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Nat Sciver, whose 109 off 85 balls went in vain for England against Australia, moved up to No. 6 among batters

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2022Australia captain Meg Lanning has climbed two spots to be ranked No. 2 among ODI batters. She is currently just 15 points behind the leader, team-mate Alyssa Healy. Lanning hit 86 in Australia’s World Cup opener against England on Saturday, as they opened their campaign with a close 12-run win against the defending champions.Rachael Haynes, whose 130 at the top was instrumental in Australia posting 310, has broken into the top ten. She is at No. 7 after gaining six places in the chart. The opener, who was also the Player of the Match, added 196 with Lanning for the second wicket in that match. Haynes’ knock came off just 131 deliveries, and included 14 fours and a six.

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England’s Nat Sciver, who cracked an unbeaten 109 from just 85 balls in a losing cause, also made strides among batters. Sciver jumped five spots to get to No. 6, as her quick knock kept England is sight of the target for the longest time.Meanwhile, West Indies’ Hayley Matthews moved up in all three rankings tables after her all-round contribution helped her team pip hosts New Zealand in an opening-day thriller in the tournament. Matthews hit 119 in West Indies’ total of 259, with the next highest score being 36, as her innings came off 128 deliveries, and featured 16 fours and a six.And in the New Zealand run chase, she dismissed the in-form Amelia Kerr and Brooke Halliday in an economical spell of 2 for 41 from ten overs.

He is set to feature in domestic cricket between two ODI series, against South Africa and New Zealand

Daya Sagar02-Dec-2025Virat Kohli is set to return to domestic cricket for Delhi in the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, the domestic 50-over competition, the DDCA has confirmed.Kohli, 37, plays only one format now for India – 50-over cricket – and since the BCCI has made it a mandate for contracted India players to feature in domestic cricket, Kohli will represent Delhi when the tournament starts on December 24 in Ahmedabad.”He will definitely play a few games, but not sure about the entire tournament,” DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma told ESPNcricinfo. “It will depend upon his India matches too.”Related

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Kohli recently struck his 52nd ODI century, against South Africa in Ranchi, and was named the Player of the Match for his knock of 135 that was studded with seven sixes.Once the last ODI of the ongoing series finishes on December 6 in Visakhapatnam, Kohli will have enough time before the start of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. However, it is not clear yet if he will play all of Delhi’s seven league matches, which will go on till January 8, just three days before the start of the ODI series against New Zealand in Vadodara.Delhi will play five league matches in Alur, on the outskirts of Bengaluru, and the other two at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Kohli’s home ground for his IPL team, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).Kohli last played 50-over cricket for Delhi in September 2013, in the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy which had India Blue and India Red as the other two teams. The last time Kohli played the Vijay Hazare Trophy was in the 2009-10 season. He led Delhi in both those tournaments.In the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy – the domestic 20-over competition – Delhi have won two of their four games under the leadership of Nitish Rana.

It’s been a dozen years since his debut, but the Australia captain admits he’s still coming to grips with the format

Firdose Moonda11-Oct-20231:39

Cummins: ‘It’s a clash of two very similar teams’

The strategies involved in structuring a spell in ODIs still present Pat Cummins with a conundrum he is keen to conquer, 12 years after making his debut in the format. That may seem a strange takeaway from an engagement with an Australian captain under some pressure after his team’s defeat to India and their struggles against spin, but it’s a small example of a bigger picture that we will be talking about all tournament: the future of this format.We don’t even need to go through the proposals to scrap bilateral ODIs and confine the format to World Cups only, because in Cummins, we have a ready example. He had only played 19 matches between the last World Cup and this one; and including Australia’s defeat to India in their World Cup opener this time, he has played only three this year, and just 78 across a dozen years. The consequence is that it has taken him longer than it may otherwise have to feel confident in his tactical approach to ODIs.”Early in my career, I found it a hard balance between Test cricket and T20, and I was getting too funky,” Cummins said at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, the day before Australia prepared to play South Africa. “With one-day cricket, your roles can be very different – from being an opening bowler with a ball that swings, to coming on first change and maybe bowling cross-seamers where you are trying to defend and get your wickets through pressure. It’s a different kind of challenge to the other formats.”Related

