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England T20 specialist Tymal Mills and a clutch of Afghanistan players – including IPL-bound Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi – are among the high-profile names to be included in the draft for this year’s Caribbean Premier League.Mills, who was picked up for USD1.8m in the IPL auction last month, is one of four English players in the draft, alongside former Test spinner Monty Panesar. Mills’ availability is likely to be limited, however, as there is significant overlap between the CPL – scheduled to run from August 1 to September 9 – and the NatWest Blast, England’s domestic T20 tournament which this year takes place in July and August, with Finals Day on September 2.Rashid and Nabi are joined by compatriots Nawroz Mangal, Asghar Stanikzai and Najibullah Zadran. There are a number of other Associate players in the mix, including Canada’s Rizwan Cheema and Ruvindu Gunasekera; George Dockrell, Kevin O’Brien and Niall O’Brien from Ireland; Oman’s Sufyan Mehmood and Zishawn Qureshi of the USA.Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are all well represented in the 258-player pool, ahead of the draft scheduled for March 10.The list also includes a number of local players looking to be picked up, including two-time World T20 winner Marlon Samuels. Those retained by their franchises, as well as marquee players, will be announced separately.”T20 is capturing the world of cricket by storm, and with the huge numbers of talented players from across the cricketing world eager to sign up to the biggest party in sport, I’ve no doubt that the 2017 season will be our best yet,” Tom Moody, the CPL’s director of international cricket, said.”In attracting the cream of international talent from a healthy blend of established and fast-developing nations, it extends the growing international appeal of the sport and of the Hero CPL itself, and I have no doubt that we are going to see a hugely contested player draft in Barbados on March 10th.”

Match facts

Sunday, January 15, 2017
Start time 1330 local (0800 GMT)5:46

Agarkar: Can’t leave out Yuvraj after picking him in the squad

Big picture

The cricketing gods must be crazy. We are living in an era where India are regularly winning Test series 3-0 and 4-0, having done so only twice in their history until 2012. In ODIs, on the other hand, they are not starting as favourites in a series against even after beating them 4-0 in Tests. England are not the clear favourites either, but it says a lot about their metamorphosis since the 2015 World Cup that they start on even terms against a side that has beaten them in four of the last five bilateral ODI series and is 17-8 in recent ODI cricket between them. And England are not apologetic about pushing the boundaries in ODIs independent of how the Test side is performing.India and MS Dhoni have recognised that they, for a change, need motivation from their Test side. That the split captaincy doesn’t work. So Virat Kohli, who has tasted early success in Tests, takes over an ODI side that is desperately in need of new ideas and match-winners in the middle order.England have batting match-winners all the way down. Which is why they keep coming at you with the big shots, the switch hits and the reverse-sweeps. India will look to bat more clinically, relying as they do on a smaller base of batsmen, especially given Rohit Sharma’s absence. Either way there will be runs. A lot of them.The contest, though, will come down to the bowlers. One spell of 10 overs for 45 runs or one extra wicket in the middle overs. England will rely more on discipline of their pace bowlers, India on the spinners. A flat pitch will give England the advantage, and the slightest hint of slowness or turn will give India control. The day-night warm-up match played at the Brabourne Stadium between an England XI and India A showed a lot of what to expect: Chris Woakes and David Willey were tight at the start, keeping India A down to 304, and India A came back in their defence through the spin of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. England XI scored 156 for 1 off the 24.5 overs bowled by the quicks, and 148 for 6 in 24 overs of spin.The pitches for ODIs, though, are generally flat. And India wouldn’t necessarily want too much help for the spinners: they wouldn’t want to be chasing 250 on turning pitches, as demonstrated in the defeats against New Zealand in Delhi and Ranchi, and Adil Rashid cannot be underestimated in ODIs. Early starts to the matches – 1.30pm as opposed to 2.30pm in earlier years – should make dew and the toss less of a factor. Hopefully.

