All posts by csb10.top

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRaton Gomes/BCB

Comilla Victorians beat Chittagong Kings by six wickets, in almost the same fashion as their other two wins in the tournament. After restricting their opponent to 139 for 4, Imrul Kayes and Jos Buttler almost walked them to the target.The pair added 74 runs for the third wicket before both were dismissed with not left to chase. Imrul top-scored with 45 while Buttler got out for 44 off 31 balls, which included three fours and two sixes.Chittagong, who have now lost three out of four games, lost just four wickets in their innings, but struggled for fluency right through. The Comilla spin trio – Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Arafat Sunny – put the brakes on with combined figures of 2 for 50 from 10 overs.Brisk start, slow finish, againLuke Ronchi provided Chittagong with another brisk start, with 31 off 19 balls. No other batsman score more despite consuming more deliveries. Sarkar used 32 balls for 30 runs, with two fours and a six over midwicket, before he was stumped off Nabi. Dilshan Munaweera made 19 off 25 balls, which had one six, before he was bowled by a beautiful Rashid Khan googly.Sikandar Raza found just one boundary in his 24-ball 20 which ended with a scoop to Al-Amin Hossain at short fine leg. Ronchi’s 19-ball 31 included five fours and a six that was hit over long-on off Nabi. He fell lbw to Mohammad Saifuddin.Imrul steadies another chaseMunaweera removed the returning Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das in seven overs but Imrul Kayes and Jos Buttler took control quickly. Imrul struck Subashis Roy for first six pulled over midwicket before lifting Sikandar over square leg for his second in the tenth over.His third six was his best, swatting Chris Jordan over midwicket off one knee as he struggled with cramps. He made 45 off 36 balls, having also struck two fours. It was his third successive match-winning innings, having remained unbeaten on the two previous occasions.

Centuries from Ross Taylor and Tom Latham, whose 166-run fourth-wicket stand powered New Zealand to 343 for 9, consigned Board President’s XI to a 33-run defeat in the second warm-up match in Mumbai. Despite a four-wicket haul from left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat and fifties from Karun Nair and Gurkeerat Singh, New Zealand hung on to bowl the President’s XI out for 310 in the 48th over. ESPNcricinfo takes a look at the highlights from the game:Taylor-madeTaylor’s struggle in India last year was validated by his inability to register a half-century in five ODIs. On Thursday, he struck a punishing 102 which featured several glorious cover drives and perfectly-timed square-cuts. He was, however, handed a reprieve in the 32nd over, when Shreyas Iyer dropped a sharp chance at backward point. Taylor muscled 15 boundaries all around the ground – the most spectacular of those being an inside-out six over long-off, which was followed by a cut in Dhawal Kulkarni’s fifth over.Latham’s bid for the long haulIf the fifty in the previous game had been an unfulfilled statement of intent, Latham’s 97-ball 108 on Thursday was the step-up in class and confidence he needed. He used the same clinical application of his technique that had helped him finish as New Zealand’s highest run-scorer in the ODI series last year. Coming in at 73 for 3, Latham swept the spinners regularly, and had little trouble against pace. He brought up his century with a wristy six over deep square leg and hammered the next ball for a four before retiring out for 108. “It [the middle-order batting position] is obviously a little bit of change from the last couple of years but that is something that we have discussed about moving to that position. It was nice to get familiar with that role today,” Latham said of his knock.The Munro squibWith New Zealand coach Mike Hesson wanting quicker starts at the top of the order, Colin Munro opened the batting on both occasions in the warm-up games. He scored 26 in both innings, with his failure to capitalise on starts an indicator that his belligerent template may be better suited for the middle order. If the game offered anything for Munro to take heart from, it would be the two wickets of Iyer and Nair he snaffled off consecutive deliveries.Karn and turnEach of the eight overs Karn Sharma bowled featured, at least, one variation that elicited a collective sigh of agony either from the fielders or the 750-odd spectators that flocked to the Northern Block of the Brabourne Stadium. The one that took most of them by surprise came off the back of a tactful ploy. Called on to bowl the tenth over, Karn darted the first two balls of his opening spell full on a middle-and-leg line to Kane Williamson. He drew the New Zealand captain forward with the third – a relatively slower and loopy legbreak. Playing the line of the delivery, Williamson offered a meticulous front-foot defense. His failure to account for the late turn, however, meant the ball passed the outside edge and kissed the off stump. Karn finished with figures of 2 for 45.Guptill’s three chancesMartin Guptill, who laboured to a 46-ball 32, began his tryst with chance in the 13th over, when a Shahbaz Nadeem ripper turned square, but couldn’t be pouched by the wicketkeeper. In the next over, he swept Karn hard but was dropped by Avesh Khan at deep square leg, where the fielder barely had to move an inch to position himself for the catch. Nadeem subsequently let a caught-and-bowled opportunity through his legs in the 15th over, before Karn ended Guptill’s charmed life by holding on to a return catch in the following over.A late flourish in vainWhat seemed to be a forgone conclusion in the 28th over when Board President’s XI slumped to 158 for 6 was deferred until the 48th, courtesy a 46-ball 65 from Gurkeerat, who enthralled the spectators and agonised the opposition in equal measure with his lusty blows in the V. A 64-run, ninth-wicket stand between Kulkarni and Unadkat carried the hosts past 300, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Hashim Amla anchored a challenging chase•AFP

