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The franchise says Dravid was offered a broader position as part of the restructuring, but he decided not to take it

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2025Rahul Dravid’s stint as head coach of Rajasthan Royals (RR) has come to an end after just one season. In a statement on Saturday, the franchise said Dravid had been offered a broader position within the set-up, but he chose not to take it.Dravid’s exit despite having a multi-year contract follows a structural review after the team’s ninth-place finish at IPL 2025, their poorest season since 2021 with just four wins in 14 matches. Earlier this month, it came to the surface that Sanju Samson, RR’s captain since IPL 2021, has also asked to be released ahead of the next season.”Head coach Rahul Dravid will conclude his tenure with the franchise ahead of IPL 2026,” the statement said. “Rahul has been central to the Royals’ journey for many years. His leadership has influenced a generation of players, instilled strong values within the squad, and left an indelible mark on the culture of the franchise.Related

• Kumar Sangakkara back to helm Rajasthan Royals' coaching staff

• Did RR pay the price for a faulty retention and auction strategy?

• Samson asks to be released ahead of IPL 2026 auction

• So near, yet so far – the story of Rajasthan Royals' season

“As part of the franchise structural review, Rahul had been offered a broader position at the franchise, but has chosen not to take this. The Rajasthan Royals, its players, and millions of fans worldwide extend heartfelt thanks to Rahul for his remarkable service to the franchise.”Dravid was central to RR’s auction strategy as well as their retentions ahead of a fresh three-year cycle. The franchise retained Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer ahead of the season, which was marred by injuries to key players as well as an inability to cross the line in a number of close finishes.Dravid had first joined RR as a player in 2011, and captained them for two seasons (2012 and 2013), before serving as team director and mentor in 2014 and 2015. His exit means at least two franchises – Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) being the other – are without a head coach for IPL 2026. Last month, Chandrakant Pandit decided to leave KKR after overseeing the side to their first IPL title in ten years in 2024. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) too are in the midst of a support-staff rejig, having recently brought in B Arun as bowling consultant.RR currently have on board Kumar Sangakkara as director of cricket, Vikram Rathour as batting coach and Shane Bond as bowling coach. The team has not won the IPL title since their victory in the inaugural season in 2008. Their next-best finish came in 2022, when they finished runners-up to Gujarat Titans.

Alex Lees makes 62 against old club to drive Durham to six-wicket win at York

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay15-Jun-2025England seamer Matthew Potts excelled with a superb T20 career-best five for 17 as dominant Durham ran through Yorkshire en-route to a six-wicket Vitality Blast victory at York Cricket Club.Potts, who made his T20I debut for England against West Indies earlier this month, was destroyer in chief on a helpful Clifton Park pitch as the White Rose, inserted, were bowled out for 128 in 19 overs. James Wharton top-scored with 26.But Durham’s batters were far more commanding and dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s on a fourth North Group win in six games in 18 overs of their chase, with captain Alex Lees hitting the contest’s only six in a season’s best 62 off 46 balls.While Durham are second in the table, Yorkshire have now reached the halfway stage in their campaign having won two and lost five and are second-bottom.Durham made an ideal start as Zak Foulkes trapped Dawid Malan lbw for a golden duck at the end of the first over and Callum Parkinson’s left-arm spin forced Jonny Bairstow to miscue to mid-off for four at the end of the second.And when Adam Lyth, on 18, hoisted Parkinson out to deep midwicket midway through the fourth over, Yorkshire were reeling at 28 for three.Bairstow, schooled in the Minster City, was playing his first Blast game of 2025 following IPL duty and a subsequent calf injury, and it came on the ground where he played club cricket as a junior.Further damage came in the eighth over as Potts made the perfect start to his fantastic four-over burst when he trapped Will Luxton lbw and, two balls later, had a tentative Will Sutherland caught at slip, leaving Yorkshire 55 for five.Wharton pulled the same bowler out to deep backward square-leg shortly afterwards before a career best return was achieved when Dom Bess was lbw playing to leg.Nathan Sowter struck before Jordan Thompson was another lbw victim for Potts, his fifth wicket, as he tried to whip a full toss to leg on 19.That left Yorkshire 100 for nine after 16 overs, the majority of the 4,500 sellout having just cheered ironically when their side reached three figures.New Zealand fast bowler Will O’Rourke and Jack White then shared 28, the highest partnership of the innings, and recorded career best scores of 21 not out and 13 respectively as Yorkshire gave themselves a glimmer of hope.White, batting for the first time in this format, was bowled by Ben Raine to wrap things up, though 52 runs were added for the last two wickets.White then had Graham Clark caught at cover on the cut – 8 for one in the third over of Durham’s chase.But, in truth, the visitors advanced comfortably thanks to their captain, who held things together with a cautious rather than carefree innings.Spinners Jafer Chohan and Bess removed Ollie Robinson, 21, and Colin Ackermann as the score reached 63 for three after 10 overs.But opener Lees reached 50 off 39 balls, and he shared a stand of 60 another ex-Yorkshire player, Will Rhodes, 31 not out.Lees miscued Thompson’s seam to mid-off late on, but it didn’t matter.

