All posts by n8rngtd.top

‘He got 91 from 34 balls against KKR, probably that is the best innings I have seen in the IPL’

ESPNcricinfo staff04-May-20199:11

Bumrah will be the best bowler at the World Cup – Yuvraj

England and India are firm favourites going into the 2019 World Cup, according to Yuvraj Singh, Player of the Series in the 2011 edition of the tournament.Speaking at a promotional event on Saturday, Yuvraj also included Australia among his favourites.”My first two teams are England and India,” Yuvraj said. “Obviously with [David] Warner and [Steven] Smith coming back [from their ball-tampering bans], Australia will be in contention. West Indies also looked a very power-packed side. You can’t say much at this stage. I think it would be India and England first, third would be Australia. Fourth I don’t know. I will tell you later…”Yuvraj, who last played an ODI in June 2017, said Hardik Pandya could make a big impact for India, given the form he carries into the World Cup from the IPL.”I was actually having this conversation with him yesterday where I told him that “you have a great chance of performing really well with the ball and bat,” the kind of form he is in at the moment.”Definitely, the way he is batting at the moment, it is phenomenal and I hope he carries that form (into the World Cup). He has been bowling well in patches but as I said it is all about how you handle the pressure… I just hope that Hardik has an awesome tournament, the way he is batting at the moment.”Hardik Pandya targets the leg side•BCCI

Among the positive signs Yuvraj sees in Pandya’s batting is his big hitting against quality bowlers.”He got 91 from 34 balls against KKR, probably that is the best innings I have seen in the IPL just because he hit four quality bowlers he was batting against,” Yuvraj said. “When you are doing that, you know that someone is batting very well.”Yuvraj is enthused by the form of India’s batsmen, but he cautioned that T20 form cannot be a guarantee of ODI form.”See you can’t really compare T20 form with 50-overs. In T20 you don’t have the time and you have to start going and hitting fours and sixes and it’s a different ball game,” Yuvraj said. “In 50 overs you have a lot of time (to get) set and start going, you can’t really assess 20-overs form for 50 overs.”MS [Dhoni] is in good form, Rohit [Sharma] is hitting ball well so is Virat [Kohli], Shikhar [Dhawan]. If you look at 90 per cent of the guys they are in good form.”At No 6, Kedar [Jadhav], you get less opportunity to show your form so I’m pretty happy with the way all the guys are playing.”The 2019 World Cup begins on May 30 with England facing South Africa at The Oval. India’s campaign begins against South Africa on July 5.

Opener steps up after sleepless night, as infant daughter is taken ill on eve of game

George Dobell at Trent Bridge17-May-2019Jason Roy had to overcome a lack of sleep and concerns about his new-born daughter to make a match-winning century against Pakistan.Roy made 114 – the eighth century of his ODI career – to help England to the fourth highest successful run-chase in their ODI history at Trent Bridge; a result that gives them an unassailable 3-0 series win.But afterwards Roy revealed he had spent much of the night in hospital after his daughter, Everly, was taken ill and managed only a couple of
hours’ sleep. While Everly, who is seven weeks old, is understood to be out of danger, Roy returned to be by her hospital bedside immediately after the game.And while he admitted it “was not the most fluent innings of my life,” Roy described it as “a special” performance in testing circumstances.”I had a bit of a rough morning, so this one is a special one for me and my family,” Roy told the BBC. “It was my little one. We had to take her to hospital at 1.30 in the morning.”I stayed there until 8.30 and came back for a couple of hours sleep. I got to the ground just before warm-up and cracked on. It was a very emotional hundred.”Meanwhile Jos Buttler – captain in place of the suspended Eoin Morgan – expressed his confidence in England’s run-chase despite their apparently challenging total.”I thought the bowling unit did a great job to keep them to 340,” he said. “As daft as it sounds, I didn’t think 340 seemed such a vast score on a wicket like that with a very fast outfield and small boundaries.”The strength of the batting line-up has been a big plus for us overs the past few years. Jason played fantastically well and it is great to watch him in full flow.”We had four really poor overs with some soft dismissals, but Ben Stokes played fantastically well and for him to soak up that pressure and play so well will give him a lot of confidence.”England were also grateful for some flawed fielding from the Pakistan side, too. As well as several dropped chances, the ground fielding cost Pakistan at least a dozen runs while Tom Curran survived a run-out chance on 6. Curran, running for overthrows after a direct hit had removed one bail from the stumps but sent the ball ricocheting
into space, might have been run out had Sarfaraz Ahmed, the Pakistan captain, appealed when removing the remaining bail as Curran attempted to complete a second run.The Laws were updated a couple of years ago so that instead of removing a stump from the ground in such circumstances, only the remaining bail needs to be removed. Curran went on to make an important 31.”We had enough runs on the board,” Sarfaraz said. “If we had fielded well, we would have won this game.”The only thing we can do is work hard. Over the last year-and-a-half our fielding has been much improved, but in these three matches it is
a concern for us.”I’ve seen a replay of the run-out. I thought both bails came off and, if the third umpire saw on TV, hopefully he would tell the on-field umpires. But we didn’t appeal.”

