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But there was more, like the lack of home advantage, and the rise of the homegrown finisher

Hemant Brar31-May-2023

Home advantage is no advantage

This was a strange season where teams failed to take advantage of their home conditions in quite the same way as before. Of the 69 completed games in the league stage, home teams won just 27. That win percentage of 39.1 was the poorest in any IPL season. The previous lowest was 44.3% in 2012.Only three teams – Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans – had a positive win-loss record at home. Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings fared the worst, managing just one win each from their seven home matches respectively, while Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals won two each.

In his first World Cup game and his seventh ODI, Saud Shakeel’s clarity and calmness rescued Pakistan after top-order failure

Shashank Kishore06-Oct-2023Until recently – that is, until very recently – Saud Shakeel was perceived to be a one-format batter. He had cracked Tests, but on Friday in Hyderabad, he walked in to bat with Pakistan tottering at 38 for 3 in their World Cup opening game, which was only his seventh ODI. It’s far from the ideal scenario he had hoped to have come in at.Yet, it was an opportunity to prove his batting chops by walking the tightrope. Counterpunching isn’t part of most batting DNAs in such situations, most definitely not if you are on World Cup debut. This is why Shakeel’s knock, a stroke-filled 52-ball 68, was refreshing.At 28, he would know the challenges late bloomers like him face – for one, fewer chances of comebacks if you mess up. To recalibrate to the demands of his role in such a high-stakes environment spoke volumes about his clarity and calmness.Related

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As a batter, Shakeel has made waves in red-ball cricket – a Test average of 87.14 across 13 innings is testimony to that. But with his team in choppy waters against Netherlands, the only Associate nation in the competition, he wasn’t going to ride on past glory.Until early August, Shakeel wasn’t even in the mix for an ODI middle-order slot. The first inkling of him being in the fray came during the ODIs against Afghanistan. He managed all of one innings in that series, but Pakistan captain Babar Azam spoke glowingly of his game against spin. Those words may have seemed a mere consolation for Shakeel when he discovered Tayyab Tahir had leapfrogged him for the Asia Cup squad, but that was all soon to change.Tayyab hadn’t done much wrong; he was riding a wave of confidence following a match-winning century against India in the final of the ACC Emerging Cup, but a new selection panel saw things slightly differently. And just like that, Shakeel had his opening at the Asia Cup when he was drafted in late. Against Netherlands, he proved why that call has the potential to become a masterstroke.Pre-match routines either reveal a lot or give away precious little. Shakeel’s on Thursday was an education in conditions-specific training. He had a long stint in the nets and had more of it 30 minutes before toss, slogging it out in the outdoor area, imploring the coaches to give him more and more throw downs.Shakeel was seemingly working on his backlift, which looked to be coming from way over his left shoulder. The attempt was to try and minimise the bat swing. Or at least, that’s what it seemed like from afar, through barricades and a green cloth.Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan resurrected Pakistan after three quick wickets•Associated PressMuscle memory can be a funny thing, though, and you can slip back into your comfort zone under pressure. And at 38 for 3, the heat was on.The second delivery he faced, this high backlift troubled Shakeel again. He was late on the ball as an edge off Paul van Meekeren flew over the vacant gully region. Off his eighth ball, Shakeel edged another as he came down late on the ball that skidded through and flew low to Vikramjit Singh’s right at slip. As a batter, these are the dollops of luck that can easily go against you. Here, it was with Shakeel and how.It felt like a real test of the ‘Pakistan way’ that Mickey Arthur and Grant Bradburn have been very vocal about. The team has bought into the concept, but there wasn’t even an inkling of it yet because of the massive hole they were in. But without taking too many risks, and purely playing to the fields and putting away loose deliveries, Mohammad Rizwan and Shakeel brought up the half-century off the partnership off just 51 balls.Shakeel’s brain was ticking. Every over against spin, he carefully surveyed fields. In the 21st, even before left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe had bowled, Shakeel spotted an extra fielder outside the 30-yard circle. As he stepped out and chipped him into the vacant spaces to pick up a boundary at deep midwicket, Shakeel wildly waved to get the umpire’s attention about the extra fielder. It was indeed a no-ball, and he walloped the free-hit for six, expertly using the depth of his crease to pull.Pakistan were beginning to hit top gear, much of it down to the enterprise Shakeel showed along with Rizwan, who batted with sage-like calm, aware of the risks a wrong choice of shot brought at that stage, but still ticking along swiftly.This had a deflating effect on Netherlands. Their body language went a bit flat, the high-fives for regulation stops disappeared, and there was a sameness to proceedings. There was no bigger sign than this that Pakistan hadn’t just wriggled out of the bore pit, but had begun closing it in too.Shakeel soon raised his half-century off 32 balls in an over where he carted Vikramjit for two straight boundaries. This was naked aggression at its very best; an assault so precise that it didn’t feel like one. It was pure instinct-driven batting married with timing out of the top drawer.The century of the partnership was soon up, even as Rizwan coolly slipped into the role he’s so adept at. This was further validation of why the No. 4 spot, which Pakistan had seemingly been struggling with, should firmly now be set in stone for the immediate future.The partnership did two things. It undid the damage at the top and gave them a bit of cushion for the lower order, if there was a late collapse, which we went on to witness. That cushion helped Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan play themselves in before steering Pakistan to a total that eventually proved well beyond reach for a spirited Netherlands side. To make 286 from 188 for 6 was yet another exhibition of why teams yearn for this kind of batting depth in ODIs, for it allows them to keep going.At three down, as a Pakistan fan, you would have perhaps been praying hard for a Shaheen Afridi special or thunderbolts from Haris Rauf, which were amply on display under the night sky. However, the genesis of this win lay in how a nerveless Shakeel steered clear of the chaos and delivered the punch that will make Arthur very, very happy.You didn’t need more evidence of there being more to Pakistan’s batting than just Babar and Rizwan.

