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Organ shares strong partnerships with fellow opener Ian Holland and Rilee Rossouw

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2019Felix Organ celebrated his maiden first-class century as Hampshire ended day one of their Specsavers County Championship fixture slightly on top against Kent.Academy graduate Organ, making just his third Championship appearance, showed a delightful mixture of defensive resolve with a pinch of flair to score 100. The 20-year-old Sydney-born Organ enjoyed sizeable partnerships with fellow opener Ian Holland and middle-order batsman Rilee Rossouw, who both collected half centuries of their own.Despite Hampshire bossing the day, evening wickets with the second new ball gave Kent rewards for their toils as the hosts ended the day on 340 for 6.With James Vince and Sam Northeast away with England and England Lions respectively, Kyle Abbott stood in as Hampshire’s captain. The South African fast bowler won the toss and elected to bowl on an almost identical track to the one they scored 539 on against Warwickshire last week.Hampshire appear to have stumbled across two young openers, in Holland and Organ, in the wake of Joe Weatherley’s fractured ankle. The new-look top order worked against Warwickshire a week ago, when Holland churned out his first professional hundred. But this was Organ’s turn to prove his worth.Together they saw off the new ball with relative ease, neither offering a chance, with Holland playing a series of glorious off-side shots. While Holland played with a glimmer of attacking intent, Organ curbed his aggression – with his wicket prized more than runs in the morning session.American-born Australian Holland followed his century a week ago with a 74-ball fifty. But he fell, after a 92-run stand for the first wicket, when he edged Harry Podmore to Sean Dickson at first slip.In the next over, Ajinkya Rahane, on his last outing as Hampshire’s overseas player, drilled a cut shot powerfully to point only to see Daniel Bell-Drummond produce a stunning low catch.That mini-wobble would have concerned the Hampshire dressing room, who had elected to bring in Mason Crane as an extra bowling option in the absence of batsman Northeast. But they needn’t have worried as Organ and Rossouw eased up and down the gears in a 166-run partnership.Organ’s innings was particularly curious as he reached his half-century in 158 balls, but with three sixes to his name. At one point his strike-rate dipped below 20 to hint at a watchful vigil but a penchant for the odd attacking shot meant there was plenty of entertainment.Rossouw showed maturity in his innings to restrict his usual swashbuckling efforts, leaning on his timing rather than raw power to lift his bat on an 80-ball fifty. The South African passed his highest score of the season but his departure, caught well at first slip attempting a reverse sweep, saw three wickets fall for 22 runs in five overs.Among the collapse, Organ ran the happiest three of his life to reach three figures in 234 balls; his enthusiasm was matched by a loud reaction from the crowd. But next ball he nibbled outside off stump and edged behind before Gareth Berg was bowled two balls later – handing Darren Stevens two wickets in an over with the second new ball.Aneurin Donald furnished the evening session with a quick-fire 40, but before he could match the heights of his 225 runs at a rate of 118 last week, the Welshman mistimed a pull and saw Joe Denly run back from mid-on to take a great catch.Keith Barker and Lewis McManus saw Hampshire to close without further troubles.

Rashid Khan led an inspired bowling performance to restrict Daredevils to 163 after a bright start, and Sunrisers’ batsmen just about managed to overhaul that total

