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The legspinner picked up the wickets of Kohli, de Villiers and Hetmyer with his wrong’un to keep the visitors down to 158

The Report by Mohammad Isam02-Apr-20193:06

Getting Kohli and de Villiers in the same match is a dream – Shreyas Gopal

A superb spell by legspinner Shreyas Gopal spearheaded Rajasthan Royals to their first win in this season’s IPL, by seven wickets over the increasingly beleaguered Royal Challengers Bangalore. Gopal finished with 3 for 12, taking the wickets of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Shimron Hetmyer to slow down the visitors, who eventually finished on an underwhelming 158 for four.Royals, riding on four dropped chances, hardly let the foot off the gas, starting their chase quickly before Jos Buttler, Steven Smith and Rahul Tripathi, who finished on an unbeaten 34, took them to the target with a ball to spare. It was a more convincing win than that margin would suggest.Shreyas Gopal bowled a superb spell of 3 for 12•BCCI

Gopal’s dream tripleRoyal Challengers were off to a proper start this time, with both Kohli and Parthiv Patel finding the boundaries in their strong areas. But just after they had owned the Powerplay, ending it 48 for no loss, Gopal got into the thick of things. His googly burst through Kohli’s attempted cover drive, giving the Royals their first big breakthrough.Gopal’s follow-up in his next two overs further punctured Royal Challengers’ momentum. He had de Villiers caught and bowled – it was the third time he had dismissed him in as many meetings – off another googly, this one stopping on the batsman. Hetmyer edged a slider behind in the 11th over, and by the end of his dream spell Gopal had given away just 12 runs in his four overs; it was as valuable as a T20 century.Parthiv’s lone standParthiv had only faced 18 balls – out of 61 in Royal Challengers’ innings – by the time Hetmyer was dismissed, and had moved to 33. He took stock of the situation and slowly got the Royal Challengers back on track.He didn’t hit a lot of boundaries during this time, apart from a swivel-pull for six off Ben Stokes and three fours, but held Royal Challengers together in a 53-run fourth-wicket stand with Marcus Stoinis. He went on to reach his 12th fifty in the IPL, and his first this season. The innings set Royal Challengers up for a strong finish, as Moeen Ali and Stoinis knocked off 32 runs in the 2.4 overs that remained after his dismissal.Shreyas Gopal was Man of the Match against Royal Challengers Bangalore•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rahane rides his luckWhen he was on 1, Virat Kohli dropped Ajinkya Rahane at slip off a zippy delivery in the corridor from Navdeep Saini. Rahane never looked back as he and Buttler rattled off 55 in the Powerplay, with Buttler pasting Saini for two fours immediately after the dropped catch.Rahane didn’t spare Umesh Yadav’s waywardness with two fours in the third over, before Buttler repeated the dose in Saini’s next over. Rahane went after Saini next with two fours in the sixth over, before falling to a Yuzvendra Chahal googly in the eighth.Royals ace the chaseThe rest of the chase fell on Buttler, Steven Smith and Rahul Tripathi. By the time Buttler was out for a 41-ball 59, he had struck eight fours and a six off Moeen.Smith, who was dropped on 23 by Umesh on the cover boundary, didn’t slow down as he cross-batted Mohammed Siraj over midwicket for his first six.Smith’s dismissal in the penultimate over – he holed out to long-on with Royals needing five off seven balls – was a little unnecessary, as he had made 38 and could have seen through the chase, but Tripathi ensured there was no drama in the end, as he calmly pulled Umesh over square leg for six to give his side their first points of the season.

Aaron Finch and Jason Roy, their top-order master blasters, hurried Surrey to a nine-wicket Vitality Blast win against Somerset with a spectacular opening partnership of 69 in just 3.5 overs at the Kia Oval

