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Prithvi Shaw, 18, burst on to the Test scene with a rapid hundred against West Indies in Rajkot. Here are the big numbers from his innings

Bharath Seervi04-Oct-20181:07

Prithvi Shaw: Among the youngest and fastest debut Test centurions

99 – Balls taken by Prithvi Shaw to score his century, which is the third-fastest by any batsman on Test debut. Shikhar Dhawan’s 85-ball ton against Australia in Mohali in 2012-13 is the fastest century on debut. Dwayne Smith had reached hundred off 93 balls on his debut.3 – Number of batsmen to score centuries on their Test debut at a younger age than Shaw. Mohammad Ashraful and Hamilton Masakadza had done it before turning 18, while Saleem Malik was six days younger than Shaw. Overall, Shaw is the 15th India player to get a ton on his Test debut.2 – Shaw is the second-youngest India player to score a Test century, behind only Sachin Tendulkar. Overall, Shaw is the seventh youngest to get to a century in Tests.ESPNcricinfo Ltd3 – Players to score centuries on their first-class debut as well as on their Test debut. Before Shaw, India’s Gundappa Viswanath and Australia’s Dirk Wellham had this dual achievement. Virender Sehwag had scored a century on Test debut as well as in his maiden first-class innings, but that came in his second first-class match.1 – Prithvi Shaw, at 18 years and 329 days, topped the list of the youngest players to score a 50-plus score on Test debut for India. In fact, he is the first India teenager to score 50 or more on debut. The previous youngest India batsman to score 50-plus on Test debut was Abbas Ali Baig, scoring 112 at the age of 20 years and 126 days against England at Old Trafford in 1959.2 – Players to score 50-plus at a younger age than Shaw in Tests in India. Both were for Pakistan: Hanif Mohammad and Mushtaq Mohammad. Both achieved this before turning 17. Before Shaw, the youngest India player to score 50-plus in India was the current coach Ravi Shastri (19 years and 210 days), against England in Delhi in 1981-82.ESPNcricinfo Ltd2007 – The last time an India player younger than Shaw made a Test debut – Ishant Sharma at 18 years and 265 days against Bangladesh in Dhaka. Overall, Shaw is the 13th youngest Test debutant for India.3 – Number of batsmen to face the first ball of a Test match at a younger age than Shaw. Hamilton Masakadza, Tamim Iqbal and Imran Farhat are the ones who did it. For India, the previous youngest to face the first ball of a Test was Budhi Kunderan at 20 years and 113 days against Australia in 1959-60.14 – First-class matches played by Shaw before making his Test debut. He averages 56.72 in those games, having hit seven centuries in 26 innings. On his first-class debut, for Mumbai in 2016-17, he scored a century against Tamil Nadu in the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy – incidentally, at the same venue as of his Test debut.3- Number of higher individual scores on debut for India than Shaw’s 134. Dhawan’s 187 is the highest, followed by Rohit Sharma’s 177 and Viswanath’s 137. Overall, Shaw’s innings is the third-highest for any batsman at the age of 18 or less.