“Those scoring runs are doing it comfortably. We have skillful batters, so we should do well here,” says Najmul Hossain Shanto

Mohammad Isam12-Oct-20231:06

Shanto: We have a plan against Santner

Najmul Hossain Shanto thanked one of the coaches as he slowly walked away from the nets at Chepauk, having just completed a long batting session. Shanto got nods of acknowledgement from head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, assistant coach Nic Pothas and team director Khaled Mahmud. Chief selector Minhajul Abedin, standing nearby, was in deep thought. Technical consultant S Sriram was minding the nets while Allan Donald, the fast bowling coach, observed his group keenly.These were all tense faces in the Bangladesh practice session on the eve of the game against New Zealand. Bangladesh are on two points from two games. They were found out by England’s powerful batting, and they have in front of them three opponents – New Zealand, India and South Africa – showing formidable form in the World Cup.Related

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England exposed Bangladesh’s lack of a plan B in Dharamshala, but the more obvious problems have been their struggle to match horses for courses. Observing their training session on Thursday, it became apparent that their final XI wasn’t set in stone just yet. Spinners Mahedi Hasan and Nasum Ahmed bowled for long sessions on what was an optional training session in Chennai. Fast bowlers Tanzim Hasan and Hasan Mahmud bowled and batted, before doing a separate fielding session inside the main stadium.Shanto, who has been Bangladesh’s most improved batter over the last 12 months, said that they wanted to bat with courage, open-mindedness and freedom in order to get big scores.”We have to bat with courage. We have to bat open-mindedly and with freedom,” Shanto said. “Those scoring runs are doing it comfortably. We have skilful batters, so we should do well here. The coaching staff and captain have given us that freedom.”Shanto’s leadership instincts kicked in when he was asked a question about Tanzid Hasan’s poor form. The left-handed rookie has scored just 40 runs in six ODIs, prompting speculation about his position in the team. Shanto felt that Tanzid should be allowed a bit of time and space.”I think we should stop thinking about the openers. We leave the thought of the openers. Every top order batter came with good preparations. I think one or two good innings will give the batters a bit of confidence. I think nobody is relaxed. They are all trying to do something for the team. We are hopeful there will be more scores from the top order.”I think he has played five or six games. Personally I feel some need more time, some need less time. Everyone should believe him. We should support him. We have a capable side, so I am hopeful we will all perform well.”Bangladesh have also not got the performance from their fast bowling group that they would expect. It has been only two games but given their consistency of the last two years, the lack of breakthroughs have been surprising.Shanto said that the fast bowlers’ good showing of the last two years will not go to waste. “Firstly, none of the fast bowlers are disappointed. Everyone is fine. The wicket is such that there will be a lot of runs. We don’t see our fast bowlers going for 60-70 runs in their ten overs, so suddenly when we see them do it, we might think they are bowling badly. It is certainly not that.”We know how these wickets are, so we have to find ways to get wickets with the new ball or in the middle overs. I believe that the fast bowlers need to improve by 10% to get into a good space.”Shanto said that Mahedi and Nasum showed them in the Asia Cup, against India in Colombo, that they can win through lower-order resistance. “They played well in the Asia Cup. We don’t know how this wicket will behave. The captain and coach will decide on the side after taking a look at the pitch – on the number of pacers or spinners.”Everyone has become a performer. We are all capable players. We won that game against India because the lower middle-order batted well in that game. They certainly have an important role.”Bangladesh, however, don’t have great memories at Chepauk. In their only international match here, they lost to Kenya by 28 runs, in 1998. Abedin, the selector on tour and a former Bangladesh captain, was in that side. Team director Mahmud, too, played that game against Kenya. It’s a good thing the current Bangladesh team is not too caught up with history.