In a nutshell
In a game that far exceeded its predecessor in electricity, intensity, quality and competitiveness, World XI edged Pakistan in a nerve-wracking contest that went down to the last two balls. Hashim Amla anchored a chase that seemed just out of World XI’s reach with an unbeaten 72 off 55 balls, but it was Thisara Perera, who delivered the knockout blow.Walking in with his side needing 63 off the last five overs, Thisara displayed a level of clinical ruthlessness that Sri Lanka have lacked in recent times. He walloped five sixes in an unbeaten 19-ball 47 to complete the seven-wicket win, finishing with a humungous straight six off the second-last ball to keep the series alive and inflict Pakistan’s first-ever T20I defeat on home soil.Pakistan’s innings centered around another partnership between Babar Azam and Ahmed Shehzad. It wasn’t quite the leviathan of Tuesday, but 59 runs off 45 balls was still a useful contribution that ensured the innings didn’t stutter through the middle overs. Ben Cutting once more came in for heavy punishment, conceding 52 off his four overs, but a bowling attack noticeably improved by Samuel Badree’s inclusion didn’t quite let Pakistan’s batsmen wreak havoc. In the end they still managed 174, though against the fireworks of Thisara, it was just within World XI’s reach.Where the match was won
Amla was the notable difference for World XI. He took advantage of his start and carried his bat right till the end, unlike in the first T20I where the visiting team hadn’t mustered up more than a bunch of cameos. Having an anchor allowed the likes of Tamim Iqbal, Faf du Plessis and Thisara enjoy a greater degree of freedom to play how they needed to in ensuring they kept abreast of the chase.The men that won it
Badree’s inclusion for World XI would’ve been a sight for sore eyes, and he showed why he’s been a successful T20 bowler for franchises around the world. He not only conceded below eight an over but also picked the key wickets of Fakhar Zaman and Babar, meaning Pakistan could never quite build up the momentum for a final push.Morkel’s despair
These aren’t the best conditions for Morne Morkel to bowl in, but you couldn’t fault him for his effort. He mixed up his pace, varied his lengths and bowled to the conditions. He was the pick of the World XI bowlers, conceding just seven runs in his first three overs. He deserved not to have his figures spoilt, but suffered in his final over when Shoaib Malik took him for 13, leaving his end analysis a little more human again.The moment of the match
With 22 required off nine and Pakistan’s death bowlers no slouches, World XI’s hardest work still lay ahead of them. Thisara’s game bordered on the chancy and an opportunity came when he mistimed a slog. Malik, who possesses one of the safer pairs of hands among the Pakistan side, closed in at long-off, but couldn’t hold on. Thisara scampered two and smashed a six off the next delivery, denying the home side a win that would have sealed the series.Where they stand
World XI keep the series alive with this last-gasp win. The decider will also be played in Lahore on Friday.

