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Sean Williams just wants “to show the kids that bravery is okay, and you can”, after hitting a career-best 154 in the Boxing Day Test against Afghanistan in Bulawayo.Williams’ hundred and his 163-run fifth-wicket stand with captain Craig Ervine propelled Zimbabwe to their highest Test score in 30 years, and he hopes it will instil a sense of belief in a team that has not won a Test since March 2021.”If I can lead by action, and not with my mouth, I think the kids will grow from that very fast,” Williams said after the first day’s play. “They’ll start to do the similar things and start to do the same things off the field as well as on the field. And that for me is probably the best I can do as a senior player, and also keep that discipline and professionalism in place.”Related

• Stats – Zimbabwe (586), Afghanistan (699) reach record highs in Bulawayo run-fest

• Williams praises Curran's 'intent' as Zimbabwe find scoring touch

• Williams' 145* leads Zimbabwe's domination against Afghanistan

Zimbabwe’s current XI has three debutants – Ben Curran, who scored a half-century, Newman Nyamhuri and Trevor Gwandu – and three other players – Joylord Gumbie, Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Brian Bennett – in just their second Tests. That makes Williams, with 19 years of international experience to his name, their most experienced player (in terms of time, as Ervine has more Test caps) who is keen to lead proactively.Not only did Williams score big, but he scored quick. His hundred came off 115 balls and his next 54 runs off 59 deliveries as he took on the Afghanistan bowling to dominate on his home ground in what he described as a “historic day”.This is only the second time Zimbabwe are hosting a Boxing Day Test after 1996, when it was hosted in Harare. It is only the fourth time they are playing in one and it’s Williams’ first. All that has only made his achievement more special.”Being able to get a hundred on a day like this is a very big thing,” he said. “We used to wake up early in the morning to watch Boxing Day Test matches and it’s finally here at home.”The “we” refers to his father Colin, who passed away in April 2022 and to whom Williams dedicated his achievement, and his brothers Michael and Matthew. But it might also be about other aspiring Zimbabwe cricketers, who grew up turning on television sets to watch Boxing Days Tests being played in neighbouring South Africa and at the MCG and wondering if they would ever get the opportunity to enjoy an occasion like that first-hand. The irony is not lost in the fact that matches in those two places were taking place at the same time, and have attracted much more attention than the goings-on at Queens Park, where there has also been a fair amount of drama.Williams was on 124 when he was given out caught after a Zahir Khan delivery carried off his pad to a slip fielder. He started walking before the square-leg umpire opted to check for a bump ball and he was called back to continue batting.”I was actually a little bit angry with myself because as a batter, you stand your ground. Even though you’ve been given out, I feel you have the right to stand your ground for them to go and check. I didn’t do that,” Williams said. “I started walking off, trusting the umpire’s call, even though I knew I wasn’t out. But, luckily, the square-leg umpire went across and said, ‘you know, I think we should check this one’. It was a big emotional turnaround from that point, because I had worked so hard.”Sean Williams only added nine runs on the second morning before falling to Naveed Zadran•Zimbabwe Cricket

He ended the day on 145 not out and was hopeful of going on to his first double-hundred but only added nine runs on the second morning before falling to a short-ball plan. Still, it does not detract from the immense form he has held for almost five years. Since January 2020, Williams has played six Tests, scored four hundreds and averages 88.75. That’s a result of what he continuously references as “intent” but actually sounds more like the work he has done to stimulate deep concentration such as cold-water plunging and turning domestic matches into pressure situations to test himself.”Having intent doesn’t start at Test level,” he said. “It actually starts at the franchise level, where I try to create my own pressure, to be able to play the way I’m going to play at an international level. So I will do something at franchise level, where I’m putting myself under pressure, so that I’m constantly training hard. And in a match situation, it’s even better, because you have the pressures, you’ve created them for yourself, and then you grow from that.”Already, Williams and Zimbabwe have shown they can deal with the pressure of a varied Afghanistan attack. Their next challenge is to see if they can drive their advantage home, to make even more history.

