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It was a reassuringly predictable squad for England, but there were a couple of difficult conversations for selector James Whitaker to have

George Dobell25-Apr-2017Squad lists, like flights and trips to the dentist, are probably better if they don’t contain surprises.So, whereas, in the past, England have tended to abandon long-held plans at the last moment – think of the 2015 World Cup, where Eoin Morgan took over as captain at the last minute, Gary Ballance was drafted into the team and Chris Woakes replaced as new-ball bowler – the squad announced for the Champions Trophy is wonderfully predictable.So there is no repetition of 2011, when Steven Davies – pencilled in as opening batsman and wicketkeeper – was replaced by Matt Prior at the last minute (a decision branded as “poor thinking” and “unhealthy” by the then captain Andrew Strauss in the book 28 Days Data; “The team was relatively settled,” Strauss said. “And that just sent shockwaves through it.”)And there is no repetition of 1999, when Nick Knight was replaced by Nasser Hussain, or the World T20 of 2010 when England stumbled across a winning format at the last moment.

England one-day squads

• England squad for Champions Trophy and South Africa series Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

• Squad for Ireland ODIs Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Ben Duckett, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Mark Wood

It all means England should go into the event with a settled squad who know their specific roles. In a format where role definition and experience is so important, it bodes well.Whether it justifies the bookies’ – well, Bet 365’s anyway – decision to make England the favourites for the tournament is debatable. They have never won a global List A event – though they have made it to the finals on five occasions – and they face significant competition. Whatever happens, they have made impressive progress since the 2015 World Cup and they go into their event with confidence high.Perhaps Liam Dawson or Steven Finn might feel unfortunate not to be in the squad. But it probably wasn’t necessary to include three spinners for a tournament in England (and Wales) in June and Jake Ball, who has just been awarded an incremental contract, has moved above Finn in the selectors’ minds by virtue of his greater variations with the ball.Changes could, in theory, still happen. England have the opportunity to alter the squad without ICC approval until May 25, but James Whitaker, the national selector, has confirmed that, even if the likes of Ben Duckett (who is included for the Ireland games but omitted from the Champions Trophy squad) scores a double-century in both ODIs against Ireland, he will not force his way into the Champions Trophy squad. Only in the case of injuries will changes be made and only those in the Champions Trophy squad will be invited on the training camp to Spain in mid-May.Whitaker described the conversation informing Finn he would not be included as “the trickiest” but admitted that Jonny Bairstow was also “disappointed” to learn that Sam Billings had been preferred as wicketkeeper for the ODIs against Ireland. “Clearly he thought he would be given a go again,” Whitaker said. “But it gives him a chance to concentrate on his batting again.””It is tough on Steven, because he’s a highly capped international,” Whitaker said. “But we feel we’ve picked the best available for what they need to do. He was disappointed but he’s still a young guy and has plenty of years to keep pushing for a place. We felt Jake’s variation and good new-ball skills gave him the edge.”Jonny Bairstow’s position in the wicketkeeping pecking was one of few contentious issues in England selections•AFPBearing in mind that Mark Wood, David Willey and Liam Plunkett are all returning from injuries at present (Plunkett is expected to play this weekend) there remains a chance that Finn could be recalled as an injury replacement.While Whitaker suggested the decision to give the gloves to Billings was just “to have a look at him” – “We’re purely giving Sam the opportunity to showcase his skills in front of the captain,” he said – and insisted “it doesn’t necessarily follow” that Billings would keep in the Champions Trophy if Jos Buttler was injured, it does seem part of a longer-term policy. At the end of the ODI series in the Caribbean, Paul Farbrace – who is not officially a selector but is highly influential as the assistant coach – expressed a view that he thought Billings was now the No. 2 keeper in white-ball cricket.Perhaps a couple of young players will feel aggrieved, too. Both Tom Curran and Liam Livingstone were discussed by the selectors and surely have a future in international cricket. It may well be that the T20 series against South Africa, or the ODIs against West Indies at the end of the season, present an opportunity to rest some players and provide opportunities for others.”Liam is a very good player,” Whitaker said. “And he’ll keep knocking on the door. But we felt that to keep the order and integrity, Ben Duckett should get the nod for Ireland.”Tom was talked about but he’s now in the next generation, making headway. He made a good impact on the Lions tour. We recognise him and his brother Sam as talented cricketers.”It all left Whitaker feeling “very confident”.”This squad have earned the right to be selected and Eoin Morgan has done a very good job as captain,” he said. “We’re very happy that we’re in a good place. We’re very confident.”The only time Whitaker stumbled was explaining the decision to rest Bairstow from the early rounds of the County Championship having made him available for the IPL.”Well, that’s something we have no control over,” he said. “I don’t know how to answer that. We are comfortable with it. I haven’t thought about what sort of message it sends out.”It is not a major issue now. But if Bairstow is a non-playing member of the Champions Trophy squad – and there is every chance he will be – he could reach the Test series against South Africa having played two first-class games this year and only one of them against a red ball.In terms of the Champions Trophy, though, England are better placed then seemed possible when they departed the World Cup two years ago. And the fact that the squad – the team, even – is predictable at this stage reflects well on the form of the players and the consistency of the management.

Moeen Ali created a bit of history with his feat at The Oval. Can you figure out which of these facts are correct?