John Hastings, the Victoria and Australia seam bowler, has given voice to many privately questioning how Steve O’Keefe could be playing a Test match for Australia while still being suspended by New South Wales for poor behaviour.At the same time Hastings, who is a longtime friend of O’Keefe, also wondered how the national selectors chose O’Keefe to go to Bangladesh as a replacement for the injured Josh Hazlewood instead of Jon Holland, who took part in Australia’s pre-tour camp in Darwin and was highly successful during an intra-squad practice match.While O’Keefe has stated that he was always informed by the NSW chief executive Andrew Jones and Australia’s selection chairman Trevor Hohns that the sanction – which also included an A$20,000 fine – did not preclude Test squad selection, others have struggled to come to terms with the apparent contradiction.”I really feel for Dutchy [Holland],” Hastings told . “Steve O’Keefe was best man at my wedding so I’m rapt for him, but probably by all rights he probably doesn’t deserve to be there.  He’s suspended by NSW Cricket and he’s over playing for Australia. It’s an interesting one that one.”I don’t think Jon Holland can do any more than what he has done over the last few years. Last year he was prolific for the Bushrangers. He went up to Darwin [to the camp], got four or five for one in a spell. I honestly don’t know what the selectors could be saying to him, if anything. It’s just unbelievable.”Numerous players and coaches around the country have raised queries about how O’Keefe managed to return to the Test team despite being banned from the next NSW tournament and this year’s domestic limited-overs series, for offensive behaviour towards a female Australian cricketer and her partner during the state’s end of season awards night.Equally, there is disquiet at the decision to send O’Keefe to Bangladesh without any recent match practice – his previous competitive match was the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy in March – seemingly ignoring the example of none other than Holland himself, who went to Sri Lanka last year as an injury replacement for O’Keefe and then struggled to bowl at his best due to minimal preparation time.”He’s coming in with no game time,” Hastings said of O’Keefe. “It’s a massive ask for someone to come in with little or no preparation in matches. That time in the middle is absolute gold dust.”

The BCCI’s partial acceptance of the Lodha Committee recommendations has diluted the essence of the changes the panel had sought to bring in, Justice RM Lodha has said.Comparing the BCCI’s opposition to key reforms to the removal of vital human organs, Lodha, who headed the three-member panel that suggested the changes, said the board was once again showing a lack of intent, a year after the Supreme Court had directed it to implement the recommendations.”I am shocked to see that the BCCI has rejected all the major reforms again,” Lodha told the . “The heart, kidney, lungs are being taken out of these reforms. It’s a comprehensive report prepared by the committee and by removing the vital organs, nothing remains in the suggested reforms. I don’t know what is happening.”Lodha was reacting to the BCCI’s resolution, at its special general meeting on Wednesday, to accept all but five of the recommendations put forth by the panel, citing difficulty in implementation. These recommendations were: membership status, which includes the one-state-one-vote reform; disqualification of office bearers, ministers and government officials based on eligibility criteria such as the age cap; tenure and cooling-off period; the strength of the Apex Council – which replaces the existing working committee – and the division of powers between the office bearers and the professional management; and strength of the national selection committee.The BCCI shortlisted the recommendations it was opposed to after the Supreme Court indicated earlier this month that it was open to revisiting a few proposals. The court directed the BCCI to implement as many recommendations as “as far as practicable”. Lodha, however, questioned the prolonged deliberations, pointing to the board’s previous review petitions that had already been dismissed.”What is the point in deliberating when the verdict is already given by the Supreme Court?” Lodha said. “I don’t understand where is the possibility of changing the recommendations when all the review petitions have been rejected.”If the BCCI rejects reforms like the powers of the executives and the size of the Apex Council, it means the BCCI is not interested in implementing the reforms at all. I am sure the honourable Supreme Court will take a look at it very soon.”In an order in July 2016, the Supreme Court had given the BCCI six months to implement the Lodha Committee recommendations. The BCCI continued its opposition to the major reforms, which led to the court appointing a Committee of Administrators, tasked with ensuring implementation of reforms. The CoA had then advised the BCCI’s member units – the state associations – to narrow down their objections to a few recommendations while implementing the rest of the reforms.

