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It’s an annual pastime for football fans around the world to pick holes in UEFA’s Team of the Year but I don’t think there has ever been such a glaring omission in what is known as Europe’s best XI players – where on earth was Harry Kane?

Kane ended 2017 as Europe’s highest scoring player with 56 goals, but his name was nowhere to be seen as UEFA continued to champion Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the continent’s best attackers.

What UEFA are ignoring in Tottenham’s Harry Kane isn’t just his outstanding ability to do his job, but the fact that he is one of the last remaining footballers out there who can genuinely help change the sport for the better.

As football clubs benefit from mega TV deals and lucrative multi-year sponsorship contracts, the elite have been able to spend hundreds of millions on new players without even thinking twice. That means, as the biggest clubs in Europe go in search of world domination, youth are being ignored and their potential is being stunted.

It’s narrow-minded and unfair to ignore the future of a very talented teenager eager for his chance to impress and instead spend over £100m on someone else’s youngster. Where’s the value in that? Where’s the pride?

Harry Kane’s rise from unknown striker with a number of underwhelming loan spells at Millwall and Norwich to Europe’s top marksman has been a breath of fresh air and sets a precedent for other clubs to follow.

He’s proof that if you’re willing to hand young players opportunities and stick by them as they learn from their mistakes and continue to develop, there is much more value to be had than just going out and spending your way to success.

Of course, not every young striker in the world will go on to achieve what Kane has by the time he’s 24 years old, but there’s a real chance we’d be hailing many more of his ilk if clubs took a step back and turned to those closer to home. If that happens then the game would return to a more level playing field as football’s elite clubs think twice before trying to buy their way to glory.

Kane’s brace against Everton at the weekend took him to the top of Spurs’ all-time Premier League scoring charts and he’s now just two goals from joining the 100 club – another reminder that he’s still only 24. If he continues at the rate he is, he’ll be breaking Alan Shearer’s in just 6.1 seasons.

You don’t need me to tell you that Harry Kane is a world class striker, we all know that, but what if I told you he was up there as one of the most lethal in the history of the game? Too early? Perhaps, but if you consider the fact that his 98 Premier League goals have come from just 61 games in which he’s actually found the net, then it’s no wonder people are claiming him to be the best striker we’ve seen in a generation.

What’s more, he isn’t a mercenary. He’s clearly not in this for the money – he’s in it for the personal accolades and club honours. He’s a rare breed and one that should be celebrated.

The breakdown of Kane’s Premier League goal tally is breathtaking, so keep an eye out for a video we’ve got prepped for when he does finally hit his 100th Premier League goal – we’ll have everything you need to know about his outstanding goal record.

Why are we letting Alexis Sanchez off lightly?

The Arsenal attacker is expected to leave for Man United or Chelsea before January is up after refusing to sign a new contract and essentially forcing the Gunners in to selling him now.

This is not a unique situation, particularly where Arsenal are concerned (that’s another argument for another column) but at what point do we start questioning Sanchez’s morals here?

Everyone keeps pointing to the fact Arsenal should never have allowed it to get this far in the first place and that’s a fair point to make, but doesn’t Sanchez at least owe it to the club to stick around until the summer and help them achieve their ambitions of a top four finish?

He is the epitome of a the modern day footballer – clearly only in it for the money and not for the badge on the front of the shirt. Arsenal fans should be pleased to see the back of him.

If the game had more players like Harry Kane, football would be saved from the likes of Sanchez.

Have Stoke appointed a saviour?

Probably not, but I urge Stoke fans to reserve judgement on Paul Lambert for now. I’m a West Ham fan and was absolutely livid when David Moyes was named Slaven Bilic’s replacement – I was convinced we’d be relegated.

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Fast forward a couple of months and I’m warming to the idea of him being handed an extended deal when his current six month contract expires in the summer. Moyes has revitalised the Hammers and a number of players who didn’t look interested before he arrived, and I see no reason why Lambert can’t do the same.

After all, like Moyes, the former Norwich boss has a lot to prove following disappointing spells at Aston Villa, Blackburn and Wolves.

