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Indian Express
30 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Mohali girl gets call-up for maiden women's ODI World Cup: ‘Her dream to play for India'
On Tuesday afternoon, when his daughter 24-year-old Amanjot Kaur was named in the Indian women's cricket team for the ICC Women's ODI World Cup to be played from September 30 in India, 53-year-old Bhupinder Singh was monitoring the carpenting work at one of the sites in Mohali. Singh, who has been a carpentering contractor and manages carpentering in Mohali, would call up his family in Mohali about Kaur's inclusion in the Indian team for her maiden World Cup in India colours and would remember the days when he would take a young Amanjot to Chandigarh from their Mohali residence on his scooter for training. 'Right from the day we put her in cricket training, Amanjot has dreamt about playing the World Cup for India one day. Since 2016, it has been her dream to play for India in a World Cup and this call-up is a special feeling for her as well as the whole family. When I would take her on my scooter to Chandigarh for her training from our Mohali home, Amanjot would always tell me, 'Papa ji, I will make India proud one day'. I am sure she will give her best and we will pray that India wins the World Cup,' Singh told The Indian Express. It was in 2016 that a young Amanjot would be enrolled under coach Nagesh Gupta at the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 32. While a young Amanjot would often play with boys in the neighbourhood in Phase V, Mohali, it was the advice of an elder that saw her father getting her enrolled under Gupta. Playing for UTCA, Amanjot would score 370 runs in the BCCI Senior Women's One Day Trophy in 2019-2020 season before amassing more than 450 runs in the BCCI U-23 One Day Tournament the same season. Amanjot would also score 184 runs and take ten wickets in the BCCI U-23 T20 Trophy in 2020. It was followed by her being elected for India A side and the Mohali youngster would make her way into the Indian women's T20I team in 2023 making her debut against South Africa in the tri-series in England and bagging the player of the match trophy with a knock of 41 runs. The same year saw Amanjot being picked up by Mumbai Indians for Rs 50 lakh for the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) followed by her making her women's ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2023. 'When I put her in cricket, all I thought was how to provide the best training for her. It also meant that there were days when I had to make some sacrifices and allocate finances meant for other expenses towards her training too. It was tough for us as a family but I always thought to support her dream, come what may. Sometimes, I would do extra hours in my work so that I could manage her expenses. When she made her India debut in 2023, it was an emotional day for all of us including my wife Ranjeet Kaur and her siblings Kamaljot Kaur and Gurkirpal Singh,' remembers Singh. While Kaur would play in the 2023 WPL and 2024 WPL editions, where her performance was mediocre, 2024 would see her being sidelined from the sport for more than six months due to a back stress fracture and a hand ligament injury. The all-rounder would make a return to cricket after a gap of eight months last year and score 128 runs and take five wickets in this year's WPL including a knock of 34 runs off 27 balls and a three-wicket haul in Mumbai Indians' win over RCB. Kaur, who has so far played in nine women's ODIs scoring 98 runs and taking 13 wickets apart from playing in 16 Women's T20Is scoring 164 runs and taking seven wickets, scored her maiden international half-century with a knock of 63 runs in the second T20I against England at Bristol last month. She also claimed one wicket in the match, which India won by 24 runs. Gupta, who is a BCCI Level 2 coach, remembers the tough time for Kaur during the injury. 'When she joined training under me, I was impressed by her willpower and the willingness to give her best on the field. That's one thing which has helped her throughout her career. When she suffered the injury last year, she would discuss her bowling and batting techniques over phone with me and never thought that she could not make a comeback. We have been working on her off-cutters as well her yorkers apart from her batting against spinners in recent months and it will come handy for her in the World Cup in India,' says Gupta.
