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The offspinner, who was left out of the India squad for the limited-overs matches against Sri Lanka and Australia, said he hasn’t done much wrong to remain on the sidelines

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-20174:17

Exclusive: Want to make a difference in 2019 World Cup – Ashwin

Since the 2015 World Cup, R Ashwin has played only 15 of India’s 47 ODIs, taking 17 wickets at an average of 40.58. During the same period, left-arm spinners Axar Patel (23) and Ravindra Jadeja (17) played more ODIs than Ashwin. More recently, when Ashwin was dropped for the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka and the ongoing series at home against Australia, wristspinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal impressed and offered a fresh edge to the attack.Ashwin, however, has said he had not done much wrong to remain on the sidelines of India’s limited-overs team.”I am not desperate at all,” Ashwin, who is currently playing the Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu, said .”One day, the opportunity will come knocking on my door because I haven’t done too much wrong. So when I get the opportunity and when I am put in an occasion, I will probably try and raise my game to the best of my ability.”While naming the squad for the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka, chairman of selectors, MSK Prasad stressed that fitness would be a key parameter while picking the 2019 World Cup squad. Later in August, India’s coach Ravi Shastri echoed Prasad’s comments and wanted his side to have the “best fielding XI” at the World Cup.”I am a man for systems and any system put in place, I would strive my level best to try and match up to it,” Ashwin said, when asked about fitness. “Every leader has his own vision of how to bring the team about. This is the vision of the current leadership group and it’s important to respect it.”I have been in great conditioning ever since I missed the IPL. I have trained madly. You have to take the (Yo-Yo test) and decide how it goes. But I am completely in compliance with it.”Since the start of India’s 13-Test home season last year, Ashwin has bagged 99 wickets in 16 Tests, including eight five-wicket hauls at 25.38. With India set to tour South Africa at the end of this year, and later England and Australia – where pitches tend to offer less assistance to spin – Ashwin recognised the need to shift from an attacking role to a supporting role.”For me, its all about bowling well and trying to get into top rhythm,” he said. “It is about constantly revisiting my best. Maybe, I will not be the type of attacking bowler when we tour abroad. I need to do a good holding role.”

Batting for Change, a cause put together by the Sydney Sixers’ Ryan Carters and the LBW Trust, is an effort to further the cause of education for women and has grown with the BBL over the last four seasons

