Sourav Ganguly Offers Advise To Gautam Gambhir: 'Pick The Right Attack, Play...'
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly advised head coach Gautam Gambhir to play spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the final Test against England at The Oval.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly advised head coach Gautam Gambhir to play spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the fifth and final Test of the series against England at The Oval.
India's determined fightback in the fourth Test at Old Trafford secured a draw for the visitors on the final day. With England leading the five-match series 2-1, the former India captain is confident that the visiting team can win the series finale by choosing the 'right bowling attack" and maintaining their batting momentum.
'I advise Gambhir to play Kuldeep Yadav in the fifth Test and pick the right bowling attack. If we continue to bat like this, we can win at The Oval," Ganguly told IANS.
Reflecting on India's batting performance in Manchester, Ganguly noted that after such an outstanding display, the team must be contemplating their Lord's result, where they lost by 22 runs chasing a modest target of 193.
'This is a young team, we have to give them some time as the team is rebuilding. The way they batted in the fourth innings yesterday, scoring more than 400 runs, India will feel bad that they lost the Lord's Test. They batted very well on the fifth day in Manchester; the 190 should have been achieved at Lord's," the former left-handed batter said.
'After a long time, many Indian batters have scored significant runs in an overseas Test series. This is something that pleases me and is a positive sign for Indian cricket. These young players will represent the country for a long time, and their performances in England will surely boost their confidence. If we improve our bowling, we can win at The Oval," Ganguly added.
The veteran cricketer further praised wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant for his consistent performance on the tour. Pant, who sustained a right foot fracture in the fourth Test, has been ruled out of the final Test of the series.
'He is a very good Test player. He is injured, and his foot was fractured; he will take time to recover. He has batted brilliantly in the series," Ganguly said of Pant.
'India played good cricket and saved the Test match after batting for more than 140 overs. Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar played very well," the southpaw added.
The fifth and final Test of the series will be played at The Oval in London starting Thursday.
view comments
First Published:
Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
42 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Rahul, India's watchful protector at the top
More than the runs he has scored so far - 511 including two hundreds and as many fifties - the way he has batted deserves more attention. Among all India batters, he looked most comfortable in English conditions. As should be the way, he is playing late, keeping the bat close to the body, meeting the ball under the eye and not rushing into the stroke. More importantly, he is almost leaving everything outside the line while covering his off stump. These are the secrets for success in England and Rahul seems to have mugged them up thoroughly. Except those two runs he scored in the first innings of the second Test at Edgbaston, Rahul has crossed double-figures mark in each of the remaining seven innings. Besides, he stitched together crucial partnerships with other batters at various points of time to keep India in the hunt during the series. Be it his 195-run partnership with Pant for the fourth wicket in the second innings of the first match or the 141 runs he added with the same batter in the first essay of the Lord's Test. The latest was the rescue act he and Gill carried out when India were two down without even opening their account in the second innings in Manchester. The duo added 188 runs for the third wicket to give India hope of putting up a fight in challenging conditions. There are also a couple of knocks where he couldn't convert the starts but in those innings as well he built partnerships with fellow batters to set the platform for upcoming batters. One such innings came in Birmingham where he added 55 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal. The other came in the recently-concluded match where he and Jaiswal once again scored 94 runs together to give India a solid start in the first innings. In most of these innings, the Karnataka batter has held one end and played patiently blunting England's pace attack. With the Dukes balls understandably getting soft after the first 30-35 overs in the hot and humid weather, his patient innings have only helped India's cause. The 33-year-old right-hand batter has faced 998 balls so far with only his captain Gill ahead of him playing 1106 balls. Interestingly, he is only the batter among the top five run scorers not to have hit a six. But he has smashed 67 fours, again only behind Gill, who has scored 79. His affinity with fours highlights his style of play, which looks more inclined towards playing grounded shots rather than going for expansive drives.
