Sam Curran defends English rotation policy

England all-rounder Sam Curran has defended the rotation policy adopted by the England and Wales Cricket Board. The Surrey all-rounder, who was rested for the entire India Test leg after playing two Tests in Sri Lanka, said that he personally found it refreshing to get a rest before the white ball series. 

"Definitely... a lot of stuff has been spoken about the rotation. As a player, I have found it very beneficial, the bubbles are really tough from the player's perspective, being away for long periods, it is nice coming back after my break, refreshed and really raring to go for this white-ball series, I think it is going to be a great series,” he said in the press conference. 

Talking about the importance of the series with respect to the upcoming T20 World Cup in October this year, Curran said that it is always an important series whenever England plays. 

"The Test series was really competitive, it was great to watch a fantastic series, unfortunately, England did lose. I think again with the T20s coming up... it is a World Cup year, so it is going to be a lot of emphasis on us doing well," the 22-year-old said. 

Saying that a lot of players playing in the T20 series didn't play in the Tests, Sam said, it could benefit the team. “I guess the players move on very quickly and focus on what is ahead and try and improve, so come Friday, the team that goes up will be ready and excited to play against a really good Indian outfit," added the Northampton born.

The first of the five T20Is between India and England would be played on 12th March at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Discover more
Top Stories
news

IPL 2021 | RCB holds mini camp ahead of the tournament

The IPL 2021 is round the corner and the teams have begun with the preparations for the tournament already. Recently, RCB’s coaching staff and some of the uncapped players got together and had a fitness assessment session in Bengaluru. RCB’s strength and conditioning coach Shankar Basu said that the bio-bubbles have made the players really tired. “The bio-bubbles have made the players tired so we need to take care of the mental aspect. We have had a good support staff and have been together for a long time and we try to put the best foot forward,” he said in the video released by the franchise. The opening match of the IPL 2021 will be played between RCB and Mumbai Indians in Chennai. There would be 56 matches in total. Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru will host 10 games each while Delhi and Ahmedabad will have 8 games. There would be 11 double headers. The schedule has been made in such a way that every team will have to travel only three times during the tournament. "After hosting the tournament safely and successfully in the UAE last year with all safety protocols in place, the BCCI is confident of hosting the IPL at home with health and safety of players and all people involved being paramount," BCCI said in the release. RCB have never won an IPL trophy. They have been into the finals thrice but failed to lift the cup. The IPL2021 mini auctions took place in February in Chennai. The Bangalore franchise bought Glenn Maxwell and Kyle Jamieson for Rs. 14.25 Cr and Rs 15 Cr respectively. Apart from this, they also bought Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Suyash Prabhudessai, KS Bharat for Rs 20 lakh each while Daniel Christian for Rs. 4.8 Cr.

news

Kane Williamson ruled out of Bangladesh ODIs with elbow injury

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has been ruled out of the ODI series against Bangladesh after the right-handed batsman has to rehabilitate from an elbow injury. The series is slated to begin on March 20 in Dunedin. "Kane's been managing the elbow injury to varying degrees this summer and unfortunately it hasn't improved," NZC medical manager Dayle Shackel said. "He obviously has a high volume of training and playing across the three formats, which has inhibited his ability to recover. We believe he now needs a period of rest and rehabilitation to get the injury right.” "Time-frames can vary but we're hopeful that, after an initial rest, he should be able to begin rehabilitation next week," Shackel added. New Zealand head coach Gary Stead has said that the decision to rest Williamson has been a tough one but the management had to take the call looking at the year ahead. "Kane loves playing for his country - so it hasn't been an easy decision to step back," Stead said. "A batsman's front elbow is crucial to his game and with the injury not improving it was clear something needed to be done." "We've got a huge year of cricket ahead with an England Test tour and ICC World Test Championship Final first up in May and June [June and July], and we want to make sure we have Kane fit and firing for that," Stead added. Bangladesh and New Zealand are scheduled to play three ODIs and as many T20Is between March 20 and April 1.

news

JUST IN: WTC final to take place in Southampton

India will play the final of the inaugural World Test Championship against New Zealand. The title clash which is slated to take place in June will be held in Southampton. Earlier, Lord’s was the venue for the WTC final to take place but with a five-star facility inside the stadium will make the task easier for the ICC and ECB to create bio-bubbles for both India and New Zealand. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly confirmed that the final will take place at Ageas Bowl Stadium from June 18-22. “Yes, the final will be held at Ageas Bowl,” Ganguly replied to a query from PTI. The former India skipper further said that he would go to watch the WTC final. “I will go for the World Test Championship and hopefully we can get past New Zealand in the final. New Zealand will be there before us and they will play a couple of Test matches (against England),” Ganguly told ‘India Today’ channel. Ganguly also hailed the Indian team’s performance against Australia and England. India won the four-match series 2-1 in Australia while thumped the English side 3-1 at home recently. “I think we must congratulate Ajinkya Rahane, first in Australia and Virat Kohli against England, the head coach, support staff, everybody. (Rahul) Dravid who does a lot of work behind the scenes with these boys. To see that day in Brisbane was outstanding,” he said. India marched into the final of the WTC after beating England by an innings and 25 runs in the fourth and final Test in Ahmedabad.