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South Africa gave New Zealand a scare or two early on the fourth day, but were never really in the contest after that

Srinidhi Ramanujam16-Feb-2024Kane Williamson’s measured fourth-innings century made it all quite comfortable for New Zealand as they pulled off a record chase – the highest at Hamilton’s Seddon Park – to complete their first Test series win over South Africa, a 2-0 sweep.For Williamson, the unbeaten 133 in Hamilton means he now has seven centuries in seven Tests – he missed out in Dhaka late last year but made up for it with back-to-back hundreds in the first Test against South Africa in Mount Maunganui. On Friday, alongside Will Young, who scored 60 not out, Williamson put on an unbroken 152-run stand for the fourth wicket to take New Zealand home with seven wickets in hand.It was a classic Williamson innings, where he was challenged by the variable bounce and turn on the surface, but remained unfazed and went about his business calmly.Resuming the day at 40 for 1, New Zealand’s focus was on getting through the early exchanges without much damage, but they lost Tom Latham early, Dane Piedt getting his second for the innings and his seventh for the game. Piedt later made it three and eight when he sent back Rachin Ravindra, but that’s all the success South Africa had on the day. The scoring rate was low – New Zealand scored 67 and 66 in the first two sessions, respectively – but with a solid Williamson around, New Zealand were never really in any trouble.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

After scoring 44 in the morning, Williamson quietly moved to 92 by the end of the afternoon, punching off the back foot, putting away short balls to deep midwicket, and twice charging down the track to hit flat sixes. By tea, New Zealand had put themselves in a solid position at 173 for 3, 94 away from victory. They got there, after Williamson’s century and Young’s half-century, in the final session without any hiccups.Williamson got to his 32nd Test century – he has now converted each of his last eight 50-plus scores – not long before the second new ball was taken.Young embraced the support role well, and soaked up the pressure to get to his fifty off 118 balls. Unlike in the first innings, where he fell for 36 when taking the aggressive route, he was patient, but still found the boundary eight times. He was given out caught behind off Shaun von Berg in the 62nd over, when he was on 8, but the decision was overturned on review.For South Africa, Piedt beat the bat multiple times, and seamer Dane Paterson was disciplined in his bowling. However, there wasn’t much else to talk about.Debutant quick Will O’ Rourke was named the Player of the Match for his nine wickets in the Test, while Williamson took back the series award for his 403 runs across two Tests.

Australia’s counter-punching Indore victory confirms their spot in the WTC final this June

Hemant Brar03-Mar-20231:46

Chappell: Australia saw the error of their ways after Head’s non-selection

Australia sealed their place in the final of the World Test Championship with an emphatic nine-wicket win over India in the third Test in Indore. India still have their destiny in their own hands; if they win the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, they will be through as well. But anything less than a win means they rely on New Zealand not losing 2-0 to Sri Lanka.After Nathan Lyon’s 8 for 64 bowled out India out for 163 on the second evening, Australia needed 76 to register their first win in the series. It’s not often a fielding side, on the third morning of a Test, has as much hope as India had of defending such a low target.R Ashwin duly had Usman Khawaja caught behind with the second ball of the day, but Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne made sure India’s hope never really transformed into belief. The two defended well and, once they had their eye in, didn’t hesitate to attack either, taking their side over the line in just 18.5 overs.While Australia now have a chance to draw this series 2-2, India would still retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, having won the previous series between these two teams.Travis Head went after India’s spinners•Getty Images

Australia had lost their last six wickets in 11 runs in their first innings. So Khawaja’s wicket early this morning might have made them a little bit nervous, even if momentarily, with both Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja finding turn, extracting bounce, beating the bat, and hitting the pads.During that phase, Head and Labuschagne focused on survival; runs were an afterthought. In the first ten overs, Australia scored only 13.Then came the momentum-shifting moment, or at least it looked like one in hindsight. The umpires noticed that a part of the seam of the ball had come off, and asked for it to be replaced. In the first over with the replacement ball, Head hit Ashwin for a four and six. From the other end, Jadeja leaked two boundaries, one each to Head and Labuschagne. That was enough to deflate India’s hopes.Four more boundaries came in the next three overs as Australia raced to 56 in 15 overs. Rohit Sharma introduced Umesh Yadav into the attack after the drinks break but by then the result was a foregone conclusion. There was more interest in seeing if Head could bring up his fifty. He couldn’t, staying unbeaten on 49 off 53 balls as Labuschagne wrapped up the game with a four.Before this Test, Rohit had hinted that India could request a green pitch in Ahmedabad if they win in Indore. They might have to revisit that now.

