Category Uncategorized

Middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane has been ruled out of the fourth and fifth Tests against England with a finger injury

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-20161:01

Quick Facts: Manish Pandey

Middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane has been ruled out of the fourth and fifth Tests against England with a finger injury, while fast bowler Mohammed Shami is an uncertain starter for the Mumbai Test, beginning Thursday.Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey replaced Rahane in the squad, while Shardul Thakur was brought in as back-up for Shami, who has a sore knee. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is likely to be the first-choice replacement in the XI for Shami, while Karun Nair is likely to take Rahane’s place.Pandey and Thakur had to be pulled out of ongoing Ranji Trophy matches and flown to Mumbai. Pandey was playing against Maharashtra in Mohali, and Thakur against Punjab in Rajkot.The BCCI said Rahane had suffered “an avulsion fracture on his right index finger” after getting hit by a ball during a practice session on the eve of the Mumbai Test. He managed only 63 runs in five innings in this series. The board also said that Shami’s fitness was being monitored and a decision on his inclusion in the XI would be taken on the morning of the match.Shami has had trouble with his leg since the start of the series, when he was seen clutching his hamstring on the first day in Rajkot. The team management, however, said he was merely suffering from cramp and he continued to play the remainder of that Test and those that followed in Visakhapatnam and Mohali. Shami was especially potent with reverse-swing, taking 10 wickets at an average of 25.20.If Shami doesn’t make it, India are almost certain to play Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took a five-wicket haul in the last Test he played. That was why Kohli wasn’t too worried about Shami’s availability.”If you see, whoever has stepped in has given match-winning performances,” he said. “You speak about Bhuvi, he has come in at St Lucia once and in Kolkata once, and both times he has picked up five wickets, and he has been the match-winner for us. I am not worried because the guys sitting outside are waiting for opportunities. It is not like that they are not looking forward to playing, which is I think a great sign for the team and that is why whoever has played at any stage has given those performances for us. As I said they are pretty keen to step on to the field to grab the opportunity with both hands.”Pandey, Rahane’s replacement in the squad, had himself hurt his finger while playing a Ranji Trophy game in November. He returned to action last week, making 75 and 58 against Saurashtra. Thakur, meanwhile, has been a more consistent presence this season, claiming 13 wickets in six matches, including a six-wicket haul against Bengal last week. He had been picked in the 17-man squad for the four-Test tour of the West Indies in July-August, but did not get a game.

Shashank Manohar is set to be elected BCCI president unopposed on Sunday, replacing Jagmohan Dalmiya who died in Kolkata on September 20.

Nagraj Gollapudi and Amol Karhadkar03-Oct-20154:48

Ugra: BCCI’s legal wrangles the challenge for Manohar

Shashank Manohar is set to be elected BCCI president unopposed on Sunday, replacing Jagmohan Dalmiya who died in Kolkata on September 20. At 3 pm on Saturday, the deadline to file nominations, only Manohar’s name was filed as a candidate for the election that will be held during the special general meeting in Mumbai on Sunday afternoon.Manohar received backing from all the six members from East Zone – Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), National Cricket Club, Odisha Cricket Association, Jharkhand Cricket Association, Assam Cricket Association and Tripura Cricket Association. It is understood all six East Zone members nominated him, as it is the zone’s turn to nominate the president for the period till 2017. Soon after Dalmiya’s death, there was talk of the East camp wanting one of its own to stand for the elections, but there was no consensus, thus paving the way for Manohar.Confirming the East zone’s stand, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, representing the CAB, told the media at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai: “A lot of important people have led BCCI in the past and Manohar has also done it quite well. I am sure he will do a good job.”Dalmiya was the first BCCI president to die while in office, thus necessitating the unprecedented action of the board choosing a replacement at a special general meeting. This will be Manohar’s second stint as BCCI chief – he served as president between October 2008 and September 2011. He had first emerged as the consensus candidate when the ruling political party in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party, backed him and opposed Sharad Pawar’s candidature.