South Africa’s veteran spinner will be hoping to kickstart their World Cup against Bangladesh, whether he opens the bowling or not

Andrew Miller at The Oval01-Jun-2019Imran Tahir’s solipsistic wicket rampages are not everybody’s cup of tea. Some might argue, with justification, that in a team sport such as cricket, the direction of travel in that moment of exquisite release after the snaring of an opposition batsman ought to be towards one’s team-mates (including the chap who has often just held a catch for you) rather than towards the most sparsely populated corner of the outfield.But then Tahir’s career has been uniquely reliant on his own sense of direction – whether that means emigrating from his native Pakistan for the love of a good woman (as he did in the wake of the 1998 Under-19 World Cup in South Africa), or making his international debut for that newly adopted country at the age of 31, and at the 2011 World Cup in India to boot.So you could forgive him his glee on Thursday morning, when he conjured up South Africa’s undoubted highlight of an otherwise chastening tournament opener against England. Not content with becoming the first spinner (the first non-right-arm seamer, in fact) to bowl the opening delivery of a World Cup, he followed that up, one ball later, by stopping the previously rampant Jonny Bairstow dead in his tracks for a first-ball duck.ALSO READ: Kagiso Rabada TCM interviewAnd so, while the wider focus for South Africa has to be on those inevitable early frissons of anxiety that only World Cup campaigns can cause, Tahir could be excused for taking a moment on the eve of the game to pause, to take stock, and to reflect on the prospect, unthinkable a decade ago, of playing in his 100th ODI.”It feels really special,” Tahir said. “It’s been an amazing journey. I always dreamt that, but I never thought I will be here one day playing my 100th game for South Africa. It’s an absolute honour and privilege, being given the opportunity by the lovely people from South Africa.”I’m just really grateful to everybody, and I hope that from myself, that I give everything that I could for the country.”While he has clearly been living the dream for the past decade (and a pretty wild one at that, given that it began with him providing for his siblings by packing bags in a retail store in Lahore), Tahir knows that he is nearer the end than the beginning.He turned 40 back in March, and at some stage in the course of the ten fixtures still available to South Africa in this tournament, he will call time on the 50-over leg of his international career at the very least. The World T20 in 2020 remains a plausible postscript for a player who will be returning to The Oval immediately after the World Cup to play for Surrey (his eighth county) in the T20 Blast.”Obviously, if I look back, I’m really proud of myself,” he said. “I’m the guy who come through a lot of hard patches, I’ve seen a lot of hardships. I lost my parents without them seeing me play international cricket. So these things are really special to me, and for my family.”I have not seen my brothers or sisters in the last two years, so this country that I’m representing and every game I’m playing for is really important to me, and I’m really proud. I’m just really grateful to my family. They understand that, you know, I’m away from them, but there is an important reason for that.”Indeed there is. For all the talk of how the round-robin format of the 2019 World Cup can be forgiving to sides who make a slow start to the tournament, South Africa’s itinerary is proof that there will be jeopardy at every step of the group stages. Defeat against Bangladesh – Champions Trophy semi-finalists and recent tri-series winners in Ireland – would leave them excruciatingly placed going into India’s opening match in Southampton on Wednesday.”Look, there is always a pressure if you play every game and especially when you are representing your country,” said Tahir. “But you can take the pressure positively or negatively, and we are very positive. We have been beaten by a very good England team who has been dominating world cricket for a year or so, but we are going to learn from our mistakes.”Imran Tahir celebrates Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal•AFP

