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ECB Reporters Network08-Jun-2016
ScorecardPaul Stirling’s unbeaten hundred made light work of a rain-reduced target•Getty Images

Paul Stirling hit a fluent century as Middlesex inflicted a third Royal London One-Day Cup defeat in as many games on holders Gloucestershire by seven wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis system at Bristol.The home side posted 254 for 8 after losing the toss, Hamish Marshall top-scoring with 74 on the day he announced that his 11-year stint with the county would end when this season is over.Gareth Roderick contributed 64, while Toby Roland-Jones (3 for 36) was the pick of the Middlesex attack. James Fuller claimed 2 for 45 on returning to his former county.Facing a revised target of 208 from 35 overs following a rain break, Middlesex skated to victory with 21 balls to spare, Ireland batsman Stirling reaching his ton off 87 balls, with 11 fours and 3 sixes, before finishing unbeaten on 125.Gloucestershire’s innings had got off to a poor start when Chris Dent miscued Roland-Jones to cover where Nick Gubbins took a comfortable catch in only the second over.Michael Klinger had survived a loud shout for a catch behind in the opening over from Tom Helm, but looked in good touch moving to 20 before edging a defensive shot off Roland-Jones straight to Ollie Rayner at slip.Roderick had made only 13 when badly dropped by Eoin Morgan at point off Helm, an error which allowed the batsman to share the most meaningful partnership of the innings with Marshall.The latter hit a straight six off James Franklin and Roderick followed suit off Fuller to bring up 100 in the 21st over.When both Roderick and Marshall reached 62-ball half-centuries in quick succession the hosts looked set for a big score. Then Roderick overbalanced in making an ugly mishit off Helm and was caught at mid-off by Franklin.That was 150 for 3 and Gloucestershire still looked well placed as 31 more runs were added before their innings turned sour in the 35th over, bowled by Roland-Jones.Rayner did the damage, running out Cockbain for 14 at the bowlers end from short mid-wicket as he was sent back attempting a quick single and three balls later catching Marshall in the same position off a poor shot.Suddenly the home side were 183 for 5 and needed to rebuild. There was never much momentum to the innings after that as Benny Howell, Kieran Noema-Barnett and Craig Miles fell without making much impression.Stirling was dropped on one by Klinger at second slip off Liam Norwell in the third over of the Middlesex reply. The visitors had reached 17 without loss when rain brought an interruption. The revised target left them requiring a further 191 from 28.5 overs under the floodlights.Stirling hit 2 sixes over mid-wicket off Howell in racing to a half-century off 44 balls. Dawid Malan contributed 29 to an opening stand of 84 before being well caught at deep extra cover by Dent off Miles. Gubbins was dropped by Miles at fine leg on 17 off the unlucky Norwell and, with Stirling continuing to play positively, it was a mistake Gloucestershire could not afford.By the time Gubbins, on 37, skied a catch to mid-on off Matt Taylor, Middlesex were 156 for two, needing only 52 off more than 12 overs. Morgan perished at the death, but Stirling batted through and hit the winning boundary.

تحدث مدرب أتلتيكو مدريد دييجو سيميوني بعد الفوز أمام خيتافي، وقبل مواجهة برشلونة بمنافسات الدوري الإسباني، وإمكانية منافسته على اللقب هذا الموسم.

وفاز أتلتيكو مدريد بهدف نظيف، ويحتل الفريق المركز الثاني بـ 38 نقطة متساويًا مع برشلونة المتصدر والذي يواجه ليجانيس مساء اليوم.

ويلتقي برشلونة وأتلتيكو مدريد في الجولة القادمة للدوري الإسباني وذلك يوم السبت المقبل.

وقال سيميوني في تصريحات نشرتها صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية: “قبل المباراة كنت أتحدث مع اللاعبين عن الامتنان والاعتراف لأولئك الذين لم يبدأوا المباراة، هناك لاعبون مهمون جدًا يتنافسون بطريقة استثنائية، كما يظهر عندما يشاركون كبدلاء”.

وأضاف: “هذه هي قوتنا، من أجل المنافسة كما نريد، نحتاج أن يكون الجميع مشاركًا كما هم الآن، هذه هي أقوى نقطة لدينا”.

ترتيب الدوري الإسباني بعد هزيمة برشلونة أمام ليجانيس

وأشار لمركزه بالترتيب: “يجب أن نستمر مباراة بمباراة، لا توجد طريقة لرؤية وضعنا الحالي إلا من خلال العمل ومحاولة التحسن دائمًا، دعونا نرتاح قبل مواجهة برشلونة”.

