Fast bowler Pat Cummins has been named in the Australia squad for the one-day matches against Ireland and England scheduled for June this year

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2012Fast bowler Pat Cummins has been named in the Australia squad for the one-day matches against Ireland and England scheduled for June this year. Allrounder Steven Smith and quick Mitchell Johnson have also made a return.Cummins had been sidelined by a bone stress injury in his foot since Australia’s tour to South Africa in October-November 2011. He then missed the series against New Zealand, India and West Indies, and made a return to competitive cricket for Australia Under-19s in a quadrangular series in April. Johnson too has been out of action with an injured foot – he had done severe damage to his ligaments after being struck on the foot while batting in the Wanderers Test last November, resulting in a condition commonly referred to as ‘turf toe’.Smith, who had also last played for Australia during that tour to South Africa, is being rewarded for the fine form he showed late in the domestic season, according to national selector John Inverarity.”He [Smith] has come into strong contention for the Australian ICC World Twenty20 squad to be named in August and the national selection panel is keen to have him in the set-up in England as the reserve batsman, noting that his legspinners would provide good variation to our attack,” Inverarity said. “He [Johnson], also, is in strong contention for the ICC World Twenty20 and needs to be in the set-up and have some quality competitive cricket leading into this.

Australia’s 15-man squad

Michael Clarke (capt), Shane Watson, George Bailey, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner
In: Pat Cummins, Mitchell Johnson, Steven Smith
Out: Daniel Christian, Peter Forrest, Nathan Lyon, Peter Nevill

“We are also excited about the return of Pat Cummins and we are looking to ease him back into the team. He will not be expected to play in all of the eight scheduled games.” Australia are scheduled to play one one-dayer against Ireland, followed by five against England, interspersed with two tour games.The players to miss out from the squad that played the limited-overs games in the West Indies are Daniel Christian, Peter Forrest, Nathan Lyon and Peter Nevill. Mitchell Starc, who featured in the Commonwealth Bank Series against India and Sri Lanka, also missed out. However, Inverarity said, Christian remained in the mix for the World Twenty20.”Dan Christian has shown what a useful allrounder he is, and is making some strong contributions. He has been omitted to make way for Mitchell Johnson, but remains very much in our plans for the ICC World Twenty20, and a distinct possibility for the ODIs and Twenty20s against Pakistan in August-September.”Nathan Lyon and Peter Nevill have not been included as Xavier Doherty has been preferred as the only spinner and Matthew Wade is the only keeper. It is a great deal easier getting replacements to England than to the West Indies, and both Nathan and Peter will be on standby should they be required.”

Sri Lanka Cricket has made a provision for reserve days for the two remaining ODIs against Pakistan in Colombo

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Colombo14-Jun-2012Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has made a provision for reserve days for the two remaining ODIs against Pakistan in Colombo. Pakistan made the request after the third ODI on Wednesday was washed out. The matches are scheduled for Saturday and Monday and rain is forecast for both days. The five-match series stands at 1-1.”The next two ODIs will have reserve days,” Nishantha Ranatunga, the SLC secretary, told ESPNcricinfo. “There was a plan to shift the games to Hambantota, as it was the only area not experiencing rain at the moment, but due to logistical issues we had to drop it.”Only 6.2 overs in total were possible on Wednesday, leading the umpires to call off the game at around 8.40pm. A sharp shower curtailed play by more than an hour after the first ball was bowled, but rain returned shortly after play resumed. No play was possible after the second interruption. The first ODI in Pallekele was also interrupted by rain, but the match was eventually reduced to 42 overs a side.Rain was always going to be an issue as the series was scheduled during the south-west monsoon. Parts of the southern coastal belt, including Matara, experienced gale force winds yesterday. Only two ODI series have been played in Sri Lanka in the month of June: the Nidahas Trophy in 1998 which had half its matches wiped out by rain, and the Asia Cup in 2010 which was held in the dry zone of Dambulla. However, no matches will be played in Dambulla on this tour.

Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, has been barred from playing any official cricket in Pakistan until the outcome of his appeal against a lifetime ban

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2012Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, has been barred from playing any official cricket in Pakistan pending the outcome of his appeal against a lifetime ban handed by the ECB last month for corruption. The decision was taken after a meeting of the Pakistan board’s integrity committee on Monday.Kaneria, Pakistan’s fourth-highest wicket-taker in Tests, was handed the life ban by an ECB disciplinary panel hearing the spot-fixing case involving former Essex fast bowler Mervyn Westfield. Kaneria had been found guilty of inducing Westfield to under-perform and of bringing the game into disrepute. He has indicated that he would contest the verdict, though he is yet to formally lodge an appeal.The PCB’s integrity committee, headed by board chairman Zaka Ashraf, said that any final decision on Kaneria would be taken only after the appeal was dealt with. Kaneria had already been barred from playing for the Pakistan national side in 2010, and the PCB has said that it would in principle stand by the sanctions imposed by the England board.So far, he had been allowed to participate in Pakistan domestic cricket, and he was among the highest wicket-takers in last season’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the first-class tournament. He represented Habib Bank Limited, who have written a letter to the PCB asking for clarity on his cricketing status. HBL are set to suspend ties with Kaneria, and are waiting for a formal response from the PCB before taking a call on his job status. Kaneria’s last domestic match was a Twenty20 for Karachi Zebras in March.Although his punishment was handed out by the ECB, the ICC’s anti-corruption code states that decisions based on a domestic board’s regulations should be upheld by boards around the world, including the PCB.

Essex eased to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Leicestershire in their bottom of the table Clydesdale Bank 40 Group A clash at Chelmsford.

05-Aug-2012
ScorecardEssex eased to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Leicestershire in their bottom of the table Clydesdale Bank 40 Group A clash at Chelmsford. In a match reduced to 25 overs each because of rain, the hosts surpassed Leicestershire’s 151 for 7 with nine deliveries to spare.Owais Shah led the way for Essex with an unbeaten 45 from 46 deliveries, which included three fours and a six.The foundation had been laid by openers Mark Pettini and Tom Westley who shared in a stand of 62 in nine overs before both fell to medium-pacer Wayne White. Westley fell lbw to the last ball of his first over for 27, while with the first delivery of White’s next over, Pettini put up a simple catch to Robbie Joseph at short extra cover.Greg Smith made 20 while helping Shah carry the total to 102 in the 19th over, at which point he was superbly taken low down by Rob Taylor at deep square leg.Essex arrived at the final five overs still requiring 42 but Shah then stepped up a couple of gears to help see them home. He took successive fours off medium-pacer Michael Thornely before despatching Nathan Buck for an on-driven six. Then Ryan ten Doeschate maintained the tempo, sealing victory with three successive boundaries at the expense of Buck.Although White emerged as the visitors most successful bowler with two wickets for 17 runs from four overs, it was left-arm spinner James Sykes who impressed the most – the 20-year-old’s five overs cost only 15.Leicestershire’s innings owed much to Thornely. Fresh from his century in the County Championship battle between the two counties, he again batted with a confident assurance that brought him 55 from 53 balls. The pick of his shots was a towering six over long-on off the bowling of left-arm spinner Tim Phillips.Thornely had also laced his innings with four fours until he was brilliantly caught on the long-on boundary – Graham Napier racing 20 yards and diving to cling on to the ball inches off the ground.Of the other batsmen, only Matthew Boyce topped 20, before he drove Napier into the hands of extra cover in the final over when on 24.Essex, who put their opponents into bat, used seven bowlers, the most successful of whom was off-spinner Harbhajan Singh who took 3 for 29 from five overs and among his victims was opener Ramnaresh Sarwan, who needed 22 deliveries to gather 14 runs until he holed out to Phillips on the midwicket boundary.Greg Smith was another top-order batsman who failed to out his foot on the accelerator, requiring 28 balls to make 18. Smith was also caught on the midwicket boundary, this time by Harbhajan, when he decided to open his shoulders against ten Doeschate.

