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West Indies wobbled around Rovman Powell’s fifty before lightning and rain brought an end to the game prematurely

The Report by Shashank Kishore04-Aug-20196:06

Dasgupta: Krunal gives India flexibility in T20I batting line-up

India sealed the T20I series in Lauderhill to throw open the possibility of experimenting when the two sides meet in the third and final match in Guyana on Tuesday. Unlike Saturday, where both sides scrapped on a sluggish surface, this was a more even contest, India throwing more punches with the bat to clinch a seesaw battle brought to an end by streaks of lightning.Rohit Sharma’s contribution – a 51-ball 67 – left the biggest mark on the game; an innings where he once again showed T20 batting was as much about timing and finesse as it is about muscle. His sparkle allowed India some legroom despite a middle-order wobble.A blaze of sixes towards the end from Krunal Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja lifted them to 167 for 5, which looked good enough for the first six overs of West Indies’ chase. Then, Rovman Powell announced himself as India’s bowlers briefly switched off.He raised a 30-ball half-century to keep West Indies in the hunt, even as Nicholas Pooran’s struggle for timing proved to be an obstacle. Then they lost both Pooran and Powell in the same over to Krunal. This double-strike threw West Indies 22 runs behind the DLS par score when lightning stopped play with the score on 98 for 4 in 15.3 overs.Contrasting fortunes of India’s openers
There was some moisture and early-morning swing for the fast bowlers, but Sheldon Cottrell and Oshane Thomas struggled for rhythm. Rohit put the first ball to the fine-leg boundary and looked to carry on his World Cup form. He trusted the pace and bounce to hit Cottrell for two boundaries in the fourth over: first a walk-across flick over midwicket and the second a lofted inside-out hit over extra cover.At the other end, Shikhar Dhawan struggled for timing in front of square. As a result, he was largely trying to use the pace to pick runs behind the wicket. Occasionally, he was beaten for pace looking to uppercut. He couldn’t generate power while hitting through the line and run scoring seemed a struggle.However, Rohit’s blazing form – he became the most prolific six-hitter in T20Is on the day, going past Chris Gayle’s mark – allowed Dhawan to play himself in. India still had a firm footing as the Powerplay brought them seven fours and a six; they raced to 52 for no loss. Dhawan fell out of desperation in the eighth when he was bowled while attempting a hoick across the line to a full Keemo Paul delivery.Krunal Pandya celebrates a wicket•Associated PressKrunal, Jadeja’s slobber-knocker of a finish
Virat Kohli kicked on seamlessly, but Rishabh Pant did not give himself an opportunity to make a splash in the end-overs, picking out short third man attempting a cheeky upper cut off his fifth delivery. Manish Pandey, perhaps batting out of position – a bulk of his T20 success has come batting in the top four – was out playing a ugly heave soon after.West Indies suddenly were looking at restricting India to 150. Job well done, yes? Krunal had other ideas. On 7 off 9 and struggling to adjust to the slower variations, Paul presented him with a juicy full toss which he flicked over deep midwicket for six. With his confidence restored, he used the depth of the crease to convert an attempted yorker into a half-volley to muscle the next ball over long-on. Jadeja then ended the innings with a flourish – the final over being nailed for 20 – when he bisected long-on and deep square for the third six. India had an above-par score.The Powerplay stifle
West Indies were walking on a tightrope, denied any room to cut or pull. Bhuvneshwar Kumar cleverly stuck the ball into the wicket with his slower variations and had Evin Lewis jabbing one that he brilliantly held on his followthrough in the second over. West Indies’ decision to take a left out of the Kolkata Knight Riders’ book and promote Sunil Narine also came a cropper as he was deceived in flight to be bowled by Washington Sundar, not before he’d consumed 12 balls for his four. After four, they were tottering at 9 for 2.The Powell muscle
Powell displayed brute force and utter disregard for the bowling, perhaps with little option left. A batting strategy that can sometimes border on the reckless brought him rewards as he cleared the short straight boundaries effortlessly to give two rookies Khaleel Ahmed and Navdeep Saini the jitters. Saini, Man of the Match on debut on Saturday, was taken for 27 off three wicketless overs. As Powell blazed past fifty, West Indies had begun to mount a serious threat, needing 85 off 42.Up until this point, Pooran struggled to rotate strike and bring out the big hits, pottering to 19 off 31. He had to go for broke, he tried and fell in the process as Pandey made the pop up boundary catch look coolly nonchalant. Two balls later, Powell played all around a full delivery and was stone dead. As the weather closed in, West Indies didn’t do themselves any favours. Not even the presence of Pollard and Shimron Hetmyer meant much from there on.