Those mistakes, for the most part, were made by the batsmen whom Tahir admitted had allowed themselves to be rushed in the run-chase. Broadly speaking, their bowlers and fielders were exonerated after limiting England to a daunting but obtainable 311 for 9 – and Tahir was a key factor in that performance, thanks to that initial impact and the overall energy of his two-wicket display.”I am the kind of guy who likes challenges and I like to think that my captain [Faf du Plessis] can give me a ball in any situation and I will be the first guy to say yes,” he said. “It was a plan which I had been working on for the last year or so, so I think we knew that it was going to be pretty much a shock for everybody.”It was a great challenge, bowling against two top players in world cricket who have been in form, and we were really pleased as a team with the way it came out.”The same strip will be in use for the Bangladesh match, which may tempt South Africa into a repeat performance (not that the man himself would be drawn). But whenever he enters the fray, you can be sure that further crucial breakthroughs will cause his team-mates to gravitate towards him once again … wherever in the outfield his cavorting may carry him.”I always look for one thing, and that’s hard work and to never give up,” Tahir said. “I know I’m the oldest guy on the team, which I’m really proud of, because playing on this team, you need to be very fit.”I’m really enjoying my cricket. I’m enjoying my team-mates. I just hope as a team we have a great World Cup, like how we thought before we came to England.”

Contributions throughout the order, aided by some poor Leicestershire fielding, gave the home side a solid first innings in tricky conditions

ECB Reporters Network24-Jun-2019Alex Wakely made his first half-century since resigning the Northamptonshire captaincy to lead his side to a good opening day against Leicestershire at Wantage Road. Wakely’s 65 in testing conditions set Northants up to make 299 having been sent in before the visitors survived three overs to the close 6 for 0.Wakely’s 76 on the first day of the season was becoming a distant memory with a high score in the Championship since then of only 28. Stepping down as captain didn’t bring immediate reward with an eight-ball duck at Durham in his previous innings, but here he battled away to make important runs against the moving ball.He arrived in just the sixth over of the morning and flicked Mohammed Abbas through midwicket for his first boundary before imperiously pulling Neil Dexter’s first ball through the same region on his way to 36 not out by the lunch.After the break, another pull brought up a second half-century of the season in 102 balls with eight fours before he was tremendously caught at second slip in Abbas’ first over of a new spell 20 minutes before tea. Trying to force off the back foot, Wakely flashed an edge towards the cordon where Colin Ackermann stuck up a left hand to claim a fine catch.It ended a stand of 39 for the fourth wicket – one of several useful partnerships that Northants compiled. The ball moved all day on a green-tinged pitch and under heavy cloud and it was difficult to envisage the batsmen ever getting completely on top so to nudge the board along with good purpose – reaching 187 for 4 at one stage – was a solid effort.There were few cheap wickets. Rob Newton fell to the new ball for just 5 but everyone else got a start. Ricardo Vasconcelos worked hard for 25 before lazily driving to gully. Temba Bavuma was always scratchy but got to 20, then Dieter Klein found his outside edge with a good delivery. Rob Keogh looked in good touch, striking five boundaries but fell over a full delivery from Chris Wright to be lbw for 34.The theme continued on a day where it was hard to say any batsmen were really settled. Adam Rossington, now Northants’ Championship captain, made a breezy 45 – violently pulling Dexter over midwicket and repeating the trick against Klein to raise a first batting point. But Rossington was bowled by Will Davis and it began a slide from 210 for 5 to 250 for 9 as the second new ball claimed 3 for 7 in 13 balls.But just when Northants were about to be rolled over Matt Coles, in his second match on loan from Essex, swung 41 in 34 balls including two mighty sixes – one over midwicket and the second over deep square – to almost claim a third batting bonus point before No. 11 Ben Sanderson chipped a catch back to Abbas.But Coles should have been taken on the deep midwicket fence with the score at 265. It was one of at least seven catches that Leicestershire missed in a miserable display of fielding. Paul Horton at first slip, wicketkeeper Lewis Hill and Harry Dearden all missed two chances each as the visitors conceded an over par total given the conditions.

