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The World Cricketers’ Association (WCA, formerly FICA) has expressed its “concern” after receiving reports of certain cricket boards not paying the “prize money in full” to their players, who participated at the last men’s T20 World Cup, earlier this year in the USA and the West Indies.”In some cases the failure to pay in full has been paired with threatening and intimidatory behaviour by National Governing Bodies to player groups,” the WCA said in a statement on Wednesday.ESPNcricinfo understands that players from five of the 20 participating teams – of which eight were Associate Members of the ICC – have not been paid their dues.Related

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“We are extremely concerned with a number of countries who are still yet to pay players their prize money from the men’s T20 World Cup held in the US and Caribbean earlier in the year, and especially with a number of threats made against players who stand up for themselves and their colleagues in some cricket environments,” Tom Moffat, WCA chief executive, said. “We appreciate the ICC’s efforts to date in ensuring the players involved are paid in full, and are certain the ICC will continue to take all appropriate steps against any Boards who do not do so, and to enforce their own Terms of Participation.”Every player in our sport should receive the benefits they are entitled to in full, and should be provided with a safe environment to play, work, and advocate for themselves and their colleagues off field, through a players’ association if they choose.”The statement was released after the WCA board met this week in Singapore for its annual general meeting, where it also approved the establishment of a Global Player Hardship Fund.The fund, the WCA said, has been designed to support international players in need “who are not covered by the game’s existing domestic frameworks for support”.JP Van Wyk, WCA’s head of welfare and education, said, “Professional athletes face unique challenges in their short careers and we know through the great work that many players’ associations do at domestic level that tailored player welfare support structures have supported players in their time of need. We also know that in an increasingly global player employment market there are notable gaps in the current system in assisting players in extreme cases of hardship.”Although this fund will operate within certain constraints, and will complement domestic offerings, we are certain it is going to assist those current and recently retired international cricketers who are presently unsupported and vulnerable.”The fund will be governed by “an oversight group” made up of experts and players’ association representatives.Meanwhile, Heath Mills and Sana Mir have been reappointed executive chair and independent director respectively.

Arshdeep Singh’s first-class career-best of 6 for 40 helped deliver a consolation win for India D in the final round of the Duleep Trophy 2024-25, in Anantapur. Set 373 for victory in a little over two sessions, India B folded for 115 in just 22.2 overs, with Arshdeep and Vidarbha seamer Aditya Thakare, who got 4 for 59, picking up all ten wickets between them.Arshdeep’s strikes across both innings included the big one of Suryakumar Yadav, who only managed scores of 5 and 16 in his first first-class fixture in over a year. Left-arm seamer Arshdeep, who picked up only his second five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, finished with a match haul of 9 for 90.India B’s allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy was the only batter to offer any semblance of resistance, remaining unbeaten on 40 when Arshdeep fittingly picked up the final wicket to clinch a 257-run victory before tea on the fourth and final day.As well as Arshdeep contributed, it was batter Ricky Bhui who was named the Player of the Match. Bhui top-scored in the second innings with an unbeaten 119, going with 56 in the first, to swell the lead after India D found themselves in trouble at 18 for 3 in the second innings. Bhui, who began the day unbeaten on 90, completed his 20th first-class century quickly as India D added 59 more to their overnight 244 for 5 even as spin-bowling allrounder Saransh Jain didn’t come out to bat due to an unspecified injury.India B’s hopes of going after the target needed a stable base from the top order, but that wasn’t to be, as they quickly found themselves three down inside eight overs. Musheer Khan, who had opened the tournament with a backs-to-the-wall 181, was out for his second duck in four innings since, to end a tournament that had promised much more.Nitish, who himself hadn’t contributed as much as he would have liked with the bat, ended the tournament on a brighter note, albeit in a losing cause. He managed two wickets with the ball during the competition, where he showed the ability to bowl long spells and move the ball both ways at a brisk pace.Arshdeep aside, Saurabh Kumar, the left-arm-spinner, enjoyed a productive outing; his five-wicket haul in the first innings setting up a 67-run lead for India D. In other positives for them, Shreyas Iyer, who was leading the side, hit 50 off just 40 balls in the second innings, while Sanju Samson, the first-innings centurion, played a cameo in the second to set up a total they were able to eventually defend.For India B, Abhimanyu Easwaran was among their bright spots. Having begun the tournament with two very uncharacteristic dismissals, he bounced back with twin hundreds in his subsequent outings. However, a loss in the final game ended his side’s chances of clinching the Duleep Trophy, as India A are all but certain to gain three points from their ongoing fixture against India C.

