Tag Futebol

MatériaMais Notícias

O quinto reforço do Flamengo para 2020 foi apresentado nesta sexta-feira. Depois de se destacar com um golaço de voleio no treino da manhã, Pedro foi à sala de imprensa no Ninho do Urubu e falou com jornalistas como jogador do clube pela primeira vez. Ele está emprestado pela Fiorentina até dezembro, em acordo que conta com opção de compra na sequência.

O atacante de 22 anos não escondeu a sua felicidade em retornar ao Rubro-Negro, defendido por por ele sete anos, até os 15, e é o seu time do coração. Pedro pregou respeito ao Fluminense, seu antigo clube.

– Sempre respeitei e sou grato ao Fluminense por abrir as portas e ter me revelado. Agora vou dar o meu melhor para o Flamengo – disse o atacante, deixando claro que vai celebrar se marcar contra o Tricolor.

– Claro! Vou comemorar (gol), independente do adversário, com a reverência, minha marca – disse, explicando por que não acertou com o Fla em 2019:

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-Houve a negociação de clube para clube, mas o presidente (Mário Bittencourt) falou que não iria ouvir a oferta, na época. Continuei respeitando o Fluminense e dando o meu melhor. Não guardo mágoas, o presidente estava no direito dele. Sempre respeitei.

Seja bem-vindo ao Mais Querido, @Pedro9oficial! #CRF pic.twitter.com/gpcj6SyjFY

— Flamengo (@Flamengo) January 24, 2020

Pedro avisou que já conversou com Jorge Jesus e que o Mister vai colaborar na evolução de seu futebol. Além disso, contou que a Seleção Brasileira passa pelos seus planos ao acertar com o Flamengo.

– Tenho certeza de que o Flamengo vai me dar possibilidade de mostrar meu futebol e retornar à Seleção. É o que espero aqui: mostrar meu futebol para poder voltar e, dessa vez, vestir a camisa da Seleção Brasileira (risos).

Emprestado pelo clube da Itália, Pedro chega para atender a um pedido de Jorge Jesus – feito ainda na chegada do treinador português, em julho de 2019 – por um homem de área. No ano passado, Gabriel Barbosa e Bruno Henrique, atacantes mais móveis, se revezaram na função e tiveram êxito.

Confira outros trechos da entrevista de Pedro:

Família
– Eles são tudo para mim. Sem eles, não estaria aqui. É um sonho realizado, de infância. Ver minha mãe emocionada me emociona muito. Fico feliz por ter chegado até aqui, saber que consegui vencer.

Dispensa na base do Fla
– Fiquei triste no momento, mas são coisas normais no futebol. Tem o exemplo do Cafu. Isso são águas passadas, e agora estou vivendo nova história no Flamengo. Espero ter sucesso agora.

Amizades
– No mesmo dia que saiu a notícia (do interesse do Flamengo), o Everton Ribeiro me mandou mensagem, o Vitinho me ligou. Já tinha contato com a maioria dos jogadores. Acho que vou me sentir em casa aqui.

Desempenho na Fiorentina
– Cheguei na Fiorentina, foi montado um planejamento individual para mim. Eu cumpri todos os procedimentos e fiquei à disposição da comissão. Minha não utilização foi por conta da comissão técnica mesmo.

Lembrança do hexa como torcedor
– Estava no Maracanã (no dia do hexacampeonato), na arquibancada, jogo difícil contra o Grêmio. Fiquei feliz demais.

Camisa 21
-O motivo da camisa (21) é pela volta ao Rio e por ser a camisa do Ibra no Milan, que sou fã e até peguei um autógrafo dele.

