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Tom Maynard’s funeral in Cardiff has been attended by more than 1000 mourners including many figures from the sporting world

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2012Tom Maynard’s funeral in Cardiff has been attended by more than 1000 mourners including many figures from the sporting world.Maynard, 23, who played for Surrey, was found dead on train tracks near Wimbledon Park tube station in West London on June 18 and the pathologists report said the cause of death was electrocution. An inquest has been opened and adjourned until September 24.Many current and former team-mates from Surrey and Glamorgan were present along with England Test captain Andrew Strauss. Rugby, another major sport in Maynard’s life, was represented by Wales legend Gareth Edwards and England player Danny Cipriani who went to school with Maynard.The Maynard family had decided to keep the funeral service as an open affair to allow as many people as possible to attend and around 100 watched from outside Llandaff Cathedral. Eulogies were given my Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket and a former Glamorgan captain who played alongside Tom’s father Matthew, Glamorgan captain Mark Wallace and the player’s uncle Charles MaynardMorris said: “The presence of so many members of the cricket community tells me Tom was not only a player blessed with extraordinary talent, but somebody whose sense of fun and enjoyment made him a hugely popular figure within our game. No-one will feel a greater sense of loss today than Matt, Sue, Ceri and family.”What saddens me so much is that we have not only lost a hugely popular and colourful character, but one of the most exciting and explosive young batsmen.”Strauss added: “I first saw Tom when he was a teenager when Matthew was batting coach of England. He had grown up so well since then and was forging a name for himself in the game of cricket. I suppose that’s part of what makes it so tragic he is no longer with us.”

Imran Tahir was reflecting on a sudden no-balling problem as he joined the rest of the South Africa squad on a relaxing day at the London Olympics.

Firdose Moonda08-Aug-2012Most of the South African squad are enjoying some down time at the London Olympics but Imran Tahir, the legspinner, would be advised to use the opportunity to work on his no-ball problem with South African women’s’ javelin finalist Sunette Viljoen. Like bowlers, javelin throwers are not allowed to step outside their throwing area, something Tahir has been doing with unusual regularity.He bowled nine no-balls in the Headingley Test match, eight of them in the first innings and four on the fourth morning, when South Africa were going after England’s last five wickets. To add to the eight no-balls he bowled at the Oval, Tahir has sent down almost three extra overs in the series and developed an area of concern that did not affect him previously.”That is the main issue for me at the moment, because I don’t want to carry on like this,” Tahir said with a distressed expression. “I have never been a bowler who bowls so many no-balls in a game. I just don’t know what happened. I need to go and check my action.”Despite the overstepping, Tahir has been among the wickets and has recorded his best results after two Tests in a series. He is South Africa’s joint second-highest wicket-taker, with seven scalps, the same number as Morne Morkel and three behind Dale Steyn, and wrapped up the England tail at Leeds with three wickets in 13 balls.Combine that with the overall numbers: Tahir also has a slightly better average than Morkel and a lower economy rate than Steyn and you may see a sign that he is learning to blend defensive tactics with aggressive ones.”I am trying to be as patient as I can,” Tahir said. “I have always been an attacking bowler but I am trying my best to learn every day.”Failing to rein in over-eager instincts is something Tahir has been criticised for, particularly when he used his variations indiscriminately. He has since become shrewder in deciding when to bowl his googly and he has seen the results. Many of England’s batsmen were unable to pick the delivery as Tahir disguised it cleverly.But he erred by mixing up threatening balls with a assortment of freebies – full tosses and long hops – that he admitted were a poor reflection on his own ability. “I didn’t bowl well the first day. It was hard for me in the first innings,” Tahir said. “I think two or three balls turned in the whole five days. The cracks are very hard, not like at The Oval.”Unhelpful surfaces have been the norm for Tahir, since he made his Test debut for South Africa against Australia in November last year. Although he has seasons of experience in England, on tracks that offer turn, wet weather has prevented them from behaving similarly this time around. Tahir is hopeful that the third Test, at Lord’s, will present him with the opportunity to come into this own.”It has always been a flat wicket at Lord’s and I think it will turn more than at Headingley,” Tahir said.
London is forecast to remain dry for the rest of the weekend but rain is predicted for the first few days of next week, before it clears in time for the Test.

