All posts by n8rngtd.top

Thakur, Sai Sudharsan replace Nitish Kumar Reddy and Karun Nair for India, while Dawson comes in for the injured Bashir

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2025Toss Shubman Gill believes that a combination of a good batting surface and gloomy overhead conditions made it a “good toss to lose” in Manchester after England captain Ben Stokes won his fourth in a row and inserted India.No team has ever chosen to bowl at Old Trafford and gone on to win a Test match, but Stokes believes that his team can defy that trend. “There’s pretty decent overhead conditions for bowling,” he explained at the toss. “It’s a typical Manchester wicket: quite firm, a little bit of grass coverage. Hopefully, we can make use of it this morning.”India made three changes, two of them forced, and handed a Test debut to Anshul Kamboj, the Haryana and Chennai Super Kings seamer. Sai Sudharsan replaces Karun Nair at No. 3 after he failed to pass 40 in the first three Tests, while Shardul Thakur and Kamboj replace the injured Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep.Gill said he was “a bit confused” as to whether he would have chosen to bat or bowl first, but was spared the decision as India lost their 14th consecutive toss across all men’s internationals. “The way we have played in the last three matches has been outstanding,” Gill said, isolating only the “small crunch moments” as the difference between the teams.England announced their XI two days before the game with a single, forced change from the side that won by 22 runs at Lord’s last week. Liam Dawson, the Hampshire allrounder, returns for his first Test in eight years, replacing Shoaib Bashir who fractured the little finger on his left hand while attempting a return catch in the third Test.

PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi was originally meant to be part of the presentation after the final, but the host board said he was unwell and unable to travel to Dubai

Danyal Rasool10-Mar-2025The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked the ICC for an explanation after the Champions Trophy tournament director Sumair Ahmed was not included in the post-final presentation ceremony in Dubai on Sunday. Sumair, who is also the chief operating officer of the PCB, was in Dubai for the final in his capacity as tournament director and Pakistan’s representative at the final. Pakistan were official hosts of the Champions Trophy.After India beat New Zealand to secure the title, four officials were part of the presentation ceremony, including Jay Shah, the ICC chair, two from the BCCI, one from New Zealand Cricket but none from the PCB. Other than Shah, the officials present were BCCI president Roger Binny, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia and NZC director Roger Twose. It is not customary for representatives of nations playing the final to feature in post-tournament ICC ceremonies, unless the final involves the host country.ESPNcricinfo understands the PCB was puzzled by the presence of Saikia, given that one BCCI official – Binny – was on stage anyway. But it is the exclusion of the host representative that has most antagonised the board. Representatives of the host nation are generally part of trophy presentations. The PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi was originally meant to be part of the presentations but the PCB said he was unwell and unable to travel to Dubai. They expected Sumair to stand in as Pakistan’s representative.Related

• Pakistani paranoia fuelled by Hundred snub, but reasons may be closer to home

• PCB slashes player match fees by 75% for National T20 Cup

• Shut up whiners, India had to overcome lots of burdens to win the Champions Trophy

• Indian anthem before Aus vs Eng in Lahore – PCB seeks clarification

• PCB writes to ICC after Pakistan's name omitted from logo in Ind vs Ban broadcast