Derby County would have breathed a major sigh of relief that Eiran Cashin stayed put this January at Pride Park, despite fervent interest from a number of higher up suitors trying to tempt the highly regarded Rams talent away.

Putting pen on paper to a new deal until 2027 to further show his commitment to the League One club, Cashin's main focus – alongside his fellow Derby teammates – will be now on clinching promotion come the end of the season back up to the second tier.

If Paul Warne's side aren't successful in achieving this goal, regardless of new contracts or not, they will again face an uphill battle to keep a firm grip on the 22-year-old defender.

Derby will lose Max Bird at the end of the season for sure to Bristol City, with a move confirmed to happen in the summer this January, but there's one midfielder already at the Robins that evokes regret from a Rams perspective with Warne's men offloading the player in question for what now feels like a cut-price fee.

The fee Derby County sold Jason Knight for

Coming through the youth ranks in Derbyshire around the same time as both Cashin and Bird were beginning to gain plaudits, Jason Knight could well have demanded a bigger fee to win his services in retrospect.

Making 166 appearances for his boyhood club before the Robins came calling, Knight's final season in Derby colours saw the now 22-year-old bag two goals and pick up three assists in League One.

Taken aback by the allure of playing in the division above, Knight would move to Ashton Gate for what now looks like a bargain price of £2m after the season had concluded.

Knight hasn't looked back since, coming on leaps and bounds at Bristol City with his importance to the Robins cause only being elevated under Liam Manning this season.

As a direct consequence, the versatile midfielder's transfer value has increased only to further pile on the misery from a Derby point of view.

Jason Knight's increased transfer value

As it stands, Knight's transfer value has increased by 200% since leaving Derby behind last year – the 22-year-old now boasting a boosted worth of €7.5m (£6.3m), according to Football Transfers.

This is down to Knight becoming a key first-teamer under Manning at Ashton Gate this campaign to date, netting six goals in all competitions for his new employers from 39 appearances.

Playing in a whole host of different positions – which has even included the ex-Derby man playing as a centre-forward from time to time – Knight has predominantly excelled in an attacking midfield spot where he's picked up three goals and three goals from 21 games.

Showcasing his class for Bristol over Derby's arch-rivals Nottingham Forest recently with a dinked goal, Knight will have his mind set on continuing to excel to try and help his side mount a serious charge for the playoff positions in the Championship.

It seems Wayne Rooney was justified when he waxed lyrical about Knight being "first class" when he was Rams manager, the former Derby youth product making the step-up to the second tier look effortless this campaign.

Bird will reconnect with Knight at Ashton Gate next season hoping he can copy what the 22-year-old has managed to accomplish, with Warne's side praying that Bristol City don't make Derby look foolish again for letting go of another top young talent for too little.

St Lucia Zouks stayed on fourth place, having lost three of their first four games this season

