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Saif Zaib’s useful cameo takes game away from Somerset

ECB Reporters Network30-Aug-2020Adam Rossington defied a hand injury as he struck a quickfire half-century to lead Northants Steelbacks to a nine-run win over Somerset at Wantage Road.Rossington was left grimacing in pain for the majority of his 51 from 31 balls after he was pinned on the right hand by Somerset seamer Ollie Sale and required treatment on the field.But the wicketkeeper-batsman, profiting from targeting the leg side, played the match-defining innings and he shared an 81-run stand with captain Josh Cobb.Rossington was then unable to take his place in the field as the hosts held on to defend 171 for six, with 39-year-old allrounder Gareth Berg, making his Northants debut in the Vitality Blast, claiming 2 for 31.Somerset made a bright start to their chase, reaching the end of the six-over Powerplay at 54 for 1, but lost four wickets in the next five overs as Berg’s experience and changes of pace proved invaluable.Berg initially fooled debutant George Bartlett with a slower ball that found his off stump after a 50-run partnership with James Hildreth.
Hildreth played fluently for 34 but picked out Saif Zaib in the deep off Berg before Tom Abell and Eddie Byrom fell cheaply from successive deliveries. Ben Sanderson removed the big-hitting threat of the Overton twins, on his way to 3 for 36, but Roelof van der Merwe kept Somerset’s faint hopes alive with an unbeaten 41 from 25 balls.Van der Merwe shared an unbroken 46-run stand for the ninth wicket with Sale, but with 21 needed from Sanderson’s final over he was left with too much to do.Northants will now await injury news on Rossington, who missed last week’s Bob Willis Trophy match with a right finger injury, as the only misfortune of their otherwise fine start to the Vitality Blast.After an opening-night washout at Gloucestershire the Steelbacks thumped last season’s finalists Worcestershire Rapids by nine wickets on Saturday before casting aside a Somerset side in good spirits following their Bob Willis Trophy form.Paul Stirling, the hero of Northants’ opening win over the Rapids, had picked up where he left off by carving Craig Overton over point for six but was out next ball edging behind as he stepped away to try and replicate the shot. Richard Levi was then unluckily run out backing up when Craig Overton got a finger to a Cobb straight drive.Rossington suffered the blow to the hand early and while he was in visible pain, struck seven fours and a six, before an athletic diving catch from Sale at backward square leg off Max Waller.The impressive Sale was the pick of the Somerset attack and produced another smart piece of fielding off his own bowling when he held a reflex catch to dismiss Cobb, for 42 from 41 balls, just as the home captain looked set to accelerate.Zaib ensured the late hitting with an unbeaten on 28 from 13 balls – including 10 from the final two deliveries – which proved invaluable.

“We landed here, we saw the security that was going on and everyone became calmer”

Firdose Moonda18-Jan-2021″Those sharks are everywhere at the moment.”Quinton de Kock was not talking about the security arrangements or the lurking spin threat from a Pakistan squad that has been bulked up with slower bowlers, but about a real life shark. That he caught.De Kock spent a significant part of the 10 days between the end of the Sri Lanka series and South Africa’s trip to Pakistan fishing. Or is it sharking? And found that ragged-tooth sharks are plentiful and “pretty simple to catch.” His mind may have been wandering to fun in the great outdoors because currently he is both locked down in a bio-bubble and heavy security in Karachi.Related

• Okuhle Cele, Ryan Rickelton, Jacques Snyman get maiden South Africa call-ups

• de Kock: 'Bubble life is very unsettling'