Daniel Brettig20-Dec-2016While many of the BBL’s watchers this season draw interest from online betting shenanigans, there is also a way of spending money on the tournament that will go in a rather different direction.Season six of the tournament is also season four of Batting for Change, a cause put together by the Sydney Sixers’ Ryan Carters and the LBW Trust in an effort to further the cause of education for women around the world. Put simply, BBL watchers have the chance to pledge money to the charity via its website, with a set amount pledged for every ball struck over the rope by the Sixers.As the BBL has grown, so too has Carters’ enterprise, from raising $30,000 to fund the building of classrooms in Nepal in 2013-14 to a far loftier target this year – $150,000 to support projects in India, Sri Lanka and, for the first time, Kenya. This year Carters has been joined by a bevy of other ambassadors – Moises Henriques, Steve O’Keefe, Nic Maddinson, Alyssa Healy, Kurtis Patterson and Ed Cowan.”It’s interesting, they’ve both grown together,” Carters said of the two ventures. “There’s a reason the BBL has become so popular in Australia and it’s because Cricket Australia and Ten have done a wonderful job designing and managing the tournament. The standard of cricket itself is going up every year and the spectators love to see high quality clashes played out in the T20 format.”The WBBL has added a new dimension and expanded the fanbase again, and from Batting for Change’s point of view we offer a fun way to engage with the BBL, and as more people are watching matches live and on their TV screens, more people are signing up to become a donor, follow along and enjoy the thrill of seeing a six smashed out of the stadium and also knowing that’s another $1-2,000 that’s going to women’s education.”The Kenyan project marks a particular progression for Carters, as it not only supports education but branches further into social activism – namely the fight against female genital mutilation and child marriage in Kenya. “It is a really amazing story,” Carters said. “A woman called Kekenya Ntaiya, who grew up in a Maasai village called Enoosaen in Kenya. She was set to follow the traditional path, engaged to be married at the age of five.”But she struck up this horrible bargain with her father where she agreed to undergo female genital mutilation as long as she could stay in school until the end of high school. That was very unusual for girls to attain even that much education, but her father kept his word, she was allowed to finish high school, and then she was allowed to go on and complete university and ended up going all the way to a PhD in the US. With her newfound knowledge and networks she started her own foundation to educate girls from her own village.”Where we come in is that Batting for Change and the LBW Trust are providing the first ever tertiary education scholarships for women from this village. So for the girls who’ve gone through Kekenya’s school for girls and now completed high school, the first of them are ready to start university in 2018 at the University of Nairobi, so we’re excited about launching that.”Carters, who has pursued interests far more diverse than cricket throughout his life, hopes that this latest project can lead to others of a similar, transformational nature. “There are tricky decisions like geographically what do you want to support,” he said, “because there are worthy projects all around the cricket world and we’ve looked at a number of them.”But Kekenya really stood out because it’s such a moving story from the founder, and we know that as well as supporting women’s education, by doing so we’re also preventing female genital mutilation and child marriage. It’s about education but also preventing a harmful and oppressive practice. I think we do stand for social progress, above all with the focus on women’s education, which is a huge step forward in many parts of the cricket-playing world.”In that sense it’s already a very progressive vision for change to encourage women’s education. With Kekenya, the policy for girls to go to her school is that the parents must agree that the child will not be genitally mutilated or married before they finish high school. That further helps extend the social progress and the search for women to have the same rights as men.”When the Sixers meet the Sydney Thunder in the BBL opener on Tuesday night, they will compete to hoist the Batting for Change Cup. In doing so they will hope the symbolism can lead to further progress, via the pledges of the many thousands watching at home or in the stands.

Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer soaked up 175 balls and 121 dots to lead another lower-order rally, but Sri Lanka dug deep into their reserves to secure a hard-earned victory with 45 balls to spare

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu02-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGraeme Cremer followed his hundred in the first innings with a dogged 43•Associated Press

Graeme Cremer soaked up 175 balls and 121 dots to lead another lower-order rally and raise Zimbabwe’s hopes of saving their 100th Test, but Sri Lanka dug deep into their reserves to secure a hard-earned victory with 45 balls to spare.When the last hour began, Zimbabwe needed to bat out 15 overs with Cremer on 41 and No. 10 Carl Mumba on 3. Both batsmen played close to their bodies with a straight bat, blocking single-mindedly, and leaving Sri Lanka on the tenterhooks. They negotiated four more overs before Cremer jumped out of the crease and attempted an injudicious flick against the turn, off Rangana Herath, and was stumped for 43. He had faced 351 balls across both innings, the second-most by a No. 8 in a Test behind Wasim Akram’s 363, which incidentally came against Zimbabwe in 1996.Nineteen balls after the key wicket of Cremer, Dilruwan Perera knocked out Chris Mpofu’s off stump to wrap up Sri Lanka’s 225-run victory.Cremer entered the fray at 100 for 6, seven overs after lunch, after Zimbabwe had lost their last five wickets for 32 runs. He first added 39 for the seventh wicket with Sean Williams in 19.4 overs before marshalling Mumba in a 38-run ninth-wicket stand that lasted 19.1 overs.Cremer endured a nervy moment when he padded up to a straight delivery from Herath, but umpire Ian Gould turned down the bowler’s appeal, with ball-tracking backing up his decision, indicating the ball would have missed off stump. Cremer shook that off and soldiered on. His first boundary came off his 53rd ball when he drove a Suranga Lakmal half-volley through extra cover.It was Williams who laid the groundwork for Zimbabwe’s fightback. He showed restraint, taking 21 balls to get off the mark, before unfurling his range with paddle-sweeps and even reverse-sweeps against the spinners.Williams went onto make 40 off 92 balls, before Herath struck with the fourth ball after tea, getting him to nick to slip. Herath sensed an opening and broke through six overs later when he had Donald Tiripano lbw for a 21-ball duck. It was a dubious decision from Gould, though, with replays detecting an inside edge onto the pad. He should have been out off the previous ball he faced – a Herath arm ball struck his front pad in front of middle and leg – but Gould did not budge.Sri Lanka secured victory with 45 balls left in final session of the final day•AFP

