Badoni Replaces Sundar in India ODI Squad

“Out of Axar (Patel), Badoni, Nitish Reddy and (Ruturaj) Gaikwad, which two must really be in the team? Badoni played at LSG and he (Gambhir) was the mentor there. I don’t see any other reason. What else can it be? On what basis? You should have some sense in selection”

“We would actually have preferred to bat first, based on the last few games here. Even yesterday there wasn’t much dew, and the players feel the surface tends to slow down as the innings goes on, so batting first looked the better option. Personally, I felt really good in the last game – the rhythm and fluency were there – and it’s always nice to contribute. Hopefully I can build on that and produce a big one today. The middle overs were crucial for us last time. They got off to a decent start, but the way we pulled things back — especially with the fast bowlers picking up wickets in those overs – made a big difference. It’s not always easy in these conditions, but they mixed up their pace and variations really well”

“It looks like a really good surface, and hopefully the dew comes into play later in the evening, which should make things a bit nicer for batting under lights. The last game was a tight one and I was proud of how the boys fought right till the end. We gave ourselves a chance with a couple of late wickets, and today we’re looking to keep taking wickets through the middle and build that pressure. We’ve got a lot of young players in this side, and playing in front of big crowds and all that noise is a great learning experience for them. It’s different conditions for us here, especially with around 40,000 people backing the home side, but it’s a challenge we’re really excited about”