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India also named allrounder Ravindra Jadeja and wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant in their XI

Sidharth Monga25-Dec-2020

Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj will debut for India in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. Coming back into the side were allrounder Ravindra Jadeja and wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant. Gill replaced Prithvi Shaw at the top of the order while Siraj came in for the injured Mohammed Shami. In a bold move, India handed over the spot vacated by Virat Kohli to bowling allrounder Jadeja. Pant’s first international match since the New Zealand tour meant Wriddhiman Saha’s return to Tests outside Asia was short-lived.India’s XI for Boxing Day

1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Hanuma Vihari, 5 Ajinkya Rahane (capt.), 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj

The most striking of the four changes was the introduction of a fifth bowler – a second frontline spinner – to the attack. The only time both R Ashwin and Jadeja have played together outside Asia and the West Indies was Old Trafford 2014 as part of a five-man attack. The last time a team played two frontline spinners at MCG was India in 2007-08 when both Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh partnered left-arm quicks Zaheer Khan and RP Singh in the attack. Since 2000, fast bowlers have averaged 31 and spinners 44 at MCG. However, India have not picked the spinner at the expense of a fast bowler. It is more an acknowledgement that in the absence of both Ishant Sharma and Shami, they will need bowling back-up.Jadeja would appear to be that reinforcement even though it leaves the batting thin. Having suffered a concussion and a hamstring injury in the first T20I, Jadeja recovered fully and bowled with intensity in the nets in the lead-up to the Test.As a possible reinforcement for the now weakened batting, Pant replaced Saha, who was presumably selected as the more accomplished pure wicketkeeper for the pink ball, which was expected to do a lot. In recent years, India’s trend has been to pick Saha when a lot of spin is expected to be bowled. With two spinners in the XI, you might make a case for Saha again, but India needed all the batting they could muster once they decided to play an extra bowler. Also Ashwin and Jadeja will not be expected to bowl as many overs as they do in India nor will they find the same assistance to potentially make life difficult for a wicketkeeper.Related

Shubman Gill: The way I got out made me feel very bad

Who is Mohammed Siraj and how did he earn a Test debut?

Overseas debuts: Saini, Siraj better placed than their predecessors

The rapid rise of Gill, from Under-19s to Test debut at MCG

Australia eye unassailable lead against unsettled India

Shaw has played only five Tests over which he averages 42, but the consensus among experts and team management alike seems to be that he needs to tighten up his game if he has to play against good attacks in testing conditions. He was out bowled in the first and the fourth overs of the two innings in Adelaide. His replacement Gill opens for Punjab in the Ranji Trophy, and averages 69 at a strike-rate of 74 in first-class cricket.Gill’s fellow debutant Siraj had presented a persistent case for himself in the two warm-up games leading up to the Test. India’s history with bowlers making their debuts in away Tests has been patchy with many before Jasprit Bumrah ending up playing only one Test or only a few.However, Siraj is arguably better prepared than some of the others. Since 2015, Shahbaz Nadeem is the only bowler to play more matches for India A, 19, than Siraj’s 16. That’s 16 of his overall 38 first-class matches played at a higher level than the Ranji Trophy. In those games, he’s taken 70 wickets at 21.88. Twelve of these matches were played in Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa, and the West Indies for 44 wickets at 27.63.The last time India handed out two or more debuts in the same away Test was back in 2011 when Kohli, Praveen Kumar and Abhinav Mukund debuted in the West Indies. The last time they made four changes to a side mid-series was when MS Dhoni made a surprising retirement decision mid-series in Australia.

Glamorgan bowled out for sub-par 136 before Eskinazi and Malan guide comfortable chase