وعن إدارة الفريق، أفاد: “أمثل نفسي بما أشعر به، وليس لدي التزام تجاه أي شخص، وهذا يظهر في كوكا، الذي كان لاعبًا مهمًا جدًا في مسيرتنا ويعرف أنه إذا كنا بحاجة إليه لمدة 20 دقيقة، سيدخل ويقوم بالعمل”.

وبشأن تعزيز الخطة أمام برشلونة في المواجهة القادمة، علّق: “لا أعرف كيف تعتقد أننا سنخطط لذلك، لكن إن كان جيدًا أم لا، فإن ذلك سيعتمد على النتيجة، التي هي ما ستحدد ذلك”.

وعن رؤيته كبطل، استطرد: “أنا مكرر، وممل، ولن أتغير، حتى آخر يوم سيكون مباراة بمباراة، إذا لم ننظر إليها من هذا المنظور، لن يكون هناك ضوء”.

وبشأن التغيير في الالتزام من الموسم الماضي إلى هذا الموسم، أوضح: “سؤال معقد تبحث فيه إذا كان الذين كانوا في السابق لم يقدموا كما يقدمون اليوم، أحيانًا يظهر ذلك وأحيانًا لا، لكن النتائج تظهر الآن”.

وحول الفوز بنتيجة 1-0، أتم: “دائمًا أقول إن أفضل نتيجة هي 1-0 لأنك تعمل جيدًا في الدفاع وتكون حاسمًا في الهجوم، إذا فزت 4-3 فهناك أشياء يجب مراجعتها، بالطبع أنا أحب النتائج الأفضل كما يحبها الجميع”.

Shahid Afridi has joined Karachi Kings as “president”, according to the franchise

Umar Farooq07-Apr-2017

Shahid Afridi has joined Karachi Kings as “president”, according to the franchise. He is likely to feature for the team as a player, too, in the third edition of Pakistan Super League in 2018, though this is yet to be confirmed; the PSL’s trading window ahead of the next edition is yet to open. Last month Afridi had announced on Twitter that he had left Peshawar Zalmi after two years with the franchise.ESPNcricinfo understands that Afridi is likely to be traded between Peshawar and Karachi as part of the formalities later this year. For now, Karachi Kings owner Salman Iqbal confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Afridi had joined his franchise as president.Afridi had tweeted on March 25 that he was “announcing my end of service as president & player of Peshawar Zalmi Team due to my personal reasons”. He said it was “time for another” team. Following his tweets, Peshawar’s owner, Javed Afridi, told ESPNcricinfo that he was “clueless” in the matter. Later, it was learnt that Afridi had parted ways from the franchise over disagreements with the owner.”There are things that I don’t want to bring in media but Javed’s vision has changed with the time,” Afridi said on a TV show on Geo News. “I don’t want to become a hindrance to Javed’s goal and vision, because I have my own foundation and a lot of other things. So I can not fullfil his commitments and want to focus on my things as well. I wanted to announce it after the PSL final, but I had couple of commitments with Zalmi, so I waited for the right time.”Afridi, who is based in Karachi but was born in Khyber Agency, had talked about the importance of Peshawar Zalmi to his local region, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a day before his Twitter announcment. “We have not created the Peshawar Zalmi team to play just a month’s cricket in the PSL and then sit at home,” Afridi had said. “Our work goes beyond the cricket field and we want to change the lives of the underprivileged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”Peshawar Zalmi won the PSL title in 2017, defeating Quetta Gladiators in the final held at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Afridi had missed the final with a finger injury that he picked up during the playoffs in the UAE. In all, in ten matches in PSL 2017, he had scored 177 runs at 25.28 with a strike rate of 173.52, and taken two wickets with an economy rate of 6.75. He had captained the franchise in the inaugural edition of the tournament, before handing over to Darren Sammy this year.