BRAZ, SOBRE PEDRO:

– O Pedro era um sonho antigo. Desde que o Jorge Jesus chegou, ele fez um pedido para termos um “avançado”, como gosta de falar, um centroavante clássico. Num primeiro momento não foi possível. Mas o Pedro sempre foi o jogador que a gente se sentia mais seguro. Hoje, depois de bastante tempo, de uma ida dele para a Europa, fizemos tudo para que ele não precisasse ir para a Europa para voltar. Hoje ele está aqui. Há muitos anos vestiu essa camisa, sabe muito bem da responsabilidade e do tamanho da pressão.

The ICC has begun the sale of tickets for the World T20 in India on its website, with less than two weeks for the event to begin. The first phase of the sale, which went live at 12 pm IST on February 24, made tickets available for matches in Bangalore, Chennai, Dharamsala, Kolkata and Mohali, but excluded those featuring India, the semi-finals and the final of the men’s and women’s events. The second phase of the sale – for matches in Mumbai, Delhi and Nagpur – will begin at 12pm IST on February 26.Tickets for seven “highly sought after” matches – four India games, the semi-finals and the final – will be sold online through a lottery system, where buyers need to indicate their preferred match after registering themselves. They will then be moved to a draw where the winners will be chosen through an automated process following which they will receive a payment link to complete the booking. The window to register for the lottery will be open only for seven days from February 25. Only two tickets can be purchased per person for India matches, the semi-finals and the final, while for other games a maximum of six tickets per person is allowed.The BCCI appointed as the ticketing agency for the event, and said the entire ticketing process was “monitored and audited by a reputed auditing agency.”A member of the organising committee told ESPNcricinfo that the schedule for the sale of tickets over-the-counter for all matches – including India’s and the knockouts – would be announced by the respective hosting centres. He said the lottery system was to streamline the high demand for tickets.”We had to do lottery system, otherwise when a traditional ticket counter opens up, some 20,000 people queue up,” the official said. “The first 10,000 get tickets and then there is a lathi charge. We have to move away from that culture.”If you put tickets online on first-come-first-serve basis, there will be some 10,000 people who click at 12. After 12:05 pm, the entire system becomes redundant. The traffic for these high-priority games is huge, so everyone must get a fair opportunity.”When ESPNcricinfo accessed the website at 12:01 pm there was a queue of 5907 and it took our staffer 12 minutes to reach the top of the queue. After she selected her match of choice there was another queue of 931 where the waiting time was about two minutes. The whole transaction was completed in 15 minutes.While ticket sales for previous World T20s had commenced three to six months ahead of the event, the current edition has had a number of delays. The ICC had earlier refused to be drawn into any criticism of the ticketing process, stating it would be “inappropriate” to make comparisons. The organising committee member attributed the delay to a combination of factors, including the uncertainty over the status of Delhi as a venue.”The schedule was launched only on December 19 (sic December 11), and only after that our work starts,” he said. “We have to start pricing separately for women’s games, men’s games, the semi-finals and final. Once the ticketing agency is finalised you will have to do backend mapping. Delhi has obviously been a contributing factor for the delay. Till 10 days ago I didn’t know if I had to push those games to some other venue.”The official said other hosting nations in the past had been able to put tickets up for sale early because of the ICC announcing the fixtures “well in advance.” He also pointed to the logistical issues of hosting matches at eight venues – previous editions of the World T20 had only three venues. “As much as it looks like a T20 format, look at the complexity of the whole tournament. This is the first time we are doing women’s and men’s matches together, and we have double-headers,” he said. However, the last three editions of the World T20 had men’s and women’s games together.While such delays hurt the travelling fan the most, the official said ticket sales were almost entirely driven by local public. “Look at this way, India as a destination … it has always been local sale which chews up into the entire volume than people coming from outside,” he said. “That’s not a reason [for the delay], but it’s a comfort in some way.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:10