Contrary to popular belief, Peter Coates isn’t waving a white flag with Lambert’s face on it just yet, and the new manager certainly deserves the chance to prove he is the man to keep Stoke in the Premier League.

You can forget your Navas’ and Soldado’s, the standout player for me so far this term has perhaps been someone that has slipped under the radar amongst the droves of foreign talent entering our shores.

Everton’s revolution under Roberto Martinez has not been spearheaded by a multi million pound import but instead by a young Englishman by the name of Ross Barkley. The only unbeaten team left in the Premier League, Everton appear resurgent under the new regime and this has in no small part been down to the tireless efforts of their precocious young talent.

I’m not the only one getting excited about the midfield maestro, with a recent England call up just reward for his impressive start to the campaign. Barkley may well be the one to fire Everton back into Europe but does he also have a big part to play for our national team?

The glowing report his Roberto Martinez recently gave to the Mail would suggest this is very much a possibility:

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“I look at Ross and you tell me what weakness he has. He hasn’t got one,’ said Martinez. ‘He takes in information, which for a young lad is incredible. He can use both feet, he can switch the play, he has a range of passing and can receive the ball in any area.”

“He has a great shot and has incredible energy. He reminds me of Michael Ballack. When Ballack was younger, nobody knew what his best position was; could he be a sitting midfielder, an attacking midfielder or play up front? Ross is that impressive.”

Now maybe this appraisal is to be expected from his manager, but Barkley’s fans don’t stop there with praise being received from all quarters of our game. Emerging from a serious leg break, the 19 year old may still have a long way to go but for me he is the answer to our national midfield conundrum going forward.

England performances of late have been dull and stagnant. A team playing at a painfully low tempo and whose first thought is to go sideways above all else. Sturridge, Rooney and Welbeck offer the national side quality in the final third, but as it stands they just simply don’t get anywhere near the supply they require.

Hodgson’s perseverance with the failing old guard is crippling. Gerrard, Lampard and Milner may all still do well for their respective clubs, but together for England they have created the most monotonous of midfields. I can only assume the plan if we actually make it to Rio is to bore the opposition to death because as it stands this isn’t a team to get the pulse racing is it?

The Euro’s should have been a lesson to those in charge that the current set-up just isn’t working, and why not change when you have such prodigious talents waiting in the wings?

For me Barkley even at such a young age is the answer. Destructive as much as he is creative, the Englishman offers the kind of balance that many hoped Wilshere would bring to the side. Two players not too dissimilar in style, these are very much the new breed of English midfielder that we need to foster.

So what is the current balance of power?

Jack Wilshere continues to fall short of the high expectations many have for him both domestically and internationally. Dogged by persistent stress fractures and other niggling injuries, the development of someone with undoubted potential is being slowed. Barkley at 19 may be younger and less experienced, but if Hodgson wants to pick on form then the bow much go to Barkley.

For me the difference between the two lies in the goal-scoring department. Barkley has as many goals this season as Wilshere has in his whole Arsenal career. Wilshere offers creativity and solidity but for me Barkley offers so much more. The Everton midfielder has an eye for goal as much as he does for a pass and this is a trait in remarkably short supply for England.

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So forget your Gerrard’s and Lampard’s, the real battle for an England berth should be between Jack Wilshere and Ross Barkley.

For me the clear winner at the moment is the Everton boy who continues to go from strength to strength on the biggest of stages.

Am I right? Or am I getting caught up in the Ross Barkley hype?

Join the debate below

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Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has dismissed claims that Cristiano Ronaldo is unhappy at the club and that they would not even think about selling their star man.

Ronaldo claimed he was unhappy in the Spanish capital last week after sparking a debate as to why he refused to celebrate a goal, but Madrid boss Mourinho has laughed off any suggestions of the Portuguese forward leaving, with reports linking him him with a move to both Manchester clubs.

“I would say to every club to forget Cristiano.

“Don’t waste your time… Cristiano and Real Madrid are perfect for each other.”

Ronaldo scored twice but did not celebrate for Madrid before the international break and afterwards explained: “I’m sad. When I don’t celebrate a goal it is because I’m not happy.