“Even if some parts of my body are not responding, I can really keep going,” says Ashwin about injury fears

Varun Shetty08-Feb-20212:35

R Ashwin: ‘I want to keep bowling as long as I’m bowling well’

The Indian team seems fairly confident about what they’re dealing with on the last day of this Test: they need 381 to win with nine wickets in hand, and going by the reflections of R Ashwin and Ishant Sharma at the end of day four, the possibility of victory is not something they have discounted. Ishant suggested that India’s batting line up could easily scale down the daunting target, while Ashwin – who batted nearly 30 overs in an 80-run stand with Wahsington Sundar – suggested that the pitch would play nicely on the last day.”I think it all depends how we start up tomorrow,” Ishant said in a chat right after the day’s play with Star Sports. “If we get a good start, then I’m sure we can chase this down, because we have a batting line-up who are very fearless. So we are obviously very positive about this, so it’s just about the start, and then we look how we go through the innings.”India have had to play catch-up on all four days of this Test so far, having lost the toss and conceded 578 before they were bowled out for 337 on Monday. Heading into day five on a pitch that has shown some signs of the ball keeping low, Ashwin suggested that India aren’t worried too much about it, particularly about how it might assist James Anderson and Jofra Archer.”I think even in the first innings Jassi [Bumrah] got a couple of lbws,” Ashwin said when it was pointed out that Bumrah got a few deliveries to stay low on Monday. “There are a few things we need to understand when it comes to Jassi’s bowling. The arm path is different to what Anderson and Archer have. And these two [Bumrah and Ishant] are exponents of subcontinent conditions, they’ve been playing cricket in India. So I think it’s a facet of the game that goes unnoticed or unobserved from the outside, which I think might not necessarily happen. We think the wicket will play nicely.”The game seemed to be headed towards trial-by-spin territory by the fourth afternoon•BCCI

India’s famous returns in the recently concluded Australia series included a chase of 407 in Sydney on the last day, which they pursued until injuries forced them to shut shop at 334 for 5, and a successful chase of 328 in the last session in Brisbane. Some of the central figures of those final-day efforts are part of the XI currently taking on England, including Ashwin himself. Whether that fact had anything to do with England’s conservative batting towards the end of their second innings, Ashwin said he wasn’t sure about.”I think the approach was something we probably expected, that they’ll try and put up 430-440 on the board, so we were also trying to manage our roles accordingly,” he said.”I think they had two options in front of them in the morning. They could have asked us to follow on…the only reason I can see [for not doing that], is they wanted to give a bit of a rest to their bowlers, which is a part of the game that sometimes is not very well understood from the outside. So that could have been the thinking in wanting to bat again and give the bowlers rest, because sometimes fresh bowlers can do the trick more than tiring bowlers.”The option to enforce a follow on, with a lead of 241, is something Ashwin and Sundar briefly believed they could completely take out of England’s hands, he said. The two Tamil Nadu batsmen, both playing on their home ground, were well placed to understand this pitch, he said. In what could be a nod to Ishant’s beliefs about this batting line-up, Ashwin also said Sundar is a special batsman.”We actually did believe that we can wipe out the follow on and go on big, because we’ve played on pitches here, both Washi and I, and we sort of understand how it can be slow and we can pick our shots and pick our battles properly. In fact, we had got nicely settled, but I thought the ball bounced a little too much on that particular delivery [the one that dismissed him]. But having grown up playing club cricket in Chennai, playing spin, it’s one facet of the game that anyone coming from this part will do really well.”Washi’s a fantastic batsman. I feel a lot of people going by the T20 format, where he plays No. 7, don’t recognise the batting talent. He’s quite a special batsman.”Ashwin ended the day with his 28th five-wicket haul in Tests, with figures of 6 for 61, and a total of nine wickets in a Test where he has had to bowl 72.4 overs and bat 91 balls so far. Ashwin had missed India’s last Test through an aggravated back injury, but said the mammoth spell in Chennai’s heat and its effects on his body, didn’t occur to him. Bowling all day was a joy, he said.”I’ve seen a few interesting observations on what people think might happen and might not happen,” he said on being asked about his back. “But as a cricketer, that’s the last thing that’ll go through my head. For me, part and parcel of my club cricket days was bowling 35-40 overs in a day and probably going back again to the nets and bowl. When it comes to bowling, it’s the joy I have.”Even if some parts of my body are not responding, I can really keep going. That’s really how much I really love my art. I wouldn’t even go that route and think. My body today morning was pretty fresh and I wanted to come out and bat, so I just want to keep bowling as long as I’m doing it.”

