Coach Ravi Shastri hails Team India for success against Australia, England in 'season of a lifetime'

Kohli surprised Shardul not getting Man of the Match, Bhuvi not Man of the Series

India captain Virat Kohli was surprised that Shardul Thakur was not adjudged the man-of-the-match for his performance in the third and final ODI against England in Pune while Bhuvneshwar Kumar not getting man-of-the-series despite some impressive bowling performances in the three-match bilateral tie. Thakur picked up a four-wicket haul during the third ODI. “I’m surprised Shardul wasn’t the man of the match, and Bhuvi wasn’t the man of the series. A lot of credit to them for bowling so well in adverse conditions,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation. India etched a win in the final ODI by 7 runs after a nail-biting finish to the game. Sam Curran who came out to bat when the visitors were struggling at 168/6 chasing 330 scored 95*. Though, he failed to take England over the line but Curran did give a hard time to the Indian bowlers. The left-handed batsman was given the man-of-the-match for his performance. Earlier, India rode on Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant’s individual fifties and some late surge from Shardul Thakur to put 329 on the board before getting bundled out. Mark Wood was the pick of the bowlers for England after he returned with figures of 3/34 in 7 overs. Later, Bhuvneshwar Kumar did give a perfect start to the Indian team with the ball after scalping some early wickets during the course. England were left tottering at 200/7 when Curran took the onus on himself and first stitched a stand of 57 runs with Adil Rashid for the 8th wicket and then put 60 runs for the ninth wicket with Wood. They were eventually restricted to 329/9 in 50 overs. India clinched the ODI series 2-1.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar eyeing Test comeback after impressive white-ball series against England

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was coming off after a long injury lay off and there were doubts about if he will be able to provide penetrations to the Indian bowling line up in absence of Jasprit Bumrah. Now, after a win in both T20I and ODI series against England where he played a crucial role, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is more ambitious and has his eyes set on making a come back in the longest format. He will head to the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League as the premier bowler for the Sunrisers Hyderabad but the pacer is not losing sight of what lies ahead of the league. He said that all the preparations and training he will go through in the IPL starting April 09, will be done keeping in mind his own target with respect to Test cricket. "Whatever preparation happens from my side will happen with red-ball cricket in mind. That's different from what will happen in team selections, but my training and workload during the IPL will happen with Test cricket in mind. I want to play Test cricket going forward," Bhuvneshwar said in the post-match press conference after 3rd ODI against England. However, he has learnt the art of staying in the present a hard way as a lot of plannings and preparation keeping an eye on the future has not served him well. Injuries have been his recurrent enemy and the value of staying fit for a longer period of time is high on Bhuvneshwar’s agenda going forward after the IPL when India will embark on a long tour of England to play the World Test Championship final against New Zealand and then a five-match Test series against England. "I don't decide on the long term future. Whenever I have in the past, things haven't gone my way, whether it's due to injury or form. Workload management is something I will focus on and the team management also tries and does its best. I was unfit for a long time, so I realized that fitness is something I have to maintain if I want to play regular cricket. I know that there's an England tour in front along with other series, so I will try to keep myself fit," Bhuvneshwar added. Bhuvi went on to play all five T20Is and three ODIs against England and when he was asked if he got out what he wanted out of those matches, Bhuvneshwar said he has got mixed results. He tasted success in terms of staying fit for the entire length of the series but said that improvements in terms of variations in his bowling are still a work in progress. "Yes and no. I got what I wanted in these games, but there's always something to improve on like it could be variations or fitness. As a team what we wanted to get, what we wanted to achieve, we got it. If you ask me individually, there's always something... could be variations or the knuckle ball that I've been wanting to improve," Bhuvneshwar added. Bhuvneshwar was on song in the series decider ODI against England and was partnered well by Shardul Thakur at the other end. The man from UP hailed Shardul Thakur for putting his hands up during tough phases of a game where the ball does not swing or pitches have not helped bowling to great extent. Bhuvi spoke highly of Shardul’s improvement over time and credited him for producing a match-changing bowling spell in the series finale against England. "Today, he performed really well. He had come in as the second change bowler when the ball doesn't swing at all and there was a lot of batting remaining too. So it's tough for any bowler to come in there and pick up wickets. If you ask me, he changed the entire match completely. What role generally spinners play, today we played one less spinner, he gave us the breakthrough and put us in a position where we could win from,” Bhuvneshwar said of Shardul Thakur. "He's improved a lot as a bowler be it in his batting or bowling. That's what a team needs, for a player to contribute with the bat or ball. He's done that since the T20s and now he's done it here. He's contributed a lot. You can see a difference in his game; not difference, but improvement. And his confidence is right up there too. Just how he's performed in the T20s or now." The third ODI of the series against England marked an end of a long season of Indian cricket that started with a tour of Australia right after the last edition of the IPL. Now, Indian superstars including Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be sweating it out in the cash-rich league before putting their Indian jersey back in June.

