A collapse of 5 for 19 was not enough to halt Haryana’s march to the semi-finals

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2025A late collapse which saw them lose five wickets for 19 runs was not enough to prevent Haryana from beating Gujarat and advancing to the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Haryana bowled Gujarat out for 196, thanks to an all-round display, before they completed the chase in 44 overs in Vadodara.Arsh Ranga had got Haryana off to a rapid start in their modest chase, scoring 25 off 16 in a 29-run opening stand. His opening partner, Himanshu Rana, then ensured Haryana stayed on course with half-century partnerships with captain Ankit Kumar and Parth Vats.Ravi Bishnoi gave Gujarat an important breakthrough with Rana’s wicket for 66, but Vats held steady at the other end, his 35-run stand with Nishant Sindhu putting the game beyond Gujarat’s reach.Sindhu’s wicket triggered a collapse as Haryana went from 173 for 3 to 192 for 8, with Bishnoi picking three of those wickets, but the contributions from their top five meant they managed to stay ahead of the game.Gujarat had started well, with the openers Urvil Patel and Aarya Desai racing to 45 in seven overs. Then, Gujarat lost three wickets in the space of two overs after which Chintan Gaja dropped anchor at one end.But when Saurabh Chauhan and Gaja fell in quick succession after a 34-run stand, and Bishnoi was dismissed not long after, it looked like Gujarat would struggle to cross 150. However, Hemang Patel dominated a 54-run partnership for the ninth wicket to take Gujarat close to 200. He finished with 54 off 62 balls.Sindhu and debutant Anuj Thakral took three wickets each, while Anshul Kamboj struck twice.

Earlier, Jansen picked up 6 for 52 to restrict Pakistan but a late burst has ensured South Africa do not rest easy overnight

Danyal Rasool28-Dec-2024The first Test match at Centurion is tantalisingly poised after Pakistan took three wickets in nine overs to leave South Africa wobbling at 27 for 3, still 121 runs away from the 147-run target that seals a win, as well as a place in the 2023-25 World Test Championship [WTC] final.After South Africa had bowled Pakistan out for 237, they needed a fairly comfortable 148 to secure victory, but an unerring spell of accurate medium-fast bowling from Mohammad Abbas and Khurram Shahzad was well rewarded. Aside from Aiden Markram, the South Africa batters were somewhat timid in their approach to the last few overs of the day, while Abbas and Shahzad targeted the pads. Abbas brought one to jag back in sharply into Tony de Zorzi for the first breakthrough.Pakistan’s reviewing was chalk and cheese from the previous innings, successfully overturning two lbw calls. Shahzad found similar seam movement from around the wicket to strike Ryan Rickleton on the front pad, viciously enough that it hit him in line despite the batter having moved well across.Having successfully overturned that one, Pakistan repeated the formula, with Abbas finding the right line and adequate sideways movement, which has seen him find bouts of high success. Tristan Stubbs took a step out of his crease but was beaten on the outside edge, and yet again Pakistan went up collectively for the umpire to turn them down. But Shan Masood signalled to go upstairs once more and was proven right again.One of Marco Jansen’s six wickets included Mohammad Rizwan•AFP/Getty Images

Earlier in the day, Marco Jansen’s six-wicket haul had helped South Africa tighten their control over the game. He picked five wickets in the afternoon as Pakistan squandered a promising start following a rain delay that wiped out the morning session. He picked one more in the final session as the hosts returned to polish off the Pakistan tail after stubborn resistance from Saud Shakeel.Babar Azam and Shakeel put on 79 for the fourth wicket, with Babar reaching his first Test half-century in nearly two years, but holed out to deep point immediately after. Mohammad Rizwan was squeezed down leg as Pakistan crumbled around Shakeel.Persistent rain saw the game start an hour after the lunch break concluded, and Pakistan began by taking advantage of a bowling effort that was nowhere near its best. Shakeel and Babar each worked Kagiso Rabada away for four in the third over, and the runs flowed for the next half an hour. Twenty-three runs came off the next three, and though Babar still found himself beaten a few times, he was also finding the timing that in the past was so often a precursor to a big score.Corbin Bosch found that out when he missed his line twice and Babar helped himself to two fours, before a clip into the covers brought up his long-awaited half-century, his first in 20 innings. But he threw it away disappointingly, failing to get on top of a short and wide one from Jansen, Bosch barely having to move to send a devastated Babar on his way.Saud Shakeel’s struck an important 84•AFP/Getty Images

