Sri Lanka Cricket has reiterated its commitment to holding elections before the end of January next year, in the wake of the ICC’s warning that “further non-compliance” could result in more sanctions

Andrew Fidel Fernando30-Jun-2015Sri Lanka Cricket has reiterated its commitment to holding elections before the end of January next year, in the wake of the ICC’s warning that “further non-compliance” could result in more sanctions.SLC interim committee chairman Sidath Wettimuny, who recently attended the ICC annual conference as an observer, maintained that while the ICC had publicly urged SLC to hold elections before the end of October, that date served only as a soft deadline. Sports minister Navin Dissanayake had already said SLC elections would be held in January.”Ideally the ICC would like us to have elections before October, but in a letter they’ve said that by the latest we must hold elections by the following meeting on January 26,” Wettimuny said. “If we go beyond that, then we’re getting into trouble. I don’t think we should do that. If we do, they can then ask for an inquiry and take the next step.”We must make sure we don’t let them down, because we have promised to do things in a certain way. We have an excellent relationship with ICC and we must continue that.”Wettimuny said SLC had also extended invitations to ICC president Zaheer Abbas, and chairman N Srinivasan, ostensibly in order to iron out kinks in the board’s relationship with ICC.SLC also expressed protest at their observer status in ICC meetings, arguing that the governing body’s constitution does not allow it to deny Full Members voting rights. However, in the interests of keeping the peace, SLC has so far been willing to accept its reduced role in global cricket governance.

Chamu Chibhabha has attributed his recent success to his self-confidence, attitude and mental approach to the game

Liam Brickhill12-Jul-2015It’s easy to forget that Chamu Chibhabha has been an international cricketer for a decade. An unassuming, almost shy presence, he’s not the sort to impose himself upon a post-match press conference. But his batting is becoming increasingly forthright and expressive, and he’s come a long way from the nervous 18-year-old who stumbled to a three-ball duck on debut against New Zealand in 2005.Consistency – both in selection and performance – has held Chibhabha back, but 2015 has been a fruitful year for him and he may finally have done enough to ensure that he plays a part in Zimbabwe’s busy upcoming schedule. He bolted into Zimbabwe’s World Cup squad with an assertive 155 against Canada just before the tournament, and started well with a boundary-laden 64 against South Africa, getting the better of both Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel in their opening spells.It marked the start of a good year, during which he’s averaged 44.42. But in typically modest fashion, he admits that he’s not keeping an eye on his numbers. “I had no idea I’m averaging almost 45, but it’s always nice to score runs and contribute with the bat. I’m also putting in a couple of overs, and that brings balance to the team so I’m happy with my game at the moment.”That average, which is almost double that of his career average, might have been even higher were it not for a mix-up with Sikandar Raza that resulted in his exit for 72 in the 32nd over. “I was a bit frustrated, since I’d got myself in and it was important for me to bat through and give the team a better chance to win the game. But at the end of the day, there are just some things you can’t control.”Chibhabha had done much of the hard work before his dismissal, starting well with three fours in a row off Dhawal Kulkarni and seeing off a potentially threatening new-ball spell from Bhuvneshwar Kumar with wickets falling around him. “I wasn’t really comfortable facing [Kumar] to start, and then I started moving my feet and coming down the wicket to put him off. It worked today. But to be honest with the ball we’re using at the moment, the Dukes, it does a bit early on so it’s always tough. You have to work a lot harder to get a start, and then it gets easier and easier. Today just wasn’t the day for our top order. We struggled in the first ten overs.”Chibhabha also overcame his perceived weakness against spin, playing Harbhajan Singh with caution but plundering four fours off Axar Patel’s left-arm spin. “Actually when the spinners came on I was a bit worried, but I had a plan and it came off today,” he said. “A lot of the success I’ve had lately, it’s more of my attitude and mental approach to the game. Not to worry about technique or anything, just backing myself to execute.”To the left armer I was just staying leg side of the ball, and just hitting down the ground. Harbhajan was bowling a bit slower, back of a length, so I’d just stay back and punch it down the ground.”Chibhabha has also found some success with his bustling medium pace in this series, taking two cheap wickets in the first match and getting a much-needed breakthrough today with the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane. “I’d like to hope [my bowling is coming along nicely]. It always brings an option of bringing in an extra batter, because I’ll also put in a couple of overs. It helps the team in a way, so it’s important that I work on it.”Chibhabha felt that Zimbabwe should have been able to chase down India’s total in benign batting conditions, were it not for the steady fall of wickets. “Chasing 270 at Sports Club in the afternoon, you’ve got a chance of winning the game. It’s a par score at Sports Club. But losing wickets early on is not going to do us any good, because you can catch up on runs but you can’t catch up on wickets. If you lose wickets then you’re always going to struggle.”With the series now gone, Zimbabwe will have to motivate themselves to give context to the final match. For Chibhabha, pride and gratitude to the supporters, who turned out in near capacity today, should be sufficient. “Every game we always give 100%, and it’s no different with the last ODI. We’re just going to go out there and play for pride, and for our supporters as well. It’s important.”