As India’s greatest sportsman since Tendulkar goes where no cricketer has gone before, he’s done it in a way that’s uniquely, inimitably his own

Anirudh Menon15-Nov-2023Fifty now. The big five-oh. Virat Kohli has just cemented himself in sporting history by going past one of the great no-way-this-can-be-touched records of cricket at breakneck speed, zooming past Sachin Tendulkar’s 49 ODI centuries in just over half the time it took the great man. For a generation that grew up on Tendulkar carrying India on his shoulders and leading them to the forefront of the world game, this seems such a ludicrous, unfathomable feat.Ask Kohli, who is of that generation, and he’ll tell you that he’s nothing without his predecessor, that Tendulkar’s feat remains unmatched whatever the numbers tell you, that Tendulkar laid the road upon which Kohli has driven his F1 car of a career on. But he has done it in a style that’s his own.Where Tendulkar was the quintessential ’90s hero: soft-spoken, unassuming, someone your parents would look at and go “Why can’t you be more like him?”, Kohli DGAF.Related

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He wants the spotlight, revels in it, and doesn’t care what you or your parents think about that. Where “Saaachin! Saaaachin!” would have been met with a gentle wave of the hand and that melt-your-heart, why-is-he-so-cute smile, Kohli will break into the bhangra. He’ll play master conductor to the orchestra that is the Indian cricket crowd. He’ll imitate Shah Rukh Khan’s signature moves. He’ll joke with the opposition, he’ll swear at them (Ben Stokes, anyone?), he’ll hug them. He’s effusive in his praise – telling anyone who’ll listen that AB de Villiers is the GOAT, bowing to Chris Gayle’s T20 magnificence – but doesn’t blush when he is praised in turn.”Yeah, obviously, I’m great.” In every sense of the phrase, it reflects modern India’s take on itself. Everyone here wants to be Kohli.In a time of hyper-nationalism, Kohli understands the import of public displays of friendship•AFP/Getty ImagesHe is the third most followed sportsperson on Instagram (something that always seems to take the average American podcaster by surprise). He commands the highest price for endorsements in Indian sport: BharatPe founder Ashneer Grover claimed earlier this year that he had signed 11 national team cricketers for half the price of Kohli. Any promotional material from any broadcaster in any country that does cricket will feature Kohli. Australia calls him “King”. Popularity, cojones, respect from outside the country, and material wealth – Virat Kohli has it all in spades. This is an über alpha male in a country that worships alpha males.And yet, he’s different.The angry young brat who wanted to pick a fight with anything and everything has been replaced with a wholly different kind of energy… and it’s kinda cool.Kohli now is an alpha male who’s unafraid to tell the world that at one point he had been suffering, that he had felt alone. One who admitted that his game needed working on, then worked on it, and broke out laughing when he scored a drought-ending century. The laughter was self-deprecating, aimed at himself: “Is this why I was whining for two years?” Alpha males, Indian ones in particular, do not laugh at themselves. Kohli does.He celebrates his team-mates’ triumphs much more than he does his own, and defends them loudly, louder than he does himself. He may love the spotlight, but he loves sharing it even more.His obsession is the stuff of legend, sacrificing favourite foods and applying every waking hour to honing his body and his craft in his chase for greatness, but he lets this unending quest for glory go (and what’s more glorious than a Test series victory against Australia down under?) so he can be there for his wife and the birth of their child. He is as much Mr Anushka Sharma as she is Mrs Virat Kohli: and he loves normalising that in a society that doesn’t.Online and offline abuse has followed Kohli for much of his career, but he is inured to it now•Associated PressHe gets this generation but doesn’t necessarily pander to them, and that somehow makes him even more popular. He is the pinnacle of masculinity single-handedly trying to redefine what that term means in this country.Well, almost single-handedly. Neeraj Chopra is arguably the only other sportsman in the country who is on the same alpha-male plane as Kohli is. And much like Kohli, Chopra is different. The javelin thrower is an apex predator on the field, but the moment he steps off it, he has all the energy of a lovable puppy. He thanks people for staying up and watching him, when he could just as easily have used the screen time to shout about his own success. He embraces his competitors and does not stand for any nationalistic toxicity.He is, like Kohli, a serial winner: they are the best at what they do, and they do it under some of the most intense pressure in world sport. Chopra comes out to throw with a country expecting him to win every time, and he wins every time. Kohli comes out to bat with a billion eyes on him, and bats like he’s in his backyard, having a throwdown with his kid. Pressure is to them what it is to carbon: the heavier it is, the more they turn into things that sparkle.Where Kohli is suave and urbane, Chopra is delightfully desi, a country boy at heart regardless of where he is, but they are both relatable. Neither is Tendulkar, but Tendulkar was never them either.Tendulkar and Kohli inspire the same kind of awe for what they did on the 22 yards. Kohli’s takedown of Lasith Malinga and Sri Lanka in Hobart was as audacious as Tendulkar’s disassembling of Shane Warne and Australia in Sharjah, Kohli’s physics-defying six off Haris Rauf was treated with the same open-mouthed shock as Tendulkar upper-cutting Shoaib Akhtar, Kohli chasing GOAT-ness is as undisputed as Tendulkar’s target-setting was. But off those 22 yards, they carry two distinct auras.