Economic Times
30 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Gill back as vice-captain; no place for Iyer and Jaiswal as India announce 15-member Asia Cup T20 squad
Synopsis India's T20 team selection saw Shubman Gill's return as vice-captain, impacting the roles of Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Selectors prioritized Gill's opening prowess and leadership, leading to Shreyas Iyer's exclusion due to squad constraints. Jasprit Bumrah's return dismisses workload management concerns, signaling a focused approach towards the upcoming T20 World Cup. PTI Ajit Agarkar and Suryakumar Yadav On a day when all eyes were on India's Asia Cup squad selection, T 2 0 c a p t a i n Suryakumar Yadav's toughest decision was whether to step out of his home at all. Sheets of rain hammered Mumbai on Tuesday as the national selectors gathered at the Wankhede Stadium to pick the squad. Surya made it just fine, and from the selections and omissions, it was plain that the Indian think tank had a clear idea of what they wanted to do with their T20 team. Shubman Gill did not just come back into the fold; he did so as vice-captain. After his initiation into leadership in the Test series in England, Gill made the strongest possible case for himself as a leader of men. Indian set-ups are never keen to split captaincy, and even when they must, the thought of the Test skipper not making the cut in one of the 'less demanding' formats would not have sat easily with the powers that inclusion is by no means contentious. He has the game to score in any format. He has demonstrated in the IPL that it is possible to motor along consistently at a high strike rate even while playing conventional cricket shots. Gill is undeniable quality, but the only place he fits into the eleven is as an opener. This means that the free-stroking Abhishek Sharma will hold his place at one end, while S a n j u S a m s o n will get shuffled out of the playing eleven. Despite his performances, Samson will be back on the bench as reserve opener. Being a top-order batter, he doesn't fit as first-choice wicketkeeper either. Gill's presence also means that Yashasvi Jaiswal does not find a place in the squad and will have to be content in the reserves. India could have picked a 17-man squad, which would've allowed for Jaiswal to be a part of the mix, but the fact that they chose to stay with the conventional 15 is an indication that they knew exactly what their thinking was and were not diffident about showing their cards. The other player to miss out, thanks to the shape this batting lineup has taken through Gill's inclusion, is Shreyas Iyer. As Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of selectors, pointed out, Shreyas has done nothing wrong. 'With regard to Shreyas, who can he replace? No fault of his, nor is it ours,' said Agarkar. 'At the moment, you can just pick 15. So, he will have to wait for his chance.' India could have pushed to pick 17, but when there was no place for Iyer in the set up, it made little sense to carry him as a passenger simply for the sake of it. In the T20 game, most teams have moved away from having any toporder batsman play an anchoring role. But, India, with Abhishek at the top and Surya floating in the middle and lower order, and Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh waiting to explode, have decided Gill has a role to play as someone who might start at the top and take the innings deep. For his part, Surya saw this selection as a straightforward return to normalcy, not as a marker being laid down in terms of vision or direction. 'Last time when he [Gill] played T20 for India, post T20 World Cup when we went to Sri Lanka — not Zimbabwe — when I was leading, he was the vice-captain,' Suryakumar said. 'So that's where we started a new cycle. After that, he got busy with all the Test series, and he didn't get an opportunity to play T20s because he was busy playing Test cricket and Champions Trophy. So, he's there in the squad, and we're happy to have him.' Hardik Pandya has Axar Patel and Shivam Dube for company in the all-rounder category. Dube's ability to clear the field against spin worked in his favour, especially with Shreyas not in the mix. The other critical component to emerge from the meeting was the return of Jasprit Bumrah. While Bumrah's workload in Test cricket was managed, with a long-term view and medical advice to back it, there was innuendo that he was somehow picking and choosing matches. His prompt return when fit should shut down any more of this speculation. The competition at the Asia Cup is unlikely to be intense, even if playing Pakistan more than once hogs the headlines. To that end, this squad could be a pointer in the direction the team are taking to the next T20 World Cup. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of
The Hindu
30 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Asia Cup selection — a blueprint of India's T20 World Cup plans
