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Suryakumar Yadav has been ruled out of the opening round of the 2024-25 Duleep Trophy to nurse a hand injury he sustained during last week’s pre-season fixture for Mumbai at the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament in Coimbatore. Suryakumar has been advised rest and is currently at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for a routine assessment.Suryakumar didn’t bat in the second innings of the fixture against TNCA XI last week, after injuring his hand while fielding on the third day. At the time, the Mumbai team management confirmed the move was precautionary keeping in mind his participation in the season-opening Duleep Trophy.Suryakumar, India’s T20I captain, recently expressed keenness to pitch for a Test comeback. Having not played any first-class cricket in over a year, Suryakumar made himself available for the pre-season Buchi Babu Tournament to tune up for red-ball cricket with India slated to play 10 Tests over the next five months, starting with the two-match series against Bangladesh from September 19 in Chennai.Related

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• Duleep first round: Illness rules Siraj and Malik out; Jadeja withdrawn

• Suryakumar picks up hand injury during Buchi Babu Tournament

• Suryakumar wants to 'earn the Test spot again'

Suryakumar, whose only Test so far came last year against Australia, was named in the India C squad, led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, who will be taking on Shreyas Iyer’s India D in Anantapur. India A and India B will simultaneously play the other opening-round fixture at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.Recently, fast bowlers Mohammed Siraj and Umran Malik had also been ruled out of the opening round of Duleep Trophy because of illness, and Ravindra Jadeja had been withdrawn, though no reason was provided for him by the BCCI. Navdeep Saini and Gaurav Yadav will replace Siraj and Malik for the India B and C squads respectively.Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar Reddy has been declared fit by the NCA. His inclusion was subject to fitness after he was diagnosed with a groin injury that led to his withdrawal from India’s T20I squad to Zimbabwe in July.

Revised squads for Duleep Trophy first round

India A: Shubman Gill (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Tanush Kotian, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan, Vidwath Kaverappa, Kumar Kushagra, Shaswat Rawat.India B: Abhimanyu Easwaran (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Musheer Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, R Sai Kishore, Mohit Awasthi, N Jagadeesan (wk)India C: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Abishek Porel (wk), B Indrajith, Hrithik Shokeen, Manav Suthar, Gaurav Yadav, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Anshul Khamboj, Himanshu Chauhan, Mayank Markande, Aryan Juyal (wk), Sandeep WarrierIndia D: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Atharva Taide, Yash Dubey, Devdutt Padikkal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ricky Bhui, Saransh Jain, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Aditya Thakare, Harshit Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Sengupta, KS Bharat (wk), Saurabh Kumar

Matthew Mott has stepped down as England Men’s white-ball head coach with immediate effect.Mott was halfway through a four-year contract, during which time he presided over triumph at the 2022 T20 World Cup as well as the side’s failure to defend that title this year or the 50-over crown they won in 2019 at the 2023 edition, where they won just three of their nine games.He will be replaced by assistant coach Marcus Trescothick on an interim basis for the rest of the home summer, which includes three T20Is and five ODIs against Australia in September.Related

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• Mott's departure shifts focus to Buttler and need for a counterpoint

• Key, Mott in spotlight as England white-ball team reaches crossroads

On Sunday, Mott met with Rob Key, ECB managing director of England men’s cricket, to gauge his view on the last nine months as part of a review into the drop in team’s limited-overs performances.”I am immensely proud to have coached the England Men’s team; it has been an honour,” Mott said. “We have put everything into trying to achieve success over the past two years, and I am incredibly proud of the character and passion that the team has displayed during that period, including a magnificent T20 World Cup victory in 2022.”I would like to thank the players, management, and everyone at the ECB for their commitment, support, and hard work during my time. I leave with many great friendships and incredible memories. Finally, I would like to thank the England fans, who have always backed us and given us fantastic support wherever we have travelled around the world.”Appointed in May 2022, Mott also led England to white-ball series victories against Australia, Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand and Pakistan. But it appears that England’s most recent campaign, where they were knocked out of the T20 World Cup in the semi-finals by eventual winners India, was pivotal to the decision.Matthew Mott was halfway through his contract•Getty Images