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy05-May-2018How do you beat Sunrisers Hyderabad? It may have felt like a distant memory before Saturday, but Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings showed the other teams a way early in the season: bat first, set a challenging target and expose a slightly suspect batting line-up.On Saturday, Delhi Daredevils did most of that, and put Sunrisers under plenty of pressure, but fell short at a few key moments. Having won the toss and pushed on to 95 for 1 in their first 10 overs, they only managed 68 in their last 10, as Sunrisers’ bowlers reeled them back on a slow, dry track.Still, 163 was the biggest total any team had managed against Sunrisers this season, and they didn’t always look convincing while chasing it. They profited from a couple of dropped chances, went without a boundary for 36 balls at one point, and eventually needed 14 off the last over. It could have gone either way, and Yusuf Pathan – who had been dropped on 0 by Vijay Shankar on the square-leg boundary – sealed the deal with two meaty hits off Daniel Christian: a straight six off a full-toss, and a four, swiped over short fine leg, off a short ball.Those hits may also have sealed Daredevils’ fate in the tournament. With only three wins from ten games, the playoffs are all but out of reach for them.The Shaw must go onThat’s what the big screen at the stadium said after Prithvi Shaw hit his first boundary of the match, a straight six off Sandeep Sharma. By the end of the 10th over, Shaw had made 65 off 35 balls, out of Daredevils’ 95 for 1. The other end, despite some sparkling shots from Shreyas Iyer, had only made 30 off 25.Part of the reason for Shaw’s rate of scoring was the hardness of the new ball, which made up somewhat for a slow pitch. But it also had something to do with Shaw’s range of strokes: case in point the last over of the Powerplay, delivered by Siddarth Kaul.Before this game, Kaul had conceded only 59 off 62 short and short-of-good-length balls this season. After a fullish knuckle ball that Shaw launched over the long-on boundary, Kaul pulled his length back, delivering three short or shortish balls. Two were angled into the body to try and cramp Shaw for room, and the other was only marginally outside off stump. None of them was a rank bad ball, and Shaw put all three away for four, to three different parts of the ground.The slowdownThe Shaw, however, didn’t go on past the first ball of the 11th over, an attempted sweep off Rashid Khan looping to short third man off the outside edge. Daredevils slowed down considerably after that.This was partly down to the older ball becoming difficult to hit, and mostly to Sunrisers’ bowling and tactics. Rashid bowled three of the seven overs from the 11th to the 17th, varying his pace and getting some balls to grip the surface while others hurried on; Bhuvneshwar Kumar sent down his third over in the 14th to try and keep the pressure on; and Kaul and Sandeep varied their pace excellently.The changes of pace were particularly effective against Rishabh Pant, who kept losing his shape while trying to launch himself into slower balls angling away from him. He only scored 18 off 18 before falling to Rashid in the 17th over. By that time, Daredevils were 135 for 5.They went without a boundary for 18 balls before Shankar clattered a six and a four off Bhuvneshwar in the 20th over to move Daredevils past 160.Hales v AveshThis was only Alex Hales’ second match of the season, but belatedly or not, his inclusion has given Sunrisers the top-order muscle they possibly lacked without David Warner. Today he muscled 45 off 31 balls, and 28 off 9 came off one bowler. Avesh Khan. The 21-year old kept bowling short, and kept getting hit by Hales and, occasionally, Shikhar Dhawan. There were two fours in the second over, and four sixes in the sixth.Perhaps it was a plan, for Hales miscued one pull, on 9, only for Glenn Maxwell to drop a sitter at deep square leg. That apart, it didn’t work, and the opening pair added 76 in nine overs.One piece of magic, and a pair of expensive bowlersIt took a beauty to end the opening stand, an Amit Mishra legbreak that pitched on leg, beat the outside edge, and hit the top of off, its flat trajectory rooting Hales to the crease. Dhawan played all around a full ball in Mishra’s next over and was bowled for 33 off 30, his strike rate reflecting the not necessarily straightforward batting conditions as well as a conservative, let’s-get-our-eye-in approach from all of Sunrisers’ top order barring Hales.The third-wicket stand between Kane Williamson and Manish Pandey – which featured lots of singles to deep fielders and not a lot of high-risk shots – brought only 21 runs in its first 22 balls, at which stage Sunrisers needed 57 off 32 balls. But Pandey struck a pair of fours off Christian, and Williamson followed up with an uppercut six off Avesh in the next over, suggesting these were the bowlers Sunrisers wanted to target. It was a fairly well-executed strategy. The two of them ended up conceding 84 in 6.5 overs, and the rest of Daredevils’ bowlers just 80 off 13.