English players held crisis talks with the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) on Monday in response to the ECB’s new policy on No-Objection Certificates (NOCs), which the board’s chief executive Richard Gould says will prevent domestic competitions being “undermined” by overseas leagues.Players are said to have expressed “robust views” to their representatives at the PCA, and believe there was insufficient consultation from the ECB before the introduction of a new policy. They are also looking for further clarity on specific scenarios that could arise both during the upcoming English summer and the ongoing offseason.An ECB spokesperson confirmed to ESPNcricinfo on Monday that, under the terms of their policy, any players who have any provision to play red-ball cricket in their county contracts will not be considered white-ball specialists. That could have significant repercussions for the PSL in April-May, ruling a number of English players out.Several recent England internationals, including Saqib Mahmood, Luke Wood and George Garton, are on county contracts which primarily cover white-ball cricket but also contain ‘pay-as-you-play’ options for the Championship. As a result, they will not be granted NOCs to play overseas during the English season – but would be if they retired from red-ball cricket.Related

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• Players threaten legal action over new ECB stance on NOCs

• 'A broken sport': Franchise free-for-all compromises players' incentives

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A senior county source said that the new restrictions will ensure that the best cricketers in the country are available to play in the County Championship, and remind players that their county clubs are their primary employers. But others fear that a stringent interpretation could risk prompting a series of players to retire from red-ball cricket in order to play in the PSL, or in other leagues that clash with the English summer.Players are also frustrated at the fact NOCs will be granted to all-format county cricketers for the IPL but not the PSL, which they perceive to be a major inconsistency. There is no explicit mention of either league in the published policy, but the ECB has given clear indications that it will continue to issue NOCs for the IPL as it has done in previous years.For example, Jamie Overton – who is contracted to Surrey rather than England – will be granted an NOC to play in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings after he was signed at last weekend’s mega-auction, missing the first two months of the Championship season as a result. But if Overton had gone unsold in the IPL and then signed a PSL deal instead, he would not have been granted an NOC.”There’s anger and resentment around it,” one agent told ESPNcricinfo on Monday. “This new policy just seems to show that the power lies with India, and it seems to be about the ECB not wanting to upset India… Players feel as though they’re not being listened to: has the PCA put the players’ feelings across to the ECB robustly enough? Or has the PCA been sidelined on this?”Players are also seeking clarity on the likely impact of the new policy on their movements in the ongoing off-season. The ECB has told players that they will not grant NOCs for two tournaments that overlap to avoid a situation where players could earn more from being eliminated early. But some have already signed deals in clashing leagues on the understanding that they would leave one midway through.Further meetings have been scheduled for later this week, including one between the PCA and UK-based player agents on Wednesday morning. Daryl Mitchell, the PCA’s interim chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo on Friday that the union’s legal team were “completing a thorough check” of the new policy, raising the prospect of a restraint-of-trade lawsuit.

Mitchell Santner, never more than three wickets in an innings or six in a match, bowled New Zealand to a historic win in Pune with match figures of 13 for 157, the third-best by any visiting bowler in India. He bowled 29 overs on the trot for six wickets in the second innings to go with his unbroken spell of 19.3 overs in the first innings for 7 for 53 to give New Zealand their first series win in India and India their first home series defeat since 2012.Despite a sore side, Santner missed just one over from his end since he started bowling in the first innings. He was instrumental in intercepting India’s audacious bid for a chase of 359, which was fuelled by Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 77 off 65 that took India to 96 for 1 at better than a run a ball. Santner had little support from the other end as Ajaz Patel’s ordinary series continued and Glenn Phillips mixed easy deliveries with good ones.Santner kept beating the batters in the air with his dip and changes in pace and angle, and registered his first ten-wicket haul in first-class cricket in the process. It was an absolutely necessary intervention because India were on an almighty roll after triggering a 5 for 24 collapse with the ball and then a sensational start to the chase by Jaiswal. Things became so desperate that New Zealand burnt two reviews on Jaiswal.In the morning, needing a perfect session to prevent the door from being slammed in their face, India started with the experienced duo of Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin instead of the form bowler Washington Sundar, who had taken 11 of the 15 New Zealand wickets up to that point.It didn’t start well for India. The first ball from Ashwin produced an edge that Rohit Sharma didn’t go for. Tom Blundell and Phillips added a quick 33 to the overnight score. That Jadeja turned the ball big at a pace in the mid-90s was only a promising sign for New Zealand. Even full balls were difficult to hit out as Santner and Ajaz discovered with catches in the deep.Yashasvi Jaiswal pulled the second ball of the innings for six on his way to a 65-ball 77•AFP/Getty Images

