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Loose shots have contributed to Rohit Sharma’s downfall on all three occasions. The sooner he adjusts to his new role as an opener, the greater the chances he will begin converting his starts

Nagraj Gollapudi at Edgbaston16-Jun-2013Even Rohit Sharma would admit that it is getting embarrassing to be back in the dressing room when he could have been there in the middle converting his starts into big scores. He had started off watchfully three times in the tournament. He converted two of those to half-centuries. Against Pakistan today, he started fluently once again. But just as his innings was about to blossom into another fifty, Rohit got distracted and played a loose stroke. Like the unnecessary pull shot against South Africa. Like the unwanted push against a leg-side delivery against West Indies. And like the unfathomable urge to hit over midwicket today when India were in a commanding position.Probably the pain of getting a start and then playing an erroneous stroke could be worse than getting a duck. At Sophia Gardens, then at The Oval and then at Edgbaston, Rohit walked back punching his gloves, cringing his eyes, shaking his head, hitting his bat on his pads, pursing his lips. It was clear how much he wanted to be in the center even as he reluctantly departed the field. He has been rightly accused in the past of throwing away his wicket. However, this tournament, Rohit has stayed hungry.He trained hard in the nets. Even after finishing his regular batting stint he would return later to continue to take throwdowns and be the last to leave. The best music to a batsman’s ears comes from middling the ball. From a distance it can seem as if a player is hitting a mallet to stroke his bat. Yet, it is the urge to get the feel that makes the exercise fascinating.You could see the confidence he derived from those preparations in the crucial partnerships he built with Shikhar Dhawan against South Africa and then West Indies, which were the key legs in the Indian victories. In the first match Morne Morkel tested Rohit with a robust spell of fast bowling, firing in short-pitched deliveries at an aggressive pace.Rohit looked uncomfortable at times, was even hit on the box once, folded into two on another occasion while trying to fend the white shell that was climbing high and fast towards his head. But Rohit knew the key was to leave the ball. What also helped was an understanding he had with Dhawan as both men showed the keenness to keep rotating the strike.The time he has to play his shots, the fact that he has all the shots in the book make Rohit a dangerous batsman once he gets his eye in. Over the years in the IPL, he has tended to take pressure positively, understanding when exactly to go for the big one. So even if India were scoring at a slow rate in the initial ten overs, he did not show any desperation. In fact, in the first two matches, Rohit had started slowly compared to Dhawan, yet accelerated effortlessly to reach the half-century mark before his partner. But what he has not been able to do is to get to three figures like Dhawan managed in the first two matches. So why is that?Not for the lack of courage. Probably it could be to do with his new role. Unlike Dhawan, who has primarily been a specialist opener, Rohit has played in the middle order for both India and Mumbai in first-class cricket. But his superior technique and ability to play the short ball confidently encouraged captain MS Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher to vault him into the opening position. With the Indian middle order looking settled, the challenge for Rohit is to adapt quickly.Rahul Dravid, the former India captain, who performed in various positions including as an opener in ODIs, reckons Rohit needs to be flexible. “He has all the talent, he has the goods. It is a question of him now converting it and having the hunger and desire when he has in good form to actually stack them up,” Dravid said on ESPNcricinfo’s The Huddle on Saturday.For now, Rohit has his captain’s confidence and he is bound to get the long rope if he continues to provide confident starts. “That’s the only space that we have got, where we all felt that with his talent he can really capitalise and be a good opener,” Dhoni said on Friday. However, Rohit knows well that he needs to start making centuries that will finally allow him to enjoy a settled role.Having played 90 ODIs and leading Mumbai Indians to the IPL title, Rohit, despite his young age (26), has stated assuming more responsibilities. He has seen a contemporary like Virat Kohli grow into one of the most reliable players for India. Rohit is now as close to fulfilling that role. But like his seniors have mentioned, he is the driver of his destiny.

