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She is self isolating at home after experiencing mild symptoms

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Mar-2021Harmanpreet Kaur has tested positive for Covid-19, the update coming after she had experienced mild symptoms and was tested. ESPNcricinfo understands that the India T20I captain experienced a fever for four days before testing positive on Monday. She is currently self-isolating at home.Kaur did not play any part in the recent T20Is at home against South Africa as a result of a hip-flexor injury, which she picked up during the fifth ODI in the longer-format series preceding the T20Is. In Kaur’s absence, Smriti Mandhana led India to a 2-1 series defeat. Earlier, Mithali Raj had led India to a 4-1 loss in the ODIs, in which Kaur hit 160 runs in four innings at an average of 53.33, including a 54 in the fourth ODI.Kaur is the second high-profile India Women cricketer to have tested positive for Covid-19 after pace bowler Mansi Joshi tested positive last October. As a result of that, Joshi had to miss the Women’s T20 Challenge in the UAE, where she was to represent the Velocity side, led by Raj.Separately, a number of former Indian cricketers, who were part of the Road Safety Series in Raipur, have tested positive for Covid-19: Sachin Tendulkar, Yusuf Pathan, S Badrinath and Irfan Pathan have returned positive tests.

Sunil Joshi, the Karnataka left-arm spinner, has announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket

Siddarth Ravindran21-Jun-2012Sunil Joshi, the Karnataka left-arm spinner, has formally announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket. Joshi, 42, hasn’t played competitive cricket in more than a year, and was the coach of Hyderabad last season.His international career lasted between 1996 and 2001, spanning 15 Tests and 69 ODIs. His most famous international performance was his 10-6-6-5 spell against South Africa in 1999. In Tests, he was Man of the Match in Bangladesh’s inaugural match, after an all-round effort, taking eight wickets and also scoring a battling 92 in the first innings.On the domestic circuit, he was a stalwart for Karnataka, finishing as the third highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy, behind Rajinder Goel and S Venkataraghavan. He won the Ranji Trophy three times – 1995-96, 1997-98 and 1998-99. He was also a handy batsman, finishing with 5126 first-class runs at an average of 26.71. With the Karnataka State Cricket Association recently launching its plan to revive Karnataka’s fortunes, it will be players like Joshi that it would be looking to unearth.At a function organised by the KSCA to mark the occasion, Joshi was warmly praised by some of the state’s greatest players, several of whom were his team-mates at both the domestic and international level. Anil Kumble hailed his impact both on the field and off it. “Congratulations on a terrific career, for being a fantastic servant of Karnataka cricket. His determination and dedication was always evident,” Kumble said. “He is an exceptional allrounder whose services will always be missed. Not just stats, he also contributed by supporting and encouraging younger players.”

Joshi’s favourite domestic game

He rated the come-from-behind victory over Madhya Pradesh in the 1998-99 Ranji final as the most cherished moment in his domestic career. “We had conceded the first-innings lead and we had to push for an outright win. We couldn’t sleep all night after the fourth day, as it was raining (and reducing our chances of victory),” he said. “The next morning it had stopped raining, but MP were batting out time.” At tea MP were 130 for 4, and seemingly safe. “After tea, I managed to get Abbas Ali out (who batted four hours for 47) and Vijay Bharadwaj took over, cleaning up the MP tail to win the match with two overs to spare.” The last six wickets went down for 18 runs.

