Keacy Carty’s 87 was the only bright spark in another error-strewn display from West Indies

Madushka Balasuriya07-Jul-2023

A second straight ton by Pathum Nissanka and yet another four-for from Maheesh Theekshana headlined a dominant eight-wicket win over West Indies, as Sri Lanka completed a comfortable warm-up for Sunday’s final against Netherlands, in Harare.Set a middling target of 244, Sri Lanka ran it down with little fuss, inclusive of a tournament-best opening stand of 190 between Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne – though both were handed lifelines by an abject West Indian performance in the field. While both would fall before the chase was completed, Nissanka for 104 and Karunaratne for 83, Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama closed the game out with 34 balls to spare.For West Indies, the only bright spark was Keacy Carty, whose 96-ball 87 dragged his side to a fighting total, when at one point it seemed like they would become the seventh consecutive side to be skittled for less than 200 runs by Sri Lanka in this tournament.This had not seemed the case when Johnson Charles was flying high during a brisk 36-run opening stand with Brandon King. With Dasun Shanaka opening the bowling alongside Dilshan Madushanka, Charles and King had found the Lankan captain’s gentle pace to their liking. But the early introduction of eventual Player of the Match Theekshana turned the game.King was the first to go, his middle stump disturbed after he went too far across attempting to sweep. Shamarh Brooks then got a faint nick through to the keeper that was confirmed on review, while Shai Hope was trapped in front by one that skidded through off a good length to catch him sitting in his crease.Charles was still going strong at this point, but then the sometimes wayward Matheesha Pathirana grabbed his only scalp, trapping him lbw with one that was quick, straight and kept a touch low from back of a length. Theekshana returned later to leave the West Indies reeling on 155 for 8 when he knocked back Romario Shepherd’s middle stump.Pathum Nissanka scored back-to-back hundreds•ICC via Getty Images

At that point, it seemed like West Indies would struggle to reach 40 overs, let alone the full 50, but Carty – aided by the fact he was dropped on 8 – strung together a series of lower-order stands to haul his side into the game, on a pitch that had few demons in it.He first came to the crease at 62 for 4 with Nicholas Pooran already there, but the latter became legspinner Dushan Hemantha’s maiden ODI scalp, holing out at deep midwicket. Hemantha was playing for the rested Wanindu Hasaranga.Carty then put on 41 with Kyle Mayers, before the latter was castled by Sahan Arachchige – yet another debutant, in for Dhananjaya de Silva. Roston Chase shortly after became Hemantha’s second scalp of the game, caught lbw by a ripping googly, before Carty stitched together another defiant stand – this time 32 with Shepherd.Once Shepherd fell, the writing appeared to be on the wall, but Carty guided Kevin Sinclair and Akeal Hossein through stands of 63 and 25 respectively – the former the best of the innings – to lift the total to respectability.The application shown by Carty throughout would serve as an example from an otherwise dire West Indian effort. This was no more apparent than in the field when several chances of varying difficulty were dropped – a recurring theme throughout this tournament – the most glaring of which was by captain Hope himself, who let through a skier, despite having the gloves on.In a game that many might have assumed would have had far more significance when it was pencilled in at the start of the tournament, in the end only served to show the differing trajectories, not just of these two sides, but of West Indies and the Associates as well. When Sri Lanka turn up on Sunday to face the Dutch, they are likely to be in for a far sterner test.

The former USMNT striker delivered passionate praise for retired LAFC star Carlos Vela, calling him the most talented Mexican player he has ever seen

• Gomez ranks Vela above Mexican legends, including Sanchez and Marquez
• Former striker argues Vela-Zlatan era made MLS more relevant than current Messi period
• ESPN analyst criticizes LAFC for insufficient farewell to the club's inaugural captain

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  WHAT HAPPENED

  While some mention Carlos Vela didn't reach his vast potential, former U.S. international Herculez Gomez offered a passionate defense of the former LAFC captain's career. The 36-year-old announced his retirement earlier in May, calling an end to a career that saw him play for Arsenal, Real Sociedad, and LAFC amongst several other clubs. But despite many questioning his career choices, Gomez believes that Vela was the most technically gifted Mexican player he had ever witnessed, placing him above iconic figures like Hugo Sanchez, Rafa Marquez, Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, and Cuauhtémoc Blanco.