It may well be too early to suppose that England are on the verge of a dynastic rein, as achieved by the great West Indies and Australia sides, but they’ve certainly found the formula for continued success

Andrew Miller17-Aug-2011England have been the world’s No. 1 Test side for scarcely a week, and already there’s a feeling that this side ought to be capable of ruling the roost for the next decade or more, much as West Indies did in the 1980s and Australia in the 2000s. In part, such a fanciful projection can be dismissed as the natural reaction of England’s wildly over-active media, but only up to a point.The fact is, anyone who has witnessed England train, perform and even celebrate in the past 18 months will recognise the hallmarks of a squad that has found the courage to pursue lasting greatness, while at the same time developing the confidence to treat the extraordinary as commonplace.”The basis of our success over the last couple of years is centred around a very strong work ethic, playing for each another and putting the team before the individual,” said England’s captain, Andrew Strauss. “It’s about trying to improve yourself individually on a day-to-day basis, and now is very much a time to keep that improvement going. It’s not a time to take the foot off the gas and be satisfied with ourselves. We’re going to be judged by higher standards now as a result of getting to No.1, and it’s going to be harder and harder to stay there.”The speed of England’s ascent to the summit has been dizzying, but to judge from the stats alone, there can be no quibbling with their current status, even if success on the subcontinent is a goal that remains to be achieved. Since Andy Flower came on board as England’s full-time coach in the spring of 2009, England have won 19 of their 30 Tests, and 11 of those by an innings. As a point of comparison, England in the whole of the 1980s – a decade that included three celebrated Ashes wins – won 20 out of 104. Success begets success, as the great teams of the past made it their business to demonstrate match-in, match-out.It may well be too early to suppose that England are on the verge of doing likewise, but it can certainly be said that, with an average age of 28, and upwards of 15 players worthy of a place in the first XI, they have a squad with the depth to deal with the unexpected, and the time to build on the clear foundations they have laid. “The point of our set-up is to nudge people in the right direction so that they don’t become too comfortable,” added Strauss.Perhaps most crucially, however, England have in Flower and Strauss a pair of leaders who are not ready or willing to let their charges feel satisfied with anything they’ve achieved to date. Last week at Edgbaston, England surpassed themselves in inflicting the third-heaviest defeat in India’s Test history, and now they stand just five days away from completing a remarkable 4-0 whitewash over a side that came into this series as the top-ranked team in the game. Certainly, the intensity of England’s preparations were at stark odds with the haphazard nature of India’s practice, which – in a throwback to England’s own whitewash days in the Caribbean in 1985-86 – was declared “optional” on Tuesday morning.That’s not to say there won’t have been a method to that apparent madness from India’s management – sometimes, when everything that can go wrong is going wrong, a break from the grind is the ideal solution, as Pakistan demonstrated back in 2001, when their improbable victory at Old Trafford came on the back of a day out at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. However, as England’s insatiable batting coach, Graham Gooch, was fond of declaring during his playing days: “If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.”England have, in Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss, a pair of leaders who are not ready or willing to let their charges feel satisfied with anything they’ve achieved to date•Getty ImagesAt times during their own run of world domination, the only vulnerability that Australia ever displayed was their so-called “dead-rubber syndrome” – their peculiar tendency to drop their guard in the final Test of an otherwise crushing campaign. Of England’s seven victories over the Aussies between 1993 and 2003, no fewer than six came once the Ashes were beyond salvation – including two at The Oval in 1993 and 1997.The introduction of the world rankings has made something of a difference in that respect, because there are always points up for grabs even when a series has been done and dusted. However, as England showed at Sydney back in January, when they crushed Australia by an innings and 83 runs in their own dead-rubber contest in the fifth Test, it is their own desire for self-betterment that is their primary source of motivation.Partly that comes as a consequence of the vast range of experiences that have gone into building this England team. Key players such as Strauss, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell were all a part of the side that failed to build on its epic Ashes success in 2005; those same players plus James Anderson and Alastair Cook know how it feels to be on the receiving end of a marquee series whitewash. The vast majority of the current team were there in Jamaica in February 2009 when West Indies routed them for 51, and then there’s the memory of their last defeat against India, when Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar chased a remarkable 387 in Chennai.”It was bitterly disappointing to lose in those circumstances,” Strauss recalled, “because we played a lot of good cricket in that Test and got in a position to win it. But it makes you realise that, certainly away from home, registering Test match victories is very hard and you have to play well for the entire match if you want to do that. It was a timely reminder, and that, followed by the Windies tour, was the start of us regenerating as a side, and improving.”That improvement is an ongoing project, and as Graeme Swann joked on Tuesday, he wouldn’t want to be in the same room as Flower in the event that England did let this final fixture slip through their grasp. “He’s a hard man to get a smile out of, I’ll give you that, but the most important thing with him is he’s driving us,” said Strauss. “He’ll be the last person ever to be satisfied with what we’ve achieved and he’ll be the first person to be disappointed if we did take our foot off the pedal.”On a personal note, this will be Strauss’s final England appearance of the year, thanks to a quirk of the calendar that has delayed the winter Test series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka until the New Year. While he denied that it would be an odd feeling to have quite such a long time on the sidelines, it is probably no bad thing that even an England captain with a record of 20 wins in 38 Tests still goes into the game with a point to prove.”The most important thing is having won last week, I wasn’t sat on my sofa thinking ‘that’s it for me, I’ve achieved what I wanted to achieve’,” said Strauss. “I feel very privileged to be part of this side at the moment and I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to try and drive us forward as well.”There’s so many challenges ahead for us as a side. There’s the subcontinent this winter, there’s South Africa coming over, and then India in the winter after that followed by the World Test Championship. The challenges never cease from now on. It’s important not to look too far ahead because we don’t know what’s around the corner, but for the time being I’m very motivated to continue in our improvement.”

