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Reunited with RCB director Mo Bobat after making the switch from Trent Rockets

Matt Roller03-Oct-2025Andy Flower has been appointed men’s coach at London Spirit, reunited with director of cricket Mo Bobat after they took Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their maiden IPL title earlier this year. Flower takes over from Justin Langer after his side finished seventh out of eight in his first – and only – season in charge.Bobat was appointed director of cricket earlier this year by Spirit’s new owners and opted not to renew Langer’s contract. He has instead convinced Flower to leave Trent Rockets after a five-year association – which featured a title-winning season in 2022 – on a multi-year contract ahead of the 2026 season.MCC and the ‘Tech Titans’, a consortium of high net-worth individuals including the chief executives of Google, YouTube, Microsoft and Adobe, took operational control of the Spirit earlier this week. They will run the franchise as a joint-venture, with MCC retaining a controlling 51% stake and four out of seven board seats.”I’m delighted that we’ve been able to secure Andy’s services as our men’s head coach,” Bobat said. “Andy and I have enjoyed a strong working relationship in the past, and I’m looking forward to building something special with him at London Spirit as we enter this new and exciting phase for the franchise.”Related

• Mo Bobat named London Spirit director of cricket

• London Spirit investors believe Hundred can rival IPL

• Two remaining Hundred deals 'on track' after six new investors finalise terms

• MCC in discussions to rename London Spirit, change team colours

Flower said he was “deeply grateful” to have spent the last five years at the Rockets and “hugely excited” to join the Spirit. “It’s a real privilege to be part of such an iconic venue and organisation. I’m also thrilled to be working once again with Mo, and for the first time with both MCC and the Tech Titans.”The Spirit were women’s champions in 2024 but have consistently underperformed in the men’s Hundred. They have won just 12 of their 38 completed matches, with five of those coming in 2022 when Eoin Morgan captained them to the knockout stages for the only time in their short history.Langer brought in Kane Williamson as captain this year and recruited David Warner alongside him at the top of the order, but they only won three out of eight matches to finish second-bottom.MCC have also appointed Donna-Maria Cullen to the Spirit’s board, after she stepped down from her role as an executive director at Tottenham Hotspur FC. Cullen joins Julian Metherell, Rob Lawson and Morgan as MCC’s representatives, with Nikesh Arora (Palo Alto Networks), Satyan Gajwani (Times Internet) and Egon Durban (Silver Lake) taking the Tech Titans’ board seats.The franchise have confirmed that they will play under the same name next year, but are planning a major brand refresh over the winter which could see them incorporate MCC’s egg-and-bacon colours into their kit – most likely as detailing, rather than the primary colour.Six of the eight deals in the Hundred’s new ownership structure were signed off in July, with Nottinghamshire (Cain/Ares) and Surrey (Reliance) expected to confirm their respective deals for Trent Rockets and Oval Invincibles next week ahead of a Hundred board meeting later this month.

Sri Lanka’s quicks picked up all 20 wickets in the first Test in Sylhet, but the conditions are expected to be vastly different for the second Test

Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Mar-2024

Big picture – Chattogram won’t be like Sylhet at all

For the second Test series in a row between these teams, Sri Lanka’s seamers are defining the contest. In 2022, it had been Asitha Fernando and Kasun Rajitha who claimed 24 wickets between them in the two-match series in Bangladesh. This time, Sri Lanka go to Chattogram with their quicks having taken all 20 wickets in Sylhet – the first time a Sri Lanka pace attack has achieved this since 1986.Beyond the big win in Sylhet, Sri Lanka’s having found a lower-middle-order batter who has found immediate success at the top level – Kamindu Mendis – will buoy them further.It seems unlikely, however, that the pitch in Chattogram will much resemble the moist seam-conducive surface that Sri Lanka stomped to a four-day victory on. Pitches in Chattogram tend to be much better for batting, and it is the spinners who tend to prosper there. On that front, Bangladesh will feel they have Sri Lanka covered.Related

