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Mashrafe Mortaza will miss the tri-series in Bangladesh starting in January, despite being named in the preliminary squad for the tournament and picked as first choice for captain

Cricinfo staff31-Dec-2009Bangladesh have omitted Mashrafe Mortaza from the squad for next month’s tri-series at home, despite his being named in the preliminary squad. Mortaza failed to recover from his knee injury and Shakib Al Hasan will lead the side with wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim as his deputy. The squad also features two former ICL players, opener Shahriar Nafees and batsman Aftab Ahmed, and a fresh face in fast bowler Shafiul Islam.Mortaza damaged his knee during the first Test on the tour of West Indies in July. The injury ruled him out of the rest of the tour and the subsequent ODI series against Zimbabwe both home and away. However, he was selected in the 26-man preliminary squad – later reduced to 18 – for the tri-series and was named captain for the tournament as well as the home Test series against India. “Mortaza is 80 percent fit for cricket. We are not taking any risk with him,” Rafiqul Alam, the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s chief selector told .The two ICL returnees Aftab and Nafees last represented Bangladesh more than a year ago. Alam put their selection down to their performance in the domestic circuit. “They both performed well in the domestic cricket. Aftab is also a useful medium pacer,” he said. The 22-year-old Shafiul, the only player in the squad with no international experience, had impressed in the recently concluded Premier Division Cricket League. “He bowls well and is mature enough to cope with international pressure,” Alam said.The two other players dropped from the preliminary squad of 18 are fast bowler Shahadat Hossain and former ICL player Alok Kapali.Bangladesh squad: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim (vice-capt and wk), Mohammad Ashraful, Abdur Razzak, Tamim Iqbal, Syed Rasel, Raqibul Hasan, Mahmudullah, Nazmul Hossain, Naeem Islam, Imrul Kayes, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed.

The teams will play each other twice in the first round, with the top two teams going through to the final

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Aug-2025Afghanistan, Pakistan and UAE will get more matches to prepare for the men’s T20 Asia Cup when they compete in a T20 tri-series hosted by the Emirates Cricket Board in Sharjah in August-September.The Asia Cup runs from September 9 to 28, also in the UAE.As such, based on the ICC’s future tours programme, Pakistan were expected to host Afghanistan for three T20Is in the window that has now been allotted to the tri-series.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Each team will play the other twice in the round-robin stage of the tournament, with the top two contesting the final. All the games will be played from 7pm local time. Pakistan are the highest-ranked side among the three on the ICC rankings at No. 8, with Afghanistan at No. 9, and UAE at No. 14.Pakistan are currently engaged in a bilateral white-ball series, where they have won the first game, against West Indies, and play their first match of the Asia Cup, against Oman on September 12. Afghanistan have not played a T20I since their bilateral series in Zimbabwe at the end of last year, and play their opening match of the Asia Cup, against Hong Kong on September 9.Both the teams qualified directly for the T20 World Cup in 2026, to be played in India and Sri Lanka – Afghanistan as one of the top-seven teams (excluding the hosts) in the previous T20 World Cup and Pakistan based on their ranking on the ICC table at the cut-off date of June 30, 2024. UAE, meanwhile, have not yet confirmed their spot at the World Cup. They have to go through the Asia-East Asia and Pacific qualifiers, to be played in Oman from October 8 to 17, to get there if they can.

India are going into a Test without Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara or Ajinkya Rahane for the first time since November 2011

Karthik Krishnaswamy24-Jan-20247:50

Explainer: What is Bazball?

Big picture

Bazball vs spin. It promises to be the story of these five Tests, and it might be a story of parallel plots. There is, of course, Bazball vs India’s spinners. But perhaps even more relevant to England’s chances is the question of Bazball vs England’s spinners.What? Hang in there. All will be explained.England’s spinners conceded roughly 18 runs more per wicket than India’s did during the 2016-17 tour, and 12 runs more per wicket – on far spicier pitches – in 2020-21. Even if Bazball manages to inflate the averages of India’s spinners on this tour, it’s hard to see it translate into results if England’s spinners can’t bridge the gap in the other direction.Related