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan11-Mar-2008The second round of IPL auctions are done with and it’s time once again to
look at how the franchises have built their teams for the 44-day tournament.

	Misbah-ul-Haq provides the X-factor to the Bangalore Royal Challengers © Getty Images

Tuesday’s show wasn’t as high-profile but was as important for a few franchises. Some, like Hyderabad, had already settled their squads while others like Jaipur had plenty of money left to spend. Others still, like Kolkata and Jaipur, may have ended up with too many overseas signings while Bangalore and Mumbai used the second opportunity to plug the gaps.Like we did after the first auction, we run the
rule over the eight sides.

Bangalore

Bangalore have a far more balanced look after the second auction. Just when the batting order appeared too conventional for Twenty20, they poached Misbah-ul-Haq, someone who will add
the X-factor. Shreevats Goswami, the Under-19 player acquired on Tuesday, will be the second-choice wicketkeeper. With a bowling attack that’s one of the best in the tournament, Bangalore look a far more flexible unit.Probable XI: 1 Bharat Chipli, 2 J Arunkumar, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Jacques
Kallis/Misbah-ul-Haq 5 Virat Kohli, 6 Cameron White, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8
Zaheer Khan, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Dale Steyn/Vinay Kumar.

Chennai

It was a quiet day for Chennai, having bought most of their players in the
first auction. It’s a squad with a fine balance of local and foreign
talent and plenty of options in both batting and bowling. It’s a side with
quality fast bowlers, handy medium-pacers, fine spinners, big hitters, and
accumulators. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain, couldn’t have asked for
more.Probable XI 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Stephen Fleming/ Abhinav Mukund, 3
Suresh Raina, 4 Jacob Oram, 5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Michael
Hussey/S Badrinath, 7 Albie Morkel/Parthiv Patel, 8 Joginder Sharma, 9
Napoleon Einstein, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan/ Makhaya Ntini, 11 Sudeep
Tyagi/R Ashwin.

Delhi

A balanced side with an outstanding fielding unit, it also has enough
local talent to give it good shape. The pace department is
impressive but Delhi may still be pondering about spin.
Daniel Vettori continues to be the lone specialist spin option, with
Virender Sehwag backing up. Overall a side that looks like serious
contenders.Probable XI 1 Virender Sehwag (capt), 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4
AB de Villiers/Shoaib Malik/Tillakaratne Dilshan, 5 Rajat Bhatia, 6 Manoj
Tiwary, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Farveez Maharoof/Yo
Mahesh, 10 Mohammad Asif, 11 Glenn McGrath.

Hyderabad

No need for the second auction here. The franchise spent most of their money the first time and quickly went about signing others from the catchment areas. It’s a power-packed side with a fine mix of local and foreign players. Hyderabad are making the least noise among all the franchises but don’t be surprised if you see them on top of the podium.Probable XI: 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 DB Ravi Teja, 3 VVS Laxman (capt), 4 Arjun Yadav, 5 Andrew Symonds/Herschelle Gibbs, 6 Venugopal Rao/ Rohit Sharma, 7 Scott Styris/Shahid Afridi/Chamara Silva, 8 Pragyan Ojha, 9 Chaminda Vaas/Nuwan Zoysa, 10 RP Singh, 11 D Kalyankrishna.

