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“The word from anyone overseas that I chat to is they don’t want to come here for that long and be stuck”

AAP24-Jan-2022Peter Siddle has urged BBL administrators to trim the length of the season but believes they were right to block Steven Smith’s request to play.Siddle’s Adelaide Strikers will face Sydney Sixers at the SCG on Wednesday night, when the winner advances to Friday night’s final against Perth Scorchers at Marvel Stadium. This season will end within school holidays. But concerns about its length, routinely raised since a broadcast deal in 2018 resulted in the competition expanding to a full home-and-away season, remain.Related

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Strikers spinner Rashid Khan and Sixers opener James Vince are among the international recruits to have already departed Australia.Siddle believes this summer, in which fixtures have been repeatedly rejigged because of Covid-19 cases, shows it is possible to squeeze the tournament into a tighter window.”It’s not a hidden fact that it is a bit long,” Siddle said after being named captain of the BBL’s team of the tournament. “Making it shorter is the key focus. The word from anyone overseas that I chat to is their biggest worry is they don’t want to come here for that long and be stuck.”If you’re a shorter tournament, you’re probably not losing guys like Rashid Khan, James Vince, Sandeep [Lamichhane]. This year we’ve had to rearrange games…now we realise that maybe to make this season shorter, we might have to play back-to-back games and do different things.”The decision from CA to deny the Sixers’ attempt to sign Smith for the finals has been widely criticised. Siddle disagreed, arguing it was a simple case of “rules are rules”.”They need to be followed sometimes and obviously they just fell a little bit late for the Sixers,” he said. “It’s probably no different to us having Heady [Travis Head] and Kez [Alex Carey] on contract for the whole season. That’s the risk you take.”Sixers opted against signing Smith because they believed he would be part of Australia’s ODI series against New Zealand, which was ultimately postponed.Meanwhile, Siddle also defended Fawad Ahmed after he claimed a contentious catch in Sunday night’s win over Sydney Thunder.Thunder captain Usman Khawaja said he accepted the umpire’s decision but “it looked like a blade of grass 100 percent touched the ball”.”I was at cover, so I had a good view,” Siddle said. “It looked clean live. Back in the day it would have been – you just take the fielder’s word for it and it’s out.”I enjoyed the good old days where you take a word for it, get over it and move on. Line ball, that’s the game.”

Former cricketer feels he might be able to help the out-of-form Kohli “particularly with regards to that off-stump line”

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-2022Virat Kohli is desperately searching for big runs, and has developed an “anxiety to play at every delivery” as a result, Sunil Gavaskar feels.Kohli ended the white-ball leg of the England tour without a half-century. In the two ODIs, Kohli was out nicking behind off left-arm quicks Reece Topley and David Willey, and had scores of 16 and 17. In the two T20Is, he scored 1 and 11. In the Test match at Edgbaston earlier, Kohli chopped on in the first innings, and was out poking to the slip cordon in the second innings, returning scores of 11 and 20. Kohli’s century drought across formats has now extended to 79 innings.Related

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“Having been an opening batter, having been troubled by that line, there are certain things that you try and do.” Gavaskar told . “It goes back to the fact that his first mistake turns out to be his last.”Again, just because he is not amongst the runs, there is this anxiety to play at every delivery because that is what batters feel, they have got to score. You look to play at deliveries that you otherwise won’t. But he has gotten out to good deliveries as well on this particular tour.”Gavaskar said he was open to helping Kohli work on his weakness.”If I had about 20 minutes with him, I would be able to tell him the things he might have to do,” Gavaskar said. “It might help him, I am not saying it will help him, but it could, particularly with regards to that off-stump line.”1:48

Does Kohli walk in to India’s full-strength T20I XI?

Kohli has been rested from India’s white-ball tour of the Caribbean. India’s next assignments after that is a short tour of Zimbabwe, followed by the Asia Cup T20s, possibly in the United Arab Emirates in August.Several former players, most notably Kapil Dev, have questioned Kohli’s place in the side, even as some younger players have stirred selection debates with their consistent performances. All through, the Indian think tank has backed Kohli, with Rohit Sharma, the captain, batting for him despite his form slump.”He [Kohli] has played so many matches. He is playing for so many years. He is such a great batsman, so he does not need reassurance,” Rohit said after the second ODI. “I pointed to this in my last press conference, too: form goes up and down, that is part and parcel of any cricketer’s career.”So, a player like him, who has played for so many years, who has made so many runs, who has won so many matches, he only needs one or two good innings [to bounce back]. That is my thinking, and I am sure all those who follow cricket will think similarly.”

“I told our physio and doctor, ‘if this was a World Cup final, how would I react’?”

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Sep-20222:44

Philips 10 on 10 performer of the day: Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav was laid low by a sick bug on the morning of the deciding T20I against Australia in Hyderabad on Sunday. But he didn’t let the illness come in the way of his participation in the match.”We were travelling and there was a change in weather too. I had a stomach ache in the morning and also had fever,” Suryakumar told BCCI.tv. “But it was also a decider. I told our physio and doctor, if this was a World Cup final, how would I react?”I won’t just sit out saying it’s an illness. So do whatever, give me whatever pills or injection you want, but just get me ready for the game in the evening. Once you go into the match and wear that India jersey, the emotions are totally different.”Eventually, Suryakumar not only took the field, but made a vital contribution in India’s series-clinching victory. His 36-ball 69 in a century stand with Virat Kohli helped India overcome a wobble at the top to chase down 187 in the final over.Suryakumar hit five fours and as many sixes and his trademark 360-degree game was on display. During the course of his knock, he surpassed Mohammad Rizwan to become the highest scorer in T20Is so far in 2022.Related