“It’s a professional thing. Real Madrid know why I’m not happy.”

But Mourinho has laughed off his comments saying: “If Cristiano’s sad but plays the same — that’s perfect for me.”

“Finally after 15 days of talking about Ronaldo it is time to see if he plays well or not. Ronaldo now needs peace, quiet and to play football which is what he does the best and likes the best.”

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With Kagiso Rabada missing the Kolkata Test with a rib injury, the visitors have bolstered their fast bowling stocks

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2025Fast bowler Lungi Ngidi has been added to South Africa’s squad for the second Test against India in Guwahati which starts on Saturday.Ngidi’s inclusion suggests Kagiso Rabada, who missed South Africa’s sensational victory in Kolkata with a rib injury, is a doubtful starter again. The visitors’ other fast bowling options on tour are Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch and Wiaan Mulder.Ngidi joined the team at their Kolkata hotel on Tuesday before their scheduled departure to Guwahati on Wednesday.Ngidi has played 20 Tests in his career so far, but only three since making a comeback in Cape Town against India in January 2024. His last red-ball appearance was the World Test Championship final against Australia in June. He has played just one Test match in India, going wicketless in Ranchi in 2019.Related

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Ngidi does have overs in his legs having been part of South Africa’s ODI and T20I series in Pakistan in October and November. Last week, he played a game for Titans in the CSA T20 Challenge.At Eden Gardens, South Africa’s quicks sent down 40 overs and returned six wickets as the team registered their first Test win in India since 2010. That Kolkata pitch provided enough assistance for the seamers but it is still unclear what the conditions in Guwahati will be like given the venue has never hosted Test cricket before.

Centuries from Division Two’s leading runscorers drag Middlesex out of the mire and into a healthy 143-run lead

ECB Reporters Network28-Apr-2024Middlesex 203 and 262 for 3 (Holden 105*, Higgins 102*) lead Gloucestershire 322 (Hammond 81, van Buuren 75, Brooks 3-55) by 143 runsCenturies from Max Holden and Ryan Higgins dug Middlesex out of a hole on the third day of the Vitality County Championship Second Division match with Gloucestershire at Bristol.Having conceded a first innings lead of 119 by bowling out their opponents for 322 from an overnight 271 for 6, the visitors slipped to nine for two in their second innings before Holden, Leus du Plooy (30) and Higgins launched a powerful fightback.By the close, Middlesex had posted 262 for 3, Holden and Higgins sharing an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 183, and had a lead of 143, leaving all three results possible on the final day. Holden had faced 157 balls, hitting 14 fours and a six, while Higgins smashed 13 fours and three sixes in facing 120 deliveries against his former club.Middlesex needed to make good use of the second new ball, available when play began an hour late due because of overnight rain, to restrict Gloucestershire’s first innings lead on the hybrid pitch offering more bounce than usual at the Seat Unique Stadium. Ben Charlesworth, batting with Ollie Price as runner because of an ankle injury sustained on day one, produced two textbook straight drives off Tom Helm, while Zaman Akhter exploited the cover region.The pair had extended their seventh-wicket stand to 71 when Akhter, on 27, tried one drive too many and was bowled by Helm failing to get to the pitch of a good length delivery. It proved Middlesex’s only success in the hour before lunch, which was reached with Gloucestershire 314 for 7, 111 runs in front.The hosts were unable to build at the start of the afternoon session as Henry Brookes struck three times in an over. Charlesworth started the slide attempting a big hit and only skying to mid-off where Holden took a fine tumbling catch.Marchant de Lange swung in trademark fashion and also skied a catch off his third ball, wicketkeeper Jack Davies taking the catch, before Dom Goodman edged a catch to third slip to end the inningsSoon Gloucestershire’s seamers were making inroads on a much livelier pitch than they have been used to operating on in home games. Nathan Fernandes had made only five when caught at mid-wicket pulling a short ball from Goodman.It was 9 for 2 when Mark Stoneman departed for a duck, caught behind driving at a wide delivery from Ajeet Singh Dale and du Plooy came in to face a testing examination, edging his first ball from Singh Dale just short of the slip cordon.In one over from Akhter, the Middlesex skipper needed treatment after being hit on a hand and was then struck again by the first delivery after resuming his innings. Another over from the same bowler saw him survive three confident lbw appeals.Holden defiantly pulled de Lange for four then six as he and du Plooy gradually doused the Gloucestershire fire. But having helped take the total to 66 for 2 at tea, they added only 13 more before du Plooy, who had drawn applause from the bowler when hitting de Lange back over his head for a huge six, was brilliantly caught by Chris Dent at backward point to give Goodman a second wicket.Holden moved to a priceless half-century off 83 balls and, together with Higgins, took Middlesex into the lead with seven wickets still in hand. Momentum was now with the batting side and when spin was introduced the pair first milked singles off Graeme van Buuren to increase the scoring rate and then went on the attack, Higgins hitting Price for a six and a four in the same over.The sun was out and all venom had gone out of the bowling as Higgins marked his return to a former stamping ground by bringing up a chanceless fifty off 73 balls. On 62, he was dropped by van Buuren at mid-wicket off PriceHolden reached his ton off 151 balls, with 13 fours and a six and Higgins followed to three figures with a pulled six off Singh Dale. Now Middlesex will fancy their chances of a last-day declaration and an improbable victory.

