Colin Graves, the ECB’s new chairman, has moved to defend himself from accusations that he misled Kevin Pietersen in encouraging the batsman to play county cricket in order to win his England place back

ESPNcricinfo staff15-May-20151:23

KP can feel aggrieved – Bell

Colin Graves, the ECB’s new chairman, has moved to defend himself from accusations that he misled Kevin Pietersen in encouraging the batsman to play county cricket in order to win his England place back.Pietersen abandoned his IPL contract in order to join up with Surrey at the start of the season, after comments from Graves in which he suggested there could be a way back. “If he plays county cricket and scores lots of runs, they can’t ignore him,” he reportedly told the .Despite Pietersen scoring 355 not out for Surrey this week, Andrew Strauss, newly installed as England’s director of cricket, confirmed the door remained closed due to “issues of trust”. Pietersen subsequently used his newspaper column to say he had been “deeply misled” and accuse the ECB of being “deceitful”.Graves, who was officially installed as Giles Clarke’s successor at the ECB AGM on Thursday, has consistently underlined since then, both publicly and privately, that selection was not in his remit and that he made this abundantly clear at the time. He has now responded to Pietersen’s claims via an official statement.”In the past few days my integrity has been called into question, something I can’t accept,” he said. “Throughout my business career and my years at Yorkshire, integrity has been my watchword. It governs everything I do and is an important part of what I bring to the ECB. So it saddens me that what was a private conversation with Kevin in March has been used to do just that.

What Graves actually said

• BBC Sportsweek: “The first thing he’s got to do certainly, if he wants to get back, and that’s if he wants to get back, is start playing county cricket for somebody. The selectors and the coaches are not going to pick him if he’s not playing, it’s as simple as that… At the end of the day, it’s down to the selectors, it’s down to the coaches, what they see as best for English cricket. They will make the decision and I will support them when it comes to that decision.”

• Quoted in Daily Telegraph: “It is very simple. What has happened in the past is history and there is no point talking about it. I was deputy chairman when the decision was made and I supported it so there is no point pulling that to bits. But if he wants to play for England then he has to play for a county. That is his decision. If he does that and scores a lot of runs they can’t ignore him I would have thought, but that is up to him. You can’t pick someone when he is not playing.”

“Back then, when we talked on the phone, Kevin asked if I thought his England career had ended in the right manner following the last Ashes series in Australia. I agreed that nobody particularly emerged with much credit from the whole episode, particularly given his achievements for England.”Kevin felt he had a lot to offer and was interested in a dialogue with the ECB, sorting things out and working together. He would love to play for England again but he wanted to contribute, whether as a player or not.”I didn’t make any promises. There were no guarantees that if he chose to exit his IPL contract, play county cricket and score runs he would be selected for England. And I said he should make any decision on his future on that basis.”Graves added that “something has been misunderstood around the conversation and in the following debate” and that had never intimated that he could – or would – influence selection. “What I did stress was that when I took over as chairman I would back those people whose job it was to take decisions on team selection. I stand by that.”Referring to Pietersen’s score-settling autobiography and the history of issues with team-mates, Graves reiterated that “trust needs to be restored”. He did, however, hold out hope for the future. “Despite everything, he can work with us to rebuild the relationship and make a further contribution to English cricket,” Graves said.It seems clear that Graves was taken aback by the level of resistance to Pietersen within the ECB, including from the captain Alastair Cook, and that when Andrew Strauss emerged as the favourite as the first director of England cricket, the slate was not quite as clean as he had imagined.Pietersen was expected to be recalled by his IPL franchise this week but sustained calf and Achilles injuries while scoring his maiden triple-century against Leicestershire, ruling him out of the rest of the competition. He is due to play in the Caribbean Premier League in July but his future commitments with Surrey remain unknown.

Virat Kohli, India’s Test captain, has backed Ravi Shastri as the team’s director, saying that the latter’s presence is a “massive boost” for the side.

