Ponting names Virat Kohli's replacement in India XI vs England, doesn't want KL Rahul to open: 'It makes life easier'
India will begin a new era in Test cricket on June 20 when the side takes on England in the first Test of the five-match series at Headingley. Shubman Gill will lead the side that will be without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, with both retiring from the format last month. While Gill's captaincy justifiably be in focus, another major point of discussion is Kohli's replacement at the no.4 spot. Kohli took the position from the great Sachin Tendulkar when he called time on his career in 2013, and held the role successfully for the next 12 years.
According to former Australia captain and multiple World Cup-winner Ricky Ponting, Gill should succeed Kohli in the role. Ponting believes that taking over the no.4 role will make it easier for Gill to lead the Indian team as well. Interestingly, Ponting doesn't want KL Rahul to open the innings.
"I think (Sai) Sudarshan and (Yashasvi) Jaiswal will open the batting (in England) as Sudarshan just looks like a class player to me and technically I think he could do well at Test level," Ponting told The ICC Review.
"They'll have two pretty young opening batters, so they might look to go for someone that's got a bit more experience at No.3.
'Whether that's KL (Rahul) or Karun (Nair) at No.3, and then Shubman might end up being that No.4 player, which will probably make life for him a little bit easier as a captain as well.'
Ponting believes that opening the batting or playing at no.3 – which had been Gill's designated role in Tests so far – will put pressure on the youngster.
'Not having to be opening or batting at No.3 as a young captain might make it easier. Their top five will probably be Sudarshan, Jaiswal, KL, Gill and Karun Nair for the start of the England series,' said the Aussie great.
KL Rahul, meanwhile, smashed a century for India A while opening the batting during the second warm-up match against England Lions on Friday. Rahul scored 116 after India A batted first, with Dhruv Jurel also scoring a half-century.
Rahul had been opening the innings for the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but was shifted to middle-order when the former captain linked up with the side ahead of the second Test.
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Indian Express
36 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Should Gukesh rue the missed chance to win title or take heart that he beat Carlsen and Arjun in classical chess in Norway?
After two weeks of pulling rabbits out of the hat and grinding his way to wins even when he was in worse positions from the start of games, there were no more rabbits left to be found for Gukesh Dommaraju. The 19-year-old world champion had started the final round of the Norway Chess tournament with a realistic chance of winning the title, starting just 0.5 points behind leader Magnus Carlsen. But he ended the tournament in third spot, after losing the round 10 game to USA's Fabiano Caruana, who pipped him to second spot in the standings, behind title winner Magnus Carlsen. It was a gripping end to a tournament that had been billed as the first Carlsen vs Gukesh clash in classical chess since the Indian teenager's coronation as world champion. In what was one of the most dramatic days of chess this year, Gukesh's final game against Caruana was a perfect highlight reel of his whole tournament in Stavanger: he started off worse than his opponent, then through sheer tenacity found some incredible resources to gain an edge, and then found himself in the clutches of time trouble. While he ended third in the standings, the event saw Gukesh beat Magnus Carlsen and Arjun Erigaisi for the first time in classical chess. The win over Carlsen was sweeter for more reasons than one: after defeating the world champion from India, Carlsen had posted 'You come for the king, you better not miss' — a line from HBO's popular series The Wire. Gukesh's second, Grzegorz Gajewski, had also told Indian media: 'As a world champion, he keeps facing these comments that, 'ok, you're the world champion only because Magnus didn't play. You know, you try not to hear those comments. But then you lose to him, and then you lose to him again, and that's not a bit pleasant.' Those first-ever wins over Carlsen and Arjun notwithstanding, Gukesh will be smarting. This is, after all, the second classical tournament since he became world champion in December last year — the first being the Tata Steel tournament at the start of the year in Wijk aan Zee — where he has been within touching distance of winning the title coming into the final round and then letting it slip. Gukesh's desperation to beat Caruana and win the title was apparent early on. He started to take risks in the game on Friday from as early as move 4 — playing 4.h6, to signal his intent to fight for the title. Caruana, who also had a chance to win the title, was not about to be left behind. Right after Gukesh castled long, the American's b pawn marched down the board (14…b4) towards the black king. By the 17th move, Gukesh had 30 minutes lesser on his clock compared to the American. Caruana also had an edge in the game as per the eval bar. At multiple times at this event Gukesh has been in trouble due to the time control used at this event — two hours with no increments and then 10 seconds added from move 41. By the 34th move from both players, the American had surged ahead as per the eval bar. At this stage, Gukesh had an additional pawn and a rook while the American had a knight and a bishop still on the battlefield. Carlsen, meanwhile, was struggling on the adjoining board against Arjun. A win for Arjun against the Norwegian would have meant that Gukesh could win the title with just a draw in the classical portion against Caruana. Gukesh was under massive time trouble by the 45th move, his time having trickled down to 15 seconds. That's when he got a lifeline as Caruana blundered with 47.f4. This left Gukesh's pawn on the d file to make a run to promote to a queen. 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He was on broadcast studios talking about the 'pain of chess' — a reference to his own fist-smashing meltdown after throwing away a winning position against Gukesh in round 6. But the Norwegian might as well have been talking about the teenage boy from India and what he was feeling at that moment. Carlsen did have kind things to say about the two Indians in the fray. 'I think the kids are on track. But they're not way ahead of schedule,' Carlsen said on the Norway Chess broadcast. The world no 1 then said that looking at Gukesh play at the event, he was reminded of himself back in 2008 or 2009 when he was just breaking through. 'It wasn't always so pretty,' Carlsen added before explaining how at Linares 2008, there was Viswanathan Anand who was cruising in first place while he was 'playing crazy games every which way'. Gukesh might not have been in the mood to look at his glass and think of it as half full, but Carlsen had a hint of positivity to offer for the Indian teenager. 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Hindustan Times
38 minutes ago
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Hans India
an hour ago
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India not looking to rest on past laurels against Hong Kong, says Sandesh Jhingan
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