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The Peshawar-born, who will play for NZ in the Under-19 World Cup, took up legspin inspired by Shane Warne and Rashid Khan

Shashank Kishore16-Jan-2024Rahman Hekmat pinches himself at the prospect of choosing cricket as a career, something Hekmatullah, his father, couldn’t because he was busy trying to give the family a better life. This sole purpose brought the Hekmats from Afghanistan to New Zealand 17 years ago, when he was just one.However, like his father, Hekmat has grown up to be a “cricket tragic”. He took up legspin after being inspired by Shane Warne’s YouTube videos and Rashid Khan’s exploits in international cricket. At 18, Hekmat is primed for an Under-19 World Cup debut for New Zealand.Hekmat was born in Peshawar, the Pakistani city in the North-West Frontier Province adjoining the Afghan border. The family first arrived in Auckland in 2006 when Hekmatullah enrolled for university to pursue engineering. Five years later, they decided to settle in the country when Hekmatullah’s job as a structural engineer gave the family stability.Related

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As Hekmat reflects on his journey into cricket from a plush hotel room in Johannesburg, he remembers his father’s early struggles to give the family a better life.”My dad came to New Zealand with literally nothing,” Hekmat tells ESPNcricinfo. “He has built our life from scratch. All he knew was the value of hard work. To have been given this chance to represent New Zealand at an Under-19 World Cup is a massive privilege. It wouldn’t have been possible without my parents’ sacrifices.”Hekmat is truly in a position of privilege. That he can take a break from academics to concentrate solely on cricket comes from knowing that his family is secure. He can’t be more grateful for this, and hopes to make them proud.”When I made it to the team, I got a lot of messages of support from the Afghan community,” Hekmat says. “It’s a big thing for me [to be] representing them. It also motivated me to do much better and perform at the highest level possible since I’m possibly the first one of Afghan origin to play for the Black Caps.”Hekmat speaks fluent Pashto. He has remained rooted to his culture, and is an active member of the Afghan community in Auckland. It’s an identity he is proud of and wouldn’t trade for anything.Rahman Hekmat (right) on his father Hekmatullah: “My dad came to New Zealand with literally nothing”•Rahman Hekmat”A lot of people ask me how I’m so fluent in Pashto,” he says with a laugh. “They’re surprised when I tell them I came here when I was one. Kids these days forget their mother tongue, but I’m very proud of my roots. I follow our traditions and customs – they’re very dear to me. And of course, I love Afghan food.”For now, though, rich Afghan food is off the plate. “No Afghan kebabs or pulao,” he laughs. “It’s tough. When my dad’s friends invite us over, they tempt me with all kinds of delicacies. But as a cricketer, I realise you have to be committed. Ever since I decided this is what I want to do, I’ve improved my diet. A year ago, I wasn’t in the best shape. But now I’m feeling good and healthy.”Hekmat began playing recreationally when he was ten. He started off as a fast bowler, but gravitated towards legspin after watching Warne’s videos on loop. It was during a regular session of corridor cricket at home with his father when he decided to switch. “It’s a tough art,” Hekmat says. “It can be unforgiving. But once you get into the rhythm and put in the hard yards, it can be rewarding.”When he was 11, Hekmat was invited to play for a club where his friend’s father coached. It was there that he developed a deep interest for the sport. He loved the camaraderie and mateship, and the opportunity to mingle with people from different communities helped develop a sense of bonding that he learnt plenty from.”Ish Sodhi has motivated me to work hard and never give up on my dreams” – Rahman Hekmat•Rahman Hekmat”It’s important to be yourself, [and] I learnt that early,” he says. “New Zealand has always been welcoming of different cultures and religion. I didn’t try to feel belonged. It was very organic because I wasn’t trying to be who I wasn’t. They enjoy the way I talk, [and also] the subcontinent gestures – like saluting elders with both hands, etc.”I want to be a role model for young kids, [and] a respectful person in society who is kind and caring. I’d rather be known for having a good attitude on the field, and being good to the umpires and the opposition with my behaviour, than just be known as a good cricketer. These things matter to me. Attitude comes first.”As Hekmat progressed through the junior circuit, he had the chance to interact with Ish Sodhi, and Hekmatullah’s familiarity with Sodhi from his younger days helped. As it turned out, there was also a family connection; Sodhi and Hekmat’s cousin were from the same circle of friends.”I’ve talked to Ish a few times, and he’s been really supportive,” Rahman says. “He’s motivated me to work hard and never give up on my dreams. Rashid Khan has been another central figure. He put Afghan spinners on the world map, and I find that very inspiring. He gives me hope that I can push on and become a good legspinner too.”Hekmat comes across as confident and mature. He realises Under-19 stardom can be a pitfall but isn’t weighed down by the pressures of playing competitive sport. He wants to relish challenges and the new experiences cricket brings him. One of those will come next week when New Zealand play Afghanistan in their second group game.

“I’m a cricket tragic. I realise you’re young only once, so the break I’ve taken from studies should be worth it”Rahman Hekmat has a lot of maturity and clarity even at 18

“It will be emotional for sure,” Hekmat says. “It will be a day to remember. But I’ll just try and make the ball talk, [and] try and contribute towards my team. Playing your motherland is a great privilege that I’m looking forward to. My folks in Kabul will be watching for sure.”Hekmat’s ultimate dream is, of course, to represent New Zealand. But there’s also a desire to play in T20 leagues at some point, like Rashid has. He is happy to soak in all the learnings now, but hopes the maturity and clarity he has at 18 helps him become not just a better cricketer but also a better person.”I’m a cricket tragic. I realise you’re young only once, so the break I’ve taken from studies should be worth it,” Hekmat said. “I’m just using this opportunity to learn at every step and refine my game every day, and also enjoy the progress I’m making rather than being caught up over one or two bad days if they come along.”This is a long journey that will be filled with challenges. I’m just learning to embrace everything cricket teaches me.”