New Indian Express
42 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Test call-up reward for his performance: Jagadeesan's coach
CHENNAI: Even as Rishabh Pant's injury came as a dampener for the Indian team, it meant that Tamil Nadu keeper-batter N Jagadeesan has received his maiden Test call-up for the fifth and final Test against England to be played at The Oval on Thursday. Jagadeesan has been rewarded for his consistent performances in the last two seasons for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy, where he top-scored for his side. In the 2023/24 season, he made 816 runs at 74.18 with a high score of 321. In the 2024/25 Ranji season, he made 674 runs at 56.16. Jagadeeasan's personal coach AG Guruswamy, a highly respected figure in Tamil Nadu cricketing circles, is all the more pleased that his protege will be going to England. "Very happy that Jagadeesan has been called by the Indian team management for the last Test as a back up for injured Pant. He has been working hard all these years and in the last two years, he has done extremely well for Tamil Nadu in both white-ball and red-ball cricket. He deserves the call-up,'' said Guruswamy. What paved the way for Jagadeesan all up was the fact that the current India team management wanted a wicketkeeper who can bat. "Maybe that his batting is a bonus and that paved the way for his call-up. But let's not forget he has also been brilliant behind the wickets. He has been constantly working on his wicket keeping skill sets and has always shown the attitude to put extra effort in practice sessions to polish his game," said Gurusamy. "Jags is mentally very strong. In the last couple of years he has also worked on the mental aspect of the game. He is calm, cool and precise in his approach to the game, thus he can handle pressure. For the last ten days he has been practicing in Coimbatore for his club games. So should he get an opportunity to play for India, I am sure he will excel and not be rusty. Plus, skill-wise, he is good. Because you see, he has been brought up on matting wickets. Backfoot play will be very good for players who play on matting wickets. He will be able to handle the bounce better,'' he added.
Deccan Herald
2 hours ago
- Deccan Herald
Young Divya's rapid rise to the pinnacle
Will 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh's achievement of winning the Women's World Cup herald the beginning of a new era in Indian Women's chess? Will it inspire more girls to concentrate on chess in a cricket crazy nation after seeing a teenager holding high, her achievements in a cup lifted by an Indian woman for the very first time?.After all, when was the last time that a chess player waltzed away with a triple bonanza in a single event -- winning the World Cup, earning the Grandmaster (GM) title and securing a seat to the 8 player Women's Candidates tournament. Not to mention a cool USD 50,000 prize as the Indian chess had plenty to cheer about with the likes of Dommaraju Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, Aravindh Chithambram and Nihal Sarin, to name a few, women's chess for a long time rejoiced only on the exploits of the legendary Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika. Divya's dream performance, starting as the 15th seed will infuse fresh breath into women's is the queen of Indian chess .Batumi in Georgia has always been renowned for its graceful women world champions during the Soviet domination and what better venue for Divya than this to also begin her journey into the elite club. The last month has been nothing short of a dream come true for the petite, smartly-attired Divya, who just a few months back was unsure whether to pursue her dreams on the chequered board or tread along hospital corridors just like her parents' medical quite clearly isn't a one off performance by Divya for she had firmly made her presence strongly felt at the Pune leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix where she finished 3rd amidst an elite field, a event where she had stepped in as the host entry. Ironically, this was one among the series of qualifying event for the Candidates. Her confidence and quiet playing strength were clearly visible even is the golden girl of Indian chess; a team member of the Olympiad gold-medal winning Indian women team and an individual gold medallist at the Budapest Olympiad last has also struckgold at the Asian Championship, World junior and World Youth. A few days back Divya had also defeated former world junior champion Hou Yifan in the World Team Blitz Championship last sets Divya apart from her peers is the sheer confidence she oozes out and the ability to keep her cool under the most stressful of situations on board. Nagpur-based Divya learnt chess as a five-year-old from Rahul Joshi and then has been coached by Dronacharya awardee GM R B Ramesh, GM Abhijit Kunte and GM Srinath Narayanan during different mother Namrata, who accompanies her to major tournaments, is quick to point out her winning ways, saying: 'she is hardworking, mature and has competed in tough tournaments which has greatly helped. Divya has lived all her life, playing chess and we have been comfortable with her choice and will continue to support her.'.A happy Ramesh also commented: 'Big victory at such a young age. A confident player deserving of such a big success. This is the beginning of a long journey for her.'.Kunte, the coach of the Indian women's Olympiad team at Budapest, has also worked with Divya and is quick to point out, 'it is unbelievable what Divya has achieved at just 19 years, defeating two strong Chinese competitors and also Harika and Humpy en performances in recent times also indicate that she can dominate women's chess and eventually become the first Woman World Champion from India.'
