Bangladesh know they can hold their own, they also know they can beat India; now it’s a matter of believing they can win again. They began leaning on hope once the first match started slipping, despite having outplayed India for 80 overs of the contest. How well they recover will determine how close the second one-dayer will be.India are bound to feel relieved after Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik masterminded a rescue act. Realising that the weather here will take a lot out of them, they chose to not practise today, conserving their energy instead.They may also ease Dhoni’s workload tomorrow, as India’s manager Ravi Shastri had mentioned after the first game, by having Karthik share the wicketkeeping duties with him. They will also hope to win the toss tomorrow, bat first, and post a big total. Rahul Dravid has expressed his dislike for fielding first here – it’s not easy to bat on a sluggish pitch after fielding in the sweltering heat.Dravid and Shastri had said that a few other teams would have failed in Thursday’s chase, given the climatic and match conditions. They will also need to tell themselves that those few other teams would have been much more alert in the field, giving themselves 25 to 30 runs less to chase.For Bangladesh, batting in the slog overs remains a worry, as does any form of bowling that isn’t left-arm spin. They would have ideally looked at 20 more runs in the last 10 overs but their batsmen, slight of build, couldn’t generate enough power against India’s slower bowlers; nor did they get enough pace to execute the cute little paddle shots they played so effectively against South Africa in the World Cup clash at Guyana.
India may ease Dhoni’s workload, as India’s manager Ravi Shastri had mentioned after the first game, by having Karthik and him share the wicketkeeping duties
Bangladesh missed Mashrafe Mortaza yesterday and will need him back, as India may again try to go after their opening bowlers. As of now, the word on Mortaza is “so far so good”. Habibul Bashar, the captain, said that the physio had given him a test, was satisfied, and will give him another tomorrow. “He is 70% fit and the physio is confident.”Bashar’s batting form has been another cause for concern. In the 10 games he’s played since the start of the World Cup, he has scored 105 runs at 11.66 and is under fire. He’s perhaps playing only because this is a very young team and no one else seems to be in a state to captain. His job, he knows, is quite simple. “If you don’t score, the pressure will be there. The best thing is to come back and score runs, the pressure won’t be there.” Bashar is likely to announce his retirement at the end of the series; regaining his touch in a must-win game wouldn’t be a bad idea.The conditions are not expected to change, except there’s a chance of a washout. Thunderstorms are expected and the forecasts predict a 90% chance of rain. They will play on a different pitch, but it is not expected to be too different in character.Two spent teams went off the field yesterday – India physically and Bangladesh mentally. Bashar put it the best: “Plenty of people come in this hot weather to watch us the whole day. We feel bad for them. It’s not only not easy to play, it’s not easy to watch either. We would love to win this game for them; they will feel less heat.”Teams (likely)Bangladesh1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Javed Omar, 3 Habibul Bashar (capt), 4 Saqibul Hasan, 5 Mohammad Ashraful, 6 Aftab Ahmed, 7 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Shahadat Hossain, 11 Syed Rasel.India 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 MS Dhoni (wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Rahul Dravid (capt), 6 Dinesh Mongia, 7 Dinesh Karthik, 8 Ramesh Powar, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Sreesanth, 11 Munaf Patel.
The tenure of Indian selectors will get reduced to three years if the recommendations of the BCCI’s constitutional review commitee are approved in the special general body meeting of the board today in Mumbai.The Shashank Manohar-led committee recommended that the current four-year term be reduced to three years, while retaining the zonal five-man selection panel for both the senior and junior national selection committee.”The zonal system is being retained as this is the best system, otherwise we cannot cover such a large country like ours,” Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the BCCI and convenor of the review committee, told the . There has been demand within and outside the board for scrapping the system of appointing selectors on a regional basis, and to replace it with a more transparent system.Where tenure is concerned, the idea is to make the selectors’ term the same as that of the board’s office bearers. A BCCI official added that the review committee felt that a three-year term would give the selection panel a reasonable opportunity to frame policies and work towards the implementation of the same.The changes can be put to effect only by securing a two-third majority from among the 31 members of the board – 30 BCCI-affiliated units and the president.