While it is understood the PCB did not reach out to the ICC to inform it that Sumair would take Naqvi’s place on the podium, the Pakistan board believes the onus was on the ICC to contact it about Naqvi’s replacement. The PCB is aggrieved no ICC representative reached out to the board at any stage during the final to discuss plans for a Pakistani presence on the podium post-match.A PCB official said the ICC was yet to respond to the PCB with any explanation. ESPNcricinfo has also reached out to the ICC for a comment.The final was held in Dubai as part of a deal struck between the PCB and the BCCI. Naqvi was initially adamant the entirety of the tournament – the first ICC event Pakistan has hosted since 1996 – would be held in Pakistan. However, the BCCI said the Indian government had refused permission to their cricket team to travel to Pakistan. As such, the two boards reached an arrangement that saw India play all their games in Dubai, with all ICC events the two nations host over the next three years seeing the other side play their games at a separate neutral venue.This is the third time this tournament the PCB has approached the ICC for explanation following incidents they feel have undermined Pakistan as official hosts of the Champions Trophy. During the second game of the tournament, when India played Bangladesh in Dubai, Pakistan’s name was omitted from the logo on the official broadcast.The following day, when Australia played England at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the Indian national anthem briefly began to play instead of the Australian anthem. The PCB squarely held the ICC responsible, saying the anthem playlist was produced and distributed by the governing body, with the ICC in charge of playing the anthems before the matches. The ICC put the absence of the logo down to error, while, according to the PCB, the global governing body offered its regrets for the anthem mix-up and put it down to a DJ error.

The pitch is expected to be more spin-friendly than the first Test with Sri Lanka looking to salvage the series

Tristan Lavalette05-Feb-2025

Big picture: Australia look to build legacy, Sri Lanka hope to salvage series

Before the series opener, there were some Australians who hadn’t watched their national team play a Test match in South Asia. After watching Australia submit a near-perfect performance in Galle on free-to-air television, they might be wondering what all the fuss was about.Australia inflicted Sri Lanka’s worst defeat in Test cricket in a beatdown that felt out of the golden era under Steve Waugh. But this team isn’t satisfied just yet despite having already retained the Warne-Muralidaran Trophy on the back of their momentous series victory against India, which put them in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.They want to achieve greatness and to do that they need to finish the job in the type of ruthless fashion they haven’t always exhibited. Australia were left frustrated after a big second Test defeat to Sri Lanka on the 2022 tour, while they let series leads slip on Ashes tours in 2019 and 2023. Australia also had to settle with a drawn home series against West Indies just over 12 months ago after the remarkable Gabba Test.Related

• Sri Lanka's 'strength is spin', but it's a game Australia can play too

• Karunaratne toils his way to a place among Sri Lanka's greats

• Karunaratne: 'Series win in SA 2019 one of the most favourite chapters of my career'

• Konstas leaves Sri Lanka to play Sheffield Shield

• Ramesh Mendis recalled for second Test against Australia

A victory in the second Test will add to their growing legacy and secure a rare series victory in South Asia, adding to their triumph in Pakistan in 2022 – their only series win in the subcontinent since winning in Sri Lanka in 2011.It is unlikely to be as straightforward on a different Galle surface – it was extremely dry a day out from the game – expected to rag and against a Sri Lanka team having had to undergo some soul-searching.Sri Lanka did lose a decisive toss but mustered very little fight in a humiliating defeat. But things can change quickly in Test cricket in Sri Lanka and the hosts will hope that a change of conditions combined with the farewell of retiring opener Dimuth Karunaratne might just spark a major turnaround.Their bid to regain the Warne-Muralidaran Trophy are over, but Sri Lanka can still salvage a drawn series and arrest a recent slide in Test cricket after some strong performances last year had them close to qualifying for the WTC final.

Form guide

Sri Lanka LLLWW
Australia WWWDWMarnus Labuschagne’s poor run of form continued in Galle•Getty Images

