If approved, this would be the highest number of retentions allowed in the tournament’s history

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Sep-2024

The ten IPL teams will likely be allowed five retentions each as well as the option of using one right-to-match card during the IPL 2025 auction. ESPNcricinfo has learned that the IPL is most likely looking at approving this option as soon as it finalises the retention rules ahead of the mega auction for the 2025 season.It could not yet be confirmed how many Indian players can be part of the set of retained players or whether there will be a cap on retained overseas players. What is also unknown are the retention slabs. The overall purse, it is understood, will be INR 120 crore.Related

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If the IPL governing council, which was expected to meet this weekend in Bengaluru ahead of the BCCI’s annual general meeting on Sunday, approves this 5 + 1 model, it would be highest number of retentions allowed in the tournament’s history.Ahead of the 2017 mega auction to pick squads for IPL 2018, five retentions were allowed, with a combination of up to three direct retentions or three RTM cards, with a cap of three Indian players.The RTM option, which allows the franchise the ability to buy back its player during the auction by matching the highest bid made for the player by another franchise, once the bidding is over, was discarded by IPL ahead of the 2022 mega auction. The eight existing teams were allowed to retain a maximum of four players each, while Gujrat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants, the two new franchises, were given the option of selecting three players from the rest of the player pool before the auction. The purse for the 2022 auction was set at INR 90 crore, INR 10 crore more than in 2017.While the IPL is understood to have indicated to the franchises the possibility of the player auction taking place around late November, it has delayed finalising and sharing the retention rules. This despite the IPL telling franchises during a meeting with team owners and representatives in Mumbai on July 31 that retention rules would be finalised and shared by the end of August.Incidentally, the RTM card was one of the key points debated at the July meeting. It is understood that at least three franchises were in favour of having up to eight RTMs, but several other franchises objected to the idea. Among them was Sunrisers Hyderabad, whose owner Kavya Maran said her franchise would favour seven RTMs while adding that there should be no restriction on how overseas or Indian players were retained.Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal said he was not in favour of the IPL retaining the Impact Player rule, which allows teams to field an extra specialist batter or bowler during a match, a factor that has contributed to record totals in the last two seasons.One other significant point, which the IPL informed franchises it was in favour of bringing back, was the rule pertaining to capped Indian players who have retired from international cricket or not played international cricket for five years being categorised as uncapped. The rule had been scrapped by the IPL after the 2021 season. If this rule is brought back, it could allow Chennai Super Kings to potentially retain their talisman and former captain MS Dhoni as an uncapped player, which could allow them to have a strong purse going into the auction. In 2017 the IPL had listed INR 3 crore as the price for an uncapped player retention which was increased to INR 4 crore in 2021.

تعرض أحد لاعبي الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بالنادي الأهلي، للإصابة خلال مواجهة سيراميكا كليوباترا الجارية الآن ضمن منافسات مسابقة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

ويلتقي الأهلي مع سيراميكا كليوباترا، على أرضية استاد القاهرة، في إطار لقاءات الجولة السابعة من الدوري المصري.

وأصيب أحمد رمضان بيكهام، وغادر المباراة في الدقيقة 62 من عمر اللقاء وحل مصطفى العش بدلًا منه.

وتشير النتيجة إلى تقدم الأهلي بهدف نظيف سجله محمود حسن تريزيجيه سجله في الدقيقة 28 من عمر المباراة.

طالع.. فيديو | بـR2 رائعة.. تريزيجيه يسجل هدف الأهلي الأول أمام سيراميكا كليوباترا

الأهلي قبل هذه المباراة يحتل المركز السادس عشر في جدول الدوري برصيد 6 نقاط، بعدما خاض 5 مباريات، حقق الفوز في مباراة وتعادل في 3، وتلقى هزيمة واحدة.

West Ham United have now submitted an offer for a £34m “revelation”, who is also a target for Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur, according to a report.

West Ham set sights on midfielder amid Soucek uncertainty

Tomas Soucek has been a key player for West Ham ever since his arrival, with the midfielder featuring in a minimum of 35 Premier League games in each of the last five seasons, but there has been speculation over his future at the London Stadium for quite some time.

With the Toffees now set to make a bid for the 30-year-old, the Hammers have started running the rule over potential replacements, and Bayer Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka was recently identified as a target.

