Don’t think Kohli is under any captaincy pressure: Harbhajan Singh

If Kohli won IPL instead of Rohit, captaincy woulnd't be an issue : Nehra

Former India bowler Ashish Nehra believes that if Indian captain Virat Kohli would have won the Indian Premier League as captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, then all the talk regarding the change in the captaincy of the Indian team would have been shunned. Speaking on a cricket website’s talk show, Nehra, in a reply to a viewer’s question whether Indian should ask Virat Kohli to leave captaincy and focus on his batting, said, “All the time people come up with Rohit Sharma’s name as an alternative. I say, had RCB won the last two IPLs instead of Mumbai Indians, would people have still wanted a captaincy change, the answer is simple, and it’s a ‘no’.” The Delhi cricketer, who represented India in a total of 164 international games and took 235 wickets, further said, “Even if BCCI or selectors want to make Rohit Sharma the captain, then they should do it till 2023 World Cup. It can’t happen that you make Roghit the T20 captain and then ask Virat to captain the ODI and Tests team.” With India losing the last game against Australia in Sydney, it was the team’s fifth consecutive ODI loss and the second consecutive series loss after England. It is this very reason that has cropped up the captaincy talk once again.

England in SA: Supporting cast turn showstoppers in South Africa's near-glory vigil

Battered and bruised, South Africa's warriors will curl into their beds tonight with a bittersweet feeling of 'so near, yet so far.'

South Africa vs England 2nd T20I: What Experts Said

England won the three-match T20I series against hosts South Africa thanks to a win in the second match played at Paarl. After Jonny Bairstow's heroics in the first game, it was time for Dawid Malan to step up and shine on this occassion. His 55 off 40 balls proved the decisive factor in a low-scoring match. Once again, it was England that won the toss and, just like the previous game, they decided to chase. Despite a powerful start, thanks to their captain Quinton de Kock's 18-ball 30, South Africa had to struggle on a spin-friendly and slow pitch. Both the Curran brothers, Tom and Sam struggled. But Jofra Archer was again effective with 1/18 in his four overs. Adil Rashid again showed his wiles, picking up two wicket for 23 runs in four overs. In the end, South Africa managed a score of 146/6 in their 20 overs. De Kock was the top-scorer while all-rounder contributed a valuable 29 at no. 7. In reply, Malan shepherded his team with his determined knock. A quickfire 17-ball 26* from captain Eoin Morgan finished off the match for England, giving them the series victory with one match to go. Captain's Take After his team's second consecutive loss in the series, de Kock felt his team lacked a bit of luck. "Dawid batted really well, the captain came in and led from the front. Once again the guys played well, just unfortunate for us. Makes you frustrated but that's the game, got to keep positive and keep learning," he said after the match. Just like the last match, de Kock felt his team missed the mark by a small margin. "I came out and said 150 could be a good score. Just one or two small things went our way we could have won that game." De Kock praised the performance of Tabraiz Shamsi who picked up 3/19 in the match. "Shamo was a bit disappointed with his last game. He wanted to make a statement and lead from the front, so I'm very happy for him." On the other side, Morgan was thrilled with his team's victory. "We weren't up with the run rate we were a couple of nights ago. With a short boundary, you're only ever a big over away. Experience helps, holding your nerve. Today's performance was very pleasing. Everyone in the changing room will applaud the bowling unit. Everybody contributed," Morgan said. Experts' Take Former England spinner Monty Panesar weighed in on England's performance and espcially praised Malan's efforts. "Dawid Malan is surprised how he is T20 number 1 ranked batsmen , we see today under pressure, facing 150kph beaten for pace but he showed fight and skill to get England over the line," Panesar stated on Twitter. South African cricket broadcaster Kass Naidoo also weighed in with her views. "Dawid Malan has to rank as one of my favourite T20 batters. Love the way he effortlessly ups the tempo," she said. Another tweet from her talked about the importance of spinners: "High point in a losing series is the battle between the spinners. Shamsi was brilliant today. Linde was in the spotlight in the first game. Good signs ahead of the T20 World Cup in India. What are your thoughts?" Cricket writer Freddie Wilde weighed up the positives for South Africa. "South Africa's bowling attack is shaping up quite nicely with Rabada, Nortje, Ngidi & Shamsi at its core; Linde's start has been encouraging & they've got Tahir & Morris technically available as well." However, he also mentioned the problems faced by Proteas. "This current team are short of boundary-hitters: the primary driver of T20 batting success. de Kock & du Plessis aside none of the rest of the batters are assured of a spot... South Africa are suffering from a number of brilliant—& in some cases elite—batters not playing: de Villiers is the obvious one but also Rossouw, Ingram, Delport & Wiese who dominate on the domestic circuit. Miller's absence is also leaving a hole." With the series won, England may try out some new players while South Africa may try to figure out their best combination. The last T20I takes place on December 2 at Cape Town.

Tried to whack the ball too hard in IPL: Smith says his finesse is back

The former Australian captain and currently the biggest threat to Indian prospects in its ongoing tour of Australia, Steve Smith feels that he tried to hit the ball really hard in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and that’s why couldn’t really get going. Speaking at the post-match presentation during his Man of the Match interview, Smith said he seems to have more finesse in his batting now. “I tried to whack the ball too hard in the IPL but I've started hitting it with more finesse I should say, which is working for me. Nice to score some runs again for the team and get us to a good total. I thought the boys were outstanding in the field as well,” the 31-year-old said. Talking about the current game, the New South Wales man said that he minimized errors from the last game and as a result didn’t really give Indian bowlers any chance. “I think last innings I probably could have been caught at long-on, a close lbw. I didn't give any chances today and I just felt good from ball one. I was able to get myself in and go hard,” said Smith who scored a 62 ball hundred today as well. David Warner and skipper Aaron Finch had laid down yet another solid foundation and Smith, who scored 104 of 64 balls acknowledged it as well. "I felt good from ball one. It was another great foundation set by Finch and Davey. It's just summing up conditions and what's in front of you. Against India, you need to score big totals. Fortunately, it's come off,” Smith added. It was Smith's fifth hundred vs India and second consecutive one against the same opponent. No doubt, Sydney Cricket Ground is his favorite ground, but what would he do in Canberra is yet to be seen. Five of his 11 ODI centuries have come against the Men in Blue.