Sri Lanka Cricket doctors have suggested the injury is more serious than initially thought

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Dec-2021The quadriceps strain Angelo Mathews sustained during the ongoing Test match against West Indies has put his participation in the Lanka Premier League in doubt.Mathews himself hoped that he would miss only the first few days of the tournament, or between three and four matches. But Sri Lanka Cricket doctors have suggested that the strain could be more serious, and that Mathews could end up potentially missing the whole tournament. The LPL is set to start on Sunday, and runs until December 23.”One MRI scan has been conducted, but the results are not clear,” SLC’s chief medical officer Dr. Daminda Attanayake told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ll need to conduct another MRI around December 4, and we’ll have a clearer picture.”The results of that second test will also be shared with consulting physicians based overseas, Attanayake said.Related

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Mathews had sustained the injury while running a single on the first day of the ongoing Test in Galle. He had retired hurt immediately after, but returned to the crease after the fall of the eighth wicket, and dealt largely in boundaries, refusing to take runs. He did not take the field for Sri Lanka in the first innings, but did come out to bat at No. 9 in the second innings.Mathews has a long history of leg injuries, with problems to his hamstrings, quads, and calves causing him to miss months of cricket at a time, since 2015.He is slated to be part of the Colombo Stars franchise at the LPL – possibly as captain, though that has not been officially confirmed yet either.

“We have really got to get to the bottom of this once and for all now and make sure the debate is answering the questions we are asking”

Andrew Miller14-Jan-2022Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, has acknowledged the need to “reset” England’s red-ball fortunes in the wake of an “exceptionally difficult” Ashes campaign, after insisting that “our priority is Test cricket”.Speaking to reporters in Hobart, Harrison echoed the sentiments of England’s Test captain, Joe Root, who had called on the ECB to match the efforts they put into white-ball cricket in the wake of the 2015 World Cup – a focus that, four years later, delivered victory on home soil in the 2019 event.And while England continue to excel across one-day formats – despite falling in the semi-finals at the T20 World Cup, they are the No. 1-ranked side in that format and No. 2 in ODIs – they are currently rock-bottom in the World Test Championship, and have won just one of their last 13 matches, with nine defeats.Related

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England’s draw in Sydney last week was only their second non-defeat in 14 Tests in Australia, dating back to the 2013-14 whitewash, and came after a humiliating innings defeat in Melbourne in which England had surrendered the Ashes in just 12 days.”Our priority is Test cricket,” Harrison said. “We want to be successful at white-ball cricket, of course we do, but we absolutely need to be successful at Test cricket.”It feels like this is a moment to reset the importance of red-ball cricket in our domestic schedule, for us to recalibrate how we play first-class cricket in the UK. It’s a brilliant opportunity for us to come together as a game and really sort that once and for all.”A review of the series is due to be compiled by Ashley Giles, the managing director of men’s cricket, and Mo Bobat, the performance director, and Harrison will take the recommendations to the board, after it has been ratified by Andrew Strauss, the chairman of ECB’s cricket committee.With Giles having hinted that cosmetic changes will not resolve the game’s deep-seated issues, the recommendations are likely to include the retention of Root at Test captain, even though he has now overseen consecutive defeats on Ashes tours – the first England captain to do so in more than a century.Harrison’s tenure began in the wake of the 2015 World Cup, and he has since staked his reputation on the establishment of the Hundred – a competition that runs at the height of the English summer and which has caused the County Championship to be pushed ever further to the margins of the season.And despite some attempts to reposition red-ball cricket in the 2022 domestic schedule – which is due to be published next week – England’s failure to compete on equal terms at any stage of the Ashes has underlined how critical the Test team’s fortunes have become.Speaking earlier in the week, Zak Crawley blamed the standard of county pitches for England’s batting struggles in the course of this series, while the use of the Dukes ball, with its propensity to swing for longer periods than Australia’s Kookaburra, is another factor that Harrison said would have to come into consideration.”Sometimes the ability to effect change on something as complicated as our schedule is when you have a performance-related issue, and we have one now,” Harrison said. “This has been an exceptionally difficult tour. I don’t think we can get away from the fact that it has been another very disappointing episode in our ongoing attempt to win the Ashes in Australia.”We have really got to get to the bottom of this once and for all now and make sure the debate is answering the questions we are asking. We must not be afraid of some of these questions. Let’s have the right balance of red and white ball, let’s look at when we play red-ball cricket, the pitches we play on, the ball we use.”England’s recent problems have been exacerbated by factors beyond the ECB’s direct control – most particularly the onset of Covid-19 and the need to operate in bio-secure environments – but the crammed international schedule is an aspect of the modern game that Harrison acknowledged would have to be reviewed, even if a reduction in fixtures comes with a financial hit.Tom Harrison: “We have the opportunity to come out of this crisis with a roadmap that demonstrates that we are absolutely serious about tackling discrimination in our sport”•Getty Images

