All posts by csb10.top

Matthew Mott, England’s head coach, will fly out to India with the World Cup squad on Wednesday night knowing that he has an enviable depth of options available to him in white-ball cricket, after England’s reserve squad put on an extraordinary show of power in the third ODI against Ireland at Bristol.Although a dramatic thunderstorm curtailed the contest after just 31 overs of the first innings, England piled on the runs in that time, reaching 280 for 4 courtesy of Ben Duckett’s maiden white-ball hundred and further half-centuries from Zak Crawley and Phil Salt (the latter from just 22 balls).Despite missing each of the 15 players who have been named for the World Cup, there was no let-up in England’s intent, from the moment that Salt and Will Jacks came together to rack up an 87-run stand inside seven overs.Had they been able to bat out their final 19 overs, England would surely have powered past 400, and might even have had a chance of breaking the world record of 498 for 4 that Jos Buttler’s senior squad posted against Netherlands in Amstelveen last year.”We were seeing some new faces, but it seemed a bit like business as usual for the boys out there,” Mott told Sky Sports after the abandonment. “A lot of this series has been about making sure we go out there and play with that aggression that this team has been renowned for for a while.”They batted nice and free, and really took it on today, which was great. We weren’t really sure what that wicket would be like, to be honest, it’s been quite wet here and been under covers for a few days. But it was really positive way to approach the game.”The intensity of England’s batting was perhaps heightened by the knowledge that nothing is yet set in stone when it comes to the identity of potential World Cup replacements, in the event of injury for any of the senior squad members.Jason Roy, who was cut from the provisional 15-man squad to make way for Harry Brook, has been earmarked as a like-for-like replacement if either of England’s designated openers, Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan, is forced to withdraw from the tournament.However, Jofra Archer – who is on the comeback from longterm injury – is the only non-squad player who will travel with the 15, and Mott confirmed that he would be keeping an open mind about other names in the frame, adding that this week had been a useful opportunity to assess a few characters up close and personal in the dressing-room.Ben Duckett swings a pull into the leg side•Getty Images

“We’ve obviously picked that 15 for the World Cup and, until we get injury or illness, they’ll serve us well,” Mott said. “The good thing about an India series, as opposed to Australia, is the fact that it’s not a big flight away. We can call up people at pretty short notice and travel quite lean as well. Obviously Jofra will be there, but a lot of that is around him getting the servicing that he needs to get back to full fitness.”Obviously, there’s some players that know they’re on the periphery of the team and missed out. But when you get an injury in a World Cup, it might seem obvious from the outside [who the replacement should be] but there’s other things that go on inside the camp that other people aren’t privy to, and what we might need to cover. So, as much as we can, we’ll keep that option open.”Reflecting on last week’s selection meeting, at which the decision to dispense with Roy was made, Mott added: “It was a really robust conversation with some really good minds in the room and it was definitely the hardest selection I’ve sat in. I think when you leave a player out of the calibre of Jason Roy, who’s been such an amazing servant for England over a very long period of time, you know that you’ve got some talent in the room.”Roy was given the option of playing in these final two ODIs against Ireland, but in his absence England’s chosen openers put on a show. Salt, a T20 World Cup winner in Australia last year, produced a scintillating innings of 61 from 28 balls, while Jacks was named Player of the Series after following up his matchwinning 94 at Trent Bridge with a further fluent knock of 39 from 21. Further down the order, Crawley, England’s stand-in captain, produced a 39-ball fifty, while Duckett – a stand-out performer on Asian pitches last winter – was in full flow on 107 not out from 78 balls when the rain came.Related