ECB Reporters Network27-Jul-2018
ScorecardAaron Finch and Jason Roy, their top-order master blasters, hurried Surrey to a nine-wicket Vitality Blast win against Somerset with a spectacular opening partnership of 69 in just 3.5 overs at the Kia Oval.Finch’s 43 not out from just 21 balls included three sixes and four fours while Roy’s 28 off 11 balls featured two sixes and three fours, and Surrey overhauled Somerset’s 99 for 6 with an almost contemptuous ease in a match shortened by bad weather to 10 overs per side. For Surrey it was a third win from six south group games, while Somerset suffered a third defeat in six despite their captain, Lewis Gregory, thumping 50 not out from 24 balls with four sixes and three fours.Finch and Roy’s initial assault was breathtaking. Twenty runs came from Jerome Taylor’s opening over, another 18 from the second over, bowled by Gregory, and the three-over Powerplay ended with Surrey a barely-believable 56 without loss after Craig Overton then conceded 17. A total of eight wides in those first three overs, and 15 overall, hardly helped Somerset’s cause either.The 10-overs per side match followed a series of heavy downpours in South London that prevented a start until 8.15pm, and despite more rain being forecast for late evening, a near sell-out floodlit crowd of 21,089 – around 1,000 fewer than actual tickets sold – saw some explosive action.After Roy had hit Roelof van der Merwe’s slow left-arm to long on, Finch’s fellow Australian, the left-hander Nic Maddinson, scored 15 not out as Surrey romped to 102 for 1 to complete victory with 3.2 overs to spare. Finch, who finished the match by top-edging a pull at Taylor over third man for six, now has 315 runs from only four T20 innings.The first storm appeared just after 4pm, two-and-a-half hours before the scheduled start, and rain continued to fall at regular intervals until the skies cleared enough for the Oval groundstaff to start a mop-up operation and for umpires Neil Bainton and Ben Debenham to hold an inspection at 7.20pm and decide there could be a contest.Surrey, who had suffered an abandoned match the previous Friday evening when rain intervened after they had posted a county record T20 total of 250 for 6 against Kent at Canterbury, welcomed back England white-ball international opener Roy and fit-again all-rounder Tom Curran for their first Blast appearances of the campaign.And it did not take the elder Curran brother long to make a meaningful contribution. Called up to bowl the third over of the match, after Surrey had predictably chosen to field first on winning the toss, Curran had Steven Davies leg-before for 11 with his second ball and then forced Peter Trego to flip up a catch to keeper Ben Foakes to depart for a second-ball duck.Johann Myburgh swiped leg-side sixes off Sam Curran and Rikki Clarke, but then Clarke held on to a fine return catch later in the fourth over to dismiss Myburgh for 16 and leave Somerset 29 for 3. It soon got worse for the visitors, with James Hildreth leg-before to Gareth Batty for 1 as he aimed a reverse sweep at the veteran off spinner and big-hitting New Zealand allrounder Corey Anderson caught behind off Clarke for 8 as the innings declined to 46 for 5.Sixes by Gregory off Batty and a remarkable Roelof van der Merwe heave over the cover boundary off Mat Pillans boosted Somerset’s scoring rate, although van der Merwe then lifted a catch on 9 later in Pillans’ over.The players briefly left the field when more rain began to fall with Somerset 73 for 6 off 8.3 overs but, on the resumption, Gregory drove Jade Dernbach for successive sixes and, in a final over of the innings also memorable for three sprinkers suddenly coming on for about 30 seconds on one side of the square, Gregory plundered another six and four off Tom Curran to give his side something more substantial to defend.

AB de Villiers played another cameo as the hosts chased down 101 with six wickets in hand

The Report by Brydon Coverdale12-Mar-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe hardest job on day four in Port Elizabeth was not chasing 101 for victory. Through the majesty of AB de Villiers, South Africa did that with ease and levelled the series 1-1. No, the most difficult task was assigned to whoever chose the Man of the Match. Would it be de Villiers, whose unbeaten 126 in the first innings was not only a game-changer but one of the most impressive knocks in recent history, and whose run-a-ball 28 in the second innings helped seal the win? Or would it be Kagiso Rabada, whose 11-wicket haul was irresistible to watch and completely blunted Australia’s batting?Certainly it was Rabada who lit up the morning session at St George’s Park. South Africa began the day clearly in the stronger position, but Australia were 41 runs ahead and still had five wickets in hand. If they let Australia’s lower order off the hook, South Africa could have been faced with a tricky chase of 200-plus. The key seemed to be Mitchell Marsh, the last member of Australia’s top six, who was unbeaten on 39 at the start of play. Rabada didn’t even let Marsh survive an over. He nipped one back in to Marsh, at speed, to find the gap and rattle his stumps.Rabada followed by having Pat Cummins caught by Theunis de Bruyn at gully for 5, and he added Mitchell Starc, who was caught behind for 1. Rabada finished with match figures of 11 for 150, and he became just the third South African to achieve a ten-wicket Test haul on at least four occasions. For perspective, the others are Dale Steyn, whose five ten-wicket hauls have come in 86 Tests, and Makhaya Ntini, whose 101-Test career brought four ten-fors. Rabada has four in just his 28th Test. He is still only 22 years old. This is a young man who could be absolutely anything.Perhaps a caveat is needed to the earlier statement. There was one other task on day four that might have been even harder than determining the Man of the Match. This job fell to match referee Jeff Crowe, who had to decide whether Rabada would be suspended for the remainder of the series for his shoulder bump with Steven Smith during Australia’s first innings. In isolation, the incident would not be worthy of a ban, but Rabada’s bank of demerit points changes that. After a hearing on day three, Crowe chose to defer his verdict for 24 hours.Kagiso Rabada celebrates a wicket with his team-mates•Associated Press

