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Younis Khan rated the quality of Zimbabwe’s bowlers so highly that he regards the two-Test series in Harare as ideal preparation for Pakistan’s next challenge against the No.1 ranked Test team

Firdose Moonda in Harare05-Sep-2013Younis Khan rated the quality of Zimbabwe’s bowlers so highly that he regards the two-Test series in Harare as ideal preparation for Pakistan’s next challenge against the No.1 ranked Test team. Pakistan take on South Africa in the UAE after the Zimbabwe leg wraps up and Younis hopes the experience gained here can be put to good use on that assignment.”The Zimbabweans bowled so well, they made it difficult for us, it’s definitely good practice for us when we get back to Dubai,” Younis said. “Also, the wicket is very good so we can really get some time but they are making it tough for us to score runs.”Although Zimbabwe’s attack did not profit as much as they did on the first day, when there was still something in the surface, as they tied Pakistan down to a scoring rate of 2.4. Hamilton Masakadza, the Zimbabwe captain, was pleased with the effort on a pitch that was at its best for batting. “The guys bowled really well, they applied themselves, they stuck at it and that was good to see,” he said.Having had Pakistan at 23 for 3, Zimbabwe may have hoped to limit them even further but Masakadza said Younis, in particular, made that tough. “He put us under pressure because he was not just looking to be there, he was also looking for run-scoring opportunities,” Masakadza said. “We had to set more defensive fields as well.”Younis and Misbah-ul-Haq shared a fourth-wicket stand of 116 to get Pakistan out of trouble but the old hands’ rescue act was not simply a cause for celebration. Their ongoing efforts to steady Pakistan points to an over-reliance on seniors and raises concerns about the next generation. Younis is hopeful they will improve with time.”Test cricket is all about patience and the young guys, sometimes they come from ODIs and Twenty20s so they need to learn,” Younis said. “It’s for the senior players like myself and Misbah and [Mohammad] Hafeez to help them and we are here to do that. The other thing is that we are not playing Test cricket regularly, the last time was almost six months ago. You need to play regularly to learn.”Pakistan’s call for more Test cricket has been made on numerous occasions, especially by Misbah in South Africa in March. Younis has not played international cricket since then and most of the squad has been occupied with one-day competitions. That’s why, according to Younis, the trip to Zimbabwe is so important for them. “This is what we need and we are enjoying playing here,” he said.As much as the experience of it is worthwhile for Pakistan, getting the expected results is also important and Younis is confident they can beat Zimbabwe in the longest format as well as they did in the shorter ones. Asked what he thought was a defendable total, he said, “Anything,” before qualifying that to, “something like 200 or 300. Anything.”Younis believes the pitch will take more turn, “especially towards the end,” but Masakadza remains hopeful it will not be much more. He said the cracks have only opened a touch, with “nothing too frightening at this stage,” and thinks Zimbabwe could chase something “around 250.”Still, he is wary of Saeed Ajmal, after the spinner took seven wickets in the first innings. “We know he is going to be their main threat and the guys have their plans,” Masakadza said. “Some will be looking to use the sweep and others to play as straight as possible. But I’m feeling pretty confident.”

New Zealand’s inability to bowl out Australia during the Trans-Tasman series has placed the spotlight on their highly regarded pacemen Trent Boult and Tim Southee