ECB Reporters Network26-Jul-2019

A Toby Roland-Jones hat-trick – the second inflicted on Glamorgan in successive games – followed by a Stevie Eskinazi half-century, guided second-placed Middlesex to an eight wicket win over bottom side Glamorgan in the Vitality Blast at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.Glamorgan, fresh from being dismissed for 44 by Surrey at The Oval last night, got off to the worst possible start after being put in to bat, when Fakhar Zaman, on his home debut, was caught at short fine leg off Tom Helm from the final delivery of the first over.David Lloyd, alongside captain Colin Ingram, offered some short-term resistance before the latter skied one into the off-side off Roland-Jones in the fifth over, before Glamorgan ended the Powerplay on 31 for 2.Billy Root played with urgency from the outset, with an array of attacking strokes against legspinner Nathan Sowter, but he was undone on the drive, as he found Steven Finn at mid-off. Lloyd then drove to long-off in the 12th over, leaving Glamorgan in some trouble at 75 for 4, worsened when Owen Morgan played a soft pull to Mujeeb Ur Rahman, leaving them 89 for 5 in the 15th over.Dan Douthwaite and Chris Cooke salvaged some respectability, with Cooke bludgeoning Helm for a six over cow corner and two fours, one back past the bowler and the other through the covers. But he played aggressively once too often and was caught at long-on off Finn in the 18th over at 120.From there, Glamorgan were dismissed for 136 with three balls of the innings remaining. They lost their seventh wicket in the penultimate over, when Graham Wagg skied to Finn off Helm. A Roland-Jones hat-trick rounded off the innings, as debutant Dan Lincoln took two impressive catches and substitute James Harris took the other.Chasing the relatively modest total of 137, Middlesex were given a let-off in the final over of the Powerplay, when Eskinazi was dropped on the midwicket boundary by Fakhar, as they reached 50 without loss, needing just 87 more runs to win.Eskinazi reached his half-century from 28 deliveries, including seven fours and two sixes, before he was caught behind off Douthwaite at the end of the ninth over, the score having reached 75.Three overs later, Middlesex, on 88, lost only their second wicket when Lincoln found Lukas Carey at fine leg off Marchant de Lange for 8, but they only required another 49 to win from 8.4 overs. Max Holden, dropped by Root on 17, and Dawid Malan saw the visitors to a comfortable victory as some sloppy fielding kicked in for a deflated Glamorgan side, who are still chasing their first win of the competition.

Pooran will be available for five matches after the World Cup

David Hopps27-Jun-2019

Nicholas Pooran will seek to banish memories of West Indies’ unproductive World Cup by staying on in England to play five matches for Yorkshire in the Vitality T20 Blast.Pooran was one of several rookie players that West Indies’ captain Jason Holder had in mind when he called for them to become the heart and the soul of the team. That is what Yorkshire have in mind by calling up the Trinidadian with a view to improving a mediocre T20 record.One aspect of the World Cup that has at least worked in Pooran’s favour is that he has reached the requisite number of international appearances (15 over the preceding two years) during the West Indies’ campaign to qualify for a visa as an overseas player in the tournament.He has not had a bad World Cup, getting starts in four of his five innings, but his 63 against England at the Ageas Bowl is his only half-century for a West Indies side that is on the brink of elimination.”It is hard work playing for different teams and still trying to be as professional as you can be,” Pooran said. “You’ve just got to adapt and learn about different people’s cultures and just try to be the best I can be for the team. It will be a new and exciting experience for me.Pooran, who made his ODI debut in Bridgetown against England in February this year, will return to the West Indies setup in time for their home T20I series against India, which begins on August 3 in Florida. He has quickly established himself as one of the most explosive batsmen in limited-overs cricket with a strike rate of 140 in his 11 T20 internationals. He also top scored in the fledgling T10 competition in the UAE before Christmas, scoring 324 runs in nine matches for Champions Northern Warriors, including 33 sixes.Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, said: “Nicholas is an excellent young talent, although he is only available for a short period, we hope it will give us early impetus in the competition.”Johnny Tattersall has been incredibly effective as a batter in limited-overs cricket, but he has played every game this season. He has now got three back-to-back Championship fixtures and only a couple of days between the end of the Somerset match and the start of the T20s.”We’re mindful of the workload of Tatts and we have been leaving things open to see how he was going. There are other areas we feel we need for the T20s, so Nicholas has been on the radar for some time. At some point we needed to make a decision on which path to take, so we decided to go for him, albeit for a short five-game spell.”