Australia’s innings finished with Nathan Lyon being caught behind off Lungi Ngidi for 5 and Josh Hazlewood caught at deep midwicket off Keshav Maharaj for 17. Tim Paine remained unbeaten on 28 in Australia’s 239, and their lead of 100 was never likely to be truly competitive. One of the major concerns for Australia as they head to the third Test in Cape Town is that not a single Australian batsman has scored a century so far in this series. South Africa, by comparison, have had hundreds in each Test – from Aiden Markram in Durban and de Villiers in Port Elizabeth.Australia had the chance to snap up Markram for 7 in this chase, but his edge off Hazlewood was put down at first slip by Mitchell Marsh, hardly a promising start for a team needing a miracle to avoid defeat. Wickets did fall, but not enough. Dean Elgar was caught and bowled by Lyon off a leading edge for 5, in a near carbon-copy of his dismissal in the first innings in Durban, and Markram was caught at second slip by Smith off Hazlewood for 21, but all that did was bring de Villiers to the crease.Australia’s minor sniff was snuffed out by the aggression of de Villiers, who struck four fours and one six during his 28 off 26 balls, and his 49-run stand with Hashim Amla delivered South Africa to within 20 runs of victory. Both men fell – Amla caught behind off Cummins for 27 and de Villiers caught at short-leg off Lyon – but Faf du Plessis and de Bruyn steered South Africa home with no further loss, a cover-driven boundary from de Bruyn confirming the six-wicket win.The teams will head to Cape Town for the third Test with South Africa looking in the stronger form, but potentially without their strike bowler Rabada, who is far and away on top of the series wicket tally with 15 at 16.80. Whether they are the same threat without him remains to be seen. And, just for the record, in the race to be Man of the Match, Rabada beat de Villiers by a nose.

Hosts turn the tables in thrilling late burst as Birmingham are left stunned at Taunton

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay06-Sep-2025Sean Dickson hammered a magnificent 71 off 26 balls to see Somerset through to Vitality Blast Finals Day with a nerve-tingling four-wicket victory over Birmingham Bears at the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton.The visitors posted 190 for six after winning the toss, Alex Davies top-scoring with 71 off just 39 balls, with 13 fours. Rob Yates provided a lightning start with 25 off ten deliveries, but Ben Green’s two for 30 enabled Somerset to peg their opponents back.Even so, it took a stupendous knock from Dickson, who blasted 5 fours and 6 sixes, to see the home side to victory with just one ball to spare. Tom Abell made 51, while Oliver Hannon-Dalby claimed three for 24.Bears looked set for a mammoth total when scoring 82 off the six-over power play. Yates hit every ball of Riley Meredith’s first over, the second of the match, for four, while Davies took five boundaries off the fifth over, sent down by Craig Overton.Overton had broken the partnership with the score on 39, having Yates caught at fine leg. Davies then dominated a half-century stand with Dan Mousley, who fell for 12, bowled by Somerset captain Lewis Gregory.At the halfway stage of their innings, Bears had 119 on the board, Davies having reached a 24-ball half-century after being dropped in the deep on 44 by Will Smeed off Jake Ball. But when he fell in the 12th over, bowled by Green attempting a ramp shot, which had served him well, it signalled a turning point.Alex Davies attempts a ramp during his 71 from 39 balls•Getty Images

