This report comes after several former India cricketers urged the star India batter to play domestic cricket in order to regain his form in Tests. Even head coach Gautam Gambhir also hinted that not only Virat but Rohit should also play domestic cricket since he also needs to drastically improve his form in the longest format.

If RCB reaches the final of the IPL which will be played on May 25, then Kohli will have roughly 14 days to play county cricket and get suitable with the English conditions before the 5-match Test series against The Three Lions commences.

Preparing for the swinging conditions in England will not be an easy task and Kohli himself knows that. The India batter has struggled in the past few Test series in England and the same would happen in the upcoming tour as well if he doesn’t take strict measures to improve his form.

Kohli had a brilliant start to the Border-Gavaskar series, slamming a century in the first Test held in Perth. However, his form dipped in the very next match and didn’t show much improvements in the remaining 3 Tests as well.

The 36-year-old will be looking to put the failures in Australia tour behind him and a stint in County Cricket can turn out to be very helpful for him in regaining his form. Spending time in English conditions would allow Kohli to sharpen his skills and also regain his confidence.

The post Virat Kohli likely to play county cricket in order to prepare for England Test series: Report appeared first on Cricket Country.

Following up on his figures of 4/82 in his first innings, Chahal did even better and claimed a 5-wicket haul in the second innings. He finished with a 9-wicket haul in the match and was crucial to his side’s victory.

Thanks to his fifer, Leicestershire were bowled out for 316 and were only able to set a target of 137, which was easily achieved by the Northants in 30.3 overs. Skipper Luke Procter (68 not out) and George Bartlett (54 not out) sealed the chase.

Leicestershire, after resuming the final day on 69/4, recovered through strong batting from Scott Currie and Tom Scriven (48), with Currie reaching a century (120) before being dismissed by Chahal for his fifth wicket.

Chahal also dismissed key players, including skipper Lewis Hill (14) with a well-pitched delivery that turned sharply, and Liam Trevaskis (2) with a catch at short leg.

Despite conceding runs during an aggressive 110-run (141 balls) partnership between Currie and Scriven, including an expensive 19-run over, Chahal’s persistence paid off as he eventually claimed Currie’s wicket to have them reeling at 303/9. Their innings lasted 3 more overs with Saif Zaib (2/61) dismissing Louis Kimber.

In the previous match, Chahal had claimed 5/45 and 4/45 in Northants’ 133-run win over Derbyshire.

The post Yuzvendra Chahal shines again, picks up successive 5-wicket haul in County Cricket appeared first on Cricket Country.

It was his 40th century in first-class cricket and first one for Leicestershire. The 36-year-old, who was not given a place in the Duleep Trophy squads by the BCCI selectors last month, had earlier scored 42 runs in the first inning.

Rahane, who last played for India against the West Indies in the 2-match Test series last year in July, has scored a century at the time when BCCI selectors are set to announce India’s squad for the 2-match Test series against Bangladesh in the coming days. 

The post Ajinkya Rahane scores maiden ton for Leicestershire in clash against Glamorgan appeared first on Cricket Country.

Pujara’s international ODI record is almost non-existent but the batter time and again has shown he can be a valuable addition to the limited-overs team. Pujara has 5383 runs in 119 List A matches at an average of 57.26, including 15 centuries and 32 fifties.

In 71 T20 games, Pujara has scored 1556 runs at a strike rate of 112.18, including a hundred. His stats are even better in a first-class career, scoring 19429 runs in 254 games, with 60 centuries.

The batter was at his best while playing for Suxxes in England’s One-Day Cup. Pujara scored 106 of 119 balls, taking the team to 240/7. The value of the innings can be understood by the fact that the next-best score for the team was 29 runs.

Can Cheteshwar Pujara Be Considered For The World Cup Squad?

In a format that needs players who can play at a strike rate of over 100, a collapse is always on the cards. This is where players like Pujara can be handy as they can absorb pressure and bring stability to the team. The World Cup is lined up and Pujara is not in the reckoning.

However, he may not be a bad inclusion given his ability to hold one end. The Indian cricket team is laced with dashers from top to bottom, with Virat Kohli the only batter who can play the anchor role. It won’t be a bad move to have someone like Pujara who can serve as a backup to Virat Kohli.

He can also fit in the team as Kohli might not score runs in every game. Pujara in the team will allow the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Hardik Pandya to play their natural game without worrying about a collapse.

The post Cheteshwar Pujara Pushes For World Cup Selection With Stunning Century For Sussex appeared first on Cricket Country.

Mohammed Siraj’s first-ever wicket in the County Championship was Imam-ul-Haq of Pakistan. The batter edged Mohammed Siraj’s ball straight into the hands of the wicketkeeper.