England captain forever grateful to Stokes for his efforts in both the run chase and the Super Over that helped England secure their first World Cup

Andrew Miller at Lord's14-Jul-2019Eoin Morgan hailed England’s heart-stopping victory in the World Cup final at Lord’s as the culmination of a four-year journey, and singled out Ben Stokes for particular praise for the manner in which he carried the team’s hopes in both their faltering run chase and then the Super Over.Stokes top-scored for England with 84 not out from 98 balls in their regulation 50 overs, having rescued the team from 86 for 4 in the 24th, and then – while battling fatigue – added a further eight runs from three balls in the Super Over.”To come through it is extraordinary,” said Morgan. “He’s almost superhuman. He really carried the team and our batting line-up. I know Jos [Buttler] and his partnership was extraordinary, but to bat with the lower order the way he did I thought was incredible.”The atmosphere, the emotion that was going through the whole game, he managed to deal with that in an extremely experienced manner. And obviously everybody watching at home will hopefully try and be the next Ben Stokes.”It was particularly sweet for Stokes to be England’s hero in light of what happened to him on the last occasion that England reached a world final, the T20 World Cup in India in 2016, when he was hit for four consecutive sixes by West Indies’ Carlos Brathwaite.”I have said this a number of times about Ben, I think a lot of careers would have been ended after what happened in Kolkata,” Morgan said. “Ben on numerous occasions has stood up individually and in a unit for us. He leads the way in training, in any team meetings we have, and he’s an incredible cricketer. And today he’s had a huge day out and obviously we are thankful for that.”Speaking with the World Cup trophy sitting next to him at Lord’s, Morgan joked that he was carrying it around with him as much as he could because he still could not believe the extraordinary circumstances in which his team had inched over the line, beating New Zealand on boundary countback after they could not be separated on the field.”To me and to the team, and everybody who has been involved over the last four years, it means absolutely everything,” Morgan said. “The planning, the hard work, the dedication, the commitment and the little bit of luck today really did get us over the line.”It’s been an absolutely incredible journey to everybody around the country and around the world who has followed us and supported us, thank you so much. It’s been phenomenal.”

Ravi Rampaul stars for Derbyshire with second five-wicket haul of their campaign

ECB Reporters Network04-Jun-2019

A fine spell of bowling from Gareth Harte has handed Durham control of their County Championship Division Two match against Derbyshire at Emirates Riverside.The home side were bowled out for 293 in their first innings, mustering their highest total in the Championship this season. Ravi Rampaul was the star man for Derbyshire, claiming his second five-wicket haul of the campaign. His team-mates made a bright start with the bat, reaching 83 without loss before Durham charged back into the contest.Harte made the decisive surge for the hosts, ripping through the line-up with a spell of 3 for 10 in the afternoon. Derbyshire were able to recover to a decent position of 181 for 6 before the rain ended day two prematurely, although they remain 112 runs behind their opponents’ first-innings score.Durham began the day on 254 for 8 with work ahead of them to achieve a third batting point. Matty Potts notched a couple of boundaries to make his way to 14 before he was bowled by an inswinging delivery from Tony Palladino. Ned Eckersley attempted to up the ante, scoring a brisk 26, but he ran out of partners when Rampaul removed Chris Rushworth. Rampaul ended with figures of 5 for 77, his best in first-class cricket for Derbyshire to bowl the home side out for 293.In response, the visiting openers came out with an attacking intent. Luis Reece and Godleman put Rushworth and Brydon Carse under pressure by scoring freely, picking up boundaries with regularity against the new ball. The pair reached their fifty partnership within 59 balls, handing their side a strong platform to build after the lunch break. Derbyshire continued to make inroads into Durham’s first-innings score before Ben Raine broke the partnership at 83 when Reece edged behind to Eckersley for 34.Raine claimed the vital scalp of Wayne Madsen before he could settle, edging behind to Eckersley without scoring. Godleman kept his team on course, notching a half-century from 79 deliveries. The Derbyshire captain worked his way to 66 before he became the first of Harte’s victims of the afternoon, missing a straight ball from the all-rounder.The dismissal of Godleman prompted a collapse in the middle order as the visitors fell from 117 for 2 to 128 for 6 in seven overs. Harte was the architect, bowling Tom Lace for 21, his decision to leave the ball resulting in him losing two stumps, and Harvey Hosein. Rushworth continued the onslaught as Alex Hughes edged to Cameron Bancroft at second slip, putting Durham in command.Matt Critchley and Leus du Plooy, batting down the order, led a spirited fightback. Critchley thwarted the attempts of the Durham bowlers to take complete command of the match. He held his discipline amid difficult conditions, and he was given a life on 28 when he was dropped at first slip by Alex Lees off a Rushworth delivery. Critchley and Du Plooy reached their fifty partnership before the rain came to end play on day two.