  “He’s [Carlos Vela] in my eyes, the most talented Mexican player that I’ve ever seen play, in person and even on video," Gomez said on

  He added, "I’ve played with Cuauhtémoc Blanco, I know how good technically that Cuauhtémoc Blanco is, how smart he is, and you could say many things about Carlos Vela, you can question the lack of ambition, and you can question the lack of character. But when it comes to straight talent in a pool that’s fielded Hugo Sanchez, Rafa Marquez, Chicharito Hernandez – and yes, goal-scoring is a talent – and the likes of Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Carlos Vela is the most talented player I’ve ever seen in a Mexican jersey and that’s why people will say he did not live up to his potential.”

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• WHAT HERCULEZ GOMEZ SAID

  Gomez further touched upon Vela’s career and how impressive his journey was, from Arsenal to Real Sociedad and then to the MLS with LAFC.

  “There are a lot of fans, lot of pundits in the Mexican national team who will remember Carlos Vela for what he did not live up to, I am not one of those. Under-17 World Cup, the very first trophy for Mexico at any level, Golden Ball aka the best player. He goes to Arsenal, it doesn’t work out and this man has never played Liga MX football, and when he finally breaks through at Real Sociedad, he has one of the best campaigns you could ever imagine.

  He added, “It's not hyperbole, Messi, Cristiano, and Carlos Vela [were the best in La Liga that season]. On Carlos Vela’s team, Antonie Griezmann [was on that team too] but the talk of his team was Carlos Vela. And at the age of 29, he leaves La Liga, that element of Real Sociedad to come to MLS!! When people said how could you do that at 29 years of age and he then has one of the most ridiculous seasons that I’ve ever seen, 34 goals 15 assists."

  Gomez also believes Vela's rivalry with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in MLS, elevated the interest in the league. He was also critical of how LAFC and MLS treated his retirement.

  “He and Zlatan going back and forth was what made the league relevant, and I would argue even with Messi here, it was better back then. The theatrics, the drama, and Zlatan vs Carlos Vela, the games, and Carlos Vela what he was able to do with a franchise starting from scratch, and everything they’ve achieved… my initial reaction is he deserved a better sendoff.”

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Vela retired in May 2026, having spent six seasons with LAFC. His 2019 MVP season remains arguably the greatest individual campaign in MLS history, as he broke the single-season scoring record with 34 goals, while also adding 15 assists. Vela's rivalry with LA Galaxy's Zlatan Ibrahimović from 2018-2019 generated unprecedented attention for MLS.

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  WHAT’S NEXT?

  While Vela has stepped away from playing professionally, he has been named Los Angeles FC’s first club ambassador and will be recognized during a special Carlos Vela Night on Sept. 21 for the game against Real Salt Lake.

England quick admits struggles but insists he is not thinking about his future

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2023James Anderson insists his age is not to blame for his off-colour performances in the first two Ashes Tests, and says that he’ll be looking no further into the future than the start of the third Test at Headingley on Thursday.Anderson turns 41 later this month, but speculation is mounting about his role for the remainder of the series, after a haul of three wickets at 75.33 in 77 overs to date.He admitted after England’s two-wicket loss in the first Test that the Edgbaston wicket had been like “kryptonite” for him, and he further struggled at Lord’s in a contest that featured a total of 504 short balls, the most ever logged in ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball statistics, which began recording such data in 2015.Related