Fast bowler realises that both he and his team needs to take more responsibility with the bat

Mohammad Isam21-Jan-2021West Indies can no longer think about their lack of experience if they are to beat Bangladesh at home. Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, one of the few members of this squad to have ODI caps prior to this tour, said that they now have enough information about the opposition and conditions to mount a comeback in the second game on Friday.West Indies went down by six wickets after being bowled out for 122. Joseph gave them a steady start, before left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein showed that their bowling has the bite that their batting lacked.Joseph, who went wicketless in his eight overs but was highly economical, said that the West Indies camp is very motivated to bounce back in the second game, knowing full well that another defeat would be the end of the series for them.”It probably might have boiled down to not having the experience playing against a team that is well experienced,” Joseph said. “Probably a bit of (lack of) application as well. But, that being said, we have already seen what is there to come at us, so we have no excuses in the second ODI. We have seen their bowling attack and somewhat of their batting. So we should be well prepared to give a better showing in the second ODI.”Everyone is aware of what’s at stake. Everyone is pumped up to give a better showing in the second ODI. It is really important for us to come in. This game is even more important than the last one. If we lose this game, it’s the series. Everyone knows exactly what they need to do. We have to play harder, dig deeper and push the Bangladeshis all the way. From ball one to ball 300.”Joseph admitted that had there been a hundred more runs on the board in the first game, they could have made a good fist of it. He said that the pace bowlers have to show patience in order to get the best of out pitches that are generally spin-friendly.”Maybe 220 would have been a more challenging total based on what the bowlers put up yesterday. A few more early wickets, and you don’t know what could have happened.”It wasn’t the best (pitch) to bat on, if I was to be honest. As a fast bowling group, we have to more consistent, hit good areas. Also play the patient game. I know its 50 overs, not necessarily the longest format. But being patient in the good areas is what is needed for the fast bowlers to be successful in this wicket,” he said.West Indies could have made a bigger score on Wednesday, particularly after Kyle Mayers and Rovman Powell added 59 runs for the sixth wicket. But from 115 for 5, they slipped to 122 all out.Joseph said that the lower order must take a bit more responsibility, and he himself has ambitions to become an allrounder, although his first priority being bowling.”We all have our roles to play, weight to pull. If the top half got skittled out earlier, the bottom half has to pull that weight. It is a team. We all need to look within ourselves and realise that this is international cricket, and we have to do better.”Personally I am aiming to become an allrounder myself. But as of now, I am just taking everything step by step. I am looking to, firstly, do my main attribute which is contribute what I can with the ball, and then I will give my best in batting.Joseph however ruled out the notion that bowling first is the best way to go with their fragile batting and somewhat better bowling attack. “A toss could go either way. We all have to be prepared for what we have to do first, or second. I think it all boils down to cricket.”We shouldn’t focus on the toss. We have to be better than Bangladesh in all three aspects if we want to win games,” he said.

New South Wales were able to declare in mid-afternoon after a dominant batting display

