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Three days before their World Cup semi-final against Australia, South Africa were given a potential boost, as their captain Temba Bavuma took full part in an optional training session, at Eden Gardens, on Monday.Bavuma ran a couple of laps around the outfield, before doing some fitness drills under the watchful eye of the team physiotherapist Sizwe Hadebe and the strength and conditioning coach Runeshan Moodley. He then proceeded to do some shuttle runs, increasing the pace with each lap, and then moved to running drills as he moved forward and backwards. While Bavuma occasionally looked uncomfortable and bent over with his hand on his sides, he did not appear to be at any unease while running. The South Africa captain was seen with a bit of a strapping on his thigh.Later in the session, Bavuma padded up and shadow batted with a stump before having a lengthy conversation with coach Rob Walter. After watching Rassie van der Dussen for a while, Bavuma then padded up and went into a net, where he spent around 50 minutes batting. He even advanced down the track to hit a few balls.Related

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“Temba’s right hamstring strain has shown good objective signs of improvement over the last 72 hours,” said a statement from the South African medical team. ” We will continuously assess his progress through the management plan over the next few days towards giving him the best chance to play on Thursday.” They also clarified that the work Bavuma was putting in on Monday was not for a fitness test but merely “part of the rehabilitation strategies of the recovery plan.”Bavuma had suffered a hamstring injury during South Africa’s league game against Afghanistan in Ahmedabad last week. He left the field after nine balls of the first innings, and returned four overs later but limped as he fielded – mostly at mid-off. He chased balls gingerly and hobbled as he jogged to talk to his bowlers but did not go off again, with his role as opening batter in mind. Had Bavuma spent significant time off the field, he would have only been allowed to bat after the same amount of time had elapsed or until at least five batters had been dismissed, which he did not want to do as he searches for form. To date, Bavuma has a top score of 35 at the tournament, and scored 23 against Afghanistan.CSA had said on Sunday that Bavuma had “shown an improvement” overnight, and that he had not been sent for scans, but did not give an official update on his current condition.If Bavuma is unable to play the semi-final, Aiden Markram is likely to captain South Africa – as he did when Bavuma missed the England and Bangladesh games with illness – while Reeza Hendricks could open the batting.

Afghanistan claimed the most famous scalp of their international history, and in the process provided the first big shock of the 2023 World Cup, by routing England’s world champions by 69 runs in a spin-and-seam masterclass under the Delhi floodlights.Their dominance was set in motion by a fearless display of power-hitting from the 21-year-old Rahmanullah Gurbaz, whose 80 from 57 had promised so much more until a run-out sawed him off in his prime. But Ikram Alikhil marshalled Afghanistan’s lower-order with a precious half-century in his first game of this year’s World Cup, whereupon they set about making a target of 285 seem as dim and distant as England’s hopes of defending their title must now feel.

Gurbaz reprimanded for equipment abuse

Rahmanullah Gurbaz was officially reprimanded for hitting the boundary rope and a chair with his bat after being dismissed in the 19th over of Afghanistan’s innings. He has received one demerit point for the same, his first in a 24-month period.
When a player reaches four or more demerit points within a 24-month period, they are converted into suspension points and a player is banned. Each demerit point stays on a player’s record for 24 months from their imposition.

If, after winning the toss and choosing to chase, England had assumed the second half of the match would be a cakewalk to match the 283 target that New Zealand had waltzed past in their tournament opener, those notions were scotched during a startlingly attacking powerplay from their opponents.Jos Buttler’s decision to bat second had seemingly been influenced by the likelihood that the ball would skid on to the bat under the floodlights. But instead, the evening conditions merely exacerbated the natural attributes of each of Afghanistan’s bowlers, not least Fazalhaq Farooqi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, right from the outset of their innings.Farooqi’s loosener was more than enough to cause a few sideways glances in the England dressing-room, a wicked full-length inswinger from his zippy left-arm line pinned Jonny Bairstow on the crease and extracted a perfectly justifiable on-field verdict from Rod Tucker, irrespective of Bairstow’s stinkeye as he stalked from the crease after a seam’s-width DRS verdict.Mohammad Nabi, playing his 150th ODI out of a possible 156 for his country, put on a masterclass in flight, drift and dip•Associated Press