Pakistan could host a World XI in Lahore for three T20s later this year, if all goes to plan. The ICC Board extended support to such a proposal during its annual conference in London on Saturday, as part of the efforts to take international cricket back to Pakistan.Following the final day of meetings, the ICC said in a release that while the plan to hold the matches – against a Pakistan XI – is a work in progress, the ICC Board “agreed to support” the proposal. “Further details will be announced in due course,” the release said.Zimbabwe and Afghanistan are the only international teams to play in Pakistan since the attack on the Sri Lanka team bus by gunmen in March 2009. The Zimbabwe series in 2015 was marred by a blast during the second ODI, 800m from the Gaddafi Stadium, which killed two people. Since then, however, the PCB has hosted the 2017 PSL final – which featured overseas players as well – in Lahore on March 5 without incident.

It was the contrast that was most striking.While India’s pre-match media conference – attended only by the captain, Virat Kohli – was dominated by talk of the division between him and his team’s coach, Anil Kumble, the Pakistan captain and coach turned up together and talked of the relationship as akin to a marriage.It is possible that such a move was planned to highlight their opponents’ apparent divide. It didn’t feel like it at the time, but it is possible. And it is very possible that when Mickey Arthur and Sarfraz Ahmed were listening to each other speak in their respective languages and nodding vigorously in agreement, they had not the slightest idea of what was being said.But the general impression remained: while much is expected of a tense and possibly divided India, Pakistan are united, relaxed and quietly confident. No one is claiming they are favourites. But they are certainly dangerous.”The captain-coach relationship is almost like a marriage,” Arthur said. “You’ve got to be on the same page all the time. And if you’re on the same page, you get correct decisions and you give clarity to your team. And that’s certainly where Saf and myself find ourselves; very much on the same page. I’m really going to enjoy working with him.””The pressure is on India only,” Sarfraz said. “There is no pressure on us. We are standing at No. 8 in the rankings. We cannot fall below this.”They can, of course. They need only look at the example of West Indies to know that. And with context and merit likely to play an ever greater role in all formats of the game, there can be no room for complacency. Qualifying for such competitions – and that includes the World Cup – cannot be taken for granted.But the first step to progress is accepting that change is required. And after a period of denial, Pakistan are now well aware of that. They know they need to undergo the same sort of evolution in their ODI cricket as England have in the last couple of years. They need to score more heavily, be more potent with the ball and improve their fielding. They need, in every way, to attack more.They know all that. And with several promising young players beginning to settle into international cricket – notably Babar Azam, Shahdab Khan and Hasan Ali – they have the raw materials to make progress. This tournament may come a little too early in their development cycle, though, with Arthur accepting his team are “a work in progress.”Despite Pakistan’s claims of being well-prepared, some of their players will enter the Champions Trophy without significant international experience•ICC