In the spotlight: Dimuth Karunaratne and Marnus Labuschagne

Dimuth Karunaratne will retire from Test cricket after playing his 100th game in this match. It will be a grand occasion for him, and he will be keen to end his career on a strong note. After such listless batting from Sri Lanka in the first Test, Karunaratne will be tasked with helping shore up the top order. He will also be keen to reverse his own poor form after only making 7 and 0 in the first Test. His struggles against left-arm quick Mitchell Starc continued with a first-innings dismissal before he was clean bowled by offspinner Todd Murphy after a horrible misjudgment. There will be a lot of pressure on Sri Lanka’s batting order when they front up and Karunaratne will need to use his wealth of experience to help them build a platform.After encountering tough seam-bowling conditions against India, Australia’s batting order relished a benign surface in the first Test and posted their highest-ever total in Asia. Usman Khawaja made a double-century, Steven Smith and Josh Inglis scored centuries, while Travis Head set the tone with a rapid half-century. But Marnus Labuschagne‘s 20 off 50 balls stood out like a sore thumb. After being beaten all ends up by a sharp legbreak from Jeffrey Vandersay on his first ball, Labuschagne continued to struggle just before lunch on the first day in what was perhaps the only period in the match where Sri Lanka were competitive. He eventually poked Vandersay to slip as his century drought extended since Manchester in 2023. There had been some speculation that Labuschagne might be dropped, but coach Andrew McDonald has confirmed he would play. Labuschagne would want a decent score with pressure starting to mount and competition for spots heating up with the emergence of Inglis and Sam Konstas in recent times.

Team news – SL could get Nissanka boost, Connolly in line for debut

Sri Lanka could receive a much-needed boost with opener Pathum Nissanka expected to return after missing the first Test with a groin strain. He is set to replace Oshada Fernando, who made just 7 and 6 in the series opener. Offspinner Ramesh Mendis has been added to the squad and is set to replace Nishan Peiris, who failed to penetrate in the opening Test. Mendis took six wickets in his most recent Test – against New Zealand in Galle last September – and will add batting depth having made three half-centuries in his last six first-class innings.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), 7 Kusal Mendis (wk), 8 Ramesh Mendis, 9 Prabath Jayasuriya, 10 Jeffrey Vandersay, 11 Asitha FernandoPathum Nissanka missed the first Test but is likely to be fit for the second one•Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images

Australia’s line-up is settled but left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Cooper Connolly could be in line for his Test debut with sharp turn expected on this surface. The 21-year-old Connolly is a much stronger batter than bowler at this point of his fledgling career and would add significant batting depth. He is wicketless from 96 deliveries in his first-class career so far, but could be dangerous in spin-friendly conditions. If Connolly plays, Murphy is likely to make way.Australia (possible): 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Travis Head, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Josh Inglis, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Beau Webster, 8 Cooper Connolly/Todd Murphy, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Matthew Kuhnemann, 11 Nathan Lyon

Pitch and conditions

The first Test’s slow surface won’t be reused. Instead, a couple of pitches away, the surface for this match has looked drier in the lead-up, fueling belief that conditions might be heavily skewed towards spin.The players will again have to come to grips with stifling humidity, but clear conditions are forecast through the match after wet weather impacted some of the opening Test.

Stats and trivia

• Khawaja needs 133 runs to become the 16th Australian to reach 6000 Test runs
• Starc needs five wickets to overtake Ian Botham’s tally of 383 wickets and move into the top 20 on the all-time list
• Sri Lanka are on a three-match losing streak – they have lost four consecutive Tests only twice in the past decade: to New Zealand/England in 2015-16 and against South Africa/England in 2020-21

Quotes

“Dimuth’s proved that he’s the best opener around, if you look at his stats. If you take Sri Lanka batters, he’s in the top five in terms of runs scored. In the last while, he’s taken a lot of responsibility and taken the game forward.”
“Same as last Test, we’re going to wait pretty late and see what the wicket looks like. It looked drier two days out compared to the first [Test]”

Bangladesh batter was dropped from the Champions Trophy squad on Sunday morning, and scored a BPL hundred later that day

Mohammad Isam13-Jan-2025Bangladesh batter Litton Das has accepted that he was dropped from the ODI squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy because of his poor form. Bangladesh announced their squad on Sunday morning and later that day Litton smashed an unbeaten 125 off 55 balls for Dhaka Capital against Durbar Rajshahi in the BPL.”The Champions Trophy selection wasn’t in my control,” Litton said after his performance. “The selectors took the call. They decide whom to play. My job is to perform. I haven’t been able to do that. I think I was a bit upset about it. I have the same mindset before and after the game today. The day has already passed. I have played a good knock but it’s in the past. I start from zero again. I will keep working hard, let’s see what happens next.”I was given a clear message. Maybe not from the selectors but it is easy to find out why I wasn’t picked in the team. I was dropped because I wasn’t performing. There’s nothing to hide about it. Basic, normal.”Related