The former Arsenal man could be a solid option, given that he has already proven himself in England, but the Switzerland international is not the only ex-Premier League player on the Irons’ shortlist.

According to a report from Gazzetta Dello Sport (via West Ham Zone), West Ham have now tabled an offer for Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz, having emerged as one of the clubs most keen on securing his signature, alongside Everton.

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The Italian club had been hoping to receive a fee of £34m for the former Aston Villa man, but given that he has failed to impress since making the move to Italy, they may be forced to cash-in at a lower price.

In order to get a deal over the line, the Hammers may also have to fend off interest from bitter rivals Tottenham, who recently held internal talks about signing Luiz.

Luiz could be "revelation" at West Ham

Any club would find it difficult to replace Declan Rice, although Soucek has stepped up in the England international’s absence, recording the third-highest average rating of any West Ham player in the Premier League last term.

However, with the Czechia international now edging closer to Everton, it could make sense to bring in a new midfielder with similar qualities to Rice, and the Juventus midfielder certainly fits the bill in that regard.

Much like Rice, the 27-year-old is a very well-rounded midfielder, impressing in both an attacking and defensive sense for Villa during the 2023-24 campaign.

Having also been lauded as a “revelation” by Garth Crooks, Luiz could be the perfect signing for West Ham this summer, but the rival interest from Tottenham could pose a major problem.

Tottenham have been told one key condition to sign a player who’s been identified by manager Thomas Frank as a summer target, according to a new report.

£43m star "clear" he wants to join Tottenham in talks with club chairman

He’s expressed his desire to seal a Spurs switch.

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Spurs are fresh off the back of their first pre-season game against Reading, with new signing Mohammed Kudus enjoying an impressive cameo on Saturday as the Lilywhites ran out 2-0 winners against the League One side.

Goals from Will Lankshear and new arrival Luka Vuskovic secured Frank the perfect start to his new managerial chapter, with the Dane getting a first look at his star-studded squad.

Son Heung-min

7.00

James Maddison

6.98

Pedro Porro

6.95

Dominic Solanke

6.84

Dejan Kulusevski

6.83

via WhoScored

He could yet see more illustrious names added to it, as Tottenham maintain their pursuit of Morgan Gibbs-White despite Nottingham Forest’s threat of legal action. Fabrizio Romano confirms that sealing a deal for Gibbs-White is their priority right now, speaking via his YouTube channel, but that doesn’t mean Daniel Levy won’t have other plates spinning in the background.

Yves Bissouma has been regularly linked with a move away from north London before deadline day on September 1, and José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe are believed to be prime contenders for the Mali international (Yağız Sabuncuoğlu).

With Spurs competing in the Champions League next season, Frank will need a ready-made replacement for Bissouma, considering the hot and cold midfielder played 28 games for them in the Premier League alone last term.

According to recent reports, Bayern Munich ace and former Fulham favourite Joao Palhinha is among the targets on Tottenham’s shortlist to potentially step into Bissouma’s shoes for 2025/2026.

The Portugal international finally sealed what was a long-awaited move to Bavaria last summer, signing for around £47 million, but his debut season at the Allianz Arena was marred by injury struggles, suspensions, illness and a subsequent lack of game time under Vincent Kompany.

As a result, reports suggest the 30-year-old could call time on his stay in the Bundesliga already, and Spurs have been told the requirements to seal a deal.

Tottenham told Joao Palhinha condition after opening Bayern Munich talks

According to GiveMeSport, Tottenham have held club-to-club discussions with Bayern over Palhinha, and Kompany’s side are adamant that Levy will only be able to sign him on a permanent deal.

Any offers for a loan will not be accepted as Bayern attempt to get Palhinha’s £166,000-per-week wages off the books for good, but Frank has personally identified the player as a target, so there appears to be a real willingness from Spurs to move for him.

Bayern are said to have made it clear that Tottenham will need to table a “big-money” bid for Palhinha if they stand a chance of signing him this summer, but this report doesn’t disclose the exact amount they’d be looking for.

In any case, if Spurs decide to press forward, there is reason to believe he would thrive under Frank.

Palhinha was famed for his tackling and robustness in midfield during his spell at Craven Cottage, indicating why Spurs are so keen, with former teammate Tom Cairney even calling him a “breath of fresh air”.