England’s greatest bowler avoids a fuss as Gus Atkinson takes over on centre stage

Andrew Miller10-Jul-2024They came to praise James Anderson. And to bury him. In their thousands, marching down the Wellington Road for one final curtain-call at the venue where it all began, 21 years earlier, and in the midst of an entirely different epoch.How many ways do you want to dice the differences between that Test match and this? Anderson’s debut, against Zimbabwe in 2003, came in a time before smartphones, before social media. Before Twenty20 cricket and the fragmentation of the international game. Before exactly 100 subsequent England Test debutants: two of whom had not even been born when he bowled his first ball (or, in Rehan Ahmed’s case, his first 1,658 balls), and the last two of whom (the day’s other main man, Gus Atkinson, included) were conferred before the start of play today.It was a time, too, before the onset of mawkish multi-media montages, such as the one voiced by Anderson’s first Test captain, Nasser Hussain. Entitled “Dear Jimmy”, it was pumped out over the big screens at Lord’s, moments before the national anthems, as the man to whom it was addressed chewed his bottom lip at the top of the pavilion steps, visibly yearning for his safe space out in the middle of the pitch.”You were there at our greatest and there at our lowest, so it’s time to thank you,” Hussain intoned, as snippets of an indomitable career danced out on a still-gloomy morning, in a bid to transform Lord’s into the sort of hub of sentimentality that Centre Court had been for Andy Murray only six days earlier. “Now and for ever, you are England cricket.” It’s perhaps not surprising, in the circumstances, that his personal contribution to the occasion could not come out on top.”I don’t particularly like fuss,” Anderson admitted in his pre-Test press conference, when explicitly asked how “awkward” he was about to find this week – the subtext of the exchange being that the answer could already be taken as read. With his family lined up on the northern-most wing of the pavilion, up popped another opportunity for Anderson’s Adam’s Apple to wobble as his daughters rang the five-minute bell. Needless to say, neither Lola nor Ruby had been around for his debut either.And so to the action itself. It was pretty, it was safe. It contained, within a tidy 10.4-3-26-1 analysis, echoes of Anderson’s greatness, in particular that economy of effort in his sparse, pared-down action. But not for the first time in recent months, there was a sense too of a lack of danger – a retreat from enterprise even, as he dragged his length back after a nine-run opening over and buzzed unthreateningly around the splices of Kraigg Brathwaite and Mikyle Louis, whose status as the first West Indian Test cricketer from the island of St Kitts marked a beginning of history, even as the end of history lined up against him.Related

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But that over in itself had been a weird old vibe. Whereas Edgbaston or Headingley would have been climbing the walls in anticipation of Anderson revving up his motor for one last push, the Lord’s response was almost a surfeit of reverence. Centre Court was channelled once more as pin-drop silence greeted his first ball, then a deflated exhale of commiseration as Louis fenced the third ball of his own Test career down through the gully for four, before blazing his fourth with contemptuous poise through the covers. Brathwaite’s advice before their entanglement had been to watch the ball closely, and “stay still”. His partner could scarcely have heeded him more acutely.It was, in fact, the most expensive first over of a Lord’s Test since 2006, and dimly reminiscent of Anderson’s own misleadingly profligate display three years before that, when Hussain had placed too much faith in the outswinger that had so impressed him at the 2003 World Cup, and forgot to offer him protection on the leg-side for a 17-run opening gambit.Anderson pulled it back then, as he did now – both figuratively and literally – leaking just two more runs in his next four overs, one of them to a jabbed inside-edge from Louis. But his response smacked of a familiar and involuntary reflex, honed by years of survival on the sort of unforgiving deck that Lord’s, self-evidently, has become in recent years.Each of Anderson’s 109 England team-mates, from Lord’s 2003 to Lord’s 2024•ESPNcricinfo LtdIn their final flourishing as a partnership, Anderson and Stuart Broad had gone out of their way to suppress that urge to avoid being driven. In the first iteration of Bazball, against New Zealand two summers ago, Anderson had grabbed two wickets in the space of his first 15 balls and had six slips in situ before half-an-hour of the match had elapsed.Now, he and Chris Woakes – another safe selection, even if last summer’s Ashes heroics arguably meant he ‘owned the shirt’, at least in home conditions – found themselves pootling around at 80mph/130kph, waiting for the Dukes’ fabled lacquer to disperse and generally conveying a rare sense of stasis for a team that had been in such a hurry to succeed over the past couple of years.In the wider circumstances, therefore, to suggest that Atkinson had somehow “stolen” Anderson’s thunder would be a misnomer. The baton, and the burden, seemed to be handed over with visible gratitude as Atkinson replaced him from the Pavilion End and struck two balls later with an injection of slippery pace that seemed to dislodge Brathwaite precisely because of the lull that had preceded it.It was notable, however, that Anderson had not been asked to perform a more ceremonial baton-passing in the team huddle prior to play. It might have been a bit on-the-nose for Atkinson to be anointed as Anderson’s actual successor through the handing-over of his Test cap. So he did the honours instead for Jamie Smith, the latest and last protégé of the man who had himself kept wicket for Anderson in that debut 21 years before. Alec Stewart not only bowed out of Test cricket that 2003 summer as another England forty-something, he is about to retire from cricket administration too, as the end of his mighty Surrey stint draws nigh.Anderson’s family – including daughters Lola and Ruby – ring the bell ahead of play alongside parents Michael and Catherine and wife Daniella•Getty ImagesLeaving aside the effortlessness of England’s dominance, however, other aspects of this first day contributed to the sense that Anderson’s exit is coming at the right time. There was the return of Ben Stokes as a bowler for starters, into the attack early for his first non-emergency spell in nigh on two years, serving up hooping outswingers that were almost unsubtle in their extravagance – not unlike Anderson Mk.1 in fact, especially when he flipped the shiny side and fired a fierce inducker past Louis’ hard-handed flash.And though the magnificence of his latter years cannot be diminished by a slight tailing-off of the past 12 months, there’s an oddity emerging in Anderson’s home-and-away record. Though he did finally pick off Jayden Seales to bring an end to West Indies’ innings, it was just the second wicket he had claimed in the course of his first three spells of a home innings since the start of 2023, at a cost of 316 runs apiece. And that other scalp hadn’t exactly been in keeping with the stash of worldies that his reputation has been built upon. It was, in fact, a wide long-hop in last summer’s Lord’s Test, that Marnus Labuschagne slapped carelessly to point.Overseas, incidentally, there’s been less concern about his returns. Across 11 innings away to New Zealand and India, Anderson had harvested 14 wickets at a perfectly serviceable average of 24.71, even if his strike rate (52.93) arguably indicates the sparseness with which he has been used.As the man himself admitted on Monday, he’s at peace with the reasoning as England’s thoughts turn – a touch presumptively but, on today’s evidence, with justification too – towards the 2025-26 Ashes. He’s probably at peace too with the fact that the beginning of his end is now over. The stage is perfectly set for England’s greatest bowler to bowl out without that fuss.