Rangana Herath’s former Sri Lanka team-mates and coaches pay tribute to him

Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Nov-2018″What an incredible lad he is. So calm, so understanding, and he’s always there for everyone. For the youngsters, especially, having an influence like that is very, very good. Rangana Herath is very approachable to anyone. When you come into the international set-up, everything changes – the rewards and everything around you. You have to react positively to that. To help the youngsters with that, Herath has played a big role. On the cricket side, once Murali retired his numbers tell the story. He’s had a great impact, and Sri Lanka are going to miss him dearly. He falls in the bracket of the legends: the Sangakkaras, the Jayawardenes, the Muralitharans.””When Murali left, everyone thought that Sri Lanka would be a little handicapped. But Rangana actually revelled in being the sole spinner for the country. He never worried himself with what was happening with the board, or anything else. Unlike us, he very quietly went about his work. He did that year after year. He went through some tough times in terms of his career, but whenever he was given an opportunity, he’s just worked at performing and taking wickets. He’s scored some important runs for us as well.”I actually think he’s the greatest role model that Sri Lanka cricket have ever had – the way he’s played the game and the way he’s entered and formed relationships with players. He’s a guy that I admire a hell of a lot. I’m just sad that he’s retiring, because I think Sri Lanka really need him at the moment. I don’t think he’s overachieved. I think his potential was immense.””His determination shows in his whole career, to be out of the team when Murali was there, and to only get a chance later. He made sure he kept working on his game all through those years so that he could grab the opportunity when it came. It’s the kind of quality you see from him on the field as well. There are spells that don’t go his way, but he’ll come right back into it, and within a few overs he’s turned things around straightaway. The control to bowl that he has is something amazing. He’s the last guy from our generation who’s going to call it a day, so it’s a bit of an emotional thing for a few of our boys – for Sanga as well. Once Ranga got his opportunity, he showed what a great bowler he was. In the last five years he’s the guy who’s carried Sri Lanka through in Tests. He’s from a small school in Kurunegala, going into a bigger school and then making his way into the very top level, that’s just a great story.””I was joking in the dressing room and saying he’s become my all-time sporting hero. He’s gone ahead of Roger Federer.”-Former Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford, after Herath had taken a five-wicket haul despite an injured groin, in 2016“He’s such a phlegmatic, calm, relaxed guy – there’s nothing excitable about him. He’s Mr. Dependable. Even with the bat he’s got Sri Lanka out of trouble plenty of times. You look at him and you say he’s like a club cricketer, but the bloke’s mental strength is unbelievable. As mentally strong as any player I’ve come across. “-Former Sri Lanka coach Paul FarbraceWe’d like to do something for him and show him the respect he deserves because he’s had a fantastic career over 19 years – his longevity is phenomenal. From our point of view the respect is certainly there – he’s been a brilliant competitor. He’s done some special things for Sri Lanka and that should be noticed.

His place in the pantheon is secure, and as he’s emerged from his worst trough in a decade, there could be one more chapter added for South Africa’s veteran

Liam Brickhill12-Feb-2019The most ODI hundreds by a South African. The first South African to score a triple century in Test cricket. The fastest batsman to 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, 6,000 and 7,000 runs in ODI cricket. Hashim Amla has, by any measure, achieved greatness on the cricket field. But, such is the nature of the game, it is not enough merely to achieve greatness – as a player ages and draws closer to the end of a career it must be proved repeatedly. There is something almost brutal in it, the old alpha always being tested by those who have come after him, to see if he’s still good enough. Until one day he isn’t.That day has not yet come for Amla, but depending on how broadly one looks at it, a batsman is only as good – or as bad – as their last innings, their last series, even their last year. And after coming off a bad year, during which he averaged 23.36 in 10 Tests before Pakistan arrived, Amla has turned things around, averaging 52.25 across three Tests and 53.50 – at a strike rate higher than Faf du Plessis, Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen – in five ODIs against a Pakistani bowling attack that is one of the best in world cricket.He’s clearly still got it, whatever ‘it’ is, and Amla has, over the next few weeks, the opportunity against a wounded Sri Lankan side to continue playing himself back into the sort of form that has brought him so many past glories. He’s come out of his worst dip in form in a decade, and with a possibly career-defining World Cup campaign looming, his resurgence is coming at just the right time.Two months ago, Amla was so out of touch that he was dropped by Durban Heat after his second duck of the Mzansi Super League. He had muddled through the tournament in the batting doldrums, cobbling together 24 runs in seven innings as bowlers repeatedly threatened his edge, his front pad and his stumps. He was also struggling for full fitness, having broken a finger during an equally dry run through the Caribbean Premier League in September – an injury that hampered his ability to train as he would like to and took longer than expected to heal.In his very next innings after that fateful MSL duck at Centurion, for Cape Cobras in the 4-Day Franchise series, Amla walked to the wicket at No. 3 after brothers Janneman and Pieter Malan had laid a platform with a 124-run opening stand, and walked back off again almost immediately afterwards when he was strangled down the leg side first ball by Sisanda Magala. It was just the sort of rotten luck that strikes when a player is short of form.