Anuj Dal led a strong Derbyshire batting display to put the home side in a commanding position on day two of the Vitality County Championship Division Two match against Glamorgan at Derby.Dal made 94 from 135 balls after Harry Came, with 84, and Wayne Madsen’s 70 put Derbyshire on course for a big first-innings total.Glamorgan spinner Ben Kellaway took his first wickets in first-class cricket, finishing with 3 for 59, while Mason Crane claimed 3 for 43 as Derbyshire were bowled out for 429, a lead of 261.Glamorgan were left with a tricky 12 overs to negotiate but they survived to close on 39 without loss, still 222 behind.It was a good day for batting with the County Ground bathed in sunshine which was a good sign for the overnight pair of Came and Madsen who proceeded in untroubled fashion to move past Glamorgan’s modest first innings.Ned Leonard again offered too much width which allowed Came to settle back into his innings by twice dispatching short balls to the point boundary.Glamorgan’s attack struggled to impose a measure of control with Madsen reaching his 50 off 88 balls and the stand was worth 130 when Came threw away the chance of a century.The opener came down the pitch to hit Kellaway back over his head but the bowler leapt to take an excellent catch at the second attempt to claim his maiden first-class wicket.He soon had a second as Madsen attempted a slog sweep but got under it and skied a simple catch to midwicket. That brought together the former Glamorgan pair of David Lloyd and Anuerin Donald, who was intent on taking the attack to the bowlers.He pulled Dan Douthwaite for six and crunched Kellaway through the covers to move to 28 from only 22 balls before a smart piece of wicketkeeping removed him two overs before lunch.Donald paddled Kellaway around the corner but Chris Cooke had anticipated the shot and moved across to take a fine catch at leg slip.Even so, it had been a productive morning for Derbyshire who led by 79 at the interval and they tightened their grip on the game in the second session.Lloyd was closing in on a half-century against his former team-mates when Crane got one to spin between bat and pad to take the off stump.Glamorgan’s hopes of wrapping up the innings quickly faded as Zak Chappell again showed how well he can bat by sharing a stand of 67 from 99 balls with Dal who straight drove Leonard for his sixth four to reach 50.By tea, the lead was over 200 but rather than give their bowlers a session to go at Glamorgan, Derbyshire batted on for another 18 overs, presumably to give Dal a chance of a century.Pat Brown stayed with him for 89 balls while another 48 runs were added but Dal fell short when he drove Crane to long-off.That left Glamorgan with an awkward period to get through and Kellaway enjoyed another landmark when he edged Chappell for four to open his account in the first-class game after three consecutive ducks.Chappell should have removed Billy Root in his next over but Donald spilled the chance at third slip and the pair stayed together to provide Glamorgan with some comfort at the end of another challenging day.

England star Alice Capsey followed up her opening-day 51 with a well-made 59 as Oval Invincibles defeated Welsh Fire by six wickets at Cardiff.Capsey hit seven boundaries in her 48-ball knock before she was brilliantly caught at long-on by Hayley Matthews off Freya Davies with 27 runs still required.All-rounders Marizanne Kapp (26*) and Mady Villiers (11*) then took the reins to extinguish any Welsh Fire hopes, guiding Invincibles home with 12 balls to spare.The Invincibles’ chase got off to a far from ideal start as they lost Lauren Winfield-Hill on the second ball of the innings, caught at cover by Tammy Beaumont off Shabnim Ismail for a duck.Paige Schofield (11) and Capsey didn’t let this early loss faze them, playing fluently to move the score along to 37 for 1 after 20 balls, the latter crucially being dropped at long-on by Ismail off Jess Jonassen two runs later.Capsey overturned an lbw decision on 43 off the bowling of Jonassen and went on to bring up her fifty from 42 balls.Welsh Fire won the toss and elected to bat, losing Beaumont for four to the eighth ball of the innings, an outswinger from Kapp which drew an edge behind to Winfield-Hill.After 25 balls, Welsh Fire had laboured to 17 for 1 and they soon found themselves 20 for 2 when Amanda-Jade Wellington struck first ball to remove the dangerous Matthews for just 6, caught brilliantly by Kapp running in from the cover boundary.Sophia Dunkley made 35 from 26 balls before skying Wellington to Ryana MacDonald-Gay at long-on and Jonassen, who took over Dunkley’s role as aggressor, played enterprisingly for 32 not out from 22 balls as Welsh Fire closed their innings on a below-par 116 for 5.Meerkat Match Hero Capsey, said: “Pace on was really nice, so capitalising on that up the top in the powerplay. When it got a bit harder, they were bowling really well with change-ups and bowling a bit slower, me and Kappy built a partnership and knew the longer it went on, the easier it would get for the others coming in at the back end.”I’ve been feeling in really good nick but I think the most pleasing thing for me is my calmness. I think last year I was a bit frantic. So, it’s nice to be back in this space where I can contribute to team wins.”

USA had several things going against them.The conditions: Before today, they’d never played at Nassau County Stadium; this was India’s fourth game at the venue.Personnel: Monank Patel, the designated captain, was out injured.The toss: Rohit Sharma called correctly and asked USA to bat in seaming conditions.Experience: A motley crew with day jobs against cricketing royalty.It had all the makings of a one-sided fare. Except, it was anything but.At one stage, with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both dismissed by Saurabh Netravalkar, and India 15 for 2 in chase of 111, USA dared to dream.When Rishabh Pant was castled by Ali Khan, thirty-thousand screaming fans, many of them Indian-Americans, gave more wings to those dreams.This was now USA’s game to lose.But in Suryakumar Yadav, India had a crisis man who bailed them out of choppy waters. He was helped along by Shivam Dube during the course of a half-century stand that proved to be a game-changer.India are now through to the Super Eights, but USA are still very much masters of their own fate; a win over Ireland, even a washout, will see them through, ahead of Pakistan whom they famously beat in a Super Over thriller last week.On a day when he did most things right, Saurabh Netravalkar shelled a chance to hand Suryakumar Yadav a vital life•ICC/Getty Images

Netravalkar’s Gibbs moment?

Fifty-three needed off 45.USA were bowling cutters into the pitch. Suryakumar was struggling to hit the ball off the square, and was trying to manufacture strokes. Most times, it comes off. Here, it wasn’t.An over after nearly getting bowled trying to sweep Corey Anderson off his length, he tried to open the bat face to play his trademark loft, only to slice the ball high. Saurabh Netravalkar circled under it after doing exceedingly well to get to the ball running back from short third, but couldn’t hold on to the chance.The superhero who could not put a foot wrong until then was human, after all.

Netravalkar’s dream beginning

Virat Kohli first. Rohit Sharma next.The ball that felled Kohli in the first over was a dream delivery. The batter nicking off with a perfect away-going delivery that had him jabbing. It was only Kohli’s second golden duck in T20Is.The ball that got Rohit was somewhat similar. Except it was a lot closer to the stumps and had Rohit turning the face of the bat to take the leading edge. At mid-off, Harmeet Singh, Rohit’s school junior by a few years, ran back and held on.India were shell-shocked at 15 for 2, which soon became 44 for 3 when Rishabh Pant was out to one that skidded low and through his defence.Rohit Sharma walks back after becoming Saurabh Netravalkar’s second victim•Getty Images

Suryakumar, Dube dig in to allay nerves

It was almost as if the reprieve of Suryakumar deflated USA.Suddenly, Aaron Jones was switching fields every ball, running up to have a chat between deliveries, all of it playing into the hands of the batters. Twice, USA were warned about delaying the game by not beginning their next over within their 60-second allowance. When they erred for a third time, the umpires awarded five penalty runs to India.From 35 off 30, India now needed a run-a-ball 30. It didn’t matter then that Dube had at one point been struggling on 5 off 14, or that Suryakumar was far from his 360-degree mode.In the 17th over, India truly broke the stranglehold when Suryakumar picked Shadley van Schalkwyk’s medium pace for a lofted six over extra cover and a trademark flick over his shoulder for four off back-to-back deliveries.

Off the first ball of the 19th, he got to a 49-ball half-century. The winning runs were hit one legitimate delivery later when Dube dug out a yorker-length delivery to long-off. It could have so easily been another knock that had Dube’s self-doubts spiralling, but that he dug in to remain unbeaten on 31 in what was a hard scrap should give him lot of confidence.

Arshdeep’s career-best has USA hobbling

The day began with a two-wicket opening over in which Arshdeep Singh swung the ball back in. Shayan Jahangir, replacing Monank Patel, was out lbw, and Andries Gous picked out mid-off attempting to pull a skiddy short ball.It wasn’t until Nitish Kumar and Corey Anderson added 25 off 18 heading into the final overs that USA had some injection of momentum that gave them a chance of getting towards 120.However, overs 16-18 scuppered those plans. Hardik bowled a wicket-maiden in the 17th, dismissing Anderson for his second wicket, and Arshdeep had Harmeet Singh – who had top-edged Bumrah for a six to get off the mark – caught behind.USA ended up with 110, which they’d look back at and wonder what could’ve been had they only got 10 more.

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said his team gave up pushing for a place in the T20 World Cup semi-finals after they lost three wickets in the first three overs of their chase against Afghanistan in Kingstown.After restricting Afghanistan to 115 for 5 in the final Super Eight game, Bangladesh needed to win in 12.1 overs to go ahead of Afghanistan and Australia on net run rate and qualify for the semi-finals from Group 1 along with India.”The plan was to try [to win in 12.1 overs] if we get a good start in the powerplay,” Shanto said after the match. “We thought that if we don’t lose early wickets, we could take the chance [to go for the semi-finals]. When we lost three wickets, we had a different plan. We wanted to see how we could win the game. The middle-order didn’t take good enough decisions, which is why we lost the game today.”Bangladesh slipped to 23 for 3 in 2.5 overs and their subsequent slowdown sparked outrage among their fans, who could not fathom such an approach from a team that had a chance to qualify for the semi-finals.Former captain Mashrafe Mortaza said in a post on Facebook that Bangladesh shouldn’t have thought about merely winning against Afghanistan. “Litton’s intent and the non-strikers’ silence suggests that there was no clear message for the batting unit. Even if there was a message, it changed every one or two overs. It ended up with the decision to try to just win the game.”Today should have been just about winning in 12.1 overs. There was no other way of thinking. Everyone would have understood if they got bowled out for 50. If we had won this game, we would have lost to our conscience. This was not like ten other matches. We could have made history today.”Related

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Bangladesh were in the hunt at 75 for 5 at the end of the ninth over. Towhid Hridoy had struck Mohammad Nabi for two fours in the eighth over before Litton Das hit Rashid Khan for two more fours in the ninth. Forty-three runs to get in 3.1 overs was tough but not impossible, but then Mahmudullah played out a Noor Ahmad over with five dot balls and just one attacking shot that yielded a boundary. Rashid took two wickets in the 11th over to end Bangladesh’s chances of progressing to the semi-finals.”We wanted to win the match. It was the initial plan,” Shanto said. “When we saw 115 runs on the board, we had a plan to win in 12.1 overs. The batting group made a lot of poor decisions. It is frustrating and disappointing. We wanted to win this game. We had the chance in our grasp. We couldn’t take it.”Litton remained unbeaten on 54, carrying his bat as Bangladesh were bowled out for 105 in the 18th over to confirm Afghanistan’s place in the semi-finals at Australia’s expense.Bangladesh had made another tactical blunder by holding back Hridoy, arguably their best batter in this T20 World Cup, to No 6. Sending in out-of-form batters like Soumya Sarkar over Hridoy was costly but Shanto said the team wanted to have a left-right combination in the middle. “We mixed up the batting order because we wanted to keep left-right combination. There was Litton in one end. They had a lot of variations in their bowling. Everyone was clear, they knew we would do this.”Bangladesh’s net run rate situation need not have been this dire had they shown more urgency in their previous Super Eight game against India. Chasing 197 on a good batting pitch in Antigua, Bangladesh had managed only 146 for 8 in response. Tamim Iqbal, an expert for ESPNcricinfo, and Shakib Al Hasan had criticised the team’s attitude and tactics, dropping Taskin Ahmed to not showing intent in the powerplay.”We gave our 100% against India,” Shanto said after Bangladesh’s loss to Afghanistan. “We picked the extra spinner in Mahedi, who bowled well. We should have scored a few more runs on that wicket [in Antigua]. We didn’t utilise it properly. The scenario would have been different had we batted better [against India].”Shanto signed off by apologising to the Bangladesh fans for letting them down. His last word at the press conference in St Vincent was “sorry”. Bangladesh’s fans, however, deserve more than a perfunctory ‘sorry’ from their captain and the team management.

