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First met second in this top of the South Group clash in the Natwest T20 Blast in Cardiff, and it was Gloucestershire who secured victory against Glamorgan to become leaders

ECB Reporters Network10-Jul-2016
ScorecardMichael Klinger helped ensure a comfortable chase•Getty Images

First met second in this top of the South Group clash in the Natwest T20 Blast in Cardiff, and it was Gloucestershire who secured victory against Glamorgan to become leaders. Going into this game the teams were level on points with only net run-rate separating them.Wickets for Graeme van Buuren and tight bowling from Benny Howell and Tom Smith restricted Glamorgan to 119 for 6. It was never enough runs to defend and an unbeaten stand of 97 between Michael Klinger and Ian Cockbain took Gloucestershire home. Both men reached fifty as they secured victory with 23 balls to spare.A slow pitch with low bounce confronted the teams at Cardiff and it was surprising that Glamorgan chose to bat first on a pitch that was used for the match against Sussex on Thursday night. Right from the start of the home side’s innings the Gloucestershire bowlers were on top. A steady batting Powerplay took Glamorgan to 40 without loss but the introduction of spin bowling helped the visitors take control.Van Buuren took two wickets with his slow left-arm bowling in this first over, and they were the scalps of Glamorgan’s two in-form T20 batsmen. First David Lloyd looped the ball off a leading edge to Michael Klinger at mid-off and two balls later Colin Ingram was pinned lbw by a quicker delivery.From there the Glamorgan batsmen struggled to find any timing against some canny Gloucestershire bowling. It became clear very early on that pace off the ball was the way to go, and the Gloucestershire attack was perfectly suited to doing just that. Howell conceded just 13 runs from his four overs of medium pace and van Buuren finished with 3 for 19.It looked as if Glamorgan would fail to reach 100, but 32 from Graham Wagg, which included the only two sixes of the innings, helped them set a target of 120. Wagg scored 18 runs off the 20th over, bowled by Andrew Tye, to give his team a chance, albeit a slim one.A Glamorgan attack that featured the pace of Shaun Tait and Timm van der Gugten was far less equipped to cause real issues on this tired Cardiff pitch, and the extra pace allowed the Gloucestershire batsmen to time the ball with much greater ease than the opposition.The early wicket of Hamish Marshall, well caught down the leg side by Mark Wallace off van der Gugten, gave Glamorgan some hope but from there Gloucestershire cruised to victory.
With a lack of slower bowling options available to him Rudolph brought himself on to bowl his part-time legspin for the first time in the T20 Blast this season in attempt to try something different. By then the run rate was down to four an over and there was no need for Gloucestershire to take any risks.This defeat is a setback for Glamorgan but they still have four matches left in this competition and are well placed to secure a quarter-final spot. For Gloucestershire one more win from their remaining two matches and they are mathematically certain of qualification for the knockout stages.

Amit Mishra’s figures of 4 for 67 and Shai Hope’s unbeaten 118 highlighted the second day of the Indians’ drawn warm-up match against West Indies Cricket Board President’s XI in Basseterre

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2016)
ScorecardAmit Mishra took 4 for 67 in 27 overs•AFP

Amit Mishra’s figures of 4 for 67 and Shai Hope’s unbeaten 118, an innings that featured 15 fours, highlighted the second day of the Indians’ drawn warm-up match against West Indies Cricket Board President’s XI in Basseterre.After India declared overnight on 258 for 6, Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed captain Leon Johnson for 2 in the seventh over of the day. However, Rajendra Chandrika and Hope got together to share a 122-run second-wicket stand to stabilise the Board President’s XI.Mishra sparked a middle-order collapse by having Chandrika stumped for 69 and Jermaine Blackwood was caught behind off the next ball. A score of 129 for 1 quickly turned to 177 for 7 as the Indians made regular breakthroughs in the last two sessions.Hope, though, found an able ally in left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican, who compiled a brisk half-century. Hope and Warrican combined for a 104-run partnership before the game was drawn.All of India’s seamers – Bhuvneshwar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma – bowled at least 13 overs each. The Indians next play a three-day warm-up game against the same opposition starting July 14 on the same ground.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said that the board has finalised a bowling coach for the Bangladesh team

Mohammad Isam03-Aug-2016BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said that the board has finalised a bowling coach for the Bangladesh team. The name of the individual cannot be revealed yet due to an obligation but Hassan said that he would arrive in the country at the end of August.