Green and Gregory bowled economically, along with left-arm spinner Lewis Goldsworthy, as three more wickets fell and the innings ended without a single six having been hit. Kai Smith finished unbeaten on 28, but after the blistering start the Bears final total looked no more than par on a typically bat-friendly Taunton pitch.The first maximum of the game was struck by Tom Kohler-Cadmore off George Garton over mid-wicket in the third over of Somerset’s reply. The next over, bowled by Richard Gleeson, saw the dangerous Will Smeed caught off a top-edged pull with the score on 28.The power play ended with Somerset 49 for one. That became 64 for two when Kohler-Cadmore, on 32, drove a straightforward catch to long-on off Oliver Hannon-Dalby and at the halfway stage of their innings the hosts were 73 for two, needing more than 11 an over.James Rew was dropped at short fine leg off Garton, but departed for 11, caught off the very next ball, before Abell brought the hundred up in the 13th over with a six over mid-wicket off Ed Barnard. Dickson followed up by clearing the ropes off Briggs and Garton to raise Somerset hopes.Abell went to fifty off 39 balls, with 5 fours and six, but perished soon afterwards, caught at long-off skying a ball from Briggs. Dickson replied with a six in the same over before another skyer accounted for Gregory off Hannon-Dalby, who then sent back Green in what seemed a decisive 18th over.Despite Dickson’s 19-ball fifty, Somerset required 19 off the final over, bowled by Barnard. But he was far from finished, clearing the ropes twice and smashing a straight four to cap a memorable innings and win the game for his side.

Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav will also feature in the 50-overs tournament while Ravindra Jadeja has been chosen to play for Rest of India in the Irani Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2018A day after being named Kings XI Punjab’s captain, R Ashwin has been given the leadership of another team. The BCCI selection committee has named the India spinner captain of the India A side that will compete against Karnataka – who, on Tuesday, won the Vijay Hazare Trophy – and India B in the 50-overs Deodhar Trophy from March 4 to 8 in Dharamsala. India middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer will lead the India B side.Test fast bowlers Mohammed Shami (India A) and Umesh Yadav (India B) have also found places in the Deodhar Trophy squads. Shami has not played any cricket since the third Test against South Africa in Johannesburg while Umesh, who featured in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Vidarbha, sat out all three Tests in South Africa, having slipped behind newcomer Jasprit Bumrah in the fast-bowling pecking order.Other notable selections in the Deodhar Trophy squads include the top-order pair of Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill (both India A), who were part of India’s victorious Under-19 World Cup campaign in New Zealand, spin-bowling allrounder Jayant Yadav, who played for India in the 2016-17 home season (India B), fast bowlers Siddarth Kaul (India B) and Navdeep Saini (India A), who have been on the India selectors’ radar recently, and wicketkeepers Ishan Kishan (India A) and KS Bharat (India B).Shaw, Jayant, Kaul, Saini and Bharat have also found places in the Rest of India side that will face Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha in the first-class Irani Cup match from March 14 to 18 in Nagpur. Karun Nair will lead the side, which also includes his Karnataka team-mate Mayank Agarwal, who has scored over 2000 runs in this domestic season, and the India allrounder Ravindra Jadeja.Jadeja did not play any of the three Tests in South Africa, and has been out of India’s limited-overs sides since July 2017. He played for Saurashtra in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but a side strain prevented him from bowling in their last three matches. Given the two-week break before the Irani Cup, he should be able to recover fully and resume bowling duties.India A (Deodhar Trophy): R Ashwin (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Unmukt Chand, Akshdeep Nath, Shubman Gill, Ricky Bhui, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Krunal Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Basil Thampi, Kulwant Khejroliya, Amandeep Khare, Rohit RayuduIndia B (Deodhar Trophy): Shreyas Iyer (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ankit Bawne, Manoj Tiwary, Siddhesh Lad, KS Bharat (wk), Jayant Yadav, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Umesh Yadav, Rajat PatidarRest of India (Irani Cup): Karun Nair (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, R Samarth, Mayank Agwarwal, Hanuma Vihari, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem, Anmolpreet Singh, Siddarth Kaul, Ankit Rajpoot, Navdeep Saini, Atit Sheth

