Two weeks ago, the wicketkeeper-batsman had no inkling he would be playing for South Africa; now, his calculated, match-winning knock in the fourth ODI has turned him overnight into a star

Sidharth Monga in Johannesburg11-Feb-20181:31

‘This knock means the world to me’ – Klaasen

On the eve of the Pink-Day ODI, Chris Morris spoke about how the occasion for some reason makes South Africa bring it on. Morris was playing only his second ODI at home when he first experienced the atmosphere, and he smacked 62 off 38 to win South Africa a chase of 263 from 210 for 8; Kyle Abbott scored just three runs in a 52-run stand. Morris spoke of how Dwaine Pretorius became a hero in his first Pink-Day experience last year. He called for a new hero this time.Two weeks ago, this year’s hero was looking for ways to find a ticket to this year’s sold-out match. Heinrich Klaasen, the unassuming, tall wicketkeeper, who under the helmet looks and walks like Martin Guptill, had no inkling he would be playing for South Africa this month. Then Faf du Plessis injured himself and gave him a chance to experience travelling with the team, before an injury to Quinton de Kock gave Klaasen a debut.Klaasen’s second ODI happened to be the Pink Day, a game South Africa have never lost, a game that they were threatening to lose despite everything going their way: India chose to bat despite a forecast of rain, the weather delivered them a T20-like target after India had almost bowled their fast bowlers out, and the spinners were struggling with the wet ball. And yet, with their talisman AB de Villiers gone with the game in the balance, South Africa were back to square one: shaky middle order against India’s wristspinners.Klaasen, though, brought a sense of calm with his calculated hitting. His targeting of the short boundary was exemplary even if it meant going against the turn. After he hit Yuzvendra Chahal for one boundary over midwicket, Chahal resorted to bowling wide outside off. The field had sort of given it away, and Klaasen kept shuffling well wide, sometimes even hitting balls that would otherwise have been called wides. On one occasion he made connection with a ball 1.5 metres wide of the off stump, and still managed to drop it over square leg and into the short boundary.”I can’t describe it but for me that was my only boundary option,” Klaasen said, when asked to explain that shot. “He bowled quite wide and got a lot of turn and bounce. That was my gutsy shot at that moment, and I pulled it off.”Against Kuldeep Yadav, Klaasen employed the lap and the reverse-sweep to start off with, and then pounced on flatter length. The sweeps are shots he has learnt in a country where they say align your outer eye with the off-stump line and sweep everything that is outside. When their batsmen don’t sweep, the coaches shout from outside, “Sweep the bowler.””It comes naturally to me, but I work hard on it,” Klaasen said when asked if the reverse-sweep was a conscious ploy against Kuldeep, whom Klaasen said South Africa had struggled to pick. “Three years ago we went to Sri Lanka on a National Academy trip. There, we learned all types of sweeps. Since then, I’ve brought it back into my game and it works. It takes off a lot of pressure. Especially against good spinners. It’s difficult to hit them down the ground if you don’t use your feet well. So that just changed up their lengths, and it suits me a little bit better.”It’s an individual thing. I don’t think everyone plays that shot well. A lot of our batters hit straight very well. For me, fortunately enough, I can play all around, but it’s hard work. And it’s not one of the… nicer shots for me to do. It’s for me not a high-risk shot, but I definitely have other plans.”The win Klaasen’s knock resulted in was desperately needed by South Africa. They were 3-0 down in the six-match series, seemed to have zero confidence when facing India’s spinners, and needed something on the board to tell them they could compete. It was a bit like the newcomer Klaasen looking for one good innings to tell him he belongs. “Talking to our spinning coach, I just said that I wanted to get the first knock out of the way and get settled with the nerves and all those things,” Klaasen said. “It has been a long time coming. Last season as well, just wanted to get that first knock away in four-day cricket, just to settle down a bit at this level. That means a world to me, better than a hundred, better than anything else to play for your country.”Similarly for South Africa, the win means a lot. “Massive massive confidence booster for us,” Klaasen said. “Not like we didn’t have the confidence [before the game] but just to get the first win has just lifted the spirits in the change room. And the belief in the change room… It’s nice to have AB back again; the environment changed when he is back. He is a huge influence in the change room but to get to the first win on a special occasion like the Pink ODI means a lot to us. Proud to keep the record clean.”And while he was at it, Klaasen might have done his best to make sure he doesn’t need to go looking for tickets for the next Pink ODI.