Santner kept hitting the dry patch with cunning pace variations and came away with 7 for 53, which included the wicket of Kohli with a full-toss

Deivarayan Muthu25-Oct-20244:08

Santner: ‘It was a shock getting Kohli out to a full toss’

Mitchell Santner earned the nickname “Flatline” at Northern Districts, his domestic team, for his cool and relaxed demeanour. On the eve of the second Test against India in Pune, he stayed true to his nickname and warmed up with a casual kickabout before wheeling away with his left-arm fingerspin at the nets. There was an air of calmness around him even when he was engaging in some violent T20-style range-hitting towards the end of New Zealand’s training session.There were strong hints that Santner would replace one of New Zealand’s seamers on a slow, dry pitch in Pune. He would’ve been expected to do a job, even though he is only a sporadic presence in the Test team, pushed to the sidelines at home where conditions limit his skill. It might be fair to say now that he exceeded those expectations. “Flatline” peaked on Friday with a seven-wicket haul, which included a clean bowled of Virat Kohli (with a low full-toss).After going wide of the crease from left-arm around, Santner, who had originally started the second day by darting the ball into the surface, slowed his pace down to 82.6kph and had Kohli missing a swipe across the line. Kohli was shocked, as were Santner and more than 20,000 fans in Pune.Related

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“Yeah, I think I was in more of a shock getting Kohli out with a full-toss, he doesn’t usually miss those,” Santner said. “I think it was slightly slower through the air, I just tried to change it up a little bit but usually if you bowl those they go for six so, but yeah, I think there was obviously a little bit there which was nice and I think the change in pace was key today and the Indian spinners bowled pretty good areas with the change in pace.”There’s a chance that Santner might not have played this game had offspin-bowling allrounder Michael Bracewell been available for selection. Before the Pune Test, Santner had a bowling average of 42.16 and a strike rate of 91.6. He had taken some tap in the Tests against Sri Lanka in Galle and had never picked up a four-wicket haul in Test cricket, let alone a five-for. However, with a dry spot to work with, Santner kept hitting it with cunning pace variations and let the Pune pitch do the rest. He came away with 7 for 53, helping New Zealand earn a decisive first-innings lead of 103.In one over, Santner was able to hike it up to 95kph from around 75kph. Among current fingerspinners, hardly anyone varies their pace as much as he does.Virat Kohli was beaten by Mitchell Santner’s dip and drift•BCCI”I tend to do that a lot in white-ball cricket – change the pace,” Santner said. “I think today we kind of spoke about that kind of just under 90 kph [speed]. [It] looked like it was spinning and then for a period there when you went over the top it was actually bouncing a lot so we spoke about maybe going a little bit slower. But I just think at the start it was [about] kind of [bowling] fast into it and then it [the pace] kind of changed as the day went on with the pitch and I think Washi [Washington Sundar] did that as well; he did that very well.”Santner kept attacking the stumps in India’s first innings – six of his seven wickets were bowled or lbw – and he hopes to keep it just as simple in the final innings when the conditions could be even more extreme.”So, going into the next innings…trying to keep the stumps in play and hope for something similar and I think the India will probably come out maybe more aggressive and try and put us on the back foot but, you know, there’s still a job to do with the bat. Obviously the more runs we get now it makes our job with the ball a little bit easier.”Santner also credited Rangana Herath, the former Sri Lanka left-arm fingerspinner who is currently New Zealand’s spin-bowling coach, for sharing his inside knowledge on subcontinent conditions.”Yeah, Rangana been really good,” Santner said. “Obviously in Sri Lanka and now here he’s. He took wickets all over the place and yeah he was a master of that kind of change of pace and guile and working with him as a spin-bowling unit has been good, especially in conditions which are not too similar to back home.”After Santner bagged seven on Friday, he had his team-mates ruffling his hair in joy. He could give his mates and New Zealand more joy on Saturday by wrapping up their first-ever Test series win in India.