Ralph Waters has been named the new chairman of the local organising committee for the 2015 World Cup which will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Mar-2013Ralph Waters has been named new chairman of the local organising committee for the 2015 World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Waters was previously the deputy chairman of the committee and succeeds James Strong, the previous chairman, who died in Sydney last week.Waters, a prominent businessman from New Zealand, said he would work closely with the home boards organising the World Cup and carry out a successful tournament.”Like myself, James [Strong] had lived and worked in Australia and New Zealand and was determined to put on a truly world class tournament in 2015,” Waters said. “I share his vision and will work closely with the ICC, Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket to deliver a successful tournament for cricket fans around the world.”Alan Isaac, ICC president, said Strong would be missed, but a successful World Cup would be delivered nevertheless. “James’ passion and expertise will be missed by all of us,” Isaac said. “I know Ralph shares the same love for the game and together we will deliver a great tournament.”

Kevin Pietersen has suggested the heat will be more of a problem for England than dealing with Sri Lanka’s bowlers

Andrew McGlashan in Galle23-Mar-2012Touring Sri Lanka no longer comes with the challenge of facing Muttiah Muralitharan, but while the opposition attack has changed the climate hasn’t. Kevin Pietersen rarely deals in half measures so it wasn’t surprising to hear him describe the heat England will face in the Test series as “unbelievable” and a bigger task than combating Sri Lanka’s bowling attack.England have sweated through two warm-up matches in Colombo and are now in Galle ahead of the first Test, which starts on Monday, but the change in location won’t bring much relief. During England’s second warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Development XI the mercury hit the mid-30s* in the middle and at drinks breaks batsmen, including Pietersen, used icepacks on their heads. Matt Prior even resorted to keeping without pads. On the whole, though, the England squad appear to be adjusting – another hallmark of their outstanding fitness levels – with most of the batsmen playing lengthy innings and the bowlers all getting overs in their legs.However, performing in tour matches is one thing. England’s batsmen need to make up for their woeful series against Pakistan in the UAE where Alastair Cook’s 94 in Abu Dhabi was the highest score; where they failed to chase 145 and then couldn’t build a match-winning lead after bowling out Pakistan for 99 in the final Test. Still, while respecting the opposition, it wasn’t the Sri Lanka bowlers preoccupying Pietersen’s mind.”They’ve got a left-arm spinner, Rangana Herath, who bowls wicket to wicket and you saw against Pakistan what a guy like Abdur Rehman did to us,” Pietersen said. “Left-arm spin is a huge part of the game now and it’s not going to be easy at all. But it’s not really the spinners out here, it’s the heat. I think that will be the biggest threat to us.”Overcoming tough conditions is why touring is such a huge challenge. For all that England’s players are finding it hard work now, Sri Lanka didn’t have much fun rugged up against the cold at Cardiff or Lord’s in May – although the demands of playing in higher temperatures are probably tougher, as there’s only so much you can do to cool down.”It’s unbelievable, make no bones about that, but it’s something we have to try and get over as quickly as possible,” Pietersen said. “I’m trying to just not do too much and to conserve a lot of energy, not run around like a crazy fool like you do in England or Australia or South Africa, where you can afford to do that.”It’s something we have to try and control. On days off we need to get out, swim in the sea, spend some time in the sun and let your body get used to it. If you only spend time in the dressing room or in the ground and you try and take conditions in like that it’s not going to work. You need to get out as much as you can.”Pietersen could find himself with more to keep him busy in the field than normal, if some overs of his under-used offspin are required. Ravi Bopara’s side strain means he’s unlikely to bowl during the series but remains the favourite to bat at No. 6 ahead of Samit Patel and Pietersen played down any problems in balancing the team.”I’m not sure it’s a big setback, because he’s [Bopara] hardly going to take you seven wickets in a Test match,” he said. “He might bowl you four overs. I can bowl those overs, Jonathan Trott can bowl those four overs.”England’s frontline bowlers will hope Pietersen can supply a few more than four overs.Edited by Alan Gardner*21.30 GMT: The temperature was changed from mid-40s to mid-30s