But no such second-guessing was required for England’s second victim of the powerplay: Joe Root, squared up by Mujeeb’s front-of-the-hand slider, and bowled for 11 from 17 – yet another telling powerplay failure for England’s faltering kingpin – as the ball kept low to rattle middle and off.Not for the first time, Dawid Malan was the most composed batter on show, his 32 from 39 balls singlehandedly dragging England through the powerplay without further loss. But Mohammad Nabi, playing his 150th ODI out of a possible 156 for his country, was waiting for him as the fielding restrictions lifted. Nabi’s fourth ball was a moment of offspinning poetry – a flighted, dipping delivery that made Malan believe his fifth boundary was on the cards, only for Ibrahim Zadran to spring the trap at short cover.At 68 for 3 in the 13th over, the alarm bells were ringing.Buttler’s exhortation in recent weeks has been to “attack”… but even he was powerless to practice what he had preached in such invidious circumstances. His only shot in anger was a pointed one, a bullet drive through the covers as Afghanistan’s main threat Rashid Khan entered the attack in the 17th over. But Naveen-ul-Haq’s fiercely flicked seamers seemed to spook him from the outset, and after being beaten twice in his first four balls, he drove without conviction through a booming inswinger, and had his stumps splattered for 9 from 18.England’s diffidence thereafter was startling. Liam Livingstone never looked settled in his 10 from 14, eventually planting his front foot down the line to Rashid and burning a futile review in the process. Sam Curran seemed focussed solely on holding up an end while Harry Brook got busy with a fighting half-century, including a handful of exquisite drives down the ground, and in the 31st over, England’s first and only six of the innings, which told a tale – especially when set against the previous World Cup meeting between these teams. Afghanistan by contrast had launched eight.With Curran on 10 from 23 balls, Nabi – armed quite rightly with a slip – returned with another collector’s item to collect another left-hander, as Curran poked limply at a dipping offbreak and fenced low to Rahmat Shah. And it was only once the result was a foregone conclusion that England finally broke out of their defeatist mindset, with Reece Topley’s three fours in a row off Farooqi proving to be among the cleanest strikes of a flat-lining display.1:13

How did England’s bowling unit perform against Afghanistan?

It was a crushing victory by any standards, but the gulf between Afghanistan’s attacking mindset and England’s muddled approach was even more vast than the final result made it out to be.And it was Gurbaz’s mini-masterpiece that set the tone for his team. Presented with a surface on which South Africa’s batters had posted three centuries in last week’s World Cup record 428 for 5, he climbed on to the offensive, particularly against another timid new-ball spell from Chris Woakes, whose search for form has epitomised England’s uncertain start to their title defence.Woakes’ first ball of the match was a wild sighter that flew away through Buttler’s legs for five wides, and Afghanistan scarcely needed any more encouragement to put the hammer down on such a visibly weak link in England’s attack. In his second over, a premeditated hack from Gurbaz through the line persuaded Woakes to drag his length back, and Gurbaz was waiting with the sucker punch, a vicious slammed pull over deep square-leg for six.Two more fours followed in Woakes’ next over, lashed through the covers as he failed to land his cutters, and though Topley at the other end was proving more frugal with his high-kicking left-arm seam, Gurbaz had utter faith in the true nature of the pitch, and twice climbed through an offering of width across his bows with a brace of savage cuts.Curran replaced Woakes but fared little better. Gurbaz demolished his second over, which disappeared for 20 with two more fours and another muscular six over midwicket to close out Afghanistan’s powerplay on an ominous 79 for 0. He duly brought up his fifty from 33 balls, the fourth fastest of the tournament to date, with a calculated sweep for four off Adil Rashid’s second ball.Mujeeb Ur Rahman walked in and smashed the England bowlers around from the get-go•Getty Images

