EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU DELHI THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019 SPORT 17 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Who will blink first — Indians or Kiwis? Pant being flown It’s a toss­up between Karthik and Vijay Shankar for the No. 4 slot; first big test for New Zealand in as cover Special Correspondent Nottingham Rishabh Pant is flying into England as a cover for the injured Shikhar Dhawan. India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar confirmed the latest development to the media at Trent Bridge here on Wednesday afternoon. “The thing is in about 10 to 12 days, we will be taking a call on the status of Shikhar. Until that point, just to make sure that if and when the replacement is required — and I am saying if and when — it is always good to have the replacement player [Pant] coming in and practising with the team, as a stand­by. He [Pant] bats in the middle­order and Intense focus: Virat Kohli has a batting stint at the nets under the watchful eyes of coach Ravi Shastri ahead of the Kiwi clash.* AP obviously him being a left­hander helps,” showers during Thursday’s kar would step in. Both had a six against Australia last June. Bangar said. World Cup match featuring long strike at the nets, only India will be wary of New As for Dhawan, Virat Kohli’s men and New against throw­downs, as the Zealand and Kane William­ Bangar explained: “We Zealand. Ambiguity is linked outfield was deemed too soft son’s men are known to their playing elevens, but will be observing him only to the weather, while for the regular bowlers to punch above their weight in New Zealand would still de­ and by the 10th or 12th thankfully the other realm of pound their feet. ICC tournaments. The Kiwis rive some confidence. Its bat­ day, we will get to know confusion centred around step in after registering three smen, notably Williamson, where he stands, and Shikhar Dhawan was effec­ In good shape wins against Sri Lanka, Ban­ Ross Taylor and Martin Gup­ we will be in a better tively dismantled. Batting Except for the bad news gladesh and Afghanistan. The till, have been in good form position to take a call coach Sanjay Bangar said that about Dhawan, India is in fast bowlers, especially Lock­ but what could stymie the because we don’t want a final decision on Dhawan’s good shape, having won ie Ferguson and James outfit is that the opposition it to rule out a precious K.C. Vijaya Kumar availability would be taken against South Africa and Aus­ Neesham, have been among quelled in the three games, player like Shikhar. As Nottingham only after 12 days and that tralia. Most of its cogs moved the wickets and more impor­ have been middling at best. far as the batting order The centre­square here at rules out the injured opener in unison and, with the skies tantly, in the warm­up joust India would be its first big goes, yes, K.L. [Rahul] Trent Bridge was layered with a bruised left­thumb remaining damp, it remains against India at the Oval on test and Kohli’s men are on a moves to the top, and with multiple sheets on Wed­ from India’s next set of four to be seen if Kohli would pref­ May 25, New Zealand rode on roll, dishing out intense crick­ Kohli (Capt.), Rohit Sharma, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, there are various nesday. The ground staff games. er speedster Mohammed the exploits of seamers Trent et on the field, and off it, find­ M.S. Dhoni, K.L. Rahul, Ravin­ Tom Latham, Colin Munro, Jim­ (middle­order) options scurried around, extending The team­management is Shami over spinner Kuldeep Boult and Neesham to skittle ing time to unwind and even dra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Di­ my Neesham, Tom Blundell, the team­management the covers, keeping an eye on hoping that the southpaw Yadav. out the Men in Blue for 179. catching Salman Khan’s Bha- nesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Vi­ Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Hen­ can utilise going into the feathery rain that oscillat­ would be fit in time for the The venue is Stuart New Zealand won the game rat at a nearby multiplex. jay Shankar, Jasprit Bumrah, ry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner the next game. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mo­ and Ish Sodhi. ed between persistence and big clash against England on Broad’s home ground and is by six wickets. Obviously, Vijay It is time for the action to hammed Shami, Yuzvendra Umpires: Marais Erasmus and the long pause. During one June 30. As a consequence, known for a fair bit of It would be a bit extreme unfold provided the inter­ Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Shankar is going to be Paul Reiffel; Third umpire: such break, the Indian team K.L. Rahul will pair up with bounce, though in recent to invest meaning into a prac­ play of dark clouds subsides Shikhar Dhawan. an option, and there are Bruce Oxenford; Match referee: trained, not full­tilt but a gin­ Rohit Sharma atop the order times, especially in ODIs, the tice skirmish which largely enough for a reticent sun to New Zealand: Kane Williamson a couple of others as Ranjan Madugalle. gerly trot. and, in the middle, either Di­ turf has gifted a bounty of served as an exploratory ex­ peep out. (Capt.), Ross Taylor, Martin well.” The forecast hints at a few nesh Karthik or Vijay Shan­ runs — England scored 481 for ercise for teams to finalise The teams (from): India: Virat Guptill, Colin de Grandhomme, Match starts at 3 p.m. IST. Bangar backs Rahul to come good Haven’t decided on the In Boult, the Indian top­order K.C. Vijaya Kumar “Here you can take his na­ eleven: Taylor Nottingham mesake Rahul Dravid, who faces a challenge Soft­spoken Sanjay Bangar’s batted at various positions, Special Correspondent ment and I am sure there’s my choice would be Kedar dia had the final or semifinal biggest cricketing moment and it actually helped the Nottingham going to be rained out Jadhav. coming up, Dhawan would occurred under the English team big time. It’s a mental Ross Taylor said that New games. There are times I’ll go with Ravindra Jadeja have played. skies. In the third Test at adjustment and any player, Zealand is prepared for all when forecasts have been as the replacement player, Perhaps the team manage­ Leeds (Headingley) during who is able to do that re­ kinds of weather­induced wrong as well. especially if it is a brown, dry ment wants to play safe, and the 2002 series, Bangar ex­ quires a lot of skill but ulti­ contingencies. Ahead of The pitch: Traditionally, it pitch. Jadeja can whack it look after Dhawan for the lat­ celled as a make­shift opener. mately it will enhance the po­ Thursday’s World Cup game can favour the batters but I with the bat, and he’s a very ter stages of the tournament. He scored a 68 and, more im­ sition that he will bat in, and against India, Taylor spoke am sure the bowlers are go­ good bowler and fielder. In Trent Boult, the Indian portantly, shared a 170­run it will also help the team’s to the media. Excerpts: ing to have a little bit there. On Dhawan’s injury, if it top­order faces another con­ second­wicket partnership cause,” Bangar said. The playing eleven: It hasn’t seen the sun and was really bad, it would have cern. Boult is a strike bowler, with centurion Rahul Dravid. There’s a full 15 to choose we will have to wait and see been operated on by now. with a good record against It validated Sourav Ganguly’s In good rhythm from. We can’t look too far what happens. You can learn how to bat India. brave decision to bat on win­ The former Railways cricke­ ahead but there are ob­ But first and foremost, it’s ucceeding in long tourna­ with a broken finger. We’ve You have to be mindful of ning the toss and the base ter also emphasised that des­ viously different permuta­ a great place to play cricket, Sments like the World Cup all done it. You have equip­ the ball swinging back in and was set for a fine triumph. pite the spectre of rain and tions if the weather does and I am sure any time we is not just about performing ment specialists now who getting the leg­before deci­ disrupted practice sche­ play a part, be it a reduced play India at a neutral ve­ well in matches, but also can fix an extra bit of pad­ sion. Shot at the top dules, India is in good game or a 50­over game. nue, there will always be about squad depth. How ding on your gloves. You can I have no doubt that Ravi Back to the United Kingdom, rhythm: “When you come to more Indian supporters good are your replacement also take a little injection to Shastri would have sum­ albeit in a new role as India’s England, you expect these than New Zealand. players, in case of an injury get through the pain. moned many left­arm pacers batting coach, it is now Ban­ K.L. Rahul... moving up * AP things. So far, we have been Tim Southee’s fitness: He layoff? I’m involved with the de­ to bowl in the Indian nets. gar’s turn to bolster the confi­ lucky that we haven’t had a is fine.