India want to give the seam-bowling allrounder game time in home Tests so that he can improve for challenges overseas

Karthik Krishnaswamy08-Oct-20252:05

Is there a role for Nitish Kumar Reddy in home Tests?

Ten years from now, it might be the image you recall most vividly from last week’s Ahmedabad Test: Nitish Kumar Reddy airborne at full stretch, having flung himself to his left at square leg to turn a well-hit pull from Tagenarine Chanderpaul into India’s first wicket in the second innings.You might, however, struggle to recall anything else Reddy did in the Test, because he didn’t get to contribute much to India’s innings victory. He bowled four overs in West Indies’ first innings, didn’t bowl in their second, and didn’t get to bat as India declared first thing in the morning on day three, on their overnight total of 448 for 5, despite there being so much time left in the game.It’s the kind of thing that can happen to a player in such a dominant victory, particularly a player whose skillset can seem surplus to requirements in certain conditions. India want to maximise Reddy’s potential as a seam-bowling allrounder and are hoping to turn him into a player whose presence gives them depth and balance with both bat and ball in overseas conditions. But to help him grow into that player, they recognise he needs game time in red-ball cricket between those tours, which means playing him whenever possible even in home Tests.Related

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“I’d say we’re unlikely to change the combination,” India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said two days out from the second Test in Delhi. “One of the sort of medium-term objectives is to develop a seam-bowling allrounder for India, because it’s very important when we go away on tours that we have that position covered.”We didn’t get a very good look at Nitish last week, so I think it’s a very good opportunity to give Nitish another go and not alter the balance of the team.”In his eight Tests so far, Reddy has shown evidence of his high ceiling in Test cricket, particularly with the bat. He top-scored in low India totals with 41, 42 and 42 in three of his first four Test innings, during the 2024-25 tour of Australia, and followed up with a maiden Test hundred at the MCG. His bowling isn’t yet at that level, but he took key top-order wickets both in Australia and during the 2025 tour of England.”We think he’s a fantastic seam-bowling allrounder, a batter who bowls seam,” ten Doeschate said. “I think the biggest limitation to what his ceiling could be is going to be his body. He is not the first allrounder we’ve seen in this country whom that applies to; to be perfectly honest, Hardik [Pandya]’s in the same sort of character of player where we don’t doubt their skills at all but for their bodies to hold up to Test cricket is a different matter.”Nitish, I think he showed everyone in Australia how good he is as a batter; I think the challenge for him is going to be to make sure that he gets game time in between away series. In a series like this, when you look at the combination, it’s more important to look ahead and see how we can fit him in to make sure that he does get game time and time to develop his bowling. We really like him, we think he’s a quality allrounder.”4:20

Ten Doeschate: India unlikely to change combination due to a medium-term objective

As true as that might be, India have three spin-bowling allrounders in their squad against West Indies, and two of them – Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar – played in Ahmedabad and batted ahead of Reddy, with Jadeja scoring an unbeaten century to extend his 2025 purple patch.”The sort of lucky thing for us is Washy and Jaddu and even Axar [Patel] are pretty much the same sort of players,” ten Doeschate said when asked whether batting behind Jadeja and Washington could potentially hold back Reddy’s development. “We feel they can bat anywhere from five all the way through to eight, and on the most recent evidence of Washy getting important runs in the UK, [and] obviously Jaddu’s form in the last six months has been immense, and unfortunately that means when Nitish does come back into the team right after his injury, he fits in right at the back of that list, and hence the reason why he batted at eight.”The only drawback, or the only sort of downer from last week in that first Test was the fact that Nitish didn’t get to compete in any of the departments, but I think it’s also a strong message to the guys who are fighting for that spot that you need to be versatile, you need to be able to bat anywhere from five all the way through to eight, and we feel that’s a good way to develop players, that they can perform in different scenarios and different positions.”If we’re all disappointed that they’re not batting six or seven that means Indian cricket’s in a good space, and long may that continue.