Ravindra Jadeja, who has not played any cricket since August 2022, has been picked subject to fitness

Alagappan Muthu13-Jan-2023Suryakumar Yadav’s incredible exploits in T20I cricket have propelled him into the Test arena, with the 32-year-old batter picked in a 17-member squad to play for India against Australia. The squad, picked for only the first two Tests of the four-match home series, includes another player who has made his name in the white-ball circuit. Ishan Kishan has come into the side with first-choice wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant in recovery after a car accident.India go into the Border-Gavaskar series, starting on February 9, with the spearhead of their pace attack stuck on the sidelines. Jasprit Bumrah had, not so long ago, looked like he was ready to return to cricket after recovering from a stress reaction in his back. But in the process of getting himself used to normal workloads again, he felt stiffness in his right glute and has now been advised at least another month’s rehabilitation.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Ravindra Jadeja is coming out of his own long-term injury lay-off. The left-arm spin-bowling allrounder has been picked in the squad and could have a huge role to play in a home series that India need to win 3-1 or better to be assured of a place in the World Test Championship final. Jadeja has not played any cricket since August 2022. He was originally due to return during the tour of Bangladesh late last year, but it emerged that he needed more time to recover from a knee surgery done in September. Even now, the BCCI has noted in its press release announcing the squad that Jadeja’s inclusion “is subject to fitness.”India’s Test-match batting is set to receive an injection of pace should either of Kishan or Suryakumar make the XI. Both players have strike rates above 60 in first-class cricket. But getting them in remains a challenge.Related

• Kishan careful not to show 'youngsters' trait' as he begins Test career

• Rohit and Kohli left out of squad for T20Is against New Zealand

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The captain Rohit Sharma, the vice-captain KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli will likely occupy the top four spots. Shreyas Iyer should slot in at No. 5 or 6 given his recent form – he averaged 101 in India’s most recent Test series, against Bangladesh in December 2022, while Shubman Gill seems the first reserve for both opening and middle-order roles. Kishan has been designated as a wicketkeeper in the squad so he will be pitted against KS Bharat, who has long been the understudy to Pant.On the bowling front, Mohammed Shami will step up as the front man of the attack with support from Mohammed Siraj, who enjoyed a stellar debut series against Australia when India beat them on their turf in 2020-21, Jaydev Unadkat, the left-armer who recently broke a spell of 12 years between Test matches, and Umesh Yadav. Hardik Pandya, although a regular part of India’s white-ball set-up, is not part of the Test squad. It is learnt that he does not yet have the fitness to bowl long spells in red-ball cricket. R Ashwin will be the lead spinner with Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav backing him up.Changes between India’s last Test squad and this one
In: Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav
Out: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Rishabh Pant, Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Shardul Thakur.

