Mitchell Marsh (left) and Glenn Maxwell.© X (formerly Twitter)

Batting great Matthew Hayden feels Rishabh Pant will a key player for India when they travel to Australia for a five-Test series later this year owing to his “muscle memory and thirst for victory” that made him such a sensation during the team’s previous tour Down Under. The eagerly-anticipated five-Test series starts on November 22 at Perth.

“Guys like Rishabh Pant have got a muscle memory and the thirst for victory. He was such a key player last time he played there and the Australian public loved him as well, because of the nature of the way he played his game,” Hayden told media on the sidelines of ‘CEAT Cricket Rating Awards’ here on Wednesday.

“It was exciting. It was innovative. It was just fresh and good. Then you have got your old stewards, like Virat Kohli, (he) will want to make an impression again. From a batting point of view, I’m excited to see how India have that strategy to take on the Australian conditions,” the Australian added.

Pant, who has made a successful return to cricket after a life-threatening accident in 2022, was an outstanding performer for India in the 2020-21 tour, notching up brilliant knocks of 97 and 89 not out in the landmark trip.

India outgunned a full-strength Australia despite missing several frontline players in one of the most dramatic turnarounds in the history Test cricket.

The visitors bounced back from the ignominy of 36 all out in the opening Adelaide Test to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1 for a second consecutive time.

Kohli had to return home after the Adelaide game due to personal reasons and five other players, including key pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, were forced out due to injuries and fitness issues.

“The great thing from an Indian perspective is that when you look at the last victory, there was no Virat Kohli. There was a very much a second team bowling line-up that won at the Gabba,” Hayden said.

“That’s the kind of confidence that you can expect this Indian unit to go to our shores (with) and go, ‘guys, we’ve done this before, and we’ve done it in a way that’s second to none, even without our key players’,” he said.

Pink Tests take away Australia’s home advantage

Hayden said scheduling a day-night Test tends to take away the advantage enjoyed by Australian teams in the past. Even in the upcoming tour, the two teams will play a Pink Test in Adelaide.

“Once you get those overhead conditions under that twilight zone, they can be really difficult,” he said.

“I would go as far as to say that the home advantage in Australia has been taken away quite a lot, simply on the basis that if you get (on) the wrong side of a certain session, be that you are four for 130 at twilight, you can (soon) be eight for 150.

“There’s no chance to actually really naturally dominate a game,” he added.

Hayden said Pat Cummins, who led Australia to the World Test Championship and ODI World Cup wins last year, has rallied his troops like no other Australian captain in the past.

“He has a very special leadership style and ability. It’s a very different style to the former captains of the Australian cricket team that were (about) very much a carrot and stick type approach,” he said.

“He’s operating on a model that’s bringing out the individuals and individual preparation in particular — something which our game struggles with being a team sport,” he added.

Hayden said Australia under Cummins has been an extremely close-knit team which has earned respect from former players like him who were upset with the manner in which previous coach Justin Langer was removed.

“I (have) followed this team very closely over the last two years and they’re an extremely close team. Even the former players, when we were upset with the removal of Justin Langer, they closed ranks and doubled down on how it is that they wanted to go about their work,” he said.

Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has taken an eight-week break to re-energise himself in his quest to lift the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India later this year. Cummins, who recently returned from the United States following his maiden stint in Major League Cricket, was rested for next month’s white-ball tour of the United Kingdom to manage his workload and give him time to work on his body ahead of a busy summer. “Everyone that comes back after a break is a little bit fresher, you never regret it,” Cummins was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.

“I’ve basically been bowling non-stop since the World Test Championship final, nearly 18 months ago. This gives me a good seven or eight weeks completely off bowling so the body can recover, then you start building up again for the summer.

“It means you can hopefully bowl for a little bit longer, maintaining pace is a bit easier, makes you less susceptible to injuries,” he added.

Cummins had a busy last 12 months after fracturing his wrist towards the end of the Ashes campaign in England.

He played in an ODI series against India, the triumphant ODI World Cup campaign, three Tests against Pakistan, two Tests against the West Indies, a T20 tour of New Zealand, two Tests against New Zealand, the Indian Premier League, the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the MLC tournament.

“I’m very sore today after a week of gym. Hamstrings, even ankles, kind of build up over months of bowling, but you can’t really nail it while you’re in the midst of the season,” the 31-year-old said.

“I’ll be doing lots of gym, some running, a lot of rehab exercise that you just can’t really fit in the middle of the season.” This year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be a five-Test contest. Since 2017, Australia has failed to lay its hands on the trophy, with India winning four consecutive series including the historic triumphs on Australian soil in 2018-19 and 2020-21.

And, Cummins is desperate to lift the trophy this summer under his captaincy.

“It’s the trophy I haven’t won before… this is the one trophy a lot of our group haven’t ticked off,” Cummins said.

“We’ve achieved some amazing things over the last few years as a Test group. You kind of back yourself to win every series at home. I think you need to try and be up there in the upper echelon of teams.

