All posts by csb10.top

Mumbai batter Ayush Mhatre will be leading India Under-19 at the ACC Men’s Under-19 Asia Cup in Dubai from December 12. The BCCI announced a 15-member squad for the tournament, with the side also including aggressive opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Vihaan Malhotra will be Mhatre’s deputy at the competition.Mhatre, meanwhile, hasn’t been in good form recently. He had impressed for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2025, where he was called up to replace Ruturaj Gaikwad, with 240 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of nearly 189. But since then, he has been inconsistent with his returns.Mhatre got just 27 runs in four one-day matches on the England tour, but hit back to be the top-scorer with 340 runs in the two Youth Tests. In Australia, after that, he got just ten runs in three one-day games and 38 runs in the Youth Tests against Australia Under-19. In four first-class matches during India’s domestic season, which included a game for India A against South Africa A, Mhatre managed only 156 runs at an average of 26. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy fixture that followed, he scored 18 against Railways, though he did record an unbeaten 53-ball 110 against Vidarbha on Friday, leading Mumbai to a seven-wicket win.At the ACC Men’s Under-19 Asia Cup, which will be played in the one-day format, India are in Group A with Pakistanand two qualifying teams while Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and another qualifier are in Group B. India open their campaign December 12 against one of the two qualifiers.

India squad for Men’s Under-19 Asia Cup

Ayush Mhatre (capt), Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Vihaan Malhotra (vice-capt), Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu (wk), Harvansh Singh (wk), Yuvraj Gohil, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan A. Patel, Naman Pushpak, D. Deepesh, Henil Patel, Kishan Kumar Singh*, Udhav Mohan, Aaron George*Subject to fitness clearanceStandby players: Rahul Kumar, Hemchudeshan J, B.K. Kishore, Aditya Rawat

Shreyas Iyer will lead a 15-member India A side against Australia A in two multi-day matches later this month in Lucknow. Nitish Kumar Reddy, who suffered a knee injury on the recent England tour, has also been included.First-choice Test players KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj were named in the squad as well, but only for the second match.Iyer last played a Test for India in February 2024, against England in Visakhapatnam. This is an opportunity for him to present his case for the two-match Test series at home against West Indies, which starts on October 2. Reddy had played the second and the third Tests of the England series in July before being ruled out with the injury. On Saturday, he bowled a lengthy spell to Sai Sudharsan and Ishan Kishan at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.Related

• Abhimanyu 'knows what to do if opportunities don't come', says Kanitkar

• Duleep semi-finals: Gaikwad the standout as India's international stars struggle for form

• Konstas, Peake, McSweeney in Australia A squad for India tour

Prasidh Krishna, Sai Sudharsan and Abhimanyu Easwaran – all part of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, which India drew 2-2 – have also been named in the A team. N Jagadeesan, who was called to England for the final Test, also makes it. Wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel, who was injured and unable to play the Duleep trophy quarter-final and semi-final, has been named vice-captain. He had an extended training session at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence on Friday.Ayush Badoni, who scored a double-hundred against East Zone in the ongoing Duleep Trophy, has been rewarded with a call-up. That was the second double-hundred of Badoni’s first-class career. Currently playing his 16th match in the format, he has 1370 runs at an average of 65.23.Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Thakur and Gurnoor Brar are among the seamers; Manav Suthar, Harsh Dubey and Tanush Kotian are the spin options. Among the notable absentees are Karun Nair, who is recovering from a finger injury, Shardul Thakur and Sarfaraz Khan.The first game starts on September 16 and the second on September 23. That will be followed by three one-dayers, all in Kanpur.

India A squad for Australia series

Shreyas Iyer (capt), Abhimanyu Easwaran, N Jagadeesan (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (vice-capt, wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Harsh Dubey, Ayush Badoni, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar, Yash Thakur, KL Rahul*, Mohammed Siraj*

It has taken more than 40 years but we finally have it: an India-Pakistan Asia Cup final. Pakistan scrapped their way into the title clash after defending 135 against Bangladesh in Dubai.After Shaheen Shah Afridi struck twice in three powerplay overs, Pakistan’s spinners tightened the screws, finding sharp turn and grip. After bagging his fourth duck in six innings in the Asia Cup, Saim Ayub produced a double-strike and ensured Bangladesh’s batting spiralled out of control.It was one of those bizarre games where the team that hit more sixes ended up losing. Pakistan had managed just five sixes and Bangladesh had matched that tally by the tenth over of the chase. They eventually finished with seven sixes but as they searched for more on a pitch that perhaps wasn’t conducive to that style, they kept holing out.Pakistan’s batters had suffered a similar meltdown earlier in the day, but Mohammad Haris and Mohammad Nawaz did enough to drag them to 135 on a used surface, a total that at the end of the day was enough by 11 runs.