• England rope in Indian sidearm specialist for World Cup prep

• Defending champions England seek World Cup encore despite ageing stars

• Phil Salt, Will Jacks await audition to be England's new Roy and Hales

• Twos to the fore for England, as Scrimshaw's struggles inject the intensity

• Sam Hain 'made peace' with idea England chance might never come

“You can’t really tell until you get in the change-room with some players to see how they tick, see how their mind works and how they approach the game,” Mott said of the new faces in this ODI set-up. “You learn a lot just being around them in hotels as well, seeing how they go about their business, and I’m really excited about this group.”Everyone has seen it, there’s a real freshness to the way that they’ve come about their cricket,” he added. “I think we’ve learned some good things along the way as well. And it’s a shame that we haven’t played as much cricket as we would have liked, but we’ve seen enough to know that there’s an exciting few years ahead.”More immediately, the excitement will centre around the World Cup build-up, with the squad due to play two warm-ups against India and Bangladesh in Guhawati, ahead of the tournament opener against New Zealand on October 5.”It’s incredibly exciting times,” Mott said. “It’s been on the radar for us for a long time now and I think the guys should be nice and fresh. I think we’ve got just about the right amount of cricket behind us. The couple of practice matches will serve us well. I think we’re ready to put our best foot forward.”

Is the forecast worrying for Kolkata?

Well, as ever, it depends which website you look at, but there is certainly a reasonable threat of rain playing a part. At the moment, Friday looks the more problematic day, with Thursday, the scheduled day of the semi-final, having a prediction of around a 50% chance of seeing showers.

When does the reserve day come into play?

Before activating the reserve day, the umpires will make every effort to complete the match on the scheduled day, including reducing the game to a minimum of 20 overs per side. Only if this isn’t possible does the extra day come into play. A reserve day was needed in the 2019 semi-final between India and New Zealand at Old Trafford.Related

• In-form South Africa face serial winners Australia with history on their shoulders

• Temba Bavuma on semi-final availability: 'I'm quite confident but it's not a unilateral decision'

• Australia vs South Africa: Why Starc and Jansen should be in the firing line

• Stir the pot he may, but there's no denying David Warner's an ODI GOAT

• 'Artistic hunters' South Africa draw inspiration from tiki-tika for World Cup success

How does it work?

If a match isn’t completed on the scheduled day, and the reserve day is used, there are basically two scenarios for how the match is played out depending on when the final rain interruption has come.Courtesy of the ICC playing conditions, here are two working examples:Example 1: Match starts at 50 overs per side and there is an interruption at 19 overs. Overs are reduced to 46 overs per side and play is about to resume. Before another ball is bowled it rains and play is abandoned for the day. As the match did not resume under the revised overs, the match should continue on the reserve day at the original 50 overs per side with the overs reduced if necessary during the reserve day.Example 2: The same start as in example 1 i.e. match starts at 50 overs per side and there is an interruption at 19 overs. Overs are reduced to 46 overs per side and play is about to resume. This time, play starts and after an over has been bowled it rains and play is abandoned for the day. As the match has resumed, it is continued on the reserve day at 46 overs per side with the overs further reduced if necessary during the reserve day.

What happens if there’s a no result?

If a minimum of 20 overs per side is not possible across the two days and the match is a no result, the team that finished higher in the group stage will progress to the final. That means it would be South Africa who go through to the decider in Ahmedabad on November 19 (where it is very unlikely to rain).

Discontent continues to grow among WBBL players and coaches surrounding the lack of both DRS and third umpires in certain games this season. Melbourne Renegades duo Georgia Wareham and Hayley Matthews expressed their frustration at the current situation and their hopes for greater technology to be implemented permanently in the future.There have been several instances in the WBBL season so far where incorrect stumping and run out decisions have affected the outcomes of matches when there has been no third umpire available.Only 24 matches of the 59-game season are full television broadcasts with DRS and third umpire reviews available to the teams and the standing officials. The rest of the matches are televised via slimmed-down broadcasts designed for streaming and do not feature DRS technology or even a third umpire.Related

