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KL Rahul is set to miss the fourth Test as well, while his participation in the final Test in Dharamsala is subject to fitness

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Feb-2024Jasprit Bumrah has been rested from the fourth Test against England beginning on February 23 in Ranchi. KL Rahul, who missed the second and third Tests, is set to miss the fourth Test as well, while his participation in the final Test in Dharamsala is subject to fitness.The decision to give Bumrah a break has been made keeping his workload in mind – he’s bowled 80.5 overs in the first three Tests – with an IPL season coming up followed closely by the 2024 T20 World Cup beginning on June 1. There was speculation that Bumrah was going to be rested for the third Test in Rajkot but, with the series level at 1-1, he eventually played the fixture.Mukesh Kumar, who was released from the squad for the third Test in Rajkot, has joined the squad in Ranchi. He played the Ranji Trophy match for Bengal against Bihar after being released, where he picked up a career-best match haul of 10 for 50 in a massive win for Bengal.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

India now lead the five-match series 2-1 after a record 434-run victory in Rajkot, and they will have to find a way to make up for Bumrah’s absence: he’s the leading wicket-taker in the series with 17 wickets at 13.64 apiece. He was the Player of the Match in India’s win in the second Test in Visakhapatnam, where he took 9 for 91 across both innings.Mukesh, meanwhile, had played the second Test against England when Mohammed Siraj was rested but bowled only 12 overs in Vishakapatnam for figures of 1 for 70. If India play two fast bowlers in Ranchi, the choice for the second quick will be between Mukesh and the uncapped Akash Deep, who was included in the squad for the last three Tests after topping the wicket charts for India A in the recent first-class games against England Lions.Rahul had made scores of 86 and 22 during the defeat in the first Test in Hyderabad – the highest aggregate for India in the match – before missing the second Test with a quadriceps injury. He was included in the squad for the third Test subject to fitness, but was eventually ruled out with a sore knee.The fourth Test between India and England begins this Friday, just four days after the end of the third Test, while there is an eight-day gap between the end of the fourth Test on February 27 and the start of the fifth and final Test on March 7.India squad for fourth Test: Rohit Sharma (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep

Batter grabbed opportunity after years on England sidelines, with Bangladesh campaign looming

Andrew Miller25-Apr-2024Maia Bouchier says her goal for the 2024 summer is to cement her new-found status at the top of England’s batting order, as the countdown begins for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September.Bouchier, 25, enjoyed a breakthrough winter on England’s recent tour of New Zealand, where she capitalised on the late arrival of several senior players from the Women’s Premier League in India, including the incumbent opener Danni Wyatt and senior batter Nat Sciver-Brunt, to make a strong case for a permanent role.Having previously batted exclusively in the middle-order in her limited opportunities over the previous two years, Bouchier was first promoted to open during Sri Lanka’s visit last summer, where she complemented Sciver-Brunt’s century in the third ODI in Leicester with a career-best 95 from 65 balls.But given England’s main focus for the year, it was Bouchier’s performance in March, in the 4-1 series win in the T20Is against New Zealand, that truly stood out. She batted at No.3 in the first three matches, making scores of 43 not out, 12 and 71, then a series-sealing 91 from 56 balls after being promoted to open for the fourth match.”I’ve been waiting for that moment,” Bouchier told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s been great, I’ve really enjoyed my cricket and putting in some performances for England. Going into this summer, I’ll do as much as I can to grab every opportunity and keep that spot now.”Bouchier’s form was the culmination of a settled run in the side, one that had been promised to her last summer by England’s head coach, Jon Lewis, when she was picked ahead of the veteran Tammy Beaumont despite the latter’s impressive form in the Hundred. The reason Lewis gave at the time was that Bouchier “had been carried around the world”, but her total of 13 innings in 19 T20Is since her debut in 2021 meant she hadn’t been given a chance to prove her worth.Maia Bouchier made a strong impression on England’s tour of New Zealand•Getty Images