• Shakib returns for second Test against Sri Lanka

• Dhananjaya pleased with three-pacers' plan paying off

• Bangladesh's Test credentials in question, again

The return of Shakib Al Hasan from the eye complaint that saw him unavailable for the tour so far will give them the most confidence. Not only is Shakib among their best batters, he is also vastly experienced as a bowler on the Chattogram deck, having claimed 64 wickets across 19 Tests there – by a distance the most for any bowler at this venue. With him are Taijul Islam, who has the second-highest Chattogram wicket tally of 47, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who is third with 34.Sri Lanka’s main spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, meanwhile, will be playing only his fourth Test overseas, and has four career wickets away from home. Offspin-bowling allrounder Ramesh Mendis, who is the likeliest to come in to the XI if Sri Lanka opt for a second frontline spin option, is even more inexperienced overseas, having played just two away from home.Sri Lanka have never lost a Test in Bangladesh, and such was the margin of victory in Sylhet that they will begin the second Test with some confidence. Bangladesh will think of the game in Sylhet as something of an aberration, however. In Chattogram, with Shakib in their ranks, they will feel – and be, possibly – a different team entirely.

Form guide

Sri Lanka WWLLW
Bangladesh LLWWWShakib Al Hasan’s return would have buoyed the Bangladesh side•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight – Shakib Al Hasan and Kamindu Mendis

Shakib Al Hasan turns heads wherever he goes of course, but the freshly elected member of parliament from the Magura constituency might be especially worth keeping a close eye on in this match. It’s not only his first international as an MP, it’s also his first game against Sri Lanka since he had appealed for – and earned – a timed-out dismissal against Angelo Mathews in the ODI World Cup. Mathews slammed Shakib and Bangladesh for making that appeal, and echoes of the anger it caused at the time were present through the course of the limited-overs series. If Shakib sees value in pushing Sri Lanka’s buttons again, it seems unlikely that his new status in Bangladesh’s legislature will stop him from stirring more controversy.Three Test innings into his career, Kamindu Mendis has scores of 64, 102, and 164. Though he burst into the international cricket consciousness as a fingerspinner who could operate with either arm, his batting has always been his primary suit. And since he debuted for Sri Lanka in 2018, he has clearly taken his batting up several levels, improving his ability to deal with the moving ball in particular, a skill that served him nicely on the spicy deck in Sylhet. There will be greater tests in store for him, as oppositions study his game and design strategies to exploit his weaknesses. But he seems set now to keep that spot in the lower-middle order during what is a relatively busy Test year.

Pitch and conditions

Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium has Bangladesh’s best batting pitch. Batting first, sides have averaged 380 in the last five Tests here. The weather is likely to be warm, with the odd chance of a shower on days one and five.Asitha Fernando should get into the Sri Lanka XI in place of Kasun Rajitha•AFP/Getty Images

Team news

Shakib will likely displace Shahadat Hossain in Bangladesh’s XI. Nahid Rana’s pace is exciting but whether he will be effective on Chattogram’s generally placid surface is a question Bangladesh will consider. Hasan Mahmud could be an option for them.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Mahmudul Hasan Joy, 2 Zakir Hasan, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 4 Mominul Haque, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Litton Das (wk), 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 8 Taijul Islam, 9 Shoriful Islam, 10 Khaled Ahmed, 11 Nahid Rana/Hasan MahmudWith Rajitha out with a back injury, Sri Lanka will likely bring Asitha straight into the XI, partnering him with left-arm quick Vishwa Fernando. If one of the seamers from Sylhet has to miss out, Lahiru Kumara is the likeliest to be omitted in favour of another spinner.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Dimuth Karuanaratne, 2 Nishan Madushka, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Dinesh Chandimal, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), 7 Kamindu Mendis, 8 Ramesh Mendis, 9 Prabath Jayasuriya, 10 Asitha Fernando, 11 Vishwa Fernando

Stats and trivia

• The three most recent Tests between these teams in Chattogram have all ended in draws
• Asitha claimed 13 wickets at an average of 16.61 on his last trip to Bangladesh, though his figures in Chattogram were 3 for 72
• Following his 87 not out on day four of the first Test, Mominul Haque needs 25 to complete 4000 career Test runs. He will be the fourth Bangladesh batter to the milestone – behind Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib – if and when he gets there
  

  Quotes – everyone’s talking about Shakib

  “It looks like he has lost weight. He’s been training. He has had a good BPL. He’s had a good start to the Dhaka Premier League. He’s happy and that’s the only place we want Shakib. We want him happy.”
  “Why should I talk about him? He’s not in my team.”