On England’s security inspection tour: “We sent the ECB a security proposal. We are guessing that they will visit Bangladesh when they go to India for the security inspection trip, possibly between August 15 to 20.”
On Dhaka Premier League payment delay: “It is very unfortunate that the players had to meet the CEO even after we set the clubs the deadline. The board will pay even if the club doesn’t. It shouldn’t have been delayed. The board will deal with the legal procedure with the clubs later. Players shouldn’t suffer. It was our mistake; we must pay them immediately.”

The board had been looking for a new bowling coach since Heath Streak quit in May. Aaqib Javed had turned down the offer in June, and since then, the BCB had put up a shortlist of candidates.”The good news is that our search is over,” Hassan said. “We know who we will take [as bowling coach]. But, unfortunately, because of some obligations, we cannot announce his name. We are hoping he will come to Dhaka any time in the last week of this month. But since he is working somewhere, we shouldn’t be making any announcements. Once his contract is over, we will announce it together.”Meanwhile, Hassan informed that former India left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju will arrive in Dhaka later this month as a spin consultant for the High Performance programme. He also said that Javed, who is currently in Dhaka for a seven-day stint as the HP’s pace consultant, has been asked to take a look at the progress of the bowling actions of Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny, who were suspended by the ICC for illegal bowling actions in March.

Half-centuries from Kedar Jadhav and Shreyas Iyer gave India A a bonus-point win over Australia’s National Performance Squad in their Quadrangular A-Team One-Day Series clash

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Aug-2016
ScorecardFile photo: Kedar Jadhav’s unbeaten 93 gave India A a bonus-point win over NPS, and took them to the final of the quadrangular series•AFP

Half-centuries from Kedar Jadhav and Shreyas Iyer gave India A a bonus-point win over Australia’s National Performance Squad in their Quadrangular A-Team One-Day Series clash on Saturday. By virtue of the win, India became the first team to seal their spot in the final of the tournament, to be played on September 4.Jadhav’s unbeaten 93 and Iyer’s 62 helped India A knock off a 208-run target in 38.2 overs with six wickets in hand in Mackay. That was after the bowlers had combined for a collective effort to keep NPS to 207 for 8 in 50 overs.Iyer and Jadhav were left to reconstruct India A’s innings after left-arm medium pacer Tom O’Donnell’s early strikes left them 41 for 3 in the 11th over of the chase. The two added 135 for the fourth wicket in 23.1 overs. It took O’Donnell again to separate the duo when he struck at the end of the 34th over, having Iyer caught. But at that point, India A were comfortably placed and needed 32 more from 16 overs. Hardik Pandya joined Jadhav and the two knocked off the remaining runs in 26 balls. Iyer’s 62 took 93 balls and contained four fours. Jadhav faced 83 balls for his unbeaten 93 and struck 10 fours.O’Donnell was the only NPS bowler among the wickets and finished with 4 for 28 in nine overs.NPS were rocked early when they batted after Varun Aaron struck first ball to dismiss Caleb Jewell for a duck. Matt Renshaw and wicketkeeper Sam Harper then got together for a 76-run second-wicket stand that came in 93 balls. After Renshaw was trapped lbw by Jayant Yadav, Harper added 52 more with captain Matthew Short. Harper’s dismissal for 72 – the highest score of the innings – ended the association. Short was caught behind off Aaron for 30 and Clint Hinchliffe lent a solid hand with 43. NPS’ lower order, however, made scant contributions, resulting in a weak finish.Aaron took three wickets, but was expensive and leaked 58 runs in nine overs. Pandya, Axar Patel, Yadav and Iyer took a wicket apiece.India A are on top of the table with 16 points from five matches. NPS trail them with 10 points from five games. India A will next face Australia A on Tuesday, while NPS face off against South Africa A the following day.

