Dhoni can lead India for three-four years - Fleming

Stephen Fleming, the Chennai Super Kings coach and former New Zealand captain, feels that MS Dhoni can lead his country for another three to four years but is not sure whether he will be able to do so across Tests, ODIs and T20s given the amount of cricket India play.

“I haven’t spoken to him on this issue. But he is in fine shape and if he is fit, he can continue to lead for at least a good three to four years,” Fleming told PTI. “Having said that, I don’t know how long he will be playing all three formats. It’s pretty hard as India have such a tight schedule.

Dhoni has been India’s captain in limited-overs cricket since 2007 and in Tests since 2008. He has led his country in 53 Tests, 159 ODIs and 48 T20 internationals. No one has captained India in as many Tests and T20s, and only Mohammad Azharuddin led in more one-dayers than Dhoni has.

Dhoni will turn 33 in July. In January 2012, he had said he might have to give up one of the formats if he was to lead India’s World Cup defence in 2015. Such a decision would be made only at the end of 2013, he had said then.

Fleming said that an international captain could have issues if he led for more than four years, but added that this did not seem to apply to Dhoni. “Dhoni and Graeme Smith have been exceptions, but I feel that an international captain has a shelf-life of four years. After that it is easier to get back as another normal cricketer; if you have been the leader for too long, then it becomes difficult once you leave the job. You tend to miss the decision-making authority and stuff like that. In fact, I faced similar problems after I quit captaincy.”

Dhoni’s leadership style had suited the Indian team very well over the years, Fleming said. “Indians look for consistency and have a pattern. They have such talents that on a given day, some of them can single-handedly win matches. You don’t need too dynamic or too radical thought-processes when you have players like [Virat] Kohli, Dhoni. In the case of the New Zealand team, Brendon [McCullum] has to be a bit dynamic and try a different strategy as they don’t have a talent pool like India.”

Apart from his India responsibilities, Dhoni has also been Super Kings’ captain right from the inaugural IPL in 2008. Fleming has also been involved with the franchise since then, first as a player for the 2008 season and thereafter as coach. He said he had tried to ensure Dhoni enjoyed his time in franchise cricket while taking a breather from India duties. “What I try to provide MS is with two months of enjoyment, so that he can come into the Chennai side having taken a break from the Indian team. He loves his game and looks a pretty comfortable man winning games for Chennai consistently.”

May 03, 2014 at 11:45PM

Eranga replaces Thisara for Ireland ODIs

Sri Lanka have called up fast bowler Shaminda Eranga to their squad for two ODIs against Ireland after Thisara Perera failed to get a visa approved in time. Thisara is expected to join up with Sri Lanka in England later in the month ahead of a T20 and five ODIs.

The Sri Lanka party arrived in Dublin on Saturday but Thisara did not travel with them, after experiencing a delay in getting a UK visa for the main part of the tour. The allrounder, who hit the winning runs in the World T20 final, was part of Chennai Super Kings’ squad at the IPL in Dubai and was unable to get his passport and documents processed.

Eranga is due to leave for Ireland on Sunday. He was not in the T20 squad for England and hasn’t played a limited-overs international since last year but is a key member of Sri Lanka’s Test attack.

Sri Lanka have rested five senior players - Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga and Tillakaratne Dilshan - for the ODIs against Ireland, which take place on Tuesday and Thursday next week.

May 03, 2014 at 11:01PM

Skills have developed dramatically in T20 - Moody

Tom Moody, the Sunrisers Hyderabad coach and former Australia allrounder, has said that players’ skills have improved dramatically over the years in T20. Moody pointed to the emergence of unorthodox, aggressive batsmen such as Glenn Maxwell and said that players of his type were not to be seen in the early years of the shortest format.

“There is no doubt. It has changed enormously,” Moody told ESPNcricinfo. “We have seen over the last seven years of just the IPL, for instance, a number of players develop their skills dramatically. We did not see the Maxwell-type cricketers in year one, two or three. We all remember the first innings in Bangalore when Brendon McCullum made a remarkable start to the IPL [with an unbeaten 158 off 73]. But that was more conventional cricket as we know it - the traditional sweep-slogs and hitting down the ground.”

While McCullum’s innings still remains the second-highest ever in T20s, Moody said hitting had become a lot more unconventional now, with newer scoring zones being uncovered by powerful batsmen such as Maxwell and David Warner. “Now we are seeing these reverse-sweep slogs - not just reverse-sweeps, but reverse-sweep slogs - that are going well in front of square right down to backward square. We have got Warner doing exactly the same sort of thing.

“We saw the other night Warner play a late cut right-handed against a quick. To think that was ever going to happen in year one [of the IPL], you’d be laughed at.”

It wasn’t only the batsmen who had developed their skills; Moody said the bowlers had done the same, and added that the process of change would continue as players sought to keep ahead of competition. “What we have also seen that is interesting is the bowlers suddenly also emerge and change their thought process as they have to keep up with the game. The disguise of slower balls has also improved. It is not just the standard slower ball that you see coming in these days. Most bowlers have to have two varieties of slower balls… the wide yorker we have also seen. So there have been a lot of changes.