The fast bowler’s maiden first-class hundred led Victoria to a 176-run first-innings lead against Western Australia in Alice Springs

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Mar-2017
Scorecard Chris Tremain unleashes a slog sweep•Getty Images

A century for the fast bowler Chris Tremain delivered a major first-innings lead for Victoria over Western Australia on day two of the Sheffield Shield match in Alice Springs.In reply to the Warriors’ measly 146 in the first innings, the Bushrangers slipped to 7 for 184 when Seb Gotch was out to David Moody, one of his five wickets. However Tremain, who had never previously made a first-class fifty let alone a hundred, formed a key stand of 108 with James Pattinson to grow the Bushrangers’ lead.Four sixes punctuated the innings, which ended when Tremain was last out for 111. Jason Behrendorff claimed three wickets for the Warriors, who reached 0 for 29 at the close.

Melbourne Renegades batsman Chris Gayle has come in for strong criticism for his comments towards a television presenter in an interview during his side’s victory over Hobart Hurricanes at Bellerive Oval

Will Macpherson at the Bellerive Oval04-Jan-2016Melbourne Renegades batsman Chris Gayle has come in for strong criticism for his comments towards a television presenter in an interview during his side’s victory over Hobart Hurricanes at Bellerive Oval, with Anthony Everard, the head of the BBL, promising action against the batsman., the broadcaster, also confirmed that Gayle would not be involved in their coverage for the rest of the tournament as a result of comments he made to their reporter Mel McLaughlin shortly after he had been dismissed.”I wanted to come and have an interview with you as well,” Gayle said to McLaughlin, when asked about how aggressively he had batted. “That’s the reason why I’m here, just to see your eyes for the first time. It’s nice so. Hopefully we can win this game and have a drink after. Don’t blush, baby.”Everard, who was at the game, was quick to sharply rebuke Gayle’s comments. “I heard Chris’ comments and they’re disrespectful and simply inappropriate,” he said in a statement.”We’ll certainly be talking to him and the Renegades about it. This league is all about its appeal to kids, families and females. There’s just no place in the BBL – or, for that matter, cricket anywhere – for that sort of behaviour.”Melbourne Renegades’ chief executive Stuart Coventry echoed Everard’s comments, saying “there is just no place for that sort of behaviour”.Channel Ten commentator Mark Howard, joined in the commentary box by former internationals Damien Fleming and Mark Waugh, quickly apologised for Gayle’s comments, but only after Ten’s official twitter account @TenSport had tweeted what Gayle had said, with the hashtag #smooth. That tweet has since been deleted.”We will be seeking an apology,” David Barham, Channel Ten’s head of sport, told , adding that he was “deeply offended” by Gayle’s comments. “We won’t be using him in the game anymore. Unless things change in the next few days, it’s not happening. It was totally inappropriate behaviour. Mel’s a working journalist doing a job.”Gayle has form in this department. In July 2014, when asked by a female reporter during the Caribbean Premier League about the surface the Jamaica Tallawahs, who he was captaining, would be playing on in their next game, Gayle responded: “Well, I haven’t touched yours yet so I don’t know how it feels.”On that occasion, a CPL spokesperson defended Gayle’s comments but he can expect shorter shrift this time, with Cricket Australia expected to make an official statement on the matter imminently.

Frenzied. That barely begins to tell the story. The pent-up tensions at the start of an Ashes series frothed out into a memorable first day of eager and aggressive bowling, angsty batting and high excitement.

The Report by David Hopps10-Jul-2013
ScorecardPeter Siddle’s five wickets before tea helped to bundle out England for 215•Getty Images