Josh Philippe has resisted the urge to head home to the Perth Scorchers after recommitting to the Sydney Sixers for the next three BBL seasons

Alex Malcolm17-Apr-2019

Josh Philippe, the in-demand exciting wicketkeeper-batsman, has signed a three-year Big Bash contract extension with Sydney Sixers.Philippe, 21, set the BBL alight last season after making a last-minute move from Perth Scorchers to the Sixers on a one-year deal just prior to the start of the tournament.He made 304 runs at a strike-rate of 158.33, the highest of the 21 players who made 300 runs or more in the BBL. He struck two blistering half-centuries including an unbeaten 86 in a chase against the best home and away team Hobart Hurricanes, and 52 in the semi-final against the eventual champions Melbourne Renegades.The Scorchers made a significant bid to lure Philippe home as he hails from Perth, began his career with the Scorchers in BBL07 and plays his one-day domestic and Sheffield Shield cricket with Western Australia. However, while Philippe will continue to play with WA next season he has committed to the Sixers in the BBL the next three years.It leaves the Scorchers looking to completely rebuild their list for the first time in the franchise’s history after missing the finals for the first time in eight seasons and finishing bottom.The three-time champions have lost Shaun Marsh who signed a three-year deal with the Melbourne Renegades. Opener Michael Klinger has retired, Hilton Cartwright has also left, signing a three-year deal with the Melbourne Stars and overseas players David Willey and Usman Qadir have not had their contracts renewed.The Scorchers have re-signed wicketkeeper batsman Sam Whiteman on a two-year deal. Whiteman endured an injury-riddled 2018-19 season play just four BBL matches, but he did make 68 off 44 balls in his last game of the season against the Hurricanes before injuring his quad. He also had a good finish to the Sheffield Shield season playing as an opening batsman for Western Australia.

An innings of 169 underpinned Hampshire’s mammoth 525-8 dec and restated Sam Northeast’s considerable talents

Valkerie Baynes at the Ageas Bowl06-Apr-2019

Sam Northeast has not given up on finally earning an England call-up and his towering 169 for Hampshire against Essex would have done his chances no harm ahead of a huge summer of international cricket.At 29, Northeast has not featured in the England system since U-19 level – apart from briefly representing the Lions in the Caribbean a year ago. But, while extremely humble and level-headed about his prospects of representing his country, as with most players, the lure of higher honours is undeniable.”It’s sort of just in the back of the mind, you’ve got to always have that goal, it keeps you going,” Northeast said. “But the most important thing is just to score runs for Hampshire.”If anything comes down the line, that would be a bonus but it’s just nice to score runs and nice to get off to a good season.”Resuming on his overnight score of 94, Northeast needed just four balls to bring up his 22nd first-class century and second since joining Hampshire from Kent before the start of last season.He bettered his previous best for Hampshire of 129, scored against Surrey a year ago before a finger injury hampered his debut season for the county in which he played 10 matches and averaged 25.05.”It was a strange year in many ways last year but I feel a lot more settled this year and hopefully it’s going to be a great year for me and the club,” Northeast said.”It’s just important in any season to get up and running and it’s nice to score a big hundred early and hopefully that gives me a bit of confidence to go on and have a big summer, but the important thing is it set us up quite nicely in this game.”Nineteen wickets isn’t going to be easy but hopefully we can make early inroads tomorrow and get in a winning position.”Northeast had hinted at his good form by scoring 118 against Oxford University in a pre-season warm-up and on the real stage he was flawless. He brought up his 150 with a boundary off Simon Harmer and on the next ball delivered a fifth bonus points as Hampshire reached the 400-mark.England World Cup hopeful Liam Dawson brought up his half-century moments later as he and Northeast pressed on towards a record fifth-wicket partnership for Hampshire against Essex of 165.It was Ravi Bopara who broke it when he hit Northeast on the pads with the last ball before lunch. Northeast faced 255 balls for his score, which included 23 fours and a six, as he anchored an innings in which four batsmen passed fifty.Dawson reached 64 before Matt Quinn was rewarded for some tough toil with his wicket, caught behind by stand-in wicketkeeper Will Buttleman, replacing Adam Wheater, who injured his thumb on the opening day and is expected to be out for six weeks.Dawson made his ODI debut against Pakistan in 2016 and played just two more during England’s tour of Sri Lanka last October before being ruled out with a side strain but some handy T20 performances in Bangladesh and Pakistan, along with his latest knock on English soil, cannot have hurt his chances of selection for the World Cup.At the end of the first day’s play, Hampshire’s feeling was that 450 would be a good first-innings total on this flat pitch. They more than achieved their aim, thanks largely to Northeast and Dawson building on some fine work by James Vince, Aiden Markram and Rilee Rossouw on the opening day.Alastair Cook, playing his first Championship match since retiring from international cricket and receiving a knighthood, caught Tom Alsop off the bowling of Harmer for 24, although the former England captain then dropped Gareth Berg on 20.That small blemish mattered little with Bopara holding onto a catch at deep square leg to dismiss Berg for 33 off Harmer and Hampshire immediately declared at 525 for 8.Fidel Edwards, Hampshire’s leading wicket-taker last season, made an early breakthrough in the fourth over of the Essex innings when he bowled Nick Browne for 1, but Cook and Tom Westley saw their way to an early close due to bad light.