“I still think it will continue to grow in that way because to be successful you need to keep moving. If you keep still you will be left behind. Both batsmen and bowlers will be very aware of that and coaches too for that matter. They need to keep moving and trying to find new ground to challenge their opponent.”

May 03, 2014 at 10:31PM

'Insular' England must reconnect with fans - Cook

Alastair Cook, England’s Test and ODI captain, has conceded that the team became “insular” and failed to build up a reserve of public goodwill despite a lengthy period of success. After a 5-0 Ashes whitewashing brought an end to Andy Flower’s time in charge amid criticism of the team’s attitude and style of play, Cook and the new head coach, Peter Moores, are set to embark on a period of rebuilding England’s reputation on and off the field.

England went to Australia in search of a fourth consecutive Ashes victory but ended up losing almost every game on tour, as well as several key players. The home side were backed up by feverish support, as Australia united behind Michael Clarke and Darren Lehmann in their attempts to regain the urn, and Cook picked up on that strength, echoing comments made by Moores in suggesting that England’s new regime would be a more open and accessible one.

“Australia connected with their public very well,” he said. “Maybe we became very insular as a side - it worked very well at some points for us but when it wasn’t going well we didn’t have anything to fall back on. The guys in the dressing room are good people, they are nice guys. The public don’t see that enough. Hopefully we can copy Australia a little bit in the way they did it.

“We are very lucky - they [England fans] do support us through thick and thin. Just judging on since I have been back they have been very supportive, disappointed about Australia like we all were but hopefully we can reward them for that support now.”

Cook’s captaincy, which began with an historic victory in India and included leading England to a 3-0 win over Australia last summer, has also been subject to much scrutiny. Having sat out England’s limited-overs trip to the West Indies and not been involved in a disappointing World T20 campaign, he will resume control in an ODI against Scotland on Friday, before the visits of Sri Lanka and India.

He has previously described the changes in the England set-up as providing a "clean break", intimating that now is the time to build a team in his own image rather than continuing to work along the lines established by Flower and his predecessor, Andrew Strauss, but Cook rejected theories that Flower was too controlling.

“I do disagree. What is written and what actually happened is not always accurate,” he said. “Anyone who knows me knows I have an opinion and can be quite stubborn. Flower can also be quite stubborn. You are out there in the middle and you have to make decisions as a captain. Just because you consult other people doesn’t mean you can’t make your own decisions. You still have to make that final decision and are responsible for it.”

Although Flower remains with the ECB in a development role, England’s power axis now centres on Cook and Moores. Cook played under Moores during his first spell as England coach and the two have been getting reacquainted in between the early rounds of the Championship.

Moores was sacked in 2009 after falling out with Kevin Pietersen, England’s captain at the time, and his style was felt to be overly prescriptive by senior players who had experienced success under Duncan Fletcher. Cook said he felt Moores was “harshly treated” at the end of his reign and was confident that the 51-year-old would not make the same mistakes again.

“The meetings with Peter have gone well,” Cook said. “It was about getting to know Peter again and hammering out what he thought my values were and me asking him what his were and getting some middle ground, which wasn’t too hard.

“He learned from last time and he will do things slightly differently. Five years extra coaching gives you extra experience. We all do things slightly differently but he’s an energetic and enthusiastic guy who loves cricket and England. We’ve got to use that enthusiasm and drive.

“It was going well until the fall out - he’d only been in the job 18 months before the fall out and things changed. When you have grown up in one regime as a senior player and then a new guy comes in, it is difficult - Moores and Duncan Fletcher are obviously completely different guys and have different ideas.”

England have cast admiring glances at the work of Stuart Lancaster with the rugby union side and Cook reiterated that they would be looked to as a source of inspiration. “Lessons should be learned from England rugby - huge credit to Stuart Lancaster and the guys for the way they have managed to change things,” he said. “I imagine it’s taken a hell of a lot of effort and work. But I think just the way they have gone about their business shows how they’ve improved. Everyone can see the development in their side.”

Following the embarrassing defeat to Netherlands at the World T20, England cannot afford to look beyond next week’s ODI in Aberdeen. However, the news that Matt Prior will miss Sussex’s match against Lancashire beginning on Sunday due to his ongoing Achilles problem is unlikely to have aided planning for next month’s first Sri Lanka Test. Jonny Bairstow, who replaced Prior as wicketkeeper in Melbourne and Sydney, is fit after breaking a finger and was named in Yorkshire’s squad to face Durham.

May 03, 2014 at 10:07PM

Royals bowl, Delhi include Rahul Sharma

Toss Rajasthan Royals chose to bowl v Delhi Daredevils

Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Delhi Daredevils lost the toss yet again and were asked to bat on a pitch that is expected to be not too different from the slower ones in the UAE. Shane Watson, the Rajasthan Royals captain, said at the toss that the pitch was only chosen a couple of hours before the start of the match, so he wanted to bowl and see how it played. Royals made one change to their line-up, bringing in seamer Dhawal Kulkarni in place of Iqbal Abdulla.

