On a night when it mattered the most, the all-rounder produced a scintillating performance to ace yet another pressure game

Natalie Sciver-Brunt

Alyssa Healy

Harmanpreet Kaur

Meg Lanning

Hayley Matthews

Sophie Ecclestone

Yastika Bhatia

Grace Harris

Women's Premier League, 2023

Mumbai Indians

UP Warriorz

Clutch Sciver-Brunt does it again

2022 was a season to forget for Mumbai, but by the looks of it, 2023 may not be very different

Jofra Archer

Jasprit Bumrah

Jason Behrendorff

Jhye Richardson

Rohit Sharma

Suryakumar Yadav

Indian Premier League, 2023

IPL 2023: Mumbai brace for a turbulent season 

The English all-rounder is fearless, aggressive and more importantly, the archetypal Indian Premier League player

Issy Wong

England

Issy Wong, as fast as Lightning McQueen

Last season saw RCB transition out of Virat Kohli’s captaincy and finish fourth in the league stage

Virat Kohli

Faf du Plessis

Glenn Maxwell

Dinesh Karthik

Josh Hazlewood

Mohammed Siraj

Wanindu Hasaranga

Royal Challengers Bangalore

IPL 2023 Preview: Ee Sala..?

Make no mistake, we are living on this new planet called, ‘Lazarus’

Smriti Mandhana

It's 2040, and RCB are still chasing a title

No more the Dad’s army, Thala’s men will have a point to prove come this year’s IPL

MS Dhoni

Ravindra Jadeja

Deepak Chahar

Ambati Rayudu

Ben Stokes

Dwaine Pretorius

Ajay Mandal

Prashant Solanki

Chennai Super Kings

IPL 2023 Preview: The Last Dance for Thala Dhoni's army

Former India captain <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/1199/sunil-gavaskar/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sunil Gavaskar</a> was not pleased with <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3852/rohit-sharma/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rohit Sharma</a> missing the first One-Day International (ODI) against Australia due to family commitments. In Rohit&#39;s absence, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/63751/hardik-pandya/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hardik Pandya</a> led India in the first encounter in Mumbai, which India won by five wickets.Rohit returned for the second and third games, but India went on to lose both matches and conceded the series 2-1. Gavaskar believes it is not right for India to have different captains every other game and feels there is a need to have a continuity given that the World Cup is just a few months away.&ldquo;I think he needs to play every game. You can&#39;t have a captain who is there for one match and not there for the rest. It is so important. It can happen to any other player. I know it was a family commitment, so he had to be there. That&#39;s understandable,&rdquo; Gavaskar told Star Sports.&ldquo;When it comes to the World Cup, you can&#39;t have a family commitment; it&#39;s as simple as that. Maybe before that, finish everything that you have unless it&#39;s an emergency. Emergency is something completely different.&rdquo;&ldquo;You need continuity in leadership. There&#39;s a feeling that you have got everybody with you, otherwise there are two leaders. Then there are two leaders that the team is looking at.&quot;In the ODI series decider, India went down by 21 runs, thanks to impressive bowling from the Australian spin duo of Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar who picked up six wickets between them. In fact, Agar dismissed both Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav off consecutive deliveries, that tilted the game in the visitors&#39; favour.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The former India captain was not pleased with Rohit Sharma missing the first ODI against Australia due to "personal reasons"