Rahul Dravid called him ‘an ornament to the game’ and highlighted the importance of experienced players like Joshi in the domestic game. “Even 10 years after his last game for India, he was still playing for Karnataka,” Dravid said. “It is people like Joshi who make domestic cricket the breeding ground for talent. His experience and class helps younger players and also rivals.”Dravid also highlighted Joshi’s commitment. “He led by example. I remember a Ranji semi-final against Hyderabad, he bowled the first over of the day and I didn’t take him off till the end of the day. He bowled 45 overs for me.”The tributes all referred to Joshi’s rise from the small town of Gadag in northern Karnataka, and his struggles to make the Ranji team. An emotional Joshi himself recalled the early days. “As a 12-year-old I used to take the Gol Gumbaz express everyday at 3.30am from Gadag to Hubli (a larger town where he practised),” he said about a journey he undertook for several years.When he finally broke into the Ranji team, after several seasons of junior state cricket, his first match didn’t go to plan. “My first cap was in 1992, there was a lot of pressure on me. I made 83 not out on the first day, and bowled a single over before stumps,” he said. “The next day the match was called off due to the Ayodhya riots.” He went on to become the most capped Karnataka player.Roger Binny, the former India allrounder, said Joshi paved the way for other small-town cricketers in the state. “I was the coach when Joshi came into the state team,” Binny said. “He has been an inspiration to cricketers from mofussil areas. In the recent past, Vinay Kumar has also done the same thing.”Javagal Srinath was the last of the state’s legends to pay tribute, and had the audience in splits with his anecdotes about Joshi’s cooking, their Under-22 days and Joshi’s retort after Srinath, not usually a close-in fielder, dropped a sitter at slip during Bangladesh’s first Test (telling him angrily that fast bowlers should always field in the deep).Joshi was presented a memento by the KSCA, and was surprised by a coffee table book showcasing his career that was put together by his family. The evening of bonhomie and respect was the perfect way to acknowledge the end of one of the great careers in domestic cricket.

England batter sustained a left thigh muscle injury while playing for Surrey in the Vitality Blast

George Dobell10-Jul-2021Ollie Pope is an injury doubt for the first Test of the LV= Insurance series against India after sustaining a thigh muscle injury.Pope, the 23-year-old batter, sustained the injury while playing for Surrey against Kent in the Vitality Blast on July 2. A statement from the ECB said: “Pope has been ruled out until England’s LV= Insurance Test Series against India after suffering a left thigh muscle injury.”The ECB and Surrey fitness teams will work together to deliver Pope’s rehabilitation with a focus for him to be available to return for the first Test against India.”That first Test starts on August 4 in Nottingham.While Pope has not reached 35 in his 15 most recent Test innings, he was highly likely to retain his spot in England’s Test side as he is seen as perhaps the most talented young first-class batter in the English game.His injury could open the door for a return for Dawid Malan, who has continued to impress with his temperament as much as his form with the bat in his opportunities in England’s white-ball side. Dan Lawrence could also prove a beneficiary.Pope’s injury is also likely to minimise his involvement in The Hundred. Had he been fit, he was likely to have been available for Welsh Fire’s first three fixtures. The tournament has been best with withdrawals with a host of overseas players pulling out due to the congested international schedules and complications around travel in the time of Covid.

Thami Tsolekile is with the Test squad, but Heino Kuhn staked his claim to be considered with a century for South Africa A to rescue them against Ireland

Andrew McGlashan09-Aug-2012
ScorecardAlthough AB de Villiers is keeping wicket in the Test series against England following the injury-forced retirement of Mark Boucher, it may not be a long-term solution for South Africa.Therefore it is a chance for the next group of wicketkeepers to show their presence. Thami Tsolekile is with the Test squad, but Heino Kuhn staked his claim with a century for South Africa A, rescuing them against Ireland.South Africa A were 101 for 5 when Kuhn came to the crease and that soon became 135 for 7 as Stuart Thompson claimed three wickets. Kuhn, who has played five Twenty20 internationals, resurrected the innings in a stand of 131 alongside Rory Kleinveldt who made 74.Kuhn struck 11 fours and a six in his hundred, the 13th of his first-class career, to suggest that his name should be at the forefront of the selectors’ minds. At 28, Kuhn should be coming into his prime as a wicketkeeper-batsman and if there remain lingering concerns about Tsolekile’s batting, he could be a viable alternative.It was not such a good day for Kuhn’s top-order team-mates when the match finally began following two washed out days. There was little surprise when Ireland put South Africa A in to bat and the seamers soon made inroads. Thompson and Max Sorenson reduced them to 34 for 3 inside the first hour, before Justin Ontong provided some stability.Kevin O’Brien, the Ireland captain for this match, chipped in to remove Farhaan Behardien and Sorenson claimed Ontong for his third scalp. At that point Ireland will have sensed a chance to dismiss South Africa A for under 200, but Kuhn halted the home side’s momentum.Kuhn’s hundred brought a declaration and the South Africa A bowlers nipped out two wickets before the close. Quinton Friend struck in his third over to bowl Andrew Balbirnie and Wayne Parnell, the left-arm seamer, claimed John Anderson but was expensive in his four overs.