Lack of quorum forces Cricket West Indies to postpone AGM and next President elections

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) whose secretary Anand Sanaise is the prime contender against incumbent Cricket West Indies (CWI)President Ricky Skerritt could not make it to the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Along with GCB, the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) could also not make it to the virtual meeting, resulting in a lack of quorum and thus adjournment of the meeting. The meeting was due to start at 10.00 am East Caribbean Timing on Sunday morning, March 28th. However, since the two boards, meaning four members were not present, the minimum number (nine) to maintain the quorum in the 12 member board could not be achieved. Other eight (8) representatives duly authorized to represent the Jamaica Cricket Association, Leeward Islands Cricket Board (LICB), Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) and the Windward Islands Cricket Board were present in the meeting. As per the ‘Articles of Association’, “If there is no quorum within thirty minutes from the time appointed for the meeting, it shall stand adjourned to the next business day or to such other time and place as the Board of Directors may determine, and at the adjourned meeting no other business may be transacted.” The main of this meeting was to elect the new President and Vice President as the tenure of both Skerritt and his deputy Kishore Shallow was coming to end after two years of service. They both were contesting for a second two-year term against the pair of Sanasie and Calvin Hope, the President of BCA. According to the CWI media release, “Attempts to reach the representatives from the BCA and GCB were unsuccessful. The meeting was eventually adjourned at 10:50 a.m.” “The CWI Board of Directors subsequently held an Emergency Board Meeting at midday today, Sunday 28th March 2021, and decided that the AGM will resume on Sunday 11th April 2021 at 10:00 am ECT/09:00 am Jamaica Time,” the release added.

Frustrated, annoyed but not regretful: Sam Curran hopes to learn from his magical knock against India

Sam Curran, who almost led England to what could have been an unbelievable victory, feels frustrated that he could not get the team over the line, but at the same time is happy with his won performance. His knock of 95 unbeaten is one of the best knocks played at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. “Initial feeling, sitting here is we have lost the game, lost the series. But at the same time happy with the way I batted. I am someone who loves winning and our whole team loves winning. So to get that close especially is really annoying, but yeah, learnt a lot tonight,’ Curran, 22, was heard as saying in a video uploaded by England Cricket on their official Twitter handle. ‘Batting out there and getting messages from the senior player about various ways I could play made me learn a lot of things, so great learning curve it is,” the Northampton born added. Reacting to the rousing reception he got when he walked back to the dugout after his knock of unbeaten 95, the junior Curran said, “To walk off to a really happy bunch of lads clapping for me, well things like that make me feel proud. But at the same time a little bit frustrated. But that’s the whole point we play this game, to keep learning from each game and move on to the next one.” Talking about his teammates, Curran who steered his team from 168-6 to in 26th over to 316-8 in the 49th, said, “Obviously it’s a great bunch of guys to be around. We have been on tour for a while now and it's such an enjoyable fun team to play with.”