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Umesh Yadav said bowling maidens has been a central part of their plans for the tour, given the predominance of slow pitches in the Caribbean

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jul-20161:47

Shami and I have excellent chemistry – Umesh

Of the 103.2 overs India have bowled to West Indies so far in the Antigua Test, 34 have been maidens. Umesh Yadav, who took four wickets in the first innings to help India enforce the follow-on, said bowling maidens has been a central part of their plans for the tour, given the predominance of slow pitches in the Caribbean.”When we came to the ground and saw the wicket, we realised we won’t get wickets where the ball will seam or swing,” Umesh said, at the end of the third day’s play. “We knew the conditions would be pretty hard, especially because it was going to be hot as well.”The main thing we planned was to bowl as many maidens as possible, and not give easy boundaries. Whether it’s the coach [Anil Kumble] or Virat [Kohli, the captain], the whole team sits and discusses the same thing, that it won’t be easy to take 20 wickets, and so it becomes very important to plan. And it can’t end there. If it’s said in the meeting that we have to bowl maidens, then we have to bowl maidens, because we know we won’t take 20 wickets otherwise.”India’s bowlers, according to Umesh, made a conscious effort to not relax after their batsmen had piled up 566 in the first innings. “We don’t look at it like we have 566,” he said. “We look at it like we have only made 350, and the earlier we bowl them out, the better it is for us in the second innings. Our effort was that, if we got them out by the end of today, we would have two more days to bowl them out again.”India went into the Test with three genuine fast bowlers, and five frontline bowlers in all, and Umesh praised the chemistry among them.”We always give that kind of confidence to each other, always we are pushing [each other],” he said. “Whenever things are a little difficult, we need to push our friend or team-mate a little bit, and lift them. When we see, for example, that [Mohammed] Shami is bowling very well but he’s not getting wickets, my job is, I go to him and say, “Shami, you’re bowling very well, keep going.” Because I know that if someone is bowling well from one end, then it helps the person at the second end, so if we don’t plan and bowl as a combination, it becomes difficult for us. Main thing is, you push each other and complement each other, and recognise that, “yeah, it’s not my day today [to take wickets], it’s your day”.Shami, playing his first Test in over a year-and-a-half after returning from a long-term knee injury, also took four wickets in West Indies’ first innings. Umesh said the team never doubted whether Shami would come back successfully.”There was no doubt about it, because he’s a natural bowler. We never thought he’ll struggle. If he struggled, it was only until he had recovered from his injury. No one has to tell him, bowl here, bowl like this. He’s a smart bowler, he’s got everything – outswing, inswing, bouncers.”

B Aparajith and Vijay Shankar are looking forward to the prospect of working with India A coach Rahul Dravid and picking up various inputs

Arun Venugopal02-Jul-20154:29

Rohan Gavaskar: Dravid is the complete package as coach

Vijay Shankar and B Aparajith have fond recollections of the TNCA first division league final in June 2012. Not only did they finish on the winning side, Vijay CC, but they also got to play alongside Rahul Dravid, who was called up to lend more muscle to an already formidable batting unit three months after his retirement from international cricket.Both youngsters hung on to every word Dravid had to offer then. Three years on, Aparajith and Vijay Shankar are just as excited about the prospect of interacting with Dravid, who is now coach of the India A side. Dravid’s first assignment will be the two four-day games against Australia A in Chennai later this month, and the two Tamil Nadu players are part of the 15-man India A squad.Aparajith said he was eager to hear Dravid’s appraisal of his game so far. “I still don’t know what to expect though,” Aparajith told ESPNcricinfo. “I am going to be open and listen to what he has got to say. Anything small from him is going to be a big thing for me.”Aparajith, however, felt there might not be enough time to run the technical nitty-gritty of his batting by Dravid. “It’s going to be match-based, so I am not sure how much (any conversation on) technical correction is possible. Maybe close to the tournament, I will discuss with him things that are on the top of my head at that point. I am not predetermining anything now.”Shankar, along with Aparajith, has established himself as a player of considerable potential recently. He was a key part of a young Tamil Nadu side that made the Ranji Trophy final last season. Shankar racked up 577 runs at an average of 57.70, including scores of 111, 82 and 91 in the quarter-final and semi-final.Evidently elated at his selection, he is looking forward to take in Dravid’s input on every aspect of the game. “I didn’t know how to react. It’s a very big thing,” Shankar said of his selection.”Last time when I met him (Dravid), I was asking him about converting starts. I would just love to work with him. Whenever we go there and practice I am sure he’s going to give some input and I am just keen on noting it down. I hope there will be enough practice sessions so that he will have time to see how we are batting.”Both Shankar and Aparajith were happy that the matches were played in their hometown, but refused to attribute too much importance to it.In contrast to Shankar, Aparajith had a lean run in the Ranji Trophy, with his 553 runs coming at an average of 29.10. Aparajith admitted there wasn’t a specific pattern to his game last year, but that he had put in “extra hard work” to sort out what he regarded as problem areas.”It’s a fresh start for us, a season opener of sorts,” Aparajith said. “I have analysed what I need to do. There is no specific area (of improvement). The reason why I failed last season could be because of a thought-process mistake. Nothing to do with my skill alone, [except] maybe in one or two games.”Every game I need to set pattern for long innings. Last season, I didn’t find the pattern or rhythm. Once I make it a habit, I will be more consistent.”Shankar, for his part, spoke about taking his batting to the next level. “I have been batting well in the recent past. But whenever I get a start, I get out for 80 or 90,” he said.”I just want to make sure when I get a start, I want to make it really big. Definitely, I look at it (the selection) as one more step towards the senior team. Whenever we go out and play, we put ourselves under some pressure. But last year, I just wanted to enjoy myself. Obviously pressure is going to be there, but I look at this series as an opportunity to gain enjoyment and good experience.”