The cloud cover that had built up during tea moved off and Sri Lanka then strained every sinew. Herath brought out the carrom ball from wide of the crease, and even tried to shake things up with part-time legspinner Kusal Mendis. The second new ball ultimately snuffled out Zimbabwe’s dogged resistance.In the morning Lakmal swung the first new ball and teased Zimbabwe’s openers in the channel outside off after Sri Lanka had declared overnight, keeping in view the rain threat and setting Zimbabwe a target of 412 in 98 overs. Brian Chari struggled to even put bat on ball in the early exchanges, failing to get fully forward or go fully back against Lakmal’s awayswingers and Herath’s arm balls. To compound his woes, Chari attempted to sweep Herath against the turn, but the top edge did not carry to fine leg or deep square leg.It was the extra pace of teenage debutant Lahiru Kumara that ended the tentative 31-run opening partnership. In his first over, an inducker at 141kph burst through Chari’s defences and sent the off stump cartwheeling.Once the swing faded, Lakmal briefly peppered the batsmen with short balls from around the wicket with a leg slip, forward short leg, and square leg placed halfway to the boundary, but it was reverse-swing with the old ball that provided him the breakthroughs. In the space of three balls, he coaxed a couple to veer back into Hamilton Masakadza and Malcolm Waller to trap both lbw.It came after Dilruwan had struck twice in nine balls to remove Tino Mawoyo for 37 and Sean Ervine for an eight-ball duck. Mawoyo was adjudged lbw by Simon Fry, though the slider from Dilruwan was comfortably missing leg stump with the angle from over the wicket. Ervine, though, was pinned plumb in front by a full delivery that drifted in and then turned away.Zimbabwe lost four wickets for only six runs and later Herath worked his way past Cremer and the tail to give Sri Lanka their first away Test win after seven matches, on captaincy debut.

Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns will enter Australia’s tilt for the Test match No. 1 ranking without a single warm-up innings on New Zealand soil, after the national selectors resisted temptation to significantly alter the ODI squad

Daniel Brettig24-Jan-2016Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns will enter Australia’s tilt for the No.1 Test ranking without a single warm-up innings on New Zealand soil, after the national selectors resisted temptation to significantly alter the ODI squad.The only concession to the two Tests in Wellington and Christchurch was the omission of Nathan Lyon after his indifferent displays against India at home, opening up room for the legspinner Adam Zampa to make his international debut while the panel deliberate on his possible inclusion in the World Twenty20 squad.Lyon will instead play in the Sheffield Shield match being played between New South Wales and Western Australia at New Zealand Cricket headquarters in Lincoln near Christchurch. However, Khawaja and Burns will be expected to make the Trans-Tasman adjustments from home, playing for Queensland.

Australia ODI squad for NZ tour

Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, George Bailey, Scott Boland, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Matthew Wade (wk), Adam Zampa

Despite his stunning run of form in the Big Bash League following on from a breakout Test summer, Khawaja remained surplus to a settled ODI batting line-up, as the captain Steven Smith had predicted. The likes of Aaron Finch and George Bailey are a long way from Test calculation, but have done nothing to deserve omission from the 50-over team.The selection chairman Rod Marsh acknowledged that coping with foreign conditions was the greatest blind spot of the Australian side, something shown in 2015 during the Ashes but also in their lone loss of the World Cup, against New Zealand at a raucous Eden Park.”We know one of the biggest challenges we will face in New Zealand is adapting to the change in conditions,” he said. “It has been well documented that this is something we have struggled with in recent times and a major focus for this squad will be to reverse that trend.”The New Zealand side will be very tough to beat in their home conditions. We know we will need to be at the top of our game if we want to be competitive.”Marsh said the panel’s preference was for Lyon to get some time bowling in a first-class environment before the Test matches, while also deliberating on the value of Zampa, who again bowled well for the Melbourne Stars in the BBL final on Sunday night.”We have selected Adam Zampa as the spinning option for this tour in place of Nathan Lyon,” Marsh said. “We want Nathan to use the NSW versus West Australia Sheffield Shield match in New Zealand as preparation for the Test Series and this will give us a chance to have a good look at Adam ahead of the ICC World T20.”Adam has certainly put forward a strong case for selection through good performances in the Big Bash as well as the Matador Cup earlier in the season and we think he has thoroughly earned this opportunity.”The captain Smith and his deputy David Warner will be leaving Australia on Saturday in order to prepare in advance for New Zealand, having been rested from the latter two T20 internationals against India that follow Tuesday’s opening match on Australia Day in Adelaide.