England’s concerns had deeper to go before they could improve. Mark Wood was rapid from the outset of his spell, but a misdirected bouncer was jemmied up and over deep third with a flick of the wrists, before Gurbaz nailed his fourth six – and arguably the best of the lot: an effortless pick-up over deep midwicket as Rashid looped a legbreak into his arc. And when the injury-plagued Topley jarred his knee while failing to cut off another pull through fine leg, and limped off for treatment, the concerns in the England camp, and for his father Don sitting up in the stands, were plain to see.Topley returned in due course, however, by which stage it seemed that Afghanistan’s innings had imploded in a familiar flurry of self-destruction. After playing out a maiden against Rashid, Ibrahim Zadran picked out Root with a head-high clip to midwicket, and before he could settle, Rahmat was dragged out of his crease in Rashid’s next over, to be smartly stumped by Buttler for 3 from eight balls.And then… catastrophe.Hashmatullah Shahidi nudged his first ball to midwicket and set off for a unthinking single, and Gurbaz was barely in the frame as the shy came in from midwicket. He stalked off the pitch, utterly livid with himself and his captain, smashing his bat on the boundary marker and a passing chair as he did so, knowing full well that those blows could and should have been meted out on England’s toiling bowlers instead.But even as Afghanistan struggled to regroup, the seeds of England’s downfall were plain to see. Liam Livingstone settled into an excellent mid-innings holding role, completing a full ten-over spell for the first time in his ODI career, while Root was also a handful with his offbreaks as he bowled Shahidi for a becalmed 14 from 36.But at 174 for 5, there would be no surrender in spite of Afghanistan’s awkward scoreline. Alikhil anchored the tail as Rashid and Mujeeb took what lumps they could out of England’s bowling, and by the time Curran’s final over had been launched for two fours and a free-hit six, he and Woakes had leaked the combined figures of 8-0-87-0. In the final analysis, those were the margins that could not be managed, as Afghanistan delivered on their pre-match promise to offer some “joy” to their country in the wake of last week’s earthquake. They could not have delivered more.

Zak Crawley will consider entering the next IPL auction and is lining up a return to the Big Bash League this winter. Fresh from an Ashes series in which he finished as England’s leading run-scorer, he is plotting a route into their white-ball set-up.Crawley’s opportunities in white-ball cricket have been sporadic since his Test call-up in 2019. His three England ODI caps to date came two years ago, as part of the second-string team that whitewashed Pakistan, and he is yet to make an appearance in T20 internationals.But Crawley is targeting a place on the tour to the Caribbean in December, when England are likely to rest several first-choice players after the ODI World Cup, and hopes that he can earn his spot through performances for London Spirit in the Hundred over the next three weeks.”I’d love to go on that tour,” Crawley told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ll have to see how selection goes but the Caribbean is an awesome place to play – and I haven’t had the chance to go on a white ball tour for England yet, so any opportunity I get would be awesome. If they want me for that tour, I’d absolutely love to go.”After Alex Hales’ recent international retirement, there could be a vacancy alongside Jos Buttler at the top of England’s T20I batting order. “There’s obviously a few guys ahead of me at the moment,” Crawley said. “But if I score some runs then hopefully my name starts getting thrown into the hat.”England do not play another Test until late January, when they begin a five-match series in India. “I’m trying to look at where I can go, which leagues, before the tour of India,” he said. “I went to the Big Bash last year and loved it so if they would want me back then that would certainly be something I’d consider.”Zak Crawley played eight BBL games for Hobart Hurricanes last season•Getty Images

Crawley made a single half-century in his eight appearances for Hobart Hurricanes last year, but was a popular member of the dressing room and could return: “I can’t speak highly enough of him,” said Nathan Ellis, one of his team-mates. “He’s not only one of the most talented batters in the world, he’s one of the nicest guys as well.”And beyond the BBL, Crawley is considering nominating himself for the next IPL auction. “It’s the biggest franchise tournament in the world,” he said. “It’s the only place to see all the best playing against each other. It’s great cricket and to be able to test yourself in that tournament would be awesome.”We’ll see how I go. If I score some runs and it looks like I’ve half a chance then, then potentially I will [put my name forward]. I’m a realistic guy though, so if I feel like there’s no chance then I won’t… If I was good enough one day to play in the IPL and someone wanted me, then I’d absolutely love to go.”Earlier this year, he watched Harry Brook score an unbeaten hundred for Sunrisers Hyderabad in his fourth IPL game. “Obviously I’d love to do that,” Crawley said. “He’s going to do a lot of stuff that I wish I could do throughout his career. I won’t get too cut up on what Harry does otherwise I’d be pretty disappointed my whole career.”Related

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• McCullum: Crawley's success validates England's approach

