Bengaluru: The following is the list of players sold on the first day of the IPL 2022 mega auction here on Saturday:

Ishan Kishan – Mumbai Indians for Rs 15.25 crore

Deepak Chahar – Chennai Super Kings for Rs 14 crore

Shikhar Dhawan – Punjab Kings for Rs 8.25 crore

R Ashwin – Rajasthan Royals for Rs 5 crore

Pat Cummins – Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 7.25 crore

Kagiso Rabada – Punjab Kings for Rs 9.25 crore

Trent Boult – Rajasthan Royals for Rs 8 crore

Shreyas Iyer – KKR for Rs 12.25 crore

Mohammed Shami – Gujarat Titans for Rs 6.75 crore

Harshal Patel – Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 10.75 crore

Faf du Plessis – Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 7 crore

Quinton De Kock – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 6.75 crore

Avesh Khan – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 10 crore

David Warner – Delhi Capitals for Rs 6.25 crore

Manish Pandey – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 4.50 crore

Shimron Hetmyer – Rajasthan Royals for Rs 8.50 crore

Robin Uthappa – Chennai Super Kings for Rs 2 crore

Jason Roy – Gujarat Titans for Rs 2 crore

Devdutt Padikkal – Rajasthan Royals for Rs 7.75 crore

Deepak Hooda – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 5.75 crore

Dwayne Bravo – Chennai Super Kings for Rs 4.4 crore

Nitish Rana – Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 8 crore

Wanindu Hasaranga – Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 10.75 crore

Jason Holder – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 8.75 crore

Washington Sundar – Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 8.75 crore

Krunal Pandya – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 8.75 crore

Mitchell Marsh – Delhi Capitals for Rs 6.50 crore

Ambati Rayudu – Chennai Super Kings for Rs 6.75 crore

Jonny Bairstow – Punjab Kings for Rs 6.75 crore

Dinesh Karthik – Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 5.50 crore

Nicholas Pooran – SRH for Rs 10.75 crore

T Natarajan – Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 4 crore

Prasidh Krishna – Rajasthan Royals for Rs 10 crore

Lockie Ferguson – Gujarat Titans for Rs 10 crore

Josh Hazlewood – Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 7.75 crore

Mark Wood – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 7.50 crore

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 4.20 crore

Shardul Thakur – Delhi Capitals for Rs 10.75 crore

Mustafizur Rahman – Delhi Capitals for Rs 2 crore

Kuldeep Yadav – Delhi Capitals for Rs 2 crore

Rahul Chahar – Punjab Kings for Rs 5.25 crore

Yuzvendra Chahal – Rajasthan Royals for Rs 6.50 crore

Abhinav S – Gujarat Titans for Rs 2.6 crore

Dewald Brevis – Mumbai Indians for Rs 3 crore

Ashwin Hebbar – Delhi Capitals for Rs 20 lakh

Rahul Tripathi – Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 8.50 crore

Sarfaraz Khan – Delhi Capitals for Rs 20 lakh

Riyan Parag – Rajasthan Royals for Rs 3.80 crore

Abhishek Sharma – Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 6.50 crore

Shahrukh Khan – Punjab Kings for Rs 9 crore

Shivam Mavi – Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 7.25 crore

Rahul Tewatia – Gujarat Titans for Rs 9 crore

Kamlesh Nagarkoti – Delhi Capitals for Rs 1.1 crore

Harpreet Brar – Punjab Kings for Rs 3.80 crore

Shahbaz Ahmed – Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 2.4 crore

K S Bharat – Delhi Capitals for Rs 2 crore

Anuj Rawat – Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 3.4 crore

Prabhsimran Singh – Punjab Kings for Rs 50 lakh

Sheldon Jackson – Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 60 lakh

Jitesh Sharma – Punjab Kings for Rs 20 lakh

Basil Thampi – Mumbai Indians for Rs 30 lakh

Kartik Tyagi – Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 4 crore

Akash Deep – Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 20 lakh

KM Asif – Chennai Super Kings for Rs 20 lakh

Ishan Porel – Punjab Kings for Rs 25 lakh

Tushar Deshpande – Chennai Super Kings for Rs 20 lakh

Ankit Singh Rajpoot – Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 50 lakh

Noor Ahmad – Gujarat Titans for Rs 30 lakh

Murugan Ashwin – Mumbai Indians for Rs 1.6 crore

KC Cariappa – Rajasthan Royals for Rs 30 lakh

Shreyas Gopal – Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 75 lakh

J Suchith – Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 20 lakh

R Sai Kishore – Gujarat Titans – Rs 3 crore

Players who went unsold (day 1 of auction): Suresh Raina, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Steve Smith, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammed Nabi, Sam Billings, Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Adam Zampa, Amit Mishra, Adil Rashid, Anmolpreet Singh, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Mohammed Azharudeen, Manimaran Siddharth, Sandeep Lamichhane.

Ahmedabad: Shreyas Iyer’s responsible 80 coupled with Rishabh Pant’s aggressive 56 powered India to a challenging 265 in the inconsequential third ODI against West Indies here on Friday.

Shreyas and the flamboyant Pant resurrected the innings with their 110-run stand after India suffered a top-order collapse to be reeling at 42/3.

The duo toyed with the opposition attack even as the southpaw displayed his hard-hitting prowess, striking six fours and a six. At 119/3 after 25 overs, the stage was set for a big total.

The Mumbaikar, who was playing his first game after COVID recovery, looked in his elements, as he mixed caution and aggression. He completed his ninth ODI fifty with a single to deep extra cover.

After his fifty, Shreyas upped the ante as he and Pant completed their 100-run stand in 112 balls.

Pant too notched up his fifth ODI 50 with a single. But in the 30th over, he perished, giving leggie Hayden Walsh (2/59) his first wicket and Suryakumar Yadav (6) followed suit, as India lost half their side for 164.

But a determined Shreyas played his shots at will before giving a sitter to Darren Bravo at long-off in the 38th over. In his 111-ball knock, he hit nine boundaries.

However, Deepak Chahar (38; 4×4; 2×6) and Washington Sundar (33, 2×4; 1×6) played their parts to perfection and forged 53 runs for seventh wicket. Their knocks propelled India past the 260-run mark.

After opting to bat, India lost opener Rohit Sharma (13) cheaply. Pacer Alzarri Joseph (2/54) pegged the hosts back, by first cleaning up Rohit on the third ball of the fourth over and then dismissed Virat Kohli (0) on the fifth ball to leave the hosts teetering at 16/2.

Kohli tried to flick a delivery that was going down the leg, but edged to Shai Hope in what was a soft dismissal.

Shikhar Dhawan (10) and Shreyas tried to rally the innings but were able to add only 26 runs for the third wicket.

Dhawan became pacer Odean Smith’s (1/36) first victim, as he was caught by Jason Holder in the slip cordon.

Rohit Sharma with Virat Kohli

Dubai: India’s new white-ball captain Rohit Sharma remained at third place but closed in on teammate Virat Kohli, who also held on to his second spot, in the latest ICC men’s ODI batting rankings on Wednesday.

Rohit gained some valuable points from his fifty in the first ODI of the three-match series against the West Indies and he now has 807 rating points as against 828 of Kohli.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam continued to hold on to the top spot, while his compatriot Fakhar Zaman and England batter Joe Root broke into the top 10.

West Indies’ Shai Hope, who scored 8 runs in the first ODI, lost out on valuable points and slipped out of the top 10.

There was no movement in the top 10 of the bowling rankings, as India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah remained unchanged on seventh.

In the all-rounders’ list, Ravindra Jadeja was placed eighth, while West Indies’ Jason Holder, following his half-century in the first ODI in Ahmedabad, went up four places to get into the top 20.

In a major leap, Oman’s Jatinder Singh, who made a hundred in the first match of the UAE series, part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2, jumped 26 places to break into top 100 of the batting rankings.

Jatinder is the second-highest run-scorer in the League 2 tournament with 594 runs in 23 matches.

Ahmedabad: India defeated West Indies by 44 runs in the second ODI to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series here on Wednesday.

Invited to bat, India posted 237 for nine and then returned to dismiss the West Indies for 193 in 46 overs.

Shamarh Brooks (44) was the top-scorer for WI as Prasidh Krishna (4/12) and Shardul Thakur (2/41) emerged as the most successful bowlers for the hosts.

Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav scored a 64-run knock while vice captain KL Rahul missed his half-century by one run after being run out as India posted 237 for 9.

Deepak Hooda, who made his ODI debut in the previous match, scored 29 while all-rounder Washington Sundar contributed 24.

For the West Indies, Alzarri Joseph (2/29) and Odean Smith (2/36) took two wickets each.

Brief Scores:

India: 237 for 9 in 50 overs. (S Yadav 64, KL Rahul 49; A Joseph 2/29, O Smith 2/36).