Faf du Plessis was not included in South Africa’s T20 squad, but will be captain for the three-Test series that follows the T20s

Liam Brickhill13-Aug-2019Quinton de Kock will captain South Africa’s T20 side during their upcoming trip to India. There are also three newcomers in the squad for the three-match T20 International series, with Temba Bavuma and Anrich Nortje included and Lions allrounder Bjorn Fortuin in line for an international debut.Faf du Plessis was not included in South Africa’s T20 squad, but will captain South Africa in the three-Test series that follows the T20s, with Bavuma named as his vice-captain. Cricket South Africa’s acting Director of Cricket Corrie van Zyl stressed that du Plessis “remains an important part of our plans for white-ball cricket” despite his absence from the T20 squad.Nortje was one of three new caps in South Africa’s Test squad, along with wicketkeeper Rudi Second and spin-bowling allrounder Senuran Muthusamy.Offspinner Dane Piedt returns to the Test squad on the back of very impressive performances in domestic four-day cricket, having topped last season’s bowling tables with 54 dismissals. Also included is Zubayr Hamza, who was one of only two batsmen to make double hundreds in the franchise four-day competition last season, and made his Test debut against Pakistan in January.”All three newcomers to the Test side have more than earned their spurs through impressive performances in last season’s Four-Day Franchise competition,” said van Zyl.”We feel we have covered all the options for the conditions we are likely to encounter on the sub-continent with Muthusamy and Dane Piedt, who was far and away the leading wicket-taker in our Four-Day competition, providing the back-up to Keshav Maharaj.”Zubayr Hamza made an impressive start to his Test career against Pakistan last season when Faf du Plessis was ruled out and the retirement of Hashim Amla creates a further opportunity for him.”Aiden Markram, Theunis de Bruyn and Lungi Ngidi were not considered for T20 selection as all three are part of the South Africa A squad that will be playing four-day cricket in September. Allrounder Chris Morris, who has been playing for Hampshire in the Vitality Blast, did
not make himself available for selection. Dale Steyn, who recently retired from Test cricket, did make himself available for T20 selection, but was not picked.”As far as the T20 squad is concerned, Temba Bavuma and Bjorn Fortuin were two of the standout players in the CSA T20 Challenge last season while Nortje was outstanding in the Mzansi Super League until ruled out by injury,” van Zyl said. “This is very much a form squad
with players being rewarded for their consistent performances at franchise level. This applies equally to Junior Dala and Jon-Jon Smuts.”The T20 series gives us the last chance to have a look at our leadership and batting options as the next edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is now little more than a year away which is why we have gone with an inexperienced leadership group,” explained van Zyl. “This is our last chance to do this before we settle on an established squad.”Test match squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Temba Bavuma (vice-capt), Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second.T20I squad: Quinton de Kock (capt), Rassie van der Dussen (vice-capt), Temba Bavuma, Junior Dala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts.