The former South Africa allrounder, who retired two years ago, is a strategic consultant for the team for the T20 World Cup

Firdose Moonda01-Oct-2021JP Duminy always wanted to be part of the upcoming T20 World Cup. He will be there, but not in the way he expected.When Duminy announced his retirement from ODIs in March 2019, he remained available in the shortest format. During that tournament, he changed his mind and opted out of playing altogether. It didn’t take too long for him to find his way back, behind the microphone at first and now, as part of South Africa’s support staff.”On Sunday, I was packing my bag and I realised I needed to go into the garage and take out my South African blazer and tie. It dawned on me that I didn’t think I would be pulling that out of the cupboard two years after retiring. That was an emotional moment,” Duminy said on Friday. “I was reminiscing on the good times I had when I was playing and how I am now coming back in a different capacity.”Related

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Duminy’s official title is “strategic consultant” to the South African squad. It’s a short-term role, which he explained as “about trying to add value wherever I can”. “It’s not necessarily about honing in on a particular department or skill,” he explained. “The way I see it, having had the experience I’ve had over the last 15 years, how I can contribute is with the understanding from that experience and by being aware of things that may unfold in this tournament.”I have played against many of these cricketers, and played with them, and I have relationships with all the players and staff that are in the mix in the South African squad so I am trying to see how I can add value to them in a personal capacity.”Duminy sees a key part of his role as being to make sure the players’ experience is the opposite of his own open-ended position. “Role clarification is, if I put my player’s hat on, what players want. They want to make sure that when they go out and face those pressure moments there is clarity,” he said. “We want to make sure we provide them with enough information for them to find the answers as well. This is an environment, it is not a dictatorship. It is a facilitation of learning. If we are in a position to ask the right questions, we can collectively find the right answers.”That may sound a little more philosophical than practical, but that’s the kind of approach Duminy has always taken. As a player, he measured his worth in his personhood, and not numbers. As a coach, he seems to want to judge the team on their impact on each other and society, not their victory count.”People want to feel valued and like they belong. Having had the experience playing here for 15 years, I truly understand that. It doesn’t matter who you are, in terms of playing 100 games or one game, there’s always in inherent need to feel like you belong to something bigger than yourself. That’s what the Proteas is about,” he said. “It’s a representation of 60 million people and there’s great responsibility in that. So for me, it’s just talking people through that and understanding what that responsibility looks like.”Duminy aims to mentor players through the challenges of being “seen as a role model” and of having to “live a certain way, day in and day out, where you are giving your best every day”. He admitted that “it can be challenging, particularly when we are living in a bubble life and things are restricted; you have to find ways to make sure you are refreshed continuously.”He described the current experience of operating in bio-bubbles as a “massive sacrifice” and stressed the importance of having a good support structure. “One can look at it and think sportspeople are paid to do this, so they’ve just got to live with it, but at the end of the day they are just human beings. They can go through some depressive states because they can’t handle the compression and coupled with that, particularly as a player, there’s expectation and pressure to perform,” he said. “Going into a World Cup, how are you going to handle that? It’s important to have perspective and to have a greater cause or purpose outside of the game. This is also where the families come in. The families play an integral part in calmness. They are a positive distraction, if one can call it that.”Duminy played in three 50-over and six T20 World Cups and has first-hand experience of the unique pressures that a South African squad, which usually enters the competition with expectation and leaves empty-handed, faces. This time, after a two-year period of inconsistent results, they are among underdogs, with nothing more than quiet confidence about their chances. “I am very optimistic about what I’ve seen over the last couple of days,” Duminy said. “I love what I am seeing. I am loving the conversations that’s happening and the clarity but also there is this belief within each other, which is great to see. And in many ways, also contagious.”After the T20 World Cup, Duminy will return home to work as a batting consultant with the Lions, with a view to growing his career as a coach, even though it has come unexpectedly. “It’s not something I ran after, it found me. In my role as Lions coach, I was asked to come into the environment,” he said. “The journey has been short in terms of the transition (from playing) and I’ve also done some commentary. There was always an idea of commentary and coaching balancing each other out and at some point one was going to leapfrog the other. I am enjoying it.”

