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Manchester United have taken a huge step to ensuring they make a return to the Champions League after some crucial victories in recent weeks.

Wins over Liverpool and Spurs mean they now have an eight-point buffer with just seven games to go, that given their current form should be enough to see them over the line.

The return to European competition will prove important in the manager’s recruitment process this summer as he looks to strengthen his squad once again with some of Europe’s most talented players.

And with plenty of players set to depart Old Trafford at the end of the season you can be sure there will a few more arriving at the club as Louis van Gaal looks to build on a positive first season in charge.

Here are just five of the possible signings he could be looking to make, with reports linking all of them with a move to the Red Devils…

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Mats Hummels

The United defence is an area that Louis van Gaal will certainly be looking to strengthen this summer with a top centre-back surely a priority. And if reports are to be believed Dortmund defender Mats Hummels could be the man to help them do so.

Despite the German outfit trying to tie him down to a new contract, the World Cup winner is said to be keeping his options open regarding his future and it looks increasingly likely that he will leave the club in the summer, especially as Dortmund will have failed to qualify for the Champions League.

The Red Devils are said to have already agreed a deal in principle with the German star and although this has been denied by the man himself, the fact he is considering his future looks promising for United.

Raheem Sterling

Having stalled on signing a new contract at Liverpool, the future of Raheem Sterling looks in some doubt. And alongside Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City’ astonishingly United are also said to be interested in the 20-year-old and could be looking to offer £50m in order to prize him away from Anfield.

Given the fact Liverpool risk losing him on a free when his contract expires, if Sterling really has intentions of moving on and playing Champions League football then they could be left with little choice but to accept that type of money if a bid was to be made over the coming months.

Edinson Cavani

With both Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao having disappointed for much of the season, United could well be in the market for a new striker to lead their attack on the Champions League.

The future of the duo has been placed in some doubt of recent weeks and it is thought the club have lined up an audacious swoop for PSG star Edinson Cavani to replace the pair, having previously failed to sign him when David Moyes was in charge.

The Uruguayan forward was unhappy at being substituted last weekend casting fresh doubt over his happiness in Paris, and having been linked with a move to the Premier League for some time now this could finally be the summer Cavani arrives in England.

Nathaniel Clyne

One area Louis van Gaal will be keen to strengthen is the right-back position with Rafael out of favour and question marks over Antonio Valencia who has been filling in for much of the season.

And it appears the Dutchman feels the ideal man to fill this role is Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne with speculation growing over a proposed move to Old Trafford.

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The Saints man has put in a number of impressive performances this season, and after breaking into the England squad would no doubt favour a move to a Champions League side.

The Red Devils are reportedly willing to offer Mexican striker Javier Hernandez as part of the deal, and with £15m on top of that; it may well prove enough to land the 23-year-old.

Kevin Strootman

Kevin Strootman continues to be linked with a move to Manchester United and reports suggest he is the main man on Van Gaal’s shopping list as he searches for a world class midfielder.

The Dutchman has been ravaged by injuries in recent seasons however and will play no further part in Roma’s season as he continues his recovery from a knee problem.

The 25-year-old has started just four games in 12 months for his club so would certainly be a risk, particularly given the fact he would probably cost upwards of £40m, but the United boss is an admirer of the Strootman having worked with him at international level and so it would be no surprise to see him do whatever it takes to get the deal done.

For Tottenham Hotspur supporters, there has always been something of a curious fascination behind the general prejudice that the vast majority of Premier League neutrals seem to bestow towards their very own Aaron Lennon.

Aged only 25, the Leeds-born winger has made over 220 top-flight appearances for his club under four different managers, clocked up 21 England caps and travelled to two World Cups in the process.

Throw in 45 showings in European competition – including a Champions League run in which Lennon proved his ability to cut it on the biggest stage of them all – and you get an idea as to the calibre of a player that has been a first team regular at White Hart Lane for near on eight years now.