All the gains from a year of positivity came crashing down in 13.5 overs of witheringly poor judgement

Andrew Fidel Fernando28-Nov-2024When Sri Lanka’s men were about to begin their first innings in Durban, there was a sense that something unusual was happening. It was happening in many little ways. It was happening in some difficult big ones.On the smaller end of the scale, Sri Lanka had sent the Test specialists to Durban two weeks early. Someone in the coaching staff, or perhaps at the High Performance Centre, had noticed this golden chance to get the guys acclimatised and facing hundreds of balls on bouncy South African pitches ahead of schedule. Emails were sent. Meetings were called. Managers were looped in. Operational staff booked flights, hotels, transport.Yet more stones were being turned, and bright ideas had. Neil McKenzie, a dour South Africa batter who could stroke his metaphorical beard and call upon timeless South Africa batting wisdom, was hired as consultant. When the ODI team took an unassailable 2-0 lead in a three-match series against New Zealand, Sri Lanka immediately released four Test players from that squad to give these players an extra day to recover from white-ball labours.Related

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In the medium term, they’d won five Tests this year. Three of those wins had come away from home. One of those victories had featured a four-man seam attack, and only four overs of spin – remarkable for a Sri Lanka side of any era.Their broader achievements are even more impressive. Since 2018, a National Super League domestic competition had significantly improved the standard of cricket at the first-class level. To raise that tournament up, a group of Sri Lanka’s former players, and administrators, had had to wrangle the support of a fractious club system, solve substantial facilities-related dilemmas, and work out quibbles such as player transfers.Improvements such as this have led to 2024’s advances, and why Sri Lanka now have a pace battery, for example, that can deck an opposition in two sessions. It is improvements such as this that have inspired in fans the sense that for once Sri Lankan cricket is doing that thing it almost never does: systematically building to something.When South Africa were all out for 191, you could almost see the path to the World Test Championship final. A decent lead. A good second innings. Sri Lanka being regarded as one of the best teams in the world again.But not if Sri Lanka’s batters were to have anything to do with it. In 13.5 overs of witheringly poor judgement, they crashed like they’ve never crashed before. They hit the snooze button on destiny.Dimuth Karunaratne was out in single digits for the fourth time in his last six Test innings•Associated PressSo much of this innings was an affront. It was an affront to all wisdom of batting on spicy pitches – wisdom accrued over hundreds of years. “Play close to the body when the ball is moving off the surface”, say the batting manuals. “Wait till the ball gets older before venturing the big shots.” Here, instead, Sri Lanka were pushing out to feel ball on bat, driving at deliveries that were both seaming and bouncing, and poking like a drunk camper at a bear.From among the top seven Pathum Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis, and Dhananjaya de Silva all got out to balls they could have left. Angelo Mathews steered a ball well outside off stump beautifully to second slip. It’s not as if they had been pinned. It’s not as if they’d hunkered down, defended, shown fight, and only then run out of patience and fight. The longest of these innings lasted 20 balls.The tail, taking cues from the top order, went down in a hail of big shots themselves. At one point in the innings, it felt as if Sri Lanka had decided they were only going to play shots that sent the ball in the general direction of the slip cordon.This 42 not out was not just record-making in its incompetence, but looks like it will define this match, and has the potential to define the series. It’s like Sri Lanka had built the rocket that would take them to the moon, and on morning of the launch, the chief astronaut got his arm permanently stuck in a vending machine. It’s like they’d just finished replanting an entire forest, then lit up a cigar and set the whole thing ablaze. They’d studied all term and prepared meticulously, and on the day of the exam, got drunk and fell down some stairs.If this 42 all out was the result of Sri Lanka’s batters getting a little ahead of themselves, then it was a reminder to fans that they shouldn’t either. There is a sense that although so many things in Sri Lanka have changed over the last three years, Sri Lanka batters can still unite the nation in bringing palms to faces.In 78 minutes of madness, Sri Lanka’s batters went some way to undoing so much of what they had worked towards.