Greg Chappell, India’s former coach, has said that India “weren’t really in Test cricket” on their tour to Australia, and that “Test cricket is pretty tough for them”

Sidharth Monga in Adelaide07-Mar-2012Greg Chappell, India’s former coach, has said that India “weren’t really interested in Test cricket” on their tour to Australia, and that “Test cricket is pretty tough for them”. Chappell was speaking at a promotional event for his book, , at Adelaide Writers Week. It was an interaction full of endearing anecdotes about his playing days until a member of the audience – which might have been close to 200-strong – asked him about India’s apparent disinterest in Test cricket, and how it might adversely affect Test cricket overall, considering how the BCCI controls cricket today.”It was obvious from the start of the tour that the Indians weren’t really interested in Test cricket,” Chappell said. “After the Australians showed that they were going to be a formidable foe, I was very disappointed with the Indians. And having worked with many of them and having been in the dressing room with them, Test cricket was too hard for most of them. They can only make a lot of money playing 20-over cricket. Fifty-over cricket they can sort of put up with.”Test cricket for a lot of, not only India, a lot of subcontinent teams, I think it’s pretty tough. And the challenge for Test cricket is, without the sort of grounding that we [Australians] had as kids, Test cricket is too hard. It’s very demanding mentally, physically and emotionally.”Malcolm Knox, Chappell’s co-writer, then brought the discussion back to the book, and pointed out how Chappell had marked out Virender Sehwag’s fitness and attitude and Zaheer Khan’s fitness as key issues for India. “You can throw in attitude for Zaheer as well,” Chappell interjected.Chappell then spoke about what was wrong with the Indian culture. “The culture is very different, it’s not a team culture,” Chappell said. “They lack leaders in the team because they are not trained to be leaders. From an early age, their parents make all the decisions, their schoolteachers make their decisions, their cricket coaches make the decisions.”The culture of India is such that, if you put your head above the parapet someone will shoot it. Knock your head off. So they learn to keep their head down and not take responsibility. The Poms (British) taught them really well to keep their head down. For if someone was deemed to be responsible, they’d get punished. So the Indians have learned to avoid responsibility. So before taking responsibility for any decisions, they prefer not to.”Chappell said MS Dhoni the Indian captain, was one exception to that rule, but even he seems to have lost to the system. When asked if any Indian captain, when on 329 not out himself, would have declared the innings, Chappell said: “If MS Dhoni would have ever got to 329 in a Test match, he probably would. Look, Dhoni is one of the most impressive young men that I have ever worked with. When he came into that Indian team, you just knew that he was a leader in the making. He was definitely someone who could make decisions, and he didn’t mind putting his head above the parapet, and didn’t mind putting the bigger players in their place. I think he is the best thing to have happened to Indian cricket in recent times.”But looking at him on this tour – I didn’t meet or speak to him at all – but just watching the body language and just watching him on the field, it wasn’t the MS Dhoni that I knew. I think Indian cricket has worn him down as well. Especially captaining all three formats, and India plays about 50% more cricket than Australia does. And Dhoni played four years, captaining three years while being wicketkeeper and their key batsman – one of the best chasers of a target that I’ve ever seen. Very confident, very un-Indian in that regard. There was no false modesty about him. If he thought he could do something, he would take responsibility and say ‘I can do that.'”Chappell also felt Sehwag’s captaincy ambition hurt the Indian team. “Sehwag thought he should be captain after [Anil] Kumble, so there is a bit of a collision there,” he said. “I think Dhoni is getting to a point where Test cricket is getting too hard for him, and the undercurrent around the dressing room cannot help.”Chappell said that Test cricket needed a strong India. “I think Australia and England will always look at Test cricket and try and preserve it,” Chappell said. “South Africa to a lesser degree. Up until this summer I thought India as well. We probably had four major Test-playing countries, and the others would play Test cricket spasmodically.”Because firstly most countries haven’t got the critical mass of players to develop Test cricketers and most of them don’t have the money. Cricket Australia probably spends in excess of 20 million dollars a year in development programmes, which includes first-class cricket – huge investment to develop a Test team. I am not sure many other countries have the will to do that. If the financial circumstances change for Australian cricket, it will be very tough for Australian cricket too.”If of the three formats, one of them is under pressure, it’s Test cricket. In ten years’ time, it might look very different from the way it looks today. And for those who have grown up with Test cricket and hold it in high stead, we are going to probably be a little bit disappointed with the way it goes in the next few years.”Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