Brydon Coverdale in Christchurch25-Feb-2016At the start of this summer, New Zealand had two bowlers inside the top ten in the Test rankings: Trent Boult and Tim Southee. Australia had one, Mitchell Johnson, and unbeknownst to them he was about to retire. But the inability of New Zealand’s attack to take 20 wickets in any of the five Tests between the teams this season was a major factor in Australia’s domination and retention, twice, of the Trans-Tasman Trophy.Perhaps the most surprising thing was that in their home conditions in Wellington and Christchurch, New Zealand’s attack, led by Southee and Boult, struggled to find anywhere near as much swing as Australia’s fast men. The conditions played a part – Steven Smith won the toss and sent New Zealand in on green pitches in both matches – but Australia also proved capable of finding reverse swing later in the Tests.The final wicket tally for the five Tests home and away makes for lopsided reading. Josh Hazlewood topped the wickets with 22 at 32.63, Nathan Lyon was second with 20 at 27.75, and Boult was third with 18 victims at the inflated average of 42.11. No other New Zealander took more than 10 wickets across the five Tests and only Neil Wagner and Mitchell Santner, who each played only one Test, averaged under 40.Southee’s tally was especially disappointing. He finished the summer with nine wickets against Australia at 62.77, and rarely looked seriously threatening. Although Southee took 13 wickets at 16.30 in the two home Tests against Sri Lanka that came between the two Trans-Tasman contests, outgoing captain Brendon McCullum said after the loss in Christchurch that Southee could soon face competition for his place.”It’s probably not my question to answer any more. He is a strong leader in the group but Tim’s got some challenges in the next little while,” McCullum said. “There’s other guys coming through who are performing very well, Matt Henry in particular, and it’s going to push Tim to make sure he’s operating at his best which we saw for a good 12 to 18 months. He’s got some challenges but I still believe he’s a strong leader in the group and he’s just got to smooth out some of his rough edges.”One man who did himself plenty of favours at Hagley Oval was Wagner, who collected match figures of 7 for 166 and was tireless in enacting the team plan of repeated short-pitched bowling to a packed leg-side field. It was a desperate tactic used because the New Zealanders were failing to swing the ball, but Wagner’s willingness to bowl long, hard spells will make him an attractive option for the selectors going forward.”The beauty of Neil is that he makes things happen,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said. “Even on benign surfaces, where we play the majority of our cricket, he does generate wicket-taking opportunities. I think he got 6 for 70 in the first innings once he decided to bowl 25 overs of bumpers and there are not many people around the world who can do that.”I have been fortunate enough to work with Neil for a long time, so I know he’s a gutsy performer. But I thought the skill he showed, that’s a really a difficult thing to do, to get the ball between chest and head consistently and I thought his ability to keep them in that area and keep challenging was world-class and certainly kept us in the match.”Should the selectors decide to grant more opportunities to Wagner and Henry in New Zealand’s upcoming Test campaigns, it could mean something of a changing of the guard, with the attack having been based around Southee and Boult for some time. Hesson conceded that choosing New Zealand’s attack would not necessarily be as straightforward as it had at times in recent years.”I think there will be [tough selections],” Hesson said. “Tim and Trent for two years have been exceptional for us but we have different guys in the squad who do different things. We have alluded to Neil. He brings a different option. Dougie Bracewell is a bit different, as is Matt Henry, so within those five we have got, we should be able to get a pretty good attack in all conditions around the world.”New Zealand finished the five Tests against Australia this summer with four losses and one draw, but Hesson said he felt that the battle had been somewhat closer than that scoreline suggested.”In Australia we felt we were pretty close in Adelaide,” Hesson said. “I think over here, to be fair, we weren’t close in the end result but certainly felt that if things had been a little different then we might have been able to put a bit more pressure on them.”