The hosts took a 109-run lead as Bangladesh struggled for discipline

The Report by Shashank Kishore08-Feb-2020Stumps
Tests turn in one ball. For Bangladesh, that came in the third over after lunch. Just prior to the interval, they had dismissed Azhar Ali. Now, there was a gift for the taking from Babar Azam after he’d played the most un-Babar like shot.A miscue after being lulled by Taijul Islam’s loop and flight. Ebadot Hossain wasn’t alert enough at mid-off; a clumsy run backwards to try and catch magnified his error in judgment even more. The catch went down with Babar on 3. Pakistan would’ve been 104 for 3. It wasn’t to be.Babar went on to make 140 more and carried with him the promise of much more on Sunday, maybe even a maiden Test double. Pakistan ended the day 109 ahead; Asad Shafiq serenely batting on 60. His stand with Babar was worth 137, and with three full days still to go, you could sense where this was headed.It wasn’t just Babar and Shafiq who had fun. Shan Masood continued his Test match rejuvenation by bringing up his third Test century, his second on the trot, to further deflate the visitors. Having seen Abid Ali fall early, slashing to the slips, Masood sussed up the conditions and then made merry once the bowlers lost their sting in the first half hour.Masood sat back and punched off the backfoot through cover and point, the weight transfer allowing him to pierce gaps to perfection. For a batsman who appears to not take too many risks, his half-century off 54 balls, courtesy nine boundaries, was deceptively quick.But he didn’t need to carry on batting in that gear right through, because Babar set shop after that early reprieve, batting in the kind of zone where he put not only the bad balls away but even the good ones. Like the on-drives or the whirring flick shots to length deliveries from outside off to bisect midwicket and mid-on.For Bangladesh, Taijul kept toiling, looking to bowl into the rough created at the other end. But the surface was simply too good: little dust, no cracks, true bounce and little movement. Everything batsmen dream of while looking to set up Tests. Masood was perhaps caught in one such dream soon after getting to his century.Having concentrated long and hard, shelving the free-flowing drives that he superbly played early for the hard grind after passing fifty, he was out driving to a harmless delivery that ought to have been put away. He played down the wrong line, nearly yorked himself by getting into a tangle as the ball snuck through the inside edge to hit the stumps. At that stage, Pakistan were 205 for 3, behind by 28 runs.The wicket came literally out of nowhere, because until a few moments prior to his century, Bangladesh were so switched off that they didn’t even appeal for a ball that Masood nicked to Liton Das, the wicketkeeper, on 86 off Rubel Hossain. So the wicket was another opportunity for Bangladesh to try and crack open the middle order. Instead, they came out after tea and immediately allowed the game to drift by giving Shafiq easy singles that got Babar back on strike.By then, Babar gave the impression that he was toying with the bowling, especially Taijul, hitting wherever he pleased. Take for instance a flighted delivery from Taijul. A length ball outside off, to which he stepped out to negate any turn and then, as if he was simply commanding the ball, using his wrists to flick it between midwicket and mid-on. Or the back-to-back flicks to length balls outside off to the midwicket fence of Abu Jayed.This was a batsman every inch confident of what he was upto, far from the unusually ultra-aggressive self who threatened to hit out and get into trouble early in his innings. It took Babar a while to calm himself down after the reprieve, and for the Rawalpindi faithful who turned up on Saturday, it was worth the wait.In the morning session, Bangladesh struck twice, both gifts to loose shots. Fresh off back-to-back tons in his first two Tests, Abid slashed at one early on, while Azhar fell in similar fashion shortly before lunch. But the 91-run partnership established Pakistan’s early advantage where they proved the biggest threat they faced was their own complacency against a toothless attack. The good passages for Bangladesh were eventually too far and few between, leaving the Test cold and quickly veering towards the prospect of there being only one winner in the Test.

