Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill has quashed rumours that goalkeeper Simon Mignolet will leave the North East in the summer.
The Sunderland boss has revealed that he plans to hold contract talks with the Belgian stopper in the coming weeks and that he believes there will be no problem in doing the deal.
Mignolet has been on inspired form for an inconsistent Sunderland side who appeared to have turned a corner in late January before slumping to three consecutive defeats.
The 24-year-old has fought off impressive competition in the form of Craig Gordon and Keiren Westwood to be first choice at the Stadium of Light and O’Neill hopes it will remain that way for the long term.
Atletico Madrid were reportedly tracking Mignolet in recent weeks with a view to a summer move and it was thought that Champions League football could tempt the ‘keeper to the Spanish capital.
However, O’Neill is looking forward to contract talks to get under way so Mignolet can focus on playing for Sunderland.
“We would really like to try to tie him down to a longer contract,” O’Neill told Sky Sports.
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“There have been talks about that for some time, but I think we would really want to try to firm that up as soon as we could. I think he’s receptive to it.”
Everton fans are furious with BT Sport after the broadcaster released a one-sided promotional video for Everton’s clash with Manchester City.
The Toffees welcome league leaders Manchester City to Goodison Park on Saturday, but if you watched BT’s promo for the match you could be excused for thinking it was just a Manchester City training exercise.
It’s not been a great season for the blue half of Merseyside, and they’ve fallen way below expectations, but fans are fuming with the broadcasting giants.
Not a single Everton player was shown in the promo video, which can be seen below.
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If there’s one thing Everton fans will take confidence from ahead of this weekend, it’s that they are the only current Premier League side to have not lost to Pep Guardiola. The Toffees smashed City 4-0 at Goodison last season.
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Guardiola’s men will be looking to avenge the reverse fixture, where Everton grabbed a 1-1 draw courtesy of a Wayne Rooney goal, making them the only team to take points off City at the Etihad this season.
Fans have been reacting to the video on Twitter, and some of the best reactions can be found below…
To survive any relegation battle one needs to score goals – a logic evident when Hull City signed Lokomotiv Moscow striker Dame N’Doye for an estimated £3million fee in the recent January transfer window.
The Tigers had previously recorded a spell of failing to score in 11 from 15 Premier League matches, seeing Steve Bruce’s side fall into the relegation zone, thus leading to N’Doye being signed just before the window closed.
Bruce was left delighted, explaining that players tend to be successful through possessing all the physical attributes necessary to adapt to life in the Premier League. The experienced manager conceded that he had noticed N’Doye more from promising signs representing his country, Senegal, than his form in the Russian league however.
At 29, signed on a two-and-a-half-year contract, N’Doye should be approaching the peak years of his career while aiding the Tigers in their attempts to stay in the Premier League.
The striker has certainly had a good start to his new life in England, scoring a valuable goal as City defeated relegation rivals Aston Villa 2-0 to consign their manager, Paul Lambert, to the sack.
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The goal-scoring form of N’Doye therefore already appears vital to Hull’s survival prospects, especially as their other forwards are currently out of sorts.
Nikica Jelavic and City’s record signing Abel Hernandez, both had promising starts this season, but in recent months appear to have largely lost a great deal of form and confidence.
Hull have simply had problems in attack ever since, though N’Doye provides another option with his physical presence and an aerial threat. The striker allows Steve Bruce to regularly establish a formation involving two strikers, giving City a better chance of improving their offensive record and eventually climbing out of the dreaded relegation zone.
N’Doye has seemingly shown the promise that got him signed in the first place, and given Hull are currently in the middle of a spell of fixtures against sides around them in the table, his impact could be pivotal in their final reckoning.
The striker has nonetheless had a nomadic club career, starting in Senegal with Jeanne d’Arc in 2003, before joining Qatari side Al-Sadd three seasons later. A year on the striker went to Portuguese team Academica de Coimbra, where he made 25 appearances, scoring four goals.
The air miles continued to build up as N’Doye’s career progressed, moving to Greek side Panathinaikos, but ultimately failing to notch an impressive goals to game ratios at any of these clubs.
At OFI Crete, N’Doye eventually found his scoring boots, scoring seven in 15 games, before making his name with an excellent spell at Danish side FC Copenhagen in January 2009.
82 goals in 150 appearances across all competitions was simply outstanding, including two goals in the Champions League group stage. These achievements helped Copenhagen make the last 16, becoming the first Danish side to manage such a feat, before being defeated by Chelsea.
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Such form led to an impressive spell at Lokomotiv Moscow from 2012 onwards, notching 27 goals in 68 appearances before eventually moving to Hull.
N’Doye’s form also caught the eye of his national team from as early as 2010, leading to 34 Senegal caps to date including nine goals.
The striker nevertheless failed to score despite playing every match in their recent Africa Cup of Nations campaign, yet his pedigree still remains obvious. Hull fans will therefore hope it is enough to keep them in the Premier League for another successful season.
AC Milan have once again distanced themselves from a move for Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli.
The controversial Italian appears to have fallen out-of-favour with the Premier League champions, following a series of off-field misdemeanours.
On the pitch he has also struggled, netting just once in 14 league appearances.
This has led to speculation that he may leave the club this January, with AC Milan rumoured to be a likely destination.
However, the club’s chief executive Adriano Galliani has ruled out a move for the 22-year-old:
“If no-one leaves, no-one will arrive.” he is quoted by Sky Sports via Sport Mediaset.
“Mario Balotelli? We have five strikers for two/three roles, so we are fine.”
The San Siro giants have allowed Alexandre Pato to leave in recent weeks, but Galliani feels that they do not need to draft in a replacement:
“I always said that if only one striker were to leave, we would not have taken anyone, and we have sold only Pato.
“AC Milan needs a bit of time to get back to the top, but I’m sure we will. We want to invest in young players also in this market window.”
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Manchester City have been linked with a number of strikers in recent weeks, with manager Roberto Mancini hoping to get the club’s title challenge back on track.
To bring in another front-man it’s likely that he will have to move on one of his current attackers, with Balotelli expected to be allowed to leave.
Charli Knott joins as replacement, with no Indian players left in the tournament
ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2025Deepti Sharma clinched London Spirit’s maiden Hundred title with a straight six in the final at Lord’s last year but has pulled out of the 2025 season to manage her workload.Deepti, the Indian allrounder, is in England for India’s ongoing tour and has had a busy recent schedule, balancing international commitments and franchise leagues. With a 50-over World Cup on home soil looming later this year, she has opted to withdraw from her £36,000 contract in order to give herself a short break.She has been replaced by Charli Knott, the Australian allrounder, and Spirit’s squad will look significantly different this year. Charlie Dean will deputise as captain for the injured Heather Knight, while Meg Lanning has been replaced by Grace Harris and Chris Liddle has taken over from Ashley Noffke as head coach.Deepti’s withdrawal means that there are no Indian players under contract in the Hundred this year. The BCCI does not grant active men’s players No-Objection Certificates to play in overseas leagues, while the women’s players who have previously been involved either went undrafted or were unavailable due to workload concerns.Elsewhere, Trent Rockets have confirmed that Ash Gardner will captain them this season. ESPNcricinfo revealed last month that Nat Sciver-Brunt had stepped down from the role to ease her own workload after taking on the England captaincy, and Gardner said it was “an honour” to take over from her.Related
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In the men’s Hundred, David Willey will take over from Lewis Gregory as Rockets captain, after Gregory was released and signed by Manchester Originals. Willey has spent the last two years playing for Welsh Fire but was a £200,000 signing at the draft and has short-form captaincy experience with Northamptonshire, Yorkshire and Northern Superchargers.Each Hundred team will add four ‘wildcard’ players – two men’s, two women’s – to their squad next week, making signings based on performances in the T20 Blast. Birmingham Phoenix have secured an injury replacement ahead of the wildcard draft, with Nottinghamshire’s Freddie McCann replacing Derbyshire seamer Harry Moore, who has a back stress fracture.The Hundred will run from August 5-31 and is being viewed as a transitional season before the ECB hands operational responsibility for the eight teams over to their host counties and new private investors ahead of the 2026 edition.
Prime Bank Cricket Club, Legends of Rupganj and Gazi Group Cricketers also have perfect starts
Mohammad Isam19-Mar-2024
Key takeaways
Defending champions Abahani Limited are off to a flying start in this season’s Dhaka Premier League, crushing all three opponents in the first week. But they have got company. Prime Bank Cricket Club, Legends of Rupganj and Gazi Group Cricketers have all started with three wins.A top-heavy league also means that there are four teams without a single win. It already reflects the disparity of wealth among the clubs as the DPL of this season was said to be one with several low-budget teams.Brothers Union, Gazi Tyres Cricket Academy, City Club and Rupganj Tigers Cricket Club are all winless after three games each. Partex Sporting Club beat Gazi Tyres in an early battle between the two newly promoted sides.