“We do have to look at the schedule – everyone knows that,” Harrison said. “The way we manage player workloads is clearly going to be a matter of premium concern as we go forward in 2022. Internationally, when we get out of the immediate aftermath in the wake of Covid, we’ve got to look at how we manage fixture workloads.”This is something that the chief executives’ committee at ICC need to tackle. It is a difficult challenge for world cricket.”The ECB is also dealing with the fallouts of the racism inquiry at Yorkshire, with the department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee concluding that the sport has a “deep-seated” problem, and warning that it needs to “clean up its act” if it is to qualify for future government funding.”We welcome the scrutiny,” Harrison said. “It’s been a difficult few months for us. We have the opportunity to come out of this crisis with a roadmap that demonstrates that we are absolutely serious about tackling discrimination in our sport, not just racism.”Despite the heightened scrutiny on his tenure, Harrison would not be drawn on the issue of the £2.1 million bonus pool that the ECB’s senior management are set to share among themselves after the launching of the Hundred.”That is a question about an employment contract,” he said. “The board set the criteria on which we are judged and that’s a matter for them.”

It has not been confirmed whether the four – which includes one player – will seek asylum in the UK

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Feb-2022Four members of Afghanistan’s Under-19 touring party which participated in the recent World Cup in the Caribbean have stayed on in the UK and not returned to Afghanistan with their team-mates.Their transit visas are set to expire on February 8 and ESPNcricinfo has confirmed the four are currently in London. It could not be confirmed whether the quartet, which includes one player, is seeking asylum in the UK.The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has made no official comment on the development.Afghanistan enjoyed a successful World Cup, finishing fourth, three places higher than in 2020. The touring party boarded a flight in Antigua over the weekend and landed in London at Heathrow airport on Sunday morning. The squad then took a flight to Kabul via the UAE, eventually landing back home on Monday morning, to felicitations from the ACB.While the rest of the Afghanistan squad including the coaching and support staff boarded that flight, four decided to stay at Heathrow.UK government rules state that a person can stay in the country for no more than 48 hours on a transit visa. That means the four members’ transit visa will expire on Tuesday morning. It was the issuance of the same visas in January that had delayed Afghanistan’s arrival in the Caribbean and nearly made them miss the World Cup.

‘Afghanistan needs them’

Former Afghanistan player Raees Ahmadzai, who was the head coach during the World Cup, said he hoped the four would “rethink” and return back to their home country. Ahmadzai said he had messaged all four. “They received my messages. But they have not responded yet,” Ahmadzai told ESPNcricnfo on Monday.”I told them Afghanistan needs them. Sports and cricket has done a lot for Afghanistan. The support we got during the World Cup was amazing, unbelievable. Sometimes when you do things for your country, it will mean a lot for you in your whole life.”Related