Glenn Maxwell also became the 13th Stars player to test positive

Tristan Lavalette05-Jan-2022The BBL has been thrown into more chaos with Wednesday night’s match between Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers postponed after 12 Heat players and a coach returned positive PCR tests to Covid-19.Heat were unable to find enough replacement players in time forcing the clash at Metricon Stadium to be called off and rescheduled at a later date.They were originally due to take on Sixers on Tuesday before Perth Scorchers were swapped in at the last minute when Heat’s Covid issues first emerged.”We acknowledge the wholehearted efforts of the Brisbane Heat to field a team tonight,” BBL general manager Alistair Dobson said in a statement. “However, in the time available it was not possible for them to secure the 13 players required, hence the decision to postpone the match.”Heat’s game against Melbourne Renegades in Geelong on Thursday remains scheduled to go ahead with remaining players and staff to take a charter flight from the Gold Coast tomorrow morning.”We are working hard now to finalise preparations for the next week for the squad, including those who are currently isolating or ill, and to secure a playing group to compete in matches in that time frame,” Queensland Cricket chief executive Terry Svenson said.Wednesday’s earlier game between Adelaide Strikers and Hobart Hurricanes at the Adelaide Oval will start an hour later.Heat have become the latest BBL team ravaged by Covid-19, which has raised the possibility of the entire competition being moved to a hub in Melbourne.Earlier on Wednesday, Melbourne Stars confirmed captain Glenn Maxwell returned a positive rapid antigen test for Covid-19 following their loss to Melbourne Renegades on Monday night.Maxwell has since undertaken a PCR test and is currently isolating while awaiting the result. Maxwell is the 13th Stars player to contract Covid-19 after 12 others and eight staff members were also struck down.Maxwell captained a depleted Stars team in their last two fixtures against Scorchers and Renegades with the team supplemented by replacement players and coached by a stand-in coaching staff.Up to 10 players and eight coaching staff are set to come out of isolation for Stars’ next match against Adelaide Strikers on Friday.Renegades also confirmed on Wednesday that a member of its squad returned a positive rapid antigen test to Covid-19 and as a precaution the team’s afternoon training session was cancelled.

Simon Jones took the wickets of Eion Morgan and Adam Voges with consecutive balls as Glamorgan won their rain-affected Yorkshire Bank 40 Group C match against Middlesex by 11 runs in Cardiff

14-Aug-2013
ScorecardSimon Jones showed some of his old spark to claim two key wickets•Getty Images

Simon Jones took the wickets of Eoin Morgan and Adam Voges with consecutive balls as Glamorgan won their rain-affected Yorkshire Bank 40 Group C match against Middlesex by 11 runs in Cardiff.It was their second win in three games – they beat Somerset on Monday – as they moved up to second place in the group, level on points with leaders Somerset with a game in hand.Glamorgan lost the toss and made 153 for 9 in a match reduced to 25 overs per side, but Middlesex, who will struggle to now make the semi-finals, could only make 142 for nine despite skipper Neil Dexter scoring 54 from 52 balls.Glamorgan made a fortuitous start when Gareth Rees top-edged Steven Finn for six in the first over but Finn got his revenge having Mark Wallace caught at point while at the other end James Harris delivered a tight three overs as the home side reached 31 for 1 after seven overs.That became 38 for 3 after Toby Roland-Jones struck twice to remove Chris Cooke and skipper Marcus North. Jim Allenby’s arrival saw some impetus injected into the Glamorgan innings as he took a four and a six off consecutive balls from Dexter, before Paul Stirling’s part-time offspin claimed two wickets.Allenby holed out on the midwicket boundary before Murray Goodwin top-edged a sweep to short fine leg as the Welsh county found themselves 85 for 5. Harris made that 89 for six as Rees was bowled making 32 from 53 balls.Some much-needed impetus to the Glamorgan innings came with 14 coming off an Ollie Raynor over including a Ben Wright six over long off and 18 from an over from Harris.The start of the batting power play saw Wright holing out to Finn ending a 43-run partnership with Wagg, who helped Glamorgan take 21 runs from the final three overs.Middlesex struggled at the start of their reply. Allenby bowled Dawid Malan with the fifth ball of the Middlesex innings and a good Michael Hogan over saw Joe Denly edge behind to leave Middlesex 14 for 2 at the end of the fourth. Allenby struck again in the seventh over as Paul Stirling drove him straight to mid-off to Middlesex 30 for 3.And Jones turned the game right in Glamorgan’s favour with two wickets in consecutive balls to leave Middlesex 32 for five in the eighth over. He got the prize wicket of Morgan with his third ball helped by a good catch by Cooke diving forward at cover and followed that up by trapping Voges lbw.But Middlesex recovered through John Simpson and Dexter who put on 59 in nine overs until the impressive Simpson was snaffled at mid-wicket off Dean Cosker, who took three wickets from 11 balls as the Panthers found themselves 138 for 8.Dexter, with the only half century in the match, got it down to 20 required from the final over but he holed out to the second ball of the final over.

