Cricket

From bad boys to the Universe Boss ready to compete in IPL

AFP Sport picks six to watch when the 12th season of the high-octane Twenty20 Indian Premier League begins on Saturday:

Steve Smith

A year after breaking down in front of the TV cameras following his ball-tampering ban, the former Australian skipper embarks on the road to redemption in the world's most popular Twenty20 tournament.

Smith, 29, is no longer captain of his IPL side Rajasthan Royals but the batsman remains key to the team's hope of winning their second title after a memorable triumph in the 2008 inaugural edition.

"I love playing in India, the IPL is a terrific tournament," Smith told Cricket Australia. "I am playing all the shots and got my power back. I am tracking really well."


David Warner:
Accused of being the instigator of the Australia cheating scandal, the explosive 32-year-old Sunrisers Hyderabad opener is out to show he is a reformed character after punching England's Joe Root in a pub early in his career and squaring up to South Africa's Quinton de Kock last year.

"Really excited to be back in IPL. It's a great field, great buzz and energy. Hopefully put some runs on the board for our team to win some matches," said the left-hander, who is looking to play himself back into Australia's World Cup squad.

Ben Stokes

The 27-year-old England all-rounder will be keen to return to the blistering IPL form he showed two seasons ago.

Last year, with a court case for affray hanging over his head from which he was later acquitted, Stokes produced just 196 runs and eight wickets in 12 matches for the Rajasthan Royals who had splurged $1.96 million for the left-handed batsman and right-arm paceman.

On arrival this week with fellow England star Jos Buttler the Royals tweeted: "Where are Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, you ask? They have returned home!"

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

The ageless Indian warhorse led Chennai Super Kings' charge to their third IPL title last year, defying detractors who had written off his veteran-packed side.

Fans had dubbed the Kings dugout a "retirement home" containing Dhoni and Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, who were both 36 at the time, and South Africa's Faf du Plessis, who was 33.

But Dhoni's "captain cool" approach led the Super Kings to glory and a year later, with retirement appearing on the horizon, it could be the final Twenty20 flourish for the 37-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman who led India to two World Cup triumphs.

Rashid Khan

The Afghanistan spin sensation remains world cricket's hottest property as he gears up for another IPL edition with Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The world's top Twenty20 bowler was snapped up by Sunrisers for $597,000 and proved his worth by bagging 21 wickets in his team's runners-up finish last year.

At age 20, leg-spinner Khan is in high demand for Twenty20 leagues across the globe but has a special place for his war-torn nation's adopted cricketing homeland India.

"You perform on flat wickets like the IPL and that gives you a kind of satisfaction and confidence that I can deliver when I am in the national side," he told AFP.

Chris Gayle

Owners and coaches applauded when Kings XI Punjab snapped up the self-titled "Universe Boss" in 2018 after he remained unsold in two auction rounds.

The big-hitting 39-year-old West Indian did not disappoint, scoring 368 runs including a hundred and three fifties in 11 games. The West Indian has said he will retire after this year's World Cup but is not short of confidence heading into the new IPL campaign.


"Any bowler is going to beware of Chris Gayle," he said.

India beat Australia in nail-biting second ODI

India pulled off an eight-run victory in a low-scoring thriller after all-rounder Vijay Shankar picked two wickets in the final over of the second one-day international against Australia on Tuesday.

The Australians needed 11 runs from the last over with two wickets in hand but Shankar, playing only his sixth ODI, kept his nerves to pick a wicket off his first and third balls in the day-night game in Nagpur.

Skipper Virat Kohli, who struck 116 in India's modest total of 250, asked Shankar to bowl the final over ahead of the regular Kuldeep Yadav, and he was rewarded amply for his move.

The Aussies were bowled out for 242 off 49.3 overs with Marcus Stoinis top-scoring with 52.

It was the 500th win in one-day internationals for India.

The visitors were off to a steady start with openers Aaron Finch (37) and Usman Khawaja (38) putting on 83 runs before being dismissed in successive overs.