Twitter reactions to Kagiso Rabada’s two-Test ban being overturned, allowing him to play in the Cape Town Test

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Mar-2018South Africa’s premier fast bowler Kagiso Rabada was suspended for the remaining two Tests of the Australia series, but his ban was overturned on appeal.

Another win for MS Dhoni’s men will take them a step closer to making the knockouts for the ninth time in as many seasons

The Preview by Akshay Gopalakrishnan10-May-20185:23

Hogg: Revamped bowling has worked wonders for CSK

Big Picture

Barring their return from a two-year absence, there are not many similarities between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. CSK have mastered the art of pacing an innings, while Royals have repeatedly stumbled to sub-par scores. CSK are approaching the playoffs, while Royals are fighting to stay relevant in the race for the playoffs. There were questions about CSK’s ageing group of players, but they have held on to catches under pressure, while Royals’ season has been marred by costly drops.The contrasting results are down to critical differences. CSK identified their best combination early, and gave their players well-defined roles. Ambati Rayudu, the floater in the batting line-up, has had his best IPL season, while Shane Watson has provided them firepower at the top and tidy overs with the ball. And MS Dhoni has rolled back the years with his big hitting.Royals’ big players, on the other hand, have not fired like they can. D’Arcy Short has sunk from the highs of the BBL, while Ben Stokes and Jaydev Unadkat continue to search for form. To add to their concerns, captain Ajinkya Rahane has had a mixed season.A win for CSK on Friday will take them closer to the playoffs, and put Royals on the brink of elimination.

Form guide (last three matches, most recent first)

Rajasthan Royals: beat Kings XI Punjab by 15 runs, lost to Kings XI Punjab by six wickets, lost to Delhi Daredevils by four runs
Chennai Super Kings: beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets, lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets, beat Delhi Daredevils by 13 runs

In the news

CSK physiotherapist Tommy Simsek hinted that seamer Deepak Chahar, who was nursing a hamstring injury, could return against Royals.After playing just one match in IPL 2018, England quick Mark Wood has flown back home to prepare for the Test series against Pakistan that begins on May 24.

Previous meeting

Watson smashed the season’s then-fastest century, as CSK racked up 204 and then skittled Royals for 140.

Likely XIs

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Sanju Samson, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Stuart Binny, 6 K Gowtham, 7 Mahipal Lomror, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Jaydev Unadkat, 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Anureet SinghChennai Super Kings: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Ambati Rayudu, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Dhruv Shorey, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 David Willey, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Shardul Thakur

Strategy punt

There is a case for CSK to open their bowling with Ravindra Jadeja. Rahane has managed only 40 runs off 36 balls against left-arm spinners this season while losing his wicket twice in six innings.Short, meanwhile, doesn’t fare too well against offspinners. While he strikes at 147.8 against them, he averages 11.3 and has got out to them thrice in four innings.Rayudu is a prolific batsman in the Powerplay. He scores at 9.64 an over during this phase and has been dismissed only once in seven innings, while averaging 172. He has shown the tendency to cut loose after the first six overs. Royals, however, could counter that by bowling offspinner K Gowtham to him. With five wickets, Gowtham has been Royals’ most successful bowler in the Powerplay.

Stats that matter

• CSK have won four out of their last five games against Royals, and a former Royals player has had a decisive hand in each of the wins: Ravindra Jadeja won the Man-of-the-Match award thrice, and Watson once.
• Stokes has an interesting dynamic with Imran Tahir in T20s. While he has scored an average of two runs per ball against the legspinner, he has also lost his wicket twice in three innings to him.
• Dhoni is 63 runs away from completing 6000 runs in T20 cricket. He will become the fifth Indian batsman to the milestone, after Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir. Dhoni is also 79 runs away from completing 4000 runs in the IPL.

Fantasy pick

Buttler has peaked in the second half of the season with three successive half-centuries. Since he moved from the middle order to the top, Royals’ Powerplay run rate has shot up from 7.62 (the worst among all teams) to 10.39 (the best).Dhoni relishes facing this Royals attack. The CSK captain has faced 122 balls from them in all T20s and hit 200 runs while losing his wicket just twice. Overall, he strikes a boundary every 4.7 balls against them.