Ranchi is preparing to host India, with local boy MS Dhoni as captain, for the first time and the city is buzzing with anticipation

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jan-2013With the local boy arriving in Ranchi as India captain for the third ODI against England, the city has been taken over by Dhoni mania. In neighbouring West Bengal, Sourav Ganguly still sends the locals berserk whenever he makes a public appearance. Ranchi has had to wait eight years after Dhoni’s India debut to host its maiden international game. No wonder then that thousands lined the roads from the Birsa Munda airport to the team hotel, a sight that left MS Dhoni feeling “humbled”. Getting in and out of the team hotel has been difficult, with people crowding the entrance and even prompting the police into a mild lathi charge.To celebrate the occasion, a liquor shop put up posters of Dhoni and Alastair Cook and even lined its counters with bats and stumps. The authorities went a step further. The state aviation department has been roped in, and there are plans to have a glider fly over the stadium and scatter (pink-coloured powder) on the outfield during the inauguration ceremony, before the start of the match and during the innings break.Students are demanding a holiday on Saturday, the match day, something schools, already hit by shutdowns because of a severe cold wave, can ill-afford. J Mohanty, principal of DPS [Delhi Public School] Ranchi, is benevolent, though. “This is a proud moment for Jharkhand,” Mohanty told the . “The cricket match will be on the students’ minds and they will also have to wait outside the hotels for a glimpse of their cricketing heroes. So we will not hold any additional classes this weekend.”There is a reason Dhoni matters so much to Ranchi and Jharkhand, which had little to cheer when it was part of Bihar state and has had little to cheer since it was carved out in 2000. Political instability is common; central-government rule has just been imposed for the third time in the state’s short existence. “Small-town boys from places like this just don’t get to be captain of India,” Ushinor Majumdar, Jharkhand correspondent for the Hindustan Times, told the . “And it is mostly because of Dhoni that there is so much attention. In many ways it is an under-developed, backward place. But it is known in cricket thanks to Dhoni.”International cricket in Jharkhand was restricted to the steel city of Jamshedpur, where Dhoni has played a couple of ODIs, including one against England in 2006, at Tata Steel’s Keenan Stadium. It was the state association’s desire to have its own stadium that enabled Ranchi to watch Dhoni play for India in the city.Dhoni was clearly thrilled with the stadium at his hometown. “Personally, it’s a special moment for me. The journey begins tomorrow. It’s the beginning of a new innings,” he said at a function inaugurating cricket’s latest international venue*.He said the 39,000-seater stadium will give Ranchi plenty of recognition. “When I first joined the team, people were asking me the place I belonged to,” Dhoni said. “I used to say I am from India and the next thing I would say I am from a place called Ranchi in Jharkhand. I used to explain Ranchi, giving various routes like it is a place close to Kolkata, near Jamshedpur. We are the richest state in natural resources.”But, after the stadium was built it has now become an international venue. At least, we need not have to explain further about Ranchi in the cricket playing nations. It is a proud beginning; proud moment for people of Jharkhand.”The mood in the city has already shown how proud Ranchi is of the double honour of making its international debut with a homegrown captain.* January 18, 17.00GMT This story has been updated after the stadium’s inauguration ceremony

Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, believes that the Ross Taylor captaincy controversy might have helped him become a “better” coach

