These days the toss has become very important in the ongoing T20 World Cup in UAE. The teams winning the toss are deciding to field first and that is going in their favour.

Actually it is a bit easier to bowl first in UAE conditions. Later, due to dew, bowlers are finding it difficult to catch the ball. Not only the finger spinners but also the wrist spinners are facing more problems. In such a situation, it is interesting to see how the captain who loses the toss can avoid defeat.

I think the team batting first should score 175 plus. Losing least wickets in the power-play and scoring around 55 on the scoreboard during this time will help the team to score big. After that the period of tough examination will start. For bowlers, bowling later is no less than a litmus test. For this it is necessary that the fielders give good support to their bowlers by doing excellent fielding. This problem can be solved only with their cooperation.

It is surprising that Yuzvendra Chahal was not selected for this World Cup. The team has invested a lot in him. He could have used his experience in such situations. Wrist spinners can face more problems in these conditions. Spinners using fingers find it difficult to grip the ball.

This trouble cannot be avoided. Except that the fielders make presence on the field with outstanding work. Those who are fast bowlers, they can use slowers and cutters along with speed. The spinner can diversify his bowling by making more use of the crease. Plus he can make a big difference by changing the speed and changing the flight.

(The author is Virat Kohli’s coach and also a Dronacharya Awardee)

Jos Buttler smashed his maiden ton before England displayed an all-round performance to defeat Sri Lanka by 26 runs in the Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup here at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday. England scored 163 in 20 overs and then restricted Sri Lanka to 137 to register their fourth win in four games in the tournament. Chasing 164, Sri Lanka got off to a worst possible start as they lost opener Pathum Nissanka in the first over. Charith Asalanka and Kusal Perera also departed in the powerplay reducing Sri Lanka to 34/3 in 5.1 overs.

Adil Rashid dimissed both batsmen as Sri Lanka looked clueless during the chase. Avishka Fernando and Bhanuka Rajapaksa tried to score some runs but soon departed leaving Sri Lanka reeling at 76/5.

Wanindu Hasaranga and skipper Dasun Shanaka then stitched a 53-run stand for Sri Lanka but tight fielding and super bowling in the death overs saw the Asian side falling 27-run short.

Earlier, put into bat first, England got off to a bad start but Jos Buttler masterclass helped the side reach 163/4 in the 20 overs. Buttler slammed a blistering ton as England scored 163 after a bad start. The Eoin Morgan-led side scored 116 runs in the final 10 overs courtesy of Buttler’s first hundred in the T20Is. England were reduced to 35/3 but Buttler and Morgan stitched a 112-run stand for the fourth wicket to revive the innings.

Scores: England 163/4 (Jos Buttler 101, Morgan 40; Hasaranga 3-21) vs Sri Lanka 137/10 (Hasaranga 34, Rajapaksa 26; Moeen Ali 2-15)

India’s Akash Kumar stormed into the quarter-finals at the 2021 AIBA Men’s Boxing Championships with a comprehensive victory against Puerto Rico’s Caleb Tirado in Belgrade, Serbia on Sunday.

Both the boxers, playing their first match in the competition, started with an aggressive note and traded punches continuously in a highly busy first two rounds of the 54kg Last-16 bout. The 21-year-old Indian had received a walkover in his opening match while Tirade was given a bye in the first round. The tallest among the two pugilists, Akash made good use of his height and landed some sharp punches to tilt the momentum in his favour. Having taken a comfortable lead after the first two rounds, Akash showed tactical brilliance and started maintaining distance in the final round which denied his opponent any chance to make a comeback into the match.

With this dominating 5-0 triumph, Akash is now a win away from confirming a medal for the country at the ongoing Championships.

Later tonight, three more Indian pugilists will play their respective pre-quarterfinal bouts. In the +92kg category, Narender will be up against experienced campaigner and 2006 Asian Games champion Tajikistan’s Jakhon Qurbonov. While current Asian champion Sanjeet (92kg) and debutant Nishant Dev (71kg) will play against Georgia’s Giorgi Tchigladze and Mexico’s Alvarez Verde respectively.

