Visitors hopeful that conditions will not hamper health or prospects for extensive play in Test

Vithushan Ehantharajah08-Dec-2022Ben Stokes says he isn’t bothered by the smog. Locals say the haze that covers the Multan Cricket Ground will be clear by 10am, so no need to fret about a delayed start time, though there are no guarantees it won’t enhance the gloom later in the day as the sun heads for an early exit at around 4:30pm.It was on Tuesday morning, as England were sitting through a three-and-a-half hour delay at Islamabad airport, waiting for conditions to become clearer in Multan to take off, that a video made its way to them of the state of the ground that morning at 8:30am. Visibility was bad enough for Stokes to consider tailoring his team accordingly, amid fears of just 350 overs across the five days’ play.At training on Thursday, which began in earnest at 11am, what clag remained was manageable and, in all honestly, not too different to what it had been an hour before. Whatever fog there is first-thing should get burned away by the sun before 10am to ensure it does not add to the smog or smoke that fills the air. The expectation now is for an awkward but entirely manageable start time, even if no two mornings have been the same this week.There is a certain irony to Multan experiencing all this, because the threat of a smog disruption at this time of year is exactly why this Test is not being held in Lahore. On Monday, Lahore lived up to its status as one of the world’s most polluted cities, with an air quality index (AQI) of 305, as per data collected from IQAir. The levels can cause serious health problems, with some of Multan’s population said to be experiencing similar effects due to worse air quality than usual in the region of Punjab.Part of the reason for that have been the floods that ravaged Pakistan, which have not yet dispersed from areas of the South Punjab, and are contributing to the dense smog as they evaporate in the mornings. Another factor is stubble burning – a cheap means of clearing fields after harvest, and a practice that has previously affected matches over the border in Delhi, notably when the Sri Lanka fast bowler Suranga Lakmal vomited during a Test match in 2017. Though the province has introduced seasonal bans on the practice, these are poorly enforced.What is particularly noticeable is visibility gets worse the further out of the main city you go. The vast open land that surrounds Multan’s stadium allows dust to pick up with the winds, and the prevalence of brick manufacturers in this area contributes to the debris. It is in this area you see more masks and face coverings being worn, though by nightfall they are more apparent in the city.Related

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While the England squad are all fit and available following last week’s virus, a number of backroom staff are either still struggling with the remnants of the bug or are reporting sore throats and coughs. There is no alarm at present that conditions during the Test could deteriorate to an extent that players will have to don masks as the West Indies did at this venue during an ODI in June after a dust storm. But there is also a degree of uncertainty, given how little outdoor training both teams have had this week.A scheduled training session on Wednesday was cancelled following the later-than-expected arrival on Tuesday, meaning Thursday was the one and only net session ahead of Friday’s start to the Test match. It may only be on days two and three that we begin to hear or see the effects of playing in these conditions.Stokes said he did not think conditions were particularly taxing on Thursday. Beyond “mugginess”, which he feels might make him sweat through his whites a little quicker, he was not immediately concerned by the pollution that will surround this match. “I think it’s just another thing we are doing to have to deal with,” he said.

Captains can decide XIs after the toss from the 13 named before it, but Joburg Super Kings and Pretoria Capitals are yet to make use of the provision

Firdose Moonda25-Jan-2023Four of the six SA20 teams have changed their XIs after the toss in line with the playing conditions that allows a captain to name 13 available players before the toss and whittle that down to 11 afterwards. That means teams were tinkered with in fewer than one-fifth of the 22 matches played so far, with the organisers conceding that the number is a little less than they anticipated, and team managements still trying to come up with ways to use this tactic to their advantage.Allowing teams to change their combinations after the toss is a unique feature of the SA20, and was put in place to create a more even playing field. “One of the major reasons we did it was to try and lessen the impact of the toss on the outcome of the game, and create an opportunity for deliberation depending on whether teams are batting or bowling,” Graeme Smith, SA20 league commissioner, told ESPNcricinfo.Three of the four teams who have made changes to their teams have done so for exactly those reasons. Durban’s Super Giants opted to include an extra spinner when they were asked to bowl first in their tournament opener against Joburg Super Kings, MI Cape Town did the same in their match against Super Kings at Newlands three days later, and Paarl Royals did it to swap out Ferisco Adams for Codi Yusuf against Sunrisers Eastern Cape.Related

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In the same match, Sunrisers also changed their XI, but because of an injury to Tom Abell, who was replaced by Jordan Cox.Super Kings and Pretoria Capitals are the two teams who have not made use of the provision yet, with both sides considering the move once the tournament resumes after the break due to three ODIs between South Africa and England, as more matches will be played on their home turfs. So far, these teams have played just two of their five home matches on the Highveld, with the bulk of the tournament having taken place in the Western and Eastern Cape at venues that host the Women’s T20 World Cup next month.In Cape Town, teams bowling first in day-night T20Is have won seven out of 11 games, which speaks to the ease of batting under lights and the need to strangle with the ball upfront. That is why when MI won the toss there against Super Kings and chose to bowl on a used strip, they also decided to include Afghan spinner Waqar Salamkheil in place of Duan Jansen, and it worked a treat. Salamkheil finished with 1 for 19 in four overs, and bowled Super Kings’ senior batter Faf du Plessis out.”It was the third game on that same wicket, so once we won the toss, we knew we wanted to bowl first and we knew we wanted to bowl in the day time,” Simon Katich, the MI coach explained. “We felt with the difference between batting first and chasing, and [with] the way conditions have been a little bit uneven here in Cape Town, there was a chance to use it [the rule]. It gives you that flexibility around what happens with the toss.”When the tournament resumes, there will be nine matches between Centurion and Johannesburg, so teams may make more changes after the toss•SA20His opposite number Stephen Fleming would have done the same thing if he could have, but their Sri Lankan offspinner Maheesh Theekshana had not yet arrived at the tournament. “If we had Theekshana, who arrives tomorrow, then we would have had the same idea,” Fleming said at the time.Since then, Theekshana has played in three of Super Kings’ four matches, but they have yet to use the ability to change their XI. “We think there is minimal advantage,” Albie Morkel, Super Kings assistant coach, said.But that could change once matches are played up country, where the difference in day and night times temperatures is likely to cause dew. Then, the risk of spinners not being able to grip the ball as well as they would like to may encourage the team bowling second to include a seamer instead. When the tournament resumes on February 2, there will be nine matches staged between Centurion and Johannesburg, including both the semi-finals and the final, so teams may make more changes after the toss in those fixtures.Overall, the jury is still out about this particular playing condition, with some most coaches feeling it offers a “tactical advantage”, as Fleming put it. But some, like Capitals assistant coach Dale Benkenstein, think that could come more into play in the longer versions of the game. Others, like Super Giants’ Lance Klusener, feel it “takes away some of the skill of team selection”.