Believe it or not, Ricky Ponting appears already to have mellowed. Little more than a week into his retirement from international duty, Ponting admitted he quite enjoyed getting to a Test match right on the appointed 10.30am start time rather than two hou

Daniel Brettig at Bellerive Oval14-Dec-2012A week into his retirement, Ricky Ponting is already developing a taste for life after cricket.Ponting admitted he quite enjoyed getting to a Test match right on the appointed 10.30am start time rather than two hours before, and that he was not exactly sorry to be missing training for the Hobart Hurricanes in Melbourne. This was in order to be conveyed around Bellerive Oval in the back of a ute as a way of saying thankyou to the Tasmanian cricket faithful, who numbered 6,221 on the first day of the first Test against Sri Lanka.The question of Ponting’s life after Test matches has been pondered by many in the wake of his emotional exit at the conclusion of the South Africa series, and the man himself is wondering aloud at how the pull of participating in the game will be diminished by the lack of Australian duty to sustain him.”I’ll see how I feel about cricket at the end of this season,” Ponting told Channel Nine. “It might be a little harder for me I reckon, playing those last few games out, knowing there’s not the bigger picture in mind as there’s always been for me when I’ve played state cricket, which is to play for Australia.”While Cricket Australia and the national captain Michael Clarke are equally keen to have Ponting still involved with the team in a coaching or mentoring capacity, the attraction of a lucrative and far less stressful role as a television commentator has its appeal.”I’d like to work in the media at some stage, at some time, in some way, shape or form,” Ponting said. “Just being around cricket for as long as I have and being part of successful teams, I think I’ve got a pretty good knowledge of the game and I’m pretty insightful on the game I think. So we’ll wait and see what happens.”Ponting was memorably granted a guard of honour by South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith at the WACA ground as he commenced his final innings, and in Hobart he and his family were flanked by the ranks of cricketers from his home club of Mowbray in Launceston before starting on his valedictory lap of the oval.”As we all know things came to an end for me last week, so to be here in a different capacity today is good fun,” Ponting said. “I’m excited about this next little phase of my life, all my family here and a lot of my club-mates have even made it down for the game – they probably bought all their tickets weeks ago thinking I was going to be playing, but unfortunately I’m here as a spectator with them today.”I generally get a little bit embarrassed when people start talking about me, and even having a whole lunch break in a Test match dedicated to me today is a little bit more than what I would have expected as well. But the reason it’s here is for me to come and say goodbye to the Hobart fans and people of Tasmania who have looked after me so well over a long period of time.”As for those final moments in Perth, particularly his opponents’ spontaneous gestures of thanks for a career spanning 17 years and innumerable achievements, Ponting said they would not soon be forgotten. “That is something I’ll never, ever forget,” he said. “When I pulled Graeme Smith out of the line and shook his hand I said ‘I really appreciate this’ and he said ‘no, you deserve it, but just make sure you don’t get too many against us today’.”I thought all the running around that was happening after I got out was just them celebrating the wicket, but they were actually running over to try to shake my hand and say congratulations on my career. Robin Peterson got me out and actually apologised, he said ‘I’m sorry about that’.”So there were a couple of things that took me by surprise, the guard of honour and then all of them running to me on the way off. I got 10 metres from the gate and realised I hadn’t said goodbye to the crowd either, so I had to take my helmet off, and do all that stuff, and make sure that I acknowledged my family, and everyone there as well. A lot of those are memories I’ll never forget.”Before Ponting thinks about whether he might play another season, he has the BBL to negotiate, flying to join the Hurricanes ahead of their date with Shane Warne’s Melbourne Stars on Saturday. But the enthusiasm that has always been there for any game of cricket is quickly being tested by the more leisurely life. “I’m actually missing a training session so it’s not that bad,” Ponting said. “The boys are over in Melbourne training at the moment, so I’d rather be here I think.”

