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Who is Liam Dawson? Spinner replacing Bashir for ENG vs IND 4th Test
Dawson's inclusion marks a potential return to red-ball international cricket after nearly eight years. He last played a Test match for England in July 2017, and has three Test caps to his name since making his debut in 2016.
Who is Liam Dawson?
England's national selector Luke Wright praised Dawson's performances, stating: 'Liam Dawson deserves his call-up. He has been in outstanding form in the County Championship and consistently puts in strong performances for Hampshire.'
International Pedigree
Dawson made his Test debut against India in Chennai back in 2016, where he impressed with a resilient 66* on debut. Across his three Tests, he has taken 7 wickets and scored 84 runs. Though often viewed as a white-ball specialist in recent years, Dawson was also part of England's 2019 World Cup-winning squad.
With Shoaib Bashir sidelined, and Jack Leach once again overlooked, Dawson could now play a key role in Manchester, if selected, offering a left-arm spin option with plenty of experience and recent domestic success.
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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
After three podium finishes at continental level, gymnast Pranati Nayak braces for Chinese challenge on vault ahead of Asian Games
She has a hat-trick of bronze medals on the vault at the Asian Gymnastics Championships, but it's the elusive gold that keeps Pranati Nayak pushing through pain, living a monkish, solitary existence with no social life in Bhubaneswar. She also has to make do with eating measured morsels to keep her weight down, so she can push through an extra half of a rotation, and do a 720 Tsukahara, rather than a 540. 'And now the Chinese have started showing up in vault which they didn't earlier,' Pranati says in mock apocalyptic tones, laughing at her luck, a month after returning from Jecheon, South Korea, with a third bronze, after Ulaanbaatar 2019 and Doha 2022. It was much before her qualification stumble at the continental championships when her three oversteppings cost her a penalty that she gleaned the competition and noticed her nemesis – the Chinese. The global powerhouse in gymnastics aces the Floor exercise, uneven bars and balance beam, but have made headway into Vault at the Asian level, a novelty for Pranati who admits to being deflated at the literal leaps-and-bounds progress of the Chinese vaulters, who have not won a women's vault medal at the Olympics since their bronze at Beijing 2008. Sure enough, Paris Olympian Zhang Yinan took gold at Jecheon with 13.650 on the vault, closely followed by Nguyn Thi Quyhn Nhur with 13.583. Pranati averaged 13.466. 'It was tough to digest. I didn't think Chinese vaulters would be a challenge, so I will have to prepare for that before the Asian Games. In qualification when I was 4th, there was the (Uzbek, 48-year- old) legend Oksana Chusovitina, and the Vietnamese. But the Chinese had me worried,' she says. 'Qualifying was not great, I was scared.' Attempting the Tsukahara 540 (Difficulty 5.2, like the Chinese and Vietnamese), Pranati stuttered with three oversteps and copped a penalty. 'We train on Gymnova brand apparatus. There it was Tyson, a different make of springboard. With my ankle injury, take-off on this brand was a disaster,' she explains, not as an excuse, but stating her inability on a lift-off, where she didn't gain the spring for elevation and rotations, affecting her landing. In the finals, she had 13.666 on her first vault with Difficulty 5.2 (scoring 8.466 on Execution) and in the second, a handspring. Though her D-Score of 4.4 was higher than everyone, her 12.866 (highest and equalising Chinese score, with execution at 8.466), could not push her beyond bronze. 'Gold and silver were there for the taking but I couldn't stick a clean landing. One step I ended forward and couldn't go past 14.000,' the 30-year-old rued. While she already has a World Cup bronze from Antalya this year, and is headed to another World Cup series in September, the training-competition balance has had to be carefully managed at her Bhubaneswar base. 'The ankle injury from two years ago is not big. But I have to manage it. It's one week of rest and strengthening and one week of vault training,' she explains, adding that she also has to undergo a bunch of ultrasound examinations for elbow and ankle issues. Thanks to her funding from Welspun, she can access the best medical facilities at a top hospital in Odisha and a curated diet, but Pranati is aware of the challenge. 'At 30, recovery is not easy. I'm maintaining a very strict diet, measuring food, so I can be fit to give optimum results,' she says. All junk has been out of the picture and mildly salted dry fruits are her only indulgence. 'The machines are expensive so that funding helps,' she says, as does the guidance of Ashok Mishra. While she remains India's best-performing gymnast currently, ensuring her personal coach travels (he didn't to Korea) requires funds beyond her TOPS allocation. Being in the well-kitted-out facility means Pranati can access the ABTP (Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance) facility on campus, a huge help. 'But it's ice baths in the room and 2/3 rehab sessions at ABTP,' she says. The Shockwave therapy for muscle pain is a huge addition she has availed, but getting the peak fitness/form/ confidence and pushing technique barriers needs everything coming together. With the Chinese targeting the vault, Pranati literally has to raise her ambitions on higher Difficulty vaults with an eye on the Asian Games.