Spinning allrounder played a key role in Perth Scorchers’ recent title wins in the Big Bash

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2019

Ashton Agar, the Australia left-arm spinner, has joined Birmingham Bears for the entirety of this season’s Vitality Blast campaign, including the knockout stages should the team progress.Agar, 25, has played 15 T20Is for Australia, and was a key member of the Perth Scorchers teams that won the Big Bash League in 2014-15 and 2016-17.He is best remembered in England for his remarkable Test debut at Trent Bridge, in the opening match of the 2013 Ashes, when he made 98 from No.11.”I’m thrilled to sign for Birmingham Bears for this year’s Vitality Blast and to make Birmingham my home for July, August and hopefully September!” said Agar.”Whilst they missed out on qualification last year, the Bears have been one of the top teams in the Blast over the last five years and I would love to play a lead role in bringing them back home to Edgbaston for Finals Day this year.”Having played at Edgbaston for Australia in last summer’s IT20 against England, I’ve certainly experienced its atmosphere and know just how passionate the supporters can be. I’m certainly looking forward to having them behind us when we start our Blast campaign in July.”Agar will join up with the Bears squad ahead of their opening Blast fixture on July 19, against local rivals, and reigning champions, Worcestershire Rapids. He will then remain available throughout the campaign as they seek to make a fourth appearance at Finals Day in six seasons.”Ashton has won major T20 trophies and possesses quality international experience,” said Jim Troughton, Birmingham Bears’ first-team coach.”Securing him for the entire Vitality Blast campaign bolsters our bowling attack and gives us an excellent spin pairing with Jeetan Patel. However, Ashton has also proven himself to be a very capable and powerful batsman who can clear the ropes, whilst also being an excellent fielder.”In addition to having excellent cricketers, it’s important that we have the right characters taking to the field for the Bears and, having played alongside Ian Bell during Perth Scorchers victorious Big Bash campaign in 2016-17, we have no doubt that he’ll wear the Bear with pride and be a great addition to the dressing room.”Having now agreed terms with Ashton, as a club we would like to thank New Zealand international Colin de Grandhomme for his attitude and commitment to the Bears in our last two Vitality Blast campaigns and we wish him every success in the game moving forward.”

National selector felt allrounder was not England’s first-choice spinner, nor suitable to overseas conditions