The conditions mean RCB don’t have any discernible advantage at home, where their 50% win record is the second lowest in IPL history

Matt Roller22-Apr-2023The upcoming Karnataka assembly elections mean that Royal Challengers Bangalore have an unusually lopsided schedule for IPL 2023: six home games out of eight to start the tournament, then five consecutive away fixtures before closing out the group stage at home.Most teams would see that as an opportunity to start strongly by dominating at home, but for RCB, it poses a unique challenge. Their home ground, the Chinnaswamy Stadium, has a well-earned reputation as the best place to bat in the country, and this season has been no different, with an overall scoring rate of 9.83 runs an over in the four games it has hosted.So far this season, RCB have won two and lost two at home. They thrashed Mumbai Indians in their opening match, and beat Delhi Capitals on a slower pitch in a day game, but their two defeats distilled the essence of the Chinnaswamy’s challenge. Against Lucknow Super Giants, their 212 for 2 was chased down off the final ball with a wicket to spare; against Chennai Super Kings, they were on the cusp of pulling off a record chase of 227, but ultimately fell eight runs short.For Trent Woodhill, who spent five years as RCB’s support staff, a defeat against CSK five years ago summed up the difficulty of playing home games at a ground where a combination of short boundaries, flat pitches and the high altitude mean shots that would be caught in the deep at other venues disappear into the tenth row here.”They were always behind the game, but MS Dhoni was still there,” Woodhill recalls. “Mohammed Siraj bowled him the best possible wide yorker at the end of the second-last over; he hit it for six over backward point. It was like, ‘Man! How do you do that?’Related

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“On any other wicket in India, that’s been squeezed for two. They still needed something like 16 off the last over, but I knew we’d already lost. Because it’s an enclosed, concrete stadium, the noise is deafening. That’s the pressure that Bangalore have to deal with every single time they play at home.”While other franchises can tailor their bowling attacks to their home conditions, both spin and seam alike tend to go the distance in Bengaluru. Perhaps it is little wonder that RCB’s overall win percentage at home – exactly 50%, excluding no-results and Super Overs – is the second-lowest of any franchise across IPL history, close behind Capitals’.In fact, there is a negligible difference between their home and away records in the IPL – and it is surely no coincidence that RCB’s first-ever run of three consecutive play-off appearances came over the last three seasons, when the pandemic meant they did not play a single game at home.Re-adjusting to the Chinnaswamy has been tough. “The most challenging thing about this venue is because the ground is so small and the wicket is so true, that batsmen have no apprehension going for a six almost every single ball,” Harshal Patel explained. “They know that even if they don’t connect, they’re likely to clear the boundary.”Those factors always play on your mind,” he admitted. That is another issue for RCB to overcome: the psychological hurdle of accepting that taking, say, 2 for 40 from four overs can represent a match-winning contribution.For visiting teams, it is a fixture to look forward to. “Dan [Vettori] and I often spoke about it: how do we create a home advantage? But it’s so difficult on that surface, in that city,” Woodhill says. “Everyone wants to play there, because Bangalore is one of the best places to go in India in terms of hotels, practice facilities, food, drinks.3:01

Moody: Kohli’s post-powerplay approach not allowing RCB to maximise their total

“Away teams like playing at the Chinnaswamy. Jaipur is a lovely city, but playing there sucked because it was so difficult to get a result. No one likes going to Chennai, because it’s such a fortress for them. But away teams go to the Chinnaswamy and their batters think, ‘If it’s my day, if I’m on, then we can chase whatever.'”It begs the question: how can RCB turn their home ground into a fortress? In the early stages of this season, driven by Siraj’s form, they have been the IPL’s best new-ball wicket-takers, and have put a heavy focus on early wickets. “We try and get as many wickets as we can up front, so that makes our job easier,” Harshal said.The other obvious answer is to consistently out-bat their opposition, and their three big guns – Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell – have scored heavily in the early stages of the season. But RCB have long suffered from a self-perpetuating issue: their usual reliance on star batters means that their less-proven domestic batters often find themselves facing very few balls and therefore lacking rhythm.Even in 2016, when Kohli and AB de Villiers delivered two of the most stunning individual seasons in IPL history, the question of how high to aim in the first innings was a recurring theme. RCB reached the final, but finished the season with five home wins out of nine.”It’s not impossible for us to make this our fortress,” Harshal said. “We’ve had 50% wins at this venue so far [this season]; going forward, we’d like to take that percentage even higher.”On Sunday, against Rajasthan Royals, they have the chance to nudge it up to 60.