• Third umpire for every WBBL match, increase in DRS

• Strikers beat Stars as WBBL technology issue exposed

• Bizarre run out helps Adelaide Strikers end Heat's unbeaten WBBL start

• Lee cashes in on stumping reprieve to set up Hurricanes victory

• CA eyes-off third umpire for all WBBL games next season

In three of those games there have been incorrect stumpings and run outs that could have easily been overturned with a third umpire in place, including a not out decision that went in favour of Hobart Hurricanes’ Lizelle Lee overnight that cost Sydney Thunder dearly.Cricket Australia has already said they will look at having third umpires in place for every game next year but nothing will change this season.Renegades have not been on the receiving end of any incorrect stumping or run out calls, but they do believe they have received some lbw and caught behind decisions against them in tight games that might have been overturned if DRS were available.Wareham expressed the sentiment of the Renegades’ group at the current situation.”I think as a playing group it’s pretty frustrating, knowing that those moments in the game are really massive,” Wareham said on Tuesday. “And that it’s sort of changing the way that teams are winning, I guess, and what team wins on the day by those moments.”I think that’s what’s really frustrating when we can’t quite get those decisions right. But I mean, at the end of the day, you can’t do much out there. So I guess it’s up to the big dogs at the end.”Matthews has been involved with the WBBL from its very early seasons and has seen the growth of women’s franchise leagues globally first-hand in recent years. She believes the WBBL needs to have DRS in all games if it is to maintain its place as the world’s premier women’s T20 franchise tournament.”I think it would be a great step,” Matthews said. “We’re obviously seeing all over the world now, in all the franchise competitions you’ve got DRS, third umpire, and full broadcasts in every single game being played. I think WBBL has been the leading tournament for quite some years and it’s the ninth season in. I think I’d love to see it being implemented now and I think that on its own would help raise the standard of the game even more.But Renegades’ captain said her team can’t stress about the current situation for the remainder of this season.”I think you’ve just got to try to control the controllables,” Matthews said. “If we sit and kind of stress about all the things that we aren’t able to control, I think it’s just going to make us more frustrated at the end of the day. So as batters, try to use our bat as much as possible.”

Perth Scorchers overcame a late batting collapse and a Shaun Marsh masterclass to post a 13-run win over Melbourne Renegades in front of 42,226 fans at Optus Stadium in their BBL fixture on Tuesday.Scorchers lost a remarkable seven wickets for just five runs in the space of 18 balls in their innings to go from 157 for 3 in 16.4 overs to 162 all out in 19.4 overs. In reply, Marsh scored 59 off 36 balls to guide Renegades to within touching distance of victory.Renegades needed 35 more runs off 20 balls after Marsh fell. The equation came down to 17 needed off the final over – bowled by Andrew Tye. Jonathan Wells was caught on the second ball of the over and Kane Richardson fell next delivery, with Renegades limping to 149 for 8.It left Renegades winless after five games, while Scorchers (three wins, one no-result) are yet to lose this season.Marsh, a former Scorchers star, had been sidelined from the first four games this season because of a lingering knee injury that has affected him for the best part of 2023. A misfield during the Scorchers innings showed his rustiness. But he looked far more at home with bat in hand, cracking four fours and three sixes during his innings.He needed just 28 balls to bring up his half-century, with his knock lifting Renegades after they had made a slow start to the run chase.Batting at No. 4, Marsh arrived at the crease for the start of the seventh over after Jake Fraser-McGurk had been run-out at the non-striker’s end in unlucky fashion. Tye got his boot to a Joe Clarke straight drive, catching Fraser-McGurk in no-man’s land.Will Sutherland picked up three wickets in the 19th over•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

With Clarke (32 in 33 balls) struggling for fluency, Marsh ensured the scoreboard ticked over at an adequate rate before upping the ante later in his innings.Marsh received a life on 24 when he was dropped by a diving Cooper Connolly, and he finally fell in the 17th over when he edged a 118kph Lance Morris slower ball behind.The wheels fell off for Renegades after that, with Jhye Richardson, Jason Behrendorff and Tye producing some tight overs at the death to tie them down.Earlier, Scorchers slumped to 4 for 2 in the second over after openers Zak Crawley and Connolly fell in quick succession. After that, big hands from Josh Inglis (64 in 44) and new skipper Aaron Hardie (57 in 41) put Scorchers on track for a score close to 200.But then came the collapse.Hardie was the first to fall in that sequence when he was caught in the deep.Three balls later, Nick Hobson holed out.Will Sutherland then sent Laurie Evans (24 in 15), Ashton Agar and Tye packing in the 19th over, with all three batters out caught.Renegades even completed a team hat-trick when Jhye Richardson fell first ball of the 20th over, and Scorchers were put out of their misery when Morris was run-out three deliveries later.Tom Rogers was the standout bowler for Renegades with figures of 3 for 18 from his four overs, while Sutherland’s late heroics ensured he ended with 3 for 36.Star spinner Adam Zampa (1 for 48) copped a battering, but he did take the wicket of Hardie.