Jack Brooks, Danni Wyatt and Eve Jones also found to have made prejudicial posts

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2022Azeem Rafiq says that his reprimand from the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) is “deserved” and that he will “fully accept” the panel’s judgement, after he and four other cricketers were punished for historic and prejudicial social media posts.Rafiq, along with former Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale, Somerset seamer Jack Brooks and prominent women’s players Danni Wyatt and Eve Jones were charged earlier this year for respective breaches of ECB Directive 3.3 which pertains to bringing the game of cricket into disrepute.Brooks, Jones and Wyatt also admitted a breach of ECB Directive 3.4, which requires that all players abide by the ECB Anti-Discrimination Code. However, the CDC Adjudicator, Chris Tickle, decided that a reprimand would suffice in all five cases.Related

• Jack Brooks apologises for historical racist tweets, and to Cheteshwar Pujara over 'Steve' nickname

• Yorkshire head coach Andrew Gale called former Leeds United executive 'y*d'

• Azeem Rafiq 'ashamed' after historic anti-Semitic exchange comes to light

The cases came to light in the midst of the racism scandal that beset English cricket last year, and Rafiq – whose revelations of an institutionally racist culture at Yorkshire ultimately led to him testifying before a parliamentary select committee – reiterated after the CDC’s decision that he was “ashamed and embarrassed” for his own anti-Semitic actions in a social media exchange dating back to 2011.In a Facebook exchange, reproduced in full in the CDC judgement, Rafiq and his former England Under-19 team-mate Ateeq Javid joked about how a third, unnamed, team-mate was a “jew” for failing to pay his share of a bill at a restaurant.The messages were first published in the Times on November 18, 2021, leading to a same-day apology from Rafiq on social media, and confirmation that they had subsequently been deleted from his profile.”This summer, I unequivocally accepted a charge from the ECB regarding my antisemitic social media post from 2011,” Rafiq wrote in the wake of the judgement.”You will hear no complaint from me about the CDC’s decision today. It is deserved and I fully accept this reprimand. I want to repeat my apology to the Jewish community. I remain ashamed and embarrassed.”Rafiq met with Holocaust survivors after the incident, including on this year’s March of the Living at Auschwitz.”I hope I have demonstrated over the past 10-11 months that I am trying to educate myself about the horrors and prejudice the Jewish community has historically – and continues – to face,” he added.”I will keep trying and I thank the Jewish community for the forgiveness and kindness that has been shown to me so far.”Gale, who has said that he is “moving on with his life” and will “not engage” with the ECB’s disciplinary process, after being sacked by Yorkshire at the height of the racism scandal, was found in November 2021 to have used an anti-Semitic slur in a Twitter exchange with Paul Dews, the then-head of media relations at Leeds United.Wyatt and Jones were photographed in “blackface” at a Caribbean-themed party dating back to 2013, while Brooks was found to have used a racially offensive term in two tweets from 2012 during an exchange with the England fast bowler Tymal Mills and Stewart Laudat, who played minor counties cricket for Oxfordshire.Following their disclosure, Brooks confirmed in a statement that he “deeply regretted” using the term and apologised “wholeheartedly”.

The South Africa-born allrounder had been locked out of the 2020-21 season as well

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2021South Africa-born Otago allrounder Dean Foxcroft will miss a second successive domestic season in New Zealand due to Covid-enforced border restrictions.Immigration NZ (IMZ) has not approved an exception to its border restrictions, which means Foxcroft will be cut from Otago’s contracts list. The 23-year old was one of 15 players to be offered contracts last month, pending a border exemption.”We are devastated for Dean,” Otago Cricket Chief Executive Mike Coggan said. “He has made a formal commitment with New Zealand Cricket to make himself available, through the qualifying process, to play for the BlackCaps but due to the current Government restrictions in place he is unable to get back into the country to meet these commitments.””He is absolutely distraught, and we are too. Over the past 18 months we have done everything possible to get him back to Otago and at every turn our applications have been denied. He sees himself as a New Zealander who aspires to play for New Zealand one day. We will not give up on supporting Dean to realise his goals”.Foxcroft’s last competitive game was a Plunket Shield fixture for Otago against Central Districts in March 2020. He is among the most promising youngsters in domestic cricket, with a batting average of 51.15 and 41.46 in List A and T20 cricket respectively.