David Warner will speak with the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland and hopes he can win over “the boss” as he has done the selectors and the board to become Steven Smith’s vice-captain

Daniel Brettig14-Aug-2015David Warner will speak with the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland and hopes he can win over “the boss” as he has done the selectors and the board to become Steven Smith’s vice-captain.In the lead-up to the appointments of Smith and Warner, Sutherland had struck a notably lukewarm note about the vice-captain’s leadership credentials. “I don’t think that’s necessarily an obvious next step,” Sutherland had said in response to questions about whether Warner was an obvious candidate to be Smith’s vice-captain.It was Sutherland who spoke out most staunchly to decry Warner’s behaviour on the previous Ashes tour, describing the punch he swung at Joe Root as “a despicable thing” and offering stern warnings about the opening batsman’s future if he did not improve. Warner said he would speak with Sutherland at the next available opportunity and said he respected the chief executive’s opinion.”He’s our boss and I have to respect what he says,” Warner said. “But the board obviously approved me being vice-captain and I thank them for their support, trust and faith in myself to be under Steve and help Steve as much as I can with my knowledge of the game. We’ve still got a whole squad here and we see them all as leaders in their own right. James hasn’t been in touch. I’m sure I’ll get to speak to him at some stage.”It’s definitely a massive honour and a boyhood dream just to first to get your baggy green but to be recognised as a leader within the group and being named vice captain is obviously a massive thrill for myself and I know my family as well. Obviously it’s a tag that I’m going to have to live with day by day now. It’s an added responsibility and I’ll be doing everything I can to help Steve on the field and off the field.”I think the past 12-18 months I’ve shown how much I’ve matured. I’ve got a young family, I recently got married, I’m enjoying my off-field and I’m thoroughly enjoying my on-field performances as well. So for me it’s about me trying to help Steve as much as we can driving this team forward for the next five to 10 years.”Warner’s persona has been an evolving one, both on the field and away from the game. He has been working to find a middle ground between the aggressor and agent provocateur he has been in the past and the leader he must now become. He also spoke for how hard the team had worked and would continue to work under the new leadership duo.”I’ll still give the banter [within the squad]. Obviously in our team we sometimes we are serious, sometimes we do joke around a lot,” he said. “Each team needs a few characters and I see myself as being that character sometimes, and I will probably try and continue to be that funny person.”I think the way that I’ve been . . . a lot of my energy has gone on the field, and a lot of hard work has been going on in the nets as well. I don’t just speak for myself, I speak for the whole team. What people don’t see and don’t understand is how much preparation that goes into these tours. We have had a long tour. We’ve been on the road for a while. We went to the West Indies and we won there, we’ve come here and we’ve been disappointing.”But we’re giving 100% every time we walk out there. Every time we go to training our preparation is outstanding. You can’t fault anyone for their preparation … we’ve been beaten by a better team at the moment. We’ve got one Test to go and we’re going out there trying to prove what we’re actually capable of.”One thing Warner will not be able to do quite so often is get into verbal battles in the middle, and he said he would now be devoting far more of his energy to working alongside Smith in finding tactical solutions. “Now, with a bit more responsibility, I’ll be trying to help Steve as much as I can,” he said.”You’re going to see a lot more work put in on the field. It’s not about sledging. It’s about encouraging your bowlers and getting into the mind of the batters. We just have to be smart when we’re out there and to concentrate on what’s ahead, and that’s the game. That’s the most important thing.”I know what comes with being a captain, we’ve seen it in the past under our previous leaders – how much time it does take out of your day. So for me it’s about helping Steve to lead this team from the front and take some of those responsibilities off him. I think a lot of that will probably be done at training and off the field, so he can control what’s going on on the field.”