The Report by Peter Della Penna16-Sep-2019For the second night in a row at Warner Park, the first-innings batsmen were shredded apart. While St Kitts & Nevis Patriots were treated shabbily by the Guyana Amazon Warriors spinners on Saturday night, it was the Patriots pacers that inflicted maximum damage on St Lucia Zouks in a six-wicket win on Sunday evening.Debutant Akeem Jordan was one of four changes to the Patriots XI and galvanised the bowling unit with a four-wicket haul, including three in the Powerplay, to dismantle the heart of the Zouks batting, the visitors scraping their way to 138 for 9. Patriots navigated their way through a pair of rain stoppages in the chase before knocking off the target with 31 balls to spare following a blistering knock from Evin Lewis.Akeem the DreamThe 24-year-old fast bowler had a fairy-tale debut. He struck with his third ball when Andre Fletcher cut straight to Fabian Allen at backward point. Jordan followed it up in his next over getting Rahkeem Cornwall to slash to third man. Bowlers rarely bowl three overs in a row at any stage of a T20 match but Carlos Brathwaite’s persistence to stick with Jordan was rewarded when Kavem Hodge picked out Kjorn Ottley at deep midwicket with a pull in the fifth to make it 33 for 3.The recalled Usama Mir then built on Jordan’s early breakthroughs, striking with his very first ball when Roland Cato’s clumsy paddle flick ballooned off a top edge to Rayad Emrit at short fine leg. Emrit got into the act with the ball in the ninth, inducing a top-edged swat from Thisara Perera to Laurie Evans on the ring at point to make it 52 for 5 and from there the Zouks were behind the game.Colin de Grandhomme did his best to get the Zouks innings back in gear. In the same over that Thisara fell, de Grandhomme struck 16 in three balls off Emrit. But he found the going much tougher against legspinner Mir, eventually falling in a wicket-maiden 12th over skying a drive to Ottley on the cover sweeper rope.Who’s Tommy?Devon Thomas then took centre stage with a pair of sensational catches. The first came on the final ball of the 15th when Darren Sammy was unlucky to be given out off the thigh guard missing a pull down the leg side. But Thomas sold it well with an acrobatic effort supporting the appeal from Sheldon Cottrell.There was no doubt about the edge off the bat of Kesrick Williams two balls later, though. A full ball from Jordan produced the edge that flew to the keeper’s right.Caught wrong-footed, he leaped one-handed to his right to pull off a stunning catch for Jordan’s fourth wicket. At 100 for 8, Hardus Viljoen and Obed McCoy did their best to stretch the innings to the full 20 overs.You just dropped the 13th match of CPL 2019!Coming back into the lineup after missing Saturday night’s loss due to an injury sustained playing football in warm-ups, Lewis tore apart the Zouks attack with five fours and six sixes. But the Zouks had two chances in the first two overs to nip the Lewis knock in the bud, failing on both occasions.The first opportunity came off his second ball when he had yet to score as the left-hander drove hard at McCoy. Cornwall stabbed at a chance high to his left but only managed to parry it to the third man rope. It would have been a regulation catch for a second slip but Sammy opted to stay conservative despite needing to press for wickets. A far easier offering came in the second over. Williams had struck off his second ball getting Thomas to slash to third man and three balls later set a trap for Lewis putting in place a deep square leg. Williams sent down a bouncer that produced a top edge on the attempted pull by Lewis. Kavem Hodge was in perfect position but spilled it badly.After taking two off the drop to move to six, Lewis hooked the next ball for his first maximum and never looked back. He continued to remind Hodge of his error by belting him for two sixes – the first of which brought up a 26-ball fifty – and two fours off the left-arm spinner in the 11th. Hodge finally got him out off a full toss off the last ball of the over. But by that stage the Patriots needed 21 off nine overs and cantered over the line.

Barcelona are ready to sell Ansu Fati this summer as they informed the player that he has no future under new manager Hansi Flick.

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Barcelona want Fati out this summerFati spent last season on loan at BrightonHansi Flick does not want the Spaniard in his squadWHAT HAPPENED?

Per , the Catalan giants have reportedly informed the attacker he doesn't fit into the plans of new manager Hansi Flick and are considering selling him permanently this summer. Fati had moved to the Premier League last season as he joined Brighton on loan. The move, however, turned out to be a disaster as he was plagued with multiple injuries in his maiden campaign in England. He appeared in 30 matches across all competitions where he clocked just 1,058 minutes on the pitch.

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The 21-year-old reportedly had a chat with Barcelona sporting director Deco recently who informed him that the club are planning to send him out on yet another loan deal or permanently sell him. The player currently has an active contract with the club which is valid until 2027.

DID YOU KNOW?

The La Masia graduate's career has only gone downhill in the past few years after being projected to be the successor to Lionel Messi at Camp Nou. He even inherited the famous number 10 shirt after the Argentine departed for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, but with time he lost his place in the team and is now on the verge of leaving permanently.

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The former La Liga champions will regroup under Hansi Flick next month before heading to the US for pre-season. They are scheduled to play friendly matches against Manchester City, Real Madrid and AC Milan.

