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Paul McNamara

Robin Uthappa, one of the architects of India’s epochal 2007 T20 World Cup success, has been named captain of the country’s team for next month’s Hong Kong Cricket Sixes.
With 59 international appearances under his belt, he will lead a team in Hong Kong featuring fellow white-ball stalwart Kedar Yadhav and Stuart Binny, who has played six Test matches for India.
The Sixes, which have returned to the calendar after a seven-year absence, will be staged at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground from November 1 to 3.
India will be involved in one of the opening day’s most attractive fixtures when they clash with Pakistan in Pool C.

When the rivals drew a T20 World Cup group match 17 years ago, Uthappa struck a half-century, before hitting the stumps as India won a deciding bowl-out 3-0. The teams met again in a final whose repercussions are still being felt today.
India triumphed by five wickets and a format that had previously not won over the nation’s cricketing public exploded. Within seven months, the first season of the all-powerful Indian Premier League, which has given birth to franchise tournaments around the world, was under way.
On the issue of the ongoing proliferation of franchise leagues, Simon Willis, the Hong Kong head coach, said: “They have been great for players from the point of view of [increasing their] earning capacity, but they have obviously had a detrimental effect on international cricket, which is very sad.
“The world we live in now is about money and finance, and cricket is going down the lines of professional football, where the [English] Premier League is the equivalent of franchise cricket – players go to represent their countries when that fits in.”












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A post shared by Kedar Mahadev Jadhav (@kedarjadhavofficial)



Willis made the point that strong countries being occasionally weakened because of a squeezed calendar opened the door for associate nations, such as Hong Kong, to spring more surprises against the big boys.
The Sixes, which started in 1992, 16 years before the IPL began, are made for shock results, too, given the breezy five-over format and imaginative regulations that make it hard for one player to dictate a contest.
India, then, have chosen a string of wily campaigners to supplement Uthappa. Clean-striking batsman Yadhav scored two centuries and averaged 42.09 in 73 one-day internationals, while all-rounder Binny struck his highest Test score of 78 in a drawn match against England at Trent Bridge in 2014.
The seven-man India squad is stocked with experience rather than youth, boasting an average age of 38, but there is further top-level wisdom in the shapes of Manoj Tiwary and Shahbaz Nadeem, who claimed the wickets of the celebrated England quartet of Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Ollie Pope on his most recent Test appearance in 2021.
Meanwhile, South Africa, the defending Sixes champions after claiming a record-equalling fifth title in 2017, have selected JJ Smuts to skipper them in Hong Kong.

Smuts, 36, has an international T20 strike rate of 105.45. In 2008, he was man-of-the-match when South Africa beat Pakistan in an under-19 World Cup semi-final.
The Proteas, who are in a group with New Zealand and Hong Kong, have also included Jacques Snyman, who played his only T20 international, against Pakistan in Lahore in 2021, in their travelling party.
Big guns Australia, England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka will all announce their squads over the coming weeks.
Last week, Pakistan were first out of the blocks with their seven-man list, which included 17-cap test batsman Faheem Ashraf, 30, who will captain the side, along with white-ball internationals Asif Ali, Danish Aziz, Hussain Talat and Aamer Yamin.


Hong Kong playing for pride against Afghanistan after Sri Lanka A loss in Asia tournament

Hong Kong’s big-hitting Babar Hayat eyes franchise chance after Asian tournament fireworks

Hong Kong star Kapur set to play against city team after New Zealand Sixes call

Hong Kong Cricket Sixes: India, Pakistan reveal seasoned squads for much-anticipated clash

Cricket Hong Kong

Dubai Capitals’ Robin Uthappa plays a shot during the International League T20 (ILT20) match against Gulf Giants at Dubai International Stadium in 2023. Photo: AFP

South Africa captain Aubrey Swanepoel reacts after South Africa win the Hong Kong Sixes in 2017. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Joe Root was among Shahbaz Nadeem’s illustrious scalps in a 2021 Test match in Chennai. Photo: EPA-EFE

Hong Kong to host India v Pakistan and Australia v England at revived Cricket Sixes

The last edition of the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes is seen from above its then venue Kowloon Cricket Club in 2017. Photo: Getty Images

South Africa captain Aubrey Swanepoel is ecstatic as his side win the 2017 Sixes. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Nizakat was inspired watching Pakistan batting firecracker Shahid Afridi at the 2004 sixes. Photo: Reuters

Hong Kong cricket coach pays tribute to world-leading batting pair, hails young talent

Nizakat Khan is the leading run scorer in T20 international cricket in 2024. Photo: Cricket Hong Kong, China

Babar Hayat is flourishing after moving down the order to No 4. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong were knocked out of T20 World Cup qualifying this month. Photo: Malaysian Cricket Association

China links can help Hong Kong breathe new life into city’s cricket scene, coach Willis says

Hong Kong’s next major challenge starts in November in Uganda, when they will begin their bid to reach the 50-over World Cup. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Burji Shroff (front left) chairman of Cricket Hong Kong, China, and Liu Zhentao, chairman of the Shandong Small Ball Sports Federation at a ceremony marking the signing of a memorandum of understanding. Photo: Shandong Small Ball Sports Federation

Willis vowing Hong Kong will ‘work harder, smarter’ in bid to regain elite cricket status

Captain Nizakat Khan and his colleagues must quickly recover from their World Cup disappointment. Photo: Cricket Hong Kong, China

Willis is seeing individual improvement, but wants an end to collective lapses. Photo: Malaysian Cricket Association

Hong Kong are back in T20 action next month, before 50-over cricket takes centre stage in November. Photo: Handout

Sport

Cricket

Defending champions South Africa also confirm squad for tournament making a return after seven years, with other teams set to follow shortly


Defending champions South Africa also confirm squad for tournament making a return after seven years, with other teams set to follow shortly.


Hong Kong Cricket Sixes