Form guide

India WLWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
England WLWLWEoin Morgan comes into the series with scores of 3 and 0 in the warm-up games•AFP

In the spotlight

Dhoni has had his share of eulogies. Now the attention must shift to Virat Kohli. He operates differently to India’s most successful limited-overs captain. His first call of duty will be to deal with Dhoni’s batting order. Will he give Dhoni a long stint at No. 4 and start looking for other finishers? What plans does he have for Yuvraj Singh? How is he going to utilise his Test talisman R Ashwin, who had seemingly fallen out of favour with Dhoni in the final stages of his captaincy? Does Ajinkya Rahane have a place in India’s ODI plans when everybody is fit? And Kohli will have to keep winning matches with the bat while he does all that thinking.Kohli’s counterpart Eoin Morgan, on the other hand, is going through a bit of a Dhoni patch in a batting line-up full of power hitters. He is often required in pressure situations and during good times he hardly gets enough balls to face to register big innings. His last century came in June 2015, he has averaged 38.00 since then and has won one match award in 25 matches. These numbers by themselves shouldn’t put him under pressure, but he has scored 3 and a golden duck in the tour games after Sam Billings impressed as his replacement when he opted out of the Bangladesh tour. He too will now have decisions and runs to make.

Team news

India’s squad looks completely different to the one that beat New Zealand 3-2. The two Test spinners are back, and Yuvraj is part of the 15 too. Looking at England’s struggle against spin in practice games, India could look to stack the side up with batsmen who bowl part-time spin. Manish Pandey could make way for Yuvraj but where does the man in irrepressible form, KL Rahul, fit? One way out could be to give up on Hardik Pandya or Umesh Yadav and rely on Yuvraj and Kedar Jadhav for 10 overs. Otherwise one out of the returning Rahane, Rahul and the returning Shikhar Dhawan might have to sit out. And does Kohli make the call of sitting out Amit Mishra, the spinner who took five wickets in his last ODI, just because the Test spinners are back?India (probable): 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Ajinkya Rahane/ KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt.), 4 MS Dhoni (wk), 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 R Ashwin/ Amit Mishra, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Jasprit BumrahAs they suggested with their line-ups in the warm-up games, England could look to play six batsmen, including the allrounder Ben Stokes and the wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, and five bowlers. This means they might have to make more than one difficult decision, and leave out both Sam Billings, who scored a match-winning 93 in the first warm-up game, as well as the in-form Jonny Bairstow. England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Jos Buttler (wk), 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Liam Plunkett/Liam DawsonAmit Mishra took a five-for in his last ODI, but may have to sit out this one with R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja back in India’s squad•Associated Press

Pitch and conditions

The pitch is expected to be a regular ODI surface where 300 from both sides cannot be counted out. Two days before the match India’s coach Anil Kumble said there hadn’t been any dew until 7.30pm but you cannot be certain in this time of year in India when dew usually affects day-night games. If the dew does show up at around 8pm, it still has an hour and a half to play havoc in, and the last 90 minutes of an ODI can often sway the result.

Stats and trivia

• In four matches against India, Alex Hales averages 23 and has struck at 68.65 per 100 balls as against corresponding overall numbers of 37.77 and 94.49. In 2014, India choked his off-side game by cramping him with straight inswingers.
• England have won only one bilateral series in India in eight attempts, back in 1984.
• This is only the second ODI at this venue: in the first, Australia scored 304 and defended comfortably.

Quotes

I was actually pretty delighted to be given the captaincy for all the three formats. It adds to the responsibility and makes you a better player, a better person; that’s something I have always liked that aspect of captaincy.
You wake up on the weekend and all you wanted to do was play cricket. You look out the window and hope the sun was shining. So that kind of attitude is very important. It’s a nice way to play cricket regardless of you win, lose or draw.