Jasprit Bumrah bowled some ‘magic balls’, but West Indies need to find solutions, says the West Indies captain

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Aug-20192:29

Jasprit Bumrah bowled ‘some magic balls’ – Jason Holder

A target of 419, with well over a day’s play to go, was always going to be tricky for West Indies, but 100 all out in 26.5 overs was perhaps a notch or three lower than where the team wanted to be. Captain Jason Holder said their batsmen need to “look at themselves seriously in the mirror” after that display.”Our batters did not come to the party,” Holder said after the game in North Sound, where Jasprit Bumrah’s “magic balls” hasted West Indies’ end as he finished with incredible figures of 8-4-7-5.The magic on the day came in the form of the outswinger, a delivery Bumrah hadn’t used much in match play before this, and sent down with devastating effect, especially to Shai Hope and Holder. Both played the angle but the ball swung away to hit the off stump, while John Campbell and Darren Bravo, both left-hand batsmen, were bowled through the gate.ALSO READ: Bumrah perfects his latest weapon, the outswinger”Today he proved difficult [to negotiate]. He bowled some magic balls today and got quite a few of our batsmen with some very good balls,” Holder agreed.” Having said that, we have just got to find ways to negate him. He is a quality bowler yes, but definitely, solutions are there.”He got the ball to swing quite late this evening as well. He was difficult. He bowled quite a few inswingers to me. It (the dismissal delivery) angled in and left me at the last moment, so I give him all credit for that one.”Bumrah bowled an exceptional spell, Ishant [Sharma] was very supportive, as well as [Mohammed] Shami. Just one of those spells in Test cricket when the opposition gets on top and stays on top. We’ve seen it happen in so many occasions around the world. These things do happen in Test cricket, but it’s a matter of it not to happen very often.”

We have a lot to be disappointed about, we didn’t perform as well as we’d like, but there’s no point dropping our heads, that’s not the solution

What did happen twice over two innings was a rather tame West Indian capitulation. The first time out was better – 222 – but, even then, the best individual score was Roston Chase’s 48 when each of the top-eight batsmen got into double-digits but couldn’t kick on. The second time was more abject, and might have been even worse but for an entertaining 50-run stand for the last wicket between Kemar Roach and Miguel Cummins.”Our batters definitely did not come to the party in this game. We fell short [by] quite a few runs. I think the wicket has been a very good one [for batting]. The initial phase with the new ball was the hardest, as a batsman, you should fear, but after that it gets pretty easy,” Holder said. “It’s just a matter for us to dig a little deeper, we’ve got to fight hard initially upfront in our innings. Give ourselves a fair chance at succeeding.Jason Holder walks back after being done in by a Jasprit Bumrah outswinger•Getty Images”Looking back at this game, everyone who was successful really gave themselves a good chance upfront. Our bowlers have to look at two-three spells before they start to expand; it’s going to pretty much going to be similar in Jamaica [in the second Test].”What’s the solution? Chase, after the first innings, had pointed to the openers not providing a platform for the middle-order batsmen and then the other batsmen giving their wickets away too easily. The sentiment was the same, but Holder went a bit deeper when asked the same question.”We’ve been looking for solutions for a little while. Each batter’s just got to look at themselves seriously in the mirror, and we’ve just got to find solutions,” he said. “I think more often than not we have been gifting our wickets instead of letting the opposition work for the wickets. That’s one area we can definitely draw on, make the opposition work really hard for the wickets. If we go through the dismissals in this match, there were quite a few soft dismissals.”Now it’s over to Sabina Park after a short “refresh and recuperate” period, and Holder, who defended the decision to field four fast bowlers – including himself – with just the lone spinner in Chase, hoped the team would use the break to lift themselves.”[The defeat] definitely doesn’t dent my confidence personally, and the group I think should be out lifting themselves,” Holder said. “We have a lot to be disappointed about, we didn’t perform as well as we’d like, but there’s no point dropping our heads, that’s not the solution, in my opinion. We’ve got to find a way to bring ourselves back after this defeat and rally around one another.”

Derby County had to wave goodbye to many of their key players during the height of their bleak financial issues, saying farewell to the likes of first-team stalwart Tom Lawrence and rising starlet Luke Plange to name a few.