He made his mark on debut in the 1958-59 Ashes before his career was cut short

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2025Former Australia fast bowler Gordon Rorke, who played four Tests, has passed away aged 87.A tall pace bowler, considered one of the fastest in Australia at the time, Rorke’s Test appearances all came in 1959 – two against England in the Ashes followed by two away against India late in the year where he was struck by illness when he contracted hepatitis.He claimed five wickets in the match on debut in Adelaide as Australia won by ten wickets and regained the Ashes.However, his career was dogged by controversy over his delivery where he dragged his back foot so that he could deliver the ball with his front foot several feet over the bowling crease. Rorke’s ability to do this led to a review of the no-ball laws.”I was frightened that he might tread on my toes,” Colin Cowdrey, who made 84 in Adelaide, said.The lingering effects of illness from his India tour meant that his career ended aged 25. Overall in first-class cricket for New South Wales, he claimed 88 wickets at 24.60.”Cricket NSW extends its deepest condolences to Gordon’s family and friends at this difficult time while celebrating his contribution to our game,” the state said.

Second-wicket pair put on 320 after Gloucestershire had asked the home side to bat on a green-tinged pitch

ECB Reporters Network17-Jun-2019A partnership of 320, a first-class record for the county’s second wicket, between Neil Dexter and Hassan Azad put Leicestershire in a strong position after the Foxes had been asked to bat by Gloucestershire in the Specsavers County Championship match at the Fischer County Ground.Dexter’s 180 was a career-best for the 34-year-old, coming in his 261st first-class innings; Azad’s 137 a first Championship century for the 25-year-old, in only his seventh match.Gloucestershire captain Chris Dent’s decision to exercise the away team’s prerogative to bowl first was not an entirely unreasonable one, given the amount of rain that had fallen in the East Midlands over the previous week, but the pitch, though slightly tinged with green, looked to be a good one, and played that way.The Foxes did lose Paul Horton early, Chadd Sayers picking up his first wicket for Gloucestershire with an out-swinging delivery that Horton edged, wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick holding the catch diving to his right in front of first slip. But with Azad playing solidly at the other end, Dexter went for his shots from the start, particularly off the front foot. Ryan Higgins was hit for four consecutive boundaries as Dexter went to his 50 off just 57 deliveries.The pair accelerated after lunch. Azad reached his 50 off 128 balls, and a few balls later, Dexter brought up his century, which included 19 boundaries, off 134 deliveries. By tea they had comfortably beaten Leicestershire’s previous record second-wicket partnership against Gloucestershire, 153 by Barry Dudleston and Chris Balderstone at Bristol in 1979.The runs continued to flow after tea as the partnership passed Leicestershire’s previous Championship second-wicket record, an unbroken 289 between Balderstone and David Gower against Essex in 1981, before – pleasingly – expunging their first-class second-wicket record, set by Azad and Ateeq Javid against Loughborough MCCU at the start of this season.David Payne found a good lifting delivery to make the long-awaited breakthrough, having Azad caught behind, before Dexter’s tired push at Josh Shaw saw Roderick pick up a third victim.The wicketkeeper made it four out of four when Mark Cosgrove prodded at and edged another Shaw delivery, and shortly before the close nightwatchman Will Davis spooned a catch into the covers.

Glamorgan captain Michael Hogan picked up two wickets to give his side the edge at Lord’s

ECB Reporters Network27-Apr-2018
ScorecardGlamorgan captain Michael Hogan picked up two wickets to give his side the edge against Middlesex on a rain-shortened first day at Lord’s.Hogan got rid of his opposite number Dawid Malan, as well as opener Sam Robson, as Middlesex fought their way to 64-3 after being put in to bat.Only one over was bowled before the rain intervened – and in all the weather allowed Glamorgan to send down a total of 16.1 overs in the day.
Lukas Carey, who bowled unchanged from the Pavilion End, made the initial breakthrough for the Welsh side by having Max Holden caught behind.Sam Robson had seemed well-set as he carved two boundaries through the off side to reach 17 – but he became Hogan’s first victim, prodding at one that bowled him through the gate.Malan, playing his first innings of the county season, got off the mark with a leg glance for four but added just one more before he drove at Hogan and was caught at second slip just after lunch.However, Stevie Eskinazi – also returning to the Middlesex line-up after illness – looked in good nick and hit Hogan for successive fours to reach 31 not out before the rain returned.

