Hinting at the possibility of taking a coaching role for Team India in future, former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh said that he would love to give back to the sport which gave him such an illustrious career if given a chance and added that coaching Men in Blue is all about team management. Harbhajan’s statement comes a week after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) invited the applications for position of men’s national team head coach, with the tenure starting from July 1 this year and concluding on December 31, 2027, which will the year when the next 50-over Cricket World Cup will take place. Speaking to ANI about coaching Indian team, Harbhajan said, “I do not know if I would apply. Coaching India is about man management, not about teaching players how to drive and pull. They know it very well. You can give some guidance to them. Cricket has given me so much and If I get a chance to give it back, I would be more than happy.”

After India could not lift the ICC Cricket World Cup at home last year in November after reaching finals, the current head coach Rahul Dravid was given an extension till June, which also marks the month during which the ICC T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA will take place from June 1 to 29.

The deadline for application will be till May 27, 6 PM.

“The BCCI on Monday invited applications for the position of Head Coach of the Senior Men’s Team. Applications for the position should be submitted by 6PM IST on May 27, 2024,” said a statement from BCCI.

The selection process will include a thorough review of applications, followed by personal interviews and assessments of shortlisted candidates.

BCCI has put out the qualifications for a potential head coach as:

“Should have played a minimum of 30 Test Matches or 50 ODI’s or head coach of a full member Test playing nation, for a minimum period of 2 years; or the head coach of an Associate member/Indian Premier League (IPL) Team or equivalent international league/first class teams/national A teams, for a minimum period of 3 years; or Should have BCCI Level 3 Certification or equivalent; and should be below 60 years of age.”

India are placed in Group A of the T20 WC this year alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and co-hosts USA.

India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, followed by the marquee clash against Pakistan on June 9 at the same venue.

India will then play the USA and Canada on June 12 and 15 respectively.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.

Former India captain Anil Kumble feels Mumbai Indians (MI) icon Rohit Sharma might leave the franchise after the five-time champions finished bottom in the points table in this season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Kumble feels other teams might be looking at Rohit as their captain next season, with mega auction to follow, and the opening batter might be tempted to begin a new chapter, having been replaced as the skipper by Hardik Pandya this season. MI lost to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Friday, ending their campaign with just 10 points and a wooden spoon.

Analysing their season, Kumble spoke in details about Rohit, as well as star players like Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav. With the mega auction set to take place before the next season, Kumble suggested that the trio might move away from MI.

“Let’s be fair. I’m sure there’d be a conversation, which is not going to be easy. Ideally, that conversation needs to happen after the World Cup. You don’t know whether Rohit will remain with MI; I’m sure he would want to go out. Teams will look for captains too. Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav are leadership materials, too. Bumrah has captained India. Even if the franchises want to keep them, the ball remains with the players. It all depends on how they are going to go about,” Kumble said on Jio Cinema.

Even before the start of the season, MI fans have expressed their displeasure over Hardik’s appointment as captain.

Hardik had arrived at MI this season with a great pedigree, having led Gujarat Titans for two seasons.

In GT’s first-ever season in the IPL in 2022, Hardik led them to the title, followed by runners-up finish last season after a loss to CSK in the final.

Rohit, on the other hand, needs no introduction. He is one of the two players to win the IPL six times, alongside Ambati Rayudu. He also led MI to five IPL titlles, including back-to-back triumphs in 2019 and 2020.

Rohit has been under the radar of a few teams, who might be looking him as their captain for the next season.

However, MI head coach recently revealed that Rohit is currently focused on winning the T20 World Cup for India.

Harbhajan Singh recently questioned the scheduling of the ongoing season of the IPL.© YouTube

Ground staff covers the field as rain delays the IPL 2024 T20 cricket match between SRH and GT at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad, on May 16, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

If the game of cricket remains tilted heavily in the favour of batters, not many youngsters would be lining up to start bowling in a couple of years, fears spin great Anil Kumble, who advocated the need to keep biggest possible boundaries at IPL venues and use of more pronounced seam to restore the balance between bat and ball.

The score of 250 has been breached as many as eight times this season with shorter boundaries, flat pitches and impact player rule aiding the batting side.

Like the great Sunil Gavaskar, Kumble also feels that keeping the maximum possible boundaries length is need of the hour.

“It’s been really hard on the bowlers, especially the first half of the tournament. I certainly believe that you need to maximize the boundaries at every venue. Try and keep the biggest boundary possible in that venue,” India’s leading wicket taker across formats told select media in an interaction arranged by JioCinema.

“For a start, you could move the dugout into the stands. I know you’ll lose a few seats but so be it. Then the other aspect is to perhaps look at white ball to have slightly more pronounced seam so that there’s a bit more movement.

“We have seen that the ball stops swinging after maybe just the one over or even less than that sometimes. You need a balance between bat and ball. You can’t be running in and just going through the motions where in a couple of years you won’t have too many youngsters lining up to start bowling.

“Everybody wants to be a batter. You need the bowlers also to be a part of this game and the balance is very important. I expect that will also get addressed,” he said.

As per the playing conditions of the IPL, “The playing area shall be a minimum of 150 yards (137.16 metres) from boundary to boundary square of the pitch, with the shorter of the two square boundaries being a minimum 65 yards (59.43m).