“If you lose the ball, he smells blood,” Cairney said in a glowing endorsement.

“He’s probably one of the best I’ve ever seen off the ball, in terms of getting back, recovering and trying to win back the ball. He doesn’t just put pressure on them, he goes back to win the ball and does the tackle.

“It’s amazing to watch sometimes. I think the fans have taken to him. I think he’s been a breath of fresh air in the Premier League.”

Sheffield Wednesday have now suffered “another blow” regarding the future of a current player, according to an update from reliable journalist Joe Crann.

Grim summer for Sheffield Wednesday continues

This is a dark period in Owls history, with the club’s finances in dire straits and supporters desperately hoping to see Dejphon Chansiri sell the club.

Both Wednesday players and other club employees have seen long delays in their wages being paid in recent months, while Danny Rohl’s future as manager is very much up in the air.

Meanwhile, key players have now departed, including attacking heroes Josh Windass and Michael Smith – their contracts were both terminated – with nothing but negatives on show heading into the new Championship season.

Big changes have to happen at Wednesday as soon as possible, in terms of the ownership and finances, or it is difficult to see anything other than an extremely difficult 2025/26 season ahead of them.

"Great" Sheffield Wednesday player set to leave

Now, according to The Star‘s Crann on X, Sheffield Wednesday defender Akin Famewo is set to be the next player to leave the club this summer, with a move to Hull City edging closer:

“Akin Famewo is in talks with Hull City, and could be their player in the next couple of days. Another blow, although not an unexpected one, for SWFC this summer.”

These setbacks must be so hard to take for Owls fans, and while Famewo may not be an indispensable figure, he has still been a good servant at the back, being lauded by Crann in the past.

Famewo was a part of Wednesday’s squad that reached the Championship back in 2022/23, following a memorable run in the League One playoffs, – he started 15 league matches – and the 26-year-old’s defensive ability will be a miss.

The fact that Hull want to sign him shows that he is valued by other second-tier clubs, and he could prove to be a shrewd signing for them for a number of years. The question at the moment now seems to be, which Owls player will leave next?

Glasgow Rangers took to Ibrox for the first time in pre-season on Sunday when Russell Martin’s side were held to a 2-2 draw.

Danilo led the line for Rangers during the match because Hamza Igamane and Cyriel Dessers were both not ready to be involved at that stage.

Both players have been linked with a move away from Ibrox before the end of the summer transfer window, with clubs on the continent now keen on signing the pair.

This means that it remains to be seen whether or not they will still be at the club by September, which may be the Light Blues are reportedly in the market for a new striker.

Rangers leading race for new striker

The Scottish Premiership giants would need to bring in a fresh number nine option for Martin if they cash in on Igamane or Dessers, and they are eyeing up a free agent talent.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

According to Leicester Mercury reporter Josh Holland, Rangers are the “frontrunners” to secure a deal for free agent centre-forward Jamie Vardy this summer.

The former England international has been unattached since the start of this month after his contract with Leicester City officially expired at the end of June.

Genoa were interested in snapping up the experienced marksman but manager Patrick Vieira is said to have decided against the signing, which has presented Rangers with an opportunity to make their move.

It now remains to be seen whether or not the Scottish giants will be able to take advantage of the situation to get a deal over the line in the coming weeks.

Martin could find his own Defoe for Rangers

If the Gers can sign Vardy on a free transfer this summer, Martin could unearth his own version of Jermaine Defoe by relying on him up front next season.

Defoe joined the club on loan from Bournemouth at the age of 36 in the summer of 2019, and eventually joined permanently in January 2020, but was far from past his best.

The former England international went on to score 32 goals in 74 matches in all competitions for the Gers, including four goals in 15 Scottish Premiership matches in the 2020/21 title-winning season.

These statistics show that Defoe was still an incredible goalscorer, despite his age, and Vardy could be a similar signing for Martin this summer, as a 38-year-old striker who is still a huge threat in front of goal.

As you can see in the table above, the English forward scored 27 goals in the last two seasons for Leicester, including nine in the Premier League last term, which shows that he is still a reliable marksman.

Vardy, who was once hailed for his “sensational” movement by Brendan Rodgers, did underperform his xG in the top-flight for the Foxes, but was still getting in positions to consistently generate high-quality chances.