Nagraj Gollapudi10-May-2013Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, believes that the Ross Taylor captaincy controversy has helped him become a “better” coach.Hesson, who replaced John Wright as New Zealand head coach last July, was a key figure in pressing for a change of captaincy from Taylor to Brendon McCullum. Consequently Taylor opted out of the South African tour before returning for the home series against England in February.”I learned a lot during the whole experience and it might make me a better coach,” Hesson told ESPNcricnfo in Leicester as New Zealand continued their preparations for the return series.Speaking on a wide range of issues in an extensive interview, Hesson spoke about his coaching philosophy, the challenges of managing players, the mistakes committed on the road, as well as giving an insight into the game plans that worked in the drawn Test series against England.Asked specifically whether the way Taylor was removed as captain was a mistake, Hesson said: “Whenever you make a decision like changing a captain it is difficult decision to make. All I want to say is at no stage during that process you want to upset anybody or put someone in a difficult situation. That obviously occurred, which was unfortunate.”It was an emotionally difficult moment for everyone involved, Hesson said. It has been six months since the incident and according to Hesson the relationship with Taylor, the best batsman in the New Zealand squad, is on the mend.”We certainly are developing our relationship nicely. The circumstances have been well documented. We have been working well together.”Hesson pointed out that Taylor’s success as a batsman was very important to New Zealand because that would help the inexperienced youngsters to play their own game with more freedom.”Ross is a huge part of our group,” Hesson said. “He is our premier batsman and he has performed very well in England in the past. We are a far better team when Ross Taylor is in the team and performing well. It is great to have him back.”It is important for Ross to impose himself. He is quite an imposing batsman. Once he has got that level of confidence he is actually quite hard to bowl to. So it is matter of getting the confidence, getting that imposing nature at the crease. And also he works with some of younger batsmen as well. So the more comfortable he can feel about his own game the more comfortable he will feel helping others.”

Nick Compton produced the perfect response to his critics with a century for Somerset on the opening day of their Championship match against Durham

06-Jun-2013
ScorecardNick Compton found some much-needed form with his second Championship hundred of the season•Getty Images

Nick Compton produced the perfect response to his critics with a century for Somerset on the opening day of their Championship match against Durham. Instructed by the England coach, Andy Flower, to go away and get back into some form on the county circuit, the 29-year-old opener hit 139 not out, including 15 fours and a six, to lead his side to a total of 336 for 5 in perfect batting conditions and enhance his claims to a place in the Ashes.Marcus Trescothick and Arul Suppiah both contributed 36, while Dean Elgar (33) and James Hildreth (32) also got out when apparently well set. Graham Onions was the pick of the Durham attack with two for 43 off 18 overs.But it was Compton’s day. After a sketchy start that saw him score only 23 from 87 balls before lunch, he blossomed in the afternoon session to reach a four-hour hundred off 203 balls. He was given one life on 53 when Paul Collingwood dropped a sharp catch at slip off the bowling of young offspinner Ryan Buckley.By then the shackles seemed to have been removed. Compton brought up his half-century off 129 balls with a four and a straight six off successive balls from Buckley and began to look as though he was enjoying his batting again. The second fifty was far more fluent, occupying 74 deliveries. A misfield by Mark Stoneman at mid-off brought Compton his 12th four and the coveted three figures, greeted with a hug from partner Hildreth and warm applause from Somerset supporters.They had good cause to be grateful as none of the other top order batsmen could match Compton’s powers of concentration. Trescothick had breezed to 36 when driving at a very wide ball from Onions and edging a catch to second slip.It was 82 for 1 at lunch and 50 more had been added when the accurate Onions struck again, bowling Suppiah middle and leg stump. Tea was taken at 212 for 3 and straight after the interval Elgar had a wild slog at Will Smith to surrender his wicket, also clean bowled. When Hildreth also moved sweetly into the thirties only to fall lbw playing a across a full ball from Buckley, Somerset were in danger of failing to capitalise on what seemed almost ideal batting conditions.Alex Barrow looked confident enough in moving to 25 before falling victim to the second new ball as his stumps were rearranged by Mark Wood to make it 307 for 5. Peter Trego kept Compton company until the close, but Durham could feel they had stuck to their task well in the soaring temperatures.

