RNZ, Mumbai, January 13, 2020
The Indian Cricket selectors have recalled explosive batsman Rohit Sharma to their Twenty20 squad for the five-match series on their tour of New Zealand starting on January 24, 2020.
Vice-captain Rohit, rested for the home series against Sri Lanka, comes into the 16-member squad in place of wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a statement.
Rishabh Pant will don the gloves in the month-long tour in which the visitors will also play three one-day internationals and two test matches.
Pace bowler Mohammed Shami also makes a comeback after being rested for the Sri Lanka series, which India won 2-0, but all-rounder Hardik Pandya was not included as he continues his recovery after having lower back surgery in October.
“Vijay Shankar has been included in the India ‘A’ squad for New Zealand since Pandya’s rehabilitation process is taking longer than expected,” the BCCI added.
ODIs with Australia
India will host Australia in three ODIs this month before departing for New Zealand.
The New Zealand squad is expected to be named later this week.
T20 squad: Virat Kohli (Captain). Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (Wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur.
India Tour matches
January 24, 2020: T20 International, Eden Park, Auckland
January 26, 2020: T20 International, Eden Park, Auckland
January 29, 2020- T20 International, Seddon Park, Hamilton
January 31, 2020: T20 International, Sky Stadium, Wellington
February 2, 2020: T20 International, Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
February 5, 2020: ODI, Seddon Park, Hamilton
February 8, 2020: ODI, Eden Park, Auckland
February 11, 2020: ODI, Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
February 21, 2020: Test, Basin Reserve, Wellington
February 29, 2020: Test, Hagley Oval, Christchurch
Tendulkar slams four-days Test
(From Reuters through RNZ)
Indian Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has come out against shortening Test matches to four days, but South Africa supports the idea. Tendulkar has warned against straying too far from the game’s roots in the quest to attract a younger audience.
The International Cricket Council, the sport’s world governing body, is set to discuss the idea of reducing all test matches by a day to free up a crowded international calendar.
The future of the longest format has been the subject of debate since the rise of Twenty20 leagues over the last decade coincided with dwindling crowds at test matches outside cricket hotbeds Australia and England.
However, Tendulkar said that there were other ways of making test matches more attractive and halting the drift toward the shorter formats.
The Real Challenge
“I feel a purist will always enjoy a five-day match, because that is where you find the challenges. We should not be looking at test cricket as a longer format of a limited-overs match,” he said.
Tendulkar retired from International Cricket in 2013 and remains the leading scorer in the format with 15,921 runs and a record 51 hundreds.
He said that while the game continues to evolve it would be a mistake to focus on the latest trends at the expense of tests.
“From Test Cricket, one-day cricket started, which people enjoyed, and from there T20 came and next the 100-ball will come,” he added.
“A number of new things are being produced for the newer generation. But while you are learning new things you cannot forget your roots. As a purist. it is important test Cricket stays the way it is.”
Four-day matches were given the green light by the ICC in 2017 when South Africa hosted Zimbabwe and England have since played one against Ireland.
With an increasing number of tests finishing before the fifth day, administrators are keen to free up space in the schedule for more lucrative shorter-form matches.
Meanwhile South Africa have come out in support of four-day test matches, refuting reports that said they would oppose the plan.
“In view of an unsourced and misleading report in the media. please be advised that it is Cricket South Africa’s official policy to support four-day Test match cricket.” Cricket South Africa said in a statement. We, in fact, hosted the first official four-day test match between ourselves and Zimbabwe a couple of years ago.”
South Africa beat Zimbabwe by an innings midway through day two of that test in Port Elizabeth.
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