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Andy Waller, the Zimbabwe coach, admitted that recent run-ins with Zimbabwe Cricket had affected the morale of the players, but the situation was not a factor in their 108-run defeat to Pakistan in the third ODI in Harare

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2013Andy Waller, the Zimbabwe coach, admitted that recent run-ins with Zimbabwe Cricket had affected the morale of the players, but the situation was not a factor in their 108-run defeat, and subsequent series loss, to Pakistan in the third ODI in Harare.The Zimbabwe players aborted training on Friday morning over unpaid dues and have also set Zimbabwe Cricket a deadline, which could put a cloud over the two-match Test series.”We talked about it and we obviously went out there and gave a 100%,” Waller said after the match. “But unfortunately the situation, and the way it all went about yesterday, it doesn’t matter who you are, it’s all going to be in the back of your head. And without making excuses, because Pakistan played damn good cricket, it’s very hard to say to the guys, ‘Please, let’s just try and focus today, concentrate on cricket and forget about what’s happened’. Unfortunately, it’s always going to be there. You need to be incredibly mentally strong to push it aside, which I am not sure can be done.”Having beaten Pakistan in the first ODI, expectations were high for Zimbabwe to pull off a rare series win. However, a top-order collapse, which saw them lose four wickets for 21 runs, made it difficult to chase the target of 261 after their bowlers had done a good job.”When I spoke to the guys at the break, I said to them, we probably could have chased down 260,” Waller said. “So, we believed that we could do it. Unfortunately, we went there and some of our senior players in the top order didn’t play the shots that should have been played and that was the problem, I think.”Waller also commended the side for the self-belief they had shown, stating that the series against India and now Pakistan were important learning experiences.”I think, we lost today but we gained a huge amount since India have come. Against India, the first two games were okay, then we didn’t play well. And to then come back, for our guys to believe they could have beaten Pakistan tells me that our guys have suddenly got the belief and I think we showed during the series that we have got some quality cricketers,” he said. “I think it’s the mental side we need to improve on and it’s very difficult, with the little cricket we are playing, to learn to handle the pressure, because basically, pressure got to us today.”Pakistan have a world-class bowling attack and I think the way we played them in the T20 and in the first two ODIs, we showed that we could play their quality bowlers, we showed that we could play their quality spinners and we did that and that’s all added to huge belief for our guys. I think that we can do more on a slightly more regular basis.”With the current scenario of delayed player dues and issues with ZC, Waller admitted there was little he could do to help players, except get them to focus on cricket.”I am trying to do the best I can as far as the players’ side of it is concerned. Unfortunately, I have no control over the other issues that are going on. I have just got to try and get them to push those problems away as much as they can and focus on the cricket, which is really the only thing I can do and just hope they can try and be mentally strong to be able to handle that situation.”

Quinton de Kock was pleased to score runs on the subcontinent, but disappointed in finishing on the losing end of the Super Over against Otago Volts