All of India’s bowlers combined together perfectly at Eden Gardens to deliver the hosts a 178-run victory over New Zealand

The Report by Alagappan Muthu03-Oct-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:49

Agarkar: New Zealand going backwards instead of getting better

At the historic Eden Gardens, in front of 12,068 people, India became the No. 1 team in the world with a 178-run victory over New Zealand and captured their fourth series trophy on the trot.It isn’t groundbreaking for a team to dominate in their own conditions. And granted, the heat and the pitches left New Zealand feeling out of place – picture Mr Bean in an MI6 facility – but when you watch R Ashwin conjuring wickets, or Mohammed Shami demolishing stumps; when you watch M Vijay leaving the ball or Cheteshwar Pujara attacking the spinners; when you watch Virat Kohli raising his game, it is difficult not to wonder whether India have found themselves an XI capable of becoming something special.New Zealand did the best they could in the absence of their regular captain and best batsman Kane Williamson. He had finally recovered from a fever to come out of his hotel room and watch the match from the ground. He would have felt proud of Tom Latham’s polished 74. He would have enjoyed Matt Henry’s big-hearted performance. He would have wanted to run out to the field when the ninth wicket fell and do his little bit for his men. But 376 was too big a target in the final innings.The coin was in love with Kohli, doing as he bid for a sixth time in a row, in Kolkata. The weather too wanted to be on his good side, giving him the perfect conditions to ambush New Zealand late on the second day. In Bhuvneshwar Kumar, he also had the ideal weapon to exploit a pitch that offered seam, swing and variable bounce. On the fourth day, when conditions had become better for batting, India remained tenacious. They remained patient. They were a little petulant too, putting the umpire under needless pressure every time the ball hit pad or beat bat. India often get on rolls like these. But it isn’t often that they make it last. Someone gives it away. A ball down leg. A wicket thrown away. This XI, though, may just be learning to shed those bad habits.Take Ashwin for example. He had seen that Latham had changed his technique; that he was taking a shorter front stride so that he could be in a better position to play the ball that doesn’t turn and avoid being lbw. It paid off beautifully. He survived the first few minutes. His footwork grew assured. A good cover drive off a half-volley got him going. A delectable flick shot later in the innings exemplified that he was reading the length early and well. He went to tea unbeaten on 74.Ashwin got him in his first over after tea. The ball was looped up. It was bowled wide. It was a tease. Like the smell of chocolate to a man who has never eaten anything other than salad. Latham went for that sinful cover drive and the outside edge was taken by Wriddhiman Saha, moving smoothly to his left.Henry Nicholls nicked a catch to Ajinkya Rahane•BCCI

And then there was Shami and his sexy reverse swing. BJ Watling read that a fuller delivery was tailing into him. Appropriately, he brought his front pad down the line and made sure the bat came down close to it. A second later, he was watching his off stump cartwheeling all over the place. The ball had moved one way in the air and then promptly the other way off the pitch to beat the outside edge. Shami can’t possibly have intended for that to happen; it would just be scary if he did.Twelve out of the 20 wickets India took in Kolkata went to the seamers. Admittedly, the pitch suited them better in the early stages, but not often have India made use of that advantage. On the fourth day, when conventional swing went AWOL along with the uneven pace and bounce, they used what was given to them – scoreboard pressure and reverse swing – brilliantly. This is why India should feel upbeat about their chances. Their fast bowlers aren’t place-holders for the spinners anymore.But it is India, it was a spinner who got things going. Ashwin mystifies batsmen with his flight and Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor were the latest scratching their heads all the way to the pavilion. One was lbw because the ball dipped, the other was lbw again because it drifted away and as a result the Kolkata Test claimed the record for the most lbws in a Test in India. The count finished at 15.Ravindra Jadeja went around the wicket to the left-handed Henry Nicholls in the 36th over. From the amount of work he puts into his action, a batsman expects the ball to turn. He often plays for that turn, or at the very least, worries about it so much that it brings uncertainty into his game. Nicholls was put through this harrowing sequence of events and sent on his way to the pavilion as a good length ball, holding its line just outside off stump, took the edge and was taken superbly by Ajinkya Rahane at slip.Only six times has a team ever made 376 or more to win a Test. Never has it been done at Eden Gardens, where the highest successful chase took place more than a decade ago and finished at 120 for 2. The contribution from Saha to put his team in such a strong position should not be underestimated. He became only the fourth Indian wicketkeeper to hit two fifities in a Test.On the West Indies tour, Saha was demoted one spot from No. 6 with the team management saying they wanted to reduce the pressure on him when they went in a batsman short. India have not opted for that combination at home against New Zealand but Saha stayed in the lower order. On his home ground, he produced an innings that may well become something of a signature. He was happy to take blows to his body from the fast bowlers. He used their pace, nudging them behind point or towards backward square leg. And having blunted them, he gorged on spin. Five of his six fours and 28 of his unbeaten 58 came off the bowling of Mitchell Santner. It was only the fifth time in Test history that a batsman from No. 8 had made two fifties in a Test.There were two Indian wickets standing on the fourth morning, when the pitch showed signs that it had slowed down. Neil Wagner picked up one of them to move his career tally to 99. Playing his 25th Test, he could have tied with Richard Hadlee’s record for the fastest New Zealander to 100 Test wickets but the final wicket went to Trent Boult.