Pakistan’s go-slow

Taskin Ahmed, rested for Wednesday’s game against India, hit the ground running by dismissing the in-form Sahibzada Farhan for 4. He became the third Bangladesh player after Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman, to 100 T20I wickets.In the next over, offspinner Mahedi Hasan had Ayub flapping a catch to mid-on for a three-ball duck – his fourth duck in six innings in the Asia Cup and ninth in 45 T20I innings. Only Umar Akmal (ten in 79 T20I innings) has bagged more for Pakistan.Fakhar Zaman was also going nowhere, managing only 12 off 18 balls in a powerplay that saw Pakistan score only 27. Only Hong Kong had scored fewer runs in a powerplay in this Asia Cup.After taking the catches of Farhan and Ayub, wristspinner Rishad Hossain dismissed Fakhar (13 off 20 balls) and Hussain Talat (3 off 7) in successive overs. When Mustafizur had captain Salman Agha inside-edging behind with his trademark offcutter, Pakistan were 49 for 5 in the 11th over.2:24

Aaron: Pakistan found right ‘mixture of calm and emotion’

Haris, Nawaz bail Pakistan out

The first six of Pakistan’s innings came in the 13th over when Afridi launched Tanzim Hasan Sakib into the top tier over midwicket. In the next over, he hit Taskin for another six before miscuing a full-toss to the keeper. After being dropped on 1 and 3, Afridi got to 19 off 13 balls.Nawaz could have been dismissed on 0 had Parvez Hossain not dropped a regulation catch. He went on to make 25 off 15 balls. Haris also played his part, taking on both Rishad and Mustafizur during his 31 off 23 balls. Pakistan crashed 80 runs in their last eight overs.

Bangladesh fade away in chase

While Afridi was on the money with the new ball at one end – his powerplay figures read 3-0-11-2, including a customary first-over strike – Bangladesh went after the bowlers at the other end. When Faheem Ashraf erred too full, Saif Hassan pounded him over mid-on for six. In the next over, he picked Haris Rauf away for a six and a four. In his next over, however, Rauf bounced back to draw a leading edge from Saif, which was grasped by Ayub at point.Nurul Hasan then started with a first-ball six, though off a top edge, but Bangladesh couldn’t sustain their hitting and kept finding the boundary riders. Shamim Hossain, who top-scored for Bangladesh with 30 off 25 balls, was their only batter to pass 20.Bangladesh’s slim hopes faded away when Afridi returned with the old ball and had Shamim caught by Talat, who was not needed with the ball on the day. Bangladesh were missing their regular captain and key batter Litton Das who was on the sidelines for a second successive game with a side strain. Jaker Ali, the stand-in captain, was among a long list of batters who holed out while attempting to clear the boundary.Pakistan had an injury scare when Rauf collapsed in his follow-through in the 18th over, but he continued to bowl, finishing off his spell, and locked in an India-Pakistan final on Sunday.

Jemimah Rodrigues revealed the mental battle she faced in the weeks leading up to her match-winning unbeaten 127 against Australia in the World Cup semi-final, describing a period of anxiety that left her feeling “numb” and brought her to tears. Rodrigues broke down during the post-match press conference, saying she hoped sharing her experience could help others facing similar struggles.”I will be very vulnerable here because I know if someone is watching, this might be going through the same thing and that’s my whole purpose of saying it. Nobody likes to talk about their weakness. I was going through a lot of anxiety at the starting of the tournament,” she said, pausing to hold back tears.”It was a lot, you know, before few games also, I used to call my mom and cry the entire time, let it all out. Because when you are going through anxiety, you just feel numb. You don’t know what to do. You are trying to be yourself. And also in this time, my mum, my dad, they supported me a lot. And also there was Arundhati [Reddy], who I think almost every day I have cried in front of her.Related

• Australia feel India's force as Rodrigues brings down the Death Star

• Rodrigues completes her redemption arc as the silence turns to roars

• The greatest chase: how India kept their cool amid the drama

“Later I was joking, saying ‘you don’t come in front of me, I will start crying.’ But she checked on me every single day. There was Smriti [Mandhana], who helped me. She also knew what I was going through. Few of the net sessions, she was just standing there. Even yesterday she came, she just stood there, just because he just knows that her presence is important for me.”There has been Radha [Yadav], who has, always been there, taking care of me. I am so blessed to have friends, I can call family, that I didn’t have to go through it alone. And it’s okay to ask for help.”Rodrigues had entered the semi-final on the back of a 76 not out against New Zealand, but her tournament began with a few low scores, including two ducks. She had also been dropped for the match against England as India opted for an extra bowler, a bold call given Rodrigues’ status as one of India’s top batters. She said it was difficult to stay patient, but she chose to hang in and trust that her moment would come.”My family went through a lot, but everyone stood by me, and believed in me when I didn’t, when I couldn’t,” she said. “And it started with the anxiety thing. Then I was dropped from the team [for the match against England]. That really hit me.”When you are dropped, you have a lot of doubts because I always want to contribute to the team. But that day, I couldn’t do much sitting out. And then, when you come back in, it’s a lot more pressure, than everything that was happening in the past month.’I am very grateful for the people who believed in me when I couldn’t, and were there for me and understood me because I couldn’t do this on my own’•ICC/Getty Images