Kevin Pietersen remains the centre of most cricket date in England but it as his batting most were talking about in Taunton as he struck a fantastic hundred

David Lloyd at Taunton28-Aug-2012
ScorecardKevin Pietersen scored his second Championship hundred of the season, this one coming on a tricky pitch•PA Photos

What is that old line about death and taxes being the only two certainties in life? By lunchtime today, most if not all of those present here would have added ‘a Kevin Pietersen century before tea’ to their list – and been proved right with five overs to spare.Batting was not straightforward on a relaid pitch, especially during the morning session when the new ball seamed and swung enough to excite Somerset’s pace attack, but the man whose England career is on hold (at the very least) did what had to be done: he battled through.From then on, it became a case of how many runs Pietersen would score, whether colleagues would hang around long enough for the visitors to post a truly commanding total and when, or if, Surrey’s extremely special No. 4 might lose interest and give his wicket away.The answers, in the same order, were: 163, from 168 balls with three sixes and 20 fours; not really, because while a return of 317 looks more than handy on a surface which should take a fair bit of turn and may produce increasingly variable bounce, the visitors might have climbed to 400; and not at all, despite taking a blow to his left hand after going beyond 150.Although Pietersen was last out, having arrived in the middle this morning with his side 44 for 2, he perished trying to do nothing more exotic than defend against Sajid Mahmood, Somerset’s loan signing from Lancashire. He had batted for four hours but clearly wanted yet more time at the crease.No-one should need reminding but if there were any doubters among the 2,000 or so spectators here today then Pietersen gave them a good old nudge: this is someone in a different class to most who play this game.Yes, there was power – paceman Peter Trego and spinner George Dockrell were both hit for sixes. But mostly this innings will be remembered for its certainty and control. Good balls were defended with great respect while almost everything even remotely inviting was put away with crisp authority. Those who witnessed Pietersen’s double century against Lancashire at Guildford in mid-July say the two knocks were similar in that there, as here, he never went into overdrive but still scored at a rapid rate.Having been booed to the crease in Hampshire a week or so ago and then jeered all the way back after making a first ball duck in a CB40 game against his old county, Pietersen was politely applauded when he made his entrance here – and given a long and deservingly warm hand on completing the 45th first-class century of his career.How much this hundred meant, only the man himself will know (and he continues to reject media requests in the wake of his fall-out with England). But he raised his bat to the dressing room, then acknowledged the crowd’s generous response before pumping his fist two or three times – not in a showy, ‘look at me’ kind of way but simply, it seemed, to underline his pleasure. A hug with batting partner Gary Wilson came next, followed swiftly by another driven four off Alfonso Thomas.”He’s looked as good here as he ever has,” said Surrey’s team director, Chris Adams. “We’ve seen him hitting the ball really well in the nets and it is great for him to have gone out there and played as well as he has today.As Adams pointed out, with a couple of balls having already gone up and down (Stuart Meaker was bowled by a low one late in Surrey’s innings) the pitch “was not all in favour of the batsmen”. And Pietersen, given all that is going on and with a crucial meeting with England captain Andrew Strauss coming up at some time, might not have been in the mood to play himself in.No chance, apparently. “He has been superb in our dressing room and worked very hard,” said Adams. But how is Pietersen away from cricket? “There are unresolved issues and the sooner there is a solution to those issues the better for everyone, Kevin in particular,” added Adams. “My job is to focus on Surrey and make sure he is in the frame of mind to deliver.”As for Somerset, they could have done with facing a fully focused Pietersen like a hole in the head. After a weekend of woe – losing out on Twenty20 Finals Day yet again and then being eliminated from the CB40 48 hours later – they must win this match to have any hope of challenging hard for that elusive Championship title.The hosts kept 10 of their opponents on a tight rein with only their former all-rounder, Zander de Bruyn, going past 30. And he didn’t make many more than that. But Pietersen dominated them so completely that the loss of openers Arul Suppiah and Marcus Trescothick before the close came as no real surprise.A win here should secure Surrey’s Division One status. One thing is already certain, though: they are the only winners out of the rift between England and Pietersen.

