Musheer Reveals Chat With Sarfaraz After Brother's Maiden Test Call Up

As Sarfaraz Khan earned his maiden Test call-up for the second match between India and England in Vizag, younger brother Musheer is taking Under-19 World Cup by storm, having already slammed two centuries in the tournament. After his ton took India past New Zealand in the Super Six clash of the World cup, Musheer revealed how Sarfaraz called up to inform him about his selection into the Indian team for the second Test against England. Musheer, understandably, couldn't be happier for his elder brother.

"My brother called me yesterday and he said that he has been selected in the Indian squad for the second Test. I want to congratulate hi for this," said Musheer after scoring a centrury against New Zealand on Tuesday.

Speaking of his own heroics in the U19 World Cup, Musheer said that he is quite confident of doing well, having already slammed two hundreds in the tournament.

"It feels really good that I have scored two centuries and I want to continue batting well. It gives a sense of confidence. It was a bit of a slow pitch and our bowlers are in good flow and we got the results. I focus on the process and focus on bowling in tight areas," said Musheer.

On a perfect batting wicket here at the Mangaung Oval, Musheer tore apart the Kiwis bowling line-up to become the first batter in the current competition to breach the 300-run mark, going past Pakistan's Shahzaib Khan with his stupendous effort.

En route his 131, Musheer blasted 13 fours and three sixes off just 125 balls and once showed admirable temperament to up the ante just when it was required.

Busy at the crease constantly, the 18-year-old Musheer motored on from one end unleashing strokes in all directions, while he began with an upper-cut for a four.

His innings was spruced with fine running between the wickets and ended in the death overs when he was looking to accelerate.

With PTI inputs

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"He's Better Than Me": Sarfaraz Khan As Brother Takes U19 World Cup By Storm

After scoring truckloads of runs on the domestic circuit, Sarfaraz Khan finally earned his maiden India call-up as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) added him to the roster for the second Test against England. Sarfaraz's maiden call-up came as a result of injuries to KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja. But, as the uncapped star prepares for the second Test against England in Vizag, he revealed looking up to his younger brother, who is making waves for India in Under-19 cricket, during tough times.

Sarfaraz, in fact, admitted that his brother Musheer is a batter batter than him. Musheer famously scored a century against Ireland in the ongoing U19 World Cup in South Africa, leaving Sarfaraz in awe of his technique.

"He's a better batter than me. I'm not saying this because he's my brother. Sometimes, I may be struggling, but watching his technique and trying to work out what he's doing would give me confidence. His mannerisms, bat flow is very good. Sometimes when I'm not batting well, I look at him and learn," Sarfaraz told ESPNcricinfo.

"If I batted 300 balls, Musheer would bat for 300 balls even if he'd done a lot of bowling. Our middle brother, Moin, would do the throwdowns. Having two cricketers in the house, he decided to switch to training," Sarfaraz said.

Inside Sarfaraz's family, there's a lot of healthy competition, with him and Musheer looking to outdo each other. The comparison even comes down to different shots, with Sarfaraz suggesting that his sweep shot is better than Musheer's but when it comes to reverse-sweep, the younger brother has a better technique.

"Musheer's reverse sweep is better than mine. Sweep, I think mine is better, since I have better judgment that has come from experience. We always want the other to do better. Now when he bowls and I bat, there's a lot of healthy competition," he added.

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U-19 World Cup: Musheer's 131, Saumy's Magic Seals 214-Run Win Over NZ

Musheer Khan's blitz and clinical bowling performance saw India continue their hot run of form and prevail over New Zealand with a 214-run victory in the Super Six stage of the ongoing U-19 World Cup on Tuesday at the Mangaung Oval. India made early inroads, with Raj Limbani's pace setting the tone of the game. He dismissed opener Tom Jones for a golden duck and Snehith Reddy for a four-ball duck in the first over. Left-arm spinner Saumy Pandey came in from the other end, weaved his magic and chipped in with a couple of wickets. NZ skipper Oscar Jackson was one player who tried to take the fight against the Indian bowlers but got bowled while attempting to fend the ball towards the leg side.

New Zealand batters struggled to deal with India's disciplined bowling and fell like a house of cards.

Throughout the chase of 296, only four Kiwi batters were able to cross the double-digit mark which more or less depicted the story of the entire innings.

Saumy ended the game with a four-wicket haul to his name, while Limbani in his six-over spell claimed two while giving away just 17 runs.

Earlier in the innings, after New Zealand won the toss and opted to field, Musheer scored a brilliant 131, taking the New Zealand bowlers to the fences, and Adarsh contributed a valuable 52 runs. India finished at 295/8.

The leading wicket-taker for Blackcaps was Clarke who snapped four wickets in his spell of eight overs while conceding 62 runs. Ryan Tsourgas, Ewald Schreuder, Zac Cummingand Oliver Tewatiya got a wicket each.

Adarsh Singh and Arshin Kulkarni came to the crease to open the innings for Team India and put on 28 runs for the first wicket. Arshin was dismissed after scoring just nine runs in the fifth over of the bowling of Mason Clarke.

After Arshin's departure, Musheer Khan came to bat and steadied the innings. Both the youngsters put on a partnership of 77 runs as India lost their second wicket at a score of 105 runs. Adarsh's 52 runs came from 58 balls and included six boundaries.

India skipper Uday Saharan was next on the crease and built a partnership of 87 runs with Musheer. India lost the skipper at the score of 192 runs in the 37th over. Uday went back to the dressing room after scoring 34 runs.