A left knee injury to Jack Leach compounded a miserable second day for England in Hyderabad that saw India march to a first-innings lead of 175 in the first Test.Leach, who has been Ben Stokes’ main spinner throughout his tenure and came into this match as the leader of a three-pronged spin attack, sustained the injury trying to save a boundary on day one before aggravating the knee in Friday’s morning session. It limited the left-arm spinner to just 16 of the 87 overs in the day, bowling at most four overs in a spell and at times leaving the field for treatment.”He banged his knee last night, the first dive down at fine leg,” Jeetan Patel, England’s spin-bowling coach, said. “Then he banged it again today and it’s giving him a little gyp, to be honest. You noticed in the outfield he was a little sluggish trying to get to balls, but he stuck at it and I thought he actually bowled really, really well considering.Related

• Jaiswal does not regret missing out on a hundred

• The spectacle at No. 4 featuring KL Rahul

• Rahul, Jadeja push England against the wall

• Live Report – India vs England, 1st Test, Hyderabad

“It must be pretty serious, or serious for him anyway, because the reality is he wouldn’t shirk that responsibility. It is sore enough. You watch him in the outfield and I don’t think it’s a graze. For him to come back and keep bowling the overs he did… I believe he’ll be back in the fourth innings.”That’s what Jack does for this team, he’ll always put in. But it’s an bit of a shame from where he’s come [recovering from a stress fracture of the back last summer] to dive on one at fine leg and all of a sudden you’re hobbling around. He’ll be back. He’s one of the strongest guys in the team. We’ve had to share the load and the I thought the guys did really well.”Joe Root had little luck on a tiring day•AFP/Getty Images

Joe Root stepped up to bowl 25 overs in Leach’s absence, taking 2 for 77 so far. Debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley and 19-year-old legspinner Rehan Ahmed also pitched in, with Hartley taking his first two wickets in Test cricket, but were inconsistent. The lack of control allowed India to make it to 421 for 7 at stumps, with Ravindra Jadeja (81 not out) and Axar Patel (35*) unbeaten overnight.Patel remained bullish about England’s chances despite the match situation but ceded success, both in the match and the series as a whole, is reliant on improvements to Leach’s knee overnight.”He’s got another night to rest it. He’s a tough bloke and he’ll be raring to go,” Patel said. “He’s never going to shirk the responsibility of the job he has, but it’s about being smart as well. We’ve got four Tests to go and another innings at the back end of this game. We need a key man like Jack.”