“In my mind, Hash is, I suppose, like Cook from England. People always talk about him not scoring runs but he’s still the best that we’ve got in the team.”Faf du Plessis

Usually one of the calmest heads on the field, Amla must have felt some pressure when he walked out in the second innings of that franchise match, seemingly unable to buy a run having been out twice in four balls with murmurs about his decline growing. The set-up was almost identical in the second dig, Amla coming out to bat at first drop after the Malans had once again set things up with a 130-run opening partnership. The proposition was a tricky one, with just nine overs remaining in the day and the shadows lengthening across St. George’s Park when he walked in. For 12 long deliveries he clung to the crease on zero, seeing off a fired-up Lutho Sipamla and a probing Basheeru-Deen Walters before a push through the covers off Jon-Jon Smuts’ left-arm spin got him off what could have been a third – and possibly terminal – successive duck.Amla returned the next morning and laced the second ball he faced through cover point off the back foot with his trademark sprung-coiled grace. The Amla of old was back, and more runs flowed from the drive and the pull as he batted for over three hours for a 61 that pressed home Cobras’ advantage and helped set up a 37-run win. It was an innings played far from the limelight in an empty stadium in a windy city, but it was a vital one for Amla and marked the start of his return to form.His touch was back, but it wasn’t easy. Less than a week later, Amla walked out with South Africa 0 for 1 in a tricky second innings chase under grey skies and Pakistan’s quicks in the midst of a fearsome opening burst. What followed were vital runs in desperate circumstances, Amla’s 63 seeing his team home and sending them 1-0 up to set the tone for the series.
ALSO READ: Amla exhibits his version of “ProteaFire”
They were, captain Faf du Plessis confirmed, “very important” runs for both Amla and South Africa. “It’s very important for Hash as well, I think, not just in red ball cricket,” du Plessis said. “It’s important for him to score some runs and just relax a bit. Because runs is runs, whether it’s white ball or red ball. Hopefully it will be a good stepping stone for him in a big season for us.”It was. After a quiet Newlands Test, Amla was at it again at the Wanderers, blunting Pakistan’s attack from No. 3 and contributing vital runs to the cause in the second innings with his 71. Du Plessis had called Amla “our rock at number three” ahead of the series, and now the old veteran was once again adding substance to those words with runs in conditions purpose-suited to seam bowling, against the venom of Mohammad Amir and Shaheen Shah Afridi.Now he seems to have turned a corner and in that regard any concerns du Plessis may have had about his team’s elder statesman’s form have been answered. Not that du Plessis had concerns to begin with, he insisted.”No, not as yet,” he said. “In my mind, Hash is, I suppose, like Cook from England. People always talk about him not scoring runs but he’s still the best that we’ve got in the team. So yeah, certainly not even close to my mind. If it was possibly another season where Hash would have struggled then maybe next season I would have said something different, but not this season, no.”As if to remind everyone, if it was necessary, of how successful his career has been, Amla added another ODI milestone to his name with a 27th hundred in the format in the first ODI against Pakistan – the quickest ever, in terms of innings, to the mark, beating Virat Kohli’s record by two innings.Hashim Amla uses the pace to help one behind square•Getty ImagesA little of the gloss is taken off that particular ton by its circumstances, South Africa having pulled up short to register a dissonant 266 for 2, which appeared a scoreline from another age and indeed was the lowest ODI total for a side batting first and only losing two wickets since 1992. His knock, 108* off 120 balls, was in danger of making Amla look similarly anachronistic, and though he registered another fifty three innings later in the series, that likewise came in a match South Africa lost.It’s not the way he usually does things: 24 of his 27 ODI tons have come in South African wins, and his average when South Africa triumph in ODIs shoots up from a shade under 50 to 63.20.Those are the sorts of returns South Africa will need from Amla if they are make a serious attempt at World Cup glory in three and a half months’ time. That tournament will likely be the swansong of what has been an outstanding career, and Amla’s performances during Pakistan’s tour revealed, as Mark Nicholas put it, “both the influence of Father Time and a deep-rooted determination to overcome him.”Once he hit the summit, little has changed about Amla’s game over the years. While his methods are once again bearing dividends, questions in the media are somewhat inevitable at this stage when things don’t quite fall into place. Amla is simply of that age now, and time is running out on him as, ultimately, it runs out on all of us.His runs against Pakistan will help. Any more dropped catches will not. Amla missed chances in the slips in both the Test and ODI series, and while a player dropping a catch is not necessarily a sign of anything other than a momentary lapse of concentration or execution, Amla is of a vintage where such lapses raise a flag.”How do you want me to answer that?” asked his coach Ottis Gibson, when asked if the chances Amla has missed recently have caused him any worries. “It’s not a concern. People drop catches all the time. It happens in cricket. He didn’t go out there with the intention of dropping it. It just happens.”Players get older, powers wane and people retire. That also just happens. But for the runs he has scored this season, for his 18,418 international runs across formats, for his contribution as one half of the most prolific South African ODI batting pair in history, for his record in England (where he averages 56.73 in ODIs), Amla is a vital part of South Africa World Cup plans. How he performs at that tournament, and where he goes from there, will be down to is his will to succeed and his willingness to keep testing his own greatness.