Musheer went on to score a century and his 131 runs from 126 balls included 13 fours and three sixes. He was on the crease till the 48th over of the innings and got out of the bowling of Clarke.

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West Indies Pacer Shamar Joseph Signs For Peshawar Zalmi In PSL

Following West Indies pacer Shamar Joseph's match-winning spell against Australia in the second Test match at the Gabba, the Caribbean seamer on Monday signed for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) side Peshawar Zalmi. According to ESPNcricinfo, Joseph replaced Gus Atkinson in the squad and he will stay with the franchise for the entire season even after when the English pacer returns to the team. Atkinson is currently with the English squad in India for the ongoing five-match Test series which will end on March 11. The English pacer would miss all the matches of the tournament except for the playoff games.

Shamar signed for the Zalmi's via the replacement draft.

The 2024 season of the PSL will start on February 17 at the Gaddafi Stadium and will conclude on March 18. The final game of the tournament will be played at the National Stadium in Karachi. Last year, Lahore Qalandars were the champions of the tournament.

On the second Test match between West Indies and Australia, Joseph was named the 'Player of the Match' following his seven-wicket spell in the second inning. The young pacer dismissed Cameron Green, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood.

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Recovering Rashid Khan To Miss Afghanistan's First-Ever Sri Lanka Test

Ace spinner Rashid Khan will miss Afghanistan's first-ever Test against Sri Lanka next month, selectors announced Monday, as he continues to recover from a back surgery. The 25-year-old is Afghanistan's highest Test wicket-taker -- with 34 in five matches --  and has been an integral part of the team in all formats of the game.  Selectors said Rashid was being cautiously monitored. "Rashid Khan continues to recover from the back surgery and is set to miss the one-off Test against Sri Lanka," the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said in a statement. The Test will be played in Colombo from February 2-6.

Another leg-spinning bowling all-rounder, Qais Ahmad, has been included in the squad as Rashid's replacement. 

Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead the squad, which also has Noor Ali Zadran and Naveed Zadran.

Afghanistan will also play three one-day internationals and as many Twenty20s on the tour, for which squads will be announced later.

Since being granted Test status in 2018, Afghanistan has played seven Tests, winning three and losing the other four.

"The year 2024 is packed with Test cricket for us, a sign of progression," said ACB chairman Mirwais Ashraf.

Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Ishaq, Ibrahim Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Abdul Malik, Bahir Shah, Nasir Jamal, Qais Ahmad, Zahir Khan, Zia-ur-Rehman Akbar, Yamin Ahmadzai, Nijat Masood, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Naveed Zadran.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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"Get Attacking": India Star Slams Rohit's 'Defensive' Tactics vs England

Veteran Indian cricket team wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik was not pleased with Rohit Sharma's 'defensive' approach on Day 4 of the first Test match against England on Sunday. Resuming at 316/6, Ollie Pope ended up scoring 196 as India were given a target of 231. Karthik said that India were very defensive in their approach from the start of the day and although it was understandable to be conservative in their tactics against Pope, he pointed out that against tail-enders like Tom Hartley, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja should have had attacking fielders to create pressure.

"India have been too defensive. I can understand being defensive to Pope but to Tom Hartley, Jadeja and Ashwin should get attacking fielders and not so many sweepers," Karthik said on JioCinema.

Legendary India cricketer Ravi Shastri also echoed similar sentiments as he said that it is 'unknown territory' for Rohit and Co for a visiting side to score over 400 runs in the third innings.

"The body language is dropping. This is an unknown territory for India. You can sense the home team is under pressure. They are not used to visiting teams pilling on 400-plus runs in the third innings," he said.

Pope hit 196 as England ended their second innings on 420 all out on Sunday's day four, with India needing 231 runs to win the opening Test.

Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah got four wickets and bowled Pope to wrap up the England innings in the first session in Hyderabad after the tourists resumed the day on 316-6.

England slipped to 163-5 on Saturday after starting the innings 190 runs behind, but Pope hit back with his fifth Test ton and a 112-run stand with Ben Foakes.

(With AFP inputs)

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'Not Easy For Batter To Breathe': IND Great's Big Praise For Ashwin-Jadeja

Amid the ongoing first Test against England in Hyderabad, former India captain Anil Kumble reserved high praise for veteran spin-twins Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. Both the players have picked more than 500 wickets between them in Test cricket, bagging three each in the first innings against England. In the 49 Tests they have played together, India have won 35 games while losing just four in the process. On Ashwin and Jadeja surpassing him and Harbhajan as India's most successful Test bowling pair, Kumble hailed the achievement as "incredible". 

"The pressure on these two spinners right from the first test match when they came together to the 41st has not changed, and to have been through those pressure moments and come out with match winning performances, either by Ashwin or Jadeja or both is incredible," said Kumble.

"Sometimes both of them have picked up five-fers. If someone has picked up five in the first, then the other guy picks five in the second, and to consistently do that for 40 games and ensure that your team wins 30 times out of that is incredible," he added.

The legendary spinner also suggested that Ashwin and Jadeja don't let the opposition batters breathe due to their aggressive mindset.

"These two are brilliant. And it's not easy for a batter to just breathe even for one ball, because these two are constantly at you. And the best thing about spin bowling and about Indian conditions is these two can go on. They will be coming at you and that is the beauty about these two bowlers," Kumble concluded.

For India, Kumble (281) and Harbhajan (220) had picked 501 in 54 Tests. Meanwhile, Ashwin and Jadeja have crossed the mark in their 50th Test together.

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