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Jun-2015Virat Kohli, India’s Test captain, has said Ravi Shastri’s presence as the team director was a “massive boost” for the side. Shastri, who took on the role of the team director after the Test series against England last year, was given an extension for the upcoming Bangladesh tour.”He is a guy who does not shy away from responsibility. He is someone who takes the blows on the chin. He keeps moving forward,” Kohli told in an interview conducted before Shastri’s re-appointment as team director for the tour of Bangladesh. “There is no two ways about his thinking. He is the most amazing person to have around this team right now because it is a young unit and the kind of confidence he gives. He has authority; when he speaks people respect him.”There is no talk just for the sake of it. He is sensible and something that gives you a lot of confidence and a lot of assurance. That is what you need as young players: someone who has played for India for 10-11 years and has hundreds all over the world as an opener after starting as No. 11. So you know the mindset the person has, the way he has played his cricket.”Speaking to the magazine after Shastri’s tenure had ended, following the World Cup, Kohli said: “We would love to have him on board even if he is doing the same job right now. Just to have him around the group is a massive boost for us. To have him around the group in some way would be lovely. To have the head coach or who to have and what to do about is all part of the discussion when we sit down.”Kohli, who had a dismal tour of England in 2014, also credited Shastri for a technical input that helped him turn his form around and score heavily in Australia. Kohli scored 692 runs in four games, at an average of 86.5 with four hundreds and a fifty, in contrast to the England tour where he had 134 runs across five Tests at an average of 13.4.”He is the one who suggested I stand in front of the crease and on off stump,” Kohli said. “I was not convinced to begin with. I was thinking in my head that it might expose my stumps. He said just trust me, do it. I did not do it in England. But I went to Australia. I thought about it. I said, why not. I am playing international cricket. I can’t be sitting in a comfort zone and let guys dominate me. It came out beautifully. I am thankful to him for sticking by me after England.” site, here

Derbyshire fast bowler Mark Footitt has been included in a group of 14 England players who will travel to Spain for a pre-Ashes training camp from June 27

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jun-20151:32

England show faith with Moeen for pre-Ashes camp

Derbyshire left-arm quick Mark Footitt, has been included in a group of 14 England players who will travel to Spain for a pre-Ashes training camp from June 27. The aim of the camp will be for the players to get acquainted with their new coach Trevor Bayliss.Allrounder Chris Jordan and legspinner Adil Rashid were the most striking omissions from the training squad released by the ECB on Thursday.Footitt, 29, was the leading wicket-taker in England’s county set-up last season, claiming 106 wickets in all competitions, the most by a Derbyshire bowler for almost half a century.He had an opportunity to bowl at England’s Test captain Alastair Cook in this week’s LV= Championship match between Essex and Derbyshire, with the selector and former England seam bowler Angus Fraser in attendance. He did not have a particularly successful match, and some observers felt he was unsettled by Chelmsford’s undulating run-ups, but he clearly did enough to warrant a further look.He told the Derbyshire website: “It’s nice to receive this level of recognition for the hard work over the last 18 months. It’s a great opportunity for me to show the England coaching staff first-hand what I am about and I hope I can impress and stake my claim for a place in the final Ashes squad. It would be an honour to get a chance to represent my country in the Ashes.”England’s Ashes squad will be announced a few days after the players return from the camp, which is being undertaken in preference to the players finding white-ball form in the Championship.Footitt made his first-class debut in 2005 and has played 65 matches, only latterly coming under serious examination by England with Derbyshire’s elite performance director Graeme Welch lobbying fervently on his behalf. He has 230 first-class wickets at an average of 26 but his graph is heading in the right direction and he answers England’s hankering for a left-arm option.He is Derbyshire’s top wicket-taker this season – and sixth overall – with 32 scalps at 24 apiece in division two of the County Championship.England’s director of cricket Andrew Strauss explained the reasons for the pre-Ashes camp, which seems to be less physically demanding than the sort of outdoor regimes preferred by a recent director of cricket Andy Flower.”With Trevor Bayliss arriving in the country next Thursday, Trevor, Alastair and I felt it important that both players and management likely to be involved in the early stages of the Investec Ashes have chance to meet him and fully understand his approach prior to meeting up for the start of the Test series,” Strauss said. “With that in mind, we have arranged a preparation camp in Spain. This will involve a combination of physical and fielding sessions and planning meetings in an informal environment in order to provide the best possible lead up to the first Test in Cardiff.”Training squad Alastair Cook, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Mark Footitt, Adam Lyth, Liam Plunkett, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Mark Wood

The ICC’s ACSU is understood to have found no corroborating evidence against the three international cricketers who had been accused by former IPL chairman Lalit Modi of having received affluent gifts from an Indian businessman