Andrew McGlashan20-Oct-2020Sean Abbott added his name to the list of allrounders to make a mark early in the Sheffield Shield as he scored an unbeaten half-century then claimed two wickets, but a positive innings from opener Sam Whiteman kept Western Australia in touch.Abbott and New South Wales captain Peter Nevill added an unbroken 118 for the sixth wicket to set up the declaration, building on the mammoth partnership of 244 between Moises Henriques and Daniel Solway.Following a solid start, Western Australia were wobbling a touch at 2 for 71 when Abbott struck in consecutive overs but Whiteman responded with a flurry of attractive shots and alongside Cameron Green their third-wicket stand was worth 81 at stumps.New South Wales resumed on 3 for 262 and after ensuring against an early losses Henriques looked keen to try and increase the tempo although for a little while it did not go entirely to planHenriques took his magnificent innings beyond 150 before his partnership with Solway eventually ended after 87 overs when the latter was bowled sweeping at Ashton Agar having faced 273 balls for his 86Henriques soon followed when he failed to clear mid-on against Matthew Kelly then in the next over Jason Sangha clubbed to the same position when trying to go down the ground off Agar.However, any hope Western Australia had of bringing the innings to a swift conclusion was stymied by Nevill and Abbott as the pair played with increasing freedom towards a mid-afternoon declaration.Whiteman and Cameron Bancroft started confidently in reply and had a half-century stand by the time they strode off for tea, but after the break Abbott produced a terrific spell. Firstly he had Bancroft caught behind with a delivery that just nipped away outside off then Shaun Marsh, who scored a century last week, flashed a drive which was well held at third slip by Kurtis Patterson. Abbott’s second spell finished at 5-1-12-2.But Whiteman held firm, and flourished, in another compact and confident innings which included four boundaries in an over off Harry Conway. Green was more circumspect but also very solid as Nathan Lyon settled into what could be a heavy workload on a surface still very much in favour of the batsmen.

Ireland would play 12 to 15 one-day internationals a year if the ICC approves their ambitious proposals to be given further challenges

Ger Siggins15-Apr-2012Ireland would play 12 to 15 one-day internationals a year if the ICC approves their ambitious proposals to be given further challenges to take recognition of their rising standards.Warren Deutrom, the chief executive, told the Cricket Ireland annual meeting that the ICC has received its submission and it will be go before the ICC board meeting in June for final approval. Under the proposals, ICC will help to identify gaps in the existing Future Tours Programme where Ireland can be accommodated for ODIs.Cricket Ireland has made the case that it has rapidly outgrown its fellow associates and needs further challenges. The senior side, coached by Phil Simmons, has won 30 of its last 33 games against associate members of ICC. And in recent years Ireland has also beaten Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, West Indies and England.Deutrom told the meeting that he hoped ICC would adopt the bulk of the Woolf Report, which he described as “better than our wildest dreams” and potentially the key moment in the history of the game’s ambition to be a world sport.While Ireland gets funding from ICC, Deutrom pointed to the disparity between its $685,000 grant compared to the $7-9million received by full members, who are also guaranteed participation in ICC tournaments and the FTP.”Our battle is to convince ICC to fund cricket nations on the basis of merit and need, not of entitlement,” Deutrom said.The newly-announced plan also seeks ICC funding for an ambitious academy structure which will see the best young talent nurtured in both the north and south of the island.While at times over the past decade the senior side has relied on naturalised players, the Irish system has produced some startlingly good players, with three – Ed Joyce, Eoin Morgan and Boyd Rankin – playing for England at various levels and new stars such as George Dockrell and Paul Stirling attracting the covetous ECB.There are currently ten Irishmen contracted to English counties – which is more than Pakistan and West Indies put together when you discount the fly-in fly-out Twenty20 players.The third item on Deutrom’s shopping list is ICC’s assistance in progressing the non-existent domestic first-class structure. At present the game is based on club leagues in three unions, based around Dublin, Derry and Belfast. The ambitious plan is to form these districts into an inter-provincial structure similar to the successful Irish rugby provinces.This last point is seen as crucial for the development of the game and helping Ireland to continue to produce top players.The AGM in Dundalk also elected Jimmy Joyce of Merrion as president for 2012-13. Joyce is father of five Irish internationals, including Ed, currently at Sussex, and Ireland women’s captain Isobel. The respected veteran journalist Robin Walsh was named as president-elect.