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“I will be honest,” Anderson wrote in his column in the Telegraph. “You want to contribute in the big series and I cannot remember having two such quiet games in a row for at least the past 10 years.”I feel like I have always contributed at some stage. But I do not think I am bowling particularly badly; I am just going through a lean patch, which you do not want to happen in an Ashes … I am saying lean patch but it is only two games out of 181.”I am not going to criticise the pitch again. They have not suited me so far but I have found ways of getting wickets in the past on flat pitches. At the moment I am just not finding that knack.”However, when you see the best bowlers in the world slamming it into the middle of the pitch, it is not great viewing. If you asked all the bowlers on show at Lord’s, they will say they want to try other skills as well.James Anderson has endured a tough series so far•AFP/Getty Images”I have spent 20 years pitching the ball up trying to swing it and move it off the deck and when you do not get anything doing that, it is frustrating. I just have to keep working on my game, chat to the coaches and see if there is something more I can be doing.”With the short turnaround to the Headingley Test, Anderson seems likely to sit out the contest, with Mark Wood’s extra pace expected to be a factor after Ben Stokes, England’s captain, admitted he would have picked him for the second Test had he been considered match-ready. Moeen Ali is also expected to be back in contention after resting his damaged spinning finger.But with the Old Trafford and Oval Tests still to come, and England needing to win all three to win back the Ashes for the first time since 2015, Anderson is adamant that he’ll be ready and waiting to play his part as and when he is called upon.”It comes with the territory at my age for people to speculate about my future. But I understand. It is a high-profile series and you get put under the spotlight a bit more and the easy target is to say he is getting on a bit. But the reason I have not taken wickets is not because of my age.”I am not thinking about the future. The future for me is just thinking about Thursday and the start of the next Test. That is as far ahead as I will look. If I get the nod, I will put in a performance the team need. If not, I will keep working hard and play a role at some stage across the series.”

Arne Slot wants to bring a world class striker to Anfield and has his sights set on Alexander Isak after Liverpool finalise a deal for Florian Wirtz.

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Reds building on Premier League title winFinalising deal for Wirtz from LeverkusenLooking at swoop for Isak from NewcastleFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Liverpool stunned the rest of England by winning the Premier League title during Slot's first season in charge and it looks like the Dutchman is going all out to try and replicate that achievement in 2025-26. Reports suggest the Reds are on the verge of signing Bayer Leverkusen star Wirtz for €150million (£127m) and will then turn their attentions to bringing in a striker.

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Isak is hot property across Europe after a stellar campaign for Newcastle but Liverpool are believed to be considering a move for the Swedish striker. It would likely take another £100m at least to pry the Magpies' prized possession away from them after he helped Eddie Howe's side win the Carabao Cup and secure Champions League football next season.

DID YOU KNOW?

Isak bagged 27 goals across all competitions last term. He is contracted at St James' Park until 2028.

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(C)Getty imagesWHAT NEXT?

Had Newcastle failed to qualify for Europe's top competition next season, there may be a higher chance of Isak leaving this summer. However it is likely that the club will do everything they can to convince the Swede to stay on Tyneside despite interest from Liverpool.

Barcelona will pursue re-negotiations with shirt sponsor Spotify, as they look to maximise the value of recent successes and stars like Lamine Yamal.

Spotify can extend deal in 2026Current deal worth €60m-per-seasonBarca believe shirt sponsorship worth double that figureFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

reports the Catalonian giants are considering a re-negotiation with the global leader in audio streaming. The two parties entered an agreement in 2022, with Spotify paying at least €60m (£52m)-per-year to sponsor the famous blaugrana jerseys, with another €5m (£4.3m) spent on naming rights of the Camp Nou. The terms of their current agreement allow Spotify to extend the deal until 2030 unilaterally, should they wish to increase their annual spend to €70m (£61m). A similar clause would then kick in, with Daniel Ek's company able to pay €80m (£69m) from 2030 to 2034.

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However, Barcelona now consider their jersey to be worth considerably more. reports that the consensus within the club values their shirt sponsorship at €120m (£105m)-per-season, thanks to their recent success in both the men and women's game. The club also boasts highly marketable stars like Lamine Yamal, Aitana Bonmati and Alexis Putellas.

DID YOU KNOW?

La Blaugrana are therefore willing to push for a re-negotiation to their deal ahead of the 2026 renewal date. As the club is now in a more secure position than in 2022, when their financial woes made a deal with Spotify an imperative, suggests the club could court other sponsors, even though the agreement with Spotify has been a positive for both parties. Barcelona recently renewed with shirt manufacturer Nike, in a deal worth a reported €127m-per-year. That deal came to fruition after a round of negotiations with Puma.

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT?

