spin trio for nz in WT20
wellington: New Zealand on Monday named three spinners in the Black Caps squad for the ICC World T20 in India, anticipating a wealth of turning wickets. Veteran Nathan McCullum, Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi were all included in the 15-man party, which will be captained by Kane Williamson with Brendon McCullum’s retirement pending. Hesson said Tim Southee, Ross Taylor and Mitchell McClenaghan — all currently injured — were expected to return for the March 8-April 3 tournament. Rookie Henry Nicholls was named as back-up wicketkeeper to luke Ronchi, while quick Matt Henry was omitted from a four-pronged pace attack featuring Southee, McClenaghan, Boult and Milne.
WT20 is waste of time: harris
melbourne: The WT20 Championships to be held next month in India are nothing but a “waste of time”, feels former Australian pacer Ryan Harris. A day after Australia were whitewashed 3-0 by India in a T20 series, Harris said there is no point in having a T20 World Cup when the sides involved do not play too many of such games on a regular basis. “Personally I think it’s a waste of time having a Twenty20 World Cup,” Harris, who retired from the game last year, told SEN Radio. “last year we played one T20 (against England in August). This year because there’s a World Cup I think we play six — there’s three more in South Africa before they get over there (to India).
“To take it seriously I think you need to be playing a lot more than that when there’s a World Cup involved.”
viru joins KXIP as mentor
new delhi: Former India opener Virender Sehwag was on Monday appointed mentor of the Kings XI Punjab team for the upcoming Indian Premier league (IPl). In his new role, Sehwag will work closely with head coach Sanjay Bangar and would be responsible for guiding and motivating the squad, a statement from the Kings XI franchise stated. “Virender Sehwag has been an integral part of the KXIP squad over the last two seasons and understands the dynamics of the team very well. With him stepping in as the mentor, the team will immensely benefit from his guidance and advice,” Kings XI’s coach Bangar said.
SA seek redemption in odi
Bloemfontein: South Africa will be keen to avenge a Test series defeat when they meet England in five one-day internationals, starting at the Mangaung Oval on Wednesday. South Africa showed patchy form in the World Cup but reached the semi-finals, where they were beaten by New Zealand. Since then, they have won a home series against the Black Caps and an away series in India. Other new faces include captain Eoin Morgan, opening batsman Jason Roy and bowlers Reece Topley, Chris Jordan, David Willey and Adil Rashid, who all had some success in England’s comfortable win in a warm-up match against South Africa A in Kimberley on Saturday. South Africa’s one-day specialists include hard-hitting left-handed batsmen David Miller and Rilee Rossouw, all- rounder Farhaan Behardien and leg-spinner Imran Tahir. South African captain AB de Villiers, the world’s number one-ranked ODI batsman, will hope for a return to form after making three ducks in his last three Test innings against England. South Africa added fast bowler Marchant de lange to their squad following the injury-forced withdrawal of Dale Steyn and the unavailability through injury for the first match of Kyle Abbott.