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jun-20151:27

‘If there’s nothing from ICC, it’s a clean chit’ – Thakur

The ICC’s Anti-corruption and Security Unit is understood to have found no corroborating evidence against the three international cricketers who had been accused by former IPL chairman Lalit Modi of having received affluent gifts, in cash and kind, from an Indian businessman. The ICC has not officially commented on the ACSU’s investigation but it was alluded to by the BCCI on Monday, which said it had not received any information from the ICC and hence believed the players had been given a clean chit.”The follow-up is there is nothing in that,” BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said at a press conference. “If they had found something, they would have reported it back to us. If there is nothing from the ICC on it, it has to be a clean chit.”Modi, in a letter to ICC chief executive David Richardson in October 2013, had said he had been informed that the three cricketers – Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo – had received houses and cash from a real estate baron, who is an alleged bookie.While confirming Modi’s letter on Sunday, an ICC spokesperson had stated “standard operating procedures” had been followed, including informing the BCCI’s ACSU. The procedure involved the ICC carrying out an investigation and arriving at a conclusion as to whether charges could or could not be laid against the players involved. The home boards of the three players mentioned in the Modi letter would have been informed as to the details of the investigation.”The jurisdiction of the three players was under the ICC because they are international players. And if they have conducted an inquiry, they will be able to say something on the outcome of the ICC inquiry,” Thakur said.All the three players named have been key members of the Chennai Super Kings, the franchise that is owned India Cements, which in turn is owned by the family of former BCCI president N Srinivasan. During the 2013 IPL corruption scandal, Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested for betting on IPL games. While the team has been under Supreme Court investigation since then, Srinivasan has taken over as the ICC chairman.Asked if the Srinivasan-led BCCI would have swept the matter under the carpet or if the BCCI is throwing the ball back into the ICC’s court, Thakur replied in negative. “We are not passing the buck to ICC. When someone plays international cricket, it’s the ICC ACSU’s responsibility to investigate his deeds. ICC has investigated into the case and ICC is better placed to comment on its outcome. They haven’t informed anything in writing to the BCCI.”

Cameron Bancroft, who struck 150 off 267 balls to subdue India’s three-pronged spin attack on a slow pitch by sweeping and advancing down the track, stressed that he had used the sweep as an attacking option

Deivarayan Muthu in Chennai30-Jul-20151:54

Scoring big hundreds is a focus for me – Bancroft

Australia A batsman Cameron Bancroft, who struck 150 off 267 balls to subdue India’s three-pronged spin attack on a slow pitch by sweeping and advancing down the track, stressed that he had used the sweep as an attacking option.”I definitely have my plans to use both options. To be able to come down the wicket and also to be able to use the sweep shot. I think being able to do both really helped me get on top of the bowler, put him under pressure and rotate the strike and keep the scorecard ticking over,” Bancroft said.”So, it’s something I have worked a lot on, especially the sweep shot and it worked pretty well for me. It was a pretty good option to get off strike and as I said, keep the scoreboard ticking over.”Bancroft also credited Matthew Hayden and Australia A consultant, S Sriram, for offering vital inputs on handling spin.”Sri came over in an Academy team in early June. Sri came and did a few sessions with us. He has been awesome. Just to get comfortable playing defence, that has certainly helped me a lot,” Banscroft said. “Being comfortable with the ball spinning past the bat and as long as you are playing the line and playing straight, that’s okay. I have been working hard on the sweep and things like that. He has given me a lot of confidence.”You get a lot of coaches that come up. I think Matty Hayden came up last year. It was awesome talking to him about sweeping and playing spin. You get ideas from lot of coaches, you apply to yourself and see what works.”Australia A assistant coach Stuart Law lauded Bancroft for driving the visitors onward with positive strokeplay.”We have been brought up to get the game moving forward,” Law said. “We see it as, if you are a batsman your job is to score runs. Survival is one thing but there is a way of survival as well. Our footwork and clearness of mind is more in the forefront. I think the way Cam Bancroft played in the game was outstanding.”Law, who has had coaching stints with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, conceded that it was a tough challenge for overseas coaches to adjust to the subcontinent.”It is very difficult for an overseas coach to come into a sub-continental area. Different cultures, different backgrounds. The biggest trouble would be the way the communication is transferred between captain and players, coach and players,” Law said.”I have been in the sub-continent for a bit, your first experience isn’t always memorable. But as you understand the place and learn the culture and I think it’s pretty important that you learn the culture and learn how things work. Its quite enjoyable coming in. If someone’s knocking on the door and having a chat about doing that [coaching India] I would be more than happy to sit down and listen.”