Nic Pothas guided Hampshire to a thrilling last-ball victory over Kent, cracking seven fours in a 55-ball 58 and keeping his cool after his fellow opener, Derek Kenway, was bowled for a second-ball duck by Andrew Hall. He was given ample support by Craig McMillan (36) and Lawrence Prittipaul (35). Earlier, Kent were given a flying start by Matthew Walker, but were indebted to Michael Carberry’s 43-ball 56, which anchored the innings.Stuart Law trumped HD Ackerman’s unbeaten 79 with a magnificent 92 not out from 54 balls, as Lancashire kept their hopes alive of progressing in the Twenty20 Cup. Law’s blitz enabled Lancashire to romp home in the 17th over, after Muttiah Muralitharan had claimed amazing figures of 4 from 19, to confirm his injured shoulder is on the mend. Brad Hodge helped condemn Leicestershire to defeat with a composed 31.James Hildreth starred with bat and ball as Somerset overwhelmed Glamorgan by 89 runs at Taunton. Hildreth spanked 71 from 37 balls, including seven fours and three sixes, and was backed up by a 57 not out from 28 balls from Keith Parsons, as Somerset rattled up an imposing 212 for 3. Glamorgan needed a solid start, but Matthew Elliott fell first-ball to Andrew Caddick. Ian Blackwell chipped in with 4 for 26 to hasten Glamorgan’s defeat.David Sales and Usman Afzaal were the mainstays of Northamptonshire’s victory over Worcestershire at New Road, adding 86 for the third wicket out of a testing total of 180 for 6. Stephen Moore replied with 53 from 50 balls, but received scant support from his team-mates, as Johann Louw took 3 for 25.
ScorecardDay 1 Bulletin – Smith and Gibbs destroy demoralised West Indies Quotes – Smith: ‘It meant a lot to both of us’Day 2 Bulletin – Kallis breaks new ground as South Africa dominate Quotes Kallis – ‘The team comes first’ News Sir Viv overruled by Sir Brian?Day 3 Bulletin – West Indies stumble in follow-on Quotes Ntini – ‘My role is to take wickets’Day 4 Bulletin – Sarwan and Gayle halt West Indies slide Quotes Simons – ‘You’ve got to give West Indies credit’Day 5 Bulletin – West Indies slump to defeat Quotes Lara – ‘Time for a contracts system’
A little-known fact about Indian cricket is that the country’s youngtalents in various age groups have really proved their mettle at theinternational level. Aside from the under-19 team winning the World Cuptwo years ago in Sri Lanka, the under-15 team lifted the World Cup inEngland in 1996. The under-17 team won the Asian Championship last year.Somehow, though, this supremacy is lost during the transition to thesenior ranks. But the juniors have certainly covered themselves withglory in bringing laurels to the nation.
Indeed, the combination of Vengsarkar and Sandhu, bothmembers of the victorious World Cup squad in 1983, forms a think-tankthat would be hard to beat. Sandhu is head coach at the NCA, andVengsarkar has spent a lot of time with the boys, giving them the fulladvantage of his considerable experience.