Ricky Ponting has accepted that he crossed the line with his dressing-room reaction to being run out against Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad on Monday, but is keen to put the incident behind him

Brydon Coverdale24-Feb-2011Ricky Ponting has accepted that he crossed the line with his dressing-room reaction to being run out against Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad on Monday, but is keen to put the incident behind him. Ponting was reprimanded by the ICC for breaking the Code of Conduct when he threw his groin protector at his kit bag and it bounced up to damage a television, and he said he wished he could take his actions back.”I think there’s a limit [to how much] you can let off steam in a dressing room,” Ponting said. “It is a pretty sacred sort of place, an international cricket team dressing room, but there’s a line that you can’t overstep and when some equipment is damaged in the change room then I accept the responsibility for that happening the other day, albeit by total accident and with no malice involved in it whatsoever. What’s happened has happened. I’d like to be able to take it back but I can’t. Now we’ve just got to move on.”The TV incident emerged on the morning after Australia’s 91-run victory, but the initial reports in local newspapers incorrectly suggested that an angry Ponting had smashed the set with his bat. Given that Ponting was not even fined for the level one offence, it was not surprising that by Thursday in Nagpur, all he wanted to do was concentrate on the next day’s match against New Zealand.”It was hit by my box that I’d thrown down into my cricket kit,” he said. “[There was] some small damage to the TV set; I went and reported it to the team manager straight away, and let him know what had happened. They replaced the television set there and then.”Some of the stories I’ve been hearing the last couple of days have been a little bit different than what the list of events actually were. Hopefully by the end of today we can put this all behind us and start worrying about a big game of cricket that’s going to take place tomorrow.”The Ahmedabad game was Ponting’s 40th World Cup match, making him the most-capped player in the tournament’s history. Ponting is yet to lose a World Cup game as captain. If Australia do win against New Zealand in Nagpur it will be Ponting’s 24th victory as a World Cup captain.

Legspinner Imran Tahir has left the Easterns Titans, the franchises board of directors has confirmed. His pending move to Durban will allow him to play for the Dolphins.

Cricinfo staff18-Mar-2010Legspinner Imran Tahir has left the Easterns Titans, the franchises board of directors has confirmed. His pending move to Durban will allow him to play for the Dolphins.Tahir was a member of the Titans squad that won the MTN Domestic Championship and SuperSport Series last season. “Imran brought a new dimension to our franchise bowling attack and it did not take long for him to start producing the goods,” Titans chairman Vincent Sinovich said. “Imran, we wish you well and hope you will one day achieve your ambition and play for South Africa”.

The ICC match referee is believed to have said to Pakistan that he was merely the messenger of India’s decision not to shake hands on Sunday

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Sep-2025Andy Pycroft, the ICC match referee at the centre of the controversy that nearly derailed the 2025 Asia Cup, was told only minutes before the toss of the India-Pakistan match on September 14 that the two captains were not to shake hands.At that moment, he believed he was conveying the message rather than issuing instructions. Pycroft was subsequently the subject of a complaint made by the PCB, which accused him of breaching ICC codes as well as the spirit of cricket, and demanded his removal from the tournament.Details have begun to emerge of the frenzied nature of events between the two Pakistan games on September 14 and 17. The controversy was sparked, according to an official, “four minutes before the toss” in Sunday’s game between India and Pakistan. As Pycroft walked on to the field, he was told by the ACC venue manager that the BCCI had communicated – with the Indian government’s approval – that there would be no handshake between the captains Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Agha.Related

• BCCI lodges complaint with ICC against Farhan and Rauf

• Pycroft to stand as match referee in India vs Pakistan Super Fours game as well