• 'Emphasis' on Australia Tests as SA to send 'watered-down' team to Pakistan

Like the rest of the touring party, de Kock has been allowed out only to train so he hasn’t seen much of the country that South Africa last visited 14 years ago.”We are across the road from the training facilities and we are only allowed in our rooms and the team room,” de Kock said when asked what he thought of Pakistan so far. “But the rooms look quite nice, at least. It’s not easy, from an emotional side and a mental side [to be isolated]. You are trying to keep yourself mentally stable and perform for your country.”But even if there was no Covid-19, tours to Pakistan would remain strictly controlled, as the country is still considered a high-risk place from a security perspective (though not as high risk as before, given so many teams and players have toured in the past few years). It was that, and not global lockdown, that was top of South Africa’s mind according to de Kock when they made their way to Pakistan, on a charter plane after the last-minute cancellation of all Emirates flights into and out of South Africa until January 28.”When we were coming here, security was a concern, if not the biggest concern,” de Kock said. “And then we landed here, we saw the security that was going on and everyone became calmer. Over the days, it’s become less worrying. We have been able to focus more on cricket. On the plane, people spoke about, ‘what about this and what about that?’ But we when we landed here we saw the amount of security – it’s something to be seen. They’ve taken so many measures, we can actually feel comfortable and focus on the cricket and not worry at all.”South Africa are being afforded a state security presence, with Tabraiz Shamsi posting images of armed guards escorting the team from the airport to their base. They will receive similar treatment when traveling to the match venue and between cities.Only one member of the squad, Faf du Plessis, has played in Pakistan and that was briefly for the World XI and in the PSL, and in white-ball cricket. No-one knows what to expect from conditions except that “spin and reverse swing plays a big part,” and the home side will want to use conditions to their advantage. “When we’ve played on Asian pitches in the past, I think they target this team specifically and they prepare dustbowls,” de Kock said.Although coach Mark Boucher previously indicated that pitches in Pakistan don’t take as much turn as their Indian and Sri Lankan counterparts, the hosts’ squad, which includes left-arm spinners Nauman Ali and Mohammed Nawaz and offspinner Sajid Khan, in addition to legspinner Yasir Shah may indicate otherwise. “Those selections say a lot about where they want to go and how they want to prepare these wickets,” de Kock said.South Africa will have to figure out how to deal with those bowlers without their long-serving analyst, Prasanna Agoram, whose contract has not been renewed. Agoram worked with the team for 11 years and his departure only came to de Kock’s attention “late last night.” De Kock was among several players who expressed the magnitude of Agoram’s absence. “A lot of guys took a lot of value from him and used him when it comes to analysis. It’s a tough thing to see him leave. Ever since I started here, he was here. It’s going to be tough to see him go but that’s the nature of the beast at the moment,” de Kock said.Training is just about all South Africa’s players can do for the next few months as they move from a bubble in Pakistan to a similar environment at home against Australia, where they will remain to host Pakistan to end the summer. It allows them to keep doing their jobs, though de Kock continues to caution that it won’t be easy.”You carry on because people want to watch good cricket and watch you perform. That’s something that keeps you motivated,” de Kock said. “But I’ve only been home for three weeks, if that, over the last five or six months. It’s been tough but I’m soldiering on.” With thoughts of fishing as far from his mind as he can get them, perhaps.

Table-toppers Ireland, who have 40 points from their first two matches, will take on Papua New Guinea in the third round of the Intercontinental Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Dec-2015

Fixtures

Intercontinental Cup
Hong Kong v Scotland, Mission Road, January 21-24
UAE v Netherlands, Abu Dhabi, January 21-24
PNG v Ireland, Townsville, January 31-February 3
Afghanistan v Namibia, TBC, April 10-13
World Cricket League
Hong Kong v Scotland, Mission Road, January 26 and 28
UAE v Netherlands, Abu Dhabi, January 27 and 29
Nepal v Namibia, Kathmandu (subject to infrastructure/security assessment), April 16 and 18
PNG v Kenya, TBC, April/May

Table-toppers Ireland, who have 40 points from their first two matches, will take on Papua New Guinea in the third round of the Intercontinental Cup. Their match will be held in Townsville from January 31 to February 3. PNG, who have one win and a loss from their first two games, are currently fifth on 20 points.Netherlands, in second place on 26 points, will travel to Abu Dhabi to take on beleaguered UAE, who are rock bottom with two defeats from two games. Afghanistan, in third place with 21 points, have a long wait ahead of them before their next Intercontinental Cup fixture, against Namibia from April 10 to 13.In the 50-over World Cricket League, meanwhile, four teams are tied on top of the table with six points each from four matches. Two of those four teams, Hong Kong and Scotland, will face off twice against each other, at Mission Road on January 26 and 28. Nepal and Namibia, meanwhile, have a chance of climbing out of the bottom half of the table when they face each other in Kathmandu on April 16 and 18.

Post by Fraser-McGurk invited comments from team-mates that seemingly mocked non-native English speakers

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2020Cricket Australia will consider sanctions on a number of players from the Under-19 squad after a post on Instagram by batsman Jake Fraser-McGurk invited comments that seemingly mocked non-native English speakers.The image Fraser-McGurk posted of himself batting and captioned “Quarter Finals here we come” shortly after Australia’s victory over England prompted a series of replies from team-mates, which have subsequently been removed and commenting has been disabled.”Sir great player, big fan and will play for India one day,” wrote Oliver Davies.”Sir, give me WhatsApp number, I want to be friend,” commented Liam Scott.Lachlan Hearne, Tanveer Sangha and Sam Fanning also posted similar comments.