Crawley’s white-ball ambitions meant that, rather than going on holiday after the end of the Ashes, he played for Spirit in Manchester five days after the end of the fifth Test. “I wanted to get straight into it,” he said, speaking at the launch of KP Snacks’ community cricket pitches initiative.”I played a bit of the Hundred last year, but that was stop-start… I probably haven’t played as much white-ball [cricket] as I would have liked. I’m glad that the schedule now has allowed for the full Hundred. That’s why I was very keen to get going and play some white-ball cricket: it looks like it’s going to be the future of the game so you don’t want to be left behind.”KP Snacks are funding 100 new community cricket pitches over the next three years. To find out more and search for a pitch visit: www.everyonein.co.uk/pitchfinder

Birmingham Bears have signed West Indies left-armer Dominic Drakes on a short-term contract until the end of the Vitality Blast.Drakes, whose father Vasbert played for Warwickshire in the 2000s, will replace Hasan Ali as one of Bears’ two overseas players, with the Pakistan seamer departing for international duty this weekend.Drakes, 25, has been capped 12 times in white-ball internationals and enjoyed had a spell in county cricket with Yorkshire last summer.”We’re really pleased to welcome Dominic to the squad. Dominic loves the big stage and is comfortable taking the ball in the powerplay and high-pressure moments,” Warwickshire’s Performance director, Gavin Larsen, said.”As a left-armer, Dominic will add something different to our pace attack and we can’t wait to see how he fares before the quarter-final.”Birmingham are top of the North Group with two games to play and assured of a spot in the Blast quarter-finals.”I can’t wait to link up with the squad ahead of what’s an exciting time for the club,” Drakes said. “The team have shown to be one of the strongest in the competition and I’m looking forward to adding to their initial success in the closing stages.”I love playing in big crowds and having the opportunity to play in a quarterfinal, plus the chance to go one step further to Finals Day is exciting.”

Unlike the other teams, who have their league matches spread across most of the ten venues for the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, Pakistan will play their nine league matches in only five cities, according to the schedule released by the ICC and BCCI in Mumbai on Tuesday.Pakistan begin their campaign by playing the two qualifiers from the tournament in Zimbabwe in Hyderabad on October 6 and 12, before travelling to Ahmedabad to take on India on October 15. They then travel to Bengaluru to play Australia on October 20, and onward to Chennai, where they play Afghanistan on October 23 and South Africa on October 27.The PCB had requested the ICC to swap venues for their fixtures against Afghanistan and Australia (they wanted to play Afghanistan in Bengaluru and Australia in Chennai) a request that has not been granted.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Pakistan then head east to Kolkata for their fixture against Bangladesh on October 31 and back to Bengaluru for their match against New Zealand on November 4. Their final league match, which will take place on the last day of the league phase, is against England in Kolkata on November 12. If Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals, they will play the game in Kolkata.They will gear up for the 2023 tournament in India with warm-up games against New Zealand and Australia on September 29 and October 3 in Hyderabad.Related

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• Pakistan wants venues swapped for World Cup matches

The World Cup schedule was finally released at an event in Mumbai just 100 days before the start of the tournament on October 5. In comparison, the fixtures for the 2019 World Cup in England and the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand were released more than 12 months in advance.The tournament will be played across ten venues in India, with the semi-finals in Mumbai and Kolkata on November 15 and 16, and the final in Ahmedabad on November 19. The knockout games all have a reserve day provisioned. The format will be the same as it was in 2019, with ten teams playing each other once in the league phase and the top four qualifying for the semi-finals.India qualified for the event as hosts, while Afghanistan, Australia, England, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa made it by finishing in the top eight of the 2020-2023 World Cup Super League. The remaining two qualifiers will be identified at the ongoing World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe, which is being played by Sri Lanka, West Indies, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, UAE, USA and Zimbabwe.

But will Pakistan travel to India at all?