Mitchell Santner, meanwhile, has been ruled out of the next game with a finger injury

Deivarayan Muthu08-Jun-2021New Zealand spin-bowling allrounder Mitchell Santner has been sidelined from the Edgbaston Test with a finger injury. His captain Kane Williamson is under an injury cloud, having sustained an elbow niggle ahead of the second Test, which starts on June 10. New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said that the team management would take the final call on Williamson on the eve of the match.Trent Boult, their premier seamer, however, has been lined up for a Test return after having linked up with the squad for his first training of the tour at Lord’s on Saturday. Boult also trained with the group at Edgbaston two days out of the second Test.Santner had suffered a cut to his spinning finger during the intra-squad match, in the approach to the tour, and then aggravated his injury by playing the first Test at Lord’s. Santner, who was the only frontline spinner in either team in the opening Test, had gone wicketless in 23 overs, conceding 68 runs. He served up eight full-tosses in that game, including a chest-high beamer, according to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, giving up 16 runs. Stead conceded that the cut to Santner’s left index finger disrupted his rhythm.”People probably would have seen him open up the piece on his finger again; he had quite a bit of blood on his pants,” Stead said of Santner. “That came from the cut he originally had. We thought it had healed okay, but obviously we needed a little bit more time for that to happen and it definitely hampered his ability in the match as well.”New Zealand have two other left-arm fingerspinners in their squad to replace Santner – Ajaz Patel and Rachin Ravindra. Patel, himself, is working his way back into international cricket after a calf injury; he had last played Test cricket in February 2020. Ravindra, the Wellington batting allrounder, meanwhile, is uncapped in international cricket.As for Williamson, this isn’t the first time this year that he’s dealing with an elbow complaint. He had earlier been ruled out of the ODI series against Bangladesh at home and subsequently missed the start of IPL 2021.”His [Williamson’s] elbow is still niggling him a wee bit,” Stead said. “We’ve had some more treatment on that and we just want to make sure it’s the best thing for him, playing in this match versus taking a bit more time to be ready and training the way he needs to train.”Mitchell Santner is nursing a finger injury•Getty Images

Stead, though, welcomed Boult back into the set-up, all but confirming his comeback. After the IPL was suspended, the left-arm seamer opted to return home to spend time with his family in Mount Maunganui rather than head straight to the UK along with the rest of the New Zealand contingent. Before the Lord’s Test, Stead had indicated the turnaround for Edgbaston would be too tight for Boult but updated quarantine protocols have allowed him to train immediately after arriving which has advanced his preparations by a few days.”Trent’s back and available to be selected and it’s likely we’ll play him in this game as well,” he said. “It’s good news for us. Things did change when he got here or from the information we had initially. So, think it’s the best thing for Trent to get out there, get the Dukes ball in his hand and show us what he’s capable of.”With an eye on the forthcoming World Test Championship [WTC] final against India, which begins on June 18 at the Ageas Bowl, Stead reckoned that the rest of the attack could also be rotated. Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson all had solid workouts at Lord’s, bowling 40 or more overs each across both innings, despite the entire third day’s play being wiped out by a persistent drizzle. Matt Henry, Doug Bracewell and Southland’s Jacob Duffy, who is also uncapped, are the potential seam-bowling replacements for the frontline quicks. Stead said that they would lock in their XI on Wednesday.”They [bowlers] have all scrubbed up pretty well, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they will play in the next match,” Stead said. “With an eye to the [WTC] final we want to make sure the key bowlers who we think will take part in that game are fresh, raring to go and ready for that first ball of the match versus India.”We’ve got a squad of 20 obviously. So, a lot of guys have played Test cricket before. Matt Henry is here, Daryl Mitchell is here, Doug Bracewell, Ajaz Patel…there’re guys in and around the squad who’ve played for us in the past. So, again, we’re having those discussions with them about what’s best for them given training loads, playing loads and readiness for that match.”