A round-up of the Haier Mobile T20 Cup matches that took place on September 11, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Sep-2015

Group A

Zain Abbas’ unbeaten 47-ball 57 and Imran Farhat’s 46 off 32 balls set up Multan Region‘s 33-run win over Bahawalpur Region in Islamabad.Multan, after being inserted, posted 169 losing only three wickets. They didn’t have a particularly big opening stand though; their scoreboard read 25 when Bahawalpur captain Kamran Hussain removed his opposite number Kamran Akmal. But thereafter, Farhat and then Abbas, took control and cranked things up too. The duo hit eight and seven fours respectively, and Naved Yasin’s 26 off 14 balls provided a strong finish they were looking for. Three of Bahawalpur’s bowlers conceded more than nine runs an over.Bahawalpur’s chase slumped to 14 for 2 as seamer Aamer Yamin removed the openers early. Riasat Ali, who made 63 off 40 balls, including four fours and four sixes, put on 68 for the third wicket in the company of Faisal Mubashir. Bahawalpur, despite losing only four wickets, were never really in with a chance owing to the Multan bowlers making run-scoring difficult. Majid Ali and Rahat Ali finished with economy rates of less than 4.3.Karachi Region Whites benefited from a brisk half-century from captain Faisal Iqbal and a four-for from Mir Hamza to trounce Hyderabad Region by 60 runs in Islamabad.Iqbal could not have asked for a more complete performance. Having chosen to bat, openers Ahsan Ali (30 off 26) and Rameez Raja (367off 18) provided a rollicking start. Then Iqbal lent structure to the total with 60 off 43 balls, including eight fours. Karachi cruised to a strong 173 for 7 despite a spate of run outs in the lower-middle order.Hyderabad’s chase fell away even before it began. There were seven single-digit scores, four of which were ducks. Their first wicket fell with the score on 14, and then they lost three more on 15, and were it not for Shoaib Laghari’s 51 off 37 balls, they may not have even crossed 100. Hamza, with figures of 4-0-28-4, ensured Hyderabad were all out in the 15th over and won the Man of the Match for his efforts.

Group B

Iftikhar Ahmed’s 39-ball 59 and Adil Amin’s unbeaten 38 off 32 balls helped Peshawar Region beat a Lahore Region Whites side made up of seven Pakistan internationals. The three-wicket victory was achieved with only one ball to spare, reflecting the way the match see-sawed.Peshawar started their pursuit of 166 briskly, but Mohammad Irfan knocked over three of the top-four to leave the score at 56 for 4. Then Iftikhar and Amin added 68 runs at 8.86 per over to revive the chase. The next twist came when Lahore took two wickets in as many balls, including Iftikhar’s, with Peshawar still needing 42 off 29 balls. Amin, though, held his nerve right to the end. Irfan finished with 4 for 16 even as three of his team-mates conceded 10 or more runs an over.Lahore would have been confident of a different result with two of their top-four scoring fifties to vindicate their decision to bat. Ahmed Shehzad (59 off 42 balls) had been part of a 52-run opening stand. Then he put on 57 runs with Hussain Talat, who remained unbeaten on 64 off 39 balls, including five fours and three sixes. A total of 165 may have looked good then, it wasn’t a couple of hours later.Ehsan Adil played only three balls, but in that short a time, he made sure Faisalabad Region hurtled to the finish line with two wickets and three balls to spare. Adil, known more for his bowling, hammered two fours and a six to help his team chase down a target of 179 and beat Abbottabad Region in Rawalpindi.The foundation of the chase had been laid by No. 3 Khurram Shehzad’s 59 off 39 balls and there was able support from No. 4 Asif Ali who struck 45 off 31. Legspinner Yasir Shah accounted for both men to bring Abbottabad back and fashion a lower-middle order panic. Even the reliable Misbah-ul-Haq could eke out only 14 off 12. The score slipped from 108 for 2 to 147 for 7. Junaid Khan, who had pried out the openers the very first over of the chase, produced a fine spell of bowling: 4-0-24-4.But Adil was able to put in the big blows when the most counted. He had also been Faisalabad’s best bowler was well with 3 for 33 in his four overs. Fifties from opener Yasir Hameed (59) and wicketkeeper Sajjad Ali (56) had dragged Abbottabad to a formidable total. One that ended up being just a few runs light.Karachi Region Blues clinched a thriller against Islamabad Region by one wicket and two balls to spare in Rawalpindi. Needing six off the final over with two wickets in hand, Karachi lost Faraz Ahmed before Anwar Ali struck the fourth legal delivery from Zohaib Ahmed for six to seal the victory.Karachi had lost regular wickets in their chase of 177, and were kept in the game by opener Khurram Manzoor, who made 62 off 42 balls with three sixes. Fawad Alam made 33 off 29, but Karachi slipped from 131 for 3 in the 15th over to 172 for 9, before Ali’s winning six. Imad Wasim took 3 for 26 for Islamabad.Having been asked to bat, Islamabad had got off to a poor start, losing both openers to Rumman Raees in the second over. However, upcoming batsmen Babar Azam, 43 off 31 balls, and Shahid Yousuf, who 57 off 39, helped Islamabad recover. They put on 93 for the third wicket and Zohaib’s 26 off 14 lifted the score to 176 for 6. The target proved to be just within Karachi’s reach, though.