And over the last two league games, although Spurs fans were hardly surprised what damage the absence of Lennon’s pedigree might do to this the team, his loss has been sorely felt by Andre Villas-Boas’ side. During the league losses against Liverpool and Fulham, as well as the majority of last week’s 4-1 mauling away to Inter Milan, the Lilywhites looked both off-colour and off-balance without their effervescent number seven in tow.

Because while the cynics might attribute the bulk of Tottenham’s recent hiccup to Gareth Bale’s inability to dig them out of another hole, the truth is that the men from N17 have been unable to produce any form of real attacking rhythm without the injured Lennon. And to a greater extent, their loss is only proving to the rest of English football what Spurs fans already knew about both his quality and his importance to this side.

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Breaking down the wall of scepticism that the wider footballing public seems to possess in regards to Lennon’s ability has often seemed like a tough nut to crack over the years. In fact, now aged 25, you get the impression that some will simply never veer away from their perception of an inconsistent, one trick show-pony. Stereotypes die-hard and Aaron Lennon has found it difficult to shed his label as a limited footballer blessed with unique athletic talent, rather than a well-rounded Premier League component.

At times of course, the diminutive winger has often been his own worst enemy in regards to proving those doubters wrong.

Certainly, if Spurs fans are correct in their opinion that Lennon has a lot more to offer than what the boo-boys make out, then his critics aren’t wrong in parading his inconsistency as a major flaw in design. When the confidence has eeked out of his game and the willingness to take opponents on dwindles, he can sometimes look awfully exposed. As a player who has never possessed much of a craft in front of goal or a real match-winning edge, he does perhaps suffer more than most when the bread-and-butter elements of his game fade away.

But he looks no less exposed when his fortunes fade than most players within this league and while he’ll never rack up a goal count quite as high as say, Arsenal’s Theo Walcott, that doesn’t mean he’s any less important to his team than what the Gunners man is to his.

With four goals and six assists to his name in the Premier League this season, Lennon’s statistics don’t necessarily ooze an air of all-conquering importance. Although while not going quite as far as harnessing Villas-Boas’ claims that stats are ‘useless’, viewing the England-man’s contribution empirically hugely undermines Lennon’s value within this team.

You can’t quantify how much space he’s made as a result of his unrelenting runs down the right hand side and it’s within the frequency and efficiency of those runs that you also discover quite how underrated his positional sense and awareness of space is. He is the key that so often opens the doors for others within this Spurs team without even having the ball.

And when he does, the urban myth about a fabled non-existent end-product is slowly beginning to dissipate. The wayward crosses haven’t been culled just yet, but his delivery is a far more consistent beast than it previously has been.

And when it comes to keeping possession, an Andres Iniesta he may not be, but considering 85% of his 765 passes have safely landed at the desired recipient this season, you begin to understand why he’s proved such a valuable asset within this Villas-Boas incarnation of a Tottenham side.

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Gareth Bale may ultimately be the talisman within this Tottenham team, but Aaron Lennon’s brief absence over the last two league games has given us a stark reminder that the Lilywhites’ hopes of success rest on a lot more than just the Welshman’s shoulders.

Should they wish to qualify for the Champions League and push on within their Europa League campaign, Villas-Boas is going to need the speed, determination and work-ethic that Lennon brings just as much as any howitzer that Bale might provide from now until the end of the season.

If Spurs are perceived to be toothless without Bale in their team, then they almost certainly look anaemic without Lennon in it. Should they look to get their colour back before more telling damage is done to their Premier League campaign, they’re going to need Lennon back as a matter of urgency.