He was initially appointed only for the Zimbabwe tour, and is due to return to coaching the Cape Cobras

Mohammad Isam26-Jul-2021The BCB wants to extend former South Africa batter Ashwell Prince’s contract as batting consultant up to this year’s T20 World Cup. ESPNcricinfo understands, however, that Prince is yet to agree to the BCB’s new offer.Prince was initially roped in only for Bangladesh’s tour of Zimbabwe, which concluded on Sunday, with the understanding that he would return to coaching the South African domestic side Cape Cobras.According to Akram Khan, the BCB’s cricket operations chairman, the BCB remains satisfied with Prince’s work in Zimbabwe after having received positive feedback from some of the players during the tour.”We had appointed him for the Zimbabwe series initially,” Khan said. “Since it will be hard to get a coach before the T20 World Cup, we took a bit of feedback and it has been generally positive. I think some of our batsmen did really well in Zimbabwe. Some of the players told us that they have confidence in him. They are satisfied with his work.”So we plan to go ahead with him. We can confirm that he is with us till the T20 World Cup. We will take on a decision on his further involvement (after the World Cup) over the course of the next week.”ESPNcricinfo has learned, however, that negotiations between the BCB and Prince are still ongoing, contrary to Khan’s statement.Related

• Ashwell Prince takes over as full-time Bangladesh batting coach

• England's 2021 tour of Bangladesh pushed to March 2023

• 'We want to play on good wickets since that's what we'll face at T20 World Cup' – Russell Domingo

• BCB prepared for delayed start to home T20Is against Australia

• Liton Das ruled out of Australia series

After the first day’s play during Bangladesh’s one-off Test in Zimbabwe, at the end of which wicketkeeper-batter Liton Das had scored 95, Prince hailed Das for breaking through the concentration barrier, following which Das too acknowledged Prince’s contribution just before play began the next day.Shortly after taking the role, Prince had said that since his job was only restricted to one tour, he would look to stay out of the way of the batters and instead only look to help out Russell Domingo, the head coach.Prince had joined the Bangladesh coaching staff alongside former Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath, who was appointed spin-bowling coach until the T20 World Cup. Prince’s potential extension gives Bangladesh’s coaches some stability going into a busy season, which includes T20Is against Australia, England and New Zealand, and culminates with the T20 World Cup that begins in mid-October.GMT 1645 The story was amended when ESPNcricinfo learned that Prince was yet to accept the BCB’s offer.

The Knight Riders captain also added that it was “unfair” to say his team was over-dependent on the West Indian allrounder