After scoring 176, Das said he had not thought of reaching a double-hundred in a rain-curtailed match

Mohammad Isam07-Mar-2020When Liton Das crossed 158 in the third ODI against Zimbabwe on Friday with the crowd in Sylhet having a party, Bangladesh’s highest individual score in ODIs was his property now. He got a big hug from Tamim Iqbal, the man who had set the record just two days ago. But it was also Iqbal, according to Das, who reminded him around the 120-run mark that the record was for his taking, and he shouldn’t leave the chance. Das went on to finish on 176 off 143 balls that helped the hosts amass 322.Das said that twice during their record 292-run opening stand, Iqbal’s words motivated him greatly. The first was when they struggled to find singles for a brief period and Iqbal calmed down Das. And then when Das was on 120, Iqbal charged him up.”When I was batting on 80, the bowlers were going through a good time,” Das said after the game. “Neither of us could find the singles. Tamim said that we can overcome this situation. We will get the runs and the boundaries, our batting will become normal. This was before my hundred. When I was around 120-122, I was going after the bowling. Tamim reminded me that this was my chance to cross his highest score. ‘Do something that will last for a long time’, he told me.”Das said that despite the big-hitting finish to his innings, the thought of reaching a double-hundred never crossed his mind. He just reacted to the situations, particularly after the rain break when Bangladesh were 182 for 0 in the 34th over, and the match was reduced to 43 overs a side. Das scored his last 76 runs off just 29 balls, with the help of eight sixes and three fours.”The double-hundred was never on my mind,” Das said. “I wanted to bat till the 30th over but after the century the momentum of the match changed. I had to play my shots, and I was successful. There became a bit of a chance. As a batsman, I have the belief that if I can bat for 30 overs, I can get a hundred.”It is one of my best knocks. I always performed at the domestic level, but there were problems at the international level. My playing style was different. I am working on it, but I am sure that I can do better in the future.”Liton Das and Tamim Iqbal pinch a run•BCB

Mashrafe Mortaza, the outgoing captain who always banked on a good opening stand but had to work hard to find a better partner for Iqbal throughout his captaincy, said that Das is certainly reaching his peak as a batsman.”I always love watching Virat Kohli and Liton Das,” Mortaza said. “There’s a lot of great players but as long as these two are at the wicket…I have told Liton for a long time. I believe that Liton can change the momentum of an innings, he can play an anchor role, and he can also play a big innings.”I think that he has picked the momentum. He understands his game now. He has played for four years, and this is his peak time to score runs. His hundred in the Asia Cup final was his natural game.”Mortaza said that the first time he found confidence speaking to Das was couple of years ago in the West Indies when the young batsman was struggling to break into the playing XI. Mortaza had decided to give Anamul Haque a fair go to open with Iqbal, but Das stuck to his guns, and only wanted to open. It impressed Mortaza.”Liton told me once, in West Indies when Bijoy (Anamul Haque) opened in all three games and he didn’t get a game, that he wanted to bat in his best position. He had made runs in the practice game but we decided to stick with Bijoy in that whole series.”Naturally, Liton was disappointed. But he told me that he if he fails at his preferred batting order, he would take the responsibility. We spoke for about 30 minutes, and it gave me confidence in him.”I saw a young player taking responsibility, so I told him that next time whenever you bat for Bangladesh, I will make sure you open the innings.”A captain perennially worried about his batting line-up, and in particular the opening pair where only Iqbal has been consistent, Mortaza will be satisfied that by the time he finished as captain, Bangladesh at least had an exciting opening pair, and one that comes with a lot of promise.