“That’s what lies ahead of us this summer. They’re (India) a really good side. We play them quite a lot, we know them really well, but we feel like we’re really well placed also,” he added.

Meanwhile, Cummins is in no mood to quit T20 cricket as of now, and hopes to help Australia win the gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where cricket will make its debut at the quadrennial showpiece.

“Watching the Olympics, it got us all excited. You want to be part of it right there in the middle,” Cummins said.

“I’d love to be on that side (at LA28). I think I’ll be 35 or something, so hopefully still there or thereabouts.

“Honestly right now, it feels a long way away. Maybe once we get closer and start building into it, everyone gets a bit more excited,” he said. 

India have had some great results in Australia in the last few years.© Twitter

Andhra Pradesh and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy opened up on the emotional moment when he received his Indian jersey last month and how much it meant to him considering that his father risked his own career for sake of his son’s cricket. Nitish was called-up to the Indian squad after a solid Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season with SRH, for the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. Though he could not play due to a sports hernia injury, he has created an impression strong enough to be considered for future series with a ‘Emerging Player of the Season’ award worthy performance in this year’s IPL, scoring 303 runs in 11 innings with two fifties at a strike rate of 143 and taking three wickets with his seam bowling.

The 21-year-old is now working his way back to full fitness as the new domestic season starts on September 5 with Duleep Trophy.

Reddy recalled that when he received his Indian kit, the people who often ridiculed and questioned his father for risking his career to help his son become a player, also got very emotional. In 2016, when Nitish was 13 years old, his father Mutyalu, working for Hindustan Zinc Limited in Visakhapatnam, was to be transferred to Jodhpur, but he decided to quit in order to focus on his son, who had been picked by the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) for district trials. He instead started his own business, which did not do well and everyone started to taunt him, including his extended family.

“Fame is a funny thing. After the IPL, the same people who told my father how he was foolish to risk his career for me started praising him for his foresight. I remembered they got emotional when my India kit arrived,” said Nitish, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

“He quit and invested the corpus he received into a microfinance business in Vizag [Visakhapatnam]. But unfortunately, when the business did not do well, our own extended family, society – everyone else started taunting him for his decision. As much as he tried not to let that filter through to me, eventually he could not help it.”

“I saw how people’s attitudes towards him changed from when he had a job to after he quit. They would disrespect him, he would be ignored.”

“I could not take it. That spurred my motivation to give it my all, because my father had given up everything for me. Until then, I had played for fun, but from there on, everything changed,” Nitish concluded his point.

The 13-year-old left home to move 700 km to a residential academy of ACA, where he attended middle school and trained. He learned the basics of fast bowling there under local coaches. Nitish recalled that when he had joined the academy, his bowling was no good and he used to “throw”.

“Only after I began regular training, I understood biomechanics, how your action impacts different parts of your body, and I worked on correcting it,” he added.

Nitish started making waves Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy when he scored a triple ton against Tamil Nadu and 190 against a strong bowling attack of Karnataka and a quadruple ton against Nagaland, finishing the 2017-18 edition of the tournament with 1,237 runs.

But these early successes turned out to be a false dawn as he admitted being “carried away” by his success and flopped in the U19 level.

“I thought I was naturally good. Everyone spoke highly about my technique, and I was flying. The following year, when I graduated to U-19s and flopped, I initially brushed it aside, thinking it was a bad patch. But when I had a second bad season, it gave me a reality check,” he added.

Frustrated by his poor performances, in 2019, Nitish decided to play solely as a batter, but Srinivas Reddy, one of his coaches, encouraged him to continue as a bowler, pointing out the rarity of pace bowling all-rounders in India.

After that, Nitish was picked up for an ACA camp to pick up a pool of players for the 2019-20 domestic season. The all-rounder said that he was initially picked up as an understudy in the larger squad but the skipper, Hanuma Vihari, was impressed and pushed for his inclusion in the Ranji squad. He went on to make his Ranji debut against Kerala in January 2020.

“I quickly understood that if in the age group I got two loose balls in an over, in first-class, I would get two in a session. I learned a lot quickly.”

Reddy was picked up SRH ahead of the 2023 IPL but got to play only two games in which he did not get to bat. In July last year, he was called up to India’s Emerging Players squad for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka but did not get to bat there either.

Nitish said that ahead of IPL 2023, his bowling was better than his batting. He was asked to stay ready for game time by the team management, but he just could not fit into the squad, he added.

“At the Asia Cup too, when I was in the XI, our top order did so well that I could not get a chance in the first three games. In the fourth game, when I was left out, everyone batted. It was on live TV, and it stressed me out quite a lot that I missed a chance. I wondered if Sunrisers would even retain me,” he added.

Nitish faced another setback when he injured his ankle that year, ruling him out of an all-important Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy which could have decided his fortunes for next year’s IPL. The all-rounder recalled being so dejected that he did not even go to the ground even when he regained full fitness.

But one day, he called up ACA and arranged for himself a net practice session against fast bowlers to show everyone that he belonged to the top order while batting. By the time 2024 came and it was time for the IPL, Nitish had developed a solid game against pace, which impressed the SRH skipper and Australian superstar Pat Cummins.