Sunil Gavaskar

Australia tour of India, 2023

India

Australia

You cannot have family commitments around World Cup: Sunil Gavaskar

When <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/5380/david-warner/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">David Warner</a> failed to recover in time for the start of the three-match ODI series against India, the Australian management had to think on their feet, having carried no back-up openers.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/65893/josh-inglis/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Josh Inglis</a> &mdash; who opens for Western Australia &mdash; and <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/63706/alex-carey/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alex Carey</a> &mdash; who&rsquo;s opened in the past in ODIs &mdash; were options but the think tank decided to open with <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10094/mitchell-marsh/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mitch Marsh</a>, who&rsquo;d never previously batted up top in any form of international cricket.As it turned out, the decision proved to be a masterstroke as Marsh ripped into the Indian bowlers across the entire series, making fullest use of the field restrictions. He eventually finished the series with 194 runs at a strike rate of 131.08 and such was his impact that he ended up pocketing the Player of the Series award.&nbsp;So good was Marsh&rsquo;s showing in the first two ODIs that the Aussies decided to open with him in the third even when Warner returned, instead opting to demote the southpaw to No.4.It is easy to infer from the above that the Kangaroos are looking to open with Marsh come the World Cup but the all-rounder quashed such suggestions and asserted that, sooner or later, he expects Warner to take his place.&nbsp;&quot;I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to open the batting but as a group we spoke before the first game that this is really the start of our campaign for the World Cup,&quot; Marsh said at the press conference on Wednesday.&quot;Certain guys bat in different positions at times and it is really important that we have a squad mentality so with Davey out, it was my opportunity. He&#39;s been an incredible player for Australia for a long time and one of the best ODI openers ever so I am sure he&#39;ll slot back in at some stage but I think it is really important that we&#39;re all really flexible and it was nice to perform for the team.&quot;Marsh though, wasn&rsquo;t the only Western Australian who shone in the decider as his good mate Ashton Agar, playing his first game of the tour, spun a web around the Indian batters and bowled a game-turning over that put India on the back-foot.&nbsp;It is one thing slotting into the side and immediately performing, but Agar had gone through way more &mdash; he was picked in the Test squad initially and was sent back home midway through the series after the management felt his red-ball game was not where they hoped for it to be.Agar, though, has always been a world-class white-ball bowler and he showed his class in Chennai.Marsh was full of praise for Agar, who he described as &lsquo;one of the most resilient characters I know,&rsquo;&quot;Certainly it has been an indifferent sort of six weeks for him but Ash [Agar] is one of my closest mates. He&#39;s one of the most resilient characters I know,&quot; Marsh said.&quot;That&#39;s why he&#39;s able to come and perform whenever he plays for Australia. He&#39;s been the second spinner to Adam Zampa for a long period of time, but one of his strengths is his ability to be present when he&#39;s playing and competing.&nbsp;&ldquo;I am really proud of the way he&#39;s handled himself for the last six weeks and it is a testament to the group that we have guys like him that just want to play for Australia and he was fantastic tonight.&quot;On paper, Marsh is a designated all-rounder but an injury stopped him from bowling in this series. While the 31-year-old revealed that operating as a specialist batter helped him stay fresh, he hoped to return to full bowling fitness soon to give more options to the side.&quot;It was fantastic. It was certainly a lot easier on the body. I was a lot fresher when I was batting,&rdquo; Marsh said of not being able to bowl.&quot;But I just love bowling and I love the fact that we have all rounders in the squad. It gives our captain a lot of options when we&#39;re out there. Poor old Stoiny had to bowl 10 overs today and I felt bad for him.&nbsp;&ldquo;We spoke about it briefly before, that we haven&#39;t done that in a long time. As much as I love bowling, it is also about being there for my mates and making sure I give the skipper as many options as I can. So hopefully the bowling&#39;s not too far away.&rdquo;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Such was Marsh’s showing in the first two ODIs that the Aussies decided to open with him in the third even when Warner returned