Glenn Maxwell says he is not a fan of the law change that permitted him to pull off one of the most brilliant outfield catches of the year during yesterday’s fourth ODI at Headingley

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-20150:57

‘Boundary catch rule doesn’t make sense’ – Maxwell

Glenn Maxwell says he is not a fan of the law change that permitted him to pull off one of the most brilliant outfield catches of the year during yesterday’s fourth ODI at Headingley.Maxwell, fielding at deep midwicket during the closing stages of England’s series-squaring three-wicket win, dismissed Liam Plunkett after parrying the ball on the edge of the boundary, then jumping to complete the take in mid-air despite his last point of contact with the ground having taken place on the wrong side of the rope.Prior to October 2013, the law had stated that the fielder needed to have started in the field of play and be grounded in bounds before securing the catch. That was amended by MCC to reward athleticism in the outfield but Maxwell, one of the best exponents of the art, said he didn’t see the point of the change.”I don’t think it makes a whole lot of sense,” Maxwell said after the Headingley match. “I think you should have to get back into the boundary.”I think if you look at the basketball rule. You have to jump from inside to throw it back in, you can’t jump up in the air and catch it on the way back in.”You’ve got to make sure your feet have landed inside the court and I think it should be the same in cricket.”But while we’re taking catches on our side it doesn’t really bother me, but I know if I was a batsman I’d be pretty upset if that was the dismissal. You’ve just go to play the rules you’re given.”Eoin Morgan, England’s victorious captain, who also fell to a moment of brilliance from Maxwell when he was caught one-handed in the gully for 92, hailed the catch as “fantastic” but also admitted that the rule change had caught him unawares.”I’m unclear on the rules to be honest,” Morgan said. “I think it’s changed a couple of times so I will be asking so that I know for the future.”Maxwell himself only became aware of the law change after commenting on Twitter during a similar incident in Australia’s Big Bash in January. Josh Lalor, Sydney Thunder’s fast bowler, dismissed Cameron White, Melbourne Stars’ captain, having also started with his feet outside the field of play. Maxwell tweeted:
He later admitted he was “happy to be proven wrong”, but added he thought it was a poor amendment. MCC later clarified the rule change on its website.”I think it makes it easier as an outfielder,” Maxwell said. “You’ve got to be aware of the rope as well but it made the catch a lot easier to complete, to be able to jump from back over [the boundary] and catch it in the air.”Obviously I didn’t really want to have to do it, but I lost a bit of balance on the boundary line so I thought I had to throw it up, and obviously with the law being like it is, jump from over the rope and back in and catch it in mid-air.”

