IPL update, England pick their squad for Zimbabwe test match, while Aussies dominate in County Championship causing selection headaches ahead of WTC final

Take a look at how all the teams in the IPL are going as we near finals, England selects its squad for its one off test match against Zimbabwe beginning on May 22, while a number of Aussies have been in good form in the County Championship causing headaches for selectors ahead of the WTC final in June. Also, Rohit Sharma retires from test cricket and the ICC releases the latest test team ratings.

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Transcript

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Hello and welcome to another edition of the Ashes to Ashes podcast where we delve into everything related to the Australian and English cricket teams both men's and women's as they gear up for another Ashes campaign and they're always gearing up for an Ashes campaign. I'm your host Patrick Glover, Newsquest journalist and avid cricket fan. We're back after a little bit of a hiatus. It's been a busy couple of months with my work and cricket commitments but we're back now and we have a jam-packed episode coming up we've got the IPL is nearing the pointy end of the season the county championship is also underway over here in the UK we've got England have just announced their squad to take on Zimbabwe ahead of the start of their summer of cricket here we've got the Aussie world test championship squad to discuss and also a couple of little tidbits to finish with we've got Rohit Sharma retired from test cricket yesterday the new test rankings are also out so have a look at them. But before we get started just a quick reminder to give us a follow and a rating wherever you listen to your podcast so on the likes of Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Podcasts. Righto without further ado let's get stuck into today's episode. So we're going to start off with the IPL. It's coming to the pointy end of the 2025 competition with just a couple of games to go for each team before we hit the playoffs. As it currently stands, we've got the Gujarat Titans sitting atop of the table. They've sort of snuck under the radar a little bit this season. We've got RCB sitting in second. Punjab Kings are sitting in third. The Mumbai Indians fourth. Delhi Capitals in fifth. Calcutta Knight Riders sixth, Lucknow Super Giants in seventh, Sunrisers Hyderabad in eighth, Rajasthan Royals ninth, and the Chennai Super Kings in tenth. Now with the lack of fixtures ahead of the playoffs, we've got three teams that are pretty much ruled out of making finals. So they're the Sunrisers, Rajasthan, and CSK as well. A bit of a flip around in fortunes for the Sunrisers after making the final last year. So obviously the likes of Paddy Cummins and Travis Head from an Aussie point of view will be disappointed with the way that their team's gone in this competition. Paddy Cummins has had a tough time on some fairly batter-friendly wickets over there. And Travis Head hasn't quite had the same impact he had last year. But... They've still had an okay tournament. They've won a few games here and there. And Abhishek Sharma has been classed at the top of the order once again and shown why he's such an exciting talent. If we have a look at the top of the table, I guess, you've got RCB are currently sitting in second, as I mentioned before. They've just got such a fantastic team. And they've had a really good squad for... Well, just about in the entirety of the IPL. And they've never been able to put it all together and make the final. But I've got a feeling that this could be the year. Virat Kohli's in top form. He's made 505 runs for the tournament, including 750s. He's averaging 63 at the moment. When you can drop blokes like Phil Salt from the top of the order and replace him with Jacob Bethel, you've obviously got a fairly handy batting lineup. And Jacob Bethel who came in the other day and made 50 odd at the top of the order for ICB. You've got a few Aussies in that squad as well. Timmy David's been doing a job at the back end of an innings in his finisher role. He's been doing a fantastic job for RCB there. And Josh Hazlewood's been arguably the pick of the bowlers in IPL 2025. He's taken 18 wickets and he's there or thereabouts the leading wicket takers for the tournament behind only Noor Ahmed and Proceed Krishna. So he's been fantastic. And especially after... I think there was probably a few questions around Joshy after... After the summer and he didn't make it through to the end of the Test Series and Scott Boland came into the Aussie Test side and played such a fantastic role for the Aussies, as he always does, there was probably questions around whether maybe Hazelwood