Month: January 2024

Mayank Agarwal suffered a bout of vomiting after which he was deplaned and rushed to ILS Hospitals  •  PTI

AnalysisEngland’s senior spinner has been ruled out with a bruised knee, so who should fill the vacancy in Vizag?
Jack Leach will miss the second Test against India in Visakhapatnam as he continues to recover from a bruised left knee. Should England replace him with another spinner? Should they use the opportunity to bring in an extra seamer? Or should they get funkier still? ESPNcricinfo assesses some of the options
The last one to arrive (through no fault of his own) is the next cab off the rank. Bashir arrived in India on Sunday and travelled to the ground to witness England’s remarkable 28-run win from the visitors’ dressing-room. Now, having caught up on his sleep after hitting three different timezones in pursuit of his stamped visa, he is in contention to step in for his Somerset team-mate. After slotting back into the group with ease, he was challenging in the nets during England’s first training session at the ACA-VDCA ground, picking up where he left off in the Abu Dhabi training camp with healthy bounce and plenty of turn. Aligned with India’s peculiar issues against offspin over the last three years (their collective average of 33.53 against such bowling ranks fifth in the world according to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data) Bashir offers the most like-for-like solution, even allowing for his lack of first-class experience – a fact that didn’t prevent each of England’s last three debutant spinners – Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley – from starting out with a five-wicket haul. “He’s a great kid,” Zak Crawley said on Wednesday. “He’s got a lot about him. He knows what he is trying to do with his bowling and he backs himself. I like that and feel like if he got his chance in this series he would go well.”
Even 48 hours out from the start, there have been suggestions this Vizag pitch will be more amenable to seam than the Hyderabad surface had been. And with that comes the prospect of England playing an extra quick. It is hard to look beyond Anderson for all the obvious reasons, not least an average of 29.32 in India and, more pertinently, eight wickets at 15.87 on the 2021 tour, which came with an economy rate of 1.92. On that tour, Anderson put on a clinic of unerring accuracy and reverse-swing – notably in the second innings of the victorious first Test when he ripped out Shubman Gill, Ajinkya Rahane, and Rishabh Pant. At 41, he looks as fit as ever, with a physique to rival Brad Pitt’s in Fight Club. Which is just as well, given how taxing fielding will be in 30-plus temperatures.
On the subject of fitness, Robinson is also noticeably trimmer since last summer and is on this tour with a point to prove regarding his durability. Like Anderson, he can get the ball reverse-swinging, as he did in Pakistan at the end of 2022, and is skilful enough to find whatever movement there might be in the surface. Moreover, his height, which gives him an average release point of 2.2m, is a unique skillset among the seamers. He could end up making it into the XI if England decide to park Mark Wood for this match. The Durham quick only bowled 25 overs in the first Test and had an extra day off with the four-day finish. But if there is something to extract from this week’s surface, Robinson is more likely to find it.
Lawrence has yet to play a Test in the new era, earning the last of his 11 caps on the West Indies tour that preceded the Bazball revolution. But Stokes is a huge fan of his attacking verve and his ingrained desire to impose himself on bowlers. And it helps that he bowls tidy, whirlwind offspin, with a propensity to get the ball to grip off the seam. Joe Root’s excellence with the ball in Hyderabad means Lawrence could assume the supplementary spinner role while reinforcing the batting, potentially ahead of Ben Foakes. He performed admirably with the bat here three years ago, averaging 24.83 – the fourth-highest in the team – and was one of five to score fifty or more, although he only bowled one over in three matches. It was notable that he was one of the first to bat in the nets on Wednesday morning, partnering with Stokes, and was immediately turning his arm over for about an hour after taking off his pads.
His selection would be a rogue, outside shout, but rooted in logic – ergo, exactly the kind of pick this management team like to make. He might even make the XI anyway, as a replacement for Rehan Ahmed. Considering Lawrence is only in the squad because Harry Brook returned home for personal reasons, it would be quite the turn of events.
Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo

Virat Kohli’s unavailability continues to be a major factor for Team India even as they try to bounce back from the unexpected defeat against England in the series opener in Hyderabad. The start batter is officially not available till the second Test due to personal reasons. There is still no confirmation of his return from the third Test. To make matters worse, India also lost KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja to injuries. At this stage, the team management would think twice before taking a drastic decision against out-of-form batters Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer.
India’s batters Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer in South Africa(PTI)
There is no doubt that both Gill and Iyer are finding it hard to get going in Test cricket. Gill’s last 50-plus score came 11 innings ago. The same for Iyer. Moreover, they appeared to be the two of the most unasured batters of the Indian team in the first Test in Hyderabad.
Catch the complete coverage of Budget 2024 only on HT. Explore now!
Ever since moving to No.3 in place of Cheteshwar Pujara, Gill has registered scores of 6, 10, 29*, 2, 26, 36, 10, 23, 0. Iyer, in the middle-order, has fared no better. The right-hander, who started with a century and a half-century on debut, has been struggling to score for quite some time now. Despite being considered one of the better players of spin, his returns in home Tests since 2023 have been worrisome.
In a full-strength Indian squad devoid of any injury concerns, Gill and Iyer might have found it difficult to hold on to their places, especially after a shocking defeat in the series opener. But under the current circumstances, where only captain Rohit Sharma has more than 4000 runs in the Indian Test squad, the team management might continue backing Gill and Iyer.
Irfan Pathan backs Iyer and Gill to come good
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan said the absence of Kohli is a massive factor. “A senior player like Virat Kohli’s absence is a massive factor. Over that KL Rahul is also injured. So the team management has plenty to think about. They need to think whether to give a chance to a new player straight away or wait a bit,” Pathan said on the sidelines of the launch of Asian Legends League.
“There is no doubt that these two boys (Gill and Iyer) haven’t performed for quite some time now but it is not that they have never performed.”
Sarfaraz vs Patidar
In case the team management decides to include a new batter, the toss-up will be between Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz, who has scored tons of runs in domestic cricket.
“Obviously, there are two new players in the squad — Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz. But the Indian team management doesn’t have Virat Kohli’s service at the moment, so it will be difficult for the team management to blood in a new player straightaway. They would want to back experience,” Pathan explained.
“So it’s a big challenge but looking at the scenario, they might be now thinking of going with experience. Shreyas and Shubman have been there for quite some time now and have experience, which comes into play in crunch situations.
“I feel the team management will back them because 2-3 experienced players are not there in the team,” the former bowling all-rounder added.
In case one between Patidar and Sarfaraz is picked, Pathan’s vote is with the former as he made the squad before the prolific Mumbai ‘Run Machine’.
Pathan, however, didn’t want to press the panic button after the loss in the series opener and backed India to win the five-match rubber.
“We lost just one match but that doesn’t mean our bowlers are not good. I knew we would lose one or two match but it is good because there is plenty of learning from defeat. I hope we win the series and I still feel India will win the series. The series is not over yet,” he said.

Real Madrid have published their squad list for Thursdays match against Getafe in the Coliseum 21:00 CET.
REAL MADRID SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Lunin, Kepa and Fran.
Defenders: Carvajal, Nacho, Lucas Vázquez, Fran García, Rüdiger and F. Mendy.
Midfielders: Bellingham, Kroos, Modri, Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni, D. Ceballos and Arda Güler.
Forwards: Vini Jr., Rodrygo, Joselu and Brahim.
Jude Bellingham is back with the team after missing the game in Las Palmas due to yellow cards. The British player should be very fresh and ready to make an impact in whats expected to be a tough away game for Los Blancos.
Ancelotti did not confirm who will be Real Madrids goalkeeper this Thursday, so it looks like Lunin and Kepa are still competing for that starting spot.
HOW TO WATCH, STREAM LA LIGA
Date: 02/01/2024
Time: 21:00 CET, 03:00pm EST.
Venue: Coliseo, Getafe, Spain.
Available TV: Movistar La Liga, ABC
Available Streaming: ESPN+
Managing Madrid has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.

In Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s movie ’12th Fail,’ there is a song “Restart” that plays every time the protagonists Manoj Sharma (Vikrant Massey) and Gauri bhaiya (Anshuman Pushkar) fail to crack the UPSC exam. Although the song was written almost a year before Agni Dev Chopra made the switch from Mumbai to Mizoram, he feels a connection to the song from the movie directed by his father.“There is a connection now but the song was written a year before I moved to Mizoram. I moved to Mizoram in 2023. But that line is applicable everywhere in life,” he tells The Indian Express.Agni, son of filmmaker Vidhu Vinod and journalist Anupama Chopra, has scored five centuries in four games in the Plate Group, including 105 and 101 in the last game against Meghalaya
The 25-year-old has piled up 767 runs in four matches, with an astonishing average of 95.87.
Agni’s first love was cricket and not movies.
Agni Dev Chopra (left) with his childhood friend Arjun Tendulkar. (Special Arrangement)“When I was seven or eight, I started playing cricket. I was not passionate about films. Nepotism does exist in the film industry. I am not talking about just actors but also as a producer. My father could have got me an entry pass, but my heart was never in it,” Agni told The Indian Express.
Agni taking up cricket surprised his father, who loves the game and has produced “Ferrari Ki Sawaari,” a movie on cricket.
“My dad used to say ye kiska beta hai, mera beta toh nahi ho sakta (Whose son is this, he is certainly not mine).”
But the director-producer father keenly follows his son’s cricket career and even asks him about shot selection.
“He does ask ‘why did you play that shot, how can you get out like this? The thing about cricket is that everyone is a coach. Everybody knows cricket more than the cricketer does,” Agni said.
The bowling attack in Plate Group isn’t of the same quality as the Elite Groups but Agni, 25, was an accomplished junior batsman. He has led the Mumbai Under-19 team and was Mumbai’s leading run-getter in 2019-20 CK Nayudu Trophy with 760 runs, including a double hundred.
In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he scored a 45-ball 76 against a Jammu and Kashmir attack that comprised Umran Malik, Yudvir Singh, Rasikh Salam and Abid Mushtaq. All of them with an IPL contract.
“I remember my 201. It was against Bengal in Under-23s at Dadoji Kondadev Stadium. It was a turner. I would have been dropped if I hadn’t scored in that game. In the first three games, I had only scored a fifty. It was make or break for me,” he recalled.
With 760 runs, Agni Dev Chopra was Mumbai’s leading run-getter in the 2019-20 Col CK Nayudu Trophy (Special Arrangement)However, he couldn’t break into the Ranji Trophy team.
“In July, the Mizoram had trials at the National Cricket Academy. I went for the trial and I was lucky enough to be picked. It was tough to leave my city but this was the best opportunity to play in the List A and first-class cricket,” Agni said.
Agni also had injury setbacks, a freak one two years ago saw him miss nearly three months of cricket.
“A week before the Under-25 tournament, I was fielding at slips in a club match and a ball landed in front of me and I tried to catch it but it was a little too far. The ball hit me on the ring finger of my right hand. My nail had broken from the middle. I was out for two-and-a-half months,” Agni said.
Two of his close friends, also cricketers, Arjun Tendulkar and Test capped Shubman Gill helped him cope during the difficult period. “Arjun and I have grown up together. We have played pretty much every age group together. We used to play for the same club as well. Both of them have had injury setbacks too. When I couldn’t move my finger at all I was wondering how I was going to hold my bat or catch or bowl. There were lots of negative thoughts. They made me understand that it is something (injuries) that you can’t control and it is just part of the game,” Agni said.
In 2019, Agni made the big decision to move out of his parents’ home. He moved in with Khushpreet Singh Aulakh, Gill’s trainer. Khushpreet felt that it would do Agni a world of good if he moved out of his comfort zone.
“When I was working in the KKR academy, I met Vidhu Vinod Chopra through Abhishek Nayar (former Mumbai cricketer). I train Shubman, so he asked me whether I could train Agni as well. My only condition was that Agni must get out of the comfort zone,” Aulakh said.
Agni said shifting homes helped him grow as a person.
“I moved out because everything was too easy, and comfortable, everything was on a platter. I was becoming too laidback.
Agni is pragmatic and does not want to get carried away because of his run-scoring spree for Mizoram.
Yes, I have scored five centuries but it doesn’t matter if we won’t be able to qualify for the Elite, that’s the aim.”

New Delhi: Its a clash of legends, literally. A new league of retired Asian cricketers has bee launched in India. This one, organized by World Sports Group Private Limited, will be called Asian Legends League (ALL) and would be on very similar lines to its existing competitor, Legends League Cricket (LLC) that was launched in 2022. But, in response to the launch, LLC has sent a legal notice to the owners of the new league.  The notice said the idea of the retired crickets league was set up by them in 2022 and that they had already hosted the tournament over three seasons. It added that the organizers had deliberately and intentionally used a similar name deceptively and fraudulently with a view to gain unfair advantage. The five-team format of ALL will be a round-robin one over a 10-day period, and will air before the Indian Premier League.
Team India will be represented as Indian Royals, captained by retired cricketer, Irfan Pathan, who, interestingly, also heads the Bhilwara Kings team in Legends League Cricket. Sri Lankan Lions will be headed by Upul Tharanga while Afghanistan Pathans will be captained by Asghar Afghan. Pakistan Stars will be headed by Mohammad Irfan and Bangladesh Tigers will be captained by Alok Kapali.
We are evaluating options for a broadcast partner. We have already identified captains for our five teams at present and will likely be televised by mid-March,” said league commissioner and former BCCI selector Chetan Sharma. Mint has learnt that company will tie up with Viacom-18 Sports18 and JioCinema for the broadcast and digital rights.
The organiser said the company launched in 2022 is a new entrant in the sports business. Its investor is Naresh Bawa and is headed by Chandigarh-based RD Singh. The company has not yet identified owners for the teams but is expecting to close deals with sponsors soon.
Singh did not allude to how much investment has gone into the league, however on being asked whether the league is on similar lines to the existing Legends League, Singh said, “There is a different between us and LLC in that for them any retired player can play for any teams, regardless of the region. However, ours will be specific to region. So, a retired first-class cricketer from India will only play for India.”
In 2022, India’s media advertisement spending, on-the-ground and team sponsorships, and celebrity endorsements breaching the 14,000 crore mark for the first time, demonstrating a massive post-covid recovery, according to a report by GroupM. Cricket contributed a sizeable 85% to this.
Milestone Alert!
Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it’s all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Check all the latest action on Budget 2024 here.
Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
MoreLess
Topics You May Be Interested In

NewsPathum Nissanka, Dilshan Madushanka and Kusal Perera have been left out
Andrew Fidel Fernando is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf