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Giles Clarke’s hopes of becoming the next chairman of the ICC appear to be receding, with neither Australia nor South Africa expected to support his candidacy should he choose to stand for election later this year.In order to fulfil his long-held ambition and assume the most high-profile post in world cricket, Clarke would require a majority of the 13 board votes – comprising ten full-member nations and three associate representatives – at the ICC election in June.However, with campaigning expected to get underway in earnest at this week’s board meeting in Dubai, it is understood that Cricket South Africa is particularly opposed to Clarke’s candidacy, at a time when many of the reforms that he was so instrumental in driving through during the so-called “Big Three” takeover of 2014 are set to be repealed.

Lorgat in frame for return?

The apparent sidelining of Giles Clarke could yet pave the way for a shock return to the helm for the former ICC chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, who left the role in acrimony in 2012 and was subsequently appointed as chief executive of CSA.
Lorgat’s parting shot from his original ICC post was the commissioning of the Woolf Report, an independent governance review by Lord Woolf, the former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, which called for greater transparency and accountability from the men charged with the running of the sport.
The report attracted the ire of India, Australia and England in particular, who not only ignored its findings but swiftly implemented a range of counter-measures whereby those three boards would take the lion’s share of ICC revenue, with India being allocated 22 percent.
ESPNcricinfo understands that Lorgat held lengthy meetings at Shashank Manohar’s house in Nagpur during South Africa’s Test tour of India in November – a marked step up in status from his previous dealings with the BCCI, in 2013-14, when India’s tour of South Africa was truncated at the last minute, at an estimated cost of US$20 million, in an apparent show of displeasure at Lorgat’s appointment to the CSA role.

“Giles Clarke is the type of personality to say it so much that people believe he is the chairman, and that’s it. That’s not the case,” a CSA insider told journalists at a briefing in South Africa. “We have written to the ICC and it is on the agenda for changing the constitution. There is every likelihood that the ICC will reverse the structure and the things that it did two years ago.”CSA’s opposition has been matched by that of Cricket Australia, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, with the new board chairman, David Peever, understood to have distanced himself from the role played in the takeover by his predecessor, Wally Edwards, who retired from the post last year.With N Srinivasan, the former president of the BCCI and inaugural chairman of the ICC, being forced to stand down from both roles after being found by India’s Supreme Court to have had a conflict of interest in his ownership of the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, Clarke is the last remaining architect of the ICC power-grab and, as such, is increasingly seen as being the wrong man to lead the board in a climate of counter-reformation.The weakness of the other seven Test nations since the takeover is understood to be a cause of widespread concern among ICC board members, with West Indies still smarting from a humiliating tour of Australia and the PCB particularly aggrieved at the decentralisation of the Future Tours Programme, which has been replaced since 2014 by a series of bilateral agreements. The idea of a Test championship, shelved last year in favour of a rebooted Champions Trophy, could also be put to a vote.A widespread “review of ICC constitutional amendments” is also expected to be on the table in Dubai this week, with one anticipated change, according to the Telegraph, being the requirement for all future ICC chairmen to be independent of their member boards.Assuming that that change is rubber-stamped – and Shashank Manohar, the current chairman, has driven it through in response to the Srinivasan scandal – Clarke would then be obliged to resign his post as ECB president in order to stand as ICC chairman. Clarke’s new ECB role was specially created at the end of his eight-year tenure as ECB chairman in 2015, ostensibly to provide continuity at ICC level while the board’s new management duo, Colin Graves and Tom Harrison, bedded into their roles of chairman and chief executive respectively.However, the reluctance of Cricket Australia to endorse Clarke is not believed to reflect any weakened standing for the ECB’s new bosses among their peers at the ICC. Peever, the former managing director of Rio Tinto, met with Harrison and Graves in Singapore before Christmas, with James Sutherland, CA’s long-standing chief executive, also present. It was there, during an apparently cordial meeting, that the decision not to endorse Clarke’s candidature was expressed.When asked about the implications of the proposed reforms for Clarke’s future with the ECB, a board spokesman told ESPNcricinfo that it would not be appropriate to speculate on the outcome of a meeting that has not yet been held.

The one remaining issue of the Division Two season was settled in the first hour of the day as Warwickshire secured the bonus points needed against Glamorgan for them to overhaul Worcestershire and clinch the title at Edgbaston.Glamorgan, a side whose finish to the summer on and off the field is taking on Devon Loch qualities, offered no fight once they had polished off the Warwickshire innings. Neil Carter continued the onslaught he started last night, so much so that another 21 runs had been added when Tim Ambrose was dismissed without adding to his overnight 86. Adam Shanty took two of the three wickets to fall to finish with 5 for 77.That left them needing three Glamorgan wickets, and they didn’t have to wait long as Chris Woakes tore through a flimsy top order. After removing Gareth Rees and Tom Maynard, the title was secured when Jonathan Trott caught Michael Powell, and the collapse continued as Glamorgan limped to 43 for 6. Jamie Dalrymple was the man to dig in, and his plucky 92 ensured there was no follow-on. He was last man out, caught at long-on as he tried for his hundred before running out of partners, falling to Woakes who finished with 6 for 68.Second time round, Warwickshire were, understandably, slightly less focussed, and as was the case yesterday, they lost early wickets to close on 55 for 3. The day was rounded off when Ian Salisbury was awarded the third county cap of his career, adding to the ones he gained at Sussex and Surrey.Middlesex made the most of a placid pitch at Wantage Road to amass 545 for 7 against Northamptonshire. Andrew Strauss fell early for 172, failing to beat his career-best score by five runs, but Owais Shah, 80 not out overnight, completed his hundred and then Eoin Morgan gorged himself in making an unbeaten 136. In the midst of plenty there was a rather unexpected mid-innings collapse as four wickets fell for 19, Ed Joyce, in probably his last innings for the county, making only 1, while Monty Panesar whirled away to finish with 5 for 143. Northamptonshire found things equally straightforward although their batsmen got themselves out after playing themselves in, and more application will be needed tomorrow if they are to avoid the follow-on. At the close, they were 128 for 3.Leicestershire’spolicy of fielding young England players among their Kolpaks is well documented, but it was Derbyshire’s 21-year-old Portsmouth-born offspinner Jake Needham who pulled his side back into the match at Grace Road. He took career-best figures of 6 for 49, and more impressively 5 for 24 after lunch, as Leicestershire slid from 152 for 4 to 208 all out, a lead of only 14. After that excitement the rest of a truncated day was fairly hard work for the Leicester diehards, Derbyshire grinding their way to 85 for 0 in 43 turgid overs on a pitch where the bounce remains variable.Essex were another side who decided to give they batsmen free rein on a flat pitch as they piled up 510 against Gloucestershire at Bristol. James Foster gave the selectors a nudge on the eve of them naming their Test squad for India with 122 while James Middlebrook chipped in with 75, the pair adding 107 for the seventh wicket. Gloucestershire were heartened by the performance of Rob Woodman who took a career-best 4 for 65 on his debut, but when it was their turn to bat, they found the going much harder. They slid to 49 for 3 in the 25th over, the umpires coming to their aid when they took the players off for bad light.

The ECB is to look into the influx of South African players in the English county game.The bulk of those involved are playing by virtue of the Kolpak ruling, an EU loophole originally aimed at trade between the community and certain countries. The numbers have burgeoned since 2004, largely as a result of disenchantment at strict racial quotas in South Africa which have led to players looking to forge a career in England.The match between Northamptonshire and Leicestershire which started today highlighted the issue, with each side fielding five South Africans. Leicestershire also included a West Indian Kolpaker and an Australian playing under a UK passport, while Northamptonshire had an Irishman.David Smith, Leicestershire’s chairman, has defended his county’s position, explaining last week that the more experienced Kolpaks were being used to give his side backbone, enabling him to field up-and-coming English talent. But many have grown alarmed at the quantity of what are seen as cheap imports on county rosters.”There is great concern about what is happening,” an ECB source told the BBC. “The board will look at the situation of an almost doubling of non-English qualified players as a matter of urgency.”The ECB has tried to tackle the problem by imposing financial penalties. At present, if a county fields a Kolpak player they are deducted £1100 from their annual handout. But many counties have not been dissuaded by that and the numbers have continued to increase.At present, Kolpaks are limited to a few Caribbean countries, South Africa and Zimbabwe, but it is believed that there is a possibility that Australia and New Zealand could be included in the near future, opening the floodgates to even more Kolpak players.The ECB is unable under EU legislation to ban or impose limits on Kolpak players, although there are suggestions that the law could be reviewed as it was originally intended to apply to trade rather than labour.

ScorecardEllyse Perry finished with career-best figures of 4 for 12•Getty Images

Ellyse Perry played a dominant part in the Southern Stars’ consolation victory over India, in the third match of the women’s Twenty20 series, at the SCG.Having chosen to play in the third T20 match rather than appear in the W-League grand final, which also happened to fall on Sunday, Perry made it count by striking 55 from 41 balls then dismantling India’s middle order in a swift and accurate second spell that left her with memorable figures of 4 for 12 – a new personal best in T20s.A pair of successful chases in Adelaide and Melbourne had already given India the series victory, so it was no surprise to see Mithali Raj send the Australians in to bat after a successful call at the toss. Things did not look like improving for the hosts when Alyssa Healy perished to the very first ball of the match from Jhulan Goswami.However the Southern Stars captain Meg Lanning combined with Beth Mooney for a steadying stand, setting down a platform that allowed Perry to launch when she arrived at the crease in the eighth over. While wickets fell regularly at the other end, Perry’s sure eye and considerable power had her clearing the ropes three times to help Australia to a more than defendable tally of 136.A crowd that would build up to 7,169 by the finish was left to wonder for some time whether this would turn out to be a series sweep by India, as Vellaswamy Vanitha, Veda Krishnamurthy and Harmanpreet Kaur all made strong contributions. But none were able to go on from their starts to the sort of substantial score Perry had made, and from 3 for 94 in the 14th over things began to unravel.Rene Farrell had made a key incision by defeating Raj with a perfectly-pitched slower ball out the back of the hand, but the slide was to be largely induced by Perry’s speed and accuracy. She epitomised this with a fast and precise delivery that splayed the stumps of Anuja Patel.Perry’s four wickets more or less decided the contest before Farrell claimed one more wicket when Shikha Pandey skied one for Healy to pouch, and the last two overs played out without India ever looking like reaching the target.

Sarfaraz Ahmed, the former Pakistan captain and current mentor of the Under-19 side, said he had urged his players to celebrate their Asia Cup triumph over India with respect and sportsman’s spirit, and not behave as their opponents had done.Sarfaraz was responding to a question about a video from the final that went viral, in which he was heard telling his players not to be uncivil even if India’s players crossed lines. The teams did not shake hands during the final, as has become the norm between the two sides at all levels, ever since the military confrontation between the two countries in May. Vaibhav Suryavanshi was involved in one heated on-field moment when, after being dismissed by Ali Raza, he gestured towards his shoe when walking off.Related