• The stakes in play for India, England and Test cricket

• Switch Hit: Let the spin cycle commence

• A chance for Shubman Gill to level up against England

• Rajat Patidar added to India Test squad as Kohli's replacement

Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen batted magnificently in 2012-13, but England won that series primarily because Monty Panesar, Graeme Swann and James Anderson outbowled a transitional India attack. Since then, Australia have been the only team to come close to even drawing a Test series in India; they came as close as they did in 2016-17 and 2022-23 because their bowlers came close to matching the skill and discipline of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.Can England find a way to do this? They’ve named their XI for the first Test in Hyderabad, which begins on Thursday on a pitch that looks dry and selectively watered, and that XI includes three frontline spinners. Those spinners have played played 36 Tests between them, of which Jack Leach accounts for 35.Hardly Swann and Panesar, then.It’s a selection that reflects a broader reality – spin occupies a narrow and an ever-shrinking space in 21st century County cricket – and England can only choose from what they have. It means that the odds are stacked against them at the start of another India tour, but do not bet against Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes finding a way to make things interesting.

Form guide

India WLDWL (last five Tests, most recent first)

England WDWLLShubman Gill averaged 19.83 the last time England toured India•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight

Shubman Gill finds himself at an interesting juncture in his Test career, seeking to establish himself in a new role at No. 3 while still finding his feet in the format. There’s no doubting his talent, and his average of 30.58 after 20 Tests is partly down to the bowler-friendly pitches he has usually had to play on, but he’ll feel under some pressure as Virat Kohli, who has opted out due to personal reasons, might return after the second Test. Gill endured a torrid series the last time England toured India, averaging 19.83 and falling five times in seven innings to fast bowlers. He’ll want to show an improved defence against conventional and reverse swing this time, and ensure he’s around for the notionally bigger challenge of scoring runs against spin.Talk of spin has dominated the lead-up to this match, but England will not be unaware that Umesh Yadav, Jason Holder and Shannon Gabriel shared 18 wickets in the last Test played in Hyderabad. That may have been more than five years ago, and an entirely different surface may have been prepared for this game, but if there’s bounce on offer – as there was in 2018 – then Mark Wood could find a way to make it his ally.

Team news

After keeping wicket for the first time in his Test career on the recent tour of South Africa, KL Rahul will return to being a specialist batter, though he will remain in the middle order. KS Bharat, who kept in all four Tests of India’s last home series, seems likely to return to the XI ahead of the uncapped Dhruv Jurel, though Rohit Sharma didn’t give a definitive answer to this question in his pre-match press conference. Axar Patel’s batting and encouraging recent form with the ball is likely to earn him selection as third spinner ahead of Kuldeep Yadav. With Kohli out, India are spared the headache of leaving out one of Rahul, Gill and Shreyas Iyer.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 KS Bharat (wk), 8 Axar Patel, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed SirajBen Foakes will keep wicket for England in Hyderabad•Getty Images

England have made a similar decision to India in handing the big gloves to their best pure keeper in Ben Foakes, and letting Jonny Bairstow focus on his batting.England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Rehan Ahmed, 9 Mark Wood, 10 Tom Hartley, 11 Jack Leach

Pitch and conditions

With the World Test Championship points structure putting extra pressure on teams to win games, teams around the world have taken to preparing bowler-friendly pitches. This, in India, has meant tracks that turn from day one, and Hyderabad is unlikely to buck this trend, with the pitch sporting distinctly dry-looking strips at either end on a spinner’s good length.The weather is expected to be clear and pleasant, with daytime temperatures in the high 20s (Celsius).R Ashwin (490) and Ravindra Jadeja (275) begin the series with an eye on Test wicket milestones•PTI

Stats and trivia

• Ashwin (490) and Jadeja (275) begin the series with an eye on Test wicket milestones.
• Joe Root (2526) is only ten runs away from surpassing Sachin Tendulkar as the highest run-getter in Tests between England and India. Root already has the most centuries (nine) in these contests, and averages 63.15.
• Leach will look to build on a solid first tour of India in 2020-21, during which he took 18 wickets in four Tests at 28.72. He will be pleased that India are without Rishabh Pant, who hit him for 88 runs in just 59 balls during that series, while only being dismissed once.
• India are going into a Test match without either Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara or Ajinkya Rahane in their XI for the first time since November 2011.