Super Kings’ performance was a throwback to 2011, when they were invincible at home. Can they repeat it in 2019?

Deivarayan Muthu in Chennai09-Apr-2019The ball grips, turns, and plays more tricks. MS Dhoni is front and centre, marshalling Chennai Super Kings’ spin-heavy attack. There’s no way out for the opposition at fortress Chepauk. It’s 2011 all over again for Super Kings at home.Eight years ago, Super Kings had won eight out of eight games here, including the final against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Now, they’ve won four out of four at Chepauk by straitjacketing batsmen with spin.In 2011, R Ashwin, Shadab Jakati and Suraj Randiv did the job for Dhoni. Super Kings have a more potent spin attack this season, with Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja leading the way. They’ve been so potent that Kedar Jadhav hasn’t bowled at all this season and Suresh Raina has bowled just one over, in the first match, against Royal Challengers.Last year, Super Kings were ready to let their spinners loose at Chepauk, but the Cauvery river water dispute forced their home matches to shift to Pune, where surfaces tend to aid the faster men more. There have been no such problems this season.They have lost Lungi Ngidi and David Willey altogether and Dwayne Bravo temporarily, but their vintage spin attack has more than made up for their absence, so much so their batting coach Mike Hussey reckoned that the spinners have it in them to bowl at the death.ESPNcricinfo LtdOn a tired Chepauk pitch – the one that was used for the game against Kings XI Punjab on Saturday – Harbhajan, Tahir, and Jadeja smothered Kolkata Knight Riders. This, after Deepak Chahar had carved up the top order. He, too, took pace off the ball and asked to batsmen to manufacture it.Sunil Narine smashes spin and is less comfortable against pace, but Dhoni and Stephen Fleming aren’t big fans of match-ups. More recently, Bravo revealed that Super Kings don’t do team meetings. Dhoni backed Harbhajan with the new ball, and the offspinner delivered with a delightful cocktail of flight, dip, and turn.Harbhajan lobbed one up outside off at 79kph and got it to dip, creating distance between the bat and the pitch of the ball. The turn then drew an outside edge that was snaffled at backward point.Jadeja found bigger turn, beat Dinesh Karthik’s outside edge, and then found it, but the ball dribbled away past first slip. In all, Jadeja give away only nine runs off eight balls to Karthik. So the Knight Riders captain went searching for runs elsewhere and wound up hitting Tahir across the line to short midwicket, where Harbhajan clung on to a sharp catch.Tahir set off on a celebratory run and even whistled looking at the stands, where the fans acknowledged his wristwork as well as his footwork with tumultuous cheers.Soon, 44 for 5 became 47 for 6 when Tahir stormed through the defences of Shubman Gill with a wrong’un. Harbhajan then returned and had Chawla stumped with old-fashioned dip and turn. In the next over, Jadeja added his name in the wickets column when he had Prasidh Krishna chipping a catch to short midwicket. Krishna was the fifth Knight Riders batsmen to be out hitting across the line.All of this was down to the pressure exerted by the spinners from both ends. Tahir, Harbhajan and Jadeja bowled 15 dots each and finished with combined figures of 12-0-53-5. In fact, Tahir could have dismissed Andre Russell on 8 had Harbhajan not misjudged a skier at midwicket. Russell was seemingly troubled by cramps in his left hand, but he rallied to an unbeaten 50 off 44 balls to haul his side past 100.Despite the lapse, there wasn’t any such trouble for Super Kings’ spin trio. If the Chepauk pitch continues to turn big and the spinners continue to expertly exploit it, Super Kings will be invincible here.