Lancashire have been warned to expect losses of up to £3million for 2011 before the club’s finances begin to recover

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2011Lancashire have been warned to expect losses of up to £3million for 2011 before the club’s finances begin to recover with the completion of rebuilding work and the benefit of hosting an Ashes Test in 2013.Last week the club announced losses of £2.1million for 2010 and David Hodgkiss, the club treasurer, said there will be one more tough set of results before a healthy turnaround is expected following Old Trafford’s success of securing international cricket until at least 2016.”In 2013 the picture changes significantly,” Hodgkiss told the . “We forecast the club will be heavily into profit with a turnover in excess of £20m. And we will remain in profit until at least 2016, at which stage we will be a very profitable business.”It has been a tough few years for the club which missed out on the 2009 Ashes and was then caught up in a costly legal battle over their redevelopment which they finally won earlier this year.The ongoing work at Old Trafford meant all Lancashire’s home County Championship matches were played at outgrounds in 2011 with Aigburth, Blackpool and Southport staging games. Lancashire’s four-day relocation to Liverpool is cited as one of the key reasons behind their Championship success as the pitches were far more conducive to results than has often been the case at Old Trafford.Championship cricket will make a partial return to Old Trafford in 2012 with four matches due to be held at the county headquarters with the other four remaining at outgrounds due to the impact of the building work that will continue throughout the season. New media and player facilitates are being constructed while work will also start on renovating the pavilion.However, all Lancashire’s home CB40 and Friends Life t20 matches will be staged at Old Trafford while the ground will host two England matches; a one-day international against Australia and a Twenty20 against South Africa.

The Feroz Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi has been reinstated as an international venue with effect from January 1

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2010The Feroz Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi has been reinstated as an international venue with effect from January 1, the ICC has said. This means it is formally cleared to host the four World Cup matches scheduled at the ground next year.The decision follows an inspection by Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s pitch consultant, who observed the pitch first-hand during a Ranji match between Delhi and Gujarat over the past week.The venue was suspended as an international ground following the abandonment of an ODI between India and Sri Lanka in December 2009, and has been under a process of repair monitored by the ICC. Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager, said it was pleased with the remedial work carried out and felt the playing surfaces were now back to the standard expected for international matches.The DDCA, to protect the pitch, has decided minimise cricket at the venue ahead of the World Cup, including shifting the next two scheduled Ranji matches out of the Kotla. “We want to keep the wicket in good shape, so [we thought] why not move the Ranji games to other grounds that are available,” Venkat Sundaram, the chairman of the BCCI’s grounds and wickets committee, told Cricinfo. “There are 12 days of cricket scheduled for this track before the World Cup and they can lead to a lot of wear and tear on the wicket, with players running onto it with spikes. “He also said the onset of winter meant the grass won’t grow very quickly, so it would be better to let the turf settle rather than have a lot of cricket on it before the World Cup.The last international played at the Kotla, on December 27 2009, was abandoned after 23.3 overs after the match officials decided the pitch was of “extremely variable bounce and too dangerous for further play”. The immediate fallout of the fiasco was the sacking of the BCCI’s grounds and wickets committee, followed by the resignation of their Delhi counterparts.