Playing against his former team, he silenced the Chinnaswamy with a spell of 3 for 19

Shashank Kishore03-Apr-20251:30

‘A bit more fire in the belly for Siraj after Champions Trophy snub’

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fans need no reminding of two things. First, the seemingly harmless slogan that has become an albatross around their necks. Second, a long list of players they let go of only to watch them flourish elsewhere and, at times, haunt them.KL Rahul, Travis Head, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shane Watson, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube – enough heartbreaks? On Wednesday night, another name was added in bold to that illustrious list – Mohammed Siraj, the one they let go of before the IPL 2025 mega auction.Siraj now plays for Gujarat Titans (GT) but RCB was his IPL home for seven seasons, where he rose from a rookie to their pace spearhead. Yet, being overlooked in favour of Yash Dayal – an uncapped signing – for retention must have stung, especially after finishing as their joint-highest wicket-taker in 2024. He claimed 15 wickets in 14 games, though his economy rate, at 9.18, was on the higher side.Related

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At the time, the rumblings within the camp pointed to Siraj’s underwhelming record at the Chinnaswamy, and that his prolific years with the franchise had come when the IPL moved to the UAE during the Covid years. A look at his record, however, suggests there’s very little to choose from. His economy for RCB at the Chinnaswamy (8.81) was only marginally higher than elsewhere (8.53), while his average at home was significantly better (26.84 as opposed to 33.54 away).How poetic, then, that one of his best IPL spells – 3 for 19 off four overs, a fine follow-up to the one against Mumbai Indians in Ahmedabad last week – came at the very ground where he was once deemed to have fallen short. His execution was just as impressive as his pace and zip on a surface that, as RCB coach Andy Flower noted, “wasn’t a typical Chinnaswamy pitch”.Mohammed Siraj thought he had dismissed Phil Salt but Jos Buttler ended up dropping the catch•BCCIThe evening began with warmth – plenty of bonhomie and backslaps with former team-mates. But the competitive fire took over quickly, igniting further when Virat Kohli elegantly drove him through extra cover for a boundary off his second ball.The Chinnaswamy erupts at the slightest spark when RCB play, and it takes something extraordinary to silence it – and that’s exactly what Siraj did. After sending Devdutt Padikkal’s stumps cartwheeling, he sprinted the length of the pitch before unleashing his trademark Cristiano Ronaldo celebration. The silence in the stadium that followed was telling.”I was a little emotional, because I played here for seven years in the red jersey,” Siraj said later, after being named Player of the Match. “Now it’s a different colour. I was a little nervous and a little emotional, too. But as soon as I got the ball in my hand, I was full on.”Siraj’s full-on avatar truly sparked life into the GT camp when he dismissed the in-form Phil Salt. Siraj should have had him in the very first over when he edged a pull but Jos Buttler put it down. It seemed Siraj and GT had done their homework: In the IPL, Salt strikes significantly better (227.36) against full deliveries than he does against deliveries bowled on a good length or just short of it (146.64).

“I was a little emotional, because I played here for seven years in the red jersey… But as soon as I got the ball in my hand, I was full on”

GT’s plan was evident from the outset when Salt mistimed a pull on the very first ball, the delivery from Siraj thudding near his bat sticker. The struggle against those lengths nearly led to Salt’s downfall. He was on 7 off ten when he had a mix-up with Rajat Patidar as he attempted a tight single to get off strike. But Siraj, despite all three stumps in sight, missed the direct hit at the non-striker’s end.Much to Siraj’s frustration, Salt countered with a monstrous 105-metre pulled six that sailed into the adjacent metro sheds – a premeditated response to a 144kph bouncer. Such a blow can dent a bowler’s confidence, even shake his resolve. But not Siraj’s. Unfazed, he struck back in style, landing the ball on a good length, getting it to nip away off the seam, and splattering Salt’s stumps as the batter attempted an ambitious golf swing. It was as if Siraj was engulfed by a mystical power that stayed with him all night.He didn’t need to push the speed gun to its limits to be RCB’s wrecking ball. It was all about skill, a deep understanding of his craft, and the unwavering belief that his body would respond exactly as he intended. This was Siraj at his peak – far removed from the bowler who ran out of steam in the latter stages of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, only to return home and find himself sidelined from India’s white-ball plans.Siraj roars after eventually getting Salt•BCCI”I was playing matches consistently, so, I wasn’t realising the mistakes I was making,” he said when asked about his rhythm. “I took a break and focused on my fitness and bowling. It also helped mentally. Then when I joined GT, I spoke to Ashu [Ashish Nehra, coach] . So it’s coming out well and I am confident. Ashu tells me to go out and have fun. There’s no bigger confidence-booster than that.”Siraj’s first two wickets came from his potent mix of hard lengths and sharp movement off the pitch, his third – dismissing half-centurion Liam Livingstone – was just as crucial, potentially denying RCB vital runs at the death. More than the runs, though, it took the momentum away from RCB just as Livingstone was igniting a late surge. His brutal assault on Rashid Khan – who registered 0 for 54, his joint-second-most expensive T20 spell – had begun to turn the tide, only for Siraj to snatch it back.”I have only one mindset that as a bowler, it is very important to have belief,” he said. “If you don’t have belief, then obviously you will panic from inside. Then when you hit a six, then you tend to try something else. So, the most important thing is to have the belief that I can do it. No matter which wicket I am bowling on, I have belief. That is my mindset that I can do it.”Bowling the way he did, Siraj looked unshackled, free from the mental cobwebs that may have weighed him down in recent times. His fiery start to IPL 2025 could well mark the beginning of a happy chapter with GT.