It was not just the runs he scored – 525 – but how whenever he was at the crease the opposition wilted

Saurabh Somani26-Oct-2019″I’m sad I didn’t get to bat in the last couple of matches, where I was very eager to bat.” The twinkle in Manish Pandey’s eyes when he said that matched that in his footwork all through this season’s Vijay Hazare Trophy.Pandey is now the captain who has led Karnataka to a major domestic triumph on home ground, a privilege not given to many. He has also been the tournament’s best batsman. There may be four players above him on the run-scorers list – Devdutt Padikkal, Abhinav Mukund, KL Rahul and B Aparajith – but the only real rival he’s had over the past few weeks was Mumbai’s teenage double-centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal. And here’s why.The score Pandey has been dismissed for in the entire tournament was 48. It came against Hyderabad, the only game Karnataka lost in the whole Vijay Hazare Trophy. For a team that boasted a batting line-up of Rahul, Padikkal and Karun Nair besides Pandey, that Hyderabad match showed just how vital their captain was.It was not just the quantum of runs, of which Pandey scored 525 at an average of 105. It was not just his pace of scoring – a tournament strike-rate of 108.02 and 22 sixes, the third highest in the tournament. It was not just that after that Hyderabad game, Pandey ensured he stayed unbeaten in all subsequent chases. It was all this and the ability to look completely the master of the situation every time he batted.Karnataka had Rahul at the top of the order, and though he was coming off a poor tour of West Indies, he was facing bowlers who were a notch lower in pace and quality. Still, he played well within himself, always focused on seeing out the early spells, and opening up only when he was well entrenched. Padikkal was similar in his approach, while Nair – who had begun the season with a glut of runs in the Duleep Trophy – suddenly found them hard to come by in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Manish Pandey takes on the short ball•Associated PressSo Karnataka turned to Pandey, who looked like he had more than one shot to every ball most times. His dismissals always came against the run of play. It wasn’t as if the bowlers had built up pressure, or started troubling him. When he stayed the course, as he did against Chhattisgarh in the league stages after coming in at 25 for 2 in eight overs, he ended up with 142* off 118 balls that completely shut the opposition out. He looked, in short, like a batsman who belonged to a higher level than the one he was playing at.”It was a good season for me,” Pandey said. “I thought, batting at No.4, I had to be there at the end, taking that extra responsibility for the team’s cause.”That Pandey can do it at the highest level, against tough opposition is not in doubt. His stunning century at Sydney in early 2016 to salvage a win for India was evidence of his batting chops. His ‘one step forwards, two steps back’ international career is more a product of bad luck combined with bad timing than a reflection of his skills.So perhaps he can take inspiration from his team-mate, who flew down specially to take part in the semi-final and final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. That Pandey didn’t get to bat in those two games was also down to how well Mayank Agarwal played. In the semi-final against Chhattisgarh, he sauntered to 47 not out in 33 balls, almost casually dismantling the bowling attack. In the final, he was even better. A century seemed there for the taking, but rain meant he had to be content with 69* off 55, an innings that was almost exclusively composed of stunning shots one after another.”Oh look, when an Indian cricketer who has done so well against a nation like South Africa… and he’s played the top bowlers, he comes and plays at this level, obviously it looks far more easy than what actually is happening,” Tamil Nadu captain Dinesh Karthik said about Agarwal’s knock. “You can plan (for the batsman), but at the end of the day you’ve got to give credit where it’s due. He kept us at bay with whatever we could try and throw at him, and made sure he had answers for it.”Karthik could have well been describing any of Pandey’s innings through the tournament. Now all that remains for Pandey is to replicate how Agarwal has transitioned domestic dominance into sustained international success.