What does the XI – or XII – look like? Did the highest run-getters and wicket-takers make it? Take a look

S Rajesh31-May-20231:13

Manjrekar: Gill’s game built on strong fundamentals

Faf du Plessis
Du Plessis was the MVP of IPL 2023 according to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, which gives a contextual rating to every batting and bowling performance. The standout aspect of du Plessis’ season was his consistency: eight 50-plus scores, only one dismissal under 20, and a lowest score of 17. And he did all this without compromising on strike rate, going at 153.68 over the tournament, and 162 in the first ten balls of his innings.His opening partnership with Virat Kohli was batting combination of the tournament: the pair scored 939 runs for the first wicket, equalling the record for any pair in any IPL edition, after Kohli and AB de Villiers had also scored as many runs together in 2016. To add to that, du Plessis was outstanding in the field with his athleticism and agility, and led the team with calm authority.Related

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Shubman Gill
You can’t argue with a season that produced 890 runs and three hundreds. Gill’s tournament was the stuff of dreams: seven times he passed 50, and in six of those innings his strike rate topped 160. In terms of impact numbers, his 60-ball 129 against Mumbai Indians was the second best in terms of batting impact points (164.45), next only to Yashasvi Jaiswal’s century against the same opposition.But while that hundred against Mumbai Indians in a knockout game was terrific, it was Gill’s sheer consistency and all-round strokeplay – all done with artistry and elegance – that marked him out as a batter for the ages.ESPNcricinfo LtdCameron Green
After a slow start to the tournament, Green came into his own with an unbeaten 64 off 40 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad, and never looked back. In his last 12 innings, Green averaged 59.57 at a strike rate of 161.62, and was only once dismissed under 20. His bowling returns were underwhelming, but he more than made up for that with the bat. Five times he had an impact score of more than 50 in a game, and thrice more than 100.Green’s 161 runs in the powerplay were the most by a non-opener, while his strike rate of 175 in that phase was second-best among the 31 batters who faced more than 60 balls.Suryakumar Yadav
Like Green, Suryakumar had made a sluggish start to IPL 2023, scoring 16 runs in his first three innings, and 66 in his first five. But then he struck form and batted like only he can, and Mumbai Indians looked a completely different batting unit. In his last 11 innings, Suryakumar averaged 59.88 at a strike rate of 187.8, with six 50-plus scores, suggesting that normalcy had returned. Thanks to Green and Suryakumar, Mumbai were the only team whose Nos. 3 and 4 aggregated more than 1000 runs this season; they totalled 1195, with the next best being 921.
Mumbai had a patchy start with the bat this season, but the one batter who started and finished strong was Tilak. He began the tournament with a stunning unbeaten 46-ball 84 against Royal Challengers Bangalore, contributing 49% of the total from No. 5, and finished with a 14-ball 43 that threatened an imposing target of 234 in the second qualifier against Gujarat Titans. Had he not missed five games because of an injury in the second half of the tournament, those numbers might have looked even better.2:42

Moody: Rinku a certainty for 2024 T20 World Cup if he performs like this

Heinrich Klaasen (wk)
Klaasen missed the first couple of games as he was on national duty, but made an immediate impact in the middle order for Sunrisers as soon as he came in. Batting at Nos. 4, 5 and 6 in T20s in India isn’t easy, but Klaasen showed superb consistency and urgency. His lowest dismissed score in 11 innings was 17, and in eight of those innings he had a strike rate of over 150, including four over 200. No batter dominated spin as Klaasen did: he struck at a rate of 191.3, and an average of 132. Among the 40 batters who faced at least 75 balls of spin, no one did better.Rinku Singh
Five sixes from five balls in the last over against Titans made Rinku a household name. But even outside of that, Rinku had a remarkable tournament: he passed 40 seven times in 14 innings, no mean feat for a batter in the lower half of the middle order. He couldn’t always go at fifth gear from the start because of Kolkata Knight Riders’ relatively weak top order – their top four had the lowest average among the ten teams – but despite that handicap, Rinku adapted wonderfully.His last two innings were perfect examples of his impact: a 43-ball 54 in a tricky run chase in Chennai after KKR had slipped to 33 for 3, followed by an unbeaten 33-ball 67 which nearly pulled off a requirement of 41 from 12 balls.Ravindra Jadeja
Only three spinners took more wickets than Jadeja in the tournament. In the middle overs, though, Jadeja’s 20 wickets were the joint highest with Piyush Chawla. He was the go-to spinner for MS Dhoni, especially in the favourable home conditions at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, where his 11 wickets came at an average of 16.45 and an economy rate of 6.7. With Maheesh Theekshana having a relatively disappointing run, Jadeja’s four overs became even more crucial, and he delivered more often than not.Jadeja was lethal against right-handers, dismissing them 12 times at an average of 16.91 and an economy rate of 6.65. Among the 66 bowlers who sent down at least 60 balls to right-handers, no-one had a better economy rate. Jadeja the batter had a relatively quiet tournament, but chipped in with crucial 20s, and the six and four he hit off the last two balls of the final was the difference between a fifth title and a sixth runners-up finish for CSK.ESPNcricinfo LtdRashid Khan
Rashid wasn’t his usual thrifty self in IPL 2023. His economy rate of 8.23 was easily the poorest of his seven IPL seasons; he had never gone beyond 6.73 in his previous six. He twice conceded more than 40 runs in a game, including a forgettable final where he was hit for 44 in three overs. However, Rashid exchanged economy for wickets this time – his 27 wickets was much better than his previous best of 21, and he struck every 14.8 balls (previous best being 18.6).He struggled in the powerplays – with figures of 2 for 114 in 12 overs – but relished the death-overs challenge, with 8 for 90 in ten overs. He was also more than handy with the bat, striking at over 200. Rashid’s all-round performance in the league game against Mumbai – 4 for 30 and 79 not out off 32 balls – fetched 192 impact points, the second highest for any player in a match this season.Mohammed Shami
Shami was the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, and an absolute terror in the powerplay. The 17 wickets he took in that phase – at an average of 19.41, and an economy of 7.5 – is the highest that any bowler has taken in the powerplays in any season in IPL history. His relentless hard lengths, seam movement and pace tested batters’ techniques in a format where they are used to making room and hitting through the line.Sixteen of Shami’s 28 wickets were of top-three batters. According to Smart Stats, which takes into account the quality of batters dismissed as well as the match context, those 28 wickets were worth 34 Smart Wickets. Shami was a nightmare, especially for the right-handers, dismissing them 20 times at an average of 14.25.
Eight bowlers took more wickets than Siraj, but in terms of Smart Wickets, he was ranked fourth, with his 19 wickets being worth 26. Like Shami, Siraj too was terrific in the powerplay: his ten wickets came at an average of 17.8, and an economy rate of 5.93. Among the 57 bowlers who delivered at least five overs in the powerplay, Siraj is the only one to concede fewer than a run a ball.Siraj also has two entries among the top-six most impactful bowling performances this season: his 3 for 22 in a high-scoring match against Lucknow Super Giants – where they had chased down 213 – ranked second, while his 4 for 21 against Punjab Kings is sixth.2:25