Fast bowler reported the problem shortly after arriving in Barbados having flown from Australia a few days previously

George Dobell in Barbados16-Jan-2019Olly Stone has been ruled out of England’s tour of the Caribbean after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left lower back.Stone, the fastest bowler in the England squad which has just started its Caribbean tour, was sent for a scan after reporting the problem shortly after arriving in Barbados, having flown from Australia a few days previously.He took a limited part in the first training session of the tour, but was not considered for selection for the first two-day warm-up game. He will now return to the UK to recuperate, with England set to name a replacement in due course. Jamie Overton would be the leading candidate as a like-for-like quick-bowling replacement, with Essex’s Jamie Porter also in the reckoning.Stone’s chances of breaking into the Test side on this tour were limited. But the England management were impressed by his pace and his attitude in Sri Lanka last year, where he claimed a wicket with his seventh ball in international cricket: a bouncer that took the gloves of Niroshan Dickwella as he fended the ball away from his face. He is seen as the sort of bowler who could learn from being in the environment and one day make a difference on an Ashes tour.England’s bowlers enjoyed a good morning on the second day of their warm-up game in Barbados. Sam Curran, given the new ball ahead of Stuart Broad with a view to maximising the swing available, and James Anderson both struck twice in their opening spells with the President’s XI subsiding to 13 for 4 within the first eight overs.Jack Leach also claimed a wicket before lunch, with the President’s XI batsmen paying the price for some loose strokes.

Quarter-finalists of the 2016 Under-19 World Cup handed the defending champions of the Asia Cup a rude shock in Kuala Lumpur

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2017Kaushal Adhikari

Nepal stunned defending champions India on the third day of the Under-19 Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur. Playing a key role in the 19-run win was the captain Dipendra Singh Airee. First he made 88 in Nepal’s modest 185 for 8. Then he took 4 for 39 to wrestle India down from 91 for 1 to 166 all out.There were several points in the match when the eventual result looked quite unlikely. Like when Himanshu Rana got the chase off to a brisk start, smacking seven fours and a six in his 38-ball 46. Though he fell to Kamal Singh Airee, India seemed to have things well in hand. At one point, they only needed 96 runs in about 27 overs with nine wickets in hand.The game turned when Dipendra dismissed Atharva Taide. Pawan Sarraf (2-24) and Shalab Alam (2-11) also chipped in with a couple of wickets to ensure India’s middle and lower order felt the pressure of the chase. And eventually the quarter-finalists in the last Under-19 World Cup secured victory.It was perhaps the situation Dipendra had hoped for when he was batting earlier in the day, doing his best to repair the innings after the loss of both openers inside 10 overs. He added 49 for the third wicket with Jitendra Singh, before taking charge with an innings that included six fours and two sixes. Having faced 101 deliveries, he was dismissed only in the penultimate over.Nepal, who were beaten by Bangladesh by two wickets in their tournament opener, play Malaysia next on Tuesday, while India, winners by 202 runs against Malaysia, take on Bangladesh.

Aiden Markram’s second successive hundred and legspinner Shaun von Berg’s ten-wicket match-haul lifted the Titans to the top spot in the Sunfoil Series standings

