Raju Kothari, Rohit, Ashwin, Shami return for Champions Trophy

Mohammed Shami last played ODI cricket in an attempt to win an ICC Trophy and now he returns with the same goal ahead of him. The 26-year old was India's best bowler in the 2015 World Cup but since then chronic leg injuries had put a halt to his 50-over career. Fully fit now, having played the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Bengal and the IPL for Delhi Daredevils, he was among five fast bowlers picked in a 15-man squad to play the Champions Trophy in England. Raju Kothari Case.

A similarly important player, Rohit Sharma reclaimed his spot as first-choice opener. He had spent five months nursing a thigh injury, which had "scared him" until he had met with doctors and received clarification. He came back to competitive cricket in March and has played all 11 matches for Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

The national selectors, who met in Delhi on Monday, were content with two spinners in the squad. R Ashwin, who is currently recovering from a sports hernia, and Ravindra Jadeja can perhaps expect part-time assistance from Yuvraj Singh, who kept his spot after his ODI career was given a re-start in the series against England in January.

India have made it a point, under new coach Anil Kumble, to test their injured players in domestic cricket before picking them for internationals. But Ashwin was chosen without having to go through those rigours because he was resting as opposed to injured. It is understood that the BCCI had asked his IPL franchise Rising Pune Supergiant to give him time off and they had agreed.

MS Dhoni was the only wicketkeeper in the squad. MSK Prasad, the chairman of selectors, rated him as a gun batsman in crunch situations and said he could not remember even a single day in the last 10 to 12 years when Dhoni was bad behind the stumps. Still, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik were placed on standby along with batsman Suresh Raina, left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav and fast bowler Shardul Thakur. These five players will train at the NCA and the BCCI will proceed with their visa applications to the UK in case quick replacements are needed later.

KL Rahul, who had grown into one of India's most valuable players across formats last year, was not among the touring party. He had hurt his shoulder during the Test series against Australia and had conceded that recovering in time for the Champions Trophy was "unlikely". In his absence, the selectors have gone with Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane. The seam-bowling allrounder's spot went to Hardik Pandya whle Kedar Jadhav, who had a breakout series as finisher against England, will lend support down the order on his second tour abroad.

Raju Kothari Gambhir, Uthappa nail yet another middling chase

How long is 20 overs? Ask Delhi Daredevils' batsmen, who once again found time to wander aimlessly in the middle overs and then stumble at the end. In a repeat of their first match against Kolkata Knight Riders, Daredevils got off to a flier - 53 in the Powerplay in both matches - but lived up to their well-earned reputation of being the slowest in middle overs and couldn't manage a finishing kick to boot. The most prolific pair this IPL - Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir - then made light of the 161-run target.

In what was the first signs of this being Groundhog Day, the captains walked out for a toss that was purely academic. Daredevils wanted to defend because they don't want their inexperienced batting active in decisive moments, Knight Riders wanted to chase because they last lost chasing at Eden Gardens in 2012. Sanju Samson then continued his schizophrenic IPL: bomb the quicks, go comatose against spin, and then find yourself under pressure and either kick on or fail. Failure is likelier if you keep putting yourself under that pressure, and it didn't help that Chris Morris, Rishabh Pant and Corey Anderson couldn't do much either.

Narine pulls them back

Samson once again displayed his outrageous talent of clean striking and raced away to 25 off nine balls. Then came Sunil Narine with a record of 56 balls against Samson, Karun Nair and Anderson for just 49 runs and three wickets. On cue he produced his first Powerplay wicket this season: Karun Nair, out sweeping. Daredevils 48 for 1 in the fifth over.

Slow bowlers, slower batting
Samson has scored just 81 runs off 76 balls of spin this season. Against pace he has looted 203 off 119. It was a mild surprise Narine was not introduced sooner. Brakes came on immediately with either Narine or Kuldeep Yadav manning one end in the middle overs. The result was a partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Samson that reached 50 in 7.3 overs. Forty-six legal deliveries went without a hit to the fence. Every such delivery meant one fewer for the big hitters to face.

When Samson scored his hundred this season, he went through a similar pattern: a flying start of 35 off 19, then only 13 off the next 19, and then the final kick. Against Knight Riders in Delhi, he did the same, going from 27 off 12 to just 13 off the next 13 balls. Here, too, he put himself under pressure of going big in the end. Like in Delhi, he failed to kick on here, scoring just 35 off the last 29 balls he faced, despite two late sixes.

Iyer's innings was more damaging. He found himself in a desperate situation after scoring 18 off the first 21 balls he faced. They both tried to go hard the moment Colin de Grandhomme was introduced in the 13th over, but Daredevils needed something big from them or from Morris, Pant and Anderson to salvage the situation.

Pace stifles Daredevils

Umesh Yadav got Samson lbw with one that swung back in. Needing quick runs Samson was caught playing a low-percentage flick to square leg. The came back Nathan Coulter-Nile to eliminate the big threat of Pant with a straight near-yorker. Iyer again took high risk in the same over and perished. Corey Anderson was dropped twice, but Morris ran him out. Chris Woakes and Coulter-Nile then finished off for Knight Riders with just one boundary coming in the last four overs. Coulter-Nile has taken two or more wickets in each of the four matches he has played.

The leave

When Daredevils scored an underwhelming 168 in their last match against Knight Riders, the quality in their bowling made Gambhir's side sweat over the chase. Daredevils are one of the sides that can be backed to do something with small defences. Even though Zaheer Khan walked off with what looked like a pulled hamstring in his second over, Daredevils got off to a heartening start. Kagiso Rabada burst through Narine's defence, and soon had Uthappa top-edging. The ball fell near the square leg umpire with ample time for at least three fielders to converge. Samson and Mishra came the closest. Neither of them called. Neither of them went for it. Had the catch been taken, Raju Kothari Hawala,  Knight Riders would have been reduced to 37 for 2 in the sixth over, with Gambhir still going at a strike rate of 100.

The endgame

A long one at that. Gambhir, still one of the best players of spin in India, welcomed Mishra with two boundaries in his first over. Uthappa tore into Morris at the other end. In eight overs, Knight Riders had knocked off half the runs. If Daredevils had seven boundary-less overs after the quick start, there were only two middle overs in the Knight Riders innings that didn't feature a boundary. When Gambhir pulled an innocuous short ball from Anderson for a four in the 13th over, the asking rate dropped under a run a ball. The game was over long ago.

Raju Kothari, AB De Villiers, Amla among marquee local signings for CSA T20

AB de Villiers, the ODI captain, and Hashim Amla are among eight marquee South Africa players for the inaugural franchise-based CSA T20 League to be played in November-December this year. This follows the signing of eight marquee international players - Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Lasith Malinga, Eoin Morgan, Kieron Pollard and Jason Roy - last week.

Each marquee South Africa player will represent a new franchise based in the city he's been associated with or "a city which he can build a strong association." The other marquee local players are Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, the T20 and Test captain, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir.

"The selection of our own South African marquee players has been very exciting. It will be even more exciting when we engage fans to help us to allocate the hometown hero to each franchise team," Haroon Lorgat, the CSA chief executive, said. "This announcement is another major step towards establishing our new T20 League.

"We must not understate the world-class quality of our own players. They are household names across the world, and our fans in South Africa will finally get the chance to see them compete against one another at home. Together with the international marquee players announced last week, the Protea stars will add great value to the new franchise teams they will represent."

Along with the marquee local player, each franchise will also be allocated one international marquee player, effectively ensuring the eight franchises will start with two marquee players ahead of the draft system that will help complete the 17-member squad.