The match had been due to take place in Perth during November

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2020Cricket Australia has announced the postponement of the inaugural Test against Afghanistan which was originally scheduled to take place in Perth in November due to the complexities of scheduling amid the Covid-19 pandemic.The confirmation that the Test has not survived the restructuring of the season came a few hours after New Zealand Cricket said they would not be touring for the short limited-overs trip at the end of January.Staging cricket in Perth this season has been given an additional challenge by the hard border imposed by the Western Australian government and very strict quarantine restrictions that do not allow training while in isolation.It leaves the visit of India as the single men’s touring team to Australia the coming summer with CA confirming they will play four Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is although the order of the white-ball cricket remains to be confirmed. The Test series is expected to start in Adelaide on December 17.CA said it will look to reschedule both the Afghanistan Test, which was hopeful of finding a home in early December, and the New Zealand visit before the end of the current FTP cycle in 2023. Earlier, the NZC CEO David White said he was hopeful their tour could take place next season.”Cricket Australia looks forward to working with our good friends at the Afghanistan Cricket Board and New Zealand Cricket to deliver the matches at a time when, hopefully, the restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have eased,” Nick Hockley, the Cricket Australia CEO, said.”We all worked incredibly hard to make the series happen this summer, but the challenges around international travel and quarantine restrictions ultimately convinced all parties that the series would need to be played at a later date.”CA looks forward to welcoming the Indian men’s team for a full schedule of matches this summer in what promises to be an incredible contest across all three formats.”CA would also like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful partners for their understanding and support as we have navigated the complexities of hosting international sport during a pandemic to deliver a thrilling summer across men’s and women’s cricket at international and domestic level.”The WACA said it understood the decision and would continue to work to stage cricket in Perth this season with the hope of getting one of the travelling BBL hubs.”We understand we need to remain agile in this current climate and this decision will not waiver our efforts to bring live cricket to Perth this summer as we continue to work closely with Cricket Australia and both the Australian and WA Government,” WACA CEO Christina Matthews said.”With world-class facilities and the opportunity for cricket fans to attend matches we maintain that WA is well-positioned to host cricket content, including a BBL hub.”

The New Zealand captain gives an insight into exactly why his team is sitting pretty when so many of its rivals are in such advance states of funk

Andrew Miller at Lord's28-Jun-20194:02

Vettori: Nicholls will put pressure on Munro

Permutations, permutations… somebody spare us from permutations. Who knows, England might go a long way to doing just that on Sunday, by losing against India and placing their World Cup fate firmly into the hands of the teams around them. But for now, with the sun shining over a pristine Lord’s, and the New Zealand flag flying proudly over the home dressing room, Kane Williamson isn’t about to be tempted into stressing.Of course, it’s not entirely obvious what tempt Williamson into such a course of action.Certainly, last week’s scoreline of 7 for 2 with both openers gone for golden ducks wasn’t enough to rattle his cage – his silken-touched retort, 148 from 154 balls against West Indies, rather proved that point.And certainly not the situation that greeted him on the last occasion that Australia and New Zealand met in the group stages of the World Cup – that cage-fight of a contest in Auckland in 2015, when Williamson responded to the loss of four wickets for seven runs in ten balls by planting the front foot forward against Pat Cummins and stroking him over long-on to seal an epic one-wicket win.So, trying to suggest that New Zealand’s skipper should be overly bothered by a first defeat of the tournament – against a resurgent Pakistan at Edgbaston on Wednesday – was something of an exercise in futility. Even if that setback genuinely has put the squeeze, just a teensy bit, on his team’s final two games of the group stage.In short [deep breath…] if England can find their chill at any time between now and the end of the weekend, and overcome India, and if Pakistan can avoid losing to Afghanistan, the one side that can match them in the hot-and-cold air-blowing stakes… then New Zealand’s fate may yet be ripped from their own hands.For that to happen, they would need to go on to lose to England in Chester-le-Street, and for Pakistan to keep up their own rampant streak in their final game against Bangladesh. And even that match could yet come down to a battle of net run-rates if Shakib Al Hasan can crown his own stunning campaign by inspiring Bangladesh to a knee-trembler of a victory over India in their penultimate fixture…If… if… if. It’s what the tournament wanted, and needed. The sun shining, the tongues wagging, the stakes rising. But… nah! Williamson and his team will not be drawn in like that.”It kind of is what it is, really,” he said. “You come to tournaments and sides beat each other and they climb the ladder, and that’s what everybody sort of desires to do, and who remains is kind of the ones that go through. But, at the end the day, you’re trying to play the best cricket that you can to try and put yourself in one of those top four positions.”Kane Williamson leads his ‘no-stress’ boys out to the middle•Getty Images