West Indies: 193 all out in 46 overs (Shamarh Brooks 44; Prasidh Krishna 4/12, Shardul Thakur 2/41).

PC: @BCCI | Twitter

Ahmedabad: Skipper Rohit Sharma brought in a sense of calm with a sizzling 60 after India’s new spin combination of Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar laid the platform for an easy six-wicket victory over West Indies in the first ODI which also happens to be country’s 1000th.

First the hosts bundled out West Indies for a meagre 176 in 43.5 overs as spinners Chahal (4/49 in 9.5 overs) and Washington (3/30 in 9 overs) ran through their listless line-up and then skipper smashed 60 off 51 balls with hosts chased down the target in just 28 overs.

It is the 10th time in last 16 games that West Indies have failed to bat full 50 overs despite presence of senior players like Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran to name a few.

After a brief middle-order wobble, Suryakumar Yadav (34 no) and debutant Deepak Hooda (26 no) added 62 runs without much pressure to take the team home.

Just like the skipper, India also missed batter Rohit in South Africa in equal measure and on his comeback, there were no signs of any hamstring niggle as he smashed 10 fours and a six, adding 84 with stand-in opener Ishan Kishan (28).

Virat Kohli (8) also started with two boundaries but was holed out in the deep while Rishabh Pant was unfortunately run-out at the non-striker’s end.

But Rohit was in his element, while young Kishan, played second fiddle to perfection.

The former toyed with the West Indies attack, as the hosts were on course for a comfortable chase with the team fifty coming up in the ninth over.

Rohit, who made a comeback to the team after an injury, was brutal on veteran Kemar Roach, hitting him for two fours and a maximum his trademark pull shot, as India fetched 15 runs off the 10th over and raced to 67/0.

By the time Alzarri Joseph (2/45) trapped him leg-before, India were on their way towards an easy win in a milestone game.

Earlier, Chahal and Sundar wreaked havoc on slow track as the West Indies batters made a beeline to the pavilion, save Jason Holder (57; 4×6) and Fabian Allen (29), whose 78-run stand for the eighth-wicket helped the team go past the 160-run mark.

Put into bat, West Indies lost opener Shai Hope (8; 2×4) cheaply after he was castled by Mohammed Siraj (1/26) in the third over as the visitors lost their first wicket for 13.

Hope had hit Siraj for two successive boundaries, but on the next his inside edge, while attempting a drive, shattered the middle and leg stump.

Brandon King (13;2×4) started with a boundary, and then was joined by one-down Darren Bravo (18 off 34 balls; 3×4), as the two tried to resurrect the innings, but could only add 31 runs for the second wicket.

Bravo struck two boundaries off pacer Prasidh Krishna (2/29) in the sixth over, as the visitors crawled to 28/1 after six overs. The duo mixed caution and aggression as West Indies was poised at 39/1 after 10 overs.

But Sundar pegged back the visitors by removing King and Bravo in the 12th over as the visitors slipped to 45/3.

Sundar first sent back King, who chipped it to short mid-wicket where Suryakumar Yadav took an excellent catch. And then he trapped Bravo in front of the wicket, using his straight and flat delivery.

Then it was Chahal, who took two wickets in two successive deliveries in the 20th over as he removed both hard-hitting batters Nicholas Pooran (18; 3×4), whom he trapped in the front. This was Chahal’s 100th ODI wicket.

Off the next ball, he cleaned up Kieron Pollard (O) with his googly that knocked the rival skipper’s off-stump. West Indies were in a spot of bother as they lost half the side for just 71.

Chahal was on a rampage as he then removed Shamarh Brooks (12), who edged to stumper Rishabh Pant, as West Indies was teetering at 78/6.

However, Holder and Allen tried to take the game deep. While Holder struck four sixes, Allen hit two boundaries, before Sundar lobbed a return catch of his bowling to send Allen back.

The team eventually was bundled out in 43.5 overs with Chahal removing last man Alzarri Joseph, to take his fourth.

The second ODI will be played at the same venue on February 9.

New Delhi: The BCCI on Sunday announced cash reward of Rs 40 lakh for each member of the victorious Indian U-19 team.

The support staff will be paid Rs 25 lakh each.

India beat England in the U-19 World cup final in Antigua on Saturday for a record extending fifth title.