Before that, though, India needed a breakthrough, which arrived with a natural variation that went past Blundell’s inside edge. That it was Jadeja’s first wicket of the match emphasised where India lost the match: a rare outbowling of two of their greatest match-winners, who had brought them 18 consecutive series wins at home.It was no surprise that India came out swinging with the bat after they had been pinned to the crease in the first innings. Jaiswal drove at a wide length ball first up, but the edge fell just short of gully. It didn’t stop him from flicking the second ball for a six, the first of his three, which took him level on the record for most sixes in a calendar year. He employed both the sweep and the charge at the spinners to mess with the bowlers’ lengths. The margin for error was almost non-existent as he hit out at Tim Southee, Ajaz and Phillips. His extra-cover drive for a six off Phillips on this pitch was a jaw-dropping shot.It is not often that New Zealand spinners bowl them to a Test win on their own. Here Santner was being asked to do it on own having never taken more than three wickets in a Test innings before this Test. He was the only one who maintained some control during the Jaiswal onslaught.Santner got the better of Rohit first as he got the ball to dip on him and the extra bounce got the bat-pad dismissal. Shubman Gill, who had got stuck on the crease with Jaiswal in the first innings, came out attacking, and the two added 62 in under ten overs to leave New Zealand nervous.It’s not that the pitch had eased out. The intent of the batters left the bowlers under intense pressure, and every small error was being punished. In essence, though, all the spinners had to do was draw consistent forward-defensive prods from the batters without getting driven. The moment Santner started doing that, he started creating chances. Then he bowled flatter while still being full, pushing Gill back and taking the edge with the turn for the first of two sharp catches for Daryl Mitchell at slip.Rishabh Pant, attempting a non-existent single, was run out as India’s collapse gathered steam•BCCI

The next one was Jaiswal, a classic turning-pitch dismissal. The first part of it was to find a spot that Jaiswal could neither go back to nor drive from. Then the first ball turned big to beat his inside edge, and the next one went straight on to take the edge for Mitchell. Not a mean wicket to bring up your first ten-wicket haul.Rishabh Pant then paid the price for not saying no. Virat Kohli played one behind square and started running. The ball had gone to Santner’s left. Pant had every right to send Kohli back, but he ran through. Not even a dive was enough to get him in.It was like Santner didn’t have a side strain to nurse. Between overs, he would keep stretching, but swooped in on balls in his vicinity and you couldn’t take the ball away from him. He made Kohli play back to a fullish ball, which trapped him lbw. Sarfaraz Khan fell to a slow teasing ball that turned and hit off stump.Phillips finally got on the board when Will Young pulled off a stunning catch at short leg to send back India’s hero of the match, Washington. Ashwin and Jadeja looked the most comfortable batting pair as they added 39 for the eighth wicket, teasing India with the question of what if they hadn’t lost so many wickets by the time the older softer ball stopped behaving wildly.It was Santner who broke the partnership by luring Ashwin into a drive and taking the edge to Mitchell. The wait for the final wickets was frustrating but it came through outfield catches off Ajaz, who ended up protecting his record for the best match figures for a visiting bowler in India.

