Let us take a look at important developments from the cricketing world that took place on Monday, 17 May.
Wriddhiman Saha tests negative for Covid-19
Wriddhiman Saha has returned negative for Covid-19, and is set to join the Indian contingent in Mumbai for England tour. Saha contracted the virus in the Sunrisers Hyderabad camp during the Indian Premier League.
Saha was named in India's 20-member squad for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand and the five Test matches against England. His inclusion, however, was subject to a Covid-19 negative report and fitness clearance.
Team India will fly to England on 2 May. The WTC final is slated to take place in Southampton from 18 June.
— Wriddhiman Saha (@Wriddhipops) May 14, 2021
Das appointed batting coach for India Women
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has appointed Shiv Sunder Das as batting coach for the India Women. An opening batter, Das played 23 Test matches in the early 2000s.
He will join Ramesh Powar-led coaching team ahead of the tour to England next month. Earlier this week, Powar replaced WV Raman as the head coach of India Women.
India’s tour to England will comprise of a single Test, three ODIs and as many T20Is. The Test match will be their first in eight years.
Australia announce 23-member squad for West Indies tour
Cricket Australia has announced a 23-member preliminary squad for the forthcoming West Indies tour, which gets underway from 9 July with a T20I in St Lucia. In all, there will be five T20Is and three ODIs. All matches will be played in strict bio-secure bubbles in St Lucia and Barbados.
Marnus Labuschagne, currently in the UK due to his commitment with Glamorgan in the County Championship, has been left out of the squad. However, other big names like Steven Smith, David Warner, and Pat Cummins have all been picked for the side that will be led by Aaron Finch.
Australia’s squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Tanveer Sangha, D’Arcy Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Josh Philippe, Matthew Wade, David Warner.
Amre explains Shaw’s IPL resurgence
Prithvi Shaw’s stocks plummeted drastically after he failed to put up a decent show in the IPL 2020 and the solitary Test he played in Australia. Shaw’s unusual backlift made him vulnerable against incoming deliveries, and pacers kept bowling to his weakness.
Shaw, however, put his head down and ground hard in the domestic season. He ended up topping the Vijay Hazare Trophy runs charts by some distance. He carried on that form to the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League.
Along with Shikhar Dhawan, Shaw formed the most destructive opening pair of the tournament. Aggregating 308 runs before the tournament got suspended indefinitely, Shaw laid all doubts about him to rest.
Delhi Capitals assistant coach Pravin Amre has explained how Shaw overcame the lean patch. Amre stated that the first thing he did with Shaw was to show him where he stood, especially after a horror show in Australia.
‘As coaches, our roles involve being a little hard on the players sometimes. For example, showing Prithvi the mirror after he was dropped from the Indian team earlier this year and asking where he stood. He had a poor IPL last time. How he could bounce back was the first question I asked,’ Amre told CricketNext.