Jason Gillespie, the former Australian fast bowler, has been announced as Pakistan’s new Test coach, while former South African batter Gary Kirsten has been named their white-ball coach. Azhar Mahmood, who had been appointed on a temporary basis for the New Zealand series, will continue as the assistant coach in all formats.The three coaches have been appointed on two-year contracts following a recruitment process.The position of the head coach had been vacant since Grant Bradburn, who took over from Saqlain Mushtaq last year, quit in January to join Glamorgan as head coach. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had approached other high-profile names, including Shane Watson, who ultimately pulled out of the race.Kirsten is expected to take over from the England tour, which will feature a four-match T20I series starting on May 22 in Leeds. The last game of the series will be on May 30 before the team will fly out to the USA and the Caribbean for the T20 World Cup. Gillespie’s first assignment will be the Bangladesh series in August, a two-Test series.The announcements were made by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi at a press conference in Lahore.”Their stellar track records precede them, and I warmly welcome them to the Pakistan cricket family,” Naqvi said of Kirsten and Gillespie.”Jason’s coaching career has been marked by success both at the domestic and international levels, with a focus on player development and achieving excellence in team performance. Gary’s coaching career has been marked by his ability to instill a winning mentality, develop young talent, and achieve success at the highest levels of the game, making him one of the most respected and sought-after coaches in cricket.”In this background, I have every confidence that their expertise will guide our players to reach new heights, aligning with their inherent talent and the expectations of our passionate fans. These high-quality appointments also present a remarkable opportunity for our players to glean insights from these seasoned professionals, refining their skills and fortifying their cricketing acumen.”The PCB is unwavering in its commitment to furnish the national team with top-tier resources and facilities, fostering an environment conducive to unlocking their full potential and consistently delivering stellar performances.”Gillespie has held various coaching roles around the world, though he has never been head coach of an international Test side. He enjoyed considerable success as head coach of Yorkshire, where they were promoted from Division Two in his first season and went on to win titles in 2014 and 2015. He has also taken up T20 coaching roles with Kings XI Punjab and Adelaide Strikers, as well as Sussex and South Australia.Kirsten’s most famous coaching achievement came as head coach of India, where he worked from 2008-11, and won the 2011 ODI World Cup. He was head coach of South Africa for the two years that followed, and is currently Gujarat Titans’ batting coach.Crucially, Naqvi said that Kirsten and Gillespie will be with the Pakistan side for the entire length of their contracts instead of flying in for specific tours and series. In the past, this has been a sticking point for overseas coaches, with PCB’s negotiations with Watson thought to include clauses that permitted him to be away from Pakistan when the white-ball side wasn’t in action. Naqvi also said he hoped to have Gillespie involved with domestic red-ball cricket, instead of focusing solely on the Test side.That the PCB have eventually managed to land two of the highest profile coaching names – the first time Pakistan have appointed split coaches for different formats – has internally been viewed as a significant win for the board at a time of considerable tumult. While the PCB did not declare the details of their financial agreements, it is believed Gillespie and Kirsten’s recompense will be higher than head coaches have ever been paid in Pakistan cricket before. This is both a reflection of the challenges of attracting bigger names to commit full-time to Pakistan cricket, as well as the bolstered financial strength of the PCB thanks to ICC revenue, which rose from an $16 million to $34 million in the current rights cycle.

Lucknow Super Giants’ win over Mumbai Indians in their last game of the season was not enough to take them to the playoffs, but it was the kind of performance their captain KL Rahul wanted more of throughout the season.LSG finished on 14 points and occupied sixth spot on table – level with fourth-placed Chennai Super Kings, who still have a game to play on Saturday – but their net run rate of -0.667 was not enough to push them into the top four.”At the beginning of the season, I really felt that we had a strong team and had most bases covered,” Rahul said after the game. “[We had] a couple of injuries obviously, which happens every season to every team, but those injuries and the guys that went away really dented us a little bit, and we didn’t play well enough collectively.Related

• Hardik banned for MI's slow over rate, will miss first game next season

• Boucher admits off-field noise may have 'clouded' Hardik after MI finish at bottom

• Mohsin Khan nearly lost an arm, but he's back to being Lucknow's enforcer

• Pooran-inspired win fails to take LSG into the playoffs

“When the bowlers had a good game, the batters wouldn’t have a good game. We just didn’t come together as much as we would have wanted to.”Rahul’s comments were echoed by LSG head coach Justin Langer, who said they wanted to try a few new tricks in their last game, and that included opening with Devdutt Padikkal in place of Quinton de Kock. But the Padikkal move did not pay off – he was trapped lbw for a golden duck by Nuwan Thushara – and LSG soon found themselves in a familiar position of losing early wickets.They were 69 for 3 in the tenth over but Nicholas Pooran’s whirlwind 29-ball 75 revivied them. It also helped Rahul accelerate from 29 off 28 to finish on 55 off 41 and took the side to 214.LSG had come into the season with a reputation for defending totals, and they lived up to it the first three times they batted first. However, their bowling took a hit in the second half of the competition, with injuries to key bowlers like Mohsin Khan and Mayank Yadav, and they struggled to defend totals.But in Mumbai, even after the hosts enjoyed an 88-run opening stand in 8.4 overs, their bowling unit came together to effectively blunt the opposition by the 15th over. Naman Dhir, batting at No. 7, gave them a scare with a 28-ball 62 not out, but LSG got through.Langer acknowledged that they missed the services of Mayank and Mohsin, but felt that their sloppy fielding “really killed us in the end”.”I think dropped catches cost us,” Langer said at the post-game press conference. “If you go back to the Delhi game at home, we dropped [Jake] Fraser-McGurk on 17 [24] off Marcus Stoinis. And I think he hit 26 [21] runs off the next over and it really kickstarted his whole season. I saw a stat today that we’ve dropped a lot of catches. We’ve probably got the best fielding coach in the world [Jonty Rhodes] and we dropped some catches. And often it’s [something] as simple as that to [decide] the outcome of the season.”We missed Mayank, he was huge. Mohsin [Khan] had quite a sore back for some of the tournament. But I think dropped catches is the thing that really killed us in the end.”But against MI, LSG held on to all their chances – five catches taken on the field. Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi took a brilliant catch each to send Dewald Brevis and Suryakumar Yadav, respectively, packing.”Today was a really good performance,” Rahul said. “This is the kind of game we wanted to play more where batters are scoring, and bowlers are doing their job. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that, so we find ourselves here.”