Despite the World Cup schedule being announced, there is still no official confirmation from Pakistan that they will travel to India. Due to strained political relations between the two countries, Pakistan have not toured India since the 2016 men’s T20 World Cup. The latest word on the matter was that Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs was evaluating the team’s participation in the World Cup and would convey its view to the PCB in due course.”The PCB requires the Government of Pakistan’s clearance for any tour to India, including the match venues. We are liaising with our government for guidance, and as soon as we hear something from them, we will update the Event Authority (ICC),” PCB communications director Sami Ul Hasan said. “This position is consistent to what we had told the ICC a couple of weeks ago when they shared with us the draft schedule and sought our feedback.”It is understood that with the term of the ruling government in Pakistan ending in August, the decision on whether the team will travel to India will be deferred until the next government takes charge. This being an election year, the government will not make a formal announcement at this stage, though tentative permission has been given. The final decision will be taken closer to the departure date, like it was when India hosted the 2016 World Cup.Back then, Nawaz Sharif’s government gave the team last-hour clearance to travel after sending a delegation to India for security reconnaissance. The PCB had threatened to pull out of the T20 World Cup in India unless they had assurance from the Indian government regarding the security of the Pakistan team, which eventually resulted in the India-Pakistan match moving from Dharamsala to Kolkata.

Colin Ackermann, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren and Roelof van der Merwe are not part of Netherlands’ squad for the ODI World Cup Qualifier slated for June-July in Zimbabwe due to their county commitments.Fast bowlers Brandon Glover and Timm van der Gugten are also not in the 16-member squad whereas allrounder Bas de Leede, who had qualified as a local to be on a two-year contract with Durham from February, has been named in the squad since his clause in the deal allows him to take part in the Qualifier.Even though counties have to allow their players to play for their Associate teams in ICC events, players and boards understand that they can’t enforce that protocol as it could result in some players losing their county deals. In an interview last year, Klaasen had termed this a “tricky situation” since the county deals provide the players financial security.Logan van Beek, Clayton Floyd and Saqib Zulfiqar are also back in the squad, while Noah Croes and 19-year old Michael Levitt have earned a call-ups.”Coming off the back of a three game series in Zimbabwe a few months ago, we have been really intentional in our preparation for the qualifiers and we are confident the squad we have picked can play a brand of cricket that will be successful in these conditions,” captain Scott Edwards said. “We have a good mixture of experienced players along with some exciting young players who have performed well in the domestic Pro Series and club season leading into this tournament.”Netherlands will play against Zimbabwe, USA, Nepal and West Indies from Group A on June 20, 22, 24 and 26, respectively. Group B has Sri Lanka, Ireland, Scotland, Oman and UAE. The top three from each group will then advance to the Super Sixes stage, where they will only play the sides they did not meet in the group stage. The top two teams from the Super Sixes will qualify for the World Cup, to be held in India in October and November this year.Netherlands gained some valuable experience in Zimbabwe prior to the Qualifier, when they toured South Africa and Zimbabwe in March. They lost 2-0 to South Africa in the three-match ODIs and suffered 2-1 defeat to Zimbabwe. Squad: Scott Edwards (captain, wk), Max O’Dowd, Logan van Beek, Vikramjit Singh, Aryan Dutt, Vivian Kingma, Bas de Leede, Noah Croes, Ryan Klein, Teja Nidamanuru, Wesley Barresi, Shariz Ahmad, Clayton Floyd, Michael Levitt, Saqib Zulfiqar.

Gujarat Titans are likely to retain Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, B Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan, leaving them with one right-to-match card (RTM) option at the upcoming IPL 2025 mega auction.While the amounts for each player are not yet known, GT will have at least INR 51 crore deducted from their purse of INR 120 crore for retaining three international players and two uncapped players. If they pay more than INR 51 crore to retain five players, then the higher amount will be deducted from their purse.October 31 is the deadline by which the ten franchises have to submit their list of retained players to the IPL ahead of the mega auction. The teams have been allowed to retain up to six players ahead of the mega auction before the 2025 season, of which a maximum of five can be capped internationals and two can be uncapped players. While the IPL has set minimum deductions from the auction purse for each player retained – INR 18 crore for the first player, INR 14 crore for the second, INR 11 crore for the third, INR 18 crore for the fourth, INR 14 crore for the fifth, and INR 4 crore for an uncapped player – the franchises are free to pay more or less than those amounts to their retained players.Gill and Rashid were picked by GT before the auction in 2022, when the franchise had just entered the IPL. While Rashid got INR 15 crore (USD 1.807 million approx. then), Gill got INR 8 crore (USD 963,000 approx. then). While Rashid remains their lead bowling allrounder, Gill was given the GT captaincy for IPL 2024 after Hardik Pandya was traded to Mumbai Indians.Related