All of that agony is a distant memory for the Rams in the here and now however, as Paul Warne attempts to be the much-loved manager at the helm that steers Derby to a return to the Championship.

Yet, this ex-player's current predicament will still raise an eyebrow when Derby fans observe from afar.

Once a goalscorer in a Championship playoff final for the Rams when Frank Lampard was boss, one out-of-sorts striker now finds himself roughing it up in League Two as his career begins to fizzle out.

Jack Marriott's time at Derby

Joining the Derby ranks off the back of a Golden Boot-winning season in League One with Peterborough United – Marriott bagging 27 third-tier goals from 44 appearances – the hefty price tag of £3m didn't look too extortionate at the time.

Where Are They Now

Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast's Where Are They Now series.

The ex-Posh star, who was described as being an "incredible" talent by Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony during his time in Cambridgeshire, would immediately hit the ground running making the step-up to further justify the millions spent to acquire his services.

The energetic 5 foot 8 centre-forward would find the back of the net a respectable 13 times in all competitions during his first season at Pride Park, including a strike against Aston Villa in that campaign's Playoff Final.

Derby and Marriott's fortunes would go downhill hand-in-hand after this Wembley heartbreak however, with the former Derby attacker finding the back of the net just four more times over the next two seasons as the Rams failed to ever mount another charge for promotion.

Marriott would have a mixed time playing for both Sheffield Wednesday and Fleetwood Town in the aftermath of his Rams exit too, with the 29-year-old even returning back to Peterborough United for a stint.

Now, however, the dwindling striker finds himself playing in League Two with Wrexham Town – the Welsh side managing to convince Marriott to make the drop down from the third tier owing to their mega riches under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Jack Marriott's time at Wrexham

Once worth £3m when the Rams swooped in to sign him in his prime, Marriott's value is now all the way down at €0.9M (£771k) playing in Wales, according to Football Transfers.

The new Wrexham number 11 is goalless from his opening six games for the Red Dragons, upstaged by the likes of former Premier League veterans Steven Fletcher and James McClean being amongst the goals recently.

With Paul Mullin also one to steal the limelight for Phil Parkinson's giants up top – with the 29-year-old sharpshooter onto 12 goals this season – Marriott could well end up blending into the background in Wales if he isn't careful.

It's a sharp decline for an attacker who was once a hero at Derby, firing in goal after goal with the Rams eyeing up promotion to the Premier League at the time.

Now, Derby are just content aiming for a return to Championship football whilst the waning centre-forward aims to break his goalscoring duck soon in League Two. How things can change…

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is reportedly set to add Go Ahead Eagles manager Rene Hake and Ruud van Nistelrooy to his coaching staff.

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Man Utd planning coaching overhaulTen Hag to recruit Go Ahead Eagles boss HakeVan Nistelrooy expected to be addedWHAT HAPPENED?

According to Fabrizio Romano, Ten Hag will add Eredivisie coach Hake and club legend Van Nistelrooy to his backroom staff ahead of next season. The reporter claims the Red Devils are confident of getting a new contract signed for Ten Hag and the new staff.

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Just when it looked like Ten Hag would be sacked, the Dutchman was kept on at Old Trafford – despite leading United to their lowest-ever Premier League finish of eighth in the 2023-24 season. It appears the sheer number of injuries his side endured and their FA Cup triumph saved him and now the ex-Ajax boss is seemingly preparing to shape the coaching team around him as they try to bounce back next term.

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Van Nistelrooy is something of a United icon after scoring 150 goals in 219 games for the club between 2001-06. Since retiring, the ex-Real Madrid forward managed at Jong PSV and much more successfully at PSV. Hake led Go Ahead Eagles to ninth in the Eredivisie last season and has previously managed at Twente and Utrecht.

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WHAT NEXT?

Ten Hag and the United players who are not representing their countries at Euro 2024 or Copa America are reportedly due back for pre-season on July 8. It remains to be seen if Van Nistelrooy and Hake will be in place the club by then.