Tait: Jaiswal has shown he is confident and assured of what he is doing

Mohit SharmaIf Mumbai Indians dominate the batting line-up of this XII, then Titans have a stranglehold over the bowling, with their top three wicket-takers all finding a place. Mohit was one of the revelations of the tournament. His exceptional control over his length and pace made him an extremely difficult bowler to get away in middle overs, where he got 14 wickets at an economy rate of 8.07, as well as at the death, where he took 13 wickets at an economy of 8.10.In a cruel twist of fate, Mohit ended up conceding ten runs off his last two balls of the tournament to concede the IPL to his former team. But that shouldn’t overshadow what was a splendid tournament for him.Those who narrowly missed outYashasvi Jaiswal
In a tournament dominated by some standout performances by openers – six of them scored 590 or more runs, and all of them at strike rates greater than 139 – it was obvious that some of them would miss out. Jaiswal was probably the unluckiest of them. His 625 runs came at a tremendous strike rate, but he was third in terms of impact among all batters, behind the two most prolific openers of the season.Shivam Dube
Dube had a wonderful tournament as a middle-order hitter, but he lost out to Tilak, another left-hander with slightly better numbers. Dube was terrific against spin, striking at 176.47 and hitting them for 22 sixes, the most by any batter in the tournament. Similarly, Ajinkya Rahane was in contention too, but lost out narrowly to Green.2:59

Bishop can’t wait to see Pathirana in three years’ time

Piyush Chawla
Like Mohit, Chawla surprised most pundits with a stellar season and was in contention for the main spinner’s slot, but Rashid pipped him to that spot with more wickets and crucial contributions with the bat.Matheesha Pathirana
Not yet 21, Pathirana did the toughest job in T20 cricket – bowling in the death overs consistently in the biggest league – but he pulled it off, taking 18 wickets in that phase at an economy rate of 8.01. He lost out to a resurgent Mohit, but his time will surely come.Axar Patel
Axar had a slightly better overall impact than Jadeja, but Jadeja won the spin allrounder’s slot on the basis of his better bowling numbers; his bowling impact was 37.79 compared to Axar’s 28.18. So in a team which has Rinku at No. 7, it made sense to select the stronger bowler of the two (based on numbers from this tournament).

Double-tons for Williamson and Nicholls, and two wickets with the new ball – the second day in Wellington could not have gone better for the hosts

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Mar-2023These are the dream days.The previous morning, the home side had been asked to bat on the kind of lurid green pitch New Zealand has specialised in over the last decade.In Sri Lanka’s dream scenario, their quicks would have bowled as tightly as they had in Christchurch, got prodigious movement off the surface, and the wicketkeeper and slips cordon had a stream of nicks heading their way before lunch.But it was not Sri Lanka’s dream day. You knew this, because the local weather moved against them. (This is the local weather’s one job, in Test series – Sri Lanka have the island’s sweaty heat to unsettle oppositions at home). It was as windy a Test-match day as Wellington has had in years, messing with the seam bowlers’ run-ups, forcing them to bowl into a half-gale half the time, prompting frequent line-and-length errors which became the kind of poor spells they did not bowl over two innings at Hagley Oval.Related

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It was not an entirely luckless first day for Sri Lanka, but it was a tough one. The teams arrived on day two with New Zealand nicely placed. Henry Nicholls, the batter struggling the most in their top order, had already been reprieved on the first day, with Sri Lanka’s debutant wicketkeeper Nishan Madushka unable to even get glove to a straightforward diving chance. Perhaps we blame the biting winds for that too.In the early exchanges on Saturday, there are some signals how the rest of the day would turn out. Nicholls bats out a maiden to start, but Kane Williamson – who is in the midst of a purple patch in a purple career – leans into the kind of authoritative slap through the offside that makes entire stadiums exhale. While Nicholls takes some time to get moving, Williamson is immediately commanding – his drives imperious, his defence impeccable.On his best days, Williamson bats as if he and the ball have struck a deal for it to arrive exactly at the location his bat is waiting to spank it. (Be 384 millimetres outside off stump, a metre up from the ground, at 11:47, 25 seconds and 285 microseconds.) Dream days. Before lunch he is blazing away through the covers, hooking Sri Lanka’s fastest bowler for successive sixes, and creaming the ball down the ground.Henry Nicholls made a 50-plus score in Tests after more than a year•Getty ImagesHe had started the day on 26 off 76 balls. He completes his fifty off 106. His century off 171. This an avalanche gathering speed and heft on its way down a mountain. The third fifty of Williamson’s innings comes off 60 balls. Bowlers are being whipped to deep midwicket, crashed to square leg, punched through point. Sri Lanka are being buried.Nicholls is batting pretty well too, but also, batting like a man desperately in need of a big score. It has been 15 innings and over a year since his last Test fifty. Later, he says he felt he’d been batting with good rhythm, but just couldn’t make it work for long enough. Out-of-form batters always say this, but this time, it make some sense – Nicholls is mostly in control, and looks like a batter who has the measure of the bowling. But initially, he’s not quite committing to the run-scoring shots.Especially not compared to Williamson, who by this stage is like a music conductor, controlling the pace, rhythm, and vibe of everything on the field, including his 11 opponents. The moment Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne changes the field, Williamson finds a shot that exploits the new gap. Even the Sri Lanka players would concede that he is the best player on the park. Today, a dream day, he is batting like he is the best player on any park in the world.His fourth fifty comes off 54 deliveries, and completes his sixth double-century. Only six batters have ever scored more – all bona-fide all-time superstars of the game. This is his fifth consecutive year with a double-hundred and his third triple-figure score in as many matches. Somewhere through this innings, Williamson also completed 8000 career runs – a peak no New Zealand batter had scaled.Sri Lanka began the day with hopes of pushing for a series-leveling victory in this game. By the third session, New Zealand batters were swinging at them T20 style, setting up a declaration as Nicholls sped to his own double-hundred. At stumps, Sri Lanka were 554 behind, with no serious hope of adding to their two victories in the country.To rub it in, New Zealand’s bowlers got juice out of the pitch, and bowled probing lines and lengths to remove Oshada Fernando, before a spectacular Devon Conway catch got rid of Kusal Mendis. A dream day.