Frenzied. That barely begins to tell the story. The pent-up tensions at the start of an Ashes series frothed out into a memorable first day of eager and aggressive bowling, angsty batting and high excitement. When the nervous energy had subsided, and a sell-out crowd began to wend its way home, the first day of the Investec Test series had granted its favours slightly, without ever quite making eye contact, towards England.In the build-up to the Test, it had been observed that the ball had not swung as much at Trent Bridge this season. It turned out that England’s most genteel Test ground was just being bashful. On a warm, hazy day, swing bowling was in the ascendancy, 14 wickets fell and no batsman has yet made a half-century.This is a slow, dry Nottingham surface, already markedly cracked and with the forecast of dry days ahead, England, who won the toss, will fancy that reverse swing and the spin of Graeme Swann will come to the fore as the match progresses. Those possessing tickets for the final day will already be looking for a back-up attraction.The stand-out bowling figures on a turbulent day went to Peter Siddle, an indefatigable rouser of the troops, who specialises in making an impact at the start of an Ashes series, and who emphatically demanded an immediate reassessment of Australia’s qualities as he took five wickets by tea with remorseless, good-length bowling and just enough swing to make it potent.But the ball of the day was surely delivered, on behalf of England, by James Anderson. He produced a mesmerising delivery to bowl Australia’s captain, Michael Clarke, sixth ball for nought, a late outswinger and a suitable way to go past Fred Trueman’s landmark of 307 Test wickets. On the balcony, David Saker, England’s bowling coach, really did lick his lips with pure delight.Before then, Steven Finn had made inroads by dismissing Shane Watson and Ed Cowan in successive balls. Watson’s desire to dominate brought an edge to second slip; Cowan, who had been off the field with nausea for much of the day, added to the indiscretions by carving at a wide one; and Finn came within a whisker of a hat-trick by beating Clarke’s outside edge.Finn was preferred by England to Tim Bresnan and then took the new ball as Stuart Broad remained off the field for ice treatment on his right shoulder – which required a cortisone injection less than a week ago – after he was struck by a bouncer from James Pattinson. Australia will not be wishing him well.Chris Rogers was Australia’s stabilising element, just the man to provide an additional neutron or two, but he got too far across his stumps to Anderson in an effort to cover the outswing and was picked off lbw, his call for a review narrowly failing.Siddle was Australia’s inspiration. His hat-trick in Brisbane two years ago, and Test-best 6 for 54, proved to be a false dawn for Australia as England went on to win three Tests by an innings.Peter Siddle pitch map to right-hand batsmen•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

When he leaked 27 runs in four overs in a first, unrewarded spell, it was symptomatic of Australia’s anxious start, but his switch to the Radcliffe Road end for a one-over spell before lunch brought immediate dividends when he found some late outswing to bowl Joe Root.Clarke unsurprisingly turned to him once more immediately after lunch. Kevin Pietersen fell to a typically flamboyant drive, whereas Jonathan Trott’s booming drive at a wide one left the batsman so appalled as he dragged on that he made as if to demolish the stumps in self-admonishment. Until then, he had played with great certainty for 48, milking Australia’s attack through the leg side with regularity, but even he was struck by Ashes fever.A fourth spell accounted for Ian Bell, who was defeated by an excellent outswinger. At 178 for 4, Bell and Bairstow had been close to confirming England’s superiority. Instead, Bell left with a quizzical nose scrunching, recognition that for England, overwhelming favourites for the series, things were not exactly going to plan.They went even more awry in Siddle’s next over when Matt Prior, with only a single to his name, departed ten minutes before tea. Siddle banged one in short and wide and Prior’s suitably belligerent response merely presented a catch to cover.Australia’s first wicket had been the one they most desired: Alastair Cook: Cook, a remorseless compiler of 766 runs in his last Ashes series, a series which he reflected ahead of this rubber “changed me as a cricketer”. This time Australia removed him for 13 and they will pray that the number is a harbinger of ill luck all summer long.The successful bowler was Pattinson. The ball was not particularly potent, pushed wide across Cook, but he edged a loose drive to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin. Cook sat on the balcony, alone, and no doubt pondered on the demands of captaincy at the start of an Ashes series. Clarke, several hours later, went through the same thought process.Pattinson had expressed his desire to avenge England’s ridiculing of his older brother, Darren, when his sole England Test cap went awry against South Africa in 2005.On the ground where Darren made his name, James launched the series nervously with a wide and a bye – a loopy bouncer followed by a ball that swung down the leg side. But he does not lack for on-field aggression. His snarl was soon evident against Root, returned with a cheeky chappie smile that might have come straight out of an old-time English music hall. He might also have picked up Pietersen’s wicket when Haddin narrowly failed to intercept a glance down the leg side.Ashton Agar, a 19-year-old left-arm spinner on Test debut, had cause to be even more jittery. An Australian spinner on debut in an Ashes series cannot bowl a ball without being aware of Shane Warne’s arrival into Ashes folklore. He began with the Ball of the Century; some act to follow. Agar, gum chewing furiously, delivered a low full toss which Trott gratefully punched to the cover boundary. But his tall, springy approach and stately action promised good things to come.England, 185 for 6 at tea, succumbed rapidly at the start of the final session, losing their last four wickets for two runs in 14 balls.Broad’s fallibility against the hook shot was underlined when he unwisely tried to attack Pattinson; Bairstow, who had played enterprisingly for 37, considering that he has spent much of the past year as a drinks waiter, was bowled hitting across a full-length ball from Mitchell Starc; Finn gave Starc two in two, reviewing a catch at the wicket to no avail; and there was no late flourish from Swann who offered only a tame prod to cover.