“But sometimes all you need to do is, just hang in there and, things fall into place. So, I am very grateful for the people who believed in me when I couldn’t, and were there for me and understood me because I couldn’t do this on my own.”During India’s chase of 339, Rodrigues was at the crease for nearly the entirety of the innings after entering at No. 3 in the second over. She remained unbeaten on 127 off 134 balls, guiding India to victory with five wickets in hand and nine balls to spare. Her innings, however, included a reprieve when she was dropped by Alyssa Healy on 82. Asked how she would rate her innings, Rodrigues reflected on her mindset.”I mean, how do I rate this innings? Actually, I have not let it sink in,” she said. “All I would say was I didn’t play for my 100. I didn’t play to prove a point at No. 3. I didn’t play for my 50. I just played to make sure India win. I wanted to see India win at the end and that was my only motivation.”I think when you have that thought process, I think God also favours you. You do it for the team, you don’t do it for yourself. And I think I have always played my cricket that way. I’m short of words actually.”Rodrigues also revealed that during a team discussion on the eve of the match, she had expressed a clear goal for the game.”We were just saying what all we could do better in this World Cup and all I said was that I want to be there till the end and finish the game. Whether we are batting first, I know if I am there, I can make a partnership. And get those 20-30 runs extra because I run well, pick gaps, unusual gaps.”And the second thing was if we are chasing, then I want to make sure I take the team through. And this just feels like a dream actually. It just felt like everything was such a set up. Because the last month wasn’t the easiest, but it just felt like a set up for this moment.”

India have been fighting the elements all the way through this three-match ODI series against South Africa, which sits at 1-1 ahead of the final game in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. Their bad luck with tosses has left them batting when conditions are better for bowling and bowling when conditions are better for batting.”The dew factor is, we’re actually trying to put a number on it and it varies between 10 and 20% [in terms of] what a big difference it makes [to the result],” India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said. “I think we’re one in a million statistically at the moment [the probability of losing 20 straight tosses], so if we can go two million tomorrow, that’ll be pretty impressive.”But again, it’s a bit of a joke, but the responsibility or the preparation is to beat whatever is put in front of us and eventually we’re going to win a toss anyway.”Related

• Rahul: Toss plays a 'huge part' and 'making a huge difference' with dew

• When South Africa and India went off the scale

• Toss, dew in focus as South Africa eye rare double

Ten Doeschate highlighted all that the team is doing behind the scenes to cope with the dew. “We are doing all the practical prep stuff, guys bowling with wet balls. Again, you know, like setting up our store to get a premium score, figuring out how to defend, what is best to bowl with the wet ball when there is dew on the grass.”An unexpected complication is the way ODIs function now. Previously, there was a new ball at each end. But it seemed like that had skewed the balance of the game in favour of the batters, with the ball staying harder for longer and being easier to hit even late in the innings. The ICC took note of this and from this July, bowling teams have been choosing one out of those two balls to carry on for the last 16 overs.”The two balls,” ten Doeschate said, “if I just think about it logically, the whole point of going to one ball after 34 overs is that the ball does get a chance to wear and to get a bit softer. But the flip side is that [when there is dew] you have got one ball that is getting more wet essentially. I think the umpires have been very good in allowing ball changes, but then of course you end up getting a slightly harder ball which negates the whole point of going down to the one ball.”But like I said, the thing that has impressed me about this group this week is that we know the challenges, I haven’t heard anyone complain and the main thing is all about, you know, it is our responsibility to find ways around these challenges and that is just another one we have got to find a solution for.”Harshit Rana and KL Rahul enjoy a small chat•BCCI

India’s batters are also trying to do their bit by reassessing the totals they’re aiming for.”At the start of the first game, we thought 320 sort of par, and then we put a premium at 350 and we thought that the game in Raipur was the same. We thought 360, even given the dew coming, it was a good effort to get that score,” ten Doeschate said. “You always want more runs and again the conversations have been around how can we maximise. What we said about guys starting in slightly later on, what are the better options, we just had a good chat around that.”Ten Doeschate was asked if an earlier start time might help even things out. “I think it is, you know, the fact that the dew kind of falls as the second inning starts, it means the dew is there for the whole time.”So a different start time could bring that effect down a little bit if you started two hours early. That is a solution but obviously there are so many moving parts at play in terms of broadcasting etc. So I guess it is a futile conversation.”Over the course of this tour by South Africa, India have gone to their allrounders when they play Test matches and specialists when they’ve been playing the ODIs.”I guess that is a bit of an anomaly,” ten Doeschate said. “You know, you would think Test Cricket, you would have more specialists but it is just where we are at the moment in the cycle and the guys we think at the moment are the best guys to represent the team. Ideally, in Test cricket, you have a more solid base of batters and bowlers but we feel at the moment the guys who are doing the job for us just happen to be allrounders. I just think it is picking your best XI and that is just the way it is all in the world.”The ODIs being 1-1 right after India lost the Tests 2-0 has left the dressing room a bit wired.”It is a very different personnel of players, but the guys are very aware of the responsibility of what they are representing,” ten Doeschate said. “We always want to win, but certainly when a few losses do start stacking up and performances are below what we expect from ourselves. I think there is a slight aspiration to win the series tomorrow.”