Varun Shetty in Hyderabad21-Apr-20191:14

There have been no complaints from Russell about his batting position – Karthik

A stoic Dinesh Karthik said it was unfair to say Kolkata Knight Riders are over-dependent on Andre Russell after his side lost their fifth straight game, effectively making all of their last four games must-wins if they want to qualify for the playoffs.Knight Riders were 124 for 5 against Sunrisers Hyderabad when Russell joined Chris Lynn with 4.3 overs left in the innings. But, Lynn fell next over, leaving Russell in the company of the lower order. Although he’s done that task many times for Knight Riders, including specifically lifting them from being five down for much lower scores, Russell couldn’t keep his golden form running into Sunday and fell for a nine-ball 15.”I think that’s unfair to say,” Karthik said after the match. “Today I think 160 was par if we’d bowled well. Even though Andre only got 15 runs today, the rest of them batted really well and brought us to a score that was defendable. But the fact that we didn’t bowl as well, and the wicket got better under lights, and two good players came out all guns blazing made things look very easy.”On Friday, Russell had brought Knight Riders miraculously close to a win against Royal Challengers Bangalore after coming in with the asking rate at 16.53 and just over eight overs to go. His 65 off 25 had brought Knight Riders “two hits away” from victory – Russell’s words and they came ahead of a cheeky little suggestion.”I believe that [I should bat higher up the order],” Russell had said as he put a finger to his lips. “Honestly, you have to sometimes be flexible as a team. When you look at the make-up of our team, I don’t mind going to bat at No. 4.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Arguably this season’s most impactful player, Russell has come in with an average of 42 balls remaining every innings. Comparable to this are Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard’s entry points – an average of 33 and 38 balls remaining respectively. But the fact that Pandya and Pollard play for the same team means Mumbai Indians can hedge their bets on their batting positions. Knight Riders, on the other hand, have often relied on brisk innings around Russell as he singlehandedly pulverises bowling attacks.Karthik alluded to Russell’s comments while saying the West Indian has made no complaints about his batting position. “He had about five overs to face. When he came in, there were 27 balls and we’re looking to play him at a kind of slot where…I think he’s the kind of player even if he had played 10 balls, he’d have made an impact. The key is that we play that well at the top of the order that we set it up for him. There’s been no complaints from his side about the batting part of it. I think he’s been happy with the place where he’s going and he has a clear role in the team which he’s trying to achieve every time he goes out to bat. “Knight Riders are currently placed sixth and in the middle of a losing streak that forced them to drop franchise stalwarts such as Kuldeep Yadav and Robin Uthappa. Those big calls were made, Karthik said, because neither player had performed to the standards they had set themselves. But with four matches to go, and three of them against teams currently placed higher than them, they might just return to the XI in the next game.”It’s always part of the IPL,” Karthik said. “Once you get on a run where you’ve lost a match it puts pressure on the next match. When you win, you can always find ways to win and when you lose, you sometimes find ways to lose. I think these are all the challenges a team always faces in a tournament like this.”We’ve sat together and regrouped and things haven’t gone exactly to plan. Having said that, I have faith in the players I have. I believe there are genuine match winners out there and we need to find ways to find a spark for ourselves and do something special for us. “

“Taking a short break feels like a sensible precaution to avoid injury and the risk of a longer lay-off.”

Matt Roller23-Aug-2022Reece Topley has pulled out of the final two weeks of the Hundred in order to ensure he is fit to play in the T20 World Cup.Topley was England’s standout bowler in white-ball cricket this summer, taking 17 wickets across 10 limited-overs appearances against India and South Africa, and said in a statement that he had been “feeling the effects of a busy summer more and more over the last few weeks”.Related

• Buttler out of remainder of the Hundred with calf strain

• Hasnain replaces Shaheen in Pakistan's T20 squad for Asia Cup

“Taking a short break feels like a sensible precaution to avoid injury and the risk of a longer lay-off,” he said in a statement released by his Hundred team, Oval Invincibles. “Nonetheless, I’m disappointed not to be contributing as the team enters a crucial period in the competition.”Tom Moody, Invincibles’ head coach, said he was “obviously disappointed to be losing a player of Reece’s calibre” but that the team “respect[s] his decision”. Invincibles are expected to sign a replacement player in the coming days.Topley took five wickets – three of them in a crucial opening burst against Southern Brave – in his four appearances in the Hundred this season but his departure is a major blow to Invincibles’ chances of play-off qualification.He previously missed their win against Welsh Fire in order to manage his body, and told ESPNcricinfo that he was “having to box smart” ahead of the World Cup. “Obviously there’s a lot of chat about the schedule and to be honest, for me to play as much as I have this summer and try to get to October fully fit probably isn’t sustainable,” he said.”I’m having to box smart with where I play and not necessarily go for broke at this point in the season. My priority is to be available for selection for the World Cup and I’m doing everything in my power to be available. If that means missing games here and there, so be it.”Invincibles will also lose two overseas players after Tuesday night’s game against Birmingham Phoenix: Sunil Narine will return to the Caribbean to play in the CPL, while Mohammad Hasnain has been called up to Pakistan’s Asia Cup squad. Peter Hatzoglou, the Australian spinner, will replace Narine, with Hasnain’s replacement unconfirmed.Meanwhile, Jos Buttler has revealed he is not certain to play all seven of England’s T20 internationals in Pakistan next month after being ruled out of the rest of the Hundred with a calf strain. “Whether I’ll be available for all those games, I’m not quite sure yet,” he said while working for Sky Sports as a pundit.