Earlier, in the matches played late on Saturday, seasoned boxer Shiva Thapa made his way into the Last-16 stage with an easy 5-0 victory against John Brown in the 63.5kg round-of-32 contest. The five-time Asian champion put up a dominating show against his opponent from Sierra Leone to continue his winning run at the tournament.

Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo has said that the criticism of the club does not bother him as he has been playing for more than 18 years.

Ronaldo’s comments came after Manchester United defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 on Saturday in the Premier League. “The criticisms are always there. For me, it doesn’t bother me because I have played 18 years of football, so I know that one day people will say we are perfect and another day they will say we are crap. I know that and we have to deal with that, but it’s always better when the people praise you and they are happy with you,” Manchester United’s official website quoted Ronaldo as saying.

“Sometimes life is like that, sometimes we have to pass through bad moments and we have to change and we changed today. The team was a little bit under pressure, a little bit sad, but we knew that today we could give a good answer. We played good, we started the game very well. Of course my job is to help the team with my experience, my goals, my assists and I did that today and I feel so pleased with that. But in terms of the team, it was an unbelievable performance in my opinion,” he added.

Talking about the match between United and Spurs, Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani all got on the scoring sheet as Red Devils emerged triumphant.

United defeat Spurs 3-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday to move to fifth place in Premier League standings. The side now has 17 points from 10 matches.

On the other hand, Tottenham has slipped to the eighth spot with 15 points from 10 games.

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been ruled out of the ongoing T20 World Cup ahead of their match against South Africa.

Sources in the know of developments on Sunday told ANI that Shakib has been ruled out with hamstring injury. “He has a hamstring injury and while the scan reports will tell you about the grade of injury, he is ruled out of the tournament,” the source told ANI. Bangladesh has played three games in the Super 12 stage and are still searching for a win. Shakib’s injury is a major dent in the Asian side’s hopes in the showpiece event.

Earlier this week, the Event Technical Committee of the tournament approved Rubel Hossain as a replacement for Mohammad Saifuddin in the Bangladesh squad. Fast bowler Rubel, who has played 159 international matches including 28 T20Is, was named as a replacement after Saifuddin was ruled out due to a back injury. Rubel was a reserve as per the allowance for teams to travel with extra players in view of COVID-19 quarantine requirements.

The two new Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises — Lucknow and Ahmedabad — have been allotted a budget of Rs 33 crore to pick three players who go back into the pool before the mega auction begins.

In the mail sent by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to all the franchises, which has been accessed by ANI, the rules have been formally conveyed and the salary purse for all the teams has been set at Rs 90 crore. The amount is an increase from the IPL 2021 auction as then the purse was of Rs 85 crore.

The eight existing franchises (CSK, KKR, RCB, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings and SunRisers Hyderabad) have been allowed to retain up to four players.

The BCCI has set the retention window for the eight older franchises from November 1-30, and the window for Lucknow and Ahmedabad is from December 1-25.

If one of the eight existing franchises decides to retain four players, then they will be debited Rs 16 crore for the first player, Rs 12 crore for the second player, Rs 8 crore for the third player, and Rs 6 crore for the fourth player and the total deduction will be 42 crore.

For all ten franchises, the amounts for retaining either three, two, or one player are the same. If they decide to retain three players then the slabs are — Rs 15 crore, Rs 11 crore, and Rs 7 crore, and the total will equal upto 33 crore.

If franchises decide to retain just two players, then the slabs are — Rs 14 crore and Rs 10 crore. For only one player, Rs 14 crore will be deducted from a franchise’s auction purse.

For the eight franchises, rules have been set that they cannot retain more than three Indians (capped/uncapped). They cannot retain more than two overseas players and not more than two uncapped Indian players.

For the two new franchises — Lucknow and Ahmedabad — they cannot pick more than two Indian players (capped/uncapped). They cannot pick more than one overseas player and more than one Indian uncapped player.