Jim Allenby completed an impressive all-round performance to help Glamorgan to a comfortable 10-wicket victory at Cardiff

20-Apr-2013
ScorecardJim Allenby enjoyed an impressive all-round match•Getty Images

Jim Allenby completed an impressive all-round performance to help Glamorgan to a comfortable 10-wicket victory on the final morning of their Division Two clash with Worcestershire at Cardiff.The victory was Glamorgan’s first over Worcestershire at their Cardiff headquarters for 42 years. Allenby followed up his top score of 78 in Glamorgan’s first innings to claim figures of 4 for 27 in 20 overs in the Worcestershire second innings.He helped himself to three wickets on the final morning as the Welsh county claimed the final five wickets for only 22 runs after Worcestershire resumed on 185 for 5 to leave 36 for victory.In reply to Worcestershire’s 207 all out opener Ben Wright led the way in with 30 of the runs required as Glamorgan won 35 minutes before lunch. Glamorgan took 21 points from the contest to Worcestershire’s three.The visitors did not make the start they required when Thilan Samaraweera was caught and bowled by Michael Hogan for 79 in the fifth over of the day. And in the next over wicketkeeper Michael Johnson was caught by Marcus North off the potent bowling of Allenby.It left Worcestershire in trouble at 195 for 7, a lead of only 23. Bowling with the second new ball Allenby was on target again, breaking through twice in the same over. First he bowled David Lucas to uproot his off stump before trapping Chris Russell leg before. Hogan claimed the last wicket to fall by having Gareth Andrew caught by North at mid-off.

Neil Dexter’s century saw Lancashire’s hopes of survival slipping away on the first day at Lords’

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Lord's04-Sep-2012
ScorecardNeil Dexter struck 16 fours in his unbeaten innings•PA Photos