Crucial partnership revives hopes after Warwickshire seamers built on 37-run lead

ECB Reporters Network10-Aug-2020Half-centuries from Graeme van Buuren and Ryan Higgins kept Gloucestershire hopes alive on the third day of the Bob Willis Trophy match against Warwickshire at the Bristol County Ground.The home side looked in deep trouble when slipping to 30 for 3 in the morning session, having conceded a first innings deficit 37 when bowling out their opponents for 247 from an overnight 230 for 8.But van Buuren (72) and Higgins (51) then shared a defiant fourth-wicket stand of 110 either side of lunch, which enabled Gloucestershire to reach 197 for 6 by the time bad light ended play eight overs early, a lead of 160.All results remain possible on day four, but in the end the only winner could be the slow pitch, which has made the match hard work for batsmen and bowlers alike.The day began with all-rounder Higgins completing figures of 4 for 54 by claiming both remaining Warwickshire wickets from the Ashley Down Road End. Tim Bresnan was caught behind for 38 and last man Oliver Hannon-Dalby taken at second slip for a duck.Hannon-Dalby then followed up his career-best figures of 6 for 33 in the first innings by pinning Ben Charlesworth lbw, playing no shot, for 14 and having George Hankins well caught low down at first slip by Bresnan for a duck.Bresnan had already removed Gloucestershire captain Chris Dent, bowled off an inside edge without scoring, and it was tough going for the home side, who were still seven runs behind when van Buuren and Higgins came together.The pair took the score to 51 for 3 at lunch and prospered in the afternoon session, van Buuren moving to a gutsy fifty off 99 balls, with 8 fours.Warwickshire’s bowlers appeared to be getting frustrated when Henry Brookes struck a morale-boosting double blow just before tea.First he picked up the wicket of van Buuren with the total on 140, Sam Hain pouching a low catch at second slip to end an innings occupying 132 balls and featuring 11 crisply-struck fours.Higgins also went on to his half-century and had faced 101 deliveries, hitting nine boundaries, when superbly caught down the leg side by diving wicketkeeper Michael Burgess off Brookes in the final over of the session to make it 155 for five.With two new batsmen at the crease, Gloucestershire needed to be watchful after tea. Gareth Roderick and Jack Taylor took the score to 190 before Roderick, on 13, lost concentration and carelessly drove a low catch to Matt Lamb at cover off the bowling of Craig Miles.There followed a period of nine overs from Bresnan and Miles in which only one run was scored. Taylor, who had taken 32 balls to get off the mark in the first innings, again showed an obdurate side to his normally aggressive game.George Scott, on his Gloucestershire debut, was equally content with survival and the game seemed to be going nowhere when the umpires called a halt, with Taylor unbeaten on 23 and Scott having scored two off 31 balls.Soon it was raining at the end of a day of sultry heat and hopes of a restart were dashed.

‘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.

Kusal Mednis will come into the Sri Lankan T20I squad in place of the injured Kusal Perera

Andrew Fidel Fernando13-Feb-2018Kusal Perera has been ruled out of the T20 internationals against Bangladesh, and has been replaced in the squad by Kusal Mendis. Perera had suffered a side strain while batting in Sri Lanka’s third ODI of the tri-nation series that preceded the Tests, and had returned home for treatment. Although he was named in the T20 squad, he has not traveled with the team to Bangladesh.”According to medical advice, Perera needs more time to recover from the side strain,” an SLC release said. This is Perera’s second injury over the past year. In June he had pulled a hamstring while batting in the Champions Trophy, and was out of competitive cricket until November.Mendis, his replacement, has been in excellent Test form, but does not have an enviable T20I record. From eight international innings in the format, Mendis has a high score of 22, and a strike rate of 123. It is possible he will not play in the top order, with Danushka Gunathilaka, Upul Tharanga, Niroshan Dickwella and Dinesh Chandimal all jostling for positions. Mendis last played a T20I in February last year.The first of two games will be played in Mirpur on Thursday, before the action moves to Sylhet for Sunday.