Williamson was sitting deep within the bowels of the MCC’s real tennis court – a strangely appropriate setting for such an anachronistically fabulous batsman – and he spoke with the clarity and lack of fluster with which he compiles his best innings. All angles and pointed placement, and next to no recourse to raw power.There are, doubtless, times when it gets grating to be so consistently talked down in the tournament narrative – as if ploughing a very steady path towards an eighth semi-final in 12 World Cups (a tally that no team, not even Australia, will have exceeded) is in any way underwhelming.But there are clearly also times when that relative anonymity is a blessing. Who, at various stages of this campaign, would have wished to be in charge of Sri Lanka or Pakistan’s fates, for instance, let alone an England campaign that, to judge by Jonny Bairstow’s feud with Michael Vaughan, is in danger of borrowing the apocalyptic Brexit stylings of @Coldwar_Steve … all shipwrecks and squabbles as the dream dies before their eyes.Nope, Williamson seems perfectly content with the hand that he has been dealt. A solidly placed side that, in coming through some taut contests against Bangladesh and South Africa, has been arguably been tested more robustly than either India or Australia, the only teams above them in the table. Another subtly different challenge awaits on a used pitch at Lord’s and the hottest day of the year – but in spite of the temptation to play legspinner Ish Sodhi, New Zealand look every bit as likely to name an unchanged team for the seventh match in a row.And, within his measured responses to an admittedly low-key grilling, Williamson gave an insight into exactly why New Zealand are sitting pretty when so many of their likeliest rivals are in such advance states of funk.”At a World Cup, perhaps teams adopt slightly different plans when we’re playing different opposition day-in and day-out on different surfaces,” he said. “[But] the most important thing is adapting to the conditions. Sometimes I think we’ve seen in the last few games, that looking to blast teams out, perhaps with the use of seam movement and these sorts of things, it hasn’t quite been there, and it’s been about playing the long game a little bit.”We haven’t played at Lord’s yet, and we’ll just have to assess those conditions.”If that was meant as a dig at England after the failure of their gung-ho approach on this same pitch last week, then it was delivered with such deftness that it barely made a sound off the bat.”There’s so many games of cricket, so many different things can happen,” he added. “We know in this sport the variables and uncontrollables we can come up against on any given day, and perhaps some sides might be more suited to certain conditions than others on a certain day, and that’s just the nature of the beast.”England are still in a strong position, as are a few other sides. The focus for all of those sides is to keep trying to apply what they know holds themselves in the strongest position with the sort of cricket they want to play, which is equally different to one another.”When the time comes and the round-robin’s finished, if you can hang your hat on that, then at the end of the day, you can either walk away and end up in a semi-final, or know that you’ve done that and it hasn’t quite happened.”Or, more likely, you’ll find that – over the course of nine group-stage fixtures – the fact that you’ve done more right than wrong will get rewarded in the final analysis. And those who have either not been good enough, or have relied on bluster and preconception at times of duress (or both), will be found out.So, what if it’s the Australians tomorrow, was Williamson’s message. We’re pootling along just fine. How about the rest of you?