It isn’t only the crowds that Kevin Pietersen is having to battle in South Africa, but also his own form after a four-month injury lay-off follow Achilles surgery

Cricinfo staff30-Nov-2009It isn’t only the crowds that Kevin Pietersen is having to battle in South Africa, but also his own form after a four-month injury lay-off following Achilles surgery. His innings during the one-day series have been unconvincing, but given the career he has already had, expectations were always going to be high as soon as he returned to the England side.His soft chip to midwicket at Port Elizabeth ended a six-ball 3 in which he had already been dropped at long leg off a top-edged hook. At Centurion Park he made 29 off 19 balls in the second Twenty20, his comeback match, but managed just 4 in the one-day international on the same ground. His top score of 45 came in Cape Town but, although there was the odd glimpse of his usual style, he looked like a player feeling his way back.The camp, though, remain unconcerned about Pietersen’s results. Before the fourth ODI, Paul Collingwood said it was only to be expected that he would struggle for a while after such a long time out and now the coach, Andy Flower, has said he it was always going to be a challenge for Pietersen.”I wouldn’t be too worried. I think he’s going to take a little while to get back in form,” Flower told reporters after England arrived in Durban. “Being out for four months – when he’s used to playing all the time – I think is a challenge he’s going to have to overcome.”He’s a high achiever, an outstanding sportsman – and he will be very impatient to get back into his dominant ways again. I think we should be patient with him, because it’s not easy just to walk back in and dominate straight away.”Given Pietersen’s record of performing best when the pressure is on, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him emerge from his early problems during the final one-day international at Durban – his old home ground for Natal and where he first encountered England during the 1999-2000 tour and made his intentions known about switching allegiance.”He tends to want to do it his way,” Flower said. “That’s part of his strength, his make-up – what makes him a different and very powerful player for us. He will score heavy runs on this tour, and maybe Friday is the day. It could be his day.”

The left-arm spinner has been ruled out of Tasmania’s clash against South Australia in the Sheffield Shield

AAP17-Feb-2025Matthew Kuhnemann will proceed with imminent tests on his bowling action, despite a thumb injury ruling him out of Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield clash with South Australia.One week after being cited by ICC officials for having a suspect action, Kuhnemann was expected to return to cricket for Tasmania in Adelaide on Tuesday. But those plans have since been scuppered, with the spinner not medically cleared to play for Tasmania after the dislocated thumb he suffered in the BBL.AAP understands Kuhnemann has not suffered a fresh injury, and the decision is a precautionary one after he played through the issue in Galle.Despite sitting out the Adelaide match, Kuhnemann will be required to complete ICC testing in the next fortnight because the injury is not on his bowling (left) hand. Officials have remained tight-lipped on the details surrounding Kuhnemann’s test for the sake of his privacy, but it is expected to go ahead in the next fortnight.Related

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The biomechanical testing will also be able to be completed at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane, despite the ICC preferring players head overseas for assessment.Kuhnemann will complete the tests under the watchful eye of ICC body experts, with markers on his arm and several cameras filming. He will need to bowl at a similar speed and with similar ball revolutions to what he did in Sri Lanka, where he took 16 wickets at an average of 17.18.The ICC will then take a matter of weeks to determine if Kuhnemann’s action is legal, or if his arm straightens by more than the allowable 15 degrees. The 28-year-old is believed to be in reasonably good spirits, with questions still circling about the timing of him being reported after eight years in professional cricket.”All we can do as a group is throw our support behind him,” Tasmania captain Jordan Silk said. “He has obviously had a fantastic couple of weeks away with the Aussie side, and was a big factor in them wining that series over there.”It’s come as a shock to a lot of people, but all we can do as an organisation is wrap our arms around him and look forward to having him back around the group.”Silk echoed the words of stand-in Australia captain Steve Smith, believing Kuhnemann would be cleared by the tests.ICC rules allow bowlers to play domestic cricket while under the microscope, but ban them from international matches. If Kuhnemann is cleared he will be able to continue bowling, but if he fails the test he will be banned until he can prove he has changed his action to meet guidelines.”He’s still a quality bowler for us and someone we expect to have an impact later in the year,” Silk said. “We’re really confident that process will go smoothly and we can welcome him back to our change-rooms and have him be a big part of our season.”A win for Tasmania against table-topping South Australia would keep them in the race for a spot in the Shield final, with one win separating second and sixth on the ladder.Beyond this summer, Kuhnemann would be a strong chance to be in Australia’s squad for the tour of West Indies in June, if his action is cleared.