KKR’s mystery spinner bowled overs 16, 18 and 20 for just 12 runs to help defend a total of 171 against Sunrisers

Hemant Brar05-May-20231:31

Dasgupta: Varun is the leader of KKR’s pack right now

Nitish Rana gave the ball a good wipe. The reason being it was drizzling in Hyderabad, and the Kolkata Knight Riders captain had gambled on Varun Chakravarthy, a spinner, for the 20th over.Captains generally don’t go with a spinner for the final over of a T20 chase. With Sunrisers Hyderabad needing only nine, Rana was also in two minds. Shardul Thakur had picked up 2 for 23 and had an over left. And if he really wanted to go the spin route, he could have given the ball to the experienced Sunil Narine.Narine has been Knight Riders’ best bowler over the years. But this season, his returns have been underwhelming. This is the first IPL where he has gone for more than eight an over (8.76), and has picked up just seven wickets in ten games. Sure, the Impact Player rule has led to longer batting line-ups and people taking a lot more risks when they’re at the crease, but even with that margin for error, Narine’s numbers are on the wrong end of the spectrum. Twenty spinners have bowled a minimum of 100 balls this season; his economy rate is the worst among them.Related

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So Rana decided to back his “best bowler on the night”. After going for 12 in his first over, Varun had given away just nine, including three leg-byes, in his next two, the 16th and 18th of the innings.Bowling at the death wasn’t new for Varun. He had bowled in that phase at the latest Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well as the Tamil Nadu Premier League. The trend has continued in the IPL as well.But here, he felt the wet ball was “slipping a lot”. Moreover, no spinner had defended this few in the last over of an IPL game. In 2019, with Delhi Capitals needing six against Knight Riders, Kuldeep Yadav had forced a Super Over. But otherwise, the fewest a team had failed to score against a spinner was 13 (Delhi Daredevils against RCB’s Pawan Negi in 2017).So the pressure was on Varun. “My heartbeat was definitely touching 200,” he said after the game. But his mind was clear. “I just wanted to challenge them on the longer side [of the ground] and bowl on the legs. If they could hit from there, it was fine.”For Sunrisers, Abdul Samad and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, two right-hand batters, were in the middle. The deep midwicket boundary for them was 75 metres; from the opposite end, it would have been 71.Varun Chakravarthy picked up the crucial wicket of Abdul Samad in the final over•Associated PressAs he had planned, Varun went around the wicket and targeted their pads. The first two balls went for a single and leg-bye.With seven needed from four and Samad on strike, Rana was now making sure the ball was as dry as possible.Varun bowled the next one short of good length and at the stumps. Samad pulled it towards deep midwicket. Those extra 4 metres really came in handy. Had they not been there, the shot might have sailed over for a six, instead of resulting in a catch just inside the boundary line.Mayank Markande was the next man in. Sunrisers head coach Brian Lara gave him some advice before he stepped onto the field. It didn’t pan out. Varun kept his calm and conceded only a single off the remaining three deliveries to seal the win. Knight Riders had defended 171.Varun didn’t have a great IPL last year, picking up only six wickets from 11 games at an economy of 8.51. Midway through the season, he was even dropped for three games. During that time, he realised what he was doing wrong. He came back much stronger this year, and despite some fluctuations in performance, he has 14 wickets from ten games at 7.99.

“Somewhere I had lost my speed [last season]. So I went back, tried out many things, and realised that once my revolutions go down, my speed automatically goes down. So I started working on my revs, and it helped.”Varun on his speed

“Last year, I was bowling around 85kph,” he said. “Somewhere I had lost my speed. So I went back, tried many things, and realised that once my revolutions go down, my speed automatically goes down. So I started working on my revs, and it helped.”The results were there to be seen on Thursday night. In that final over, Varun’s speeds, in kph, were 108.9, 88.6, 97.2, 93.3, 96.3 and 107.8. The last one not only beat Bhuvneshwar for the pace but also wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz, hitting him on the waist.At the post-match presentation, Rana was asked how he decides when to use Varun, given he has been bowling much better than Narine. “I just see who is bowling better on the day, whether it’s Sunny [Narine], Varun or Suyash [Sharma],” he replied. “Whoever is bowling better, I try to give him the tough overs.”Rana may not have realised it, but in difficult situations, he has invariably been turning to Varun this season. Among the Knight Riders bowlers, Varun has bowled the most death overs and the second-most powerplay overs, after Umesh Yadav. In fact, no other spinner from any team has bowled more overs in those two phases this IPL.To Varun’s credit, he hasn’t let his captain down. In nine powerplay overs, he has an economy of 8.00. At the death, he has bowled 8.4 overs at an economy of 8.76. In each phase, he has picked up three wickets.And he needs to continue in the same vein if Knight Riders are to keep their playoff hopes alive.

With the momentum of Asia Cup title and series win against Australia, India would want to go all the way at home

Sidharth Monga29-Sep-2023World Cup pedigree: India are the second-best World Cup team after Australia. Apart from winning it in 1983 and 2011, they have been losing finalists in 2003 and losing semi-finalists in 1987, 1996, 2015 and 2019. Ever since their early departure from the 2007 edition, India have entered every World Cup as one of the favourites, if not strong contenders.Recent form: In mid-to-long term, India’s build-up to the World Cup was full of anxiety. Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Prasidh Krishna, five key players that India had invested in, were on the shelf. As the tournament approached, though, Bumrah, Rahul and Iyer made not just complete recoveries but also immediate returns to form. Kuldeep Yadav’s reinvigorated left-arm wristspin remains a point of difference.Consequently, India enter the tournament with the momentum of having won the Asia Cup and the bilateral series against Australia. They are now strong favourites especially with other teams now beginning to encounter poor luck with injuries. There remain two drawbacks: their batting is right-hand heavy and their tail is long, which necessitates playing a lesser bowler at No. 8 for the freedom that provides the top seven.Related