Johan Botha has said South Africa’s one-off Twenty20 international against India on Friday will be an opportunity for fringe players to impress ahead of the World Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Mar-2012Johan Botha has said South Africa’s one-off Twenty20 international against India on Friday will be an opportunity for fringe players to impress ahead of the World Twenty20. Botha, who will lead South Africa in the match, said resting some of the senior players from the squad would give South Africa an opportunity to test some young players against quality opposition.”There are some world-class pros sitting out but we have some young guys who have done well in the MiWAY T20 Challenge and it will be a good introduction to international cricket for them, to be playing against a top team,” Botha said.South Africa have included the uncapped Dane Vilas and Farhaan Behardien in their 13-man squad, both of who finished in the top ten on the run-charts in the MiWAY T20. They have also picked Morne van Wyk, who has not played for South Africa since the 2011 one-day World Cup.”You don’t want to put pressure on the young guys saying this is your only chance,” Botha said, “but the senior players will come back into the team after they’ve rested and there’s only a few games left before the World T20. So this is an opportunity for the fringe players to seal a spot in the World T20 squad.”Gary Kirsten, the South Africa coach, had joked that it might be hard for him to stay awake through the game because he would have had very little rest after a long flight from New Zealand. Botha, however, said the players would take the game seriously and would try to do well for Jacques Kallis, to whom the game is being dedicated.”With the World Twenty20 coming up in October, every T20 game is important and you can learn in every game. Hopefully, we can make it 1-1 after losing to India in the one-off Twenty20 we played when they toured last year. We want to do well for Jacques, who is a legend in South African cricket.”The players did not train together before the game but Botha said they were prepared enough. “Most of us have played in the T20 challenge, so we’ll come in ready, with a few days of rest [the previous game in the MiWAY T20 was on March 25], and just play. Often players over-train and overthink, so this could work. Gary always leaves it up to the players. It’s our responsibility. If guys want to go work on something tomorrow there’s still time before the game.”Edited by Dustin Silgardo

Australia’s new bowling coach is expected to be named this week, with Craig McDermott and Allister de Winter among the leading contenders

ESPNcricinfo staff09-May-2011Australia’s new bowling coach is expected to be named this week, with Craig McDermott and Allister de Winter among the leading contenders. The former Test fast men Jason Gillespie and Andy Bichel have already been eliminated in the race to become Troy Cooley’s replacement, while at least one high-profile overseas candidate is still in contention.McDermott, 46, has been coaching at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane for two years and appeared to be the front-runner when he went on last month’s tour of Bangladesh with Michael Clarke’s side. However, de Winter, the former Tasmania allrounder, has also made it through the first round of interviews and could be a surprise appointment.A fringe player during his seven seasons with Tasmania during the late 1980s and early 1990s, de Winter took 35 wickets in 21 first-class appearances at an average of 50.51. It is a far cry from the 291 Test victims collected by McDermott, but it’s a similar record to Cooley, a former team-mate of de Winter at Tasmania, who took 54 first-class wickets in 33 games.de Winter, 43, joined Tasmania as an assistant coach in 2007, after returning from Bangladesh, where he was head coach of the National Cricket Academy and the Bangladesh Under-19s. He has also toured with the Australia side, joining them in South Africa in 2009 as part of Cricket Australia’s coaching development programme.Last summer, de Winter guided a Tasmanian bowling attack that was instrumental in securing the state’s second Sheffield Shield title, utilising swing and seam on helpful pitches. The new mentor will play a key role in guiding Australia’s bowlers on their next Test tour, a planned visit to Sri Lanka later this year, before the trip to South Africa in October and November.

