Ishant Sharma, recovering from the mosquito-borne viral infection chikungunya, will miss the first Test of the series against New Zealand, which begins on September 22 in Kanpur.Anil Kumble, the India coach, did not rule Ishant out of the series, though. We will be closely monitoring his progress with the doctors, and then we will take a call about his fitness after this Test, Kumble said in Kanpur. For this Test match the team management has decided we wont need a replacement.In the absence of a replacement, and looking at the activity in the India nets, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav seem to be the frontrunners to make the XI. Mohammed Shami is the other quick in the side. The pitch is quite dry and cracked, although the cracks are not loose or powdery. According to the curator it wont turn as alarmingly as the Nagpur pitch did last year, but there will be reverse-swing on offer.The possibility of reverse-swing at high pace could tilt the selection in favour of Yadav ahead of Shami. If India play five bowlers, that is. There will be turn on this pitch for sure - the amount and the promptness of it can be argued - which means India will play three spinners. Turn in Kanpur is usually slow, which could make India feel they need an extra bowler to take 20 wickets. If they dont, though, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the frontrunner to be the lone seamer in the XI.In the nets two days before the Test, only Bhuvneshwar and Yadav bowled to the frontline batsmen. It was a long, intense session involving a lot of bouncers in the fast bowlers net. Shami only came out to bowl at the lower order and Shikhar Dhawan, who likely to miss out on selection.Rohit Sharma batted along with the other specialist batsmen, which could be an indication that India hadnt made their minds up regarding the XI. Just like the bowlers had a long bat, M Vijay and Rohit rolled their arms over once they were done batting.The big decision is whether India need and want an extra bowler or not. Under Virat Kohli as a full-time captain, India have started every series so far with five batsmen and an extra bowler: the idea being to set the tone early and remove any negative safety-first attitude at the start of a series. Only an extraordinary pitch should cause Kohli to veer from that path, and the coach Kumble said this wasnt an extraordinary pitch, although only after expressing annoyance at being asked about what he expected from it.It is a typical Kanpur pitch, Kumble said. This is the start of the season, and we dont usually play here in September. But the wicket looks good. I will only say that the talk should be about the cricket on the pitch. We have also discussed the same. Whatever wicket we get we will adapt to that.About Harbhajan Singhs warning that asking for tailored turners could backfire on India, Kumble said: We have not demanded any pitch. We will play on whatever surface is there. We go in with the thought that our spinners are better, and if you see their experience and quality they are very good. We hope that the performance we showed in West Indies continues here. Definitely, its an Indian pitch so there will be turn. But everyone only wants to see the first ball and form their opinions. But Im the coach, and I cannot think only about the first ball. We will think about the whole match and go with the aim of winning the Test and the series. New Balance Shoes NZ . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. 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In the response filed Wednesday to the complaint by 30-year-old Alexander Bradley, attorneys say the former University of Florida player is invoking his Fifth Amendment right that protects people from incriminating themselves. Rilee Rossouw was called up to South Africas ODI squad as a replacement for the injured AB de Villiers, ahead of the match against Ireland at the end of last month. He ended up replacing an ill Hashim Amla at the start of the Australia series last week. To say that Rossouw had big boots to fill is not an understatement. But try two fifties in two matches on for size, and it seems Rossouw could be a perfect fit.So, why the in-house handwringing from captain Faf du Plessis, who said he wanted Amla back in the XI but the selectors decided otherwise? Hashim averages 52 in one-day cricket, so, for me, you can never replace that, du Plessis said. And if you miss one game for the flu, then its always the respect that youre given to come back into the team. So, if it was my decision, I would definitely bring him back, and the same with the coach, but the selectors felt the combination at the top was working really well.Perhaps, the stand-in captain just wants protocol to take precedence, and it seems he is not the only one. Television and social media commentators were aghast at Amlas omission on Sunday, and there is every indication that he will be back for the third ODI. And where will that leave Rossouw, mentally and literally? When we had our team culture camp, we spoke about our playing bubble. People can say what they want to say, as long as it doesnt affect how we are going about our proceedings and how we play, Rossouw said. If Hashim comes back and I am playing, I will probably slot into the middle order.Rossouw has batted at Nos. 4-7 in 18 of the 33 ODIs he has played, and come out at No. 3 eight times, so he is most familiar outside the top two but more successful in it. In the seven matches in which Rossouw has opened, he has averaged 39.57 - compared to an overall average of 35.53 - and scored one of his two hundreds and two of his seven fifties. He admitted he prefers getting to the crease as early as possible, and that the constant shifting up and down the order is challenging but possible with proper preparation.I dont mind anywhere in the top of the order. I prefer the new ball, while the Powerplay is still on so I can pierce the field and play good cricket shots, he said. Its very difficult to change batting positions. Its about how you prepare for where you are going to bat. If your preparation is good enough for the scenariio out there, then your execution should follow.ddddddddddddRossouw was fairly pleased with his execution so far in this series, barring the failure to get to three figures. I am quite disappointed in that. In the first game, the reverse sweep is my shot, so if I go out to that, it is hard lines, but its my shot, he said. I am more disappointed with the way I went out at the Wanderers. It was quite soft.At Centurion, Rossouw was out lbw, attempting a reverse sweep off the first ball he faced from Adam Zampa. At the Wanderers, he miscued a pull shot, and though the selection of both strokes is questionable, Rossouw insisted the second one was worse because he played it when he was closer to his century. I have been hard on myself for that. I pride myself in making the most runs that I can. So 75 is all right, its good, but I am more interested in the three figures.Without a hundred, Rossouw knows it will be more difficult to keep his place, especially in a line-up that should welcome Amla back at some stage, and with a crammed middle order. Du Plessis and JP Duminy have both found their touch, leaving little for David Miller and Farhaan Behardien to do, and Rossouw will have to displace one of them if he moves down. Its a tough gig, because if you are not performing, theres a guy that can do the same job as you, if not better, he said. When you put on that shirt, you want to perform and do your best because you know theres someone else who can take your spot.At least South Africa have the problem of plenty, unlike their opposition, who now face three must-win matches if they are to win the series. Although Australia have appeared a little flat so far, Rossouw expects them to surge back, especially when they hear of South Africas intention to close out the series with two games to spare.If they dont bounce back, then they dont deserve to be the best team in the world. I am sure they will come out fighting with big swings, and its up to us how we will counter-punch, he said. The guys had two serious performances and we are ready for the third game tomorrow, and we want to wrap it up. Australia are the best team in the world. If you give them a sniff, they come back hard. We want to finish this series tomorrow. ' ' '