wouldn't get picked in the World Test Championship final coming up in June, but the way he's played throughout this IPL tournament has been fantastic and I think puts him probably back ahead of Scotty Boland for the third fast bowler spot in the Aussie team for the World Test Championship final coming up in June. So we move on to Gujarat Titans now. They're currently sitting atop of the IPL table. They've had a fantastic season. They've got a star-studded lineup. You've got Shubman Gill, Joss Butler, and Sai Sadasan, who are all in the top 10 leading run scorers for the competition, all scoring over 500 runs. You've got Krishna, as I mentioned before, is the second-leading wicket-taker for the tournament. Mohamed Sarraj has taken 15 wickets and bowled fantastically as well. And you've got Kishore as well, who's taken 14 wickets. So, They've got a fantastic lineup, and that's on top of the likes of Rashid Khan, Shefain Rutherford, Washington Sundar, and Kagisa Rabada, who hasn't been playing, but we'll get to that later. So they've got a really good outfit there and look like they should go deep into the playoffs with the side that they've got on the form that they've been in throughout the tournament. So Goodra and RCB are probably the two standouts at the top there, and then Punjab, Mumbai and Delhi are probably the next three that are battling it out for those last two places in the top four. KKR and Lucknow are both in with a shot but I think are probably just a little bit further, a little bit off the pace compared to Punjab, Mumbai and Delhi. So Punjab have been a really fantastic story this tournament. They've never won the IPL before and Ricky Ponting's taken over as coach this year and has really They really turned their fortunes around. They had a clear plan going into the auction of what they wanted and they got it pretty much. And all the... I guess all the key... pieces of the puzzle that they were looking for in that auction have all performed. So Ashdeep Singh has been one of the picks of the tournament bowling-wise. He's taken 16 wickets. Chahal has been fantastic and won a number of games for them, especially that close one a couple of weeks ago against KKR where they managed to defend at 120 or even less, I think it was. Sri Asai has done a fantastic job as captain and And also scored over 400 runs. And then you've got the likes of Marco Jansen as well, who's been fantastic. Josh Inglis is just starting to get a bit of a goal as well and doing a good job at the top of the order. Xavier Bartlett as well has been really good with the new ball. So in his first taste of RPL cricket. I guess they probably would have been a little bit disappointed with Maxwell and Stoinis. They both started the tournament off in the side but have dropped off and now Maxwell's gone home due to a finger injury and has been replaced by Tassie's Mitch Owen who will join the team after his stint in the PSL. So fantastic to see him getting a crack in the IPL after his blistering form for both the Hurricanes and Tasmania in the Big Bash and the one-day Cup as well over in Oz. So it'll be really exciting to see how he goes when he gets over into the IPL. Dele have been another one who have been fantastic throughout the tournament, led by Mitchell Stark and KL Rahul. Mitch has just shown why he is one of the best white ball cricketers in the world. I think people tend to seem to forget just how good he is And his death bowling this tournament has been fantastic. He's taken key wickets at the top of the innings as well in the power plays. He's just been all-round fantastic and stepped up in the big moments when he's needed to. He bowled a fantastic super over in a game for Delhi a couple of weeks back. So he's been fantastic. And KL Rahul as well. He's been the glue in that batting lineup, I think, for them. He's continued his good form. over from the Champions Trophy he was fantastic in that and played a steady hand for India and he's carried that good form over into the IPL and has been in fantastic form there unfortunately Jake Fraser-McGurk probably hasn't had the tournament he would have liked especially off the back of such a fantastic turn up last year he would have I think a lot of people were expecting big things from him this year he started off at the top of the order but has been dropped in the last couple of games and and And you've had Faf du Plessis, not a bad replacement to have come in and jump in instead of Jake Fraser-McGurk. But I think he'll learn a lot from this tournament, even though he hasn't been playing. As I mentioned, you've got blokes like K.O. Rahul in that squad, Tristan Stubbs as well, who obviously has played a bit of cricket for South Africa. Kevin Peterson's over there as a mentor for that