Declan Rice has explained how Adam Wharton has impressed his England team-mates in training amid a message to fellow midfielder Kobbie Mainoo.
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The leading run-getter for Delhi Daredevils so far, Shreyas Iyer’s confidence and his ability to score at a quick pace will serve him well, says his coach Pravin Amre
Nagraj Gollapudi22-Apr-20153:20
Agarkar: Iyer unfazed by Mumbai’s quicks
(You know why I said good, right)?” Praveen Amre asks Shreyas Iyer. Amre, the Delhi Daredevils assistant coach, had been floating balls in front of Iyer and asking him to hit along the ground during the team’s training session at Ferozshah Kotla on Wednesday afternoon. Amre’s primary aim was for Iyer, playing his maiden IPL, to meet the ball under his eyeline with the right head position when bat met ball. For close to 45 minutes, coach and student focussed on the minutiae of Iyer’s batting technique.”Once I say good I need to see quite a few things,” Amre says. ” Your pick-up has to be good. Your downswing has to be correct. Your meeting point has to be correct. Your finish has to be correct. The weight transfer has to be correct. There are so many things involved for me to say good. That is my job to make sure to help them understand what is good. Otherwise they (batsmen) are hitting. They are getting the boundaries. But the correctness is important as that will help them become consistent, allow them to play against any bowler, on any wicket.”Amre has known Iyer since he joined Shivaji Park Gymkhana as a 13 year old. Hence it is easy to note the deference in Iyer’s tone when talking to Amre. The familiarity also allows Amre to be open and blunt in his assessment with Iyer.As he was fine-tuning Iyer’s technique, at one point Amre expressed his disappointment at Iyer throwing away a good start he had against Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday evening. On 31, Iyer went for a slog sweep against Piyush Chawla. He had a good opportunity to notch his second half-century in the IPL but failed to consolidate a solid start.”In this format getting a good start is very important. Once you get that start you should not lose it because it takes time for the new batsman to settle down,” Amre says. “The entire team gets affected. He got out after 31 and then Manoj (Tiwary) got out similarly after getting a start and eventually the team was short by 20-25 runs. That is why I told him I was angry with him because he got the start but he left in-between. People might say he got 30, but as a coach I know that in the previous match he scored 60 so the team would have benefitted.”So today it was all about purposeful training. It was about making sure Iyer was attaining the shape coaches are pedantic about. Other than asking Iyer not to use his bottom hand too much, Amre asked him to make use of his height and stand on his toes to respond to short balls, what is the right position to leave out the bouncer, and, importantly hear to the “sound” of the stroke to determine its effectiveness.Iyer is the top run-getter for Daredevils after five matches. He has been given the freedom to play his own game, says Amre. Iyer is not the typical Mumbai cricketer. He does not believe in grafting; he likes to dominate. It is the same style of play Iyer has used in first-class cricket where he was the highest scorer in the Ranji Trophy.At 20, asking Iyer to take prime responsibility is not what Daredevils’ think tank wants to do. But they do want him to grow into the role given to him as the season grows.Can Iyer be the X-factor for Daredevils? “He has the X-factor,” Amre says. “He is aggressive and his ability to score runs is a big positive. He is the youngest member in the team. But he is confident. He has more than 800 runs in Ranji Trophy and he has brought that same confidence to the IPL.”