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More than 100,000 Afghans including at least one former president, bureaucrats, sportspersons and civilians left the country immediately after Taliban assumed power last August. Ahmadzai said that while he understood it was a “personal” choice, he did not know if the four people had a plan.”Sometimes you can get emotional and can decide in the spur of the moment, but once you re-think about what you did I think it will hurt you. I believe they will go back. It is a personal choice. Sometimes you don’t have a plan. I know these people. They were very good to work for Afghanistan cricket.”In case the four decide not to return, Ahmadzai said it would not affect Afghanistan cricket. “It will not create any problem for our cricket. But they will feel forever guilty. As a sportsperson you can travel anywhere. When I started playing cricket it was my dream to go to see UK, Europe, America, Australia and it is because of cricket I have travelled more than 50 countries. These guys are professionals, and I am still hoping they will go back to Afghanistan.”Ahmadzai said that cricket had sustained its popularity despite the country’s uncertainty and instability. “Cricket will be alive in Afghanistan. The future of the game remains bright. We finished fourth this time compared to seventh in the last edition.”We had very strong support in the Caribbean. The opposition teams praised us including Mahela Jayawardene [who] said it is amazing to see such good players at the Under-19 level and you guys will be on top one day. That means a lot for our youngsters.”

Dhaka needed 11 off the final over, and Shuvagata Hom struck successive sixes off Thisara Perera to seal the chase

Mohammad Isam09-Feb-2022How the match played out
Shuvagata Hom struck two sixes in the last over to drag Minister Group Dhaka over the line against Khulna Tigers. Dhaka needed 11 runs off the final over bowled by Thisara Perera after Khaled Ahmed conceded just four in the penultimate over.But Hom, who was dismissed at a crucial stage against Chattogram Challengers on Tuesday, slammed Perera for a straight six before pounding the ball over extra cover much to his team-mates’ delight, thus finishing with an unbeaten nine-ball 18 including the two sixes. Eventually, Khulna’s 129 would not prove to be enough.Big hit

Dhaka had removed half the Khulna side in the first seven overs. It started with Soumya Sarkar offering a catch to deep square leg off Rubel Hossain. And after a mix-up with Jaker Ali resulted in a run-out, Andre Fletcher holed out at cover off Arafat Sunny, who also removed Yasir Ali with a beautiful arm-ball off the very next delivery.But it was only when Sikandar Raza came to the crease that Khulna got back on track. Raza stopped the slide by putting together mini partnerships with all three of Mahedi Hasan, Perera and Ruyel Mia. He struck the ball well through the leg side, picking up all but a four and a six each though the off side out of a total of five fours and four sixes, as he struck 64 off 50 balls.But Dhaka too never looked settled in the 130-run chase, slipping to 12 for 2 in the fourth over. Captain Mahmudullah and Jahurul Islam added 57 for the third wicket, before Ruyel, the left-arm quick making his BPL debut, clean bowled Jahurul for 30.That followed both Mahmudullah and Shamsur Rahman finding long-off off consecutive Perera deliveries – the last ball of the 16th over and the first of the 18th – leaving Hom and Azmatullah Omarzai, the young Afghanistan allrounder, with 24 required from the last 17 balls.Big miss

Khulna’s top five departed cheaply – they were 32 for 5 in the seventh over – despite Mushfiqur Rahim deciding to bat first. Although Fletcher has looked in good form throughout the tournament and Soumya had begun to get some good form off late, they still fell for 6 and 1, respectively. Yasir and Mushfiqur, who have usually contributed when the top three has failed, also fell early. That left the remaining Khulna batters with too much to do.

A hero of West Indies’ first Test victory in England in 1950

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2022Former West Indies spinner Sonny Ramadhin has died aged 92. Details of his passing are to be confirmed.A bowler who could make the ball turn both ways, Ramadhin played 43 Tests between 1950 and 1961 for 158 wickets at 28.98. He was instrumental in West Indies’ first Test win in England, at Lord’s in 1950; West Indies won that game, the second of the series, by 326 runs with Ramadhin bamboozling the batters to take a match haul of 11 for 152.Related

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West Indies would go on to register huge wins in the third and fourth Tests as well, to complete a landmark and wholly unexpected series victory. Ramadhin along with his spin partner Alf Valentine led the wickets charts by a mile. Bowling right-arm offspin and legbreaks with no obvious change in his action, Ramadhin finished the series with three five-wicket hauls and a ten-for, his 26 wickets coming at 23.23.Spin twins Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine•Getty Images