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jul-2017

Following Anil Kumble’s resignation as India coach, ESPNcricinfo looks back at how his predecessors fared

Srinath Sripath21-Jun-2017Ajit Wadekar, 1992-96Wadekar’s tenure marked the decisive shift from team managers running Indian teams on a tour-wise basis to having a full-time coach who had a longer tenure. Over his four-year tenure, Wadekar forged a strong working relationship with captain Mohammad Azharuddin, and India dominated at home for the best part of this period. For 14 Tests between 1992 and 1994, India were unbeaten, including a 3-0 whitewash of a strong touring England side. They also tasted success in limited-overs cricket, even winning multi-nation tournaments like the Hero Cup. As with most sides before them, though, they struggled to replicate this success outside the subcontinent.Sandeep Patil, 1996Patil had been the coach of India A sides before this, and his appointment came around the time India embarked on their tour to England. It turned out to be a disastrous tour, and Patil duly got the sack at the end of it. He has gone on to have immensely successful stints with Kenya and Oman since, and was among the contenders to become India’s coach as recently as last year.Madan Lal, 1996-97Lal succeeded Patil, his team-mate from India’s 1983 World Cup-winning side, having coached the UAE side in the 1996 World Cup in the subcontinent. His tenure lasted a year, during which India beat Australia and South Africa at home across formats, before the nightmarish third Test on their tour of the West Indies, where they were bowled out for 81, chasing just 120 in the fourth innings. A few months hence, Lal’s stint came to an end.Anshuman Gaekwad, 1997-99, 2000Gaekwad had two separate stints as India coach, taking over in the Sachin Tendulkar era where he oversaw a period of transition, and later in the middle of the match-fixing saga, after Kapil Dev’s resignation, for a brief period while a permanent appointee was being finalised. Among India’s high points during his tenure were the Independence Cup triumph, a 2-1 home series win against Australia, Kumble’s 10-wicket haul against Pakistan to level the Test series at home, and a drawn ODI series in New Zealand. He came back at the request of the then BCCI president AC Muthiah, to take them to the final of the ICC Knockout in 2000, where they lost to the Kiwis in the final.Kapil Dev’s tenure as coach was turbulent•AFPKapil Dev, 1999-2000Kapil’s short reign was a turbulent one, as his Test sides were whitewashed in Australia and against South Africa at home, preceded by a successful campaign against New Zealand in the second half of 1999. Sadly, his tenure would be remembered the most for its ending, as match-fixing allegations rocked the cricketing world following a 3-2 ODI series win against South Africa. Kapil himself was accused of throwing matches by former team-mate Manoj Prabhakar, and, following extreme pressure from multiple quarters, tendered his resignation.John Wright, 2000-05India’s first foreign coach was also among their longest serving, and in partnership with newly-appointed captain Sourav Ganguly steered Indian cricket from the depths of the match-fixing saga. For the first time in their cricketing history, India’s sides tasted consistent success in unfamiliar conditions outside the subcontinent, winning Tests in England and Australia, apart from their best World Cup run since 1983, as they reached the final in South Africa. Wright’s tenure will be remembered for the epic comeback against Australia in the 2001 Test series at home, and ODI and Test series wins on the tour to Pakistan in 2004. Eventually, India’s form dipped, and Wright left the job, to be replaced by Greg Chappell in 2005.Unpopular decisions, humbling defeats : Greg Chappell’s time with the Indian team was eventful•Getty ImagesGreg Chappell, 2005-07Chappell’s brief but infamous tenure as India’s coach was pockmarked by his prolonged tussle which saw the ouster of Sourav Ganguly from the national side. India lost a Test series on their second tour to Pakistan in three years and came back to win the ODI series before tasting mixed results on their tour to South Africa, where they won a Test for the first time before slipping to a 2-1 series defeat. Eventually, a group-stage exit from the 2007 World Cup meant Chappell ended his association, deciding not to renew his contract with the board.Gary Kirsten, 2007-11Kirsten remains India’s only full-time coach to have taken them to a World Cup title. His partnership with MS Dhoni, along with his insistence on developing young talent that was fast coming through from the IPL and age-group formats, meant India went from strength to strength in these four years. Under his stewardship, India drew Test series in South Africa and Sri Lanka, made it to the finals of multi-nation tournaments including the Asia Cup, and in his own words, were “desperate to achieve greatness”. His hands-on approach gelled perfectly with Dhoni’s insistence on leaving match preparations to the coach. Kirsten eventually left on a high – one of the few Indian coaches to do so – deciding not to renew his contract after India lifted the 2011 World Cup.Duncan Fletcher, 2011-15Fletcher was at the helm as India suffered their ignominious 8-0 reversal across their tours of England and Australia in 2011 and 2011-12. India also lost a home series against England, before winning the Champions Trophy in a thrilling finish against the same opponents in 2013. After another Test drubbing in England a year later, the BCCI appointed Ravi Shastri as the Team Director, to complement Fletcher in the coaching department. The duo, along with newly-appointed assistants Sanjay Bangar, B Arun and R Sridhar, oversaw a period of revival, concluding with India’s semi-final run in the 2015 World Cup, after which Fletcher ended his association with Indian cricket.Duncan Fletcher and Gary Kirsten : two men who experienced contrasting fortunes at the helm for India•Getty/ICCRavi Shastri, 2014-16Shastri had taken up interim responsibilities in the past, and once again was back at the helm as the Team Director, even while Fletcher was still in charge, before taking up sole responsibility after the 2015 World Cup. During this phase, India came back from 1-0 down to win a Test series in Sri Lanka, beat South Africa 3-0 at home and in general showed consistent form across formats. The period also saw excellent results in T20s – they won the Asia Cup and beat Australia in Australia, before crashing out in the semi-final stage of the World T20 at home.Anil Kumble, 2016-17Kumble was a surprising appointment in some ways, ahead of Shastri, who was the other candidate in the fray. The Cricket Advisory Committee, comprising Tendulkar, Ganguly and VVS Laxman, went ahead and offered him a one-year contract as India’s head coach. During this period, India won a Test series in the West Indies and defeated all comers at home, losing only one Test out of 13 while beating New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia. Before the Champions Trophy this year, reports surfaced about reservations that some senior players held about Kumble’s coaching style, which captain Virat Kohli was said to have described as “intimidating”. It ended with Kumble tendering his resignation on Tuesday night, as arguably the most successful coach Indian cricket has seen.