England no longer regard themselves as underdogs after the “unacceptable” way Pakistan’s batting collapsed in Abu Dhabi, Pakistan’s coach Waqar Younis has said

Andrew McGlashan19-Oct-2015Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, has called the team’s second-innings batting in Abu Dhabi “unacceptable” after they were left grateful for the arrival of dusk to prevent defeat in a Test where the final day had begun with the first innings incomplete.England declared with a lead of 75 and Pakistan were rocked early by James Anderson, who struck twice in an over, followed by the run out of Mohammad Hafeez. A stand of 66 between Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq had appeared to calm the nerves and confirm the draw, only for Younis to spoon Adil Rashid into the covers and Misbah to charge down the pitch at Moeen Ali and miss his expansive shot.”It’s unacceptable to bat like we did in the second innings,” Waqar said. “It should have been a straightforward draw but we allowed them to threaten us and beat us. We allowed them to come that close, we allowed them to threaten us and run away with the game. We should realise that we are a very good Test side but we committed some silly mistakes, especially in the batting which could have cost us the game.””The way they played, we have to really pull our socks in the second Test. What happened was not on and we have to really improve on that if we want to win the series. We have experience in our batting, we know our batting and know it should have lasted the final day, or the final session but we didn’t and that we have to consider.”I am confident that my side can bounce back but we have to realise that it is all about playing all sessions equally well and if you don’t in one session the opponents come down hard on you as England did.”Waqar knows that Pakistan will be boosted by the return of legspinner Yasir Shah, who missed the opening Test after suffering a back spasm the day before the game, but said that they cannot afford to purely rest on the comeback of their star bowler, even suggesting the favourites tag has shifted in the series.”Fair enough we will get Yasir back but they will be thinking that they can compete. Before the series started it was their own verdict that they were underdogs but now we are the side which have to stage a comeback.”Yasir’s return, at the expense of either Rahat Ali or Imran Khan, will also be welcomed by England according to their coach Trevor Bayliss who said the “ego” of international cricketers meant they wanted to be tested by the best players.”The boys want to be the best team in the world and that means you have got to play the best players and he is the best player,” Bayliss said. “I’m sure these guys would like to test themselves against any of the best players and come out on top.”At this level the egos are right up there, they want to play the best and show the best that they are better than them. They will want to show him they can play him as well as any other these other players.”The lack of specialist spin cover in the original squad to cover for a circumstance like Yasir’s injury has angered Misbah and could lead to more back-up being available this time. Bilal Asif, the offspinner whose action is currently being tested, has been added to the squad for the second Test.

Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, has said that Pakistan would consider pulling out of the World Twenty20 in India next year, should the proposed India-Pakistan series in December not go ahead

Umar Farooq24-Oct-2015Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, has said that Pakistan would consider pulling out of the World Twenty20 in India next year, should the proposed India-Pakistan series in December not go ahead.Shaharyar was scheduled to meet the BCCI president Shashank Manohar in Mumbai earlier this week to discuss the series, but those talks were put on hold after anti-Pakistan protests from the Shiv Sena, a regional political party.Shaharyar has already written a detailed letter to Pakistan’s prime minister Nawaz Shariff, informing him of the present situation with India. Shaharyar said he understood the consequences of pulling out of an ICC tournament, but felt the security situation in India would leave Pakistan little choice in the matter.”My own feeling is that we will have to go to our government and talk to them about the situation,” Shaharyar said. “What I feel is that the government will say ‘do not go to an ICC tournament in India’. That is what I sense because of the uncertain situation for a Pakistani in India. You have seen the situation there. In this environment, how can we say? We will not have security enough there.”Maybe the ICC would say ‘you have forfeited the matches’ and that’s fine, we will forfeit the matches. But the decisions will only be taken when the doors [on the bilateral series] are finally closed. To me, the possibility of an Indo-Pak series is close to over.”There are two points in that. First, all doors [to the resumption of bilateral ties] have to be closed. We will then decide on the matter in one week or so. India hasn’t confirmed or said anything, but are delaying it. We will have to decide that this series cannot happen, and after that we will decide what our policy is.”Shaharyar said that after the protests, the BCCI “did not care” to reschedule the meeting for a different time, leaving him stranded for nearly 36 hours. However, Najam Sethi, the head of the PCB’s executive committee, contradicted Shaharyar’s statement, saying that the BCCI was in touch with the PCB “at every stage”.”Shaharyar Khan thought Shashank Manohar would phone him, but he did not call him [after the cancellation],” Sethi said.”I shouldn’t say it, and Shaharyar has also not revealed it, but when we were in the hotel, Manohar was communicating with us through his wife [who was] sitting in the same room as Shaharyar’s wife. At every stage, we knew what was happening. We were told [by the BCCI] that they will stay in touch after the meeting was cancelled.”Shaharyar, though, strongly denied Sethi’s claim, claiming that while the two wives met socially, they did not speak about cricket.”We didn’t go there to beg. We went to talk about cricket,” Shaharyar said. “It started from the ICC meeting in Dubai, where the BCCI president invited us to Mumbai because they were also interested in reviving the ties. There is a Memorandum of Understanding signed between both of us to play a cricket series, and we want to make sure it’s happening. We need time to arrange it, and that is the reason we want to talk.”