The ICC’s annual conference in Kuala Lumpur in June is where India and Pakistan could take significant steps towards the resumption of cricketing ties, with even the possibility of the announcement of a series, according to PCB chief Zaka Ashraf

Sharda Ugra30-May-2012The ICC’s annual conference in Kuala Lumpur in June is where India and Pakistan could take significant steps towards the resumption of cricketing ties, with even the possibility of the announcement of a series, according to PCB chief Zaka Ashraf.Ashraf is in Delhi for a few days after attending the IPL final (to which he was invited by the BCCI) in Chennai, and he told ESPNcricinfo, “Probably the final decision will be [taken] in Kuala Lumpur, where the ICC board of directors meeting will be held. There Mr Srinivasan and I will hold discussions, and maybe we will be able to formulate and announce something about the resumption of ties.”He denied that the two parties had already discussed or suggested a tentative schedule for a bilateral series during a gap in England’s winter tour of India, when the England team will return home for a Christmas break. “The BCCI haven’t conveyed that to us. What we see on the calendar is that the English team will continue to play matches. But that is now up to the BCCI, the ball is in their court. They have to think which slab is available, where there is a vacuum during which both of us can play. What we can play, what format … they have to take steps and let us know.”During his stay in Delhi on what was his first visit to India, Ashraf said he had met with the Pakistani high commissioner to India, Salman Bashir, and political leaders of several parties, ruling and opposition, whose names he did not wish to reveal.India and Pakistan have not played each other in a bilateral series since December 2007. It is India’s turn to tour Pakistan, but the country has not hosted an international series between two Full Members at home following the Lahore terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in March 2009. Bilateral ties between India and Pakistan have been frozen since the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. Pakistan, however, travelled to India to play in the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup.On the day that an unofficial lunch meeting took place between Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari in April, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla had told Pakistani channel that the participation of Pakistan players in the IPL would depend on bilateral ties between the two nations.Ashraf said his discussions with BCCI president N Srinivasan had not touched upon the participation of Pakistan players in the IPL much. “I didn’t discuss the IPL, because it was more of a commercial thing. I was talking to the BCCI more on the revival of cricketing relations – on bilateral ties, because that is more important. If they feel like inviting Pakistani players [to the IPL], it is up to them. If they want to, I think that will be a good move also.”The participation of the Sialkot Stallions in the Champions League T20 was however confirmed by Ashraf. News of the decision to invite the team from Pakistan to the most lucrative club competition in world cricket was released on Twitter by Sundar Raman, a member of the CLT20 technical committee, but it is yet to be formally announced. Similarly Raman announced on Twitter that the dates for the Champions League T20 would only be released by the end of June. Ashraf, who had talked about the resumption of ties with Srinivasan on the side of ICC meetings in Dubai, said he had been asked for his approval for the Sialkot Stallions not once but twice by Srinivasan.”He called me once from India about 15-20 days ago to discuss the Champions League T20, saying the issue [of Pakistani participation] has come to the board and ‘if we decide in favour of Pakistan do you have any objection’. And I said no, of course not, I am always in favour of ties. So after the meeting he called me and said ‘I’m going to the press to announce it. Finally I just want to ask, I hope you don’t any objections’. I said our board and our people are also for the revival of ties of cricketing relations, Test series, one-day and Twenty20 games.” Ashraf said the news of the invitation extended to the Sialkot Stallions had been welcomed “in the press, by the general public and the board. At least the ice is melting. And things are moving in the right direction.”The meeting between the Indian prime minister and the Pakistani president had been important, because it indicated that the Indian government had no objections to the resumption of cricketing between the two countries. “What I understand is that, again, the honourable president of Pakistan requested that the honourable prime minister of India do something, so that India-Pakistan cricket could be revived. He [the Indian prime minister] said, ‘Yes, I’m for it, the government has no objection and we are going to convey it to the [Indian] board. The board should decide the other questions … when and where they should play, because those are the nitty-gritty details.’ “Ashraf said that he had kept aside an extra day after the IPL final to have an extended meeting with Srinivasan. However, the extended meetings could not take place because Srinivasan had to be admitted to hospital during the IPL final for observation. “He never used to smile, but he was smiling then [when Ashraf visited him in hospital],” Ashraf joked. “He was very happy that I went. That showed that brotherly relations between the boards are developing.”He came across goodwill in general, he said, on his visit to India. “I found that everybody in India has got good feelings about Pakistan and they all want cricket to resume between these two great cricketing nations. There’s great cricket passion in India, like there is in Pakistan. I brought with me, to the people of India and Indian cricket fans, the warmth and feelings of Pakistani cricket fans. This visit is like a friendship message from both the nations to each other.”

