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Ellis took career-best 4 for 28 while Inglis played a vital innings, coming off seven days of isolation to help Australia beat Pakistan

Alex Malcolm06-Apr-2022Captain Aaron Finch predicts the future is bright for Nathan Ellis and Josh Inglis after the inexperienced pair played a vital role in Australia’s one-off T20 international win against Pakistan in Lahore.Australia were missing David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc from the side that won the T20 World Cup, as well as regular squad members Kane Richardson and Jhye Richardson, who both played in Australia’s last T20I series against Sri Lanka.But the inexperienced side, that featured three T20I debutants in Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green and Ben Dwarshuis, got the better of Pakistan by three wickets.Green and Ellis wrestled the game back in Australia’s favour taking 6 for 44 between them after Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan plundered 63 runs in the first seven overs without loss.Ellis took career-best figures of 4 for 28 in just his third T20I, with Finch predicting he has a bright future at the international level.”He’s someone who brings an unbelievable attitude, an unbelievable work ethic to games and training,” Finch said.”His energy, his intensity, his ability to learn really quickly, whether it be with the new ball, old ball, talking to experienced players, coaches, he’s just got an amazing attitude that he brings to the table.”And he’s someone that the boys love playing with.”When he turns up, he’s just got an infectious attitude that he brings and he’s just one of [those] guys that will have a super future because he’s prepared to challenge himself each and every day, which is a great sign, especially from a guy who hasn’t had a huge amount of international experience.”Related

• McDonald backs Finch to regain form heading towards T20 World Cup

Inglis kept wicket for the first time in T20I cricket having played his previous five games as a batter. He made a valuable 24 off 15 batting at No.3, which was made even more impressive by the fact that he carried the drinks throughout the Test series and then missed the entire ODI series because of a Covid-19 positive test that forced him to isolate in his hotel room.”He’s been fantastic,” Finch said of Inglis. “Nothing seems to faze him. The attitude that he brings out in the middle is brilliant. It’s good fun batting with him. He’s somebody who again takes in so much information and his ability to walk out of a hotel room after seven days of isolation and start off really well was outstanding.”And he’s just someone again, like Nathan Ellis, the guys love being around and love having him in squads. He’s a super player. He’s got so much talent as well. So yeah, I’ve been really impressed with Josh.”Aaron Finch acknowledges his half-century•AFP/Getty Images

Finch himself made a nice return to form scoring 55 off 45 balls to guide Australia home in the chase. Finch had gone 16 international innings without a half-century, including 13 T20Is, and had posted nine single-figure scores in that period culminating in back-to-back ducks to finish the recent ODI series. Coach Andrew McDonald had backed the skipper to come good 24 hours earlier and Finch repaid the faith.Finch used his feet to advance at the quicks early in his innings but then settled into a different set-up thereafter, keeping his left leg planted well outside leg stump to avoid getting trapped lbw.”It’s something that I tend to do,” Finch said. “It’s after my initial eight to 10 balls, when you start to get a bit more of a rhythm that I tend to go to that one. Especially, when guys are angling in and attacking the stumps quite a bit more on low bouncing wickets in particular.”I should have gone to it earlier, shouldn’t I.”But it’s just one of those things. I mean, you get knocked over early. Today the wicket played really nicely against the new ball. There probably wasn’t quite as much swing initially. So, yeah, slight tinkering with technique, but that’s nothing uncommon.”