He knows his game, exactly what he can do, Phil Simmons says of his premier white-ball pace weapon

Deivarayan Muthu17-Dec-2019Sheldon Cottrell is one of the smartest short-format bowlers going around at the moment, but when he started out, he was a mean left-arm tearaway, who harried batsmen with pace and bounce. Cottrell had bolted into West Indies’ T20 World Cup squad in 2014 because of those skills. Playing for the now-defunct Antigua Hawksbills against Barbados Tridents in the 2013 CPL, Cottrell had bounced out Dwayne Smith, Jonathan Carter and Shakib Al Hasan, making the Caribbean cricket community sit up and take notice.Injuries then interrupted his career and drained his pace, but Cottrell has now learned to make up for it with his guiles. It was on bright display in the ODI series opener against India at Chepauk on Sunday.ALSO READ: Is the IPL ready for Cottrell’s salute?The pitch had been relaid in Chennai, but it was still very sluggish. When Keemo Paul dug in a bouncer in the 16th over, Rohit Sharma was sitting on the back foot, waiting to switch on his pull playlist. However, the bouncer simply dawdled into Rohit’s body off the pitch and he could only flap it away to the leg side.Rohit – and India’s top order – was caught by surprise, but Cottrell wasn’t. He sussed out the conditions and the pitch so early that he bowled offcutters, legcutters and slower bouncers with the new ball.In the T20I series opener in Hyderabad, Cottrell showed he could still crank up his speeds to the higher 135kph range. But it just wasn’t needed on this Chepauk track.After starting off with two successive maidens, Cottrell shortened his length and got one to cut away from KL Rahul. The in-form opener was cramped for room and beaten by the lack of pace, splicing a leading-edge to midwicket. Boom! Out came the trademark salute.

I think he’s been brilliant for the West Indies in both formats of white-ball cricket. He was brilliant with St Kitts [and Nevis Patriots], whom I was with three years ago. He knows his game, exactly what he can doPhil Simmons on Sheldon Cottrell

Virat Kohli then got cracking with a drilled drive down the ground for four. Kieron Pollard moved his slip to short mid-off, daring Kohli to run the ball down to third man. However, Kohli didn’t have enough room or pace to do that. Cottrell floated a 124.9kph cutter and had the India captain chopping on for 4 in the same over. The salute again.After completing the double-wicket over, Cottrell was whisked away to the long-off boundary. And out came the salute again, this time from the Chennai crowd, along with chants of “Shellll-don Cottrell! Shellll-don Cottrell!” His first spell read: 5-3-12-2.Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer lifted India, but Cottrell came back and pinned the hosts down, again, with his cutters as well as yorkers. With the cutters, Cottrell has also created the illusion of swing and has made incisions with the ball going straight on, something that Zaheer Khan had mastered after injuries had cut down his pace.The straight ball has accounted for three of his five wickets in the limited-overs series in India. And in the 2019 World Cup earlier this year in England and Wales, it had accounted for seven of his 12 wickets, with the other tricks in his bag setting up the breakthroughs.Sheldon Cottrell is a livewire, with ball in hand or prowling the field•BCCI”I think he’s been brilliant for the West Indies in both formats of white-ball cricket,” West Indies coach Phil Simmons said on the eve of the T20I series decider in Mumbai. “He was brilliant with St Kitts [and Nevis Patriots], whom I was with three years ago. He knows his game, exactly what he can do.”Eoin Morgan had said pretty much the same thing when England toured the Caribbean at the start of 2019. “[He poses] a different challenge – swinging the ball both ways, and he comes back with variations with the older ball.” Cottrell even posted on his blog that he “really enjoyed” the praise from Morgan.Mind you, Cottrell wasn’t even supposed to be part of that ODI series against England. Paul was injured, as was Rovman Powell, so the West Indies selectors recalled the left-arm seamer.Cottrell marked his return with 5 for 46 in Bridgetown, helping West Indies defend 289 against a power-packed England line-up. After that, Cottrell made a splash in the World Cup, emerging as West Indies’ highest wicket-taker, with 12 wickets in nine games at an economy rate of 5.85.Cottrell’s international future was uncertain at the start of 2019, but he has turned it around, becoming the leader of the West Indies’ white-ball pace pack. How about securing the ODI series against India and bagging a maiden IPL contract to close out a bumper year now?