Warne’s Order of Australia also reflected his charity and philanthropic work

ESPNcricinfo staff and AAP13-Jun-2022Australia captain Meg Lanning and the late Shane Warne have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.Lanning, who has led Australia to consecutive T20 World Cup titles and most recently the ODI World Cup, has been awarded Member (AM) in the General Division for significant service to women’s cricket at the elite level.Since taking on the Australian captaincy in 2014 when she was 21, Lanning has overall won three T20 World Cup titles as well as three Ashes victories in 2015, 2019 and 2021-22 (she missed 2017-18 due to injury) and been in charge of a record-breaking 26-match ODI winning streak. She is comfortably Australia’s leading run-scorer in T20Is and closing in on the same landmark in ODIs.Warne, who died aged 52 on March 4 when he suffered a heart attack in Thailand, has been posthumously appointed an Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to cricket as a player, role model and commentator, to the community through charitable initiatives, and for philanthropic contributions.Warne’s extraordinary feats on the field – which brought him 1,001 international wickets – put him among the greatest to have ever played the game, but this honour also reflects his broader impact on the game and wider society.In 2020, Warne auctioned his baggy green to raise money for bushfire victims and it fetched over AUD$1 million – a record price paid for an item of Australian sports memorabilia.There was also the Shane Warne Foundation, which raised AUD$7.8 million to support ill and underprivileged children in Australia for a dozen years before closing.But other organisations quietly benefited from Warne’s philanthropy. He was a benefactor for My Room Children’s Cancer Charity. And a long-time supporter of Challenge, which also helped kids with cancer.Warne donated memorabilia and made voluntary appearances at fundraising events for a range of charities including Elton John AIDS Foundation, Australian Red Cross, Scope and the Small Steps Project.And his reach extended beyond Australia, with support for the 2011 Christchurch earthquake recovery and contributions to the rebuilding of the town of Galle in Sri Lanka and its cricket stadium following the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.Warne also supported various UN development programs including the Lion’s Share wildlife fund. The UN announced the establishment of a conservation grant in his name after his death.Other cricketers to be honoured as Member (AM) in the General Division were Doug Walters, the former allrounder who played 74 Tests, and former Australia captain Muriel Picton who played seven Tests between 1961 and 1969.”We are enormously proud to see Australian women’s captain Meg Lanning recognised in today’s Honour List,” Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said. “Her leadership and performances have been central to the outstanding success of our women’s team.”Shane Warne was one of the most talented and charismatic cricketers the world has ever seen and we are reminded today of the indelible legacy he created both on and off the field.”Muriel Picton and Doug Walters both hold a special place in Australian cricket and we are delighted that they have been recognised today as Members of the General Division.”

The allrounder is looking forward to picking up where he left off, finishing games for India