“We knew that we needed to play a different brand of cricket,” he said. “And it’s changing. Certainly in terms of the brand of cricket we play. We’re working on it. It’s a work in progress. I’m comfortable where we’re at.”We’ve worked massively on our ball rotation and our strike rates. It was very interesting to read the other day – I go through the stats quite regularly – that in the last year we’ve scored the third-most amount of 300s. England are way, way ahead, but Pakistan is number three on that list. And I think that’s testimony to the brand of cricket that we are starting to play.”The team that’s going to win this competition is the team that can strike. Gone are the days of just containing through the middle overs. Gone are the days of going at five-and-a-half an over, thinking you’re doing a good job.”You’ve got to be able to take wickets. We always pick an attack to take wickets. Every one of our attack is going to be able to do something different. We have a left-arm swinger, we could have left-arm pace, we have the swing and hustle of Hassan, we’ve a left-arm spinner, an off-spinner and we could have a leg-spinner. We’ve got everything at our disposal tomorrow to allow Saf to pull the strings to make sure we can try to bowl India out, because that’s got to be priority number one. We can’t just sit back and let them score. We’ve got to attack them and we’ve got to look to bowl them out.”Sarfraz agreed. And, intriguingly, offered “new things” on Sunday. “We have made a plan,” he said. “On Sunday, you will see us doing some new things, which we have not done against India previously. We will try doing some out-of-the-box things. You will see this team playing differently.”Quite how ‘out of the box’ they can be remains to be seen. But it is not a phrase that might have been expected from Misbah-ul-Haq, and with a couple of new faces in the team – faces that India will not have seen – it may be that they have some element of surprise on their side.For all the talk of being “extremely well-prepared and ready to go” (as Arthur put it), for all the talk of “players having role clarity” and “everybody knowing where they fit in,” there are some pretty obvious holes in Pakistan’s preparations. If a team is really well-prepared, won’t it have ensured its players have gained experience at this level before going into a global event against an arch rival? And if a team is really well-prepared, won’t it have ensured its players know what to expect from full-house crowds, media attention and this level of competition?That is patently not the case with this Pakistan side. Shahdab Khan, the 18-year-old leg-spinner, has played only three ODIs, while Faheem Ashraf, the seam-bowling all-rounder who made a wonderful impression in the warm-up victory over Bangladesh, could make his international debut. Whatever their inherent class, this will represent a huge step up in quality. Plunging such players into one of the most high-profile games in the sport is hugely demanding and not especially reflective of good planning.”If you’re good enough, you’re old enough,” Arthur said. “That’s what I always say. And I think Shadab Khan is certainly good enough. He’s ready. If he gets the opportunity, I’m particularly confident in his ability to produce for us. And he’s a match-winner. He really is. It’s so exciting. It’s another young Pakistan cricketer on the big stage and that’s really great. It’s really good for the country and it’s really good for cricket.”It may well be. But while you suspect this game comes a bit too early for Shadab et al. history has taught us never to discount Pakistan. And while the Arthur-Sarfraz partnership can survive defeat against India, perhaps the same cannot be said for the Kohli-Kumble partnership if the result goes the other way. All the expectation, all the pressure, all the consequences are weighing down India. You suspect Pakistan wouldn’t mind adding to their woes.

Nasir Hossain’s unbeaten run-a-ball 106 got Gazi Group Cricketers home in just 37 overs as they crushed Mohammedan Sporting Club by seven wickets at the BKSP-3 ground in Savar.After shutting down Mohammedan for 220 for 8 in 50 overs, Nasir slammed five sixes and nine fours during his innings, during which he shared a 54-run third-wicket stand with Anamul Haque (54) which rebuild their chase after they lost two wickets in the first 4.1 overs.Then he added 144 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket with Indian recruit Parvez Rasool who made 53 off 57 balls.Mohammedan’s score meanwhile would have been much smaller if their Afghanistan recruit Rahmat Shah and Mehedi Hasan Miraz hadn’t made half-centuries. Shah struck six fours in his 91-ball 78 while Miraz, slowly emerging as an allrounder of note, made 52 off 70 balls.For Gazi Group, seamer Alauddin Babu and offspinner Mahedi Hasan took two wickets each.Rubel Hossain’s third six-wicket haul in List-A cricket derailed Kalabagan Krira Chakra as Prime Bank Cricket Club won by five wickets at the BKSP-4 ground in Savar. Later it was Prime Bank’s Indian batsman Unmukht Chand who took them to their 185-run target with 19 balls to spare.Chand finished on an unbeaten 61 that included four boundaries.Rubel though had laid the foundation for the easy win. He removed both Kalabagan openers Mohammad Ashraful and Jashimuddin before accounting for Mehrab Hossain jnr and Muktar Ali in the middle-order and tail-enders Sanjit Saha and Nabil Samad.File photo – Nasir Hossain slammed five sixes and nine fours in his 106-ball knock•Associated Press