Stuart Broad found himself in a familiar position for England captains – trying to explain a calamitous display against spin bowling

David Hopps in Colombo23-Sep-2012Stuart Broad found himself in a familiar position for England captains – trying to explain a calamitous display against spin bowling – as his side, dismissed against India for 80 in 14.4 overs, registered England’s lowest total in Twenty20 internationals.”It doesn’t change our destiny a huge amount – we still hop on a bus to Kandy in the morning,” Broad said. “It is not like tomorrow is going to be a different day. It is not as if we have to go home or anything.”It was understandable, indeed it was necessary, that Broad found consolation in the fact that both sides had already qualified for Super Eights and that, for the sake of their travelling supporters, England and India were already locked into matches in Pallekele (near to Kandy) or Colombo respectively, irrespective of whether they finished first or second in the group.But that underplayed the psychological effect that a defeat of such magnitude will have on a relatively untried England batting line-up that had grown in confidence during the warm-up matches but which collapsed spectacularly when faced by the first real test against significant opposition.As Broad had mentioned destiny, he did bring to mind Freud’s theory of repetition compulsion – a psychological phenomenon in which a person (or in this case the England cricket team) repeats a traumatic event, or its circumstances, over and over again.Freud’s theory says the patient does not remember anything about what he has forgotten or repressed, but just acts it out until the end of time, which is a depressing thought for when England next face spin bowling in Asia as well as an intriguing challenge for the team psychologist. The alternative, of course, would be to listen instead to Mushtaq Ahmed, the spin bowling coach, and start hitting the ball down the ground.”Our error today is we lost early wickets,” Broad said. “Spinners always enjoy bowling to new batsmen. We talked the other day about how we need to hit straight and hard and today to lose the first couple of wickets across the line was a bit disappointing. Hitting straight was a much better option than going across the ball.”England’s display was so woeful that when they lost their ninth wicket at 60 they were in danger of recording the lowest score in T20 internationals, undercutting Kenya’s 67 against Ireland. Somehow, they avoided that. But this was their heaviest defeat, by runs, in T20 internationals.There was no alibi for the batsmen and Broad was not about to give them one. There was no sharp turn – there may be as the tournament progresses so if England do reach the semi-finals and face India once more at Premadasa it could be worse – and India’s 170 for 4 was, at most, 10 over par so the target did not demand the impossible.”I don’t think the wicket turned massively to be honest,” Broad said. “The guys getting out said it was just skidding on a little bit. There was a little bit of turn, Harbhajan bowled very nicely with his top-spinner going well but no, I don’t think it was a raging turner or anything.”We made it easy for India in the end. We will have to learn from our mistakes and there were some pretty clear ones in the batting line-up. Young guys seem to learn pretty quickly.”He did not entirely exonerate the bowling, where England suffered in this match by giving Tim Bresnan a run out as a fourth seamer, in defiance of a dry pitch, because of their conviction that the ball will seam and swing in Pallakele and he will play in their opening Super Eight tie against West Indies or Ireland on Thursday as a result. The fielding was also scrappy by England standards, but these were details compared to the car crash of a batting performance.”I think we were a little bit sloppy in places: we had a few soft twos in the outfield,” Broad conceded. “We didn’t hit our lengths as well as we could up front. But I think it was the lowest first-innings score on this ground so far in the tournament. We thought it was very chaseable. The wicket was pretty flat, although it didn’t have the pace in it that it had the other night.”It will be interesting to see what the Pallakele wickets offer. There has been talk that in the Sri Lankan Premier League it seamed around a bit. We knew it was a bit dryer at the start but we wanted to try a different balance of side with the four seamers in a game that we could afford to lose. It was a risk that we took and it didn’t help us.”Sunil Gavaskar, the former India captain, was quick to point out England’s deficiencies. “This is a sorry display from England,” he said. “There’s been a lack of footwork, application and the will to stick around and fight it out.” It was accurate enough but England regard Gavaskar as a serial critic; perhaps this is a comment that will be heading for the dressing room wall.