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So far, he has made 682 runs in 20 innings at a strike rate of 182.84 this year. The tally includes four half-centuries and a hundred, against England at Trent Bridge. His impressive run of form vaulted him to third among all T20I batters, behind Pakistan’s Rizwan and South Africa’s Aiden Markram, on the ICC’s rankings.Suryakumar couldn’t help but exude self-belief when asked of his success mantra. “I practice the same way as I want to bat in the match,” he said. “I believe in just one thing: go and express yourself. If my success rate is above 75%, why not? I just think when I walk out, if I’m batting well, then I try to carry that phase on and try and finish off games.”On Sunday, while Suryakumar didn’t finish off the game, he had taken India to the doorstep of victory. Having slapped Josh Hazlewood for six and a four earlier in the 14th over, he holed out to long-on. By the time he was dismissed, India’s ask was a manageable 53 off six overs with seven wickets remaining.At the press conference, India captain Rohit Sharma was effusive in his praise for his colleague. “When it comes to Surya, we all know the quality he has,” Rohit said. “He can play shots all over the ground. And that is what makes him special. He has been very consistent with the bat. Every time he has gotten an opportunity, he has played an important innings for us.”Every time I see him, he has taken his game a notch higher which is a good sign as a player. Whenever you see that you can raise the level of your skills of what the team expects from you, it’s always a good sign. I can see that in Surya, every game that I see of him, every game that he plays, he seems to be getting better and better every time. And today was an exceptional innings.”To come out and play the innings that he played, we were two down in the powerplay. And to take the game away, literally, from the opposition was a fantastic effort. And not to forget Virat on the other side as well, what a crucial, crucial partnership, 100 partnership. From the team’s perspective it was a good sign.”

Bawne had refused to leave the field after his dismissal against Services, causing a 15-minute delay

Shashank Kishore23-Jan-2025Maharashtra batter Ankit Bawne has been handed a one-match suspension for dissent. The decision was communicated to the team ahead of the side’s Ranji Trophy sixth round Group A fixture against Baroda in Nashik.Bawne’s refusal to leave the field after being given out in their fifth-round game against Services, prior to the white-ball season, created a flutter, even though there appeared to be conclusive evidence that the ball had bounced before Shubham Rohilla completed the catch at slip off left-arm spinner Amit Shukla.Bawne, who was the stand-in captain in that game, couldn’t opt to review the decision as the match was only on a livestream and not televised, which meant there was no infrastructure for DRS to be in place. His refusal to leave the field led to play being suspended for nearly 15 minutes, before the game resumed upon the intervention of match referee Amit Sharma and Maharashtra coach Sulakshan Kulkarni.Related

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After the incident, Kulkarni had lashed out at the umpiring standards in domestic cricket. “Players are subject to fines and reprimand, what about proper assessment of umpires,” he had said. “Why do the same erring umpires continue to officiate and play spoilsport? When there are blunders of this nature, the anger is justified.”At the time, Maharashtra’s regular captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, too, had posted replays of the dismissal. Gaikwad was playing for India A in Australia at the time.Bawne has been Maharashtra’s leading run-scorer this season, with 361 runs from five matches at an average of 51.57. He has scored one century and two fifties.Maharashtra are second from bottom in Group A and are already out of the reckoning for a playoff berth as they can reach a maximum of 22 points. As things stand, there are already two teams in the pool – Baroda and J&K – with more points.

Prasidh Krishna beat India C’s defiance with three quick wickets to secure the win

Shashank Kishore22-Sep-2024With 4.1 overs left and the light fading slowly, Prasidh Krishna beat India C’s defiance with three quick wickets to seal India A’s title triumph at the season-opening 2024-25 Duleep Trophy in Anantapur. Prasidh, playing his second straight first-class game after a long injury layoff, dismissed centurion B Sai Sudharsan, Baba Indrajith and Anshul Kamboj to secure victory.Sai Sudharsan, who had battled hard and defied the bowlers to make his fifth first-class century, fell for 111 when he was out attempting a scoop. In Prasidh’s next over, the 80th, he had the injured B Indrajith, who came out to bat only because a draw had seemed a possibility.But in trying to defend a short ball aimed at the ribs, Prasidh had Indrajith caught at leg slip, who had been specifically brought in for the short ball. And then, with a brand new ball taken at the first available opportunity in the 81st over, Prasidh bowled full and straight to dismiss Kamboj lbw to close out the game.Related

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While Prasidh did the late demolition job, it was young Uttar Pradesh seamer Aaqib Khan who did the early damage, nicking off Ruturaj Gaikwad with a superb outswinger, and then having Rajat Patidar bowled.Once those breakthroughs were achieved, Agarwal summoned his spinners on a final-day surface, which had begun to take turn, but not to the extent that made stroke-making impossible. Offspinner Tanush Kotian removed Ishan Kishan and first innings top-scorer Abhishek Porel, while his Mumbai team-mate Shams Mulani dismissed Manav Suthar to open up the possibility of victory.Until that point, it didn’t seem like India B would have the services of Indrajith, who had retired hurt on 34 in the first innings because of a hamstring injury. But with the possibility of a draw looming, he walked out to a packed close-in ring, but only lasted two deliveries. That strike turned a hopeful bunch boisterous as Prasidh and India A then picked up the final wicket after a tense few deliveries of playing and missing to seal the match.That India A were in a position to win outright was largely down to a superb back-to-the-wall century from Baroda’s Shashwat Rawat, who made 124 in the first innings to set up the game on the face of a batting collapse. Then in the second, he struck a half-century along with Riyan Parag to set up a declaration, which eventually helped them build scoreboard pressure on the final day.