Sean Carroll, the board’s integrity chief, said in a statement provided to ESPNcricinfo that “some of the language could be interpreted as ridiculing non-native English language speakers”.”We are extremely disappointed that some of the Australia under-19 squad members have used inappropriate language in posts on social media, which we reported to the ICC as soon as it came to our attention,” Carroll said.”I have spoken to the players this morning and have expressed in no uncertain terms that such language has no place in society and falls well short of the standards we expect as Australian cricketers. The players have apologised for the language and taken down the posts.”Cricket Australia will consider sanctions upon their return from South Africa, which will include but not be limited to education and cultural sensitivity training. Most of the players do not have their parents present with them in South Africa and some of them are minors. Accordingly, we believe it is appropriate to consider their sanction upon their return home.”Fraser-McGurk, one of the players involved, has already flown home to receive treatment after being scratched by a monkey at a nature reserve during a team outing in Kimberley.

The Tamil Nadu batsman’s 181-ball knock, featuring 12 fours and two sixes, helped India Red recover from 159 for 7 to finish the first day at 291 for 9

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Sep-2017Stumps:
File Photo – B Indrajith waltzed to his fifth first-class hundred, making an unbeaten 120 off 181 balls•PTI

B Indrajith notched up an unbeaten 120 to shepherd India Red to 291 for 9 at stumps on the first day after India Green reduced them to 159 for 7 at Green Park. After captain Dinesh Karthik elected to bat, the India Red openers failed to build on strong starts before fast bowler Ankit Rajpoot broke into the middle order.Indrajith’s 181-ball knock, featuring 12 fours and two sixes, came against the backdrop of India Red capitulating from 70 for no loss to 123 for 5 in under 40 overs, before losing the next four wickets for another 82 runs. Batting at No.4, Indrajith cruised to his fifth first-class hundred, despite finding little support at the other end. Even as his side kept losing wickets at regular intervals, Indrajith added 86 unbroken runs for the last wicket with Vijay Gohil, who struck a 35-ball 22.Opener Priyank Panchal, coming off twin centuries in the previous game, fell for 36 after a 70-run opening stand with Sudip Chatterjee (34). After Rajpoot trapped Panchal in front in the 25th over, Suresh Raina accounted for Chatterjee seven balls later.Of the seven bowlers used by India Blue, Rajpoot was the most effective, picking up three wickets for 44 runs. Barring Pankaj Rao, all of the others picked up at least one wicket, with Jaydev Unadkat bagging 2 for 64.