If Durham lose and Glamorgan fail to convert their advantage against Leicestershire, Northants will go up with a game to spare

Richard Hobson in Northampton18-Sep-2019Durham 131 and 212 for 8 (Eckersley 54*, Hutton 4-54) trail Northamptonshire 217 and 315 (Proctor 86*, Levi 60, Rossington 52) by 189 runsWhen Durham were relegated by the ECB as part of the financial rescue in 2016, figures at the club predicted a five-year journey back to the first division. On another warm, cosy day at Wantage Road they all but surrendered the possibility of making it in three to a Northamptonshire side whose own promotion may be confirmed as early as tomorrow.One by one, the challengers are thinning out. As Durham slid to near defeat, so the push from Sussex expired via an unexpected loss to Derbyshire. If Northants complete victory and Glamorgan fail to convert their advantage against Leicestershire, then Northants will go up with a game to spare. Should Glamorgan win then Northants will still need only four points against Gloucestershire next week.It would be an exaggeration to say that they are dominating this match, but neither have they been behind since the half-hour or so of carnage from Adam Rossington on the first day. With Luke Procter to the fore, they added 80 second-innings runs to their overnight 235 for 6 to set a target of 402 and once again Durham’s top order collapsed to leave the result an apparent formality.Durham can claim to be taking small steps forward, with five wins against four last season and a tally of 150 points, 20 up on 2018, with a game to go. There is even something slightly positive to be taken from the haul of 19 batting points. It may be easily the worst among their rivals, but they managed only 16 last summer. And even 11 Steve Smiths would struggle to rack up 400s at the Riverside.If one eye is on the field, the other must be on the ledgers. The latest accounts, up to the end of September 2018, were lodged with Companies House recently and reveal an overall loss for the year of £1,136,418. This against a profit of £2,227,951 for 2017, when they received £2 million from the ECB for agreeing not to apply to stage Test cricket for the foreseeable future.Durham certainly know the meaning of the word ‘battle’. Whatever the paucity of certain techniques, enough of them showed the guts required to fight their way into a final day. The forecast is good, again, and the new ball is only one over old, but at a time when matches are routinely finishing way ahead of schedule their lower order deserve credit for refusing to succumb to the inevitable.Ned Eckersley held things together during the gloom of a floodlit extra half hour, when Northants failed in a dubious mission to bounce their way to a breakthrough. Rossington must question his earlier strategy of easing up on Eckersley to focus on removing his tail-end partners. Matt Salisbury has faced 55 balls for his two runs, undaunted even after being struck by Doug Bracewell.In fact, Durham’s best periods bookended an otherwise rather dispiriting day. They struck in each of the first two overs, with the ball seaming away, and a brilliant diving catch by Cameron Steel at backward point removed Brett Hutton just as he was starting to smite profitably. But a last-wicket stand of 51 between Procter and Ben Sanderson shifted the initiative.Procter completed his fifty from 109 balls and went along at better than a run a ball thereafter. No stroke startled as much as his straight six against Brydon Carse, which prompted a change of ball, though a couple of later Vince-like cover drives by Jack Burnham would have better sated the aesthetes who always converge around the second-hand bookshop during lunch.They had only victory to anticipate as they ferreted through the shelves of slightly-foxed Swantons and mottled CMJs. In the seventh over, Alex Lees was bowled shouldering arms to Hutton, a poor decision given that the bowler was shaping the ball back in to the left-hander, and a tortured innings by Angus Robson ended with a routine catch to Rossington.After his sensational stumping on Wednesday, Rossington suffered mixed fortunes this time. He dropped Robson, not that it mattered, and needed treatment after being struck painfully on a finger. Equally, he held an absolute beauty, right-handed at full stretch when Burnham chased a wide one from Procter, who enjoyed a characteristically effective, easily-overlooked day.But Rossington’s effort was trumped by Richard Levi at third slip when Carse slashed at Bracewell. Levi did well to react quickly enough let alone hold on at full stretch. Ominously, though, Carse had kept the nuggety Eckersley company for 17 overs. Salisbury has matched that, and while Northants supporters might have chuntered on their way out at least they have one last home day ahead.