Ramadhin, “a small neat man whose shirt-sleeves were always buttoned at the wrist” to quote ESPNcricinfo’s profile of him, got the call-up for that England tour at 21 after just two first-class games. Both he and Valentine were surprise picks for the series but would go on to bowl a lot – 377.5 and 422.3 (with the next highest being 181) overs respectively. The pair’s exploits on that tour sparked the famous Calypso song “Cricket, Lovely Cricket”.”On behalf of CWI, I want to express our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Sonny Ramadhin, one of the great pioneers of West Indies cricket,” board president Ricky Skerritt said. “Mr Ramadhin made an impact from the moment he first stepped onto the field of World Cricket. Many stories are told of his tremendous feats on the 1950 tour when he combined with Alf Valentine to form cricket’s ‘spin twins’ as West Indies conquered England away from home for the first time.”This iconic tour is part of our rich cricket legacy, which was pioneered by Mr. Ramadhin and others of his generation. His English exploit was celebrated in a famous calypso – and is still remembered more than 70 years later. Today we salute Sonny Ramadhin for his outstanding contribution to West Indies cricket.”

“If it starts clicking well, it will definitely add a new dimension to my game”

PTI14-Apr-2022Kolkata Knight Riders’ mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy is banking on a new bowling variation to turn around what has been a subdued start to his IPL season.Varun was the leading wicket-taker for Knight Rider last season with 18 wickets from 17 matches, but has only four scalps from five games this season.”It is bound to happen, people will have plans against me. Last year in the Indian leg, I had six to seven wickets in seven matches. Later on, I picked up more wickets, so you cannot predict how many wickets you are going to get,” Chakravarthy said.”I am working on a new variation which I am looking forward to bowl more. If it starts clicking well it will definitely add a new dimension to my game.”Asked further about the new variation, he said, “I am working on a legspin (variation). I have been working for it in the last two years. I have bowled in few matches and I have got a wicket out of that also.”I need to be a little more confident (bowling the new variation) and start bowling it more.”Chakravarthy returned to competitive cricket in the IPL after featuring in the T20 World Cup last year, where he failed to pick a wicket before being sidelined due to a calf injury.”I was at the NCA for the treatment of my injury. Now it is resolved very well. I could take the field without any pain killer. So, I am feeling fitter and that has helped me to bowl a lot better.”Asked what kind of adjustments he used to make on wickets which favour batsmen, he said, “Stick to your basic plan, stick to your strength rather then focussing on the batters. So, to change the mental set-up.”Varun said he considers Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan as the best spinner currently in world cricket.”In cricket, you are bound to be hit. The best spinner right now is Rashid (Khan) and even he has gone for runs (in some matches) but he is still the best. It happens in a few matches, you will have a bad day and you just need to bounce back.”Varun also said that he shares a special relationship with fellow Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine.”Sunil is like a big brother to me. If I go through a lean patch he will come to me and talk to me. He has also shared to me personal things of which he is vulnerable.”It is great of such a legend to talk to me about such things, to let me know he is vulnerable and he also goes though lean patches and tough times. So, talking to him gives you confidence and reinforces self belief.”Varun said that the current competition among Indian legspinners does not put any pressure on him as far as securing a national spot is concerned.”I see it as healthy competition. I messaged Yuzi (Chahal) also, the way he bowled, he is in amazing form right now, Ravi Bishnoi is bowling brilliantly, Kuldeep is doing very well for his team, Rahul Chahar is brilliant. I just feel nice when a legspinner does well.”

He wins the race against Tamim Iqbal, who retired hurt on 133 on the third day of the Test and is currently on 4981 runs