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2013Lions batsman Quinton de Kock’s unbeaten 109 was not enough to prevent a heart-breaking Super Over loss to Otago Volts, and their subsequent ouster from the Champions League. De Kock was chiefly responsible for putting Lions in a strong position, and smashed a four and six in the Super Over when 14 was required for victory. However, off the final ball, he failed to take an apparent second run which would have taken them to victory, and keep their tournament hopes alive.”Yeah, it is difficult,” de Kock said after the loss. “I mean I came here and I tried to do my best for the team. I feel bad for the team. Yeah it is sad to lose especially after getting some runs.”De Kock’s century was an innings of two parts. His first 50 runs were a rather scratchy affair, with some ill-timed shots around the wicket. However, once he passed fifty, he started to open up and take advantage of some poor bowling from Otago Volts, who bowled a number of short deliveries which de Kock accepted gleefully.This innings was a landmark for de Kock, who has not enjoyed the best of times in the subcontinent of late. He was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad in this year’s auction for his base price of $20,000, and did not do too much after, with a duck on debut, scoring only 6 runs in 3 innings. He was duly dropped from the side and did not feature for the rest of the campaign, despite Sunrisers reaching the final four. Following that, he endured a torrid ODI tour of Sri Lanka, scoring only 55 runs in three innings.”Yeah I finally scored some runs in the subcontinent. I have been working hard on my game, especially here on these kind of wickets. Yeah, let’s hope that my hard work has paid off now.”His captain, Alviro Petersen, had praise for his young ward. “Yeah he is a good player,” Petersen said. “We know he is a special talent, we have played together and every time he seems to score some runs and put us in a good position.”When queried about the loss, Petersen was most critical of the bowler’s performance. “I am more disappointed in the way we bowled. It is the worst I have seen the Lions bowl so it is something we need to work on, and it’s something we have to go back to the drawing board and come back stronger.”Petersen was also upfront about the lack of experience his players had in these conditions. “Most of our team hasn’t played in the subcontinent. We don’t have a lot of international players. We are a team that relies on every single player to perform well, you know, and we just came together here so we are disappointed but we need to keep our heads high.”

As the IPL reaches its halfway point, Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians find themselves rooted at the bottom of the table, and both teams can’t afford to leave any more room for error

The Preview by Sidharth Monga02-May-2015

Match facts

Sunday, May 3, 2015
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)2:08

O’Brien: Mumbai have finally got combination right

Big Picture

This is a game between sides that played the most positive Twenty20 cricket over the last two IPLs. In 2013, Mumbai Indians by playing five specialist bowlers, five specialist batsmen and a wicketkeeper-batsman. If six can’t score the runs in 20 overs, seven won’t make a big difference. No specialist was sacrificed for a bits-and-pieces players. In 2014 Kings XI Punjab didn’t think of what-ifs, and put their best batsmen at the top. Twenty overs is a short time, make use of it.This year is proving it is easy to implement such idyllic plans only if your players are in form. Kings XI have two wins from eight games, and Mumbai are only slightly better at three. Mumbai have lost two overseas players, and Lasith Malinga is no longer the threat he was two years ago; Kings XI’s top order can’t buy a run, and Mitchell Johnson and Glenn Maxwell haven’t quite warmed up yet.If Kings XI win this game, they might just sink both the teams. To end up in the top four you roughly want to want half your matches; if Kings XI make it three wins each for these teams, both will need to win each of their last five games. Suffice to say Kings XI can’t afford to lose this one.The only game in Mohali so far was played on a track so green it was hard to tell it from the outfield. The ball swung around, and Sunrisers Hyderabad – the best swing attack in the competition – beat the hosts by 20 runs. Expect Johnson to come back, and a bit of a showdown between the quick bowlers of both the sides.

Form guide

Kings XI Punjab LLLWL (last five matches, most recent first)
Mumbai Indians WWLWL

Watch out for…

The Vs of Kings XI. Virender, Vijay and Vohra. None of them have had a big innings with more than half the competition over. Look no further for the main source of trouble. Their power-packed middle order has hardly had a hit without having to worry about rebuilding. Whichever of the two play on Sunday will have to give Kings XI a decent start to build on from.Ambati Rayudu finally came good for Mumbai Indians in their win over Rajasthan Royals, but one in eight for a batsman who doesn’t bowl and is not asked to take the responsibility of batting in the top four can’t be good enough. Rayudu will have to kick on for Mumbai to have a chance of progressing from here.

Stats and trivia

• With 93 wickets, R Vinay Kumar is the second-most-successful quick, and fifth-most overall, in IPL. Team-mate Lasith Malinga leads the tally with 129, with three spinners Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan Singh in between.
• Kings XI’s opening partnership has averaged 13.87 this IPL. No other team has had such poor starts.
• M Vijay has been run out 11 times in the IPL, the joint-highest with Gautam Gambhir and Venugopal Rao.

Quotes

“The big thing is to not let these performances define us.”
“We are starting to peak our performance right now.”