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Amite Hasan sets a new record; Ebadot Hossain makes comeback after 16 months out; Farhad Hossain finishes up after 161 matches

Mohammad Isam12-Nov-2024Amite Hasan’s maiden double-hundred kept Sylhet Division unbeaten in the NCL after they drew against Khulna Division at the academy ground in Cox’s Bazar. According to ESPNcricinfo’s records, Amite’s ten hours and 38 minutes at the crease is the third-longest individual innings in first-class cricket in Bangladesh.Amite struck 18 fours and a six in his 455-ball stay, as he continued on an impressive conversion rate in first-class cricket. He shared a 251-run fourth wicket stand with Asadulla Al Galib, who also scored his maiden century. The end of the partnership, however, became viral content.Late on the second evening, the ball slipped out of offspinner Mahedi Hasan’s grip. Galib advanced towards it as it parachuted down from well above the eyeline, but then he lost balance and mistimed the hit right down long-on’s throat, much to the amusement of the Khulna fielders. It was one of Mahedi’s four wickets. Zia ur Rahman took three.Khulna replied with 273 in their first innings, with captain Anamul Haque and Afif Hossain hitting fifties. After being asked to follow on, the veteran Mohammad Mithun struck his 16th century. Anamul, Imrul Kayes and Nurul Hasan also scored fifties to get Khulna to safety, as they finished the game on 296 for 3. This was also the match in which Ebadot Hossain returned to competitive cricket after July 2023, as he rehabilitated from a long-term injury.Rangpur Division beat Rajshahi Division by 101 runs to take themselves to second position on the points table.Farhad Hossain finishes his 161-match first-class career•BCB

Batting first, Rangpur were bowled out for 189 runs with Ariful Haque’s unbeaten 103 the top score. It was the allrounder’s ninth first-class century. Rajshahi’s Sabbir Hossain took a six-wicket haul. But Rangpur fought back by bowling out Rajshahi for the same score.Rangpur then posted 262 runs in their second innings with captain Akbar Ali making 77. Rajshahi, however, were bowled out for 161, with Ariful this time starring with the ball, taking three wickets.This was also Farhad Hossain’s final first-class match as he announced his retirement. The 161-match veteran made 26 and 9 in his final outing.Chattogram Division picked up their first win of this season when they beat Barishal Division by eight wickets at the main stadium in Cox’s Bazar. Nineteen-year old Ashraful Hasan Rohan took ten wickets in the match, becoming the youngest from the team to get a ten-for.Batting first, Barishal made 318 runs with fifties from Moin Khan and Tasamul Haque. Left-arm spinner Ashraful took four wickets while Enamul Hoque picked up three.In reply, Shahadat Hossain’s century got Chattogram within five runs of Barishal’s total, finishing on 313 all out. It was his third century, as he struck ten fours in his 249-ball stay. Chattogram could have had two centurions in the innings but Yasir Ali got out on 99. The pair added 176 runs for the fourth wicket.Ashraful Hasan took a ten-for against Barishal Division•BCB

Ashraful then took six wickets to complete his ten-for, as Barishal were bowled out for just 77 in their second innings. Chattogram took just 11.3 overs to complete the 83-run chase.Defending champions Dhaka Division salvaged a draw against Dhaka Metropolis in Sylhet. Dhaka Metro came within two wickets from a victory, but Ripon Mondol and Nazmul Islam survived at the end of the fourth day.Batting first, Dhaka Metro made 304 all out with fifties from Shamsur Rahman and wicketkeeper Tahjibul Islam. Anamul Haque and Shuvagata Hom took four wickets each.Dhaka took an 11-run lead as they reached 315. Hom and Rony Talukdar made fifties, while Abu Hider took three wickets.Dhaka Metro then were bowled out for 267 runs with Aminul Islam scoring 82. Anamul completed his ten-wicket haul with 6-81. Dhaka then just about survived after 43 overs. Left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan took four wickets while Abu Hider took three.