• Sameer Minhas 172 powers Pakistan to Under-19 Asia Cup title

• Stats – Sameer Minhas eclipses Quinton de Kock with blazing knock

Sarfaraz referred to that incident in his response. “I played against those Indian teams who took cricket for cricket [and nothing more]. I happened to see from the outside that their behaviour towards the game wasn’t good. And one of their players did a gesture which all of you saw on the screen. I think that was inappropriate. If you have any issues… we’ve played a lot of cricket and you can respond if things are said on the field… but that was an inappropriate response.”As for the video, I just said to my players we should celebrate but with decorum. What they are doing, we shouldn’t be doing. We must show sportsman’s spirit. We should stay calm and back our team and let them do what they are doing.”Pakistan won the final in Dubai by 191 runs and have been feted since their return, meeting with the Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who announced a PKR 10 million reward for each player in the squad. The opener Sameer Minhas was player of the final – as well as the tournament – scoring a 113-ball 172 as Pakistan posted 347. Raza then took 4-42 as India were bowled out for 156.Farhan Yousaf, the captain, praised the environment the team management created for the triumph. “The management really backed us and told us to play fearless cricket. They spoke to every single player and said, just play your natural game, do not be afraid of anything, we will back you. One of the big things the management said was that they would take responsibility for any losses but that the credit for wins would be to the boys.”Sarfaraz is no stranger to youth set-ups, having come through the U-19s pathway himself and, famously, led Pakistan to the U-19 World Cup title in 2006. He has been mentoring domestically and was appointed to the U-19 side earlier this month.”The team had a lot of potential,” he said. “When I joined the camp in Multan it was clear the coaching staff had done a lot of hard work with the boys already. The way the management backed them and the way the kids responded, I said to them, try and fulfil your potential, and don’t be nervous about anything. We gave them the confidence that you are the guys who are going to play for Pakistan for the next 15-20 years. Play your natural games and play a game that you will remember for the rest of your lives.”

June 30
News – Shoaib files petition against ban
June 15
News – Shoaib free to appeal
June 14
News – Shoaib’s five-year ban reduced to 18 months
June 8
News – Shoaib’s appeal proceedings delayed
May 5
Osman Samiuddin – PCB softens stance on Shoaib
May 4
News – Shoaib cleared to play in IPL
May 3
News – Shoaib can play IPL only if ban is lifted – Modi
News – Shoaib pushes for suspension of ban
May 2
News – Ashraf files defamation suit against Shoaib
May 1
News – IPL yet to decide on Shoaib ban
April 30
News – Shoaib’s five-year ban upheld
April 29
News – Shoaib apologises to PCB chairman
April 18
News – Shoaib to file fresh appeal by Monday
April 14
News – Senate committee says Shoaib appeal process to continue
April 8
News – Anti-Corruption Unit probes Shoaib’s match-fixing claims
April 7
News – Three-man tribunal to look into Shoaib’s appeal
News – Shoaib’s comments anger Inzamam and Moin
April 4
News – ICC wants anti-corruption unit to talk to Shoaib
News – Shoaib launches appeal against banApril 3
News – Shoaib cannot play in IPL
News – Ashraf files legal notice against Shoaib
April 2
News – Shoaib claims he got offers to underperform
Quotes – ‘I have been victimised’ – Shoaib
News – Lawson regrets Shoaib’s downfall
April 1
News – Shoaib banned for five years
Osman Samiuddin – The final episode in the Shoaib soap opera?