Rubel had taken his previous six-wicket hauls in a span of six weeks in 2013, once in the DPL and the other in an ODI against New Zealand.Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club rounded off a day for the chasing sides with a two-wicket win over Victoria Sporting Club at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium. There was a bit of a flutter in the penultimate over in which Dhanmondi Club lost two wickets but couple of singles in the final over got them to the target of 210.Victoria were bowled out for 209 in 48.2 overs with the Uttam Sarkar top scoring with 88 runs off 102 balls that included five fours and three sixes. Four other batsmen got starts but couldn’t kick on, as left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak finished with four wickets and Sohag Gazi took three wickets.In reply, Dhanmondi Club saw plenty of batsmen getting starts but only Nurul Hasan hitting the match-winning score, 80 off 94 balls with five fours and a six. Left-arm spinner Monir Hossain took three wickets to give Victoria a sniff of victory, but Dhanmondi Club’s tail-end batsmen held on for a tight win.

ScorecardIt was, to channel the eternal wisdom of Chris Martin, something of a Coldplay day for Essex. “Nobody said it was easy, nobody ever said it would be this hard.” Division One of the Championship, as Neil Wagner mused in the build-up to Essex’s first match back in the top flight, is perhaps the closest any domestic competition gets to Test cricket. Chris Silverwood won’t need “The Scientist” to tell him his side have not been quite up to scratch.For Lancashire, whose credentials were questioned in some quarters after a poor finish to 2016, it was an encouraging performance. Stephen Parry took 3 for 28, his first wickets in the Championship since September 2014, and James Anderson picked up three of his own as Essex were bundled out for 159. Lancashire then opted to bat again on a 160-run lead, which they had extended to 274 for the loss of just one wicket by the close.Perhaps deflated by a disappointing display with the bat – reckoned by most to be their stronger suit – Essex were then wasteful in the field. Alex Davies gave clear chances off Wagner on 10 (dropped by Tom Westley at second slip) and 25 (put down by Ryan ten Doeschate at leg gully), while seeing Dan Lawrence unable to hold a difficult opportunity at short leg, Simon Harmer the bowler. Davies accepted his good fortune to bring up a half-century with two boundaries in the final over of the day.With the pressure off, Davies and Haseeb Hameed added 83 for the first wicket to seemingly close the door on an Essex fightback. Hameed again failed to convert his hard work to a fifty but he did survive a sustained spell of short bowling from Wagner relatively unscathed – unlike Davies, who was hit on the helmet – before tickling an edge behind off Aaron Beard.Lancashire have not lost to Essex in the Championship since 1997 and that does not look like changing in this match. This was an instruction in the hard knocks of Division One life – one that Lancashire also handed out to Essex at Chelmsford on their last trip up, in 2010, after a win and a draw in their opening games. On that occasion, Anderson took nine wickets as they were bowled out for 176 and 173 to lose by eight wickets. (It is best not to mention what happened to Essex’s batting here against the bowling of Glen Chapple and Kyle Hogg in 2013.)Essex’s position at lunch was perilous – five down with less than 100 on the board – but it got worse in the first over back, as Parry slid one on to hit Adam Wheater’s pad and win an lbw decision that left them 99 for 6. “That’s not a very good start,” was one sagacious observation from the pavilion. It was not clear whether he was referring to the resumption in play or Wheater’s efforts as successor to James Foster.With ten Doeschate, Essex’s captain, heading out to join Ravi Bopara in the middle, Essex were in need of a salvage operation and the members knew it. “If these two could put on a couple of hundred…” opined another, optimistically. “You and your couple of hundred,” came the swift rejoinder.Ten Doeschate swatted his third ball through the covers for four and, with Bopara beginning to show the benefits of time spent at the crease, they did manage to add 48 – the highest partnership of the innings. Bopara, whose last Championship hundred is a more distant memory than Parry’s wickets, was a little unlucky to pick out midwicket with a well-timed clip off Anderson and the last four wickets promptly went down for 12 runs, with Essex still 11 shy of the follow-on target.Having allowed Lancashire to get away from them on the first afternoon, Essex required some graft on the second morning. Varun Chopra and Westley resumed in appropriately watchful mood and saw off Anderson and Kyle Jarvis for 40 minutes, adding just 10 to the overnight score, before Lancashire broke through. It was not an edifying moment for Chopra, who had survived a confident caught-behind appeal against Anderson a few overs earlier, as he wafted at a wide Jarvis delivery to undo his hard work.Westley was less culpable in falling to Anderson in the following over, as a lifting delivery straightened to take his outside edge, Davies completing a smart, tumbling catch to his right. Lawrence then demonstrated the easy-scoring manner that has marked him out as one of the country’s most promising teenage batsmen, before a lapse of concentration minutes before lunch saw him push at a turning delivery from Parry and edge to slip.Bopara at least seemed committed to the long haul: his first run, a neatly timed straight drive for four, came from his 14th ball and he had mooched to 5 off 47 before finding a comfortable rhythm. It was all too brief, however, and Essex’s batsmen will need to produce something more mellifluous second time around.

