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In a move that is bound to surprise the top brass of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), VVS Laxman is preparing to play two games of grade cricket in Sydney. The Hyderabad middle order batsman has been recuperating in Australia, following knee surgery a while ago. It must be remembered that Laxman suffered a ligament tear while playing a limited overs tri-series in Sri Lanka.Laxman’s affinity for Australian bowling is now well established, following his match winning and record-breaking knock of 281 against the Aussies at Kolkata earlier this year. Add to this the breezy innings of 167 Laxman made in Sydney to end India’s dismal tour Down Under in 1999-2000.Just two days ago, Laxman informed the BCCI that he had not recovered completely from his injury and withdrew from the first leg of the forthcoming Indian tour of South Africa. Laxman is slated to miss the Standard Bank Triangular One-Day series that involves Kenya, apart from the hosts and India. It is widely believed that Laxman would be fully fit in time to play the three-Test series against South Africa that begins in November.Following his arthroscopy five weeks ago, Laxman has been through a course of intense physiotherapy and will attend a fitness test on September 19 according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.The report goes on to add that Laxman is looking to play two games for the Balmain – University of Technology side. Club secretary Harry Harinath was “optimistic” that Laxman would be fit to play, adds the report. It bears mention that it was rumoured earlier that batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar would turn out for the same club, something that did not happen.If in fact Laxman does turn out for Balmain, it would not be the first time an Indian cricketer has done so. As long ago as the 1981-82 season, off spin great Erappali Prasanna rolled his arm over for the club.Interestingly, if Laxman does play,Balmain is slated to meet Hawkesbury and Mosman, during the two weeks that he would spend in Sydney. The latter of course is the club of the Lee brothers – Brett and Shane. Although the man reputed to be the quickest in the world is unlikely to play, the competition will be stiff.

Netherlands will take on 2015 ICC World T20 Qualifier co-champions Scotland in the headline matchup of round two in the ICC Intercontinental Cup and WCL Championship. Scotland will travel to The Hague for the four-day Intercontinental Cup match scheduled for September 8-11 at Sportpark Westvliet. Netherlands last played there in 2012 when they defeated Bangladesh by one wicket in a Twenty20 international.The two sides will then play a pair of 50-over WCL Championship fixtures at the VRA Ground in Amstelveen. Both sides are currently joint leaders after round one of the WCL Championship after Netherlands swept Papua New Guinea in June and Scotland claimed two rain-affected matches over Nepal in Ayr last month.Ireland will travel to Namibia in a top-of-the-table clash in the I-Cup from October 24 to 27 in Windhoek. Ireland claimed full points with an innings victory over UAE in Malahide in June to kick off round one while Namibia did the same, defeating Hong Kong by 114 runs in May. Namibia then host Kenya in two WCL Championship matches in Windhoek on October 30 and November 1.Hong Kong travel to UAE in the second week of November with both teams seeking their first win of the I-Cup. The four-day game will take place at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai from November 11-14 and will be followed by WCL Championship matches on November 16 and 18.The second round of the I-Cup will wrap up with Afghanistan hosting PNG in Sharjah from November 21-24. PNG will be looking to bounce back after their dreams of reaching the 2016 World Twenty20 in India were dashed by Afghanistan in Malahide last month.PNG are then scheduled to take on Nepal in a pair of WCL Championship fixtures on November 28 and 30, with both teams seeking their first wins in the competition. However, the venue for those games has not yet been decided. An ICC release stated that the matches are currently slated to be held in Kathmandu, though that is subject to a security and infrastructure assessment and clearance following a series of earthquakes that struck near Kathmandu in April and May.According to a source, the games may be shifted to the UAE. From a logistics standpoint, it would not require additional travel for PNG, who will already be there for the four-day match against Afghanistan, and the ICC GCA would be available to serve as a neutral venue. The ICC recently had to shift the 2015 U-19 World Cup Qualifier out of Nepal due to infrastructure damage from the earthquakes and it was announced earlier this month that the tournament will now be hosted this October in Malaysia.

