athletes to receive the award this year

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2019India men’s allrounder Ravindra Jadeja and women’s wristspinner Poonam Yadav received the Arjuna Award, an honour bestowed by the Indian government to outstanding individual achievements in sports.While Jadeja, currently on tour in the Caribbean, wasn’t there to receive the award in person, Poonam received hers from the president of the country on Thursday in New Delhi.Jadeja, 30, and Poonam, 28, were among four cricketers – Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah being the others – recommended for the award by the BCCI in April. They were the only cricketers among the pool of 19 athletes to receive the award this year. Jadeja occupies the fourth place on the ICC rankings for Test allrounders. He struck a half-century and picked up two wickets in India’s 318-run victory over West Indies in the North Sound Test and during the World Cup last month, he almost carried India to the final with a flamboyant 59-ball 79 against New Zealand.”First of all, I would like to thank the government of India for giving me the Arjuna Award,” Jadeja said in a video posted by on Twitter. “I would also like to congratulate the other winners as they all have done well in their respective fields. I will always try to be at my best when I play for India and make my team and the country proud. Whenever I play for India, I will try my best to help them win matches.”Poonam, meanwhile, is India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is and is ranked No. 2 by the ICC. She was the world’s leading T20I bowler last year with 35 wickets in 25 innings at an average of 14.91 and strike rate of 15.4, including a career-best 4 for 9 in the final of the Asia Cup, which India lost off the last ball.Earlier this year, she was promoted to BCCI’s Grade A contracts list, having been part of the Indian sides that finished runners-up in the 2017 ODI World Cup in England and crashed out in the semi-finals in the T20 World Cup in November last year.Jadeja is the latest Arjuna Awardee among an elite list of former and current men’s cricketers, while Poonam is the fifth active India women’s cricketer – and 11th overall since 1976 – to win the award. Mithali Raj (2003), Jhulan Goswami (2010), Harmanpreet Kaur (2017) and Smriti Mandhana (2018) are the other current players in the list.

It is likely the pair will miss the remainder of the Australia tour and the upcoming limited-overs tour of New Zealand

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Jan-2019Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul have been suspended from all forms of cricket pending an inquiry into their controversial comments on a recently aired TV show. The Committee of Administrators (CoA) that is overseeing the functioning of the BCCI has sent fresh show-cause notices to the players, asking them for a response within seven days “as to why they should not be proceeded against for misconduct and indiscipline under Rule 41 of the BCCI Constitution”.The pair will return to India and miss the remainder of the Australia tour and the upcoming limited-overs tour of New Zealand. The selectors are expected to name their replacements in due course.”You are aware that the enquiry and proceedings against you for misconduct and indiscipline have been initiated under Rule 41 of the BCCI Constitution and the same are presently pending,” the show-cause notice, which ESPNcricinfo has accessed, read.”In terms of Rule 41(6) of the BCCI Constitution, you are hereby suspended with immediate effect from participating in any matter whatsoever in any match or function or event or activity that is authorized, organized, sanctioned, recognized or supported in any way by the BCCI, the ICC or any State Association, until final adjudication of the matter.”The CoA has taken on board the recommendation of the BCCI’s legal team that Pandya and Rahul be suspended pending an inquiry. This was the procedure the BCCI followed when its CEO Rahul Johri faced sexual harassment allegations last October.The recommendation has the support of the CoA member Diana Edulji, a former India women captain, and the BCCI’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary,”Based on the legal opinion and till the time the final procedure is laid down to address this issue, will recommend that a communication be sent to the concerned players and the team immediately,” Edulji said in response to the legal team’s email on Friday morning, which has been accessed by ESPNcricinfo.”It will be imperative that the players be put under suspension till a further course of action is decided for this misconduct as was done in the case of CEO when he was sent on leave in the sexual harassment matter.”Choudhary agreed with Edulji’s view in a separate email.In reply to the first show-cause notice issued by the BCCI earlier this week, both Pandya and Rahul had apologised for their conduct.Both Pandya and Rahul have been part of India’s practice sessions in Sydney leading up to Saturday’s first ODI. On Friday, India captain Virat Kohli said their comments were not acceptable.This latest controversy, coming immediately in the wake of India’s triumph in the Test series in Australia, has once again split the BCCI and the CoA. Vinod Rai, the CoA chairman, had initially recommended a two-match suspension for the players, while Anirudh Chaudhry, the BCCI treasurer, had called for stricter sanctions. Acting secretary Choudhary wanted the pair suspended “immediately”.At Edulji’s behest, the BCCI’s legal team gave its inputs as to the way forward, and whether and how the players could be charged under the board’s new constitution, which came into effect in August 2018. The legal team ruled out charging Pandya and Rahul for violating the BCCI’s Code of Conduct, which applies strictly to on-field actions.As per the new BCCI constitution, the power to sanction players for indiscipline or misconduct is to rest with the BCCI’s Apex Council. The constitution specifies that the BCCI CEO seek an explanation from the players through an initial show-cause notice and the CEO’s report is to be forwarded by the Apex Council to an Ombudsman, who determines what sanctions are binding.The BCCI, pending fresh elections, does not have either an Apex Council or an Ombudsman. The legal team has suggested that the CoA, as the authorised head of the BCCI currently, could substitute for the Apex Council. The legal team also pointed out that CEO Rahul Johri’s initial show-cause notices to Pandya and Rahul had not included specific rules under which the pair could be charged subject to an inquiry.The legal team suggested that Johri send fresh show-cause notices to both players and that he submit his final report within 15 days. The team also recommended that an ad-hoc Ombudsman, meeting the criteria set by the BCCI constitution, be appointed to adjudicate on the matter within the maximum prescribed period of 6 months from the date the player is charged.”Considering that the inquiry process against the concerned players has commenced and is pending, it is open for the COA to suspend the concerned players (along with their privileges and benefits) pending enquiry and proceeding into the charges of misconduct until final adjudication,” the legal team said in its email to the CoA, the office bearers and the BCCI’s professional management.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli backed him up with fifties against a depleted West Indies attack that struggled for consistency