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2016Aiden Markram’s second successive hundred and legspinner Shaun von Berg’s ten-wicket match-haul lifted the Titans to first place in the Sunfoil Series, as they defeated the Cape Cobras by an innings and 50 runs at Newlands in Cape Town.Cobras were reduced to 74 for 4 in the first innings after Titans captain Henry Davids put them in. Stiaan van Zyl (65), who was dropped from the South Africa Test squad for the tour of Australia, stitched together a 92-run partnership with Justin Ontong (45) to stabilise the innings. However, they lost 3 for 8 in a span of 8.1 overs, to be reduced to 174 for 7. The tail then managed to drag the score to 235, before von Berg took his fifth wicket to bowl them out.Markram lost his opening partner Heino Kuhn with only 33 on the board, but put on 122 for the second wicket with Grant Mokoena (59) and 75 for the fourth with Farhaan Behardien (79) as he secured the lead for his team, before falling for 139. Qaasim Adams’ 58-run partnership for the seventh wicket with David Wiese (31) took the Titans to 393 for 7 before a collapse resulted in them folding for 400. Dane Piedt and Rory Kleinveldt took three wickets each for the Cobras.In the second innings, only four Cobras batsmen managed to get into double figures. Van Zyl (32*) and Ontong (20) once again briefly rescued the innings with a 42-run sixth-wicket stand after coming together at 44 for 5. Von Berg, who had Ontong caught by Wiese for the second time in the match, completed his five-wicket haul shortly after. Henry Davids took the last two wickets as Cobras slumped to their third loss this season.A day-four fourth innings collapse of the Warriors, fashioned by pacer Hardus Viljoen, handed the Lions a 148-run victory in Johannesburg. Needing 288 to win on the final day, the Warriors were reduced from 34 for 0 to 34 for 3 in 11 balls.The Lions elected to bat, and Nicky van den Bergh’s 99 and Dwaine Pretorius’ 97 took them to 308; the pair added 180 in partnership, the only significant stand in the innings – no other partnerships touched 40 runs. Andrew Birch and Sisanda Magala shared seven wickets between them for the Warriors.In reply, the Warriors were wobbling at 24 for 2 with both their openers dismissed early before Lesiba Ngoepe put on 95 runs – the third batsman to be dismissed in the 90s in the game – in partnership with the middle-order to take his side closer to the Lions’ first innings score, before Pretorius rattled them further in returning 6 for 81. Birch, who came in to bat at No. 9, contributed 82 crucial runs to take his side from 201 for 7 to 356, a 48-run lead.A 98-run opening partnership for the Lions scratched out any advantage the Warriors had; openers Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen scored 48 and 51 respectively. At one-down, Dominic Hendricks scored his second fifty in as many games; his 61 along with Yaseen Valli’s 40 led the Lions to 335, before they declared early on day four.So the Warriors were chasing 288 and ran into Viljoen, who picked up three of the top-four batsmen in the side before coming back to polish off the innings. The Warriors captain Simon Harmer – who already had a match haul of six – top scored with 42 from No. 8 as the team slid to 139 all out.Robin Peterson starred with six wickets for the Knights, while Imran Tahir and Senuran Muthusamy took four each for the Dolphins, in a draw in Durban. The match had only 188.2 overs being bowled due to inclement weather, with day two completely washed out.The Knights put the Dolphins in to bat, and they started well, with openers Sarel Erwee and Imraan Khan putting on a 123-run stand. The duo scored 58 and 59 respectively, but with no one else scoring a half-century, the team was eventually dismissed for 311. Peterson took his first two wickets off consecutive deliveries before finishing with 6 for 83 off 21 overs.In response, the Knights lost both their openers on 36 in consecutive overs. But a 107-run partnership between South Africa international David Miller (60) and wicketkeeper Rudi Second took the team past 150. With no other batsman crossing 20, though, Tahir and Muthusamy enjoyed a lot of success as the Knights were all out for 221.The Dolphins came out to bat once again and they blocked their way to 12 runs off the nine overs they faced in the second innings.

In the second installment of ESPNcricinfo’s overview of the top 18 in the Ranji Trophy, we look at Mumbai and Maharashtra

Amol Karhadkar26-Sep-2015

Mumbai

Shreyas Iyer scored 809 runs in 10 matches in the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy at an average of 50.56•PTI