• Rangpur ride to seven in seven; Litton, Usman and Saifuddin put on a show

• Litton Das and Tanzid Hasan slam tons to take Dhaka Capitals to record total

• Litton and Shakib left out of Bangladesh's Champions Trophy squad

Litton hasn’t made it out of single digits in his last seven ODI innings and his previous 50-plus score was in October 2023. “Fans will support me but then when I don’t do well, people will be negative. That’s not really my concern,” he said. “I am focused on what I need to do. I haven’t been playing well, so I need to improve my game. I won’t change overnight, so I have to keep trying. People will love it when I score runs.”I am not out there to prove to anyone. I only look for improvement. I don’t think I was playing well for the last few months. I will try to become more consistent from this point, especially after this innings.”Litton began the BPL season poorly with scores of 31, 0, 2 and 9 before making 73 and 125 not out in consecutive games. The hundred helped Dhaka Capital end a run of six consecutive defeats.His unbeaten 125 contained 10 fours and nine sixes and his 241-run opening stand with Tanzid Hasan was the second highest partnership in men’s T20 cricket. Litton credited Shahin, a member of the Dhaka support staff who has given him throwdowns for years, for helping him out of his rut.”Shahin has been working in the [Dhaka Capital]) team. He has worked with Comilla Victorians for the last three years … He helps me in training all the time, and passes on information from time to time. He is capable of pointing out a batter’s mistake. That’s why I thanked him. But listen, please don’t make a news that he has now become a coach.”Litton believes Dhaka’s 149-run win against Rajshahi will help them perform better in the second half of the BPL season. “We have a good team but we haven’t been able to click so far. I think today was the first time we performed as a unit, both with bat and ball. We still have five matches left. Two teams are at the top, while the rest are around the same points. I think our run rate will improve after this game. We got our rhythm going. I don’t know if we can win the next games, but we feel more confident.”

Apart from Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell, no other Australian batter in the top seven has faced Varun before

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Mar-20251:42

Kumble: Varun has been exceptional over the last year

India could field a four-pronged spin attack again in the Champions Trophy semi-final against Australia in Dubai on Tuesday, after Varun Chakravarthy “did everything that was asked for” in the last group game, according to Rohit Sharma.Playing only his second ODI, Varun took 5 for 42 in ten overs against New Zealand as India defended their total of 249 by 44 runs. He had not played the first two group games against Bangladesh and Pakistan, but replaced Harshit Rana for the third one.”He [Varun] just showed what he is capable of. So now it is up to us to think and see how we can get that combination right,” Rohit said. “He did everything that was asked for… he’s got something different about him. And when he gets it right, he knocks people over and he takes five wickets. So it is very tempting.”Related

• Favourites India enter Australia's territory in semi-final

• How Varun reinvented himself and became India's Champions Trophy wildcard

• Varun takes five as India top group and set up Australia showdown

• Varun keen to maintain the mystery as he makes compelling semi-final case

Varun’s variations and unusual action make it hard for batters to pick him, and of Australia’s likely top seven, only Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell have faced him before. Smith also last faced Varun in 2021; he has reinvented himself as a bowler since then.”We just want to go back and think about what the Australian batting line-up will look like,” Rohit said. “And try and see what kind of bowling options will go against them.”After dismissing New Zealand opener Will Young, Varun ended any chance of a successful chase by dismissing Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell in the 35th and 38th overs. Four of his five wickets were bowled and lbw, a testament to his relentless attack on the stumps.”I think he has become more accurate now,” Rohit said, adding that there was “a little bit of inexperience” about Varun when he made his T20I debut for India in 2021. “But right now, in the last two or three years, he has played a lot of cricket. Whether it is domestic cricket, IPL and for India in the T20s. And now the ODIs as well.Varun Chakravarthy is pumped after taking a wicket•Associated Press