Matthew Wade had given the home side a platform with a superbly paced century

AAP29-Oct-2023Tasmania pulled off the highest successful run chase in their Sheffield Shield history in a memorable three-wicket triumph over Queensland.Set 432 to win, they secured the victory with just 10 balls left in a thrilling conclusion to the match at Blundstone Oval in Hobart on Sunday.Unheralded lower-order batters Bradley Hope (48 not out) and Jarrod Freeman (47 not out) added an unbeaten 75-run eighth-wicket partnership to guide Tasmania to their second win of the season.Related

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Freeman smashed a huge six off former Tasmania player Gurinder Sandhu to complete the chase in the penultimate over.”I’ve never heard him [Hope] scream like that at the end there,” Freeman said. “He’s pretty pumped. That’s pretty special. I sort of thought if fielders are up straight, I’m going to try and get it [for six] and luckily enough I did. How good?”The run chase tops Tasmania’s previous best in a winning cause when David Boon’s 152 propelled them 402 for 6 against Western Australia at the WACA in March 1996.It was also the sixth-highest chase in the history of the Shield, which started in 1892-93, and the best since Queensland hit 471 for 5 to beat South Australia in 2014.Starting the day at 88 for 2, Tasmania looked no chance of winning until Matthew Wade and Beau Webster came together at 158 for 4Wade, who was recalled to Australia’s T20I squad on Saturday, carved out an impressive 105 for his 19th first-class century to boost Tasmania’s chances. Together with Webster, the pair put on a 164-run partnership before Wade was lbw to Mitchell Swepson.Michael Neser, who missed day two after flying home to Brisbane for personal reasons, looked to have sunk Tasmania when he bowled Webster.But Hope, whose best score in five previous first-class matches was 27 not out, looked assured at the crease with the big-hitting Freeman.Queensland go to 1-2, after opening their account for the season with a convincing victory over Victoria last week.”We couldn’t contain them,” Queensland coach Wade Seccombe said. “I think that’s one thing we could look back on and reflect and say there were moments in the game where we could have controlled the scoreboard a little bit better.”If we hadn’t done that it would have put a bit more pressure on the way they went about their scoring, but credit to them, they didn’t allow it.”

Team-mate hopes his example can encourage others to seek help when they need it

Vithushan Ehantharajah23-Aug-20222:11

Ben Stokes – ‘Everything still has an effect, even years down the road from the event happening’

Joe Root has praised the honesty of Ben Stokes for talking about his struggles with anxiety and believes the England captain’s openness on the subject will continue the progress made against the stigma of mental health.Speaking in his new documentary film, “Ben Stokes: Phoenix from the Ashes”, the 31-year-old has opened up about the battles endured, including a series of panic attacks stemming from a build-up of personal trauma over the previous few years. That came to a head in 2021, when Stokes took a break midway through the summer for his well-being having struggled to come to terms with his father’s passing the year before, during which period he contemplated walking away from the game entirely.The allrounder was keen to talk on all matters, good and bad, without sugarcoating. As such, he ends up speaking extensively on working through his issues initially, and the constant management of his anxiety through medication and professional help.Root, who features in the film, watched it for the first at the premiere on Monday in London, along with the rest of the England squad, who then arrived in Manchester on Tuesday morning ahead of the second Test against South Africa, which begins here on Thursday.. While he admits it was a tough watch, Root envisages many who watch the film, whether into cricket or otherwise, will leave with a greater sense of the man and a reaffirmation of the importance of asking those close to you how they are.”I think it’s exactly what you’ve come to see from Ben as a leader,” Root said at Emirates Old Trafford, where England will look to square the three-match series. “How honest he is, what he expects of everyone else is stuff he would be willing to do himself. I think it shows great courage, great bravery to come out and speak openly about that stuff and some of the struggles he has personally been through. We were all there with him going through it, it’s not easy to see a close friend and team-mate like that but look at him now. It’s great to have him leading this team and making Test cricket so enjoyable to play and to watch.Joe Root and Ben Stokes share a joke in the wake of England’s victory over New Zealand at Lord’s•Getty Images

“I think with any of your mates you want to get around them, make sure you do what you can to help. That goes within the dressing room environment and away from the game as well. You just want to do what you can to help out.”It’s quite powerful for people to see. Sometimes it’s okay not to be okay, to ask for help is perfectly alright and a brave thing to do. For someone like Ben to do that – hopefully if there are people out there struggling or finding things difficult, they can gain the courage to ask for that help.”Related

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Root also revealed he knew of the possibility Stokes was considering leaving the game. During Stokes’ time away, Root was one of the few people in the England dressing room still in regular contact. As captain, he had been shorn of his right-hand man for the series against India, before being bolstered by his return for the Ashes that winter. A 4-0 defeat to Australia, then a 1-0 loss in the Caribbean was ultimately Root’s lot, before Stokes took over in May.”There were discussions at different points, but they are things should be kept between the two of us,” he said. “It’s been very powerful watching that documentary – you forget how much he has been through in such a short space of time. It’s very brave to lay himself as bare as he has done. It’s very powerful for anyone watching, to see someone who at times looks superhuman and can do things that other players can’t do – it shows great leadership to put yourself out there and express some of the difficulties he’s had to go through.”

