Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura was heartened by his team-mates’ approach while training in Khulna, after the disappointment of their series loss to Afghanistan earlier this month

Mohammad Isam14-Jan-2016Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura has said he is heartened by his team-mates’ approach while training in Khulna, as they look to bounce back from the disappointment of their series loss to Afghanistan earlier this month. He also welcomed the return of “big” players like Hamilton Masakadza, Brian Vitori and Vusi Sibanda to the T20 squad.Masakadza missed the series against Bangladesh in November last year but played against Afghanistan in the UAE, where he scored a century and two fifties across the ODIs and T20s. Both Vitori and Sibanda last played a T20 for Zimbabwe in May 2015.”Obviously it is tough [to lose to a team against whom we are expected to win]. It is disappointing, too,” he said on the eve of the first T20 against Bangladesh in Khulna. “There’s always pressure from you guys but obviously we have to make sure as professional cricketers we show good courage and bounce back. In the past two days of practice, guys have shown seriousness in their training. I am sure everyone will be looking forward to the game tomorrow.”It [return of players] is big. They are experienced, played here before. Good to have their contribution in this tour. Hamilton is showing good signs since coming back. The other guys, like Vitori, will be looking to try to raise his game to stay in the team. Sibanda is also there. They are hungry to stay in the team. It is a good combination of guys with different motivations. It will be good for the team.”Chigumbura said he may bat higher up the order to give himself more chances to bat freely. He played at No 4 five times in 2015, including once against Bangladesh, but batted down the order against Afghanistan. He also stressed on a better batting performance if Zimbabwe are to do well in the four-match T20 series.”I would love to come up top and have more time in the crease,” Chigumbura said. “In the last series, I came in a bit early in the ODIs, so you might see me up the order so I get more time to play my natural game.”We had a bad series in UAE. This is a big series for us to make sure we bounce back from the UAE. We have to make sure we play good cricket, especially with the bat. We were disappointing with our batting in the last series.”Chigumbura also said the side would continue experimenting with the line-up to find combinations that will work at the upcoming World T20.”We need to try different combinations, which we think will work at the World T20,” he said. “So at the moment we have 16 guys here instead of 15. In the next four games you won’t be shocked to see different guys batting in different batting positions.”Maybe one guy playing first two games and resting the other two. It is going to be mainly for preparation for the World T20. At the same time we have to play good cricket.”

Brendon McCullum has insisted that he was not aware of breaking the record for the fastest Test century until it had been announced over the Hagley Oval loudspeaker and flashed up on the big screen

Brydon Coverdale in Christchurch20-Feb-2016For nearly 30 years, Viv Richards has sat on top of the list of fastest Test centuries. Few men have come seriously close to usurping King Viv, like Adam Gilchrist did at the WACA in 2006-07. His 57-ball effort was one short of Richards’ 56-ball hundred, scored against England in Antigua in 1985-86. Misbah-ul-Haq then equalled Richards’ record in Abu Dhabi in 2014-15. But it took Brendon McCullum to break it.McCullum’s 54-ball century against Australia at the Hagley Oval came with a boundary slapped over extra cover off Josh Hazlewood, and viewers around the world knew that a world record had been broken. But McCullum himself insisted that he was unaware of the milestone until it had been announced over the Hagley Oval loudspeaker and flashed up on the big screen.”No idea,” McCullum said after play on the first day. “I was trying to hit every ball for four or six. I wasn’t aware of the record but very respectful of all those who’ve held it before. It’d be nice to win the Test match, that’d be the most important thing.”[Viv Richards] was my idol growing up. It’s nice to be able to go past him but jeez, he was a cracking player, an incredible cricketer. I’m almost a bit embarrassed to go past him, to be honest. Hopefully he enjoyed a bit of the ‘stroke-making’, we’ll call it.”McCullum had some good fortune along the way, most notably when he slashed a delivery from James Pattinson and was brilliantly caught by a diving Mitchell Marsh at gully. However, the umpires checked the replays and confirmed that Pattinson had delivered a no-ball, the third time this summer that he had cost himself a wicket in that way, after his no-balls twice reprieved West Indies’ Carlos Brathwaite at the MCG.”I thought it was four as soon as I hit it, then I turned around and it was their third great catch of the day,” McCullum said. “Steve Smith’s catches were phenomenal as well. We talked about that they do push the front line a little bit. You’re always hopeful but you don’t anticipate it actually being a no-ball so it was quite a nice reprieve. It probably loosens you up a little bit and relaxes you a bit more. You know you’re probably not meant to be out there so you might as well play with even more freedom.”Brendon McCullum benefited from a slice of luck and smashed his way to the fastest Test century•Getty Images