IPL founder dismisses projected value of competition and eight teams in post on X/Twitter

Andrew Miller26-Sep-2024Lalit Modi, the founder and architect of the Indian Premier League, has accused the ECB of being “disconnected from reality” in their ambitions for the Hundred, after leaking the board’s confidential financial projections for the tournament, and its valuations of each of the eight teams.In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, Modi published details from the prospectus that the ECB’s financial advisors, Raine Group and Deloitte, has sent out (under NDA) to its potential investors, alongside a lengthy post in which he dismissed their calculations as “dangerously overambitious and unsustainable”.Modi’s intervention is an awkward setback in the ECB’s bid to secure private investment for their tournament, and comes after Vikram Banerjee, the board’s director of business operations, admitted earlier this week that they could be forced to delay the Hundred’s equity sale beyond 2025 if the right investors cannot be secured in time for next summer’s competition.As recently as February, Modi himself was reportedly an interested party, telling The Telegraph that he had valued the Hundred at US$1 billion over a ten-year period, and that he had private investors ready to get behind an expanded ten-team tournament. However, his informal offer is believed to have been turned down by the ECB who did not want to sell the competition outright.Now, however, Modi has poured scorn on the tournament’s viability. Though he accepts it is “plausible” that the ECB’s domestic TV rights will rise in value as projected, from £54 million to £85 million annually, he issued a withering assessment of the Hundred’s place in the international market, where it faces particular competition from rival Northern Hemisphere tournaments such as the Caribbean Premier League and Major League Cricket in the USA.Related

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“The ECB’s financial projections for The Hundred, particularly beyond 2026, appear overly optimistic and disconnected from reality,” he wrote. “The International TV rights figures make little sense, given the global competition from other cricket leagues like the IPL. It’s unlikely The Hundred will attract the necessary international audience to justify these inflated numbers.”The ECB is understood to have anticipated some pushback against its figures, with potential investors inevitably seeking a favourable deal, and point to Modi’s prior interest in the tournament as proof of concept.Nevertheless, his criticism is significant, because it was Modi’s establishment of the IPL in 2008 that unleashed the full potential of T20 cricket in the first place, a format that the ECB themselves devised in 2002, but failed to adequately market – an oversight that played a role in the board settling on 100-ball cricket as its new point of difference.Fifteen years later, the IPL’s media rights for 2023 to 2027 were secured for a record US$6.2 billion, cementing it as the world’s second-most valuable sports league on a per-game basis, behind only NFL. And, as Modi wrote in his post on X, each of the teams involved “are valued at US$1 billion based on 16 years of performance”.”By contrast, as per my analysis, The Hundred’s teams are projected to be worth a mere £5 million to £25 million in the best-case scenario in my MOST CONSIDERED #VIEW, with Manchester maxing out at £8.5 million,” he added.”Worse still, The Hundred struggles to match even the Caribbean Premier League’s profitability, a sobering indication of its financial frailty. The Hundred appears to be on shaky financial ground, with projections that fail to inspire confidence in its long-term viability as these look dangerously overambitious and unsustainable.”

Fifties for James Bracey, Ben Charlesworth and Miles Hammond give visitors something to smile about