The India captain says the batsman has the ability to put bowling attacks under pressure in the manner of Sehwag

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Visakhapatnam01-Oct-20193:42

Ideal time to try Rohit as a Test opener – Kohli

The idea of getting Rohit Sharma to open the batting in Test cricket wasn’t a sudden one. According to India captain Virat Kohli, the plan had been brewing among the team management “for a long time”.Rohit has only played four of India’s 17 Tests since the start of 2018, a period when he has competed – at various points – with Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya and Hanuma Vihari for one middle-order slot. The thought of making him open was prompted by the desire to give him a sense of clarity about his role in the team.Watch cricket on ESPN+

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“This has been discussed for a long time now,” Kohli said on the eve of the Visakhapatnam Test against South Africa. “We felt like down the order, it was about finding a spot wherever possible, which wasn’t working both ways. For Rohit as well, I think clarity of role and knowing that, you know, you have to play in a certain position also is very crucial for a player.ALSO READ – Rohit Sharma in new avatar against old nemesis”And for us and the management together, the communication happened a long while back. But we could not see a situation where that could happen in the match. But now we have a situation where the opportunity is there. So we thought it’s the ideal time to go ahead with it because we have spoken about it.”And in one-day cricket, it was the same. He played in the middle order, but then suddenly, opening conversation happened and within six to eight months, he was opening the innings. And you know what happened afterwards. So look, it’s very exciting for him, for the whole team, if he can do what he’s done in one-day cricket at the top and then obviously, it’s a great thing for him and Indian cricket.”4:24

Laxman: Advantage for Rohit to begin his Test opening career at home

Kohli said India would not expect instant results from Rohit and give him space and time to find his feet as an opener.”Look, we’re not looking to rush him at all. It’s about him finding his game accordingly because in India is it’s going to be a different practice that you follow, abroad is going to be different. So opening is a slot where you have to give a player space to understand his own game. So yeah, as I said, we’re in no rush. He’ll be given space to find his own game and come into his own.”The move from No. 6 to the top of the order would require more of a mental change from Rohit than a technical one, Kohli felt, given that he has the experience of facing the second new ball while batting in the middle order.ALSO READ: Sehwag, Jayasuriya, and other middle-order batsmen who became successful openers”In Test cricket, even I started at six initially, then came up to four. I think it’s more of a mental change,” Kohli said. “The moment you convince yourself that, yes, I’m good enough to do this, and once you put that thought in your head, then your game follows accordingly.”Rohit’s in a good space. Playing at number six also requires you to play the [second] new ball every now and then when you walk in. The good thing with opening is that you know you’re going to face the new ball. So it’s not [if it will be] old ball or new ball. So I think that much clarity the opening slot provides you and as I said, it’s about finding your game at the top of the order with the red ball.”So he’s up for the challenge, and we’re pretty confident that he will find his game sooner rather than later at the top. And as I said, once he’s in his zone, then he can do great things for the team. So that’s what we’re looking forward to.”ESPNcricinfo LtdIndia aren’t expecting Rohit to bat in any particular manner as an opener, but Kohli said he had the ability to score quickly and put bowling attacks under pressure in the manner of Virender Sehwag.”In Test cricket, it’s about finding your game in different conditions,” Kohli said. “Sometimes in India, playing on pitches, say on day one, you know the pitch is good to bat on, you might be playing more shots than you would in say, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, England. But having said that, we are not looking at a certain kind of display of batting from Rohit, it’s about him finding his game at the top.”And yes, his strength is to take the game forward. So if he [can bat] like someone like Viru used to do for the team for a long period. So it’s not like someone would have told him, you need to go and attack, or you need to get hundred before lunch. Basically, his natural instinct took over. Once he felt comfortable with his game, he would demolish attacks and really put the team in pole position.”So I’m sure in time, as Rohit grows into that role, he will be able to do that, because he definitely has the ability to do that. And as I said, we are rushing him in no way to do that from innings one or innings two. It’s about him feeling comfortable as to when he can do it. And that’s been his strength, you won’t see Rohit following the template of a [Cheteshwar] Pujara whose strength is totally different.”It’s about finding your own balance, finding your own game, we’re not necessarily looking forward to one kind of mode from him at the top, it totally depends on the situation. If the wicket is challenging and we are three down and he is still in, obviously you won’t see him smashing the ball all over the place. [He] is a mature cricketer, is smart enough to understand what the situation demands. But yeah, he and the whole team is looking forward to him playing his natural game whenever he feels absolutely comfortable in that spot.”