These thoughts come to mind as the Indian lads are now in New Zealand totake part in the under-19 World Cup competition. As the well-knownsporting adage goes, it is hard to get to the top, but harder to staythere. Indian cricket authorities are well aware of the truth behindthis adage and have left no stone unturned in preparing their squad todefend a title that they won in Sri Lanka in January 2000.For one thing, the training sessions for the 26 probables were long andsystematic. For example, coach Balwinder Singh Sandhu was well awarethat the lads would encounter considerable lateral movement in NewZealand, where the World Cup is to be staged between January 19 andFebruary 10. So this was among the specifics that went into thetraining. Then, after a long stint at the National Cricket Academy inBangalore, the squad travelled to Chennai to play three practicematches.Unfortunately this aspect of the training was hit by rain, but theenthusiastic lads made the best of the truncated opportunities. Further,the selected squad of 14 first went to Australia for a nine-day tour,during which they played – and lost – two practice games before leavingfor New Zealand. But most important of all, the authorities, underliningthe importance of defending the title, have done well in appointingformer Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar as consultant.Indeed, the combination of Vengsarkar and Sandhu, both members of thevictorious World Cup squad in 1983, forms a think-tank that would behard to beat. Sandhu is head coach at the NCA, and Vengsarkar has spenta lot of time with the boys, giving them the full advantage of hisconsiderable experience. The boys certainly do not have to look too farfor inspiration.The squad, led by Parthiv Patel of Gujarat, is nicely balanced, but onlytime will tell whether it is good enough to retain the Cup it won twoyears ago. Vengsarkar, however, is in no doubt that the team is strongenough to retain the title. “The confidence level of the squad is prettyhigh, and they have trained strenuously. We have a couple of fine allrounders and a good attack, both spin and medium pace,” Vengsarkar saidin Chennai recently. He was of the view that the under-19 age group heldthe key to the future of Indian cricket. This viewpoint is difficult todisagree with, especially when one considers that players like YuvrajSingh, Mohammad Kaif and Reetinder Singh Sodhi, all members of thatvictorious squad in Sri Lanka, went on to play for India within a shortperiod.Vengsarkar said that the youngsters should be nurtured to fill the gapsin the Indian side and for this, the proper exposure would be to makethem play in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England. Whiletalking with confidence about the Indian team’s chances in New Zealand,the former star batsman, who scored 6,868 runs in 116 Test matches andis also the only non-Englishman to score three Test hundreds at Lord’s,felt that Australia and South Africa would be the teams to beat. Thingsare not very different even at the junior levels, are they?
Moors Sports Club made up for a disappointing display against Tamil Union yesterday with a morale boosting victory over Antonians today at Braybrooke Place.When play finally got underway at 12pm there was only time for 37.4 overs per side. Moors Sports Club won the toss and had no hesitation in asking Antonians to bat first. However, the Antonians openers started well and added 66 runs for the first wicket. Charles Silva led the way with 43 from 42 balls. He hit four fours and two sixes in the run-a-ball innings before he was stumped off Chandika Haturasinghe.The Antonians innings then ran into difficulties as number two batsman, Lahiru Chaturanga, was dismissed in the next over. 34 runs were then added fro the third wicket before Rangana Herath plucked out the middle order. The left arm spinner finished with three wickets for 23 runs.The Moors reply started disastrously as three wickets were lost for nine runs. However, Bhatiya Perera (28)continued his good form of the previous rounds and put on 50 runs in partnership with Roshan Cooray (43). When Perera was dismissed Iroshan De Silva came to the crease and scored an unbeaten 35 runs to guide Moors to victory. He was ably assisted by Mahesh Palihakkara who scored an unbeaten 30. Moors Sports Club eventually overhauled the victory target with just 11 balls to spare.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNicholas Standford smashed five fours and a six in his second consecutive unbeaten 40•Peter Della Penna