While there have been delays to the club's planned return to the Camp Nou, they hope to return to their home ground in the next few weeks. Their deal with Nike is worth an estimated €1.7bn over the next 15 years. The focus on a new sponsorship deal is the next logical step for Barcelona as a business.

Fast bowler backs his team to bounce back and praises Josh Hazlewood for picking up a five-for

Alex Malcolm08-Mar-2024Matt Henry has been a one-man band for New Zealand so far in this series. He is their leading wicket-taker (11) and leading run-scorer (85) and is single-handedly keeping the Black Caps’ hopes alive after another difficult day against Australia in Christchurch.He second-top-scored for New Zealand in the second Test running with an important 29 as they were bowled out for 162 having been sent into bat on a seam-friendly Hagley Oval pitch. Josh Hazlewood put on a supreme display of bowling to take 5 for 31Henry was then equally good during his turn, prising out three of Australia’s top four including the in-form Cameron Green to keep New Zealand in the contest. But despite bearing a heavy load, he refused to put any blame on New Zealand’s batters after they were bowled out for under 200 for the third successive innings.”It’s not a concern,” Henry said. “I think looking at our batting line-up we’ve got world-class players there. They’ve been fantastic for a number of years. I [haven’t] got any doubt that they’ll be great and they’ll be fine moving forward. It’s day one of a Test match. The ball is allowed to move around and guys are allowed to bowl well. That’s what happens when you come across world-class performers. They have their day sometimes.”Henry instead heaped praise on Hazlewood saying he provided the perfect example for the New Zealand bowling group to follow.New Zealand haven’t been able to get past 200 in any of their three innings this series•Getty Images”Josh bowled exceptionally well,” he said. “Obviously watching him go about his work today, it was probably a bit of a blueprint for how we wanted to bowl out there as well. It was a matter of being accurate for a long period of time and creating pressure and he did that beautifully and thankfully we managed to do that in periods tonight as well and to get a few poles.”There were times though during Australia’s reply when it looked like tough Test cricket at one end and very comfortable batting at the other. Henry was nearly unplayable as he worked over Australia’s top-order with relentless pressure.He finally got the slice of luck he deserved when Usman Khawaja was bowled around his legs after the ball clipped the underside of his thigh pad and ricocheted onto leg stump. He later set up Green with a superb sequence. Green continued his Wellington plan of skipping down to Henry to disrupt his length. Henry kept dragging his length back and beat the edge multiple times. The first time Green stayed at home, Henry pushed fuller and seamed one in through the gate to hit the top of off via the pad.Related

Matt Henry, New Zealand's man of steel, drags his team back into the contest

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Hazlewood dismantles New Zealand but Henry gives home side hope

But in between times Green and Marnus Labuschagne profited from some very unthreatening bowling from Tim Southee and Scott Kuggeleijn. Labuschagne shook any concerns about his form, playing beautifully under pressure to finish 45 not out at stumps.The debutant Ben Sears showed some promise to help Henry out by dismissing Steven Smith, who made a horrible misjudgment padding up to a full delivery that was projected to be crashing into off stump.”It doesn’t get much better than that for a first wicket does it,” Henry said. “Searsy is a quiet man and he works really hard. Obviously being a young fast bowler for him to start his career like that was outstanding. I think he showed today so much control and excitement and he kind of got the ball rolling for us.”I think we were obviously bowling well and not much was happening and he was able to get that first breakthrough and we could build some momentum from there. Absolutely stoked for the way that he started.”Henry said it would be critical for New Zealand to bowl well at the start of day two as Australia have a chance of setting up a significant first-innings lead. “Tomorrow morning will be a big moment with the ball. We’ll make sure that we come out there and hopefully we can take some early wickets and put Australia under some pressure and then get back into some batting.”

Chelsea have reportedly slapped a £100 million ($135m) price tag on striker Nicolas Jackson amid Manchester United transfer links.

• Chelsea value Jackson at £80-100m
• Man Utd linked with striker
• Attracting interest in Europe and Saudi Arabia

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Sky Sports claim that Chelsea value Jackson at between £80-100m ($108m-135m), with United among the teams keeping an eye on him. They add the Blues are under no pressure to sell the striker, and teams in the Premier League, Europe, and Saudi Arabia are interested in signing him.