Zimbabwe subsided to one of the lowest Twenty20 totals against New Zealand to become the first team to bow out of the competition

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran04-May-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Nathan McCullum swept through the Zimbabwe middle-order, picking 3 for 16 off his four overs•Getty Images

Zimbabwe came into the tournament as one of the form teams after shocking Pakistan and Australia in the warm-ups, but they subsided to one of the lowest Twenty20 totals against New Zealand to become the first team to bow out of the competition. After making a sprightly start, they collapsed spectacularly – losing eight wickets for sixteen runs – to ease New Zealand’s path to the Super Eights.With rain hampering play in Guyana for the second day in a row, Zimbabwe’s entire campaign in the West Indies lasted only 48.2 overs. Though the end was not as farcical as the near-darkness climax to the 2007 World Cup final, they was plenty of confusion before the match ended: after play was initially halted 8.1 overs into the chase, the teams came back onto the field an hour and a half later, expecting to play a couple of overs and complete the game. The players stood around for a few minutes before officials decided no more play was possible, declaring New Zealand winners.On the field, Nathan McCullum was the hero for New Zealand again. After his all-round heroics against Sri Lanka on Friday, he swept through the Zimbabwe middle-order to collect his second successive Man-of-the-Match award. The quick offspinners of Scott Styris also scooped up three wickets in an over to hasten the end of the innings.Such a limp finish didn’t seem likely after Zimbabwe’s openers defied New Zealand on a Providence pitch offering plenty of turn. At 57 for 1 in the seventh over, things were looking good for Zimbabwe, but a sharp bit of fielding from Jacob Oram and Gareth Hopkins started the slide. Hamilton Masakadza, one of the biggest-hitters in the Zimbabwe line-up, swung the ball towards deep square leg, where Oram moved quickly to his left and fired in a slightly wayward throw; Hopkins collected yards in front of the stumps and under-armed it to catch a diving Masakadza short.There was no resistance after that: Andy Blignaut, playing his first international game in five years, had started confidently after being pushed up to No. 3, but made a mess of a slog sweep to be bowled by Vettori.Nathan McCullum’s next over dealt the killer blows, as he nipped out three wickets with his loopy offbreaks. Elton Chigumbura slammed the first ball straight to long-on, Charles Coventry punched loosely back to the bowler two balls later, and Craig Ervine didn’t get near the ball after charging out of the crease to be stumped off the final delivery. Zimbabwe had sunk to 63 for 6 after nine.After Timycen Maruma and Greg Lamb watchfully played out a few overs, Styris scalped three in four deliveries in the 13th over to erase Zimbabwe’s hopes of reaching triple-digits. Vettori returned to finish off the innings by bowling Ray Price which meant Zimbabwe had been bowled out with nearly five overs to spare.It was the second shortest completed innings in Twenty20s, and marked a total reversal of fortunes from the strong position they were placed in by Tatenda Taibu and Masakadza. Taibu dominated the partnership with a combination of nifty footwork and improvised strokeplay, such as the bent-knee carve over backward point for four off Shane Bond after making plenty of room. He fell slapping a short ball straight to square leg, but Masakadza kept the run-rate high with typically muscular strokes before his run-out sparked the slide that sent Zimbabwe out of the competition.Their exit was confirmed by some sensible batting from New Zealand, who were always mindful of the Duckworth/Lewis machinations during their chase. Brendon McCullum powered a couple of midwicket fours and there was a trademark scoop for three, but the rest of runs were mostly made in calm singles.