The India pacer had been charged with attempt to murder and cruelty by his wife, Hasin Jahan, last March

Nagraj Gollapudi03-Sep-2019A West Bengal court has issued an arrest warrant against Mohammed Shami in a case of domestic violence, filed by his wife Hasin Jahan. Shami, who turned 29 today, has been asked by the court to surrender within 15 days of his return from the West Indies.In March last year, Jahan had filed criminal charges against Shami, including attempt to murder, cruelty, and violence.The chargesheet had been filed under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code – relating to a woman being subjected to cruelty by her husband or his family – by the detective branch of Kolkata Police this March.According to Salim Rahman, Shami’s lawyer, the chargesheet did not contain any of the serious criminal offences Jahan had pressed against the player and his family. Rahman said Shami was among the various people who deposed before the police finalised the chargesheet.”The police chargesheet says there was no attempt to murder, no poisoning – all serious charges filed by Hasin Jahan,” Rahman said. “Also the allegations against (Jahan’s) mother-in-law, father-in-law and sister-in-law of conspiring against her were discharged [dismissed] by the police.”Jahan’s lawyer Anirban Guha Thakurta said the onus was now on Shami to fight the charge or choose not to. “It’s in the court notice that Shami is playing abroad and so it was giving him a 15-day window to surrender,” Guha Thakurta was quoted as saying by the . “It is written in the court order that if he fails to appear, then law will take its own course. The warrant against Shami would be kept in abeyance for 15 days.”Rahman said that the arrest warrant would come into play subject to Shami opting to challenge the court’s order. “The court issued a warrant against Shami saying he would need to surrender 15 days upon returning to India. The warrant will come into effect only if Shami does not take a legal recourse (challenging the order).”The case is unlikely to affect Shami’s professional career at the moment. The BCCI is believed to be treating it as a domestic matter and will wait for the final court order.

He will continue to captain South Africa and sees it as his responsibility to help with the transition