Jansen was finding the wickets that eluded him in the first innings, with Rizwan and Salman Agha falling cheaply. A brief stand between Shakeel and Aamer Jamal once more gave the impression Pakistan would go into tea six down, before Jamal lobbed a tame Dane Paterson bouncer straight to deep midwicket, and Naseem Shah helpfully nicking Rabada into the slips.Shakeel attempted to farm the strike post-tea and would enjoy some success as wayward bowling allowed for the odd boundary and comfortable late-over singles. A regal pick-up for six over midwicket was the highlight, but Pakistan’s penchant for gifting wickets to deliveries that did not merit them struck again when a knee-high full toss rapped into Shakeel’s front pad and effectively concluded Pakistan’s batting effort.It appeared to be the final nail in the coffin, but Pakistan’s bowlers have seen to it that South Africa do not rest easy overnight.

Managing director believes similarities with Test cricket could mean ODI leadership would make sense

Vithushan Ehantharajah06-Mar-2025Ben Stokes could be one of the candidates to replace Jos Buttler as England’s limited-overs captain, with Rob Key stating it would be “stupid” not to consider the Test skipper as an option to rejuvenate a struggling white-ball set-up.The move, one of many Key is considering as men’s managing director following Buttler’s resignation after a dire Champions Trophy campaign, would see Stokes become ODI captain. In that scenario, the T20I job would likely go to current vice-captain Harry Brook.Stokes has not played ODI cricket since the 2023 World Cup, a tournament that required him to U-turn on his decision to retire from 50-over cricket, during his first summer as Test captain in 2022. He had kept his options open for a potential return for the Champions Trophy, before that decision was taken out of his hands after a second hamstring tear in six months sustained during third Test against New Zealand at the end of last year.Stokes is currently stepping up his recovery in Abu Dhabi with an England Lions training group and is expected to be fully fit to start the summer with Durham. Key was also out in the UAE, and sees no reason why the 33-year-old cannot do as he has done with the Test side and re-energise an ODI team who have lost their way.”I think nothing’s off the table really,” Key said. “You look at every single option and you think, right, what is the best thing to do? How is that going to impact on other things?”Ben Stokes is one of the best captains I’ve ever seen. So it would be stupid not to look at him. It’s just the knock-on effect of what that means.”He’s an unbelievably good tactician, which we’ve seen in Test cricket, but he’s a leader of men. He’s someone who gets the best out of people. He’s someone that, when the pressure is really on, he’s able to throw a blanket around the players and actually say, ‘no, no, this is the way forward. Keep going with it’.”They’re the qualities that you need in leadership. Ben’s, as we know, an outstanding player, an outstanding leader. It’s more about, what would that then mean to him? What would that then mean to his workload?”We don’t want to risk other things as well. But there’s always a way in England, I think, where you start looking at, ‘what if it goes wrong?’ You’ve also got to think, ‘what if it goes right?’. They’re the decisions that I have to make.”Related