Glenn Maxwell (18) saw his stumps being uprooted after a ball from Kuldeep Yadav sneaked from under his bat.

But it was the run-out of Peter Handscomb who looked set for a big score that hurt the visitors hard.

Kohli shines

Handscomb, who made 48 off 59 balls, tried to take a risky single but Ravindra Jadeja made no mistake in hitting the stumps.

A double-strike by Jasprit Bumrah (2-29) turned the game around for the Indians who ensured there was no let-up in the pressure on the visitors.

Earlier Kohli smashed his 40th century on a challenging pitch that seemed to aid bowlers.

Kohli hit 10 fours in his 120-ball knock and held anchor after Australian captain Finch had elected to bowl.

The Indians got off to a rocky start, losing openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan (21) early in the innings.

Sharma (0) top-edged off Adam Zampa and Dhawan (21) was given out leg before wicket after Australia's appeal was upheld on review.

India had no such luck as Ambati Rayudu's decision to appeal against the on-field umpire's lbw decision was turned down, the hosts reduced to a shaky 75-3.

Kohli, the world's top-ranked ODI batsman, went for the counter-attack, hitting two fours off the last two balls of the 18th over by Zampa to underline his top form.

The 30-year-old skipper timed his innings perfectly, stitching a 81-run partnership with Shankar, who impressed during his 41-ball 46 before being run out by Zampa.

Steyn grabs advantage for South Africa

Dale Steyn and his fellow fast bowlers enabled South Africa to gain an advantage over Sri Lanka on the second day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Kingsmead in Durban on Thursday.

Steyn took four for 48 as South Africa took a first innings lead of 44. They stretched their lead to 170 by reaching 126 for four at the close.

South Africa's decision to pick five specialist bowlers meant that their advantage was some way short of being decisive, with Faf du Plessis (25 not out) and Quinton de Kock (15 not out) their last two recognised batsmen going into day three.\

Sri Lanka were bowled out for 191 and were unable to build on a good first day when their inexperienced bowlers surprised the South African batsmen, who could manage only 235 in their first innings.

Steyn and Vernon Philander soon put their stamp on the game when Sri Lanka resumed at 49 for one on Thursday, taking three wickets in the first ten overs of the morning.

Kusal Perera played some bold and occasionally lucky strokes in making 51 off 63 balls for Sri Lanka and the hosts were frustrated when a barrage of short-pitched bowling could not break a stubborn ninth wicket partnership of 32, the joint second-highest of the innings, between debutant Lasith Embuldeniya and Kasun Rajitha.

It was particularly frustrating for Steyn, who bowled unchanged for a ten-over spell after lunch in a bid to claim the 27th five-wicket haul of his Test career.

He had already taken four wickets when Rajitha, on ten, gloved what looked a simple chance to Dean Elgar in the gully, only for the fielder to put it down.

The stand was eventually ended by a smart run-out of Rajitha by Aiden Markram at short leg.

Steyn took his career tally to 437 Test wickets, passing India's Kapil Dev (434) and drawing level with Stuart Broad of England in joint seventh place on the all-time list.

With bright sunshine following the morning's overcast conditions, the stage seemed set for South Africa to move into a commanding position as Markram struck the ball crisply in making 28 off 31 balls in an opening partnership of 36 with Elgar.

But Markram played one attacking shot too many when an attempted back foot force off Rajitha flew to Kusal Mendis at second slip.

Three more wickets fell reasonably cheaply as South Africa's top-order batting again proved fragile.

Hashim Amla edged Vishwa Fernando to gully before Embuldeniya followed up his courageous innings of 24 off 63 balls by dismissing Temba Bavumgrabs advantage for south Africa and Elgar with his left-arm spin bowling.

Bavuma was leg before wicket for three when he missed a sweep and Elgar fell for 35 to a superb return catch when he skipped down the wicket and hit the ball hard but close enough for the bowler to take a reflex catch to his left.

Du Plessis seeks ‘breaking point’ of Sri Lanka

South African captain Faf du Plessis will be seeking to find Sri Lanka's "breaking point" as early as possible when the first of two Tests starts at Kingsmead on Wednesday.