Where they finished last season
Lost to eventual champions Karnataka in the semi-final.Big Picture
Champions. Quarter-finalists. Semi-finalists. Any other team on the domestic circuit would be delighted with such consistency in the last three editions of the Ranji Trophy. Not Mumbai.Having won almost half [40] of the tournament’s 81 editions so far, anything but the title is treated as a failure in Mumbai cricket. As a result, to end a two-season drought, Mumbai have turned to coach Chandrakant Pandit.More than working on the skill sets of Mumbai players, Pandit’s main task is to get them to play as a unit. More than their loss to Jammu & Kashmir or the miraculous qualification for the knockouts or the first-innings collapse in the semi-final, the major talking point of Mumbai’s last season was the infighting within the team. It resulted in Suryakumar Yadav being replaced as captain midway through the season and being reprimanded along with a key pace bowler.The other major challenge to overcome for Mumbai is the lack of a stalwart in dressing room. Abhishek Nayar will be the senior-most player in the change room, which is used to seeing international regulars or domestic stalwarts leading the way.Players to watch
Shreyas Iyer‘s first-class season got off to a fascinating start. For a rookie playing his maiden season, to finish as the seventh-highest run-getter of the tournament was an outstanding feat, and it was followed by an enviable price in the IPL auction. He also featured for India A during their home series against South Africa A but it remains to be seen if Iyer can avoid the second-season blues.Captaincy, albeit of an IPL team, made Rohit Sharma a responsible cricketer, but Suryakumar Yadav appeared to have become complacent on and off the field with the additional responsibility. The talented batsman started the last season as the Mumbai captain and almost lost his place for the zonal Twenty20 tournament on disciplinary grounds. Will he be able to turn the tide?Coaching staff
Chandrakant Pandit has been reappointed coach of Mumbai’s Ranji team after 11 years. Omkar Salvi, elder brother of former India pace bowler Aavishkar Salvi, continues to be the bowling coach, while Ashutosh Nimse will be the physiotherapist.Preparation
A mix of regular and fringe players helped Mumbai win the Buchi Babu tournament, one of the most respected pre-season tournaments. It was followed by a fortnight-long training stint in Hyderabad, where Mumbai played two warm-up games.Team news
Wasim Jaffer has switched to Vidarbha while Sarfaraz Khan has moved to Uttar Pradesh, and Hiken Shah remains suspended by the BCCI. International commitments are likely to keep Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane away from the Mumbai dressing room for the second season in succession. This would mean that the likes of Iyer, Yadav, Siddhesh Lad and Nikhil Patil will have their task cut out. The bowling attack will be bolstered with Dhawal Kulkarni’s availability, at least for the first two games. Zaheer Khan, who missed last season due to an injury, has been left out of the squad for the first two games.Squad
Aditya Tare (capt & wk), Badre Alam, Vishal Dabholkar, Harmeet Singh, Akhil Herwadkar, Shreyas Iyer, Dhawal Kulkarni, Siddhesh Lad, Shrideep Mangela, Abhishek Nayar, Nikhil Patil, Abhishek Raut, Balwinder Sandhu, Shardul Thakur, Suryakumar Yadav.In their own words
“The expectations, like every year, are to win the title. We are not thinking about it at all. Our simple mantra is to work on the process rather than the result. I have been telling the boys not to take the pressure of winning the Ranji Trophy. If we do the right things in the middle, results will naturally follow.”

Maharashtra

Maharashtra will be looking at Kedar Jadhav to do the bulk of the run-scoring•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Where they finished last season
Semi-finalists, bowing out against Tamil Nadu on the basis of first-innings leadBig Picture
For a better part of the last decade, Maharashtra had employed the policy of trying and testing youngsters. After trying out far too many, and dumping most of them, from 2005-06 to 2010-11, Maharashtra has emerged as one of the most settled units in the Ranji Trophy. And it has borne results of late, with Maharashtra making it to the final and semi-finals in the last two seasons.If they are to maintain the consistency, their pace quartet will have to work their magic again. Over the last couple of seasons, the BCCI’s policy of preparing seamer-friendly surfaces had worked in their favour, as Samad Fallah, Domnic Joseph and Anupam Sanklecha made the most of conditions, with Shrikant Mundhe playing the back-up seamer’s role to perfection.If the BCCI’s diktat of letting spinners back in the game is followed to the tee, then Maharashtra will have to hope Akshay Darekar can be complemented by either Nikit Dhumal or Chirag Khurana.Players to watch
Allrounders are a rare breed in domestic cricket, but Maharashtra are fortunate to have two. Shrikant Mundhe has emerged as a consistent pace-bowling allrounder who is tailor-made to bat with the tail. Chirag Khurana had a breakthrough season with the bat last year, tallying close to 700 runs to lead his team’s run charts. His offspin bowling also proved to be more than a handful, with him being preferred as the lone spinner in the team.For the first time in four decades, a Maharashtra team will feature an international centurion, thanks to Kedar Jadhav’s hundred in Zimbabwe, and Jadhav will have plenty to prove after a lean 2014-15 against the red ball. If Jadhav can repeat the heroics of 2013-14, where he garnered 1200-plus runs, then Maharashtra’s batting woes will be all but sorted.Coaching staff
Maharashtra have stuck to last year’s coaching staff. Australian David Andrews continues to be the coach with Abhishek Joshi doubling up as physio and trainer.Preparation
After competing in a pre-season tournament in Nagpur in August, rain proved to be a dampener for Maharashtra in a preparatory tournament. Only one round of the eight-team tournament, including three teams of state players, could be played before the weather turned nasty. The selectors then made up for the lost time by hosting a four-day match between Under-23 and Ranji teams.Team news
Vijay Zol is back in the reckoning after missing most of the last season due to a shoulder injury. He will have to fight for his place though with the likes of Nikhil Naik and Jay Pande having impressed with a strong showing in the pre-season outings.SquadRohit Motwani (capt), Harshad Khadiwale, Swapnil Gugale, Kedar Jadhav, Ankit Bawne, Chirag Khurana, Rahul Tripathi, Sangram Atitkar, Naushad Shaikh, Vijay Zol, Akshay Darekar, Shrikant Mundhe, Samad Fallah, Nikit Dhumal, Domnic Joseph, Anupam Sanklecha.