“They were impressive across departments and sealed India’s fifth World Cup. While their on-field performances were fantastic, the team also showed grit, determination and courage to bounce back strongly despite the Covid-19 cases in the camp,” said BCCI president Sourav Ganguly in a statement.

“I must also appreciate the efforts put in by the Head Coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar along with his members of the coaching group, support staff and VVS Laxman Head Cricket at the National Cricket Academy for the way they kept the team in good spirits and guided them to victory.

“We have the best structure in place for our age-group cricketers and some of the best coaches work closely with the boys.”

Six India players, including captain Yash Dhull, had tested positive for COVID-19 during the group stages of the tournament but the team overcame the crisis to lift the trophy.

“They had very little cricket in the run-up to the World Cup this time and despite that, India remained unbeaten,” Ganguly said.

“This is truly remarkable. The selectors have done an excellent job in picking the right team from a wide pool of cricketers. The boys have a long career ahead of them and I wish them the best.”

Asked to field first, India bowled out England for 189 after having them at 61 for six at one stage.

Bowling his medium pacers to deadly effect, Raj Bawa (5/31) ran through the English middle-order after the in-from left-arm seamer Ravi Kumar (4/34) laid the opposition low with two early blows.

India completed the chase with 14 balls to spare.

Secretary Jay Shah said: “India is the most successful side in the history of U19 World Cups and the fifth title is a testament to the robust system and structure we have in place for our age-group cricketers.

“The Board takes age-group cricket very seriously and works closely to ensure we remain fluid with our approach to suit the demands of the team amidst the pandemic.”

NORTH SOUND: An utterly dominant India won a record-extending fifth U-19 World Cup title here on Saturday, beating England by four wickets in the final of an extraordinary campaign that was almost derailed by a COVID-19 outbreak.

The triumph bore resemblance to the exploits of world-class Indian U-19 teams of the past.

Intrepid and industrious in their approach, the starry-eyed Indian players’ success stories also gave a glimpse into the world’s most perfectly calibrated youth structure, which is capable of consistently producing world-class cricketers who are ever ready to take on the biggest of challenges.

In a reflection of India’s dominance, wicketkeeper Dinesh Bana finished the chase of 190 with two sixes and 14 balls to spare.

On winning the toss in the big final, England captain Tom Prest rightly chose to bat first to avoid the “scoreboard pressure” during the chase.

India did the next best thing: bowl out the opposition for a total — 189 in this case, in 44.

5 overs — that failed to put them under pressure.

India were all over England before a gritty 95 by James Rew saved his team the blushes.

Bowling his medium pacers to deadly effect, Raj Bawa (5/31) ran through the English middle-order after the in-from left-arm seamer Ravi Kumar (4/34) laid the opposition low with two early blows.

India kept taking wickets at regular intervals but not for once did the intensity of the team dropped.

For close to 19 overs, Rew and James Sales (34 not out) defied India with their 93-run eight-wicket stand, ensuring the 1998 edition winners recover from a horror 61 for six and then 91 for seven.

In response, India lost Angkrish Raghuvanshi without a run on the board but the extremely talented Shaik Rasheed shone with a composed 50 off 84 balls.

Coming off his magnificent century in the semifinal against Australia, skipper Yash Dhull fell for 17, but the duo of Nishant Sindhu (50 not out) and Bawa (35) took the team within striking distance of victory with a 67-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

It has been an extremely challenging ride for the Indian team in this edition of the tournament as multiple players from the side were infected by the coronavirus and at one stage even struggled to field eleven fit personnel.

However, despite the huge setback that almost derailed their campaign, India came back a stronger unit focussed on correctly doing the things that were within its control.

Their clinical on-field performance told a very different story, a story far removed from all the troubles that the team went through off it, when as many as seven players were infected with the virus.

India struck as early as the second over when Ravi sent back the dangerous Jacob Bethell (2) cheaply.

The man from Bengal darted one in and then got it to hold its line as Bethell missed it completely after playing across the line.

The early blow did not have any impact on George Thomas as he smashed Rajvardhan Hangargekar for 14 runs, including two fours and a six over deep midwicket, in the very next over.

However, Ravi struck again, this time bowling out Prest who dragged the ball on to his stumps, putting the Indians on the top at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

Having failed to execute his pull shot, thanks to a bottom edge, Prest, who had earlier won a good toss, walked back dejected with his team in a spot of bother at 18 for two in the fourth over.

Ravi had 2/2 in the first two overs.

