England vs India Archives

Jasprit Bumrah says no to Test captaincy amid leadership speculation

India’s premier fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, has reportedly opted out of contention for the Test captaincy.

Bumrah, who was considered a frontrunner to succeed Rohit Sharma in the longest format, has communicated to the board that he is not in a position to commit to playing all five Tests in a series, primarily due to workload management concerns.

According to media reports, selectors are now looking for someone who can consistently feature across an entire Test series, a critical factor with the five-match series against England on the horizon and the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle about to begin.

“Bumrah was seen as the most likely candidate to take over from Rohit, but he has made it clear that managing his fitness and longevity as a fast bowler remains the priority,” a source close to the development revealed.

“Given the intensity of the five-Test series, especially in a short window, his decision is understandable.”

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

With Jasprit Bumrah stepping aside, the BCCI’s focus has now shifted to younger names like Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, both seen as long-term prospects who could lead India into the next generation of Test cricket.

Veteran batter KL Rahul, despite his experience and recent performances in Australia, is reportedly not in the running. At 33, selectors are said to have reservations over his consistency and long-term viability.

Rahul scored 276 runs in five Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024–25, including two gritty half-centuries, and is expected to open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal in England.

Interestingly, Rahul also boasts a solid Test record in English conditions, with 614 runs in nine matches at an average of 34.11, including a memorable 149 at The Oval in 2018.

But the selectors appear keen on building a team and leadership core that can last through the next WTC cycle.

The five-match Test series against England kicks off at Headingley, Leeds, on June 20, followed by matches at Edgbaston, Lord’s, Old Trafford, and The Oval.

READ: Virat Kohli announces retirement from Test cricket

England win toss, elect to field first against India in second semi-final

ADELAIDE: England have won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in the second semi-final of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh

England: Jos Buttler (c & wk), Alex Hales, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid

HEAD TO HEAD

Matches 22, India 12, England 10

FORM GUIDE

India: W, W, L, W, W
England: W, W, L, W, NR

‘Not my thing’ Moeen opens up on Charlie Dean’s controversial run-out

LONDON: England all-rounder Moeen Ali shared his views on the controversial run-out of Charlie Dean, saying he will never do such dismissal and hoped that it should not become a regular occurrence in international cricket.

A debate has been sparked in the cricketing circles ever since Indian women’s team bowler Deepti Sharma mankaded England’s Charlie Dean to complete the whitewash over the hosts.

Moeen in his latest interview with English news outlet The Telegraph, opined that although there was nothing illegal with such a dismissal, it was not his type of thing to do.

“No, it’s not my thing,” Moeen told. “I don’t think I’ll ever do it unless I was really angry with someone. It’s in the laws and there’s nothing illegal so people that do it have the right, but I just hope it doesn’t become a common thing or something that’s regularly done.”

England’s stand-in captain for the T20I series against Pakistan added: “You’re not really working to get a wicket. At least with a run-out, there’s a bit of work that has to be done, and with all the other dismissals. This is just waiting for the guy and taking the bails off. Even when I played cricket as a kid in the garden, it’s not my thing to do.”

The dismissal that Moeen was referring to is currently listed in the MCC’s ‘Unfair Play’ section of the laws.

Recently, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) also clarified its position on the Charlie Dean controversial run-out, stating that the onus remains on the non-striker to stay in the crease until they have seen the bowler release the ball.

Meanwhile, with the enforcement of the new playing conditions introduced by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the section in the laws will be moved to the ‘Run Out’ section from October 1.

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler also opined on the issue in his interview with London-based sports radio network, talkSPORT, saying he would’ve called the batsman back if faced with a similar situation.

“No one wants to see them in the game because they always create such a talking point when it should be about the battle between bat and ball and watching great games of cricket. They always seem to happen at unsavoury times,” he said.

READ: PAK v ENG: Moeen unsure of Buttler’s readiness for last two T20Is

India captain defends controversial run-out to seal England sweep

LONDON: India captain Harmanpreet Kaur insisted her side had committed no “crime” after sealing victory over England at Lord’s on Saturday with a run-out at the non-striker’s end.

England were eyeing a remarkable win in the third women’s one-day international when India bowler Deepti Sharma ran out non-striker Charlie Dean, who was well out of her ground.

Dean’s 47, batting at number nine, had given England, who were 53-6, hope of chasing down a target of 170. Instead they were bowled out for 153 as India won by 16 runs to complete a 3-0 series sweep.

An emotional Dean broke down in tears when her dismissal was confirmed before sportingly shaking hands with her opponents.

Despite being allowed under cricket’s rules, running out a non-striker backing up has long been regarded as unsporting by many within the game.

But it was only this week the International Cricket Council reiterated the dismissal, known as a “Mankad” after India’s Vinoo Mankad, who ran out Australia batsman Bill Brown backing up in a 1948 Test in Sydney, was completely legitimate.

This was both teams’ first match at Lord’s since England beat India in the 2017 Women’s World Cup final.