Mohammad Isam18-May-2022Mushfiqur Rahim beat Tamim Iqbal in the race to 5000 Test runs, becoming the first Bangladesh batter to reach the landmark. He achieved the feat with a couple to fine leg off Asitha Fernando on the fourth day of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Chattogram.Tamim, who retired hurt on 133 on the third day following cramps on his back and wrist, is currently at 4981 runs.In 2015, Tamim had overtaken Habibul Bashar’s tally of 3026 to become Bangladesh’s leading run-getter in Test cricket. Since then, the record has changed hands a couple of times between Tamim and Mushfiqur. Coming into this Test, Mushfiqur was Bangladesh’s leading run-scorer with 4932 runs, while Tamim was on 4848.Having started his career in 2005, Mushfiqur is Bangladesh’s most experienced Test cricketer, playing in his 81st Test. He is also the longest-serving international cricketer from the country.Starting as a lower-middle-order batter, Mushfiqur took 20 Tests to reach 1000 Test runs. But his role in the Bangladesh team grew when he was made captain in 2011. The subsequent 1000-run milestones took 15, 17, 14 and 15 Tests respectively.Mushfiqur has made 3515 of his Test runs as a wicketkeeper but these days Litton Das, who was batting with him at the time of reaching the 5000-run landmark, dons the gloves for Bangladesh. Mushfiqur has also made 6697 runs in ODIs and 1495 in T20Is.

Coach enthused by the growth of a “fantastic” bunch as team eyes 42nd Ranji Trophy title

Srinidhi Ramanujam18-Jun-2022Three-hundred-and-eighty-two days into his job, Amol Muzumdar can now heave a sigh of relief after coaching Mumbai to within touching distance of a record 42nd Ranji Trophy triumph. They will meet Madhya Pradesh in the final, which begins on June 22 in Bengaluru.Getting the team “back on track in red-ball cricket” was his priority since he took over the reins as the head coach from Ramesh Powar in June 2021, and the months of hard work have come to fruition.Muzumdar’s mantra for success was simple: follow the process that is working in the dressing room and show complete commitment till the end.Related

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“This is a different generation you are dealing with here,” Muzumdar says of Mumbai’s legacy and handling the current bunch of players. “I personally feel it is another game [the final]…””We haven’t looked at the quarter-finals or the semi-finals or the finals. There are systems that are working in the dressing room, and we would like to follow that till the last ball is bowled in the Ranji Trophy season. That was our commitment at the start of the season.”The process that he is talking about also emphasises on an individual’s progress – that is giving him “immense pleasure” – rather than the team’s result. Despite just managing to sneak into the knockouts, players have stepped up for Mumbai.Suved Parkar scored a double-century on debut; Sarfaraz Khan hit 153; Shams Mulani picked up a five-for, hit a fifty against Uttarakhand and then scored back-to-back half-centuries against Uttar Pradesh; Yashasvi Jaiswal has cracked three consecutive hundreds; Hardik Tamore rose to the occasion in the absence of the experienced Aditya Tare; Armaan Jaffer played the long innings; and the bowlers collectively chipped in at important stages to turn the tide.Shams Mulani leads the bowling charts with 37 wickets this season•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

So when everyone knew what they were doing, the outcome was visible.That apart, one of the things that Muzumdar and the team were also particular about was managing the workload of the bowlers and ensuring they didn’t feel burnt out.Decided even before the start of the season was a five-bowler strategy without looking back at it. The result? Left-arm Mulani now leads the bowling charts with 37 wickets, the pace duo of Dhawal Kulkarni and Mohit Avasthi has accounted for 26 strikes, and offspinner Tanush Kotian has 18 wickets to him.And more importantly for Mumbai, all of them have played all five matches.”The bowling unit has been fantastic, they’ve been putting in the effort throughout – 365 days,” Muzumdar said. “Trainers and physios have done a fantastic job. Dhawal has led the pack nicely. He has been the sort of a guy who mentors and takes them under the wings and gives them the freedom to do that.”Shams Mulani’s… terrific performance this season. He didn’t pick up a wicket this match [semi-final], but he has been wonderful this season so far. There are some tweaks that have happened during the season and that’s paying off.”Muzumdar feels that the “bold” gen next has the “sense of the Bombay legacy” growing up in the of Mumbai, and that every player values the coveted Mumbai cap.For instance, this is what Muzumdar said to Jaiswal before the knockouts: “If you like batting, you show me. There is no point talking in the dressing room. If you are between those 22 yards, you can display that you like batting”.And Jaiswal proved it by adding three centuries on the trot. Interestingly, in the semi-final, he swallowed 54 deliveries to get off the mark to eventually to get out on 181. Mind you, Jaiswal was playing first-class cricket immediately after being with Rajasthan Royals, tuning up for T20 cricket, until just days before the Ranji quarter-finals.”The only difference [in this generation’s approach] is how you take it and how you bring it to the dressing room; how you keep that dressing room light,” Muzumdar added. “It should not be heavy. That’s been the goal.”This generation has been fantastic. I keep telling them if you keep working on your game, the world is your oyster. There’s no looking back. Look at the opportunity. It’s been wonderful working with them, [and] just shaping them. Seeing them grow gives me immense pleasure.”Keeping the group motivated was a “different challenge this season” as Ranji was played in two phases, but Muzumdar said that the team bonding sessions with the National Security Guards (NSG) in October last year and an in-season fitness program during the month of April and May for the Ranji players who were not part of the IPL also helped.All said and done, the final is only four days away, but Muzumdar is not fretting over their opponents Madhya Pradesh or their coach Chandrakant Pandit, who had led Mumbai to two Ranji titles, as well as Vidarbha twice recently. Pandit was also the team’s coach back in 2016-17 when Mumbai had last reached the Ranji final.”There are a lot of things that happen in a season – a lot of ups and downs, out-of-form players and so many things to deal with,” Muzumdar said. “We would like to follow our process and focus on what we’ve done in our dressing room”.