Initially, it did not seem that this would be McCullum’s day, after he again lost the toss on a green pitch and Steven Smith sent the hosts in. But more or less as soon as McCullum walked out to bat with the score on 32 for 3, his fortune turned. Asked when he got the impression this might be his day, McCullum was honest.”Probably second ball when I had an almighty, filthy slog and it went over the slips cordon for four,” he said. “When you’re confronted with wickets like that you know you’re going to have to be pretty aggressive and need some luck, and we got quite a bit of luck. That partnership between Corey [Anderson] and I was great fun but also instrumental for us to hopefully set the Test match up.””I’ve been on the other side many times and you walk off and think ‘jeez if I’d reined it in a little bit who knows what would have happened’. On that wicket the feedback from the boys was that at any stage the ball could have your name on it. I tried to be as positive as I possibly could and hoped things would roll our way.”When Corey came out he played aggressively and we started to get some momentum. We were able to knock them off that difficult length at the top of off stump. If you’re just trying to hang in there on that wicket, around the top of off stump, you’re in big trouble. It’s nice when things come off.”The partnership of 179 between Anderson and McCullum set New Zealand on the path to a first-innings total of 370 from just 65.4 overs, which was a remarkable performance given the helpful conditions for Australia’s fast men. McCullum joked that “about 120” seemed like it might be an acceptable score on that pitch, before refining his comments and declaring that “anything over 200, we thought, you’re in the game”.”We saw at the Basin as well that that wicket actually dried out a little bit quicker than what we hoped for,” he said. “For us it was a matter of trying to score our runs as quick as we could so the pitch didn’t have the opportunity to dry out too much.
“In the end, we faced 60-odd overs and the ball still went around in that last session as well. I think tomorrow morning’s really important. It seems to do a lot more in the morning session here so we’ve got to be on our lengths. If we bowl well, we’ll get some opportunities. Then it’s a matter of whether we take them or not.”

The India-Pakistan World T20 match on March 19 has been moved to Eden Gardens in Kolkata, because of security concerns over the original venue Dharamsala

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Mar-20161:35

The Ind-Pak decision wasn’t taken lightly – David Richardson

The India-Pakistan World T20 match on March 19 has been moved to Eden Gardens in Kolkata, because of security concerns over the original venue Dharamsala. The ICC chief executive David Richardson made the announcement in Delhi on Wednesday, ending weeks of uncertainty over the fixture, which began with the Himachal Pradesh chief minister saying his government would not be able to provide adequate security for the match.The PCB, however, has continued to delay the departure of the Pakistan men’s and women’s teams to India pending assurance from the BCCI or the Indian government. “The PCB has also today conveyed to ICC and BCCI that our government is expecting an assurance to Pakistan against specific threats to the Pakistan team from various political parties and groups during the tour,” the board said in a release. “Pending this assurance and in accordance with the recommendation by the security delegation, the PCB has decided to defer the departure of Pakistan men and women teams to India.””The decision to relocate the match has been made for security reasons,” Richardson said in Delhi. “The concerns initially arose following alleged public comments recently reported by the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, warning of demonstration and attempts to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the match. Our concerns relate both to uncertainty as to the level of those threats as well as the level of commitment to implement any security plan developed to mitigate such treats.”The decision was not taken lightly. The ICC and the BCCI understand the disappointment that is likely to be felt by many over the decision to move the match. But the safety and security of the event is of paramount importance to the ICC and we have taken into consideration the concerns shared with us by our security advisors as well as Pakistan Cricket Board.”As far as those who have purchased tickets online for the match, they will be offered the choice of a full refund or the opportunity to exchange their tickets for ones for the Kolkata match.”Finally, I would like to confirm that the ICC has been assured by all relevant state authorities that all adequate security measure are in place and will be implemented to ensure that the event is staged in a safe and secure environment for all stakeholders.”Though the PCB had always expressed reservations about playing in Dharamsala once the issue began, the BCCI and the ICC remained confident the game would go ahead as planned. However, the problems came to a head this week after a three-man security delegation from Pakistan inspected the venue and was unhappy with the preparations. Their report to the PCB on Tuesday recommended that Pakistan not play at the venue, and the ICC announced the change in venue the next day.

