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. “

Offspinner battles through injury to finish with 14 in the match

ECB Reporters Network11-Aug-2020Simon Harmer spun his way to match figures of 14 for 131 as county champions Essex beat Surrey by 169 runs to maintain their perfect start to the Bob Willis Trophy.Offspinner Harmer had taken 6 for 67 in the first innings, before producing his well-worn fourth-innings trick by steamrolling Surrey with 8 for 64. Harmer had been on course for the first 10-wicket haul in county cricket since Ottis Gibson for Durham in 2007, but Aaron Beard took two late poles to deny him history.Incredibly, Harmer, who bowled unchanged from his River End on day four, is playing through an abductor strain, which medical staff had recommended would rule him out for up to six weeks.With 20 wickets in two matches this season, he continues his quest to be the country’s leading red-ball wicket-taker for a second successive season – and already has a six-wicket lead over his nearest challenger.Essex, who have now won their last ten first-class matches at Chelmsford, jump to the top of the South Group table, while heavily depleted Surrey remain the only winless side in the conference.”The wicket at Chelmsford always suits me,” Harmer laughed. “Professional cricket is about performance and failures and when it is your day you have to make the best of it because I don’t know what will happen next week at Hove.”When the wicket is turning, I’m going to cash in as much as I can and that’s what I did today. I knew they would be under pressure. I am very happy with the way the ball is coming out at the moment but cricket is a funny game so you can’t take anything for granted, but touch wood may the form continue.”When I got to six wickets the boys started talking about how if I pulled my finger out then I might have been able to get all 10. Those things don’t happen very often in cricket but I’ll take that catch and an eight-for any day.”Harmer had started his haul with the last ball of the third day, when Mark Stoneman was leg-before to one which didn’t turn – with Surrey requiring an unlikely 310 to win from the final day.It took his 23 morning deliveries to breakthrough Scott Borthwick’s defences as the once-capped England Test player attempted a forward defence only to see the ball spin off his outside edge and into Adam Wheater’s gloves.Surrey weren’t going to roll over and hand Harmer and Essex the wickets they required, with Ryan Patel and Will Jacks providing a blocking rearguard.Patel, in particular, seemed immovable as he grappled to hold onto his wicket, showing intense concentration to see out 97 balls. But the 22-year-old lapsed for a moment to sky a pulled short to Jamie Porter at midwicket while attempting to cash in on a shorter delivery from Harmer.Jacks saw out 93 balls with his laser focus, while also putting on a 51-run stand with Jamie Smith – as the pair held Essex up for 20 overs.But having refuelled over lunch, Harmer took his next two wickets in three balls. Jacks, who had batted beautifully scored 70 in the first innings, attempted to go back and work to leg side only to be pinned – that brought up Harmer’s 10 wickets in the match. Two balls later, Evans, on loan from Sussex, skipped down the track, missed the ball and was stumped by Wheater.Rikki Clarke twice used his feet to strike Harmer for two boundaries down the ground but departed for 14 from 27 balls when Varun Chopra held on to a simple catch at short leg.Wicketkeeper-batsman Smith once again showed why he is so highly rated at The Oval with a two-hour vigil. The 20-year-old scored 45 in 89 balls but departed at the hands of Harmer – although not through his bowling. Smith edged Beard to second slip, where Harmer swooped low to pull off a stunning catch, which ended his own shot at immortality.Harmer returned to his first skill again in the next over as Gus Atkinson, who had hit him for six, ran past a straight one to be bowled.
Beard saw off James Taylor, caught at cover, for a seven-ball duck before Harmer wrapped up the victory at 3.35pm when Amar Virdi slapped to mid-off.

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.

The left hander was the Heat’s second-highest scorer in last season’s tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Sep-2020Matt Renshaw has moved from the Brisbane Heat to the Adelaide Strikers on a three-year deal.Renshaw, 24, was the Heat’s second-highest run scorer last season with 348 at a strike-rate of 129.85 and has made himself into a middle-order batsman in the format who can also send down some handy offspin. His highest T20 score, 90 off 50 balls, came against the Strikers in the 2018-19 season.”The Adelaide Strikers have always been an impressive franchise and to be joining them for the next three years, I’m just ecstatic,” he said. “I’m looking forward to having Adelaide Oval as my home ground, which is an oval that I know well and is also one of the best in the world.””Hopefully it will be possible to play in front of our home crowd at some point, as they really do make such an incredible atmosphere.”The Heat said they had made Renshaw their “best offer” to stay. “While we’re disappointed to see him leave, we wish him well,” coach Darren Lehmann said. “In the three seasons he had with us, he worked hard to develop his T20 skills and his enthusiasm was good to have around the team.”Renshaw took a break from the game after last season’s Big Bash and coupled with the onset of Covid-19 had not played a competitive match since a Queensland 2nd XI fixture in early February until returning to Premier Cricket last weekendRenshaw’s signing is the second part of the Strikers’ pre-season moves after they agreed a trade with the Melbourne Stars to swap Billy Stanlake for Dan Worrall.