Upul Tharanga will captain Sri Lanka in their ODI tri-series against West Indies and Zimbabwe

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-2016Sri Lanka have named Upul Tharanga as captain of the ODI side for their tri-series in Zimbabwe, which includes West Indies, as regular captain Angelo Mathews and vice-captain Dinesh Chandimal are both absent through injury. Kusal Perera will fill the role of vice-captain, while veteran seamer Nuwan Kulasekara has been recalled to the 15-man squad.Tharanga scored a century in Sri Lanka’s victory in the first Test against Zimbabwe at Harare this week – his first in more than a decade. He made a comeback to the one-day team earlier in the year, during the tour of England and Ireland, but was dropped for the home series against Australia, only playing in the fifth ODI after the series was lost.Mathews pulled out of the Zimbabwe tour with “multiple leg injuries” and was replaced as captain for the Tests by Rangana Herath. Chandimal has been recovering from a thumb injury but was not deemed fit enough to take part in the series with Zimbabwe and West Indies. Nuwan Pradeep has, however, recovered from a hamstring strain and returns to contention.Kulasekara’s last ODI came on the tour of New Zealand at the start of the year. He announced his retirement from Tests in June, in order to prolong his limited-overs career, and took 2 for 65 for Sri Lanka A against West Indies A last week.Jeffrey Vandersay is also back in the squad after a finger injury, having last played for Sri Lanka at the World T20. Allrounder Asela Gunaratne and seamer Lahiru Kumara, who both made their Test debuts in Harare, were included and could win their first ODI caps; Kumara, 19, has yet to even play a List A game.There was no place for left-arm spinner Amila Aponso after an impressive debut series against Australia. Sachith Pathirana, Lakshan Sandakan, the chinaman bowler who has played ODI previously, and the recalled Shehan Jayasuriya make up the spin options alongside Vandersay.Sri Lanka’s first match in the tri-series is against Zimbabwe on November 14.Sri Lanka ODI squad: Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Upul Tharanga (capt), Kusal Mendis, Shehan Jayasuriya, Asela Gunaratne, Sachith Pathirana, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dasun Shanaka, Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara, Suranga Lakmal, Lakshan Sandakan, Jeffery Vandersay

In a fresh attempt to convince the BCCI, ICC general manager Geoff Allardice will travel to India next week to carry out a presentation on the Decision Review System

