India's fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar said that the team has not lived up to the fielding standards which was witnessed during the ICC World Cup last year. In the ongoing tour of New Zealand, the Indian team has dropped quite a few catches and has not been able to capitalise on the run-out opportunities.
'What's staring you in the face (COVID-19) is no ordinary World Cup, this is the mother of all World Cups, where not just 11 are playing but 1.4 billion are in the playing arena and competing.'
Ratnayake taking the role means that the future of current coach, Chandika Hathurusingha, is uncertain in the team.
New Zealand's fast bowling department has been hit hard by injuries as Matt Henry, Doug Bracewell and Adam Milne have also been sidelined.
The Indian batsmen will get a liberal dose of "chin music" in the second Test at the seamer-friendly Hagley Oval, senior New Zealand pacer Neil Wagner declared on Wednesday, harping on the visitors' struggles when faced with pace and bounce. With India troubled by short balls bowled from round the wicket, the 33-year-old Wagner promised that they will employ the same strategy during the second match starting Saturday.
New Zealand coach Gary Stead expected India would be more competitive in the second match in Christchurch.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said forgetting about results and getting the simple things right helped his side recover from the 3-0 drubbing by Australia to beat India, the world's top ranked Test side, by 10 wickets on Monday.
'Never leave your crease with M S Dhoni behind the stumps!'
Trent Boult top the most valuable players list with Mohammed Shami hold on to second position
Pakistan head coach Waqar Younis has offered to resign after his team were knocked out of the World Twenty20 at the Super 10 stage, the BBC reported on Tuesday. Pakistan exited the tournament after winning just one of their four games in Group Two. The team, captained by Shahid Afridi, beat Bangladesh, but lost to New Zealand, Australia and arch-rivals India. "I place my hands together and beg forgiveness from the nation. If my leaving makes things better, then I would do it without delay," Younis told a news conference.
How the cricket fraternity celebrated the 5-0 rout of New Zealand on Twitter.
K L Rahul said turning up so frequently for international matches "is hard on the body", adding to India captain Virat Kohli's recent observation on scheduling. Fresh from his man of the series-winning effort in India's 5-0 whitewash of New Zealand in the T20 Internationals, Rahul spoke about the team's ability to consistently produce eye-catching performances despite getting little time to recover, thanks to a cramped calendar.
Overwhelmed that the Australians devised a short ball strategy against him, Indian batsman Shreyas Iyer says it can best be tackled by adopting a counter-offensive approach and taking advantage of the field placing.
Mominul said he was completely taken by surprise at the Bangladesh Cricket Board's decision to hand him the Test captaincy in place of banned Shakib Al Hasan.
Tim Southee admitted he was disappointed not to have played in Sydney but said he has moved on.
Tuesday will mark one year of the epic World Cup final at the Lord's where New Zealand had lost to hosts England on boundary count-back rule after scores were tied even after the super over.
With his short run-up, Jasprit Bumrah makes it extremely difficult for batsmen to measure his pace but the Indian pacer's body may not hold for long because of that approach, reckons West Indies' fast bowling great Michael Holding. Holding, who completed the famous West Indies' pace quartet along with Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Andy Roberts, said Bumrah's ability to hit the deck hard with a short run up is unique.
New Zealand allrounder Jimmy Neesham on Monday was ruled out of the opening Test match against India in Kanpur due to a rib injury he suffered during the warm-up match against Mumbai. Paceman Tim Souhtee was ruled of the three-match series due to an ankle injury but Neesham is expected to be fit for the second Test, which begins on September 30 in Kolkata.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji identify India's most valuable players in ODI games this season.
Rahane spoke about how pink ball's increased pace off the pitch during the 40-50 minutes of the twilight session, will be the biggest challenge for any batsman.
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Waqar said a group of fast bowlers including young ones in domestic cricket would also be sent for training and work to the high-performance centre in Lahore to keep them ready for national duty.
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir believes the BCCI should behave like a statesman amid the coronavirus crisis and he would have a lot more respect for the Indian cricket board if the national team tours Australia later this year. Gambhir was reacting to BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal's statement that if required, the Indian team could go into quarantine upon their arrival Down Under for the scheduled tour in the Australian summer.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya returned to the Indian squad for the three-match ODI series against South Africa after a six-month injury lay-off along with fit-again senior opener Shikhar Dhawan and seasoned seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. This was the first selection meeting under new chairman Sunil Joshi. However, vice-captain Rohit Sharma is yet to fully recuperate from his calf muscle injury and is expected to return to action during the Indian Premier League later this month.
New Zealand pace great Sir Richard Hadlee is very sure that T20 cricket won't be able to sustain the game if the traditional format is not taken care of.
The sour taste of a 10-wicket loss to New Zealand in the first Test was a good lesson for India's cricketers and there is no doubt they will be far more competitive in the second in Christchurch, coach Ravi Shastri said.
The only selection issue facing New Zealand as they head into the second match against India at Christchurch is likely to be whether pace bowler Kyle Jamieson, so impressive on his Test debut at the Basin Reserve, bats higher in the order. Jamieson made a big impression in the hosts' 10-wicket victory in the opener of the two-Test series, capturing 4-39 in the first innings and then scoring 44 in a rearguard action.
India's captain Virat Kohli, speaking after the 10-wicket defeat in the first Test, says he is not too concerned with his batsmen, as technically they were all sound and able to deal with New Zealand's attack.
'I am extremely elated to be in the Indian World Cup team'
Kohli is looking at the 'bigger picture' in Indian cricket with two T20 and one 50-over World Cup in the next three years
Tim Southee's prophecy before the start of the first Test against Sri Lanka came true on the opening day of the match as he took his eighth five-wicket haul at the Basin Reserve on Saturday.
The squad will then be trimmed to 15 for the ICC World Test Championship final against India at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton starting on June 18, as per ICC regulations.
Waqar's chances of being named bowling coach appeared strong after another former Test bowler Muhammad Akram withdrew his application
India spinner Kuldeep Yadav says he was "lacking in the basics" last season owing to playing one too many games, leading to an IPL that could have been better than how it turned out. He said he didn't plan enough last time and having learned his lesson, the chinaman bowler was "100 percent sure of success" in IPL 2020 whose fate hangs in balance because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The women on the 17th annual Forbes Power List hail from 30 countries and were born across four generations.
Virat Kohli is going through a rare lean phase in his career, but Sharma is unperturbed and feels that the Indian captain will bounce back.
Arthur described coaching the Pakistan team as a fulfilling period of his career.
Virat Kohli isn't unduly perturbed by his relatively low run of scores on the ongoing tour of New Zealand. India's premier batsman feels analysing too much can unnecessarily clutter his mind.
International cricket will return to Pakistan next month after Zimbabwe agreed to tour the country .