Queensland team-mates will be club’s County Championship overseas players in 2021

Matt Roller28-Oct-2020After his planned stint at Surrey was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Michael Neser has belatedly got the chance to play county cricket in 2021 after signing with Glamorgan for the County Championship and Royal London Cup.Neser, 30, will link up with Queensland team-mate Marnus Labuschagne in Cardiff, with the pair filling Glamorgan’s overseas quota for four-day and 50-over cricket following Marchant de Lange’s departure to Somerset. Labuschagne is also set to be available in T20 cricket, pending his international commitments, and they have one remaining overseas spot for the Blast.ALSO READ: Somerset sign de Lange from Glamorgan on overseas dealLabuschagne has previously credited his time at the club ahead of the 2019 Ashes as a springboard for his international breakthrough, and Neser – who is yet to make his Test debut despite regularly featuring in Australia squads – said he hoped that it could have a similar effect on his career.”I’m thrilled to sign for Glamorgan and play in Wales,” Neser said. “I’ve played with a few guys who have played at Glamorgan – Charlie Hemphrey, Usman Khawaja, and especially Marnus – and they’ve had nothing but praise for the club, the way things are done, the culture at Sophia Gardens and the friendliness of all the staff and locals.”I’m still desperate to play county cricket after my spell this year was cancelled, so when I heard Glamorgan were interested I didn’t have to think twice. I’m keen to come over, showcase my skills, and do what I can to win games of cricket for Glamorgan. I’ve got those international ambitions, and I saw what playing for Glamorgan did for Marnus, and I’m hoping to do the same thing.”Neser started the Sheffield Shield season in style, taking his fourth career five-wicket haul before adding a maiden first-class hundred in an innings win against Tasmania. That performance prompted Justin Langer to describe him as a “fine cricketer”, having highlighted the lack of allrounders as a problem area for Australia.”I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets an opportunity with the Australian cricket team soon,” Langer said. “He’s been in lots of tours but, geez, he keeps knocking hard.”Neser was due to play in the first half of Surrey’s County Championship campaign last summer, but in early April was the first in what became a torrent of players to have an overseas deal cancelled because of international travel restrictions.With the club’s chief executive Richard Gould confirming that they would keep Hashim Amla and Morne Morkel as overseas players following the expiration of their status as Kolpak signings, they were unable to offer Neser a new deal.

The star allrounder, returning after a year-long ban, will arrive in Dhaka from Minnesota this week

Mohammad Isam04-Nov-2020Shakib Al Hasan, whose international ban ended late last month, is among 113 cricketers who must pass a fitness test – to be conducted on November 9 and 10 – before making it to the draft of the upcoming Bangabandhu T20 tournament.A total of 80 cricketers, including Shakib, will be tested on the first day at the Shere Bangla National Stadium’s indoor facility, supervised by the board’s strength and conditioning coaches. None of them need to undergo a Covid-19 test, though they have been asked to follow health protocols.The 12-month ban on the star allrounder, for failing to report corrupt approaches, ended on October 29. Shakib is currently in Minnesota, but is expected to arrive in Dhaka later this week.Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said last week that the board wanted Shakib to play the T20 tournament, the second event in the 2020-21 domestic season, which doesn’t have too much cricket as Bangladesh is recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 situation.ALSO READ: The coaches behind the success of Bangladesh’s best playersIn October, the BCB held a three-team President’s Cup, where 46 cricketers – from the Bangladesh preliminary squad for the postponed Sri Lanka series and from the high-performance set-up – were picked. The Bangabandhu tournament is likely to be a five-team competition, beginning in late November, with the BCB, which has been trying to bring cricket back in the country slowly, managing the bio-secure bubbles.It is the board’s continuous attempt to slowly bring back all the domestic competitions one by one, but not without managing the bio-bubble on their own in these two tournaments.Apart from Shakib, 31 Bangladesh internationals have been called up for the tests, including Nasir Hossain, Sohag Gazi and Shahriar Nafees, who haven’t been in the scheme of things for the national team for a long while – 35-year-old Nafees last played internationally in April 2013.The rest of the group is made up of first-class or club-level cricketers who played in last season’s National Cricket League, the Bangladesh Cricket League, and the Dhaka Premier League. Many of these cricketers have been training in the nets and gyms, and some have even participated in small T20 tournaments around the country to stay fit, as they haven’t played any competitive cricket since mid-March.