Match facts

November 30, 2015
Start time 8.00pm local (1600 GMT)

Big Picture

By the time England complete their final match of this series they will have been in the UAE for 61 days. They will leave this trip with two series wins under their belts, both in the white-ball format as was the case on the previous visit in 2012. The one-day and T20 sides continue to play vibrant cricket, both victories in the shortest format coming with different combinations as England opt to give all their players a chance.The results have suggested there is an increasing pool of talent for the selectors to feel confident in: James Vince has slotted in very calmly at No. 3 and Liam Plunkett has responded impressively from his omission for the South Africa Test series. Sam Billings and Stephen Parry have also enhanced their chances of going to the World T20 in India.Pakistan, meanwhile, appear in something of a funk with their white-ball cricket although their performance in the second match in Dubai was an improvement. They do not seem certain whether to trust youth or experience. Their fielding has been poor – Umar Akmal’s boundary-parry catch to removing Billings was an exception – and the batting is hampering by uncertain running between the wickets.For some of the England squad there will be just a week at home before they depart for the Test series in South Africa, others including Vince will remain in the UAE for the England Lions series against Pakistan A. With the series against India remaining in limbo, Pakistan could be set for a longer break before heading to New Zealand early next year for a series of limited-overs matches.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LLWWW
England WWWWW

In the spotlight

Depending on your point of view the Rafatullah Mohmand story is either a terrific tale of a player who never gave up or an indictment of Pakistan’s selectors who have opted for a 39-year-old instead of a younger player (as often in Pakistan cricket, there does not seem much middle ground in the debate). He has 39 runs in his two innings, nowhere near enough evidence to make a judgement either way – so is anyone really any the wiser on whether he should go to the World T20? He may get the final match of this series, on the other hand he may not.If you sat down a group of people who weren’t the England selectors and asked them to pick a 15-man squad for the World T20 it is unlikely you would have two of the same permutations (and even the selectors may all differ). Plenty of fringe players have thrown their hat into the ring in these two matches, among them Lancashire’s Stephen Parry who has impressed with his nous and confidence to give the ball a rip, and bowl it slowly. There were signs in the second match that Pakistan’s batsmen were setting themselves for the delivery he drags down, but England will probably want three spinners in the final World T20 squad and Parry has a great chance of being there.

Teams news

Pakistan may need an extra spin option in Sharjah which would open the way for Bilal Asif to have an outing. With the series lost they may feel inclined to make more changes: Aamer Yamin and Mohammad Irfan have not played in the first two matches.Pakistan (possible) 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Rafatullah Mohmand, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Bilal Asif, 9 Anwar Ali, 10 Sohail Tanvir, 11 Wahab RiazEngland have given all their 15 a chance during the opening two contests so the combination for the final outing could be anything. One option is to allow everyone at least two matches which, barring injuries, could mean something like thisEngland (possible) 1 Jason Roy, 2 James Vince, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 David Willey, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 Stephen Parry, 11 Reece Topley

Pitch and conditions

The Sharjah surface has been the most abrasive seen across the three venues on this tour while the outfield has been on the slow side, which could bring the totals down a notch. With winter approaching it is cooling down a little in the Emirates, but there are no issues over the weather.

Stats and trivia

• England have played five previous three-match T20 series and have never secured a whitewash
• The most wickets for England in a bilateral T20 series is seven by Stuart Broad against New Zealand in 2013. Liam Plunkett currently has six in two matches. The most for any side in a series of up to three matches is nine by David Wiese against West Indies in January 2015.
• Shahid Afridi’s performance in Dubai of 3 for 15 and 24 off eight balls was just the third time in his 86-match career that he had taken at least three wickets and scored at least 20 runs in the same match

Quotes

“I was included in the squad last summer, but didn’t get the chance to play. So it’s nice to come out here and get an opportunity – I’m enjoying every minute of it. It’s been a steady start.”
Before this series, James Vince‘s one England cap was a rain-ruined game against Ireland where he didn’t bat“We were second in the world, but we are maybe lacking in fitness. It’s a fitness game. There are no excuses – we have to raise our game.”
Mushtaq Ahmed suggests Pakistan’s main problem is perhaps not with bat or ball

