TEST MATCHES
West Indies v Sri Lanka
08:00 PM +06
2nd Test, Sri Lanka tour of West Indies at Gros Islet, Jun 14-18 2018
TOSS: Sri Lanka
MATCH: West Indies
India v Afghanistan
10:00 AM +06
Only Test, Afghanistan tour of India at Bengaluru, Jun 14-18 2018
TOSS: Afghanistan
MATCH: Draw or AFG
Rain might rob a few parts of the game while the pitch isn’t expected to play at any extreme.
India
For a while now, India have wrestled with the best options to pick from those available with primary focus on the two trios – the openers and spinners. There is a chance that in the absence of Virat Kohli, all three openers feature but Murali Vijay’s lack of game-time in the recent past could also pave the way for Karun Nair to find a spot in the middle order. R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja lead the race for the spinners’ slots but Kuldeep Yadav has an outside chance of getting in, if wrist spin takes precedence.
Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Murali Vijay/Karun Nair, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja/Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma
Afghanistan
With spin bowling being a clear strength, Afghanistan will wrestle with the right options to pick from. They have all possible options – left-arm wrist spinner in Zahir Khan, mystery spinners in Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan’s leg spin, conventional finger spinners and all-round options in Mohammad Nabi and Amir Hamza.
Probable XI: Javed Ahmadi/ Ihsanullah, Mohammad Shahzad, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Stanikzai, Nasir Jamal, Mohammad Nabi, Afsar Sazai (wk), Rashid Khan, Yamin Ahmadzai, Sayad Shirzad/Wafadar, Zahir Khan/Mujeeb ur Rahman/Amir Hamza
Trivia
– This is the first time ever India are hosting a Test match in the month of June. It will be the 265th Test on Indian soil and with this Test, only the months of May and July remain to host a Test in India.
– If selected, Dinesh Karthik will be playing his first Test since 2010. He has missed 87 Tests in between which is the sixth most by any player and the most for an Indian player.
– If selected, Mujeeb Ur Rahman will become the first player to be born in the 21st century to play Test cricket. He will also become the sixth player since 1900 to make his first-class debut in a Test match.
– Since Jan 2012, this will be only India’s second of the 63 Tests not to feature Virat Kohli. The only other Test he missed was against Australia in Dharamsala last year.
Teams:
India (From): Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini
Afghanistan (From): Mohammad Shahzad(w), Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Stanikzai(c), Nasir Jamal, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Yamin Ahmadzai, Sayed Shirzad, Wafadar, Zahir Khan, Ihsanullah Janat, Amir Hamza, Afsar Zaza
ROYAL LONDON ONE-DAY CUP
Nottinghamshire v Kent
14/6 – 04:00 pm +06
1st Quarter-Final, at Nottingham, Jun 14 2018
MATCH: Nottinghamshire
Essex v Yorkshire
14/6 – 07:00 pm +06
2nd Quarter-Final, (D/N) at Chelmsford, Jun 14 2018
MATCH: Essex