Neil Dexter continued his good end-of-season form, finishing the day unbeaten on 123 – his second century of the summer – as Lancashire failed to capitalise on a promising start.It was not the most fluent of knocks but at times Dexter’s strokes offered a glimpse into how different Middlesex’s season would have been had he found this streak earlier on. He drove and cut well, and was able to forget the wild slashes that surfaced during Lancashire’s rare moments of sustained pressure. His score today sees his season come around full circle.”The last time we played Lancashire, back in May, I only managed 47 and got dropped,” Dexter said. “And rightly so – I wasn’t playing well and I wasn’t in a particularly good place, so it’s nice to come back into the first team in good nick, and score a hundred today, against the side I failed to perform against.”It could have all been so different had Lancashire taken one of their two chances off Dexter – two catches of varying difficult, that could ultimately cost them their place in Division One. The first, a sharp diving effort to the left of Steven Croft at second slip, when Dexter had only 11 on the board, was as tough as slip catches come. The second was bordering on the rudimentary, as Dexter had seemingly picked out Ajmal Shahzad, diving in at mid-off, only for the ball to pop out of his grasp. He even took himself to three figures with a cut-shot that perfectly bisected wicketkeeper and first slip and went for four.”I was a bit fortunate today – a couple of chances went to hand, but things are going my way. As a batsman, you have to capitalise when that happens, and I’m glad I did. These are the types of knocks that you need to remember when you’re feeling down about your form; the times when you battle through an innings and make it count for yourself and your team.”Not ideal for Lancashire, who won the toss and put Middlesex in to bat, sensing the pitch and a 10.30am start had something to offer their bowlers. The first two wickets to fall owed little to the track itself – Glenn Chapple trapping Chris Rogers in front for 0 before strangling Joe Denly down the leg-side for 4. However, after Dawid Malan left an Shahzad delivery that clattered into his off-stump, it seemed there may well be enough in the pitch to suggest Middlesex – who had lost their 13th toss in 16 championship games – were up against it.A solid partnership between Dexter and opener Sam Robson partially allayed those fears, as the pair put on 63 for the fourth wicket, before Simon Kerrigan trapped Robson lbw in the penultimate over of the morning session, one run away from what was probably a deserved half-century. Dexter carried on the good work into the afternoon session as he forged another useful partnership, worth 62 with John Simpson, before he was joined by Gareth Berg, with whom he put on 158.The pair scored quickly, as Berg swept the relatively disappointing Kerrigan with ease. Kerrigan has enjoyed an impressive season, but he lacked the control that has seen him take 42 wickets prior to this match. At times he was too short, and it did not take long for Berg to pick him apart.But it would be wrong to blame the loss of initiative on the Kerrigan alone. Shahzad let his frustration get the better of him, persisting on a barrage of short-balls that troubled wicketkeeper Cross more than it did the batsmen, while Kyle Hogg and Tom Smith lacked the control of Chapple, despite Hogg removing Simpson, albeit with another leg-side catch through to the keeper.Any thoughts that the tea interval would help Lancashire reassess their tactics and stop Middlesex’s flow were cast aside, as Dexter and Berg continued about their business, with Berg passing fifty two overs into the evening session. He accelerated as Lancashire toiled without much luck, but fell for a season’s best 83, attempting to pull a short ball, wide of off-stump, and instead feathering through to Cross.The pitch looked to have flattened out as the day went on, which bodes well for Lancashire’s reply, but their immediate concern tomorrow will be limiting Middlesex to 450. At times in the evening session, they played like a team that had already meekly accepted relegation to Division Two. How else could you explain the way they handed Steven Crook the 45 runs he found himself unbeaten on at stumps?

Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has been recalled by Pakistan for the Twenty20s against Australia in August, and September’s World Twenty20.

Umar Farooq17-Jul-2012Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has been recalled by Pakistan for the Twenty20s against Australia in August, and September’s World Twenty20. Kamran, who last played for Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup, was cleared by the PCB’s integrity committee earlier this month.Batsman Imran Nazir, who last played for Pakistan in February 2010, and allrounder Abdul Razzaq have also made the squad for both tournaments. None of these three players has a central contract.”Each player in the side has a role and has been selected accordingly,” Iqbal Qasim, Pakistan’s chief selector, told ESPNcricinfo. “Razzaq and Imran are utility players and can make a difference. Imran is a good fielder, while Razzaq can also be useful as a seamer on Sri Lankan pitches [during the World T20] and can score some quick runs.”Mohammad Hafeez, who was named Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain ahead of the just-concluded Sri Lanka tour, will continue to lead. According to the PCB release that announced the squad, Hafeez has been named captain ’till the end of 2012′.

Squad for Australia T20s, World T20

Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal (wk), Asad Shafiq, Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Yasir Arafat, Umar Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hasan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami, Sohail Tanvir
In: Kamran Akmal, Imran Nazir, Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq, Nasir Jamshed
Out: Khalid Latif, Ahmed Shahzad, Hammad Azam, Haris Sohail, Shakeel Ansar