After the one-day series defeat against West Indies, England’s attentions turn back to Test cricket with India the second visitors of the season. It promises to be a fascinating contest with Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble going head-to-head with Michael Vaughan, Kevin Pietersen and Monty Panesar.And the even better news is that it’s time for another Cricinfo competition and there are some terrific prizes on offer. To mark the release of , featuring Pietersen on the box, there is a Citizen Eco-Drive watch and a host of Woodworm goodies to give away thanks to our friends at Empire Interactive.All you have to do is answer this question:Which England player is featured on the box of International Cricket Captain III and how many runs did he score in the recent Test series against West Indies?The winner will receive the Citizen watch and four runners-up will get the Woodworm gear consisting of a cap, backpack and training shirt.THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW CLOSED

Troy Cooley, the coach who engineered the remodelling of England’s series-winning actions last year, says Australia have the better bowling line-up for the Ashes. Since arriving at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane in May, Cooley has worked with all the local fast men apart from Jason Gillespie, who is in Yorkshire, and yesterday he spent time with Brett Lee in Sydney.Despite Cooley’s praise of the Australians, he said England’s bowling unit was “formidable” and the summer would be “a good shootout”. “I’m sure they’ll be getting themselves organised,” Cooley said in : “I think we have.”Cooley said reverse-swing would not be such a big factor in the series because of the Kookaburra balls and the lush grounds, but he wanted his bowlers to know how to use it. “You want to try and have all the deliveries underneath your belt,” he said. “Reverse-swing is one of them and you really want the bowler to be able to use that ball. If conditions suit, we’ll definitely try to take advantage of it.”Lee was watched by Cooley in the nets in Sydney yesterday and was impressed. “He’s a machine,” Cooley said. “It’s a unique style and it’s uncomplicated, and if we can keep it that way it will stand him in good stead. He moves very well and he’s very fit. But it’s all underpinned by being able to be explosive and roll that arm over quickly.”Cooley said in his role it was important to build a rapport with the bowlers before the season, which begins next month with a warm-up series for the Champions Trophy. “I just need to get them to understand what makes them work well and get them where they want to go,” he said.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outIf yesterday at Edgbaston had been Test cricket at its very best, then today’s hopelessly one-sided farce was it at its worst – that it was even labelled as Test cricket was bordering on the ridiculous. It has to be assumed that the Trade Descriptions Act doesn’t apply in Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe have had many wretched days on the international stage in the last year or so, but at Harare Sports Club today, they plumbed a depth that was spectacular even by their rapidly declining standards.They were bowled out by New Zealand twice inside a day, only the second side to suffer such a fate. The other were India at Manchester in 1952, but they were caught cold on a miserable and damp Old Trafford track which suited England’s bowlers. Zimbabwe had no such excuses. They were at home, and the conditions were not that one-sided.New Zealand did what they had to efficiently and clinically, but few of Zimbabwe’s batsmen troubled them and, more worryingly, few looked to be remotely good enough technically to survive at this level. New Zealand barely broke sweat, not that they had to.After declaring overnight, New Zealand unleashed Shane Bond and James Franklin. Bond showed impressive pace from his first ball, which rose and flew off Neil Ferreira’s gloves over the keeper’s head to the boundary. The die was cast.In the fourth over, Franklin had Ferreira caught at the wicket and he then trapped Dion Ebrahim and only a no-ball stood between him and a hat-trick as he had Hamilton Masakadza plumb leg before. Both batsmen’s footwork was questionable and both prodded half-forward. Next over Craig Wishart unwisely shouldered arms to a ball from Bond that cut back viciously off the pitch, and at 11 for 4 the innings was in shreds.Chris Martin also found movement to take three wickets in the middle order, with Stuart Carlisle (20 not out) standing alone as the tail collapsed around him; his was a fine but utterly futile rearguard. Daniel Vettori picked up the last two wickets immediately after lunch – his first-day hundred and six wickets in the match won him the Man-of-the-Match award. Zimbabwe’s only solace was that they just about passed their previous low – 54 against South Africa in March.Second time round, they started with a little more fight, although Brendan Taylor soon drove uppishly and was caught at short extra cover without scoring. That he was playing at all was a sign of Zimbabwe’s desperation. A month or so ago he was slapped with a six-month ban for disciplinary offences. But the cupboard is so bare that he was quickly forgiven and brought back.His was virtually the only attacking stroke to be played in the first 10 overs, as Ferreira and Ebrahim played with great application, but as they ventured out of their shells, the wickets again started to tumble.After tea Ferreira (16) seemed to lose his nerve, and played a couple of uncharacteristically risky strokes before he dabbed feebly outside the off stump at a ball from Franklin and provided Stephen Fleming with the first of three successive catches. The others were Wishart (5) and Carlisle (0), both softened up by short balls from Bond and then driving loosely outside off stump.What resistance there was was provided by Masakadza (42), who drove and pulled in impressive fashion, the only Zimbabwe batsman in the match to take the attack to the bowlers with any success. He had scored half the total of 84 when he tried to chip a drive on the leg side and had a leading edge well caught overhead by Vettori off his own bowling.As New Zealand closed for the kill, they got a stroke of luck as Vettori took his 200th Test wicket in dubious circumstances, Heath Streak adjudged leg before by Darrell Hair despite a thick inside-edge apparent to all but the umpire.