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Selection: Once the players were fit and available, 12 of them chose themselves. For the back-up fast bowler, India went for the experienced Mohammed Shami ahead of Prasidh because in the current combination they need a bowler who will also make use of the new ball. Prasidh’s speciality remains providing the point of difference in the middle overs. The selectors and the team management have opted for the extra batter in Suryakumar Yadav purely on promise even though his List A record is not as good as his T20 exploits.The final slot of the spinner who could bat originally went to Axar Patel because he also provided a left-hand batter who could be promoted up the order to counter match-ups, but a late injury opened the door for the return of R Ashwin, who, apart from Virat Kohli, is the only former World Cup winner in the squad.2:20

Chawla: ‘Street-smart’ Ashwin could get into India’s XI straightaway

Squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-capt), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Mohammed Shami, R AshwinKey player: Of all the injured players, India were most desperate to get Bumrah back on the park. When they lost him on the eve of the T20 World Cup last year, they received confirmation that Bumrah is not replaceable. Capable of taking wickets in every phase of the game, he is also India’s big hope at the death, which can be their weakness at times. Hearteningly for them, Bumrah showed no ring rust on return, and even seemed to have added a late and more consistent outswinger to his armoury.Rising star: A bit of a misnomer because Shubman Gill has already risen. ODIs happen to be his best format: he has already scored six centuries in 35 innings, including a double. Five of the centuries have come this year. He opens the innings and can bat through, which gives him the best chance to score runs by the bucketful. He is many people’s bet to be the top scorer in this World Cup.World Cup farewells? Ashwin has somehow found his way back into two World Cups in the last two years, but he will definitely not be playing the one in 2027. That out of the way, it is doubtful if their two biggest batters of this era, Kohli and Rohit Sharma, will be around in four years’ time. Shami will be past 37 when the next World Cup rolls in, and it is getting increasingly difficult for Ravindra Jadeja to stay fit for all formats. Rahul has had his share of struggle with injuries, but he will be only 35 at the time of the next World Cup.

And how many women have been out for 99 in one?

Steven Lynch27-Jun-2023In the first Ashes Test there were 11 players who had taken at least one five-for in their career – six from England and five from Australia. Is this the most for any Test match? asked Jatin Patra via Facebook
Rather surprisingly, perhaps, there have been several instances of 11 players going into a Test having taken five wickets in an innings at least once: the exciting first Ashes Test at Edgbaston was the 21st such occasion. The record is actually 12 players, which has happened twice: by Australia and England in Adelaide in 1974-75, and England and West Indies at Old Trafford in 2020.Usman Khawaja batted on each day of the first Test. How rare is this? asked Tim McClelland from England
Usman Khawaja’s award-winning effort in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston was the 13th occasion that a man had batted on each day of a five-day Test. He was the third to do it this year: both West Indian openers, Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul, batted on all five days against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in February.The first to achieve the feat was the talented Indian ML Jaisimha, against Australia in Calcutta in 1959-60. It should be borne in mind that many Tests, especially before the Second World War, were scheduled for fewer than five days.How many women have been out for 99 in a Test, as Ellyse Perry was last week? asked Lesley Robertson from Australia
Ellyse Perry, who fell for 99 in the Ashes Test at Trent Bridge last week, was only the fourth woman to be dismissed one short of a century in a Test match. The previous instance was by her current team-mate, Jess Jonassen, against England in Canterbury in 2015. That was Jonassen’s debut; she hasn’t yet reached three figures in a Test.The first to fall for 99 in a women’s Test was England’s Betty Snowball, against Australia at The Oval in 1937, and it also happened to Australia’s captain Jill Kennare against India in Bombay in 1983-84.There have been five 99s (and a 99 not out) in women’s ODIs, but none yet in T20Is.Betty Snowball (left) was the first woman to be dismissed for 99 in a Test•Getty ImagesBangladesh beat Afghanistan by 546 runs recently – was this a Test record? asked Mehdi Hossain from Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s thrashing of Afghanistan in Mirpur last week was actually the third-heaviest defeat by runs in any Test. Biggest of all was England’s 675-run win against Australia in Brisbane in 1928-29 (Don Bradman’s Test debut, as it happens). Australia returned the favour by crushing England by 562 runs at The Oval in 1934 (Bradman scored 244, and Bill Ponsford 266 in his final Test).The heaviest Test defeat of any kind came at The Oval in 1938, when England beat Australia by an innings and 579 runs – Bradman was injured and unable to bat (England’s captain declared at 903 for 7, but it’s said he might have carried on had the Don been fit). Australia beat South Africa by an innings and 360 runs in Johannesburg in 2001-02. Here’s the list of the biggest innings victories .At the end of the second day of Bangladesh’s Test against Afghanistan, both batters had the same score (54, from 64 balls). How often has this happened? asked Badri Meden from India
There are many instances of the two not-out batters having the same score at the of a day’s play in a Test, including lots of 0s, but only 12 times had they both scored 50 or more. The highest identical overnight score is 85 not out, by the Indian pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir at the end of the third day against South Africa in Kanpur in 2004-05. Gary Kirsten and Jacques Kallis both had 80 not out at the end of the second day of South Africa’s Test against England in Cape Town in 1999-2000.Madhav Apte and Vijay Hazare of India were both undefeated with 63 at the end of the second day against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1952-53, and Brian Chari and Craig Ervine of Zimbabwe both had 60 at the second-day close against Sri Lanka in Harare in 2016-17. There was another case of this earlier this year, in February in the Bulawayo match mentioned in the second question above, when the West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul both had 55 at the end of the first day against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.None of the other 50-plus instances involve the same number of balls, as in Mirpur recently, where both Zakir Hasan and Najmul Hossain had faced 64. In the Bulawayo match earlier this year, for example, Chanderpaul had faced 170 balls and Brathwaite 138.By chance I received a similar question from another correspondent, who was adamant the answer was the 63 of Apte and Hazare. The table he produced in support, which he apparently found somewhere online, was missing three of the top four instances (and five of the 12 overall), and so wasn’t very reliable at all! Beware of Ask Steven imitators…Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