India’s newly appointed limited-overs captain Virat Kohli has said having MS Dhoni in the team without the responsibility of leadership will be a “win-win situation” for India and himself. In an interview with the BCCI website the day after he was named captain, Kohli also said he feels “confident” taking charge in the shorter formats given his understanding of them, and is “excited” to build a team for the 2019 World Cup.”It’s a win-win situation for the captain coming in to still have Dhoni for his advice, his inputs and his cricketing brain,” he said. “But what I’m most happy about is that he’ll be able to play free cricket and express himself as the aggressive MS Dhoni we knew when he first came into the team. As a player, responsibility can take that away from you. I think it’s time he enjoys his cricket because he has taken so much burden for the country.”Dhoni stepped down as India captain on Wednesday, after a nine-year stint in the role. Kohli had been his long-time vice-captain.Kohli said he and Dhoni shared a good relationship, and Dhoni had been grooming him for the role of captain. “I’ve learnt a lot from him in terms of leadership and conducting myself. When you think ‘Dhoni’, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘captain’. For me he’s always going to be my captain because I started my career under him. He will always be the guy who guided me, who gave me opportunities, who gave me ample time and space to grow as a cricketer, who saved me from getting dropped many a time.”There’s a lot of mutual respect between us because he understands that having been given the opportunity, I have actually worked hard on my game and improved the mental side of things. We share a great friendship and I couldn’t be luckier to have him around for his ideas.”It’s something I’ve been preparing for in my own head, and MS has been talking to me as well about strategies, how to approach situations, etc because he also understood how important it is to guide me.”Dhoni’s spot in the batting order has been a point of wider debate of late, with some suggesting it would be best for him at this later stage of his career to bat up the order and guide the innings instead of taking on the mental and physical demands of finishing games. Kohli, too, said he would like to have Dhoni batting up the order. “I would love to see him bat higher up than he has been for the last few years and totally enjoy his cricket. If MS Dhoni enjoys his cricket and plays the way he did in his initial years, then the team is in a very solid space.””I’ll be able to execute plans with more conviction starting off [as limited-overs captain], which wasn’t the case when I became Test captain”•ICC

Kohli said he thought he was better prepared for the limited-overs captaincy than he was when he took over in Tests in January 2015; then, Dhoni had retired from the longest format midway through India’s tour to Australia, captaining on Boxing Day but handing over to Kohli for the New Year’s Test. At that point, Kohli had played 32 Tests. Now, he has 176 ODIs and 45 T20Is behind him.”I feel confident taking it up because of the kind of cricket I’ve played in the shorter format and what I’ve learnt from playing in the different situations in that format. So I’ll be able to execute plans with more conviction starting off, which wasn’t the case when I became Test captain.”I was told a day before that MS is not going to play… and I’m going to captain the country; it was quite surprising for me because, in my head, I was still finding my feet in Test cricket.”Kohli said captaining India at the 2019 World Cup will be the “biggest achievement of my life”, but, even while preparing for that tournament, he would not want to lose sight of playing to win in every game. Winning, he said, would be the best preparation.”Just hearing about the World Cup gives me goosebumps. I think it’s a wonderful phase in Indian cricket where the youngsters have an opportunity to come in and seal their spots for that big occasion. The main goal is to identify players who can play in different positions and can work around the batsmen who’ve been featuring in the ODI set up for a long time, at the same time giving them ample time to prepare for those big events and not rush them into any kinds of plans that they can’t execute.”[But] there is a lot of time to go for it. Our basic goal is to win every game that we play – not taking this process for granted, saying it doesn’t matter if we win or lose games. I don’t think that will create confidence.”When you’re put under pressure, that situation is too overwhelming for a lot of people and you don’t know a way out. But if you’re encountering those situations and know how to win from different situations, it makes a mindset for big tournaments, for big games, for big oppositions and that’s what you start craving for. So I think it’s a gradual process where the main aim will be to win games and give guys the vision and mental strength, and the ability to counter situations and come back and win games.”Being in charge, Kohli said, has made him a better cricketer overall. “Responsibility has always been good for my game, in the sense that there’s no room for complacency. In the IPL, when I’m captain [of Royal Challengers Bangalore], it’s very easy for me throw my wicket away after 60-70, but the reason I push on is that I realise as captain I need to set an example, make that kind of effort before I can ask the same from others. That’s something I’ve always believed in.”It makes me a better player, it makes me a better person, it makes me understand the game more and it makes me much more focused on the game – understand the minute details that win or lose you the game. It works beautifully for me.”

Scorecard
Mitchell Johnson took three wickets to rip through the Strikers’ middle order•Getty Images