Alan Gardner19-Apr-2024Gloucestershire, recipients of the wooden spoon last season, have not won a County Championship fixture since September 2022. Their last red-ball win over Sussex, meanwhile, came almost 20 years ago, when the current head coach, Mark Alleyne, was in the twilight of his playing career. Phil Weston top-scored at Arundel with 81 while Jon Lewis – a Gloucestershire legend who ended up in Hove – took 8 for 100 in a nine-wicket win.They could be forgiven, then, for not relishing this trip to the seaside. But Alleyne, who returned for his second spell in charge over the winter and is trying to rebuild confidence, will have been quietly encouraged by his side’s performance here. After losing the toss and being inserted on a chilly, changeable spring morning, Gloucestershire battled through the interruptions to give themselves a first-innings foothold in the face of the jinkin’, jivin’ Dukes: Ben Charlesworth, Miles Hammond and James Bracey – one of the heroes of last week’s rescue act against Yorkshire – all produced fifties of notable pugnacity.Sussex had the best of their two draws in the opening rounds of the season to sit top of the early standings, and there seems to be increasing optimism at Hove that Paul Farbrace can put together a side capable of securing promotion. They were able to call on Ollie Robinson, a bowler looking to make a statement about his England credentials, after he sat out last week’s trip to Leicester. But while Robinson went wicketless, his frustrations compounded by seeing Bracey dropped, it is perhaps a mark of Sussex’s development that they found contributions from other quarters.While the Dukes, in this case, did not fly back and forth like the waltzer on Brighton pier, Sussex chipped away, chiefly through the efforts of Danny Lamb, Jayden Seales and Jack Carson, who shared seven wickets. A century stand between Charlesworth and Hammond provided the main plank for Gloucestershire before Bracey steered them to a brace of batting points before the close.Rob Key, England men’s managing director of cricket, had described the experiment with the Kookaburra in the first two rounds of the Championship as “fantastic” and expanded on his views while talking to Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast. Essentially, he said, the less-biddable Australian ball encouraged faster bowlers and spinners at the expense of those classical English seamers who bring the keeper up and nip it around at 75mph and below. There was mention of Darren Stevens – the former Kent allrounder whose reign of medium-paced terror began under Key’s captaincy – but not a favourable one.We can easily imagine Key’s reaction then, as the return of the Dukes coincided with scoreboard wickets columns rattling into life up and down the country, with the likes of Ben Sanderson, Shane Snater and Ryan Higgins threatening to run amok. In Hove, after fruitless opening spells from Sussex’s two Test match seam bowlers, Robinson and Seales, it was Lamb who made the breakthroughs with his nibbly mediums. Little more than an hour into the day, John Simpson was stood up behind the stumps as Lamb applied the shackles to Gloucestershire’s top order. Fynn Hudson-Prentice was next into the attack, followed by Tom Clark. At which point, presumably, Key would have closed the livestream window.This, of course, is not to denigrate Lamb, whose opening analysis of 8-1-19-2 reflected the threat he brought to proceedings after Charlesworth, opening in place of the injured Chris Dent, and Cam Bancroft had ticked along comfortably enough during a stand worth 49. The former Lancashire allrounder scored a century up at Leicestershire and already looks a shrewd signing. He had Bancroft lbw as he shuffled across to one angling in and then saw Ollie Price taken at second slip on the drive after coaxing some movement away from right-hander.Later, after squally showers led to an extended lunch break, Gloucestershire opted to take a more assertive approach to Lamb and his brethren. Hammond lofted him over mid-off and followed up with a slap that flew all the way over extra cover; Charlesworth then went to his half-century with a dismissive leg-side flick off Hudson-Prentice that sailed out towards the scoreboard for another six.Hammond had just followed suit in striking Hudson-Prentice over midwicket when the partnership came to an end as Jack Carson found some turn in his third over to trap the Gloucestershire No. 4 in front. Seales then struck with the first ball of his fourth spell, finally inducing an error outside off stump from Charlesworth. The West Indies bowler celebrated by charging off towards backward point, and generally bowled better than figures of 2 for 72 would suggest, having also seen Hammond badly dropped by Clark at second slip when he had made just 17.Sussex’s other blemish in the field was even more costly. Three balls after being swatted dismissively for four, Robinson found Bracey’s outside edge only for a low catch to be grassed by James Coles at third slip. Bracey was on 23 at the time, and had progressed to 69 by the time Seales finally won an lbw decision as the shadows lengthened.

The laws were changed in 2017 to remove the handled-the-ball category and include such dismissals under obstructing the field