• ICC says PCB breached protocol, objects to apology video

• The Pakcroft drama: everything, everywhere, all at once

• PCB clears Pakistan to play UAE; says Pycroft apologised

PCB officials argued that Pycroft should have alerted the ICC about this unusual request; Pycroft is believed to have said he did not have time to do so. With enough time, he would have consulted the ICC. Instead, moments before the toss, he told Agha of the situation in the belief he was avoiding a potentially embarrassing public moment if Agha went to shake hands with Suryakumar only to be snubbed.Pycroft’s decision has not been seen by the ICC at any point as a breach of any code of conduct but as an action he was authorised to take in his remit as a match official deputed to manage the game.The issue came to a head on Wednesday with uncertainty swirling around Pakistan’s must-win game against UAE and the PCB threatening to pull out of the tournament if Pycroft, who was rostered for the game, wasn’t reassigned. The match eventually went ahead after an hour’s delay following a hastily arranged, clear-the-air meeting between Pycroft and the Pakistan team hierarchy.The PCB subsequently claimed in a statement that Pycroft had “apologised to the manager and captain of the Pakistan cricket team”, though sources familiar with the situation maintain it was not an apology, but an “expression of regret over the misunderstanding and miscommunication” around the incident.

PCB vs ICC

The PCB had sent an official complaint to the ICC’s general manager of cricket Wasim Khan between Sunday night and Monday morning after Pakistan’s defeat to India. In it, the board spelt out the sequence of events before the toss and accused Pycroft of misconduct, saying it was alarmed “to note that an ICC-appointed and supposedly neutral match referee opted to indulge in conduct which clearly violates the spirit of cricket and MCC laws”.The PCB said Pycroft “failed to discharge his responsibility to ensure that respect was extended and maintained amongst the captains as well as between the two competing sides, and to create a positive atmosphere by his conduct and encourage the captains and participating teams to do likewise”. It called for his immediate withdrawal from the Asia Cup.In its first response on September 15, the ICC told the PCB it had “carefully investigated” the complaint, but “concluded” there was “no case to answer on the part of Mr Pycroft” and he was “not at fault” in any way. In its review, the ICC had spoken to Pycroft, the other match and tournament officials, and the tournament director Andrew Russell.Pakistan captain Salman Agha and team manager Naved Akram Cheema had met with Andy Pycroft before the game against UAE•AFP/Getty Images

The ICC explained that Pycroft’s communication to Agha not to shake hands was “following clear direction” from the ACC venue manager. Having received the message at such “short notice”, Pycroft, the ICC said, had dealt with the situation professionally. “In acting as he did, the match referee was committed to preserving the sanctity of the toss and avoiding any potential embarrassment that might have arisen.”The ICC said the match referee’s role was not to “regulate any team- or tournament-specific protocol that has been agreed outside of the area of play” and that the “real issue” was the handshake not taking place, which was a “matter” to be addressed and resolved by the tournament organiser and “those who took the actual decision”.The ICC’s email to the PCB also stated that changing match officials at the “request or insistence” of a participating country would set an “extremely dangerous and unfortunate precedent”.The PCB then expressed “disappointment” at the ICC’s decision to absolve Pycroft, pointing to “glaring discrepancies”. The board said the ICC had failed to seek out “complete evidence/version of events” from witnesses that had “actually seen” what it described as Pycroft’s “offensive conduct”. The PCB said the ICC had not spoken to Agha or the team management during its probe, which it called a “one-sided process”.The PCB questioned how a match referee could be only a “messenger” and convey directives that violated the spirit of cricket. Pycroft, the PCB said, should have offered an “unequivocal refusal” when he was asked to tell Agha not to shake hands with Suryakumar. In a separate email on Wednesday, the ICC said the PCB had every opportunity to “provide any supporting documentation or evidence” to back their case against Pycroft, but none had been received.