The PCB said ICC rules prevented the player from being named until the chemical report was confirmed by the government’s anti-doping agency

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2018A prominent Pakistani cricketer has tested positive for a prohibited substance. This was confirmed by the PCB on Twitter when it said ICC rules prevented the player from being named until the chemical report was confirmed by the government’s anti-doping agency.
While the dope test has come back positive, the report from the laboratory that tested the player’s blood sample has yet to be confirmed by Pakistan’s anti-doping department. The PCB is awaiting the results of that test, saying it would be available in the next day or so. The test is understood to have taken place during the recent domestic 50-over tournament in Faisalabad.Depending on the nature of the prohibited substance, the player could face up to a two-year ban. The last Pakistan international to suffer that fate was Raza Hasan, who tested positive for cocaine in 2015, and was banned till 2017. In the last few years, Pakistan spinners Yasir Shah and Abdur Rehman were also banned for minor doping offences, each serving three-month bans.

After playing as a specialist batsman in ODIs, T20 wicketkeeper will take on the vice-captaincy under Aaron Finch

Melinda Farrell26-Jun-2018Alex Carey says Australia can bounce back from their one-day series defeat by England and will go into their standalone T20I at Edgbaston on Wednesday aiming to top the international T20 rankings.Carey, who played in the final two ODIs of the series as a specialist batsmen, will take on both the wicketkeeping duties and the vice-captaincy under Aaron Finch for the match and said it was important for Australia to finish what has been a difficult tour of England tour with a win.”Absolutely, losing 5-0 is not acceptable for the Australian cricket team,” said Carey. “We don’t want that result ever again. Our T20 is going really well, we’re second in the world at the moment and we want to go one better. And we come up against [No.1 ranked] Pakistan in a week’s time as well.”With England playing the cricket they are, they’re going to be red-hot. We’ve got a few new inclusions into the T20 side and I think it’s just really exciting, not to start again, but to go out there and show the T20 cricket we are playing is fantastic. If we can back up the tri-series we had in New Zealand and against England, we’ll be fine.”Carey started the tour as a reserve wicketkeeper behind captain Tim Paine but was brought in for the last two ODIs as an attempt to stiffen Australia’s middle order. He made just six runs at Chester-le-Street but his 44 in the thrilling one-wicket loss at Old Trafford was a valuable contribution in the closest match of the series.”It’s been quite tough watching the boys in the first few games not getting the results we would have liked,” said Carey. “Playing the last few games was a great experience for me, playing over in England, a one-day series against the best side in the world.”But we didn’t win. It would have been nice to get a win on the board but I think we take a lot out of it. I know I personally did sitting back watching the best side in the world go about their business, and how much work we’ve all got to do to lift our game to be ready this time next year.”Carey has relished the opportunity to work with Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist – who has been commentating throughout the tour – and has set some clear goals as a result.”I want to be the best player of spin,” said Carey. “We’ve seen through those middle overs we need to be better – it doesn’t have to be scoring boundaries every ball but at least manipulating the field, being a bit more busy, and getting on top of the spin.”I’ve been speaking to Punter about whatever it is that comes up. There’s so much I’ve spoken to him about and just trying to take what works for me as well. Adam Gilchrist is over here at times and obviously JL [Justin Langer] is pretty good as well. Just taking bits from all these guys and trying to put it into my game without trying to complicate it as well.”After the loss at Old Trafford, Paine – who averaged 7.20 for the series – said he expected his tenure as ODI captain would be up for discussion. Carey’s position as the stand-in ODI keeper and T20 gloveman and vice-captain puts him in prime position to cement his roles in both white-ball teams..”First and foremost, my goal is to do my best behind the stumps and keep really well, and whatever role it is with the bat through the middle overs, play spin really well or if it’s the back end, then try to close the innings,” said Carey. “The off-field stuff will just come, I think. Standing behind the stumps you get to see the game unfold. If I’ve got nothing for Finchy on the day or if I’ve got something to bring in then no worries. It’s a really exciting squad of guys and we’ve all played a fair bit of cricket against and with.”