Mitchell Marsh

Ashton Agar

Enjoyed opening the batting but I’m sure Warner will return up top: Mitch Marsh

India skipper <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3852/rohit-sharma/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rohit Sharma</a> has revealed that the management have given &lsquo;certain indications&rsquo; to franchises to look after the workload of key players but conceded that, ultimately, the final call will come down to the franchises themselves, for they &lsquo;own the players&rsquo;.Months ahead of the World Cup, team India have already been hit with three major blows in the form of injuries to Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer and there are fears that a two-month long IPL season could either put further players in the red zone, or break those who are already severely fatigued.&nbsp;There have hence been calls for franchises to look after the players. In a release put out on New Year, in fact, the BCCI claimed that &lsquo;the NCA will work in tandem with the IPL Franchises to monitor the targeted Indian players participating in the IPL 2023.&rsquo;However, Rohit made it clear that the franchises are the only ones who have a say in the same.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s up to the franchises. Franchises own the players,&rdquo; Rohit said on Wednesday, when asked if key players&rsquo; workload will be monitored during the IPL.&ldquo;And the players too have to look after their own body. If they feel it&rsquo;s getting too much, they can always talk about it and have a break in one or two games. I doubt that will happen though.&rdquo;It is never ideal losing key players, but what&rsquo;s made many question the BCCI, the NCA and those working behind the scenes is the fact that individuals ended up breaking after they were believed to have fully recovered. Both Bumrah and Iyer were given the green light by the NCA to play, and both players ended up returning too, but they immediately suffered a relapse. While Bumrah being rushed back led to him missing the 2022 T20 World Cup, Iyer now looks set to miss a good chunk of the next 4-5 months.Rohit, however, came to the defense of the medical staff and insisted that it was simply bad luck that certain individuals ended up re-injuring themselves.&ldquo;I can vouch for it that the people working behind the scenes are working really hard with all these (injured) players. Freakish injury can happen at any point in time. The only thing we can do from our side is managing players and giving them sufficient rest and I think from our side we&rsquo;re doing that,&rdquo; Rohit said.&ldquo;It is concerning. And we are missing the players who are our starting XI players. But honestly, everyone&rsquo;s trying their best to get the players on the park. We&rsquo;ve been focusing a lot on workload management of players, which is why you keep seeing we have to rest certain players at certain point in time.&nbsp;&ldquo;From our side we can do our best in handling them but I&rsquo;m not a specialist to tell you why the recurring injuries are happening. Of course the medical team of ours is definitely looking into all of this and making sure that, come the World Cup, we have our best 15 players ready.&nbsp;&ldquo;When you play so much cricket injuries are bound to happen, so not looking too much into it. We&rsquo;re just trying to control what&rsquo;s in our hand.&rdquo;As for the cricket, India, on Thursday, suffered their first ODI series loss at home under the leadership of Rohit as the Aussies staged a fine comeback to pocket their second ODI series win in India in four years.There were plenty of talking points but none bigger than the hideous returns of Suryakumar Yadav, who unfathomably enough ended up scoring not one, not two, but three golden ducks in a row. In the absence of Iyer, India backed Suryakumar to succeed but the move backfired severely.After 23 ODIs, then, Suryakumar&rsquo;s numbers don&rsquo;t make for great reading &nbsp;&mdash; 433 runs @ 24.05 &mdash; but Rohit backed the 32-year-old, who he insisted still possesses the &lsquo;potential and quality&rsquo;.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how much you can look into it. Got three good balls, to be honest,&rdquo; Rohit said of Suryakumar.&ldquo;Probably not a great ball today, he chose the wrong shot.&nbsp;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s an excellent player of spin in general, which is why we held him back and gave him that role in the last 15 overs where he could play his natural game. But it&rsquo;s really unfortunate that he could only play three balls in the series.&nbsp;&ldquo;That could happen to anyone. But the potential and quality is always there. He&rsquo;s just going through a bad phase right now.&rdquo;Rohit also clarified that, despite Axar Patel featuring in the side as the third spinner, the door is by no means shut on Washington Sundar.The management&rsquo;s message to the players? &nbsp;&lsquo;Anyone could play anytime, everyone needs to be ready&rsquo;.&ldquo;Axar I thought was in good form during the Test series, was batting well, didn&rsquo;t bowl too many overs but he was batting really well. I&rsquo;ve always spoken of creating that depth in our batting, which is why we played three spinners.&nbsp;&ldquo;Washi hasn&rsquo;t gotten to play, but he gives us that option of fielding an off-spinner and he, too, can bat. So it&rsquo;s all about the match-ups.&nbsp;&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll keep all our options open. &lsquo;Anyone could play anytime, everyone needs to be ready&rsquo; has been our message to the boys.&rdquo;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Rohit also claimed that individuals will have to take responsibility and look after their own body