The events before the delayed start

During this back and forth with the ICC, the PCB raised the prospect of withdrawing from the Asia Cup, saying the Pakistan government had advised it to do so if Pycroft was not removed.The PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi is the country’s interior minister, a senior figure in the government.A tense stalemate ensued, with the Pakistan team training on Tuesday evening ahead of their game against UAE but cancelling the pre-match press conference. On Wednesday, after a flurry of emails in the morning, a video call was arranged early afternoon Dubai time between senior ICC officials, their counterparts from the PCB and the Emirates Cricket Board. The ICC offered the PCB an opportunity to talk through its case and arguments but both sides stood their ground: the PCB continued to call for Pycroft’s removal, the ICC insisted he hadn’t breached any rules.PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi gave the Pakistan team clearance to continue their Asia Cup campaign•Associated Press

Around 4pm Dubai time, two hours before the scheduled toss, another video call was arranged between the same people. It again began with both sides unrelenting. Around this time, the Pakistan players were told to remain at the hotel and not go to the ground, having originally been scheduled to leave at 4.30pm. This was the first time the world outside discovered how serious the situation was. With time running out, it was on this call that Wasim Khan and ICC chief executive Sanjog Gupta are believed to have suggested a meeting between Pycroft and the Pakistan team. PCB officials, keen on the idea, took it to Naqvi, who was consulting with former board heads Najam Sethi and Ramiz Raja on the matter. He agreed, the ICC was told, and the Pakistan team left for the stadium at 5.40pm Dubai time.

Miscommunication and misunderstanding

The players arrived at Dubai International Stadium half an hour before the rescheduled toss at 7pm local time, and Pycroft immediately met with Agha, Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson and team manager Naved Akram Cheema in a room with Wasim Khan also present. Pycroft is believed to have begun the conversation by asking the Pakistan participants about their precise grievances. In response, he explained to them why he acted the way he did, that he was merely the messenger rather than the man responsible for the no-handshake directive.He expressed regret for the “miscommunication and misunderstanding” around the situation and, in particular, for Agha to find himself in such a situation moments before a big game. It was here that Pycroft explained his worry that not telling Agha and letting him go to shake hands with Suryakumar would have been more problematic.Soon after the meeting, the PCB released a statement claiming Pycroft had apologised. The ICC is believed to have been unhappy about it and the idea of a response “clarifying” the situation was discussed, though it isn’t certain whether one will be made. The PCB also released a short video of the meeting despite concerns raised during the meeting about such a video being recorded. It was eventually allowed on the condition that no audio be recorded.The PCB also said the ICC had “expressed its willingness to conduct an inquiry into the code of conduct violation that occurred during the September 14 match”. The prospects of that remain slim, not least because it isn’t clear what the inquiry would focus on, given the ICC has repeatedly asserted to the PCB that there was no misconduct on Pycroft’s part.

“It’s more [about] getting used to the tactical side of it. I haven’t played a lot of T20 cricket in the last couple of years”

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Apr-20240:54

Starc: ‘Taken me longer than I would’ve liked to get back into rhythm’

Until Sunday evening, Mitchell Starc had only two wickets across four IPL matches this season, while averaging 77 with an economy rate of 11. That after he became the most expensive player ever in the IPL, in the last auction, with a salary of INR 24.75 crore. But Starc turned his form around with 3 for 28 against Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens, as Kolkata Knight Riders eventually dominated the chase of 162 for an eight-wicket win.”I don’t read anything, so that doesn’t bother me,” he said after the match about the expectations and the noise around him.Starc returned to the IPL this year for the first time since 2015, and since the T20 World Cup in 2022, he had played just two T20s in one-and-a-half years before coming to India for the ongoing tournament. Starc admitted that he was still getting used to the “tactical side” of the shortest format.Related