Mashrafe Mortaza has rallied around the batsmen who took Bangladesh close, but lost their wickets as a win against India was within their grasp

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Bangalore 23-Mar-20161:23

‘Everything was all right till last three balls’ – Mashrafe

Mashrafe Mortaza has rallied around the batsmen who took Bangladesh close, but lost their wickets as a win against India was within their grasp. Mushfiqur Rahim hit successive fours in the final over to leave his team needing two runs to win, off three balls. But both he and Mahmudullah holed out to midwicket in consecutive deliveries, transforming Bangladesh’s strong position into a weak one.”I am not going to blame anyone,” Mashrafe said. “The whole dressing-room felt disappointed after the loss. We needed two off the last three balls, and we had two set batsmen at the crease and one still in the shed. It becomes very hard for everyone when we end up losing three wickets in that situation.”Mashrafe conceded that Mushfiqur could have batted more sensibly, but refused to cast aspersions on his behaviour. Having brought the equation to two from three balls with a four, Mushfiqur celebrated the shot animatedly as he approached bowler Hardik Pandya – who himself had been animated when he took the catch of Mohammad Mithun earlier in the innings.”If we were calculative at that stage, it wouldn’t have given us much risk. There were no fielders in the circle. If we had taken a single [off the delivery that Mushfiqur got out], it would have set us up in a better position. It would have helped if we thought like that. We just couldn’t do it that way.”Mushfiqur could have been more careful, but at the same time, since he got us close – maybe he celebrated because of that. There’s nothing to be negative about, because any batsman would get boosted up after those two fours.”Mashrafe did describe the loss as something that would be hard to swallow though. Bangladesh have lost all three games in the Super 10s stage of the tournament so far, and have one more match against New Zealand, after which they will head home.”The loss was a shocking thing for all of us. Nobody wants to lose like this. It is hard to explain but it is quite disappointing. And it’s always difficult to take something from it. Being a professional player, we have to play hard cricket in the last match. If we can do something there we can take something back home. We have to fight hard.”Bangladesh had done well until that stage however. India were strong favourites to win the match in front of a baying home crowd, but were outplayed in large sectors of the match.”Leave out the last three balls, we played brilliantly. We did everything to win otherwise. We came back after they had two good overs towards the end. We played well at nearly every moment.”

Hampshire opener Michael Carberry marked his return to first-class cricket after being diagnosed with cancer by scoring a century against Cardiff MCCU at the Ageas Bowl

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Apr-2017

Hampshire opener Michael Carberry marked his return to first-class cricket after being diagnosed with cancer by scoring a century against Cardiff MCCU at the Ageas Bowl.Carberry was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour last July and missed the second half of the season. He returned to training shortly before Christmas and was part of Hampshire’s pre-season tour to Barbados last month where he showed good form.On the first day against Cardiff he opened the batting, scoring 100 off 121 balls before falling to David O’Sullivan and was given a standing ovation as he walked off.Last week, Carberry issued a statement thanking people for their support and looking ahead to the season.”I would like to thank my family, the club, the supporters and my team-mates worldwide for all the kind messages of support and love through another very tough time in my career and life,” he said.”There is still a long way to go to being ‘recovered’ fully, but the outpour of support from the cricket family has helped massively in getting me back playing, and I’m looking forward to another great summer with Hampshire.”Carberry has played six Tests for England including all five on the 2013-14 Ashes tour where he was England’s second-highest run-scorer behind Kevin Pietersen.

Keep up to date with all the movements around the counties during the off-season as preparations are made for the 2018 season