Notwithstanding the situation his team found itself early into the big final, Thomas continued to attack and collected two boundaries against Ravi.

With Hangargekar going for 19 runs in his first spell, Dhull effected a bowling change and it worked almost immediately, but Kaushal Tamble could not hold on to Thomas’ thick edge off Raj Bawa in the slip.

England needed a partnership at that stage but that was not going to be.

Medium pacer Bawa got the well-set Thomas to play an irresponsible shot that got a thick outside edge and landed in the hands of Dhull at cover.

In all sorts of trouble at 37 for three at the start of the 11th over, England’s desperate quest for a partnership was not answered, with William Luxton edging Bawa to be out caught behind before England could reach 50 runs.

Bawa was on a hat-trick as George Bell had no answer to an excellent delivery that kicked up and took a deflection on its way to the wicketkeeper Dinesh Bana.

With half the side back in the dressing room in the 13th over, the England U-19 were staring at a heavy defeat, their dreams of winning a first world title in 24 years quickly going up in smoke.

There was not end to England’s misery as Rehan Ahmed nicked Bawa to Tambe in first slip to leave the side reeling at 61 for six in the 17th over.

Bowling a tight line and length, India kept up the pressure on England and it paid dividends when wicketkeeper Alex Horton, trying to heave off-spinner Tambe over midwicket, ended up giving a simple catch to Dhull.

England were still seven runs short of reaching 100 at that stage, but they got there soon with James Rew reaching his 50 in 79 balls.

In the company of the James Sales, he helped England reach 189.

New Delhi: A COVID-19 outbreak hit the Indian cricket team on Wednesday as three players — senior opener Shikhar Dhawan, reserve opener Ruturaj Gaikwad and middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer — tested positive for the virus along with four support staff during their mandatory isolation period before the start of West Indies series.

The Indian team assembled in Ahmedabad on January 31 for the upcoming white-ball series against the West Indies and were going through a three-day isolation period post their break from the South Africa series.

The series starts in Ahmedabad on February 6 with India’s 1000th ODI match but it is now a foregone conclusion that the trio will be missing the series as they will have to undergo a week-long isolation and then return with two negative RT-PCR tests.

“Three players — Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan have tested positive. However there are multiple COVID positive cases among non-coaching administrative support staff. It could be between two to four people,” a veteran BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

“The players are largely asymptomatic and hopefully will be fine by the end of the isolation period. You feel bad for Shikhar as he might have to miss the series and he is not a part of T20 squad,” the official said.

Even more disappointing is young Ruturaj Gaikwad’s case as this is the second time in one and a half years that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

“If you remember, Ruturaj had tested positive in UAE during the 2020 IPL and went through hell. He had a 14-day quarantine back then and missed first part of the season in the Emirates. This is the second time he has tested positive,” the official said.

It is confirmed that captain Rohit Sharma, senior players like Virat Kohli and coach Rahul Dravid have all tested negative as of Wednesday.

“They have returned negative as of today.”

All those who tested negative will complete their mandatory isolation on Thursday. They will enter the bubble, if they test negative again on Thursday.

“The testing protocol set by BCCI medical team is for every day RT-PCR as RAT (Rapid Antigen Test) is often not conclusive. Although teams are supplied with RAT kits in case any player shows symptoms and wants to do a self test,” the veteran official said.

It is expected that M Shahrukh Khan, R Sai Kishore, Rishi Dhawan, who are stand byes for the series, will now get a look-in to be in the squad.

As far as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner is concerned, Venkatesh Iyer, a specialist opener in the T20 squad, or Jharkhand’s Ishan Kishan could be tried out.

CAPE TOWN: India rallied to bowl out South Africa for 287 after opener Quinton de Kock struck an attacking century and Rassie van der Dussen continued his sublime form with a 52-run knock in the third and final ODI here on Sunday.

The home team has already taken a winning 2-0 lead in the series.

After that, David Miller contributed a 38-ball 39 before the innings ended with a ball to spare.

With his sixth ODI century, de Kock equalled AB de Villiers’ record of scoring the most hundreds against India by a South African.

KL Rahul’s decision to bowl first worked straightaway as Deepak Chahar (2/53) had opener Janneman Malan (1) caught behind with just eight runs on the board at the start of the third over.

It was a big wicket for the Indians as Malan came into the inconsequential final ODI on the back of a neat 91-run knock in the Proteas’ series-clinching second ODI win at Paarl.