Fahad Babar and Akeem Dodson’s 65-run opening stand in 48 balls – their best partnership of the tournament – followed by an unbeaten 40 by Nicholas Standford knocked off Papua New Guinea by 18 runs in the last Group A match at Malahide. PNG’s second straight loss denied them an automatic berth reserved for the first-placed team in the group and they slipped down to fourth after Hong Kong’s victory over Namibia, while Ireland secured their spot in the 2016 World T20.PNG captain Jack Vare sent USA in to bat, but a tired bowling attack – playing their third match in as many days – did not respond to the decision, and USA reached 56 in the Powerplay, setting a platform for their score of 147. Babar crunched three boundaries off Norman Vanua in the fifth over and Dodson pulled two boundaries past fine leg and a six over square leg in the sixth, bowled by Willie Gavera.Playing just his second match of the tournament, Chad Soper finally broke the stand in the eighth over, getting Babar to spoon a catch to Assad Vala at cover for 30. Dodson was lbw for 38 three overs later playing down the wrong line to Mahuru Dai’s offspin.The innings slowed down as PNG’s spinners tied down Alex Amsterdam. With pressure building, Japen Patel tried to increase the run rate but was bowled by Charles Amini for 20. Adil Bhatti, promoted ahead of Standford, was dismissed for 1, leaving USA at 102 for 4 in the 17th over.Standford – who was awarded Man of the Match against Hong Kong on Saturday for an unbeaten 40 – faced 17 of the 23 deliveries left in the innings but was fortunate to survive two chances in a chaotic 18th over. A skied chance on 11 was spilled by a diving Vala running from cover to mid-off. Amsterdam fell on the next ball for 13 caught at short third man after slicing a drive.The following delivery, Standford got a waist high full toss from the legspinner Amini which he pulled to long-on for an easy catch but a no-ball was signaled for height. Standford blasted the free-hit over extra cover, then followed it up with two more fours over square leg and point to end an 18-run over.Naseer Jamali sacrificed himself after a calamitous mix-up at the end of the 19th over, allowing Standford to remain at the crease for the final over. He struck two more fours, a thin edge past the keeper and a scoop over fine-leg, to take USA to a defendable total.During the innings break, the public address announcer at Malahide had announced that Hong Kong made 197 at Clontarf against Namibia, effectively killing any hopes USA had of going through to the knockout stage. Despite this information, USA produced a spirited effort in the field. Jamali struck the first blow, getting Tony Ura to slash to Hammad Shahid at third man.USA captain Muhammad Ghous produced his best bowling performance of the tournament, beating Lega Siaka in flight off his second delivery. Two overs later, he had Vala splicing a tame drive to Timil Patel at cover to leave PNG struggling at 21 for 3 in the fourth over. Shahid continued to apply pressure and snared Vare with a yorker to leave PNG at 42 for 4.Bhatti had Sese Bau caught at long-off in the 12th over before Timil claimed the next two wickets. Kila Pala was bowled attempting a heave while Dai picked out Shahid at long-on to make it 115 for 7 after 17.Two run outs accounted for wickets eight and nine and PNG went into the last over needing 27. Shahid gave away only eight runs, clinching the win for his side.Timil finished the group stage as USA’s leading wicket-taker and tied for third overall with 10 wickets. USA’s back-to-back wins against a pair of top-six ODI Associate nations showed the abundance of talent available in the country but unfortunately, it was too little too late.
Manchester United have been taking the opportunity to step up their pursuit for their next manager during the international break, with Mauricio Pochettino and Erik Ten Hag the two standout favourites for the position, although another name has been thrown into the ring for the job.
What’s the word?
Speaking on talkSPORT yesterday afternoon, former England striker Darren Bent has given his opinion on who United should be targeting for the challenging job at Old Trafford, with Roberto Mancini named by the ex-Tottenham marksman.
Bent told listeners of the Italian: “He is a winner. He is someone who has won the Premier League, so he has the experience.”
“I think he is better than Ten Hag, and certainly Mauricio Pochettino. He has proved he can do it in this country; I think that is vital. He has got the Premier League experience – I know he ended up leaving, but then he won a massive trophy with Italy in the Euros, so you cannot question his pedigree in winning things.”
Ten Hag alternative
Despite his allegiances to Manchester City, and his infamous spoiling of a seemingly nailed-on Premier League title win for United as Sergio Aguero scored in the 94th minute on the final day against QPR to steal the crown in 2012, duly leaving Sir Alex Ferguson furious, there seems little doubt that Mancini would improve the current situation at Old Trafford.