Australia will likely be without Mitchell Starc in the second game after he suffered a badly cut finger in the first match

Andrew McGlashan08-Jun-2022Some advice from David Warner may have helped his short-of-runs opening partner Aaron Finch start the Sri Lanka tour with a half-century.Finch entered the tour with his form again under scrutiny after four low scores in five innings at the IPL and unconvincing returns for Australia for much of the last 12 months. Former team-mate Shane Watson had even gone as far as to say that Finch’s form could be a “liability” for Australia heading into their T20 World Cup title defence later this year.Related

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For a split second on Tuesday night, it looked as though the Finch form talk would bubble on, when he was given out lbw third ball against Maheesh Theekshana. However, the DRS showed a thin edge and either side of a rain delay Finch clubbed his way to 61 off 40 balls with four sixes.During the IPL, which had brought contrasting returns for the opening pair, Warner had spotted an issue that was playing a part in Finch’s problem and sent some advice over text. “[I just said] not to walk out into the ball, let the ball do the work in the air,” Warner said. “If they want to bowl nice and full, if you stay still, keep that leg-stump line, you are going to hit full contact with the ball.”He was probably moving a little too much, was walking straight into the ball and was still moving at the time of the delivery. You don’t really want to do that unless you are charging. Just kept in touch with him, I always do, we support each other as much as we can. If we see little things we try to help out by dropping a message.”Finch’s innings actually made it back-to-back half-centuries for him in T20Is after he finished the Pakistan tour in April with a fifty. The unbeaten stand of 134 with Warner was also their fourth century partnership in T20Is, taking them to the top of the list for Australia ahead of the three made by Warner and Watson.”For Finchy, it’s about keeping it simple and not moving too much around the crease,” Warner said. “He looked to hit down the ground [when] the ball was in his area, he looked to hit his slog sweeps which he’s very, very good at. You could see his energy was a lot different, running between wickets, he was up and about. It was great to see.”The pair also made a statement against Sri Lanka’s key bowler, Wanindu Hasaranga, by taking his opening over for 19 runs, although Warner said it was not premeditated and instead a response to Hasaranga giving the ball plenty of air.Australia will look to wrap up the T20I series in the space of 24 hours with the second of back-to-back games in Colombo on Wednesday, but they will likely have to do it without Mitchell Starc, who suffered a badly cut finger in rather bizarre fashion.In his opening over, the index finger of his left hand clipped a spike on his boot during his follow through. It was patched up by the physio and he was able to complete his four overs, taking 3 for 26 including the wicket of Pathum Nissanka, which started Sri Lanka’s nosedive of 9 for 28. But he won’t be able to start a new match with the same about of protection on the injury. Jhye Richardson will be the likely replacement if Australia retain the same balance in their attack.

No expectation of wholesale changes for England despite their malfunction at the Ageas Bowl

Andrew Miller08-Jul-20221:45

Was this a display of India’s new approach in T20Is?