• Aussies at the IPL 2024: Starc sizzles, Marsh flies home, Fraser-McGurk fires

• The constant and universal appeal of Mitchell Starc

• Phil Salt and Mitchell Starc headline KKR's thumping win

“It’s T20 cricket; for the guys who have played a lot of Test cricket, this is definitely a lot easier physically,” he said. “It’s more [about] getting used to the tactical side of it. I haven’t played a lot of T20 cricket in the last couple of years, so it has probably taken me a little bit longer than I would have liked to get back into the rhythm of things and make a better impact. So today was nice in that regard.”Against LSG, Starc bowled three overs in the powerplay, and conceded 23 as he was hit for four fours. But that spell also included eight dots and the wicket of Deepak Hooda. When brought back to bowl the last over, Starc gave away just six runs, and struck twice. On the first ball he had Nicholas Pooran, LSG’s best batter this season, for 45. And on the last ball, he swung one back into Arshad Khan and cleaned him up.The next T20 World Cup begins just six days after the IPL ends on May 26 in Chennai. As every team plays 14 league matches while travelling around the country in the IPL, Starc said games coming in thick and fast is “a feature of T20 cricket”, and he can look after his workload even with the World Cup looming.”I’m 34, so I’m pretty good with my workloads”, he said. “I’ve been doing this [for] a long time. We play again on Tuesday, and I think that’s a feature of T20 cricket. Whether you have a good day or a bad day, games come around so quickly that you can’t really think about what’s been; you quickly focus on the next game.”

The lowdown on Adani Sportsline and Capri Global, who own teams based out of Ahmedabad and Lucknow

Vishal Dikshit25-Jan-20232:43

WPL: BCCI rakes in big money on historic day

Following the sale of five Women’s Premier League (WPL) teams on Wednesday, there are two new players on the franchise cricket market in India. Here is the scoop on both of them.

Adani Sportsline

Adani Sportsline is the sports arm of the Adani Group, an Ahmedabad-based conglomerate. They have been trying to get their hands on an IPL team for a while, and now that they have, they wasted no time in picking a name: Gujarat Giants.Adani offered more money than anyone – INR 1289 crore (US$ 158 million approx.) – at the WPL auction and will base their team out of Ahmedabad, which houses the Narendra Modi Stadium which can seat over 100,000 people.They had bid for one of the two new men’s IPL teams in 2021 as well, when the BCCI expanded the tournament from eight to ten teams, but weren’t successful.Founded in 2019, Adani Sportsline already owns two cricket franchises: Gulf Giants in the ILT20 which kicked off this year in the UAE, and Gujarat Giants in Legends League Cricket (LLC), a competition running for two seasons and played between former players.Related

• England national coach Jon Lewis appointed head coach of WPL team UP Warriorz

• Mithali Raj roped in as mentor and advisor of WPL team Gujarat Giants

• Owners of Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, RCB win bids to own Women's Premier League teams

Gulf Giants are led by England batter James Vince and coached by former Zimbabwe captain and England coach Andy Flower. Gujarat Giants were captained by Virender Sehwag and included big-name players such as Chris Gayle, Daniel Vettori and Graeme Swann.”The Indian women’s cricket team has been doing exceptionally well – and a cricket league for women is a significant step in creating more opportunities for women through sports,” Pranav Adani, director of Adani Enterprises, said in a statement on Wednesday after their winning bid. “Cricket is an inseparable part of the country’s fabric and Adani Sportsline was keen to begin their association with the sport with the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League.Adani Sportsline has also forayed into kabaddi, boxing and kho-kho all under the name Gujarat Giants with plenty of success. Their kabaddi team finished runners-up in the Pro-Kabaddi League in 2017 and 2018. Their boxing team won the inaugural Big Bout Boxing League in 2019 with some of the top boxers from India such as Amit Panghal. Their kho-kho team topped the table in the Ultimate Kho-Kho League in 2022 but lost in Qualifier 2.9:43