Shoaib Malik has been in and out of Pakistan’s side ever since he made his international debut in 1999. Have you kept track?

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2020An international career that began in 1999 is still going on. Shoaib Malik has been in and out of Pakistan’s side numerous times over that period. Have you kept track? Take our quiz and find out.

Aston Villa are currently preparing for one of their biggest matches in recent history with a trip to play Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals of the Champions League this evening.

The Villans come into the first leg clash off the back of a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest at Villa Park in the Premier League on Saturday, thanks to goals from Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen.

Unai Emery must be ruthless with his team selection and one brutal decision that should be made is the one to drop Ollie Watkins from the starting line-up.

Why Ollie Watkins should be dropped

The England international is on a barren run of form in front of goal and would not come into this evening’s clash with PSG full of confidence and ready to help the team pick up a historic result.

Watkins has scored one goal in his last nine matches in all competitions for the Villans, which came in a 1-0 win over Brentford towards the start of March.

As you can see in the table above, the 29-year-old striker has offered little at the top end of the pitch whilst also being incredibly wasteful with the ball at his feet in the last five matches, completing just half of his passes in three of those five matches.

With this in mind, Emery must ruthlessly axe Watkins from the team, after he offered next to nothing in the win over Forest, to bring Marcus Rashford back into the side.

Why Marcus Rashford is Aston Villa's answer to Ousmane Dembele

The big threat for the Villans to deal with this evening is likely to be Ousmane Dembele, who has scored 32 goals and provided eight assists in 40 matches in all competitions for PSG this term.

He has played started 17 matches on the wing and 15 games as a centre-forward, highlighting his versatility, and uses his pace and ability on the ball to cause constant problems to opposition defenders.

Rashford is similar to Dembele in many ways, starting seven games on the wing and three times as a striker for Villa, with his versatility at the top end of the pitch as well as his ability to create chances for himself with his pace and the timing of his movements off the shoulder of the last defender.

As you can see in the clip above, the England international showcased his pace and ability in front of goal with his maiden Premier League strike for the Villans against Brighton.

Rashford, once hailed as “unplayable” by analyst Raj Chohan, has scored three goals and provided one assist in his last four matches for the club in all competitions, showing that he is far more in form than Watkins at this moment in time.

His recent goal burst also suggests that he is the kind of player PSG would also be wary of ahead of tonight’s game, in the same that Villa be wary of Dembele, which is why Emery must unleash him from the start after he was on the bench against Forest.

Interestingly, Rashford has played the most games (four) and scored the most goals (three) against PSG out of all of his appearances in the Champions League in his career to date, suggesting that they are a favourable match-up for the English forward.

Emery's own Saliba: Aston Villa will have bid accepted for £50m "monster"

Aston Villa could soon welcome in their very own William Saliba in this defensive monster.

By
Kelan Sarson

Apr 8, 2025

The 27-year-old marksman has punished the Parisian side in the past and Emery must ditch Watkins to put Rashford in a position to break French hearts in the Champions League once again.

Liverpool have made an enquiry to sign a new midfielder who has been compared to Reds star Ryan Gravenberch.

Liverpool prepare for summer transfers after Salah and Van Dijk deals

Arne Slot has enjoyed a brilliant first season in charge at Anfield, with the Reds closing in on the Premier League title. Liverpool can be crowned champions this weekend, should Arsenal suffer defeat against Ipswich Town and the Reds beat Leicester City on Sunday afternoon.

The main headlines at Anfield recently have been with Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk’s new contracts. The pair have both penned new two-year deals, with Van Dijk set to earn more than £40m on Merseyside between now and 2027.

Talking about Van Dijk’s new contract, Slot said that keeping the centre-back and Salah means that it is “already a big summer” for Liverpool.

“[Van Dijk’s contract] tells you that we want to keep our best players. The players that have played a great season for so many years in row. When we are able to keep them as free agents, it tells you the ambitions we have for the upcoming years.

