Mills out of Zimbabwe Test with injury

Kyle Mills, the New Zealand seamer, will miss the one-off Test against Zimbabwe due to a torn abductor muscle. A replacement has not been named as the Test squad has enough cover in the fast-bowling department, team manager Mike Sandle said.

Mills had initially developed discomfort in the muscle during the first ODI on October 20, and was rested for the next two games, before scans revealed the extent of his injury. "Kyle developed some discomfort during the first one-dayer in Harare," Sandle said. "Initially it was thought to be a strain but a scan has shown a slight tear to his abductor muscle. Kyle will undergo further assessment by the New Zealand Cricket medical team once he returns home.

"The decision has been made not to bring over a replacement player as there is sufficient cover in the current squad."

New Zealand are also without fast bowler Tim Southee, who is recovering from cartilage damage in his left knee, which he suffered while preparing for the Champions League T20. New Zealand's national selection manager Kim Littlejohn had been hopeful that Southee would recover in time for the one-off Test that begins on November 1, but as he had not shown enough improvement, Graeme Aldridge was included in the Test squad. Apart from Aldridge, Chris Martin, Andy McKay and Doug Bracewell make up New Zealand's pace department.

Mills' career had been dogged by injury. He had been out of international cricket prior to the Zimbabwe tour after picking up a quadricep strain half-way through the 2011 World Cup, which ruled him out of the knockout stages of the tournament. During the 2009-10 season, he underwent shoulder and knee surgery, and has not played a Test since March 2009.

"Clearly it is disappointing for Kyle who was looking forward to making a return to the Test team," Sandle said. "We are hopeful he will be available for selection for the upcoming Test series against Australia." New Zealand play two Tests in Australia from December 1.

Next coach must be from Pakistan - Waqar

Waqar Younis, who quit as Pakistan coach after their tour of Zimbabwe in September, has said his successor should be someone from within the country. Opinion has been divided on whether Pakistan should look for a Pakistani coach or a foreign one; the PCB committee in charge of appointing the permanent coach received applications from foreign coaches as well as local ones. Waqar said they should choose from among the latter because someone from within the country would understand the system better.

"I think it is ideal to have a local coach for many reasons," Waqar told ESPNcricinfo. "A Pakistani coach actually understands the nature and mental approach of the players, and has a stronger understanding of the system. If I had a successful stint with Pakistan it was only because I came up through the system and hence understand it quite well."

The PCB is yet to appoint a permanent replacement for Waqar with Mohsin Khan being appointed interim coach for the series against Sri Lanka in the UAE. They have drawn up a shortlist of five names but are yet to make a final decision.

Waqar coached Pakistan through a difficult period, with the spot-fixing scandal during the England tour in 2010 being followed by Zulqarnain Haider's abrupt departure on the eve of a one-day match due to threats from bookies. However, despite the shock those events sent through Pakistan, results remained fairly consistent: Pakistan drew a Test series against South Africa before winning one in New Zealand, and then reached the semi-finals of the World Cup. Waqar announced his resignation just before the Zimbabwe tour citing health reasons and has since joined the commentary team for the ongoing Test series in the UAE.

He said he was undergoing treatment which prevented him from doing rigorous physical activity. "I am undergoing a treatment that comes with a precaution to avoid pressure and exhausting field work, which I would have been doing as coach. It's working fine so far and I hope things will be better in near future."

After Pakistan's tour of the West Indies earlier this year, it was revealed that there had been friction between Waqar and then one-day captain Shahid Afridi during the trip. Afridi was subsequently sacked as captain and he announced a conditional retirement, saying he would only play for Pakistan if there were changes in the board and management. After Waqar's departure and the replacement of PCB chairman Ijaz Butt by Zaka Ashraf, Afridi said he wanted to return to the national team. Waqar said he did not think it was right of Afridi to have quit international cricket temporarily and said he should only be allowed back if he could prove he deserved it.

"I never had a personal problem with Afridi but I believe it wasn't fair to Pakistan cricket the way he acted, but these are his decisions and his way of handling things. It [his conditional retirement] actually left a negative impact on the minds of the young players in the country and is not a good example for the upcoming players.

"There must be sufficient criteria for his return to the national setup. It should be ensured that he has played enough cricket recently and has done enough to be recalled."

Waqar said he was impressed with the way Pakistan had played for most of the first Test against Sri Lanka, and saw them continuing to do well. However, he said it was important that the new coach was given a selection role for the team to progress.

"What's the definition of coach for a national team? The coach must have a role in selecting the best team to work with and hand over to the captain in the field. Pakistan needs to have a clear selection role for their coach. After all, you need to have someone responsible for results and interestingly it's always the coach who gets sacked if results are not good.