	The power of Dimitri Mascarenhas will surely boost the Rajasthan Royals © Getty Images

Jaipur

They’ve no doubt gained the most from the second auction but are still too reliant on foreign talent. Shane Warne has plenty of options in the squad but he’s allowed only four foreign players – a fact which will restrict the selection of the side. DImitri Mascarenhas, Morne Morkel and Sohail Tanvir are wonderful additions but all might struggle to get picked regularly.Probable XI: 1 Taruwar Kohli, 2 Graeme Smith, 3 Yusuf Pathan,
4 Mohammad Kaif, 5 Anup Revendkar, 6 Kamran Akmal (wk), 7 Shane Watson, 8
Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Shane Warne (capt) 10 Pankaj Singh, 11 Munaf Patel.

Kolkata

Sourav Ganguly is the only high-profile Indian in the batting line-up. With only four foreign players allowed in the playing XI, it leaves them with a brittle middle order. Their only purchases on Tuesday were Iqbal Abdulla and Siddharth Kaul, both bowlers. It means the likes of Laxmi Ratan Shukla and other local players would need to fill the void in the middle.Probable XI 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Brendon McCullum (wk),
4 Ricky Ponting, 5 Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 6 Ajit Agarkar, 7 Murali Kartik, 8
Iqbal Abdulla/Saurasish Lahiri, 9 Shoaib Akhtar/Umar Gul, 10 Ishant
Sharma, 11 Siddharth Kaul.

Mohali

A good second auction but the batting still looks thin on paper.
Most of the options are foreign recruits and Yuvraj Singh might struggle to put a
balanced XI in place. Ajitesh Argal and Tanmay Srivatsava, though, could
be fine picks in the long run, with both players touted as future
international stars. The bowling line-up has a fine mix – well represented
in both pace and spin.Probable XI 1 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 2 Irfan Pathan, 3 Tanmay
Srivastava, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Mahela Jayawardene/ Ramnaresh Sarwan/ Simon
Katich, 6 James Hopes, 7 Piyush Chawla, 8 Ramesh Powar, 9 Brett Lee, 10
Ajitesh Argal, 11 Sreesanth.

Mumbai

Mumbai have a more settled unit now with Manish Pandey and Saurabh Tiwary
beefing up the batting order. The only team without a foreign wicketkeeper
[Delhi have AB de Villiers as a back-up option to Dinesh Karthik], Mumbai
will rely on Pinal Shah from Baroda and Maharashtra’s Yogesh Takawale. Expect fireworks from the top order:
Ajinkya Rahane and Robin Uthappa following the two masters, Sachin
Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya.Probable XI: 1 Sachin Tendulkar (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Robin
Uthappa, 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Sourabh Tiwary, 7 Shaun Pollock, 8 Pinal Shah
(wk), 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10, Lasith Malinga, 11 Dilhara Fernando.

Ubaid Shah, Naseem’s brother, plays a crucial role in Pakistan’s thumping win against Afghanistan

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2024
Bangladesh Under-19s, who had beaten India Under-19s in the Asia Cup in December last year, threatened to cause another stir when left-arm seamer Maruf Mridha took five wickets in the Under-19 World Cup in Bloemfontein. Maruf’s strikes kept India to 251 for 7, but Saumy Pandey trumped Maruf with 4 for 24 and bowled his team to victory.Musheer Khan, the younger brother of Sarfaraz Khan, pitched in with two wickets, including that of Mohammad Shihab James, who top-scored for Bangladesh with 54 off 77 balls. The rest of the batters collapsed around James as Bangladesh were bowled out for 167 in 45.5 overs. Musheer also effected a direct-hit to sink Bangladesh. Pandey was the most economical bowler on the day, conceding just 2.44 an over.Earlier in the day, India’s innings was built around half-centuries from opener Adarsh Singh (76 off 96) and captain Uday Saharan (64 off 94). Aravelly Avinash (23 off 17), who was picked by Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2024 auction, and Sachin Dhas (26 off 20) then gave the innings some late impetus.Shahzaib Khan almost batted through the innings, scoring 106 from 126 balls•ICC via Getty Images

