Krunal Pandya's World Cup dream, Kieron Pollard's CPL blitzkrieg and more - Cricket News Today, 25th August 2018

The action is heating up in the Quadrangular 'A' team series at Bengaluru. Australia 'A' relied on Travis Head's century and Ashton Agar's all-round contribution to overcome South Africa 'A'. At Alur, Mayank Agarwal's spectacular century powered India 'B' to a clinical triumph against India 'A'.

Meanwhile, in the Caribbean, Kieron Pollard lit up Gros Islet with a brutal knock against Guyana Amazon Warriors.

The belligerent right-hander's decimation of Devendra Bishoo propelled St Lucia Stars to a much-needed victory.

In other news, all-rounder Krunal Pandya has put forth his goal of playing in the 2019 World Cup. Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant credited his promising Test debut at Trent Bridge to a productive recent stint with India 'A'.

Here are all of today's top happenings in the cricket world.

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#1 Krunal Pandya dreams of playing in 2019 World Cup

Krunal Pandya is beginning to make a mark for India 'A'

All-rounder Krunal Pandya is harbouring dreams of playing for India in the 2019 edition of the World Cup. Placing the national cap as his 'ultimate goal', he hopes to join his younger brother Hardik by consistently putting in eye-catching performances.

Krunal enthused, "My ultimate goal is to play for the country. To play for India in the World Cup and that is the next goal to be very honest. I am going tournament by tournament or you can say match by match and if I do well consistently, I'll get what I want. So obviously at the end, the ultimate aim is to play the 2019 World Cup for India. I hope the way I am going, I will achieve that as well."

Krunal is currently part of the India 'A' team in the Quadrangular 50-over tournament taking place at Bengaluru.

#2 Mayank Agarwal powers India 'B' to victory

Mayank Agarwal is rapidly inching closer to breaking into the primary Indian team

India 'A' succumbed to a hefty defeat at the hands of a rampant India 'B' team in the Quadrangular 50-over tournament. Opener Mayank Agarwal continued his remarkable form by hammering a rapid century at the KSCA Ground in Alur.

Upon electing to bat first, India 'A' ran into early trouble as they lost both their openers within the first ten overs. Captain Shreyas Iyer soon followed suit to leave his team reeling at 45/3. Prasidh Krishna utilised the new ball splendidly by picking the first three wickets to fall.

Aside from Ambati Rayudu's 48, none of India 'A' batsmen was able to make any sort of impression on a tricky surface.

Chasing 218, Agarwal put on a stellar exhibition of stroke-play. His 124 from just 114 balls comprised 14 boundaries and three sixes. The 27-year old's century propelled India 'B' to a comfortable seven-wicket victory.

#3 Rishabh Pant credits impressive Test debut to India 'A' experience

Rishabh Pant broke into the Test team on the back of a productive 'A' tour of England

Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has attributed his impressive Test debut at Trent Bridge to the prior experience of playing for India 'A'.

He was part of the 'A' team which had toured England in June-July for matches across both formats. The 20-year old also labelled the momentous feeling of playing his maiden Test as a 'dream' come true.

Pant affirmed, "Keeping in England is always difficult because the ball wobbles a lot behind the wicket. The thing is that I have been playing India 'A' cricket since last two and a half months in England, so it has been helpful for me."

He added, "It is a great experience, actually. I have played with all the people (team members) in IPL and domestic cricket. But when you play for the country, it is a different feeling. It was a dream for me to play Test cricket."

#4 Ashton Agar keen to become Australian version of Moeen Ali

Ashton Agar's

all-round

skills make him a very useful player in the limited-overs formats

Eager to solidify his spot in Australia's ODI lineup, spin all-rounder Ashton Agar is working hard to improve his skills with the bat. The left-hander is venturing on the idea of becoming a dynamic lower middle-order batsman like England's Moeen Ali.

During the ongoing Quadrangular 50-over tournament in India, he has made quite an impression for Australia 'A' with his versatile batting at number seven. After top-scoring with a 40-ball 34 against India 'A', he used a high back-lift to hammer 17 runs from just four balls against South Africa 'A'.

Responding to a question of him floating in the batting lineup like Moeen, Agar said, "Yeah, definitely. I think it's important for me to come in and go from ball one like today (against South Africa 'A'). I have worked on that a lot. When I was with Middlesex last month, I was working in the nets on six-hitting, and to come in and try and finish an innings."

#5 Kieron Pollard lifts St Lucia Stars to a much-needed triumph

Kieron Pollard took a special liking to Devendra Bishoo's leg-spin

The struggling St Lucia Stars received a major boost by recording only their second victory in the 2018 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season. Skipper Kieron Pollard was the star of the show. Coming into bat at a potentially tricky situation, he hastened Guyana Amazon Warriors' end with a brutal 18-ball 41.

A disciplined bowling effort from St Lucia restricted the Amazon Warriors to 140. Apart from Luke Ronchi's manic cameo, none of Guyana's batsmen got going on a sluggish surface at Gros Islet. The Stars openers operated at a sedate pace and allowed the visitors to entertain thoughts of snatching victory.

At the loss of the fourth wicket, Pollard walked into the middle with his team needing 44 from 32 balls. He launched an audacious attack against the leg-spin of Devendra Bishoo. The hard-hitter plundered three sixes and three boundaries in the 18th over to finish off Guyana.