Quotes

“By no means whatever record we have in the past decade or so gives us the guarantee that we are going to come out here on top as well, and win the series. We still have to play our best cricket – good cricket that we know that we play in these conditions… The last team to beat us here in our conditions was England. I wouldn’t say we are not beatable. Definitely we are. We want to think that if we don’t step up or if you don’t show up, well, we are going to find ourselves in trouble.”
“I don’t necessarily think it’s bold or brave, it’s just me and Baz looking at the wicket and picking the XI that we think will give us the best chance. That’s the XI we’ve gone with. It’s very exciting for Tom Hartley to make his Test debut. Looking forward to seeing him out there, and captaining him. He’s been very impressive in the buildup in Abu Dhabi. It’s a team based around what we think will give us the best chance of winning this game.”

Rohit and Kohli did not bat although they fielded during WA XI’s innings

Tristan Lavalette13-Oct-2022
KL Rahul made a patient 74, but India struggled on a fast WACA pitch against a strong WA XI attack in a 36-run defeat ahead of the T20 World Cup.After a tight 13-run win in their first warm-up on Monday, India’s batters other than stand-in captain Rahul were thwarted in their chase. Hardik Pandya was India’s second-highest scorer with 17. Regular captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli did not bat although they fielded during WA XI’s innings.Chasing 169, India’s openers Rahul and RIshabh Pant started slowly against effectively BBL champions Perth Scorchers’ pace attack. Pant struggled for fluency once again as he swung and missed at several attempted slogs against the accurate left-arm pace of Jason Behrendorff.Pant finally made contact but miscued to the deep, as India’s top order looked uncomfortable on the bouncy pitch. After being held back, in-form speedster Lance Morris came into the attack in the seventh over and showed why he might be the quickest bowler in Australia.Coming off a Player-of-the-Match performance for WA against New South Wales last week, Morris bowled sharply from the get-go and it proved too much for Deepak Hooda who holed out.After a brief counterattack, Pandya fell to the left-arm spin of youngster Hamish McKenzie to leave India at 58 for 3 with Rahul particularly sluggish. India’s required run rate grew out of hand with Rahul lacking support as his team-mates threw away their wickets.Rahul was the exception as he batted cautiously before opening up with a couple of sixes in the 18th over off Behrendorff to give India a sniff of an unlikely victory. But his dismissal in the next over effectively snuffed out the contest as India split their warm-up games in Perth.WA XI controlled the game throughout after electing to bat in sunny conditions. Their batting was strengthened by the inclusion of BBL star Josh Philippe, but the opener holed out to Arshdeep Singh in the third over.Much like in the first game, quicks Arshdeep and Bhuvneshwar Kumar conjured sharp bounce on a quick deck but wickets were harder to come by after that.Veteran spinner R Ashwin, who didn’t play on Monday, came into the attack in the sixth over and was promptly smashed by D’Arcy Short who combined with Nick Hobson in a blistering 110-run partnership.Hobson, who plays for Perth Scorchers and is an accountant in his day job, was particularly belligerent against the spinners and hit four sixes in his 41-ball knock.But his dismissal triggered a WA collapse with Ashwin getting into good rhythm after a tough start with wickets in consecutive balls to remove captain Ashton Turner and Sam Fanning, who starred in game one with a half-century but the 21-year-old unwisely tried to reverse sweep on his first ball.India were sharp in the field, marked by two direct-hit run outs, and well marshalled by Rahul although captain Rohit was still giving instructions.Kohli did not play in the two warm-up matches in Perth, much to the disappointment of locals, but did field and spent time at first slip and the deep. He also jogged laps before play.A strong crowd of 2500 fans attended with the AUD 5 entry fee going towards the WA Cricket Foundation.