‘I don’t think we need to go after Mushfiqur, he was trying hard to get him out’ – Mashrafe
Mohammad Isam at The Oval05-Jun-2019Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza defended Mushfiqur Rahim after he hit the stumps with his elbow when trying to run out Kane Williamson. The incident took place in the 12th over of the New Zealand innings when the Ross Taylor – Williamson partnership was at an embryonic stage.As the two batsmen got involved in a mix-up, Tamim Iqbal threw the ball from mid-on with Williamson still well short of the crease and almost given up. But Mushfiqur took the ball in front of the stumps, with his feet behind, and tried to break the stumps. Straight away Tamim and Shakib reacted in a way that suggested they knew what had happened, while the rest of the stadium were cheering the big wicket.Williamson and Taylor went on to add 105 runs for the third wicket, that set New Zealand in the right path.Mushfiqur Rahim’s error hands Kane Williamson a lifeline•Getty Images
Mashrafe, who was also following the ball closely during that incident, said that he wouldn’t blame Mushfiqur for the mistake and expects him to bounce back from it quickly. He said that with the catches he had taken off Taylor and Colin de Grandhomme, Mushfiqur had already started to make amends.”I don’t think we need to go after Mushfiqur,” Mashrafe said. “He was also trying hard to get him out. That throw was straight, but as a keeper it was hard to know if it was straight or not. Suddenly the stumps hit his elbow, but it happens. Mushfiqur is a professional player. He knows how to handle all of this. It is not as if this was the first mistake in Mushfiqur’s life. Every player makes mistakes.WATCH – Highlights of Mushfiqur’s error on Hotstar (India only)”For example, in the last match Soumya dropped a catch, but he has caught many difficult ones before that. I think that it can happen with Mushfiqur, and that it may happen again is a normal thing. We are not here to blame anyone, we are here to give our best. Even after that, the catches that Mushfiqur took off Ross Taylor and Grandhomme, those could have been turning points.”I don’t think there is a need to create pressure for anyone and neither do I think that he needs to think about this. If everything goes well in the next match, you will see that everything is fine again.”Mashrafe said that falling 30 runs short of their desired total was a bigger problem on the day. He said that Mushfiqur himself getting run out after a mix-up with Shakib, after they had added exactly 50 runs for the third wicket, was also a crucial point in the game.”If you don’t score big, you have to take all those chances. It happens in cricket. No one wants to make mistakes. I think the bigger mistakes was when we batted. If we managed to score 30 more runs, it could have been a different game.”That run out [of Mushfiqur while batting] was the turning point. They both got set in that moment. Again, Shakib and Mithun had their partnership broken when they were putting it together. If any of those two partnerships had gone into eighties or a hundred, things would have been different,” he said.
Sri Lanka are due to depart for SA for a two-Test series once the LPL ends on December 16
Andrew Fidel Fernando and Firdose Moonda10-Dec-2020Sri Lanka’s tour of South Africa is set to go ahead as expected after SLC’s medical staff confirmed they were satisfied with the bio-bubble arrangements being planned for the series.SLC had reconsidered the tour following England’s withdrawal from their ODI series in South Africa last week. The board was concerned about the possibility of Sri Lanka cricketers returning unwell, something that could put their home series against England in jeopardy with the first Test against England to start roughly a week after Sri Lanka’s return.However, SLC’s medical staff has held talks with its CSA counterparts and is now confident that Sri Lanka will be able to undertake the South Africa tour with little risk of players contracting Covid-19. In addition, it is understood that CSA has agreed to strengthen their bio-security protocols as per the SLC medical team’s requests. In particular, SLC has asked for better PCR testing protocols and the hospitality staff which will cater to the teams to be kept on site.On Thursday afternoon, CSA put out a media release saying that the two-Test series would go ahead as planned.”Cricket South Africa appreciates the ongoing support from Sri Lanka Cricket under the leadership of Ashley de Silva, who has never wavered in its willingness to engage us in important and open discussions around our plans and the state of our readiness for the tour,” CSA’s interim CEO Kugandrie Govender said. “We are thankful that these discussions have allayed any trepidation around CSA’s ability to successfully host home tours in these unpredicted times.”As always, we are excited to host the Sri Lankan team in this important, World Test Championship series that will yield crucial points towards the points table for the eventual winners. We are also certain that cricket fans around the world will tune in for another series of thrilling cricket on display.”ALSO READ: Australia’s tour of South Africa may move to Perth amid Covid-19 falloutIn a meeting that the SLC’s medical team had with their ECB counterparts on Wednesday, the latter’s medical officers are also understood to have supported the idea that a tour of South Africa can be completed without a breaching of the bio-secure bubble. Although England withdrew from their own tour, no England player was found to have contracted Covid-19 despite some false positives being returned at one stage.Sri Lanka are due to depart for South Africa soon after the ongoing Lanka Premier League concludes on December 16. They are scheduled to play two Tests – in Johannesburg and Centurion – before returning home on January 8.Both teams will be housed at the Irene Country Club in Centurion, which includes a golf course, six tennis courts, squash courts and a driving range, thus eliminating the need for teams to leave the venue, as was the case during England’s curtailed visit. England left their biosecure hotel in Cape Town to play golf at several locations, which South Africa’s interim board chair Zak Yacoob described as “lax”, but necessary to keep their visitors happy.Sri Lanka’s first Test against England then begins on January 14. Both Tests in that England series will be played at Galle. SLC was especially nervous about putting that series in jeopardy because it carries substantial broadcast value, which the board cannot miss out on following a tough fiscal year in 2020.