O’Brien: Very strange bowling plan from Royals

Despite producing a gaffe-ridden performance, Rajasthan Royals managed to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by nine runs and booked their spot in the playoffs. Knight Riders are all but out of contention.Chasing 200, Knight Riders needed 16 off the last over bowled by Chris Morris, but despite Umesh Yadav smashing an unbeaten 24 off 11 balls deep in the innings, they fell short. There were substantial cameos from Yusuf Pathan and Andre Russell, but Royals’ seamers, led by Chris Morris, derailed their chase with wickets at critical junctures.Royals’ victory, though, was set up by Shane Watson’s unbeaten 104 off 59 balls, his second century in Twenty20 cricket.Knight Riders had a wobbly beginning, losing openers Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa inside the first three overs. But after a disciplined beginning, Royals’ seamers lost their bearings, registering the second most number of wides (18) in any IPL game.Pathan and Manish Pandey revived the innings with a 56-run stand, and after the latter departed, Pathan and Russell continued to target some patchy bowling. But, Morris’ dismissals of Russell and Suryakumar Yadav in the 14th over altered the course of the game.Knight Riders, though, weren’t down for the count yet, with their long batting line-up chipping in handy hits to reduce the margin. That the Royals bowling was erratic only contributed to their resurgence.With 36 required off 12 balls, Umesh threatened to snatch the game back by carting James Faulkner for 20 runs. Morris, however, dismissed Shakib Al Hasan off the first ball of the last over, and effectively killed off Knight Riders’ chase.When they opted to bat, Royals might have anticipated such a riposte from the opposition batsmen, having had an easy initiation into their innings themselves. Ajinkya Rahane and Watson delighted in whipping the ball through the off side off either foot. While Watson got into his low set-up to clatter drives through the cover, Rahane cracked a flat six over point. Together they went about knocking down a few records.Even as Rahane and Watson completed 3000 and 4000 runs respectively in T20 cricket, Royals zoomed to 66 in six overs, their highest score in the Powerplay this IPL. Some of the momentum was curtailed after Rahane was run-out after Watson bailed on a tight second run.Royals, nevertheless, reached their 100 inside 10 overs for the first time this season. Their innings suffered a middle-overs blip with Russell sending back Steven Smith, Sanju Samson and James Faulkner in the space of four overs. Watson, though, was unaffected by the goings on, and progressively got better.He kept hitting straight, not losing his shape all along. Azhar Mahmood came in for a lot of punishment, conceding 41 runs in three overs while Umesh, Morne Morkel and Shakib went for more than nine runs an over.Both teams made a few strange selections with Knight Riders replacing Sunil Narine with Mahmood for his first game in IPL 2015. Royals, for their part, chose to play debutant left-arm seamer Brainder Sran, while omitting Rajat Bhatia and Pravin Tambe. The lack of variety in their attack, with no spinner, nearly cost them, but they clung on when it mattered the most.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has overcome the Achilles concern that forced him off the field early during Scotland’s innings on Thursday, team manager Michael de Zoysa has said

Andrew Fidel Fernando14-Mar-2015

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has overcome the Achilles concern that forced him off the field early during Scotland’s innings on Thursday, team manager Michael de Zoysa has said. However, Rangana Herath’s availability for the quarter-final against South Africa on March 18 has not yet been confirmed.Herath had the stitches on his spinning finger removed on Friday, but although it had been hoped he would resume bowling in the nets on Saturday, he has not yet bowled in Sri Lanka’s training sessions. “We’re just giving him an extra day to heal,” de Zoysa said. “He’ll start bowling on Sunday I think.”Despite the minor setback, Herath is likely to be available for the quarter-final in Sydney. Following the Scotland match, vice-captain Lahiru Thirimanne had said he was “80% sure” Herath would have sufficiently recovered for the next game. Herath had received the cut on his finger during the penultimate over of Sri Lanka’s match against England on March 1. He missed the two subsequent games.Mathews’ Achilles complaints simply required rest, de Zoysa said. Mathews did not attend the optional training session on Saturday either, but will begin netting again on Sunday.Both men are vital to the balance of Sri Lanka’s XI. Mathews provides steady medium pace to go with his batting and captaincy, while Herath has largely been adept at controlling the opposition run rate through the middle overs.