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  Jackson has been Chelsea's first-choice striker in recent years but that may change with the summer signings of Joao Pedro and Liam Delap. The Senegal international had a disappointing end to last season but going by these reports, Chelsea value Jackson very highly and don't seem keen to cash in on him. As a result, it makes it very difficult for a potential suitor to sign him.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Former Villarreal man Jackson, whose Stamford Bridge contract runs until 2033, has scored 30 goals and added 12 assists in 81 appearances for Chelsea so far. Of those games, 70 have been starts but he may not be a regular next season.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Chelsea will see how Jackson gets on when Enzo Maresca's players return from their shorter summer break, following their Club World Cup triumph. Many will wonder if the 24-year-old starts in their Premier League season opener against Crystal Palace on August 17.

Australia’s captain said her side were challenged by Bangladesh’s bowlers in tough conditions

Andrew McGlashan05-Apr-2024

Alyssa Healy was left delighted with the experience and knowledge her team were able to take away from the tour of Bangladesh with an eye on the T20 World Cup later this year.Australia completed a cleansweep of the visit, their first in bilateral cricket, with a 77-run victory in the final T20I and it was the fourth time their bowling attack kept Bangladesh to under 100. They will return in late September to defend the T20 World Cup title and Healy believed the trip ticked plenty of boxes.Related

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“Everyone in the squad is taking something home that they can work on for when we come back here in September, so it’s been hugely worthwhile for us,” Healy said. “The results went our way but from a big picture perspective, and what we’re building towards in September, October, I think we got everything we possibly could out of this series.”The tour was concluded with two players returning from long-term injuries, Tayla Vlaeminck and Sophie Molineux, taking player of the match and series awards respectively. Vlaeminck took a career-best 3 for 12 while Molineux finished the T20I series with six wickets at 8.33 as the pair all-but assured their places at the World Cup.”It’s obviously great to have someone like Tay back, she’s a real point of different within world cricket, with the sheer pace she bowls with, and Soph Molineux’s consistency is outstanding so they’re both real attributes to our side,” Healy said.Tayla Vlaeminck made a mark on her return to Australia duty•Getty Images

“We’ve had different players of the match and different players of the series across the two series, so that’s been really pleasing as well. Everybody’s standing up and when they need to, and grabbing opportunities which is cool.”Although the margins of victory were convincing in all six matches, Healy felt her team had been put under pressure by the home side. In the first ODI they were 48 for 4 and 146 for 7 before the lower order lifted them to a strong total and in the final T20I had to work hard to post 155 from being 98 for 5.”In particular with the ball they [Bangladesh] challenged our batting line-up,” she said. “They will be a real threat come the World Cup. Home conditions are a real advantage and I think the team will fly under the radar a little bit. They’ll be really dangerous for some of the top sides.”The conditions, especially the heat, also pushed the visitors with Healy prepared for more of the same at the World Cup although did not expect the pitches early in the tournament to offer the extreme turn seen at times in this series. Australia will split their matches between Dhaka and Sylhet which was not part of this tour.”We’ve heard it [the heat] will be even worse come September, October so we’ll have to wait and see what it throws at us there,” Healy said. “Naturally being an ICC event, I think the wickets will start out being really good then probably tire throughout the tournament.”1:59

Nigar credits parents for helping girls follow cricket dreams

Kim Garth, who took five wickets in the two ODIs she played, and legspinner Alana King did not feature in the T20I series as Australia used just 12 players in three games. King has not played a T20I since the last World Cup in South Africa although will likely retain her spot as back-up to Georgia Wareham. The experienced Jess Jonassen was the significant omission for this tour while Darcie Brown was ruled out with a stress fracture of her foot.The central contract list will be announced early next week while the players themselves now have time off following a hectic season which included series against West Indies, India and South Africa alongside the WBBL and, for many, the WPL.They will return to action with a T20I series against New Zealand in September as a lead-in to the World Cup, which will be followed straight after by the WBBL. They then host India in December and travel to New Zealand before Christmas ahead of the multiformat Ashes in January.”We’ve got a great break now. Our group is looking forward to going home and having a little bit of time off and a great opportunity to refresh and actually get ourselves right for the back end of the year, which is a huge summer for us,” Healy said.