Firdose Moonda22-Oct-20194:32

India’s consistent pressure made us weak in every Test – du Plessis

Faf du Plessis will continue to captain South Africa despite overseeing one of their worst Test results since readmission – he sees it as his responsibility to ease them through the transition. South Africa last suffered successive innings defeats in Tests in 1935-36, and though they have been whitewashed by Australia twice since 1992, their defeats then were not as stark as they are now. Du Plessis, who has led the side since mid-2016, will not use the results as a reason to jump ship and wants to oversee a process that will enable a new leader to take over in due course.”How I see my journey unfolding with this team is to help with the transition period,” du Plessis said at the press conference after the Ranchi Test. “That’s something we spoke about before that wasn’t necessarily the case before. Graeme Smith was a successful captain for a very long time and then after that, it was like, ‘what now, who is going to captain the side, what’s going to happen?’ This period is to try and make that process a bit smoother, identifying the next leaders, identifying the next captains, working with them, and then when that time is right, that time will be right.”His reference to Smith and his golden generation will only make the India series’ result sting even more. It was under Smith that South Africa last won a Test in India, in 2010 and remained unbeaten in an away Test series for nine years. But earlier this year, South Africa lost a home Test series to Sri Lanka and now they haven’t merely lost in India, they have been outplayed and exposed, something du Plessis puts down to inexperience.”I found the tour really tough,” he said. “We have had a very mature Test team for a while, guys that have played 30, 40 and more Test matches. Now you look in the dressing room and its five, six, seven, eight, ten Tests.”South Africa’s most experienced player on this trip is du Plessis himself, with 61 Test caps, and only five of the 16-man squad had toured India before. Of those, Dean Elgar showed he has made some progress from 2015 by scoring a century, but Temba Bavuma did not. Similarly, in the bowling department Kagiso Rabada, who debuted in that series, showed flashes of brilliance but Vernon Philander, who was injured after one Test on the 2015 tour, didn’t. A combination of the inability to bowl out the opposition even once and a failure to bat big is how du Plessis summed up what went wrong.”When we play in the subcontinent, our style of bowling is not successful. You have to adapt your style to the style that is required. Obviously, someone like Dale Steyn was effective in the subcontinent because he has a similar skill set. He is a skiddy bowler off the pitch, hits the stumps, whereas if you are missing the stumps a lot or bouncing it over the stumps, it’s not as effective here.”Seam bowling is one area; spin they [India] were better than us and from a batting unit, exceptional ruthlessness in the way they put massive scores on the board. That’s one of the reasons why mentally we were so weak towards the end. Obviously, they did bat first every time, which made it easier but they still to put on 500, 500, 600 and the scoreboard pressure, the effect that it has on you mentally as a batting line-up, it takes a lot of energy and it takes a lot of toll. You just feel like there’s no opportunity or no moment in the game when you can hide. Your body is tired, your mind is tired and then you make mistakes.”Mind games have long haunted South Africa, mostly at major tournaments but now even in the longer format and du Plessis believes its an area that needs improvement fast. “Our next journey is to try and make sure we get a lot stronger as a cricketing team mentally. As you can see, a tour like this reveals that there is a lot of mental scars that can happen and then obviously it’s difficult to come out of the hole. We played our best match in the first match and the consistent pressure that was on us made us weaker with every Test match that we played. It tells me we are not mentally strong as a team and that some work is required in that department.”This tour is the first place du Plessis will look at when it comes to identifying who is mentally strong enough to keep playing at this level and who will form the next leadership group. “When you go through extreme hardships like this, in the hardships, you will still find guys that are up for Test cricket.”Like who? Quinton de Kock scored one century, Keshav Maharaj was brave with ball and bat, Senuran Muthusamy showed all-round potential and Zubayr Hamza played one sprightly knock.The same cannot automatically be applied to Bavuma, the man being groomed as du Plessis’ successor. He scored 96 runs in six innings and was moved down the order from No. 4 to 5, swapping places with du Plessis. His numbers suggest he is not ready to take over just yet, but his mindset reveals something else. In a revealing press conference in the second Test, Bavuma spoke frankly about his battle to convert and acknowledged that his best was not good enough at the moment. Like du Plessis, he recognised his responsibility and he knows what’s expected of him. For now, that’s all South Africa can ask for. It will take time before Bavuma is performing at the level required of a captain, or South Africa find someone else who is and no-one can say how much.The next few months will not be easy as South Africa host England at home for four Tests. When the same sequence of fixtures was played four years ago, South Africa lost both series and their captain, Amla. This time, if du Plessis sticks to his word, they are are only at risk of the former.

What do their squads look like currently and how much money do each of them have in their purse? Here are all the details

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2019

Chennai Super Kings

Released players: Chaitanya Bishnoi, David Willey, Dhruv Shorey, Mohit Sharma, Sam Billings, Scott KuggeleijnSquad: Ambati Rayudu , KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Jagadeesan Narayan, Karn Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Monu Singh, MS Dhoni, M Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Suresh RainaPlayer slots left: Five (three domestic, two overseas)Money spent: 70.40 crPurse remaining: 14.60 cr

Delhi Capitals

BCCI

Released players: Ankush Bains, B Ayyappa, Chris Morris, Colin Ingram, Colin Munro, Hanuma Vihari, Jalaj Saxena, Manjot Kalra, Nathu SinghSquad: Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Keemo Paul, Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Sandeep Lamichhane, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas IyerPlayer slots left: 11 (six domestic, five overseas)Money spent: 57.15 crPurse remaining: 27.85 cr