Muzumdar takes over from Powar who is now the head coach of India Women

Shashank Kishore01-Jun-2021Getting Mumbai “back on track in the red-ball format” is at the front of Amol Muzumdar’s mind as he takes over as the team’s head coach ahead of the yet-to-be-announced domestic season. Mumbai, the 41-time Ranji Trophy champions, haven’t tasted red-ball success since beating Saurashtra in the 2015-16 final. In fact, they’ve only made the finals once since then.”To get back on track as far as red-ball cricket is immediate priority because we haven’t won since 2015-16,” Muzumdar, a veteran of 171 first-class games, told ESPNcricinfo. “I think we’re in a good space as far as white-ball cricket goes. I’d like to impress upon the need to be multi-dimensional, it’s key for players at a personal level in today’s environment. So, these two areas are important.”Muzumdar’s appointment was made official on Friday after the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Cricket Advisory Committee, comprising former players Jatin Paranjape, Nilesh Kulkarni and Vinod Kambli, conducted a series of interviews over the past week. A new coach had to be named after the position was laying vacant following Ramesh Powar’s appointment as head coach of the India women’s team.Under Powar, Mumbai won India’s most-recent domestic tournament, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where they beat Uttar Pradesh in a high-scoring final. Powar himself was a late appointment after the MCA decided to not extend Vinayak Samant’s contract.Wasim Jaffer and Sairaj Bahutule, Muzumdar’s former Mumbai team-mates, Sulakshan Kulkarni, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Pradeep Sunderram, Nandan Phadnis, Umesh Patwal and Vinod Raghvan were among the contenders for the job.”I threw my hat into the ring purely on instincts,” Muzumdar said. “I think this is as good a time as any, when there’s a great blend of highly-skilled youngsters and experienced players there to guide them. We say Mumbai’s talent pool isn’t quite the same as yesteryears, but we’ve still got as many as seven players in the Indian team, which is still phenomenal. So, to work with this bunch is going to be quite exciting.”Muzumdar has spent the last three years as a batting consultant with the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. He’s currently head of their training and development wing at their academy in Nagpur. In 2019, Muzumdar also had a stint with South Africa as their batting coach for the Test series in India. Apart from that, he has been an active commentator in the domestic circuit since his retirement in 2014.Muzumdar says being already familiar with the role of a mentor during the fag end of his playing career helped him tune up. “For about four or five years, towards the end of my career, I played the role of a player-cum-coach both at Andhra and Assam. Even when I went over to the Netherlands, it was a similar role. So, in terms of approach, it’s something I’m tuned to.”The difference, though, is during those stints, you’re still in control of situations as a player-cum-mentor. Whereas as head coach, you don’t have that control of things in the middle, Even if you may have an indirect control, that touch is missing. But it’s the about the experience and the excitement of working with a great bunch of players that I’m most looking forward to.”

Bangladesh registered their largest victory in ODIs in terms of margin of runs

The Report by Liam Brickhill01-Mar-2020Bangladesh stormed to a 169-run win in Sylhet, their largest in ODIs. They rode on a ton from Liton Das and swift cameos from Mohammad Mithun and Mohammad Saifuddin to reach 321 for 6 before Zimbabwe’s chase imploded. Saifuddin did the early damage with an opening spell of 2 for 6 in five overs and the visitors never really recovered, bowled out for 152 with Bangladesh’s bowlers sharing the wickets around.On a hot, humid afternoon, Das appeared more troubled by the conditions than he was by Zimbabwe’s attack. Opening the batting alongside Tamim Iqbal, he crunched the sixth ball of the innings to the cover point boundary and added three more fours inside the Powerplay to set the tone of the innings. Iqbal raised Bangladesh’s fifty in the 11th over with a rasping cut, but otherwise played within himself and was fortunate to survive a strong lbw shout soon afterwards when Carl Mumba pinged his front pad with a full, angled delivery.Zimbabwe declined the review even though replays showed Iqbal would have been out. There was some iffy judgment with regards to the DRS from both sides as Iqbal then burnt Bangladesh’s review when Wesley Madhevere, the 19 year old debutant, trapped him in front with an offbreak that rushed on with the arm.But there was no doubt about Das’s acumen with the bat in hand and he progressed steadily, in almost complete control, putting the fielders under pressure with some swift running and cashing in on anything loose.At the other end, Najmul Hossain Shanto was similarly sharp in calling for quick singles, and he peppered the boundary with a couple of crisp strokes of his own as the pair added 80 for the second wicket in quick time. Bangladesh cruised past 100 in the 20th over, but Iqbal’s injudicious use of the review earlier came back to haunt Shanto when he was given out lbw to a ball from Tino Mutombodzi that would have missed the off stump.The dismissal slowed Bangladesh’s progress somewhat, and they went seven overs between the 26th and 34th without a boundary before Das ended the drought with a whip through midwicket to raise his hundred. He shifted through the gears thereafter, swiping Tiripano for three boundaries in the space of an over and then heaving Madhevere over midwicket for his second six. But, having struggled with cramp for some time in the sweltering heat, Das was then forced from the field.There was little respite for Zimbabwe, however, as Mohammad Mithun and Mahmudullah plundered 68 runs in the space of nine overs before Mahmudullah was removed, on review, by a Chris Mpofu yorker. Mithun raised a 40-ball fifty with his fifth four before he, likewise, was undone by an indipping yorker from Mpofu, but Saifuddin ensured Bangladesh would not be slowed by the quick strikes. He cleared the ropes with three massive hits in the final over of the innings to breach 300 and lift the hosts to an imposing total.Mohammad Saifuddin appeals•BCB