"Pakistan are headed in the right direction. They are doing a wonderful job and they could have won the first Test but failed to finish well. You can't just criticise them for that because they had dominated the opponent for most of the game."

Need to improve bowling - Dhoni

MS Dhoni, the India captain, has said India still need to improve in the bowling department after their 5-0 series victory over England at home. He expressed concern at the fact that India's seamers did not complete their allocated ten overs in many of the matches because they had given away too many runs. Both Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron impressed with their pace during the series but Dhoni said control was as important as bowling quick.

"Of course it's a great series win," he said after the fifth ODI in Kolkata. "But our fast bowlers could not bowl 10 overs in many of the matches and we have to realise that's where we have to get better. It's good to have guys bowling quick but they also need to be able to keep the runs down and not give away a boundary an over.

"Even though we've won at home, we need to realise that when we go abroad there may not be as much turn for our spinners and so we will not be able to win if our fast bowlers don't bowl well. In other countries our part-timers may not be as effective as they are here."

The series win comes just a month after India were thumped in both the Tests and one-dayers in England. Dhoni said the criticism his side received after that tour did not worry him as he knew Indians were passionate about cricket and bound to react to a loss.

"It happens: you are appreciated when you do well and that should be taken with an open heart. I was not too worried about criticism. We know cricket is big in India. It's a part of our life."

India went into the ODI series against England with several senior players missing through injury, and Dhoni said while the influx of young players helped sharpen the fielding, the seniors were still needed. "It's difficult to replace the seniors talent-wise. But these youngsters have clicked as a unit. They are slightly better fielders. They may save 8-10 runs which matter in ODIs. They have reacted in the right way and been patient in waiting for opportunities to turn things their way. But we really can't really replace Sachin [Tendulkar], [Virender] Sehwag and Yuvraj [Singh]."

Dhoni was named Man of the Series after scoring 212 runs without being dismissed in the five games. He said that he would not be moving up the order, though, since he had adjusted his game to batting in the middle order. "The format of the game has changed. Now, with the Powerplays split, the situations are different. We have to be good at the slog overs and rotate strike as well. I have changed my style of batting. At No. 3 you can be flamboyant but at 5 and 6 you have to be careful."

India will play a Twenty20 international against England in Kolkata on October 29 and the organisers will be hoping for a larger crowd after disappointing turnouts over the one-dayers. An overdose of cricket and the absence of some star players were the reasons Dhoni pointed out for the empty rows in the stands at Eden Gardens. "We have played a lot of cricket in India: the World Cup, IPL and then the Champions League T20 were held here. Big stars like Sachin were missing from this series. This is also one of the biggest stadia in India so it's not easy to get a jam-packed crowd every time."

CA looks beyond the Baggy Green

Australian cricket can no longer rely on the iconography of the Baggy Green to draw fans and players from an increasingly diverse community, the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherlandhas said.

On the eve of CA's annual general meeting in Melbourne, to be followed by the board meeting at which the chairman Jack Clarke will handover his post to the former Test batsman Wally Edwards, Sutherland spoke to ESPNcricinfo about the body's strategic plan for the next four years.

Unlike the previous editions of the plan, it will not be titled 'From Backyard to Baggy Green', a tacit acknowledgement of how cricket must broaden itself to reflect Australian society, culture and financial reality.

Instead, the plan stresses the need for cricket to better reflect the wishes of fans, be they families with an entrenched annual pilgrimage to the MCG for Boxing Day, or recent immigrants with no particular affinity for the national team and its players.

"There's an element of truth that comes through in our research that shows there are a whole lot of people in Australia who don't necessarily relate to the Australian cricket team in the way that many other cricket fans do," Sutherland said. "That's largely because of their background, culturally in terms of coming from a different country or alternatively just that they didn't grow up with cricket as a sport and develop an affinity with the team.

"That's not the only way a fan can connect with and relate to cricket, there are lots of other ways. It could be in terms of grassroots, club or school cricket, or it could be in terms of entertainment, perhaps engaging with or supporting a BBL team and going along on a Thursday or Friday night to watch a BBL match and have a bit of fun and enjoy the game and follow your team."

"One of the critical parts of putting fans first is realising we've got a vision to be Australia's favourite sport, and to be that you need to be a sport for all Australians. If we want to lay claim to that, then we need to be able to boast a fan-base that is diverse and covers males and females, young and old and people from all backgrounds, cultural and others. We see the BBL can do that in an even better way than international cricket can and perhaps ideally it can also serve as an entrée to an appetite for cricket in other forms."

A sport like cricket, or rugby for that matter, where the national team is verymuch the flagship of the sport in the country, there will often be a temptation to judge the success and health of a sport by the performances of the national team," Sutherland said. "To a certain extent that is true, but we see the success of the Australian cricket team as being incredibly important, but not the only thing that is important and yes to some extent it means that it is a means to an end.The place of the national team remains honoured, as seen in the rapid implementation of recommendations from the Argus review. However Sutherland admitted its success was now seen more as a means towards the end of growing the game in Australia, rather than the end in itself.

"The real health, the real indicators of how strong cricket is and how healthy cricket is, is the extent to which cricket engages with the Australian community and it does that on all sorts of levels, not just through the Australian team. Whether its a junior participation program or the BBL or the Boxing Day Test, engaging with cricket fans and the Australian community is what we're all about."

The Twenty20 Big Bash League, to be contested in December and January directly opposite the Test series against India, is the boldest reflection of CA's push towards a wider audience. It is also central to another key theme of the plan - that of raising a greater amount of local revenue so as to make cricket more self-sufficient.

"There's no doubt we can look at some other sports in Australia and they have an element of self-sufficiency about them," Sutherland said. "Putting it a different way, having an ability to be in greater control of their own destiny. Not to say we're not, but there is a reliance on the global scene, on international cricket, on the ICC, on member countries and on inter-relationships and bilateral relationships between everyone.

"It's been something that has stood the test of time in cricket, but at the same time you do see situations where there are obstacles to things happening, and we see on one hand a mitigation of risk, but on the other hand as well, we don't have to the same extent as the AFL or NRL our own national league that offers high levels of fan engagement, and we really believe the BBL is a great opportunity to take that step of having a league that engages cricket fans but also to broaden our reach."

Can either team take twenty wickets?

Match Facts

Pakistan v Sri Lanka, October 26, Dubai
Start time 1000 (0600 GMT)

Big Picture

Pakistan wasted the opportunity to go 1-0 up in Abu Dhabi by dropping several catches in Sri Lanka's second innings. Sri Lanka pulled off a great escape, wiping out a 314-run deficit by batting more than two days to save the Test. So who possesses that intangible advantage - momentum - as the teams prepare for battle in Dubai?

Tillakaratne Dilshan said firmly that his team held the edge. He would, of course. Having been pushed into the tightest of corners, they found a way out, through the resolute batting of Kumar Sangakkara and Prasanna Jayawardene. However, the rest of their batsmen, with the exception of Angelo Mathews, failed in both innings. So there's no real reason for the others to go to Dubai with increased confidence. The greater worry, though, is their bowling attack, which managed to take only seven Pakistan wickets in 184.4 overs on a pitch that was not especially flat. And a flat one will be on offer sooner or later in the UAE.

Pakistan, on the other hand, dominated four days of the Test only to waste all their hard work through a spate of dropped chances that allowed both Sangakkara and Prasanna Jayawardene to bat for much longer than they should have. Pakistan's batsmen found run-scoring easy against an ineffective Sri Lankan attack, but it was the performance of their bowlers that will have encouraged them. The fast bowlers found movement and the spinners extracted turn to dismiss Sri Lanka for 197, a first-innings total far below par on that pitch. Even in the second innings, when batting appeared easier, they created plenty of chances. It wasn't their fault their fielders didn't take them. The challenge for Pakistan, however, will be to summon the energy to do it all over again, in conditions as hot and on a pitch that might not be as responsive.

Form guide

Sri Lanka: DDDLD
Pakistan: DWWLD

Spotlight

Back-to-back Tests are tough on the fitness of players in most conditions, but the intensity of the challenge rises significantly when they are played in the fierce heat of the desert. Pakistan's fast bowlers had plenty of work to do in Abu Dhabi, and if they can produce a similar effort - challenging Sri Lanka with pace, movement and accuracy - it will be a testament to their fitness and talent.

With Angelo Mathews not bowling, Sri Lanka had only a four-bowler attack, plus part-timer Dilshan, in Abu Dhabi, of which Rangana Herath was the solitary specialist spinner. He toiled for 63.4 overs but could pick up only three Pakistan wickets. Sri Lanka will need more from their most-experienced bowler, around whom the fast bowlers will have to be rotated. To his credit, though, Herath did control the run-flow effectively.

Team news

Taufeeq Umar, who batted 12 hours for a double-century in Abu Dhabi, had a finger injury during the Test that prevented him from fielding in the slips. Interim coach Mohsin Khan said Umar Gul also had a few niggles, but nothing serious. Both should be fit to play, and if there are no other fitness issues, expect Pakistan to name an unchanged XI.

Pakistan (likely): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Adnan Akmal (wk), 8 Umar Gul, 9 Aizaz Cheema, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Junaid Khan

Sri Lanka could tinker with their bowling attack, considering the one used in Abu Dhabi struggled to make an impact. Nuwan Pradeep went wicketless on debut. Their bowling bench-strength comprises fast bowler Dhammika Prasad and offspinner Suraj Randiv. The inability of Mathews to bowl severely affects the balance of their team because there is space for only four specialist bowlers and no allrounder.