“He understands his bowling very well. There is definitely something about his bowling which he is using to his advantage. Some of our batters also couldn’t figure him out [in the nets], which is also nice.”Varun was a surprise and late inclusion in India’s Champions Trophy squad, having played just one ODI in the preceding home series against England. That selection came after an impressive performance for Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy – 18 wickets in six innings with an average of 12.16 and an economy rate of 4.36.”You want to try and fast-track him as quickly as possible and give him a go,” Rohit said about the selection. “Certain formats require certain skillset. And I thought whenever we look at these kinds of players, if the talent is there, then you don’t want to shy away from Varun.”There will be questions asked, there will be a few eyebrows which will be raised. But I think as a team, you want to do certain things which can help you win games. As simple as that.”

Geddes shares unbroken stand worth 195 with Luke Hollman as Kent struggle continues

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay 19-Aug-2025Ben Geddes and Luke Hollman hit career-bests as Middlesex raced to a six-wicket win over strugglers Kent at Radlett to keep their hopes of a place in the Metro Bank Cup’s knockout stages alive.Geddes led the way with an unbeaten 141, his first century in List A cricket, while Hollman made his maiden half-century in the format, the pair sharing a record unbroken stand of 195 for the fifth wicket as the hosts chased down a target of 280 with five overs to spare.Kent’s 279 for 6 was built around an unbeaten 63 for Jack Leaning and 50 for Chris Benjamin, with Leaning sharing a stand of 81 in nine overs with debutant Corey Flintoff, son of former England allrounder Andrew, who impressed with an unbeaten 29. Henry Brookes and Middlesex List A debutant Sebastian Morgan took three wickets apiece.England Under-19 international Ben Dawkins took three fours from one Noah Cornwell over and ramped Toby Roland-Jones over wicketkeeper Joe Cracknell’s head to dominate an opening stand of 52 with Jaydn Denly. The latter struggled for any fluency, his torturous effort ending when he cut Brookes to backward point. Dawkins took his boundary count to eight only to fall two short of 50 when caught by Cracknell, giving Morgan his first wicket.Benjamin and Joey Evison upped the tempo in a stand of 47 before Morgan pegged back the latter’s off stump and a chance for a fourth wicket was spurned when Brookes dropped Benjamin on 33.File photo: Luke Hollman shared an unbroken stand of 195 with Geddes•Getty Images

Benjamin profited from the life, flaying Morgan over third and crunching a seventh four through the covers to reach 50, but he fell immediately afterwards to Brookes, ending a stand of 58 with Harry Finch. Brookes struck again two balls later to remove Ekansh Singh, superbly caught by Sam Robson, and when Finch became Morgan’s third victim Kent were 198 for 6.However, Leaning and Flintoff launched their late charge, Flintoff evoking memories of his father’s batting heroics with two huge sixes, while Leaning’s beautifully paced effort was capped by clearing the ropes twice in the final over as Kent posted a daunting target.The host’s chase got off to a bad start when Cracknell was caught down the legside without scoring. Robson was then dropped at short fine leg by Michael Cohen, but later in the same Fred Klaassen over, Josh de Caires attempted an injudicious hook to sky a simple catch to Flintoff at midwicket.Robson’s response was to unleash a flurry of boundaries, the former England opener cutting and pulling with authority and with Geddes launching a huge six into the trees a 50-stand came up in 40 balls. Evison though wrestled back control by having Robson caught behind and though Davies planted a six over square leg, he didn’t stay long.Geddes continued to carry the fight, reaching his 50 with his second six, a blow which endangered those on the 4.45pm train to St Albans City. Cohen was similarly despatched into the trees and Hollman swept Matt Parkinson to the fence as the partnership prospered.Both batters were dropped, before Geddes moved to his hundred and Hollman to 50 with the help of a towering six. Landmarks reached, the pair cut loose to scamper home with time to spare.