Durham’s strong pack of seam bowlers took advantage of helpful conditions to remove Nottinghamshire for 161

David Hopps at Chester-le-Street12-Apr-2012
ScorecardGraham Onions finished with four wickets as Nottinghamshire struggled•Getty Images

As Nottinghamshire’s opening batsmen strapped on their pads, the scoreboard on the opposite side of the ground still showed 18 runs and 10 wickets, a reminder of how Durham had routed the hapless students of Durham on the same square a few days earlier. It was not immediately obvious whether the uncleared scoreboard was just county cricket’s relaxed attitude to pre-game planning or a clever psychological ploy, but it was not designed to fill Nottinghamshire with confidence.Durham’s fast-bowling resources must be the envy of every county in the land. There are at least eight of them baying for four spots. They might not keep them all happy, but they can try to keep them all mean and, if they do so, a third Championship in five years will not be far away.They left out two quicks of recent England vintage, Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett, and still dismissed Nottinghamshire for 161. No matter how often Nottinghamshire’s coach, Mick Newell, reshapes his top six, the likelihood is that his captain, Chris Read, will be marching out around lunchtime to stem the blood flow. It was 38 for 4 when he scratched his guard, and beyond the tree-lined hillside Lumley Castle had a cold-stoned, wintry look. Alongside James Taylor, Read shaped a fifth-wicket stand of 66 that gave Nottinghamshire some sort of total to defend.County cricket in April is confident in its image. Overcoated spectators are treated to a rush of wickets, ECB pitch inspectors shrug that little else can be expected, and batsmen console themselves with thoughts of revenge when the Championship settles in their favour in the second half of the season.Some Durham fast bowlers will have to await their 1st XI call a little longer. Harmison, in racing parlance, is in need of a run; Plunkett has remodelled his action under the supervision of Durham’s bowling coach Alan Walker and the success of that could determine whether he will live up to his early promise. Plunkett’s ability to bowl an unplayable ball or two is undeniable, but his action has been as unstable as francium. Come to think about it, even francium manages a half-life of 22 minutes. On his bad days, Plunkett’s action has been known to decay much faster than that.It emphasised Durham’s strength in depth that Nottinghamshire’s first four wickets were shared out equally. It was a lively pitch, with a surprising amount of pace for Chester-le-Street in April, the benefits of the March heatwave apparent. Mitch Claydon (3 for 33) was the pick of Durham’s attack, having Samit Patel caught at the wicket and removing Read lbw. Graham Onions made the first incursion when Alex Hales pushed hard at one, but he lost discipline after lunch before bouncing back against the tail to finish with 4 for 42.Taylor, omitted from England’s development squad after skippering the Lions in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, battled gamely in more demanding circumstances than those he normally faced in his days with Leicestershire in Division Two. He left the ball better than most and his pull when Onions dropped short was about the most assertive shot of the day. He did not make many runs in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, but it is hard to understand how he can be asked to captain a shadow squad through a winter in the sub-continent and then immediately be jettisoned. It will do him no harm, though, to work quietly on his game on the county circuit.Patel had a different adjustment to make. It was 8C at the start of play, 34C cooler than it was a week or so ago when he shared in England’s Test victory in Colombo.