India’s win against West Indies in the second Test at Sabina Park not only gave them a 2-0 series sweep and the top spot on the World Test Championship table, but was also their 28th Test victory under Virat Kohli, making him the winningest Indian Test captain, going past MS Dhoni’s 27.Kohli, however, said that the captaincy achievement was just a by-product of the team, and the bowlers, that he had.”Captaincy is just a ‘c’ in front of your name honestly. It’s the collective effort that matters,” Kohli told Ian Bishop in the post-match presentation. “It’s a by-product of this quality team that we have here. If we didn’t have the bowlers that we have, I don’t think the results would have been possible.”Yes, you can score as many runs as you want, but if you look at these guys running in and putting their heart in – I mean [Mohammed] Shami’s spell today, [Jasprit] Bumrah after having a small niggle, Ishant [Sharma] bowling his heart out, [Ravindra] Jadeja bowling a long spell… I don’t think without these bowlers it would have been possible. So I think all the credit has to go to the whole team.”India’s win in the second Test came in the second session on the fourth day, and Kohli was lavish in his praise for Man of the Match Hanuma Vihari, who made 111 and 53 not out to be the standout batsman in the game. One of the features of Vihari’s batting was how well he left the ball and the patience he showed that ultimately resulted in the ball coming to his scoring areas.”You have to be patient on this wicket, select the balls which are in your area to score runs,” Vihari said of his approach. “Because there’s something for the fast bowlers, and it’s very important that you leave well outside off stump and wait for the areas… wait for them to come to you.”Virat Kohli has overtaken MS Dhoni to become India’s most successful Test captain•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Kohli agreed that the pitch dictated the batting game plan, and said Vihari brought calm to the dressing room.”According to the surface, I think it was a top-class innings,” Kohli said. “He’s a guy who’s very sure of his game and it shows when he plays. He looks confident and the dressing room feels really calm watching him bat. I think that’s a quality he possesses naturally because his game is so correct. He’s always willing to improve and is accepting of his mistakes and corrects them immediately, and he’s getting the results pretty quickly.”He plays with a lot of heart, always up to do anything for the team, and that’s why he invariably ends up playing crucial innings for us. It’s a very young career so far, but he’s shown why he’s been backed and selected in this team.”India have been ranked No. 1 in Test cricket since October 2016, with Kohli having led them all through except when he sat out through injury. He assumed Test captaincy full-time when Dhoni announced his retirement midway through India’s tour of Australia in 2015-16, having led in the first Test of the series with Dhoni injured, and then in the last match following Dhoni’s departure. Before the win in the Caribbean, he had led India to their first-ever series win in Australia in 2018-19.

England 286 for 6 (Vaughan 63, Strauss 43, Pietersen 42, Collingwood 41*, Martin 2-53, Vettori 2-60) trail New Zealand 470 by 184 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

On a day that was the antithesis of Twenty20’s thrill-a-minute cricket, England’s progress was, at its most exciting, pedestrian and at times they almost ground to a halt. They closed on 286 for 6 with Paul Collingwood and Tim Ambrose well set, still 184 in arrears, and in 93 overs they managed only 199 runs. Is it any wonder that crowds for Tests in New Zealand are so poor?While England got dogged defence down to a fine art, they forgot that to defend successfully, you need to score runs as well. For almost an hour in the afternoon the run-rate hovered at around one an over. Incredibly, that was while Kevin Pietersen was at the crease. The result was that although New Zealand only took four wickets, their lead remains large enough that if they can bowl England out cheaply tomorrow and score quick runs, they will have at least a day for their bowlers to win the match.New Zealand bowled superbly until weariness took hold in the last hour. The seamers offered little, the spinners tormented the batsmen, and Daniel Vettori tightened the noose with intelligent field placing that choked England’s usually aggressive middle order.Resuming on 87 for 2, England pressed on for much of the morning as Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss made slow, steady and untroubled progress, and when Vaughan brought up his half-century with a deliberate steer to third man off Vettori, the chatter was all about how a draw was almost inevitable.Even when the breakthrough came from Jeetan Patel, it seemed only a brief hiccup. Patel, who visibly grew in confidence as the day progressed, found a modicum of turn outside off stump and Vaughan feathered a sharp chance through to Brendon McCullum behind the stumps. Three balls after lunch and Strauss fell, undone by a sublimely-flighted ball from Vettori which fizzed out of the footmarks outside off and ripped through a loose drive.Vettori then turned the screw. When not bowling himself, he placed his field to choke the batsmen’s strengths, especially when Pietersen was on strike, reducing one of the game’s great strokemakers to a plodding grafter. Pietersen thumped the third ball of his innings before lunch for a towering straight six; in the entire afternoon he managed 26 runs, and eight of those came off the last two overs of the session. It wasn’t until the brink of tea that he hit his second boundary.