Perth Scorchers opened their Big Bash season with a 48-run win at the WACA, racking up 197 for 7 before holding the Adelaide Strikers to 149 for 9 in reply. Ian Bell and Mitchell Marsh drove the innings past the halfway mark before Ashton Turner finished it off with an unbeaten 44 off 19 balls.Ben Dunk and Jay Weatherald had put on a partnership of 133 in Adelaide’s so-nearly run chase against Brisbane Heat two days earlier, but they contributed one run between them against Perth. David Willey got them both after opening the bowling, and after three overs of the chase Adelaide were 2 for 7. That slipped to 3 for 15 in the last ball of the fourth when Travis Head nicked Jhye Richardson behind off an extravagant cut.Brad Hodge played a gem in resistance, including four consecutive fours off Richardson after the fall of Head, a cover slash for four to welcome Mitchell Johnson back to competitive cricket, and a top-edged flick for six off Andrew Tye. But Johnson got Kieron Pollard that same over, and Hodge’s eventual 56 off 33 balls wasn’t enough.Bell tolled you soIan Bell was in ordinary form when he was squeezed out of the England Test team, but that middle order hasn’t had a convincing replacement since. It may seem far-fetched to suggest that a good BBL could vault him back into the reckoning, but it wouldn’t hurt his cause.Bell’s first ball in the BBL was dropped by Weatherald at midwicket from a top-edged pull, but thereafter the new signing was a picture of composure and class. English batsmen are supposed to struggle with the bounce of Australian pitches, but Bell’s cross-bat shots were a feature of his innings. The highlight, though, was his cover drive for six off one-time England teammate Chris Jordan. Bell was out in the 16th over, and his 61 off 42 balls had set up the match.The engine room deliversWith Bell steaming along like a well-tended bain marie, Marsh came out to join him at 2 for 64 in the eighth. Another player recently dumped from his country’s Test team, Marsh came good with a couple of massive sixes in his 31 from 19 balls.By the time he fell it was 3 for 121 in the 13th over, a platform was set. Turner hit four sixes and two fours to build it skywards, and the resultant scoreboard pressure undid the Strikers from the first over of their chase.If you can’t win tough, win funnyPerth crowds have quickly become accustomed to success during the Big Bash, and didn’t smile much at missing out last year.They managed a good laugh during the end of their batting innings, though, as Ashton Agar slapped a single towards cover and tried to come back for a second. There was not even half a run there and the allrounder should have been run out by yards. Instead, as he watched helplessly, wicketkeeper Dunk couldn’t handle the throw. It went through his gloves to backward point where it was kicked even further away on the slide, and a single plus a wicket had instead become three runs and no dismissal. Commentators called for the Benny Hill music, and the orange-clad throng in the crowd lapped up every second.Strikers teeter early, Scorchers solidify Two adverse results, and the Strikers are in early trouble. They haven’t managed to chase successfully from two attempts this season and now they have to wait for New Year’s Eve for their next chance at home against Sydney Sixers.A good start for Perth though, with all the confidence that will flow from an early win in which all departments excelled – Johnson with three wickets, new boy Bell with runs, and Marsh showing that he isn’t downcast after his Australian troubles. A trip to Sydney two days after Christmas to tackle the Sixers is next.

He has been cleared to play in Hamilton, and doctors are confident he will recover well, but Ross Taylor admits the experience of going into a Test match with doubts over his vision was a galling one. Taylor had received news that the pterygium on his left eye had worsened the day before he went out to bat in the previous Test.A batsman who has had his run of form – he averaged 14.83 in the Tests in India and scored only three runs in three Test innings in South Africa – may have had doubts about his game in any case; the optometrists’ diagnosis only added to them.”When you play and miss your first couple of balls after seeing an optometrist, there are some interesting things that go through your mind,” Taylor said. “Finding out during the Test match was a little bit distracting mentally. Eyes are pretty important. Hopefully I can come back and get back to the form I was in a few years ago.”Taylor has had the pterygium – a growth on the tissue that lines the eyelids – for “five or six years”, but has seen it deteriorate over the past few months. He had initially noticed it hindering his play in a Test in Brisbane last year. Having received eye drops on that occasion, he went on to score a career-best 290 in Perth. He will now require surgery to remove the pterygium, however, and a recovery period of four to six weeks will follow.”The surgery involves cutting your eye, and cutting the growth,” he said. “Then they’ll take a little bit from under the eyelid and glue it in so the growth doesn’t come back.”With any operation there’s always a chance that things don’t go as well as possible. The surgeon I talked to last night was pretty confident that the recovery time is as we had said. After four to six weeks there could be a period when it does deteriorate a little bit, but hopefully I can get it back after a little while.”Taylor is confident his vision remains good enough to play the Hamilton match, though he does expect criticism of the decision should he fail.”All the tests said I had very good vision – I guess the growth was just coming across. I prepared to play, even before I saw the specialists. I am looking forward to this Test. I can’t say I’m looking forward to the operation, given what it entails, but I’m sure I’ll get over it.”Among the challenges Taylor will have to overcome will be swing and seam movement, given the colour of the pitch the teams will play on, and the wet forecast for the first three days. With New Zealand surfaces having become increasingly seam-friendly over the past few years, the hosts’ batsmen have begun to relish playing on them, Taylor said.”There’s been a mindset change in the team. In the last three or four years we’ve always played on green seamers, or wickets that have got a little bit in it for the seam bowlers. The way the guys train – a few years ago no one would have wanted to go and bat in the green net. But now, in the green net in Hamilton – all the boys want to go and bat in that to test themselves out. There’s no use going to bat on a flat wicket when you know the ball’s going to do a bit out there on day one and two.”