All five matches will be held at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka

Mohammad Isam22-Jul-2021The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has confirmed that Australia will arrive in Dhaka on July 29 to play five T20Is against Bangladesh, from August 3 to 9. Australia will comply with local health regulations by being quarantined in their hotel rooms for three days before they begin training at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, where they will play all five matches.”The BCB and Cricket Australia have worked tirelessly together for confirming the itinerary,” BCB’s chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said. “Naturally this was a challenge due to the Covid-19 pandemic as ensuring health safety and security is a priority prerequisite for holding any cricket series in these times. I am pleased to say that a comprehensive bio-security plan is in place and will be implemented during the tour for the protection of players and staff of the two teams and the match officials.”

Australia in Bangladesh T20Is

• First T20I: August 3

• Second T20I: August 4

• Third T20I: August 6

• Fourth T20I: August 7

• Fifth T20I: August 9

BCB and Cricket Australia (CA) have reportedly agreed on extensive pandemic protocols that include a 10-day quarantine, which began earlier this week. Both teams will count their current bio-bubble measures on their respective tours as part of the quarantine. Match officials have already been isolated while the Bangladesh T20I team currently in Zimbabwe will go straight to the team hotel in Dhaka upon arrival. Bangladesh’s T20I series against Zimbabwe was also brought forward by a couple of days.The major protocols for this tour include Australia’s immigration process conducted separately after CA expressed reservations about exposing their touring party in a hall room inside the airport. After they go through the VIP entry and into the team bus, their passports will be processed separately.The team hotel will be completely off-limits to the public during the tour, which is reportedly a tighter plan than the BCB’s bio-bubbles for West Indies and Sri Lanka earlier this year. The scheduling of the series has been at the CA’s request: to be held at one venue over a short window.”We would like to thank our friends at the Bangladesh Cricket Board for developing a detailed bio-security plan to keep players, staff and match officials safe,” Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said. “Both boards have worked extremely hard to do all we can to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved in the tour.”We are looking forward to a competitive and entertaining series in Dhaka as both teams continue their preparations for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup later this year.”Bangladesh, in the midst of a second wave of Covid-19, reported 173 deaths on Wednesday, taking the tally to 18,498 since March this year, according to the Directorate General of Health Services. According to the official data, the Covid-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh is now 1.63 percent and the current recovery rate is 84.56 percent. Bangladesh has been on strict lockdown since July 1. Although the government allowed a temporary easing of restrictions from July 15 to 22, the initial lockdown conditions are expected to return to force from July 23 till August 5.Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood said on Thursday that the team is familiar with the limitations of movement on tours.”We’ve had a few meetings about what it’s going to look like in Bangladesh and it’s obviously going to be quite tight restrictions and within the bubble,” Hazlewood said. “I think it’s purely going to be either at the hotel or at the cricket ground, which we’ve done before and we’re used to. It’s quite a short trip as well, which is good, so I think it’ll be no dramas, we’ll get that done on the back end of this tour.”This is Australia’s first tour to Bangladesh since their 2017 visit to play two Tests in Dhaka and Chattogram. They had cancelled their 2015 and 2016 (Under-19 World Cup) visits due to security concerns.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Deepak Hooda brought in as replacements