“I’m really happy they both extended. Virgil is so important, defensively and offensively, in and around the dressing room. A great personality and a great football player. I think at Liverpool there is always a big summer and it is already a big summer now. Maybe the players don’t follow everything what has been said in the media, me neither, but what I do know it was it was a big thing – ‘can we hold onto them?’ – and by already holding on to two it is already a big summer.”

Imagine him & Van Dijk: Liverpool lead race for 'world's most in demand CB'

Liverpool are looking to sign one of football’s biggest talents this summer to partner Virgil van Dijk

By
Angus Sinclair

Apr 17, 2025

New signings could join Van Dijk and Salah ahead of the 2025/26 season, and a new defensive midfielder appears to be on the wish list.

Liverpool make contact to sign £60k-p/w Nicolo Rovella

According to reports in Italy, relayed by Sport Witness, Liverpool have made an enquiry over a move for Lazio midfielder Nicolo Rovella.

The 23-year-old is also wanted by Arsenal and Manchester City and could now be set to leave the Serie A side following their Europa League exit to Bodo/Glimt on Thursday.

Lazio would want to keep their star players including Rovella this summer, however, the financial implications of not qualifying for the Champions League may mean they cash in on some.

Currently sixth in Serie A, Lazio only have Rovella on loan from Juventus, although there is an obligation to buy with certain conditions. Liverpool could swoop in over the coming months and land the holding midfielder, who has been compared to Gravenberch among others, as per FBref.

Rovella, on around £60,000-a-week, was also hailed as “wonderful” by Italy boss Luciano Spalletti last year, and by the looks of things, a move to Anfield could be one to keep an eye on.

Celtic are already building towards next season and could see plenty of movement in both directions once the summer window comes around at Parkhead.

Celtic begin to make inroads in the transfer market

While Brendan Rodgers has enjoyed another remarkably successful season at Parkhead, the Irishman still has the small factor of focusing on winning a domestic treble before fully looking ahead to 2025/26.

After claiming the Scottish Premiership title, Premier Sports Cup and putting on a brave showing in the Champions League, he will hope his side have demonstrated more than enough appeal to prospective summer recruits.

Recently, Celtic have been linked with a move for Heart of Midlothian forward James Wilson. The Scotland international has enjoyed a breakout campaign at Tynecastle, though it remains to be seen whether he would be given first-team guarantees in Glasgow.

Sarpsborg star Sondre Ørjasæter has been on the Hoops’ radar since January, suggesting that bolstering the ranks from middle to front could be a key priority for Rodgers. Nevertheless, there will also be a number of departures to clear the decks for fresh blood to enter the fold, even if Celtic are likely to fight hard to hold on to key stars.

Only played 66 minutes: Celtic can fix Jota blow by unleashing young star

With Jota set to be sidelined for an extended period of time, Brendan Rodgers should give Celtic’s “absolutely brilliant” youngster an opportunity.

By
Ben Gray

May 2, 2025

Daizen Maeda is attracting reported interest from Liverpool and Arsenal, signifying that high-profile sides may be casting an eye over a number of Hoops men ahead of next season. Now, further information has emerged regarding who could become Celtic’s early casualties and four players are now set to head through the exit door once their contracts expire.

Celtic set to part ways with four starlets this summer

According to The Daily Record, Celtic are set to part ways with Daniel Cummings, Joe Morrison, Alasdair Davidson and Lewis Dobbie, with the latter three not being retained by the Scottish champions.

Notably, Cummings has previously been offered a new contract by the Bhoys, but the Scotland Under-21 international has been frequently linked with a move to West Ham United after the Hammers saw a £500,000 bid turned down for the striker in January.

Seemingly, any efforts from Celtic to try and retain the prolific forward have fallen on deaf ears, and it remains to be seen whether a move to the London Stadium becomes a likely prospect in the summer months.

While there is an appetite from supporters to witness their academy system produce more talent for the first-team, it appears that none of the quartet mentioned will be household names at Parkhead.

Instead, they will focus on finding a steady path to senior involvement elsewhere, leaving Lennoxtown bosses to work with their existing pool of options.