Key said the search for a full-time replacement would begin immediately. He believed the rapport between Trescothick and white-ball captain Jos Buttler “will help us maintain continuity and stability”.”On behalf of everyone connected to England cricket and me personally, I would like to thank Matthew for all he has done for the team since his appointment,” Key said. “He can be proud of his achievements as he leaves his post as one of only three coaches who have won a Men’s World Cup with England.”After three World Cup cycles in a short space of time, I now feel the team needs a new direction to prepare for the challenges ahead. This decision was not made lightly, but I believe it is the right time for the team’s future success. With our focus shifting towards the Champions Trophy early next year and the next cycle of white-ball competition, it is crucial that we ensure the team is focused and prepared.”Trescothick, added: “England cricket is in a strong position, and the potential is huge, given the quality we have available. It is about harnessing that potential and developing the work that has already been put in place by Matthew Mott and the rest of the set-up. I’m excited about the challenge and shaping how we want to play.”Eoin Morgan, England’s former World Cup-winning captain who now works as a commentator, recently dismissed reports that he could replace Mott as nothing more than “speculation”.Other names such as Andrew Flintoff, currently in his first coaching role with Northern Superchargers in the men’s Hundred, Mike Hussey, who was part of the coaching staff for the successful 2022 T20 World Cup campaign, and Kumar Sangakkara have also been touted for the role. However, it is understood no prospective successors to Mott have been sounded out at this juncture.

For the second season running Melbourne Stars will have pick one in the BBL overseas draft while local rivals Melbourne Renegades will follow as second.The weighted lottery – split between the four sides who missed finals and those who qualified – has Sydney Sixers, last season’s beaten finalists, coming out eighth while defending champions Brisbane Heat will have pick six.Stars will hope for better fortune with their first pick, potentially a platinum player, than last season when they went for England’s Harry Brook only for him to withdraw from the tournament to manage his workload.Related

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Picks can be traded between clubs and that has already happened once with Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Thunder swapping their second-round positions as part of Wes Agar’s move to Thunder.Stars will have the first pick in rounds one, two and four with the order reversing in round three meaning Sixers get pick 17.The draft will again have four price bands: platinum (AU$420,000), gold (AU$300,000), silver (AU$200,000) and bronze (AU$100,000).Cricket Australia

Clubs can sign up to four players overall with one of those available under the new multi-year contract option brought in to try to secure key names ahead of rival T20 leagues. Sam Billings became the first player to agree to a deal under that after signing for three years with Thunder. If a fourth player is selected, they become a club’s first overseas replacement.The WBBL draft order was revealed yesterday with Hobart Hurricanes getting pick one.

Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match late in the contest. He first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get, and the game looked set to turn on its head.However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed his side across the line off the last ball of the 19th over to give his side victory in their opening encounter of T20 World Cup 2024.The late Sri Lanka surge aside, this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling in the first innings. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad’s three-for through the middle overs also pegged Sri Lanka back.Mustafizur was especially instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, Sri Lanka’s inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.

The tight finish

It should never have got so close. With five overs to go, Bangladesh had only 25 runs left to get, five wickets in hand, and their two most experienced batters – Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah – were at the crease.But then Shakib uppercut a Matheesha Pathirana short ball, and Maheesh Theekshana took an outstanding diving catch at deep third, surging in from the rope to intercept the ball inches from the ground.And then Sri Lanka’s other slinger, Thushara, took two wickets in two balls in the next over – the 18th of the innings, first bowling Rishad who had tried to hit him inside out over cover, and then nailing Taskin with a toe-crusher that would have hit leg stump.Thushara had three more balls left in the over, with Bangladesh still needing 12. Sri Lanka’s best chance of stealing victory was for him to get another wicket before his spell ended. But Tanzim Hasan Sakib survived, and Mahmudullah was on strike next over.Next over, bowled by Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka had used up all their frontliners hunting for wickets), Mahmudullah bludgeoned a thigh-high full toss into the deep square leg stands to ease Bangladesh’s nerves.But there was more drama to come. With two runs needed – but desperate to keep strike off the last ball of the 19th over – Mahmudullah ventured a risky single to mid-off, and would have been out had Wanindu Hasaranga connected with his shy at the stumps. But the Sri Lanka captain didn’t, and the overthrows helped Bangladesh limp over the line.1:32