R Ashwin has said Steven Smith’s look towards the Australian dressing room for DRS advice on day four of the Bengaluru Test was “completely unheard of”. Speaking to his team-mate Cheteshwar Pujara in a video, Ashwin said the incident reminded him of his junior cricket days.”Steven Smith actually turned back and asked the dressing room if he could take a review,” Ashwin said. “That is completely unheard of. The last time I thought that to happen was in an Under-10 game, when my coach used to suggest where point fielders and cover fielders used to stand.”It was really surprising. I have a lot of respect for Steven Smith, but that was very very surprising.”

BCCI comes out in support of Kohli

A day after the Bengaluru Test ended, the BCCI issued a release in support of Virat Kohli and his team with regards to the Steven Smith-DRS referral issue. The Indian board said it had asked the ICC to “take cognizance” of the matter.
“The BCCI, after due deliberation and seeing the video replays of the episode, steadfastly stands with the Indian cricket team and its captain Mr Virat Kohli,” the release said.
“Mr Virat Kohli is a mature and seasoned cricketer and his conduct on the field has been exemplary. Mr. Kohli’s action was supported by ICC elite panel umpire Mr Nigel Llong, who rushed in to dissuade Mr Steve Smith from taking recourse to inappropriate assistance.
“BCCI has requested the ICC to take cognizance of the fact that the Australian skipper Mr Steve Smith in his press conference admitted to a ‘brain fade’ at that moment.”

There was a lot of chat on the field between the Indian and Australian players through the Test match, and Ashwin and Pujara detailed specific instances during their conversation. Pujara said he had been in David Warner’s ear, telling him about Ashwin’s record against him. Ashwin ended the match having dismissed Warner in both innings – and nine times over his career.”Well, see, they were talking a lot and probably sledging is something which, as a unit, we felt that we can give them back,” Pujara said. “They were always under pressure when they walked in to bat, and I wanted to make sure their batsmen were thinking about it, especially David Warner. Whenever he walks in to bat, Ash [Ashwin] is always happy, so I always keep reminding him that Ash is the one who picks [up his wicket].”After dismissing Mitchell Starc, Ashwin sent him off by repeatedly pointing to his own forehead – mimicking the gesture Starc had made after Abhinav Mukund had top-edged him for six in India’s second innings.”I saw yesterday, Abhi [Mukund] pulled Mitchell Starc for a six, he top-edged it for six,” Ashwin said. “But yes, I don’t think he was in any sort of hurry when he pulled that ball, and Mitchell Starc suggested that he would hit him on the helmet. I don’t know, people generally have the habit of saying I’ll hit you back on the helmet at Gabba.”It doesn’t matter, this is Bangalore, so I thought I must tell him that he got hit off me, in the first innings, on the helmet.”Pujara also revealed that he had batted with a sore neck while scoring 92 in India’s second innings.”It was my neck which was troubling me a lot,” Pujara said. “To be honest, it was a serious issue when I went in to bat in the second innings. I would like to thank Patrick Farhart, our physio, who made it possible for me to bat, and bat at No. 3, because there was one stage where I felt I might not be able to bat No. 3 because my neck was really sore. But he worked on it and ultimately I achieved the goal for the team.”