His form in Leicester’s 2023/24 title-winning season in the Championship also shows that he still has what it takes to deliver consistently and efficiently in front of goal in a team that is competing at the top end of the table.

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Therefore, Vardy could be Martin’s own version of Defoe as a veteran former England international striker who still has the quality and consistency to make a huge impact in the Premiership in the 2025/26 campaign.

Marsh didn’t bowl in the game at the WACA while Khawaja looked in fine touch on the last day

Tristan Lavalette11-Oct-2024Western Australia 465 (Inglis 122, Whiteman 102, Connolly 79, Neser 5-68) and 263 for 6 dec (Marsh 94, Wildermuth 3-38) drew with Queensland 367 (Clayton 85, Labuschagne 77, McDermott 68, Gannon 5-57) and 120 for 1 (Khawaja 64*, Labuschagne 35*)Mitchell Marsh smashed 94 as a specialist batter before the Sheffield Shield match between Western Australia and Queensland petered out to a draw on a sedate WACA surface.Set 362 runs off 62 overs, Queensland never went for the target and the match ended when the captains agreed to call it off midway through the final session on the last day.Opener Usman Khawaja looked in fine touch and finished 64 not out to ensure Queensland avoided any late nerves. Captain Marnus Labuschagne tuned up for the Test summer with an unbeaten 35 on the back of his 77 in the first innings.With Test allrounder Cameron Green facing a long stint on the sidelines due to a back injury, a number of players in the match were under the spotlight. Test aspirant Matthew Renshaw made an untimely double failure after edging behind to Matthew Kelly on 15 having scored just six runs in the first innings.WA counterpart Cameron Bancroft, another possible option to open for Australia if Steven Smith shifts down the order, fared even worse after making a pair earlier in the match.”He’s [Bancroft] so resilient. He’s been through so much in his career. He’ll be fine,” WA captain Sam Whiteman said after the match.Batting at No.4, Marsh top-scored in WA’s second innings of 263 for 6 dec after rescuing his team from a top-order collapse. He also scored 13 in the first innings, but did not bowl in the match.”Mitch is in for a big summer. His workloads are going to be managed very carefully by Cricket Australia. We are hopeful we might see Mitch with ball in hand for the next Shield match,” WA coach Adam Voges said after play on day three.Allrounder Aaron Hardie, who looms as a like-for-like replacement for Green, missed the match due to a quad injury but is likely to return for WA’s next Shield match against Tasmania starting on October 20 at the WACA.Quick Lance Morris sustained a minor quad injury during training and is pushing to be available for the One Day Cup game against Tasmania on 25 October.With WA resuming on 106 for 3, a lead of 204, there was intrigue over how they would approach the situation. Marsh had mostly been watchful late on day three, but was in a trademark aggressive mood as he reached his half-century with a push that rocketed to the boundary.Fringe Test quick Michael Neser threatened by targeting a crack, but Marsh was unperturbed as he put the foot down. His most belligerent shot was smashing a short delivery from debutant Tom Straker that thudded into the ground’s famous grassbanks.Marsh tried to reach his century with one mighty blow, but mistimed and holed out much to his chagrin as he threw his bat in the air.Wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis backed up his first-innings century with a quick-fire 48 to claim Player-of-the-Match award. His confidence was obvious and he toyed with legspinner Mitchell Swepson, who had the last laugh but struggled to have much impact across the match.The pitch flattened considerably after tough early conditions when WA lost the wickets of Bancroft and Jayden Goodwin off the first two balls bowled by Neser, who was Queensland’s standout bowler with six wickets for the match.”Phenomenal bowler and I was very happy how he started the season,” Labuschagne said of Neser, who could also be in the Test mix.

Rishabh Pant brought up an emotional sixth Test century, Shubman Gill a serene fifth, and the Indian bowlers and fielders responded well to demanding conditions by taking four second-innings wicket on day three in Chennai. Bangladesh were 357 adrift of the 515 target set them by an aggressive declaration with two-and-a-half days left in the Test.With the pitch not yet breaking up and the average seam movement dying down from 1.3 degrees on day one to 0.4 degrees on day three, these were the best batting conditions of the match. Despite India’s attacking approach to set up the declaration, they only played 16 false shots in 41 overs on day three, while scoring 206 runs. The conditions remained flat when Bangladesh batted, but a marathon spell from R Ashwin maintained India’s ascendency in the match. The bowlers had the fielders to thank for three low catches of varying difficulty.Related