He was the captain when India made an early exit from the 2007 World Cup; but in 2023 with Dravid as the head coach, their true potential has been unlocked

Sidharth Monga17-Nov-20235:52

Rohit: Dravid has stood by us, it’s on us to win for him

Players who get affected by trolling, social-media abuse and paid-to-trend hashtags might feel those before them had it easier, but they had their own share of troubles with fanaticism. They might even argue it was more hardcore back in the day. Or even as recently as 2007, when India had just been knocked out of the World Cup in the first round.Effigies were burnt, stones were thrown at players’ houses, and they were forced to alter travel plans at the last moment to escape angry fans waiting for them in their cities and in their towns. Irfan Pathan remembers being physically pushed and sworn at by a man he was sharing an airport queue with. MS Dhoni didn’t go to Ranchi for days after returning to avoid any incident.Rahul Dravid, if you believed what was said and implied in the media, was just a meek yes-man-captain, who let the evil coach Greg Chappell run the team into the ground. There were two assumptions here: whatever happened under his captaincy was bad, and that he was incapable of being bad. His effigy was burnt but he was still the good boy we could forgive once the villain Chappell was gone. A great foot soldier who should never have been a leader.Related

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The day India were knocked out of the World Cup, Dravid sat through a gruelling press conference where he was actually asked if he worried about the security situation back home. It can be argued that you can ignore the memes of today or get off social media to shut off the cyber bullying, but how do you ignore physical threats to your and your family’s physical well-being?Memes needn’t always be hurtful, though. They can be clever storytelling too, as this latest one involving Dravid is. It has all the ingredients to go viral. Emotions, redemption arc, cricket, and the king of Bollywood. The meme draws parallels between Shah Rukh Khan’s character in and Dravid. Both were “disgraced” as captains but redeemed themselves as coaches with world titles. Neither of them had instant success or acceptance as coach.If you show it to Dravid, he’ll likely lament the excessive focus on the coach. He might probably joke about his looks when compared to Shah Rukh. If in a feisty mood, he might also point out to a Test series win in the West Indies when they were strong, a first Test win in South Africa and a Test series win in England under his captaincy. So not exactly disgraced.Memes, though, are not to be taken literally. In reality, neither did Dravid take up a team of nobodies nor did he do it for redemption. He has long forgotten he was a player. He is a professional coach who doesn’t even believe that only cricketers can help his teams. And he took over a highly successful team full of some of the best and most-competitive professionals in the world.Those who know more than just the results say the leadership of Dravid and Rohit Sharma brought about a sophistication and method to preparedness•Getty ImagesIn fact Dravid’s was the unenviable job of being the guy who came in just after India had won the magical Test series without half their first-choice players in Australia and held the 2-1 lead in a Test series in England. The team was going to be in transition under Dravid, and the frequent injuries would make matters worse.Those who know more than just the results say the leadership of Dravid and Rohit Sharma brought in proper processes when it comes to preparation and performance reviews, not in terms of results but execution. They brought about a sophistication and method to preparedness: from data to pitches to techniques, everything was worked on. They brought a level of comfort through proper communication. Players knew much better where they stood, what their roles were, how they could develop.Lest you feel it made people too comfortable, that Indiranagar ka Gunda meme is not completely fictional. He might not be the road-raging madman as portrayed in the commercial, but he is no mollycoddling comforter either. When Dravid has to be stern, you are left under no misapprehension. Ask some of the players who have worked with Dravid at Under-19 and India A levels, and you will know how colourful his language can get. Nor is he averse to gamesmanship or pushing the line to push his side’s advantage; remember he was fined for ball-tampering once.Many of the players Dravid has worked with as India coach have passed through him at the developmental levels. Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, even Kuldeep Yadav when he was down and out, have all worked with him in Under-19 or India A teams. That is where Dravid actually helped lay the foundation of a pipeline of talent for the national team.Some felt perhaps that was the best place for him. One of Dravid’s failures as captain was considered to be his inability to satisfactorily convince Sachin Tendulkar that his batting at No. 4 was the best for the team. Or his inability to shut the tap on incessant media leaks allegedly through Chappell, who was also shooting a documentary on the side while he coached India. Or the handling of the dropping of Sourav Ganguly, which was called for at the time.You see the pattern there: big names, be it the dissatisfied players or the offending coach no matter how noble his intentions. It was felt Dravid was better off developing players before they became superstars.Kuldeep Yadav, when he was down and out, worked with Rahul Dravid•ICC/Getty ImagesHalf of Dravid’s stint has been without a proper captain thanks to injuries. He didn’t mend what was not broken. In a nod to the former team management, he kept playing with four fast bowlers in Tests abroad.From the time Rohit was regularly available as captain, Dravid went ahead with perhaps his biggest contribution to this team, dragging their intent into the modern times. It took some convincing that even when there were collapses while going for above-par totals only rarely did they end up with a complete blowout. The superstars he was working with were no less than Tendulkar or Ganguly.The results of this revolution, which Rohit bought into and then led the rest of the side into, was perhaps best visible in the World Cup semi-final. It is not hard to imagine an Indian team of not long ago settling for 325 in those conditions. It was the extra intent that gave India the cushion to be calm when Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson were going.There’s also less of the us-against-the-world edginess in this team. Dravid is not averse to bringing in support from outside the sport. Virat Kohli recently credited the time he spent with mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton, brought in during the last T20 World Cup but discontinued because India didn’t win the title, for the role it played in his revival.All through the World Cup, perhaps the first time they have been at full strength during Dravid’s stint, India have looked like a team whose true potential has been unlocked. If they keep playing similar cricket and the final still happens to be that one rare blowout, it won’t take away from the progress they have made. Still a final win will make it extra special for a team unfairly trolled for not winning knockout matches despite a stellar record in league stages.And perhaps the coach will take some time to remember the scenes from the dressing room while India lost to Sri Lanka in Port-of-Spain in 2007 – the royalty of Indian cricket, Tendulkar, Dravid, Anil Kumble, Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh all sat glum, on the verge of tears, as wicket after wicket fell. Tendulkar, Sehwag and Yuvraj got another shot at World Cup glory, and took it. Others didn’t. Not everyone does.And then possibly the coach will just laugh it all off with another meme featuring the king of Bollywood.

