CA cautious over India’s Test series

Bot says Virat right guy to take Indian cricket forward

London, May 29: Legendary English allrounder Ian Botham says captain Virat Kohli is the “right guy” to take Indian cricket forward but rates Ben Stokes as the world’s best player at the moment.

“Virat takes the game to the opposition, he takes a stand for his players. I would have loved to play against him. He is the right guy to take Indian cricket forward,” Botham said during an online chat session with Playwrite Foundation.

One of the game’s finest all-rounders, Botham has represented England with distinction during a stellar career, the highlight of which was heroics in the 1981 Ashes series.

Botham had his take on the debate around the best all-rounder between former player Andrew Flintoff and England’s World Cup hero Ben Stokes.

“Ben (Stokes) is better than a mile to Freddy (Andrew Flintoff). Ben Stokes is the closest version of me, he plays like me with his heart on his sleeve. Flintoff was good but Stokes is just exceptional. He is the best cricketer in the world now,” he said.

Botham, who was part of the famous all-rounder quartet of the 1980s along with Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee and Imran Khan, said that he is privileged to have played in that era.

“It was a privilege to play in that era. We spoilt the fans for around 10-15 years. I don’t think world cricket has seen so many all-rounders rubbing shoulders at the same time.

“In every tour I used to see what Richard has done, what Kaps (Kapil) has done, what Immi (Imran) has done. There was a great rivalry,” the former England captain said.

He added, “Allrounders can’t be manufactured, they don’t grow on trees. The workload is double and it obviously takes a toll on your body” — PTI

Indian captain Virat Kohli (left) and England’s Ben Stokes in this file photo.

Melbourne, May 29: Cricket Australia has not ruled out the possibility of the Covid-19 pandemic forcing a change in the schedule for India’s tour of the country with the board still keeping the door open for hosting four Tests in “as little as one venue”.

Cricket Australia (CA) on Thursday announced that India will play the Tests at Brisbane (December 3-7), Adelaide (December 11-15), Melbourne (December 2630) and Sydney (January 3-7) respectively.

However, CA chief executive Kevin Roberts said the schedule could change depending on the travel restrictions due to the health crisis.

“That (schedule) assumes that state borders are open to domestic travel. It may be that circumstances dictate that when the time comes maybe we can only use one or two venues, we really don’t know any of that yet,” Roberts told reporters on Friday.

“There is a lot of variables based on whether we have four venues in four states or as little as one venue in one state. There’s endless scenarios and possibilities,” he added.

Soon after the schedule announcement, Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) chief Christina Matthews had lashed out at CA for choosing Brisbane over Perth as one of the venues for the high-profile Test series.

Roberts said that the Gabba didn’t get a Test during India’s tour of Australia two years ago and to strike a balance, Perth was overlooked this time around.

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PTI