AB de Villiers has been ruled out of Titans’ Champions League semi-final against Sydney Sixers on Friday

Firdose Moonda25-Oct-2012AB de Villiers has been ruled out of Titans’ Champions League semi-final against Sydney Sixers on Friday. De Villiers has not played a match in the tournament as he recovers from a chronic lower-back condition and did not pass his fitness test on Thursday morning.”He is still getting a recurrence of lower-back pain,” Matthew Maynard, Titans coach, said. The Titans were prepared to go into the match without De Villiers though, and do not see the latest development as upsetting to their plans.What will be a concern, however, is whether De Villiers will be able to bat and keep wicket during South Africa’s three Test tour of Australia, which starts in just over two weeks’ time. De Villiers has been listed as the designated wicketkeeper and was instructed to take a three-week break after the World T20 to ensure he is able to fulfill that role.The time period comes to an end on Friday but he has not been passed match-fit and there is no exact determination of how much more recovery time he needs. National management is keeping a close eye on the situation and expects De Villiers to be able to assume all his duties in Australia. “He will definitely be able to travel to Australia but we will have to take it day by day on tour,” Mohammed Moosajee, team manager said.Moosajee has been monitoring De Villiers’ back condition since he took over the wicketkeeping role from Mark Boucher at the start of the tour of England. He does not expect De Villiers will be able to continue it permanently.”AB has had this back condition for a while and we knew about it. We knew that it would never resolve completely but that he would have times where he would be completely fine and then bouts when it would come back,” Moosajee said. “When his workload increases, it flares up. So in the long term, some strategic decision will have to be made.”The main decision is how long De Villiers will continue as wicketkeeper and who will be selected as the replacement. On the tour of Australia, Moosajee reminded that “we’ve got Thami Tsolekile as back-up so if something happens, he is there.”Tsolekile was nationally contracted in February, an indication that he would be part of the squad, and joined them when Boucher suffered a career-ending injury in England. He only played in the tour matches and De Villiers kept in all three Tests. It is believed that the national administration wants to re-introduce Tsolekile to international cricket at home, in what will be considered a less-challenging series against New Zealand in January rather than have him play against Australia first up.

Alastair Cook praised England’s character after they produced one of their finest Test victories in recent memory to level the series against India with a 10-wicket success in Mumbai

Andrew McGlashan26-Nov-2012Alastair Cook praised England’s character after they produced one of their finest Test victories in recent memory to level the series against India with a 10-wicket success in Mumbai.The win was all the more remarkable for coming off the back of the nine-wicket hammering they suffered in Ahmedabad last week when the pre-series predictions of England struggling to take wickets and battling against India’s spinners came true. However, they have turned their fortunes around, overcoming the home side before lunch on the fourth day, to keep alive their chance of a first series victory in India since 1985.”It was a tough week up in Ahmedabad and the character we have shown in the last three days has been fantastic,” Cook said at the presentation. “I just can’t fault the effort from the lads and the performance they have put in.”England also won the Test the hard way having lost the toss on a pitch seemingly tailor-made for India’s spinners, yet they were comprehensively outbowled by Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann who combined for 19 wickets in the match with Panesar claiming a career-best 11 for 210.When India fought their way to 327 on the second morning it was expected to be a very challenging total on a surface already gripping, but Kevin Pietersen produced arguably his finest Test innings, a scintillating 186, to secure a priceless lead of 86.”It was an important toss, but the way we bowled on the first day was fantastic and then the way Kevin took the game away from India – to get an 80-run lead was vital,” Cook said. “It was a fantastic innings and great to watch from the other end. We could almost have got more of a lead in the end. But the way Swanny and Monty bowled in the second innings when the pressure was on, to not let India get away, was fantastic.” When talking about his innings on the third evening, Pietersen was guarded in ranking its significance, well aware that the job was not quite finished for England. With victory completed he was more verbose but was just as quick to praise his team-mates.”Now that we’ve won, probably at the top,” he said of where the innings stands. “Yesterday I said it was a situation where we needed to win the Test match and hundreds feel a lot better when you win. Panesar and Swann were outstanding in the second innings, and Cooky didn’t talk about himself but he’s a magnificent cricketer. He’ll break every England record. We came to Mumbai, trained hard and worked hard. There’s a good united spirit in the dressing room.”For a couple of months at the end of England’s home season that united dressing appeared a long way away but a working relationship has been restored and a matchwinning hundred will keep the process moving the right away.”Thanks to the guys in the dressing room, the management, for sorting everything out,” Pietersen said. “Every day you put on an England jersey is a special day and we are so privileged as England cricketers. The spectators that travel around with us are magnificent and we couldn’t achieve things without them. Also the Indian support, it’s been brilliant and long may that continue.”