ESPNcricinfo keeps you up to date with all the player movements ahead of the 2017 seasonRilee Rossouw has joined Hampshire on a Kolpak deal•Getty Images

DerbyshireIN: Hardus Viljoen (Kolpak), Gary Wilson (Surrey), Luis Reece (Lancashire), Daryn Smit (SA, Kolpak).
OUT: Neil Broom (NZ), Callum Parkinson (Leicestershire), Chesney Hughes (released), Andy Carter (retired)
OVERSEAS: Jeevan Mendis (SL, April-June), Imran Tahir (SA, June-September), Matt Henry (NZ, T20)DurhamIN: Cameron Steel
OUT: Scott Borthwick, Mark Stoneman (both Surrey), Asher Hart (Hampshire), Gordon Muchall (retired), Phil Mustard, Calum MacLeod, Jamie Harrison, Gurman Randhawa (all released)
OVERSEAS: Stephen Cook (SA, April-July), Tom Latham (NZ, July-September)EssexIN: Varun Chopra (Warwickshire), Adam Wheater (Hampshire), Simon Harmer (Kolpak)
OUT: Graham Napier, David Masters (both retired), Jaik Mickleburgh, Tom Moore (both released)
OVERSEAS: Mohammad Amir (Pak, June-September), Neil Wagner (NZ, April-June)GlamorganIN: Marchant de Lange, arry Podmore (short-term loan, Middlesex)
OUT: James Kettleborough, Dewi Penrhyn Jones (both released), Mark Wallace (retired)
OVERSEAS: Jacques Rudolph (SA)GloucestershireIN: Phil Mustard (Durham)
OUT: Tom Hampton (released)
OVERSEAS: Michael Klinger, Cameron Bancroft, Andrew Tye (T20) (all Aus)HampshireIN: Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw (both SA, Kolpak), Asher Hart (Durham), Fraser Hay
OUT: Adam Wheater (Essex), James Tomlinson, Andy Carter (both retired), Joe Weatherley (Kent, loan)
OVERSEAS: George Bailey (Aus)KentIN: Will Gidman (Nottinghamshire), Joe Weatherley (Hampshire, loan), James Harris (Middlesex, loan)
OUT: David Griffith, Sam Weller (both released), Fabian Cowdrey (retired)
OVERSEAS: TBCLancashireIN: Dane Vilas (SA, Kolpak), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI, Kolpak), Brooke Guest
OUT: Tom Smith (retired), Nathan Buck (Northamptonshire), Gareth Griffiths (Leicestershire), Luis Reece (Derbyshire), George Edwards, Alviro Petersen (both released),
OVERSEAS: Ryan McLaren (SA), Junaid Khan (Pak, T20)LeicestershireIN: Gareth Griffiths (Lancashire), Callum Parkinson (Derbyshire), Richard Jones (Warwickshire), James Burke (loan, Surrey), Dieter Klein, Colin Ackermann (both European passport)
OUT: Jigar Naik, Ollie Freckingham, Michael Burgess, Atif Sheikh, Rob Taylor, Niall O’Brien (all released)
OVERSEAS: Clint McKay (Aus), Luke Ronchi (Pak, T20), Cameron Delport (SA, T20)MiddlesexIN:
OUT: Andrew Balbirnie (released), Max Holden (loan, Northants), James Harris (loan, Kent), Harry Podmore (loan, Glamorgan), Cameron Steel (Durham)
OVERSEAS: Brendon McCullum (NZ, T20), Adam Voges (Aus)NorthamptonshireIN: Nathan Buck (Lancashire), Max Holden (loan, Middlesex)
OUT: Olly Stone (Warwickshire)
OVERSEAS: Rory Kleinveldt (SA), Seekkuge Prasanna (T20)NottinghamshireIN: Ben Kitt
OUT: Will Gidman (Kent), Sam Wood (released)
OVERSEAS: James Pattinson (Aus), Daniel Christian (Aus, T20), Ish Sodhi (NZ, T20)SomersetIN: Steven Davies (Surrey), George Bartlett
OUT: Chris Rogers (retired), Alex Barrow (released)
OVERSEAS: Dean Elgar (SA)SurreyIN: Scott Borthwick, Mark Stoneman (both Durham), Kevin Pietersen (T20)
OUT: Steven Davies (Somerset), Gary Wilson (Derbyshire), James Burke (loan, Leicestershire), Azhar Mahmood (released)
OVERSEAS: Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Aaron Finch (Aus, T20), Moises Henriques (T20)SussexIN: Laurie Evans (Warwickshire), Jofra Archer (UK passport), Stiaan van Zyl, David Wiese (both SA, Kolpak)
OUT: Craig Cachopa, Fynn Hudson-Prentice (both released), Lewis Hatchett (retired)
OVERSEAS: Vernon Philander (SA, April-June), Ross Taylor (NZ, T20)WarwickshireIN: Olly Stone (Northamptonshire), Grant Elliott (NZ, Kolpak, T20)
OUT: Varun Chopra (Essex), Laurie Evans (Sussex), Richard Jones (Leicestershire), Recordo Gordon, Jonathan Webb, Freddie Coleman (all released)
OVERSEAS: Jeetan Patel (NZ), Colin de Grandhomme (NZ, T20)WorcestershireIN:
OUT: Chris Russell (released)
OVERSEAS: John Hastings (injured, arrival uncertain), Mitchell Santner (T20, NZ)YorkshireIN: Azeem Rafiq
OUT: Andrew Gale (retired)
OVERSEAS: Peter Handscomb (Aus), Travis Head (Aus, T20)