Leicestershire’s teenage allrounder Zak Chappell wrote his name in the county’s record books despite falling four runs short of a century on his first-class debut

ECB/PA22-Sep-2015
ScorecardMark Footitt claimed seven wickets but the day’s honours were swiped by Zak Chappell•Getty Images

Leicestershire’s teenage allrounder Zak Chappell wrote his name in the county’s record books despite falling four runs short of a century on his first-class debut against Derbyshire at Derby.The 19-year-old from Grantham scored 96 from 122 balls, the highest-ever innings by a Leicestershire No. 10, before Mark Footitt yorked him to complete career-best figures of 7 for 71.But Chappell’s outstanding innings led a recovery that took Leicestershire from 131 for 7 to 329 all out with the last two wickets adding 175.Rob Taylor (37) shared a ninth-wicket stand of 81 while Ollie Freckingham, with an unbeaten career-best 34, helped Chappell put on 94 for the tenth.Derbyshire had 10 overs to negotiate but Billy Godleman and Ben Slater survived to the close on 54 for 0, 275 runs behind.Until Chappell walked out in the late-afternoon sunshine to join Taylor, the day had belonged to Footitt who again bowled with the pace and swing that earned him a place in the England squad this summer.Derbyshire’s decision to put the visitors in looked questionable until he took 4 for 2 in 22 balls, including Dan Redfern who lost his off stump first ball on his return to the club he left two years ago.Ned Eckersley scored his first championship fifty since May 12 but then clipped Footitt to square leg and when the fast bowler claimed his 250th wicket in the competition by having Ben Raine caught behind, Leicestershire were in danger of being bowled out for under 150.But by tea, Chappell and Taylor had secured a batting point and although Taylor drove Wes Durston to short extra cover, it would be another 24 overs before Derbyshire took the last wicket.Chappell, dropped at deep mid-off on 33, completed his fifty from 85 balls and then swung Durston over wide long-on for six as Derbyshire’s frustration mounted.When Chappell was missed for a second time on 90 at deep mid-wicket, he looked destined to score a century but Footitt struck immediately with the second new ball to deny him.Chappell opened the bowling with Raine but could not add wickets to his runs as Godleman drove him through the covers for the boundary that took him to 1,000 championship runs in a season for the first time in his career.