Abandonment of conventional top-six approach destabilised campaign that promised better

Mohammad Isam31-Oct-2023Mohammad Ashraful made a noise with his hands that only batters watching other batters can. He stroked his right hand with his left palm the way Mahmudullah had made his wrist-work to play the square-cut off Mohammad Wasim in the 17th over. Ashraful is working as an analyst for one of the Bangladeshi TV channels. Obsessive about statistics and an acute observer, Ashraful quietly nodded his head to mimic Mahmudullah’s head position too.It was followed by loud applause from Ashraful who was sitting in the gallery below the Eden Gardens press box. Shortly afterwards, Litton Das tried to smack Usama Mir over the covers, but checked himself. Mahmudullah showed him how later in the over with a blast through the covers. Ashraful appreciated the shot, saying that either you hit it hard to this cover fielder’s left or you play that same ball down to mid-off for a single.”But, what can we do now?” Ashraful exclaimed.Indeed, as Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign reached its seventh match, regret hung in the air. A bit of common sense and smarter planning could have provided a different perspective to this tournament. Instead it is one that speaks loudly of the Bangladesh team management’s rigidity with their batting line-up.They finally got back to their conventional batting line-up against Pakistan, seven matches into the tournament. ESPNcricinfo understands that the “revert-to-type” instruction came from all the way up in the chain of command. BCB president Nazmul Hassan, after Bangladesh’s 87-run defeat against Netherlands, reportedly told the team management to get the batters in their right positions, and continue that pattern for the remaining matches.Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah went back up the order for the first time this year. Mahmudullah was batting above No. 6 for the first time since August 2022. Mushfiqur was back at No. 4 after seven months. The selectors have always maintained that they “rested” Mahmudullah after the England series back in March, even though that excuse was condescending to the man himself. Mushfiqur was given the No. 6 role to slog his way through the last ten overs, despite reaching his batting peak at No. 4.The changes meant that Najmul Hossain Shanto batted at three, with Shakib at six, and Towhid Hridoy and Mehidy Hasan Miraz at 7 and 8. This line-up might have worked but for Litton’s soft dismissal, or if Shakib Al Hasan’s 64-ball struggle had delivered greater reward. These regrets are nothing new to Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign. Even when Mahmudullah was looking set on Tuesday, he ended up receiving Shaheen Shah Afridi’s best ball of the day.Speaking at the post-match presentation, Shakib was asked by Ramiz Raja about the rejig – although the specific query was whether he’d consider a return to No.3, the position from which he made 606 runs at 86.57 at the 2019 World Cup. “I was batting in the top four and I hadn’t scored runs, so my confidence was low too,” Shakib replied. “Luckily I got some runs [today] and I’m feeling better so we can discuss it. At this moment, changing too many things gets difficult, but we have to keep moving forward and think of something which might work.”Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s role as Bangladesh’s enforcer ended up being one of a firefighter in a tournament that never took off•Associated PressNo member of the Bangladesh’s hierarchy showed up in the press conference or the mixed zone, however. It would have been interesting to learn more about their batting plans, but the fact they promoted Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah, and sent Mehidy to No. 8 finally, spoke volumes about their mindset.After Tamim Iqbal was jettisoned from the team late into the World Cup build-up phase, captain Shakib and coach Chandika Hathurusingha called all the shots. However, their plan to bring a changed identity to their batting approach in the World Cup now looks like cosmetic changes.Towards the start of the tournament, they wanted Mehidy to be the enforcer, and leave Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah and Hridoy to deal with the death overs, but given that the Bangladesh openers Tanzid Hasan and Litton Das didn’t fire in most of the matches, Mehidy was mostly firefighting bad starts. Shakib and Shanto never showed good form, while Mahmudullah seemed surplus to requirements, even though he now has 274 runs at 68.50. It is hard to fathom that he didn’t play against England.Shakib and Hathurusinghe simply didn’t have a plan B. That may sound simplistic, and some might argue that Mehidy being shuffled around was proof that they were trying something. But it now seems clear that Mehidy’s movement their plan A. Bangladesh sacrificed their whole batting line-up to implement a shortcut that always looked like failing. True, Mehidy made that century against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup, but how does one successful batting promotion prove that the rest of the batters are dispensable? It’s beyond the understanding of many who follow Bangladesh cricket closely.Instead, Bangladesh could have simply come to the World Cup with the tried and tested. Litton and Tamim have had a successful opening partnership, simply because of Tamim’s evolved role as the banker at the top of the order. He rotates the strike to ensure Litton can play his natural game. Shanto would then have followed at No 3, followed by Shakib, Hridoy and Mushfiqur.Related

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Then, the debate could have centred on playing the seventh specialist batter or using six bowling options. It had been working pretty well for Bangladesh over the previous two years, especially when the top six fired. With 24 wins from 39 matches from the start of 2021 until the start of the Asia Cup, they looked like a side that knew what their next move was going to be. Bangladesh were also winning close games as they had chosen to go with six bowlers on batting wickets too.It is very hard to imagine had a problem with Tamim. He fell out with the BCB chief Hassan, which shouldn’t matter to the team’s cricketing plans. Instead, Hassan first riled him with an interview, and then begged him to come back from retirement.When they finally got rid of Tamim before the World Cup amid another embarrassing episode, Bangladesh believed that the team would soon forget Tamim’s impressive leadership. He had forged a strong unit since Mashrafe Mortaza’s resignation in 2020, bringing the team much success with his no-nonsense approach, and marrying well with Russell Domingo’s approach to allow players room to think.The same cannot be said about Shakib and Hathurusinghe. Both have struggled in their second stints as captain and coach respectively. This, despite BCB chief Hassan giving both the confidence and space to take their decisions. It is rare for Hassan to allow such freedom to the team management but perhaps it was because of Shakib’s stature as a cricketer. Hathurusinghe too is well respected in the BCB’s inner-circle. Now that the dust has settled, maybe it is time that someone in the BCB, perhaps the president himself, stepped up and asked the pair some tough questions.