3rd Test: Brett Lee ‘shocked’ by Ashwin’s international retirement

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Brisbane, Dec 18 (IANS) Australia’s fast-bowling great Brett Lee said he was shocked by India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin announcing his retirement from international cricket after the drawn Test at Brisbane, adding that he will go down as one of the greats of the game.

Shortly after third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Brisbane ended in a draw at the Gabba on Wednesday, Ashwin announced in the post-match press conference about his decision to retire from international cricket with immediate effect.

His last international game was the day-night Test in Adelaide, where he took 1-53 in 18 overs. “This guy is one of the greats of the game. The last time a spinner retired mid way through a series was Graeme Swann, I think.”

Ex-Australia keeper Brad Haddin stated Ashwin had earned the right to end his 14-year international career for India. “More will come out when Ashwin has his opportunity to speak; just reading between the lines, it looked like he may have been a bit frustrated with the spinning options that they’ve changed in the first three Test matches. To me, he was a student of the game (and) always looking at ways to get better … he’s earned the right.”

Hailing from Chennai, Ashwin ends his career with 537 wickets at average of 24 in 106 Tests and becoming India’s second leading wicket-taker after legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble. He also scored six Test centuries and 14 fifties with the bat. His last international game was the day-night Test in Adelaide, where he took 1-53.

Ashwin also played 116 ODIs for India, taking 156 wickets, and being a member of 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy winning teams. Ashwin also played 65 T20I matches and took 72 wickets.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan said he will miss watching Ashwin bowl. “He may have been told that he’s not going to play any further part in this series, and rightly so, (he) just decided to go out on his own terms. I’m going to miss his bowling, that flight, carom balls, his abilities to bowl in all conditions … (in India) a batter has got no chance when you’re facing that quality.”

Australia captain Pat Cummins also paid a tribute to Ashwin after the game ended. “A bit of a surprise, he has been a champion player for them. One of the greats who played a lot over the last 10-plus years. He’s had a wonderful career and massive respect from our change room for the career he has had.”

–IANS

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WPL 2025 auction: Deandra, Simran, Kamalini & Prema emerge as most expensive players (Ld)

Bengaluru, Dec 15 (IANS) Deandra Dottin, Simran Shaikh, G Kamalini and Prema Rawat fetched big paychecks in the WPL 2025 Auction, which took place at ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru on Sunday.

For acquiring the hard-hitting West Indies’ all-rounder Deandra, one of only three players with a reserve price of Rs 50 lakh in the auction, Gujarat Giants (GG) and UP Warriorz were in a fierce tussle before the Adani Sportsline-owned franchise roped her in for Rs 1.7 crore.

But the biggest story of the auctions was the big deals for uncapped talented Indian players. Mumbai batter Simran, who was with UP Warriorz in WPL 2023, emerged as the costliest uncapped India player after being roped in by GG for Rs 1.9 crore, after edging out Delhi Capitals (DC). Simran was a member of Mumbai and India E winning teams in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy and Challenger Trophy, respectively.

For acquiring hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batter Kamalini, who hit 44 not out in India’s nine-wicket win over Pakistan in the U19 Asia Cup game, Mumbai Indians (MI) shelled out Rs 1.6 crore after a fierce bidding war with DC. MI did have a look at Kamalini during their pre-auction trials, and the WPL 2023 champions did go all out in roping her in.

Hailing from Madurai, Kamalini, 16, trains at the Super Kings Academy in Chennai, and came into the limelight after hitting 311 runs in eight games, as Tamil Nadu won the U19 Women’s T20 Trophy in October. She will be MI’s second wicketkeeper-batter option after Yastika Bhatia.

Another notable uncapped India player to get a big paycheck in the auction was Uttarakhand all-rounder Prema, who was roped in by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 1.2 crore. Prema, who bowls leg spin, played a key role in Mussoorie Thunders winning the inaugural Uttarakhand Premier League (UPL) this year.

Though DC missed out on getting Kamalini, they were successful in acquiring Uttarakhand wicketkeeper Nandini Kashyap, who got her first India call-up for T20Is against the West Indies, for her base price of Rs 10 lakh.

Nandini was the leading run scorer in the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy and the third-highest run-getter in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy while playing for Uttarakhand in this domestic season. She will be one of DC’s three wicketkeeping options, alongside Taniyaa Bhatia and Scotland’s Sarah Bryce, who was picked by the side for Rs 10 lakh.

DC and MI were also in a fight to get uncapped India all-rounder N Charani, who bowls let-arm spin, before the former got her in for Rs 55 lakh. MI also got in South Africa all-rounder Nadine de Klerk for Rs 30 lakh.