An inspired Mohammad Hasnain led Panthers to a rout of Markhors in the Champions One-Day Cup final in Faisalabad. Hasnain took three wickets to extend his lead at the top of the wickets charts to 17 – no one else has more than ten – while Arafat Minhas registered remarkable figures of 2.4-1-1-3 to skittle Iftikhar Ahmed’s Markhors for 122.It took Shadab Khan’s men just 18 overs to knock off the runs, as a tournament that had seen all but one game end in victory for the side batting first reversed the script dramatically in the final.Markhors won the toss and batted, but ran into early trouble when Zain Abbas nicked off in the third over, with Kamran Ghulam following cheaply soon after. Fakhar Zaman and Haseebullah Khan appeared to be steering the ship back on course with a 56-run partnership that had the Markhors respectably placed at 82 for 2.Once that stand was broken, though, Markhors imploded. Offspinner Sajid Khan cleaned Haseebullah up with an arm ball before drawing a miscue from Fakhar.Hasnain returned to remove captain Iftikhar and Abdul Samad in quick succession, and the Panthers were into the tail. Minhas and Shadab made short work of them, with the Markhors losing their last eight wickets for 40 runs in 91 deliveries to finish with the smallest first-innings total in the entire competition.Umar Siddiq and Abdul Bangalzai broke the back of the chase early, bringing up the 50-partnership in seven overs. Bangalzai’s 43-ball 41 took the pressure off before Markhors began to chip away with wickets. Shahnawaz Dahani cleaned up Siddiq before Akif Javed and Mohammad Imran split four wickets amongst them, but by that time, the result was little more than a formality.Unbeaten cameos from Shadab and Rizwan Mehmood put together an undefeated 29-run partnership in three overs to finish the game and seal the inaugural Champions One-Day Cup title for Panthers.

On a day that many rhythms of Test cricket in India were meddled with, one incontrovertible truth of India’s recent dominant era remained steadfast: teams can compete with the India batters but don’t have the depth to outdo their lower-middle order. Who knows if Chennai boy R Ashwin, who turned 38 two days before the Test, will play another Test in Chennai? Or indeed the Chennai Super King Ravindra Jadeja? If it is their last, they started the first day in style, rescuing India from 144 for 6 with an unbroken 195-run partnership.Among the two nearly inseparable spin twins, Ashwin was the better batter on the day as he scored his sixth Test hundred, leaving his fellow Chennai people in awe at the rasping shots whose sound reverberated in the stands. Jadeja wasn’t much behind, though, ending the day unbeaten on 86.The pain of watching an Indian seventh wicket breaking their hearts might not be something new for Bangladesh but the way they got to the seventh wicket was unlike any other Test day in recent memory. For the first time in seven years, a side chose to bowl in a Test in India involving India. Even India said they would have done the same. And not because the preparation of the pitch had been hampered by rain: this slightly green, damp pitch was created by design during a week in which temperature records have been broken in Chennai.The overcast sky only reassured the sides it was worth risking batting last in India. Then a Vernon Philander-like, wobble-seam line-and-length bowler, Hasan Mahmud, wrecked the top order with gentle seam movement. India recovered briefly from 34 for 3, thanks to some ordinary bowling around Mahmud, but Bangladesh came back in the second session to take three more quick wickets.Then Ashwin started driving, and punching and pulling and slogging. Jadeja joined. And a whole new game unfolded. Until then Mahmud controlled India. Even when Taskin Ahmed and tearaway Nahid Rana wasted the new ball by bowling too short or too full, Mahmud was unerring. Rohit Sharma was tested thoroughly with seam movement either way before he edged one to second slip. Shubman Gill feathered one down the leg side, but he never looked at ease in his eight-ball stay. Virat Kohli came out full of intent, but that carries a big risk, which ended in an edge away from the body.2:12

What’s special Mahmud’s opening spell in Chennai?