• Ben Stokes open to white-ball comeback as McCullum begins new England era

• Ben Stokes ruled out for three months with recurrence of hamstring tear

• Decline and fall: England face up to scale of ODI rebuilding job

• Jos Buttler quits as England's white-ball captain after Champions Trophy exit

• Buttler goes down with the ship as England journey comes full circle

That Stokes has a strong pre-existing relationship with Brendon McCullum, now in charge of England across all-formats, lends extra credence to this plan. McCullum has overseen 10 defeats out of 11 since taking over the white-ball set-up at the start of the year – a stark contrast to his work overturning their red-ball fortunes in cahoots with Stokes. England have won 22 out of their 35 Tests since the pair were brought together by Key at the start of the 2022 season.There is no doubt McCullum would be open to having Stokes on board. He stated last week that he would be open to a different captain for each of the three international formats because of their contrasting strategies. Key, however, sees a synergy between Tests and ODIs that would allow Stokes to succeed with the latter.”When you start looking at it, I believe that Test cricket and 50-over cricket are probably closer than T20s, which is the outlier now. So then that makes different things.”We look at India and the way they play T20 cricket, and they’ve got all these young players coming through, but it’s their Test players that are making the difference in 50-over cricket.”The issue, as Stokes has previously outlined himself, is the schedule. This year sees England face India and Australia in legacy-defining Test series as far as Stokes’ captaincy and the Bazball project are concerned. Should the ODI job be assumed, three-match series against West Indies (May into June), South Africa, Ireland (both in September) and New Zealand (ahead of the Ashes) will be shoe-horned into his itinerary.Brook will have a similar issue, albeit one he already has to contend with as a multi-format batter. Key has no reservations about Brook assuming a leadership role given how he captained against Australia at the end of last summer in Buttler’s absence. And with Stokes on hand to guide him – as well as halve his limited-overs captaincy duties – Key sees no reason why the Yorkshire batter cannot step up another level.”I think Harry Brook would be an outstanding captain actually. I was cautious about Ben Stokes doing it and having too much, and look how that’s gone.”I think he (Stokes) might bring out the best in Harry Brook. Being able to go out there and feel like the extra responsibility sometimes ,for people, is the best thing that can happen for them. Sometimes it’s not. They’re the decisions you have to work out.”

The series will act as preparation for Nepal to claim one of the three remaining spots at the 2026 T20 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jun-2025Nepal have been confirmed as the first of four international teams for the 2025 Top End T20 Series to be played in Darwin from August 14 to 24. The series will act as preparation for Nepal as they look to claim one of the three remaining spots at the 2026 T20 World Cup, to be played in India and Sri Lanka early next year.Nepal are scheduled to arrive in Darwin in early August and will play a minimum of six T20s, at the DXC Arena, the TIO Stadium and Cazaly’s Arena.”We are excited and looking forward to participating in the Top End T20 Series,” Cricket Association of Nepal secretary Paras Khadka said. “It presents a valuable opportunity to prepare with strong intent and focused practice ahead of our ICC T20 World Cup Qualifiers [to be held in Oman in October].Related

• Nepal and West Indies to play 'historic' first bilateral T20I series

“Competing against quality opponents in Australian conditions will provide our players with critical exposure, helping them better understand their game and grow as professional cricketers.”Nepal brought in former Australia batter Stuart Law as their head coach in March this year, after which they played a T20I tri-series against Netherlands and Scotland in Glasgow, where they finished second.After the T20s in Darwin, Nepal are scheduled to play their first bilateral T20I series against West Indies, in Sharjah at the end of September.”We could not be more excited to welcome the Nepal national cricket team to the Northern Territory and Top End T20 Series for the first time,” Northern Territory Cricket CEO, Gavin Dovey said. “Nepal has developed a fanatical following in their home country and among the Nepali diaspora, so we are delighted that all Nepalese eyes will be on the Northern Territory as we play a role in their cricketing journey.”The remaining participants and schedule of the Top End T20 Series will be announced in the coming weeks.

The cricket “was borderline impossible to play at certain stages” with the pink ball under lights in the third Test, he says

Andrew McGlashan17-Jul-2025

Sam Konstas ended the series averaging 8.33•Associated Press

Australia coach Andrew McDonald believes it is difficult to draw too many long-term conclusions around the team’s batting from the West Indies tour given the often hazardous conditions they faced, particularly at Sabina Park which he termed at times “didn’t even look like cricket”.McDonald, who questioned the future of the pink Dukes ball in Test cricket, was confident Sam Konstas wouldn’t suffer negatively from the experience of the tour as he slips back into the pack of opening contenders ahead of the Ashes. He also does not expect Marnus Labuschagne to be out of the side for long having already seen encouraging signs during his training since being dropped in Barbados.”It’s really difficult to make accurate judgments on both batting units based upon the surfaces that we played on,” McDonald told on SEN Radio. “And you take that into the third Test, which is a pink-ball Dukes on that surface, that game just moved way too fast and at times, it didn’t even look like cricket.Related

• Labuschagne eyes Test return: I thrive on proving the doubters wrong

• Stats – WI batters hit new lows, questions remain around Australia's top three

• Stats – WI post second-lowest Test total; Starc takes five in 15

• Australia's Ashes questions: Open season, two allrounders, four quicks?