Amid the disappointment of having lost a Test, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson felt the team had the skill to compete but has asked his team-mates to apply them for much longer durations. There were times when New Zealand had India under pressure, the batsmen combating unfamiliar conditions, but such is the dominance of India’s spinners in their own conditions that New Zealand still lost by a whopping 197 runs. Williamson identified the breaks in concentration as something that could be improved despite the short turnover involved while playing three back-to-back Tests.”On the scorecard it looks like a biggish defeat, but there were a couple of moments that I would reflect on as where the game turned slightly more in their favour,” he said. “The back end of our first innings with the bat and certainly when we bowled in the second innings there was probably a three-hour period where we didn’t bowl very well and they got away from us. It’s a combination of us not quite being at our best at certain times, and they played very well.”New Zealand lost the toss in Kanpur but had competed with India evenly for the first six sessions. They had five wickets in hand and a first-innings lead was only 63 runs away when they collapsed from 255 for 5 to 262 all out. India ended up with a 56-run advantage – which is as good as 150 in these conditions – and it showed in how demoralised the New Zealand bowlers were in the second innings, and how freely the India batsmen were able to score.”Obviously, whenever you lose it’s disappointing,” Williamson said, “but credit certainly has to go to India. They’re a good side, particularly in their home conditions and they showed that again. In saying that, there are certainly positives for us to take from this Test into the next one. The way Mitch Santner played, and Luke Ronchi, coming back into the side [making 38 and 80] were a couple of highlights. As a unit we want to be able to apply that pressure for longer, which isn’t always easy in this part of the world against a side like India. But it’s certainly a challenge for us moving forward.”New Zealand have three days left for the next Test in Kolkata. They would need to recover physically, and then figure out ways to be better, both individually and as a team.”The first thing is the guys need to recover well,” Williamson said. “There were a lot of good things to come out of this game, and for a number of players it is their first time batting in these sort of conditions. There will be a lot of lessons learnt, reflecting on those and looking to apply the skills that worked for a period of time for a lot longer. That’s certainly what the Indian players do, it is very important.”[R] Ashwin and [Ravindra] Jadeja are both very good bowlers but there were a lot of positives for us,” Williamson said. “Guys who hadn’t played here before spent some valuable time in the middle and made some valuable contributions. Mitch Santner for one and Luke Ronchi another who certainly showed they had the skill-sets to perform well in these conditions. I do think it’s applying ourselves for longer.”As he had said in the lead-up to the Kanpur Test, Williamson pointed out how his team could learn from India. “It is a challenge against a very good attack but they [the New Zealand players] have got the skill-sets, and it’s being able to stick to it for a lot longer. That is the same with the ball for our young spin attack, who are extremely talented. Being over here in these hot conditions, being able to remain focussed for a long period because you know if you put the ball in the area for long enough, you’ll get your rewards. That’s what the Indian team showed us.”One of the reasons for Williamson hoping New Zealand could put up a better fight as the series wore on was Santner, who became the first player from his country to aggregate more than 100 runs and five wickets in a Test since 2011.”He played outstandingly well,” Williamson said. “It’s his first time in this part of the world playing Test cricket, and it was a great step in the right direction for his game. We all know he has got the talent with bat and ball and in the field. To apply himself like he did and bowl a number of overs and be successful was very good against good players of spin. It was a huge positive for us. He’ll look forward to the next one, and I’m sure he’s learnt a lot from this experience.”Martin Guptill, on the other hand, had an underwhelming Test with 21 in the first innings and a duck in the second. Williamson didn’t say if Guptill’s position was in threat yet. “This game has just finished so we get to sit down and talk about whatever the team may be for the next one and what balance will go in with. In the first innings, he got off to a good start and was perhaps a bit unfortunate in the second innings, but he has certainly shown his class in the white-ball format and we are backing him to show that in the red-ball [format]. He is working hard at his game and looking to improve. It isn’t the easiest of places to play sometimes. We’ll sit down in the next day or two and look at the side we might go with.”