Tatenda Taibu hung around before being caught by Fleming and the last wickets fell without a whimper. Chris Mpofu set up his own Test record by being twice stumped for a pair inside two sessions. That summed up the wretchedness of Zimbabwe’s efforts.It is hard to see where Zimbabwe go from here. For the first time in 16 months they fielded their full-strength side, and yet the defeat was as one-sided as any they have suffered in that period. Their bowling lacked penetration and their batting at times would have embarrassed a good club side.In such hard times, world cricket has to be seen to support Zimbabwe. But there is an argument, which few who witnessed today would counter, that the time has come for a change of tack and a rethink about what is being achieved by ploughing on regardless. Nobody benefited from this massacre, and the pitiful attendance showed that even the locals have tired of such wretched fare. This was a match of interest to nobody but the statisticians.

ZimbabweNeil Ferreira c McCullum b Franklin 5 (9 for 1)
Dion Ebrahim lbw b Franklin 0 (9 for 2)
Hamilton Masakadza lbw b Franklin 0 (10 for 3)
Craig Wishart b Bond 0 (11 for 4)
Brendan Taylor run out (Styris) 10 (28 for 5)
Tatenda Taibu lbw b Martin 5 (46 for 6)
Heath Streak c McCullum b Martin 0 (46 for 7)
Blessing Mahwire lbw b Martin 4 (51 for 8)
Graeme Cremer c Martin b Vettori 1 (53 for 9)
Chris Mpofu st McCullum b Vettori 0 (59 all out)
Zimbabwe second inningsBrendan Taylor c Vettori b Franklin 0 (5 for 1)
Dion Ebrahim b Martin 8 (14 for 2)
Neil Ferreira c Fleming b Franklin 16 (53 for 3)
Craig Wishart c Fleming b Bond 5 (76 for 4)
Stuart Carlisle c Fleming b Bond 0 (80 for 5)

Hamilton Masakadza c and b Vettori 42 (84 for 6)

Heath Streak lbw b Vettori 3 (90 for 7)
Tatenda Taibu c Fleming b Martin 4 (90 for 8)
Graeme Cremer c James Marshall b Vettori 3 (99 for 9)
Christopher Mpofu st McCullum b Vettori 0 (99 all out)