For the first time in 4671 completed ODIs, fast bowlers did not bowl a single ball in the game

Sampath Bandarupalli18-Feb-2025USA have broken the record for the lowest total successfully defended in a full men’s ODI. They beat Oman by 57 runs after scoring just 122 in their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 match in Al Amerat.The previous lowest total successfully defended in a full ODI (not reduced) was India’s 125 against Pakistan in the Rothmans Four-Nations Cup in 1985. They won that match by 38 runs in Sharjah.USA’s fixture against Oman was dominated by spin. All nine bowlers used in the game were spinners, making it the first completed men’s ODI ever – after 4671 matches – without a single ball bowled by a fast bowler.The 19 wickets that fell also equalled the record for most wickets taken in an ODI by spinners, level with a Bangladesh-Pakistan ODI in Chattogram in 2011. Nosthush Kenjige took a career-best of 5 for 11 as Oman were dismissed for 65 in 25.3 overs.USA and Oman scored a total of only 187 runs in 61 overs, the second-lowest aggregate in an ODI where both teams were dismissed. The 41-over game between India and Bangladesh in 2014 had an aggregate of 163 runs.The dominance of spinners and low totals have been a trend at Al Amerat in this tournament, especially in games involving the hosts Oman. Teams batting first have been dismissed for fewer than 170 in all eight of Oman’s matches , while the other four games had 240-plus totals.In the previous match at Al Amerat on Sunday, Oman lost eight wickets in their chase of 96 against Namibia. JJ Smit was the only fast bowler in that game who bowled an over. Three of the four men’s ODIs where spinners took 17 or more wickets have been at Al Amerat.

The board, however, has not confirmed him for any engagements beyond that tour

Danyal Rasool17-Nov-2024The PCB has said there will be no change of Test match coach for one more series, with Jason Gillespie taking charge of the upcoming two Tests against South Africa. The board has not confirmed him for any engagements beyond that tour, though he does have a contract with the PCB that runs till 2026.Over the past few days, multiple local reports indicated that Gillespie’s time with Pakistan cricket was limited, with Aaqib Javed lined up as replacement. Earlier today, ESPNcricinfo also reported that Aaqib was likely to take over as all-format coach. The white-ball coaching role remains vacant after Gary Kirsten resigned last month, and Aaqib remains the frontrunner to be replace him, with Pakistan’s T20I and ODI tour of Zimbabwe starting next Sunday.The PCB, though, has denied that Gillespie’s job is under immediate threat. “As announced previously, Jason Gillespie will continue to coach the Pakistan side for the two red-ball matches against South Africa,” a statement from the PCB on X said.Related

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The PCB have not confirmed whether Gillespie will be the head coach for any series beyond those two Tests. Pakistan have a two-Test home series against West Indies immediately following the Tests in South Africa.ESPNcricinfo has reached out to the PCB to confirm if their statement locks Gillespie for any engagements beyond the two-Test series of South Africa, and await a response.Earlier this week, the PCB sounded Gillespie out on the prospect of taking over as white-ball coach until the conclusion of the Champions Trophy. However, the increased responsibility did not come with a commensurate increase in his financial compensation, which is understood to be the reason Gillespie turned them down. Consequently, the PCB turned their attention to replacing Kirsten with a local appointment.They initially considered the possibility of either elevating Azhar Mahmood, or appointing Saqlain Mushtaq, who served as coach in 2021-22. Neither, though, appeared to draw enough support from within the PCB’s advisory circle, which led to Aaqib being offered the position. It is understood he will be asked to take on the role until the end of the Champions Trophy, following which the PCB will reevaluate.Gillespie’s next immediate engagement is the third T20I against Australia, a series he took over as interim coach for. Pakistan’s Test series against South Africa, the only other engagement he has yet been formally confirmed by the PCB for, begins on December 26.While Gillespie appears to have kept his job in the immediate term, the relationship between the coach and the board has been anything but smooth. Three Tests into his tenure, Aaqib was hired by the PCB as part of a revamped selection committee, with Gillespie’s powers significantly reduced. He was removed from the selection committee, and no longer had a say in which players were selected for a match or series.He was left thoroughly unimpressed by the changes, admitting in a press conference during the home series against England that he was “just a matchday strategist”. In another interview with broadcaster Sky the following day, he said that it “was not what he signed up for.””For me, when I came on board with Pakistan cricket, I was told there was a long-term plan, and we need to make sure our communication’s spot on,” he said at the time. “I made that a real focus and so you can get frustrated if those things aren’t done how you would like. It wasn’t what I signed up for, I’ll be completely honest.”