Sri Lanka (likely): 1 Tharanga Paranavitana, 2 Lahiru Thirimanne, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 8 Nuwan Pradeep/Dhammika Prasad/Suraj Randiv, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Chanaka Welegedera, 11 Suranga Lakmal.

Pitch and conditions

The temperatures are expected to be in the mid-30s but the pitch temperature will be a few degrees higher. Tillakaratne Dilshan said he expected the pitch to have more bounce than the one in Abu Dhabi did. "A good test wicket," he called it.

Stats & Trivia

• There were four hundreds scored in Dubai's maiden Test, when Pakistan played South Africa last year. In the second innings, the two teams scored an aggregate of 661 runs for the loss of five wickets; in the first, they scored 628 for the loss of 20. Three out of four hundreds were scored in the second innings.
• Since the beginning of 2009, Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan have added five century partnerships in seven innings. Their partnerships are: 130, 186*, 3, 142, 118, 100, 8* - 687 runs at 137.40.
• Kumar Sangakkara needs 32 to equal Inzamam-ul-Haq's record for most runs scored in Tests between these two teams. Inzamam scored 1559 in 31 innings; Sangakkara has 1527 in 21, at an average of 80.36.

Quotes

" After such a [bad] performance in the field, we got two days so we have worked really hard on that, let's hope for the best in the second test"
Misbah-ul-Haq on Pakistan's catching.

"We had discussions on which area to improve and did that in training sessions. As a batting unit we are fully prepared to do well in this Test. Confidence is really high after the way we made a comeback and did so many things to save it [the first Test]."
Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Sri Lanka bat first, miss Prasanna Jayawardene

Toss Sri Lanka chose to bat v Pakistan

Live streaming of Pakistan vs Srilanka live 

Tillakaratne Dilshan kept faith in his batting despite the debacle in the first innings of the first Test and chose to bat first on a flat Dubai track. One of their second-innings heroes from Abu Dhabi, Prasanna Jayawardene, had to sit out because of a groin injury. Kaushal Silva came in ahead of Dinesh Chandimal. They also rested Nuwan Pradeep and included Dhammika Prasad. Just a three-day gap between two Tests played in extreme heat can be testing for the fast bowlers. Pakistan made one change, going for Abdur Rehman's left-arm spin ahead of the big-hearted Aizaz Cheema.

Sri Lanka 1 Tharanga Paranavitana, 2 Lahiru Thirimanne, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt.), 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Kaushal Silva (wk), 8 Dhammika Prasad, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Chanaka Welegedera, 11 Suranga Lakmal.

Pakistan 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt.), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Adnan Akmal (wk), 8 Umar Gul, 9 Abdur Rehman, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Junaid Khan

Sri Lanka have the advantage - Dilshan

Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Sri Lanka captain, has said that his team have the psychological advantage over Pakistan after salvaging a draw in the first Test when a defeat appeared to be the most likely result. Sri Lanka trailed Pakistan by 81 runs with just five wickets in hand on the fourth day, but Kumar Sangakkara and Prasanna Jayawardene thwarted the hosts with a 201-run stand.

"I think it's [the draw] a huge advantage for us," Dilshan told AFP. "We were well behind in the match and we survived, and since this is a long series we have to come out strongly in each match."

Sri Lanka were in trouble after being bowled out for 197 in their first innings and Dilshan said the Sri Lanka batsmen have to do a better job in the second Test. "We were bowled out for under 200 runs and it was very difficult to come back and win the match. We have to come out strongly in the second Test, especially the first innings, we have to put runs on the board so that this young bowling attack has some confidence while bowling. We can't ask them to bowl with just 200 runs [behind them]."

Dilshan took over as captain from Kumar Sangakkara after the 2011 World Cup and under him Sri Lanka have suffered two 1-0 Test series defeats, away to England and at home to Australia. His own form has been patchy over the same period, and he admitted it was a concern. "Yes, it's a worry but I am sure that I can get runs in the middle order and I look forward to that in the second Test, because five-day cricket needs everyone to perform."

Pakistan let Sri Lanka off the hook in the first Test with a poor performance in the field, dropping six catches in the second innings, but Misbah-ul Haq, the Pakistan captain, said that his team was not deflated by the result. "Slip catching is all about confidence, just like batting. We are really looking forward to doing a lot of practice, and forget the fielding effort in the first match and just go out for a win.

"Nobody's down. The show everybody put up, everyone was focussed, everyone bowling their heart out. We tried everything but in the end you can say luck, or the fielding, you cant do anything about."

The second Test begins on October 26 in Dubai.