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2017

Keep up to date with all the movements around the counties during the off-season as preparations are made for the 2018 seasonDerbyshireIN: Ravi Rampaul (Surrey)
OUT: Tom Wood, Greg Cork, Tom Taylor (Leicestershire), Rob Hemmings, Shiv Thakor, Tom Milnes, Ben Cotton
OVERSEAS: Duanne Olivier (SA)DurhamIN: Will Smith (Hampshire), Nathan Rimmington
OUT: Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Graham Onions (Lancashire), Paul Coughlin (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: Aiden Markram (SA, April-May), Tom Latham (NZ, May-August), Axar Patel (Ind, Aug-Sep)EssexIN: Matt Coles (Kent), Feroze Kushi
OUT: Kishen Velani
OVERSEAS: Peter Siddle (Aus, April-May), Neil Wagner (NZ, May-July) Adam Zampa (Aus, T20)GlamorganIN:
OUT: Jacques Rudolph (retired), Will Bragg (retired)
OVERSEAS: Shaun Marsh (Aus)GloucestershireIN: Ryan Higgins (Middlesex)
OUT: Patrick Grieshaber, Brendon Gilmour, Phil Mustard
OVERSEAS: Dan Worrall (Aus, April-July)HampshireIN: Sam Northeast (Kent), Chris Sole
OUT: Will Smith (Durham), Michael Carberry (Leicestershire)
OVERSEAS: Hashim Amla (SA, April-June), Dale Steyn (SA, part season)KentIN: Heino Kuhn (Kolpak), Harry Podmore (Middlesex), Ollie Robinson
OUT: Sam Northeast (Hampshire), Matt Coles (Essex), Adam Ball, Hugh Bernard, Charlie Hartley
OVERSEAS: Matt Henry (NZ)LancashireIN: Keaton Jennings (Durham), Graham Onions (Durham), Josh Bohannon, Liam Hurt
OUT: Kyle Jarvis (Zimbabwe), Luke Procter (Northants)
OVERSEAS: Joe Mennie (Aus)LeicestershireIN: Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Ateeq Javid (Warwickshire), Tom Taylor (Derbyshire)
OUT: Clint McKay, Will Fazackerley
OVERSEAS: Mohammad Abbas (Pak), Sohail Khan (Pak, April-May), Mohammad Nabi (Afg, T20)MiddlesexIN:
OUT: Ryan Higgins (Gloucestershire), Harry Podmore (Kent)
OVERSEAS: Ashton Agar (Aus, T20)NorthamptonshireIN: Brett Hutton (Notts), Luke Procter (Northants)
OUT: Azharullah, David Murphy (retired)
OVERSEAS: Doug Bracewell (NZ), Seekkuge Prasanna (SL, T20)NottinghamshireIN: Paul Coughlin (Durham), Chris Nash (Sussex)
OUT: Chris Read (retired), Brett Hutton (Northants)
OVERSEAS: Ross Taylor (NZ, April-June), Dan Christian (Aus, T20), Ish Sodhi (NZ, T20)SomersetIN: Fin Trenouth
OUT: Jim Allenby, Ryan Davies, Michael Leask
OVERSEAS: Cameron Bancroft (Aus), Corey Anderson (NZ, T20)SurreyIN: Rikki Clarke (Warwickshire), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson
OUT: Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Kumar Sangakkara (retired), Ravi Rampaul (Derbyshire)
OVERSEAS: Mitchell Marsh (Aus)SussexIN:
OUT: Steve Magoffin (Worcestershire), Chris Nash (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: Ishant Sharma (Ind, April-May), Rashid Khan (Afg, T20)WarwickshireIN: Dom Sibley (Surrey), Will Rhodes (Yorkshire)
OUT: Rikki Clarke (Surrey), Ateeq Javid (Leicestershire), William Porterfield
OVERSEAS: Colin De Grandhomme (NZ, T20)WorcestershireIN: Steve Magoffin (Sussex), Alex Milton
OUT:
OVERSEAS: Travis Head (Aus), Callum Ferguson (Aus, T20), Martin Guptill (NZ, T20)YorkshireIN:
OUT: Ryan Sidebottom (retired), Will Rhodes (Warwickshire)
OVERSEAS: Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind), Kane Williamson (NZ), Billy Stanlake (Aus, T20)

On a dead Lord’s track, the Championship leaders have got themselves into a position where they almost certainly cannot lose

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Lord's27-Jun-2016
ScorecardAlviro Petersen racked up 191•Getty Images