Mohammad Isam06-Dec-2023Mushfiqur Rahim became the first Bangladesh batter to be given out obstructing the field in Test cricket, on the first day of the second Test against New Zealand in Mirpur.He was dismissed in the 41st over, after defending a delivery from Kyle Jamieson into the ground and then swatting the ball away with his right hand after it had bounced up wide outside off stump. New Zealand appealed immediately and it was upheld by the TV umpire Ahsan Raza.At the end of the day’s play, Mushfiqur’s team-mate Mehidy Hasan Miraz suggested that the action had been an instinctive one.”It happened in the flow of the game,” Mehidy said. “A batter has to take a split-second decision while at the crease. His hand probably went in the flow of his batting. Mushfiq didn’t do it intentionally. A lot of things happen in the back of your mind during a game. We got a time-out dismissal in the World Cup, so these things happen.”On TV commentary, former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal reckoned the dismissal could have come about as a reflex, because batters practising in the nets often pick up the ball and throw it back to the bowlers.”A cricketer who has played over 80 Tests should know he can’t do that,” Tamim said. “Practice habit can make this happen. In the nets, batters often take the ball in hand and return it back to the bowler. Maybe Mushfiqur did it unconsciously and extended his hands. But this obviously can’t be an excuse.”While such dismissals were classified as “handled the ball” previously, a change in the laws in 2017 removed the “handled the ball” category and brought it under “obstructing the field”.According to Law 37.1.2, “The striker is out obstructing the field if, except in the circumstances of 37.2, in the act of receiving a ball delivered by the bowler, he/she wilfully strikes the ball with a hand not holding the bat. This will apply whether it is the first strike or a second or subsequent strike. The act of receiving the ball shall extend both to playing at the ball and to striking the ball more than once in defence of his/her wicket.”Handled the ball was brought under obstructing the field to streamline the mode of dismissals, according to the MCC, because in effect the former was a specific case of the latter. “The reason for the change was largely based around timing. For handled the ball, the offence had to be in the act of receiving the ball and it was felt to be simpler to include it as obstructing the field, of which it was a special example. A batter handling the ball later (e.g. blocking a throw deliberately) would have been obstruction and so it was decided it would be easier to include handling the ball within the obstructing the field Law. Whether or not the batter would be dismissed did not change – rather just the method of dismissal.”Ball 40.4 wasn’t the first time Mushfiqur had attempted to touch the ball with his glove during his innings in Mirpur. In the 29th over, the first after lunch, he had tried to knock the ball away from the stumps with his right hand but failed to make contact.The wicket eventually came against the run of play, after Mushfiqur and Shahadat Hossain had added 57 for the fifth wicket, steering Bangladesh from 47 for 4 to 104 for 5. Mushfiqur was dismissed for 35 off 83 balls.New Zealand left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner said the dismissal was a fortunate one for his team, given the position Mushfiqur had batted Bangladesh into.”It was probably not a great option [from Mushfiqur],” Santner said. “He was looking so good. I mean it was handy for us in terms of the time. Him and [Shahadat] applied themselves and that was a very good partnership for them.”

He will work in tandem with head coach Trevor Bayliss and will be part of the IPL auction on December 19

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2023Former India allrounder Sanjay Bangar has joined Punjab Kings as the head of cricket development. This will be his second stint with the franchise, having worked earlier as head coach between 2014 and 2016.”It’s my privilege to be with the Punjab Kings again,” Bangar said in a media release. “We have a good core of players as evidenced by the fact that we have the lowest number of player releases this year. The challenge is to give the squad the best support possible during and after the season to make the team stronger and deliver success.”Bangar will work in tandem with head coach Trevor Bayliss. Among his first challenges on joining will be to pick reinforcements at the IPL auction, to be held in Dubai on December 19.Related

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Before joining Kings, Bangar was with Royal Challengers Bangalore. Having joined as their batting consultant in 2021, he took over as head coach for the next two seasons and worked alongside director of cricket Mike Hesson. Royal Challengers made the playoffs in two out of the three seasons Bangar was with them.Bangar has over a decade of experience in coaching, including two stints with the Indian team as their batting coach. Bangar’s first stint with Kings in 2014 was the team’s best-ever season, when they finished runners-up to Kolkata Knight Riders. However, they finished at the bottom in the next two years.Last month, Kings released five players, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Shahrukh Khan being the only big names. Ahead of the auction, they have eight slots available, and a purse of INR 29.1 crore to fill them.