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It is also what Cummins called “the most physically taxing” of the three formats, because as we know from the ICC slogan – it really, truly takes one day. One. Whole. Day. Although the duration of a Test and the intensity of an T20 can’t be matched in an ODI, the amount of time spent on the feet and the kilometres run in the legs will be more than both the other versions of the game.”The biggest challenge is that you’ve got ten overs [to bowl]. It’s quite a physical format,” Cummins said of ODIs. “I find it the most physically taxing if you are doing two or three games in a week. We are doing 15k (kilometres) in a 50-over match.”And then there’s the trade-off between consistency and creativity that must come into play in one-day cricket, where some level of patience is required alongside a touch of all-out attack.”In T20, if you bowl one really good over that can be match-winning. But in one-day cricket, it’s not normally the case,” Cummins said. “And it’s rare that conditions are in the bowlers’ favour, which is fine. It’s just a challenge you’ve got to try and deal with. It’s tough but I do enjoy it.”Cummins expects at least one of those things will get easier on Thursday, when he thinks there will be pace and bounce on offer on a surface that remains something of a mystery. Only four ODIs have been played at the Ekana Stadium so far, with the highest score batting first being 249 in a full 50-over innings. Three of those ODIs were played in 2019, with one held last October, but the pitches have since been dug up and relaid.On Thursday, Australia play South Africa in Lucknow, where the pitches have been dug up and relaid•Getty Images

Cummins also feels his own form is “in as good a place as it’s ever been”, and backs himself to be “almost be prepared for anything”, including maybe “death bowling”. Against a South Africa line-up that is in good form, he also expects that he may have to try “to create a wicket out of nothing”, even as unorthodoxy is also something he has been working on.All that does not take away from his inexperience as ODI captain – since being named ODI captain in October last year, he has played only five out of Australia’s 15 ODIs – and the problems Australia have to solve in the middle overs. That’s where they lost the game against India, after they slipped from 110 for 2 in the 28th over to 199 all out.It’s something the batting group, under the guidance of Andy Flower, who has also been Lucknow Super Giants’ coach – the IPL team whose home ground is the Ekana Stadium – have been discussing, and much like Cummins’ own conclusions about bowling, it’s a balance between formats they’re seeking.”It’s no secret that the [middle-overs] period of the game seems to be the most important in one-day cricket,” Cummins said. “How do we create partnerships? If they’re bowling well, how do we shift the pressure back on to their bowlers, and try and force their hand to make some changes? It’s a real delicate balance in one-day cricket of not taking huge risks, but it’s not like Test cricket where you can wait it out. You have to keep the run rate ticking over.”The middle overs are also thought to be the hill on which ODI cricket may die, unless the narrative that unfolds in that passage is captivating even if nuanced. As Cummins hinted, those overs are the Goldilocks of the game where players are required to not do too much of one thing or too little of another, and for Australia, it’s about finding out how much is just right.

On their arrival in India, new team director Enoch Nkwe said they have ‘to start building for the future’