“I am not a stats man, I am a win man,” Simon Harmer said when asked by Murali Kartik in the post-match presentation about his returns: his 8 for 51 is the best by a South Africa spinner in a Test in India and second only to Dale Steyn’s 10 for 108 back in 2010.The other South Africans at Eden Gardens could say the same. They started the third day staring at a crisis. They fought their way out of it with the bat, led by Temba Bavuma and Corbin Bosch, and then had Marco Jansen first and then Harmer running through the opposition.All India had in front of them was a target of 124. They only got 93.Related

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“A game like this, you can’t dwell into it too much, because… we should have been able to chase this score, but eventually the pressure kept on building in the second innings and we couldn’t capitalise,” Rishabh Pant, standing in as captain in Shubman Gill’s absence, said. “Definitely there was help in the wicket, a [target] of 120 can be tricky on these kinds of surfaces, but at the same time, as a team we should be able to soak in the pressure.”He pointed to the morning session when South Africa, resuming on 93 for 7, added 60 more runs. “That was the turning point,” Pant said. “Temba and Bosch had a brilliant partnership in the morning and that got them back in the game and that hurt us too much at the end of the game.”Bavuma isn’t the sort to talk big, so he kept it simple.”It was about awareness. Second innings, I didn’t change too much. Fortunately I have played in India before, so I kind of understand the little bit of adjustment that you need to make, and luck also plays a part,” he said of his innings of 55 not out, the only half-century in a game where no innings touched 200.”The captaincy, you are only as good as the players. That I give it to them. Batting, I am just comfortable with myself. And technique: not to worry about trigger and all those types of things. I stand as still as I can, watch the ball. I have a decent understanding of my game. I have come here to India wanting to do well. Not the greatest of records when it comes to these conditions. There’s a bit of that exuberance from my side to see myself doing well in these conditions and implement all the little things that I’m trying here, and keep contributing for the team.”The partnership with Bosch, I think with Marco as well at the end of the day [yesterday], just gave a little bit of impetus. The wicket played a bit better this morning, wasn’t as extreme. We tried to stay in the game as much as we could. It is not all the time that you score 120-125 and that’s a winning score. I think it was a case of staying in the game and keep believing.”Contribute he did, and then turned to his bowlers.3:40

Did India let South Africa off the hook in the morning?

“Very exciting. We want to be a part of these games and be on the right side of the result. We tried to hold on to our nerves as much as we could,” Bavuma said. “It was tough for us and we needed the bowlers to exploit what was there and the guys did that beautifully. We were able to change our bowlers frequently and that worked for us.”If Harmer is to be believed, the conditions got a bit tougher for him on the third day.”Today, I felt it probably got a little bit flatter as the ball got softer. It wasn’t exploding as much. I was asking myself some really hard questions,” he said. “Nice to contribute. I have been here before and it was a dark place, losing [three out of four Tests in 2015]. So to get here, to be behind the eight-ball again, and for the team to fight the way they did, shows where this group is and what they are capable of and the belief that they have.”I knew I needed to bowl well. I think it was the same when we were batting – it felt like we were one partnership away from getting ourselves into the game. It was the same with ball in hand. We knew we were one partnership away from getting really close. I just needed to try and put as many balls in the right areas and trust that the wicket would do its bit.”