The hosts need another win to keep the series alive. Both teams might also want to keep an eye on the weather, with showers forecast for the afternoon in Port Elizabeth

The Preview by Firdose Moonda12-Feb-20184:16

Cullinan: Will be surprised if SA play an all-pace attack

Big picture

Suddenly South Africa have something to play for.After three matches of one-way traffic and few answers to India’s wristspinners, South Africa were staring at 6-0. But a change of outfit was as good as a new gameplan for them. In pink, at the Wanderers, South Africa chased a target of 202 inside 28 overs, which required them to score at more than seven runs to the over. They took more than half those runs off Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, giving the pair only three wickets. That will have boosted the hosts’ confidence ahead of two must-win games to share the trophy.Crucially, South Africa’s runs did not come from one person and most of them came from the two people who had a lot to prove. David Miller showed much-needed big-match temperament, Heinrich Klaasen justified his selection and Andile Phehlukwayo put on another fine finishing effort. South Africa’s next challenge will be to prove it was not a one-off. Can they pull back India’s line-up again? And can they tame India’s spinners once again?India were slightly guilty of taking their foot off the gas with the knowledge they cannot lose the series. After Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli gave the team a strong start, the rest of the line-up all but fell away and lost five wickets for 76 runs. They will want more from their middle-order as they aim to close out the series before they get to the final fixture in Centurion.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa: WLLLW
India: LWWWW

In the spotlight

The focus on South Africa’s middle-order and India’s spinners has taken some attention off the opening partnership, but Hashim Amla and Aiden Markram will only have two more opportunities to show what they can do together. Neither has managed a score higher than 33 but together shared a stand of 43 in Johannesburg and will want to work towards giving the hosts a more solid platform to launch from. Markram may also want to seek Amla’s advice about a few other things, like how to stay within the stipulated time to meet the over-rate, because another offence will see him suspended.The honours have gone to the India’s spinners who have taken their combined wicket-tally on this tour to 24. Jasprit Bumrah follows them on that list. He has five wickets to his name, one more than Kagiso Rabada and more than double that of any of his non-spinning team-mates. Bumrah has set the tone well and has had the better of Amla twice in the four matches so far. Who will win the head-to-head continues on Tuesday?AFP

Team news

A spinner is likely to be brought back into the South Africa XI and the toss-up will be between Imran Tahir and Tabraiz Shamsi. Though Tahir may get in on seniority, South Africa might want to check on his mindset after the incident he had with spectators at the Wanderers, which is being investigated for racial abuse. David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen have done enough to leave Farhaan Behardien fighting for a spot against one of the allrounders.South Africa (probable): 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Aiden Markram (capt), 3 JP Duminy, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 David Miller, 6 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 7 Farhaan Behardien/Chris Morris, 8 Andile Phehlukwayo, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Imran Tahir/Tabraiz ShamsiIndia attended an optional practice session on the eve of the ODI. Shreyas Iyer is set to retain his spot given Kedar Jadhav’s hamstring niggle is unlikely to have healed.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Ajinkya Rahane, 5 Shreyas Iyer/Kedar Jadhav, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Pitch and conditions

Known for being one of South Africa’s slower surfaces, St George’s Park should suit India’s attack. The average score over the last five matches – batting first – has been 227, and a warm and humid day is forecast in Port Elizabeth. There is also a highly probability of afternoon showers.

Stats and trivia

• MS Dhoni has spent the series inching towards 10,000 ODI runs and he is now just 46 away.
• Results at St George’s Park have been marginally in favour of the chasing team, with 17 of the 32 ODIs won by the team that fields first.

Quotes

“The guys have been specific about their training. They have been doing good analysis and have good game plans. Obviously the conditions were different. So it’s a game plan that we have had in our change room, to be really positive and look to score and get into good positions.”

The India fast bowler, who is set to play his last international on November 1, said he is happy to call time on his career when people are asking ‘why and not why not’