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant, playing his first Test in nearly 700 days, then added 62 for the fourth wicket against some indifferent bowling. Jaiswal made this his sixth straight home Test in which he has gone past 50. Pant began to look dangerous and by lunch India had wrested the initiative. After lunch, though, Pant fell to an afterthought of a cut shot, a stroke of luck for the persistent Mahmud.Taskin and Rana then chipped in with a much better session. The ball still seamed around, although not as much as the first session, and they presented a sterner test by bowling the good length. Rana eventually did Jaiswal in with extra pace, nicking him off, and the serene-looking KL Rahul fell to a stunning catch by Zakir Hasan at short leg.While Mehidy Hasan Miraz might have got that big wicket of Rahul, the spinners generally failed to provide any control to the Bangladesh captain Najmul Hasan. In effect, he never had a complete attack to operate with. Mahmud kept them in single-handedly in the first session, and when the other quicks got their act together, they didn’t have spinners keeping them fresh.Related

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It is easy to say all that, but at 144 for 6, it takes some doing to expose this lack of depth. Ashwin began that as soon as he walked to huge cheers; in fact the cheers started as soon as Rahul fell, a treatment reserved only for batters preceding Tendulkar and Kohli. He got a single first ball, and then punched the pace of Rana for a four second ball.There have been many rescue acts carried out by Ashwin and Jadeja, but none so emphatic. There was some flair to how Ashwin batted, staying on the back foot, meeting balls at the top of the bounce, and crashing them through covers and square leg. Jadeja played more of an old-fashioned knock, opening up only after getting himself in, but never missing out on a scoring opportunity. Ashwin, though, batted like he had never been out of Chepauk.As the ball got softer, as the runs began to flow, the field had to spread, and the spinners kept providing easy boundaries. At various points, the two had looking at each other in awe. When Ashwin ramped the pace of Rana over slips for four, Jadeja looked like he was fortunate to have the best seat in the house. Ashwin returned the compliment at one flat slog-sweep from Jadeja. If the edge did arrive, Bangladesh had lost any rights to have enough catchers in place.Six minutes before stumps, Ashwin got to his hundred in just 108 balls to send the home crowd into raptures. Jadeja celebrated it with a drilled boundary back over the bowler in the same over to enter the 80s. Just a gentle reminder that it wasn’t all over, and Bangladesh will have to face them again on day two.

Allrounder Samit Dravid has been selected in India’s Under-19 squad for the first time, for the multi-format home series against Australia Under-19 in September and October.Mohamed Amaan, a middle-order batter from Uttar Pradesh, has been named captain of the 50-over squad, while Madhya Pradesh’s Soham Patwardhan will lead the team for the four-day matches.Dravid, the son of former India captain and coach Rahul Dravid, recently played his first senior men’s T20 tournament – the Maharaja T20 Trophy – in Karnataka, where he is part of the Mysuru Warriors squad.Batting in the middle-order, Dravid scored 82 runs at a strike rate of 114 in seven innings but was not called upon to bowl his medium pace. On the day the junior selectors announced India’s Under-19 squad, Mysuru Warriors were due to play the semi-final of the tournament.Earlier this year, Dravid, 18, played a significant role in Karnataka winning the Cooch Behar Trophy, a four-day format tournament for under-19 cricketers. He scored 362 runs and took 16 wickets in eight matches, including two scalps in the final against Mumbai.India Under-19 will play three 50-over games against Australia Under-19 in Puducherry on September 21, 23 and 26, followed by two four-day games in Chennai starting on September 30 and October 7.