After bonus-point wins in the first two rounds, Mumbai captain eyes ‘consistent’ performances this season

Vishal Dikshit16-Jan-2024After eight seasons without a Ranji Trophy title, Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane wants his side to be courageous. Courageous to take 20 wickets, courageous to take risks, courageous to show intent, and all this to culminate in outright wins in the space of four days.Mumbai have done that so far by grabbing bonus-point wins in the first two rounds of the new Ranji season. First, they handed Bihar an innings defeat by bowling them out for exactly 100 in both innings, and then thrashed Andhra by 10 wickets at home. In both games, Mumbai made a strong statement by making the opposition follow on, which is not usually the norm in red-ball cricket these days.Mumbai have almost mirrored their start from last season when they started with a nine-wicket win and an innings win, but their campaign went wonky after that, and they failed to make the knockouts. The key this time will be to remain consistent.Related

• Shreyas Iyer: 'Leaving the ball would bore me'

• Ranji Rd 2: Pujara shines in Saurashtra's tough start, Sarwate helps Vidarbha top Group A

• Iyer shows good intent on Ranji return ahead of England Tests

“It’s been a very good start for us this season,” Rahane said in Mumbai after their win against Andhra. “The challenge is to be consistent because when you want to win the Ranji Trophy, it is all about being consistent throughout the period of time. We are looking to take one game at a time. [It’s a] home-away format so the conditions keep changing, so we have to be in the moment, try and see how the wicket will be in Kerala [for the next game] and play to the conditions.”Mumbai can be proud that while they have lost both their tosses so far, their bowlers have stepped up to allow only one opposition batter to reach the 50 mark in four innings. It was the fast bowlers who came together in Patna against Bihar, and then the left-arm spinner Shams Mulani, the second-highest wicket-taker in the last Ranji season, who picked up a 10-wicket match haul against Andhra.Mulani has been Mumbai’s frontline spinner for a few seasons now, having taken 45 wickets in the 2021-22 Ranji season and another 46 last time which earned him call-ups for the Duleep Trophy and the Irani Cups over the last couple of years. As was the case against Andhra, Mulani often comes on as first-change and makes life tough for right-hand batters from around the wicket by either targeting the stumps or sticking the off-stump line when there is grip in the surface.

Rahane’s target is to play 100 Tests

Ajinkya Rahane’s obvious and immediate target while playing the Ranji Trophy is to win the title, which Mumbai haven’t been able to since 2015-16. At the same time, he is grinding it out in domestic cricket with hopes of returning to the Test side, which he did successfully last year for the WTC final in which he scored 89 and 46. But after two low scores in the subsequent Caribbean tour, he has been dropped again, and having played 85 Tests so far, he wishes to play another 15. After missing the first Ranji game this season with a stiff neck, he got to bat only once against Andhra and fell for a first-ball duck.
“I’m looking to do well for Mumbai one game at a time. The aim is to lift the Ranji Trophy and bigger aim is to play 100 Test matches.”