Nagraj Gollapudi15-Oct-20161:27

Will look to introduce DRS in future – Kohli

In a fresh attempt to convince the BCCI, ICC general manager Geoff Allardice will travel to India next week to carry out a presentation on the Decision Review System (DRS). India are the only team to have not subscribed to the DRS after being the first to experiment with it, in 2008.The BCCI’s reluctance is well known and recent board presidents – from N Srinivasan to Shashank Manohar to Anurag Thakur now – have expressed the same reservation on the referral system: that unless technology is 100% perfect, India will not use the DRS.The ICC has consistently called for a uniform referral system to be used by all teams. In July, ICC chief executive David Richardson had revealed that its cricket committee and chief executives’ committee wanted the ICC to take “more control” of the DRS.Incidentally, the ICC cricket committee’s head is Anil Kumble, also the current India coach. Kumble and Allardice have witnessed the research carried out by a team of engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who were last year asked by the ICC to independently assess the performance of the technologies that are part of the DRS: ball tracking and edge detection. The MIT team gave a detailed presentation to the ICC cricket committee during the annual conference in June.Allardice is likely to highlight the MIT research during his presentation, which is likely to be attended by the top brass as well as key officials of the BCCI. The key point that Allardice will drive home is how the DRS and its various components have become more reliable since the system’s inception in 2008.It is understood that the ICC wanted to do this presentation earlier, but a convenient time could not be worked out. “They wanted to showcase improvements that have been made after the MIT research,” a BCCI official said. “This is something they have been wanting to share for quite some time. We need to wait and see what are the improvements exactly, considering DRS is made up of two to three elements.”India’s upcoming home Test series comprise five matches against England followed by a one-off Test against Bangladesh, before ending the season with a four-Test series against Australia. It is understood both BCCI and ECB have not worked on the MoU for the series so far and hence it is too premature, officials pointed out, to speculate whether the DRS would be used or not.The BCCI official was not sure whether senior Indian team members like MS Dhoni and Test captain Virat Kohli, along with Kumble, will attend the meeting considering they were busy with the ODI series against New Zealand.During his reign Dhoni never categorically expressed his opinion on the DRS. In contrast, Kohli has consistently said he is open to the referral system.

Group A round-up: Uttar Pradesh’s spinners impress, Baroda’s batting fails yet again and Bengal make slow progress

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2016Uttar Pradesh‘s left-arm spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Saurabh Kumar took seven wickets between them as Mumbai were bowled out for 233 on the first day in Mysore.Mumbai lost three wickets for 55 in the first session, including that of Shreyas Iyer for 35, after electing to bat. Suryakumar Yadav held the innings together; he put on consecutive fifty partnerships with captain Aditya Tare (30) and Siddesh Lad (13), followed by another with debutant Aditya Dhumal (34) for the seventh wicket.He was eventually removed for 99, one short of a second-consecutive century, trapped in front to the part-time offspin of Shivam Chaudhary with the score on 223. Saurabh and Kuldeep then cleaned up the tail to finish with three and four wickets, respectively. Medium-pacer Tushar Deshpande took the solitary UP wicket to fall, that of Tanmay Srivastava, as UP finished the day on 22 for 1.Baroda failed to cross 200 for their third innings in a row, as left-arm spinner Avinash Yadav’s first five-wicket haul – on his return to first-class cricket – helped Railways bowl them out for 183 in Nagpur.Baroda’s top-order batsmen all got off to starts. Opener Kedar Devdhar scored 45, Dhiren Mistry scored 50 at No. 3 and Deepak Hooda got 30 at No. 4. They were decently placed at 137 for 2 when Hooda was stumped off Avinash. This triggered a collapse that eventually read 8 for 46, as Baroda folded up for 183. Avinash took five of those wickets, and legspinner Karn Sharma (3-37) took the last two. In response, Railways openers Saurabh Wakaskar (16*) and Shivakant Shukla (23*) took them to 39 for 0 at stumps.Priyank Panchal’s tenth first-class fifty helped Gujarat finish the first day on 224 for 4 against Madhya Pradesh in Nagothane. Panchal put on 75 for the opening wicket with Samit Gohel (34) and 42 for the third with Parthiv Patel, before getting stumped off left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma (2-60) for 62. Parthiv then stitched together 68 with Manpreet Juneja (44*) before falling for 49. Juneja and Chirag Gandhi (9*) batted out the last 11.4 overs to add 17, and take Gujarat to stumps without further damage.Bengal scored at just above two runs per over to reach 190 for 3 at stumps, against Tamil Nadu in Rajkot. Bengal’s 190 was anchored by a 111-run partnership for the third wicket, that began with Sudip Chatterjee (34) and Manoj Tiwary before Chatterjee had to go off retired hurt. Agniv Pan was Tiwary’s other partner during the third-wicket stand, which ended with Tiwary’s dismissal on 56. Pan was unbeaten on 51 at the end of the day, his third first-class fifty in four games, and Shreevats Goswami was with him on 15.