Tamim: Hridoy’s 20-ball 40 changed the game

Bangladesh boss bowling death overs

The definitive period of play, though, were the last seven overs of Sri Lanka’s innings. They had arrived at the start of the 14th over in okay shape – 100 runs on the board and seven wickets in hand.But then they nosedived. Rishad first dismissed Charith Asalanka, having him caught slog sweeping at deep square leg, after his teammates had kept Asalanka quiet through much of the middle overs. Next ball, he had Hasaranga caught at slip with a ball that dipped and gripped.This double strike pushed Sri Lanka into a tailspin, losing their next six wickets for 25 runs. Only one boundary would be hit in the last six overs, as batters repeatedly tried cross-batted shots against bowlers varying their pace and got themselves out, almost in frustration. Rishad got his three wickets in this period, and Taskin, Mustafizur, and Tanzim Hasan got one each.

Nissanka’s bright start

That Sri Lanka even got to 125, rather than crashing out in double figures as they did against South Africa, was down to their best batter – opener Pathum Nissanka. He struck seven fours and a six, favouring the leg side, and maintained a strike rate of 168 across his 28-ball innings.The turning point for Sri Lanka’s innings, after which they struck only two intentional boundaries (seriously), was when Mustafizur dismissed Nissanka with a cutter towards the end of the ninth over. Until that point, Sri Lanka’s run rate was above 7.50. Afterwards, it was less than five.

Hridoy’s sixes

Given how close the match was in the end, Towhid Hridoy’s four sixes – all of them against Hasaranga – also had an impact. Three of them came back to back to back, at the start of the 12th over. The first two came off slog sweeps, and the third off a beautiful inside-out shot over cover.Hasaranga would trap him lbw next ball, but Hridoy had already landed the important blows. It was these sixes that gave Bangladesh the room to stutter towards the end and still win with two wickets in hand and one over to spare.

Guwahati, the newest venue in Test cricket, might have turned session breaks upside down, but it also brought about some normalcy to Test cricket amid the pandemonium in Kolkata and Perth. The pitch called for watchfulness in the first hour, eased out once the moisture dried out, and then offered a bit of turn here and there on a day when 247 runs were scored for the loss of six wickets.The quality and depth in India’s bowling shone through on the flat surface, making it necessary for series leaders South Africa to take risks if they wanted to score over three an over. India were good enough to get wickets when the batters did take risks.A new captain in Rishabh Pant couldn’t prevent India from losing their eighth toss in the last nine Tests, but Kuldeep Yadav is just the bowler you need if you lose the toss on a typical Indian surface. He took three wickets to go with Jasprit Bumrah’s ever-reliable control for figures of 17-6-38-1.Related

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South Africa’s batting depth made sure India had to keep working hard through the day, even after they had been reduced to 201 for 5. Tony de Zorzi and No. 7 Senuram Muthusamy, the only one in the line-up to average over 40 in Tests, added 45 for the sixth wicket, but Mohammed Siraj topped up a four-over spell with the old ball with the wicket of de Zorzi in what proved to be the dying moments of the day’s play.South Africa will be disappointed that all of their batters got starts but no one reached fifty. This is something that had happened in Kolkata as well, but that pitch broke up rapidly to make sure it didn’t hurt the visitors.This Guwahati pitch played way better for batters, but also kept the bowlers interested. Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton put on 82 for the first wicket, then the highest partnership of the series, before Bumrah removed Markram with what proved to be the last ball before the tea, the first session break of the day, taken at 11am after the early start at 9am to make up for early sunrise and sunset in the eastern-most Test venue in India.Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs added 84 together•AFP/Getty Images