England Lions drove home their advantage on the third day against India A in Worcester, taking three late wickets after setting a target of 421 to win

ECB Reporters Network18-Jul-2018India A 197 (Shaw 62, Pant 58, Curran 5-43) and 11 for 3 need a further 410 to beat England Lions 423 and 194 for 5 (Malan 56, Pope 50*)

ScorecardSurrey team-mates Sam Curran and Ollie Pope shared the individual honours with Dawid Malan and Chris Woakes as England Lions drove home their advantage on the third day against India A in Worcester.Curran earned figures of 5 for 43 as the Indians slumped from 189 for 4 to 197 all out in their first innings, with Woakes collecting two wickets to confirm his comeback after knee and quad injuries is on track. Then Malan and Pope made half-centuries – a second of the match for Malan, and Pope on his Lions debut – as the Lions made 194 for 5 in their second innings before declaring late in the day.That decision paid off as Jamie Porter took two wickets and Curran his sixth of the match to leave the tourists tottering on 11 for 3 – although the Lions still have work to do to complete victory on the last day, with three of the four members of this team who have been included in India’s Test squad still to be dismissed.It was Woakes who made the first breakthrough of the day after a deceptively quiet start, bowling Rishabh Pant for 58 after a fifth-wicket stand of 96 with Ajinkya Rahane when the wicketkeeper erred in judgement by playing no shot. That triggered a collapse as the Indians lost their last six wickets for eight runs inside five overs – four of them falling to Curran, who exploited cloudy conditions in a superb spell from the New Road end.The Surrey allrounder, who made his Test debut against Pakistan last month, had Rahane caught behind down the leg side with his first ball of the day, then pinned Shahbaz Nadeem lbw with his second.Mohammed Siraj left Curran’s hat-trick ball but Woakes struck again three overs later, bowling Jayant Yadav – the offspinner who scored a Test century against England in India two winters ago. Then Curran wrapped up the innings by winning two more lbw shouts in the space of three balls, to complete the sixth five-wicket haul of his first-class career.India hit back when the Lions began their second innings, with Alastair Cook falling cheaply after his first-innings century, and Nick Gubbins also dismissed in a lively new-ball spell by Siraj.Malan joined captain Rory Burns at 25 for 2 and the left-handers calmed things down in adding 57 until Burns edged Siraj to Pant in the last over before tea. Malan, who had made 74 in the first innings, completed another half century before he was stumped off Nadeem’s left-arm spin, and Woakes then joined Pope to add a quick 52 for the fifth wicket.Woakes drove a catch to deep cover in the over after Pope had reached a 71-ball half century, and Burns declared to set the Indians a tricky mini-session in the fading light – during which Porter bowled M Vijay in the first over, then Curran had Prithvi Shaw edging to Malan at second slip in the second, before Porter won an lbw decision against Mayank Agarwal in the last over of the day.

The win against India A gave them a bonus point, but their chance of making the final was wiped out by Australia A’s victory over India B

The Report by Sruthi Ravindranath in Bengaluru27-Aug-2018On a cloudy day and a greenish pitch, South Africa A’s pacers ran through India A, consigning them to a four-wicket defeat and knocking them out of contention for a place in the quadrangular series final. The win gave South Africa a bonus-point, but their own chance of making the final was wiped out by Australia A’s victory over India B.Dane Paterson was the destructor-in-chief as he scythed through the hosts’ line-up, picking up his best bowling figures in a limited-overs game. The South Africa batsmen, in their chase, survived an equally-disciplined India bowling effort on a pitch that never looked easy to bat on.”Funnily enough, that was a South African wicket put out today,” Paterson said after the match, following his figures of 5 for 19. The new-ball duo of Paterson and Robert Frylinck found movement off the pitch, quickly drew parallels with the ones back home, and made no mistake in applying them. While keeping the scoring quiet with probing lines outside off, they accounted for the top-four batsmen within the first ten overs to leave India A reeling at 31 for 4.

Dane Paterson on being called a T20 specialist

• “It’s a dream to play Test cricket, so I’m working on that, aspiring to be there. It’s funny because at the beginning of my career, I used to have a lot of success with the red ball and suddenly now once I’ve got older, my white-ball game has taken off.

• “I feel relieved, it’s been a long time since I took a five-for, it was my first with the white ball, so quite happy about today’s performance.”