World Series Cricket’s revered place in the history of the game and dressing room lore of its combatants is belatedly going to be backed up by official recognition of the players’ achievements in the Super Tests and One Day Cup matches

Daniel Brettig25-Nov-2015World Series Cricket’s revered place in the history of the game and dressing room lore of its combatants is belatedly going to be backed up by official recognition of the players’ achievements in the Super Tests and One Day Cup matches.To coincide with the day-night Test to be played in Adelaide from Friday, Cricket Australia’s board of directors have approved the inclusion of WSC statistics in the official playing records of Australian participants, including Ian and Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh and Len Pascoe. CA is also in discussions with other member boards to do likewise for the players signed from the West Indies, England, South Africa, Pakistan and New Zealand.In addition to its enormous push towards the full professionalisation of the game, Kerry Packer’s breakaway competition also fast-tracked countless innovations during its two seasons, in 1977-78 and 1978-79. These included greatly enhanced television coverage, drop-in pitches and coloured clothing, but also night cricket, including floodlit “Super Tests” in the second season, an early forerunner of the match to be played at Adelaide Oval this week.

WSC Super Test statistics

• Barry Richards 5 matches, 554 runs, av 79.14

• Greg Chappell 14 matches, 1415 runs, av 56.60

• Ian Chappell 14 matches, 893 runs, av 35.72

• Len Pascoe 9 matches, 30 wickets, av 32.00

“I think it has got to be recognised, for the quality of cricket it was and for what it has done for cricket,” former Australia captain and WSC batsman Greg Chappell said. “The importance of it in the history of the game [means] it has got to be recognised. It’s a separate entry but it’s got to be there, it can’t be hidden away in the dark.”James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, said the recognition of WSC was well overdue. “World Series Cricket was clearly some of the most competitive, high-performing international cricket ever played,” he said. “Given the quality of the competition, players from that era regarded strong performances in WSC as career highlights.”Such was the impact that WSC had on the game, it has been unjust that records from that competition haven’t been formally recognised. So leading into this first day-night Test where we are thinking about the players who pioneered cricket under lights, we proposed adjusting our own statistical records to include performances from WSC.”Going forward, players from that era will have a standalone line-item in their career statistics recognising their efforts in WSC. Our board has now supported this proposal and we will have discussions with other cricket nations and the ICC in an effort to have them adopt the same position.”The competition, which began as Packer’s attempt to muscle into the world of cricket television rights and then bloomed into something far larger than first imagined, has been depicted in literature (The Cricket War) and on television (Kerry Packer’s War), but had previously been ignored by official records. The new category will not incorporate the matches into Test or first-class statistics, but instead let them stand alone.”I’ve heard people talk about when they’re involved in historical moments they’re not aware of it. I was very aware of it through the whole lot,” Chappell said. “It felt like it was a historical period, it was exciting, it was some of the best cricket I played, albeit on some of the worst cricket grounds i played on in that first year.”But the quality of the cricket and the quality of the commitment on both sides. Kerry had no idea what was coming when he signed up for it, he was hoping to sign the players and then go talk to the board and get an agreement, then all of a sudden he’s got to run a cricket season.”We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, but all I knew was it had to happen. Cricket needed this jolt to drag it into the 20th century, and it certainly did that. I think most of what happened during that time was very positive, but it was a very exciting time to be around. The stuff that was going on around the cricket. Prior to that you’d just pick two teams, let’s put them at the MCG and that’s the promotion, whereas all this other stuff was going on around us, it was exciting.”It was an exciting era in Australia, apart from the cricket a lot was going on like the Vietnam War, the Dismissal and so on, all of a sudden people were questioning everything and we were questioning everything. We were a reflection of what was going on in society, not leading the charge. But it was just an amazing period, and we felt like we were doing something that was going to make a difference.”Barry Richards, who faced the first ball bowled under lights from Pascoe in a televised match at Waverley Park in Melbourne, described his thoughts at that moment. They will likely be mirrored when the night session of the Adelaide Test commences after dark on Friday, with the pink ball ushering in a new degree of difficulty for players but also a potentially larger audience for a more accessible game.”For a start the light wasn’t great so it was apprehension,” Richards said. “You don’t know what to expect, you go out there thinking let’s just try to get over the first 20 minutes and see what happens, because it was all quite new. the dusk period wasn’t great. Apprehension and survival were the things going through my mind – even if you do get out, make it look normal.”