side as well. So we've got to remember that the rooster is very young still and he's still learning his craft, still figuring out his game, I guess. So to be around blokes like that in... in an IPL environment is fantastic and is only going to make him a better cricketer going forward. So I think Australian fans and the Australian coaches can be excited that he's being exposed to this kind of a setup this early in his career. So although he's not playing, it's still great to see him in that squad. Mumbai is the other one. They've got some of India's big guns in that side. You've got Surakumar Yadav, who's the leading run scorer for the tournament with$500 Robert Sharma's been fantastic at the top of the order as well for them and you've got Jasper Bummer who's come back from injury too and he's been in his destructive best and then you throw in Hardik Pandya as well so he hasn't really had Pandya hasn't really had the impact I guess he would have liked with the bat but he's been brilliant with the ball and taken 13 wickets on top of that you've got guys like Ryan Rickleton who's definitely one to keep an eye on going forward for South Africa he's been fantastic fantastic in this IPL and has played a few really handy knocks for South Africa in recent times. Trent Bolt, again, just fantastic with the new rock there for Mumbai. So they've got quite a dangerous team and will be a team to watch obviously going into the playoffs. So I think those will be the main, as I said, I think those guys will be the main teams that will be fighting it out for those final four spots to make it through to the playoffs. As I mentioned, KKR and LSGL are still in the hunt to take one of those final spots, but I think it'll be out of the previous mentioned teams. From an Aussie point of view, it's great to see Mitch Marsh has been back in some form and scoring runs. For Lucknow, unfortunately for them, their marquee signing, Rich Barpant, hasn't had the tournament that he would have liked. He was the most expensive player ever bought at an IPL auction this year for 27 crore, which is... the equivalent of£2.5 million. But he just hasn't quite clicked and hasn't been able to find his rhythm this tournament. He's only had the four catches and one stumping sort of dismissal-wise as well. So probably hasn't had the tournament that he would have liked, but... He's one of those players that is so destructive that it's only going to take one innings and that could all change. And coming to the back end of the tournament, if they do make the finals and he does hit some form, they could be a team to look out for and could cause some havoc in the finals. Another player to watch, not just for the rest of this tournament, but for years to come, is the 14-year-old from Rajasthan. Now, I'm not even going to try and pronounce his name because I'm going to butcher it and I apologize, but everyone knows who I'm talking about. He made 101 off of 38 deliveries for Rajasthan the other week against Gujarat Titans, and that's a fairly handy bowling lineup as well. You've got the likes of Siraj, Ishan Sharma, Washington Sundar, Rashid, Khan. So that's a very handy bowling line up to do that against. So definitely one to keep an eye on for the future. He hit his first ball in the IPL for six. That was before his century. But since his time, he's gone on to make scores of zero and four. So he obviously balances himself out, but he's definitely one to keep an eye on in years to come. While we're on Rajasthan, from an English point of view, they'll be really happy to see that Joffre Archer has managed to make it through the entire entire IPL tournament injury free which is fantastic news he hasn't been picked in England's test squad to play Zimbabwe but he'll probably still be coming back or finishing up at the IPL so it gives I guess it gives a few of the other younger guys or a few of the other quick bowlers a go but really good to see that he's made it through the tournament and it will be interesting to see which way selectors go with him going into the English summer because they're They've obviously got a very important series coming up against India. So while we're on the topic of that England squad, as I mentioned, they're taking on Zimbabwe in a single game at Trent Bridge, which will kickstart their summer of cricket. So that game takes place or begins on May the 22nd. This is the first time that Zimbabwe have been on English soil since 2003. So back then, the Zimbabwe team featured the likes of Heath Street, Grant Flower, Tatenda Taibu, Douglas Hondo. Fantastic names there. If you watch Zimbabwe back in those days, they had a really good team and good to see them back playing some test cricket again and getting some results as well. So that England