Chasing has been a successful trend recently in T20s but on Friday night the legspinner bucked that and helped Adelaide Strikers become the first BBL side to win after opting to bat first since 2015-16

Tim Wigmore in Adelaide22-Dec-2017At 9:24pm local time, Rashid Khan marks out his run at the Adelaide Oval. He is about to deliver his first ball in the Big Bash League: another landmark moment for Rashid in a year full of them.A day earlier, Mohammad Nabi pipped Rashid to become the first ever Afghanistan cricketer to play in the Big Bash League. That they have made it this far is a remarkable testament to their own talents and the power of sport to create opportunity.Yet for the Adelaide Strikers and other T20 sides, all of this backstory is just that. These sides deal in the hard currency of wins, not sentiment.In February, some guffawed when Rashid cost Sunrisers Hyderabad $600,000. They saw only an 18-year-old Afghan. But coach Tom Moody and Sunrisers recognised a legspinner of wonderful verve and versatility – one who could be a strike bowler or bowl frugal spells, and could beat an opponent in the air or off the wicket, with prodigious turn or with chicanery. He was signed specifically to bowl in the middle overs, but is almost equally adept bowling in all three phases of a T20 game. “He had the goods,” Moody recalls. “It was a just case of did he have the character?”The first year of the IPL gave Moody the answer: “he had that in spades.” Empowered by his captain David Warner, Rashid was beguiling. In a tournament famed for leaving superstars marooned on the bench, Rashid instantly became undroppable, and the fulcrum of Sunrisers’ attack. In the Caribbean and Bangladesh, he was as good.For the Adelaide Strikers, Rashid is not just a brilliant cricketer; he is a cricketer who gives them the flexibility to take advantage of the most fundamental tactical shift in T20 in recent years – the growing preference for batting second. In 2011-12, only three out of 31 teams who won the toss in the BBL decided to chase. Last year, 28 out of 35 teams who won the toss opted to bat second – and all seven of the sides who chose to bat first lost. In the first three games of this season, all teams who won the toss chose to bowl first too.So when Travis Head won the toss and chose to bat it seemed curious at best, bewildering at worst. It was altogether less so considering Rashid’s record bowling second in T20s. He averages 17.81, with an economy rate of 6.08, when bowling first – astounding numbers, yet bettered by those defending a score: an average of 13.49 with an economy rate of 5.56. While T20 teams have long loved to set matches up for their batting finishers, with Rashid they can set games up for him. This has an extra benefit, too: given that other teams prefer to chase, it means that the Strikers, should they continue their preference for batting first, can expect to do what they want every game. Rashid in T20 is a cricketer teams can recalibrate their entire strategies around.Phil Simmons, who has worked with Rashid for Afghanistan, says he is like Anil Kumble – only, Rashid turns the ball more. He is unusually quick for a legspinner, and so hard for batsmen to set themselves up for. He turns the ball, and sharply, both ways. He conceals his googly like a brilliant poker player hides a royal flush. In the Caribbean Premier League, Rashid got a hat-trick with his googly alone.Yet all of these qualities would be of little use without Rashid’s chutzpah under pressure. “T20 is a very short format, and you have to think really quickly and really smartly what to do,” he says. During an over he is “just trying my best to mix up with the batsman, to put something in his mind – ‘what he’s going to deliver next?'” To see Rashid at work is to see affirmation that, even in T20 cricket, it is still possible for bowlers to construct a spell to work over and tease out batsmen. They just have to do it much faster.With any sporting prodigy it is always tempting to describe their success as a triumph for instinct. Yet in modern T20, instinct alone – even when it is as brilliant as Rashid’s – is not enough. He is a student of his sport too, and a cunning one. “Before every match you are discussing with the video analyst, and with the coach, to which batsmen you will bowl tomorrow, and what is the strategy, and what is the plan for him,” he explained recently. “We were just discussing their weakness and strengths, working on that, and applying that in the nets.”Getty ImagesRashid has also benefited from novelty. Associate cricket is seldom televised and its players rarely scrutinised. Even the Desert T20 competition last year, a tournament for the top-eight Associate sides, had no live streaming, and it was impossible to watch footage of every ball. The upshot was that, when Rashid went to the IPL, most his opponents had only seen footage of him in the World Twenty20 in 2016.Americans call it the “sophomore slump”: professional athletes floundering in their second season. As soon as Rashid got to the IPL, the best analytical minds in cricket were charged with trying to demystify him. That has forced Rashid to continue improving, even if not all have noticed – when he was handed the ball for the Strikers, the BBL commentators proclaimed to having never seen him before.As is customary, Rashid was brought on in the seventh over. He was entrusted with a slip, with the Strikers in pursuit of wickets, but his first delivery was cut for four and 11 runs came in the over. Four singles and a wide followed in his second.Rare are the T20 bowling spells that are longer than two overs. Not only does it mean that a captain has fewer options for later in an innings, but, the theory is, batsmen can size a bowler up, making them easier to hit. The genius of Rashid in T20 is that he inverts conventional wisdom: as he gets deeper into a spell, it is not the batsmen who size him up but he who sizes them up. Head recognised as much when he allowed Rashid to carry on for a third over.The first ball was tossed up and a little quicker. Ryan Gibson’s rushed drive was edged behind and, for the first time in Australia, Rashid was running in joy, extending his arms like an airplane in his trademark celebration. Two balls later, Rashid unveiled his googly to left-hander Ben Rohrer; the stumps were dishevelled and Rashid was running again. These two brilliant deliveries ensured that Adelade became the first Big Bash side to win after choosing to bat first since 2015-16. That’s the value of Rashid.He began 2017 as an Associate cricketer – a marvellous bowler, yet one who remained the sport’s best-kept secret. He ends it having played – and excelled – in the IPL, the CPL and, now the BBL too. And next year, he will become a Test cricketer too.Rashid is already the most acclaimed cricketer that Afghanistan have produced, and an emblem of what it is possible for Afghanistan to achieve in the game through talent and insatiable desire. While he is from a well-to-do family near Kabul, Rashid grew up playing tape-ball cricket in the street, and did not play with a hard ball until he was 14 or 15.”Sports is the only thing that brings peace to the country,” he said recently. “It feels wonderful to see the youngsters coming and playing their cricket. Last time when I went to Afghanistan after the IPL, I visited an academy. When I see the boys, and how they’re all working, and how keen they were to play cricket for their country, it was just amazing, and I really love to watch.”In Afghanistan, India, the West Indies and now Australia, they love to watch him too. So far in 2017, Rashid has taken 76 wickets in T20s at an average of 14.98 and economy rate of 5.55.With his final ball of the night in Adelaide, Rashid tries his signature delivery once again in pursuit of wicket 77. His googly deceives the batsman, but the bat jabs down on the ball, more through luck than judgement. Rashid smiles. He will have to be content with two wickets tonight, and the promise of many more soon.