“Final warning” issued after members of squad breach quarantine protocols

Umar Farooq26-Nov-2020Six members of Pakistan’s touring contingent in New Zealand have tested positive for Covid-19. According to an NZC release, four are new cases, while two of the positive results have been deemed “historical”.It is unclear whether the six who tested positive are players or other members of Pakistan’s touring party.The results are from tests conducted upon Pakistan’s arrival in New Zealand on November 24. Each member of the squad will have to undergo a minimum of four tests while in managed isolation.The six who tested positive have been moved to a different floor of the managed isolation facility in Christchurch where Pakistan are currently based. The team will not be able to train until investigations are completed, and their 14-day quarantine period has been reset, meaning it begins afresh.NZC also revealed that some members of the Pakistan contingent had “contravened protocols” on day one of their managed isolation. “We will be having discussions with the tourists to assist them in understanding the requirements,” the release said.A New Zealand Ministry of Health release said these breaches of protocol had been caught on CCTV, and that the team has been issued a “final warning.”It is understood that another breach can get the player involved deported, and put the entire tour in jeopardy.ALSO READ – Fakhar Zaman ruled out of New Zealand tourESPNcricinfo has also learned that assistant coach Shahid Aslam hasn’t joined the rest of the team in Christchurch. He is undergoing his 14-day quarantine in Auckland – Pakistan’s first port of entry into New Zealand – after declaring a sore throat in his travelling form. He has cleared a Covid-19 test and will join the rest of the team when his quarantine ends.According to New Zealand Covid regulations, the tourists need to be isolated in separate rooms, not permitted to mix with each other for the fortnight to be spent in quarantine. They will be tested on the third and twelfth days of isolation. Once they return negative tests, they will not need to form a bio-secure bubble within the country, given the near-total absence of community transmission of Covid-19 in New Zealand.New Zealand earlier issued a warning to the touring West Indies party for breaching quarantine regulations during isolation. They were found to be socialising in the hallways, which Covid regulations do not allow.All members of the Pakistan contingent who flew out of Lahore had returned negative results from four separate tests. Opening batsman Fakhar Zaman had been left out of the tour as a precautionary measure after showing possible symptoms of Covid-19.Pakistan are due to play three T20Is on December 18, 20 and 22 in Auckland, Hamilton and Napier respectively, before playing two Tests in Mount Maunganui (December 26-30) and Christchurch (January 3-7).

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.

Captain also praises Jason Roy’s innings in straightforward run chase

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2021Eoin Morgan praised his bowlers for setting up England’s comprehensive victory in their T20I series opener by restricting India to a total that proved impossible to defend.The pace trio of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Chris Jordan made life difficult for India’s batsmen, who managed just 124 for 7 from their 20 overs – having been 22 for 3 after the Powerplay – despite a fighting 67 off 48 balls from Shreyas Iyer. Archer claimed 3 for 23 from his four overs, his best T20I figures.Before the series, Chris Silverwood, England’s coach, had played down concerns about the quality of training facilities in Ahmedabad, saying they were “the same for both sides”. But speaking after England’s eight-wicket victory with 27 balls to spare, Morgan raised questions over the standard of the nets.”The wicket was as expected. [It] was better than the net facilities that we’ve had here, so that was a huge positive for us,” Morgan said in the post-match presentation. “But the plans were very basic: hit a good length, straight, we didn’t have to go to plan B and C very often, which is always a good sign when the bowling unit does that.”One of Jof’s strengths is that he can bowl really fast, amongst others, but Mark Wood’s super strength is that he can bowl fast. It’s hard to do the whole time but when he bowls like he did tonight it’s very good entertainment but also it’s great to have him in your side.”Our bowling unit, similar to our batting unit, there’s a lot of competition for places. There’s guys on the sideline today that could easily have got a call in that XI – Reece Topley, Tom Curran – today, so we’re trying to cover all departments, particularly when we’re put under pressure or under the pump.”Today the guys were so good that they almost didn’t allow that to happen. Throughout the series there will be continuous challenges and we will be up against it a lot of the time, so it’s important for those moments to produce your best.”Jason Roy and Jos Buttler set off England’s pursuit well with a 72-run partnership. Roy top-scored for the visitors, one shy of his half-century, having come into the match without reaching 25 in his previous 10 international innings going back to February 2020 and amid talk of Alex Hales possibly returning to the England fold, at least in a training capacity to begin with, after a strong BBL season.”There’s a huge amount of competition for places within the squad and even outside the squad,” Morgan said. “So it’s always nice, you know, there’s huge support in the changing room for anybody that scores runs and does well and when Jason scores runs and does well in the fashion that he plays, it really does gee the boys up.”Related

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While it was pace and bounce that went a long way towards delivering England victory on Friday, Roy said he had been working hard on facing spin in the nets.”[It was] better than a slap in the face. I’ll take 49 at the start of the day and I’ll take a comfortable victory like that as well,” Roy said. “For us to come out and bowl like we did and field like we did in our first game was incredible to see and will hold us in good stead for the rest of the series.”I’ve done a lot of practice, especially against Adil Rashid in the nets. He’s helped me a lot to learn about my game, learn my strengths.”Morgan also said there was no hangover among his side’s multi-format players following England’s tough 3-1 Test series defeat, which ended at the same venue less than a week ago.”It’s a completely different format of the game and there’s a complete distinction between the formats as well,” Morgan said. “We’ve been on tours before where possibly the white-ball guys have played for us and we’ve not played well and it’s not lingered into the Test matches.”Likewise, the other way around, and particularly in big series, like the Ashes, for instance, we’ve come out of the back of it and learned from it and equally when we’ve won at home in the Tests we’ve used that as confidence coming into the white-ball series.”