BCCI president Anurag Thakur has said India will not play any day-night Test at home this season. Thakur put to rest speculation on India hosting their first ever day-night Test in the long home season comprising 13 Tests which will be played up to March.Thakur said more experiments like the one in Duleep Trophy were needed before BCCI took the final call on introducing the pink ball in Tests.”It is too early to say anything [about pink ball]. As far as trying it in Duleep Trophy under lights is concerned, it was a big success. But you need to look at overall picture before you take the final call,” Thakur told .”I think we need to look into many areas before we take the final call. I would like to go into details in a scientific manner to take the final call. As of now, we are not ready to implement pink ball this season.”The pink ball was initially expected to be used in the ongoing Test series with New Zealand but the decision was put off amid speculation that it could be done in the upcoming home series against England and Australia. India are also scheduled to play a one-off Test against Bangladesh. Thakur explained why more time was needed before using the pink ball for the first time.”I think we need to take the final call after keeping a few things in mind. First, how to make it more interesting [for fans] and result-oriented,” he said. “If you have matches like the one in Kanpur [which lasted five days], well done.”Then we don’t need to do anything. Second, how do you involve more fans who come to the ground or watch it on TV? Third, you really need to look into areas as to how [pink ball] is impacting Test cricket at a time when enough people are not coming to watch Test cricket. What are the real reasons behind it?One more factor to be considered, he said, was the role of pink ball or red ball in terms of seam, shine, turn, swing and late swing.”With the red ball, you can have reverse swing after 20-25 overs, but with pink you can’t. So the challenge for batsman goes away,” Thakur said.This season’s Duleep Trophy attracted mixed responses about the use of pink ball from the current and former players. Thakur said the pink ball should be tested in at least a couple of domestic seasons before it is used in Tests.”Even if you have to play with pink ball, you should play two-three seasons with it in domestic cricket. Let us look at the ball, how it behaves, how the grounds behave.”Let us take Test matches to smaller venues and see if it makes any difference. You need to take it to much smaller centres where people have not seen international cricket. We must segregate Test and ODI venues and take Test cricket to smaller venues.”The way we have opened up new Test centres. Now we will wait and see how the response is in all these venues. That will be a real Test for the BCCI.”