Warwickshire missed out on the title on the final day of last season, but they held their nerve for the second week running to claim a five-wicket victory over Lancashire to establish themselves among the early division one pacesetters.

Myles Hodgson at Aigburth22-Apr-2012
ScorecardRikki Clarke’s innings set up Warwickshire winning position•Getty Images

Warwickshire may still be feeling the disappointment of missing out on the title on the final day of last season, but they held their nerve for the second week running to claim a five-wicket victory over Lancashire to establish themselves among the early division one pacesetters.A nervous run-chase against Somerset last week, which was only secured after Jeetan Patel hit 43 off 36 balls to make amends for a batting collapse, was followed by Warwickshire just about reaching their victory target of 70 under great pressure from Simon Kerrigan and Gary Keedy, Lancashire’s pair of left-arm spinners.Yet for all the frayed nerves on the players’ balcony inside Aigburth’s Victorian pavilion, Ashley Giles wore a big grin and rated it as “the best Warwickshire victory” since he returned as director of cricket in 2008. That it was achieved against Lancashire, who won the championship on that dramatic final afternoon last September, was barely noticed.The victory opened up a 40-point lead between Warwickshire and Lancashire, who have now suffered defeats in the opening two games of a season for the first time since 1965.
It is early in the summer still, but supporters are already raising fears they may follow in the footsteps of Yorkshire (2002) and Nottinghamshire (2006) and suffer relegation as defending champions.In a dominant position ever since the 234-run eighth wicket stand between Darren Maddy and Rikki Clarke on Saturday afternoon, there were slight concerns on the final morning when rain delayed the start until shortly before lunch and removed 21 overs from the day’s allocation. It only served to hasten Warwickshire’s determination to secure the victory quickly and they wrapped up Lancashire’s last six wickets in 24 overs.Keith Barker’s increased responsibility in the absence of injured seamers Boyd Rankin and Chris Woakes has allowed him to flourish and he made the early inroads once Gary Keedy, Lancashire’s nightwatchman, had swept Patel’s off-spin to mid-wicket. The extra bounce he extracted from the River End removed Luke Procter for a duck via his glove while Ian Bell ended Gareth Cross’ dangerous cameo of 20 with a superb diving catch at short mid-wicket.Re-signed for Warwickshire primarily as a bowler, Patel came into his own and enjoyed an intense tussle with Ashwell Prince, Lancashire’s South African overseas player. Gaining considerable turn and bounce from the worn Aigburth wicket, he teased out Glen Chapple and Kerrigan to catches close to the wicket to complete his third five-wicket haul in five championship matches for Warwickshire.The key wicket was the dismissal of Prince, who had battled for over two hours for his half-century, but attempted to sweep a fuller ball on leg stump and was bowled around his legs, leaving Warwickshire what looked a modest target.Chapple gave Kerrigan the Pavilion End from the start and he claimed two early wickets, including Bell caught at short extra cover driving on the up. Keedy, brought on from the River End after Chapple had an unsuccessful three-over spell with the new ball, claimed further wickets in successive overs.Tension really started to increase once Darren Maddy, batting with an injured finger, edged Kerrigan to Stephen Moore at second slip to leave Warwickshire still needing 18 runs with five wickets down. Will Porterfield retained his composure to score an unbeaten 22 and the victory was completed with Tim Ambrose cutting Keedy for four.”We can definitely see areas where we can improve,” conceded Chapple, Lancashire’s captain. “Warwickshire are a title-chasing team and although we are under par there is no far for us to go before we are turning sides over.”This year we have started slowly, but a couple of wins and we can get ourselves back in the hunt. It is important to address what isn’t quite right at the moment, but it is not far off.
“We have had a good chat and we know where we need to go. It is a brand new season, being champions is irrelevant, we have said that from the word go. It is up to us to perform.”