With ODI form still flying, batsman seeks permanent home at No. 4 for T20 World Cup, No. 3 for Ashes

Valkerie Baynes24-Mar-2021Jonny Bairstow’s “easy chemistry” with fellow opener Jason Roy was on show despite England’s heavy defeat to India in the first match of their ODI series in Pune on Tuesday – and Bairstow wants the chance to settle as comfortably elsewhere in the order for the T20 World Cup and the Ashes.A 135-run partnership between Bairstow and Roy – their 12th century opening stand in ODIs – had England well on track to reach their target of 318 before a middle order sorely missing the resting Joe Root fell away to leave them short as they slumped to a 66-run defeat. Bairstow scored 94 off 66 balls and Roy 46 off 35 while no other England batsman passed 30.With his position as ODI opener firmly established, Bairstow is keen to convince the selectors to persist with him at No. 4 in T20Is, having been moved down to that spot in South Africa late last year, and at No. 3 in Tests, despite his struggles there earlier on this tour of Asia.Related

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Bairstow was unbeaten in both of England’s victories during their 3-2 T20I series defeat to India with scores of 26 and 40 not out.”I was happy in the T20s, the runs I scored there batting at No. 4 and contributing, being there at the end in two of the games was really pleasing to me,” Bairstow said on Wednesday. “If you take South Africa in, to be at the end at Newlands and the end in two of these games here, I’m pretty happy with how that’s going.”It’s a different role, but at the same time, it’s a good role to be in because you’ve got an opportunity to be there at the end, winning games.”And while 28 runs from four Test innings in India – including three ducks – and, before that, scores of 47, 35 not out, 28 and 29 in two Tests in Sri Lanka have Bairstow’s designs on the No.3 spot for the Ashes at the end of this year looking less secure, he made made his case verbally to be given a chance during the English summer to make it his own.Jonny Bairstow heaves one over the leg side•Getty Images

“I’m very keen to do that,” he said. “People will have spoken about the last two Tests here but, prior to that in Sri Lanka, to score the runs and come in at three, and previously at three for England I’ve been pretty happy. Hopefully I do get more than four games there… even with those lower scores in the last couple of Tests, average-wise, it was still okay.”There wasn’t anyone in those last two games that exactly lit it up, was there? So a pink-ball Test match at a new venue that nobody scored any runs at, and then obviously the last game, I thought, an umpire’s call decision that didn’t necessarily go my way in the first innings, but to be honest with you, I’m happy with where my game’s at and how I’m striking the ball.”I do hope that that is the case and I do get an opportunity to be batting at three going forward, because I do feel that my game’s in a good enough place. Having four games in the winter on the subcontinent, which is never going to be easy, full stop… but going back home in the summer to England and then moving forward with the experiences that I’ve had over in Australia. I think going to Australia with a wealth of experience, as we know when you’re entering a major tournament, gives you a better chance of having success over there.”So yeah, that is something that I do want to do, want to pursue, and hopefully I am given the opportunity.”Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow had England in control of the run-chase•BCCI

Bairstow’s most pressing task, however, is to help England win their next ODI, also in Pune, on Friday to keep the three-match series alive.He took the lead role in the first match, moving from 6 off 18 at the end of the fifth over to 28 off 24 by the end of sixth as he plundered 22 runs off debutant Prasidh Krishna, which he said was indicative of his understanding with Roy.”It’s an easy chemistry,” Bairstow said. “There’s no great shakes to it. We speak about very simple things out in the middle and keep things very simple. It’s a very go-with-how-the-game-pans-out approach.”It wasn’t a crash, bang, wallop start. People might think, ‘they’ve gone from ball one’, but in actual fact we hadn’t. There was probably three overs, four overs at the start where it was very much toned back and we went a different route.”Understanding each other enough to know that and not putting pressure on each other to have to go after it because we’ve got complete trust in each other’s games in order to know that one over and you’ve caught it up. I think that runs throughout the side, but having that trust in each other’s games to just go right, let’s stay calm, stay relaxed and not pile pressure on each other is the important factor of it.”