England batter was told, ‘with Stokesy coming back I was probably going to miss out’

ECB Reporters Network and ESPNcricinfo staff19-Aug-2023Harry Brook is “trying not to think about” his omission from England’s provisional 15-man squad for the upcoming World Cup in India and is hoping to “move on” from the disappointment as soon as possible.Brook was widely expected to make the cut after a bright start to his international career across formats but was squeezed out by Ben Stokes’ decision to reverse his retirement from ODIs, with England backing experience over youth.Speaking after hitting 44 off 24 balls in Northern Superchargers’ defeat to London Spirit at Lord’s on Friday night, Brook suggested that he could have done more in the last six months to press his case – and that a dearth of List A experience might have cost him.”Obviously it’s disappointing but I can’t do anything about it now,” Brook said. “You’ve just got to move on. I’m trying not to think about it anymore.”I’ve not had much conversation with Matthew [Mott] or Jos [Buttler]. They said with Stokesy coming back I was probably going to miss out this time. He is one of the best players to ever play cricket, so I can’t really complain, can I?”I feel like I’m playing well at the minute and feel I could potentially add value to the team. [But] there’s always something more you could do.”Brook has only played three ODIs for England – all of them against South Africa in early 2023 – and last played a 50-over game for Yorkshire in 2019, with the domestic competition clashing with the Hundred in the last three seasons.”I haven’t had much opportunity to play one-day cricket, whether that be for Yorkshire or England,” Brook said, “and although I’ve played a lot of T20 cricket, I don’t know if I’ve done as well as I have in the past in the last six months, so that might have had an effect.”Brook’s omission has taken pundits off-guard since the squad was announced. Jofra Archer, working for the BBC, learned that Brook was not part of the provisional World Cup squad live on-air before Southern Brave played Birmingham Phoenix on Thursday night. “I didn’t even realise that Brooky was not there… that’s just got me a bit stunned,” Archer said.Kevin Pietersen, meanwhile, said that he would have selected Brook ahead of Dawid Malan, suggesting that Malan would not be suited to playing on the subcontinent. “I’m absolutely flabbergasted that he cannot make England’s World Cup squad,” Pietersen said on Sky Sports. “Flabbergasted. Because he is pure quality. I just cannot believe it.”

The pacers took seven Bangladesh wickets before Pujara, Agarwal extended India’s domination

The Report by Alagappan Muthu14-Nov-20194:31

Star Sports Match Point: Gavaskar says India’s bowling attack can excel anywhere

It’s weird. For someone who has like the most amazing seam position, Mohammed Shami with the old ball looks way, way, waaaay better than Mohammed Shami with the new ball. And if you’re not convinced, see what he did to Mushfiqur Rahim in Indore. It was pure poetry and that’s without getting into how it took out Bangladesh’s top-scorer and sent them crashing to 150 all out.The game had just ticked past 50 overs, somewhere near the time reverse swing comes into play. India had already dismissed half the opposition and Bangladesh were just trying to make the best of a bad situation. All hopes of doing that vanished when Shami came for his fourth spell. For some reason he decided to go wide of the crease. The ball kissed the good length but it was so far away from the off stump that Mushfiqur was preparing to leave it altogether. Then it swung in. Sharply. Quickly. Violently.The batsman had no chance. Especially because, in that same over, Shami was moving the ball conventionally away from the right-hander. How can you prepare for that? #AskingForAFriend. India finished the day only 64 runs behind, with Rohit Sharma out for 6 but Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara fairly dominant.No plan survives contact with the enemy. Mushfiqur’s was swing. For the rest of his team-mates, it was, well, mostly themselves. Bangladesh had won a good toss. Their captain Mominul Haque had made a brave call to bat first. The pitch had enough grass cover to make India pick three seamers, all of whom have improved so much since the start of their careers that Virat Kohli now commands one of the best bowling attacks in history. Still, the visitors backed themselves to put runs on the board because that’s what you do in the subcontinent. And in short phases of their innings, they showed they were capable of it.Mominul was the best of them, walking in with the score 12 for 1, seeing it become 12 for 2 and reviving it until it was a much healthier 99 for 3. He didn’t really do much to pull off that recovery. It was just careful Test-match batting, playing close to the body, leaving as much as he could outside off stump and most importantly using soft hands as much as possible. His openers failed to do that.Imrul Kayes was caught at third slip off Umesh Yadav for 6, Shadman Islam was sucked in by a full and wide delivery from Ishant Sharma and it was hard not to think about Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan. One of them could have helped Bangladesh withstand the early pressure from India, the other might have counterattacked and the contest would have been even.Mohammed Shami was at his best•BCCI