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Sep-20191:53

‘We strongly believe in Quinton’ – Enoch Nkwe

South Africa have hinted at the possibility of Quinton de Kock being a captaincy candidate keeping in mind next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. De Kock will lead a fairly young side in the three T20Is against India in regular captain Faf du Plessis’ absence, as their new team director Enoch Nkwe wants to “start building for the future”.”I strongly believe that we have a good enough squad. We have a good leader here,” Nkwe said at South Africa’s arrival press conference in Dharamsala, ahead of the series opener on Sunday. “It’s also an opportunity to start building for the future. We know where Faf stands, as a captain and as a player. He’s done great things for South African cricket. We also need to look at what the future looks like. We believe in Quinton, who’s going to be leading the team in this series.”South Africa’s post World Cup shake-up and du Plessis’ age (35) could be among the reasons for them looking at new candidates. De Kock is just 26 and has featured in 191 internationals across formats since his debut in 2012. In India, he will lead a squad of 14 that features several newcomers. Nkwe, however, believes the players have got “good enough experience”.”If you look at the group of guys, we’ve got good enough experience,” Nkwe said. “The captain himself has played a lot of cricket here in India. We’ve got fresh blood that is coming into the squad and that’s very exciting. We’ll be competitive. We want to walk away with a series win. The entire squad is very determined. We’re here to win. We understand that the opposition is strong in their backyard, but that’s something we’re going to leave on the park. We’re going to give 100%.”At the end of the day, as a professional team, we’re entertainers. We hope that the kind of cricket we’ll be playing out there, people will be able to read and understand the brand of cricket we want to play. It’s a new chapter, and there are some new characters in the group. We’re still in the process of defining ourselves, but I know for sure that the guys want to get out there and play some exciting cricket.”De Kock said he was “looking forward” to the young team competing and fighting under him. “Coming into this series, we’ve got a lot of new players. Win or lose, I just want the guys to keep competing, keep fighting. As long as they keep doing that, I’m sure we’ll be in good hands. We’ve got quite a young team, so there will be a lot of energy. Looking forward to that.”The tour of India will be South Africa’s first assignment since their disastrous World Cup campaign but they are now looking ahead to the next global event as they have close to 20 games in hand before the T20 World Cup in October next year.”The focus for now is this coming series against India,” Nkwe said. “We’re looking to invest in a good foundation going into the T20 World Cup next year in Australia. But we still have a lot of games. We have about 20 games. So we’ll reassess the situation after these three games against India and see where we’re at, and how we build into the England series and so on. But for now the focus is the Indian series.”South African can draw inspiration from their T20I (2-0) and ODI (3-2) series wins when they last toured India, in 2015. De Kock had not featured in the T20 series then but he troubled the hosts in the ODIs, finishing as the third-highest scorer, behind team-mates du Plessis and AB de Villiers, with a tally of 318 runs and an impressive average of 63.60, with two centuries.”I haven’t played here (Dharamsala) myself, I’ve been here before but I haven’t played here,” de Kock recalled the opening T20 of the 2015 series in which South Africa had chased down 200 with seven wickets in hand. “The last time we were here, the wicket did play very well. I think Rohit [Sharma] got a hundred here, but we ended up chasing it down. So in the one game I’ve experienced here, it could be a good wicket. But we’re coming into the unknown, so we’ll have to assess quickly, and then just adapt.”

Karachi Kings guaranteed to finish bottom of the table after eighth straight defeat