On Sai Sudharsan: ‘We know he’s good enough’

Another player who had a quiet game in Ahmedabad was B Sai Sudharsan. Unlike Reddy, he got the chance to show what he could do, batting at No. 3, but he was the only member of the top six to be dismissed for a single-digit score. On 7, he was lbw attempting an ambitious pull off the offspinner Roston Chase when the ball may not have been short enough for the shot.It continued a frustrating start to Sai Sudharsan’s Test career. In England, he showed why India rate him highly enough to have given him a debut as a No. 3 despite coming to Test cricket with a sub-40 first-class average: he played the ball late, showed excellent judgment outside off stump, and looked unhurried and in control at most times. But he also fell in unusual ways multiple times after getting a start, including more than once to balls angling down the leg side. Now, after that low score at Ahmedabad, Sai Sudharsan averages 21.00 with just one half-century in seven innings.0:49

Chopra: ‘Sai Sudharsan needs runs or the pressure will mount’

“I think he is under no illusion and he can’t hide away from the fact that you do fight for a spot in this environment, where you saw Karun Nair get four Test matches in England [before getting dropped for the West Indies series]. There are a lot of good players fighting up the hill to whoever has possession of that spot,” ten Doeschate said. “So Sai just needs to focus on believing in himself. We’ve obviously got a lot of belief in him to give him that No. 3 spot. He is playing pretty nicely, probably a tactical mistake the other day, which he’ll be aware of – playing back to a ball so early in an innings.”We know he’s good enough; and now he has to find a way of scoring runs and showing the rest of the country and the rest of the team that he’s good enough to hold that spot. But certainly no panic or no worry – particularly in a winning team you can absorb that in a series like this, where he knows he’s going to get four knocks.”The rhythms of the Test calendar, ten Doeschate felt, is another challenge for players like Sai Sudharsan who are still finding their feet in the format. “It’s probably a little bit early to be worried or panic-stricken. Doesn’t help that you have five Test matches in the UK and then you wait six weeks to play the next Test match, and the same thing will happen now after this Test next week – we don’t have another Test match for the next three and a half weeks. There’s no string of fixtures to get your rhythm and to get yourself going, but again that’s the nature of Test cricket in this era, and he has to find a way to do it.”

On Jurel: ‘We were trying to squeeze him into our plans even in Australia and England’

In Ahmedabad, Dhruv Jurel – playing as wicketkeeper in the absence of the injured Rishabh Pant – batted at No. 5, scored his maiden Test hundred, and left a lot of viewers theorising that he could potentially remain in the XI as a specialist batter even after Pant returns.”I’d imagine it does [put pressure on Sai Sudharsan],” ten Doeschate said. “I think Dhruv showed last week just what a good player he is. We’ve known that all along, how well [he could] fit into the middle order, and in addition to that, there are other good players who are fighting for a top-three or top-four spot – obviously Shubman [Gill]’s got four nailed down.2:02

Chopra: Jurel making a strong case for No. 6 spot

“Sai’s aware of that, and look, I don’t think you pursue a career of playing cricket in India if you don’t expect that sort of competition and people clawing at you, the media clawing at you, that’s part and parcel of it, and we know Sai is tough enough to deal with that.”Jurel had already enjoyed an impressive debut series in Test cricket, against England last year, when ten Doeschate joined the coaching staff under new head coach Gautam Gambhir. He has since played one Test in Australia, one in England after Pant suffered his injury, and then in Ahmedabad. He has also been part of the T20I squad as back-up wicketkeeper, and has now been picked in the ODI squad that will tour Australia later this month.”We’re really happy with the way he is tracking,” ten Doeschate said of Jurel. “He’s someone, even in England, even a little bit in Australia, we were trying to squeeze him into the plans because we know how good he is, and obviously, with Rishabh now being injured, it’s worked out quite nicely to get Dhruv some game time.”[In terms of] his development, what we saw at the back end of last year, leading into this year, we were really hoping he would kick on in the IPL, and he maybe didn’t have quite the IPL he would have hoped for and we would have hoped for, but to come into the team now like he has and to score a proper hundred like that, hopefully it gives him a bit of runway, and if you look at it in a positive way, it’s good that he is putting pressure on other players in the top order as well.”