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Given the conditions, Gill and Pant, both aggressive batters given to counterattacking, acknowledged that only they could get themselves out, and put their heads down for big knocks. They kept respecting good balls, and once in they jumped out of the crease to hit sixes. Gill hit Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who bowled 25 out of India’s 64 second-innings overs, for four of them to reach 28 sixes in his 26th Test. Pant fancied the left-arm spin of Shakib Al Hasan and hit four sixes of his own to go up to 59, the seventh-highest for India, in just 34 Tests. India have now hit 85 sixes in 2024, which leaves them only five short of breaking the record for most sixes by a team in a calendar year.What the duo did outside the sixes was more impressive. Unlike Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma, who on the second evening just tried to impose themselves on the bowling, these two began the day respecting the bowling and they were content to defend for a while without worrying about edges and close-in fielders. Only in the seventh over of the day did someone try to force the issue, and Gill did that beautifully with the two sixes over wide long-on.Pant, extra conscious to not give it away after a soft dismissal in the first innings, took even more time before he went manufacturing shots – none better than the ramp-sweep off Hasan Mahmud for a six over fine leg ten minutes before lunch. Gill joined in the acceleration before lunch, suggesting the declaration might come sooner rather than later. With that push for quicker runs came a skier from Pant seven minutes before the break, but captain Najmul Hossain Shanto put it down. Pant still hit two fours in the final over before the break, throwing down the gauntlet for the race to the hundred.1:49

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Post lunch, Pant brought out his trademark flick behind square both off the quicks and the spinners to get to his hundred in just 118 balls. Gill went there more calmly, in 161 balls, and KL Rahul played a few classy inside-out drives before the declaration left Bangladesh an hour to bat till tea.Zakir Hasan came out full of intent, driving both off the front and the back foot and also dismissing Mohammed Siraj for a flicked six. With the ball not doing much, he and Shadman Islam stayed on the lookout for runs, punishing every error in length.Once Ashwin came on, though, he started to create some mischief, hitting the sticker of the bat here, taking the inside edge there. Post tea, he and Jasprit Bumrah created three tight overs. In the fourth, Zakar played an ambitious drive to a ball not nearly full enough, and Jaiswal ended his innings with a sensational catch low to his left and behind him at gully.The conditions made Ashwin work hard for his wickets. He was even taken for four sixes; the most he has ever conceded in an innings is five. He kept plugging away, though, often slowing his pace down to draw assistance from the surface. His first wicket didn’t come as he would have envisaged as Shadman went back looking to play a length ball behind square. It wasn’t short enough, and it took his leading edge for a low catch for Gill at short midwicket.Ashwin then produced a beauty to get rid of Mominul Haque, who never looked at home. The drift made him play the line, and the turn was just enough to miss the edge but not the off stump. Mushfiqur Rahim was a cat on a hit tin roof, slog-sweeping Ashwin for a six before hitting one low to Rahul at mid-on. Shakib Al Hasan was even less settled, but was rescued by bad light that ended the play early. Amid all this, captain Najmul batted calmly yet quickly to end the day batting on 51 off 60.

He recently communicated his decision to the ICC, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family

Nagraj Gollapudi13-Sep-2024As he prepares to depart the ICC, Alex Marshall, the head of global cricket’s anti-corruption unit (ACU), has warned that “badly run” domestic T20 leagues “at lower level” remain a “threat” to the game with corruptors looking to use them as an entry point. Marshall, 63, has decided to retire from the ICC job this November, ending a seven-year term, which started in 2017 as general manager of the ICC’s integrity unit, which includes the security and anti-doping units apart from the ACU.Marshall, a former senior policeman in the UK, recently communicated his decision to the ICC, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family, including parents and grandchildren in England. Marshall, who replaced YP Singh, was the fourth ACU head and was shortlisted by Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the independent chairman of the anti-corruption watchdog.Marshall said that while the malaise of corruption will continue to shadow cricket, he was “proud” that during his stint the ACU had been successful in helping players be more forthcoming about approaches from corrupters. “I am proud of the significant increase in trust from players who now report approaches to us frequently whereas there was a time when they lacked confidence in confidentiality and the action that will be taken,” Marshall told ESPNcricinfo on Friday. “They have now seen corruptors being disrupted, named, banned when they get involved in cricket. And the education we now do with players shows them who the corruptors are, what their methods are, so everyone is much better equipped and protected to keep corruption away from the game.”Immediately upon taking charge in September 2017, Marshall and his team investigated several people in Sri Lanka, a country where the ACU was busy at that point, conducting a number of probes concerning “various types of corrupt activities.” That operation lasted several years during which the ACU met the top-most authorities of the Sri Lankan government, including the President and Prime Minister, to paint them a picture of corruption that had seeped into the country’s cricketing system. Eventually, the ACU intervention paved way for Sri Lanka becoming the first South Asian country to criminalise several offences related to match-fixing.Related