Match details

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Gujarat Titans
Hyderabad, 7.30pm IST (2pm GMT)

Big picture: All eyes on Travishek once again

In the heated race for the playoffs in which five teams – CSK, SRH, DC, RCB and LSG – are still fighting it out for the remaining two spots, SRH are probably best placed to book a berth. One because they are the only team out of those five with two games in hand, and two, they will play both games in their own den. There’s also a third: the two remaining opponents for SRH are two of the bottom three teams on the points table – Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings – which tilts the odds further in favour of SRH.The first of those will be GT, who were knocked out of the playoffs race after a washout in Ahmedabad, where the captains waited for the duration of an entire T20 game to finally share points.SRH will return to the field after a good eight days, having smashed LSG by chasing down 166 even before the halfway mark. They will be high on confidence and spirits, re-energised after a break, and will hope GT haven’t saved their best for their last league game.A lot of the contrast between SRH and GT this season is shown by how they have gone about hitting their sixes so far. Compared to the 146 sixes by SRH this IPL, the most, GT rank at the bottom, with just 67, which is just one more than how many Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have slammed put together. The story is similar across the three phases of the game, and it will come down to how much GT can restrict the SRH top order to in the powerplay.

Form guide

Sunrisers Hyderabad WLWLL (last five matches, most recent first)
Gujarat Titans WLLLW

Previous meeting

It was a month and a half ago when the tournament was only a week old that GT had restricted SRH to just 162 in Ahmedabad and chased it down rather easily, thanks to their top four. SRH’s batters have pretty much changed the definition of T20 batting since then.

Team news and Impact Player strategy

Sunrisers Hyderabad
Barring a collapse of sorts, like against Mumbai Indians when they had to bring in another batter in place of Abhishek Sharma, SRH are likely to swap a frontline batter for a bowler such as T Natarajan, Umran Malik or Jaydev Unadkat.Probable XII: 1 , 2 Travis Head, 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Marco Jansen/Glenn Phillips, 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Shahbaz Ahmed, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 T Natarajan, 12 Gujarat Titans
GT have tried the most players (23) this season while trying to find their best combination and ended their campaign without possibly getting there. This could be a chance for them to give some of less-tried players more chances, such as Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar and BR Sharath.Likely XII: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 , 4 M Shahrukh Khan, 5 David Miller, 6 Vijay Shankar, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mohit Sharma, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Josh Little/Azmatullah Omarzai, 12 2:14

McClenaghan: Bhuvneshwar has increased his pace

In the spotlight: Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Shubman Gill

SRH gave wristspinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth his first game last week in which he gave away just 27 runs in his four overs. He came into this season as Wanindu Hasaranga’s replacement and even though those are massive shoes to fill, another promising outing for Viyaskanth on Thursday will prove that his economy rate of 5.43 for MI Emirates in the ILT20 this year was not a one-off.Shubman Gill’s strike rate dipped from 157.80 in IPL 2023 to 147.40 this IPL in a season when more runs and more sixes are being hit than never before. He may have done that to shoulder more responsibility as captain, which often happens in the IPL, but with the T20 World Cup coming up, in which he is among the traveling reserves, Gill would want to sign off this IPL with a bang.