She’s done that now, outshining both the returning Beaumont and the struggling Sophia Dunkley in New Zealand, to the extent that she is now ready to stake a claim to be a first-choice opener for the World Cup – a point reiterated last week by her captain Heather Knight, when she praised Bouchier’s form in New Zealand while acknowledging that England “haven’t quite nailed” their opening partnership yet.”It was all about being patient for that moment,” Bouchier said. “[Lewis] talked about giving me a little run-in, to make sure I wasn’t thinking that everything was riding on one opportunity.”I guess I had to do those tough years to get to that point, but playing in those [lower-order] positions meant I had to be able to adapt quickly, so that has only helped me going up to the top of the order. I can’t really regret any of it. I’ll always take that as much as I can.”Related

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England’s summer comprises home series against Pakistan in May and New Zealand in June-July ahead of the Hundred, where Bouchier will once again be playing for the defending champions, Southern Brave. And while the swift transition to Bangladesh’s pitches will be a tough one for England, she’s confident that the batting unit has shored up its game against spin – a notable shortcoming last year, both in the Ashes, as well as the shock T20I series loss to Sri Lanka.”Bangladesh is going to be difficult, and spin is always a talking point, but really it comes down to the game situation and the ball in hand at that moment,” Bouchier said. “Everyone has been working on playing to their strengths against spin, whether it’s reverse-sweeping or long sweeps to the other side of the pitch. We’ll just being looking to put the pressure back on the bowlers as much as we can.”Bouchier was speaking at the launch of the MCC Foundation Hubs tournament in Leyton, a competition that involves more than 100 girls’ and boys’ teams playing for the chance to appear in a Lord’s final.The programme has already reached more than 20,000 state school children since its launch in 2012, and recently received a £1million funding boost from MCC and the ECB. With 126 hubs already in existence, the aim is to reach the 150th location by next year.On the girls’ front alone, the scheme has seen a 53% increase in participation over the past year, and in the week that the ECB announced the eight counties to have been granted Tier 1 status for the new national women’s competition from 2025, Bouchier said that trend reflected the huge growth in interest she had witnessed in the course of her own career.”It’s amazing,” she said. “I was playing for Middlesex when I was 16, and there wasn’t an England development pathway or a county set-up. I’m super lucky and super privileged to have been driven all round London by my parents, who funded everything for me. Without that I would have fallen out of the game.”I also I knew a lot of talented but under-privileged players who just didn’t have anywhere to go. This foundation is there for kids and teenagers in that range, who don’t know whether they want to play, but they’re really interested in getting involved. It gives them access and brings the community together as well, which is exactly what you want.”

After just three matches together in 2-1 defeat to West Indies, head coach is encouraged by his charges’ fight

Cameron Ponsonby10-Dec-2023Matthew Mott has called for patience with England’s new-era white-ball team as a work in progress, stressing that they’ve only had three opportunities to play together.England succumbed to a four-wicket defeat in Barbados to lose their first series following a difficult World Cup campaign 2-1.A group which featured just four players to have played more than 10 ODIs, found themselves in strong positions in all three matches against a West Indies side going through a similar reboot having failed to qualify for the World Cup.However, a late-innings onslaught from Shai Hope and Romario Shepherd in the opening match saw England slip to a four-wicket defeat in Antigua, before losing by the same margin at the Kensington Oval after a top-order collapse gave England a total of just 188 to defend in a rain-reduced game.Related