Ian Bell, seemingly untroubled by the injury to his hand sustained on the first morning, never really settled, and with Pietersen rendered almost impotent, runs almost totally dried up – 56 came off 31 overs in the afternoon session. So effective were the spinners than Vettori delayed taking the new ball for almost an hour. When it did arrive, Kyle Mills nipped one back between bat and pad to bowl Bell, and the possibility of a follow-on, until then at the back of the mind, became a real possibility. Whether Vettori would have enforced it is another matter.Pietersen’s uncharacteristic vigil – he was at one stage given an ironic cheer for a single – ended soon after tea when a thin edge into his pads carried back to a diving Vettori, but as the shadows lengthened Collingwood and Ambrose finally started to hit out, their unbeaten seventh-wicket stand of 41 coming at heady two an over. The diminutive Ambrose showed no sign of nerves in his debut innings.England should have done enough to ensure that unless this pluperfect surface suddenly falls apart, this game will end in nothing other than stalemate. But watching the way Vettori and Patel whirled away in the afternoon, and imagining how many more questions they will ask on a wearing fifth-day pitch, it would be foolish to write New Zealand off quite yet.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:40

Unbelievable that modern batsmen can play like this

In their final innings of a long and wretched series, South Africa’s batsmen produced their most unyielding display, responding with dour defence in the face of a mountainous fourth-innings task. Hashim Amla was at the forefront of their defiance, playing the slowest innings of 200 balls or more in the history of Test cricket*, but South Africa’s job, notwithstanding their captain’s monumental effort, was less than half done.India declared half an hour from lunch, after Ajinkya Rahane had become the fifth Indian batsman to score twin tons in a Test match, setting a target of 481 with just over five sessions remaining. At stumps on day four, South Africa had only lost two wickets while eating up 72 overs. They only scored 72 in that time, but it hardly mattered to them: South Africa were batting time, and runs were simply not on their minds.At stumps, Amla was batting on 23 off 207 balls and with him was AB de Villiers, on 11 off 91. Their third-wicket partnership was worth 23 off 29.2 overs. Before that, Amla and Temba Bavuma had put on 44 in 38.4 overs.South Africa began their fourth innings with a possible 158 overs remaining in the match. Given the sheer amount of time left, a draw seemed out of question, but South Africa have shown themselves capable – in Adelaide three years ago and in Colombo last year – of defying that sort of logic. South Africa’s batting has been far from its best during this series, but they kept faith in their ability – unique in this era – to bat long without thinking of runs.They had five overs to see out before lunch, and did not survive that period unscathed. R Ashwin looped one up to Dean Elgar from around the wicket, drifting it into the left-hander and getting it to leave him from a middle-stump line. Elgar didn’t reach the pitch while trying to drive straight, and Rahane took a comfortable catch at slip.In walked Amla. It took him 46 balls to get off the mark, and the first runs were unintentional, his back-foot defensive stroke off Ravindra Jadeja squirting away into the fine leg region. Bavuma, blocking with comparable single-mindedness at the other end was on 8 off 50 balls when Ashwin sent down a rare half-tracker – possibly slipped in deliberately to break the batsman’s rhythm – that left him with almost no option but to pull for six.The overs ran by quickly, hypnotically, and the close-in cordon grew in strength. It was fascinating to watch. South Africa, perhaps, were making things more difficult for themselves by contributing to India’s rapid over rate and leaving themselves more overs to face. When their innings began, 68 overs remained from the 90 scheduled for the day; India bowled 72.And while neither batsman was making too many mistakes – their control percentages hovered in the low-to-mid-90s – every little mistake was amplified by the presence of four, sometimes five, fielders around the bat at all times.Between lunch and tea, the edges weren’t finding fielders though. Amla came forward to defend Jadeja, and nicked him between first and second slip. Ishant Sharma, replacing Ashwin in the 28th over, found Bavuma’s edge twice in the second over of his spell, and the ball streaked through the slips on both occasions.By tea, India had bowled 22 maidens in 39 overs, and had only one wicket to show for it. It took a ball of great beauty from their best bowler, Ashwin, to finally break the stand in the fourth over of the final session. It drifted away slightly from Bavuma’s off stump, and hit it as he played for more turn than there was. The length was key, punishing the batsman for his lack of a front-foot stride.The pitch seemed to have slowed down slightly, but the batsmen were still being tested, forced to stay vigilant every ball. Ashwin continued to confound with his flight, and slipped in the odd legbreak for variety. Jadeja got a couple to turn sharply past de Villiers’ edge. Umesh Yadav got one to lift from a length and smack Amla’s left glove. It was, perhaps, the moment that best summed up Amla’s impregnability: his hands were as close to his body as possible, and they cushioned the impact of the ball to make it drop right next to his feet.Amla and de Villiers had been at the crease for 62 balls without scoring a run, when Kohli decided to shake things up by bringing on his part-timers. Shikhar Dhawan sent down two wide full-tosses in his first over, and Amla had no option but to smash them to the cover-point boundary, but in between he got one to spit up from a length. Amla was fully stretched out in defence, his head over the ball and his bat face almost parallel with the ground, when the ball popped up off his glove and over Cheteshwar Pujara at silly point. Pujara spun around and dived full-length, but could only get his fingertips to the ball. It was barely a half-chance, but also the only chance India would get during the partnership.In the morning, Rahane shifted gears effortlessly as India resumed 403 ahead, looking for quick runs. On day three, he had scored 52 off 152 balls, shutting South Africa out of the contest in a display of cool professionalism in the company of Virat Kohli. On the fourth morning, Rahane made 48 off 54 balls.The only major change in his batting was a willingness to go after anything remotely wide of the stumps. He picked up two fours and a six in the first four overs of the morning, all in the arc between third man and deep cover, the pick of them a perfectly timed ramp over the slips off Morne Morkel.Kohli, who began the day on 83, only added five to his overnight score before he was lbw to a ball from Kyle Abbott that crept through at shin height. It didn’t hamper India’s scoring rate as Rahane and Wriddhiman Saha kept playing their shots. Rahane raced through the 80s with sixes in successive overs off Imran Tahir and Dean Elgar, and Saha used his bottom hand to telling effect in swiping three fours in two overs.The declaration was just around the corner. Tahir bowled one full at Rahane’s pads, and he clipped it away through the leg side to bring up a hundred that he barely celebrated, raising his arms momentarily before walking off towards the dressing room. It was an understated reaction to an outstanding achievement. Among Indian batsmen, only Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar (three times), Rahul Dravid (twice) and Kohli had made hundreds in both innings of a Test match before Rahane.*

The Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to stick to the best possible team for the ODI series against Zimbabwe that is scheduled to get underway next month. It was widely anticipated, and planned by the national selection committee, that new faces will be tried in the relatively low-key series in order to assess Pakistan’s backup resources.”We cannot take Zimbabwe on any other team lightly,” Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the PCB, told the . “That is why we will ensure that our best possible team plays against Zimbabwe and wins the series five-nil.”Salahuddin Ahmed, the chief selector, had earlier planned on introducing young blood into the team during the series.”We will definitely try out some new faces in whichever department we need them in,” Salahuddin had told Cricinfo. “That’s not to say that we are taking Zimbabwe lightly, but we need to assess players on the fringes of the national side and this is a good opportunity.”However, after Ashraf attended a couple of domestic matches on Thursday, he had a meeting with Salahuddin where a decision to hold a three-day exercise to test several upcoming cricketers was taken. The camp is scheduled to take place in Karachi from January 9 and will include 22 to 24 promising youngsters in action.”We will call around 20 to 24 youngsters for a few trial matches ahead of the series against Zimbabwe,” Ashraf said. “The players will be selected on the basis of their performance in domestic events as well as during Under-19 assignments.”We will spot players who can be a part of the national team in the future but will bring them in step by step. This is because we have to make it sure that the team’s performance is not affected by too many rapid changes.”We have a four-day and a three-day game against Zimbabwe and they would provide us with excellent opportunities to check out the youngsters who are knocking at the doors of international cricket.”We need solid players who can be groomed into world class Test cricketers.”The tour is scheduled to start on January 14 with a four-day match in Karachi. However, yesterday’s assassination of Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister, has thrown the immediate fate of the series in doubt.