He starred for Bangladesh with his big hits and sharp fielding, but says it is a job he has to do each time he takes the field

Mohammad Isam14-Jul-2025In Sri Lanka, Shamim Hossain is doing things rarely expected from Bangladesh’s cricketers. He finds boundaries early in his innings and clears the rope regularly. He is taking excellent catches, both inside the 30-yard circle and in the deep. Even his bowling – his weakest suit – has been accurate. On Sunday, he executed one of the rarest dismissals by a Bangladesh fielder: a direct-hit run out from a tight angle.Shamim swooped in from point and struck the stumps at the non-striker’s end, with Kusal Mendis well short of his crease. Kusal, surprisingly, slowed down despite seeing Shamim charging in. Given Bangladesh’s poor history with direct hits, Kusal may be forgiven for underestimating Shamim, who ended his innings with sharp fielding.Bangladesh’s last direct-hit run-out came more than two years ago, when Mehidy Hasan Miraz removed Jos Buttler. Since then, and even long before, fielding has been a major problem for Bangladesh. Their drop-to-catch percentage remains high. Their approach to run-out opportunities receives less scrutiny, but is equally concerning, with frequent misses at the stumps – especially when only one stump is visible.Related

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Earlier that day, Shamim had given Bangladesh a major lifeline with his 27-ball 48. He added 77 runs for the fifth wicket with Litton Das, who also returned to form in white-ball cricket. Bangladesh scored 76 runs in the final six overs, with Shamim’s big-hitting at the death taking them to 177 for 7 in 20 overs. It was 22 runs above Dambulla’s average first-innings total in the last five night T20Is at the venue. Bangladesh eventually won by 83 runs, their second-highest margin of victory in T20Is.Litton was named the Player of the Match, but Shamim was the toast of Dambulla, and one of the few bright sparks for Bangladesh on this tough tour of Sri Lanka. “Whenever I go out to bat, my plan is to stay positive,” Shamim said after the match. “Someone has to take risks, and I want to take that responsibility for the team. This was an important win for us.”The series is now level 1-1 heading into the third and final T20I on Wednesday.Shamim also took a fine catch in the second innings to complement his runs in the first innings, as Bangladesh dominated Sri Lanka in the powerplay. As much as he might want to be a trailblazer for his team, Shamim knows it starts with getting the basics right.”I think fielding is very important,” he said. “I can’t say I’m overly happy [with the run-out] because it’s my job, something I have to do every day.”Bangladesh’s 83-run win was built on two fifty-plus partnerships. Litton and Towhid Hridoy steadied the innings after the openers fell in the first two overs. Then Shamim and Litton got them to a strong position with their rapid fifth-wicket stand.”Sometimes, you have to slow things down a little,” Shamim said. “At that point (when Litton and Hridoy got together), we needed a good partnership because we had strong batters to come later in the innings, and we can always catch up if we have wickets in hand. So, that partnership between Litton and Hridoy was crucial.”Litton batted really well. It was a turning point because you need a good start early on, and because of that innings, we were able to finish strongly later.”Bangladesh have a chance to sign off the T20I series with a win in Colombo on Wednesday. Once again, they will expect their players to string together vital contributions. Shamim’s will be especially crucial because of his ability to mix the basics in with his mercurial acts: common for other teams, but rare for a Bangladeshi.