Dawid Malan helped Middlesex to a first innings lead against Hampshire with an attacking century on the third day at the Ageas Bowl

ECB Reporters Network03-May-2016
ScorecardDawid Malan’s hundred helped Middlesex to a small lead•Getty Images

Dawid Malan helped Middlesex to a first innings lead against Hampshire with an attacking century on the third day at the Ageas Bowl.Malan, who was 40 not out overnight, quickly moved to a 64-ball fifty once the session got underway under mainly blue skies.He found his progress with eased by some erratic fast bowling from Hampshire seamers Tino Best, Chris Wood and Ryan McLaren.
Malan looked in little trouble, after being dropped the day before by Will Smith, punishing the bad balls, while John Simpson held up the other end.The pair put on 182 for the fifth wicket with a typical defender and aggressor partnership, getting through the morning session without losing a wicket.Malan reached 121, his three figures came in 134 balls, before he looped legspinner Mason Crane’s long hop to extra cover – the teenage bowler embarrassed by his first wicket of the season.Watchful Simpson, whose 50 came off two balls fewer than Malan’s century, departed ten balls later as he edged James Tomlinson behind to Adam Wheater.The hosts’ bowling found their rhythm in the afternoon, with McLaren and Tomlinson in particular finding their form – although they were rocked by a knee injury to Chris Wood which forced him off the field mid over.McLaren looked fired up, and twice knocked the off stump out the ground with brisk deliveries – Paul Stirling done by one which angled in and Toby Ronald-Jones missing a pull shot.Tomlinson was rewarded for his persistence by taking his season tally to 12, after taking just 18 scalps in 2015. He removed James Harris for 57 and ended the Middlesex innings when Steven Finn skied to Best at mid-off. Middlesex, who batted a man light due to Adam Voges’ concussion injury, led by 25 runs.Hampshire started their second innings spritely, with Michael Carberry – the scorer of a ton in the first innings – twice slapping Tim Murtagh to the boundary in the first over. But he fell lbw to a full ball from Murtagh for 15 in the seventh over, which may have hit him outside the line.Leg-before appeals were a common cry throughout the evening as Jimmy Adams and James Vince, who supplied some jaw dropping cover drives, battled through to close. Hampshire led by 51 but a draw remained the most probable result on the final day.

Batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who had been appointed vice-captain for India’s tour of the West Indies in July-August, has said the new role will not affect his batting

PTI31-May-2016Batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who had been appointed vice-captain for India’s tour of the West Indies in July-August, has said the new role will not affect his batting.”As a vice-captain there will be responsibilities and I like to take responsibilities,” Rahane said. “When I toured Zimbabwe as a captain, I learned a lot from my team-mates, it was a good experience and we had won in Zimbabwe.”There is certainly a sense of responsibility when going to the West Indies. I enjoy taking responsibilities and I will learn new things from this team and it will be important how I go ahead step by step… I don’t think that captaincy and vice-captaincy make any difference on batting.”Rahane, who had toured the West Indies with the India A side in 2012, said that he was looking forward to the challenge of playing in different pitches.”I had toured the West Indies as part of India A around 3-4 years back, at that time the wickets were little slow,” Rahane said.”In international cricket, there will be different wickets. I have heard there is good bounce and pace in Barbados, Jamaica.”At the same time, I feel the wickets may be spin-friendly. We will get the idea of the wickets once we go there. But it is an exciting tour in the West Indies. We are going with a young Test team. We have done well recently and so we are looking forward to the tour.”Rahane also said that he would look to pick the brains of Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar before the tour.”Whenever they (Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar) are available, I try and converse with them about each tours,” Rahane said. “Before going to the West Indies, if I can meet them, I will ask them about their experience, conditions and what kind of cricket is played there. If they are available, I will like to speak to them.”