India’s batting order will be of interest given all the shuffling they have done so far

Sidharth Monga25-Sep-20255:02

Aaron to India: Don’t chop and change batting line-up

Big picture: Who will bat where for India?

The last time India and Sri Lanka faced each other in international cricket, Sri Lanka defended their home turf like wounded lions to blank India out in an animated ODI series. Now, though, they come up against each other in an Asia Cup dead rubber with Sri Lanka already knocked out and an unbeaten India already in the final.Related

• Abrarcadabra – the four-over spell that left Sri Lanka stupefied

• Abhishek Sharma is on his way to becoming an elite six-hitter

• The relentlessness of Abhishek and the ruthlessness of Bumrah

• Suryakumar told to refrain from making political comments

However, with India seemingly playing roulette with their batting order, there is always anticipation to see what the box of chocolates throws up next. In India’s previous dead rubber, against Oman, Sanju Samson was promoted to No. 3 and Suryakumar Yadav didn’t bat at all even though India lost eight wickets. In their last match, Sanju Samson didn’t get to bat even though India lost six wickets.There must be some method to what Suryakumar and coach Gautam Gambhir are doing, but the pundits on the outside haven’t been able to figure it out. What happens next is anyone’s guess.Sri Lanka have been on the receiving end of a fickle format. There hasn’t been much separating the three teams other than India in the Super Fours. Sri Lanka have lost both their tosses, and have just not been able to post winning totals. Against India, they will need more than the toss to go their way.

Form guide

India WWWWW (last five T20Is, most recent first)
Sri Lanka LLWWWSri Lanka will hope to end a disappointing Super Fours stage with a consolation win•Asian Cricket Council

In the spotlight: Abhishek Sharma and Wanindu Hasaranga

One change India will not want to make is rest Abhishek Sharma and halt the almighty momentum he has on his side. He has 248 runs in this Asia Cup at better than two a ball. He has twice threatened to get to a century. You don’t ask a batter on such a roll to rest.Wanindu Hasaranga has gone for less than a run a ball through this tournament, and will relish bowling against a top line-up on a slow Dubai track. Especially outside the powerplay.

Team news: All eyes on India’s reserves

Like they did against Oman in the first round, there is a good chance India will experiment on Friday. Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma remain the only ones in the squad who haven’t got a game. It remains to be seen if India throw them into the mix. Playing Jitesh doesn’t necessarily mean leaving out Sanju Samson, who needs time in the middle before the final.India (probable): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Sanju Samson (wk), 5 Rinku Singh/Jitesh Sharma, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Harshit Rana, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Arshdeep Singh.Sri Lanka haven’t quite found their ideal combination through the tournament, but wholesale changes won’t make sense either. They could perhaps look to get Kamil Mishara in for Chamika Karunaratne.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Kusal Perera, 4 Charith Asalanka (capt.), 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne/ Kamil Mishara, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Nuwan Thushara.

Pitch and conditions

As the tournament progresses, scoring quickly keeps getting harder. The powerplay, and what the set batters can do outside of it, remains critical.

Stats and trivia

• India and Sri Lanka have have faced each other in Dubai once previously. It was in the Super Fours stage of the Asia Cup back in 2022. Sri Lanka won the toss, inserted India, and won by six wickets.
• Hardik Pandya needs three wickets to become the second India bowler after Arshdeep Singh to 100 in T20Is.