India’s tour to Bangladesh, that includes a Test and three ODIs, may be a short jaunt to a country where they have enjoyed success in the past but it is also an opportunity for India’s selection panel to set in motion their plans for the next generation

Amol Karhadkar19-May-20155:53

Agarkar: Don’t see Raina in Test squad

If previously India’s targets were focused on the World Cup and the back-to-back away tours, they are now in need of a reset. India’s tour to Bangladesh, that includes a Test and three ODIs, may be a short jaunt to a country where they have enjoyed success in the past but it is also an opportunity for India’s selection panel to set in motion their plans for the next generation.With every passing series, the influence of MS Dhoni, who has already retired from Tests, will gradually wane as Virat Kohli will look to leave his own mark. There may also be changes from how the composition of squads have been conceived in the past.Sweeping changes are unlikely, but decisions on Wednesday may reveal a peek into the team’s future direction. There are, however, a few short-term issues to be addressed.To rest or not to rest
Bangladesh may have had an impressive outing against Pakistan, but that will have no bearing on India’s decision to field their best eleven, despite the fact that the tour could offer an opportunity to rest key players who have been playing non-stop for the last ten months.It is likely that the best available eleven will be fielded in the Test match, scheduled to start in Fatullah on June 10. There has been speculation about the availability of Test captain Virat Kohli, who took over as MS Dhoni’s successor after the latter’s retirement midway through the Test series in Australia, but he appears certain to play the Test.The selectors may, however, consider resting some of the regulars for the ODI series. Dhoni, Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Umesh Yadav and R Ashwin are unlikely to feature in the ODIs, thus opening doors for fringe players. If Dhoni, Kohli, Rohit and Ashwin are rested, Suresh Raina may be asked to lead the team yet again.Will the selectors back Karn Sharma as the second spinner in the Test team?•Getty Images

If Dhoni skips or is rested for the series, Wriddhiman Saha is the frontrunner to don the gloves in his absence, with Sanju Samson likely to be considered as a back-up wicketkeeper-batsman.If Kohli and Rohit are rested, then Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary and Robin Uthappa are among the contenders for the slots. If the selectors decide to look at an untested talent pool, then Karun Nair and Shreyas Iyer would stand an outside chance of selection.If Ashwin is rested, Parvez Rasool could be brought in, and Harbhajan Singh’s name is also likely to be discussed.Second spinner for Test
India’s last Test outing was in Australia more than four months ago. Karn Sharma was handed a debut in the first Test of that series, before Ashwin played the three remaining Tests. Axar Patel was drafted into the Test squad as a like-for-like replacement for an injured Ravindra Jadeja.With Jadeja having been far from impressive in away games last year – his last series in England fetched him nine wickets from four Tests at 46.67 – the selectors are likely to look beyond him for Tests. It remains to be seen if they prefer to stick with Karn and Axar as the second spinner. There is speculation that Amit Mishra and Harbhajan Singh may be considered. Mishra won’t be a bad choice but Harbhajan – who has bowled well in the IPL – has featured in only three first-class matches this season, picking six wickets at an average of 42.Fitness issues
Mohammed Shami is unlikely to be available for selection, as he is still recovering from a knee injury. Zaheer Khan, on the other hand, played a few games during the second half of the IPL. It will be interesting to see if Zaheer is considered or if the selectors decide to move to the next generation.

Kevin Pietersen, skippering St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League while the Investec Ashes takes place without him, is exploring opportunities as a freelance batting consultant