Best batters
Parvez Hossain Emon struck two centuries in the first week. He started the tournament with a cheap dismissal against Shinepukur Cricket Club, but then stepped up with a career-best 151 against Brothers Union. He struck nine fours and eight sixes in his 129-ball knock, while adding 246 runs for the opening stand with Shahadat Hossain, a record for Prime Bank. The pair was sent to open after Tamim Iqbal got stuck in traffic on the Dhaka-Savar highway. Shahadat also made a century in that game.Nurul Hasan, Imrul Kayes and Ariful Islam also struck hundreds in the first week. Imrul and Ariful’s combined tally for Mohammedan against Rupganj Tigers was 221. The other five batters in the innings scored a total of 29 runs.Parvez Hossain Emon celebrates his century against Brothers Union•Prime Bank Cricket Club
Best bowlers
There were several standout bowlers in the first week, but fast bowlers Mehedi Hasan and Abdul Halim stood apart with two four-wicket hauls each. Offspinner Mahedi Hasan, meanwhile, took a hat-trick on the last three balls of the match against City Club.Almost all of Bangladesh’s fast-bowling prospects, including Musfik Hasan who earned a Test call-up against Sri Lanka, took four-fors. Gazi Group Cricketers’ left-arm quick Ruyel Miah took a five-wicket haul against Mohammedan Sporting Club.
Best match
There were three nail-biting finishes in the DPL this week. Mahedi’s hat-trick helped Prime Bank beat City Club by three runs in a high-scoring game, while Anisul Islam Emon bowled a superb final over to thwart Mohammedan and lead Gazi Group to a three-run win.Aminul Islam hung around till the end to help Legends of Rupganj to a one-wicket win against Rupganj Tigers. With six runs needed in the last over, Aminul couldn’t connect properly with the first three balls against Qazi Onik but walloped the fourth ball for a straight six to start the celebrations.
Points to ponder
Abahani have definitely built the team and made a start towards their 22nd league title. Prime Bank, Legends of Rupganj, Gazi Group and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club will definitely be in the running, but they have to beat Abahani to have any chance of a shot at the trophy.The likes of Brothers Union, City Club and Rupganj Tigers seem to be early contenders for teams trying to avoid relegation.
Players to watch
Many of the youngsters, particularly those from the Bangladesh Under-19 side that played in this year’s World Cup, have started the DPL quite well. Since the DPL is regarded as Bangladesh cricket’s finishing school, allrounder Ariful Islam and left-arm spinner Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby performing for major clubs, Mohammedan and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, respectively, is a big plus.
He has returned to begin his treatment and rehabilitation at the NCA in Bengaluru
ESPNcricinfo staff and PTI17-Sep-2022Umesh Yadav, who suffered an injury during a game for Middlesex against Gloucestershire in the Royal London One-Day Cup last month, has returned to India for rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.Umesh injured his quad muscles (the group of muscles at the front of the thigh) on August 21. As a result, he will not be available for Middlesex’s last two matches of the County Championship this month, the club said in an official statement.Related
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“Middlesex Cricket regrets to announce that we have been made aware that Umesh Yadav will not be returning to London to finish the season with the Club and will play no further part in Middlesex’s County Championship run in due to an ongoing injury to his quad muscle,” the club statement said. “With two red-ball games remaining in the season, away to Leicestershire next week and away to Worcestershire the following week, Middlesex were hopeful that the Indian international would be returning to the Club to play a part in the push for promotion to the top flight of the Championship structure.”Soon after news of Umesh’s departure from Middlesex, however, came the news that he had been named in India’s squad for their T20I series against Australia, as a replacement for Mohammed Shami, who has tested positive for Covid-19.The extent of Umesh’s injury isn’t clear, and his selection for the Australia series suggests he may be fit to take on the workload of T20 games but not that of four-day Championship matches.Middlesex said Umesh had been assessed by the BCCI medical team and had begun treatment as well as a “bowling programme”.”After sustaining the injury, the right-arm quick travelled back to India for an assessment with the BCCI’s medical team, where he began treatment and rehabilitation on the injury whilst beginning a back to bowling programme under the watchful eye of the Indian national medical team.”Umesh, who has taken 158 wickets in 52 Tests and 106 wickets in 75 ODIs, was scheduled to return to London on Saturday ahead of next week’s trip to Leicester but that has changed.He had joined Middlesex in July to play for the club in both first-class and List-A formats. He picked up four wickets in six bowling innings in the County Championships, at an average of 71.50, but did much better in the Royal London One-Day Cup, picking up 16 wickets – the highest for his team – in seven innings at an average of 20.25.September 18, GMT 0530 The story was updated with news of Umesh’s selection in India’s T20I squad.