Deivarayan Muthu24-Oct-20202:54

Gambhir: Kings XI’s attack seems to have all boxes ticked now

The Kings XI Punjab had no business winning this. They had managed all of two boundaries in their last 13 overs, and it could’ve been just one had David Warner not fumbled at wide long-off in the final over of the Kings XI’s innings. Rashid Khan, Jason Holder, and Sandeep Sharma all bowled skilfully to limit the Kings XI to 126 for 7.David Warner and Jonny Bairstow then dashed out of the blocks, and rattled off 56 together in 38 balls. The Sunrisers Hyderabad had no business losing this. However, they unravelled spectacularly in the face of smart bowling on a tiring Dubai track to be bundled out for 114, losing 10 for 58. Chris Jordan, picked in place of James Neesham, and Arshdeep Singh claimed five of those wickets in the last two overs as the Kings XI defended the lowest total this IPL.The Kings XI’s come-from-behind victory – their fourth win on the trot – moved them up to fifth on the points table, just behind the Kolkata Knight Riders who had retained their fourth spot after toppling the Delhi Capitals earlier in the day. As for the Sunrisers, they dropped to sixth, but they’re still in the hunt for the playoffs and are the only team outside the top three with a positive net run-rate.Rashid, and his ripping googlies
After perfectly judging a skier at deep-square leg to get rid of Mandeep Singh, who has been pushed up to the top in place of the injured Mayank Agarwal, for 17 off 14 balls, he tested KL Rahul and Chris Gayle with big-turning googlies.Gayle and his off stump were beaten in Khan’s first over, then in his second Rahul hastily stabbed a shorter googly towards midwicket. He made the incision in his third with a tossed-up googly that dipped sharply and bowled Rahul through the gate for a run-a-ball 27.The collapse, part one
At the other end, Holder kept hiding the ball away from Gayle’s swinging arc. Gayle duly tried to manufacture a boundary, but couldn’t clear long-off. Then, when Glenn Maxwell searched for a release, he holed out to long-on. He has now played out 100 balls this IPL without hitting a six.In the absence of Neesham, the Kings XI’s batting was lighter, and when Jordan flapped a catch to short-fine leg for 7, they were 105 for 6. However, in the last two overs, Nicholas Pooran struck two fours, the second of which slid under Warner, to drag his team to 126 for 7.The collapse, part two
Even though the pitch was slowing down in the second half, the total didn’t look enough. It certainly didn’t look enough when Warner and Bairstow dominated the Kings XI in the powerplay, sprinting to 52 for 0.Warner reverse-whipped legspinner Ravi Bishnoi’s first ball for four, and then when he attempted an encore off the second, he tickled a googly behind and was given out following a successful review from Rahul, who had caught the ball behind the stumps. In the next over, M Ashwin, the other legspinner drifted a legbreak in and bowled Bairstow around his legs.Rahul then punted on Mohammed Shami and brought him back, deciding to finish his quota by the ninth over. Abdul Samad, who was promoted to No. 4, took on Shami, but holed out to mid-off, where Jordan grabbed an excellent overhead catch.It probably still didn’t look enough when previous match-winners Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar were tapping the ball into the gaps, adding 33 off 44 balls. However, it started to look enough once J Suchith, the substitute fielder, plucked one out of thin air to remove Pandey for 15 off 29 balls.After Arshdeep Singh had Shankar nicking off for 26 off 27 balls, the equation boiled down to 17 off 12 balls with five wickets in hand. The batsmen panicked, but Jordan and Singh didn’t, and it proved 13 runs too many for the Sunrisers.

Her absence leaves the England team thinner on their spin stocks after Laura Marsh had also pulled up injured earlier

Annesha Ghosh26-Feb-2019England left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone has been ruled out of the remainder of the tour of India after fracturing the fifth metacarpal on her right hand during a warm-up session ahead of the second ODI on Monday.Ecclestone, who will fly home and not return for the tour of Sri Lanka, was not part of a select group of players who trained at Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday. This was a result of scans revealing the extent of her injury after the second ODI, with Ecclestone going wicketless while conceding 31 runs in seven overs as England lost by seven wickets. England thus are still searching for their maiden bilateral series win in India.Ecclestone, however, was, the pick of the England bowlers in the tour opener, taking 2 for 27 in a losing cause, picking up the wickets of Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma.The 19-year-old Ecclestone is the second spinner England have lost to injury on this tour, after Laura Marsh, the offspinner, sustained a side strain ahead of the first ODI.”Yes, we lost the option of the ball going away from the left-handers with Laura picking up the injury,” captain Heather Knight had said after the loss on Monday. “Yeah, [her absence] potentially cost us a little bit. Losing Laura was a big disappointment for us.”Marsh was picked as a like-for-like replacement for the now-retired Danielle Hazell, but missed the first two games, and is unlikely to return for the third. She is, however, expected to recover in time for the ODI series in Sri Lanka.With Ecclestone and Marsh ruled out, England are left with only two frontline spinners in their squad: left-armer Alex Hartley and legspinning-allrounder Sophia Dunkley, who has yet to play a game in this series. However, left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, who is not officially part of the ODI squad but has been accompanying the team with a view to acclimatising to the conditions ahead of the T20I series, will be available for selection for the third ODI.A replacement for Ecclestone, meanwhile, will be named after the third and final ODI on Thursday.In December 2018, another promising young left-arm spinner, Kirstie Gordon, was ruled out of action with a stress fracture of her lower back after she made a promising start to her England career with vital contributions to England’s runners-up finish in the T20 World Cup in November.