squad to play Zimbabwe consists of Stokes, Atkinson, Bashir, Brook, Sam Cook from Essex, who is uncapped. We'll get to Jordan Cox in a minute. He was initially named in the squad. You've got Crawley, Ducker, Pope, Potts, Root, Smith. So that's Jamie Smith and Tongue as well. So... As I mentioned, Jordan Cox was in that squad. He's been omitted from that squad. He suffered a side strain playing for Essex the other day, which is really disappointing because he's been in some fantastic form of late. So his scores this county championship season have consisted of 117, 82, 32, 24, 26 and 103 not out. So he's been in fantastic form this season and it hasn't just been this season. He was in line for a test debut against New Zealand in December last year. He was named in the England squad and then was ruled out of that series with a fractured thumb and was replaced by Jacob Bethel. And we know what he did. He came in and had a fantastic series. So Bethel's now almost leapfrogged Cox in the pecking order there now, which... which is unfortunate for him. It would have been great to have seen Cox get a game potentially against Zimbabwe. There's a lot of pressure on Pope and Crawley at the moment. They haven't probably been in the form they would have liked of late. Crawley hasn't made 100 since July 2023 when he made 189 against Australia at Old Trafford. Since the start of the last English summer, so Crawley's been involved in 3C against the West Indies, Pakistan and New Zealand and has produced scores of 76, 0, 3, 18, 78, 27, 3, 29, 2, 0, 1, 17, 8, 21 and 5. So it doesn't make for great reading. And Pope, he made 154 against Sri Lanka at the Oval last summer. But since then, His numbers have been slightly better than Crawley's. He's 7, 0, 29, 22, 3, 1, 77, 66, 10, 24, and 17. It's good to see blokes like Cox and Bethel making runs and putting pressure on those kind of guys. You've also got James Rue has now come in and replaced Jordan Cox in that squad. He's been in fantastic form of late as well. He's averaging 54. The this county championship season with a top score of 152. He's been on tour with the English Lions over in Australia recently as well, and he's only 21. So an exciting future there for him. So why don't they? Obviously, it's a one-off test against Zimbabwe, and and obviously no offense to Zimbabwe, but why not try a few young blokes like that? If Crawley and Pope are struggling, why not give them a crack against Zimbabwe rather than if Crawley and Pope fail in the first couple of games against India, rather than throwing those kind of guys straight into the mix against the likes of Boomer and Siraj on decks that are really going to suit suit them especially Bumrah why not give them a crack against a weaker side like Zimbabwe give them a taste of international cricket and see what they're like and potentially then obviously Bumrah build them into the India series because they're going to need some backup batsmen come the Ashes at the end of the year as well. So it'll be interesting to see what the side looks like, whether they make any sort of major changes to that team against Zimbabwe. Bowling-wise, not too many surprises, I guess. You've got Josh Tongues back in the squad there, which is good to see him back around the England set-up. He hasn't been in an England squad since the 2023 Ashes. Shoei Bashir is obviously in that squad. Gus Atkinson has been in fantastic form on the test setup recently. Matt Potts as well. And then you've got Sam Cook, who is described as one of the most consistent bowlers in county cricket in recent years. So he's taken 318 first class wickets at a touch over 19. And he impressed on the England Lions tour in Australia as well with the 13 wickets in three matches. So he gets a crack as well. You've got blokes like Jacob Ethel who's obviously in the IPL at the moment. So he'll still be playing over there with RCB, hence why he's not in this squad. But obviously they'll get him back for the India series. You've got Ollie Stone who's out injured. Brydon Kass is set to return from injury for Durham. He suffered a toe injury in the Champions Trophy and then pulled out of the IPL. And Mark Wood is still... is still a couple of months away. He suffered a knee injury and probably won't be back until about July. But it'll be important to get some games into Mark Wood and potentially Joffra Archer if they're planning on taking them to Oz. I think those kind of guys are going to be crucial in Aussie conditions on those hard, bouncy decks with the Kookaburra balls. If you can get... They don't need to play all five games and I don't think Joffra and Mark Wood's bodies would allow them to play all five tests. But if you give them... two tests maybe out of the five. If they can win