PTI and ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-2022As he got down to plot his return to the Indian team, Hardik Pandya would hit the bed at 9.30pm and wake up at 5am, dedicating the intervening period to win battles against his “own self”.The 28-year-old allrounder followed this timetable for four months, after which he guided an unfancied Gujarat Titans to a memorable title triumph in only their maiden IPL outing. Soon after that, he made his long-awaited international comeback.Hardik, who has been managing a long-standing back problem, hadn’t played for India since they dropped out in the group stages of the 2021 T20 World Cup in November. But on Thursday, reprising his usual role as finisher, he looked pretty much like his old self, hitting an unbeaten 31 off just 12 balls against South Africa.”I was happy,” Hardik told . “It was more about the battles I won against my own self and a lot of other things as well. Winning the IPL, or even qualifying [for the playoffs] was a big deal for me because a lot of people doubted us,” he said. “A lot of people frowned at us before we started. A lot of people raised a lot of questions. A lot of things were said about me even before I made a comeback.”But it was never about giving them answers. I’m just proud of the process I followed. No one knows what I went through the six months that I was off. I’ve gotten up at 5 in morning to make sure I train. I slept at 9:30 in the night for four months, so [there was] a lot of sacrifice.”It was the battle I fought before the IPL. I have always worked hard in my life, and it has always given me the result I wanted.”Hardik also said the ongoing series against South Africa was the ideal platform for him to get into the groove for the upcoming T20 World Cup, especially since India will look to him to finish an innings, not start one like he did at Titans”Every series or every game you play is as important as your last,” Hardik said. “So, for me, World Cup is the goal, this is the right platform to get into the rhythm and a lot of cricket is going to come back-to-back. Always being in the rhythm is very important.”My role will be changed here, I won’t be captain, I won’t be batting higher up the order and guiding through the innings. This will be back to being the Hardik for which I am known.”

Being part of CWG 2022 “can only leave us in a good position as we look for ambitions moving forward,” says Geoff Allardice

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2022Being a “star attraction” at the 2022 Commonwealth Games will give a fillip to the ICC’s ambitions of being included in “all other types of multi-sport games”, mainly the Olympic Games, Geoff Allardice, the ICC chief executive, said in Birmingham on Wednesday.”The idea of being here in Birmingham for the annual [ICC] conference is to celebrate cricket’s involvement in the Commonwealth Games for the first time in 24 years [when a men’s 50-over event was held, in Kuala Lumpur] with the women’s T20 event,” Allardice said. “Judging on the reaction of the players, they all are very excited and enjoying the experience of being around the top athletes from other sports.”We have declared our ambition to be involved in the Olympic Games. We are assisting the LA 2028 organisers and providing any information will help their assessment of different sports with regards to addition to the Olympic programme. But, at this stage, a decision is due next year.”Related

• It will be a surprise if Australia don't take home the gold

• Cricket at the 2022 CWG – all you need to know

• CWG 2022 – India are medal contenders, but the gold seems reserved for Australia

Women’s T20 cricket, between eight teams, including Barbados as the West Indies representatives, is being played in this edition of the Commonwealth Games, in Birmingham. In fact, all matches will be played at Edgbaston. This, after the ICC and the ECB lobbied successfully for its inclusion.Supporters of the ICC’s stated objective of having cricket included in the Olympics – possibly in Los Angeles in 2028, though the sport hasn’t made the provisional list – are likely to keep their eyes peeled on how things go in Birmingham. A good show can only help the big plans.”Being in multi-sport games, whether it is the Commonwealth Games or the Asian Games or the African Games, putting cricket into these multisport events is good for the growth of our game,” Allardice said. “One, it gives a lot of our member countries a seat at the top table for sporting organisations within their country. Two, the coverage of these games reaches new audiences that may not be traditional cricket audiences.”And that is one of opportunities with the Commonwealth Games, that we can reach new audiences. I’m sure you have seen in the last five years or so, the quality of our women’s events is outstanding. The players are great ambassadors for our sport. We heard from a number of the [women’s team] captains last night at a panel session, and they are very excited and I’m sure, cricket a star attraction at the Commonwealth Games, which can only leave us in a good position as we look for ambitions moving forward in all other types of multi-sport games.”At the time of announcing cricket’s inclusion for Birmingham 2022, the Commonwealth Games Federation had said that it was “likely to be popular not only with spectators locally in Birmingham, but also for fans across competing nations, with 90% of the sport’s one billion fans worldwide thought to reside in the Commonwealth”.That is different from the Olympic Games, of course, where most of the participating nations are not traditional cricket-playing, or cricket-watching centres. Still, good competition, especially in the format perceived to be the most useful for reaching new audiences, could only help cricket’s ambitions of being a truly global sport.