Swepson moves to Stars on a three-year deal after 10 years at Heat, including being acting captain for a period last season

Alex Malcolm06-Feb-2025

Melbourne Stars have signed Queensland legspinner Mitchell Swepson on a three-year deal on the final day of the BBL’s first player movement window.Swepson, 31, had been Brisbane Heat’s acting captain during the most recent BBL season when Colin Munro was injured, with permanent skipper Usman Khawaja playing just one game for the season. The legspinner played for Heat for 10 years and was a key contributor to their 2023-24 BBL title win but did not have his best season in 2024-25 taking just four wickets in nine games with an economy rate of 8.93.Swepson was not one of the 10 players contracted to Heat prior to the player movement window and Stars have pounced to sign him to a three-year deal on the final day of the window.Related

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“First of all I’d like to thank the Brisbane Heat for all the opportunities they gave me and kickstarting my T20 career,” Swepson said.”I’ll be forever grateful for all of the support they’ve given me and my family over the years.”I’m really excited to sign for the Stars and watching from afar this year, the team took some huge steps forward.”I can’t wait to head to Melbourne and the MCG next summer and get stuck in to working with Stoin [Marcus Stoinis], Peter Moores and the team.”Swepson has played T20I cricket for Australia but has not played international cricket since 2022. Stars only had one specialist spinner among their nine contracted players and were pleased to add some experience to their list.”We’ve been on the lookout for a high performing domestic spinner and Mitch will form an important part of the Stars attack over the next 3 years,” Melbourne Stars General Manager Blair Crouch said.”As well as his talent with the ball, Mitch is a very experienced T20 player in Australia, will provide valuable leadership and support to Marcus Stoinis and, at 31, is at the peak of his powers.”Stars were not able to land any other big fish in the player movement window despite trying to lure Tim David and Mitchell Marsh to the franchise. Crouch is set to depart his role in April but coach Peter Moores is set to continue despite being out of contract.Caleb Jewell will now ply his trade for Melbourne Renegades•Getty Images

Elsewhere, Melbourne Renegades confirmed the signing of Hobart Hurricanes title-winning opener Caleb Jewell on the final day of the player movement period. Jewell was contracted to Hurricanes but has been traded to Renegades on a two-year deal.Renegades were the most active club during the player movement window having already signed free agents Jason Behrendorff and Brendan Doggett.A number of high quality players remain uncontracted to BBL clubs including David, Marsh, Matthew Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne and D’Arcy Short among others. It is expected that most of those players will remain at their current clubs but will not be able to be formally re-signed until March as the BBL enters a contracting embargo period.

Center fielder Justin Dean's lifetime Major League Baseball statistics include two at-bats—and possibly one season saved.

In Game 6 of the World Series, Dean made headlines across the sports world with the heads-up play of the playoffs. When Blue Jays right fielder Addison Barger clubbed a double to deep left-center in the ninth inning, Dean alertly put his hands in the air as the ball wedged itself underneath the Rogers Centre fence. The ball was called dead, and two batters later the Dodgers forced Game 7.

Los Angeles went on to win its second straight World Series, but Dean will not be around to celebrate on Opening Day next year. On Thursday, the Giants claimed him off waivers.

Despite making a slice of baseball history, Dean has barely seen MLB action. He has played in 18 regular-season and 13 postseason games, primarily as a substitute in some form or fashion. His two career regular-season plate appearances include a strikeout against Toronto and a groundout against the Reds, both in August (he's a .252 minor-league hitter).

It might take him one game with San Francisco to match his airtime with the Dodgers, but it doesn't matter—he'll be a hero to Los Angeles for his feats in Ontario for life.

أعلن نادي ريال مدريد منذ لحظات، عن تعرض لاعبه للإصابة، وذلك قبل عدة ساعات من قمة الجولة الرابعة من مرحلة الدوري في بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا أمام ليفربول يوم غدًا الثلاثاء.

ليفربول سوف يستضيف نظيره ريال مدريد يوم غدًا الثلاثاء على ملعب أنفيلد، حيث يسعى الريدز إلى تحقيق الانتصار على الفريق الملكي واستغلال عامل الأرض والجمهور.

وفي الجهة الأخرى يسعى ريال مدريد إلى الانتصار على ليفربول واستغلال الحالة الرائعة التي يمر بها الفريق الملكي خلال الفترة الأخيرة.