Siraj is on a roll in his county debut. pic.twitter.com/inU5KbhJ0r

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 12, 2022

Mohammed Siraj then sent George Bartlett and wicket-keeper James Rew back to the pavilion on the next two deliveries. Both the batters tried to play the balls on their merit but failed to withstand the power of Mohammed Siraj’s bowling.

The fourth wicket for Mohammed Siraj turned out to be Josh Davey who got out for 21 runs. He was given lbw as the Indian bowler bowled a sublime delivery to take his fourth scalp. Lewis Gregory tried to do some repair work with 60 not out off 93 balls but he does not have any support on the other end now as Somerset have lost 8 wickets for just 182 runs for the first wicket.

Warwickshire would hope to bowl them out early on Day 2 and get a handsome first-innings lead.

“I can’t wait to join up with the Bears squad. I have always enjoyed playing in England with India and I’m excited to experience County Cricket. Edgbaston is a world-class stadium and the atmosphere it created this year for the Test was special. I am really looking forward to making it my home in September and hopefully helping the Bears end the season well,” Mohammed Siraj had said on joining Warwickshire for the county season.

The bowler has played 26 matches for India in all formats of the game and has taken 56 wickets.

The post Watch: Mohammed Siraj Takes 4 Wickets On Debut For Warwickshire In County Cricket appeared first on Cricket Country.

However, in the final half of the day on Saturday, an unbroken opening stand of 169 between Alex Lees and Sean Dickson gave Durham a chance of saving the match, after they had conceded a first-innings lead of 315.

Dickson completed his century just before the close, off 137 balls, while Lees finished with 50 not out, according to sussexcricket.co.uk. Earlier, Sussex had continued to dominate their fixture against one of the favourites for promotion as their overseas stars Pujara and Mohammad Rizwan put on 154 for the sixth wicket.

Pujara scored 203, his second double century in three matches, while Rizwan found his form on his home debut with an innings of 79 as Sussex piled on 538. There are enough cracks on the pitch to encourage the Sussex spinners on the final day. But Durham, who are 146 runs behind, have a good chance of a fighting draw on what is still a good surface.

In the first session on Saturday, Sussex scored 128 runs without losing a wicket. The game changed dramatically after lunch, when Sussex lost five wickets for 34 runs in nine overs as left-armer Liam Trevaskis followed his 88 runs with figures of 5/128. That still gave Sussex a huge first-innings advantage. But the Durham openers batted superbly in the final session to give their side hope.

The day started with Sussex on 362 for five, with Pujara 128 not out and Rizwan unbeaten on five. The Indian batting stalwart rocked onto the back foot and punched the first ball of the morning for four. He scored just eight runs in the opening 45 minutes, and it was Rizwan who was the more aggressive of the two batters, scoring 36 by the time the pair had put on fifty.

At lunch, Sussex had reached 490/5, a lead of 267, with Pujara 186 and Rizwan 74. The 150 partnerships, which coincided with the side reaching 500, came off 149 balls. But four runs later Rizwan was brilliantly caught at deep square-leg. Delray Rawlins, then got off the mark with a slogged six over midwicket but, pulling, was bowled for 12. Two overs later Pujara, venturing down the wicket to Trevaskis, was stumped. He faced 334 balls and struck 24 fours.

Pujara added 99 runs for the fourth wicket alongside Tom Alsop, 143 runs for the fifth wicket with Tom Clark and a terrific 154-run partnership alongside Rizwan for the next wicket during his marathon knock.

His knock came to an end after lasting at the crease for a whopping 118 overs when he was stumped off the last ball of the 152nd over of the innings.

Pujara has returned scores of 6, 201 not out, 109 and 203 in the four innings that he has played so far. With his latest feat, Pujara equalled a 28-year-old record as he became the second Indian after former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin to make two double hundreds in the English County Championship. This was also Pujara’s 15th double hundred in his First-class career.

The post Cheteshwar Pujara Becomes Second Indian After Mohammad Azharuddin to Make Two Double Hundreds in County Cricket appeared first on Cricket Country.

“I’m very excited and looking forward to sharing the dressing room with their players; obviously we have Jimmy bhai, Jimmy Anderson, so I’m very happy and very excited,” Hasan told ESPNcricinfo.

The 27-year-old revealed that he has never spoken to Anderson and he has a lot of questions for him.

“Honestly, I never spoke with him before. But now I’m going to have a lot of questions to ask him. I’m going to disturb him,” he said.

Anderson is possibly one of the greatest swing bowlers to have played the game and Ali wants to be in his pocket to learn the tricks of the trade and use his experience to become a better fast bowler.

“We know he’s a great bowler. He swings the ball both ways. I’m going to learn how he swings the ball both ways, especially the cross-seam ball. I’m going to learn it,” said the 17-year-old.