Jasprit Bumrah has been rested from the ODI series but is in the T20I squad
ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-20251:19
Chopra: Rohit’s place in the side will now depend on form
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been picked in India’s ODI squad for the series in Australia starting on October 19, marking their international comebacks after last playing in the 2025 Champions Trophy final in March. The squad will be led by Shubman Gill, who has replaced Rohit as the ODI captain, with Shreyas Iyer the vice-captain.The selection panel, headed by former India fast bowler Ajit Agarkar, met on Saturday in Ahmedabad, where India won the first Test of the series against West Indies by an innings and 140 runs.There are five changes to the ODI squad from the 15 that won the Champions Trophy in the UAE in March: Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy are missing, Hardik Pandya is recovering from a quadriceps injury, Rishabh Pant has not yet fully recovered from the broken foot he suffered in England, and Jasprit Bumrah has been rested. They have been replaced by allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was injured for the Champions Trophy, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel and Yashasvi Jaiswal.Related
Gill inherits the wealth of India's Rohit-Kohli era
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“With regards to Jaddu [Jadeja], I mean look, at the moment to take two left-arm spinners to Australia is not possible. He is clearly in the scheme of things with how good he is, but there will be some competition for places,” Agarkar said. “Of course he was there in the Champions Trophy squad, because we took those extra spinners with the conditions there [in UAE]. At the moment we could only carry one and get some balance in the team with Washi [Washington Sundar] and Kuldeep there as well. I don’t think we are going to need more than that in Australia. It’s a short series, you can’t accommodate everyone and unfortunately at the moment he is missing out, but it’s nothing more than that.”Bumrah is part of the T20I squad for the five matches in Australia after the ODI series. The only change to the T20I squad that won the Asia Cup last month is Hardik being replaced by Reddy, while Washington has been added, making it a squad of 16.”We have already rested him for the one-day games. When we can manage his workload, we will do that,” Agarkar said about Bumrah. “Wherever you can give him a break, you will, because we all know how important he is, but we have also got to see what is in the interest of the team. And when we need him to play, he is always available, but we will look after [him]. Not just him, Siraj bowls a lot of overs as well. There are other guys who do play Test cricket, who will end up having a lot of bowling to do, so we will try and manage all the seamers, so that we minimise the risk of injuries.”Agarkar indicated that Gill and Rohit were likely to open in the ODIs, which means Jaiswal could miss out on a place in the starting XI. He also said Jurel was picked ahead of Sanju Samson in the ODI squad due to batting position, while KL Rahul is likely to remain the first-choice wicketkeeper.”Sanju Samson bats at the top of the order,” Agarkar said. “I think when he got a 100, I think he batted No. 3, if I am not wrong. Jurel usually bats lower down the order. KL bats there as well. You have seen how good a player Dhruv is. Again, you are looking at spots. I don’t think there is room at the top again. So, we are looking at guys who can fit in those spots. Obviously, Sanju at the moment in T20 cricket is batting there [middle order] and we are trying him there. But in one-day cricket, it’s a little bit different. So, that’s basically the thought. It’s more the position than anything else.”India play three ODIs in Australia on October 19, 23 and 25, followed by five T20Is between October 29 and November 8.
Shubman Gill (capt), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-capt), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (vice-capt), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.
