SPORTS

The first of India’s two warm-up games in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup, ended in the Men in Blue chasing down England’s 188/5 with six balls to spare. Half-centuries from KL Rahul (51 off 24 balls) and Ishan Kishan (70 off 46 balls) set up the six-wicket win. India’s next warm-up fixture is against Australia on Wednesday. As far as Monday’s game is concerned, these were the five things we learned.

India had been searching for Rohit Sharma’s opening partner in the shortest format. Ishan Kishan paired up with Rohit in the home T20Is against England earlier this year, while Virat Kohli, too, opened in the fifth T20I and had expressed his willingness to repeat it at the T20 World Cup. But at the toss on Monday, the India captain spoke about Rohit and KL Rahul being the team management’s choice as openers. “Things were different before IPL. Now it’s difficult to look beyond KL Rahul (626 runs in the IPL). He’s been solid upfront. I will be batting at (No.) 3,” Kohli said. Rohit didn’t play the game, but Rahul was there as an enforcer.

Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh has been arrested in Haryana but released on interim bail over the caste-based remark he made about Indian cricket team spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. For the unversed, Singh had passed a comment against Chahal's caste during an Instagram live with cricketer Rohit Sharma.

Hansi resident and advocate Rajat Kalsan had filed an FIR against the former cricketer under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections including Section 3(1)(u) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention and Atrocities) Act. Singh, 39, has been booked under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) of the IPC.

As the final of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) 14th edition got played in the UAE on Friday evening, top BCCI officials were locked in a long meeting with a special ‘spectator’ who had travelled there for the game – Rahul Dravid.

The former India captain and batting legend, who has refused the Team India coaching offer multiple times, found himself once again in the room with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah and treasurer Arun Dhumal who put the offer back on the table.

Dravid had his share of concerns. He has family responsibilities in Bangalore, children are still in school, and much needs to be done at the domestic level – he tried to convince the BCCI. He was happy handling the responsibilities at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

The BCCI, nevertheless, insisted. The meeting went on for long. “The Board told him, he can’t continue at the NCA at the same salary. It’s not feasible. And moreover, the BCCI has not been able to find a coach of a similar stature. If he wants to continue working with Indian cricket, then taking the Team India job is going to be his only option”, top sources in the know told TOI.

Dravid was on his way back to India and still hadn’t given the BCCI a clear ‘yes’. However, those in the know say he wants to be associated with Indian cricket and therefore will say yes to a two-year contract starting November 2021.

It can be confirmed that BCCI asked Ricky Ponting to come on board and the former Australian captain refused. The Indian candidates in the fray were Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman. Given Kumble’s past controversies with Virat Kohli and Laxman’s lack of experience as full-time coach, the offers couldn’t be made.

“Rahul was the only ideal candidate. The challenge was making him agree to it. Truth be told, there’s no other choice”, sources added.

The BCCI has gone and made this offer to Dravid even before putting a new Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) in place because they want Dravid to say yes to putting his CV forward for the role. Eventually, the newly formed CAC will do the necessary interviews and decide who the coach is.

“After the head coach is appointed, he will sit with the CAC and work on the new support staff. I can tell you, Rahul has been left with no choice. He will have to say yes unless he doesn’t mind not working with Indian cricket anymore,” sources added.

Dravid is likely to give his official reply before the weekend is over, following which the BCCI will bring out an advert in the coming week and appoint the CAC.

BCCI confirming to Dravid that they would like him to have the job is not in line with its earlier policy that CAC alone can appoint the new coach based on applications. However, as sources point out, the BCCI has been left with no choice because there are not enough candidates of a similar stature in the fray and therefore, the Board has found it imperative to convince Dravid.

Meanwhile, the Board’s search for the new NCA director will continue. The NCA will also require a new full-time support staff and the new director that gets appointed will take over the responsibilities of finding the right individuals for those roles.

(With inputs from agencies)

It is expected that a young team will play the three T20 matches at home and the squad will comprise mainly of IPL performers. India will play three T20Is matches on November 17, 19 and 21 at Jaipur, Ranchi and Kolkata. It will be followed by two Tests starting November 25 in Kanpur and December 3 in Mumbai. Top Indian players like skipper Virat Kohli, his deputy Rohit Sharma, and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah have all been in bio-bubbles since the start of the World Test Championship in Southampton in June.

While the bubble in England was a relaxed one, it also led to the fifth Test in Manchester being cancelled due to COVID-19 cases in the Indian camp.

Shardul Thakur has replaced Axar Patel in the 15-man main squad for the forthcoming T20 WC. The left-arm spinner takes Thakur's place in the list of standby players, that also includes Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar.

The decision to execute the swap was not injury enforced but after a discussion between the All India Selection Committee and the team management. A likely explanation for Thakur's inclusion in the squad is the uncertainty around Hardik Pandya, who hasn't yet resumed bowling.

Thakur, who played the last of his 22 T20Is in the series against England in Ahmedabad early this year, has slowly emerged as an all-round option for India across formats. His batting credentials received a significant fillip at The Oval Test last month when his twin fifties helped setup India's final-day win.