Peter Miller10-Jul-2015As the Ashes takes shape in Cardiff, Kevin Pietersen is 4500 miles away playing for the St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League. While his thoughts on all things English cricket are well worn enough to be known by every fan of the sport worldwide, it is rare to hear Pietersen talk about his experiences as a travelling T20 batsman, how the format is evolving and where the shortest format sits in relation to the Test game.By Pietersen’s own admission he can live without fielding, but the art of batsmanship still excites him. As he reaches the end of his playing career – he celebrated his 35th birthday last month – he says is duty bound to pass on what he has learned.”Your responsibility when you finish is to hand over your knowledge and that is what I have been doing a hell of a lot,” he said. “I did it at Big Bash, I’ve done it at the IPL and I am doing it here at the CPL and it is just amazing.Pietersen takes pleasure when he hears his Zouks team-mate, Andre Fletcher, and others like him, describe him as a role model.”I had a wonderful opportunity working with him last year and adding a hundred and whatever stand the other day against Barbados Tridents batting together. It is just so cool that you can spend time with youngsters like that and grow people’s games and make people feel a lot more confident about the job that they are doing.”When Pietersen does call time on his career he says he is attracted to the role of batting consultant. He says discussions are under way although he would not be drawn on with whom. What he is very clear about is that when he does give up playing he is not interested in a coaching role in the year-round slog that is international cricket.”There are so many other things going on with business and my life that I can never, ever commit to being on the road 24/7 as a coach of an international team. There is no chance: that is not something that I am interested in. But I would be interested in speaking – and I have been speaking to some set-ups – about doing consultancy work which brings me in for a few weeks at a time and helps out with young batters.”Despite having played 127 Twenty20 matches all over the world, Pietersen says he is still learning, and that the process of information-sharing with young batsmen teaches him as much about his game as it does them about theirs.”Absolutely, you never, ever stop learning. And it is amazing that when you go and spend time with a youngster it just brings back memories of how you played and it also brings back simple techniques that you may have forgotten about and you think ‘I can actually do that now’. I have started doing some of the drills that I have taught others to do.”It is amazing that you think you know everything but that is when you come unstuck in our great game. The stuff that you might have forgotten and you take for granted when you are teaching somebody younger than you and learning the ropes, it brings back brilliant memories and simple basic techniques that you need to perform.”Pietersen is wary of comparing the different franchise tournaments that have popped up around the world, but it is interesting to hear how the events in Australia and the West Indies differ from the IPL. But it seems that the CPL’s reputation for freedom is well earned.”I don’t like comparing the competitions because they all bring positives to the domestic structure, but, yes, there is a lot more freedom at the CPL. It is similar to the Big Bash where you do whatever you want.”You can go out, you can spend a day on a boat, you can go play golf. You can go and party. You can spend a lot of time with friends. You’ve got the freedom to be yourself. Obviously in the IPL it is a lot more strict. I wasn’t there this year but it seems from all reports that it was pretty much ring-fenced and sort of closed off which players don’t like.”Speaking of the Big Bash, Pietersen says that playing in Australia when it isn’t an Ashes contest could not be more different.”Of course, it is hugely different. My relationship with the Australian public now is an amazing one because I am part of the Australian family in terms of the Melbourne Stars, the commentary stints that I did there, and just being about to play as a local in their local league, growing their league, growing their franchises and being attached to something that the Australians take to over a great period of the year.”I have always loved Australia, but obviously in the heat of an Ashes battle it is quite different, but being part of a franchise and having a home in Australia it is totally different.”I had such a positive reception whenever I walked out to bat, if I was commentating, if I was on the boundary, It was totally, totally different. I don’t think they saw me as just a pom, I think they saw me as someone who was there to entertain, somebody who was there to encourage the franchise system, somebody who was there to positively influence the game in Australia.”Pietersen has recently been made captain of his CPL side with the news that Darren Sammy will miss the rest of the tournament with a fractured hand. His association with T20 cricket and the franchises it has spawned grows year on year. Despite this he says Test cricket should remain the way that players are judged.”I think in terms of the not too distant future you will see guys definitely picking T20 ahead of 50-over cricket. I think that the guys that play Test cricket and have great careers in Test cricket are duty bound to talk positively about Test cricket because no one cares about your numbers in T20 cricket, no one cares about your numbers in one-day cricket.”People do care and your true test of character and your judgement amongst your peers is on your Test cricketing ability, not how you whack a little spinner or medium pacer in a franchise tournament.”It is how you deal with Test conditions. That is when you get tested – in Test match cricket – and that is where you are ranked by your peers. When you walk around the breakfast room of a hotel you don’t get judged on your T20 numbers you get judged on your Test numbers.”

