International
Ashes: Cummins, Smith in captain and vice-captain role could be a good template
In 2021, Australia have seen three different captains in Test cricket: Tim Paine, Pat Cummins, and Steve Smith. Before the start of the Ashes, Paine tearfully resigned from the post due to his lewd text messages to a former Cricket Tasmania female staffer from 2017 coming into the limelight. Amidst the storm, Cummins was appointed to lead Australia in Test cricket with Smith as his deputy.
The Cummins-Smith leadership duo went well as Australia won the first Test at Brisbane by nine wickets. But an unexpected turn of events saw Cummins being ruled out of the Adelaide Test due to being a close contact of a Covid-19 positive case while dining indoors in a restaurant on the eve of the Test. That brought Smith back into the captaincy role, for the first time since the Sandpaper gate Test in Cape Town, 2018.
Former India pacer Snehal Pradhan is completely convinced by the idea of how Australia have Cummins and Smith in their leadership nucleus. “It’s too early to really make any comments on Cummins’ captaincy. I mean, just one Test match where he had a great first innings and got a great start. But not a great sample size. In general, I love the idea of fast-bowling captains. I played a lot of my cricket under Jhulan Goswami, who was a very good fast bowling captain. I also buy into the idea that Australia are putting a model with Cummins and Smith,” said Snehal during a media interaction organised by Sony Sports on the sidelines of Adelaide Test.
Snehal further delved into why a vice-captain’s role becomes crucial when a pacer is appointed as the captain. “Like, when the fast bowler is a captain, then the vice-captain becomes really important. Because as a fast-bowler, when I am in the middle of a spell, I don’t want to care about field placings as much as I care about when I am not bowling. To have someone, on whom I can entrust the responsibility so much when I am in the middle of a really tiring 7-8 over spell, is a good template to work with. By necessity, that person is probably a batter. So, I think it’s a good template to work with.”
She feels Cummins’ biggest worry as a captain will be the workload. “”I don’t think Covid situation comes into it as anyone could have been affected by the Covid situation. Cummins is really unlucky. It could have been a batting captain; it could have been like a Tim Paine. And then suddenly you have to replace that player. From the workload point of view, of course, for a player who plays all three formats, who is a fast bowler, who ideally wants to be bowling 140-plus consistently, some amount of rest and rotation is going to be part of the job.”
The 35-year-old again pointed out how the vice-captain becomes a decisive figure in scenarios like what happened with Cummins in Adelaide. “The role of the vice-captain in that situation becomes really important because you are picking your vice-captain knowing that he or she is going to lead in this case. Usually, you pick your vice-captain only as a stopgap arrangement, or only as someone who will lead in case of an injury. So, that’s definitely what I would say about the workload management side of things in this situation. I like the idea, but then your vice-captain becomes really important.”
With Australia going the daring path of a pacer as captain in Test cricket, can India, closer home, go down that path as well? Snehal doesn’t think so. “In terms of fast-bowling captains, who could fit the role for the Indian team, who knows? I mean, we don’t have any shortage of batting captains. Just for convenience’s sake, batting captains are more convenient because you don’t have to worry about your primary skill while you are on the field. I don’t think we will see a fast-bowling captain because we have got so many batting leaders coming up through the system.”
Snehal Pradhan is part of the Hindi Commentary Panel for the ongoing Ashes Tour on SONY TEN 3 that started from December 8, 2021, and will go on till January 18, 2022.
International
CT 2025: India to take on Pakistan on Feb 23, likely to play in Colombo or Dubai: Sources
New Delhi, Dec 19: The much-awaited clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025 will be played on February 23 with Colombo and Dubai front-runners to play host for India’s matches in the tournament being played in hybrid format. The development comes after the ICC Board said that “India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue.”
“India will take on Pakistan at a neutral venue on February 23, 2025. ICC looking at Colombo and Dubai to host their matches.”
The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be played in February and March 2025. Meanwhile, ICC said the schedule for the marquee tournament will be confirmed in the coming days.
Pakistan are the defending champions of the tournament, having defeated India by 180 runs in the final at The Oval in 2017. Both teams last played against each other in the T20 World Cup in New York earlier this year which India won by six runs and went on to claim their second silverware in the format.
Due to the strained political relations between the two neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan only play each other in international events including World Cups and Asia Cup. The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was held in 2012-13 when the latter toured India for the five-match white-ball series.
International
It’s OFFICIAL! All India vs Pakistan Matches At ICC Events To Be Played At Neutral Venue Till 2027
India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue, the ICC Board confirmed on Thursday, 19 December. The schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is set to be confirmed soon, with Pakistan aiming to defend the title they won in 2017.
The eight-team event will feature Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, and South Africa, alongside hosts Pakistan.
This will apply to the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (hosted by Pakistan), set to be played in February and March 2025, as well as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (hosted by India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (hosted by India and Sri Lanka).
It was also announced that the PCB has been awarded hosting rights of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028, where neutral venue arrangements will also apply. Cricket Australia is set to host one of the senior ICC women’s events during the period 2029 to 2031.
International
‘Our dream is getting fulfilled’: Coach Sumit Bhatia elated to see Kho Kho going global
New Delhi, Dec 16: Coach Sumit Bhatia is all pumped up for the first edition of the Kho Kho World Cup scheduled to take place from January 13-19, 2025. Bhatia, who holds a distinct record of being the only head coach to have won the Asian Championship twice, believes that this historical step is an indication of the realisation of the dream to take the sport to the international level and help it gain global recognition.
Having been honoured with the best coach award by the Delhi government, Bhatia has been a part of various Indian teams’ success, including the 2016 and 2023 Asian Kho Kho Championship victories, and has trained players like Nasreen Shaikh and Sarika Sudhakar Kale. Both of them have been Arjuna Awardees.
Nasreen, who is also a part of the World Cup camp, is the only player who has played in two Asian Championships and won the gold. The coach-student duo is now gearing up for the global event.
Sharing how the journey of Kho Kho World Cup’s inception, the coach said, “We organised an international camp here before COVID happened, in 2020. Coaches and players from 16 countries came here and we gave them training. Now they will be coming here for the World Cup but this campaign started in that camp”.
He further said, “Around 30-35 countries were willing to play the tournament but we picked the best 20 teams for both men and women. Some countries have single teams while some have double teams but a total of 24 countries will be participating in the tournament. It was our dream to take Kho Kho to the international level and now we can see that our dream is getting fulfilled.”
He also lauded the launch of the Ultimate Kho Kho League and shared how the franchise-based model has helped the players and coaches gain recognition, while also bringing forward grassroot talent.
“When the Ultimate Kho Kho league started, I also joined Telegu Yodhas as their head coach and we also played the final. Players have gotten exposure through the league and it’s not just financial. Earlier we used to hesitate while admitting being a Kho Kho coach but today our players introduce us as their coach,” said Bhatia.
He added, “The league got so much coverage that wherever we go, the players are approached for autographs. So the platform of the league started a new world for both coaches and players and now not just India but the entire world knows us. Earlier we used to tell people about our game but now they know what is Kho Kho and Ultimate Kho Kho league and are also waiting for the third season.”
Bhatia also discussed the impact of sports science on Kho Kho and lauded the newly introduced technology and said, “We have benefitted a lot from it. Sometimes we don’t understand why a player is not performing well. But with the introduction of sports science, we now know about the details of the problem.
“For example, a player might be facing issues with his left leg while sitting and so, it gives us an opportunity to work on that weakness… Sports science has helped us in identifying the accuracy and weakness of a player. So it’s very beneficial for us.”
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