And credit for that must go to Chahar who got his fullish delivery to move away after angling it in, leaving Malan clueless.

A direct hit from India skipper KL Rahul from mid-off, ended his in-form counterpart Temba Bavuma’s brief stay in the middle as the batter failed to reach the non-striker’s end in time.

Bavuma making his way back to the dressing room for eight runs was another big break for India as the South Africa captain had scored a century in the opening fixture and also looked solid in the second outing.

After bagging two wickets in the powerplay, India seemed to be headed in the right direction when Aiden Markram’s attempted pull shot failed to clear substitute fielder Ruturaj Gaikwad in the deep square leg region, leaving the hosts at 70 for three in the 13th over.

However, the duo of De Kock and Van der Dussen got together and forged an excellent partnership, mixing caution with aggression to deflate the Indian bowling attack.

De Kock moved into the 90s with two boundaries and then produced a flat-batted six straight over Prasidh Krishna’s (3/59) head.

But he got stuck on 99 for a while before finally getting to the three-figure mark by driving Shreyas Iyer to the left of sweeper cover for two runs.

Van der Dussen hit Yuzvendra Chahal through mid-wicket for four, as the two upped the ante with their vast range of strokes on all sides of the wicket.

But just when it looked like the two batters were taking the game away from India, the visitors got rid of both of them.

De Kock got out to a Jasprit Bumrah (2/52) short ball, giving Shikhar Dhawan a simple catch at deep square leg, and then, Chahal had van der Dussen brilliant caught by Iyer in the deep.

Jasprit Bumrah

Paarl (South Africa) : India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah on Monday said he is not averse to leading the national team if an opportunity comes knocking at his door in the near future.

With Virat Kohli’s captaincy tenure in all formats coming to an end following his resignation from Test leadership, there are questions about who could be his long-term successor considering that Rohit Sharma will be 35 next year.

“If given an opportunity, it will be an honour and I don’t see any player (who) would say no and I am no different,” Bumrah, who is KL Rahul’s deputy for the ODI series against South Africa, replied to a query from PTI in a press conference ahead of the three-match rubber starting Wednesday.

“Be it any leadership group, I always look to contribute however I can, to the best of my abilities,” he added.

Bumrah said taking responsibility and helping teammates comes naturally to him.

“I look at this situation in the same manner…taking responsibility and talking to players and helping them out has always been my approach and it will always be my approach going further keeping any situation in mind.”

The India pace spearhead believes that there would be no tangible change in his role although he is the vice-captain now.

“Having post or not doesn’t matter. I always focus on how I can contribute,” he said.

“For me, the role doesn’t change at all. I have to do my job first, isn’t it? Trying to contribute as much as I can and then helping KL if he needs any assistance on the field and sharing a bowler’s mindset on what kind of fields you can keep that I always look to do,” Bumrah said.

In fact, he has dome all this and more even when he wasn’t anointed the vice-captain.

“Even when I am not vice-captain, I try to talk to some of the younger guys, have a lot of discussions on what kind of fields that need to be set and the same role I will try to do that again as well.

“No specific role or added pressure I am going to take. Yes, helping KL in any way possible and trying to keep a calm head.

The Indian team management, following Virat Kohli’s complete exit from captaincy roles across formats, bears a new look but Bumrah doesn’t see “anything weird” and believes that one needs to respect the new set-up that’s in place and start moving ahead.

“I can’t speak for everyone but I can say that for me, it doesn’t really make much of a difference. I am here to help all in whatever way I can. All the players are responding to the changes that have happened and everybody is respectful and understand how the processes are going.”

“Change is the only constant and we are happy everybody is contributing and we are getting (acquiring) a lot of knowledge and trying to contribute to that. I don’t think anybody is facing a problem or is in a weird space with the change that is happening,” Bumrah spoke for himself.

“Everybody understands change and have played enough cricket to understand that this is the way the game goes and this is how you move forward. So everyone in the team is quite positive and eager to contribute.”

There is no fun if there is no responsibility, said Bumrah.

“If there is no responsibility or pressure, where is the fun? I look forward to fulfilling my responsibilities,” he said when asked how much he will have to mould himself for the new role.

“As a bowler, when I first came into the team, I used to ask a lot of questions and I asked as many questions as possible to the seniors and in this transition phase if anyone asks me questions, the younger lot, I share my experience with them, sometimes, their inputs also help.

“If a new guy comes in and gives a fresh perspective, we take that seriously.” PTI KHS