The Mudgal committee investigating spot-fixing allegations in the IPL has submitted its final report to the Supreme Court, which will take it up on November 10

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2014

The Mudgal committee investigating spot-fixing allegations in the IPL has submitted its final report to the Supreme Court, which will take it up on November 10. The report could determine, among other things, whether ICC chairman N Srinivasan can seek re-election as president of the BCCI.”We have submitted the report in a sealed envelope to the court,” Raju Ramachandran, a lawyer for the panel, told , without elaborating.The panel, which is headed by former judge Mukul Mudgal and includes ex-India captain Sourav Ganguly, had in February presented a sealed envelope to the court containing names of 13 individuals who needed to be probed further.The panel’s preliminary report had concluded that Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan – who was the team principal of the Chennai Super Kings franchise – could be guilty of illegal betting on IPL games.Super Kings is owned by India Cements, whose managing director is Srinivasan.The court barred Srinivasan from carrying out his duties as president of the BCCI until it had delivered its final verdict, but did not stop him from heading the ICC.In May this year, following the panel’s initial report into IPL corruption, the Supreme Court gave the Mudgal committee greater powers to investigate the contents of the sealed envelope that it had provided India’s highest court along with the report. The sealed envelope contained names and details of allegations made against 13 individuals, including Srinivasan.The committee was given assistance by former senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer BB Mishra, and greater investigative powers for search and seizure of relevant documents and the recording of evidence, though not the power to arrest. Mishra and the panel were provided with assistance from one senior police officer each from Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi, and it was the first two months of their investigation led to the panel submitting its interim report by the end of August.This specific case dates back to June 2013 when AdityaVerma, secretary of the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), raised charges of a conflict of interest in the BCCI’s original two-member inquiry panel for the IPL corruption issue. A Bombay High Court ruling later termed the probe panel “illegal”. The BCCI and the CAB filed petitions in the Supreme Court against this order, with the CAB contending that the Bombay High Court could have suggested a fresh mechanism to look into the corruption allegations.The Supreme Court then appointed a three-member committee, headed by former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal and comprising additional solicitor general L Nageswara Rao and Nilay Dutta to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption against Meiyappan, India Cements, and Rajasthan Royals team owner Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Ltd, as well as with the larger mandate of allegations around betting and spot-fixing in IPL matches and the involvement of players.

كشفت شبكة “ليفربول إيكو” أن الاتحاد الإنجليزي لكرة القدم قد فرض عقوبة على نادي ليفربول بسبب مباراة توتنهام وشكوى البعض من التحكيم.

وشهدت المباراة التي أقيمت مساء يوم، السبت الماضي، أحداثًا درامية أثناء إقامتها وبعد صافرة الحكم، سيمون هوبر، بخسارة ليفربول بنتيجة 2-1 أمام توتنهام.

كان هناك هدف لصالح ليفربول أحرزه، لويس دياز، وتم إلغاؤه بداعي التسلل، لكن ما زاد الأمر اشتعالًا أن لجنة الحكم قد اعترفت بخطأ القرار وأقرت بصحة الهدف.

اقرأ أيضًا.. أسطورة ليفربول يشيد بـ محمد صلاح: أقلق دفاعات توتنهام بخطورته

مع خسارة ليفربول المباراة في اللحظات الأخيرة بهدف ذاتي من مدافعه، جويل ماتيب، كانت هناك حالة من الغضب الشديد قد انتابت الجميع بسبب قرار تقنية الـ VAR بشأن هدف دياز.

بجانب طرد لاعبين من جانب ليفربول وهما كورتيس جونز وديوجو جوتا ولعبهم المباراة حتى نهايتها بـ 9 لاعبين فقط مما أفقدهم الكثير من قوتهم.

ورغم كل تلك الأحداث، قرر الاتحاد الإنجليزي من خلال لجنة الانضباط فرض غرامة مالية على ليفربول قدرها 25 ألف جنيه إسترليني لسوء السلوك.