Big picture

Pity the poor put-upon ground staff at Edgbaston. Barely four days have elapsed since they were watering down the wicket at the end of England’s thrilling chase in the long-delayed fifth Test – and here we are again, back to Brum as the England-India one-day roadshow gathers pace. What’s more, the change of livery around the stadium has happened not once this week, but twice, following Thursday’s shoehorned quarter-final in the Vitality Blast (although, for all the efforts that they went to ensure a home tie, Birmingham Bears are entitled to wish they hadn’t bothered).For some of India’s biggest guns, however, there may have been a sense of confusing continuity as they remained billeted in the city after the deflating end to that Test, watching the manic scenes unfold around them in the stadium, and waiting for their white-ball colleagues to swing back and link up with them in the Midlands.Related

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Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah will have had plenty to ponder in the interim; wondering, on the one hand, how that fifth Test got away from them – and with it India’s first series win in England since 2007 – as England’s remarkable cruise to a record 378-run chase provided tangible evidence that their “Bazball” mentality could be here for a long time, as well as self-evidently a good time.And talking of rebooted approaches to batting, there was a clear sense too at the Ageas Bowl – as a line-up comprised mainly of understudies romped to an emphatic 50-run win in Thursday’s first T20I – that, given half a chance, a new philosophy could be set to take hold of India’s white-ball game. A determination to get on with it from the get-go, to treat wickets in hand as “resources”, and to value distance travelled over time spent – all of these are arguably new traits for a team that has rarely struggled to boss their bilateral series in recent times, as shown by their current run of 17 wins in 19 completed T20Is, but whose inherent reticence was dramatically shown up at the last T20 World Cup, and before that at the 2019 ODI World Cup too.By contrast, reticence is not an accusation that can often be pinned on England’s white-ball dashers. If anything, their default setting since 2015 has been to go “too far”, as Brendon McCullum recently said of his new-look Test team, with the thrill of some truly spectacular scoring feats offset by the knowledge that, on certain days, against certain bowlers, and in certain conditions, they are liable to come an equally spectacular cropper.That, however, wasn’t really what happened at the Ageas Bowl. It was an unusually slow puncture of a batting display, especially given England’s known love of a chase. They seemed unduly shocked by Jos Buttler’s first-baller – quite the comedown from his Netherlands trouncings, and on his first day as England’s official captain too. Bhuvneshwar Kumar in particular was magnificent, Jason Roy was quite unable to send it in his usual fashion, and at 33 for 4 from the first ball after the powerplay, there was no coming back.A response, however, does seem inevitable. For all that Buttler now has four ducks in his last seven innings as captain, his incredible form at the IPL guarantees lasting respect from his Indian opponents, as well as an expectation that, if he gets in, he’ll get going. And it won’t be often that he and Liam Livingstone contribute not a single run between them. That said, the smarts with which Hardik Pandya skinned England’s top order goes to show the enviable variety in India’s attack, and with Bumrah returning to lead the line, their quality is set to go up a notch at Edgbaston too.There is plenty at stake for Virat Kohli is the upcoming games•BCCI

Form guide

England LLWLW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)

India WWWWW

In the spotlight

Everyone’s got a theory or ten about Virat Kohli. Michael Vaughan, for instance, reckons he needs to go and chill on a beach for three months, but to watch the manic way in which he was revving up his team in the field during the Edgbaston Test, there doesn’t seem to be a lot lacking from the competitive side of his game. In terms of output, however, he’s in an undeniably fallow period, and an unusually vulnerable one when it comes to his T20 game. His returns in the IPL were underwhelming by every relevant metric – 341 runs in 16 matches at an average of 22.73 and strike rate of 115.98, with just two fifties. His outstanding record across formats in Australia means he remains a shoo-in for the next T20 World Cup, but at a time when his Fab Four contemporaries are starting to feel squeezed out of their own team’s T20I plans, Kohli will appreciate there’s plenty at stake in these coming games.It was confirmed earlier this week that Moeen Ali is coming back to Edgbaston on a full-time basis from next season, after signing a three-year deal with Warwickshire (nominally white-ball-only, but thanks to the thrill of Bazball, he has hinted his Test retirement may yet be rescinded). This, then, is a chance for an early reacquaintance with his home crowd – although he may be mindful too of the last time he faced India at Edgbaston, in a T20I in 2014, when he was booed by a section of fans due to his Anglo-Pakistani heritage. Such matters are back in the spotlight this week, following the racially motivated incidents during the Test match that have led to a criminal investigation from West Midlands Police, with undercover “spotters” being deployed in the stands on Saturday. Personally speaking, however, Moeen should be in the form and the frame of mind to let his cricket flourish this weekend – following two timely wickets and a short but powerful cameo of 36 from 20 in England’s otherwise flaccid innings at the Ageas Bowl.