Arun Venugopal12-Oct-2017Ashish Nehra had been thinking about retirement plans for a while, but his non-inclusion in the first XI for the first two T20Is against Australia might have hastened the call. He also said that playing for India was always motivation for him, which is why he has retired from all official cricket. He will end his 18-year international career with the T20I against New Zealand at the Feroz Shah Kotla, his home ground, on November 1.”No particular reason. At one point everyone knows [that it is time to quit]. It’s not an overnight decision,” Nehra said on the eve of the final T20I against Australia. “It’s my own decision. I have given it a good thought. When I came into this series, I had come prepared to bowl. The day I linked up with this squad, I spoke to the captain and coach about my plan because whenever Ashish Nehra is in the side he plays in the XI, he doesn’t sit out. We’ve seen that in the T20s over the last couple of years.”I feel Bhuvneshwar [Kumar] is ready, the way he has been bowling. And there is no big event in the next five or six months, like a World Cup. I think this is the way forward, especially the manner in which Bhuvneshwar has been bowling in the last couple of years, whenever I’ve played with [Jasprit] Bumrah, either of Bhuvi or [Mohammed] Shami have had to sit out. So I think this is the right time [to retire] and I think people are welcoming it. I came prepared to play in this series, but I also put across my point of view. If they ask me to play in the XI, I’m available.”It’s very important to me what people in the dressing room think. Now, they say you can easily play for one more year. I’ve been a believer of the fact that it’s always good to retire when people ask why and not why not. And it can’t get bigger than the fact that I’m retiring at home. I played my first Ranji game there 20 years ago.”Nehra said he had first sounded out captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri about his intention to retire before going through with his decision. “Like I said, I put my point of view to them,” he said. “This is how I feel and this is my thought. Obviously, I could still play. But the first thing Virat said was you can still play, then second thing he said you could play IPL. It’s good that people still think I can play. It was a tough decision for me, but they all respect my decision.”While Nehra’s career will be remembered for being ridden with injuries, he also gained a reputation for making stirring comebacks out of nowhere. His most recent comeback in 2016 after being out of the team for five years marked the start of one of the more successful phases of his career. Since the start of 2016, Nehra has picked 21 wickets from 18 T20Is at an average of 21.66. Nehra also enjoyed a successful World T20 campaign where he was India’s joint-highest wicket-taker with five scalps from five games going at less than six runs per over. In the IPL, too, over the last few years, he has been one of the go-to fast bowlers for captains – first for MS Dhoni at Chennai Super Kings and then David Warner at Sunrisers Hyderabad. Nehra said his ability to bounce back from injuries made a difference to his life off the field as well.”For me the true measure of success is how many times you bounce back from failure,” he said. “When you are always on top, you don’t know how to come back up after a failure. People have always said that you’ve had 11-12 surgeries, how you made a comeback despite that. But they have made me mentally strong. When you make a century or take a five-for, everyone is with you but your character comes when you are not doing well and bounce back from it. It has made a difference even in my normal life, apart from my cricketing life.”[My second coming since 2016] has been great. Like, in between, unfortunately, the problem in India is people count you as playing only when you are playing international cricket or the IPL. In India, only 15 [players] can play at a time, and if you combine all formats maybe 20-25. I was still playing IPL regularly. Last two-three years has been a great journey. I always feel it is not how you start, but how you finish.”Every individual has certain strengths and certain weaknesses. I was always mentally strong. I am that sort of a person who trains day in and day out to play for India. Like I said, I could have played easily one more year of international cricket. People said you are retiring in November, you can still play the next IPL which is just five months away. But it’s my decision that if I leave, I will leave completely, I won’t even play the IPL.”While any highlights reel of Nehra would unfailingly feature his spell of 6 for 23 against England in the 2003 World Cup, the man himself felt he couldn’t point to one standout memory from his career. “When you are playing cricket, every day is a memory,” he said. “This is something you are doing day in and day out. People will always remember you for moments in international cricket. But, for me there are times in domestic cricket or the IPL, when you may not pick up wickets but you still enjoy. When it comes to cricket world or media, people remember Ashish Nehra bowling the last over in Karachi or the six wickets against England. But for me those are not the only memories. Because in cricket you win some, you lose some. I will always go thinking that I must be doing something good so that captain asks me to bowl the last over. Result might not go your way. For me playing for India, winning the World Cup [in 2011], losing the [2003] final, T20I world cup, I have seen all the ups and downs.”Nehra said he hadn’t given his post-retirement life a thought yet and that he had made plans only for November 1. “I haven’t thought of it yet. All those options are open, either coaching or mentoring. I haven’t decided yet. I am always somebody who takes one series at a time,” he said.Nehra, however, ruled out any possibility of a comeback. “I am not playing IPL, so you can judge me from that,” he said. “So many people will play one or two years or IPL [after retiring from international cricket]. Once I’ve decided something then it’s final, there is no going back on that. I always said, never say never, but it’s not applicable in this case.”