“…That cricket was borderline impossible to play at certain stages. Some of those deliveries from Mitchell Starc, the way that ball behaved under lights. So it’s a bigger question for what the pink Dukes looks like for Test match cricket, really.”He conceded, though, that the series had left questions rather than answering them. “It feels as though we’ll still be a little bit unsettled in terms of what our combinations look like at the top of the order with the way that the performances have gone here,” he said. “In saying that, there’s a lot of cricket still to come to be able to gather that information.”Konstas ended the series averaging 8.33 having only once made it past 20 and he cut a forlorn figure in the closing days of the series, dropping a couple of catches during West Indies’ 27 all out and misfielding to allow them to escape equaling the lowest Test total.There remains a chance he could still open against England in Perth when the Ashes starts in late November, but that will likely require a surge of runs in the early part of the Sheffield Shield season which shapes as a bat-off to open alongside Usman Khawaja, who retains the selectors’ backing for the home summer.It has been questioned whether Konstas’ series did him more harm than good, but McDonald did not buy into that perception.McDonald on Marnus Labuschagne: “We feel as though this wasn’t going to be a huge gap before he does return because of the quality, but the start of the Shield season will really shape that”•Getty Images

“I don’t think anyone’s damaged by being exposed to Test cricket because I think what it does do is it gives you a taste of what that level is like,” he said. “All the things that come around being a Test cricketer, not just purely going out there, marking centre and going about your business.”There’s no doubt he’s got some things to work on, like all our players do, and they continually work on. He’s clear on what they are. We feel as though across the journey, he’s a highly talented player, and I hate to use that word talent, but his skillsets over time, I think we’ll see the real Sam Konstas.”At the moment he’s juggling his aggressive nature, he’s juggling his technique and the way he really wants to go about playing it. But when you’ve got up-and-down seaming wickets, it can force you into those corners a lot quicker than some surfaces that potentially are batter friendly, which we were expecting to get here.”Konstas replaced Labuschagne at the top of the order after the latter had been given a chance to open in the World Test Championship final. Labuschagne was then dropped for the first time since 2019 but there is a sense the selectors are already looking at how they can get him back in the side.Opening would appear Labuschagne’s likely route to return given Cameron Green’s strong finish in the Caribbean at No. 3 although there is also a scenario where Green slips back to the middle order. McDonald reiterated that there wouldn’t be a need for Labuschagne to open for Queensland to be considered for the Test role.”I think towards the end there [before being left out], and Marnus won’t mind me saying this, that there was a little bit of going backward and forward on plans and at certain stages he wasn’t clear,” he said. “He’s got great clarity leaving here, which is a successful tour, albeit he hasn’t played a game…and [we] look forward to what he does coming into the early Shield rounds and then putting his hand up for selection for Perth.”But he’s a quality player. He averages 46 in Test match cricket. We feel as though this wasn’t going to be a huge gap before he does return because of the quality, but the start of the Shield season will really shape that.”Meanwhile, McDonald confirmed that Starc will join Pat Cummins in sitting out the white-ball matches against South Africa in the Top End during August.