AB de Villiers will not play the forthcoming ODI series against Bangladesh after South Africa released the batsman from the squad for the last two ODIs

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jul-2015AB de Villiers will not play the forthcoming ODI series against Bangladesh after South Africa released him from the squad. Hashim Amla will lead the team in his absence.De Villiers was unavailable for the first ODI against Bangladesh on July 10 due to a one-match suspension that was handed to him during the World Cup.South Africa had maintained a slow over-rate in their semi-final against New Zealand in March. It was de Villiers’ second such offence in 12 months, the first coming against Australia in Perth in November 2014, leaving him open to the ban. So South Africa’s team management decided to release him from the remaining two games as well to try other batsmen and allow de Villiers time with his family.”AB’s presence and contributions will be missed but we have a hectic playing schedule this season and we felt this would be a great opportunity to develop the next tier of batters during this series, like we are doing with our bowlers,” coach Russell Domingo said. “We would also like to give him the peace of mind of being close to his wife with the imminent birth of his first-born child.”De Villiers was already going to miss the Tests having asked for paternity leave.

The first Test between Bangladesh and South Africa ended in a tame draw after rain washed out the last two days without a ball being bowled

The Report by Firdose Moonda25-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by ball details 1:45

Isam: The best Bangladesh have played against South Africa

None of the eight Tests between South Africa and Bangladesh before this one had gone to a fifth day, and this one didn’t either. Not properly at least. The monsoon rains, which had washed out the fourth day ensured the fifth met the same fate and poured a wet blanket over what was set up for an intriguing finale.Despite curtailed second and third days, the match was delicately poised with South Africa almost drawing level with Bangladesh after the hosts had taken early honours. Bangladesh posted their highest total against South Africa after bowling them out for under 250 and exerted pressure for the better part of the first three days. Mustafizur Rahman, Bangladesh’s latest find in the limited-overs format, proved himself in the longest version as well with a mix of clever cutters, while Liton Das, in only his second match, showed solid temperament in building the lead.But South Africa, who had not played a Test in more than six months, had started to shed the rust as the game went on. Dale Steyn, who ended up playing street soccer with local lads in Chittagong, found his rhythm and aggression in the latter stages of the Bangladesh innings and plucked three wickets to take his overall tally to 399. South Africa’s openers, Dean Elgar and Stiaan van Zyl, seemed to have sussed out the technique required to bat on a slow surface, which Temba Bavuma had worked out earlier. The rest of South Africa’s line-up would have wanted to emulate that.They will have to wait for next week to do that. The second Test in Mirpur is scheduled to begin on Thursday and so is the rain. Showers have been forecast for all five days which may leave both sides wondering not whether they could have done anything differently against each other, but whether they could have done anything differently if the series was not scheduled in the wet season.

Australia’s Test tour of Bangladesh is in doubt after Cricket Australia delayed the departure of its team due to increased security concerns

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Sep-20151:11

Australia awaiting further security advice before taking further decisions on Bangladesh tour

Australia’s Test tour of Bangladesh is in doubt after Cricket Australia delayed the departure of its team due to increased security concerns. The players were due to depart for Bangladesh on Monday but that has now been postponed as Cricket Australia awaits further security advice before determining if the tour will go ahead.Cricket Australia published a press release on Saturday night in which chief executive James Sutherland cited “recent advice from a range of Australian government sources” that identified potential security risks to Australian interests in Bangladesh.”We have received advice from DFAT [Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] and based on that information we are working with security experts and the Bangladesh Cricket Board on a revised security plan for the tour,” Sutherland said. “We want the tour to go ahead and are planning for that, but the safety and security of our players and support staff is our number-one priority and won’t be compromised.”We will wait to receive updated security information early in the week before confirming the team’s travel arrangements. In the meantime, we are working with the Australian Cricketers’ Association and keeping our players and support staff fully informed.”Sources at the BCB has said that they were taken by surprise by the developments. There had been no security alerts issued in the country.However, the Australian government’s travel advice website, Smartraveller, issued updated travel advice for Bangladesh on Friday. It said “There is reliable information to suggest that militants may be planning to target Australian interests in Bangladesh.”The original tour schedule had Australia playing a warm-up game in Fatullah from October 3, followed by two Tests in Chittagong and Mirpur. It is due to be Australia’s first Test tour of Bangladesh since 2006, although the team has travelled there for one-day matches and last visited in 2014 for the ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