What ingredients there were for a high-quality encounter at Lord’s look already to be heading for a bland conclusion. That may seem melodramatic – should Middlesex collapse tomorrow, it may enter into “misguided” or “facetious” – but there were few other conclusions to draw from a day in which eight wickets fell yet only one was taken.Lancashire’s seven were shed in the pursuit of quick runs to hammer a tiring Middlesex attack further into the dust. Even Tim Murtagh’s shoulders, constantly in a slumped relaxed state, plummeted to knee height. Even Murtagh, a bowler who can make the ball talk for fun could barely muster a whimper from a pitch that does the long-form more harm than good.What should have been a compelling day’s cricket, in near-perfect conditions, asked spectators to find their own source of amusement. The evening session hosted a low sun and with it the chance for them to shed some clothing, get some colour and indulge in the sorts of conversations with opposing fans that only beer and minor heatstroke encourages.”So you see, it’s those bastards across the way – they’re the tight ones,” concluded one such tête-à-tête. It’s those across the way that Lancashire are looking to build a lead over: level on points with Yorkshire going into this match but leading Division One by virtue of number of games won.Middlesex, with their six draws from seven, sat 16 points off the Northern rivals. This fixture between first and fourth felt like it could set the tone for the next half of the season, when captains roll the dice and each session weighs heavier on the nerves.The opening exchanges were very much in Lancashire’s favour as they amassed their highest innings score of the season. Alviro Petersen was thoroughly unflustered, picking up where he left off to add 86 to an overnight 105: perhaps the only surprise was his failure to bring up his double hundred. Looking to move the game on, he was caught and bowled by Toby Roland-Jones, whose 31-over toil was made relatively worthwhile by four wickets.Flanking Petersen were the offerings from the middle order cavalry of Steven Croft, Karl Brown and Liam Livingstone. It was with Livingstone in particular that the most damage was done: 103 runs put on together at six an over – 67 coming in 11 overs after lunch, as Livingstone brought up a 54-ball half-century filled with reverse sweeps and the odd wristy thwack through the leg side. To nitpick, 500 perhaps should have come up easier than it did: a scampered single between Lancashire’s 10 and 11 that nearly resulted in a run out.But even with scoreboard pressure and a 12-over session before tea bowled by Kyle Jarvis and Neil Wagner – perhaps the best opening duo in the domestic game at present – Lancashire were unable to land a telling blow on the hosts. Even the one wicket they managed looked a tad lucky, though that is simply going by Sam Robson’s forlorn expression after he had been adjudged caught at first slip off the leg spin of Matt Parkinson. The disappointment was understandable: he had looked on the cusp of one of those Lord’s vigils he embarks upon when he basically invokes squatter’s rights.If anything, Robson’s wicket sharpened Nick Gubbins’ focus, who gave up driving for a while and worked his way to 71 at the close. He will recommence tomorrow with Stevie Eskinasi, who goes to bed on a new first class best of 43.Lancashire will be hoping that when they wake up tomorrow the pitch might too. Unfortunately this is yet another Lord’s track that needs a defibrillator rather than a roller. The new ball brings something out of it but not for long. From then on, whatever movement there is comes once the ball had passed the stumps. Steven Croft found that out the hard way as he scrabbled around to contend with the late dips and swerves. The skip in his step at the start of the final session had slowed to a trudge when stumps was called.If anything, perhaps the Lancashire bowlers might leave the match with a bit of sympathy for their Middlesex counterparts, whose charge has consistently been hampered by these sorts of pitches. Still, the Championship leaders have got themselves into a position where they almost certainly cannot lose. If they are not still bowling by this time tomorrow then they should consider that a victory.

Bangladesh’s interim head coach hopes for a big performance from Mustafizur Rahman and his spinners; says Shakib’s inclusion subject to a fitness test

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo15-Mar-2018Bangladesh’s batsmen, led by Mushfiqur Rahim, have had their moments, but the bowlers have underwhelmed. So said stand-in coach Courtney Walsh on the eve of his side’s must-win encounter against Sri Lanka. In their previous match, Bangladesh had conceded 79 runs in a definitive six-over period against India. Even in the game they won, they conceded 214.There has been one bright spark in their attack, however, and this time it is not the young left-armer with the magic wrists. It is Rubel Hossain who has been Bangladesh’s best, maintaining an economy of 8.22 in three matches. Along the way, he has picked up four wickets. One of those was the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan, who was bowled by perhaps the ball of the tournament so far: a late-swinging, yorker that zipped past Dhawan’s outside edge and flattened middle stump.”Rubel has been very consistent,” Walsh said. “If the other guys stepped up, it would give us a little more cushion. I would be lying if I said I thought we bowled well. We have bowled okay, but not as well as we can. The improvement is coming, but not as quickly as we would like. If we can put it all together, it will be a big plus for us in Friday’s game.””Spinners also have not been as spot-on as we like them to be. They have had good patches. But if everyone did their bit, it will give us a very good chance.”Among those who have under-performed at the Nidahas Trophy has been Mustafizur Rahman, whose 12 overs have gone at 9.75 runs apiece, though he has also taken four wickets in the competition. His cutters have been only sporadically effective on Khettarama decks that have atypically failed to reward revolutions on the ball.Friday’s virtual semi-final will be played on a fresh pitch, which means that seam and swing may be more reliable fast-bowling weapons than cutters. “Someone like Mustafizur Rahman having a good game will help us tremendously,” Walsh said. “I am hoping he can step up to the plate in this crucial game. I know he can. He had some fantastic games in PSL so it is a case of turning it around here. One game can make a difference. It could be his game, or another bowler’s game, but we’re hoping that he comes good.”The attack would appear to have been bolstered with news that Shakib Al Hasan is joining the team ahead of this game, but Walsh was reluctant to suggest Shakib is a certainty for the playing XI. Though he will be with the team in the approach to the game, Shakib is expected to take a fitness test for his injured finger that has kept him out since mid-January.”He is on his way. Like any other player he will be assessed. If he is fit, someone of his class and calibre will be considered to play.”