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Marshall said he was happy with the progress in Sri Lanka, where he says there are now stronger guardrails to ward off corrupt elements. “Sri Lanka turned out to be a good news story because there were serious issues which were addressed locally and with ICC,” he said. “Now with the legislation and stronger measures Sri Lanka is in a much better place to keep the corruptors away.”Another significant outcome of the ACU probe involved charging several Sri Lankan players under its own code, including sanctioning a two-year ban on former Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya in 2019 for refusing to co-operate with investigations related to corruption in cricket.Two other former international captains, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and Zimbabwe’s Heath Streak, who passed away last September, were charged by Marshall’s ACU for wrongdoing. Both players accepted their offence. In 2019, the ACU sanctioned Shakib across the three international formats for failing to report “not one but three” approaches made by alleged corruptor Deepak Aggarwal to engage in corrupt conduct in two tournaments in 2018: an ODI tri-series in Zimbabwe and an IPL match the same year when the Bangladesh player featured for Sunrisers Hyderabad.In 2021, Streak was handed an eight-year ban by the ACU after admitting to five breaches of the ICC’s anti-corruption code, including accepting a payment in bitcoin from a potential corruptor.As he prepares to leave his ICC job, Marshall has a word of caution for those administering, playing and governing cricket: that corrupt elements continue to wander around, waiting for any opportunity to enter the system. And one of those routes, Marshall stressed, was “badly” managed T20 franchise leagues, which are outside the ambit of the ICC ACU and are instead monitored by the member country boards.”I am confident that the cricket you watch is safe and clean,” Marshall said. “But I am also absolutely sure that corruptors are constantly looking for a route into the game, particularly in badly-run lower-level franchise leagues. The threat to the game is corruptors won’t go away while there is always money to be made and they will look for weakness in the system to get in.”

Rohit and Kohli faced net bowlers on spin-friendly surfaces as India begin their run of ten Tests with two against Bangladesh next week

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Sep-20242:57

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India’s preparation for the long Test season ahead began on Friday with some new faces saying hello and some old ones saying, miss me? Virat Kohli is back on the red-ball grind for the first time in nearly nine months. Rishabh Pant looks ready to pick up where his Test career left off two years ago. And Gautam Gambhir was there overseeing it all as the team gears up to face Bangladesh (two Tests in September), New Zealand (three Tests in October) and Australia (five Tests in November-January).India’s Test squad arrived in Chennai on Thursday and took to training in batches. The captain Rohit Sharma addressed them in a huddle and was one of the first to get out there and take a hit. He was joined by Kohli as the two of them faced a series of net bowlers on specially prepared pitches at either end of the square in the MA Chidambaram Stadium.Related

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One had a black-soil base, with so many footmarks around the full and good length area that it almost looked scorched. The other had a red-soil base and it bore marks of selective watering; the short and good length area was pristine but everything fuller than that was roughed up. The centre wicket, though, was cordoned off and it seemed to contain a fair bit of grass. In previous years, India have tried to simulate fast-bowler friendly conditions in home Test matches to prepare for significant away tours.Rohit and Kohli worked alongside their top-order team-mates Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, who will be coming into the new season with plenty of confidence after coming-of-age performances against England earlier this year. All four of them alternated between the two nets and were fed a diet rich in left-arm spin. Tamil Nadu’s Ajith Ram and M Siddharth kept wheeling away in an attempt to mirror threat that Shakib Al Hasan will pose in the coming weeks. Varun Chakravarthy was there too, and so was Himanshu Singh, a 21-year-old offspinner from Mumbai who seems to have borrowed R Ashwin’s bowling action.