No bowler has taken more wickets than Mitchell Starc in 2015, and the seamer said he was hoping to sustain his fine form over a six-Test home summer against New Zealand and West Indies

Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane03-Nov-20151:14

‘Kane Williamson NZ’s mainstay’ – Starc

There is not a bowler on the planet who has more international wickets this year than Mitchell Starc. His tally of 75 puts him well in front of the second-placed Yasir Shah. Extend it to the combined first-class, List A and T20 formats, and Starc is even further in front: his 138 wickets across those forms have come at the remarkable average of 16.07, and John Hastings is next with 108 wickets.In short, Starc is in the form of his life. Player of the Tournament in the World Cup, he last month annihilated almost every team in the Matador Cup with 26 wickets at 8.11, then topped off his Test preparation with eight wickets with the pink ball in last week’s Sheffield Shield round. Now it is back to the red ball to see if that recent form translates.It has not always. In fact, with Starc, something has always seemed to get lost in translation between the white ball and the red. It meant that the first three years of his Test career resembled the hokey-pokey: Australia put their left-armer in, they put their left-armer out, they put their left-armer in. Now it’s time for him to shake it all about.He made a good start to a red-ball resurgence during the Ashes, when he was Australia’s leading wicket taker, and now the challenge is to sustain that same form over a six-Test home summer against New Zealand and West Indies. It was against New Zealand at the Gabba that Starc made his Test debut four years ago, but it is only now that he is starting to make himself a consistent Test bowler.”The last 12 to 18 months, to play a lot of cricket I think has been the best thing for me,” Starc said. “There’s only so much you can learn and work on in the nets. I guess I’ve had a bit of an extended run with the white ball and whether it be through form or through injury I haven’t had that with the red ball. To have a bit of that in the last six months has been nice and I think that’s probably shown in getting better with the red ball.”Starc played every Test during this year’s Ashes in England and was his country’s leading wicket taker, an achievement that encouraged not only Starc but the Australian coaching staff as well. Coach Darren Lehmann said that although there were times in England that Starc lacked consistency, he expected a big summer from him back home.”He’ll be fine, I think it’s just experience and confidence,” Lehmann said. “He’s had some really good spells for us over the last 12 months with the red ball. It’s probably about being really consistent with what he wants to achieve, getting the lengths and lines right. He was very good at stages in England and then sometimes he leaked too many runs. I expect him to bowl really well with the red ball [at home].”Starc’s form is so impressive at the moment – particularly his mastery of the fast, inswinging yorker – that plenty of Matador Cup batsmen must have wished the Bangladesh Test tour had gone ahead last month and he had not been let loose on them in Sydney. Cricket Australia insisted he rest from one of the matches, against Queensland, but he told them that he otherwise just wanted to keep bowling.”I had a bit of input, so I wanted to play a lot,” Starc said. “I didn’t want to rest that Queensland game but they got that one over the line – resting’s not going to do anything for my body. I just want to be available for every game, as long as I’m fit enough and bowling well enough.”Australia will hope that New Zealand still carry some of the scars from the World Cup final in March, when Starc’s inswinging yorker rattled the stumps of Brendon McCullum in the first over of the match, setting the tone for Australia’s win. Starc took 2 for 20 in that game, as well as 6 for 28 in the earlier group match against New Zealand in Auckland, and he hopes they remember.”We’ll definitely be reminding them that we’ve bowled them out for 150 and 180 on very good wickets,” he said. “It’s one-day cricket, it’s something we can look back on and take a bit of confidence from but it’s a different challenge and nice to be playing in Australia and taking on guys that probably haven’t played too much cricket in these conditions.”New Zealand opener Martin Guptill said it was important he and his team-mates prepared for Starc’s yorker, but did not let it dominate their thoughts.”He’s got a very quick yorker and it does swing, but you don’t want to just be preparing for that,” Guptill said. “He’s got other balls in his arsenal as well. You’ve just got to watch the ball and play each ball as well as you can. I’m just trying to go out there and do my processes, and if I get a yorker I try and clamp down on it.”