Ubaid Shah, the younger brother of Naseem Shah, and Mohammad Zeeshan, who has been part of Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL, took seven wickets between them to skittle Afghanistan Under-19s for 103 in their chase of 285 in East London.Opener batting Shahzaib Khan had laid the platform for Pakistan Under-19s’ 181-run victory with 106 off 126 balls. His knock contained ten fours and three sixes. He added 92 for the third wicket with Saad Baig, who hit 55 off 52 balls, to set Pakistan up for a big total. Khalil Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan, returning 4 for 51 in his ten overs.Pakistan’s total looked even bigger when Ubaid and Zeeshan ripped through Afghanistan’s top and middle orders. Wicketkeeper-batter Numan Shah was the only Afghanistan batter to pass 25 in the chase. Amir Hassan and Ahmed Hussain picked up a wicket each as Pakistan bundled Afghanistan out in 26.2 overs.Luc Benkenstein picked up key wickets in the middle overs•ICC via Getty Images

England Under-19s enjoyed a winning start to the Under-19 World Cup, easing past Scotland Under-19s in Potchefstroom.Luc Benkenstein, the son of former South Africa international Dale, sealed the victory with an unbeaten cameo after setting it up for England with a three-wicket haul. Farhan Ahmed, who is the brother of England international Rehan, also bagged a three-wicket haul to help England dismiss Scotland for 174.Captain Ben McKinney then hit 88 off 68 balls to rush his side to victory, with seven wickets and 142 balls to spare. He forged a 106-run partnership for the first wicket with Jaydn Denly, who made 40 off 50 balls.After Scotland were asked to bat first, they never got going and lost wickets in clusters. They didn’t even have a single half-century stand in their entire innings. Owen Gould top-scored for them with 48 off 61 balls, including five fours and a six. The other nine batters scored a combined five boundaries. Harry Armstrong was absent hurt for Scotland.

Manchester United flop Antony has revealed he rejected an offer to link up with Harry Kane at Bayern Munich before sealing his permanent transfer to Real Betis. The Brazilian winger, who fell out of favour under Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford, officially sealed his return to Betis in a €25 million (£21m/$27m) deal on deadline day, penning a five-year contract.

Antony rejected Bayern's offerHad offers from five clubsJoined Betis permanently on deadline dayFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Antony's game time at United significantly reduced after Amorim took charge of the club last November. He was eventually sent out on loan in the January transfer window to Real Betis, where he enjoyed a successful six-month spell. The Brazilian returned to Old Trafford this summer, but he was forced to train with Amorim's 'Bomb Squad' while the club worked to get him a permanent transfer.

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Now, the 25-year-old has claimed that he had offers from at least five other clubs, including German champions Bayern Munich, but he had made up his mind to return to Betis. 

WHAT ANTONY SAID

Speaking to , Antony said: "I spoke with Bayern Munich. I don't know if it was [a] €7 million [offer], but I said I had Betis's word and that it was 95% certain and that I would respect my word. I feel comfortable making this decision because I'm very happy here. More than five teams called me."

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR ANTONY?

Antony could play his first match after completing his permanent transfer on September 14, as Real Betis take on Levante in La Liga. Manuel Pelligrini's side are currently eighth in the table with one win, two draws and one defeat recorded in their first four games of the new season.

Match details

Namibia vs Oman
Bridgetown, 8.30pm local

Big picture

Playing in their third consecutive T20 World Cup, Namibia will be looking to build on impressive previous showings. In 2021, they had surprised many by qualifying for Super 12s – at the expense of Ireland and Netherlands – and in 2022 they beat Sri Lanka in the first round, but fell short of progressing.They made it to T20 World Cup 2024 by dominating the Africa qualifier, winning all six of their games. With England and Australia also in their group, they will know that their best shot at the Super 8s involves beating Oman and Scotland and then pulling off an upset.But Oman, their first opponents, could offer tough competition. When the two teams faced off in a five-match T20I series in April, Oman ran Namibia close, with Namibia eventually sealing a 3-2 win.Oman, also making their third T20 World Cup appearance, come into the tournament with momentum on their side. They reached the ACC Premier Cup final, winning five games on the trot, although they lost to UAE in the final. They have a new captain for this World Cup, with Aqib Ilyas replacing the experienced Zeeshan Maqsood in the role.