‘It’s up to the franchises, they own the players’ - Rohit on workload management during IPL

India suffered their first series defeat at home since 2019, when an Aaron Finch-led Australian side defeated the hosts 3-2, after going 2-0 down. It was somewhat similar this time around too. After going 1-0 up with a win in Mumbai, India slumped to defeat in the next two games and wound up conceding the series 2-1.While India skipper <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3852/rohit-sharma/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rohit Sharma</a> admits that the batters did not apply themselves in the third ODI in Chennai during the chase of 270, he still believes that there are a lot of learnings from the series.&quot;Don&#39;t think it was too many runs. We didn&#39;t bat well. Partnerships are crucial and that&#39;s something we failed to do today. You are brought up playing in these types of wickets, it&#39;s important you apply,&quot; Rohit said at the post-match presentation.&quot;After the start, it was important for one batter to carry on and take the game deep. It just didn&#39;t happen. Lot of takeaways. We can take a lot of positives from the nine ODIs since January. We need to understand where we need to improve.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s a collective failure, we can take a lot of learnings from this series. Credit to the Australians. Both the spinners applied the pressure and so did their seamers.&quot;Player of the match <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/58913/adam-zampa/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Adam Zampa</a>, who finished with figures of 4 for 45, has credited Ashton Agar for changing the course of the game picking up the wickets for Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav off consecutive deliveries.&quot;I have had some success here. It&#39;s a tough place to come, always a huge challenge,&quot; Zampa said.&quot;I try to stay in the game and be competitive. Ashton Agar changed the game. Kudos to the bowlers who bowled before me as well. We trust each other, trust our game plan. The message was to trust our process and improve on it.&quot;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10094/mitchell-marsh/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mitchell Marsh</a> opened the batting in all three matches in <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/5380/david-warner/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">David Warner</a>&#39;s absence. In fact, Warner, who returned to the side after missing the first two games, batted at four in the decider in Chennai.Marsh ended the three-match series as the leading run-getter, having amassed 194 runs at &nbsp;97 to go with a staggering strike-rate of 131.08. Despite his player of the series performance, Marsh backs Warner to return to the top of the order soon.&quot;Natural aggression when it comes to batting. It&#39;s been a lot of fun,&quot; Marsh said of his performance in the series.&quot;I&#39;ve got my little mate [Warner] who&#39;ll come back at some stage. I&#39;m coming off an extended break, worked on a lot of things. Came here really fresh. It&#39;s been great. Hopefully I can have fun with Delhi [Capitals] as well.&quot;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

India slumped to a 21-run defeat in the third ODI against Australia to concede the three-match ODI series 2-1