Sri Lanka’s batsmen may have been scuppered by cluttered minds on day two of the first Test in Hobart, deems Sri Lanka’s coach Graham Ford, as they slumped to 87 for 4 by stumps

Andrew Fernando in Hobart15-Dec-2012Sri Lanka’s batsmen may have been scuppered by cluttered minds on day two of the first Test in Hobart, deems Sri Lanka’s coach Graham Ford, as they slumped to 87 for 4 by stumps after Australia had scored 450 for 5. Sri Lanka could only remove Michael Clarke on the day, before Mike Hussey progressed to an unbeaten 19th Test century, putting on 146 with Matthew Wade.Though Sri Lanka’s bowlers had avoided being dominated for much of Australia’s innings, they were milked for more than six runs an over in the 11 overs preceding Australia’s declaration. Then, Sri Lanka’s batsmen were not confronted with alarming movement, but largely lost their wickets to indiscipline while facing testing deliveries.”Perhaps we weren’t quite up to it with the bat today.” Ford said. “I think the boys were busy thinking of what’s gone on so far; hopefully we can come out in the morning and put up a good fight. They put us under a lot of pressure, batted superbly and got a lot of runs on the board, then with the ball they put us under a lot of pressure as well.”Tillakaratne Dilshan made a positive fifty, finishing the day unbeaten. He will resume on day three alongside Angelo Mathews – the pair comprise the two in-form batsmen in the side. Mathews was by far the highest run-getter for Sri Lanka in the recent series against New Zealand, and has also made his only century against Australia. Dilshan, meanwhile, hit a hundred in the tour match in Canberra last week.”I don’t think there [are] any demons in the surface,” Ford said. “It’s a classy bowling unit. They have put the ball in the right place and there has been some movement here and there. Dilshan has shown that if you focus you can handle what comes in your way.”When the innings was in progress the batting coach was speaking to some of the batters who were due to come in and [about] one or two technical things that Dilshan was putting in place well.”Ford said Thilan Samaraweera’s dismissal off what became the final ball of the day was especially difficult to stomach, because Sri Lanka had only one more over to see out before stumps. Samaraweera was caught behind off Nathan Lyon, who surprised the batsman with the bounce he achieved with his top-spinner.”Losing the wicket at the end of the day is tough to handle. Disappointing. We almost thought that we got through with three down so it does hurt. I am sure if we can bat well when the match goes on Rangana [Herath] will come in and have an impact.”Left-arm spinner Herath went wicketless in the first innings, but is the second-highest wicket-taker for 2012 and has a superior average this year to Graeme Swann, who tops the list. There was little turn available for him, but Ford said his side had not expected their spearhead to be a force in Hobart.”The records suggest that it’s toughest for Herath to have an impact here. So probably at the other two venues he should come into the game a lot more, and that should give us a better chance. I am also very hopeful that our seamers are improving all the time. I thought Shaminda Eranga bowled well for a man who has three Tests under his belt. We have to try and see how he comes through. We got only five wickets, but he has given us something to be positive about. It will take an effort from the seam unit as well as the one bowler who is going to set it up. Hopefully everyone has learned from today, as it’s important that seamers from the other end support Rangana Herath.”Ford also lauded the longevity of Michael Hussey, who now averages 125.28 against Sri Lanka, and has hit five of his 19 hundreds against them. “Just looking at how fit and quick he is between the wickets, that’s really impressive for his age. At this stage he looks like he has a few good years ahead of him. He is a bloody good player.”