“All I am thinking about is about playing for Bengal. I have forgotten everything that happened in the past”

Sreshth Shah12-Aug-2024Wriddhiman Saha has said that he wants to bury his past issues with the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), as he looks ahead to a fruitful reunion with the team that he represented from 2007 to 2022.Speaking to the media at the Eden Gardens, Saha was clear that he did not want to discuss the past at all, and instead had his focus on serving Bengal cricket for the remainder of his career. Saha, 39, said, he was keen to take the field as a Bengal cricketer but was also open to a coaching stint in the future.”I don’t think of the past or the future, but only stay in the present. And on that note, currently, all I am thinking about is about playing for Bengal. I have forgotten everything that happened in the past,” he said. “But I am open to help Bengal in any capacity possible. Since I am a cricketer, I would be better off helping Bengal in coaching instead of any administrative role.”Saha had parted ways with the Bengal team before the 2022-23 domestic season following a clash of words with CAB joint-secretary Debabrata Das, who in a statement had made references about Saha “giving all sorts of excuses” to “skip” Ranji Trophy games for Bengal.Related

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At the time, Saha had sought an apology, and even though the CAB selected him for subsequent games, he didn’t back down from getting the NOC (No-Objection Certificate) that would take him as a player-mentor to Tripura.The incident happened around the same time that Saha, then 37, was also informed by the Rahul Dravid-led India team management that he would not be considered for upcoming Test squads following India’s return from the away tour of South Africa in January 2022.”I am not looking at retiring at the moment,” Saha, wearing a cap with the slogan “Never Give Up”, said when asked about his prospects of working in the media or participating in various T20 leagues. “When I will retire, I will leave all forms and all formats of cricket, but right now, I am focused on red-ball cricket, white-ball cricket, the IPL, and I’m available for everything. I will be managing my workload with one eye on my age, but I still have the drive to play cricket and see Bengal do well.”While CAB president Snehasish Ganguly was tight-lipped about whether Saha would be handed the Bengal captaincy now that Manoj Tiwary has retired from cricket after the 2023-24 season, he did say that someone of Saha’s experience was necessary for Bengal to fill the gap left by Tiwary. Ganguly also said CAB were delighted in not only getting Saha, a “son of the soil”, but also former vice-captain Sudip Chatterjee, who had left for Tripura around the same time as Saha.However, Saha’s availability for Bengal now leaves the team with two high-quality wicket-keepers in their ranks with Abishek Porel also in the mix and potentially only one place in the XI for either player. On finding the balance between grooming a young wicketkeeper like Porel and using his experience to help Bengal, Saha said he would support Porel’s growth wholeheartedly and ensure he doesn’t fall by the wayside just to accommodate the senior pro.”Even before I left Bengal, I was grooming Abishek from the sidelines, and that will continue,” Saha said. “I have been seeing his growth from his young days, and have been having conversations with him. I am sure the management will also aim to give Abishek all the opportunities possible.”Wriddhiman Saha had signed with Tripura for the 2022-23 Indian domestic season, before making a return to Bengal•PTI

Bengal have been knocking on the doors of a Ranji Trophy title for the last four years, reaching the final twice but losing on both occasions to Saurashtra in 2019-20 and 2022-23. However, one concern among the fans of Bengal cricket has been the lack of Bengali cricketers in the team. Saha, though, felt players should mainly be selected only on merit.”When you get selected for India, there is no quota of having these number of boys from North Zone or South Zone or East Zone or West Zone,” he said. “If you play well, you will get an opportunity, and that’s what has been happening in Bengal. Even if some of our players have originated from outside Bengal and may not be Bengalis, it does not make them any less part of the Bengal team. Shahbaz [Ahmed], Akash [Deep] and [Abhimanyu] Easwaran, I have seen them training here from their young days. They haven’t just come here overnight. They are as much a part of the Bengal side [as others].”I can understand that some people may feel that the Bengal team should have more Bengalis, but I don’t feel that’s enough reason as talent and hard work should be the primary criteria. If you see that way, then you’ll also say Manoj Tiwary is not a Bengali. But that’s obviously not true. So I do not feel that’s such an issue in Bengal cricket, especially when you’re doing so well, like we have seen the team in the last four to five years.”Last season, Bengal failed to qualify out of their Group in the Ranji Trophy, finishing third behind Mumbai and Andhra in Group B. In the List A Vijay Hazare Trophy, Bengal were eliminated in the quarter-finals. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, they were knocked out in the preliminary quarter-final.