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“We haven’t put a complete game together and that’s the frustration,” Mott, England’s head coach, said immediately after the defeat. “We put ourselves in a chance to win all three games and come away with a series loss, so that’s not ideal.”But there are definitely some really good signs there that there’s a group of players who love playing with each other. They’re some really good mates in there and I think it’ll really take the game forward.”In line for particular praise were Rehan Ahmed and Sam Curran. Rehan, described by Mott as a “revelation”, has been tasked with filling the almighty shoes of Adil Rashid and took five wickets across the series at an average of 23.40 and an economy of 4.33. On the other hand, Curran had a mixed series. In the opening ODI, he showed his class with the bat to save England’s innings from the perilous position of 239 for 7, before conceding the worst ever figures of an England player in ODIs as he was taken for 0 for 98.”Sam’s definitely a player that we really want to invest in,” Mott said, with Curran proving his qualities with the ball in the second match where his triple-strike in the powerplay put England ahead of the game. “He’s got a lot of qualities that we like and he’s got the game to really play well.”A point of pride for Mott was the fight England showed to almost steal an unlikely victory from the final ODI. Suffering from the natural disadvantage of bowling second in a rain-affected match, England were faced with greasy conditions that made it harder for their spinners to grip the ball and easier for the West Indies batters to play seam. But thanks to a Will Jacks-inspired performance with the ball, England reduced West Indies to 135 for 6, with 53 runs still required for victory.”I thought today we showed a lot of character and spirit to fight all day,” Mott said. “You don’t want to make excuses, but to hang in there as a team and show the fight that they did, throwing themselves around and nearly snatching one was something that we’re looking for.”After three months of almost exclusive ODI focus, England’s attention now turns to T20s, with the five-match series against West Indies starting on Tuesday in Barbados.”We’ve played really good T20 cricket over a period of time. It’s always good when you lose a series to change the format,” Mott said, also confirming that Jos Buttler will return to opening the batting after spending the New Zealand series in September lower down the order. “You move on pretty quickly. It’s only a couple of days, it won’t be that different. Obviously you’ve got a few new players coming in with experience. But it’s much of a muchness really.”There are five changes to England’s personnel in the Caribbean, with Chris Woakes, Rashid, Moeen Ali, Reece Topley and Tymal Mills joining the squad for the T20 leg. Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, Matthew Potts, Tom Hartley and Brydon Carse will head home.”It’s probably easier transitioning back,” Mott said. “T20 is, particularly for the batting group, pretty clear, you go out and take the game on, there’s not a lot of dead balls. And from the bowling group, you’re trying to hit your variations as much as you can and deny them hitting opportunities. So I think we’ll be fine. We’ve got a couple of days to work on it and looking forward to it.”Also joining the England set-up is Andrew Flintoff, who will continue the first team mentoring role he took up in the summer as part of his first steps back into the public eye following his serious car crash whilst filming Top Gear.Flintoff, whose role is now paid, was part of the backroom staff for both the New Zealand white-ball series and the home ODIs against Ireland before he flew to Abu Dhabi along with Graeme Swann as part of the England Lions’ red-ball training camp. It has been a high-profile return to coaching for Flintoff, who has also been hired as Northern Superchargers head coach for the 2024 edition of The Hundred.

India captain says their three allrounders gives them a lot of options

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Feb-20251:12

Harshit or Arshdeep in India’s XI?

So what if it’s overcast in Dubai? And so what if there’s dew, or a little spice in the deck, or some movement in the air? Whatever this venue throws at India, they have the bowling options to deal with it.So said captain Rohit Sharma, ahead of India’s first match of the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh. This is a venue to which India are well-accustomed, having played nine T20Is here since October 2021. They haven’t played an ODI in Dubai since 2018, but the versatility in their likely XI will put them in a good position to adjust on the fly, according to Rohit.”If it’s going to be overcast, we have the bowling arsenal to combat that,” he said. “If there are overhead conditions helping the bowlers, we have the bowlers to exploit that. And if we bat in those overhead conditions, the batters know exactly what to do.”Among the strengths in this India squad, are the presence of “multi-skilled” cricketers, Rohit said. Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Ravindra Jadeja could potentially all play in the same XI. Without spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who was ruled out through injury, these are bowlers Rohit may lean on through the course of the tournament.Related