ESPNCricinfo previews the first T20I between India and England in Pune

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria19-Dec-2012

Match facts

India would hope for change in fortunes with the change in format•Getty Images

December 20, 2012
Start time 1900 (1330 GMT)

Big Picture

Only three days ago, the two teams were part of a draining battle in the Test series in which things went from bad to worse for India while England rose in confidence and three days later, they are ready to take on each other for a couple of Twenty20s. Of the two, India need a win, any win.For India, it is a strange situation. First, they fell in their own trap in the Tests and now they need to find the motivation to come out of the slump and play positive cricket. It doesn’t help that the nucleus of their T20 squad is still the same as the Test side. MS Dhoni, whose leadership has been under fire, needs to arrest the slide and switch gears for a format, which appears, suited to the Indian team – hard-hitting batsmen, restrictive bowlers and a wait-and-watch style of captaincy. The reality, though, is that India haven’t really dominated on the international level even in T20s.Unlike India, England’s T20 side bears a completely different look. The architects of the series win are already back in England for Christmas, but they have left a scarred Indian team for their T20 generation to feast upon. Most in the side, captained by Eoin Morgan, have been in India for some time now and would have spent time getting used to the spinning conditions. So on paper, England have again been methodical in their preparations. That doesn’t directly translate to success – if pitches take spin, the young side could again appear like rabbit in headlights. But it points to one clear difference between the two sides – one fighting their demons, the other ignoring theirs.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
India WWLWW
England LWLLW

In the spotlight

Yuvraj Singh may have flopped in the Tests, but he remains a dangerous limited-overs player. His inclusion in the T20 squad three months back appeared driven by emotions, but since then, Yuvraj has spent a considerable amount of time in the middle. He has scored a couple of hundreds at the first-class level and although he appeared inept in the Tests, he would prefer England’s new-look bowling attack to stamp his authority.Eoin Morgan has been a regular in England’s limited-overs sides and in Stuart Broad’s absence, he has been awarded with the captaincy. Morgan, one of England’s best players against spin, will not only be the lynchpin in the middle order, he will have the responsibility of mentoring the inexperienced players. His IPL experience will come in handy for England to draw up plans against the Indian players.

Team news

Ten of the 15 players in India’s squad also took part in the Test series. Ambati Rayudu, who replaced the injured Manoj Tiwary, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the two new additions apart from the regulars but could find it hard to make it to the XI. Parwinder Awana could make his international debut after L Balaji and Vinay Kumar were withdrawn from the squad due to injuries.India: (likely) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 MS Dhoni (capt), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Ashok Dinda, 11 Parwinder AwanaEngland lost Stuart Broad to a heel injury and was replaced by the Middlesex seamer James Harris. However, he is unlikely to make it to the XI with Tim Bresnan, Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker ahead of him. Joe Root, who was not part of the original T20 squad, could find a place after his impressive showing in the Nagpur Test.England (likely) 1 Alex Hales, 2 Michael Lumb/Joe Root, 3 Luke Wright, 4 Eoin Morgan, 5 Jos Buttler, 6 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 7 Samit Patel, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 James Tredwell, 10 Jade Dernbach, 11 Stuart Meaker

Stats and trivia

• This will be the first international match at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune.
• England have played 53 T20Is to India’s 41. Their win-loss record is 27-23, which is similar to India’s 22-17.
• The two teams have met each other only five times, with England winning three. MS Dhoni is the only player to have played in all five matches.
• Of the players in the two teams, Jade Dernbach has the most wickets in T20Is – 18.

Quotes

“It’s a completely different format. I don’t think there is anything carrying forward from the Test series.”