Anderson is the highest Test wicket-taker among pace bowlers in the world with 640 scalps from 169 Tests. The 39-year-old was dropped from the three-Test away series against the West Indies, which the Joe Root-led side lost 0-1 recently.

Anderson has vowed to wrest back his place in the Test side with a good showing in county cricket playing for Lancashire, where he will share the ball with Hasan Ali.

(With Agency Inputs)

The post I’m Going To Disturb Him: Pakistan Pacer Hasan Ali Intends To Be In England Stalwart’s Pocket During Lancashire County Stint appeared first on Cricket Country.

Every time Reeve padded the ball, he threw his bat away so as to avoid any deflection from his glove and minimise his chances of getting dismissed. Since a batter cannot be dismissed caught behind off the glove if the bat is not in the hand, the ploy seemed to have worked for Reeve. He did this close to 15 times and took 11 overs to get off the mark.

Dermot Reeve pads away a ball which pitches outside leg and throws away his bat Warwickshire v Hampshire, Edgasbton, May 20th 1996. He wanted to avoid a deflection onto his glove – a batsman can only be out caught off a glove if the bat is in the hand. He did this 15 times pic.twitter.com/KYymAMiTnS

Historic Cricket Pictures (@PictureSporting) February 9, 2022

When asked about the bizarre tactic, the former English cricketer is learnt to have said that he took a leaf out of John Emburey’s book, who played for Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Western Province, Berkshire and England and applied the same strategy while facing Norman Gifford — a former left-arm spinner who represented England in 15 Test matches and 2 ODIs.

Following the incident, it was almost taken out of the game and immediately outlawed to prevent anyone else from using the same ploy against their opponent. Hampshire, however, went on to win the match by 122 runs and Reeve’s tactics only went to delay the inevitable. No points for guessing that the silly point fielder had a tough time, not because of the ball hitting him but the bat landing close to his feet.

The post When Dermot Reeve Dropped His Bat In Order To Avoid Getting Dismissed in a County Game | SEE PIC appeared first on Cricket Country.

The 34-year-old, who is one among only three Indian spinners to take over 400 Test wickets, will be key to India’s fortunes in the highly-awaited five-match Test series against England, beginning August 4. Opening the bowling with the new ball once again, Ashwin removed Steven Davies, Tom Lammonby, James Hildreth, George Bartlett and Roelof van der Merwe to claim figures of 5 for 23 in 13 overs and leave Somerset reeling at 60 for 7 at lunch on Day 4.

WATCH VIDEO

🎯 pic.twitter.com/15HW9oZPe3

Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) July 14, 2021

Ashwin’s first wicket for Surrey. And it is a left-hander!pic.twitter.com/PHMP8dS4kX

Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) July 11, 2021

Earlier this year, the English top-order had struggled against him and left-arm spinner Axar Patel on spin-friendly pitches during the Test tour of India in February-March.

Ashwin had ended with the Player-of-the-Series award, having scalped 32 wickets and scored valuable runs. In the World Test Championship final against New Zealand last month, he picked four wickets for 45 runs as India lost the Test. Ahead of the ongoing county game, the wily spinner had expressed happiness at getting an opportunity.

“I am so privileged to be having the badge on. I have heard and wondered what the London counties are all about. Even though it’s only for a game, I am delighted to share this dressing room,” Ashwin had said in a video shared by the Surrey county team.

The post WATCH VIDEO: Ravichandran Ashwin Picks up Five-For in Surrey vs Somerset County Championship Match appeared first on Cricket Country.

After 2014, Pujara couldn’t attract any buyers in the auction as he is a Test specialist. However, Pujara’s long-awaited return to the IPL ended when he was picked by Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2021 auctions for his base price of INR 50 lakhs.

In fact, Pujara was seen batting with a different back lift in the CSK nets as he unleashed his new avatar. But the right-hander didn’t get any chances in the final XI in the seven matches the team played in IPL 2021 before the tournament was deferred indefinitely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ste12xnpes

“It was tough. It was never easy to be left out and go unsold in the IPL. It hurt me. But that is something which I cannot control. After a point I realised that I’ll try and focus on the things, which I can control and I kept working on getting better towards the shorter formats,” said Pujara on YouTube show Mind Matters.

Meanwhile, Pujara had played for English County Gloucestershire in 2020 when he wasn’t picked by any IPL team. Pujara had earlier revealed his excitement to join the County.

“I am really excited to get the opportunity to represent Gloucestershire this season. The club has a rich cricketing history, and this is a great opportunity to be a part of it and contribute to its success,” Pujara had said last year.

Pujara is known for his solid game in the Test format and he is going to hold the key in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand, which will take place at Southampton from June 18. Subsequently, India will play a five-match Test series against England in August and September.

The post It Hurt me – Cheteshwar Pujara on Going Unsold in The IPL appeared first on Cricket Country.