Chris Harris, the former New Zealand spinner, told Southwark Crown Court how Chris Cairns “almost seemed like he was not pleased” when his team, Chandigarh Lions, beat Mumbai Champs in a Indian Cricket League contest in March 2008

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Oct-2015Chris Harris, the former New Zealand allrounder, told Southwark Crown Court how Chris Cairns “almost seemed like he was not pleased” when his team, Chandigarh Lions, beat Mumbai Champs in a Indian Cricket League contest in March 2008 that has since been tainted with allegations of match-fixing.Cairns, who denies two counts of perjury and perverting the course of justice, had worn an “unusual” expression on his face at the moment of victory in Hyderabad, according to Harris, after Chandigarh’s wicketkeeper, Sarabjit Singh, had cracked 41 not out from 22 balls to seal a two-wicket victory in the final over of the match.The match has previously been identified by Lou Vincent, who gave evidence during the first week of the trial, as one of “three or four” fixtures that he had been paid by Cairns to manipulate.Harris, who played in all three ICL tournaments in 2007 and 2008, described Chandigarh’s target of 136 as “modest”, adding that Sarabjit had played a “splendid innings” to rescue his team from 70 for 6 in the 13th over. However, he also recalled “a number of strange incidents” in the course of the contest.In the end, Sarabjit sealed the match with a six, and footage of the winning moment was played by Orlando Pownall, QC, Cairns’ defence lawyer, to the court. In it, Cairns was seen smiling and embracing one of his team-mates.”It’s perfectly plain, that after that six went over the boundary, the Chandigarh Lions appeared to be delighted,” said Mr Pownall. “Do you agree?””I don’t believe that was the footage I saw,” Harris replied. “I would agree with you that was a fair amount of emotion after winning a game.”Harris, who was captain of Hyderabad Heroes, also recalled a match against Chandigarh in which Cairns had won the toss and batted first, despite the fact that 80 percent of the teams that bowled first had won on that particular ground. “It was a bit of a surprise to me,” he recalled.Harris also claimed that Cairns’ co-defendant and former attorney, Andrew Fitch-Holland, who denies perverting the course of justice during his client’s libel action against Lalit Modi in 2012, had admitted Cairns’ guilt even before that case went to court.Cairns successfully sued Modi after he tweeted allegations of match-fixing in 2010. However, Harris claimed that, during a Lashings game at Bromley Cricket Club, Fitch-Holland had conceded Cairns’ guilt in a conversation with a group of players.”Someone asked him a question along the lines of “poor Cairnsy, what’s up with Cairnsy?”, Harris told the court. “Mr Fitch-Holland, to my surprise, replied ‘Cairnsy’s guilty’.”Sasha Wass, QC, the crown prosecutor asked Harris to clarify whether this conversation had taken place before or after the libel action.Harris replied: “I believe it was before.”However, under cross-examination from Mr Pownall, Harris conceded that he may have been mistaken, as his name had not appeared on the records for any Lashings match at Bromley in 2009.”That possibly could be the case,” said Harris.The comment, it was suggested, may have related to Cairns’ marital problems.The trial will continue from 12 noon on Tuesday.

A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy Group C matches on October 18, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Shahbaz Nadeem collected 7 for 64•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Jharkhand’s left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem finished with career-best figures of 7 for 64, helping his team open their Ranji account with a 133-run victory against Kerala in Malappuram. Kerala, who came into the final day still needing 246 runs for a win, were dealt an early blow when Rohan Prem was trapped lbw off the fourth ball of the day. Akshay Kodoth (72) and Sachin Baby led a min-recovery, stringing together a 52-run partnership, but Baby’s wicket sparked a collapse that led to Kerala losing their last eight wickets for just 56 runs. Nadeem ran through the lower middle order on his way to collecting 7 for 64, as Kerala were bowled out for 183 inside 64 overs. 707 for 8 declared (Bist 220*, Bains 161, Dhawan 114) drew with Hyderabad 434 (Agarwal 118, Vihari 101, More 4-84) and 2 for 0
ScorecardRobin Bist’s unbeaten 220 and Rishi Dhawan’s 114 helped Himachal Pradesh amass a huge first-innings total of 707 for 8, as they took away three points from their drawn game against Hyderabad.HP resumed from an overnight score of 402 for 5 and added 305 runs in the 72 overs that they batted on the day, as Bist and Dhawan shared a 175-run partnership. Hyderabad’s captain Hanuma Vihari used as many as 10 bowlers in search of breakthroughs, three of whom conceded well over 100 runs. With HP batting out most of the day and only a few overs left, the two captains shook hands after the visitors batted for 13 overs, making just two runs in that period. For his unbeaten double-ton that featured 23 fours and one six, HP’s Bist was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Virat Kohli’s India lead against South Africa, but appreciation of his players’ skills has been overshadowed by talk of the Mohali conditions in which they won; Kohli is not unduly bothered by this