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While the retention of 23-year-old Sudharsan ahead Mohammed Shami and David Miller might be a surprise, GT believe the left-hand batter from Tamil Nadu is a long-term player who can perform a key role in the top order. Sudharsan, who was bought for INR 20 lakhs in 2022, was sixth highest run-maker in IPL 2024 with 527 runs with an average of nearly 48 and strike rate of 141. He is considered as a potential future Test player too by India’s selectors and the team management lead by Gautam Gambhir. It is learned Sudharsan was discussed as a candidate for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy.Tewatia and Shahrukh, both uncapped allrounders, were among the most expensive buys for GT and have been retained for their power-hitting ability in the lower-middle order. Tewatia, who was bought for INR 9 crore ($1.084 million approx. then) in 2022, has played several impactful knocks as a finisher and has been a key sounding board for GT’s leadership group with his knowledge the domestic Indian players. Shahrukh, who is also a part-time offspinner, is among the strongest hitters in domestic cricket and was bought in 2024 auction for INR 7.4 crore ($891,000 approx. then).

Big picture

India have been here before. It hasn’t happened all that often in the recent past, but they’ve been 1-0 down in a home Test series. It happened against Australia in 2017, and then against England in 2021 and 2024. All three times, they came back to win the series.Both those series, however, were four Tests long. India’s current generation have never really been in the situation they are in now against New Zealand: 1-0 down at home, with only two Tests to go.It puts them under immense pressure. Beating India in India remains the toughest challenge in Test cricket today, but away teams over the last two years have been winning Tests here more frequently than they used to. It’s a sign, perhaps, of one era transitioning into another, a reminder of the cricketing mortality of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.This doesn’t change the fact, however, that India remain overwhelming favourites when the second Test begins on Thursday. New Zealand won in Bengaluru, yes, but they won via the perfect storm brewed up by the weather and a deceptive pitch that led India to make what turned out to be the wrong toss and selection calls for those conditions. New Zealand were themselves poised to make the same toss call had Tom Latham called correctly.It isn’t often that a visiting side shows up for a Test match in India and finds conditions that suit them more than the home side. Before Bengaluru 2024, it had perhaps happened twice in this century: Nagpur 2004 and Ahmedabad 2008.Related

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Pune will not be like Bengaluru. India have made every effort possible to restore to this series the one major ingredient it had lacked up to this point: home advantage. The specifics of how the Pune pitch will behave will only become clear when the match begins, but the broad outline is likely to be a lot less help for New Zealand’s quicks, and a lot more room for India to maximise the superior skill and control of their spin attack. It won’t guarantee the result they want, not against this superb New Zealand side, but whether they win, lose or draw, India will journey to their fate on something like their own terms.2:03

Could India go all out with four spinners in Pune?

Form guide

India LWWWW (last five Tests, most recent first)
New Zealand WLLLL

In the spotlight – Shubman Gill and Glenn Phillips

Shubman Gill has found a new level as a Test batter since his move to No. 3 last year, averaging 43.23 across 11 matches and scoring three hundreds. He got through a regular workload in the nets in the lead-up to the second Test, suggesting he will return to India’s line-up after missing the Bengaluru Test with a stiff neck. With Gill back at No. 3, India’s batting order will wear a far more settled look, with the names below his back in their natural habitats.Since his return to New Zealand’s Test side in December 2023, Glenn Phillips has taken 23 wickets in nine Tests at an average of 26.47. Of all spinners with at least 15 wickets in this time, only Keshav Maharaj, Nathan Lyon and India’s big three have better averages. It’s quite a record for an offspinner who was until recently considered a part-timer. Phillips bowled 15 second-innings overs in Bengaluru and picked up the wicket of Virat Kohli. He may have to get through a bigger workload on a more helpful pitch in Pune, even if New Zealand bolster their spin attack, and could have quite an influence on the game if he can chip in with a big wicket or two. His ability to score quickly down the order could be handy too, handier still if it’s a low-scoring Test.1:08

Manjrekar: Rank turner will be an acid test for New Zealand

Team news – Sarfaraz vs Rahul, Southee vs O’Rourke?