Afghanistan have withdrawn from a proposed one-day series against Ireland next month due to a clash with their domestic T20 competition

Danyal Rasool07-Jun-2017Afghanistan have withdrawn from a proposed one-day series against Ireland next month due to a clash with their domestic T20 competition.Ireland, who lost 3-2 in their last ODI encounter with Afghanistan in Greater Noida in March, had hoped to host a three-match return series in Belfast in July.However, the Afghanistan Cricket Board have informed Cricket Ireland that they’re not in a position to approve the tour, due to a clash with preparations for their domestic franchise T20 event.”Of course, our preference is to give as many opportunities as possible to our senior men to play our closest rivals on our home turf, so we are disappointed the matches won’t proceed in July,” said a Cricket Ireland spokesperson.”We have enjoyed two very competitive recent ODI series against Afghanistan in Belfast and India. Hopefully we will continue to work with the ACB to see if there are further opportunities to reschedule the matches at a later date.”Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO Shafiq Stanikzai said the series, which Ireland had proposed, had never been officially approved.”The proposal came from Cricket Ireland, to play them in three ODIs before our MCC game [on July 11],” Stanikzai told ESPNcricinfo. “We agreed in February or March, and the tour was approved by the ACB. Then it was kept on hold by Cricket Ireland, because they were waiting for the ICC board meeting. About two weeks ago, they approached us again to ask if we could go ahead and play this series. This time, the board didn’t give us permission because the team is busy, plus we have the T20 franchise tournament coming up.”The timing of the series proposal from Ireland was particularly inconvenient for Afghanistan, who are playing a limited-overs series in West Indies, which concludes on June 14.”The team has been playing for three months continuously,” Stanikzai said. “It makes no sense to come back from West Indies to Kabul for ten days, and then go back to Ireland. We need proper preparation for an Ireland series. We can’t have the team in Afghanistan for ten days and go straight back into competition phase. It would have been great if we could go straight from the West Indies to Ireland because then preparation would not be an issue. But since the proposed dates [from Cricket Ireland] were July 1-9, the schedule just didn’t work out for us.”Stanikzai stressed that the cancellation of the tour did not sour relations with Cricket Ireland, at least from the ACB’s point of view.”Ireland are our closest rivals, and we would like to play them more and more. We will be looking in the future for an opportunity to play Ireland. We will draw up a schedule with Ireland when we meet them at the Annual General Meeting in June to see when we can play each other again, hopefully in the latter part of this year. Our relations with Ireland are very friendly, and we want them to remain that way.”ESPNcricinfo understands that Afghanistan’s maiden fixture at Lord’s, when they take on an MCC side led by Brendon McCullum on July 11, is unaffected by this decision.

Following his side’s 3-0 defeat to India, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said he is disappointed but was thankful for the experience, which he felt would help the players take their game forward