George Dobell14-Feb-2019

Moeen Ali says he was “hit hard” by comments from the national selector, Ed Smith, suggesting he was neither England’s first-choice spinner nor suitable to overseas conditions.Smith, appointed as England’s national selector last April, could not find space for Moeen in his first Test squad for the series against Pakistan, which started in May. Instead, Dom Bess was selected with Smith making it clear Jack Leach would have played had he been fit.”Moeen had a difficult winter,” Smith said at the time. “We know he can be a very productive player in English conditions. But the role of first-choice spinner might not be best suited to him. His best way might be as second spinner.”But while Moeen says those comments were “disappointing”, he also believes they “spurred” him to win a recall. That happened for the fourth Test of the series against India, when he won the man-of-the-match award after out-bowling Ravi Ashwin and picking up nine series-sealing wickets.And now, having finished both winter tours as England’s highest wicket-taker (he and Jack Leach both claimed 18 wickets in Sri Lanka, while Moeen claimed another 14 in the Caribbean) he has both responded eloquently to Smith’s challenge and re-established himself as the side’s No. 1 spinner.”It hit me hard,” Moeen said. “It was disappointing. I felt like they were looking for someone else.”But it spurred me on. I did need that break at the time. Maybe if I’d been picked versus Pakistan I wouldn’t have bowled well. But I came back against India fresh, scoring runs and taking wickets and I felt at the top of my game.”I still had the belief. So to get back in the side and prove I can do the job is… [pleasing].”Moeen had endured a grim 2017-18 Ashes. He failed to pass 40 with the bat and claimed only five wickets at a cost of 115 each with the ball. After another wicketless Test in Auckland, he was dropped for the final Test of England’s winter.There were mitigating factors. With England having picked only two spinners in their touring squad – one of which was 20-year-old legspinner Mason Crane – Moeen was obliged to go into the first Test carrying a finger injury that compromised his performance. England had been reluctant to throw Crane into the hostile environment of an Ashes Test in Brisbane on debut as the only spinner. While Moeen’s injury had healed by the back end of the series, his confidence had dipped and he was unable to compensate with his batting.That seems a long time ago now. This year, Moeen has continued to rise up the tally of England’s leading wicket-takers and is currently tied with Angus Fraser on 177. Only 17 men have claimed more Test wickets for England; only four (Derek Underwood, Graeme Swann, Jim Laker and Sydney Barnes, whose categorisation is not straightforward) are spinners.And while his average – 36.37 – is higher than all those above him, his strike-rate – 60.4 – compares well even with England’s two most prolific Test spinners: Underwood’s 297 wickets came at a strike-rate of 73.6, while Swann’s 255 came at 60.1. Over recent weeks, Moeen has surpassed the wicket totals of such respected spinners as Tony Lock, Monty Panesar, Fred Titmus and John Emburey. On every occasion, he has done having bowled far fewer – sometimes several thousand fewer – deliveries.”I’ve done better than I thought I ever would,” Moeen admits. “I must have done okay to get that many wickets. I remember reaching 50 and thinking that was a massive achievement. Someone said ‘maybe 100?’ and I thought no chance.”But when you go past some of the greats, you think ‘maybe I am a good spinner?'”I feel like I belong. People might think I don’t because they think I’m not a proper spinner. There will always be good days and bad days but I am improving. I think I can get into the side as a bowler now, even if I didn’t bat.”There have been times this winter when that has probably been just as well. While he top-scored in the Antigua Test, that innings of 60 was his only half-century of the winter. In 11 innings, he only reached 35 once. As a result, he admits he has work to do on his batting, though he now – for perhaps the first time – appears to see himself as a bowling all-rounder.”It needs working on,” he says. “But I feel set. I will stay at No. 8 and I know it. I have got my head around that and it feels natural now. Being a bowler: I’m very happy with that. Even if I do well people may say I should move up. But I’m happy.”Having experienced such ups and down, Moeen is well qualified to offer some hope to Adil Rashid who was dropped after the Barbados Test and could face an uphill journey to win a recall. But, at least as far as Moeen is concerned, Rashid requires a bit more understanding and “backing”.”Things can change quickly,” Moeen said. “We didn’t expect him to play Tests a year ago. He bowled better than me in the first innings in Barbados. Both of our beliefs is that people can plan or say things, but God’s plans are different.”He’s got so much skill maybe sometimes he confuses himself. His role is to take wickets. He will go for runs. As players, supporters, media, we have to realise that.”No one will be Shane Warne. But a mystery guy like Rash will pick up wickets given the right time, backing and mindset.”I hope it’s not the end. We know what he can do. If we can manage him right, we can get so much more out of him. I still feel he can be one of the best in the world at Test cricket.”

Aiden Markram and Duanne Olivier have been called up as their replacements

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2019

South Africa have rested Dale Steyn and Quinton de Kock from the first two ODIs against Pakistan, and called up Duanne Olivier and Aiden Markram in their place. Heinrich Klaasen is set to take the keeping gloves in de Kock’s absence.Olivier is yet to make his ODI debut. The fast bowler’s call-up has come in the wake of a highly successful Test series against Pakistan, which brought him a chart-topping 24 wickets at an average of 14.70.Steyn’s resting follows an injury scare during the third Test in Johannesburg, when the fast bowler left the field on day two, clutching his shoulder. Olivier insisted Steyn was “perfectly fine” in his end-of-day press conference, and Steyn went on to bowl 20 overs – the most by any of the South Africa fast bowlers – in Pakistan’s second innings.South Africa squad for first two ODIs: Faf du Plessis(c), Hashim Amla, Aiden Markram, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Duanne Olivier, Rassie van der Dussen