Frank Lampard has reportedly now personally requested to sign Bright Osayi-Samuel for Everton.
The 24-year-old is having a solid season at Fenerbahce, where he has scored two goals and supplied a further five assists playing as a right-back at times, and he has generally been a mainstay in a team who have played in the Europa League and Conference League (Transfermarkt).
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In the Turkish Super Lig, he ranks as their sixth-best performer, averaging more dribbles per game (2.3) than any of his team-mates (WhoScored).
Nonetheless, he could well be an exciting arrival at Goodison Park in the summer.
As per En Son Haber, Lampard has now made a personal request to add Osayi-Samuel to Everton’s transfer list for the summer.
The 24-year-old currently holds a market value of €6m (£5.1m), and the Toffees will ‘knock on Fenerbahce’s door’ after the campaign has ended.
Signing a player for just £5.1m in today’s market holds real value, and the Blues could be getting a bargain on their hands if they were to snap up Osayi-Samuel for that amount.
Described as a player with ‘blistering pace’ and who ‘terrifies defenders’ by his former QPR manager Mark Warburton (Kilburn Times), he could offer Everton another dimension in attack and possibly give defenders in the Premier League a few problems.
Also, at only 24 years of age, he could be an ideal replacement for the 33-year-old Seamus Coleman at right-back.
In other news, find out who EFC are now fighting Liverpool to sign here!
Manchester United’s new signing Benjamin Sesko has been compared to Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland, with one of his former coaches, Rene Aufhauser, insisting the Slovenian is already close to that elite level. Sesko, who joined from RB Leipzig after interest from Newcastle and Arsenal, has been tipped to reach the very top thanks to his mix of physical presence, speed and technical ability.
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The former South Africa batsman will link up with the team before their T20I series against Ireland in March
ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2020Afghanistan’s coaching staff, helmed by Lance Klusener, has been bolstered by the appointment of HD Ackerman, the former South Africa Test batsman, cricket commentator and columnist.The Afghanistan Cricket Board confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Ackerman, 46, would start work with the team on March 1, ahead of the national team’s three-T20I series in India against Ireland, which will be followed by a one-off Test. His contract will run till the end of 2020. Ackerman played four Test matches for South Africa, two against Pakistan and two against Sri Lanka, all at home in 1998, scoring one half-century in aggregating 161 runs at an average of 20.12. He had a much more fruitful time in first-class cricket, though, playing the 1993-94 season all the way to mid-2009, in which he scored 14,625 runs, including a triple-century, at an average of 43.65 in 220 outings. He also played 230 List A matches and 55 T20s.The T20I series against Ireland will be played in Greater Noida, near the Indian capital of New Delhi, on March 6, 8 and 10.
Over the summer of 2023, Todd Boehly’s spending at Chelsea again was rather sizeable, splashing out a whopping £386.7m on 12 permanent signings.
In order to fund this, the Blues also made back around £231.8m in sales, with 14 players leaving the club on permanent transfers, whilst 16 left the club on loan.
The biggest deal of that window was acquiring a midfield partner for Enzo Fernández, signing Moises Caicedo from Brighton, for a fee of around £115m. The 23-year-old midfielder signed an eight-year deal with the club and has already made 61 appearances, scoring two goals and, providing six assists.
|
Chelsea 2023/24 season signings |
|
|---|---|
|
Player |
Fee (£) |
|
Moises Caicedo |
£115m |
|
Christopher Nkunku |
£52m |
|
Roméo Lavia |
£51.7m |
|
Cole Palmer |
£39.1m |
|
Axel Disasi |
£37.4m |
|
Nicolas Jackson |
£30.8m |
|
Lesley Ugochukwu |
£22.4m |
|
Robert Sanchez |
£19.1m |
|
Djordje Petrovic |
£13.3m |
|
Deivid Washington |
£13.3m |
|
Angelo |
£12.4m |
|
Diego Moreira |
£0 |
Christopher Nkunku also joined from RB Leipzig for a fee of around £52m, agreeing a deal prior to his arrival on July 1st, 2023.