تأتي تلك الغرامة بعد حصول لاعبي ليفربول على 8 بطاقات ما بين إنذارات وطرد، هذه عقوبة تلقائية في لوائح الاتحاد الإنجليزي، ولن يصدر أي بيان رسمي بهذا القرار.

في انتظار قرار لجنة الانضباط بشأن تعليقات اللاعبين والأجهزة الفنية بعد المباراة حول التحكيم إذا كان هناك تلميح بالتحيز أو شبهة إساءة شخصية.

MatériaMais Notícias

Após fazer a reestreia com a camisa do CSA no último domingo, na derrota para o Corinthians, o volante do Azulão, Jean Cléber, destacou a postura e a dificuldade que o time impôs ao rival paulista. Segundo o jogador, isso será importante para a recuperação na sequência da competição.

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‘Sem dúvida, a postura que a equipe vem demonstrando nas últimas semanas será muito importante para uma caminhada de sucesso do grupo no segundo semestre. Temos que manter essa intensidade agora para iniciarmos uma boa sequência na Série A nos próximos jogos’, disse.

Na penúltima colocação do torneio nacional, o volante classifica o duelo contra o Athletico-PR, no fim de semana, uma verdadeira decisão.

‘Vamos lutar muito para fazer um grande jogo diante do Athletico, que tem um elenco de alto nível, para sairmos com uma vitória em casa. É vencer ou vencer para iniciarmos nossa reação na Série A e para sairmos do Z4 o quanto antes’, finalizou.

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MatériaMais Notícias

A Seleção Brasileira não teve dificuldades para vencer no último amistoso antes da Copa América. Neste domingo, o Brasil goleou Honduras por 7 a 0, em Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, e conseguiu sua maior goleada na ‘Era Tite’. Após o confronto, o técnico parabenizou a equipe e também comentou sobre as estratégias com Firmino e Gabriel Jesus.

– Significa que soubemos tirar vantagem de uma equipe que estava com jogador a menos. Conseguimos construir essa série de oportunidades, levando vantagem. Isso poderia dar mais profundidade ao Dani, ia para dentro pela direita com Richarlison. As coisas aconteceram – afirmou.

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O treinador também falou sobre as táticas implementadas, com Roberto Firmino e Gabriel Jesus. Ambos se destacaram na goleada.

– Você tem a resposta, os atletas têm também. Fico muito feliz com a ascensão do Gabriel, retomada de confiança. Precisão da finalização começa a entrar mais. Ele está sorrindo. Tem concorrência e atleta que vem já com a titularidade, pelos jogos que fez, grande desempenho que teve. Registro o bom nível dos dois – disse.

O Brasil faz o jogo de abertura e a estreia no torneio continental, pelo Grupo A, na sexta-feira. A Seleção vai encarar a Bolívia, no Morumbi, às 21h30 (de Brasília)

Outros trechos da coletiva:

Arthur:
Arthur está bem, conversei com ele, disse que foi só uma pancada. Sem passar por cima do doutor (Rodrigo Lasmar), depois vai dar sua avaliação, mas só pelo aspecto dele, ele está bem.

Passo a passo:
Uma equipe campeã se constrói durante a competição, ela prende durante a competição, ela passa por adversidades, se confirma durante a competição. Essa novamente. A cada passo, a cada jogo. Ter essa confiança, essa consistência. Hoje eu falei em precisão de finalizações, não dá para contar, mas dá pra exigir precisão.

Público:
Expectativa era mais, pensei que viesse mais gente. Mas não sei dizer o porquê. Se fosse jogo de Copa América, jogo valendo, traz apelo maior. Ontem fiquei contente porque os atletas puderam contribuir com ato solidário, hoje nos agradecemos. Pequenas coisinhas são significativas para poder contribuir com um pouco de igualdade social.