Adam Zampa

A collective failure, can take a lot of learnings from this series: Rohit Sharma

January 2023 - <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/57172/ashton-agar/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ashton Agar</a> was declared Australia&rsquo;s second-best spinner and was picked for the Sydney Test against South Africa: A statement of intent from Cricket Australia selectors. Seemed a perfectly logical decision as well. Right from his accuracy to the ability to contain the right-handers - pretty much in the Axar Patel mould - he was destined to be Australia&rsquo;s trump card in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.&nbsp;But as luck would have it, a month later, he found himself on a plane to Perth in the middle of the series as the selectors preferred Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann to partner Nathan Lyon for the Test series. Unsure about what the future held for him in the red-ball format, Agar found himself in a catch-22 situation.&nbsp;&quot;Obviously, it&#39;s not an ideal situation but you just try to make the best of it,&quot; Agar told Channel Ten then. &quot;I&#39;m 29 now, and I&#39;ve been through plenty of ups and downs in the game and we&#39;re in a fortunate position, so it&#39;s nothing that stresses me out too much.&rdquo;Times like these would make you question your credentials. If he was not good enough to be playing on the turning tracks of India, was he really good enough?&nbsp;You bet, he is!&nbsp;In his comeback game in Chennai, as colours were splashed on the clothes, the left-arm spinner spun a web around the Indian set-up to dismiss <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3993/virat-kohli/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Virat Kohli</a> and <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/11803/suryakumar-yadav/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Suryakumar Yadav</a> off consecutive deliveries.&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1679505225775-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Besides, he was responsible for strangling the Indian batters in the middle overs which caused the likes of KL Rahul and Kohli to take undue risks when they simply could have played their normal game. Instead, they allowed that pressure for <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/58913/adam-zampa/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Adam Zampa</a> to dictate the course later and push the Indian team further down the barrel.From a tactical and strategic standpoint, the 50-over format is a different beast altogether and has zero resemblance to the longest format of the game. But cricket is as much a mental game as it is about tactics and strategy and it is to the credit of Agar&rsquo;s mental fortitude that he followed that Test snub with a special performance of his own.The effort is special because Agar always tended to take the fall. Even though in the last couple of years he was one of Australia&rsquo;s best spinners in the shortest format of the game, when they changed the strategy to go with four bowlers instead of five, it was Agar who had to be dropped from the squad. But there was never any resentment or contravention, rather a smile on his face.&quot;What he&#39;s shown with his disappointment of missing out is his ability to bounce back and take his opportunities every time he&#39;s had them. Shows the character of the person, shows what kind of a team man he is,&quot; Aaron Finch had said last year.&nbsp;There are plenty of positives for Australia to take away from this series. Not least because they won it 2-1, but in a World Cup year, having several spinners doing what they did was always going to add value to the set-up. For Agar, who came into the series after a five-wicket haul in the Marsh Cup final, it is even more crucial because being in the conversation is paramount for him at the moment.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1679505288251-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&ldquo;There was obviously plenty in the pitch for me and as soon as the first ball did that, it was a great indication of how I had to go about for the rest of the innings, put the ball in the right place and let the pitch do the rest,&rdquo; Agar told Star Sports after the match.As of now, Australia don&rsquo;t have an ODI series scheduled till the end of the Ashes. While that itself is an indication of the ODI format&rsquo;s paucity at the moment - we are in a World Cup year, for God&#39;s sake - and it would serve Agar as a reminder to hone his skills and keep him relevant in the long run.&nbsp;If anything, his perseverance tells you that if you keep on trying and upgrading yourself beyond the prescribed limit, the limited set of talents wouldn&rsquo;t be a hindrance to your growth as a sportsman. The Western Australian embodies everything excellent about the workmanlike character and it is time for the world, and more importantly Australian cricket, to recognise the value he brings to the table.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The Australian embodies everything excellent about the workmanlike character and it is time for the world to recognize the value that he brings to the table

Ashton Agar’s bouncebackability makes him a special cricketer

<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/4255/josh-hazlewood/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Josh Hazlewood</a> has pipped <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/65799/mohammed-siraj/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mohammed Siraj</a> as the No. 1 ranked One-Day International (ODI) bowler, according to the latest ICC rankings. Siraj has slipped to the third spot, which is also occupied by <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10053/mitchell-starc/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mitchell Starc</a>, who has eight wickets from two games in the ongoing ODIs against India. This is the first time Hazlewood has reached the No. 1 spot among bowlers in ODIs.&nbsp;In Tests, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/4330/kane-williamson/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kane Williamson</a>&#39;s brilliant effort in the series against Sri Lanka, helps him move up four places into second spot among batters. The list is currently led by Marnus Labuschagne with 915 ranking points, while Williamson still remains 32 points behind the Australian. Rishabh Pant is the only Indian batter in the top 10.&quot;In the ODI rankings, which considers performances in two matches each of the India-Australia, Bangladesh-Ireland and South Africa-West Indies series, as well as the first match between Zimbabwe and the Netherlands, Siraj has slipped behind Josh Hazlewood and New Zealand&rsquo;s Trent Boult after India&rsquo;s 10-wicket loss to Australia in Visakhapatnam,&quot; the ICC media release said.Among other gains, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/63797/shai-hope/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shai Hope</a>&#39;s brilliant ton against South Africa at East London has lifted him two spots into 12th while Bangladesh wicketkeeper <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3693/mushfiqur-rahim/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mushfiqur Rahim</a>, who smashed the fastest ton for his nation in the ODI against Ireland has moved into the top 20.&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The India pacer drops to third in the rankings, which he jointly holds with Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc

Kane Williamson

Josh Hazlewood pips Mohammed Siraj as the No. 1 ODI bowler

India vs Australia, 3rd ODI, Chennai - Live Blog

Zampa, Agar propel Australia to stunning series win

In what comes as a huge blow for both team India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/63961/shreyas-iyer/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shreyas Iyer&rsquo;s</a> injury is believed to be worse than initially feared and the player is expected to be out of action for at least 4-5 months.&nbsp;Times of India reports that Iyer is likely to undergo surgery, and hence will not only miss both the 2023 edition of the IPL and the World Test Championship (WTC) final, but will be in a race in time to be fit for the 50-over World Cup that will commence in October.&quot;Iyer has been advised to go for surgery. He is keen to get operated by a specialist in London, but if there is a decent option in India, then the surgery could take place here also,&quot; TOI quoted a source in the know as saying.After feeling stiffness in his back during the third ODI against Sri Lanka in January, Iyer was pulled out of the the New Zealand ODIs and the first Test against Australia but was declared fit in lead-up to the second Test in Delhi, post which he immediately got drafted into the starting XI.However, the 28-year-old, after a couple of smooth outings, complained of back pain during the final Test against Australia in Ahmedabad. The pain was severe enough to completely rule him out of the said game.There&rsquo;s been no official word on the extent of Iyer&rsquo;s injury but it is believed that the injury is severe enough to rule him out of action for the foreseeable future.This development immediately affects KKR, who will now have to name a new skipper for the franchise for the forthcoming season. But it&rsquo;s also a body blow for India, who in a World Cup year have already lost both Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah.&nbsp;Iyer could very well be fit in time for the mega event, but should the injury be severe, the Men in Blue will then most definitely won&rsquo;t have the services of the 28-year-old building up to the competition.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

There’s been no official word on the extent of Iyer’s injury but it is believed that the injury is severe enough to rule him out of action for the foreseeable future

Shreyas Iyer

Kolkata Knight Riders

Shreyas Iyer set to be ruled out for 4-5 months, will miss IPL and WTC final: Report

India will lock horns against Australia in the final ODI on Wednesday, March 22, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai with a hope to clinch yet another bilateral series at home.&nbsp;After a hard-fought win in the first game in Mumbai, the Men in Blue were bundled out for 117 runs as <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10053/mitchell-starc/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mitchell Starc</a> wreaked havoc with a five-wicket haul in Vizag.&nbsp;Despite the batting collapse, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/1004/rahul-dravid/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rahul Dravid</a> backed the players to come good in the decider on a sluggish surface on offer in Chennai. In the pre-match press conference, he said, &quot;We are clear about the team we want to play at the World Cup, and hopefully, we can give the guys we have zeroed in on as many opportunities as we can, at home and away.&quot;&ldquo;Some players are still recovering from injuries and will come back depending on the time frame of recovery. But within that pool, we want to have different combinations because the World Cup is a big tournament. We are in nine cities and nine different conditions during the league stage.&quot;&quot;So, whether we want our pacers or three spinners within the squad, we would like to look at different conditions and test different combinations so that we aren&rsquo;t surprised by anything at the World Cup,&rdquo; Dravid said.&nbsp;Despite a collapse in the second ODI, Dravid backed the players to come good in this crucial clash and find a way to tackle the Strac-threat.&nbsp;&quot;I think the Mumbai pitch was challenging, but the last one wasn&rsquo;t a 117 wicket. We&rsquo;ve done well as a batting unit the last year or so, especially in white-ball cricket.&quot;&quot;We have put up some big scores in ODIs as well. Occasionally, collapses can happen. Mitchell Starc has bowled well, so credit to him. We need to find a way to get through that first spell of play and not lose too many wickets upfront,&quot; he said.&nbsp;The former Indian skipper also backed <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/11803/suryakumar-yadav/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Suryakumar Yadav</a> after two golden ducks to come good in the final clash. &quot;Obviously. it is unfortunate for Shreyas to get injured. He is probably one of those guys who would bat at No.4 and be given a lot of time in that position. If you notice we have stuck to the people in positions.&nbsp;&quot;For two years leading into this run, there is a lot of T20 cricket played, and we did not have a lot of one-day cricket, and if there are injuries and all that, we do have options. One of the things about Surya is that he is learning the 50-overs game. The T20 is slightly different as he has played 10 years of IPL.&quot;&quot;Surya has played a lot of T20 cricket. He has played a lot of high-pressure T20 games. Even though he has played a lot of T20 cricket I think he has not played a lot of one-day cricket. We need to give him some time and be patient with it. We certainly see the upside of him doing well,&quot; he concluded.&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The head coach of the Indian side also spoke about India's dismal batting performance in the three-match series