India U-19 50-over squad

Rudra Patel (vc)(GCA), Sahil Parakh (MAHCA), Kartikeya KP (KSCA), Mohamed Amaan (capt) (UPCA), Kiran Chormale (MAHCA), Abhigyan Kundu (wk) (MCA), Harvansh Singh Pangalia (wk) (SCA), Samit Dravid (KSCA), Yudhajit Guha (CAB), Samarth N (KSCA), Nikhil Kumar (UTCA), Chetan Sharma (RCA), Hardik Raj (KSCA), Rohit Rajawat (MPCA), Mohammed Enaan (KCA)

India U-19 squad four-day squad

Vaibhav Suryavanshi (Bihar CA), Nitya Pandya (BCA), Vihan Malhotra (vc) (PCA), Soham Patwardhan (capt) (MPCA), Kartikeya KP (KSCA), Samit Dravid (KSCA), Abhigyan Kundu (wk) (MCA), Harvansh Singh Pangalia (wk) (SCA), Chetan Sharma (RCA), Samarth N (KSCA), Aditya Rawat (CAU), Nikhil Kumar (UTCA), Anmoljeet Singh (PCA), Aditya Singh (UPCA), Mohammed Enaan (KCA)

The uncertainty around the future of Pakistan white-ball captain Babar Azam as well as the fate of the selection committee lingers as head coach Gary Kirsten and selector Wahab Riaz submitted their tour reports to PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi following Pakistan’s disappointing T20 World Cup campaign. Pakistan were dumped out of the tournament after just three games, with defeats to the USA and India proving terminal to their campaign.The end of Pakistan’s World Cup was followed by a fierce – and a somewhat frenzied – backlash in the country. The selection committee of seven, widely viewed as being de facto headed by Wahab, was one of its central targets, while a perceived tactical ineptitude and culture of conservatism under the captaincy of Babar has also come under scrutiny. There remain unanswered questions about the selection of the squad itself, particularly around the continued non-selection of specialist legspinner Abrar Ahmed despite Shadab Khan’s indifferent form.Related

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• PCB likely to make changes to selection committee after dismal show in T20 World Cup

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However, as ESPNcricinfo reported last month, the PCB has chosen to take its time before launching into any major decisions. Pakistan do not have a white-ball engagement until November, allowing the PCB to wait till Kirsten and Wahab – who was also the senior team manager for the tournament – handed in their reports.It is understood the PCB remains open to a change of captaincy, though sticking with Babar has also not been conclusively ruled out. This partly stems from a lack of obvious candidates to replace him; when Naqvi decided to sack Shaheen Shah Afridi, he ultimately returned to Babar – who had only been replaced a few weeks earlier. That was following yet another poor showing at an ICC event – the ODI World Cup in India in 2023.Now that Kirsten and Wahab have submitted their reports, any decisions regarding the “surgery” Naqvi had reportedly been prepared to conduct do theoretically move closer. However, the PCB has consistently refused to put a timeline on any action, insisting they wish to make a considered decision rather than a quick one.

Gary Kirsten has issued a stark warning to his players that they face being left behind by the modern game if they don’t improve, as the repercussions after two straight losses in the T20 World Cup 2024 begin.Pakistan lost to India in New York on Sunday in a tight game, failing to chase a target of 120. That, coupled with a shock Super Over loss to USA in their opening game in Dallas last week, means their chances of progressing to the Super Eight are already out of their own hands. For Kirsten, who began officially as Pakistan’s white-ball coach a week before the tournament began, the start could not have been any rockier.Related