Daredevils’ only change reflected an opposite strategy; they brought in legspinner Rahul Sharma in place of medium pacer Laxmi Shukla. Kevin Pietersen said it was hard to defend totals at the Kotla and so expected his batsmen to play their part in the first half. A lot will also depend on Pietersen, who averages a slick 83.00 in Delhi.

Delhi Daredevils 1 Quinton de Kock, 2 M Vijay, 3 JP Duminy, 4 Kevin Pietersen (capt), 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Rahul Sharma, 9 Shahbaz Nadeem, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Jaydev Unadkat

Rajasthan Royals 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Karun Nair, 3 Sanju Samson (wk), 4 Shane Watson (capt), 5 Stuart Binny, 6 Steven Smith, 7 James Faulkner, 8 Rajat Bhatia, 9 Kane Richardson, 10 Pravin Tambe, 11 Dhawal Kulkarni

May 03, 2014 at 07:35PM

Glamorgan bring in Helm, Lancefield

Glamorgan have brought in Middlesex seamer Tom Helm on a month’s loan, as well as signed former Surrey batsman Tom Lancefield on a one-year contract. Helm will help provide cover for Michael Hogan, who is currently back in Australia for the birth of his second child.

Helm, 19, has been part of the England Potential Performance Programme for the last two winters and took five wickets on his Championship debut against Yorkshire last season. He goes straight into Glamorgan’s squad for the visit of Worcestershire.

“I’ve been aware of the progress Tom Helm has made in recent years and his development work with the EPPP,” Glamorgan’s chief executive and director of cricket, Hugh Morris, said. “I’ve been getting encouraging reports on him regularly and he’s one of the brightest fast bowling talents in the country.

“Clearly with an international calibre bowling attack at Middlesex, his chances there have been limited, but we can provide him with an opportunity and we’re thankful to Angus Fraser and Middlesex CCC for allowing us to have Tom for the next month.”

Lancefield was released by Surrey at the end of the 2012 and has since played for the Unicorns as well as 2nd XI cricket for various counties. A left-handed opener, he scored more than 600 runs in all competitions for Glamorgan’s second team in 2013.

Essex, meanwhile, have moved to bolster an injury-hit squad ahead of their Division Two match against Leicestershire. David Masters, Graham Napier and Saj Mahmood are all unavailable, leading to Oliver Newby's arrival on loan from Lancashire. With Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara away with England and Nick Browne, Tom Craddock and Tim Phillips all suffering from broken fingers, Essex have also registered allrounder Tanweer Sikander, who plays minor counties cricket for Hertfordshire.

May 03, 2014 at 05:18PM

Bangalore beckons batting giants

Moody: Confident Dhawan will turn corner

Match facts

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Big picture

With campaigns that coughed and spluttered about in the UAE, both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad will have one big target from Sunday’s game: a momentum-granting win. Both teams are in the bottom half of the points table with similar figures of two wins in five games, although Royal Challengers are ahead on better net run rate.

At this point, Royal Challengers are also the team with more concerns when compared to Sunrisers. The headliners in their batting line-up have not fired as expected and their last two innings - where they were restricted to 70 and 124 - did not allow a competent bowling attack much room.

Royal Challengers also have the problem of their overseas options not firing, with Chris Gayle admittedly not yet 100% and Albie Morkel’s lack of impact with the bat and ball. Unless he’s injured, Ravi Rampaul may be a better pick in place of Morkel and given the batting-friendly tracks in India, it may not be a bad idea to give the talented Vijay Zol a chance.

David Warner’s sprightly 65 aside, one of the biggest gains for Sunrisers in their win against Mumbai Indians was the innings played by KL Rahul. One of the highest run-getters in the Ranji season, his growing ease in the IPL allows Sunrisers the comfort of an anchor. The form of their captain Shikhar Dhawan and their frontline bowler, Amit Mishra, remains a worry for the side.

Form guide (most recent first)

Royal Challengers Bangalore: LLLWW

Sunrisers Hyderabad: WLWLL

Players to watch

Shikhar Dhawan has gone 13 innings without a fifty-plus score in T20s, his last one coming in the Champions League T20 in September last year. There have been a couple of 30s in this IPL, but against one of the most powerful batting sides in the IPL, he needs to make runs upfront to boost Sunrisers chances of overhauling the hosts.

A stat of 73 runs off 76 balls faced in five games is hardly something you’d associate with AB de Villiers in the IPL. Chris Lynn’s spectacular catch aside, his dismissals against Royals and Kings XI Punjab have come through bad shots and Royal Challengers will be hoping a change of form ensues a change of scene.

Stats and trivia

• Royal Challengers Bangalore are third on the list of teams with most 100+ partnerships with 13 stands. Only Chennai Super Kings (17) and Kings XI Punjab (15) are ahead of them.


• Despite being the leading wicket-taker for Sunrisers, Amit Mishra has had two of his worst bowling performances for the side in this IPL - against Mumbai, he conceded 54 without a wicket, while he gave away 56 runs for 2 wickets against Kings XI.

May 03, 2014 at 04:11PM