“Wagner is my surname now.”It just does not translate in print, does it?Neil Wagner, the South African-born, New Zealand-based Test cricketer, was explaining to local reporters that he prefers his last name to be pronounced in an English-style, rather than an Afrikaans one.Here, in Centurion where he grew up, he would be called “Vaggner”. The W is a V and the G comes from the throat. If you’re sitting in a quiet room try it. There, in Dunedin where he lives now, he is called Wagner, as is wag the tail with a soft G. You don’t need to try this one, just turn on the television tomorrow and you will hear it. If you ever run into Neil Wagner be sure to use the second.”It’s an English country and that’s where my respect is at the moment. I am a fully converted Kiwi now,” he explained, to the giggles of the journalists who tried to bait him into answering questions in Afrikaans. He assured us he still speaks the language to his family, who, for the first time, were all at the ground to see him play.”Some of them have seen me play before but they don’t all travel so this was the first time I’ve had all of my family and friends that I grew up with sit next to a field and watch a Test match,” Wagner said.He could not hide the emotion of his homecoming. “I had a lot of goosebumps when I walked out,” Wagner said. “I remember sitting on that bank and watching Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock bowl and really feeling love for this game. To walk out today and represent the Black Caps in a Test against South Africa was an amazing feeling. I loved every moment of it.”It was poetic that Wagner took the first wicket. He had Quinton de Kock caught off a short ball after South Africa’s top two had put on their first hundred-run opening stand in almost three years. Despite the South Africa batsmen’s success, Wagner supported New Zealand’s decision to bowl first. “I have never seen a wicket this time of the year that had so much grass on it. When we saw the grass on it, 100%, we were keen to bowl and a lot of the time the ball did go around.”Even with the assistance, New Zealand only managed to pluck three South African wickets but Faf du Plessis, Wagner’s former primary-school friend and now the stand-in South Africa captain, is not among them. Wagner and du Plessis played backyard cricket as children and were high-school team-mates with AB de Villiers at the Afrikaans Seuns Hoerskool. But now, there is no one Wagner would rather dismiss.”You run into Faf and you want to have a laugh because there’s a lot of memories from school in your head. You try and put that out of your head and focus on the battle: you want to get him out. That’s the main thing,” Wagner said. “Growing up it was a different story. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing – he knows what’s coming.”If he reads the news, du Plessis will also know how best to address his old mate. Wagner. Like the tail, with a soft G. That’s his name now.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUmar Akmal hit seven sixes and three fours during his unbeaten 73 off 35 balls•CPL/Sportsfile

With Trinbago Knight Riders staring at the prospect of heading to the final leg of the CPL season in Florida with their playoff hopes in jeopardy, Umar Akmal’s brilliant fightback secured a crucial three-wicket win over St Lucia Zouks to draw Knight Riders level with the Zouks on eight points in a tie for third. This meant that Barbados Tridents were pushed back to fifth place with two games to play. Akmal struck an unbeaten 73 off 35 balls in Knight Riders’ chase of 168 having dug his side out of a deep hole at 63 for 5 in the 10th over.Zouks were well placed to defend their total after the fall of Anton Devcich for 25 in the 15th to end a 51-run stand, leaving Knight Riders needing 50 off the last five overs with four wickets in hand. Only four runs were scored in the 16th to further tilt the scales in favour of Zouks but Akmal swung things back Trinbago’s way in the 17th when he targetted Jerome Taylor for three straight sixes and a four, bringing up his fifty off 27 balls. Akmal’s fireworks reduced the equation to 23 off 18 balls.Shane Watson then pinned Sunil Narine down for three dots, but could not sustain the pressure and Narine ended the over by bashing two sixes to make it 9 off 12 balls. Narine fell in the 19th over but Kevon Cooper hit the winning runs two balls later to clinch victory with six balls to spare.Having been inserted, Zouks had powered to a strong start with Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher notching 58 in the first seven overs. Charles was fortunate after having been dropped in the first over on 1 off Ronsford Beaton and was reprieved again on 11 in the fourth over when replays showed Devcich had overstepped after having Charles caught by Dwayne Bravo at mid-off.Fletcher was run-out in the eighth over for 25 and Charles’ luck ran out 10 balls later when Bravo claimed him for 27. From there, Zouks struggled to regain the flow to their innings until Darren Sammy’s arrival in the 16th after Grant Elliott was removed for 12. Sammy clubbed Cooper for four and six in the 18th to spur a late surge, and then bashed two more fours and a six off the final seven balls of Zouks’ innings to finish 37 not out off 18 balls. However, his spectacular form the stadium renamed in his honour could not extend the hosts’ winning run, with Akmal halting it at three games.