And while some boos were heard following Dean’s dismissal, Kaur was adamant Sharma had done nothing to overshadow either the victory or India pace great Jhulan Goswami’s last match before international retirement.

“Today whatever we have done I don’t think it was any crime, it is part of the game and it is an ICC rule and I think we just need to back our player,” Kaur said.

“I don’t think (Sharma) has done something wrong and we just need to back her.”

England seamer Kate Cross said she would never take a wicket in this way but added: “I think it’s a dismissal that’s always going to divide opinion. That’s all that’s ever going to get said about it: some people are going to like it, some people aren’t.

“Deepti chose to dismiss Charlie Dean that way. I’m more disappointed for Charlie Dean that she couldn’t get a fifty at Lord’s today because she looked set to do that.

“If we’re looking at the real positives, then maybe that’s the only way they could have got Deano out today.”

READ: PEMRA refrains TV channels from reporting live location of English team

‘History tells you that India struggle against left-arm pacers’ Nasser

LONDON: Former England captain and renowned commentator Nasser Hussain heaped praises on Pakistan left-arm speedsters Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Amir while claiming that India have a history of struggling against left-arm pacers.

Hussain, in a press conference, post India’s historic ODI series victory over England in their backyard after 2014-15, heaped praises on the bench strength of the Men in Blue.

The former England captain also advised the touring side to play courageously and suggested their batters become familiar with left-arm bowlers.

“India are a very strong team, but they need to learn from what happened in the past. In the last T20 World Cup in the UAE they were a bit timid with the bat, so they need to stop being that,” Hussain said.

“When you have Pandya and Pant in the middle order and then Jadeja that rope to follow, you don’t need to be timid at the top,” he stressed.

Hussain then went on to mention a few occasions when left-arm pacers wreaked havoc over the Indian batting line-up and gave reference to the Pakistan-India clash at the previous year’s ICC T20 World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

“They need to play to left arm [pace bowling] a little bit better. History tells you that Shaheen Shah Afridi blew them away one evening in Dubai, Mohammad Amir blew them away one afternoon at the Oval in a final, and Reece Topley has blown them away here [at Old Trafford],” he stated.

“They need to be a bit more tensed to their batting, so some of their seamers will come down in a T20, in the last two overs with 20 to win. One of those seamers will need them to get across the line,” he added.

READ: PCB permits seven centrally-contracted players to partake in KPL 2

Virat Kohli ruled out of first ODI against England

LONDON: Former captain Virat Kohli has been ruled out of India’s Playing XI for the first ODI against England due to a groin injury.

Virat, who is going through a rough patch in international cricket and could only manage to score a mere 12 runs in two T20Is in the recently-concluded series, has now ruled out of India’s Playing XI for the first ODI.

Following Kohli’s unavailability, right-handed batter Shreyar Iyer replaced Kohli as India’s No.3 in the first fixture of the three-match series.

According to the details, the veteran batter also did not join the touring side on their way to Nottingham to here due to a medical stopover by the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) medical panel.

The extent of his injury is still not known, however, reports suggest that the 33-year-old will be available for selection in the next fixture at Lord’s on July 14.

READ: Pakistan Women’s cricket team departs for Ireland to partake in tri-series

‘India will surely one of the favourites to win T20 World Cup’ Shahid Afridi

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain and star all-rounder Shahid Afridi coined India as one of the favourites to win the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2022, scheduled in October.

Following India’s dominant T20I series victory over England with one match to spare, the former Pakistan captain took to Twitter and praised the men in blue for their outstanding performance.

“India have played outstanding cricket and deserve to win the series. Really impressive bowling performance,” Afridi wrote.

“They’ll surely be one of the favourites for the T20 World Cup in Australia,” he added.

India have played outstanding cricket and deserve to win the series. Really impressive bowling performance, they'll surely be one of the favourites for the T20 World Cup in Australia https://t.co/5vqgnBYfIX

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) July 9, 2022

It is pertinent to mention here that Rohit Sharma-led India thrashed hosts England in the first and second T20I by massive margins of 50 and 49 runs respectively. The two teams will lock horns in the dead-rubber third T20I today at Old Trafford Cricket Stadium.

READ: ‘Don’t know the reason behind being dropped’ Imad seeks justification

Jadeja, bowlers shine as India blunt England to claim series victory

BIRMINGHAM: Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja scored an unbeaten 46 before the bowlers wreaked havoc over the England batting line-up to power the touring side to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.

Indian bowlers dominated the hosts’ batting line-up, bowling them out for 121, resulting in a comprehensive 49-run victory in the second T20I.

Following England captain Jos Buttler’s invitation to bat first, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant provided a solid start for the touring side, charging the hosts’ bowlers with a dominant approach in the powerplay.

The openers, however, could not keep going for long as England’s debutant Richard Gleeson claimed his maiden international wicket by removing Rohit for 31. He faced 20 deliveries and smashed three boundaries and two sixes in the course of his blistering knock.