The series, that also featured Netherlands, finished with a three-way tie (on the points table) but Scotland finished at the top on virtue of the best net run-rate

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2025A partnership of exactly 100 between opener George Munsey and No. 3 Brandon McMullen set the base for Scotland’s comfortable win against Nepal in the tri-nation series, and it was rounded off by a collective bowling performance.Scotland’s 34-run win brought the curtain down on a series that also featured Netherlands, with all three teams ending on two wins from four. Scotland, however, topped the table on superior net run-rate. Nepal finished second.Munsey, whose highest score in the series had been 30, started aggressively and dominated a 34-run opening stand with Mark Watt. Watt was bowled by Rupesh Singh for 9 in the fourth over but Munsey and McMullen then added 100 in 9.2 overs for the second wicket, hitting nine fours and seven sixes between them. The stand ensured Scotland were going at more than ten runs per over.But then came a stutter. Munsey fell for a 39-ball 78 in the 13th over to Kushal Bhurtel, and three balls later, Sandeep Lamichhane bowled McMullen for 42. Finlay McCreath and captain Richie Berrington fell cheaply in the next two overs, too, and Nepal seemed to be clawing back. Michael Leask (26*) and Matthew Cross (17*), however, combined to take 35 off the final three overs to lift Scotland to 193 for 5.Nepal’s reply faltered early, losing four wickets in 5.1 overs. Bhurtel fell to McMullen in the first over, Bhim Sharki and Aarif Sheikh were removed by Safyaan Sharif (2 for 7), and Aasif Sheikh was run out. Dipendra Singh Airee, who became Nepal’s most-capped T20I player on the day, resisted with 34 from No. 6, but struggled with only one four and one six in his 33-ball stay.Airee fell in the 16th over with the asking rate climbing, bowled by legspinner Chris Greaves (3 for 27), who went on to also dismiss Lamichhane for a duck and Rijan Dhakal for 5. Rupesh struck an enterprising 22-ball 43 from No. 8, but ran out of partners. No. 11 Lalit Rajbanshi was run out in the 19th over to end the innings.

“If given the responsibility, I would be more than happy to take it on,” Venkatesh says about the KKR captaincy

Vishal Dikshit24-Nov-20244:23

INR 23.75 crore for Venky Iyer – Moody ‘shocked’

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were among the two franchises – along with Rajasthan Royals (RR) – who came into the mega auction without any right-to-match (RTM) options in the bag, and they are getting close to retaining a majority of their core, although with the unexpected amount of INR 23.75 crore they shelled out for Venkatesh Iyer. But by spending a combined INR 5.60 crore on opening batters Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Quinton de Kock, the defending champions have “balanced off” after breaking the bank for Venkatesh.Along with their retentions of Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh, and by buying Anrich Nortje again, they have nine players of ten from the squad that won IPL 2024.”Auctions are this way only,” KKR CEO Venky Mysore said of splurging on Venkatesh. “At the end of the day it’s about the player you want and the type of player you want in the set-up. Of course, prices have a meaning within a certain band and so it surprises you all the time. When you have salary caps like this going up (INR 120 crore compared to 100 crore last auction), obviously [player] prices will also expand. For us it was about trying to keep our core. We’ve kept six players and brought 2-3 players back from last year. that was always the kind of thinking and as far as he (Venkatesh) is concerned we definitely did’t want to find ourselves in a situation where we may not be able to bing him back. But it always balances itself. When you look at Quinton de Kock (INR 3.60 crore) and Nortje (INR 6.50 crore) that we’ve picked, it balances off in many ways. On an overall basis, it all works out.”They’ve proven on the field what they can do. You saw in a championship year, and one year we went to the final as well, in 2021. He (Venkatesh) was highly instrumental and terrific guy in the team. He had clearly given us an ultimatum that, ‘If you don’t pick me, I will be very sad’. So we didn’t want him to be sad, and we’re also very happy.”The first day of the auction saw as many as three players bag deals of over INR 20 crore each, with two of them – former KKR captain Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant – breaking the previous record of the biggest IPL deals. When asked if he was surprised by the big price tags this time as many big-name players wanted to explore the market, Mysore said, “Not really, to be honest. Players put in their base prices only, we’re the ones who are raising the paddle. It’s always a function of what the availability of the purse is and in that situation and timing what not. I still maintain that the RTM rule should have been the old rule.”