Asad Shafiq has been picked following his solid Test series in Sri Lanka, during which he scored two half-centuries and a hundred in five innings. He has scored 192 runs in 10 Twenty20 internationals for Pakistan.Opener Nasir Jamshed is also back, after recovering from a fracture of the index finger that ruled him out of the Sri Lanka tour. He is one of four openers in the squad, along with Nazir, Kamran and Hafeez.Speaking after the news of his selection broke, Jamshed said was looking forward to the competition among the openers. “Winning back the opportunity [to play for Pakistan] is always hard, and I am glad to have [my place] back. I have recovered [from the injury] and am sensing tough competition for the opening slot. But being a left-hander, it differentiates me from the other [three].”The players to miss out from the Twenty20 squad that played in Sri Lanka are Khalid Latif, Ahmed Shahzad, Hammad Azam, Haris Sohail and wicketkeeper Shakeel Ansar.There are no changes on the bowling front, with Saeed Ajmal and 20-year-old Raza Hasan being the specialist spinners, and Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir and Mohammad Sami the quicks.”Raza, though young, isn’t a new name,” Qasim said. “He has been performing and [taking into account] the need for a left-arm spinner, he is the best [option] at the moment.”Sami, along with Gul, is our strike bowler. They may not be in form, but with ample experience under their belt they can bounce back and play their role.”The message from Pakistan’s selectors in picking their squad for the Australia series and the World Twenty20 seems to be a green signal for tried and tested hands and an amber light for promising youth. The most bizarre omission is that of Junaid Khan, who, in his brief career, has made a name for himself in Tests and has been making strides in limited-overs cricket as well. He’s been passed over for Mohammad Sami but, given Sami’s inconsistency, could have been a more effective complement to Umar Gul. Junaid, still in his second year of international cricket, bounced back from a heel injury to pick up 14 wickets – including two five-fors – in the recent Tests against Sri Lanka.Also to suffer is the highly-rated allrounder Hammad Azam, who has lost out to Abdul Razzaq. Azam seemed to have answered the selectors’ call for a new allrounder in 2010, when he was picked in the national squad for the World T20, but his growth has been hampered by inconsistent selection. Razzaq’s last appearance for Pakistan was in November 2011, after which he was overlooked on grounds of form and fitness. He was not handed a central contract recently, so his recall raises more questions over the selectors’ rationale.And Ahmed Shahzad, 20, appeared to be in the selectors’ Twenty20 plans before the Sri Lanka tour but has now lost his place to Imran Nazir – who will be making his fourth T20 comeback for Pakistan since 2007. Nazir was last recalled in 2010, for the series against England in the UAE, but was sent back to the fringes after scoring 2 and 4.
Umar Farooq

It could be the end of his Test career as the Dhaka Test against South Africa was supposed to be his farewell game

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2024In what could be the end of an illustrious Test career for Shakib Al Hasan, the allrounder has had to make himself unavailable for the first home Test against South Africa. He was unable to make it to Dhaka while traveling from New York earlier this week. Shakib has been replaced by uncapped left-arm spinner Hasan Murad for the first Test starting October 21 in Dhaka, which was supposed to be his farewell Test.Shakib, who was traveling from New York to Dhaka was asked to wait while in transit in Dubai on Wednesday, had expressed uncertainty around returning home because of protests against him in Dhaka amid political unrest. Shakib was initially included in the Test squad and it was supposed to be his farewell game at home, he had said on the tour of India last month.Shakib has not been able to return home in Bangladesh ever since the Awami League’s government resigned after 15 years in early August. Shakib, an MP with the Awami League, was already in Canada at the time for the Global T20 Canada and has not been to his home country since then. He flew to Pakistan for the two-Test series Bangladesh won, he went to the UK to play one first-class game for Surrey in the County Championship in September, before going to India for the two Tests. Unable to return home because of ongoing safety issues, he went to New York where he currently stays. Shakib has been named among 147 people in an FIR for an alleged murder during the unrest.Related

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Murad, 23, has taken 136 wickets in 30 first-class matches since his debut in 2021, and has already played two T20Is, in the Asian Games last year.”We have been informed that Shakib is unavailable for the first Test,” chairman of BCB’s national selection panel Gazi Ashraf Hossain said in a press release. “He is at the end of his Test career but along with his experience, we still do not have someone of that calibre with both bat and the ball to replace him.”However, Hasan Murad has performed consistently in first-class cricket and has been in our system. He will lend balance to our bowling, especially in home conditions. We believe he has the potential to deliver at this level.”The second Test between Bangladesh and South Africa will be played in Chattogram from October 29.