Danyal Rasool16-Feb-2022
They might have left it a bit late, but the inevitable could not be thwarted. Multan Sultans, almost certain to top the table now, edged past Karachi Kings, guaranteed to finish bottom, in the final over, sealing a seven-wicket victory. In pursuit of 175, they were only trudging along at seven an over with five to go, with the asking rate at 14. But 71 runs in the last 27 balls – the last six a dashing flourish over square leg by Rilee Rossouw – condemned the Kings to their eighth successive defeat, at the same time ensuring the Sultans will get two bites at the cherry in their bid to qualify for the PSL final.In the end, Karachi might blame a mystifying approach to the first innings, particularly the first ten overs. Only 57 came off the first nine, with vaunted power hitter Sharjeel Khan struggling badly, managing just 21 off his first 29 balls. With Babar Azam falling for just 2 off four, it was down to the middle order to salvage a respectable total for their side.Sharjeel belatedly clicked into gear and was good for a couple of sixes, but hadn’t nearly undone the damage he had caused in a somnambulant stroll of an innings when Khushdil Shah struck to remove him with just his second ball. The Kings seemed well off the pace until the last seven overs, and needed cameos from Rohail Nazir and Imad Wasim – who smashed an unbeaten 32 off 16 balls – to get the 174 they eventually did finish with, the late surge thanks coming courtesy of 75 runs in the final seven overs.The Sultans innings looked, for the most part, very much like the batting effort of a side that already knew it was through to the next round. Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood appeared content to strike at just over a run-a-ball, prioritising preserving wickets on a pitch that didn’t look quite as free-scoring as some in this tournament have. The free-flowing Masood was reined in for much of his innings, and would admit in a post-match interview he feared he had “messed up” the chase as the asking rate climbed inexorably and the Sultans’ power-hitters sat in the dugout where they could do little damage.It was only after Masood holed out to the deep-cover boundary that the game really moved into the next phase. Rizwan’s best instincts came alive, and all of a sudden he seemed to be finding the gaps with every delivery, almost putting Tim David, batting alongside him, in the shade as he brought the run rate down single-handedly every over. When he fell for a 56-ball 76 that belied his early struggles, David quickly picked up the mantle with a couple of further boundaries, though his dismissal in the 18th over kept the Kings just in front.It was, as it so often is in T20 cricket, the penultimate over when the game truly showed its hand. Khushdil Shah smashed Chris Jordan first ball for six over midwicket, with a remarkable flick of the wrists; astonishingly, it was the first six the Sultans had hit all game. The second would follow two balls later and a boundary came in between, leaving nine to get off the final over.The winning shot was delightfully flamboyant from Rossouw, who moved across his stumps to pick Umaid Asif up over square leg for six, before nonchalantly folding his arms and holding the pose. It showed a swagger that comes so easily to the Sultans right now, and is wholly missing from the Kings, for whom this campaign cannot conclude soon enough.

Joe Weatherley’s 63 from 39 gives Hampshire a chance before Simon Harmer seals shortened chase