Kings XI Punjab

BCCI

Released players: Agnivesh Ayachi, Andrew Tye, David Miller, Moises Henriques, Prabhsimran Singh, Sam Curran, Varun ChakaravarthySquad: Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Darshan Nalkande, K Gowtham, Hardus Viljoen, Harpreet Brar, Jagadeesha Suchith, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb ur Rahman, M Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz KhanPlayer slots left: Nine (five domestic, four overseas)Money spent: 42.30 crPurse remaining: 42.70 cr

Kolkata Knight Riders

BCCI

Released players: Anrich Nortje, Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Lynn, Joe Denly, KC Cariappa, Matt Kelly, Nikhil Naik, Piyush Chawla, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Robin Uthappa, Shrikant MundheSquad: Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik, Harry Gurney, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Siddhesh Lad, Sunil NarinePlayer slots left: 11 (seven domestic, four overseas)Money spent: 49.35 crPurse remaining: 35.65 cr

Mumbai Indians

BCCI

Released players: Adam Milne, Alzarri Joseph, Barinder Sran, Ben Cutting, Beuran Hendricks, Evin Lewis, Jason Behrendorff, Pankaj Jaswal, Rasikh Dar, Yuvraj SinghSquad: Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell McCleneghan, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Rohit Sharma, Sherfane Rutherford, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent BoultPlayer slots left: Seven (five domestic, two overseas)Money spent: 71.95 crPurse remaining: 13.05 cr

Rajasthan Royals

BCCI

Released players: Aryaman Birla, Ashton Turner, Ish Sodhi, Jaydev Unadkat, Liam Livingstone, Oshane Thomas, Prashant Chopra, Rahul Tripathi, Shubham Ranjane, Stuart Binny, Sudhesan MidhunSquad: Ankit Rajpoot, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Steven Smith, Varun AaronPlayer slots left: 11 (Seven domestic, four overseas)Money spent: 56.10 crPurse remaining: 28.90 cr

Royal Challengers Bangalore

BCCI

Released players: Akshdeep Nath, Colin de Grandhomme, Dale Steyn, Heinrich Klassen, Himmat Singh, Kulwant Khejroliya, Marcus Stoinis, Milind Kumar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Prayas Ray Barman, Shimron Hetmyer, Tim SoutheeSquad: AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Gurkeerat Singh, Moeen Ali, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Virat Kohli, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra ChahalPlayer slots left: 12 (six domestic, six overseas)Money spent: 57.10 crPurse remaining: 27.90 cr

Sunrisers Hyderabad

BCCI

Released players: Deepak Hooda, Martin Guptill, Ricky Bhui, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf PathanSquad: Abhishek Sharma, Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Billy Stanlake, David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shreevats Goswami, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman SahaPlayer slots left: Seven (five domestic, two overseas)Money spent: 68 crPurse remaining: 17 cr

Batsman to remain with the squad as he undergoes rehabilitation, replacement to be named later

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Dec-2019South Africa’s plans for the first Test against England have been hit by an injury to Temba Bavuma, who has picked up a Grade 1 hip flexor muscle strain, scans have revealed.Bavuma, the 29-year-old batsman, will remain with the squad and begin his rehabilitation programme with the team’s medical staff “with the goal of returning to play within seven to ten days”, Shuaib Manjra, Cricket South Africa’s chief medical officer, said in a statement.”A decision on a possible replacement will be made at the conclusion of the South Africa A and CSA Franchise Four-Day matches that are taking place this weekend,” a CSA statement said.Bavuma, 39 Tests old, is one of the most experienced players in the 17-man squad, which features six uncapped players.The four-Test series against England – at No. 5 on the World Test Championship table, while South Africa are bottom – will be the first assignment for South Africa’s revamped coaching staff.Since Graeme Smith took charge as director of cricket on an initial three-month stint, Mark Boucher has taken over as the head coach, while Jacques Kallis and Charl Langeveldt have slotted in as batting and bowling consultant respectively.