Douglas Luiz shared a kiss with Alisha Lehmann in the stands after Brazil's Copa America draw with Colombia and hailed her as "my best support".

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Lehmann in the USA to support her partnerWas in audience when Brazil played ColombiaTook a few snaps in the stands after the gameWHAT HAPPENED?

The Swiss star has flown to the United States to support Luiz as the midfielder remains busy in a quest for continental glory with Brazil. The 26-year-old was introduced in the second half by Dorival Jr. as the Selecao upped their ante in search of an elusive winner against Colombia in their final group game on Tuesday – but had little impact coming off the bench.

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Despite the draw, Brazil progressed to the knockouts and Luiz celebrated the occasion with Lehmann right after the final whistle. The couple kissed each other in the stands, with Lehmann sharing a few snaps to capture their joy on social media.

WHAT LUIZ SAID

Lehmann shared a few pictures on her Instagram handle and in the comment section Luiz wrote: "My best support ❤🔥".

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InstagramWHAT NEXT?

Lehmann has been holidaying in the United States for quite some time and has visited Miami, Orlando, Los Angeles and California. Her next stop might be in Vegas as Brazil will be playing Uruguay in the last eight at the Allegiant Stadium. The Aston Villa women's star has also been tipped to follow Luiz to Juventus after the tournament, with the Brazilian having completed a big-money switch to Turin this week.

Manchester United are already looking to the future and are ready to tie down one of their key squad men for the long term.

United struggling for consistency

This season has been one of disappointment for the Red Devils, with Erik ten Hag failing to find a winning formula and continuing his awful record against other top half sides. Their most recent Premier League defeat to Manchester City left them with 11 losses for the campaign with 11 games still to play, more defeats than Chelsea and just one fewer than 16th-placed Everton.

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Injuries have crippled the Old Trafford outfit, but there have also been serious tactical concerns and there is no clear indication whether Ten Hag will remain in charge beyond this season. As it stands, they sit 11 points outside the top four and six points behind Tottenham, who occupy what is likely to be the final Champions League qualification spot and have a game in hand on the Red Devils.

There have been some sparks of hope though, and one of those has been Kobbie Mainoo. The young midfielder has impressed alongside the vastly experienced Casemiro since breaking into the first team, and there have even been suggestions that he could make a late charge for the England EURO 2024 squad given the form of both Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips.

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has been thoroughly impressed with his impact on the Manchester United side this season.

"He is a bright light, as [Alejandro] Garnacho has been in these last few months. I always think of his first three big games: away at Goodison Park, St James' Park and Anfield and he handled those really well," he explained ahead of the Manchester derby defeat.

"Him and Casemiro are better together; the results have picked up. I don't think they have stopped enough shots going in between them both, so there is still an element of them having to work together defensively and that is a big test for them today.

"But his first few months in the first-team have been outstanding. I always think he stands up when Manchester United are struggling in games and takes the ball and looks the most composed on the pitch."

Mainoo in line for pay bump

Now the Manchester Evening News report that Mainoo is in line for a new contract and a pay hike, and that the Red Devils 'have opened talks' to tie down their latest talent 'in recognition of the youngster's growing importance to the first team'.

As it stands, the Englishman is under contract until 2027, and as a result it is added that 'there is no rush to accelerate talks' and that 'all parties are relaxed about the situation'.

Mainoo vs United midfielders – PL 2023/24

Kobbie Mainoo

Sofyan Amrabat

Casemiro

Scott McTominay

Appearances

13

13

14

24

Pass accuracy

85.2%

87.7%

80.3%

82.3%

Tackles (per 90)

2.1

2.75

3.55

2.21

Shots on target (per 90)

0.18

0

0.41

1.1

Clearances (per 90)

2.18

1.47

2.55

2.34

It could well be that any significant movement is made after the season comes to a close, with plenty of other uncertainty surrounding Old Trafford in the coming months. With no chance of Mainoo leaving the club this summer, United will be confident that the English midfielder could be the next big thing in Manchester.