Saifuddin transferred his batting momentum into his bowling effort, and Zimbabwe’s chase was almost immediately derailed. With his fourth ball, he caught Tinashe Kamunhukamwe flat footed in the crease, the ball ricocheting into the stumps via the inside edge. Six overs later, Saifuddin nipped one in off the seam to strike a shuffling Regis Chakabva in front of his stumps – a review confirming his downfall – and captain Chamu Chibhabha then aimed a desperate heave at Mashrafe Mortaza only to slice a simple catch to mid-off.Zimbabwe were three down inside the Powerplay, with the required rate already ballooning above seven an over and their innings looking increasingly rudderless. It was left to Madhevere to give it some impetus and a veneer of respectability.He shrugged off the loss of Brendan Taylor, fluffing a slog sweep to be bowled by Taijul Islam, with a couple of crisp strokes which showed his potential to succeed at this level and briefly rallied alongside Sikandar Raza. They added 35 for the fifth wicket – the highest stand of the innings – before Raza top-edged a pull at Mustafizur Rahman and Zimbabwe’s slide began in earnest.Madhevere followed him to the pavilion soon afterwards, swatting a catch into the covers, and with the match out of their grasp Zimbabwe’s lower order decided they would go down swinging. Wicketkeeper Richmond Mutumbami flogged two big sixes before he was run out, and Tiripano was aiming for a boundary of his own when he slammed a stinging return catch back to Mehidy Hasan.After two big hits, Mumba’s merrymaking was ended by a full, straight delivery from Saifuddin that clattered into the stumps, but it was left to Mortaza to bring the innings to an end. In the 40th over, Tino Mutombodzi swiped underneath a short one to present a steepling chance to Saifuddin at deep square leg and give Mortaza his 100th ODI wicket as captain in his final series in charge of the one-day side.His milestone was one of several bright points for Bangladesh took a 1-0 series lead, but Zimbabwe failed to turn up in any department today.

Mandhana overtook Ellyse Perry and Meg Lanning while Amy Satterthwaite displaced Mithali Raj from fourth place

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2019India opener Smriti Mandhana has topped the ICC’s women’s ODI rankings for batsmen after scoring 196 runs in three ODIs against New Zealand women recently. Mandhana moved up three places and displaced Ellyse Perry from the top, who is now second, followed by her team-mate and captain Meg Lanning. New Zealand captain Amy Satterthwaite jumped up 10 spots to be ranked fourth, followed by India ODI captain Mithali Raj, who was earlier in fourth place.Mandhana struck her fourth ODI century in Napier before scoring an unbeaten 90 in Mount Maunganui when India won the ODI series 2-1 as part of the ICC Women’s Championship. It extended Mandhana’s stellar run in ODIs which has seen her as the highest run-scorer since the beginning of 2018. In 15 innings during these 13 months, she has scored 865 runs with two centuries and eight half-centuries at an average of 72.08 and strike rate of 93.11. She has relied heavily on boundaries in this time, scoring 57% of her total runs with 102 fours and 14 sixes – both also the highest during the above time frame.Mandhana had also been named the ODI Player of the Year when the ICC announced its awards for 2018 recently. In June last year, she was named the best international cricketer among Indian women when the BCCI announced its awards for 2017-18.Satterthwaite struck four half-centuries in this time, two of those against India recently. Allrounder Suzie Bates, who stepped down from captaincy for Satterthwaite to take over, rose up a spot to sixth place after an unbeaten half-century against India in Hamilton. Jemimah Rodrigues, who has played only seven ODIs, broke into the top 100 by climbing 64 places to reach 61st spot after an unbeaten 81 in the first ODI.Among the bowlers, Jhulan Goswami went up one place to No. 4 and spinners Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma broke into the top 10 to reach eighth and ninth places respectively after jumping five places each. Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht reached No. 13 after going up nine spots.