Shubman Gill's return as vice-captain? Shreyas Iyer's continued omission? Or Jasprit Bumrah's presence in the 15-man squad? What is the biggest talking point following Tuesday's announcement of the Indian team for the T20 Asia Cup, to be held in the UAE from September 9? Depends on where one is coming from, of course. Gill's comeback to international cricket's shortest format is accompanied by a resounding show of faith in not just his unquestioned batting abilities but also his leadership skills, embellished by the 2-2 scoreline in his first outing as Test captain in England earlier this month. Clearly, the 25-year-old isn't far away from becoming India's multi-format skipper, like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma before him. Perhaps at some stage next year, possibly after the T20 World Cup in February-March in India and Sri Lanka, the right-hander from Punjab will enjoy that status. Suggestions that he might be left out of the Asia Cup, given how close the September 28 final is to the first Test against West Indies, beginning in Ahmedabad on October 2, have been emphatically exploded by Ajit Agarkar's selection panel which, in consultation with Gill himself (one is sure) and head coach Gautam Gambhir, has decided that at this stage of his career, switching between formats and 'workload management' aren't issues that will stymie the batter's progress. Gill's last T20I was in Sri Lanka in July last year, just weeks after his maiden foray as India skipper in the same format in Zimbabwe in a series India won 4-1. Several of the players, including Suryakumar Yadav, who played in the T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean last June were rested for the Zimbabwe sojourn as India embarked on a new 20-over chapter following the retirements of Rohit, Kohli and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. The installation of Suryakumar as the captain for the three-match series in Sri Lanka despite Hardik Pandya having been Rohit's influential deputy at the World Cup highlighted the decision-making group's line of thought, as did the move to pencil in Gill as the Mumbaikar's deputy. Pandya was out of favour as far as a leadership role was concerned; Suryakumar was seen then (as now, too) as the one most likely to spearhead India's title defence, with Gill the king-in-waiting. India's packed Test calendar between the middle of September and the first week of January, during which phase they played 10 games against Bangladesh, New Zealand and in Australia, ensured that Gill wouldn't be considered for selection for the T20I series against Bangladesh, South Africa and England. The same logic applied to Yashasvi Jaiswal – now available but only named as one of five reserves for the Asia Cup – which meant that India had a new opening pair in Sanju Samson, also the wicketkeeper, and Abhishek Sharma. Samson struck three centuries in five outings, Abhishek had a roaring time culminating in a blazing 135 against England in Mumbai in India's last T20I game. But with Gill now back in the fray, one of them will have to make way. It's hard to see Gill not figuring in the starting XI when India begin their Asia Cup campaign against UAE on September 10. Abhishek is a shoo-in to be his opening partner, given Gambhir's penchant for a right-left combination, which implies that Samson will have to warm the bench as Jitesh Sharma slots into the middle-order as the designated wicketkeeper-batter. Abhishek's pyrotechnics with the bat – he hammered 279 runs at a ridiculous strike-rate of 219.68 in India's last assignment, against England – are complemented by his left-arm spin, one of the reasons why Jaiswal is sitting on the sidelines. India have made no secret of their desire to have multi-skilled players wherever possible, even though none of their specialist bowlers can wield the long handle with even a semblance of consistency. As much as his left-handed batting at the top of the order, Abhishek's bowling has earned him the nod ahead of the luckless Jaiswal, though the same argument wasn't employed in the Gill vs Samson debate even if the former is an out-and-out batter while the latter is an all-rounder in the strictest sense. Short-changed Has Samson been short-changed? Not necessarily, given that there is a clear succession plan that the management group is working towards. The seasoned Kerala stumper didn't help his cause with just 51 runs in five innings against England which was amplified by a disturbing pattern to his dismissals, caught at different positions on the on-side playing the pull stroke. Samson has made his name in T20s as a top-order batter and Jitesh as a 'finisher' of sorts, so it's hard to see the former fitting in at No. 5 or No. 6, which is how the cookie crumbles sometimes when individual strengths don't necessarily ally with the team's requirements. There can't be too many arguments against Gill's presence, but the omission of Shreyas is certain to turn up the heat. The