A round-up of all the Ford Trophy matches played on Januray 3, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2016Corey Anderson continued his good run of form with a brisk 98 that shaped Northern Districts‘ 101-run win over Auckland at the Eden Park.Put in, James Fuller cut through Northern Districts’ top order, as the visitors slumped to 15 for 3 in 5.1 overs. Anderson then partnered with Anton Devcich to add 141 for the fourth wicket, taking Northern Districts past 150 before Devcich fell for 53. Anderson’s knock, that included nine fours and three sixes, ended in the 37th over, with the visitors at 184. Daryl Mitchell and BJ Watling (39) drove Northern Districts closer to 300 as Mitchell smashed four fours and two sixes in his 39-ball 55. Northern Districts eventually managed 302 for 8 in their 50 overs.The hosts were dented early in the steep chase by Brett Hampton and James Baker, as the pair reduced them to 60 for 4 within 15 overs. Robert O’Donnell (62) was the only Auckland batsman to cross 35 as Northern Districts’ bowlers kept chipping away at the wickets to dismiss them for 201 in 40.3 overs. Hampton was Northern Districts’ best bowler with returns of 4 for 30 in 7.3 overs.Wellington were reduced to 32 for 3 before rain washed out their match against Canterbury in Christchurch. Ed Nuttall struck in consecutive overs to dismiss Wellington’s openers in what was meant to be a rain-curtailed, 41 overs a side fixture.Central Districts and Otago‘s fixture at the Pukekura Park in New Plymouth was rained out without a ball being bowled.

Pruning India’s selection committee from five to three would be a bad idea given the size of the country – that’s the opinion of three former selectors: Dilip Vengsarkar, Kiran More and Sanjay Jagdale