It still was for a little period in the lead up to and then after the lunch break. Mominul had steadied the ship, scoring 37 off 80 balls, all of his six boundaries coming behind the wicket as he lured India into bowling at his body and to his strengths. That is why it was so bizarre when he left a straight ball and got bowled.R Ashwin was responsible for that little misjudgment; the India offspinner had snuck onto the Bangladesh vessel, all whistling and innocent-like, and gently elbowed their captain overboard. It was his 250th wicket in 42 Tests at home. He had been lovely to watch on a pitch that offered him nothing. His control in the air – varying the flight of the ball – his tricks – getting one to spin and the other to hold its line – and that sixth sense of when to bowl what were all on show. On a better day, when Ajinkya Rahane doesn’t drop three catches off his bowling, Ashwin would have got more than 2 for 43.It was the 19th time in the last two years that India had bowled out an opposition for a sub-200 total. Their bowlers are relentless. They stay patient. They have a variety of skills. They can out-think batsmen. They’re a threat no matter the condition of the ball. Heck, they take wickets even when they’re fielding down at deep fine leg as Ravindra Jadeja proved with a pin-point throw that led to Taijul Islam’s run-out. It was a day for the bowling coach B Arun to sit back and revel in a job well done.

Having watched from the sidelines during the ODI series, the allrounder came good in the lone T20I against Sri Lanka with bat and ball

Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Jan-2019Not having played an international game in over a year, and having been kicking around the squad through the course of the ODIs without quite getting into the XI, Doug Bracewell was chuffed he finally had an opportunity to impress. That it was with the bat that he made an impact, was especially sweet.Although something of a consistent scorer of lower-order runs in domestic cricket – he has two first-class hundreds and 17 fifties to his name – Bracewell had thus far been only a sporadic run-scorer during his intermittent stints with the national team. Before Friday, his best limited-overs score had been 30.His outstanding 44 off 26 balls, though, has now announced that Bracewell has a hitherto unseen dimension to his game at the top level. Having arrived at the crease at 55 for 5, it is possible New Zealand would have been blown away in Auckland were it not for Bracewell’s hitting, which fetched him five sixes and the game’s top score.He was involved in a 47-run stand with Ross Taylor, before debutant Scott Kuggeleijn joined him for a 41-run partnership.”It’s really good for my confidence, to be honest,” Bracewell said after the game. “I haven’t shown my abilities at the international level, which has been frustrating, and at times I’ve put myself under pressure and tried a bit too hard. It hasn’t worked out. I went back to basics, and got an opportunity to bat a bit of time today. Batting with Ross, who is an experienced player, helped as well. It was nice to get a few shots away.”Having been left out of the XI for the three ODIs, it seemed as if Bracewell would have to wait for the forthcoming India and Bangladesh tours for a match, after he was initially left out of the T20I squad. An injury to James Neesham, though, allowed him to enter the squad as a replacement. He has now made a strong case for being picked more regularly, having also taken 1 for 19 with the ball.”I didn’t get a chance in the one-dayers, but that’s international cricket. I tried not to put myself under too much pressure, and went out and enjoyed it. I was pretty stoked to contribute with the bat and with the ball. I was pretty happy just to get back in the mix with the team. It is frustrating when you’re not being picked. But you’re there to do a job when needed.”Captain Tim Southee lauded the fight Bracewell showed, in a match in which New Zealand had to fight back more than once.”For Doug to come out and put up a performance like that with someone who is on debut in this format – Scott Kuggeleijn – it just shows you the character of the guys and the never-die attitude,” Southee said. “Doug’s got a bit of experience at this level, but it’s not easy to come out when you’ve sat out a few games and play the way he did – play his natural way.”