At that point, Krunal Pandya joined Nitish Rana at the crease, following which India saw a brief flash of recovery. The two motored on for about six overs, rotating strike and seeing off the new-ball pair, but then Pandya edged one to the keeper, contributing just five to the overall score. While Rana pushed India’s score past 50, his struggle against the short ball was exposed, and soon he lost his wicket to a Malusi Siboto bouncer after making a 45-ball 19.The onus was on Sanju Samson to resurrect India’s innings, but Deepak Chahar did his bit to hold up South A too. He batted freely even as South Africa captain Khaya Zondo set an aggressive field. While Samson at the other end played watchfully, Chahar hit three sixes and as many fours to make a 42-ball 38, ending as India’s top scorer of the day.From 76 for 6, the duo pulled India to 140 before the South Africa pacers struck again. The promising 64-run stand was ended by a sharp catch by Pieter Malan at backward point to send Chahar back, and the fielder duly received a loud appreciation from the 50-odd spectators at the stadium. Following that, Paterson and Sisanda Magala did not take much time to wrap up the innings.For South Africa, Malan opened with Gihahn Cloete and the pair was treated to tidy bowling by Chahar, Shivam Mavi and Khaleel Ahmed. Khaleel provided the breakthrough for India, sending an edgy Cloete back, but Malan stuck around at the other end, making an 86-ball 47 before Khaleel came back to dismiss him. Paterson was sent in at No. 5 with the intention of collecting quick runs, but his brief stay at the crease was terminated by a Khaleel full toss that found its way to deep point to leave South Africa 111 for 5.With spin pressing from both ends, South Africa’s scoring slowed down in the middle. Mayank Markande and Krunal Pandya stifled the flow of runs with tight lengths – and also picked up three wickets between them in all – but India needed more runs on the board. South Africa took the relatively small chase to the 38th over but got home they did, Farhaan Behardien and Frylinck finishing the job. The bonus point they got for doing it in under 40 overs took them over Australia A in the points table, but only till the latter registered a win themselves later in the day in Alur.

India A add 205 for last five wickets to open up a sizable lead to give hosts chance of a series-levelling win

The Report by Varun Shetty in Alur10-Sep-2018Andhra Cricket Association

India A batted Australia A into a corner on the third day of the second unofficial Test in Alur. They lead of 159 came on the back of KS Bharat’s 106, and his various partnerships with the lower order that meant India made 205 for the last five wickets, finishing eventually with 505 in reply to Australia’s 346. Bharat’s century was India’s first of the series, and the innings was at its peak during his eight-wicket stand of 113 with Kuldeep Yadav, who batted 112 balls for his 52.The pair were in full control after they’d both been dropped off part-time legspinner Marnus Labuschagne when the lead was slim. Kuldeep then begun dominating the stand, looking calm and assured as Australia switched their bowlers around constantly. While the innings was studded with boundaries, it was an aggressive one in approach, with the footwork sorted the whole way through against pace and spin.It gave Bharat the license to play the boundary strokes at the other end and he picked up 12 fours and a six during his forage. Bharat’s most productive strokes were the hook and the cover drive, both of which were a consequence of Australia’s struggle to hold up a constant strategy. The seamers, particularly Brendan Doggett, were all over the place against Bharat and on a slow pitch, he cashed in on their offerings.Against spin, he was more content playing with a straight bat, often in defence, and rarely got out of the crease to manufacture shots. There wasn’t much need for it in any case, with Australia’s spread out fields offering many easy run-scoring avenues.This was also the case when Shubman Gill had got going in the first session. Gill, the overnight batsman alongside India A captain Shreyas Iyer, had a much easier start to the day than should have been, considering the that the same bowlers – Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Swepson – had troubled them in the last 30 minutes on Sunday. The pair had even come out to overcast, cold conditions, which offered the Australian bowlers more than they had got on a blazing Sunday.But they were barely troubled, with Swepson struggling to land the ball from around the wicket. Many full tosses down leg side were put away, including one that was ramped by Iyer over the long leg boundary, and when he did finally start landing the ball, the umpires deemed that he was bowling a negative line and penalised him. Marsh did end up slanting one in to beat Iyer and hit his stumps, but Australia’s day would be filled with more such peculiar moments.In front of a considerably bigger home crowd than had watched during the weekend, the Australians came apart slowly, with fumbles and extras, and were even penalised for having three fielders behind the popping crease on the leg side at one point.The start of that decline began with Gill’s exquisite wrists that aided his flowing drives, but were especially impressive as he got on the back foot to manipulate the square field on the off side. Australia operated with one slip all day, and Gill used that open side of the field to full effect.But the 19-year-old batsman didn’t capitalise on his fluid start, and was bowled playing inside the line of a Chris Remain delivery with India still 46 behind and a fragile lower order exposed. K Gowtham undid the pressure though – as Bharat endured an anxious start – and his confident batting brought India five runs away from parity. By then, Bharat settled in and shepherded the lower order.Australia were given only three overs of seam bowling to play as they came out to play the last hour, and the relentless intensity of India’s spinners produced wickets off stark variety. Kurtis Patterson got into his shell and was bowled leaving an arm ball from Gowtham. At the other end, Renshaw’s attacking strategy produced a pictureesque straight six against Nadeem, but some sweeps later, he top-edged one to a diving Deepak Chahar at short fine leg.