The rest of the Indian batters then could not capitalize on the solid foundation as they kept walking back to the pavilion after making small contributions.

Gleeson continued to shine on his debut as he removed former top-ranked batter Virat Kohli (1) and another opener Pant to increase his tally to three. Pant scored a quickfire 26 off 15 deliveries with the help of four boundaries and a six.

England right-arm veteran pacer Chris Jordan then wreaked havoc over the Indian middle-order and began to claim wickets at an astonishing rate and soon caused India to slip to 89/5 in the 11th over.

Following another brief collapse, Indian all-rounder Jadeja stood up for his team and played a gritty unbeaten knock of 46 and bolstered the touring side to a commendable total of 170/8 with his late power-hitting, while the tailenders were making their way back with paltry contributions. He faced just 29 deliveries and smashed five boundaries.

For England, debutant Gleeson impressed with three wickets, while Jordan bagged four for 27 in his four overs.

Set to chase 171, the English batting line-up failed completely and could only manage to score 121 before being bowled out in 17 overs.

All-rounder Moeen Ali and David Willey, resisted a bit against the firing Indian bowling with their gritty knocks, while the rest of the batters seemed clueless.

Moeen top-scored for the side with a quickfire 35 off 21 balls, laced with three boundaries and two sixes, while Willey remained unbeaten with 33 off 22 deliveries with the same tally of boundaries.

For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar led the way with three wickets, while Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal bagged two each. Harshal Patel and Hardik Pandya, on the other hand, struck out a batter each.

READ: Austrian GP: Max Verstappen claims pole as both Mercedes crash

‘Stokes wanted to promote me to hit winning runs against India’ Anderson

LONDON: England veteran right-arm pacer James Anderson revealed the incident from the hosts’ dressing room amid Edgbaston Test against India and claimed the skipper Ben Stokes asked him to score the winning runs for the team.

With England approaching the record target on the final day of the rescheduled Test, Anderson revealed that discussions were taking place about who would bat next, with Stokes – usually England’s No.6 – suggesting that others in the dressing room take the chance of hitting the winning runs.

“Because there was a new ball coming up, they thought, ‘Let’s try and finish it before the new ball. So if we lose a wicket, we’ll send Broady in and he can literally just try and hit every ball for six’. Between 67 and 75 overs or something like that. So then the deeper we got – I think it was about 20 runs left – Broady was like, ‘Right, that’s me done, someone else can go in next’,” Anderson revealed.

“So then Stokesy comes up to me and said, ‘You’ve never hit the winning runs. So if we need four to win, and [Ravindra] Jadeja’s bowling for example, do you fancy going in and hitting the winning runs?’ I just felt really uncomfortable with it. I thought it was a little bit too piss-takey. So I was like, ‘I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that’,” he further claimed.

The veteran pacer then went on to reveal that following this incident no one in the dressing room had padded up to go in and finish the job at No.6 as Sam Billings was the latest batter to have turned down Stokes’s idea of taking the chance to score the winning runs.

“So then he goes to Sam Billings who was batting at seven. ‘It’s a great chance to hit the winning runs in a Test match’. And again, he was like, ‘No, no, no, you’re next, you’re the captain you should go’. So we ended up, 20 runs left, Stuart Broad had decided he wasn’t going in, so he took his pads off,” Anderson disclosed.

“Sam Billings didn’t have his pads on. I wouldn’t put my pads on. And Ben Stokes also didn’t put his pads on. So we had no one padded up for the last 20 runs of that game. That’s how relaxed everyone was,” he concluded.

It is pertinent to mention here that England, in the end, did not need a No.6 as they defeated India by seven wickets on the back of an astounding unbeaten partnership between Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.

READ: ‘Don’t really like that silly term’ Brendon McCullum on Baz-Ball

Bairstow, Pant step into top 10 as Kohli slips in latest ICC Test rankings

DUBAI: England’s batter Jonny Bairstow and Indian wicket-keeper Rishabh pant have been rewarded for their astounding forms as both stepped into the top 10 in the latest ICC Test batting rankings.

Bairstow made a leap forward to secure the 10th spot, meanwhile, Pant jumped six places to finish 5th in the latest rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The 32-year-old Bairstow has been in sublime form in red-ball cricket as he smashed four centuries in the last three Tests, including dual tons against India in the rescheduled Test at Edgbaston aiding his side to clinch a historic chase in the fourth innings, yesterday.

Pant, on the other hand, has impressed with two centuries and three half-centuries in his past six Test innings to rise to his highest-ever position in the Test batting rankings.

However, former Indian captain and star batter Virat Kohli has slipped three spots to 13th in the latest rankings, owing to his dismal form.

Pakistan all-format captain Babar Azam remains unchanged in the 4th position in the latest Test rankings.

Meanwhile, England’s Joe Root continues to lead the rankings, followed by Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith in second and third spots, respectively.

READ: Mountaineer Shehroze Kasif found after went missing on Nanga Parbat