The Italy coach took his nation to victory against England in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley but has since crashed out of the World Cup in the qualifiers and will not attend the finals in Qatar this winter after the shock defeat to North Macedonia on Thursday night. With that in mind, it could be the ideal time for the 57-year-old to move on and seek a new challenge back in club football.
Given Mancini’s spell at the Etihad Stadium, it could split United supporters and would likely be a controversial appointment. However, with his winning mentality and ability to inspire victory by winning 14 trophies in his managerial career so far – including a Premier League title, FA Cup and two Serie A titles – he is not an option at whom United should be turning up their noses.
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With a decision expected to be made soon, the powerbrokers at Old Trafford must make a decision which will take the club back to the heights of winning trophies and competing in the Champions League regularly amid the longest trophy drought at the club in 40 years, and there is no doubt that Mancini has the CV and experience to get United back on their perch.
In other news: Man Utd suffer major Ten Hag setback which will have supporters worried
Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah slammed a 80-ball 100 to lead his side to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Karnataka in the quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. After being asked to bat, Karnataka could only muster 234 as Robin Uthappa top scored with a measured 50. Left-arm medium-pacer Balkrishna Jadeja, playing his second List A game, took three wickets for Saurashtra but was expensive, giving away 68 runs. The Saurashtra chase was given a solid platform with openers Chirag Pathak (64) and Sagar Jogiyani adding 87. Shah then propelled them to victory, crunching 10 fours and five sixes in his second List A hundred.The day’s other quarter-final also saw a captain’s century set up a win. Bengal cruised to a 48-run triumph over Delhi on the back of a commanding batting performance, led by captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla’s 95-ball 124 in Visakhapatnam. Bengal got off to a good start as their openers forged a 74-run stand but stumbled as three wickets fell for the addition of five runs. They got back on track thanks to an express 120-run partnership between Shukla and Anustup Majumdar, who contributed less than a third of the runs in the stand. Debabrata Das chipped in with a quick 40 as Bengal finished on 295. Delhi’s batsmen had to score briskly to chase down the big target and perished in the attempt. Though they reached 139 by the 25th over, they had lost five wickets and despite Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Virat Kohli’s efforts, they were bowled out for 247.
Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain, struck out at the findings of an official board report that found him to be a “dictator” and blamed him almost entirely for the World Cup debacle.Responding to claims in a PCB committee report that his attitude was “haughty and that of a dictator,” Inzamam responded by arguing that this was the way of Pakistan cricket. Speaking to the Urdu daily , Inzamam said, “I was blamed for being very lenient during my whole captaincy career and now I am turned into a dictator. That could only be accepted if players had complained that I acted like one.”This is nothing new in Pakistan cricket. When the team loses, all the blame is put on others, and I was ready for that because it happened in the past,” he said, referring to Pakistan’s equally dismal 2003 World Cup.”Inzamam defended himself from charges that he took all selection matters into his own hands, marginalising on-tour selectors and calling up his own preferred players without consultation. “If I had power as captain it was simply because I was a successful captain and whenever I wanted certain player I convinced selectors to get that player and not through dictatorship.”The committee included two paid employees of the board, Salahuddin Ahmed, chief selector and Salim Altaf, director special projects, leading Inzamam to question the neutrality of their findings.”I know it will sound bitter to them but the presence of two paid members in the probe committee raises doubts over the impartiality of the report,” Inzamam told the BBC’s Urdu service.”How can a member, who was the director of operations, say this now and didn’t realise it before the World Cup?” asked Inzamam of Altaf.Inzamam, who resigned as captain and retired from ODIs after the tournament, maintained the report would have no bearing on his future. “It will be up to the selectors to select me. I will feature in domestic cricket and have been training to play Tests. This committee cannot decide my future,” he said. Given that the current chief selector was party to the committee’s findings, it seems improbable that Inzamam will be selected again for Pakistan.