With Sri Lankan coach Chandika Hathurusingha admitting that recent upheavals in Sri Lankan cricket had affected the players, Du Plessis vowed to apply pressure on the tourists.

Referring to a losing series in Sri Lanka last year, Du Plessis said: "They beat us 2-0 in their own conditions which hurt us quite a bit.

Hathurusingha told the espncricinfo.com website that a losing streak, going back to last October and culminating in two heavy Test defeats in Australia, has put a lot of strain on everyone".

The coach said he was shocked at the axing of Dinesh Chandimal as captain, which happened without him being consulted, and disappointed at a lack of communication from the board before he was stripped of his own role as a tour selector.

He added that match-fixing allegations and changes in selectors and coaching staff had all had an impact.

"When the selectors changed, the leadership changed," he told the website. "There was a change of coaching staff as well. And that created uncertainty.

"Everything happened in public. There's enough pressure on the players in the middle for them to concentrate on. Suddenly the players have nowhere to turn. They don't know whom to trust or whose instructions to take."

Hathurusingha said the players were doing their best. "They are trying. But in any high-performance environment, successful teams have direction, strong leadership and continuity."

Dimuth Karunaratne, named as stand-in captain for the tour, acknowledged: "It's not easy when you play cricket and there is other stuff coming from the outside. The changes and everything are up to the selectors. As a team we are trying to focus on the game."

Karunaratne said he would concentrate on trying to produce good performances in his role as an opening batsman. Several of his players had experience of South African conditions and his message to the team was: "We must try and compete in every session."

With Sri Lanka having an inexperienced bowling line-up, Du Plessis hinted that South Africa might go into the match with six batsmen, including wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, and five bowlers.Du Plessis said left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj was likely to play on a ground where spin bowling has been a factor - but he liked the option of continuing with a battery of four fast bowlers following a successful recent series against Pakistan, even though he did not expect the pitch to offer much help to pace bowlers.

Shakib ruled out of New Zealand ODIs

Bangladesh will play a three-match ODI series against New Zaland which will start from 13 February and they will lock horn against the same opponent in a three-match Test series as well. Shakib might return in Tests but the possibility is little. 

Bangladesh Test captain Shakib Al Hasan has been ruled out of the upcoming three-match one day international (ODI) series against New Zealand due to a finger injury that he sustained during the final of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Friday, reports UNB.

The star all-rounder led the Dynamites in the BPL final. The team lost to Comilla Victorians by 17 runs and failed to clinch the title for second time on the trot.

A source close to Shakib said he got injured on his left ring-finger while batting for the Dynamites.

The southpaw got the blow while facing a short delivery from Sri Lankan pace-bowler Thisara Perera. The ball struck on Shakib’s left ring-finger as he missed an attempted pull-shot.

He had a scan after the blow, and the scan suggested that he suffered a fracture.

A group of eight Bangladeshi players have already reached New Zealand, and the another group will fly tonight (9 February). Shakib was one of them who were set to fly tonight along with ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Rubel Hossain and Mohammad Saifuddin. But an abrupt injury ruled him out.

Debashis Chowdhury, the chief physician of BCB, said, “An X-ray was done after the match which suggested that he had a fracture on the left ring-finger. It will take three weeks to heal.”

Shakib was sidelined during most part of last year due to another injury on his finger that he had sustained during the final of tri-series in the home.

He was out of action during the Test and T20 series against Sri Lanka. He was also out of cricket during the first part of Nidahas trophy in the Island nation.

However, he played in West Indies managing his injury but failed to complete the Asia Cup in UAE. Shakib started playing regularly from the home series against West Indies later in the last year.

Tamim masterclass lands Comilla Victorians BPL title

Opener Tamim Iqbal hit a century to remember as Comilla Victorians beat Dhaka Dynamites by 17 runs to win the final of the sixth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League in Dhaka on Friday.