experienced right-hander from Mumbai hasn't been in the 20-over scheme of things since December 2023, when he made 53 against Australia in Bengaluru. He must have fancied his chances after two terrific seasons in the IPL. In 2024, he took Kolkata Knight Riders to their third title and weighed in with 351 runs despite playing only 239 balls in 14 innings, courtesy the extended opening stands provided by Sunil Narine and Phil Salt. This season, he muscled his new franchise, Punjab Kings, to the title round whilst leading from the front, as evidenced by 604 runs (the sixth highest in the tournament) at an average of 50.33 and an electric strike-rate of 175.07, comfortably the highest among the top 10 run-getters. Shreyas is an accomplished player of spin, as he showed in Dubai during the Champions Trophy in February-March. It is unlikely that the surfaces at the Asia Cup will play any differently and he would have been a massive asset but Agarkar clarified that Rinku Singh won the nod because he could be the extra batter India might require (the left-hander also bowls right-arm off-spin, occasionally). Shreyas is still only 30 and it will be premature to assert that time has passed him by so far as T20Is are concerned. But it must be understandably gutting for him to not even find a place in the reserves, where the specialist middle-order batter's slot has gone to Riyan Parag, who also bowls an assortment of spin. Which brings us to Bumrah. The pace ace has been under the lens from the time Agarkar announced in May that he would only play in three of the five Tests in England. Numerous pundits, including celebrated former Indian cricketers, have questioned the kid-glove treatment Bumrah has enjoyed while acknowledging that medical advice is paramount. But such is Bumrah's pre-eminence across formats that it was impossible to overlook his credentials once he was cleared fit to play in the UAE by the medical team. The Player of the Tournament at the World Cup last year, Bumrah can break T20 games open in an over. The Asia Cup isn't just a preparatory exercise but a prestigious event in its own right and India are the defending champions (though when they lifted the title last time in September 2023 in Colombo, it was played over 50 overs), therefore it makes complete sense that Suryakumar has the luxury of falling back on Bumrah, who need not play all games if it comes to that. The logical inference therefore is that the Gujarat quick will not play in at least the first Test against West Indies, maybe not even the second and last either, in Delhi from October 10. That will leave him refreshed and raring to go for the two Tests against WTC champions South Africa in November in Kolkata and Guwahati. It's worth remembering that after the showdown against the Proteas, India won't play a Test until next August, when they travel to Sri Lanka. Not too much should be read into Mohammed Siraj's omission following his lion-hearted bowling in England, where he was the only specialist quick apart from Chris Woakes to have played in all five Tests. Or maybe that's not entirely accurate. Since his debut in 2017, the Hyderabadi has played just 16 matches that have brought him 14 wickets. With more versatile options available, including the left-arm pace of Arshdeep Singh, who is the country's leading wicket-taker in the 20-over version, and the inventiveness of Pandya, it shouldn't come as a huge surprise if Siraj's days as a T20I cricketer are behind him. That wouldn't necessarily be the worst thing, because it can then allow him to continue to keep going flat out in Test cricket and maybe in the 50-over game while being able to regroup physically and mentally when his colleagues are scrapping it out in the more condensed format. From the decision-makers' perspective, the endeavour to get the core group in place for the World Cup title defence has already begun. At this stage, 20 players fit into that category; a few more might crop up over the next few months, when India play five-match series against South Africa (home), Australia (away) and New Zealand (home) between November and January. The persistence with Shivam Dube must be seen as a vote of confidence as well as reward for the Mumbaikar fulfilling his clearly defined responsibilities as the designated slayer of spin in the middle stages of the innings. Likewise, the inclusion of Jitesh ahead of Dhruv Jurel, the reserve stumper when India last played a T20I, must be construed as reward for his stellar display for champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2025. The 31-year-old played the last of his nine T20Is in January 2024 but has wended his way back into contention with 261 IPL runs at a strike-rate of 176.35, making him one of three potentially destructive back-end certainties alongside Pandya and Dube. All in all, a balanced squad with three full-time spinners and as many pacers, and a pool of other multi-faceted choices for Suryakumar to dip into.