both those tests, that's all, they've done their job there. And if you go, right, okay, you guys, We're going to bring you in for a couple of tests, maybe the first test and perhaps the third. Give them a short, sharp burst and go, right, just give us all you've got and then have a rest for the other games. They just need to manage them through that tournament. So if they can get some games into, especially Joffre Archer hasn't played test cricket in a number of years now. So they need to sort of get some, if they're planning on taking him to Australia, they probably need to get some test cricket into him this summer. And hopefully we see Mark Wood back up and running by the end of the English summer because even as an Australian supporter you want England to bring their best side down to Australia and give it a red hot crack so I think they've got the they've got the squad and the depth there they've just got to put it all together I think and You've obviously got Ben Stokes as well, who is a fantastic player, but his body is starting to let him down a little bit as well. I think he's going to play an important role with the ball down under as well if he can get his body right. So it'll be interesting to see whether they give him overs this summer, whether they'll obviously manage him. Again, he'll want to have the ball in his hand in being such an important series against India. He'll want to bowl. It'll be interesting to see how many overs they let him bowl But they've got plenty of options there bowling-wise. And batters, you've got Root, Duckett, Brook. they've got some quality batsmen there so we'll keep an eye on how England go this test summer you've got the likes of Tom Bairton who's been in fantastic form in the county championship he started the season off with a triple ton so he'll be one to watch and he's been back in the white ball set up for England in recent times so Dan Lawrence has also he got a crack in England's squad last summer and got to open when Crawley broke his finger so I think They've got people there, I guess, if they need backup. But I can't see them going too far away from their regular, I guess, setup from the past couple of series. But we'll wait and see. So moving on to the County Championship. As it currently stands, we've got Notts and Leicestershire leading Div 1 and Div 2 respectively. In Div 1, you've got Warwickshire in 2nd. followed by Surrey, Durham, Hampshire, Sussex, Somerset, Essex, Yorkshire and Worcestershire. And in Div 2, as I say, Leicestershire on the top. Derby in second position, followed by Middlesex, Kent, Gloucestershire, Lanx, Northampton and Glamorgan rounding out the bottom spot there. Leading run scorers in Div 1, you've got Tom Haynes from Sussex is leading the way with 513. John Simpson has 460 Well, Hasib Hamid has 443 with an average of 110. Some batters in some fantastic form there. Fergus O'Neill has been an absolute revelation for Nottingham. Well, not just Nottingham, but in general. He was the player of the Sheffield Shield season over in Oz and he's come over for a brief stint with Notts and, as I say, took 21 wickets in just a handful of games. I think his bowling just suits English conditions so he'll definitely be one to keep an eye on in years to come could he be a cheeky bolter for the world test championship squad for Australia you never know but there's also Brendan Doggett who we'll get to in a minute who they reckon will be around the mark to make up to feature in that squad, the World Test Championship squad as well. But we'll get to that in a minute. You've got Ben Rain from Durham who's taken 19 wickets. Ethan Bamber from Warwickshire has taken 18 as well. Dan Worrell, just when he sort of needs to... He's now qualified and can play for England, but just when he sort of needs some wickets, he's only taken 10 from six innings so far for Surrey. So he'll be hoping to get some more wickets. But There's been some very high scoring games in the county championship so far. So hopefully for him, once the decks sort of start to become a little bit more bowler friendly, he might come into his own. So on the other side over in Div 2, you've got Marcus Harris who is leading the way and has more runs than anyone in both Div 1 and Div 2. He's got 585 runs. He's been in fantastic form. You've got Max Holden and Oliver Price as well with 500 and 515 runs leading the way in Div 2 while with the ball Ian Holland has the most wickets for Leicester Shear with 21 followed by Toby Rowlands-Jones and Lewis Rees as well who have taken 20 and 19 respectively Aussie contingent which there is a there's a fairly strong Aussie contingent over there this year have been in fantastic form as I mentioned Fergus O'Neill has been an absolute revelation for