Central Sparks bowled out for 83 en route to eight-wicket loss

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jun-2021Southern Vipers 85 for 2 (Wyatt 45) beat Central Sparks 83 (Dean 5-19) by eight wicketsA confident Southern Vipers side ignited their Charlotte Edwards Cup campaign with an eight-wicket victory over Central Sparks, who were bowled out for 83 in a double-header at Edgbaston.
Charlotte Dean took five wickets for just 19 runs in an impressive restrictive bowling performance by the Vipers which sealed Sparks’ fate, despite the best efforts of Marie Kelly and Emily Arlott in their 39-run partnership.Vipers chased down the total in 13 overs, with Danni Wyatt stamping her mark on the competition, scoring 45 off 33 balls in an excellent innings to see her side to their first win.The visitors won the toss and chose to bowl and made the most of putting Sparks into bat. It was a tight start by Vipers, as Sparks reached 24 for 3 in the first seven overs. Eve Jones fell in the second over, bowled by Tara Norris, then Thea Brookes was Dean’s first victim, caught for 2 and Gwen Davies was dismissed without scoring by Georgia Elwiss.A crucial partnership between Kelly and Arlott did steady proceedings for Sparks, as they began to open up the attack and find the boundary. Although the partnership came to an end after 39 runs, with Kelly being caught for 36 as Sparks collapsed from 63 for 3 to 83 all out in the space of five overs.Elwiss took two wickets in an over, dismissing Issy Wong and Ria Fackrell, both without scoring, followed by Dean taking four wickets in 10 balls to conclude the Sparks innings. Arlott’s vital innings came to an end, caught for 22, followed by Chloe Hill trapped lbw for 14 as Clare Boycott and Hannah Baker were dismissed quickly to give Dean match winning figures of 5 for 19.Southern Vipers chased down the total of 83 in comfortable fashion, as a 66-run partnership between Wyatt and Maia Bouchier guided them to victory. Sparks looked to be off to the ideal start, as Arlott dismissed Georgia Adams in the first over, but Vipers controlled the chase to emerge victorious.

Facing the media for the first time since his recent selection, Sharjeel spent a lot of time defending himself against insinuations

Danyal Rasool23-Mar-2021For most players, a meteoric comeback to the national side four years after a player’s last involvement would be cause for unbridled joy and celebration. But in the case of Sharjeel Khan, things aren’t quite as simple. This was a player who seemed to fill a niche nakedly absent in Pakistan’s T20I set-up about half a decade ago – that of a power-hitter up top – and seemed earmarked for a lucrative career in the T20 game. All of a sudden, then, things imploded, and any hopes of involvement at the highest level seemed remote.The factors counting against Sharjeel’s inclusion have been numerous, at times overwhelmingly so. He was among a slew of players found guilty of spot fixing in the PSL in 2017, and alongside Khaled Latif, handed the longest sanction: a five-year ban (half of it suspended in the left-hand batsman’s case). Upon expiry of the ban, he returned to fierce criticism from PCB CEO Wasim Khan, not normally known for singling out players, lambasting him for turning up to the PSL unfit. Now that he has finally been selected after he was the top-scorer in the truncated PSL, chief selector Mohammad Wasim’s decision to include him – purportedly in contravention to the wishes of several senior members of the PCB’s management – continues to cause rumblings of discontent.Facing the media for the first time since he was chosen for the T20I squad that will play a handful of games in South Africa and Zimbabwe, the opener was forced to spend much of it defending himself against insinuations that he was still unfit for international cricket. On more than one occasion, he pointed to the amount of cricket he had played in the last six months, insisting it vindicated him.Related

• Misbah forced to defend Sharjeel selection, insists fitness not compromised

• Sharjeel Khan given fitness targets before T20I return

• Sharjeel's fitness 'not great' but he remains a match-winner – Babar

• Sharjeel returns to T20I side for tour of SA and Zimbabwe

• 'Focus on your own cricket' – PCB CEO Wasim Khan pulls up Hafeez

“Fitness is not an issue for me,” he told an online media conference. “I have played the full domestic season, and missed no match in seven months because of fitness. Every player has a different kind of fitness, and the plan I have been given I am following to the hilt. I am very happy to come back into the Pakistan side. I worked very hard, played a full domestic season, the whole PSL. It made for 60 playing days during which I played with full focus. The camp is going well, the environment is great and I just want to continue the hard work.”While former head coach Mickey Arthur had taken an inflexible, uncompromising hard line of fitness using a one-size fits all approach, there have been suggestions the current heads at the PCB are more malleable in their viewpoint. Mohammad Wasim spoke last week about different attributes required of different kinds of players, and while Sharjeel claims he accepted he needed to continue working on his fitness, he appeared to suggest his skills with bat in hand were ultimately what counted.”Being a professional cricketer, I am focusing not just on fitness but also on my batting,” he said. “Fitness is not everything, though of course it is very important, but I am working on my skills to a great extent, too. I am thrilled with my comeback, though I am aware the tour will be challenging. There are the one-dayers first, so that will give me time to suss out the conditions. I want not just to give good individual performances, but those that help the side out.”Fitness is required of everyone. The fitness session I conducted yesterday was an individual session. I had been given a plan by our trainer Yasir Malik. I’m trying to improve my fitness as soon as possible. I had a training session over the day that required a 15-kilometre drill – not in one go, but over the day. I was happy with how it went, and I am continuing to improve. Nobody has set me an ultimatum to reduce weight. Nobody has set me a task, I am just trying to reach a certain standard consistent with that of my peers.”Uncomfortable questions about the past still surfaced, though Sharjeel claimed he was never once made to feel unwelcome with the national side, despite the damaging cause behind his lengthy exclusion. “These are the same group of players who have been playing each other in domestic cricket. The environment is great and I feel really good, and I feel very comfortable with the players. Nobody has come up to me and told me I should not be selected. My focus is completely on performance.”In different circumstances, Sharjeel’s inclusion might have been one of the feel-good stories of the tour. While that is very much not the case for now, Pakistan’s cricket history indicates just about everything can be forgiven as long as the performances continue to flow. In that sense, for a man who had everything taken out of his hands four years ago, Sharjeel may yet be in control of his own destiny.