Rahul Dravid

We have narrowed down 17-18 players for ODI World Cup: Dravid

<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/70324/nathan-ellis/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nathan Ellis</a> is enjoying his time in India and learning from the senior speedster <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10053/mitchell-starc/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mitchell Starc</a> in the three-match series against India. Ahead of the third ODI in Chennai, Ellis shared insights on the influence of Starc in his short international career and the calming impact of the left-arm seamer in the squad.&nbsp;In the pre-match press conference ahead of the decider, Ellis said, &quot;Starcy has been huge for me. For me, he is someone I looked up to him a lot of time. He presented me with my first Australia cap and is a big part of my Australia journey.&quot;&quot;Starc is a calming influence. He is also someone who has been there and done almost everything the game has to offer, whether it is the ups or down. Being able to rub shoulders with Starcy and sort of bounce ideas off and de-brief games. It is something that I have cherished and is invaluable,&quot; Ellis further added.&nbsp;The wicket in Chennai is known to be conducive for spinners, but Ellis believes he has the skill set to succeed on the sluggish surface. &quot;I am not necessarily a bouncy bowler as it is. As I said before, it is a matter of assessing the wicket on the day and adapting my sets of skills to the wicket. Whether it is adjusting my line, being a bit straighter,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;If it is not as bouncy, slower balls if needed and changing my lengths. Tomorrow is about not going with any preconceived ideas. I am not sure about the team selection or what the team will look like. Obviously, it is going to spin here. For me, the slower balls might come into play. I think it will be a matter of assessing the wicket if we are bowling first,&quot; he added.&nbsp;The 28-year-old also insisted on the impact<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/58913/adam-zampa/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Adam Zampa</a> will have in this crucial clash and believes the leg spinner will get more opportunity in this clash compared to the last two games.&nbsp;&quot;Adam Zampa has been a huge part of the Australia set-up for a long time. He is one of the best spinners in the world. This series has so far been dominated by fast bowlers, a lot of wickets.&quot;&quot;He definitely has not had the opportunity that he probably would have imagined having at this stage of the series. He will do what he does when he gets the chance.&quot;Ellis was named as the replacement for Jhye Richardson, and despite being a later entrant in the team, he looks excited to be part of the team ahead of the ODI World Cup later in India.&nbsp;&quot;For me, I was not part of this squad initially. I was a late call-up, and I am just stoked to be here. I imagine that the guys who were named in the initial squad are taking it as a dress rehearsal,&quot; he concluded.&nbsp;The two sides lock horns in the final ODI on Wednesday, March 22, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The all-rounder shared insights on Starc's influence on his international career and the plan for the 50-over ODI World Cup later in India

IND vs AUS ODI 3rd ODI, Australia tour of India, 2023 - Commentary

IND VS AUS,3rd ODI

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