The allrounder, who is returning form injury, will take the field for Baroda instead of India A with a view to specifically get match fit for Boxing Day

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Dec-2018Hardik Pandya, who is set to return to competitive cricket in Baroda’s match against Mumbai in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy, is also targeting a comeback to the Indian Test side that is currently playing in Australia.Hardik had been sidelined with a back injury sustained during the Asia Cup in September, and he was originally selected in the India A squad for their three-match one-day series against New Zealand A. However, he said it made sense to focus his energies on the longest format first, with the ODIs against Australia only scheduled after the Test series ends.”If I am playing a Test match, I should play a four-day game (rather) than one-day,” Hardik told on Thursday. “Because one-day is later on. I am focusing right now that if I can make it to the team, because there is scope of me making a comeback into the Test team, if I am fit to play a Test match. That’s why I wanted to take my time and see where exactly I stand in Ranji Trophy.”Playing a Test match is a different league. The workload goes very high, so I wanted to see if I can manage the workload. I knew I would get enough match preparation before the Australia ODIs. Therefore I focused on playing Ranji Trophy.”India will play their second Test against Australia in Perth from Friday. That still leaves room for Hardik to be added to the squad before the last two matches, the Boxing Day and New Year Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.”Before I go for any major series, I wanted to see where exactly I stand,” Hardik said. “Ranji Trophy is the best domestic tournament. I wanted to check my fitness levels there, and then take a call about how I am feeling and what should be the next step. Right now, I am only focusing on the Ranji Trophy and then obviously, I want to get back to the team as soon as possible, because it’s difficult to stay away for so long.”Baroda are currently in fifth place on the combined Groups A and B points table with 13 points, while Mumbai, who have played four matches to Baroda’s five, are in 16th place with just five points. The top five teams at the end of the league stage in the two groups combined will qualify for the quarter-finals.

ECB Reporters Network06-May-2019Nottinghamshire 328 for 9 (Patel 136*, Moores 69) beat Northamptonshire (Vasconcelos 74. Keogh, Cobb 63, Wakely 53) by one wicket

Samit Patel’s masterful century saw Nottinghamshire chase 326 to beat Northamptonshire by just one wicket at Wantage Road. In so doing, they sealed top spot in the North Group and secured a home semi-final in the Royal London One-Day Cup.At 116 for 5 in the 25th over, Notts were slipping to defeat but Patel made a career-best unbeaten 136 to bring the Outlaws home with three balls to spare in front of a bumper Bank Holiday crowd.Fifty-nine more runs were needed from 30 balls when Patel stepped down the pitch to punch Josh Cobb over his head for four, before cutting Nathan Buck past point for his 10th boundary to go to his eighth List A century.He cut Ben Sanderson just past the wicketkeeper for another boundary and punched the same bowler over his head. Another edge, trying to cut Buck, flew over the wicketkeeper again to leave 12 needed from the final over. Patel then heaved Sanderson over square leg for six, drove a boundary past point and lifted the winning runs over the same fielder.Tom Moores also played an important part in the comeback, sharing 111 with Patel for the sixth wicket. With 139 needed in 15 overs, Moores heaved Ian Holland for consecutive sixes over long-on in making 69 from 55 balls before swinging Sanderson to deep midwicket.Before that partnership, Notts looked destined for the play-offs as the top-order all failed. Alex Hales, on his comeback after his suspension for a second failed drugs test, crashed several cuts either side of point but in attempting to guide Luke Procter to third man, chopped into his own stumps for 36 and left Notts 74 for 4 in the 15th over.That was after Sanderson had nipped a delivery through Joe Clarke to take out his off stump for 7 in the second over. Chris Nash then clipped Buck to short midwicket before, next ball, Ben Duckett – back at his former home, having made his England comeback in Cardiff on Sunday – tried to turn his first ball to leg and got a leading edge that looped to midwicket.But Patel’s tremendous innings ensured Notts are now just one win away from a return to Lord’s, earning a home semi-final back at Trent Bridge on Sunday.For most of the day, Northants looked like claiming an impressive consolation victory. Four players went past fifty after they won the toss but none converted their position into an innings of real damage and they were left short of power in the final overs.Patel claimed two of the half-centurions as Cobb lifted him to long-off for 63 – his third fifty in the competition. He and Ricardo Vasconcelos made steady progress for the second wicket in a stand of 117 in 19.5 overs.Vasconcelos pulled James Pattinson and swept Patel among his four boundaries in his 60-ball fifty and generally worked the bowling around with good purpose. But, trying to reverse-sweep Patel, he was lbw for 74 and walked off with several meaty slaps of bat on pad, all too aware of his error.From 160 for 3 in the 31st over, Rob Keogh and Alex Wakely picked the innings up, injecting urgency in adding 96 in 12.2 overs.Wakely was first to his fifty – his third of the tournament – in 38 balls with four fours and a lofted drive for six against Matt Carter’s off-spin. But he chipped a Pattinson slower ball to deep-midwicket for 53. And Keogh made a run-a-ball fifty before carving Jake Ball to deep cover to fall for 71.Afterwards, Wakely was phlegmatic about another performance that proved not quite good enough in the final analysis.”This has been the theme all year really, playing some good cricket but not quite being good enough to win enough games,” he said. “We weren’t at our best with the ball but that was one of the best knocks you’ll see from Samit.”For a long time I thought, ‘take one wicket and we’ve won’ but one batsman can win you a game and Samit just played beautifully.”Patel said: “I was due for a score and needed a score really, just to put to rest a few people who might have been thinking I was past it – but I’m back.”I think in this day and age you can score 100 from the last 10 overs and all through that was my target, ideally with wickets in hand.”I thought Tom [Moores] took it to them and there was a shift in momentum when he was going. His was a great knock and he’ll learn a lot from that.”I always had faith and every one of us in that dressing room had the belief that we can knock those runs off, regardless of what situation we were in and we did it and can look forward to Sunday now.”