For upcoming Tests in SL, Babar wants mistakes from previous WTC cycle to not be repeated

Umar Farooq06-Jul-2023Talking about the October 15 ODI World Cup fixture against India, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has said that the tournament doesn’t revolve around only one game, and all nine fixtures will be important. Babar addressed the media in Karachi, where the team is undergoing a preparatory camp before the Sri Lanka Test series.”We are going to play World Cup and not just going to play against India only,” Babar said. “There are eight other teams and it’s not only India and only if we beat them then we will make it into the final. We are not focused on only one team, we are focused on all other teams in the tournament. Our plan is that we have to play well against all of them and win against them.”Pakistan are scheduled to play their nine league matches in five cities, their first stop being Hyderabad. There they play Netherlands and Sri Lanka – the two qualifiers from Zimbabwe – on October 6 and 12 respectively. Their next fixture is the big one, travelling west to Ahmedabad for the India game on October 15. They then go down south to Bengaluru to play Australia on October 20, and onward to Chennai, where Afghanistan await on October 23 and South Africa too on October 27. Pakistan then shuttle between Kolkata (v Bangladesh) and Bengaluru (v New Zealand) on October 31 and November 4 respectively, before finishing their league-stage fixtures against England in Kolkata.”In our thought, wherever the cricket will be played, wherever the matches are, we are going to play there. Because as professionals that is what we do, you have to be ready for everything. You prepare yourself for different conditions and in every environment and that is what we call a challenge and you take it to live up to it. Me, as a player and captain, I aspire to score runs in every country, dominate and win Pakistan games. So this is all we have in mind and not only that we’re going to play against one team.”Pakistan’s league stage matches at the 2023 ODI World Cup•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Pakistan’s participation is subject to the government approval, though there is a tentative approval which will be reviewed closer to the event. There will be the usual security reconnaissance before the team flies out, but there is no other hindrance at this stage.There was a letter sent out to the government by the PCB seeking advice on whether the Pakistan team is allowed to travel to India, and if so, if there are any reservations about any of the five venues for the Pakistan games, and if the Pakistani government wants to send a security delegation.

Babar wants faster runs from Test batters

Most Pakistan players are currently in Karachi, attending a conditioning camp before their two-match Test series in Sri Lanka. The series starts July 16 in Galle, with Pakistan playing their first Test after a gap of six months. The second Test is in Colombo from July 24.In the last ICC World Test Championship cycle, Pakistan were derailed in their home series with scorelines of 0-1 against Australia, 0-3 against England, and a drawn series against New Zealand. The Sri Lanka Test series is the first away series for Pakistan in the 2023-2025 cycle, and also have away tours of Australia (three Tests) and South Africa (two) lined up. They will host England (three), West Indies (two), and Bangladesh (two) at home.Honours were shared in SL when Pakistan last toured in 2022•AFP/Getty Images

“When you reflect back on the championship, you look out for all the positives and mainly what we were lacking in,” Babar said. “We did look back and plucked a few points. We’ll try to start this cycle in a positive way and up our game by 5-10 percent. We talked about taking our partnerships longer and with the ball, we have to take wickets. With the bat, if we were going with 3.5 [run rate], so now we have to change our game to try and go with 4.”On a question about taking a leaf out of the book on how England and Australia play Test cricket, Babar insisted that his side has its own way of playing.”As a captain, the approach is to win matches and always look to have a result,” he said. “Every team has a mindset and they play in their way. We try to play our best game and apply ourselves. For example, we went on to chase 360 [342] in Galle last year with our game. It happens when you have to score at the rate of three or four but sometimes you have to be defensive so it’s the need of the hour that dictates how you going to go into the situation. You learn every day and try to add new things to the system.”