Tournament opener to be held in Guwahati; Navi Mumbai to host second semi-final and, potentially, the final on November 2

Nagraj Gollapudi22-Aug-2025The DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai has replaced Bengaluru as the fourth Indian venue for the upcoming women’s ODI World Cup starting September 30, the ICC announced while issuing the revised schedule for the eight-team tournament on Friday. According to the updated itinerary, Guwahati will now to host the tournament opener between India and Sri Lanka.Navi Mumbai will host two group fixtures involving India (against New Zealand on October 23 and against Bangladesh on October 26), the Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh game (originally slotted for Colombo on October 20), the second semi-final (October 30) and potentially the final, on November 2, if Pakistan don’t qualify. One other game – Sri Lanka vs England (October 11) – has been switched from Guwahati to Colombo. The Bangladesh vs New Zealand game on October 10 has moved from Visakhapatnam to Guwahati, while England vs New Zealand on October 26 – the only day game in the tournament – has gone the other way, Guwahati to Visakhapatnam.The changes became necessary after the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) failed to obtain police clearances to host games at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the wake of the stampede that led to 11 deaths and many injuries during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) IPL victory celebrations on June 4.Prior to Navi Mumbai, the BCCI had identified Thiruvananthapuram as a potential replacement for Bengaluru. While the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) expressed its readiness to host, it’s believed that the lack of direct flights from the city to some of the other venues proved a hurdle.Related

• Venkatesh Prasad: 'Want to bring cricket back to Chinnaswamy'

• KSCA secretary, treasurer resign citing 'moral responsibility'

In June, the ICC, while announcing the dates for the tournament, had listed Bengaluru as one of the five venues for the tournament. Along with the opener involving hosts India, the city was also scheduled to host the October 30 semi-final and the final on November 2 (if Pakistan didn’t make it).This is the latest setback for the KSCA, which has been involved in several issues with the police and Bengaluru’s civic authorities as well as the electricity department, which has cut off power supply to the venue owing to non-compliance with fire-safety regulations.Bengaluru hasn’t hosted any top-flight cricket since May 17, when the RCB vs Kolkata Knight Riders IPL 2025 game was washed out. In the aftermath of the stampede, the state government had held the franchise and KSCA responsible for the mismanagement of the parade, and instituted a one-member committee to investigate the incident. The committee subsequently deemed the stadium “unsafe” to host large-scale events. Since then, the police has refused to give permission to the KSCA to host matches at the Chinnaswamy.This forced the KSCA to shift the Maharaja T20 – the state’s premier franchise tournament – from Bengaluru to Mysuru. The KSCA had offered to host the tournament behind closed doors, but even that wasn’t allowed by the authorities.

His unbeaten 140, plus 97 not out from Matt Critchley counter Durham’s efforts of the opening day

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay09-Sep-2025Dean Elgar, batting for more than five-and-a-half hours for a well-paced first century of the season, and Matt Critchley, smashing the ball to all corners of Chelmsford, took Essex within touching distance of a first-innings lead against fellow relegation candidates Durham with an unbeaten fourth-wicket stand of 154.The left-handed opener Elgar had not strapped on batting pads for five weeks, having spent August back in his native South Africa, but after a scratchy start that echoed his season’s form, he quickly rediscovered the fluency of old with 140 not out from 264 balls. Critchley, meanwhile, has been in decent nick for most of the summer and finished on 97 not out with Essex 312 for 3 at the close, a deficit of just 21.Under heavy cloud cover, the rate of Essex’s steady acceleration through the gears was illustrated by Elgar’s partnerships for the second wicket with Tom Westley (76 in 24 overs), with Charlie Allison for the third (75 in 17) and for the fourth with the freewheeling Critchley.Durham had been dismissed at the start of the day for 333 with Jamie Porter extending his season’s wickets tally to 39 with figures of 4 for 77. A punchy ninth-wicket stand of 41 between Graham Clark and Sam Conners took the visitors past 300 and what might prove a valuable second batting point in their fight to avoid dropping into Division Two of the Rothesay County Championship.When Essex batted, their determination to grind it out initially and establish a stable platform, trundling along at little more than two an over, highlighted by Elgar and Westley taking 17 overs to post their fifty partnership, it looked like becoming a battle of attrition and willpower.Indeed, the start was so cautious that Essex had just seven on the board by the seventh over when Paul Walter was the first to depart, hanging his bat out against Ben Raine and being snaffled by first slip falling backwards.Things perked up significantly straight after lunch with a flurry of boundaries to take the run-rate above two-and-a-half. But the pair were parted when Callum Parkinson found some hitherto unsuspected turn and rapped Westley on his back pad to win an lbw decision.Elgar reached only his third half-century of the season from 107 balls with a single off his legs and then drove Parkinson through the covers for his ninth four. Allison was even more aggressive against the spinner, taking 14 off one over, including a six over the bowler’s head.Elgar slowly but surely found his rhythm and lofted Parkinson over long leg for six as the third-wicket pair passed fifty inside 10 overs. By that point the run-rate had risen above three an over.The introduction of Colin Ackermann broke the blossoming partnership, though. The part-time off-spinner pushed one through lower and faster and bowled Allison for 33 from 51 balls. Matt Critchley dented the South African’s figures a couple of overs later with a lofted four and a straight six.Three balls before tea, Elgar drove Parkinson to the far reaches of extra cover for the three runs that took him to his 53rd first-class century from 169 balls.
Compared to the earlier obduracy, Critchley raced to fifty from just 56 balls with his eighth four, driven straight past Raine, and had scored 65 when the stand passed one hundred in just 25 overs. It continued in much the same vein to stumps.Doug Bracewell and Porter both added a wicket each to their respective overnight hauls in the 19 minutes it took Essex to wrap up Durham’s first innings in the morning. Conners got a leading edge to give Bracewell a return catch and figures of 3 for 70 before Porter sent Parkinson’s off-stump cartwheeling out of the ground for a fourth wicket.