The Bangladesh international slammed 141 in just 61 balls, hammering 10 fours and 11 sixes on the way, to become the first Bangladeshi to score a century in a BPL final.

Tamim’s explosive innings led Comilla to 199 for 3 at the end of 20 overs. Anamul Haque added 24 while skipper Imrul Kayes made 17.

In their chase, Dhaka were dealt a setback in the second ball of the innings when Sunil Narine was run out.

Opener Upul Tharanga and one-down Rony Talukdar then fired 102 by the 9th over and it looked like they would scale down the target with ease.

Tharanga’s 48 came in 27 balls courtesy of four fours and three sixes while Rony played a sensational innings of 66 runs, made off 38 deliveries thanks to six fours and four sixes.

But the run out of Rony and double strikes from Wahab Riaz and Thisara Perera changed the whole picture and Dhaka were left with an unassailable task.

Ponting named Australia assistant coach for World Cup

Ricky Ponting has been named as Australia's assistant coach for the World Cup the day after David Saker quit the position.

Ponting, the former Australia captain who led the team to two World Cup titles in 2003 and 2007, will take up his role after the forthcoming series against India and Pakistan with current batting coach Graeme Hick shifted to focus on preparations for the Ashes.

His appointment follows the comments of CEO Kevin Roberts to ESPNcricinfoon Thursday that he was keen to employ more former players in short-term coaching roles. Ponting has previously been involved with the national side in that capacity, but working at the World Cup will be the highest profile role he has had with Australia since finishing his playing career.

"I'm really excited to be joining the coaching group for this year's World Cup," Ponting said. "I've enjoyed my previous short-term roles with the ODI and T20 Teams but World Cups take on a whole different meaning for me."

"I have enormous confidence in the players available to the selectors and know we will be as tough to beat as any team, in this year's World Cup."

New Zealand hand India worst T20 defeat

India crashed to their worst ever Twenty20 defeat when an aggressive 84 by Tim Seifert set New Zealand up for an 80 run win in Wellington on Wednesday.

Seifert and Colin Munro blazed away at the top of the innings as New Zealand, looking to bounce back after being outplayed in the recent one-day international series, posted their third highest Twenty20 total of 219.

India were all out in reply for 139 with four balls remaining, in only the eighth time they have failed to bat through in a 20-over innings.

Their previous worst defeat was by 49 runs against Australia at Bridgetown in 2010.

Seifert, whose previous best innings in eight internationals was an unbeaten 14 on debut, gave New Zealand a flying start.

With Munro also lashing out, they put on 86 in 50 balls for the first wicket before Munro fell for 34.

Seifert had a life on 71 when dropped on the boundary by Dinesh Karthik and added a further 13 runs before he was bowled by Khaleel Ahmed.

His 43 ball innings included seven fours and six sixes.

Kane Williamson added a vital 34 to the New Zealand cause and there were enterprising cameos late in the innings from Ross Taylor with 23 off 14 and an unbeaten 20 from seven deliveries by Scott Kuggeleijn.

Faced with batting at 11 an over, India faltered from the start when Rohit Sharma went for one.

Shikhar Dhawan blazed away with a quick 29, but five wickets fell for 26 runs in 33 deliveries once he was bowled by Lockie Ferguson.

MS Dhoni (39) and Krunal Pandya (20) arrested the slide with a 52-run partnership before the last three wickets fell for 10 runs.

Tim Southee, who was dropped for the last three ODI's against India, marked his return to the side with three for 17 off his four overs.

The second match in the series is in Auckland on Friday.

Seifert propel New Zealand to 219 for six in 1st India T20

New Zealand made 219 for six batting first in the opening Twenty20 match against India in Wellington on Wednesday.

It is New Zealand's third highest Twenty20 total behind the 243 they reached twice last year against Australia and the West Indies.

Opener Tim Seifert, a specialist in cricket's shortest form, led the charge with 84 of 43 deliveries including seven fours and six sixes.

He gave New Zealand a flying start of 86 from 66 balls in partnership with Colin Munro, who was removed for 34.

India's Hardik Pandya took two for 51.