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu04-Oct-2018
It was coming, wasn’t it? After racking up the records in school cricket and domestic cricket, 18-year-old Prithvi Shaw marked his Test debut with a commanding 99-ball hundred – the third fastest (in terms of balls) on debut. Shaw also became the youngest Indian – and fourth overall – to hit a century on debut. He smashed more records and a depleted West Indies attack at the SCA ground in Rajkot, where he had cracked a ton in his maiden first-class game in January 2017.The local boy Cheteshwar Pujara was happy to ride in Shaw’s slipstream – although he struck at 66.15 – and seemed set for a hundred of his own, but fell 14 short, when the other debutant Sherman Lewis had him nicking off. Captain Virat Kohli, returning to the side after being rested for the Asia Cup, made an unbeaten 72 off 137 balls to cement India’s dominance.Not so long ago, Shaw himself had admitted to his technique not being the most perfect. Yet, he’s found ways to thrive by trusting his strong back-foot strokeplay. This was on display in his first knock in Test cricket: he picked off 76 of his 134 runs in front of square on either side of the wicket.Shaw’s first runs came via a crisp back-foot punch through the covers, and his first boundary came via an even crisper back-foot punch through point. The punchy shots weren’t just reserved for the back foot. Shaw also crunched the ball on the up off the front foot whenever West Indies’ seamers overpitched. Having progressed to his first fifty off 56 balls, he cranked up the tempo further and raised his second off 43 balls. His celebratory fist pump perhaps wasn’t as punchy as his shots, but it still made Kohli and Rahane stand up and applaud in unison from the dressing room.KL Rahul, the senior opener, had fallen to a sharp inducker from Shannon Gabriel for a duck in the first over. The recent trend of Rahul falling to incoming deliveries has been of particular concern for India: he has now been out lbw or bowled in his last eight Test innings. He also burned a review when replays confirmed that the 143.5kph thunderbolt would’ve crashed into middle and leg.Pujara, for a change, didn’t have to grind for his runs. He eased himself in with three fours in four balls, including a trademark bottom-handed drive that purred away straight of mid-on. He even flicked a bottle of water out of his pocket and sipped coolly on it. A half-volley here, a half-tracker there, and West Indies were feeling the heat – both literally and figuratively – on a 39-degree day in Rajkot.That they were without three of their frontline quicks played a part. Alzarri Joseph continues to recover from a stress fracture of the back suffered late last year. Kemar Roach has not yet rejoined the team after leaving the tour following the death of his grandmother, and captain Jason Holder also pulled out with an ankle injury on the morning of the match. Kraigg Brathwaite led the visitors in Holder’s absence.West Indies, though, found some respite when Lewis removed Pujara to end a 206-run stand and Devendra Bishoo had Shaw chipping a return catch for 134 off 154 balls, two minutes before tea. The legspinner tightened up after the break and bothered Rahane with turn – or the lack of it. Rahane was also uncertain against the extra pace of Gabriel before unfurling a velvet-smooth straight drive off the fast bowler.At the other end, Kohli was more sure-footed, and kept his side ticking with risk-free shots. He was only beaten twice, in 137 balls, and his stand with Rahane grew to 105 before Chase found Rahane’s bottom edge with one that skidded away from around the wicket.West Indies took the second new ball in the next over, but Kohli and Rishabh Pant, who ventured a couple of aerial hooks, saw out the day without any further hiccups.