Alan Gardner15-Jul-2023Essex squeezed past defending champions Hampshire to reach the Vitality T20 Blast final via a rain-affected chase at Edgbaston. Simon Harmer, who hit the winning runs when Essex lifted the title in 2019, again applied the this time around as he drilled Nathan Ellis into the stands at long-on to complete a five-wicket victory.Having restricted Hampshire to 170 for 7 from 20 overs, Essex were then handed a revised target of 115 from 12 overs, following an extended delay for rain shortly after the start of their innings. Although Hampshire made quick inroads after the resumption to reduce Essex to 50 for 4 after 6.2, the arrival of Australia allrounder Daniel Sams brought a vital injection of power as he and Matt Critchley added 45 in 22 balls.Sams could not finish the job, well held on the boundary by Ross Whiteley, but despite Liam Dawson only conceding seven off the penultimate over to leave 13 needed from the last, Ellis – the hero in Hampshire’s dramatic victory a year ago – was hit for two sixes in three balls to end hopes of a defence.Hampshire’s innings had been a stop-start affair, held together by Joe Weatherley’s 63 off 39 balls. Spinners Critchley and Harmer picked up combined figures of 3 for 55 from their eight overs but a spirited finish from Weatherley and Benny Howell helped get Hampshire up to a par score.The rain delay took eight overs out of the Essex innings and seemed to tip the balance back towards the chasing side, with the requirement now 96 off 55 and the ball skidding around on a greasy outfield. They threatened to squander the advantage by losing 3 for 3 in the space of six ball, but Sams smashed three sixes in an innings of 29 from 17 to put them back on course for only a second Blast final appearance.Essex come out on top of DLS equation
Essex have based much of their approach to this year’s Blast on attacking come what may, so losing a wicket from the third ball of the innings would have been priced in. Adam Rossington’s flip off the hip went fine but Weatherley’s good day continued as he raced around the rope for a tumbling catch. But Essex’s start was scratchy as the clouds began to roll in, with Dan Lawrence dropped off a steepler by Dawson shortly before a heavy downpour took the players off for an hour with the score 19 for 1.The revised target left Essex needing to go at just above ten an over, and that had come down to 68 off 40 when James Fuller struck twice in the space of three balls: Michael Pepper caught at deep third off a wild hack and Lawrence edging a pull to the keeper. When Paul Walter was palpably lbw to John Turner in the next over, Essex were four down with the required rate climbing.”With wickets in hand and a smaller total, you would back yourself to get there,” Harmer said. “But in saying that when you lose wickets it’s tough to start again. You got to have your foot on the accelerator from ball one. So the way that guys like Critch and Dan Sams played, coming in there and striking from ball one was huge for us in the context of that chase.”Weatherley, meanwhile, described Hampshire as “bitterly disappointed” with the outcome. “With Duckworth-Lewis, it only takes is a couple of guys to hit a couple of sixes,” he said. “We still took wickets, if we hadn’t have done it would have looked a lot easier. It certainly feels unfair when they’ve got nine wickets in hand to get ten an over.”Hampshire start well, then stutter
Aaron Beard’s only over, the first of the Hampshire innings, went for 14 as both Ben McDermott and James Vince opened their accounts by whipping leg-side deliveries to the fence. McDermott then picked off Sams’ first two balls, the second via a domineering stride down the pitch before launching over long-off. An edged four wide of the keeper and two more off Sam Cook – one scooped over the head of short fine leg – took McDermott to 29 off 11 but he fell to his next delivery, pulling Cook straight to deep square leg.Hampshire at that point were 39 for 1 after three overs but Vince departed in the next over, chipping Shane Snater to mid-off, and Essex got a hold on the scoring to make it 55 for 2 at the end of the powerplay. The spinners then kept Hampshire in check, with Tom Prest, Dawson and Fuller all falling for middling scores and only five boundaries coming between the seventh and 16th overs.Weatherley, Howell add finishing touch
With wickets falling regularly, Weatherley had to take a circumspect approach, although he did hit one sweetly struck six down the ground off Harmer. Whiteley’s miscue off Walter left Hampshire 130 for 6 after 17, but the arrival of Howell added much-needed impetus at the death, as the seventh-wicket pair mirrored McDermott’s opening burst by lashing another 40 runs to the total. A wide full toss from Sams saw Weatherley bring up his fifty from from 34 balls, and the Hampshire No. 4 then spoiled an otherwise-decent penultimate over from Cook by going deep in his crease to slog-sweep a slower ball for six.Howell then helped plunder 14 off Sams’ closer, including a towering six over long-on the ball after being dropped by Snater, and although he was dismissed off the final delivery his 22 off 11 had given Hampshire something to bowl at. Thanks to the rain, however, and Sams late blows, it would not be quite enough.

There was a wobble in the run chase when Lilly Mills but in the end it was a comfortable win

AAP28-Oct-2022Adelaide Strikers recovered from a mini-innings stumble to beat Perth Scorchers by six wickets and exact some revenge for their loss to the Scorchers in last season’s WBBL final.Strikers were cruising at 0 for 51 at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Friday. But young Scorchers spinner Lilly Mills struck with three wickets, including the prized scalp of Strikers captain Tahlia McGrath for a duck, in 11 balls to put Scorchers back in the contest.But a nerveless unbeaten 47 from opener Katie Mack guided Adelaide to an important win with nine balls remaining.Strikers’ fourth victory of the tournament lifts them to second on the ladder, overtaking Scorchers.Mack received solid support from Madeline Penna (32 not out), with the pair putting on an unbeaten 52-run stand for the fifth wicket to close out the match.Earlier, Strikers never allowed Scorchers to build their innings with quick Darcie Brown (2-18) and spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington (2-13) on fire with the ball.Australia star Beth Mooney (34) was the pick of Scorchers’ batters, while Amy Edgar hit an unbeaten 27.Strikers are next in action on Wednesday for a clash with Melbourne Stars, while Scorchers face a short turnaround before their match against Brisbane Heat on Saturday evening.