After becoming Stuart Broad’s bunny in last year’s Ashes, the Australia opener now has his hands full with another England quick

Andrew McGlashan14-Sep-2020This time last year David Warner was about to be dismissed by Stuart Broad for the seventh and final time in his horror Ashes series. His other three dismissals during the five Tests were at the hands of Jofra Archer and it is a duel which has resumed over the last couple of weeks in T20Is and now the ODIs with Archer claiming Warner every innings.In Warner’s defence, he had a half century to his name in the first T20 before giving himself room against a rapid yorker and the two deliveries to remove in the ODIs at Old Trafford have been beauties: one that nipped past his bat to take off stump and then a rearing shorter delivery which nicked the edge through to Jos Buttler.However, with seven dismissals of Warner in just 10 matches against him, Archer is already at No. 7 in the bowlers to dismiss the left hander most frequently – a table unsurprisingly headed by Broad. There is one more chance on Wednesday for the pair to go head-to-head, with the one-day series on the line, then Covid permitting there is the tantalising prospect of them perhaps meeting each other at next year’s T20 World Cup and then almost certainly in the Ashes.Here’s a reminder of a battle that, so far, has gone the way of the England quick:ESPNcricinfo Ltd

2nd Test, Lord’s, 2nd innings: c Burns, b Archer 53.3 got him! Length ball, doesn’t do much off the pitch but Warner dangles his bat – prods at it really – and the ball flies off the outside edge into the gully where Burns takes a sharp low catch. What a start for England…3rd Test, Headingley, 1st innings: c Bairstow b Archer 6131.4 finds the edge this time! Precision engineering from Archer, he recalibrates by a couple of millimetres and rips out Warner to get the crowd on their feet! Touching 90mph, straightening off the pitch as Warner felt for it on off stump – not much he could do to play a ball like that, bar miss it. Bulls-eye from Archer to remove the Bull!5th Test, The Oval, 1st innings: c Bairstow b Archer 51.5 flash and miss trying to cut. There’s a shout from England, given not out, and they review! They thought he hit it. Looks to be a gap between ball and bat on the replay. Ultra Edge says … there’s a tiny spike! He’s given out! Decision overturned. Wow. Legitimately looked like he missed it1st T20, Ageas Bowl: b Archer 5815.2 bowled him! Warner gives himself room for an inside-out drive, Archer follows him from round the wicket, and the ball cannons off the pads into the leg stump! Now then … it’s a big ask for England, but there are two brand-new batsmen at the crease…2nd T20I, Ageas Bowl: c Buttler b Archer 00.3 given caught behind, and Warner has reviewed straight away! He made the call in the instant he was given. Another cracking delivery, short of a length, nips back at Warner and beats the inside edge, but the replay shows that glanced the glove!1st ODI, Old Trafford: b Archer 63.1 ripper, Archer gets Warner again! 90mph/144kph, bit of late movement to beat Warner’s defences, and Archer pegs back the top of his off stump! That’s an absolute beauty, and England have a breakthrough. Warner’s stunned facial expression tells the story – as close to unplayable as it gets2nd ODI, Old Trafford: c Buttler b Archer 63.4 got him again! Archer has the wood on Warner. This was a scorcher at 91 mph, back of a length and moves across, has Warner poking at it in the channel. Awkward height too, with the ball near rib-cage. Takes a thin edge through to Buttler.

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.