“We’re waiting for the final dates, but the ideal scenario is to be available and around for all that cricket”

Andrew McGlashan21-Feb-2021New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has admitted that potentially missing the Test matches against England in early June due to complete the IPL is not his preferred option but that it’s another case of the ideal scenario rarely playing out in the current climate.Related

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It has yet to be confirmed whether there will be a direct clash between the knockout stage of the IPL and the two-match series that will be played at Lord’s and Edgbaston between June 2 and 14. The England series will be just before the World Test Championship final, beginning on June 18, which New Zealand are guaranteed to be at.However, it is expected that the IPL will stretch into early June and NZC CEO David White has said that a “pragmatic” approach will be taken. NZC has long allowed their contracted players free rein to appear in the IPL and to date it has never meant any of them missing a Test match, although on the 2015 tour of England players arrived just a few days before the opening game.But even if the dates aren’t a direct clash it may not be as simple as quickly flying in from India depending on any Covid-19 quarantine protocols that are required.”It’s certainly not the preferred thing,” Williamson said of the potential clash. “I know when plans were put in place that wasn’t the idea then, but as we’ve seen, you can make plans in this day in age and very rarely do they go to plan.”For us it’s being able to adapt as quickly as possible, we still have to wait and see when dates are finalised to truly know what is happening before any decision is made but the ideal scenario is to be available and around for all that cricket. We’ll just have to wait and see.”Other first-choice Test players Trent Boult (Mumbai Indians) and Kyle Jamieson (Royal Challengers Bangalore) also have IPL deals as does quick bowler Lockie Ferguson (Kolkata Knight Riders) who could push for a place.Williamson and Boult have recently spoken about expecting to be on the road for up to 10 months this year. Once the home season is completed they will head straight to the IPL before moving onto England (Williamson also has a deal in the Hundred) then New Zealand have tours of Bangladesh and Pakistan lined up ahead of the T20 World Cup in India.Whenever a player returns to New Zealand they will be required to go through two weeks managed isolation under the government’s Covid-19 protocols.The two-Test series against England has been a late addition to the calendar and the matches are not part of the World Test Championship.Depending on which franchises make the IPL knockouts there could be a number of players missing the Tests with the ECB having also said they will allow their players to play the whole tournament unless they have not been in the XI.

Rest of India tightened their hold over the Irani Cup, a trophy they’ve won for seven straight seasons, by consolidating the dominant position they had reached after gaining a 117-run lead in the first innings

The Report by Siddhartha Talya in Mumbai10-Feb-2013
Rest of India take the Irani Cup on first-innings lead
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
File photo: Wasim Jaffer topped his first innings half-century with an unbeaten hundred•Fotocorp

