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SYDNEY : Former Australia captain Steve Waugh said South Africa's decision to send a shadow side to New Zealand for a test tour while their top players take part in a domestic T20 tournament shows the longest format of the game is under threat.
Former Australia captain Steve Waugh has raised concerns over the future of Test cricket after South Africa named a second-string squad for their upcoming Test tour of New Zealand. The Proteas will play two Tests against the Kiwis, with uncapped batter Niel Brand will lead the side consisting of just three players -- Keegan Petersen, David Bedingham and Zubayr Hamza -- from the ongoing home series against South Africa. The top South African cricketers are contracted to play in the second season of the SA20, the T20 league launched by CSA and Indian Premier League investors, which clashes with the tour.
It was a massive heartbreak for the Indian cricket team as the Rohit Sharma-led side fell agonisingly close to lifting the Cricket World Cup 2023 trophy after losing to Australia in the final. Playing the tournament at home, India looked unstoppable as they won 10 matches on the trot. The unbeaten run included a win over every other competing side in the tournament and ahead of the summit clash, India were considered to be favourites. During the campaign, star batter Virat Kohli played a massive role with 765 runs as he emerged as the top batter in the competition. As a result, the disappointment was quite clear on his face as India were outplayed by Australia thanks to Travis Head and Pat Cummins.
In the past decade or so, the franchise cricket has definitely impacted the international circuit with many players choosing to play the cash-rich tournaments rather than being on national duty. At times, players with a national team contract don't hesitate from leaving their side's game for playing in events like the Indian Premier League or the Big Bash League. Reacting to a user's query regarding the comparison between franchise cricket and Test cricket, former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad came out with a blunt reply.
CAPE TOWN : Dean Elgar will looking to conclude his international career on another high as he unexpectedly captains South Africa in the second and last test against India, which starts at Newlands on Wednesday.
While the Indian men's and women's cricket teams might have lost their last matches of 2023, it is fair to say that the Rohit Sharma-led side and the Harmanpreet Kaur-led sides have had some memorable results in the past 12 months. As we said goodbye to 2023 on Monday, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar analysed the performances of both, the men's and women's team. The batting great hailed the women's team for their historic wins over England and Australia earlier. Under the leadership of Harmanpreet, the women's team defeated England and Australia in one-off Tests, also outplaying the two best teams in the world.
In cricket, fielding is an important aspect. It is often said catches win matches. Despite good bowling or batting, sometimes it is the fielding which sometimes helps a team nose ahead at crucial junctures. So how crucial is fielding exactly? Recently, former Indian cricket team opener Gautam Gambhir said that the chances of Pakistan at the 2024 T20 World Cup is less as it has got the 'worst fielding' in international cricket. A video from the European Cricket Championship is going viral on social media which might be the epitome of poor fielding.
Virat Kohli looked a million dollars as he did extensive simulation for South Africa's left-arm pacer Nandre Burger but Shreyas Iyer's problems seemed to continue while facing a barrage of short balls at nets on Monday. On the New Year's Day, it was business as usual for Kohli, who had an extended session lasting close to an hour. First, he was at the centre nets against bowlers and then he faced high-intensity throwdowns for about 20 to 25 minutes at outside nets. Kohli is known to come to nets with specific purpose and on Monday, it seemed he wanted to extensively bat against a left-arm pacer. Since the Indian team's pace bowling roster doesn't include a left-armer, a net bowler was summoned and Kohli faced a good 25 to 30 deliveries from him in between playing against Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, R Ashwin and Avesh Khan.