Teenagers G Kamalini and Vaishnavi Sharma have earned their maiden India call-ups for the five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka later this month. Radha Yadav, Yastika Bhatia and Sayali Satghare, who were all part of the previous T20I squad that played against England, have been left out.Wicketkeeper-batter Kamalini, 17, whose heroics in the U-19 Asia Cup in 2024 earned her a WPL deal, played nine matches for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the tournament earlier this year. A big-hitting left-hand batter, she made an eye-catching unbeaten 11 off 8 in just her second match, including the winning four off the penultimate ball, for MI against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. She was one of the five players retained by MI for INR 50 lakh ahead of the WPL 2026 auction. In the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, she finished as the sixth-highest run-scorer with 297 runs in seven games.Left-arm spinner Vaishnavi, 19, finished with the most wickets in the Senior Women’s T20 (21 wickets in 11 games) for Madhya Pradesh, as well as the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal T20s (12 in five) for Central Zone. She was also the leading wicket-taker during India’s successful U-19 World Cup campaign earlier this year – which Kamalini was also part of – with 17 wickets.Left-arm spinner Radha, who was part of India’s recent ODI World Cup win, finished with four wickets in three games at the tournament. She came in as a replacement for Shuchi Upadhyay for the England tour in June and took six wickets in five games. Wicketkeeper Yastika, meanwhile, was ruled out of the World Cup with a knee injury and has not played any top-flight cricket since August. There are no other surprises in the squad, which will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur.The first two T20Is of the five-match series will take place in Visakhapatnam on December 21 and 23, while Thiruvananthapuram will host the last three games on December 26, 28 and 30.

India’s T20I squad vs Sri Lanka

Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh Thakur, Richa Ghosh (wk), G Kamalini (wk), N Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma.

India vs Pakistan matches have a lot riding on them but, two days out from their first meeting at the 2025 Asia Cup, the focus appears to be squarely on the cricket. And nothing else.”For the players and for us,” India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said, “Once the BCCI says and they are aligned with the government, we are here to prepare and we are here to play. It will be a competitive game. An India-Pakistan game is always a competitive game. So, we would rather focus on that.”Ahead of India’s training session on Friday, Kotak was asked whether it can be tough to focus on cricket amid calls from certain quarters back home to boycott matches against Pakistan. India and Pakistan share a tense political relationship that has only grown more strained in recent months, with the two countries having exchanged cross-border hostilities following the Pahalgam terror attack in April.Related

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“Honestly, I don’t think so [not tough],” Kotak said. “Once we are here to play, I think players are focused on playing cricket. I personally don’t think they have anything in mind apart from playing cricket. And that’s what we focus on.”The other big point of focus was India’s batting line-up, and whether Sanju Samson can adapt to a role at No. 5 or 6, where he hasn’t had as much success as in the top order. Kotak was clear, while there was a fair degree of certainty around the openers and No. 3, that the rest of the line-up was flexible, and players were preparing themselves with this in mind.”If you look at our batting line-up, everyone is capable of going to any number and finishing the match,” Kotak explained. “Although, we have four-five aggressive players who, according to the situation, either the head coach or the captain decides where to send them. More or less everyone is prepared to bat at any number.1:48

Dube: ‘I am always prepared to bowl four overs’

“So there is nothing fixed. Everyone knows their role. So, according to the situation, they will be ready. Obviously, the openers and No. 3, we think about particular players. But after that, if required, I think all the players also now mentally and skill-wise, they are prepared to bat at any number. And I think that’s a good sign.”Kotak essentially underlined that all of Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube and Samson can finish off an innings if required. “Everyone knows their role,” he said. “One thing. Maybe we have more than one finisher. So, seriously, depending on the situation, we can go accordingly.”Because if you look at Shivam, if you look at Hardik, if you look at Axar, they all can do whatever is required depending on who is bowling, which bowler of the opposing team is left, how is the wicket. So, it is a great thing to have, where you have three [or] four guys who can go at any number.”Kotak also cleared “confusion” over the team’s workload-management policy, when asked if the prospect of playing a Test match, where he is captain, barely three days after the conclusion of the Asia Cup would impact Gill’s readiness. India host West Indies for two Tests from October 2.”I don’t know what you think about workload management. But workload management is generally done for bowlers, mainly fast bowlers,” Kotak said. “If you talk about batters, if they mentally feel that cricket is too much for them, then it is a matter of thinking. Workload is actually managed by fast bowlers. I don’t think batsmen face workload management issues.”Asked if Arshdeep Singh, India’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is, could sit out as he did in the opening game, Kotak said that call was made on the basis of the slow, turning conditions in Dubai. If need be, similar calls will be made again.”Everyone knows that there is no agenda,” he said. “There is no personal liking, disliking. Whatever is best for the team, the captain and head coach will decide and do that. And I don’t think there is any doubt in anybody’s mind. So, whoever is not playing, they are always trying to help the guys who are playing. And I think that’s the way the team should play.”