A four-wicket haul from Marcus Stoinis set Kings XI up for a comfortable seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians on a slow, grippy Visakhapatnam pitch with occasional low bounce

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy13-May-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMarcus Stoinis’ figures of 4 for 15 were his best in T20s•BCCI

Marcus Stoinis grabbed four wickets as Kings XI Punjab’s bowling attack made use of a slow, grippy Visakhapatnam pitch with occasional low bounce to restrict Mumbai Indians to 124. Left with a target they could get to by sticking to cricketing shots, Kings XI coasted to a seven-wicket win with three overs remaining, courtesy half-centuries from M Vijay and Wriddhiman Saha.The slowness and lowness of the pitch, allied to the discipline of Kings XI’s bowlers, made it hard for Mumbai’s batsmen to time the ball through gaps. Having to rely on muscle rather than pace onto the bat, they struck eight sixes and only five fours. Kings XI hit five fours in the Powerplay. Conditions may have eased out a touch for the side batting second, but the bigger difference was the bowling – Mumbai’s quicks, particularly Mitchell McClenaghan, gave away a number of freebies. McClenaghan was often too short to M Vijay, and offered him ample width as well, while Tim Southee overpitched to Wriddhiman Saha, who drove sweetly between extra cover and mid-off.Where Mumbai had ended their Powerplay on 21 for 2 – the lowest six-over score of the season – Kings XI ended theirs on 32 for 1. Not a massive difference, but significant given they knew they were chasing 125.Mumbai needed wickets, and a half-chance – perhaps only a quarter-chance – evaporated in the seventh over when Harbhajan Singh found turn and bounce to leave Vijay yards out of his crease. But the ball beat Jos Buttler as well, spinning a long way to the wicketkeeper’s left, and sped away for four byes.Harbhajan tested the batsmen with turn and clever changes of pace, but that was never going to translate into a collapse given the batsmen weren’t going to take undue risks against him. That approach also exposed Krunal Pandya’s limitations as a spin bowler, and Saha and Vijay milked him easily, working him around and punishing the loose balls ruthlessly.Saha fell soon after both batsmen had reached their half-centuries, dragging a slower bouncer from McClenaghan onto his stumps, and Glenn Maxwell chipped one to mid-on in the same over, but by then Kings XI only needed seven to win.The team batting first had won both the previous matches at this venue and Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai captain, chose to bat, expecting the pitch to get “slower and slower”. Rohit clipped the first ball of the match for four, as Sandeep Sharma drifted an inswinger too close to his pads, but there would be precious few hit-me balls from Kings XI’s new-ball bowlers thereafter.The two Sharmas – Mohit and Sandeep – and Stoinis bowled stump to stump, taking the pace off the ball, while the spinners bowled just short of a good length, denying the batsmen hits down the ground. KC Cariappa bowled legbreaks to the right-handers, offbreaks to the left-handers, and spun both varieties sharply.The ball kept sticking in the pitch, and Mumbai struggled to put the ball away, with a couple of wickets tempering the amount of risk they could take in the early overs. Unmukt Chand chipped Mohit Sharma to mid-on in the second over, and Sandeep swung one through Ambati Rayudu’s gate in the third.Given the inconsistent bounce, sweeping Axar Patel’s stump-to-stump line wasn’t a high-percentage option, and Rohit was bowled when he got one to keep low in the ninth over. Nitish Rana showed why he is rated highly in this format, with three cleanly struck sixes, but only scored seven runs off the other 25 balls he faced. He was Stoinis’ first victim, nicking a wide, full offcutter.Mumbai’s run rate was less than five an over when the 15th over began, and they had lost Jos Buttler as well, holing out when he was through a lofted drive too soon off Stoinis. Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya hit the spinners for four sixes in two overs to hint at a revival, but Stoinis dismissed both in the 17th, with Pollard another casualty of hitting across one that bounced less than expected.Mohit and Sandeep have bowled splendidly at the death through the tournament, and they were under far less pressure now than usual, with Mumbai already seven down. Only 20 came off the last three overs, with Mumbai losing two more, and Kings XI knew they only needed to bat sensibly to keep their season alive, just about.