Prithvi Shaw and Deepak Chahar are also among ESPNcricinfo’s breakout performers of IPL 2018

Shashank Kishore28-May-2018Mujeeb Ur RahmanWe’re not even halfway through 2018, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s had an unforgettable year already. In February, he bowled Afghanistan to the Under-19 World Cup semi-final in New Zealand. In March, he played in key role in helping Afghanistan clinch a 2019 World Cup berth in Zimbabwe. In April-May, he proved to be an all-weather T20 bowler in India. And we aren’t even into June, when he could potentially make his Test debut in Bengaluru.His strengths? Use conditions to his advantage. When R Ashwin, the Kings XI Punjab captain, trusted him with the new ball, he relied on front-of-the-hand sliders and mixed them with googlies and carrom balls. With the old ball, his lengths and the bounce he got off deliveries denied batsmen room to swing through, most notably when he defended 16 off the final over against a rampaging Shreyas Iyer at Feroz Shah Kotla, a venue with notoriously short boundaries.By any stretch, 14 wickets in 11 games at an economy of 6.99 is mighty impressive. Who knows, what more he could’ve done if not for a savage Sunil Narine blow that copped him a stinging blow on his thumb to rule him out towards the end of the league phase.K GowthamHis bare numbers read 126 runs and 11 wickets in IPL 2018, but that wouldn’t tell you the full story. Few have the ability to hit sixes from the get-go, and K Gowtham is one of them. His unravelling of one of the best death bowlers this IPL season was among the highlights. In his fifth IPL innings, he walked out with Rajasthan Royals needing 43 off 17 balls. Jasprit Bumrah’s previous over had gone for just one run and fetched two wickets, his reputation hardly a deterrent as Gowtham came up with some of the cleanest hitting. He swindled 18 off the over, his unbeaten 33 off 11 balls helping Royals pull off a heist.Which is why his holding back in the Eliminator, with the asking rate very much under control going into the last five overs was one of the more bizarre decisions Royals made this season. With the bat, he was an on-demand six-hitter, with the ball, he was asked to do a holding job upfront mostly. On the field, he was as reliable as they come.Gowtham has had to make up for lost time. For four years, between 2012 and 2016, he was in the wilderness, not even at times part of his club team in Bengaluru. This was the time he battled form and issues with his bowling action that had to be remodelled. Later in 2017, he was pulled up for missing a Duleep Trophy game with illness but turned out for his Karnataka Premier League team because he was the highest paid player in the tournament. He was then dropped from all developmental teams. Now, he’s back and will travel to England with the India A squad, a limited-overs berth in the national team no longer far-fetched.Deepak Chahar had Sanju Samson holing out in the deep•BCCIDeepak ChaharDeepak Chahar, 25, has three dreams: the first was ticked off in 2010 when he was part of Rajasthan’s historic first Ranji Trophy title in his debut season, when he picked up 8 for 10 on debut to skittle Hyderabad for 21. On Sunday, he ticked the second box: an IPL title with Chennai Super Kings, for whom he was superb with the ball: 10 wickets in 12 games at an economy rate of 7.39.Last season, he was part of the Rising Pune Supergiant squad under the same think tank, but was “still developing.” However, this season, he was thrust into the hot seat straight away. It all started with him troubling Rohit Sharma with a succession of outswingers before eliciting an ugly heave in the tournament opener. It ended, quite fittingly, with a frugal spell: 4-0-25-0 at the same venue, all inside the halfway mark, in the final. His batting potential, which coach Stephen Fleming said was “very underrated” also shone through when he made a 20-ball 39 after being promoted to No. 6 with CSK tottering at 58 for 4 in a 159 chase on a seaming Pune deck.The third box could be a while away, but at least the IPL performances have ensured he’s on the plane to England with the India A one-day squad that will play the tri-series with England Lions and West Indies A.Prithvi ShawThe weight of the famed ‘Mumbai school of batting’ hasn’t deterred him. That he’s being talked up that much is a motivating factor, but insists on the need to emerge from the Under-19 shadows quickly.He has five hundreds in 10 first-class matches, an Under-19 World Cup medal and is now among one of just four players to find an India A berth for both formats. He was slowly initiated into the IPL and was part of nine opening combinations Delhi Daredevils tried, but held his own in the nine games he played, scoring two half-centuries and a 47 at a commendable strike rate of 153.Blessed with supple wrists and hand-eye coordination to die for, Shaw’s strengths lie square of the wicket. He cuts and pulls well, but has shown improvement when the balls have been pitched up. It’s one thing hitting on the up in India, another trying to spend time and cover the line against the swinging ball in England. The one aspect he may have to improve though: fielding and slip catching.Lungi Ngidi For a week, the South Africa quick warmed the bench. Then he flew home after his father’s demise. Upon return, he tied down Delhi Daredevils’ batting line-up in a spell that read 4-0-26-1. It would be the start of an emotional fairytale journey. He played the next six games, including the final, and picked up 11 wickets in all with a best of 4 for 10 on a Pune surface that he said looked more like Johannesburg. He finished the tournament with a smart economy rate of 3.77 – the best among all bowlers in the tournament.He is tall, hits the deck hard, consistently bowls in the 140kph range, generates good bounce, and can get the ball to move around sharply. Initially brought in to lend balance because of Chahar’s untimely injury, Ngidi’s performances made him a permanent fixture even after his return. This even as his South Africa captain Faf du Plessis warmed the bench and could only break in much later in the competition.

Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins bowled with the right balance between skill and emotion for most of day two. For one key sequence, however, they did not

Daniel Brettig in Perth15-Dec-2018On the eve of Perth Stadium’s first Test match, Australia’s captain Tim Paine asserted that his “big three” pacemen Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins would not need much instruction about how to make the most of its looming pace and bounce. “We’ve got a really settled and experienced bowling attack, so I don’t think we’ll have to say too much,” he said. “They know what works at Test cricket, they’ve done it before and played on all types of surfaces and adapted really quickly.”For the vast majority of day two, on a far more pleasant day to bowl than the first, Paine was entirely correct. Starc and Hazlewood nailed their lines and lengths with the new ball, gaining enough of both swing and surprise to clean bowl M Vijay and KL Rahul. And when Virat Kohli got off to a fast, insistent start of 19 from 12 balls, they combined artfully with Cummins to pull India back and pressure the unflappable Cheteshwar Pujara into a slight miscalculation and a feather edge down the leg side.Mitchell Starc exults after picking up a wicket•Getty ImagesBut in perhaps the day’s most pivotal passage following the arrival of Ajinkya Rahane, India’s last experienced batsman to accompany Kohli, the Australians appeared briefly to lapse into bowling that was driven less by experience, settled minds and clear plans than it was by adrenaline, excitement and the thrill inherent in bowling fast on a flier in the west – the sort of mental trap into which so many visiting teams have fallen over the years.As a batsman, Rahane has weaknesses against Australia – Nathan Lyon has enjoyed conspicuous success against him on pitches with bounce, and he is as susceptible to edging tight, bouncing deliveries around the off stump as any other mortal wielding a bat in Test cricket. But he does not, empirically at least, show obvious weakness against the short ball. As with any plan, a short-pitched attack would have had a chance of succeeding had it been diligently and consistently applied, with bouncers directed over the line of the stumps and a field appropriately set.Rahane, however, was subjected to something like a dog’s breakfast: a mixture of short and full, straight and wide that allowed him to get off to a slippery start. He received nine short balls in his first 22, by which time he was on 23 and away. The last scoring shot in the sequence, an uppercut for six, underlined that the Australian line of attack, in this critical passage before Kohli’s final likely ally was set, was too wide.Fast bowling is a difficult task, potholed by injury risks and governed by enormous effort and detail to physically and mentally prepare the quicks for their task on Australian surfaces. But at the same time it is an emotive and sometimes angry occupation, requiring its practitioners to operate on the edge of their wits, particularly in a Test match over five days of toil. Over most of Australia’s day, Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins bowled with the right balance between skill and emotion; in this key sequence they did not.1:57

‘We could have been more disciplined’ – Khawaja

As Usman Khawaja put it, speaking for the hosts: “I think there’s still enough in it, I think we bowled well in patches and then didn’t quite bowl well in other patches, we probably could be a little bit more disciplined. But credit to them, they also batted well, put a bit of pressure on our bowlers. All the bowlers bowled well in patches, but you’ve got to keep doing it over and over again, you’re going to beat the bat, sometimes they’re going to nick it and sometimes they’re not.”I think we’re still ahead of the game in a lot of respects, but Rahane came out and took on the short ball, got off to a little bit of a flier, then we pegged them back in, the bowlers started bowling really well. I think we’ve just got to do it consistently throughout the whole period. The bowlers knew that, some days it’s like batting, some days it comes easily and other days it doesn’t. Hopefully tomorrow we can be that little bit better but all in all I thought it was a pretty good day.”The perspective Khawaja offered was intriguing on one level at least – entering this summer with high expectations and fitness levels, recovery from a knee injury notwithstanding, he has been harried into errors by consistent tight bowling from India’s collective, who have not once offered him the latitude Rahane was able to exploit.”With any Test batsman you’ve got to keep putting it in the right place at the right time, as much as you can over and over again, hopefully be disciplined enough to find those edges,” Khawaja said. “But as you sometimes saw you get a crack, and sometimes a crack goes too far.0:45

Kartik: ‘Lyon’s attacking line always keeps him in play’