Stats that matter

• The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad has seen the joint-most sixes struck off spinners (61) this IPL.
• Abhishek Sharma has never been dismissed by Umesh Yadav, just once by Mohit Sharma and has a dominant record against Rashid Khan: 63 off 30 balls with just one dismissal.
• Mayank Agarwal doesn’t enjoy a great head to head against Umesh: 42 runs off 41 balls with two dismissals
• The hard-hitting David Miller has been kept quiet in T20s by Pat Cummins with a record of 38 runs off 46 balls with two dismissals.
• It will be interesting to see how Shubman Gill takes on the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar, having been dismissed three times by him 10 innings to score just 57 runs off 56 balls
• Wriddhiman Saha needs 67 and Miller another 76 runs to reach 3000 IPL runs each.
• Bhuvneshwar is just one scalp away from 300 wickets in T20s. He will be the first Indian fast bowler to get there as the only Indians ahead of him are Yuzvendra Chahal, Piyush Chawla and R Ashwin.

Pitch and conditions

Barring the last game, in which it looked like SRH could have even chased down 300, according to KL Rahul, there has been just one game in Hyderabad where neither team scored 200. It means another run-fest awaits us on Thursday evening, especially if SRH bat first, because it has been the most high-scoring ground this season. It will be hot, humid and cloudy and there could be some rain too, but not enough to spoil the party again.

Andrew Strauss believes that the proliferation of T20 franchise tournaments could be a sign of the “democratisation” of world cricket, arguing that “no one, not even the BCCI, controls the game anymore”.Strauss, England’s former Ashes-winning captain who oversaw the ECB’s High Performance Review last year, warned his audience at the annual MCC Cowdrey Lecture that the ongoing shift in the game’s focus could leave “some old institutions creaking at the seams”, but believes the sport will emerge stronger in the long run.”In the past, it could be argued that certain interests, whether they lie in this room, or in the corridors of the ECB and other national governing bodies, or on the boundary edges of the county grounds, took precedence over others,” he said during his address at Lord’s. “This is no longer the case. No one, not even the BCCI, controls the game anymore.”There are too many people involved, too many variables, too much disruption and chaos for anyone to be pulling all the strings. In a sense, the game has democratised. While this is confronting and perhaps difficult to hear for some, I feel like we should be rejoicing in this fact.”The game now has both more freedom and more levers available to allow it to fulfil its purpose than ever before. There is genuine choice for players, spectators and followers alike. The future direction of the sport will be decided not in the meeting halls of the ICC in Dubai but rather by the purchasing power of the increasing number of those who choose to follow the game.”Elsewhere in his lecture, Strauss warned that the culture of “macho banter” within the men’s game, that can “verge on bullying”, needs to come to an end, and said that the recent revelations about institutional racism within the sport, centred around Yorkshire but prevalent elsewhere, were proof of a game that has not evolved to meet its modern obligations.”The spirit of cricket needs to accompany modern players, and I am speaking primarily about the men’s game now, into an area that neither the prying eyes of the media or the feverish adulation of the fans penetrates — the dressing room,” Strauss said.”As we move forward together as a game with players of different genders, races, creed and beliefs coming together, so the traditional macho, hierarchical, perhaps at times verging on ‘bullying’ dressing-room banter will need to be softened to a culture that is more tolerant, understanding, welcoming and embracing of difference.””The events over the last 18 months, whether they come from Yorkshire or elsewhere, have shown we have a lot of work to do in this area, but the Spirit of Cricket demands this. From a players’ point of view there will clearly need to be an awareness that the world is watching every move that they make in a way that was never the case previously, both on and off the pitch. With more opportunities and rewards comes more scrutiny and intrusion.”While in the past players might have been able to swallow the odd invisible pill, these days they are likely to be in short supply. In addition, the best players, wherever they hail from, will have to weigh up their own personal aims and ambitions alongside their loyalty to their own countries and formative teams. This may lead to some hard soul-searching, but in the name of the spirit of the game, it must be done.”Strauss, the 21st speaker at MCC’s Spirit of Cricket lecture, also addressed the growth of the women’s game, particularly in light of the forthcoming WPL auction, which promises another dramatic shift in the sport’s evolution.”As for the women’s game, the rate of growth will just accelerate” he said. “The first IPL franchises have just been sold for an earth-shattering sum of £465 million pounds. Women’s cricket is truly standing on its own two feet and is likely to be in the top three sports for earning potential for any young girl with talent and an ambition to play sport professionally.”