Anil Kumble, India’s new head coach, has acknowledged the influence of his predecessors John Wright and Gary Kirsten, and expects to adopt their low-visibility style and remain mostly behind the scenes

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-20161:30

Anil Kumble’s journey from player to coach

Anil Kumble, India’s new head coach, has acknowledged the influence of his predecessors John Wright and Gary Kirsten, and expects to adopt their low-visibility style and remain mostly behind the scenes. Wright was India’s head coach from 2000 to 2005, and was head coach at Mumbai Indians in 2013-14, when Kumble served as the team’s mentor. Kirsten was India’s head coach from 2008 – Kumble’s last year as a Test cricketer – to 2011.”I played a lot under John Wright, he’s been a great influence on how I’ll go about [the role], in terms of being in the background,” Kumble told . “When I became a mentor for Mumbai Indians, I brought John in because he understood a lot about Indian culture and then the way coaches work. So I’ll pick his brain.”I was involved with Gary Kirsten only for the Test matches, a very short period. He was, again, someone who worked in the background and didn’t make himself visible. Exactly how I’d like to work as well. Not in the front, but behind the scenes.”As a bowler, Kumble combined a cerebral approach with a willingness to keep pounding in for long spells no matter what the match situation. Accordingly, he said his coaching style would have “a bit of everything”, giving data its due while trying to strengthen his players’ response to adversity.”Data is important when you have to devise strategies and man-management is extremely crucial,” he said. “You need the team environment to be consistent and healthy, but also competitive. That is something I would look to have in the team.”The team comes first, the coaches play the background role, you are just trying to prepare the team for the best of their ability, for all conditions and all eventualities. You can’t really plan for adversity, but to try to prepare the team to handle those adversities. That’s exactly what we’ll try and address.”Kumble said he wanted to “build leaders” in his playing group, and said his coaching would have to deal as much with off-field as with on-field issues.”[It is] important as a coach to take the burden off the captain,” he said. “Captain has a lot of things on his head, all cricketing decisions and non-cricketing as well. When I was captain I realised that it’s not just taking decisions on the field but off it as well. Those are quite stressful.”Having been with the Indian team for such a long time and having had various experiences of not just conditions, but outside the cricket field, when you’re a coach, you’re not just coach on the field but also off it. You’re trying to build personalities, trying to build leaders. That’s how I’d like to look at this team. There is some wonderful talent, you need to make leaders out of them, try and understand what ticks them. It’s not a quick fix, you have to understand and then take a call.”Defining his role as that of an “enabler”, Kumble said he would not impose his views on the players.”They are already playing a good brand of cricket,” he said. “I will bring my characteristics as well but won’t impose on them. My job is to convince players to buy into what I believe in and what they believe in. At the end of it, they need to own it. If the team doesn’t own what we agree on, then it’s not going to work. I’m only an enabler. I work as an enabler to make sure things happen.”You need to be tough to play international cricket. It’s not only highs that you will see, you will also see lows. The coach’s role is not only to be a coach during successful periods but to be a coach during tough times.”Kumble said he had already spoken to India’s Test captain Virat Kohli, and looked forward to starting his tenure with a camp in Bangalore, his hometown, ahead of the four-Test tour of West Indies in July-August.”We have the West Indies Test series coming up, so that’s something our focus will be on,” he said. “I’ve spoken to Virat [Kohli] and MS [Dhoni, India’s ODI and T20 captain] must be on the flight back from Zimbabwe. It’s nice to have a camp here in Bengaluru before we tour. We’ll sit down and iron out and get ready for the West Indies tour.”Bowling, getting 20 wickets in Test cricket will win you matches. That’s the focus and we’ll take it from there. Batting, we have some great talent there. I believe this team has the potential. It’s a young team and driven by young leaders. Looking forward to working with Virat and MS. Long-term, we have lots of Tests coming up in India, that’ll be our focus.”Kumble starts his role on a one-year term, and most of India’s Test cricket in that period will be at home. Despite this, Kumble said he would focus on improving their overseas record, and that the process could begin at home itself.”I’m really excited,” he said. “This [overseas record] is something I wanted to commit to. You’ll have lot of time to strategise. The team needs to be really fit to meet the demands of Test cricket. Lot of Tests coming up, the first four are in West Indies where the conditions are not that different to India. But the Indian conditions are where we are comfortable with. Focus will be on our overseas record and the mindset we have to address from home itself. We’ll sit down and make a plan to ensure that we train towards achieving those goals.”Returning to a constantly on-the-road lifestyle was the one major concern Kumble had before he applied for the job; he said he finally decided to go ahead after a “long chat” with his family.”I felt it was the right time for me to get involved. I’m still fit enough to run around. It’s a young team so I believe you have to get your hands dirty, you need to be with the players, train with them, be amongst them. If it was a senior team, you can sit back, strategise and address that. But as a young team, you need to be in the middle and that’s something I can do at this stage.”I had a long chat with the family, 18 years on the road, they’ve taken the stress and the burden. My wife and kids have been really supportive. Not easy travelling again so that was a major decision. Once those two were clear, I put my hat in the ring. The process was great, I felt more comfortable because the three members who were interviewing me were my own team-mates, former colleagues. Process was professional and I enjoyed being a part of it. The presentation that was requested, I made my plan and put a blueprint, a blueprint for others to contribute and make it larger and ensure that all stakeholders own that plan and continue to take Indian cricket forward.”