“If we can get a couple of wickets early, obviously break this partnership right now, then it’s not an easy wicket to start up on. As a team batting first you’re hoping the wicket deteriorates a fair bit. We’ve still got to start off well tomorrow. If we do that, then we’ll have our chance at the tail. I think we still have to be quite disciplined.”Kohli, Rahane and Pujara were all able to illustrate the possibility of batting time on this pitch, which has perhaps eased in its process of cracking up due to cooler temperatures following the initial heat of day one. But equally there have been plenty of moments to show that pacemen reining in their emotions and sticking to their plans can cause plenty of mayhem for batsmen. No one knew this better than Ishant Sharma, given how India twice struggled in the day’s first hour, before tightening up and being duly rewarded.”When we were bowling if you hit the length there’s something in the wicket, you can’t say there’s nothing in the wicket,” Ishant said. “Even yesterday as a bowling group we spoke about, even though we gave away a few runs, if you are consistent on these kind of pitches you have a good chance of doing well.”At that time you just need to be patient, have patience, otherwise if you think there’s going to be a lot of bounce in the wicket, I’ll bounce them out, patience is important on these kinds of wickets. We think bowling in the right areas, good lengths, find out what a good length is, speak among each other, and then if you speak to each other then it’s very easy for us to find out those lengths and bowl them.”Communication, patience and calmness. All the qualities that Paine expected of his fast bowlers on the sort of surface they have come to know well in this part of the country. There’s nothing surer than that this match will contain more moments when Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins need to keep calm and to their plans. Another sequence or two like the one offered to Rahane might cost them the series itself.

There was no need for fireworks as the WBBL’s fourth edition kicked off in Melbourne; the likes of Lee and Healy lit things up well enough on their own

Alex Malcolm in Melbourne01-Dec-2018There was no need for fireworks on the opening day of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) season 4.South Africa batsman Lizelle Lee provided them with a stunning unbeaten century from just 56 balls as the Melbourne Stars upset the highly-fancied defending champions Sydney Sixers.Lee’s incredible batting, rather than an actual pyrotechnics display, spoke volumes for the tone that has been struck by the WBBL as its fourth season got underway in Melbourne.While the men’s BBL can look like a nightly rock concert at times, the WBBL is a reflection of Cricket Australia’s vision, a family friendly event for everyone.The revamped Junction Oval in Melbourne was the perfect setting. While Cricket Australia has an aim of filling the 100,000-seat MCG for a women’s match at the 2020 T20 World Cup, they have not over-reached by hosting the WBBL opener in the cavernous cauldron.The Junction provided grass banks for bouncy castles and family picnics, heritage-listed stands for a pure cricket experience, as well as brand new amenities like Cricket Victoria’s indoor facility to house a kids’ cricket zone.On the field, the cricket was high class. Lee’s blistering century signalled the importance of international stars to the tournament.Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy, who was the Player of the Tournament at the recently concluded T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, showed why they are two of the best and most popular players in Australia with sublime half-centuries in a losing cause.Perth Scorchers won the opening match of the double-header, and Australia batsman Elyse Villani was named Player of the Match for a fine half-century that was the bedrock of tricky chase. But the depth of Australian domestic women’s cricket was on display as Lauren Ebsary and Chloe Piparo played two sensational cameos – worth 40 and 26 respectively – to guide the Scorchers home.The Hobart Hurricanes looked significantly depleted on paper after West Indies star Hayley Matthews broke her toe at training on Friday. But 20-year-old Tasmanian Erin Fazackerley showed the talent coming through, clubbing 38 from 16 balls after getting off the mark with a six. Georgia Redmayne, meanwhile, produced an excellent 49 from 48 to get the Hurricanes up to a competitive 143 for 7.The depth of talent has not gone unnoticed and there are concerns that Australian women’s cricket may leave the rest of the world behind due to CA’s investment in the women’s game. Besides, there is real regret that domestic players in many other countries are unable to train and play to the same standard without the same level of remuneration that allowed women to become full-time professionals.While so many of Australia’s older players have had to forge a path playing juniors with boys, the visibility of the women’s game via the WBBL and its new free-to-air broadcast partner Channel Seven will give Australia’s future female players no such issues.But that’s not to say the broadcast deal is perfect. Channel Seven opted to showcase the opening day of the WBBL on one of its secondary channels, with the men’s Australian PGA Golf Championship taking precedence on the main channel over the weekend. The complexity of the digital streaming rights deal also provides challenges for those looking to watch all games on that platform.But the aim of visibility has certainly been achieved and de-coupling both the opening weekend and the finals from the men’s internationals and the BBL (the final itself will be a stand-alone event, and will be played on Australia Day before the resumption of the Brisbane day-night Test) has been a further step to embed the tournament in Australia’s psyche.Watching Healy hit spinners inside-out over cover with class and ease of any player on the planet is enough to inspire any youngster, male or female, to take up the game.While Cricket Australia’s marketing team kicked an own goal with the men’s team’s “elite honesty”, the women’s mantra – from the World T20 – of “#WatchMe” is absolutely on point.You can, and you should.