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Bangalore13-Nov-20153:19

‘No change in mindset’ – Kohli

Virat Kohli has won his last three Test matches as India’s captain, and his team leads an important series against South Africa, but appreciation of his players’ skills has been overshadowed to a certain extent by talk of the conditions that helped them achieve their latest win in Mohali. Kohli, though, is not unduly bothered by the lack of praise coming his team’s way.”It’s only disappointing if you are looking to take what is written or said to heart, or think about it too much,” he said, on the eve of the second Test in Bangalore. “We focus on the process and don’t really think about what’s being written or what’s being said.”The fact of the matter is we won a Test match and that’s what we feel good about as a team. We are not worried about any external factors or what’s being discussed about things that are not in our control. If someone chooses to say or write about something which they feel is a topic of interest, that’s their choice. It’s up to us if we take it to heart or sit down and feel disappointed. We are not at all disappointed. We won a game of cricket. We are very happy about it.”One of the overlooked factors in India’s Mohali win, according to Kohli, was their seam attack. Though Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron only picked up a wicket between them, in a total of 20 overs across two innings, Kohli felt they still contributed by keeping the runs in check – they only conceded 40 runs in those 20 overs.”If those 20 overs go for 100 runs then you are not in a position to win a Test match,” Kohli said. “So they played their role perfectly. It is important for the three guys bowling the most of the overs to have two guys after them who can also maintain the same momentum and control the run rate as well, which is very important in Test matches.”Either Umesh or Aaron will have to make way in Bangalore for Ishant Sharma, who returns to the side after serving a one-match ban. Kohli looked forward to the return of senior pace bowler, whose 13 wickets at 23.23 were crucial to India’s success in Sri Lanka.”With Ishant coming in, he brings in a lot of experience,” Kohli said. “He’s bowled well in subcontinent conditions, knows how to reverse-swing the ball, can lead the pace attack. The combination can or will change according to the conditions. So I would rather have a guy who will give me control in an important time in the game rather than someone who will just get the overs out of way. That combination has worked for us.”We are just trying to figure out, according to the pitch and conditions, who will be doing more of the bowling and what stage in the game. I’m very delighted that Ishant is back. The way he is bowling and the way he bowled in Sri Lanka brings a lot to the table. It is not just about the spinners. We have quality seamers as well. We saw that in Mohali as well. For those two [Umesh and Aaron] to rush the batsmen on that sort of a wicket, takes a lot of heart, takes a lot of effort. So I was really happy to see that personally.”Also critical to the Mohali win were M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara. The second-wicket pair added 63 in the first innings and 86 in the second, utterly vital partnerships in a low-scoring match.”We all are very proud of both of them, the way they batted in the last game,” Kohli said. “We can learn a lot from them, the way they applied themselves. The batsmen didn’t apply themselves as much as we wanted to as a batting group and we are aware of that. But not taking credit away from the way both of them batted. I think they kept us in the game throughout and that is very important I think, two guys standing up in each innings.”Their contributions in both the innings were very crucial to us. I cannot be relaxed as a captain because I have to bat at four, so if I relax I will probably not be in the right kind of mindset to go out and play. But it is a nice feeling to see two professionals building a partnership and it is always a good feeling to know that you have two guys in front who know how to score runs and who know what they are doing out in the middle. It is always a very calming influence in the change room for the guys sitting outside or the bowlers.”I hope they can keep going in the same way, they are doing a wonderful job. Vijay has been so consistent for us, Pujara has made a tremendous comeback, he is willing to play at any position and give the team a kind of flexibility. That is a great attitude to see from both of them, looking to improve each other and stringing in those consistent performances which are indeed making the team win. I am really, really happy about that and I hope they can continue in the same way.”With AB de Villiers set to play his 100th Test, Kohli had words of praise for his Royal Challengers Bangalore team-mate, calling him a “genuine and good person”.”I want to congratulate him on playing his 100th Test,” Kohli said. “As an individual, I know him well. He’s a very genuine and good person. As an opponent he plays hard cricket. As a batsman, he’s among the top four-five batsmen in the world. I cannot say much more than that. His game and the kind of person he is are there for all to see. For me, he’s a very good cricketer and a very good person.”