David Neres:
São oportunidades, o campo fala. Ele tem entrado bem. Eu tinha dado uma série de oportunidades ao Cebolinha, falo Cebolinha até para deixar ele descontraído. É a vez dele.

Led by a century from their captain Sami Aslam and a fifty from Kamran Ghulam, Pakistan Under-19s held their nerve to secure a two-wicket win over India Under-19s. The win puts them on top of Group A, sealing a spot in the semi-finals. Faced with a target of 251, Aslam kept the chase under control with a well-paced 108 off 119 balls. Once he fell, Ghulam took over, guiding the lower order even as India pulled back with wickets. Two wickets in the 49th and 50th over put some pressure on Pakistan, who were seeking six runs off the last over, but Zafar Gohar hit two fours to seal the victory.Earlier, Ricky Bhui’s 64 helped India post 250 for 7 after regular strikes from the Pakistan bowlers prevented India’s top-order from making good on their starts. Bhui’s knock off 66 balls with three fours and two sixes.Riding on a hundred from Kusal Mendis and an unbeaten 62 from Priyamal Perera, Sri Lanka Under-19s stumbled to a two-wicket win over Bangladesh Under-19s in Abu Dhabi. The win helped them qualify for the semi-finals where they will play India. Set a target of 204, the 108-run fourth-wicket stand between Mendis and Perera put Sri Lanka in a comfortable position at 180 for 3. However, Sri Lanka lost their next five wickets for 13 runs, sliding to 193 for 8, before Perera and AK Tyronne got the required runs. Earlier, a fifty from Nazmul Hossain Shanto, and useful contributions from Mosaddek Hossain and Yasir Ali helped Bangladesh put up 203 for 6.Afghanistan Under-19s needed a total of just 26.4 overs to thump Malaysia Under-19s by 10 wickets in Abu Dhabi. Malaysia, who were bundled out for 50 and 32 in their previous two games, collapsed once again for 40 as medium-pacer Sayed Shirzad spearheaded an incisive bowling performance from Afghanistan. Malaysia’s captain Muhammad Ramli was the team’s top-scorer with 12, while their other 10 batsmen collectively contributed just 22 runs between them. Shirzad finished with 4 for 10, and Abdullah Adil picked up three scalps. to bowl Malaysia in 23.2 overs.Afghanistan’s openers Shahidullah and Ihsanullah completed the paltry chase in just 20 balls, hitting five fours and a six between them. Afghanistan will now play Pakistan in the semi-finals.A four-for from left-arm spinner Sushan Bhari and a knock of 48 from Aarif Sheikh helped Nepal Under-19s seal a four-wicket win over United Arab Emirates Under-19s in Sharjah. Nepal were struggling at 49 for 3 before Sheikh anchored the chase with useful partnerships. After Sheikh was out, Siddhant Lohani and Rahul Pratap Singh ensured Nepal ended up on the winning side, finishing the game in 33 overs. Earlier, Bhari and left-arm pacer Lalit Bhandari kept chipping away with wickets to restrict UAE to 159. Dan D’Souza was the top-scorer for UAE with 32, in an innings where a few other batsmen got starts but couldn’t play on. Bhari finished with 4 for 34, while Bhandari took 3 for 43.

Match facts

Thursday, November 21, 2013
Start time 1330 local (0800 GMT)Rohit Sharma: ODI double-hundred. Twin Test centuries. What next?•BCCI