It often happens that a batsman chooses to play on after being hit, but that is not a good thing

Varun Shetty at Eden Gardens23-Nov-2019Cricket’s newly-introduced protocols for concussion testing and substitutions were in the spotlight on the second day of the Kolkata Test, with two batsmen – Mohammad Mithun and Mushfiqur Rahim – continuing to bat after being struck on their heads by bouncers.Two other Bangladesh batsmen had already been diagnosed with concussions in the first innings and substituted. In the second innings, Mithun was tested and showed no signs of concussion before coming back out and being dismissed soon after. Bangladesh confirmed that Rahim also showed no early signs of concussion. He batted through to stumps and is currently unbeaten on 59.Had either batsman been diagnosed with concussion, Bangladesh had only one player – Mustafizur Rahman, a bowler – available on the bench to act as substitute.Concussion protocols were introduced into the ICC playing conditions on August 1 this year, after years of deliberation following Phil Hughes’ death in 2014 and a deeper understanding about brain injuries in the broader world of sports. About two weeks after the playing conditions were amended, Australia’s Steven Smith became the first player to be substituted in a Test match with a diagnosed concussion.While it’s common for batsmen to continue to bat after passing initial concussion Tests, in most cases at international level, they have been found later to have batted with a concussion. This was true of Smith during the Ashes, as well as Hashim Amla during the World Cup this year.In New Zealand, Henry Nicholls was hit on the head but continued batting after two concussion tests – one when he was hit on Friday evening and another just before play on Saturday. The story was a little different last week though when Hamish Rutherford batted on for New Zealand A after being struck, made a fifty, then missed the rest of the match after failing follow-up tests.Henry Nicholls is hit by a delivery from Jofra Archer•AFP / Getty Images

In the absence of strong mandatory procedures, a lot of power still rests with the players, who would naturally prefer to go on batting. The topic was briefly front and centre as the physio spent a long time chatting with Mithun before he saw the over through and went in unbeaten at tea. Other injuries such as the one Mahmudullah suffered – a hamstring strain – are often readily apparent. The player feels pain immediately and the case for treatment is clear. Concussions and brain injuries though are hard to gauge as the onset of symptoms may be delayed for up to 48 hours.Cricket’s protocols depend on the appointed medical representative of a team – usually the physio – to run standardised tests and submit a report to the match referee in case a player fails the tests. But, as mentioned in the examples earlier, players can sometimes show no signs of trauma until the next day, which means they play on at less than 100% and at great risk of being struck again with the bowlers under no obligation to not bowl bouncers again. To avoid this circumstance, a sport like rugby, for instance, decrees that a player hit on the head has to compulsorily go off and is not allowed back on till he is proven to have no signs of concussion.Another crucial element of the blows sustained by the Bangladesh batsmen is that this was the first time many of them were playing an international match under lights with the pink ball. Fast bowler Al-Amin Hossain said there were no issues with the visibility as such, but India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara said otherwise.”I thought light and pink ball had a role to play,” Pujara said after the second day’s play. “Because as a batsman it’s not easy to pick the ball, especially short balls, the kind of pace our fast bowlers have. I think it (the batsmen being hit) is because of the pink ball and playing under lights, because their batters, as far as I know, they haven’t even played any first-class games with the pink ball. It’s not easy.”Of the four Bangladesh batsmen that were hit during the Test, Mithun and Rahim were the only ones to be hit after sunset, under completely artificial lighting. Mahmudulllah, meanwhile, has been “walking around” in the dressing room and could come back out to bat on Sunday.