India’s four-Test series against hosts West Indies on slow, low pitches will be as much a test of patience as of skill

The Preview by Sidharth Monga20-Jul-2016

Match facts

July 21-25, 2016
Start time 1000 local (1400 GMT)

Big Picture

Ajinkya Rahane has said it will be the key. R Ashwin has said this series will be all about it. West Indies coach Phil Simmons has said his side will harp on the word throughout the series. All signs so far point to a test of “patience” on what have become quintessential slow and low Caribbean pitches.The physicality of winning a Test in the West Indies, no matter how weak the regional Test side might have become, cannot be overstated. The outfields are heavy, which will mean a lot of running. Over the last 10 years, only Zimbabwe and the UAE have produced runs at a slower clip.This is an uneven contest with the best West Indies players not available through problems with the administration and other lucrative options available, the CPL in this case, which will clash with the Test series. As much as for the bowlers and the batsmen, this will be a test for the watching public of the Caribbean islands; many will be choosing between the modern stadiums sans the character of old hosting attritional Test cricket and the CPL matches full of life in the cooler and colourful evenings.If West Indies can manage to make time a factor with good attritional Test cricket, it could be a fascinating series. Make the Indian bowlers earn every wicket, make their batsmen go uneasy in an attempt to give the bowlers enough time, absorb the punches and land one when India leave themselves open in trying too hard. If it works in Antigua, in Jamaica they could even try to blindside India with a green seamer. At a time when West Indies, the World T20 champions, are on the mend in ODIs and have their own T20 party going on, the Test side will need to tell their fans why they should give them their patience.On the other end will be a side looking to break away from its limited ambition of the past. India have claimed they don’t want to win series 1-0 anymore. They want to win every Test. Their captain has said he won’t entertain tired bowlers in the final sessions of long days. Their new coach is an epitome of relentlessness. They won’t be shy of sacrificing a batsman for an allrounder or a bowler in order to claim 20 wickets. From their two warm-up games in St Kitts, they have realised they will have to stretch every sinew to take 20 wickets: batsmen might have to score quicker, and bowlers will have to peg away for long hours.