Matt Renshaw was pouched down the legside for 1 as his Ashes prospects continued to trend down

Daniel Brettig14-Nov-2017
Getty Images

Matt Renshaw was pouched down the legside for 1 as his Ashes prospects continued to trend down, but the likely Australian gloveman Peter Nevill was also out cheaply on a day for the bowlers in the Sheffield Shield match at Allan Border Field in Brisbane.Renshaw followed Joe Burns, pinned lbw by a viciously late swinging yorker from Doug Bollinger, leaving Queensland a sickly 2 for 3 in reply to the New South Wales tally of 271. From there Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne steadied the innings, until the Australian Test No. 3 was pouched for 52 by Daniel Hughes from the bowling of Nathan Lyon.Hughes had earlier provided the spine of the Blues’ innings with another exemplary display at No. 6, vindicating the state’s decision to find room for him in a full-strength batting order. The national captain Steven Smith has talked about Hughes as an Australian player of the future, and he looked the part scoring 98 not out and shepherding the NSW tail into a more than useful first-innings lead of 88 runs.The only downside of the innings was Hughes’ involvement in a pair of run-outs, the first to dismiss Sean Abbott, and the second to remove the last man Bollinger.

Mashrafe Mortaza said he has gradually developed the ability to separate his role as bowler from his role as limited-overs captain of Bangladesh

Mohammad Isam27-Sep-2016Mashrafe Mortaza has said he gradually developed the ability to separate his role as bowler from his limited-overs captaincy of Bangladesh. Mashrafe took 2 for 42 in the first ODI against Afghanistan, as Bangladesh held their nerve for a seven-run win.”I don’t end up complicating things,” Mashrafe said. “I try to keep my on-field decision-making and bowling as normal as possible. I try to compartmentalise everything. It has turned into a habit actually. I have been captaining for almost the last two years. I have become a lot more relaxed now.”On a flat pitch, Mashrafe showed great composure with the batsmen coming hard at him, particularly in his last two spells in which he kept set batsmen Hashmatullah Shahidi and Rahmat Shah in check, before taking the wicket of Najibullah Zadran in his last over. Mashrafe conceded 10 and 13 in those two two-over spells to help his side keep the game within control.”I always try to bowl consistently on a flat surface,” Mashrafe said. “In modern cricket, the batsmen charge at you but if you keep bowling in the same spot, there’s some chance of success. So I try to focus on that – plus, there’s always luck. They needed about six runs an over at one stage but when Shakib and I came on to bowl after the 30th over, we could bring that up to seven runs an over.”Mashrafe’s steady performance was overshadowed by those of Shakib Al Hasan and Taskin Ahmed, but he was content to remain in the background and quietly contribute to the team’s victory. With that victory, Bangladesh are now one away from their 100th ODI win, and from sealing the three-match ODI series. Almost two years into in his third stint as Bangladesh captain, after two short stints in 2009 and 2010, Mashrafe is presiding over one of the best ever phases of Bangladesh cricket.”Someone would have been the captain, but it is going to be a big achievement,” Mashrafe said of Bangladesh’s imminent ODI milestone. “We will try to make sure that we can achieve it in the second ODI but for that we have to play a better game.”One area where Bangladesh will hope to show marked improvement is the fielding. They put down three chances in the first match, with one drop each from Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim. Mashrafe said that improvement in that department would have to “come from the inside” and go hand in hand with improved body language.”It is not right to give poor fielding as an excuse. Fielding is such a thing that it has to come from the inside in order to improve. I hope we improve in the second game. I think our body language was also not right, which made it harder.”