Nottingham. Bowled fantastically. Unfortunately, his stint is already over. He only had a short-term visa and is due to head home back to Oz soon. So disappointing that we don't get to see more of him, but I'm sure we'll see plenty more of him for both on Australian and international soil in years to come. As I say, Marcus Harris has been in fantastic form for Lancashire. Brendan Doggett's taken nine wickets for Durham as well and continued to his good form after winning the player of the match award in the Sheffield Shield final for South Australia. Peter Hanscom has also been in top form as well. He scored 331 runs, including two 50s and 100 as well, with a top score of 142, not out. Well, Cam Bancroft has also been notching up a few runs as well, with a top score of 163. Cam Green, a name that we haven't sort of seen much of in the last couple of months due to injury he's back playing cricket again which is really good to see and straight back into the runs his first knockback from injury for Gloucestershire he scored 112 since then hasn't had as much luck with the bat but really good to see Greeny back in some form and playing cricket and also Bo Webster the man who replaced him in the Aussie side towards the back end of the Aussie summer started off his stint with Warwickshire fantastically making in his first knock for them so speaking of Aussies the World Test Championship final is just over a month away as I say the the Aussies will take on South Africa at Lourdes in June the makeup of the Aussie side is still sort of up in the air and the Aussie squad as well I should say so they'll be picking a squad of 15 next week or they'll need to pick a squad of 15 by next week There are still a few question marks, I guess, around the squad and the side. Who's going to open? Will Sammy Constance come back in? He was left out of the sides that played Sri Lanka. They got Travis Head at the top of the order. I think that was always pre-planned. That was always going to happen. But Sammy Constance is going to be a long-term opener for Australia. So do you get him back in? There's been word today from the Sydney Morning Herald that Marnus is going to move up to open, which would allow Cameron Green then to come back into the team as well. So potentially bump Steve Smith back up to three or slot Cam Green straight into three. Either or, they'll sort of play that three or four role with Marnus going up to open. I don't know whether I like that. I think Marnus needs to stay at three. And I think I would like to see Constance get a go. He showed enough in the test series and he's an exciting batsman and can take the game away from opposition teams very quickly if he's on. He needs to show a bit of control, I think, and a bit of... maturity he hasn't since he went back to New South Wales he probably hasn't scored the runs after playing for Australia that is he probably hasn't scored the runs that he would have liked and played some rush shots so I'd like to see him maybe just tone it down a little bit and play a bit more sensibly obviously mixing in that That expansive stroke play within that. But I just think he's still got a lot to learn. But that's not to say that they shouldn't give him a crack. I feel like he's probably the best option there. Bring him back in. Pretty much play the same team they had in Sydney against India. Maybe... See, the other one then is whether you play Josh Hazlewood or Scott Boland. I've said before that I thought Scotty Boland had the inside track there. As I say, he bowled fantastically when he came in against India. He took 10 wickets in the Sydney Test. He's done absolutely nothing wrong. But Josh Hazlewood, you know what you're going to get from him. He's been in fantastic form for RCB and the IPL. I think he maybe just nudges out Boland for that third bowler spot. You've obviously got then Cummins and Stark as well to go in with Gaz Lyons. So it'll be interesting to see which way they go with that. And then you've got guys like, as I mentioned, Marcus Harris has been in fantastic form over here in the County Championship. Do you consider bringing him back in at the top of the order, potentially giving him a crack? He's making runs in the conditions they're going to be playing in in the World Test Championship final. Do you play someone that probably hasn't made the runs that you would have liked him to at an international level? Long term, he's definitely had his time and I think they need to move him on. But it's obviously a one-off fixture. He's in form here in the UK. We're playing at Lords. Do you put him in, potentially? Don't know. We'll wait and see. Brendan Doggett's the other one. There's talk that he's going to get the nod for that squad as backup for the four, say four quicks