Taunton surface falls foul of ECB regulations after 35 wickets fell in two days of Durham fixture in July

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2025Somerset have been deducted four points in the Rothesay County Championship for a breach of ECB Pitch Regulations.The charge pertains to Somerset’s Division One fixture at against Durham in July which saw 35 wickets fall in just five sessions. Lord Ian Botham, Durham’s honorary president, accused his former county of deliberately preparing a playing surface that “reduces the game to a farce”.Match referee Simon Hink subsequently rated the Taunton pitch “below average”, with standing umpires Ian Blackwell and Martin Saggers noting the excessive turn across days one and two. The Pitch Regulations apply to all counties, with regulation 4.1 stating pitches must be prepared to provide “an even contest between bat and ball, and must allow all disciplines in the game to flourish”.Following an investigation by the Cricket Regulator, which included statements from players and coaches of both clubs, the Cricket Discipline Panel (CDP) has handed Somerset a sanction of eight points, of which four are suspended until the close of play of the last day of the 2027 season. The immediate deduction means their season points tally drops to 175, though they remain third in Division One.While conduciveness to spin and the result – Somerset won by five wickets – were deemed aggravating factors, the tribunal acknowledged the club had sought to prepare the best possible pitch, and that the “substandard pitch rating” was their first in the last 24 months.The tribunal also deemed it “inherently unlikely” that Somrerset deliberately prepared a poor surface given the hosts bowled first after winning the toss, exposing themselves to batting last when conditions would have been at their toughest. It also noted the voluntary steps the club has already taken to trial alternative loam to improve its pitches at Taunton, and their co-operation throughout the process.”Whilst we are disappointed by the outcome, we are pleased that the tribunal rejected any suggestion that the Club deliberately sought to produce a substandard wicket,” said Somerset chief executive Jamie Cox in a statement released by the club. “We would also like to thank the CDP for their clarity and transparency throughout the hearing process.”Somerset County Cricket Club will always aspire to produce the best possible pitches which will ensure an enthralling contest between bat and ball.”