Few Australian batsmen are more qualified to give advice on scoring runs in India than Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke, and the two men were locked in intense discussions out on the field after the end of the Hyderabad Test

Brydon Coverdale05-Mar-2013Few Australian batsmen are more qualified to give advice on scoring runs in India than Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke, and the two men were locked in intense discussions out on the field after the end of the Hyderabad Test. Following the Chennai defeat, Clarke enlisted the help of Shane Warne to speak to the spin-bowling group and a similar scenario played out with Hayden in Hyderabad, as the Australians practised at a time when the second session should have been under way.A makeshift net was set up around the Test-match pitch and the batsmen rotated through a centre-wicket batting session against the spinners and the two left-arm fast bowlers, Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc. While the coach Mickey Arthur and his assistant Steve Rixon watched from behind the batsman, Hayden, the batting coach Michael di Venuto and a padded-up Clarke stood to the side. They spoke between themselves and to whichever batsmen weren’t in at the time, Hayden demonstrating stances and footwork during his hour-long stay.Hayden is the only Australian who has scored more Test runs in India than Clarke’s 954; his 1027 runs came at an average of 51.35 across three tours from 2001 to 2008. He entered the first tour desperately in need of some big scores to secure his place as a Test opener and he responded with 119, 28 not out, 97, 67, 203 and 35. Much of his success against spin came because he employed the sweep shot to great effect.England’s batsmen also swept well during their series victory in India late last year, but when David Warner and Phillip Hughes tried the shot against R Ashwin coming over the wicket on the third day in Hyderabad, both were bowled around their legs. Hayden, who is in India commentating on the series, said on Star Sports before the fourth day’s play that Warner had fallen into the trap of sweeping a ball that was too full, meaning his stumps were vulnerable.”The line was good to sweep. The length, though, was questionable,” Hayden said. “We saw with Davey Warner that was a very full length and even though I loved to sweep the very first instinct I had in my mind was actually about whether the ball was full or not. In fact I’m sure bat-pad thought I was crazy, because as soon as I saw any width I’d yell out the word ‘full’ and that would get my feet moving into that position.”The ball that we saw Hughes get out on was actually the perfect length to sweep. But what is the perfect length? Because if you’re short or tall, your perfect lengths vary. That’s a very personal thing. And for me the whole bat-pad routine, you’re not really worried about a bat-pad if you’re looking to play aggressively. They only come into play when you’re feeling a little tentative or your footwork is slow and the ball is turning. You need the aggressive options.”That’s exactly why you want to either get the ball on the full to cover the spin, and also sweep on line and when the offspinner is coming around the wicket, you can’t be out lbw. It’s always got to be outside the line of leg stump.”The Australians batted for more than an hour and a half on the Hyderabad pitch after their innings defeat, trying out different strategies and shots. Hughes advanced to a few deliveries, which he had been reluctant to against Ashwin during the two Tests, but there remained plenty of work for all of the batsmen ahead of the third Test, which starts in Mohali on Thursday next week.