The pair scored centuries to set up a match-winning total of 334

Abhimanyu Bose03-Sep-20231:21

Jaffer: ‘Kind of a complete game for Bangladesh’

Bangladesh bounced back from their defeat against Sri Lanka with a much-improved batting display to thump Afghanistan and secure a spot in the Super Fours of Asia Cup 2023.Centuries from the in-form Najmul Hossain Shanto and makeshift opener Mehidy Hasan Miraz helped Bangladesh post an imposing 334 for 5 before Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam helped bowl Afghanistan out for 245.Shanto followed up his fighting 89 against Sri Lanka with a brisk second ODI century, while Mehidy posted his highest score in the format before retiring hurt due to cramps in his left arm.Mehidy, opening the batting for the first time in ODIs since the 2018 Asia Cup final, took his time to get in and it was Mohammad Naim who dominated the powerplay.Naim took the attack to the bowlers from the first over, slapping Fazalhaq Farooqi’s second delivery through point for the first boundary of the match.Bangladesh were ticking along at around a run a ball for the powerplay and almost completed it without taking any damage but for a terrific googly from Mujeeb Ur Rahman that turned past Naim’s outside edge to crash into his off stump.Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mehidy Hasan Miraz took the game away from Afghanistan•AFP via Getty Images

Surprisingly, it was Towhid Hridoy who came out at No. 3 ahead of Shanto, but Shanto did not have to wait long to get in the action as Hridoy was out second ball, edging Gulbadin Naib to first slip.Shanto took six deliveries to get off the mark, with a boundary through the leg side, and then found his rhythm, hitting Naib for back-to-back fours. Mehidy and Shanto proceeded to wear Afghanistan down with a 194-run partnership off 190 deliveries before Mehidy retired hurt.Afghanistan’s star spinner, Rashid Khan, hurt himself while fielding and was introduced only in the 17th over. He started with a maiden but bowled only four overs in his first spell and was reintroduced for a second spell in the 32nd over.Bangladesh had injury concerns of their own, with Mehidy struggling throughout the innings and Shanto also pulling up while completing a run, but both batters fought on in the Lahore heat. Mehidy reached his half-century in the 24th over; Shanto pulled Farooqi for a six in the 31st to get to his.Mehidy got to his century off 115 deliveries, scampering for a single after miscuing a pull off Naib. When Rashid came back for his third spell in the 42nd over, Shanto pulled him for two boundaries in a 12-run over. In the next, Mehidy went inside out to hit Mujeeb for a six over extra cover before physios had to come out to treat him for cramps. Mehidy left the field but Shanto, who had scored 89 against Sri Lanka, reached a 101-ball century in the same over.Rashid Khan went wicketless in his 10 overs•Associated Press

Shanto was run out for 104, having slipped while attempting a single after reverse-sweeping Mujeeb.Bangladesh carried the momentum into their defence of 335, with Shoriful Islam trapping Rahmanullah Gurbaz lbw with the fourth delivery of the second over. Shoriful could have had Gurbaz two balls earlier when rapped him on the pads with an inswinger but Bangladesh chose not to review the on-field not-out decision. It did not prove costly.Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah then put on a 78-run stand off 97 deliveries, but Rahmat taking 57 deliveries for his 33 meant the asking rate was rising with every over. Rahmat eventually fell to a slower one from Taskin that stayed low.Ibrahim tried to keep Afghanistan in the hunt with a 74-ball 75 but edged Hasan Mahmud and Mushfiqur Rahim took a brilliant one-handed catch diving to his right.Hashmatullah Shahidi and Najibullah Zadran picked up the tempo, adding 62 off 52 deliveries for the fourth wicket before Najibullah missed a swipe across the line and was bowled by Mehidy.Shoriful then had Shahidi caught at deep third before knocking Gulbadin Naib’s stumps for his third wicket. Taskin finished with four, claiming the wickets of Mohammad Nabi, Rashid and Mujeeb at the back end.