Weather could be a factor as the teams move from Mumbai on the west coast to Visakhapatnam on the east

Hemant Brar18-Mar-20234:05

Jaffer: India might be tempted to go with Axar Patel

Big picture: India target series victory

The Wankhede Stadium might have thrown a curveball in the first ODI but neither India nor Australia will fret too much over how their batters fared in those seamer-friendly conditions. Both teams have already qualified for the upcoming ODI World Cup and this series, anyway, is not part of the World Cup Super League.Right now, it’s more about fine-tuning and finding the right combinations, and so the caravan moves from Mumbai on the west coast to Visakhapatnam on the east coast for more of that.For India, their regular captain Rohit Sharma will be back after missing the first game because of family commitments. That means Ishan Kishan is likely to sit out. Unless India value his left-handedness and give him a chance in the middle order in place of Suryakumar Yadav.

Watch live on ESPN+

In the US, you can watch the second India-Australia ODI live on ESPN+.

KL Rahul hasn’t had a great time in Test cricket of late, but he showed his value as an ODI No. 5 with a match-winning unbeaten 75 in the first game. India will also be pleased with his glovework behind the stumps. He took an excellent diving catch to his right to dismiss Steven Smith apart from making a couple of one-handed stops down the leg side. Against spin too, he was equally impressive. With Rishabh Pant unlikely to be fit in time for the World Cup, Rahul’s wicketkeeping is a big plus.Australia will be happy with the returns of Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell in the first ODI. Marsh, coming back after ankle surgery and playing this series as a specialist batter, smashed a 65-ball 81. Maxwell was playing his first international match since breaking his leg in November. He might not have contributed much with bat or ball, but he didn’t seem to be in any sort of physical discomfort.

Form guide

India WWWWW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
Australia LWWWW

In the spotlight: Suryakumar Yadav and Mitchell Starc

Shreyas Iyer’s absence has allowed India to play Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4. However, he has failed to replicate his T20I success in 50-over cricket. In his last ten ODIs, he has scored only 110 runs at an average of 13.75. With the ODI World Cup a little over six months away, is Suryakumar running out of time to be a serious contender for India’s squad?Rohit Sharma will be back for India after missing the first ODI•Associated Press

On Friday, Mitchell Starc showed why he is such a force in ODI cricket. His new-ball spell, during which he dismissed Virat Kohli, Suryakumar and Shubman Gill, made Australia favourites to defend 188, before they were denied by KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja. Given Starc no longer plays in the IPL – 2015 was his last season – he will like to acquaint himself as much as possible with the Indian conditions before the World Cup.

Team news: Rohit returns

Apart from Rohit’s return, India could consider bringing in Washington Sundar for Shardul Thakur as spinners have a better economy rate (5.64) than fast bowlers (6.15) in Visakhapatnam.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav/Ishan Kishan, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur/Washington Sundar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohammed SirajDavid Warner (elbow injury) and Alex Carey (illness) missed the first ODI but there is a chance that both could play on Sunday. If Warner returns, Australia will have to reshuffle their batting order. Carey will be a straight swap for Josh Inglis. They may experiment elsewhere, too, as they have said they will try things ahead of the World Cup.Australia (probable): 1 Mitchell Marsh, 2 Travis Head, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Alex Carey (wk), 6 Cameron Green, 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Marcus Stoinis, 9 Sean Abbott, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Adam Zampa

Pitch and conditions: A shortened game?

Visakhapatnam has been a high-scoring venue with an average first-innings total of 295. The last time India played an ODI here, in December 2019, they posted 387 for 5 against West Indies with Rohit and Rahul scoring hundreds. Weather, though, could play spoilsport as there is a forecast of scattered showers in the afternoon.

Stats and trivia: Kohli in Visakhapatnam

• India’s five-wicket win in Mumbai extended their winning streak in ODIs to eight matches, and halted Australia’s run at six wins.
• Of the nine ODIs Visakhapatnam has hosted to date, India have won seven, lost one, and one was a tie.
• In six ODIs at this venue, Kohli’s scores are 118, 117, 99, 65, 157* and 0.
• Rahul has 1945 runs in 50 ODI innings. If he scores another 55 on Sunday, he will be the second-fastest Indian behind Shikhar Dhawan (48 innings) to reach the landmark.
• Smith is 61 short of 5000 runs in the format. If he gets there in his next innings, he will be the joint second-fastest for Australia.