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“Those three guys – Jadeja, Axar, and Washy – give us a different dimension to the game, our combination, and our squad, and add a lot of depth. That is why we tried to get players who have two skills rather than one.”One of India’s pure bowling options, however, is wristspinner Varun Chakravarthy. He’s played only one ODI so far, but has an impressive List A record, having claimed 60 wickets from 24 matches at a spectacular average of 14.80. He is a player who deals in subterfuge, Rohit said.”He doesn’t bowl too many variations to us in the nets. He bowls just one type of delivery. Maybe, he doesn’t want to show his variations even to us. But that is a good thing. He has got certain weapons which he wants to just put it out there, when it actually matters. I am more than happy if he wants to do that.”But, he has got something different which is why he is here with us. He has been impressive in the last eight to nine months. That is why we wanted to bring him here and see what he has and what he can do for India on the big stage.”Another player who Rohit will look to, is Mohammad Shami, who only returned to international cricket late last month, after undergoing ankle surgery in early 2024. He only bowled 15.5 overs across the two ODIs he played against England, claiming a wicket in each outing. With Bumrah out, Shami’s form may be especially important to India’s chances.”All we wanted with Shami was to get back to wearing India colours more than anything else. Whether he gets wickets or not was completely immaterial to us [in the England series].”When you talk about a bowler like Shami, who has done the job over the years so many times for us – for them it’s just about getting back into rhythm. Hopefully he can find some rhythm early on in this tournament.”

Seamer Jake Ball chimes in with 4 for 34 as Somerset win by six wickets

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay14-Aug-2025Somerset 252 for 4 (Vaughan 95, J Rew 53*) beat Yorkshire 247 (Revis 85, Ball 4-34) by six wicketsFour-wicket seamer Jake Ball and opener Archie Vaughan with a career best 95 starred as Somerset ended Yorkshire’s 100 percent winning start to this season’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup by bowling the Group B leaders out for 247 at York and then chasing confidently.Somerset joined their hosts on 12 points at the top of the table at the halfway stage in the group campaign courtesy of this six-wicket win with five balls remaining. Both counties having won three and lost one.Yorkshire still hold sway courtesy of a superior net run-rate, but they were second-best on a used Clifton Park pitch.Yorkshire lost wickets in clusters at either end of a scrambling innings which saw ex-England limited overs quick Ball take an excellent 4 for 34 from 9.4 overs and Matthew Revis top-scored with a middle-order List A best of 85 off as many balls.Ball’s best List A figures in just over six years preceded Sheffield-born teenager Vaughan’s classy 127-ball effort with 11 fours. It was ironic that this senior best should come against the county for whom his father Michael starred.Yorkshire, inserted, slumped to 28 for 3 inside 10 overs.Without injured in-form opener Imam-Ul-Haq (hip), they lost Adam Lyth bowled by a beauty from Ball, Will Luxton run out next ball and James Wharton caught behind one-handed going low to his right by James Rew off Ben Green.Luxton misjudged a push to mid-off, where Josh Thomas misfielded before recovering to throw the non-striker’s stumps down.Revis, who hit nine fours, held things together on the pitch used for Tuesday’s win over Lancashire, with Yorkshire compiling nothing more than a workable total.Fin Bean, on 28, cut 18-year-old debutant seamer James Theedom to backward point with the score on 72 in the 18th over.Revis oozed confidence following three recent Championship centuries and a 69 earlier in this competition. He reached a 49-ball fifty here shortly before Yorkshire reached the halfway-mark in their innings at 115 for 4.He found an ally in fellow all-rounder George Hill. They calmly shared a recovery fifth-wicket partnership of 102.Yorkshire then lost four quick wickets, including Revis and Hill caught pulling, as the score fell from 174 for 5 in the 36th over to 204 for 8 in the 42nd. Green’s second wicket accounted for Revis, 34-year-old Ball’s second was Hill for 41.Tom Lammonby’s left-arm seam also claimed two wickets in that period.Dan Moriarty heaved the only two sixes of Yorkshire’s innings in a career-best 30 before holing out to cover as Ball struck twice in the 49th over to wrap things up.Vaughan, in his first competitive senior career appearance against his birth county, steered Somerset’s stress-free chase.Lammonby was well caught at deep gully by Lyth off Hill en route to 48 for 1 after 10 overs before 19-year-old Vaughan shared a second-wicket partnership of 70 with Lewis Goldsworthy, 30.Vaughan was particularly strong off the back foot on either side of the wicket. He reached his fifty off 65 balls.Goldsworthy fell at 111 for 2 in the 25th over when he top-edged a pull at Revis to long-leg.Vaughan continued on unflustered, sharing 64 with his captain James Rew. But he was bowled looking to go over the top against Dom Bess’s off-spin. Still, at 175 for three in the 38th, Somerset were in a strong position.James Rew finished unbeaten 53 off 62, while brother Thomas also contributed 31.