Mulani worked hard on his fitness before this season so that he could take the load of bowling in all three formats for Mumbai, whom he also led against Bihar when Rahane was out with a stiff neck. His team-mate Shreyas Iyer believes it’s “high time” Mulani is “elevated to the next level”.”I have changed the recovery process because when you play all three formats, and especially for Mumbai, you have to go out there every day and give your heart out,” Mulani had said after the second day’s play. “And it takes a toll on your body. The recovery process and… you have to be a bit professional and [monitor] the sleeping timings and go to the gym, keep working on the shoulder and the back so that it doesn’t break down somewhere. So that’s what I’ve been focusing on, which is why the last two years were great for me personally, but if I want to continue that in the coming years, I need to keep my body up to the mark.”Rahane will be 36 this year, and he wants to impart all the courage he can as a senior player to Mumbai’s younger crop. In his own words, it could mean creating chances as a bowler, taking the first-innings lead if an outright win is not possible, or showing intent as a batter.”It’s not about being safe,” Rahane explained. “You have to be courageous. It’s a long tournament, and you win matches only when your bowlers take wickets. So you first aim is to take the innings lead, then think about how much time you have at your disposal because in four days very few matches produce outright results. If you play on an absolutely (flat) wicket, the outright result is very difficult. So, first-innings lead, and with time on hand, we decide to go for an outright win. Personally, I feel we shouldn’t play on a flat deck.”It [courageous] doesn’t mean you go out there and slog. It’s all about taking that extra risk or maybe playing with intent. Thinking about your own performance, you go into your shell. But when you put your team first, play your game, there is no fear of failure… that should be the attitude.”The initial two wins for Mumbai have come in the absence of a number of regulars: Sarfaraz Khan and Tushar Deshpande have been away to play against England Lions, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal are part of the India squad for the T20Is against Afghanistan, and Shardul Thakur and Prithvi Shaw are injured.For the next game, against Kerala, they will have only Dube back but will lose Iyer, who had returned to the Ranji circuit after five years. Whatever the changes in personnel and the challenges of conditions in Kerala, Rahane will expect one thing from his players: to be courageous.

India allrounder Shardul Thakur has called for longer breaks between Ranji Trophy games to facilitate better recovery and preparation for players, keeping in mind the lengthy nature of the competition. Mumbai, for example, would’ve played 10 first-class games in under 10 weeks should they reach the final.Shardul termed the current schedule – where teams have had just three days between games – as “difficult” with schedules getting “tighter and tighter.””If boys keep playing like this for two more seasons, there will be a lot of injuries across the country,” he said after hitting a maiden first-class century to rescue Mumbai from 106 for 6, as they went on to open up a 207-run lead with one wicket remaining.”Next year, they [the BCCI] have to re-look at it, and give more [of a] break. When I remember playing Ranji Trophy back in the day, good seven to eight years back, [the] first three games used to have [a] three-day break, and then it was [a] four-day break, and knockouts were played [with] five-day breaks.”With the IPL window only getting bigger, the BCCI has had to force-fit all senior men’s competitions over a smaller window than usual. This has led to several prominent first-class cricketers lamenting privately about the relevance of tournaments such as the Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy, the zonal first-class and one-day competitions, which open the domestic season.Injuries aside, teams have also had to grapple with travel fatigue because of this short window. Gujarat, for example, had their flight to New Delhi cancelled the following day after their home fixture against Karnataka in Ahmedabad.Then on the second day, their onward flight to Delhi was delayed, and when they finally arrived in the capital, they were stranded in the airport overnight. It meant driving amid heavy fog to Chandigarh on the third morning which left them with no net sessions prior to the game, which was eventually fogged out.”Now this year, we have seen that all the games have been played [with a] three-day gap. It is extremely tough on domestic players to expect them to play ten games in a row with just three-day gap if [a] team makes it to the finals.”Also, when nine teams were in the group [in the old format], one team would get a break in [the] round-robin system. Now with only eight teams being in one group, everyone plays each other, so that [extra] break has gone now.”Thakur cited Mumbai’s example, while explaining how it was particularly gruelling on fast bowlers. “Yeah, 100% because Mohit [Avasthi] also had an injury in the sixth game.” Avasthi was rested by Mumbai from the league stage contest against Chhattisgarh, believed to have developed a hamstring-related issue.”He played five games in a row. He had a huge workload because Tushar [Deshpande] was also selected for India A,” Thakur said. “He was not available. Dhawal [Kulkarni] was playing alternate games looking at his age and workload. Royston [Dias] is fairly new.”He [Mohit] operated a lot in those first five games, and then he had an injury so he had to miss a game. I think that is because there is not enough spacing between the games.”Tamil Nadu captain and left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore, who has led his side into Ranji Trophy knockouts for the first time in seven years while also crossing the 50-wicket mark this season, agreed with Thakur.”A few players feel the same thing,” Sai Kishore said. “Fast bowlers are extra tired because you travel on one day. For me, I don’t train much because of the three-day thing. I bowl directly match-to-match, so the load on my body is fine. I don’t strain myself in training pre-match. I am managing myself that way, but it should be harder for the fast bowlers.”