Form guide

West Indies DLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)


India WWDWW
Can Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo step up?•AFP

In the spotlight

Man of World T20 final. Averages 44.69 in ODIs since 2013. Yet Marlon Samuels, the most experienced player in the squad, can be considered lucky to be in the playing party. He has gone 10 Test innings without reaching 20, has scored only two hundreds in the last three years, and has averaged 25.14 in the period. His career average of 33.53 is hardly justification for either his talent or persistence over 64 Tests. If Kemar Roach’s dropping is anything to go by, West Indies selectors might be running out of patience and Samuels time. On him and Darren Bravo will rest the biggest responsibility for scoring runs.”I’m sure I’ll have to be as boring as possible in terms of trying to plug away all day long.” <b R Ashwin is not used to being boring. He has already bagged five Man-of-the-series awards in Tests, the joint most by an Indian. He takes a wicket every 52 balls – 46 at home, where he has been at his most effective. He takes a five-for every other Test. If West Indies do manage to hold India off, Ashwin will have to show he can be boring and persistent and, every once in a while, magical.

Team news

West Indies will have a new opener, a new wicketkeeper, a new pace attack and a new spinner from the last time they played a Test. Five men from their last Test XI are not even in this 13-man squad. Expect a debut for Miguel Cummins, Rajendra Chandrika to open alongside Kraigg Brathwaite, and Devendra Bishoo and Shannon Gabriel to make comebacks.West Indies (probable) 1 Kraigg Brathwaite, 2 Rajendra Chandrika, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Jermaine Blackwood/ Leon Johnson/Roston Chase, 6 Carlos Brathwaite, 7 Shane Dowrich (wk), 8 Jason Holder (capt.), 9 Shanon Gabriel, 10 Miguel Cummins, 11 Devendra BishooIndia go in with a more settled side; seven months since they last played a Test in a different continent. Nobody will bat an eyelid if they retain the XI. Kohli admitted it was tough to choose between Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul, although he hinted Dhawan might retain his place. With the pitch expected to be flat, India are likely to continue with five bowlers, but the decision will be whether that fifth bowler should be a spinner, a pure seamer or an allrounder. Kohli has been known to prefer Stuart Binny in the role outside India. Mohammed Shami, who has taken the new ball on each of the three occasions that India have bowled in the warm-ups, should walk right back into the XI after injury kept him out for most of 2015.India(probable): 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 M Vijay, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt.), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja/Stuart Binny, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Mohammed Shami

Pitch and conditions

There was some grass on the surface, but it seemed dry underneath on the eve of the match. Kohli felt that the grass was only to hold the pitch together, and it would behave like an Indian track. The ball might not bounce much, with conditions favouring the batsmen initially.There have been brief, sharp showers on the days leading up to the Test, and more rain is forecast for days three and four. It’s hurricane season all over the Caribbean, but Antigua is usually one of the drier islands.

Stats and trivia

• India have played 27 limited-overs internationals since their last Test, in December last year. West Indies last played a Test in the first week of 2016, but have played only 13 other international matches since then.
• R Ashwin has 16 five-wicket hauls in his first 32 Tests, level with Clarrie Grimmett among spinners at the end of their 32nd Test.
• The five bowlers in the West Indies squad have a combined experience of 111 wickets. R Ashwin and Ishant Sharma have taken more by themselves.
• The Indian squad has scored 40 Test hundreds to West Indies’ 20.

Quotes

“I’m really happy to be back here. The atmosphere is really good, people like cricket, they support it. I’m really excited to play a Test match here after so long. So is everyone else in the team.”
“It’s the first time I’m involved in a series playing four Tests. I think the name of the game is recovery in between Test matches. There’s not much time either. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be tough for every member of the squad.”

