8:07 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Paddy Upton has been appointed as head coach of the Rajasthan Royals for the 2019 season, which begins in March. This is Upton’s second stint as head coach of the franchise, having previously held the position between 2013 and 2015. Shane Warne, who was head coach in 2018, will likely
Cricket
3:00 AM ET Big Picture That was largely unexpected. Australia produced arguably their best ODI performance in two years to convincingly take the honours at the SCG and, as in the T20 series which began the tour, leave India needing to find a response. Australia’s batting was efficient rather than electric and the question remains
1:43 PM ET Annesha Ghosh in Mumbai Mithali Raj has said that the acrimony that followed India’s semi-final exit in the Women’s World T20 is a thing of the past, even though she felt the episode did “hamper” the profile of the Indian women’s team. “I don’t know how controversies help the profile of the
8:19 AM ET The PCB insist discussions with Cricket Australia are “open and ongoing” for Australia to play in Pakistan later this year. The Pakistan board want CA to visit Pakistan for a security recce before deciding whether or not Australia play ODIs there – this despite a CA spokesperson ruling out the prospect of
India’s ODI vice-captain Rohit Sharma believes No. 4 is the “ideal” position for MS Dhoni as India continue to jostle with their middle-order combinations ahead of the World Cup. Dhoni made 51 off 96 balls in the first ODI against Australia at the SCG. He added 137 in 28 overs with Rohit to repair the
11:21 AM ET Mayank Agarwal and Vijay Shankar are likely to replace KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya for the remainder of the Australia series followed by the limited-overs tour of New Zealand. The Indian selectors were forced to name replacements after the Committee of Administrators suspended Pandya and Rahul for their controversial comments on a
3:00 AM ET Lunch Pakistan 111 for 5 (Babar 41*, Sarfraz 8*) trail South Africa 262 (Markram 90, Ashraf 3-57) by 245 runs South Africa created more than enough chances to have bowled out Pakistan on the second morning at the Wanderers. Instead, thanks to a combination of bad catching, good fortune and no little
shares Jason Behrendorff reacts in the field © Getty Images Australia won the toss and decided to bat against India There will be an early chance to assess Australia’s reshaped one-day batting order after Aaron Finch won the toss at the SCG and opted to set a total. India have had to contend with
2:50 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Joe Clarke and Tom Kohler-Cadmore have been dropped from the England Lions squad that leaves for India on Saturday, after revelations about the pair’s off-field behaviour emerged in the course of the rape trial of their former Worcestershire team-mate, Alex Hepburn. Hepburn faces the prospect of a retrial after the
shares Hardik Pandya fields off his own bowling © AFP/Getty Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul will not be considered for selection for the first match of the Australia-India ODI series. ESPNcricinfo understands that although the Committee of Administrators (CoA) is still deliberating the course of action against the two players for their controversial comments