Shashank Kishore11-Feb-2022India vice-captain KL Rahul and allrounder Axar Patel will miss the upcoming three T20Is against West Indies in Kolkata starting on February 16. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has recovered completely from Covid-19, and Deepak Hooda have been named as their replacements in India’s 18-member squad.Rahul sustained an upper left hamstring strain while fielding during the second ODI on Wednesday. The injury also prevented his participation in Friday’s final ODI. Axar is recovering from Covid-19 and is in his “final stage of rehabilitation”, as per a BCCI statement.Axar was the only member from India’s T20I squad who hadn’t joined India’s extended biosecure bubble in Ahmedabad – comprising members from both limited-overs squads – ahead of their departure to Kolkata on Saturday evening. Both Axar and Rahul will head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for further management of their injuries.Gaikwad’s addition leaves India with three opening options alongside captain Rohit Sharma. They also have Ishan Kishan, who is the second wicketkeeper, and Venkatesh Iyer, the allrounder who has had much of his T20 success in recent times as an opener for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.Gaikwad is capped in the format, having featured in two T20Is on the tour of Sri Lanka last July. His exploits in IPL 2021 have accelerated his journey to India’s white-ball squads. He ended the previous season with a chart-topping 635 runs at an average of 45.35 and strike rate of 136.26.Having debuted in ODIs during the ongoing ODIs against West Indies, Hooda was in prolific form for Rajasthan in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the domestic T20 competition, where he finished as the highest run-getter for the team. His 294 runs, including four half-centuries, came at a strike rate of 168. Hooda previously made it to India’s T20I squad for the home series against Sri Lanka in 2017. He was also part of India’s squad for the Nidahas series in Sri Lanka the following year.The Indian camp had faced issues due to Covid-19 ahead of the ODIs as well, when seven members, including four players – Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Gaikwad and reserve fast bowler Navdeep Saini – tested positive.Axar had missed India’s preceding ODI assignment too, in South Africa, reportedly for a stress-related injury.India’s T20I squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda.

Sunil Narine still absent as West Indies gear up for 15 T20Is against South Africa, Australia and Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff18-May-2021Allrounder Andre Russell is back in the West Indies T20I squad for the first time since March 2020. West Indies’ 18-member squad for their upcoming set of T20I series against South Africa, Australia and Pakistan also includes the returning duo of Shimron Hetmyer and Sheldon Cottrell, with Kieron Pollard continuing to lead the side following on from the 2-1 home win against Sri Lanka in the format in March.Related

• Shimron Hetmyer, Sheldon Cottrell and Roston Chase back in West Indies' ODI squad

• Pollard: Sunil Narine will return to T20I side once he gains confidence

• Andre Russell: Bubble life 'definitely taken a toll on me mentally'

• Sunil Narine indicates he's 'not ready' for West Indies return

• Prenelan Subrayen among six uncapped players in South Africa squad for West Indies Tests

Sunil Narine, meanwhile, continues to miss out, with Cricket West Indies revealing the spinner informed lead selector Roger Harper he wasn’t yet ready to return to international cricket. “If his position changes, then the selectors would consider him for selection,” a CWI spokesperson said.While the West Indies side retains at its core most of the players that helped them triumph in the series against Sri Lanka, there are a handful of changes, especially in the bowling department. Alongside Cottrell, Oshane Thomas and Hayden Walsh Jnr also return, while the 39-year-old fast bowler Fidel Edwards retains his place in the side. Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis remain part of the side, while Nicholas Pooran is vice-captain.”The provisional T20I squad was put together with all T20I home series matches against South Africa, Australia and Pakistan in mind,” Harper said. “This gives us the opportunity to continue to build towards the upcoming World Cup and to determine our best squad and our ideal eleven.”West Indies coach Phil Simmons stressed the importance of the 15 upcoming T20Is, with two T20 World Cups scheduled to take place over the next 18 months. “These upcoming T20Is are crucial in terms of our preparation for the ICC T20 World Cup. We have assembled a very solid squad with experienced world-class match-winners and some exciting young talented players, ready to explode onto the global stage and do great things for West Indies cricket.”We are at that point where we have identified those who we will look to be the core of the squad to defend our World Cup title, so we want to make sure the upcoming matches create that environment – the way we train, the way we plan, the way we execute and the chemistry within the group. We won five years ago, so the next few weeks and months will be major steppingstones on the road towards defending our title and being World Champions for a third time.”The series against South Africa begins on June 26 and ends on July 3, with all five games taking place in Grenada. The five T20Is against Australia will take place in St Lucia, while the five matches against Pakistan will be held in Barbados and Guyana.West Indies T20I squad: Kieron Pollard (capt), Nicholas Pooran (wk), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jnr