West Indies includes Shannon Gabriel and Darren Bravo in squad, while Temba Bavuma could return to for South Africa
Firdose Moonda17-Jun-2021
Big picture
The World Test Championship final, which starts on the same day as this match, may be the most important fixture in the Test format but for West Indies and South Africa, it’s just about the last thing on their minds. At least, if you believe Dean Elgar.Though acknowledging that “it’s going to be exciting”, Elgar admitted he has “not got a lot of interest in that fixture” because he is more concerned with South Africa attempting to win their first series on the road in more than four years.Once the best travellers in the world game, South Africa spent nine years between 2006 and 2015 unbeaten in series away from home, but that has changed. Now, they have lost four away series in succession – in England, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan – and this is their opportunity to turn that around.Related
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After a near-perfect performance in the first Test, Elgar has asked for more of the same and described his expectations as “stern and straightforward”. He still wants big hundreds, five-fors and for the senior players to step up.West Indies will doubtless be after a change of fortune, having being completely outplayed in the first Test. The pre-series talk that the two teams were fairly evenly matched proved to be misplaced as the West Indies batters struggled against quality seam bowling in tough conditions and were then unable to cause the same problems for their opposition.
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Putting on a better score will be their first goal after they were dismissed for 97, their lowest total against South Africa, but the bowlers will also be smarting to show their worth after being talked up as the stronger suit. Though they cannot win the series, West Indies can deny South Africa an eighth series win over them and fourth on the islands.There will be an added incentive after the St Lucia government initiated a trial to admit fans for the game. A maximum of 400 spectators a day will be allowed into the Daren Sammy Stadium, providing they can show they have received two vaccine jabs prior to June 4.
Form guide
(last five completed matches, most recent first) West Indies LDDWW South Africa WLLWW
In the spotlight
Once West Indies’ biggest batting prospect, Shai Hope was recalled for this series after being dropped last year, having failed translate his talent to the Test format. Hope scored 110, 84 and 64 in the ODIs against Sri Lanka in March but it is a long time since he managed to be anything like as prolific against a red ball – it is more than two years since he made a fifty, and his only hundreds came in the same Test against England in August 2017.For South Africa, it’s Dean Elgar again but only because, despite not any scoring runs, taking any wickets or being involved in any catches in the first Test, he is still managing to look like the happiest person around. Elgar is not known for having a particularly sunny disposition but the promotion to captaincy has brought out the best in him. With this being South Africa’s last scheduled Tests until the home summer, he will also want to lead from the front on the field.
Team news
Given the seam-friendly conditions, West Indies may want to find room for another seamer and, if they do, it will be Shannon Gabriel. Alzarri Joseph, who sat out of the first Test, has been left out of the squad altogether for the second but Gabriel, who had a hamstring injury, has been recalled. West Indies have also added Darren Bravo, who last played a Test against New Zealand in December 2020, with Nkrumah Bonner ruled out with concussion. Kieran Powell made his comeback after more than two years as a concussion substitute for Bonner and his inclusion would allow Hope to take up a more familiar berth at No. 3.West Indies: (possible) 1 Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Shai Hope, 4 Roston Chase, 5 Kyle Mayers, 6 Jermaine Blackwood, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Joshua Da Silva (wk), 9 Shannon Gabriel/Rahkeem Cornwall, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Jayden SealesTemba Bavuma’s fitness after he sat out with a hip injury in the first Test will be assessed at optional training on Thursday and if fit, he will displace Kyle Verreynne. South Africa are not expected to make any other changes.South Africa: (possible) 1 Dean Elgar (capt), 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Keegan Petersen, 5 Temba Bavuma/Kyle Verreynne, 6 Quinton de Kock (wk), 7 Wiaan Mulder, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Lungi Ngidi
Pitch and conditions
After a decent deck for bowling in the first Test, Elgar expects something similar for the second. A mitigating factor might be the wet weather in the lead-up to the Test which could result in a surface that Elgar said looks “a little bit softer” and which may have less even bounce. Concerningly, rain is forecast for every day of the match, with the most significant showers set to come at the weekend. There is a 60% chance of a downpour on Saturday, and 70% on Sunday.
Stats and trivia
South Africa have won six Tests since the start of 2019. In those victories, their seamers have shared 112 wickets between them, while the spinners have claimed just four.