Uncapped Anthony Bramble has been handed a call-up while Andre Russell is included but faces a fitness test

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2019Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard have been recalled to the West Indies T20I squad for the opening two matches against India, with uncapped wicketkeeper-batsman Anthony Bramble also earning a call-up.Allrounder Andre Russell has been included subject to passing a fitness test following the knee injury which forced him out of the World Cup. John Campbell, the opening batsman, takes the spot vacated by Chris Gayle who is unavailable due to playing in the Canada GT20.Narine, who last played T20Is nearly two years ago, is joined in the spin attack by left-armer Khary Pierre. Narine was in the frame to be part of the World Cup, but did not feel confident getting through 50-over cricket after a finger injury. The selectors are casting their eye forward to next year’s men’s T20 World Cup in Australia, where West Indies will defend their title, with the captaincy reverting to Carlos Brathwaite after Jason Holder took charge for the series against England earlier this year to try and bring some continuity ahead of the World Cup.”We felt that players like Narine and Pollard, who have played well in T20 leagues around the world, once they are fit and mentally ready to play, we must give them the opportunity to represent the West Indies again,” Robert Haynes, the intern chairman of selection, said.”It’s not just about the present – the India tour of the West Indies – but we are also looking at the T20 World Cup coming up next year and it is important that we find the right combination of players and the right formula for defending our title.”We have to make sure that we put certain things in place now, so that when it comes to picking the squad for the T20 World Cup, it becomes easier, so we are giving more players the opportunity to play and get the exposure.”Bramble, 28, will provide wicketkeeping back-up to Nicholas Pooran despite not having played an official T20 in close to three years. He did, however, captain West Indies B at last year’s Canada GLT20 and was picked up by Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL draft in May.”He is young and has a lot of ambition, and we saw his character come out in the way he batted whenever Guyana Jaguars were in problems in the West Indies Championship and Super50 Cup, so we know he is capable of getting the job done,” Haynes said.The selectors could make changes to the squad for third T20I in Guyana. India’s tour also includes three ODIs and two Tests.Squad Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Anthony Bramble (wk), John Campbell, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas

India wicketkeeper undergoes plastic surgery as well, to manage injuries suffered during Friday’s car crash

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Dec-2022The results of India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant’s MRI of the brain and spine are normal. He has also undergone plastic surgery to manage his facial injuries, lacerated wounds and abrasions suffered in a serious car accident near Roorkee, Uttarakhand, on Friday morning.Related

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MRI scans of his ankle and knee have been postponed till tomorrow because of pain and swelling.The doctors at Max Hospital in Dehradun have also given him “above knee splintage … for suspected right knee ligament injury, and suspected right ankle ligament injury”. The medical bulletin released by the hospital on Friday evening also said Pant is “stable, conscious and oriented”.The bulletin noted that “prima facie, he had sustained multiple abrasions on right-hand forearm and leg, and lacerated wounds over forehead and near eyebrow, and multiple graze abrasions on the back”.The accident took place in the early hours on Friday, when Pant was driving to Roorkee. His car, which was severely damaged in the accident, is reported to have hit the divider on the road and subsequently caught fire. Pant was initially taken to a local hospital – Saksham Hospital Multispecialty and Trauma Centre – where he was treated for impact injuries before being moved to Max Hospital in Dehradun. He had reached the hospital at 6am.Pant, 25, was not part of the India squads for the T20I and ODI home series against Sri Lanka beginning on January 3. He was due to head to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for strength and conditioning before the Test series against Australia in February.He most recently played a match-winning innings of 93 in the second Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur, which helped India clinch the series 2-0.