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
IND vs ENG: Unlucky or preventable? Questions raise over Indian players' fitness in England
A week after the Lord's Test, the BCCI, through a press release, shared three things about all-rounder Nitish Reddy – he had a left-knee injury, he was flying home and the team had wished him speedy recovery. Few hours later, at the start of India's first full outdoor training session at Manchester, pacer Akash Deep was giving a fitness test and was watched by an anxious bunch of coaches and national selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar. Akash Deep didn't bowl at the nets on Monday and is unlikely to play the crucial fourth Test of the India-England series that the home team leads 2-1. Injuries to both Akash Deep and Reddy, after just two back-to-back Tests, haven't gone down well with the team management. After the Lord's Test, players had been asked to improve their fitness and wheels have already started moving to put in place a proper protocol for assessing the pre-tour fitness of players. Going ahead, especially for a long tour, the information about niggles and injuries a player is carrying needs to be put on the table. The new leadership group is keen to have a transparent and robust fitness regime since these sudden and frequent breakdowns are impacting the team's plans and potentially the final result of Tests and the series. Former Team India trainer Ramji Srinivasan, who was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach with the 2011 World Cup winning team, says there is scope of improving the system. 'I would definitely say it is very unfortunate these things happened in the middle of the tour. I think better precautionary measures could have been taken by the support staff,' he says. 'There needs to be predictability about non-match injuries. There should be protocols in place – testing and assessment prior to the tour.' At present at the National Cricket Academy, the destination for all wounded cricketers, there are protocols in place but don't seem to be working and that has put a spanner in the planning. After Birmingham, where Akash Deep took 6 wickets, India seemed to have cracked their pace combination. But the optimism didn't even last one full Test. In the middle of the Lord's Test, Akash Deep would walk gingerly out of the field, holding his hip. Mohammed Siraj, at the press conference, did comment on his pace partner's fitness. 'Akash Deep's groin has some issues, so he has to be with the physio. He bowled in the morning but I don't have any feedback from the physio yet,' he said. Akash Deep had a niggle at the start of the tour – coach Gautam Gambhir had said this at the press conference – and that was why Delhi pacer Harshit Rana was called as a back-up. The Bengal pacer sat out for the first Test and only after a scan was done, he was declared match-fit. Rana was sent home. Now, another pacer has been flown in. Today Haryana pacer Anshul Kamboj trained with the team. At Manchester, with the pitch looking damp from a distance and a heavy cloud cover over-head, the conditions seem ideal to unleash the best of Indian pacers. But it could well be an untested and debutant making the cut. Kamboj can get into the team, in case the team management chose him over Prasidh Krishna, who hasn't been able to control his length on this tour. The Indian team also might have liked to have Nitish in the mix at Manchester. At Lord's, the pace all-rounder got the important breakthrough, bowled 17 overs and also had a promising partnership with Ravindra Jadeja. For a management keen on a long batting line-up, Nitish was their ideal man. Nitish is an intriguing case. Was he Test-series ready when he landed in England? All through the IPL, the all-rounder bowled just 5 overs. Daniel Vettori, the coach at SRH where Nitish plays, during the IPL had explained how it was because of injuries he was being under-bowled. 'He brought a side-strain into the tournament, which obviously he has had throughout. That is the reason he missed a lot of cricket prior to that and then it was just a slow, meticulous build-up,' Vettori said. Was it the load of 17 overs being too much on the body of a player with a history of injuries? Expert trainers say that modern science can actually predict injuries but the assessment has to be scientific and the players also need to be honest about their first fitness. 