A round-up of the final round of Ranji Trophy matches from Group B on December 7, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2016A total of 18 wickets fell in Vadodara as four wickets each from medium-pacers Sumit Narwal and Pradeep Sangwan saw Saurashtra fold for 92 before Delhi went to stumps on 194 for 8 with a 102-run lead.Delhi, who need an outright win to be assured of a playoff spot, chose to field. Wicketkeeper Snell Patel (26) and Kishan Parmar (12) scored 24 runs for the first wicket, but the latter’s dismissal saw Saurashtra quickly fall to 35 for 4. Narwal and Sangwan removed the top seven batsmen, before part-time offspinner Nitish Rana took two wickets with the score on 81 in the 30th over. Saurashtra folded for 92 inside 34 overs. Prerak Mankad top-scored for the third Saurashtra innings in a row with his 33.Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir opened Delhi’s innings and were out in consecutive overs after scoring 16 runs each. Their wickets were part of a collapse that saw Delhi go from 38 for no loss to 57 for 4. Rishabh Pant then hit a 28-ball 40 to take Delhi past Saurashtra’s score before Kushang Patel had him caught. Kushang finished the day with four wickets as he troubled Delhi’s middle order who were 128 for 7 at one stage, before a 62-run stand for the eighth wicket between Manan Sharma (33) and Sangwan (39*) took them to stumps with a sizable lead.Vinay Kumar took his third five-wicket haul this season as Karnataka dismissed Maharashtra for 163 before finishing the day on 67 for 1 in Mohali. The spell also saw him move past Madan Lal’s tally of 351 wickets to become the leading wicket-taker among seamers in Ranji Trophy history.Maharashtra, who also need an outright win to qualify, were put into bat. Openers Swapnil Gugale (25) and Rohit Motwani (32) added 42 runs for the first wicket before the former was caught behind off Stuart Binny. The next six overs saw only 3 runs, before Vinay picked up three middle-order wickets as Maharashtra lost six batsmen before they reached 100. Motwani, the innings’ top scorer, was removed by Binny as the team’s seventh dismissal on 113, which was followed by a brief resistance from the lower order before they were wrapped up for 163.Although Karnataka lost debutant opener Arjun Hoysala in the first over to Anupam Sanklecha, his partner Ravikumar Samarth (33*) put on 67 with Kaunain Abbas (30*) to cut Karnataka’s deficit to 96 runs.Noida saw only 46 overs of play due to inclement conditions. Play only began after the scheduled lunch time, and Rajasthan were bowled out for 140 by Vidarbha.Each of Vidarbha’s five bowlers had wickets to their name, as Rajasthan’s wickets fell within 98 runs after openers Amitkumar Gautam (18) and Manendar Singh (27) had put up 42 runs for the first wicket. This included collapses of 4 for 5 and 6 for 50 on either side of a 43-run fifth wicket stand between Rajat Bhatia (26) and Siddharth Dobal (19). Left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate finished with 3 for 22 while Shrikant Wagh, Rajneesh Gurbani and Lalit Yadav took two wickets each.In response, Vidarbha openers Sanjay Ramaswamy and Faiz Fazal played out the day’s last four overs and took them to stumps on 14 for no loss.

The former captain is targeting a return to the longest format in the 2017-18 summer, in the home series against India and Australia.