Shane Watson has retired from Test cricket with immediate effect

Daniel Brettig06-Sep-2015Shane Watson’s endlessly enigmatic Test career for Australia is over. He had played 59 Tests beginning in 2005, scoring 3731 runs at 35.19 and taking 75 wickets at 33.68. Injury issues afflicted Watson for much of his time around the side, and he never reached the heights that many, including himself, had expected of him in Tests.Watson’s decision to quit the longest format comes in the wake of Australia’s loss to England in the 2015 Ashes, a day after he had to leave the field during a one-dayer at Lord’s due to “minor right calf strain”. He announced his decision after it was decided the strain would keep him out of the rest of the ODI series.”It has been a decision that hasn’t come lightly, over the last month especially,” Watson said while announcing his decision. “I know it’s the right time to move on and still hopefully play the shorter formats of the game, one-dayers and T20s. I’ve been through a lot of different waves of emotion about what is right for myself, my family and most importantly, the team as well. There wasn’t really one exact moment, because I’ve been through a lot of different sort of mindsets: believing the right thing is to play on, to the next day to ‘nah, I think the right thing is to retire from Test cricket’.”The past couple of days, for whatever reason, I had the clarity in my mind about what the right decision is. I just know that I’ve given everything I possibly can to get the best out of myself. I just know it’s the right time to move on. I don’t have that real fight in me, especially for Test cricket, knowing the lengths physically that I’d have to go through, mentally and technically as well, to be at my best in Test cricket, so I just know it’s the right time.”A measure of Watson’s battles with injury can be found in the fact that he has played around half of Australia’s Test matches since his debut against Pakistan at the SCG in January 2005. By that stage he had already fought numerous fitness battles, largely soft tissue injuries related to bowling, and they would continue to a point when he was told by CA medical staff that it would be easier for Watson to simply give up his allrounder status.However he was able to find a greater level of physical durability as a result of work with physios outside the team, including the Brisbane-based Victor Popov and the Rajasthan Royals’ John Gloster. It was in the IPL that Watson first showed he would be able to build a more substantial career, as the dominant player in the Royals’ unexpected victory in the inaugural tournament in 2008. From there Watson would go on to regain his Test place, and develop a highly effective opening combination with Simon Katich after they were thrown together during the 2009 Ashes tour.Over the next two years they were the world’s foremost opening combination, and one of few components of the Australian side to work effectively as Ricky Ponting’s captaincy tenure wound down. Ponting and Watson have always been close, and over this period he was at his most consistent with the bat while also bowling key spells with the ball. Nevertheless, his recurring tendencies to get out lbw and also to lose his wicket short of a century were both in evidence even then.After Katich was unjustly dropped from the list of Cricket Australia contracted players in mid-2011, Watson’s role changed as he became vice-captain under Michael Clarke, bowling more frequently but also losing the thread of his batting. The increased workload with the ball led to another bout of injuries, and he spent much of the next two summers sidelined from the Test team. His leadership axis with Clarke proved unworkable, and their differences were to spiral into the “Homeworkgate” fiasco that enveloped the team on their tour of India in March of 2013.Suspended from the XI to play in Mohali, Watson flew home to be with his wife Lee for the birth of their first son, and made it patently clear he did not agree with the direction of the team under Clarke and the coach Mickey Arthur. Bizarrely he would return to lead the side in the final Test of the series as Clarke was himself injured, but upon returning to Australia the vice-captaincy was handed to Brad Haddin. Subsequent off-field problems during the Champions Trophy in England led to the sacking of Arthur, and Watson took some satisfaction from standing up for his views of how the team should work as Darren Lehmann took over and the Ashes were returned in a 5-0 sweep at home.However the comfort Watson now felt about the team set-up did not translate into the strong performances expected of him, and his run-making would go into an irretrievable downturn following his fourth and final Test century against England in Perth in December 2013. The selectors persisted with Watson, largely due to his bowling, but by the time of this year’s Ashes tour it was clear he was struggling to find his way.Pairs of starts, lbw dismissals and unsuccessful DRS referrals in Cardiff provided a tragicomic last glimpse of Watson at the Test match batting crease, though it was his indifferent bowling that ultimately caused the selectors to lose patience at last. He had plenty of time to think over his career while running drinks in the four Tests that followed, and has now decided to concentrate on ODIs and T20 matches – the two formats where Watson has rather more effectively fulfilled his potential.”There’s a lot that I’m proud of,” Watson said. “The thing I’m most proud of is I’ve given everything I possibly can to get the best out of myself. I haven’t achieved certainly all the things I dreamed of achieving in Test cricket – average 50 with the bat and in the 20s with the ball. That’s obviously the dream as an all-rounder to achieve and obviously I didn’t get anywhere near that, but I do know I gave it everything I possibly can to be able to get the best out of myself. That’s what I’m most proud of.”