India have two major decisions to make with regards to their XI. With Gill set to return, they will have to leave out either KL Rahul, who has fairly good returns across a small sample size – a century and two fifties in six Tests – since his middle-order move late last year, and Sarfaraz Khan, who scored a rollicking second-innings hundred in Bengaluru. There’s also the question of the second seamer: should Akash Deep, who has looked like a natural in Indian conditions in his brief Test career so far, come in for Mohammed Siraj, whose 13 home Tests have brought him just the 19 wickets at 36.15? A dry pitch is expected to provide ample assistance to the spinners, so India will most likely stick to playing three of them. They have no major reason yet to look beyond the trio of Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav, even if Washington Sundar and Axar Patel make compelling cases as allrounders.India: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 KL Rahul/Sarfaraz Khan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj/Akash Deep.Despite being 1-0 up, New Zealand may have the more difficult selection to make than India, because it may involve a change in the make-up of their Bengaluru attack. Conditions in Pune are set to be far less conducive to swing and seam bowling, which means New Zealand may have to think of leaving out one of their three quicks – potentially Tim Southee, their ex-captain, or Will O’Rourke, who took seven wickets in Bengaluru – and bring in an extra spinner. This could either be the left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner or the legspinner Ish Sodhi, who has come into the squad with Michael Bracewell released on paternity leave.New Zealand 1 Tom Latham (capt), 2 Devon Conway, 3 Will Young, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Glenn Phillips, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee/Will O’Rourke, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Ajaz Patel.

Pitch and conditions

After losing in entirely un-Indian conditions at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, India have gone to great lengths to prepare a track that theoretically minimises the damage New Zealand’s quicks can cause. A slow, low turner is in the offing, and spinners can expect increasing help as the Test match progresses with sunny weather expected on all five days in Pune.Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli share a light chat•AFP/Getty Images

Stats and trivia

• After losing just two home Tests in the ten years from 2013 to 2022, India have lost three in the next two years.
• KL Rahul is 19 runs away from the 3000 mark in Test cricket. Of all batters to have scored at least 3000 runs since his debut, only Mominul Haque and Kraigg Brathwaite have lower averages than Rahul’s current figure of 33.87.
• Before 2023, Matt Henry had 53 wickets in 17 Tests at an average of 40.24. Since the start of 2023, he has transformed his Test career, taking 50 wickets in just nine Tests at 21.26.

Quotes

“No, we are not even thinking of giving anyone game time. All we are concentrating on are these two Test matches [against New Zealand]. And these two Test matches are very, very important to us. As important as any other Test match, be it in India or in Australia.”
“It’s important that we take the focus, the confidence from that [Bengaluru] game, and bring it into this game, but realise that we both start on zero, both teams start on zero tomorrow.”

Big picture: Can West Indies deepen England’s white-ball funk?

Plenty has gone on since Jos Buttler led his players off the field at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, following a comprehensive defeat to India in their World Cup semi-final. Matthew Mott vacated his post soon after, leading to Brendon McCullum’s appointment as cross-format supremo and, while Buttler was retained as captain, he has not hit a ball in anger since, due to a persistent calf injury that caused him to miss the Hundred, as well as ODI and T20I series against Australia and then the West Indies one-dayers.There will be added significance, then, to his comeback for five T20Is in the Caribbean. In the last 12 months, Buttler has overseen two doomed World Cup defences – and the window is already narrowing for England to get their white-ball show back on the road in time for the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in February. (Whether the schedule is helpful in that regard – England have the same split of three ODIs and five T20Is in India as part of their build-up to the tournament – is a moot point.)Buttler’s enthusiasm for England duty should have been sharpened by time spent on the sidelines – as well, perhaps, as his release by Rajasthan Royals ahead of the IPL auction later this month. He joined up with the squad in Barbados earlier this week, with interim head coach Marcus Trescothick describing him as “progressing really nicely” ahead of the T20Is.At the very least, his return will put a stop to the revolving door of captaincy understudies, with three different men (Phil Salt, Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone) in charge for the three engagements against Australia and West Indies. And while England’s squad is otherwise the same as that beaten 2-1 in the ODI leg, there is far greater T20 experience to call on – even from the tyros in the group, such as Jacob Bethell and Dan Mousley.Jos Buttler speaks to the media ahead of his England comeback•Getty Images

