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Derek Underwood, the most successful spin bowler in England's Test cricket history, has died at the age of 78, his former county Kent announced Monday. Underwood took 297 wickets in 86 Tests with his distinctive brand of brisk left-arm spin and was noted for being particularly effective on uncovered pitches, which were in use for much of a 24-year first-class career that ran from 1963 to 1987.
Former England spinner Graeme Swann doesn't believe Rohit Sharma's captaincy was better than Ben Stokes' in the five-match Test series. Rather, it was a lethal set of bowlers that "did the trick" for the India skipper. While Stokes' leadership style has attracted all the attention prior to and during the series, Rohit's team emerged 4-1 winners in the end. "I don't think he has been superior as a captain because his bowlers have done the trick for him. I think he's got more weapons at his armoury," Swann told PTI Videos in an exclusive chat after India inflicted an innings and 64-run defeat on England in the fifth and final Test here on Saturday.
England spinner Shoaib Bashir was involved in a hilarious incident during Day 3 of the fifth Test against India on Saturday. During the 46th over of England's second innings, Ravindra Jadeja found some turn and clipped Bashir's off-stump. Assuming that he had been caught behind the stumps by Dhruv Jurel, Bashir decided to take the DRS as he didn't realise that he had been bowled. Bashir's hilarious gesture caught the attention of the fans, who had criticised him for his fiery send offs during the match.
Former England cricket team spinner Graeme Swann praised the Indian batters for their brilliant performance on Day 2 of the fifth Test match in Dharamsala with a subtle dig at the Ben Stokes-led side. Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma slammed centuries to provide the perfect foundation for Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal to pile more misery on the visitors. On commentary, Swann said that Indian batters played their own brand of 'Bazball' and they did "very very well" during the five-match Test series.
It was not plain capitulation. Rather, England succumbed to the pressure of standing up to a world-class band of Indian spinners at the "absolute top of their game", feels former spinner Graeme Swann. Batting first after winning a good toss, England were bowled out for 218 on a flat deck on the opening day of the fifth and final Test against India. Doing the bulk of the damage was the spin of Kuldeep Yadav (5/72) and Ravichandran Ashwin (4/51). Asked what could have led to England's downfall, Swann told PTI Videos, "Well you got to look at like I say you have got world-class spinners at the absolute top of their game. "So I don't think it's a capitulation from England, just succumbing to the pressure maybe, so there's two ways of looking at it.
During England's first innings in Rajkot Test, India took a DRS against Ollie Pope when Mohammed Siraj, deployed on short-ball tactics, pitched a fuller one to hit the pad of the English batter. Umpire Joel Wilson was unmoved but he had to overturn his appeal with the replays confirming that the ball was hitting the leg stump. Pope's entertaining knock thus ended at 39 off 55 balls. Commenting on the dismissal England pace great Stuart Broad wrote on X: "Looks high to me for 3 reds!"
Sarfaraz Khan's dream turned into reality on Thursday, February 15 as the batter received his debut cap for the ongoing third Test against England in Rajkot. For long, Sarfaraz has been knocking on the door for his selection, amassing tons of runs for years in the Ranji Trophy, India's premiere four-day red-ball tournament. Despite scoring runs for fun Sarfaraz was often ignored by selectors. However, both Sarfaraz and his father Naushad Khan emphasised on following the process.
India picked a total of three spinners for the ongoing first Test match against England at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad but Kuldeep Yadav still failed to make a cut into the team. On the other hand, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel were the ones who were included for the game. At the toss, Rohit informed that the team management had to take call between Axar and Kuldeep Yadav but the former got preference due to his batting ability.