Form guide

Namibia WWLLW (last five T20Is, most recent first)
Oman LWWWW

In the spotlight – David Wiese and Aqib Ilyas

David Wiese, one of the biggest reasons behind Namibia’s impressive campaign in 2021, has since become a T20 globetrotter, playing in several franchise leagues including the IPL, the Hundred and the PSL. He has also played the CPL and MLC, giving him a feel of the conditions on offer by T20 World Cup’s two hosts. Namibia would hope that the experience he has gained over the last few years will set him up for a good campaign, as he is key to their plans with bat and ball.Aqib Ilyas, apart from being a top-order batter, is also a more-than-handy spinner. He was the leading wicket-taker in the ACC Premier Cup with 12 scalps from five matches at an economy of 6.22. In the series decider against Namibia, he picked up 2 for 21 from three overs and then struck a 29-ball 51 in an unsuccessful chase of 213. Namibia will be wary of the threat he poses, but how he deals with the added responsibility of leading the team will have to be seen.David Wiese will be key to Namibia’s plans with bat and ball•ICC via Getty

Team news

Namibia could field an XI with as many as seven bowling options, while their potential No. 9 Ruben Trumpelmann is no mug with the bat.Namibia (probable XI): 1 Nikolas Davin, 2 Jean-Pierre Kotze, 3 Michael van Lingen, 4 Gerhard Erasmus (capt), 5 JJ Smit, 6 David Wiese, 7 Jan Frylinck, 8 Zane Green (wk), 9 Ruben Trumpelmann, 10 Bernard Scholtz, 11 Ben ShikongoOman also have plenty of bowling options among their top- and middle-order batters. They could put out the same line-up that played in the final of the Premier Cup.Oman (probable XI): 1 Kashyap Prajapati, 2 Naseem Khushi (wk), 3 Aqib Ilyas (capt), 4 Zeeshan Maqsood, 5 Pratik Athavale (wk), 6 Ayaan Khan, 7 Khalid Kail, 8 Shakeel Ahmad, 9 Rafiullah, 10 Fayyaz Butt, 11 Bilal Khan

Pitch and conditions

In the past, batters have found it difficult to score off spinners in Bridgetown. It’s not a particularly high-scoring ground, and in 12 games at the venue since the start of 2022, the average first-innings score has been 178. Teams batting first have won eight of those 12 matches.There is a 40% chance of rain, but it’s not expected to last more than half an hour even if it does pour.

Stats that matter

• One of Namibia’s many allrounders, their captain Gerhard Erasmus, has been in excellent bowling form. He has taken a wicket in eight of his last ten matches, and has not conceded more than run a ball in any of those games.
• Bilal Khan, Oman’s 37-year-old fast bowler, had an economy rate of 4.45 from three matches in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
• Maqsood, Mehran Khan and Bilal are the only three players from Oman’s squad in their first T20 World Cup campaign in 2016 to be part of this year’s squad.

Quotes

“Now that I am leading the side, I have more responsibilities. I have to be more smart and give my 100%. We have worked really hard in the past, in the camp and everything. Now when we step onto the field, it’s just the mind game, presence and game awareness. I am looking for some big performances, to get at least two Man of the Matches in the first round.”

Mayank Agarwal, the Karnataka captain, has been discharged from an Agartala hospital on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted following a mid-flight medical emergency. He arrived in Bengaluru on Wednesday evening.He is believed to have been given some injections to keep him pain-free for the duration of his travel back to Bengaluru. It’s likely Agarwal will consult doctors at a private hospital in the city as precaution. This automatically rules him out of Karnataka’s upcoming fifth-round Ranji Trophy fixture against Railways, beginning on Friday.On Tuesday, Agarwal had developed a burning sensation in his throat and mouth en route to Surat after consuming liquid from a bottle he believed contained drinking water. Agarwal suffered a bout of vomiting after which he was deplaned and rushed to ILS Hospitals, where he was declared “clinically stable”.