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Asked after the loss to India whether the team had put themselves under too much pressure, Kirsten agreed.”You are pretty much spot-on,” he said. “These guys are all international players and they’re aware that when they’re not performing at their best that there’s going to be pressure put on them. That’s understandable, but a lot of these guys have played a lot of T20 cricket around the world over many, many years and it’s really up to them to decide how they’re going to take their games forward.”Kirsten didn’t take names, but Pakistan have retained a strong T20 core through the last three World Cup campaigns now. Seven of the XI that played in New York against India were part of the team that lost the semi-final to Australia in November 2021. Six from yesterday’s XI were in the side that lost to England in the final a year later at the MCG.The scrutiny will fall on the captain Babar Azam and his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan, each of whom have top-scored in the two games but with innings that divided opinion for their strike rate and notable lack of intent. Their approach has been consistent through the three campaigns and though Pakistan experimented with the opening partnership in the run-up to the event, Kirsten said there was “concern around how we can put our innings together and structure it”.Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf have also been part of both previous campaigns and though the bowling has mostly held up its end of the bargain – and came in for praise from Kirsten yesterday – the decline in Shadab’s legspin has hurt Pakistan.Kirsten acknowledged that he still needed time to take better stock of the situation but was clear that players needed to evolve as the format did.”As I said, I’ve only been here a handful of days. I’m having a look into the environment and looking at what the issues are. I look at these players, I’ve watched them play many, many years on TV and kind of getting to know them, they’re fantastic guys. They’re playing for their country, so they really are pumped. I mean, there’s a lot of very disappointed guys in the change room now.”I think for me the most important thing for every international player is that you continue growing and developing as a player, and understanding what the demands of international competition are. The game is changing pretty much every year. So, if you’re not up to it and you’re not improving, you’re going to get found out somewhere.”Former captain Wasim Akram, who was commentating on the game, went further and called for a clear-out from the current team. Though Akram did not take names, he said the nature of the defeat meant somebody had to “bell the cat now”.”Enough is enough. We need changes now. Bring in a new team, six to seven players and then back them through losses so they can develop as a team. It’s time for the PCB chairman to take a bold step. We keep hearing [of the team] that this guy isn’t talking to that guy, or that guy isn’t talking to him. This was the best New York pitch so far, it wasn’t that difficult. How difficult was it to chase 120?”After this performance I don’t think Pakistan deserve to go into the Super Eight.”1:47

Mumtaz: PCB needs to provide leadership skills to players

Shahid Afridi, another former captain, was also far from pleased with what he saw. “The Pakistan batting line-up simply isn’t clicking and what we saw was a weak display of power hitting,” Afridi wrote in his column for the ICC. “For several reasons, this game [against India] wasn’t about playing aggressively. But strategy and smart cricket were required to get the run chase over the line, and those qualities are exactly what Pakistan lacked.”I think now is the time for Gary Kirsten and Babar Azam to make some changes. I would like to see Salman Ali Agha [he is not part of the T20 World Cup squad] come into the side in place of Usman Khan and Abrar Ahmed to come in for Shadab Khan.”Most of all, I believe Fakhar Zaman should be promoted to open the innings alongside Mohammad Rizwan, with Babar dropping down to number three.”There are some tough conversations and choices to come but we need to remember that there is still hope: Pakistan are not out of the tournament yet.”

Cameron Green, Liam Livingstone, Ravi Bishnoi, Venkatesh Iyer, Matheesha Pathirana and Wanindu Hasaranga are among 45 players that have listed the maximum reserve price of INR 2 crore to participate in the 2026 IPL auction.One notable absentee from the longlist is Australian allrounder Glenn Maxwell, whom Punjab Kings last year bought for 4.2 crore, making them the fourth franchise of his IPL career. However Maxwell, who is 37, sustained a fractured finger midway through the 2025 season and was replaced by fellow Aussie allrounder Mitchell Owen, who has been retained by PBKS.England allrounder Moeen Ali, like Faf du Plessis, has opted to play in the Pakistan Super League instead of the IPL. Moeen has been part of eight IPL seasons since 2018 and has won two titles with CSK. Among the other absentees is Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) legend Andre Russell, who retired from the IPL after not being retained and has joined the team as a “power coach”.A total of 1,355 players feature in the long list of players, accessed by ESPNcricinfo, which the IPL shared with franchises on Monday after the registration deadline closed on November 30. With a maximum squad size of 25 per franchise, a total of 77 slots are available to be filled at the auction, including 31 overseas players.The list will be pruned by the IPL once they have received wishlists from all 10 franchises ahead of the day-long auction which will take place in Abu Dhabi on December 16. The IPL has set December 5 as the deadline for franchises to submit their shortlist.While Indian players with specialised skillsets will be in contention for big money, the central focus at the auction is set to be on Australia’s allrounder Green, who did not participate in the 2025 mega-auction as he was recovering from back injury. Interest is likely to come from KKR (64.3 crore) and Chennai Super Kings (43.4 crore), who have the strongest purses going into the auction, and both have a slot available for an overseas player.KKR could be counted as a favourite to vie for Green, following this weekend’s IPL retirement of West Indies’ T20 great Andre Russell. Green has the ability to slot in anywhere in the batting order, and is also a handy seamer as well as an asset in the field.Related