Three members of the management committee – Tanvir Ahmed, Gul Zada and Shakil Sheikh – are at the centre of the conflict worry

Umar Farooq25-Apr-2023The PCB has played down concerns of conflict of interest in the ongoing regional electoral process, at the end of which the board’s directors will be appointed. The concerns are about officials from the interim setup, who are currently tasked with overseeing the PCB’s restructuring but are also taking part in the elections.A 12-member management committee, headed by Najam Sethi, was handed interim charge of the board last December and given 120 days to bring back the 2014 PCB constitution in place of the version from 2019 it had been operating under. That timeline was this week formally extended by two months to the end of June. One of the key processes in that is conducting elections in over 100 districts, from which 16 regions will be formed. Four of the heads of those 16 regional associations will eventually sit on the PCB’s board of governors (BoG).Three members of the management committee – Tanvir Ahmed, who has been elected president of Larkana region; Gul Zada, from Peshawar region; and Shakil Sheikh, who is in the running in the Islamabad region election – working from PCB headquarters currently are at the centre of the conflict concern. As members of the committee, they were given executive powers when they took charge to restore the departmental cricket structure, the formation of a BoG, and election of a board chairman.Responding to a query from ESPNcricinfo, the PCB explained that its constitution stipulates that no employee of the board shall be eligible to contest any election of the board or any election under the aegis of the board. But when asked if there was a potential conflict of interest in a member of the management committee overseeing the electoral process as well as running in it, the PCB said, “As far as members of the MC [management committee] are concerned they are not employees of the Board, hence, there is no bar in the PCB Constitution or any Election Bylaws refraining them from contesting elections of RCAs/DCAs.””The elections of Regional Cricket Associations and District Cricket Associations are being held in line with the PCB Constitution and applicable PCB Election Bylaws,” the PCB added. “The Election Regulations under which the District and Regional elections have been/are being conducted have not been modified or amended by the MC, therefore, there is also no risk of a potential conflict of interest.”Related

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To restore the 2014 constitution, the PCB needs to form a BoG comprising ten members: four regional representatives (top teams from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy), four representatives of services organisations (top departmental teams), and the two members directly nominated by the PCB patron, which is the country’s prime minister. The federal secretary of the inter-provincial coordination ministry (or an officer nominated by them) shall be an ex-officio, non-voting 11th member. The term of each member of the BoG is three years – equivalent to one term of the chairman.There are over 100 districts in the country across all provinces and a cluster of districts are represented by one region. For example, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Narowal and Gujarat fall under Sialkot region. Similarly, every region has several districts to represent the larger portion of the area.”The elections themselves have been conducted/supervised by the Election Commissioner appointed by the Patron,” the PCB said. “It is the PCB election commissioner who has the power and responsibility for holding and monitoring fair, free and transparent elections under the PCB Constitution including those of Chairman, Regional, District, and other Cricket Associations as well as Service Organizations or Departments, whether Full or Associate Members. It is important to note that EC and electoral processes are independent of the Board.”Some time ago, to avoid a potential conflict of interest, Haroon Rasheed had resigned from the management committee to take up the role of chief selector. PCB announced it at a press conference but clarified that it was determined there “existed no cavil” in Rasheed carrying on as chief selector as well as a management committee member, so ultimately he didn’t step down.”It was agreed that when matters pertaining to the performance of the selection committee are discussed and debated at an MC meeting, Haroon Rasheed will recuse himself and leave the room till such time that the agenda point has not been conclusively addressed,” PCB said.

New Zealand have a stellar record against India in ICC events having lost just one game since 1992

Ashish Pant21-Oct-2023

Big picture: Here comes India’s bogey team

Ask any ardent Indian fan which is their second-favourite cricket team, and New Zealand will remain a common answer. Ask the same set of fans which team spooks them the most when it comes to ICC events: New Zealand will once again be the unanimous reply. Why you ask.Southampton 2021. Nagpur 2016 and Dubai 2021. Manchester 2019.It’s probably the memories of the last one here that has most Indian fans flinch. And as much as India would like to deny it, New Zealand have been their bogey team over the years. There are numbers to back this up. In all ICC events since 1992 (considering only the final from the WTC 2019-21 and 2021-23 cycles), India have beaten New Zealand just once in nine attempts.Which is why when these two teams meet in Dharamsala on Sunday, it won’t be group stage game: there will be a bit of history riding on it. Also the fact that at the end of the clash, one team will no longer remain unbeaten in the competition.Both New Zealand and India have been clinical in their approach and come into the game having won four out of four games. Who continues their winning streak? The answer might well depend on how the fast bowlers go.Related

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As much as the Dharamsala stadium is about the stunning snow-capped mountains of the Dhauladhar range in the backdrop, it is also about the altitude. And with that altitude comes the help for the quicks. Of all the venues that have so far hosted more than one game at the World Cup, Dharamsala – alongside Lucknow – has offered the fast bowlers the most amount of swing in the first ten overs of each innings.Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj become a key component in the Indian attack. They will miss Hardik Pandya, but if Mohammed Shami comes in, he is one bowler, who is certain to extract early movement with that upright seam.While India’s attack seems more well-rounded, the New Zealand unit has been equally good. Their class of 2019 is very much intact with all of Matt Henry, Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson having started the tournament well. On the spin front, Mitchell Santner leads the wicket-taking charts with 11 strikes at 15.09.The batters across both sides have been in impeccable form. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Devon Conway are No. 2, 3 and 4 on the run charts, while the middle order also has been firing. Can they find a way to score big with the ball hooping around?Mohammed Siraj has been up and down at this World Cup•Pankaj Nangia/Getty

Form guide: Whose winning streak ends?

India: WWWWL (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
New Zealand: WWWWW

In the spotlight: Mohammed Siraj and Matt Henry

Mohammed Siraj hasn’t looked at his best so far in the World Cup. In four games, Siraj has managed only five wickets at 42.40. He’s also leaked runs at 6.32 an over. But if there is one venue that will give him a chance to improve on those numbers, it is Dharamsala. Siraj is one of the few bowlers going around who can get the ball to deck both ways. In Dharamsala, though, his wobble-seam deliveries might be the ones New Zealand will have to be most careful against. Siraj has had a dream 2023 in ODIs and will hope India’s next game is where he turns his World Cup around.The Boults and the Southees often hog the limelight when the New Zealand fast bowling battery is spoken of but in the last two years, it has been Matt Henry, who has really been their shining light. No other New Zealand bowler has more wickets than Henry’s 41 in 24 ODIs since the start of 2022. But, it’s the way he has led the attack in the World Cup, which has been impressive. He’s outshone Boult and Lockie Ferguson, kept Tim Southee out of the team and picked up wickets when it’s mattered all while maintaining an economy of 4.83. He is currently fourth on the wicket-takers list with nine in four games at 18.00. A good game and he could zoom right to the top.