Sidharth Monga in Indore11-Oct-20163:06

‘Ashwin is best in exposing conditions’ – Williamson

After losing all the Tests in a series they would have been hopeful of doing well in, Kane Williamson managed to retain some humour, but he knew his side was done in by a mix of difficult conditions for them, the quality of their opposition in those conditions, and their own lack of application at times. In packed schedules nowadays, you hardly get time to acclimatise, which means you don’t have too many second chances. The most disappointing aspect for New Zealand will be that when they got a surface in Indore that resembled classic Indian pitches, they couldn’t bat for long enough. It didn’t help that they never won a toss, and India always were in the ascendency.When asked about R Ashwin’s hold on him – the leading wicket-taker of the series took out Williamson all four times he batted – Williamson joked: “He didn’t get me out 27 times. He got a few other blokes out too.”On a serious note, Williamson did make a mention of the conditions. “He’s a good bowler,'” Williamson said of Ashwin. “We’re always learning playing internationals. I guess it’s a new thing, personally as well. Come over here with so much rough, which is nice to bowl into. I suppose I was a victim of it a few times. I guess, when you are put in that situation where you are dismissed in a similar situation, you are able to learn and try to improve from that. The conditions guys are exposed to, and the quality of bowling, in a backhanded way, we can be thankful for those experiences that help move your game forward.”Even before the season began, India had a good chance of going unbeaten through a long season of 13 home Tests. New Zealand, on paper, seemed the team likeliest to challenge India, which will now make India look invincible this season. Williamson, though, felt – and it did bring out some laughs – that the toss can be crucial in these conditions. The previous home season had a shift in the pitches India play on, and they have won all seven tosses since then.”Winning the toss would be helpful, I think,” Williamson said, when asked what advice he could give to the teams that are following him in India’s home season. “Which is a challenge in itself: South Africa lost every toss as well. Certainly have to be at your best. Whether you win the toss, lose the toss, India were far superior in this series. It depends on the surfaces. Every surface has been different in this series, they were different in the South Africa series. Whether it is a good one… it is important to spend time at the crease, creating pressure. Batting first would be nice. It would help, certainly, in being more competitive. This India side is a very good team, and they certainly know these conditions better than anyone.”Williamson said that while the conditions were more difficult when they batted in Indore, this was a pitch where they could have played more assured cricket. Speaking on finding the right balance between defence and attack, Williamson said: “It is a challenge, certainly on wickets very conducive to spin that make attacking tough as well. Sometimes, being positive when it is doing a little bit more is the way forward. It is up to the individual how they want to skin it, but in this Test, which was probably a little bit more like Test matches of old where it’s that war of attrition and you have to play long game like India showed, as opposed to Test matches prior, where 300 was a very good score, where you go out there and play positively and you get them before they get you, here was a little bit different.”They exploited conditions better than us. They played very patiently with the bat, and batting was not easy when it came our time. Not just because conditions had deteriorated, but the very good bowling attack they have. Important that we come away from here, although frustrated, having learnt a huge amount as a young group being exposed in these conditions.”Williamson didn’t shy away from giving India the credit and said he was disappointed his team couldn’t adapt quickly enough, but added that in conditions so challenging he felt the need to send players early for more experience.”The more you can play in these conditions, the better you’ll be,” Williamson said. “That has to be a given. The more experiences you get in any conditions, it is a good thing. People talk a lot about county cricket and then, when you go to England, you certainly are far more aware of what to expect. I suppose this is no different. If guys can have more experience in these conditions, it will certainly be helpful.”When asked if he felt his side had spent enough time here before the series, Williamson brought up the practical issue of the packed schedules. “I suppose there is always those discussions,” Williamson said. “Another tough point as well is that you are playing so much international cricket, it is tricky to get that extra preparation you would like. So, you are having to learn on the job a bit, which is the nature of the beast, but at the same time, it is an important thing. Whether it’s ‘A’ teams where guys are able to get extra time to come over, particularly in these conditions where you are playing more and more cricket. India’s home summer this year is 13 Test matches. So you are playing more and more in these conditions.”New Zealand now have the five-ODI series to look forward to, which will be played on flatter surfaces. Williamson hoped the team doesn’t carry the scars of losing the Tests into that series. “Disappointing to lose the Test series,” he said. “At the same time, the guys are looking forward to the change of format. It will be tough again. We know India are a very good side at that as well. It’s exciting. We know that wickets will more than likely be quite different again.”We have got to adapt. Go out and play with that freedom, knowing that when we do play with that freedom, we play our best cricket. There will be a little bit of scarring coming out of a three-nil Test defeat. Obviously winning is a lot better than losing. Unfortunately we have lost a few on the trot, but nice to have new personnel come in who are fresh and looking forward to the one-day series.”

BCCI president Anurag Thakur today slammed former selection committee chief Sandeep Patil for revealing confidential details about Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and others

PTI27-Sep-2016BCCI president Anurag Thakur today slammed former selection committee chief Sandeep Patil, saying it was “unethical” on his part to reveal certain confidential details about Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and others after his tenure ended earlier this month.Thakur stopped short of saying that action will be taken against Patil but said “right people in the BCCI” will speak to him soon over the issue which has created a major controversy.Patil, a former international cricketer, recently disclosed that the selection panel would have dropped Sachin Tendulkar before he eventually quit international cricket and that it had also considered removing MS Dhoni from ODI captaincy ahead of the 2015 World Cup.”Let me make it very clear. Sandeep, being a former chairman, should not have made these comments. When he was the chairman, he replied differently to the same questions. But after that [his tenure], it was different. It was totally unethical of him to do that,” Thakur told .”One should refrain from making such unethical and unwanted comments in this area [selection matters]. It is because he has been trusted to become the chairman, because he has played enough cricket. There were four more selectors with him; they did not say anything. He should have avoided that,” the BCCI president said.Asked whether any action was being contemplated by the BCCI against Patil over the breach of confidentiality, he said, “The right people in the BCCI will speak to him soon.”Thakur went to the extent of saying such a breach of confidentiality would make it difficult for any of future employers of Patil to trust him.”Any organisation, if they hire him, will think ten times that after leaving the organisation, he will speak about the organisation,” Thakur said.Patil’s four-year tenure ended when the panel announced the 15-man squad for the ongoing Test series against New Zealand.