West Indies also carry some hurt with them from the T20 World Cup, after failing to make the semi-finals despite strong form going into their home tournament. They have already begun the process of moving on, sweeping the beaten finalists, South Africa, 3-0 in August before going down 2-1 in Sri Lanka last month – albeit Daren Sammy, West Indies’ head coach, called it a “moral victory” for his side. England know all about those.Sammy and Rovman Powell, the captain, have dovetailed to good effect in managing the complex relationships between West Indies’ star players and the global franchise circuit. Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Shimron Hetmyer and Akeal Hossein were all absent from the Sri Lanka tour for personal reasons but have returned to take on England. Having not qualified for the Champions Trophy, West Indies can already start to focus on the next T20 World Cup, set to be played in India and Sri Lanka in early 2026.One player who won’t be involved over the weekend, however, is Alzarri Joseph, with the fast bowler banned for two matches by Cricket West Indies after apologising for storming off the pitch during the deciding ODI in Barbados. Proof that even when you’re winning, things don’t always run smooth.

Form guide

West Indies LLWWW
England WLLWL

In the spotlight: Andre Russell and Jos Buttler

Andre Russell has not pulled on a West Indies shirt since they lost their de facto quarter-final against South Africa in Antigua in June – with many having assumed that, at 36, the T20 World Cup would be his international swansong. Russell has since confirmed a desire to play on until the 2026 edition, though his workload is likely to be carefully managed by Sammy and the West Indies hierarchy. His last international comeback, against England in Barbados less than a year ago, saw him win Player of the Match, and judging by a fiery post in the wake of Trinbago Knight Riders’s CPL exit, the passion for the game remains.England followers will not be looking past Jos Buttler, assuming he is passed fit ahead of the game (and then even if it he isn’t). There has been nothing wrong with Buttler’s T20 form in 2024, albeit he was unable to shape England’s key World Cup encounters with Australia and India – but he had cut an increasingly tetchy figure as captain, particularly in the build-up to their campaign in the Caribbean. McCullum has pinpointed cheering up a “miserable” Buttler as his first job in charge of the white-ball set-up, and an unfettered return – free from injury, ideally at the helm of a winning side – over the next nine days would be a good start.

Team news: Big names back for both sides

The T20 big guns look set to regain their places in West Indies’ XI – although there might be a temptation to include some top-order insurance in the form of Shai Hope or Roston Chase. Romario Shepherd was fit to be included in the squad after being diagnosed with cramp following his tumble in the third ODI.West Indies: (possible) 1 Brandon King, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Rovman Powell (capt), 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Roston Chase/Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Akeal Hosein, 9 Gudakesh Motie, 10 Matthew Forde, 11 Shamar JosephSalt has been confirmed as wicketkeeper, with Buttler looking to lighten his load on comeback. Mousley could make his T20I debut after scoring a maiden England fifty in the Barbados ODI, while the other two uncapped squad members, John Turner and Jafer Chohan, will hope to join him at some point during the series.England: (possible) 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Jos Buttler (capt), 3 Will Jacks, 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Jacob Bethell, 6 Dan Mousley, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Jamie Overton/Saqib Mahmood, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Reece Topley

Pitch and conditions: Something for everyone – possibly including rain

Kensington Oval was the third-highest scoring venue during the World Cup earlier in the year, and one of only two to see a total of 200 – when Australia left England trailing in their Group B encounter. The ODI surface offered a bit for seam bowling first up but became much easier to bat on under lights. The forecast in Bridgetown is for another hot day with a chance of showers.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies beat England 3-2 in both of their previous bilateral T20I series, in 2021-22 and 2023-24.
• England’s last series win over West Indies in either white-ball format came back in 2018-19, when they swept the T20Is 3-0 – although they did also beat the hosts in their World Cup Super Eights fixture in June.
• Salt needs 56 runs to reach 1000 in T20Is; Hetmyer is 67 short of the same mark.

Quotes

“It’s a definite loss for us, he’s the spearhead of our attack and one of our more experienced bowlers. But having said that we have capable replacements, when you look at the bench strength and guys that are in the wings waiting, it’s good also. It’s an opportunity for somebody to step up and be counted.”
“You walk into breakfast and you see the guys that they bring back and there’s some real superstars – Pooran and Russell. They’re a really strong team and they’ve been a strong team for a really long time and have guys who are well suited to the format. It’s a great challenge.”