“Then one day, I just called up ACA and requested them to help arrange a few side-armers who would hurl the ball [to me] at 140 clicks from 18 yards. I did not want anyone to tell me I am a lower-order batter. I wanted to show I have it in me to bat in the top order.”

“They bowled bouncers. I got hit everywhere initially, but I told myself: come what may, I am going to face up and fight, build character and develop that no-defeat attitude. I continued this routine whenever I was training back home. That is perhaps why, coming into IPL 2024, I felt so confident playing at a proper pace. In the nets when Pat Cummins saw me react to pace, he was very impressed,” he added.

Australia announced their T20I squad for their upcoming series against Scotland and England, with Perth Scorchers all-rounder Cooper Connolly earning his maiden T20I call-up. The post-David Warner era has begun for Australia, and a new opening pair will take the field for their white-ball series against Scotland and England. The Baggy Greens will play a three-match T20I series against Scotland in September. Australia will also play three T20Is and five ODIs against England later in the month.

The three T20Is against Scotland will be played on September 4, 6, and 7, and the England T20I series will begin on September 11.

In Warner’s place, Jake Fraser-McGurk has been included in the T20I squads for both series and in the ODI squad against England. Fraser-McGurk will look to establish himself as a long-term opening alternative for Australia.

Connolly has featured in 15 domestic T20s. He starred for Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League 2022-23 final with his quick-fire 25* off 11 deliveries. In his Sheffield Shield debut, he scored 90 against Tasmania earlier this year.

Mitchell Marsh will lead the side in the absence of Pat Cummins, who has been rested. Cummins is currently involved in the ongoing Major League Cricket with the San Francisco Unicorns.

The experienced duo of Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell will also miss the T20I series but will link up with the squad for the ODI series against England.

Matthew Short, who travelled with Australia’s T20 World Cup squad as a reserve player, will miss out on the T20I tour due to the birth of his first child.

“This tour gives us a great opportunity to bring in some new players in the absence of David Warner and Matthew Wade, as well as giving some senior players time to prepare for the home summer and a busy first half of next year. We are particularly pleased to offer Cooper his first opportunity in the T20 squad, having introduced the likes of Jake, Spencer, Xavier and Aaron in the past 12 months. They are exciting prospects to join the likes of Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis and Josh Inglis in the white-ball set-up,” national selector George Bailey said in a statement by Cricket Australia.

With the ICC Champions Trophy almost seven months away, Australia will try to find the right balance within the ODI team.

“With the Champions Trophy on our doorstep early next year, the white-ball series against Pakistan leading into the summer and a huge home Test series against India, there has been a lot of planning invested into these next six months. That has included gradual integration of new players into our white-ball squads who have earned international opportunities via excellent form in Big Bash or state cricket,” he added.

Australia T20I squad for Scotland and England: Mitchell Marsh (capt), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Spencer Johnson, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

Australia ODI squad for England: Mitchell Marsh (capt), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis (wk), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.

After SRH paid Rs 20.5 crore for Pat Cummins, KKR splashed Rs 24.75 crore on Mitchell Starc.© BCCI

File image of Brett Lee.© X (Twitter)

Pat Cummins in action for Australia in T20 World Cup 2024© AFP

India captain Rohit Sharma sent fans on social media into a frenzy many times en route to his 92 against Australia in the final Super 8 game of the 2024 T20 World Cup. Be it his onslaught on Mitchell Starc in an over that went for 29 runs, or his catch to dismiss an in-form Travis Head, Rohit had many memorable moments for the Indian fan to remember. But one shot in particular – a 100m six on the bowling of Australia’s Test and ODI skipper Pat Cummins – might’ve been the sweetest.

Coming in to bowl the fifth over, Rohit welcomed Cummins with a tremendous shot. The Indian skipper got down on one knee and slogswept it over midwicket, and sent the ball back by 100 metres.

What made the six even more special was that it took Rohit’s tally of T20I sixes to 200; he became the first player to achieve this feat.

Rohit’s outstanding shot also sent the fans at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground into ecstasy, bringing out a roar that clocked 110 decibels.

Hold this class of “Rohit Gurunath Sharma”

[100m long six to the best bowler of this generation shows class of Hitman]

pic.twitter.com/DAzMpk5Du6

— Gillfied (@Gill_era7) June 24, 2024

Rohit Sharma’s 41-ball 92 helped India to a mammoth total of 205-5. Australia fell short in the end by 24 runs, despite Travis Head making 76 off 43 balls.

The win for India sends them through to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, where they’ll face England, in a rematch of the 2022 T20 World Cup semis. On that occasion, England had thumped India by 10 wickets.

For Australia, their fate is not in their control, as an Afghanistan win against Bangladesh would eliminate the 2023 World Cup champions, and send Afghanistan into the semis.

After a dominant group stage, Australia lost to both Afghanistan and India, putting their semi-final hopes in jeopardy.

India take on England in the second semi-final on June 27, at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.