The Mumbai captain rued the lack of support for Ben Cutting in the tense chase in Delhi

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2018

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma felt a “slightly better bowling performance” could have eased some tension in a must-win game where they had to chase 175 on a difficult pitch at the Ferozshah Kotla. The defending champions fell 11 short against Delhi Daredevils to crash out of the tournament with six wins and eight losses.The chase was alive until Ben Cutting was dismissed for a 20-ball 37, with Mumbai needing 12 off four balls with one wicket in hand. They were eventually bowled out when Jasprit Bumrah was caught first ball.”Certain areas in our bowling, if we’d done well, could’ve restricted them to 10-15 less,” Rohit said after the match. “Looking at how Ben [Cutting] was batting, if one batter stayed till the end, you never know what could’ve happened.”There are a lot of things we can look back and say we didn’t do right. We played good cricket in the second half, but things like that can happen. We can get a lot of learning out of it.”Rohit credited the Daredevils bowling for bouncing back after opener Evin Lewis set Mumbai up with a blistering 31-ball 48. Then they lost Lewis, Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya in the space of five deliveries and Rohit underlined that as the defining phase of the game.”Hats off to Delhi. They played good cricket and bowled in the right areas, we knew chasing will always be tough, considering how the wicket was playing, but taking the excuse away from it, we played bad cricket as well,” Rohit said. “We have to say we were not there today.”Rohit dismissed a suggestion that the Mumbai had been under pressure because they won only two games in the first half of the season. “I have no regrets how the season has gone, it was a mixed season for us,” he said. “Everyone is fighting hard to get the playoffs, so we knew it won’t be easy. We’ve been in this situation many times before, can’t say it took a toll on anyone’s body. We played bad cricket, but we will accept this and have to move forward.”

The wicketkeeper-batsman, who had recovered from a thumb injury he picked up earlier, has been advised to not even lift a bat for two months

Sidharth Monga19-Jul-2018

Wriddhiman Saha, India’s first-choice Test wicketkeeper, will be out of action for at least two months with a shoulder injury. His injured shoulder will soon be assessed to see if it requires a surgery. As of now he has been advised to not even lift a bat for two months. The India selectors and the BCCI, however, had never made it public that Saha had recovered from the thumb injury he picked up earlier this year, and that it was this serious shoulder injury that was keeping him sidelined.This injury – which could even put him in doubt for the Australia tour – caps what has been an extremely disappointing year for Saha, who will be 34 by the time India travel to Australia later this year. After he scored 0 and 8 in the first Test of the year, against South Africa in Cape Town, he suffered a hamstring injury and was sent home. During the IPL he had injured his thumb, which was believed to be the reason for his missing the Afghanistan Test.A BCCI press release in June had said: “Saha suffered an injury to his right thumb while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the VIVO IPL Qualifier 2 against Kolkata Knight Riders on 25th May, 2018 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. He was under observation by the medical staff of the BCCI and the management has decided to give him adequate rest before the start of the England Test series. Saha’s recovery period is expected to be around five to six weeks.”What has followed raises more questions over the BCCI’s handling of injuries, its communication regarding injuries, and, more importantly, over the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru where Saha was undergoing the rehabilitation. It is learnt that the NCA medical team communicated to the BCCI that Saha will need five to six weeks of rehabalitation; it now looks like it might take five to six months.The BCCI didn’t help matters by withholding the information that a shoulder injury – much more serious than the thumb one – existed when Saha was not picked for the Afghanistan Test. India’s injury management has been under the scanner with Bhuvneshwar Kumar already ruled out of the first three Tests in England. Bhuvneshwar, whose workload was managed during the IPL because of a back condition, was cleared to play all three formats on the long tour of England. The injury resurfaced during the ODIs; he missed the first two matches but aggravated the injury when playing in the final ODI, a day before the Test selection.Curiously the chairman of the selection committee still believes Saha is out with a thumb injury. “Saha’s recovery from a fractured right thumb hasn’t been satisfactory. He hasn’t responded well enough to the rehab at the National Cricket Academy, in Bengaluru. At this moment, therefore, Saha is uncertain for all five Tests, not just the first three,” chief selector MSK Prasad was quoted as saying by the .