“The straight boundary at both ends of the pitch shall be a minimum of 70 yards (64.00 metres). Distances shall be measured from the centre of the pitch to be used. In all cases the aim shall be to provide the largest playing area, subject to no boundary exceeding 85 yards (77.71 metres) from the centre of the pitch to be used.”

Decision to replace Rohit as MI captain was sudden

The call to replace Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya has not worked for Mumbai Indians. Kumble feels that transition could have been completed next season when the mega auctions are due.

“The change that happened was a bit sudden. Obviously Rohit Sharma was a part of Mumbai Indians for the last 10 years and then led the team for five titles. Maybe in hindsight, maybe he could have sort of looked at Rohit to manage this year and then maybe Hardik coming in next year but the leadership obviously took that decision. But having said that, I don’t think they played good cricket,” said Kumble.

Hardik’s former team Gujarat Titans also could not make the play-offs but Kumble praised his successor Shubman Gill for his leadership in first year as captain.

“You can’t really judge (in one season), I thought he was pretty aggressive in his approach when it came to captaincy. He was always looking to take wickets and again for GT unfortunately a couple of injuries didn’t help. Shami was a big miss,” said the former India captain.

Kuldeep will be India’s number one spinner in T20 World Cup

India have picked four spinners in the T20 World Cup squad with Yuzvendra Chahal making a comeback to be the second wrist spin option alongside Kuldeep Yadav. All-rounder Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja also provide spin options.

“I don’t know who will be starting in the first game against Ireland. Kuldeep for sure. I don’t know what the pitch conditions are. I don’t think any Indian team has played in the US other than in Fort Lauderdale. So it all depends on the pitch conditions.

“I guess Kuldeep probably will be the number one spinner in that sense because he’s your wrist spinner. I’m sure there’ll be one wrist spinner who will play,” said Kumble who expects spinners to play a major role in the tournament.

If the game of cricket remains tilted heavily in the favour of batters, not many youngsters would be lining up to start bowling in a couple of years, fears spin great Anil Kumble, who advocated the need to keep biggest possible boundaries at IPL venues and use of more pronounced seam to restore the balance between bat and ball. The score of 250 has been breached as many as eight times this season with shorter boundaries, flat pitches and impact player rule aiding the batting side.

Like the great Sunil Gavaskar, Kumble also feels that keeping the maximum possible boundaries length is need of the hour.

“It’s been really hard on the bowlers, especially the first half of the tournament. I certainly believe that you need to maximize the boundaries at every venue. Try and keep the biggest boundary possible in that venue,” India’s leading wicket taker across formats told select media in an interaction arranged by JioCinema.

“For a start, you could move the dugout into the stands. I know you’ll lose a few seats but so be it. Then the other aspect is to perhaps look at white ball to have slightly more pronounced seam so that there’s a bit more movement.

“We have seen that the ball stops swinging after maybe just the one over or even less than that sometimes. You need a balance between bat and ball. You can’t be running in and just going through the motions where in a couple of years you won’t have too many youngsters lining up to start bowling.

“Everybody wants to be a batter. You need the bowlers also to be a part of this game and the balance is very important. I expect that will also get addressed,” he said.

As per the playing conditions of the IPL, “The playing area shall be a minimum of 150 yards (137.16 metres) from boundary to boundary square of the pitch, with the shorter of the two square boundaries being a minimum 65 yards (59.43 metres).

“The straight boundary at both ends of the pitch shall be a minimum of 70 yards (64.00 metres). Distances shall be measured from the centre of the pitch to be used. In all cases the aim shall be to provide the largest playing area, subject to no boundary exceeding 85 yards (77.71 metres) from the centre of the pitch to be used.”

Decision to replace Rohit as MI captain was sudden

The call to replace Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya has not worked for Mumbai Indians. Kumble feels that transition could have been completed next season when the mega auctions are due.

“The change that happened was a bit sudden. Obviously Rohit Sharma was a part of Mumbai Indians for the last 10 years and then led the team for five titles. Maybe in hindsight, maybe he could have sort of looked at Rohit to manage this year and then maybe Hardik coming in next year but the leadership obviously took that decision. But having said that, I don’t think they played good cricket,” said Kumble.

Hardik’s former team Gujarat Titans also could not make the play-offs but Kumble praised his successor Shubman Gill for his leadership in first year as captain.

“You can’t really judge (in one season), I thought he was pretty aggressive in his approach when it came to captaincy. He was always looking to take wickets and again for GT unfortunately a couple of injuries didn’t help. Shami was a big miss,” said the former India captain.

Kuldeep will be India’s number one spinner in T20 World Cup

India have picked four spinners in the T20 World Cup squad with Yuzvendra Chahal making a comeback to be the second wrist spin option alongside Kuldeep Yadav. All-rounder Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja also provide spin options.

“I don’t know who will be starting in the first game against Ireland. Kuldeep for sure. I don’t know what the pitch conditions are. I don’t think any Indian team has played in the US other than in Fort Lauderdale. So it all depends on the pitch conditions.

“I guess Kuldeep probably will be the number one spinner in that sense because he’s your wrist spinner. I’m sure there’ll be one wrist spinner who will play,” said Kumble who expects spinners to play a major role in the tournament.