Former India star wants Dhoni as WC captain, NZ beat BD and more - Cricket News Today, 3rd March 2019

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West Indies surprised the world as they drew level (2-2) a five-match ODI series against the No. 1 ranked ODI team in the world, England. Chris Gayle finished the series with 424 runs and became the second oldest cricketer to win a Man of the Series award in ODI cricket.

Meanwhile, New Zealand beat Bangladesh by an innings margin at Hamilton and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series.

Here are all the top news that made headlines in the cricketing world today.

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Jofra Archer could be in line for England debut against Pakistan

Jofra Archer

There’s a lot of buzz around Jofra Archer. The Barbados-born all-rounder who shifted his base to England is eligible to play for England from later this month. And ever since the England Cricket Board (ECB) amended the eligibility criteria, Jofra Archer is one name that is on everybody’s mind.

There have been murmurs that Archer could make it to the 15-man World Cup squad and be that X-factor. However, England coach Trevor Bayliss hinted that the 23-year-old Sussex all-rounder could make his debut against Pakistan right before the World Cup. England are scheduled to play Pakistan (one T20I and five ODIs) in May just before the World Cup. And Bayliss wants someone like Archer to be tried.

“We've got to have the squad in by April 23, but there's a month after that to change it. There's the Pakistan series before then, so we'll have discussions about whether he plays, because the absolute final date [for the squad] is May 22. But we could try someone like Jofra in those matches and make a decision one way or another,” Bayliss was quoted saying by Sky Sports.

ICC assures tight security during the 2019 World Cup

ICC CEO Dave Richardson

In the wake of the massive Pulwama attack where 44 CRPF Indian personnel were killed, the BCCI had raised it’s concern over the security of the players. There were calls for India to not play Pakistan in the World Cup game as well. However, the CEO of ICC, Dave Richardson has assured that the showpiece event will have robust security.

In a statement released after the board meetings in Dubai, Richardson added that the safety and security of the players, officials and the fans is their top priority and if there is any sort of threat, the security commitment will be uplifted.

“As you would expect for a global sporting event, the ICC, in partnership with the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) has a robust security plan in place for the men’s Cricket World Cup. We work closely with the authorities in our host countries to ensure that the safety of players, officials and fans is a priority. Should those authorities raise the threat level of the event based on intelligence, we will, of course, uplift our security commitment as appropriate. We will continue to work with the ECB and our members throughout the build-up to and during the tournament to keep everyone abreast of the situation,” Richardson mentioned in the statement.

Ajay Jadeja picks MS Dhoni as his captain for the 2019 World Cup

It’s the World Cup year and everybody is busy getting their plans right before the showpiece event starts in England on the 30th of May. In the lead-up to the World Cup, everyone seems to be trying to be their 15 and former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja picked his 15 for the Indian team as well.

He sprung a few surprises as he named his World Cup squad for the ‘Men in Blue’. The biggest of them being picking MS Dhoni as the captain of the side.

While speaking in a show on Cricbuzz, Jadeja had a few other surprises as well. He reckoned that only one of Shikhar Dhawan or KL Rahul should make it to the final 15. Meanwhile, he picked four spinners in his side. He added the two wrist-spinners and also, included Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

He left out the likes of Vijay Shankar and even Kedar Jadhav who has performed brilliantly in the last few games.

Ajay Jadeja’s India squad: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan/KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin

Sarkar, Mahmudullah tons in vain as New Zealand go 1-0 up

Trent Boult

At the end of day three, it looked like the Kiwis would roll over the Bangladeshi batsmen in no time and wrap up the Test match. However, skipper Mahmudullah and Soumya Sarkar put up a great fight. The duo scored their respective tons and shared a fabulous 235-run stand for the fifth wicket.

They battled it out against the New Zealand bowlers who tried almost everything against them. Sarkar scored 149 while Mahmudullah made 146. However, once the partnership was broken, the writing was on the wall for the visitors. The Kiwi pacers made excellent use of the second new ball as they broke through that mammoth partnership and eventually skittled the lower order cheaply.

Bangladesh were bundled out for 429 as they lost by an innings and 52 runs. Boult picked up a five-wicket haul in the second innings but it was Kane Williamson who was awarded the Man of the Match for his fine double ton.