Jermaine Blackwood and Aiden Markram need 41 runs and 180 runs respectively to reach the 2000 Test run landmark.
Of batters with more than 2000 runs, Kieran Powell has the second-worst batting average, 26.64.
Quotes
“We have enough experience in the dressing room. Once we get our plans right, once we are patient and execute as well as we have been doing for the last few years. I don’t see why we can’t out-bowl the South African team.” “Clinical, ruthless, our bowlers led the pack and our senior players put their hands up. One Test win has done so much for us already. We need Test wins and we need series wins. I want a Test win and to seal the series 2-0.”
With a Test comeback imminent, the opener dug deep to bring up Bangladesh’s highest ever first-class score
Mohammad Isam02-Feb-2020When Tamim Iqbal reached 298 while batting for East Zone against Central Zone in the Bangladesh Cricket League, a meeting inside the BCB headquarters broke up. Those attending climbed out of the window, and waited in the balcony overlooking the Shere Bangla National Stadium’s grandstand. In attendance were BCB’s chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury, cricket operations chairman Akram Khan and chief selector Minhajul Abedin.
Tamim’s innings breakdown
Day 2 lunch: Tamim on 72* Day 2 tea: 157* (85 runs in the session) Day 2 stumps: 222* (65 runs in the session) Day 3 lunch: 279* (57 runs in the session) Day 3 declaration: 334* (55 runs in the session)
As soon as Tamim scampered to take the single, the loudest cheer came from these three men, as well as from inside their meeting room where Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo and Habibul Bashar, selector and former captain, stood to give him an ovation.At the end of the third day’s play, Chowdhury and other board officials greeted Tamim and cut a cake with him to celebrate the left-hander becoming the holder of the country’s highest individual score, an unbeaten 334 that had 42 fours and three sixes, spanning a gargantuan nine hours and 45 minutes. Tamim’s triple hundred was only the second by a Bangladeshi, after Raqibul Hasan’s 313, nearly thirteen years ago.Raqibul, who played nine Tests between 2008 and 2011, coincidentally was in the opposition when Tamim was batting in this game. Later, he was specially called to cut the cake with Tamim as one of the two triple centurions in Bangladesh’s first-class scene, apart from Tamim’s East Zone teammates and BCB officials.Tamim said that the nine-hour essay will remain an innings that is close to his heart.”It is a special feeling to score a triple hundred,” Tamim said. “I think everyone dreams of such an innings but I didn’t think it would come in this game. The most important thing for me was how I batted. I hope I can continue with the same form. It is a special innings; three hundred runs is tough against any opposition or at any level. If it was easy, you would have seen a 300 every month. It will have a special place in my heart.”What stood out in Tamim’s knock was his perseverance while playing a low-key domestic match. Often in the past he has gotten out after scoring a big hundred, but this time, with the need of getting in the groove ahead of his comeback Test next week in Rawalpindi, Tamim dug deep.”I felt that I was very determined. The wicket was playing well. It wasn’t spinning or doing that much. I kept it simple. After completing the triple-hundred, I took some chances. Otherwise, I kept on playing cricketing shots. I was looking for boundary options, rather than sixes.”When I touched 280 was the first time I started to think about the triple hundred. I felt that if I thought about the milestone for too long, it would change my overall plan which was to bat in a plain and simple manner,” he said.Tamim scored more than fifty runs in each of the sessions since the second day, but he said that as the innings wore on, on the third day, batting became tougher. From being unbeaten on 222 at the start of the third morning, Tamim played patiently to reach 300 after lunch, and only then did he open up to attack the Central Zone bowlers.”Compared to the second day, the wicket was tougher on day three. I had to settle on singles and doubles, rather than boundaries,” he said. “I was always on the lookout for runs just like a Test match where there are many fielders behind the wicket.”We always wondered how Raqibul made that triple hundred all those years ago. It is not easy. Wickets used to be slower and take spin. We always talked about his innings in the Bangladesh dressing room, how he managed to do it. I think he faced around 600 balls too.”