BCCI were at risk of a $547 million drop in revenue if the entire season had been cancelled

Reuters01-Sep-2020The eight IPL franchises are counting the Covid-19 cost on their finances, but having gotten past the possibility of the tournament being scrapped this year, they are taking a glass-half-full view of the situation.The IPL’s original March start was scuppered by the first wave of the virus, and the BCCI had to pull out all the stops to rescue the tournament, which has an estimated $6.8 billion brand value. The tournament has been shifted to the UAE and will start on September 19 – nearly six months later than scheduled.After Vivo paused its title sponsorship for this year’s edition, fantasy gaming company Dream11 took it up for INR 222 crore ($29.7 million approx.), roughly half of what Vivo paid annually.”The discount provided to Dream11 would be a major (financial) hit for the BCCI, along with making arrangements for bio-secure bubble which will be an additional cost burden on the board,” Santosh N, an external advisor at financial consultancy firm Duff & Phelps, explained to Reuters.The league shares 50% of the title sponsorship money with the eight franchises, who will also miss out on gate receipts and in-stadia revenue this year, while existing sponsors demand discounts in the absence of fan initiatives.The switch has seen Delhi Capitals lose shirt sponsor Daikin, with the air-conditioning equipment maker saying the new dates did not work for them. “The reason being the business scenario and the timing, which earlier, being the summer, would call for advertising efforts to create awareness and recall for the AC category,” a Daikin spokesman told Reuters.Capitals Chairman Parth Jindal has said the BCCI should look at compensating the franchises. “If the BCCI doesn’t compensate, there will be a significant loss to each franchise, about a 30% drop in revenues,” Jindal told earlier this month.But with the BCCI at risk of a $547 million drop in revenue had the entire season been cancelled, treasurer Arun Dhumal preferred to look on the bright side. “When you encounter such challenging times and so many impediments, you are bound to lose on certain revenues,” Dhumal told . “Looking at the overall picture, everybody should be happy that at least we’ve been able to organise it.”At such short notice, we’ve been able to get a new title sponsor. It speaks volumes of IPL as a brand, and how it has grown over the years.”

For the second time in two games, powered by Pollard, Mumbai ransacked runs aplenty from their last five overs

Deivarayan Muthu01-Oct-20202:36

What ails Glenn Maxwell at the IPL?

After Rohit Sharma made his second half-century in his last three innings in IPL 2020, Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya went on a boundary-hitting spree to launch the Mumbai Indians to 191 for 4, which proved to be more than enough in the end. For the second game in a row, Pollard helped Mumbai ransack 89 off the last five overs, his unbeaten 47 off 20 balls exposing a Kings XI Punjab attack that lacked a death bowler. They had seemingly managed their bowlers so poorly that offspinner K Gowtham, picked ahead of legspinner M Ashwin, bowled the final over in the first innings, leaking four sixes to Pollard and Pandya.In pursuit of 192, the Kings XI lost Mayank Agarwal in the powerplay and captain KL Rahul laboured to 17 off 19 balls before legspinner Rahul Chahar knocked him over. Nicholas Pooran briefly matched his West Indies captain and mentor Pollard’s ball-striking with 44 off 27 balls, but it wasn’t enough to prick the ballooning asking rate. Chahar kept dangling legbreaks away from Glenn Maxwell’s reach, and ultimately had him holing out for a painfully slow 11 off 18 balls. Jasprit Bumrah and James Pattinson then closed out a 48-run victory, putting Mumbai on top of the points table.Cottrell’s comeback
After giving up as many as 30 runs to Rahul Tewatia in a frenzied finish on Sunday, Sheldon Cottrell started with a wicket-maiden on Thursday and conceded 20 in his next three. The left-arm seamer angled a length ball into Quinton de Kock and then got it to curve away to castle the batsman for a duck in the first over. Soon after, Suryakumar Yadav was run out for 10 off seven balls.Ishan Kishan, who had cracked 99 forcing a Super Over against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, struggled against Cottrell, Mohammed Shami and legspinner Ravi Bishnoi, who kept sliding the ball across the left-hander with his googlies. Cottrell finished his quota of four overs by the 13th over; Mumbai were 83 for 2.The storm after the calm
Looking to hit his way out of trouble, Kishan ventured a slog-sweep against Gowtham, but couldn’t clear the longer leg-side boundary, falling for 28 off 32 balls. Pollard, though, shook up things by planting his front leg and smoking Bishnoi over his head for six. Sharma, quiet until then, slammed 4, 4, 6, 6 against Jimmy Neesham. The New Zealand allrounder ditched his into-the-pitch legcutters for attempted yorkers, but kept erring with his lengths. The first four, a ramp that was precisely placed to the right of long leg, brought up his fifty off 40 balls. The pick of that boundary sequence was the final six that was clattered over extra-cover just after the man from that boundary had been whisked off to long-off.It needed a relay catch at the boundary from Maxwell and Neesham to remove Rohit for 70 off 45 balls. He was on 43 off 37 balls at one point, but accelerated before Pollard and Hardik took over.Hardik, playing as a specialist batsman as Mumbai have opted against rushing him back into bowling after his back surgery last year, also laid into Neesham, taking 17 off five balls from him. Kings XI, seemingly having miscalculated, asked Gowtham to bowl the last over and Pollard duly finished the innings with a hat-trick of mighty sixes.Kings XI fade away
Agarwal gave Kings XI a jump-start in the chase, attacking the short balls from Trent Boult and James Pattinson, moving to 25 off 15 balls. After Jasprit Bumrah darted in two more short balls, he seamed a full ball in and burst through the defences of Agarwal. In the next over, Karun Nair, who came in at No.3, dragged Krunal Pandya back onto the stumps. Rahul, who could neither find the boundary nor the gaps, was dismissed by Chahar in the ninth over as the required rate shot past 11.Pooran was particularly strong off the back foot, pulling Chahar and Bumrah for six and four. Twenty-one of his 44 runs came in front of square on the leg side. His bright innings, though, was cut short when Pattinson pushed a full ball away from his reach and had him edging behind.Chahar, meanwhile, took a leaf out of Yuzvendra Chahal’s playbook, lobbing slow legbreaks wide of off stump to frustrate Maxwell. Maxwell eventually played a desperate slog-sweep and picked out deep midwicket. Gowtham struck two fours and a six, but the boundaries he had given up earlier in the evening had a greater impact on the result.