now, really, throwing Scott Boland into that mix. So I dare say he'll probably come into that squad as cover for those guys. Fergus O'Neill is another one that you could potentially consider. He's, as I mentioned before, he's been in fantastic form. He could be another one. But yeah, so interesting times ahead for the Aussies. And as I said, on next week's episode, We'll know a bit more and we'll be able to delve into that squad in a little bit more depth. You've also got guys like Josh Inglis, who obviously played a role, scored a ton on his test debut over in Sri Lanka. Nathan McSweeney, who opened in the test series against India in Australia. So there's plenty of guys to pick from. So it's a good headache to have for Australia going into such an important game. And on the flip side, over on South Africa's side things. Kegiso Rabada will be available to play. He has now served his one month ban for taking a recreational drug. He tested positive for that recreational drug back on January 21st during the South African T20 tournament. He was notified of that positive test on April the 1st and has been serving a ban for the last month and now he has been cleared and can return to cricket So he's part of the Gujarat Titans squad. So we may see him feature at the back end of the IPL leading into that World Test Championship final. So usually you would get a three-month ban for taking a recreational drug, but it can be reduced to one if the athlete chooses to go on a treatment program. So obviously what Rabada has done in this instance. So as I say, always good to see the best players playing and it'd be good to see here Kagiso Rabada up and firing in the World Test Championship final in June. So moving on to Rohit Sharma has announced his retirement from Test cricket. So he will continue to play one day international cricket, but he will no longer play any four other forms of international cricket, having already retired from T20 cricket after the 2024 World Cup last year. because that's 2024. He... I think the writing's been on the wall for a little bit. His form at test level probably hasn't been what he would have liked in recent times. He was dropped for the Sydney test against Australia, but was adamant at the time that he wasn't retiring. But I think it was clear that he was probably coming. He made his test debut back in 2013. Since then, he's gone on to play 67 tests and has been India's captain since 2022 when he replaced Virat Kohli. He's made 4,301 test runs and an average of 40.57, including 1,200s. And his highest score was 212 versus South Africa at Ranchi back in 2019. So congratulations to Rohit Sharma on such a fantastic test career. And although he will be missed, India have got some fantastic talent coming through. It gives the likes of Jai as well. Shubhman, Gill who's sort of been in and out of that test side because of Rohit Sharma still being there will get a bit more of a crack at that opening role now so obviously sad times that Rohit's moving on but exciting times for India that some of those younger guys get a bit more of a crack I guess the next question will be who will replace him as captain Jasprit Bumrah did the job when Rohit wasn't playing during the Australian test summer will he take the reins again we'll have to wait and see Thank you for watching. Now, one last thing before we wrap up this week's episode, the updated ICC test rankings have been released. So these are updated as of May the 3rd. So Australia retained their spot at the top of those ICC test rankings. England have moved up two places to second. South Africa have dropped a spot to third and India have also dropped a spot down into fourth. While the remaining six teams have all remained the same. So New Zealand, fifth. Sri Lanka sixth, Pakistan seventh, West Indies eighth, Bangladesh nine, and Zimbabwe round out the top 10. So a bit of movement from two to three, but not much else. So it'll be interesting to see the rankings after the English test summer, obviously with England and India playing each other. So I dare say there'll probably be a little bit more movement in those rankings in the months to come. And also, obviously, followed by an Ashes series in Australia. So the Aussies and English playing each other as well. So a fair bit of movement, I think, to go on at the top of those rankings over the coming 12 months. So that brings to an end another episode of the Ashes to Ashes podcast. Thanks again for tuning in and it's great to be back. Before I leave you, just a quick reminder to be sure to follow us and give us a rating wherever you're listening to your podcast, whether it be Spotify, Amazon Music or Apple Podcasts. I'll be back same time next week with lots more cricket news. So I'll see you then.