Paul Farbrace conceded that England don’t have the bowlers to compete on flat wickets, but refused to criticise the efforts of his team

George Dobell in Perth16-Dec-2017It tells you everything you need to know about England’s fortunes that, in one of the driest cities in the world, their best chance of achieving the draw that would sustain their Ashes campaign is the hope of rain.Australia scored 346 runs for the loss of just one wicket on the third day as England’s attack was rendered impotent by some fine batting and a flat pitch. The Australia lead is already 146 and there is plenty of power to add. If Australia win the game, they will regain the Ashes by taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. But if England gain a draw, they can still retain the urn if they win the last two matches by virtue of the holding them at present.But despite the chastening nature of the day, Paul Farbrace had no criticism for the England bowlers. Instead the England assistant coach, a man brought out to explain such grim days for England with such regularity you wonder whether he should carry a scythe, praised their efforts but conceded the English system was not producing spin or pace bowlers required for such conditions. He also suggested that a lack of ruthlessness with the bat on day two had allowed Australia back into the game.The problem, he concluded, was that England simply don’t have the bowlers to unlock strong batting line-ups on flat pitches.”There’s always something for our bowlers in England,” Farbrace said. “A little bit of swing or a little bit of movement off the surface. We saw that in Adelaide when there was a little bit of swing or movement off the surface, we have high quality bowlers who can exploit those conditions.Craig Overton is caught in a tangle near the boundary•Associated Press

“But when it comes to flatter pitches, we don’t have that express pace. And we haven’t got the highest quality of magical spin. On flat wickets like this in Australia you need to be able to bowl 90-plus mph to have a chance of making a difference. They have a group of high-quality bowlers to do so.”I’m not being critical of our bowlers. I’m being honest. We don’t have bowlers bowling 90mph-plus in our set-up and we don’t have too many waiting in the wings to come in. And one or two that do bowl that pace can only bowl four-over spells. So they’re not exactly ideal for Test cricket.”We need to find those quick bowlers. And yes, in the long term, something needs to be done.”It has been an exceptionally tough day for our bowlers. But we feel we have managed to get stuck in and compete as hard as possible. In the field we have tried our best to back the bowlers up. I don’t think we have been flat, or lacking effort. On that wicket, we just haven’t got anything else to offer.”What can we do? We have tried various ideas and plans. The majority of ways we have of taking wickets with the attack we have is to be monotonous with line and length, and we have tried that. They have been very honest, toiled away with what they have got and on that flat surface they’ve found it exceptionally hard work.”Despite the scorecard, Farbrace hinted that the turning point of the match came when England let slip a strong foundation with the bat. England were well poised at 368 for 4 before a collapse saw the last six wickets fall for the addition of just 35 runs.”When you get yourself into a position where you can go on and make 550 and compete in the game…” Farbrace said. “And it’s been a pattern in this series. We have got in good positions and we have either not been good enough or they have been better and taken the initiative away.”It was very disappointing to be in a position where 550 looked a good score for us. It does knock the stuffing out of you a bit.”Two blokes played out of their boots and got us from 140 for 4 to 400 but it’s shown that it wasn’t enough. The two today have shown that, when you get in, you have to be greedy and go on and get big scores. That’s what the best teams do and we haven’t been able to do that.”But Farbrace insisted the Ashes had not gone and called upon England to show “some guts and determination” over the last couple of days.”It’s going to be tough,” he said. “We have to believe we can fight hard over the next two days and make sure there’s still a contest to keep going.”We’ve got to show some guts and determination. We’ve got to fight as hard as we possibly can. And if we get into a position where we were in the first innings, we have to make sure we capitalise on it.”

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.