Rest of India won the Irani Cup for the eighth consecutive time, based on a first-innings lead after any hopes of an outright result were erased when their two overnight batsmen came out to bat on the final morning. Suresh Raina struck a half-century to follow up on his ton in the first innings, Ambati Rayudu was unbeaten on 156 before Rest of India declared, and Wasim Jaffer completed his prolific first-class season on a high. Neither featured in India’s squad for the first two Tests against Australia, which was picked today.However, Harbhajan Singh returned to the India squad and picked up two wickets, including Ajinkya Rahane, who has been retained. Mumbai were given 63 overs to chase 507, and Rest of India would have been crying for them to self-destruct if they seriously hoped of winning outright. Both Aditya Tare and Ajinkya Rahane were caught at short leg off Harbhajan, but Jaffer was calm and comfortable at the other end, smoothly moving to another century, his 48th in first-class cricket, and going past 1000 runs in the Irani Cup. Jaffer was a strong contender for an opening role in the Indian squad after averaging 76 in the Ranji Trophy but Murali Vijay and a surprise pick, Shikhar Dhawan, were preferred over him.Sreesanth, Ishwar Pandey, and Abhimanyu Mithun, aspirants for a place in India’s attack, bowled just 11 overs between them without any success, but they didn’t have a game as disappointing as another Test hopeful, Rohit Sharma. He had thrown his wicket away in the first innings, top-edging a slog-sweep when on zero, and fell for 1 today, going after India’s spin regular Pragyan Ojha but only getting as far as long-off to offer an easy catch. Neither of his dismissals in the game would have sat well with selectors.The captains called off the game with nine mandatory overs remaining. It was only the second time in the last 14 years that the winner of the Irani Cup has been decided by a first-innings lead.

Michael Clarke and AB de Villiers have gone joint-top of the ICC Test batsmen rankings after Kumar Sangakkara slipped from the spot

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Mar-2012Michael Clarke and AB de Villiers have gone joint-top of the ICC Test batsmen rankings after Kumar Sangakkara slipped from the spot due to a poor return in the Galle Test. Sangakkara, who had been on top of the rankings for four months, had scores of 0 and 14 in Galle, costing him 37 rating points and three places. Jacques Kallis, who was second in the rankings, also lost points, after missing the Wellington Test, meaning Clarke, who had moved to third after his outstanding series against India, moved to the No. 1 spot. de Villiers joined him there after a couple of important half-centuries in South Africa’s series against New Zealand.Not surprisingly, Vernon Philander has stormed into the top ten in the bowlers rankings, after taking 21 wickets in three Tests in New Zealand and becoming the second fastest bowler to 50 Test wickets. That means South Africa now have all their three frontline fast bowlers in the top ten, with Dale Steyn still leading the rankings and Morne Morkel in tenth place. Also moving into the top ten is Rangana Herath, who, in Galle, took the first 12-wicket match-haul in a Test since Jason Krejza’s in 2008.After losing in Galle, England must win against Sri Lanka in Colombo to retain their No. 1 ranking. Anything less would see South Africa claim the No. 1 spot. If England lose in Colombo, it would open the door for Australia to overtake them, though they would need to beat West Indies 3-0 to do it.

TKR are unbeatean this season but the Zouks are quietly confident of a maiden CPL title