UP Warriorz got into action in the first accelerated round by picking uncapped batter Arushi Goel and all-rounder Kranti Goud for Rs 10 lakh each. MI roped in uncapped India all-rounder Sanskriti Gupta for Rs 10 lakh while RCB got India U19 pace bowling all-rounder Joshitha VJ for the same amount. Interestingly, Joshitha had attended RCB pre-auction trials.

UPW filled their last overseas slot by picking Australia leg-spinner Alana King for Rs 30 lakh while RCB completed their squad by acquiring uncapped India all-rounder Raghvi Bist, who is in India’s squad for T20Is against the West Indies alongside her statemate Nandini, and another uncapped spinner Jagravi Pawar for Rs 10 lakh each.

DC made another steal buy by picking India U19 captain Niki Prasad for Rs 10 lakh, after she previously found no takers while MI roped in uncapped India all-rounder Akshita Maheshwari for Rs 20 lakh. Akshita had attended the MI trials and was said to have impressed their scout Kiran More.

GG ended the two hours and 20-minute-long auction by picking England all-rounder Danielle Gibson for Rs 30 lakh and roping in uncapped India spinner Prakashika Naik for Rs 10 lakh.

The auction also saw prominent capped players like Sneh Rana, Heather Knight, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Darcie Brown, Laura Harris, Kim Garth, Sarah Glenn, Shubha Satheesh, Sushma Verma, Lauren Filer, Mansi Joshi, Lizelle Lee and Rosemary Mair found no takers from the five WPL teams.

Full WPL squads after auction:

Delhi Capitals: Alice Capsey, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Meg Lanning (c), Minnu Mani, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniyaa Bhatia, Titas Sadhu, Annabel Sutherland, Nandini Kashyap, N Charani, Sarah Bryce, and Niki Prasad.

Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney (c), Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt, Shabnam Shakil, Tanuja Kanwer, Phoebe Litchfield, Meghna Singh, Kashvee Gautam, Priya Mishra, Mannat Kashyap, Bharti Fulmali, Sayali Satghare, Deandra Dottin, Simran Shaikh, Danielle Gibson, and Prakashika Naik.

Mumbai Indians: Mumbai Indians: Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Hayley Matthews, Jintimani Kalita, Natalie Sciver, Pooja Vastrakar, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia, Shabnim Ismail, Amandeep Kaur, Sajeevan Sajana, Keerthana Balakrishnan, Nadine de Klerk, G. Kamalini, Sanskriti Gupta, and Akshita Maheshwari.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Smriti Mandhana (c), Sabbineni Meghana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Sophie Devine, Renuka Singh, Sophie Molineux, Ekta Bisht, Kate Cross, Kanika Ahuja, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Prema Rawat, Joshitha VJ, Raghvi Bist, and Jagravi Pawar.

UP Warriorz: Alyssa Healy (c), Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris, Kiran Navgire, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shweta Sehrawat, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia McGrath, Vrinda Dinesh, Saima Thakor, Poonam Khemnar, Gouher Sultana, Chamari Athapaththu, Uma Chetry, Arushi Goel, Kranti Goud, and Alana King.

–IANS

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BBL: McSweeney hits fiery 78 to guide Heat to thrilling win after Australia snub

Brisbane, Dec 22 (IANS) Australia batter Nathan McSweeney, who was dropped from the Test side after playing three games in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India, bounced back to form with a scintillating 78-run innings to help Brisbane Heat register a thrilling last-ball win against the Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League (BBL) on Sunday.

The 25-year-old right-handed batter went on to reveal the advice bestowed upon him by Marnus Labuschagne, a mainstay in the Aussie side.

“It’s always nice to bounce back. I loved my time on the Australian Cricket team. You know sharing the changing room with some of Australia’s best players was awesome. And yeah hopefully I can continue to get better and learn from my experiences and get back there,” he said after the match.

“Marnus (Labuschagne) in particular, just said it’s not where it starts, it’s where it ends. I think a good story always has its ups and downs and hopefully mine can. When I finish and I’m all done, I can look back on this and it was a great learning curve,” McSweeney, who claimed the Player of the Match award, added.

McSweeney’s omission follows a string of underwhelming performances since his debut last month, where he failed to surpass 10 runs in five out of six innings. While the 25-year-old showed promise, his inability to adapt to the challenges of opening at the Test level, particularly against the moving ball, proved costly.

McSweeney will be replaced by teenage Sam Konstas, who has made a blazing start to his first full summer in senior career cricket after starring at the U-19 World Cup in South Africa early this year.

The 19-year-old Konstas could become the second-youngest player and the youngest specialist batter to debut for Australia since former captain Ian Craig when he played against South Africa at the MCG in 1953 aged 17 years 239 days.

–IANS

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