Ricky Ponting will attempt to follow in the footsteps of Steve Waugh, AdamGilchrist and Mark Taylor by winning his first Test as captain on Australiansoil, when the second and final match against Sri Lanka begins at Cairnsthis morning.Ponting, who missed the opening Test in Darwin because of the death of hisaunt, is expected to be the only change in Australia’s victorious XI, replacing his temporary stand-in Matthew Elliott.He enters the game confident of both his batting form, having undergone a”really good workout” at a pre-series camp in Brisbane, and captaincypedigree. Already Ponting has led Australia to one World Cup and successiveVB Series triumphs, plus victory in all three overseas Tests in which he hascalled the shots.His vanquished opponents on all three occasions, needless to say, were SriLanka, who have never won a Test in Australia at seven attempts and wouldseem less well-qualified for optimism.Two changes to their side appear probable. Upul Chandana, the legspinner, whostruck an erratic length and failed to trouble the Australian middle orderin Darwin, might make way for the left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, whoimpressed observers in the tour match against a Northern Territory ChiefMinister’s XI.Meanwhile Romesh Kaluwitharana, the veteran wicketkeeper, stands a strongchance of playing his first Test in more than a year at Russel Arnold’sexpense. Arnold, who was himself playing his first Test since November 2002,looked unconvincing in struggling to 6 and 11 at Darwin.Kaluwitharana’s possible elevation would reduce the workload of KumarSangakkara, the vivacious left-hander, who too often looks knackered by thedouble burden of keeping and batting at No. 3. If you discount Tests againstZimbabwe, Sangakkara has not passed 34 in his last 12 innings and last hit ahundred 27 months ago.The days leading up to this match have felt a bit like the traditionalbuild-up to a WACA Test, even if Cairns and Perth – according to the map -might almost be a couple of continents away. All attention has centred onthe rumoured bounce and zippiness, conditions considered ripe for theAustralians and anathema to the visitors.Even Shane Warne, seldom one to talk down his abilities, has publicly allbut ruled out his chance of securing the eight wickets he needs to becomethe supreme wicket-taker in Test history. Warne’s logic ignores the factthat precisely half the wickets during Cairns’s inaugural Test last yearfell to spin, and should be seen for what it probably is: a colossal bluff.As for Ponting, even if Australia conspire to lose this game the omens lookpositive. The last Australian skipper to blow his first Test on home dirtwas Ian Chappell; before him, Don Bradman and Monty Noble also began theircaptaincy careers in Australia with a thud rather than a bang. And thosethree turned out all right in the end. Australia (probable) 1 Justin Langer, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 RickyPonting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Darren Lehmann, 6 Simon Katich, 7 AdamGilchrist (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Michael Kasprowicz, 11Glenn McGrath. Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya,3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 NuwanZoysa, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Lasith Malinga.

Glamorgan lost their opening game in the Twenty20 competition, losing toNorthants at Cardiff by 23 runs.The visitors, who elected to bat first, were restricted at first by an accurate openingspell by the Glamorgan attack. Mike Kasprowicz started the competition with a maiden,before David Harrison clean bowled Ben Phillips with his first delivery.However, the visitors recovered to make 159-5 in their 20 over allocation thanks toAustralian Mike Hussey who scored his second half-century in thecompetition, with a cultured 79 from just 58 balls.The Northants captain shared a useful stand of 45 in the last 4 overs withwicket-keeper Gerard Brophy to leave Glamorgan needing to score at 8 runs an over.After an early flurry from openers Robert Croft and Ian Thomas, there was thesteady clatter of wickets, as Glamorgan slipped to 44-3 after 7 overs, with Thomas,Mike Powell and Matthew Maynard all back in the pavilion.After the loss of David Hemp, Croft continued with some whirlwind blows, but shortlyafter reaching his 32 ball fifty, Croft was run out coming back for a third run after heand Adrian Dale had taken 18 from Mike Cawdron`s final over.The acting Glamorgan captain was one of four men to be run out as his batsmen struggledto keep up with the required rate against the visiting attack who bowled straight andfull. There was little on offer either from spinners Graeme Swann and Jason Brown, anddespite a few lusty blows towards the end of their innings from Darren Thomas, it wasBrown who finished things off by bowling Thomas with 8 balls remaining and Glamorgan 24runs adrift of their target.