Deivarayan Muthu10-Sep-2020The captains of the last two teams standing in CPL 2020 set up the scene perfectly for the final on Thursday. Pollard’s Trinbago Knight Riders have been so dominant that they have won all their 11 matches in the lead-up to their fourth final appearance. On the other hand, Sammy’s St Lucia Zouks have overcome tremendous odds to enter their first-ever CPL final.Sammy believes that the Zouks can still topple the Knight Riders if they continue to rally and execute their plans under pressure.”Everybody knew before we left and from the time the tournament started, we said whoever has to win the tournament has to go through TKR. That was a given, and if you have to win the tournament you have to beat TKR,” Sammy said on the eve of the final.”And that’s what is left to do. They’ve played some really exciting, dominant brand of cricket, but – like I said – we have the silent confidence in our team. They play well as a unit by dominance and we play well as a unit by us pulling together and believing in ourselves.”The last time two these two sides came up against each other in the second leg of the tournament at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, the Zouks had made the Knight Riders dig deep. They got rid of the Knight Riders’ openers fairly early, then pinned down Tim Seifert and Darren Bravo in the middle orders, but Pollard launched three fours and as many sixes at the death to lift his side to 175 for 5. Former Knight Rider Mark Deyal and Andre Fletcher made forty-somethings each for the Zouks, but the experience of Pollard and Dwayne Bravo trumped them. Both bowlers shifted their lines wider and restricted the batsmen from targeting the smaller boundaries.Pollard conceded that the Zouks “pushed” them last week, but emphasised that past records would count for nothing in the final. Instead, he counted on the Knight Riders’ vast experience in finals to help them clear the final hurdle. Pollard and Bravo have featured in 43 T20 finals between them, and nobody has more T20 titles than the two – both are tied on 13.”Four other teams would’ve liked to be in a position that both teams are in,” Pollard said. “So, you just have to go out and play good, consistent cricket and at the end of the day the result takes care of itself. One good thing is we have guys who would have played in a lot of finals before, so [that helps] to settle the nerves of guys who are new to these things.”Again, last year we were pretty disappointed to lose in the semi-final. We made some changes and came with a different sort of mentality this year and it has shown on the cricket field, so it’s just a matter of jumping the last hurdle and hopefully be four-time champions.”Akeal Hosein struck with the new ball for Trinbago Knight Riders•Randy Brooks – CPL T20 / Getty

Among the changes that the Knight Riders made for this season was letting go of Denesh Ramdin and giving local players like left-arm fingerspinner Akeal Hosein, who was the player of the match in the first semi-final, and top-order batsman Tion Webster greater exposure. While some of those changes have been forced, with Colin Munro (finger fracture), Sunil Narine (kidney stones) and Ali Khan (hamstring tear) not being fit during various stages of the tournament, it has provided a peek into the next-gen Caribbean players.”We found ourselves in a position where we could get these guys into the team and into the tournament and give them exposure,” Pollard said of giving the new faces a go. “Because when you look at it and when you look at what has transpired in the CPL in the last seven or eight years, you tend to continue to recycle old guys because you don’t have that other [domestic T20] tournament where you can unearth other talent in the Caribbean – not only Trinidad & Tobago, also Jamaica, Barbados.”We had the Caribbean T20, but now that’s no more. Akeal Hosein would have come in, Tion would have come in not expecting to play much games, but when you look at they have played four-five games and they have been stars in what they’ve done. So, we have talent on the bench, it’s just a matter of exposure. Mark Deyal was with us last year, he played a couple of games only, but he went to St Lucia and he played over half the games. So, we have talent, but there’s one thing that’s stopping us and that’s something we need to look at if we are about bringing up youth and future generation of West Indies cricketers.”With the Caribbean T20 having been scrapped, Sammy echoed Pollard’s comments, saying it wasn’t “ideal” to pick players for CPL from four-day and one-day tournaments.‘You can’t complain about pitches’
One of the major talking points this season has been the nature of the pitches, with the entire tournament being played in Trinidad in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some teams have struggled to chase down sub-100 totals, with five-time finalists the Guyana Amazon Warriors getting rolled over for 55 by the Zouks in the second semi-final. Both Pollard and Sammy refused to blame the pitches, with the Knight Riders captain pointing out that West Indies batsmen haven’t been able to adjust to different pitches in international cricket as well.”If I’d be a little critical, yes, the pitches haven’t been up to standard in terms of batting, but what I’ve seen is that the guys haven’t mentally changed their game to suit the conditions,” Pollard said. “And that’s something that has not only happened to us in CPL, but it has happened to us in international cricket as well.”You can’t complain all the time about pitches when we [are] not changing as individuals. I didn’t see the mental fortitude of batsmen in other teams throughout the tournament. In all honesty, we, TKR, have tried to adjust to the situation that has presented itself because in the same games we score 180-plus, but teams score 70 and 80 and there’s a big disparity there. If you go to Australia where pitches are bouncy, what will you say? You don’t get bouncy tracks in the Caribbean? We can’t continue to make excuses; we go to Sri Lanka, where pitches are spinning and stuff like that.”