But injuries affected the Frenchman’s first season at the club, as he has only been able to make 31 appearances for the Blues since joining.
Nkunku’s first season at the club only saw 14 appearances, having suffered a knee injury, a hamstring injury, and a hip injury, really struggling to regain and sustain fitness. In those 14 games, Nkunku managed three goals across just 516 minutes on the pitch.
However, to start this term, despite being the understudy to Nicolas Jackson so far, the 26-year-old has made 17 appearances in all competitions, scoring ten goals and supplying one assist, already more than he managed in the entirety of 2023/24.
Despite his good goal tally this time around, the former Leipzig man is far more of a number ten, someone who likes to play off of the striker, be involved in all phases of play, and arrive in the box late, rather than being the out-and-out number nine, looking to occupy the box at all times.
This could see Nkunku force a move, as he looks for more game time in his natural position, with Manchester United reportedly interested in the Frenchman. Therefore, Chelsea could move for a new striker alongside Jackson, and links are beginning to emerge for a current Premier League star striker.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, who was dubbed “The New Zlatan” by scout Jacek Kulig, is reportedly going to be available in 2025, chiefly if the Magpies fail to qualify for the Champions League, according to Graeme Bailey.
This could see the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea (noted as long-term admirers) and Liverpool all chase up their interest in the striker.
Since joining Newcastle in 2022, Isak has been a phenomenal asset to the Toon, making 78 appearances, in which he’s scored as many as 40 goals. So, how does the Swede compare with what Maresca already has at his disposal?
|
Isak vs Jackson in 2024/25 |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stats (per 90 mins) |
Isak |
Jackson |
|
Goals |
0.65 |
0.63 |
|
Assists |
0.16 |
0.31 |
|
xG |
0.51 |
0.65 |
|
Progressive Carries |
2.24 |
1.98 |
|
Progressive Passes |
1.65 |
1.56 |
|
Shots Total |
3.47 |
2.60 |
|
Key Passes |
1.18 |
1.25 |
|
Shot-Creating Actions |
2.35 |
2.60 |
|
Aerial Duels Won |
1.18 |
0.52 |
|
Stats taken from FBref |
||
Both Isak and Jackson do have similar profiles, looking to help their teams in the build-up, progress play, link the ball, run the channels and then arrive in the box.
Winning more aerial duels and, of course, scoring more regularly, Isak would offer a greater box threat. His 6 foot 4 frame is frightening and would give Chelsea something they severely lack currently; height.
Considering their profiles are similar and the fact he’s been priced at a seismic £115m, perhaps developing the rawer Jackson would save them money but the Sweden international is a proven hit now in the Premier League and is waiting for his big money money.
Jackson is there already but Isak would be an amazing pickup for any Premier League top side, guaranteeing goals, and overall quality in all phases of play.
Chelsea must regret selling £35m ace who's dominated Saka like Cucurella
The former Chelsea ace has taken his career to the next level after leaving Stamford Bridge.
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By
Ethan Lamb
Nov 13, 2024
Indore and Rajkot are reportedly the frontrunners as alternative venue
Nagraj Gollapudi12-Feb-2023The third Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia will not be played in Dharamsala because the venue is not ready to host the match.The BCCI is yet to finalise the new venue but Indore and Rajkot are reportedly the frontrunners. A final decision is expected to be taken soon.ESPNcricinfo has learned that the BCCI took the decision to move the fixture out of the venue in the Himalayas after an unfavourable report from the board’s inspection panel.As reported previously, the panel visited the ground on February 11 and noted several bare patches on the outfield, which was re-laid recently by the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association to install a new drainage system. Another deterrent was the fact that no cricket had been hosted in Dharamsala since the two T20Is between India and Sri Lanka last February.Dharamsala was incidentally the venue where India clinched the 2016-17 series against Australia by winning the fourth Test by eight wickets.India are up 1-0 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, after beating Australia by an innings and 132 runs inside three days in Nagpur. The second Test is in Delhi from February 17 to 21, and the third is scheduled between March 1 and 5 at a yet to be confirmed venue.