'There are various reasons for a player's breakdown. It could be the wrong movement pattern, muscle overload but take away suppleness, lack of athletic training, and workload management. It could also be the case of a player concealing fitness (concerns),' says an expert on condition of anonymity. But despite these many reasons, the potential injuries to players can be predicted. 'All joints, all muscles have to be tested for strength and power and other things. There is equipment available in the market to do the fitness testing. These are things that should be etched in stone and part of protocol before a series.' Along with the injuries that can be controlled are the ones that can't be. India, as luck would have it, have players who got wounded on the field. Just when it seemed that left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh would finally get a game, he got injured and got ruled out of the Test. This was confirmed by the BCCI in its press release. It was while stopping a ball in follow-through in the nets that resulted in him getting a cut and subsequently stitches. The pitch and conditions would have aided Arshdeep's swing but for the fourth straight Test he will be on drinks duty. Today at the nets, Rishabh Pant too seemed to have recovered from the hit he took on the index finger at Lord's. He was the keeper when the slip-cordon was taking catches. Once in a while he would show pain when holding a sharp catch but would continue to train. Meanwhile, in the spin-net was the perpetual picture of the tour – left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav constantly testing batsmen. Will he finally get a Test? Him getting into the team for the Manchester Test would be an irony. This would be the case of 'horses not for courses'. Kuldeep should have played at Lord's but was sitting out. He should be sitting out in Manchester but because of injuries and multiple combination complications he might just play.
News18
an hour ago
- News18
World University Games: Ancy Sojan Secures Fourth In Long Jump Qualification
Last Updated: Ancy Sojan placed fourth in women's long jump at the World University Games with a 6.20m jump. Asian Games silver medallist Ancy Sojan secured fourth place in the women's long jump qualification round on Monday at the World University Games. The 24-year-old Sojan fouled her first attempt and jumped 5.97m on her second. Initially placed seventh in Group A qualifications, her final jump of 6.20m elevated her to fourth. China's Xiong Shiqi topped the standings with a jump of 6.41m, while Australia's Samantha Dale secured second place with 6.38m. Samira Attermeyer from Germany claimed third with a 6.22m jump. Sojan, who also won silver at the Asian Championships in South Korea in May, has a season's best of 6.54m and a personal best of 6.71m. Ruchit Pratapbhai Mori advanced to the semifinals in the men's 400m hurdles after finishing third in his heat with a time of 50.58 seconds. The opening day of athletics competition featured only two events involving Indians. In table tennis, the women's doubles pair of Murad A and Vaghela D, along with the men's doubles duo of Kotecha T and Wani S, won their respective round of 64 matches. Ayaz Murad and Devarsh Vaghela lost their singles group matches. In beach volleyball, the Indian women's team of Kanimozhi and Gowshika lost to Latvia in a pool C match. In fencing, the women's foil team was defeated by Poland 18-45 in the round of 16, and the men's epee team lost to Poland 33-45 in the round of 32. In Taekwondo, Rishita Dang won her bout, defeating Lebanon's Celine Askarjian 2-0. India faced a heavy defeat against Latvia, losing 55-111 in the men's preliminary Group B basketball match. India had its best performance in the last edition of the Games, winning 26 medals—11 gold, 5 silver, and 10 bronze—finishing seventh in the overall medal tally. (With inputs from PTI) view comments 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.