Firdose Moonda18-Jan-20173:27

‘I needed time away, I need more’ – de Villiers

AB de Villiers has ruled himself out of South Africa’s four-Test series in England in July-August and the two-match home series against Bangladesh in September-October, and is targeting a return to the longest format in home matches against India and Australia. De Villiers, who last played in whites in January 2016, stressed that he cannot commit to anything further than March 2018 at this stage but insisted the 2019 World Cup is still in his sights.”I needed a bit of time away from the game and I need some more,” de Villiers said at Centurion, where South Africa have begun preparing for the three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka. “Therefore I made myself unavailable for the New Zealand series, but to add to that is also the England series and the Bangladesh series after that. I am hoping to make a comeback with the Titans towards the end of the year in preparation for the series against India and against Australia. That’s the plan. I am not committing to it but I am hoping to make a comeback there in Test cricket.”My dream plan is to come back for those eight Test matches and that’s all I can say for now. My focus is on the 2019 World Cup but if I feel physically incapable of making it after those two Test series, I will call it a day then. I’ll make that call once we get there. I can’t decide now how I am going to feel in 12 months.”De Villiers admitted the decision to sit out of most of 2017’s Tests was “not easy”, but that his own priorities have shifted and left him with no choice. “I’m just not ready, that’s the best way I can put it. Priorities have changed over the years, family has changed, my roles in the team have changed over the years,” he said. “Playing three different formats, with the schedule the way it is, all of a sudden felt like the world is on top of my shoulders, and that’s when I felt like I need to start prioritising what I want to achieve in my career, where I want to go and what I feel motivated about. There are a lot of things that have played a role in this decision but I wouldn’t like to think it’s the end.”I would still like to make a comeback and finish on a high, somehow have a say in us getting that No.1 ranking, which we deserve over the last few months with the way we have played. It’s definitely not the end of the story. I do still have goals and that’s why I didn’t want to make any silly statements about retiring out of Test cricket or anything like that.”Given the amount of time de Villiers will spend out of the side, he knows he will have fight for his place. India’s tour dates to South Africa are yet to be confirmed but CSA is hopeful of having the No.1 team in town for holiday-season Tests in December, which could take de Villiers’ time away from the format to 23 months. “It’s not like I am not going to walk back into the team, it’s very important to note that I am very prepared to come make a comeback at the Titans, score my runs and prove a point that I am still good enough to make the Test side but we will talk about it when we get there towards the end of the year.”

De Villiers’ bat sponsorship under negotiation

AB de Villiers is likely to make his Test comeback against India and his bat sponsor, the Indian company MRF, initially wanted him to play all three formats. That contract, reportedly close to US$ 2 million, is now being negotiated. “Obviously they would like me to play as much cricket as possible, around the world in all the formats but I still have to negotiate with them and see how we do with that.”

De Villiers’ proposed comeback will also depend on South Africa’s selection plans in the next year. Yesterday, Haroon Lorgat, CSA’s chief executive, said that once de Villiers returns, “there’s no stopping and no time off. When you play, you play continuously.” Lorgat has already informed de Villiers that he is expected to appear in every ODI because he is the captain in that format.To that end, de Villiers will test his fitness after a persistent elbow injury, which has sidelined him since the CPL and kept him out of the Australia tour and the home Tests against Sri Lanka this weekend. He is due to play a List A match for Northerns on Sunday before featuring in the third T20 against Sri Lanka. The five-match ODI series starts in 10 days’ time. De Villiers said he is confident his elbow will hold up.”It feels pretty good. I am still aware of it. The surgery happened three months ago. The specialist said I will still be aware of it so it’s nothing new or different to what he said is going to happen,” he said. “I can hit all my shots with the same sort of power that I used to hit them. There are one or two shots that I feel it a little bit more than others and I am not going to tell Sri Lanka before we play them which ones they are. Generally, I feel very confident at the wicket. I have been hitting the ball really well with the couple of net sessions I had.”De Villiers is due to lead South Africa in ODIs in New Zealand as well, before a break in March ahead of the IPL. He confirmed he will play in that tournament but made himself unavailable for any other T20 leagues. “The IPL, I feel has become part of the ICC set-up. There are a lot of reasons why all of us wouldn’t like to say no to an IPL. I am definitely not committing to anything else at the moment,” he said. “You won’t see me at Big Bash, you won’t see me in any county game or any other T20 tournament around the world, except for playing South Africa and the IPL. I would like to say I am still very committed to South Africa.”