Until then, Markram and Rickelton had looked solid even though they had been tested thoroughly. It took Markram 17 balls to get off the mark, and he was reprieved by KL Rahul at second slip on the 18th. Nitish Kumar Reddy, in as a specialist right-hand batter in a left-heavy batting line-up, was some relief with his four overs going for 21, but the spinners followed up with tight bowling.Bumrah’s first spell was another masterclass in length bowling, but when he was brought back for one over before lunch, he took a dip in the fuller waters. Markram, who had driven similar balls from Reddy well, was stuck on the crease to Bumrah and ended up playing on.Immediately after tea, Kuldeep got rid of Rickelton thanks to a slightly loose drive and a sharp catch by Pant off a thick deflection. India had managed to keep them around or below three an over until that point.Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs batted through the rest of the session, but it was hard work even though the pitch was at its best behaviour with the early moisture gone. And yet they could add only 74 in 26.4 overs when they went back for lunch.It could not be ascertained if there was some discussion around the scoring rate during this break, but Bavuma and Stubbs both came out looking more intent on scoring quicker. Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep didn’t let up and took three quick wickets as a result.Bavuma looked to clear extra cover off Jadeja, but ended up giving a catch to mid-off off the inner half of the bat. Stubbs was caught pushing hard at Kuldeep’s first ball of a new spell. Rahul, who had missed a tough chance off Markram earlier, took an equally sharp one smoothly at first slip. Wiaan Mulder got a couple of looseners from Siraj, but his lack of experience in Indian conditions showed when Kuldeep tossed one up. He wound up to hit him big, but the ball dipped on him, resulting in an easy catch to mid-off.Siraj came back from that spell to bowl three intense overs against de Zorzi and Muthusamy, but there just wasn’t enough in the pitch for the old ball. With the sun sinking rapidly, India called out for the second new ball two balls after it became available.It turned out to be a timely move as there wasn’t much time left before the umpires would take the players off for bad light. It meant India could risk the new ball even though one of their fast bowlers was exhausted. But is Siraj ever exhausted? He took the new ball and bowled a peach first ball. The seam position and the shape in the air hinted at an inswinger for the left-hand batter, but the ball nipped away after pitching, taking the edge and leaving de Zorzi frustrated. Four balls later, play was called off.

A Zen-like Matt Renshaw has freed himself of all thoughts about opening the batting for Australia in the looming Ashes series.Renshaw says he’s oblivious to speculation of being recalled to the Test team to face England.”Obviously I want to be there, it would be remiss of me not to say that,” he told reporters in Adelaide on Wednesday. “But I try and stay away from it as much as possible.”Related

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Renshaw, who made 21 not out on ODI debut on Sunday, was so surprised to be summoned to Australia’s squad for the current ODI series against India, he had to Google when and where the games were scheduled.The 29-year-old is also unaware how many runs are being scored by other contenders for Australia’s much-debated opening slot. It’s a deliberate ploy to free his mind, and a far cry from the 20-year-old Renshaw who made his Test debut in 2016.”There’s been times in my career where I come off after a Shield game, and obviously all the Shield games are on at the same time, and you’re looking at the scorecard, you’re looking at different names, seeing how they went,” he said.”Now, like the first Shield game [this season], I couldn’t tell you who scored runs in other games.”Knowing that it doesn’t really matter in terms of someone else scoring runs, it doesn’t matter to how I’m going to go out and play my game.”Matthew Renshaw made a century in the first Shield game of the season•Getty Images