Team news

No expectation of wholesale changes for England despite their malfunction at the Ageas Bowl, although two bowling tweaks are anticipated. Both Tymal Mills and Reece Topley are expected to be rotated out of the line-up after their exertions on Thursday, with David Willey – whose absence from the first game was telegraphed by his release to play (and win) for Yorkshire in their Vitality Blast quarter-final at The Oval on Wednesday – likely to slot back in as the fourth left-arm seamer of the series. Alongside him, we could see an international debut for Lancashire’s 34-year-old Richard Gleeson, which would complete one of the more remarkable rags to riches tales on the county circuit.England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Moeen Ali, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Harry Brook, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 David Willey, 10 Richard Gleeson, 11 Matt ParkinsonIt won’t be often that Jos Buttler (above) and Liam Livingstone contribute not a single run between them•Getty Images

India, by contrast, are expected to make all manner of changes to their winning line-up – in spite of how impressively their Ageas Bowl line-up met the full-throttle tempo expected of modern T20 line-ups. Neither Deepak Hooda nor Suryakumar Yadav deserves to be benched following their pitch-perfect cameos at Nos. 3 and 4, but one, or both, is bound to make way for the returning Kohli, and conceivably Iyer too. Dinesh Karthik unleashed some lusty late blows on his return to the fray, but Pant’s 203 runs in the Edgbaston Test conceivably trump his impact. That or India may sacrifice a top-order batter to keep both wicketkeepers in the XI. Meanwhile, Axar Patel cedes his spinning allrounder’s berth to the mighty Jadeja. Similarly, Arshdeep Singh let no one down on debut, but Bumrah is waiting in the wings. Rahul Dravid is set to take over as coach once more, after VVS Laxman oversaw the opening match.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav / Deepak Hooda / Shreyas Iyer, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Pitch and conditions

Edgbaston has hosted an absolute ton of cricket recently. There have been five bat-first wins out of eight in the Blast this season, where scores batting first have ranged from 101 all out to 228 for 8. Warm, clear weather is anticipated for the duration of the match.

Stats and Trivia

• Despite his fallow run of form, Kohli’s recent T20I form against England has been impressive. In the 2021 home series, he made scores of 73* (49), 77* (46), and 80* (52) in three of the last four matches.
• Chris Jordan’s two wickets in the first T20I enabled him to overtake Adil Rashid and become England’s top wicket-taker in T20Is, with 82.
• Roy needs 50 more runs to reach 1500 in T20Is for England.
• Hardik needs three more wickets to reach 50 in T20Is for India.
• England has won each of the three previous T20Is it has contested at Edgbaston, against South Africa in 2012, India in 2014 and Australia in 2018
• The Edgbaston T20I will be shown live on the BBC in the UK, one of two free-to-air England men’s fixtures per season under the new ECB rights deal.

Quotes

“Not really, to be honest. I think there’s a lot of guys in that team who you know are going to be aggressive and that’s how T20 cricket is played. Everyone has been evolving that style and there’s certainly nobody that I can see over time who thinks it’s a better idea to play more cautiously, so I expect all teams to be positive.”
“That’s something Team India is looking at: the way we bat between [overs] 7 and 15. We’re making a conscious effort to put pressure on the bowlers – to try and think of risk as a positive option, not a positive one. It’s one thing trying to have the intent but being consistent with that requires a lot of skill, and the boys are showing it.”