Rohit Sharma has hinted that India could request a green pitch for the fourth Border-Gavaskar Test in Ahmedabad if they win the third Test in Indore and seal their place in the World Test Championship final. India, currently 2-0 up in the four-Test series, need one more win to confirm their place in the WTC final, which is set to be played at The Oval from June 7 to 11.Australia are the other favourites to play the final, with Sri Lanka also in with an outside chance.India have prepared seamer-friendly home pitches in the past with an eye on preparing for major away tours. In the 2017-18 season, shortly before a tour of South Africa, they played on a greentop at Eden Gardens against Sri Lanka – the seamers took 32 of the 35 wickets that fell in the Test match.Related

• Kuhnemann follows Jadeja blueprint to inspire Australia's comeback

• Smith wants Australia to 'slow things down' under pressure

• KL Rahul or Shubman Gill? It won't be an easy decision either way

• Australia bank on Smith and Labuschagne to flip the script in Indore

• Ganguly on Rahul: 'When you fail for a while, obviously there will be criticism'

On Tuesday, Rohit said something similar could be on the cards if India go 3-0 up in Indore, setting up a potential WTC final dress rehearsal in pace-friendly conditions in Ahmedabad. He added, however, that selection could prove tricky, given that Shardul Thakur, India’s preferred pace-bowling allrounder in overseas conditions, isn’t part of their squad for this series, and has not played competitive cricket in over a month. Rohit attended Thakur’s wedding during the break between the second and third Tests.”There is definitely a possibility of that,” Rohit said. “We’ve already spoken about it. We need to get the guys ready for it as well.”The important one is Shardul Thakur, because he comes into that plan for us. I don’t know how ready he is, knowing that he just got married. We don’t know how many overs he has bowled. But yeah, that thought process is definitely there. If we do what we do here and we get the result we want, we might think of doing something different in Ahmedabad for sure.”In that Kolkata Test against Sri Lanka, the damp weather played as much of a role as the pitch in helping India simulate overseas conditions. While it should be possible for India to prepare a green pitch in Ahmedabad, the weather is expected to be hot and dry, with maximum temperatures in the mid-to-high 30s (Celsius) – nothing, in short, like London in June.India played a greentop at Eden Gardens against Sri Lanka, shortly before a tour of South Africa, in 2017-18•BCCI

Before their thoughts can turn to such matters, however, India have a Test match to play in Indore, and Rohit warned against letting their thoughts stray too far ahead. Though India won the second Test in Delhi by six wickets, they were made to work hard for their result – at one stage, they were 139 for 7 in reply to Australia’s first-innings total of 263. Rohit expected Australia to push India hard again in Indore.”It will be a great achievement for us [to reach the WTC final], but we know that we need to cross that final hurdle, and for that we need to win the next game as well, so the focus is on this Test, how we can win this game, and not look too far ahead, because after this game we’ve got one more Test match to be played, and then after that there’s two months of IPL,” Rohit said.”There’s a lot of time to think about the final, but right now it’s very important for us to focus on this one and see how we can turn it around and win this game as well, because in the last game we were put under pressure for sure, we can expect the same here as well, so we need to be ready for that.”When pressed to look ahead to the WTC final, Rohit said it would be exciting for the two teams playing it to meet in neutral conditions.”It’ll be a different ball game, for both teams actually,” he said. “Actually, I don’t want to talk about the World Test Championship. We’re not there yet. We want to win this game and then talk about it. That’ll be the right thing to do.”But just speaking of it from the outside, clearly, I don’t think England is going to qualify, so both teams who are going to play the final will be neutral teams. It’s going to be exciting. There’s no home advantage, no conditions advantage. India have played a lot of cricket in England over the last couple of years. Australia have played a lot of cricket [there]. Sri Lanka and South Africa are also in the mix [South Africa are out of the reckoning]. They probably have played a lot of cricket there as well. It’s not going to be alien conditions as such, to both teams who will make the final. It’ll be a good contest between the two teams, whoever those teams are.”