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.

Marcus Harris confirmed for a Test debut with Mitchell Marsh dropped, while India will have to pick between Rohit Sharma and Hanuma Vihari

Andrew McGlashan05-Dec-20189:53

Adelaide Test – Agarkar and Hodge talk strategy

Big Picture

India’s year of trying to conquer overseas challenges has reached Adelaide. Australia’s year of turmoil has reached their first home Test series since the game was thrown into crisis. No one really knows who starts favourites, but never have India begun a series Down Under with such expectation that this could be their time.However, that was said about the tours of South Africa and England as well, and both those series went the way of the home side – partly due to a lack of preparation and partly due to some poor selection decisions. India’s warm-up match in Sydney was hardly inspiring as they conceded 544 against the CA XI. They have also lost the hugely talented Prithvi Shaw for at least the first Test. Nothing comes easily in Australia, even when the hosts are beset by their own problems.It has felt a long build-up to this occasion for Australia – they have played in England, Zimbabwe, the UAE and faced South Africa and India this season in white-ball cricket before this much-anticipated duel. Their bowling attack has survived the turmoil which has cost a multitude of people their jobs, but plenty of questions remain about the batting they have put together for the start of the series.At home, however, they are rarely dominated. Only South Africa have done it consistently since the days of the great West Indies team. If they can get off to a good start in Adelaide, putting enough runs on the board for the stellar bowling attack, then they could still be tough to stop. India must learn from the tours of South Africa and England – do not give the opposition a head start.Every time Australia have taken the field since South Africa it has been billed as the new start, but after a lot of limited-overs cricket and a Test series overseas, this feels like their real opportunity to start afresh. This time last year Tim Paine had just returned to Test cricket, now he is captain. What sort of team can he develop? The next six weeks, starting in Adelaide, will tell us a lot. It’s a series that could define both teams.

Form guide

(last five completed matches)
Australia LDLLL
India WWLLW

In the spotlight

Out of Australia’s big three, Pat Cummins emerged as the most consistent of the quicks earlier this year – testament to his years of hard work to overcome the injuries that hampered the early parts of his career. He took a largely forgotten career-best nine-wicket match haul in Johannesburg when the focus was on anything but the cricket, and did not feature in the UAE. As with his fellow pacemen, he has been very carefully handled heading into this Test series, so hopefully he is ready to push up the speed gun. Do not ignore his improving lower-order batting, either.
How about someone other than Virat Kohli? India’s pace attack is the best they have pulled together, but they either don’t have great numbers or haven’t played much in Australia. Jasprit Bumrah falls into the latter category but shapes as a key part of India’s armoury. He made an instant difference to the attack when he came in during the England series, causing particular problems to the left handers, of which Australia have a few. However, many a talented fast bowler has come to Australia and taken too long to adjust to the conditions, especially the lengths required.1:28

Introducing Marcus Harris, Australia’s newest Test cricketer

Team news

Mitchell Marsh has been dropped in favour of frontline batsman Peter Handscomb, while Marcus Harris is confirmed for a debut opening the batting. That will be alongside Aaron Finch, with Usman Khawaja taking the No. 3 spotAustralia 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Marcus Harris, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Shaun Marsh, 5 Peter Handscomb, 6 Travis Head, 7 Tim Paine (capt & wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh HazlewoodIndia have ditched their five-bowler policy and named only four frontline bowlers in their XII – the pace trio of Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah to be complemented by R Ashwin’s off-spin. The only point that is uncertain is who will bat at No.6, with both Rohit Sharma and Hanuma Vihari named in the XII.India 1 KL Rahul, 2 M Vijay, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rohit Sharma/Hanuma Vihari, 7 Rishabh Pant (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Pitch and conditions

Adelaide’s previous three Tests have been day-nighters, but India didn’t fancy one of those on this tour so it’s the ground’s first traditional Test match since 2014 when these two sides last met. The surface looked dry the day before the match and there is hot weather predicted for the first day, then warm, sunny conditions throughout so spin could be a factor.

Stats and Trivia