AAP – Australia cricket captain Steve Waugh wants shorter Ashes tours anddescribed some fixtures on this year’s successful campaign as “a waste oftime”.Waugh and several of his colleagues who were part of both the triumphantTest and one-day squads returned to Australia today after completing agruelling three-month itinerary.The Australians schedule included 21 matches, including six threeorfour-dayers against county teams, some of which Waugh felt weren’t needed bythe tourists.”Three months is just too long to be away I think and it can be unhealthyfor everyone,” Waugh said.”You are in very close proximity to all the squad and it’s a long time to betogether and people obviously are missing their families.”So I think in future some of the county games are not needed, they are awaste of time basically half of them. Probably only two or three were goodmatches.”Waugh today admitted there was a danger Australia could look past its nextassignment against New Zealand as it awaits a showdown against South Africa,its closest challenger at the top of the ICC Test championship.Australia holds a slender lead over South Africa on the points table and thetwo teams will play three Tests here in December and January before hostingthe return series in February and March.Waugh admitted his team would already be thinking about the South Africamatches during the three-Test home series against New Zealand in Novemberand December.”New Zealand are a good cricket side and they are one of these sides thatare improving, so they will be hard to beat,” Waugh said.”But there’s no doubt we will be looking towards South Africa and they willbe looking at us. I think its a showdown for the number one Test side in theworld, so there is a danger element there that you can look too far ahead.”We’ve got to obviously make sure we play well against New Zealand, but atthe same time, we will be starting to prepare mentally and probably writingthings down about the South African players before we get to play them.”While Waugh praised bowling stalwarts Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath fortheir efforts in England, he made a point of complimenting his batsmen.Five of them managed at least one Test century with four of them averagingover 50.England never came close to bowling out Australia twice and only once did itdismiss Waugh’s side for under 400.”We probably surprised ourselves with the way we batted over there.”I thought the batting was superb and our general cricket all round waspretty good.”We were aggressive the whole time and positive and we played to win everyday of the tour.”

Suresh Raina has said he wants to establish himself as Test batsman, the only format in which he has not nailed down a spot in India’s batting order. Raina, the only Indian to have scored a century in all three international formats, attributed his inability to cement a Test spot to his lack of opportunities.”I have been doing consistently well in ODIs and T20s. Even in the IPL, I scored runs,” Raina told . “It’s true that I didn’t do well in three innings in Test cricket in 2012. It was the same story in 2015, but that doesn’t mean I am not experienced enough to be in the Test side.”I have not been given enough chances to prove my calibre as a Test cricketer. You can’t judge a player on the basis of just one match after a hectic series of one-day and T20 games. I am not asking for five Test matches to prove myself. Give me two-three games. And if I don’t perform, drop me forever.”

Raina moves on from Rhiti Sports

Suresh Raina has changed management companies, moving to IOS Sports and Entertainment from Rhiti Sports, a firm launched by MS Dhoni’s friend and in which the India captain had a 15% stake. Raina feels his decision to move on from Rhiti Sports will put an end to the conflict of interest allegations.
“I have signed a three-year deal with IOS Sports and Entertainment. I am happy to be associated with the new company. Above all, I am happy that there would be no conflict-of-interest under the BCCI system.”

After scoring a century on Test debut in Colombo in 2010, Raina has played just 18 Tests spread over four stints. His maiden stint lasted eight matches, when he was dropped after the first Test in South Africa in 2010; he had made 32 runs in six innings.He was drafted back into the side for India’s three-Test series in the West Indies in 2011. In seven consecutive Tests – three in the Caribbean followed by four in England – he managed 337 runs in 13 innings at 25.92. Sandeep Patil then took over as the selection-panel chairman and the new committee moved on to consider Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane to fill the open slot in India’s batting order.Raina made a surprise comeback for the two-Test series in New Zealand in 2012 but made just 58 runs. His last comeback to the Test team was the most disastrous of all, a pair in Sydney earlier this year.Since then Raina appears to have faded from the selectors’ radar for the longest format, having not even been considered for India A’s ongoing series against Australia A. Raina, however, is confident he has it in him to make a good Test cricketer.”I am sure I have the ability to be a consistent performer at Test level, but it’s just a matter of getting the chance to do so,” Raina said. “Before gearing up for the World T20, I will focus on my Test comeback.”Ahead of the World Twenty20, I have plenty of opportunities to play in the longer version of the game, especially in the Ranji Trophy in October-November before we tour Australia in January for an away series.”The domestic games will give me a platform to show my calibre and stake claim for a recall to the Test side. I am desperate for this. The Test series against South Africa in India will allow me to play at least four-five Ranji games for UP.”