اقرأ أيضًا .. محمد صلاح على موعد مع التاريخ قبل مباراة ليفربول وريال مدريد

وأكد ريال مدريد في بيان رسمي، أن جناح الفريق الشاب ، فرانكو ماستانتونو، قد تعرض للإصابة خلال تدريبات الفريق خلال الأيام الماضية.

وأشار ريال مدريد في البيان، أن ماستانتونو يعاني من آلام في العانة، بالتالي من المتوقع أن يغيب عن الملاعب لعدة أسابيع دون الكشف عن مدة الغياب.

وفي سياق متصل، ذكرت الموثوقة آرانشا رودريجيز، أن ماستانتونو مصاب في الفخد ولا تزال مدة غيابه غير معروفة.

وبذلك، انضم ماستانتونو إلى قائمة المصابين في ريال مدريد والتي تضم كلًا من أنطونيو روديجير، بجانب ديفيد ألابا وداني كارفاخال.

MatériaMais Notícias

da bwin： A Seleção Brasileira foi derrotada pelo Uruguai por 2 a 0, nesta terça-feira (17), em Montevidéu, no Estádio Centenário, pela quarta rodada das Eliminatórias da Copa do Mundo de 2026. Nuñez e De La Cruz marcaram para os uruguaios. O próximo desafio agora é somente em novembro contra Colômbia e Argentina. Por enquanto, assista no vídeo acima à entrevista coletiva na íntegra do técnico técnico Fernando Diniz após a derrota canarinho:

RelacionadasVascoMiranda, do Vasco, é convocado para a Seleção Brasileira que disputará Jogos Pan-Americanos no ChileVasco17/10/2023Seleção BrasileiraYan Couto, da Seleção, se retrata após afirmar ter Dani Alves como ídolo: ‘Errei profundamente’Seleção Brasileira17/10/2023Mercado do EsporteSeleção Brasileira vale duas vezes mais que o elenco do Uruguai; veja comparativoMercado do Esporte17/10/2023

da heads bet： + Você quer trabalhar no seu clube do coração? Matricule-se no curso Gestor de Futebol e entenda como!

+ Uruguai passa fácil pelo Brasil e assume a vice-liderança das Eliminatórias

Why Buttler finished second behind Mohsin for maximum impact per match

S Rajesh01-Jun-2022Jos Buttler lit up IPL 2022 with four hundreds and a stunning aggregate of 863 runs – the second-highest ever in an IPL season – but in terms of impact per match, as measured by ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, he was pipped to the top spot by an uncapped player with only 26 T20 matches under his belt coming into this tournament.Mohsin Khan had an undistinguished start to IPL 2022. He went for 18 in two wicketless overs in Lucknow Super Giants’ opener against Gujarat Titans, and then didn’t play another game for nearly a month, but when he returned after missing six games, he made an immediate difference to their bowling attack.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn his last eight matches (starting April 24), Mohsin conceded 12.78 runs per wicket and 5.77 per over. Among the 33 bowlers who bowled at least 20 overs in this period, none had a better average or economy rate. Overall in the season, no bowler had a better economy rate in the powerplay than his 5.25, while only four did better than his 8.62 at the death (minimum qualification: eight overs for each).But forget about the conventional stats for a moment. Smart Stats takes into account match context for each ball bowled, and it’s here that Mohsin’s contribution shines even more.Take, for example, his 4 for 16 against Delhi Capitals. In a match where 195 played 189 (match run rate 9.6), Mohsin went at four an over, and took the wickets of David Warner, Rishabh Pant and Rovman Powell. His bowling impact points for the game was 141.01, the third-best by any bowler in a game this season (behind the five-fors by Umran Malik and Yuzvendra Chahal). He had another entry in the top five too: his 3 for 20 in an extremely high-scoring and tight win against Kolkata Knight Riders (match run rate 10.45) won him 127.37 points.