Suresh Raina believes that India’s win in the second Twenty20, especially the fielding, has sent out a message that they are ready to turn the summer around

Sidharth Monga in Melbourne04-Feb-2012Suresh Raina believes that India’s win in the second Twenty20, especially the fielding, has sent out a message that they are ready to turn the summer around.”All the boys that have come as one-day specialists are young,” Raina said on the eve of the opening match of the triangular series. “When the fielding is good, the intensity picks up, there is a positive vibe around, the whole atmosphere is different.”That’s what we saw yesterday. The fielding was very good, the throws were brilliant, everybody did well. The batting was also good. Gautam Gambhir saw us through. It’s a good sign. Hopefully we will continue that.”Raina said different results could be expected of the team in the ODIs. “It is a different ball game,” he said. “We have played really well as a unit. We bowled really well. When you take wickets with the new ball, it’s always good for the bowling unit. Vinay Kumar and Praveen Kumar bowled really well. If you look at the bench strength, we have Irfan [Pathan], Zak [Zaheer Khan], Umesh [Yadav] ready to go. We have a good team right now.”Raina said it was crucial to get one win on the board. “It was important for us,” he said. “The morale is very good. The atmosphere is very positive at the moment. They (youngsters) showed real character and responsibility yesterday. Every youngster is looking forward to the one-day series. We have Sachin [Tendulkar], we have Zak, and a lot of players who have been in the Test series. They have experience in these conditions.”Raina went on to emphasise the importance of good fielding, and how hard he, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja have been working with Trevor Penney, the fielding coach. There is a healthy competition among the four even during the fielding drills. Raina will know, though, that only fielding doesn’t win matches. He was dropped from the Test side after 15 games because the runs weren’t coming consistently enough.Raina said he had been working hard on his game to suit the bouncy surfaces. Before coming to Australia, he said he has worked at the NCA in Bangalore, in Mumbai with Praveen Amre, and has had sessions with wet balls and also on a hockey surface in Uttar Pradesh, his home state.”I have been working on my wrist position so that I can keep the pull down,” he said. “I am feeling confident at the moment, hitting the ball well, had six-seven good sessions here. This is an important tour with regards to comeback to the Test side.”