Moonda: WPL a game-changer for unearthing the depth of Indian cricket

Capri Global

Capri Global Holdings is part of Capri Loans, an India-based NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company), which spent INR 757 crore ($92.85 million approx.) on Wednesday for the cheapest women’s franchise in the WPL. They will be based out of Lucknow, which also has a fairly new cricket stadium and can host nearly 50,000 people.Like Adani, Capri already owns a cricket team and a kho-kho team. Their cricket team in the ILT20 is called Sharjah Warriors, who were initially captained by England’s Moeen Ali before he had to leave on national duty.Capri Global Group, which owns a number of subsidiaries, has a net worth of around INR 5400 crore ($700 million approx.) and is a listed company on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. They were part of the auction for the two new men’s IPL teams a couple of years ago but were unsuccessful. But despite the setback, Capri continued their efforts to break into the lucrative franchise cricket space.”Capri Global’s association with WPL has been strategic in achieving our vision of encouraging sports across all strata and genders and establishing a deeper connect with our stakeholders and customers,” Rajesh Sharma, managing director, Capri Global, said. “We believe cricket is the most natural route to further that vision given its history in India.”Capri’s kho-kho team is called Rajasthan Warriors, which finished last among six teams in 2022. They also have a minor presence in kabaddi, as one of the sponsors of the Bengal Warriors since last October.

The Sri Lanka Test captain is one shy of equalling the world record for most 50-plus scores in consecutive innings

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Nov-2021He has scored 854 Test runs at an average of 77.63 in 2021, but as good as he has been this year, Dimuth Karunaratne has bigger goals in mind. Of Sri Lanka’s Test batters, only Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have hit more than 10,000 runs. Karunaratne only has 5406 in the bank at present, but wants to be Sri Lanka’s first opener with a five-figure tally to his name.”Scoring 10,000 runs is my main target. I don’t know if I’ll be able to achieve that, but that’s what I’ve got in my mind,” Karunaratne said after hitting 147 and 83 in Sri Lanka’s 187-run victory over West Indies in Galle. “If I can continue this form, I’ll be able to get close to 10,000 runs. I like to improve as much as I can, and whenever I finish a match, I’ll go and check where I am on the Sri Lanka run charts, to figure out how many I need to score to pass someone.”Karunaratne is within touching distance of three of Sri Lanka’s best ever batters, in Thilan Samaraweera (5462 runs), Tillakaratne Dilshan (5492), and Marvan Atapattu (5502). Although he is already 33, what is encouraging about his record is that since 2018, he averages 47.97, when he had averaged 37.08 before that.”If I score another 100-150 more runs, I think I can surpass a few more players,” Karunaratne said. “I’d also like to play 100 Tests.”His outstanding run tally in this match had come despite a long layoff from top-flight cricket – Sri Lanka having played their previous Test in early May (Karunaratne is no longer picked for ODIs). And although there was a domestic 50-over competition scheduled for October and November, many of those matches were washed out by the north-east monsoon, and in the games Karunaratne did play, he made only 17, 7 and, 18.”I was quite worried before the Test because I hadn’t been able to train. I started training in October, and we were mainly doing fitness work. There weren’t a lot of skill sessions – only about five or six because of the rain. The weather didn’t give us a chance to play many domestic matches either, and even in the games I did play, I didn’t make a lot of runs. From the day I came here to Galle I worked really hard, but there was definitely a doubt as to whether I can score runs.Related

• Sri Lanka desperately need Dimuth Karunaratne to lead the charge of their building

• No control, no problem: Karunaratne conjures his own luck

• Embuldeniya five-for helps Sri Lanka beat looming rain and West Indies

• Wijetunge calls for 'consistency' among young SL spinners

“With my calibre, I think if I get a start I can convert it into a big score. There was a nervous start in the first innings, but eventually I came into rhythm and that carried through into the second innings. I still think I haven’t reached my peak form though.”Having now hit six consecutive 50-plus scores in Tests, Karunaratne is one shy of equalling the world record for such a streak. He has also struck four centuries since January.”I think it’s a lot to do with experience,” he said of his consistency. ” When it comes to conditions, I know now when there’s going to be a lot of turn, or when there will be a little less. I’m sharing that information with the youngsters as well.”And knowing that I had scored a lot of runs earlier in the year, there was less of a fear of failure also.”