Being a father of a two-year-old girl and five-month-old boy was now Renshaw’s validation, rather than earning a Test recall or  judging himself on his run-scoring.”A lot of the time you try and force a few things, you see someone else gets runs, and you go: ‘I need to score runs because then I’m going to be picked for Australia, then I’m going to become a good person’,” he said.”That whole mentality when you’re young is that’s how you view yourself as a person.”Whereas now I go home and I’ve got to change nappies, I’ve got to put kids to bed, I’ve got to try and calm screaming babies down.”When you’re young, you go home, you have got nothing to do, so you’re just sitting on your phone scrolling.”I hide. I don’t have the Cricket Australia app, I don’t try and look at any news, I hide all the cricket stuff on my Instagram so I don’t see it.”Renshaw made his Test debut after just 12 first-class games, struck a century in his fourth Test, but has played only 14 Tests overall – the most recent in 2023.But a century for Queensland in the first Sheffield Shield game of the season has the left-hander in the Ashes frame. Former Australia captain and one of the selectors who first picked him for Test cricket, Greg Chappell, believes Renshaw is the man who should open in Perth.Renshaw, however, is taking notes from how fellow Queenslander and Australian opener Usman Khawaja handled his time away from Test cricket.”Once you sort of realise that it might not happen again, you talk to people,” Renshaw said.”I am really close with Uzzy, he thought his Test journey was over and look at him now. I try and talk to him about he’s going about it.”It’s just amazing, it’s almost like once you let go of that one side of playing for Australia, that’s what I need to do.”I have two kids now, they’re a huge part of my life, so it’s knowing that cricket’s not like my sole reason, it’s everything else.”If I get everything else in order, the cricket will just take care of itself.”

Yorkshire 354 for 7 (Bean 102*, Wharton 84) beat Durham 142 (White 3-24) by 212 runsFinlay Bean broke Yorkshire’s record for their fastest-ever List A century with a 53-ball hundred in a landslide 212-run win over Durham at Scarborough to maintain their relentless march towards the Metro Bank One-Day Cup knockouts.Bean, batting at No. 5, boosted the Group B leaders to a total of 354 for 7 with a destructive innings of 102 not out off 57 balls, with eight fours and six sixes. James Wharton also contributed a dynamic career best 84. In only his second appearance of the competition, Bean’s maiden List A hundred set Yorkshire up for the fifth win in six matches.Durham then crumbled to 142 all out in 36 overs, losing their fourth game in seven to all but end their knockout hopes. This was their heaviest-ever List A defeat by runs margin. New-ball seamer Jack White returned 3 for 24 from eight overs for the hosts.Yorkshire started solidly under an overcast sky on a pitch with pace and bounce, reaching 99 for 2 after 20 overs. Imam-ul-Haq was caught behind pulling at Ben Raine’s seam for 22 – his lowest score in five One-Day Cup matches – and Adam Lyth caught at deep backward square-leg for 37 following a top-edge against former team-mate Will Rhodes.Having reached 123 for 2 after 25 overs, Will Luxton and Wharton looked to accelerate, and did so for a period as they shared 88 in entertaining fashion. Luxton pulled Raine for six over deep backward square-leg and Wharton also pulled with authority en route to a 54-ball fifty.Almost immediately afterwards, Luxton – on 46 – miscued the pace of Sam Conners to midwicket with the score on 169 in the 33rd. But that only served to bring Bean to the crease, and what followed was sensational. He shared a 101-run stand for the fourth wicket with Wharton.Best known as a determined red-ball opener, Bean reached 50 off 33 balls and scored his second fifty off 20. All of his sixes were leg-side as he beat the previous record for Yorkshire’s fastest List A hundred by seven balls. Lyth, on this ground in 2016, reached his hundred in 60 balls in a two-wicket win over Northamptonshire.Wharton fell short of his own maiden List A hundred as the White Rose scored 174 in the last 15 overs.Durham’s chase then got off to a nightmare start at nine for two in the fifth over, which included two wickets for Ben Coad’s seam and the visitors failing to score off the first 22 balls of the innings.Coad bowled Alex Lees for nought and had Emilio Gay caught at second slip but walked off the field immediately after the second wicket with a suspected hamstring injury. Still, it didn’t hamper Yorkshire in the short term – even if it may do in the next month and a bit.Durham’s race was run before it had got going, with them sinking to 32 for four in the 10th over. Matt Milnes had an uppercutting Colin Ackermann caught behind and White forced captain Ollie Robinson to miscue to Bean at point. George Hill and captain Dom Bess then removed Scott Borthwick and Robbie Bowman before Durham reached 50.Rhodes and George Drissell were Durham’s only two batters to reach 20, with 27 and a consolatory List A best 46 respectively. Rhodes was caught at short third off Lyth’s offspin before Drissell skied White to mid-on, leaving the score at 131 for 9. White finished things off by trapping Codi Yusuf lbw.