India’s captain and coach had different reasons for the same sentiment, as they celebrated India’s first series win in Australia since first playing there 71 years ago
Sidharth Monga in Sydney07-Jan-20198:23
‘No one plays Test cricket with more passion than Kohli’ – Shastri
India’s captain and coach are both World Cup winners but they rate this series win in Australia higher than those triumphs, albeit for different reasons. Ravi Shastri, the coach, was part of the India squad that won the 1983 World Cup although he didn’t play in the final. Virat Kohli played through the 2011 World Cup that India won.”I was part of 2011 World Cup team,” Kohli said, “but I didn’t have the emotion of not having been able to win a World Cup before. Playing at home and winning it eventually… a lot of the senior players had that emotion. Yes, it was a great moment for me but if you ask me which moment is more emotional, I would say this one because this is my third tour here and I have seen how difficult it is to win here. And all the struggles that we have gone through in the past 12 months as well as the team.”So, from that point of view this one is more emotional for me. It will definitely be more special, purely because of the fact that we really wanted to win a series away from home. We didn’t want to be a one-match-wonder kind of team. So, having stuck to our task and executed what we wanted and got the result, we, as a team, feel absolutely complete now that we have done what we set out to do…not to show to anyone else but to prove ourselves that yes, we could do it and we have done it. From that point of view this one is more special for me.”For Shastri, this is a win achieved in a purer format. “I will tell you how satisfying it is for me,” Shastri said. “World Cup ’83, World Championship ’85. This is as big, or even bigger, because it is in the truest format of the game. It’s Test cricket, which is meant to be the toughest.”There was the usual combative reaction to criticism – Shastri took another potshot at Sunil Gavaskar’s criticism, calling his shots “blanks” that are “blown away like a tracer bullet” by the time they reach the southern hemisphere – but there was a genuine feeling of relief and pride in Kohli. All the psyching up he had to do, all the effort put in to not let the mind wander ahead of himself, could now be laid to rest. He was asked about his comments before the Test that history doesn’t mean much to him.Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri share a light moment before team photos•Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
“We all play mind-games, don’t we,” Kohli said with a smile. “Look, it’s obviously a very proud moment, more so because we understand what we have gone through as a team for the last 12 months. We understand the kind of cricket that we have been able to play, and I was just mentioning the fact that after losing tosses, we have been in competition throughout in the games that we have lost. We understood as a team we were on the right track. What has come in the most historic series for Indian cricket is the cherry on the cake and something that, as I said, in the 10 years that I have played, is the proudest moment that I have experienced.”I am so happy for the whole team because a young bunch of guys, to have that belief and to keep striving for excellence on a daily basis and to get a reward like this, we definitely have to be happy. Although changing history or creating history is still not what I am thinking of, it is pure satisfaction of the hard work of 12 months to understand that what we believed in has been proven right and regardless of the whole world being against you, if you are striving in the right direction with good intent, God’s going to reward you. So that’s what I am more happy about.””So history does matter?””Of course it does.”Shastri, though, continued to be caustic. He was asked if he would like to share this success with captains who – from Lala Amarnath to MS Dhoni – tried their best to win in Australia but couldn’t. “Past is history, future is a mystery,” Shastri said. “Okay? We have won today after 71 years, I’d like to live in the present. And salute my captain for being the captain of the team that beat Australia for the first time in Australia in a series.”When talking about the satisfaction of winning this series, Shastri again referenced teams from the past, and also said Kohli shows more passion for Test cricket than any other captain in the world.”I don’t think anyone plays Test cricket with more passion than he [Kohli] does,” Shastri said. “At least I don’t see any other international captain coming close to him on the field when it comes to showing that passion needed to play the game. He is very expressive, which is different to others. Other captains could have different personalities but Virat is someone who is in your face and it rubs off on all the youngsters who are watching the game in India. His team-mates watch him, they want to emulate him. And to believe that they can be someone like him who can go out there and strive for excellence.”So when an individual puts his neck on the line as captain then the others follow. And you have seen that transition happening over the last two-three years where guys in the team have become more and more confident, about their own ability and the ability of the team as well and it’s made all the difference. I said in Melbourne – I think I mentioned people taking pot shots and firing blanks. I wasn’t joking there, because I knew how hard this team had worked. When you fire from there, by the time it crosses the southern hemisphere, it’s blown away by the wind like a tracer bullet. But lead with something in it can be pretty serious. And that’s what we have fired right through the series against Australia. We were committed, and it jolly well made a bloody difference at the end of it all.”This is not a team of gods or demigods, seniors or juniors. This is an Indian cricket team that will jump over a cliff to win a match for the country. And that’s the determination, that’s the ruthlessness, that’s the mindset with which this team went to play in this series. And hats off to them to show that courage. Today I can say I am proud of my boys and I can also tell them one thing which Virat touched in the presentation – that this team now has an identity to look at any other Indian team from the past in the eye and say, ‘We play proper Test match cricket. You did, we did too,’ without being intimidated.”