Cheteshwar Pujara faced 1258 balls. Cheteshwar Pujara scored two match-winning hundreds… stop, enough already

Yazad Aria20-Jan-2019Cheteshwar Pujara.Ugh.What. A. Guy.All I have heard this past month is “Pujara this” and “Pujara that”.Enough.It ends now.I have held my tongue for too long.The world deserves, nay, needs to know the truth about the type of man that Cheteshwar Pujara really is.His list of crimes read like the titles of books.Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you the Cheteshwar Pujara.Mr SelfishM Vijay may have played his last Test Match. KL Rahul was dropped, recalled, and will likely be dropped if Prithvi Shaw is fit to play India’s next Test match.And it is all Cheteshwar Pujara’s fault.Get this: he batted 1258 balls in the entire series.The only reason he was able to do is because Rahul and Vijay chose to selflessly give him the chance to test himself in tough conditions, against the best bowling attack in the world. They also gave him the chance to essentially hone his game as an opener, and prove that the new-ball bursts could be negated if batsmen applied themselves.Were they rewarded for this selfless behaviour? No.Did Pujara not realise that he was making them look bad? He probably did.Did he care? Nope.If you are not yet convinced, sample this.At Adelaide Oval, while the rest of India’s front-line batsmen threw their wickets away with simply atrocious shot selection, Pujara dug in and scored 123. Pujara was like that friend who gets full marks in the exam that you failed. Never mind that you failed because you didn’t apply yourself, and they scored full marks because they worked hard. Never mind that you were inspired by them, worked hard, and did well on your other exams by following their example.You blame them for making you look bad, just as I blame Cheteshwar Pujara for making the rest of the batsmen look bad.Mr DisrespectfulIndia’s 2-1 series win in Australia was possible due to not one, but two match-winning centuries by Pujara.He scored 123 in Adelaide, and 106 in Melbourne.Now that is all well and good, apart from one teeny problem.They were match-winning centuries.Look, scoring centuries in Australia is all right, but centuries?It is practically a rite of passage: the valiant but ultimately futile century by the Indian batsman in Australia. So near, yet so far, and all that sort of jazz.Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli have each scored six centuries in Australia. Do you know how many were match-winning? Zero.Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Viswanath, Rahul Dravid, and VVS Laxman have each scored one match-winning century in Australia. That’s right. One.There are some of you who will think that all this proves is the immensity of Pujara’s performance, that scoring match-winning centuries in Australia is incredibly hard work. That this feat must be lauded.You are all wrong.It clearly proves that Pujara not only spits in the face of tradition, but is trying to somehow imply that he is better than everyone else.Mr Poor Role ModelSample this quote: “As a batsman, you just need to get used to pace and bounce. Playing in different conditions, in South Africa, in England, in county cricket has helped me improve my technique. For me, it’s about the right preparation”.Instead of complaining about how tough it is to bat overseas, he pushed himself out of his comfort zone and played overseas to improve his game.Instead of being content with the fact that while he had not done so well overseas, he had at least scored runs in India, he chose to score 521 runs in Australia.What sort of message is he sending children everywhere? That you ought to be ambitious, work hard, and do your best to succeed no matter what the circumstances?Do you want your children emulating Cheteshwar Pujara?That’s what I thought.Mr BullyNobody likes a bully.Cheteshwar Pujara is a bully.Australia were still reeling from the ball-tampering scandal, their cricketing culture is being scrutinised, and the last thing they needed was a home series defeat.And then Pujara came along.Everybody knows that this is a weak Australian team.David Warner and Steven Smith are not playing.Their absence is the only reason Pujara scored three centuries, and 521 runs.It is simply obvious that if Smith and Warner were playing, Pujara would not have scored any runs.None at all.And I’m not talking about the ball-tampering.Smith and Warner are secretly the greatest bowlers in the history of the universe.Smith started out his career as a legspinner, as the next Shane Warne, and has taken as many as 17 Test wickets.David Warner has taken four Test wickets.Pujara is a bully who kicked his weakened opponents when they were down.Cheteshwar Pujara may have scored all those runs against perhaps the most well-rounded bowling attack in the world, but it is that he would have failed against the part-time legspin of Smith and Warner.