Nagraj Gollapudi05-Jan-20163:41

Chopra: Three-man selection panel will be a challenge

Pruning the national selection committee from five to three, as the Lodha report has recommended, would be a bad idea given the size of the country and the number of first-class teams involved. That’s the opinion of three former selectors – Dilip Vengsarkar, Kiran More and Sanjay Jagdale – who say that the increased workload cannot be offset by the proposed Talent Committee that will do the basic scouting.One of the key reforms proposed by the Lodha committee, which submitted its various recommendations on Monday, was to limit the selection panel to three former players, all Test cricketers, retired at least five years prior to their appointment. According to the Lodha committee, a Talent Committee would facilitate the national selectors, reduce their workload and effectively “increase the authority” of the panel.But all the former selectors ESPNcricinfo spoke to disagreed. “India is such a vast country. At the moment the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy [the domestic Twenty20 tournament] is taking place across four venues. Suppose there are three selectors, then how many games can they watch?” More, the former Indian wicketkeeper, said. According to More, it would not be the right decision to adopt the same structure that is in place in countries like Australia, which have only a handful of first-class teams.More felt at least four selectors are required, but he was happy to have the four best men from around the country chosen instead of zonal representation, which has been the norm for long and opens up the possibility of nepotism.Former Madhya Pradesh allrounder Jagdale, who served two terms as a national selector between 2000 and 2008 as part two selection panels, said that the five-man panel was a “proven formula”, so why change that now.Former India captain Vengsarkar said he would stick to five-selectors policy. “The game has spread even to the small cities. The BCCI is sending grants to every association and they in turn are creating the infrastructure to encourage youngsters to play the game. So the player pool has increased now,” Vengsarkar, who is now the director of the National Cricket Academy, said. He pointed out the proposed Talent Committee has already been put in place by the BCCI, with the plan to appoint 30 talent and research development officers (TRDOs) comprising three scouts at the Under-16 and Under-19 levels each, across the five zones.Asked whether three selectors would not be enough, given the 30 scouts on the junior circuit providing feedback, Vengsarkar felt more is still better. “It always helps to have more views and opinions on a particular selection at times,” he said.According to More, relying on talent scouts was never enough. “Recommendations are fine. But you have to see the player yourself, you have to study the conditions. One guy could score a century but a on a (flat) wicket whereas another batsman might score 50 on a difficult wicket.”As for the proposal on the panel comprising only Test players, Vengsarkar and More differed. More preferred a mix, keeping in the mind the importance of limited-overs cricket and how it would not be correct to ignore former players who might have been good in the shorter formats but missed out on playing Tests. Vengsarkar felt if a player had dealt with the rigours of Test cricket successfully, he could easily adapt his thinking to the shorter formats even if he might never had played or excelled at them.Jagdale did not want to comment whether having a Test cap was an important prerequisite for being a selector. “It would not be fair for me to say anything,” he said. “I was a non-Test playing selector for such a long period.”

Manish Pandey, whose maiden ODI century, in Sydney, lifted India to the highest successful chase against Australia in Australia in ODIs, has said that he is keen to build on the gains

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2016Manish Pandey, whose maiden ODI century in Sydney lifted India to the highest successful chase against Australia in Australia, has said that he is keen to build on the gains made in the series. His unbeaten 104 helped India chase down 331 in the last game of the five-match series, preventing a 5-0 series sweep for Australia.”Getting a hundred at the international level is always a big achievement and it was my first one. So somewhere I have an idea [of what I have done]. Looking at the bigger picture, I would say it is a very good start to my international career,” Pandey told . “I want to take my Australia experience forward to my next innings, try to play the same way. But yes, what I did in Australia will be definitely act as a confidence booster for me.”Pandey was part of India Under-19s’ title-winning campaign in 2008. The next year he became the first Indian to hit a century in the Indian Premier League, in a must-win game for his team. He has also been a consistent performer for his state side, Karnataka. Pandey got his maiden call-up to the India squad for a one-off T20 international against West Indies in 2014. The visiting side, however, abandoned their tour midway because of a payment structure dispute between the players, the WICB, and the West Indies Players’ Association.Pandey was then part of a second-string India squad to Zimbabwe in July 2015, where he made 71 on debut. In Australia, he managed only six runs in the second ODI in Brisbane, and was left out for the subsequent two matches, but stepped up in Sydney to help India clinch a thriller. Pandey, though, said that he will not rest on the Sydney hundred and will look to step up further.”I have waited for long [to play for India] and I finally I got the opportunity I was looking for in the last one-dayer. That is how I normally bat. I wanted to make full use of the opportunity and I think I did. So job well done but I won’t be banking on this performance in the games to come.”It was a long wait but I was not thinking about it to be honest. It was all about making full use of the chances I got in the middle. I thought I was ready as I had good runs behind me and a lot of experience with regards to first-class cricket. And that is what Ravi (Shastri) sir told me there. Mahi (Dhoni) was also very supportive.”Pandey was not picked in the squad for the Australia T20s, but has made his way into the squad for the three-match T20 series at home against Sri Lanka, and is also in the selection mix for the World T20, beginning March 8.