Big Picture

Days after Sachin Tendulkar’s emotional farewell, India move on to the format in which they are now quite used to playing without him. Unlike in the Tests, the cricket will no longer be the sideshow. An India win can no longer be taken for granted.Only a few weeks ago, till the last Australia wicket fell in Bangalore, either set of batsmen could have edged the run-marathon of an ODI series. Over 3500 runs were scored in 11 innings; 350 threatened to permanently become the new 300. Did that series reveal to us the future of ODI cricket in India? Have bowlers been irreparably crippled in such conditions by the restriction of four deep fielders? The next three games will tell us more.MS Dhoni said his fast bowlers had been working hard on their variations, including yorkers, ever since the Australia series, to ensure they don’t leak too many runs at the death. India’s batsmen, as usual, will be confident of hunting down whatever their bowlers concede. Dhoni will hope Yuvraj Singh, who had a horror run amid the Australia run glut, is one of them.West Indies’ showing against the No. 1 ODI side will be interesting to track. They lost both Tests inside three days. They have been criticised for being drunk on T20 cricket. Their Test captain’s place in the team has been questioned for the umpteenth time.In the ODIs, they will be a led by a man who was not part of the Test squad, but has similar – many will argue superior – skills compared to the Test captain. What will Dwayne Bravo do in the ODIs that Darren Sammy couldn’t in the Tests? How will he lift the morale of a side thumped by an innings in both Kolkata and Mumbai?Bravo will at least have fresher men to choose from. Apart from a different leader, West Indies will also have different options on all fronts – batting, fast bowling, spin, wicketkeeping. Will all this translate into some sort of a challenge for India? The hosts won 4-1 the previous time the two played in India, in 2011, although West Indies ran them closer than the scoreline suggests. Getting on the board this time will be an achievement, after the embarrassment of the Tests.

Form guide

India WWLWL (last five completed games, most recent first)
West Indies LLTWL

In the spotlight

Chris Gayle had starts in each of his four innings in the Tests, but went past 35 in none of them. He is less likely to not convert a start in limited-overs cricket, although he has had a poor year in the format. Gayle averages 55.85 in India and, barring Zimbabwe, his ODI record in any other Test nation does not even come close. Six of his 22 innings in India have been centuries, which again shows how much he likes to bat in the country.Rohit Sharma has already scored more ODI runs this year than he did in the previous two years combined. Five days after hitting a double-century in Bangalore, he made a hundred on Test debut in Kolkata, and added another one batting with the No. 11 in Mumbai. Mindboggling is the word. And even during his fallow years, before his move to the top of the order, West Indies were his favourite opposition.

Team news

Vinay Kumar went for 102 runs in nine overs in the last ODI India played in Bangalore. Although he has made it back to the side as an injury replacement for Dhawal Kulkarni, it is hard to see him meriting a place in the XI. Ravindra Jadeja is back, after missing the Tests with a shoulder injury.India (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Jaydev Unadkat/Mohit Sharma, 11 Mohammed ShamiGayle moved down the order in Pakistan’s previous ODI series after three failures as opener. Given his record in India, West Indies might want to move him back up. Sunil Narine, who many said should have played the Tests ahead of Veerasammy Permaul, will take his regular ODI spot. Kieron Pollard is injured and that will help Sammy keep his place in the XI.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles (wk), 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Narsingh Deonarine, 6 Lendl Simmons, 7 Dwayne Bravo (capt), 8 Darren Sammy, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Jason Holder

Pitch and conditions

Only ten overs were possible in the five-day Duleep Trophy final last month in Kochi. One of the finalists had to be decided by the toss of a coin as even two innings could not be completed over six days in the first semi-final, also played in Kochi. The Nehru Stadium, also used for football, has received a lot of flak for its refurbished drainage system. It has also taken a lot of rain. The southwest monsoon is over, but it is northeast monsoon time now in south India. Unusually for an India venue, and in anticipation of more showers, the entire ground, instead of just the square, has been kept under covers. Rain is forecast in the morning and evening of the match, but not during the afternoon.

Stats and trivia

• Gayle averages 20.73 in ODIs in 2013, his lowest return since 1999, his debut year
• Virat Kohli is 81 short of 5000 ODI runs. If he gets there in Kochi, he will tie with Viv Richards as the fastest to the landmark in 114 innings

Quotes

“It’s important, not only for them but also for the team, that they score runs – the No. 4 and No. 5 spots are very important. After the openers set the platform, these guys capitalise in the last 10-15 overs.”