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• CSK to release Matheesha Pathirana

• Venkatesh Iyer heads long list of big-ticket players released by KKR

KKR released nine players, including Venkatesh Iyer whom they bought for a vast sum of 23.5 crore at the mega-auction last year, and have 12 slots to fill, including six overseas. The second-highest purse is that of five-time champions CSK, who have nine slots to fill, including four overseas players.Several of the names that were recently released by franchises have listed themselves in the highest reserve price bracket. This includes Sri Lanka fast bowler Pathirana, whom CSK had last year retained for 13 crore ahead of the mega auction. Though he was their lead bowler in the second half of the innings, especially in the death overs, his struggles with injury were a key reason for CSK’s subsequent decision.England allrounder Livingstone, who was bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the mega-auction for 8.75 crore, lasted just one season with the defending champions after a below-par performance.The Indians who have listed themselves in the 2 crore reserve price include Venkatesh and Bishnoi, who was last year retained by Lucknow Super Giants for 11 crore. However, weak year-on-year numbers during his four-year stint led LSG to release the legspinner.Another Australian who played a key role in PBKS’s run to the final is wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis, but he too is back in the auction pool. Though this move came as a surprise to many, it is understood that Inglis could not commit to playing the entire 2026 season for personal reasons. On Monday, the IPL notified franchises that Inglis’s availability during 2026 season would be at 25%.Base Price of 2 crore: Ravi Bishnoi, Venkatesh Iyer, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Naveen ul Haq, Sean Abott, Ashton Agar, Cooper Connolly, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Steve Smith, Mustafizur Rahman, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Liam Livingstone, Tymal Mills, Jamie Smith, Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryll Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Rachin Ravindra, Gerald Coetzee, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Rilee Roussouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, David Wiese, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mateesha Pathirana, Maheesh Theekshana, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph

Allrounder Shivam Dube has been pulled out of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy 2025-26 squad on the eve of their season opener against Jammu & Kashmir due to back stiffness. Dube flew home to Mumbai from Srinagar on Tuesday evening.The move is believed to be precautionary, given he’s also part of India’s T20I squad that is set to leave for Australia on October 23 for a five-match series.Dube had a prolific 2025 Asia Cup, where India captain Suryakumar Yadav regularly turned to him as a bowling option. In the final against Pakistan, he played a pivotal all-round role. Used as a new-ball option in Hardik Pandya’s absence, he bowled three tight overs for just 23 runs and later scored a crucial 22-ball 33 as India sealed a tense chase.While Dube will have to wait until after the Australia tour for a Ranji return, Mumbai will welcome back allrounder Musheer Khan, who missed the previous season due to a neck and collar-bone injury he suffered during a road accident.Also back from injury is older brother, Sarfaraz Khan, who was ruled out of contention for the just-completed Test series against West Indies due to a quadriceps injury.Mumbai will be captained by India allrounder Shardul Thakur, who takes over the mantle from Ajinkya Rahane, who is set to continue playing.Rahane has been training for the season from as early as July, when he said on a podcast that he’d even carried his trainers and kit to the UK – while on a media assignment during India’s Test tour – to be able to train for the upcoming season.Mumbai are in Group D alongside J&K, Hyderabad, Delhi, Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The opening round of the new season against J&K has been billed as a rematch of last season’s group fixture, which Mumbai lost by five wickets at the Bandra Kurla Complex grounds.