KL Rahul goes slow again, but Kings XI win anyway

Srinath Sripath16-Apr-2019With just four points after seven games – two fewer than the same stage last year – before Tuesday, Rajasthan Royals were nearing last-chance saloon. And they duly rang in the changes.Steven Smith was benched for the first time, to bring in the faster-scoring Ashton Turner for the finisher’s slot lower down the order. Ajinkya Rahane pushed himself down from the opening spot, getting Rahul Tripathi up top to partner Jos Buttler. It was déjà vu for Royals, who had finally promoted Buttler to the top at the same stage last season, a game-changer that propelled them into the playoffs.ESPNcricinfo LtdTripathi’s promotion and Turner’s inclusion could have to do with Buttler and Smith’s impending departures in a couple of weeks for their respective World Cup camps. But Tripathi made 20 off 16 in the Powerplay, and Royals got to 54 for 1, one of their lower totals this season. Tripathi’s next 29 balls fetched him only 30 runs, another reminder of his struggles in the middle overs (SR 123 compared to 152 in the Powerplay) when faced with spread-out fields.That could, now, mean more tinkering, unless they want to try the Buttler-Tripathi alternative a couple more times.As such, Rahane came in at No.4 and found the going tough, struggling to find the gaps in a 21-ball 26, an innings in which he managed to hit just one boundary while the asking rate spiked from 10.6 to over 19. They eventually lost by 12 runs.KL Rahul’s Powerplay slowdownIt’s been a feature of his season so far. KL Rahul has struggled to score runs at the start of the innings, in the Powerplay, and the others batting around him have had to do the heavy lifting. Rahul has still scored a lot of runs – three half-centuries and a century before this game – but they haven’t come at a T20 clip.Is that his role? Quite possibly, given Kings XI Punjab’s lack of batting depth. They usually play five bowlers – and if one of them isn’t Sam Curran, like today, their No. 7 was R Ashwin – and in such a situation a team might need one of their top-order batsmen to be their anchor.With Chris Gayle and the others taking more risks around him, Rahul has probably played that anchor role, and it can be argued that he has performed it competently more often than not. But the anchor must still rotate the strike, which he – glaringly – failed to do on Tuesday in Mohali against Royals, getting to 4 from 13 balls in the first six overs. Gayle first and Mayank Agarwal later tried to up the tempo, and, after being on 17 from 27 balls, Rahul hit his first boundary only off the 28th ball he faced.ESPNcricinfo LtdHe was outstanding last season, scoring his 659 runs at a strike rate of 158.41. Then, his Powerplay strike rate was 157.57, and he found the boundary once every 3.72 balls in that phase. This year, his Powerplay strike rate is down to under 100, and he pulls off the big shot once every 7.92 balls.Kings XI Punjab have, right through the season, put up decent totals, except the 138 for 5 against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk, where batting has been far from easy. But, and we made the point on the day Rahul scored his century – off 63 balls, when Kings XI lost to Mumbai Indians off the last ball – too, Rahul’s slowdowns have dragged Kings XI Punjab back.On the subject of Ashwin, though …T20 captains and coaches keep talking about how a target of 180-plus changes teams’ mental approach to the chase, as compared to, say, something in the 160s. Kings XI were in that territory with five balls to go, having lost their last big hitter in David Miller. Ashwin walked in, smashed 17 off four balls off Dhawal Kulkarni, and pushed Kings XI up to 182, quite likely the difference in the end.Kings XI – conservative against wristspin?Why did Royals give Ish Sodhi his IPL 2019 debut against Kings XI? Well, why not, he is an excellent legspinner, after all. But dig into the numbers, and an interesting picture emerges.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe Kings XI batsmen, while aggressive on the whole, have been rather conservative against wristspin this season. Agarwal has been the exception among the main batsmen, as evidenced in his approach to Sodhi and Shreyas Gopal on Tuesday. They have the third-poorest strike rate against such spinners in the middle overs (7 to 15) in 2019 so far.They do have an excellent average – 43.7 – against wristspin in the same period (Delhi Capitals are the only team above them on that list), but a mediocre balls-per-boundary score of 9.5, which only goes to show that they have been cautious when faced with wristspinners. Sodhi, playing his first game of the season, went for 41 runs, but those figures only tell a part of the story. He got Agarwal’s wicket in his second over, conceded just 22 off his first three, before Rahul and Miller clubbed him for 19 in his final over.

Reactions and high praise from around the cricketing world as Jasprit Bumrah continued his extraordinary Test series with a hat-trick en route to a six-for

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Sep-2019Actually, neither will we, Jasprit.

A day I won’t forget pic.twitter.com/MnAfCoh20T

— Jasprit Bumrah (@Jaspritbumrah93) September 1, 2019

Fast bowling legends from the Caribbean have been singing his praise over the past week, and Ian Bishop took it to another level after Bumrah’s hat-trick.

Jasprit Bumrah is a once in a lifetime talent.

— Ian bishop (@irbishi) August 31, 2019

The Carribean islands have seen so many fast bowling greats dish out their fury, and this performance from @Jaspritbumrah93 would have made each of those greats extremely happy. Wow just wow. #WIvIND

— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) September 1, 2019

Playing only his 12th Test, Bumrah became the third member of India’s Test hat-tricks club with Harbhajan Singh (2001, Kolkata v Aus) and Irfan Pathan (2006, Karachi v Pakistan)

Welcome to the #Hattrick club @Jaspritbumrah93

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) September 1, 2019

Sensational @Jaspritbumrah93 well done on your great spell.. welcome in the hattrick club so so so proud of you. Keep it going brother pic.twitter.com/9iS4VZ1Rdc

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) September 1, 2019

It’s been a long time coming for India. An express quick running through oppositions across conditions.

In 70s and 80s, the West Indies pacers intimidated the world.. now, at Sabina Park, where @BishanBedi once declared an innings to avoid tail-enders being hit by the bouncer barrage, India’s fast bowling gem, @Jaspritbumrah93 runs thru Windies with hat trick! Salute!

— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) September 1, 2019

Virat Kohli’s reaction on the stump mic rather summed up the collective emotions of every Indian fan.

View this post on Instagram

Good morning fans! Are Virat Kohli's thoughts on your mind too after Jasprit Bumrah's hat-trick? #WIvIND #JaspritBumrah #ViratKohli #IndiaCricket #Bumrah #Boom #HatTrick #FiveFor

A post shared by ESPN Cricinfo (@espncricinfo) on Aug 31, 2019 at 7:52pm PDT

Just how good has Bumrah been so far? Ticked-all-possible-boxes good, it seems.

Bumrah is playing his 12th Test. None ave been at home. He’s:

– Won India a Test at Wanderers
– Averaged 17 in Aus
– Helped win a Test in Nottingham
– Has a five-for in all four countries he’s played in
– Now has a hat-trick

There’s just no more exciting player in the game.

— Andrew Fidel Fernando (@afidelf) August 31, 2019

Memories of Jofra Archer, another quick who’s tormenting top-class opposition in another part of the world, weren’t far away.

The two most exciting fast bowlers in world cricket don't have run-ups.

— Dave Tickner (@tickerscricket) August 31, 2019

I want Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer bowling together.

Please someone make it happen.

I want that even more than I want Virat Kohli and Steven Smith batting together.

— Saurabh Somani (@saurabh_42) August 31, 2019

Bumrah was rested from the limited-overs series earlier, and his figures across the two Tests make you think it was all worth it.

Two five-fors
A hat-trick

Sensational combined returns for Jasprit Bumrah the last two days he's bowled in Test cricket https://t.co/cwUBplnlIe #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/kAxa6BP4Ay

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) August 31, 2019