Travis Head, the Australia limited-overs batsman, will return to Headingley this summer as Yorkshire’s overseas player for the NatWest T20 Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Mar-2017Travis Head, the Australia limited-overs batsman, will return to Headingley this summer as Yorkshire’s overseas player for the NatWest T20 Blast.Head, 23, played four times for the club in last season’s competition, scoring 113 runs at a strike rate of 134.52 before being called up for Australia’s ODI series in Sri Lanka.He has played 29 matches for Australia in white-ball cricket since January 2016, and has earned a reputation with Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League as one of the most explosive batsmen in T20 cricket.”I am looking forward to returning to Headingley to play for the Yorkshire Vikings in 2017,” said Head. “I really enjoyed my time in Yorkshire last year and I can’t wait to meet up with the lads again.”As an overseas player, I would like to help the team go further than last year and hopefully win the NatWest T20 Blast.”Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, confirmed the signing during the club’s Annual General Meeting at Headingley.”When Travis came over last year, although his stay was relatively brief, he showed his capabilities in that short period. He has gone from strength to strength since then, so it an easy decision to bring him back.”Travis is now an established international cricketer and we are really looking forward to having him on board. Together with Peter Handscomb, I believe that we have two outstanding overseas players.”We have all bases covered now, so it is something to look forward to.”Andrew Gale, the first XI coach, added: “It was a no-brainer to bring Travis back. If we had the opportunity to bring him back, we were always going to. He has gone from strength-to-strength since he left us last summer, getting into the Australia team and being a consistent performer for them.”We have been looking at someone to make a big impact and Travis did that for us last year. He is a fantastic player around the dressing room and a fantastic one on the pitch.”That middle order batting position has been key for us in T20 over the last few years, getting someone who is explosive and can win you a game. Travis did that for us last year and given his availability, we were always going to try and sign him again.”

Former Australia batsman Michael Hussey has revealed in his latest book that he had been asked by the BCCI last year whether he would be interested in coaching India

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Mar-20161:28

Michael Hussey: “VVS accepted that I was not interested because of family reasons. But he would not accept my feeling that I was not up to standard for a job like that.”

Former Australia batsman Michael Hussey has revealed in his latest book that he was asked by former India batsman VVS Laxman if he was interested in coaching India. That approach was made during the last IPL, barely a month before Laxman was inducted by the BCCI into its three-man advisory panel, which was tasked with finding India’s head coach, a position left vacant after the exit of Duncan Fletcher following the 2015 World Cup.Since the departure of Fletcher, former India allrounder Ravi Shastri has played the caretaker role in his position as team director (since August 2014). The terms of Shastri and the rest of his coaching staff comprising the trio of assistant coaches – Sanjay Bangar (batting), Bharat Arun (bowling) and R Sridhar (fielding) – will expire after the World Twenty20.Hussey has been one of the most sought after among recently-retired players, especially in franchise-based T20 cricket. Since his retirement in 2013, Hussey has worked in various consulting roles, such as for South Africa at last year’s World Cup, and he will be assisting Darren Lehmann with Australia at the upcoming World T20.ESPNcricinfo understands Laxman had approached Hussey in person during an IPL match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings last season. Hussey had been bought back by Super Kings in 2015 and Laxman is a mentor with Sunrisers. According to Hussey, Laxman’s approach came barely a week after former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene had asked him to consider taking over as assistant coach of Sri Lanka with the idea of graduating to the head coach position.”The former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene rang me a while ago to ask if I would be interested in being an assistant coach of Sri Lanka with a view to taking over as head coach a few months further down the track,” Hussey wrote in , his third book, which was released recently.”A week later the ex-India batsman VVS Laxman asked me if I would be interested in coaching India. My initial answer to both of them was no because at the time I did not want to be on the road ten months a year; I wanted to be at home with my family and make up for some lost time from the previous few years. But, probably more relative to them, I said to each that I did not think I was ready to become the head coach of an international cricket team.”It is understood that Hussey told Laxman even if he was willing to take up a job, he preferred to start as an assistant coach. According to Hussey, although Laxman acknowledged focussing on the family was a valid excuse, he insisted that the Australian was highly capable of coaching an international team. “VVS accepted that I was not interested because of family reasons. But he would not accept my feeling that I was not up to standard for a job like that. ‘You have played the game very well for a long time, you know what needs to be done, you shouldn’t doubt yourself’, he said.”I replied that coaching individuals within a team is one thing and perhaps I could do that right now. But, I said, these days coaching is not just about coaching players. It’s about dealing with boards, sponsors, business owners, investors, officials, all sorts of people outside the team environment,” Hussey wrote.”It’s a very complex job that requires numerous skills that have little or nothing to do with cricket.”Laxman, Hussey pointed out, again disagreed. “He said that guys with our level of experience had more understanding of the ins and outs of the game than just about anyone. It got me thinking that maybe you do not need to go off and do all sorts of courses and tick all the official boxes,” Hussey wrote. “Maybe just having played for so long ingrains in a long-serving former player the knowledge required to take on all that is necessary to be a good coach.”