Veteran allrounder Rajat Bhatia is set to make his Rajasthan debut against Maharashtra on October 22

Sidharth Monga in Jaipur21-Oct-2015Rajat Bhatia, the former Delhi allrounder, has found a new home. Starting with the Group A Ranji Trophy match against Maharashtra in Jaipur on Thursday, Bhatia will represent Rajasthan, which is being run by a court-appointed ad-hoc committee.For a player to get a no-objection certificate (NOC) in the middle of the season is not a routine event, but it has prevented Bhatia’s whole season going to waste, and has given a young Rajasthan team an experienced hand, which they have often drawn from professionals.With four points from three games, Rajasthan are placed eighth in the nine-team pool, and face the risk of relegation. They played the first game at home, and shot Delhi out for a low score on the first day, but couldn’t convert that into an outright win. After that they travelled to east India to lose to Assam and concede a first-innings lead to Bengal.How Bhatia would have loved to make this transition before the first round, and play a team that has hurt him, Delhi. He is still not happy with the treatment he got. “I was sure my season was gone,” he said. “I thought maybe after the first game. Maybe after the next… but it was clear they were not going to pick me. This match, looking at the Delhi side, I can’t agree with the statement that I don’t fit in the XI.”I asked the selectors as to what was the reason for not picking me. I have not been dropped based on performance, or based on fitness. There was no explanation. They just said sorry. I don’t like to believe it but I have heard that the selectors wanted to pick me, but Gautam [Gambhir] didn’t want to.”Gambhir, the captain, of course told the selectors that Bhatia does not fit in his XI, so the selectors said they didn’t want to bench such a senior player. Given all that, Bhatia is thankful he wasn’t picked at all. “It’s a blessing in disguise that they didn’t pick me under some sort of pressure,” he said. “What if they had given me one game and then benched me? Then I wouldn’t have had this opportunity too.”I am thankful to the BCCI and to Rajasthan that I have been given this opportunity even after the deadline. That they saw that this experienced player sitting at home, so if he is available for Rajasthan, why not?”Bhatia has a prior association with Rajasthan. He was picked by Rajasthan Royals at the 2014 IPL auction after Kolkata Knight Riders didn’t retain him. Bhatia is the most capped Indian non-international in the IPL. Even though he turns 36 the day he makes his first-class debut for Rajasthan, he is a valued workhorse on the domestic scene. If he plays all the five remaining matches he would have played 100 first-class games. He has scored 5394 runs at 48.16 and has taken 119 wickets. Rajasthan hope his inclusion will bring some stability to their middle order, while his handy seam-ups provide a foil for Deepak Chahar’s swing and Nathu Singh’s pace.Rajasthan are hopeful of playing on a lively track that assists their quicks. But they are also mindful of being up against a settled Maharashtra batting line-up boasting of Kedar Jadhav, Rohit Motwani and Harshad Khadiwale. Maharashtra’s penchant to play attacking cricket will add some life to the contest.Rajasthan, though, can’t afford to take lightly the Maharashtra attack of Domnic Muthuswamy and Samad Fallah, who can be dangerous in these conditions. Having taken the first-innings honours against Haryana and Odisha, Maharashtra are placed fifth, a point behind defending champions Karnataka.