India’s captain says he hasn’t made a plan for his future in the format yet

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Mar-20252:23

Kumble: You expect Rohit to make it count in the final

Rohit Sharma is not retiring from ODI cricket, he said after leading India to their third Champions Trophy title.”I’m not going to retire from this format, just to make sure that no rumours are spread going forward,” he said at the press conference after India beat New Zealand by four wickets in the final.Rohit said there was “no future plan” and that “what is happening will keep happening” in ODI cricket, when asked about where he stood in his career after winning back-to-back ICC titles. He had led India to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup in June last year and retired from that format after the final.Related

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“Let’s see. It is a great team achievement for the team to win two ICC trophies and to go undefeated is the icing on the cake. I have seen very few teams that have won two tournaments undefeated. For us, the most important thing was that we come here and prepared and played the opposition. We used the conditions well and won. Future plan… there’s no future plan, whatever is happening will keep happening.”At the post-match presentation, Rohit had high praise for KL Rahul’s calmness in a tense chase. Rahul was unbeaten on 34 off 33 balls in difficult batting conditions and said he was “s****ing himself” towards the end of India’s chase of 252.”Again, a very solid mind,” Rohit said of Rahul. “He never gets overawed by pressure around him. That’s one of the reasons why we wanted to have him in the middle phase, to try and finish off games for us. With his experience and class, there’s a bit of calmness when he bats.”He picks the right shots to play under pressure situations, which obviously allows the other guys batting around him to come and play freely. For example, Hardik [Pandya] came out and played some really good shots in both games that gave us some freedom. Overall, the batsmanship shown by all our batters throughout the tournament was superb.”Rohit himself got India’s chase off to a powerful start, scoring 49 off 40 balls in the powerplay and going on to add 105 with Shubman Gill for the first wicket. Rohit finished with 76 off 83 balls.”It makes it a lot easier; it gives you freedom as well,” Rohit said of India’s batting depth giving him the freedom to attack at the start. “Which is why I said earlier as well, that we wanted to have batting depth as deep as possible. [Ravindra] Jadeja coming at No. 8 gives you the confidence to go slightly hard up front with the new ball. If it comes off, it comes off. If it doesn’t, then so be it. As long as I’m clear in my mind, it’s the most important thing.”5:26

Santner: ‘Rohit puts fear in bowlers’

Rohit also praised his spinners for living up to expectations. India stuck to their four-pronged spin strategy for the last three games, starting with the last group fixture against New Zealand when they first unleashed Varun Chakravarthy, who incidentally wasn’t in the preliminary squad of 15.”Not just this game but right from the beginning, our spinners in particular, there’s too many expectations when you are playing on a pitch like that, but they never disappointed,” Rohit said. “We do understand their strengths; playing on pitches like these helped and we used it to our advantage. Throughout the tournament, in terms of bowling, we were very consistent.”Varun finished the tournament as the second-highest wicket-taker. He took nine wickets in three innings at 15.11 apiece and with an economy rate of 4.53. He didn’t play India’s first group games against Bangladesh and Pakistan, but took 5 for 42 in his first opportunity, the third group match against New Zealand.”He has got something different about him,” Rohit said. “When we are playing on such pitches, we want the batters to do something different and that’s when he becomes a lot more dangerous. He didn’t start off in the tournament for us, but when he played against New Zealand and picked up a five-for, we saw the kind of ability he possesses. We wanted to maximise that, and he didn’t disappoint. He’s got great quality in his bowling, luckily it came to use a various times.”

Three Championship clubs are keeping tabs on Leeds United manager Garry Monk, according to the Daily Star.

The 37-year-old, who was sacked by Swansea City in December 2015, has done a fine job at Elland Road since taking over the club in the summer.

With just under three months left to go until the season comes to an end, the Whites are sitting pretty in the playoff spots.

They currently reside fourth in the standings, eight points adrift of the closest playoff challengers Fulham.

Earlier this week, Monk told reporters that he is in no rush to sign a new contract, even though his current one expires in the summer.

Due to his situation, Derby County, Nottingham Forest and Norwich City are interested in possibly recruiting him, reports the Daily Star.

Steve McClaren returned to Derby just five months ago, but his failure to guide the team towards the playoffs could affect his position in the summer.

Forest have Gary Brazil in caretaker charge following the sacking of Philippe Montanier, while Alex Neil’s job could be under pressure due to Norwich’s inability to create a promotion push after getting relegated from the Premier League last season.

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