Team news: Who comes in for Pandya?

Pandya has been ruled out of the Dharamsala game after hurting his right ankle against Bangladesh on Thursday. The million-dollar question is who replaces him. Rahul Dravid wasn’t forthcoming about the changes, but talked about a few options they considered. There is a chance that India bring in Suryakumar Yadav or Ishan Kishan in place of Hardik and have Shardul Thakur tussle with Shami for the No. 8 spot.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Suryakumar Yadav/Ishan Kishan, 8 Shardul Thakur/Mohammed Shami, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Mohammed SirajMatt Henry has been excellent across all phases of the innings for New Zealand•AFP/Getty Images

With the New Zealand attack firing like they have, Southee might have to spend some more in the sheds. Kane Williamson is still out with a thumb injury, so it is unlikely New Zealand will make any changes to the team.New Zealand (probable): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Will Young, 3 Rachin Ravindra, 4 Tom Latham (capt & wk), 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Mark Chapman, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult

Pitch and conditions: Beware the quicks

The surface looked very green on the eve of the game but a lot of that grass is likely to be shaved off before the start. Even then expect pace and carry for the fast bowlers. It was bright and sunny on the eve of the match, but it is expected to be cloudy and cooler on Sunday with the temperature likely to hover around the 18-degree mark on the Celsius scale at the start of the game.

Stats and trivia: All eyes on Gill

• The captain winning the toss has elected to bowl in each of the seven ODIs played in Dharamsala.
• Shubman Gill needs 14 runs to reach the 2000 mark in ODIs. If he gets there tomorrow, in his 38th innings, he will be the quickest to 2000 runs in ODI cricket. beating Hashim Amla’s (40) record.
• Rohit has fallen to Boult four times in 13 ODI innings and averages just 22.25 against him.
• Tom Latham has five fifties and two centuries in 20 ODI innings against India

Quotes

“It’s nice to have Ishan [Kishan] playing well, being a left hander. But Surya’s [Suryakumar Yadav] also come into some form against Australia. He played a couple of fantastic innings. Absolutely fantastic player against spin – left-arm spin, right-arm spin, any kind of spin for that matter. And the role maybe for a middle-overs role. We’re pretty clear about the kinds of roles we want to play. If we’re looking for someone who looks to be a bit of an enforcer for us in the lower-middle order, and Surya’s certainly someone who can do it. If we’re looking for someone higher up the order, we might go with Ishan.”
“India’s top order has been fantastic this tournament and again, our bowling attack has done a really good job upfront as well. That’s going to be a great contest with bat and ball and obviously vice-versa with Indian seamers and our top order. Obviously, you look at the match-ups throughout a game against both sides and there is some pretty good match-ups there.”

Northeast county return to top tier of County Championship after seven-season absence

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Sep-2023Durham have secured promotion back to Division One of the County Championship, seven years after they were relegated as punishment for financial mismanagement.The runaway Division Two leaders are not in action in the ongoing round of the Championship, but such is their lead over the teams below them, promotion as champions is all but a mathematical certainty with two games remaining.Leicestershire’s dismissal for just 108 in their first innings at Hove, giving them zero batting points, means they cannot catch Durham. Worcestershire, who also don’t have a game this week, are 44 points behind in second, with Durham needing just five more points to be assured of the title.The goal of returning to Division One has been achieved in head coach Ryan Campbell’s first season in charge – he said in April that his target for Durham was “to be the best team in England” – and ends a run of disappointment for the county system’s most-northerly side.Durham were demoted to the second tier in 2016, despite finishing fourth in Division One, with the ECB imposing a 48-point penalty in return for a £3.8 million bailout.This season, they have won six out of 12 games, losing just once, to go clear at the top of Division Two. They currently have the leading run-scorer in either division in Alex Lees (1281), as well as Division Two’s joint-leading wicket-takers, Matthew Potts and Ben Raine (51 each).