Hong Kong kickstarted their two-match T20 international series against Ireland with a 40-run win, made possible by Nizakat Khan’s half-century, followed by a collective effort from the bowlers

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Sep-2016
ScorecardHong Kong captain Babar Hayat scored 49 off 31 to help his side to a score of 169•Hong Kong Cricket

Hong Kong kickstarted their two-match T20 international series against Ireland with a 40-run win, made possible by Nizakat Khan’s half-century and followed up by a collective effort from their medium pace attack.It’s Hong Kong’s second straight win in T20Is over Ireland, following up their dramatic five-run win defending 129 at Malahide in last summer’s World T20 Qualifier. Despite picking five debutants in a bid to rejuvenate their T20 lineup after a winless campaign at the 2016 World T20 in India, Ireland’s woes in the format continued again on Monday. Ireland has now gone five T20Is without a win, their last victory coming against UAE on February 14.Nizakat’s prior career-best in 19 T20Is entering Monday’s contest was 29 but given the opportunity to open the batting for the first time he responded in style with 62 off 43 balls. Six of his seven fours were struck through the off side while his two sixes were lofted over extra cover and long-on. He brought up his fifty in 35 balls when he took two runs from a dropped chance on 49 at long-on by Greg Thompson off of debutant legspinner Jacob Mulder, then punished the error by driving Mulder’s next ball for six back down the ground.Knocks of 49 off 31 balls from captain Babar Hayat and an unbeaten 29 from Ehsan Khan took Hong Kong to 169 for 5 after they elected to bat at Bready Cricket Club. Aizaz Khan, who opened the batting alongside Nizakat, then led the charge with the ball as his 3 for 10 in three overs helped bowl Ireland out for 129.Nizakat dominated an opening stand of 41 in 4.4 overs with Aizaz, the latter contributing just 5. He went on to add 56 more for the second wicket with Hayat before he was fooled by Mulder. Having committed to a premeditated shuffle away from leg stump, Nizakat continued with his shot to a ball pitched wide outside off by Mulder and produced a simple catch to cover. Babar made sure the tempo of the innings was maintained though, his 31-ball knock containing two fours and as many sixes, until his dismissal in the 17th over. Ehsan then ensured a strong finish to the innings with his 22-ball unbeaten knock that contained two fours and a six.Ireland’s bowlers shared the wickets equally with four different bowlers – Mulder, Andy McBrine, Craig Young and Kevin O’Brien – claiming one apiece while the fifth came courtesy of a runout in the field by Thompson. Mulder and McBrine were economical but Young and O’Brien were expensive, leaking 56 and 39 runs off their respective quotas. Four of Hong Kong’s five sixes in the innings came off of Young’s bowling.Ireland stuttered early in the chase and were reduced to 24 for 4 before the recovery started through a fifth-wicket stand of 59 between O’Brien (32) and Thompson, who top-scored with 44 on debut coming in at No. 6. They were the only two batsmen to make it past 15 in the Ireland innings, which was wrapped up in 19.3 overs.Aizaz found support from Hong Kong’s new-ball pair of Tanwir Afzal and Nadeem Ahmed. Former Hong Kong captain Afzal clean bowled Dave Rankin and Sean Terry in his opening spell while left-arm spinner Nadeem had Ireland captain William Porterfield caught at mid-off in the second over before coming back in a later spell to claim McBrine stumped for 10. Medium pacer Tanveer Ahmed also took two wickets while Ehsan’s offspin accounted for O’Brien.The second and final match in the series takes place on Tuesday at the same venue.

Nick Lee, the 32-year-old former right-hand batsman from Kent, has been appointed Sri Lanka’s trainer, the SLC announced on Sunday

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2016Nick Lee, the 32-year-old former right-hand batsman from Kent, has been appointed Sri Lanka’s trainer, the SLC announced on Sunday. Lee will replace Michael Main, the former Hampshire strength and conditioning coach, who was initially appointed for a two-year term in May last year but quit from his post at the end of the home series against Australia. Lee will assume his role from October.Lee was part of the minor county side Suffolk, and was a presence in the Minor Counties Championship tournament for over six years, until 2010. He played 13 matches in his first-class career, in which he scored 490 runs at 30.62, including three half-centuries and a highest of 79 not out. He is part of the Sussex set-up in county cricket, currently working as a strength and conditioning coach.