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.

A repeat of chaotic glory like in 1992 and 2017, or a well-oiled team falling short like in 1999 and 2011?

Osman Samiuddin05-Oct-20232:59

Middle order and spin department a concern for Pakistan

Which one is it going to be?Each day that we get closer to the start of any global ICC event, it feels like the most relevant question to ask of Pakistan. Sure, it’s a slightly flippant way to look at it, a little ludicrous even, because this is not how you assess the chances of a team at a world event. Not in this day and age anyway. It’s always the fiddly things you look at, the SWOT analysis – the depth and composition of a squad, recent form, experience, all the stuff that actually wins and loses matches.And of course, all of it is terribly important, and we will get to it. But I know I want to put this out there and I’m pretty sure you do as well, so let’s just get it out of the way.Which one is this going to be?Related

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Which legendary and/or infamous previous Pakistan campaign will this World Cup play out like the most? Are we in for the despair and elation vortex of ’92, ’09 and ’17, with title surges forged from total dirges? The arrival of an unheralded kid, fast bowlers fast bowling, stars starring, Pakistan Pakistaning?Or should we prepare for the unnervingly smooth(ish) ride but knockout traumas of ’99, ’07 (the T20 World Cup obviously, because why would you even want to invoke the other global tournament that year?) and ’11? Pakistan being slightly unPakistan, playing to plans and patterns, maximising skill and talent and OMG they’re going to win this like peak Australia and… oh this feels like South Africa trauma.On the surface, this side doesn’t seem given to the swings and roundabouts of the first type of campaign, or perhaps that’s because of the temptation to see them in the image of their leader. This is Babar Azam’s time and it is Babar Azam’s team and Babar Azam is an unflinchingly equable man, in personality and in performance. History is yet to record an unequable public utterance from his mouth, just as it is yet to record (at least since he broke through in Tests back in 2018) a sustained, unequable run of form. His sides have been ranked No. 1 in ODIs, they have made the semi-finals and the final of the last two T20 World Cups. This side, with a settled core, does consistency, and evenness of performance.Which would leave the second kind of campaign (the 2021 T20 World Cup for example), except… except that at the last ODI World Cup they did the nearly-92, marginally mistiming their surge and little bits of the universe not playing ball in conspiring to get them through to the last four. Six members of that squad are here. Last year, at the T20 World Cup, they did a hybrid version (and you thought you’d heard the last of that word for a while), where a 1992-esque run ended in a final trauma. And remember four members of this squad were part of the 2017 Champions Trophy win, the most ’92 tournament win they have had outside of 1992.But the team is in a weird place right now, and it’s impossible to predict which way they might go. Until less than a month ago, just before the second game against India in the Asia Cup, they looked a proper threat for this World Cup. They had as good a pace attack as any, a top-heavy but successful batting order, six matchwinners, and a fielding unit about which nothing much needed to be said – because it was perfectly efficient.2:52

Shastri and Harbhajan predict their World Cup semi-finalists

Since that game, though – and how much that reserve day their board fought for has cost them – it feels like a different side, a little less sure of itself, a little more in flux. Those little fiddly details, a key player not firing, another one missing, holes that still need plugging elsewhere, are all looming slightly larger now and more urgently, a day out from the start of their campaign.Forget which one this will be and maybe start panicking that it may be neither?Well not just yet because it is worth putting some of the details into perspective. Fakhar Zaman’s loss of form, for instance, is not, strictly speaking, a loss of form. For a start, as recently as April he hit three hundreds in consecutive ODIs. Since then, in ten innings, he is averaging 19 but he’s only been out in single figures twice; he has five scores between 20 and 33. A plummeting strike rate during that run suggests doubt has crept in, but the sense remains that if he can get himself to some kind of a landmark, say a scratchy, lukewarm 50, there could be riches on the other side.In any case, Pakistan will need to show faith because he is the wildcard in what is a pretty straight-laced if high-functioning top order. It’s not rocket science: Fakhar’s the man who turns 280-300 into 330-350. Pakistan have scored 330-plus 12 times in ODIs since Fakhar’s debut in 2017. He’s hit four hundreds and three fifties in those games, averaging 92.30 with a strike rate of 114.80.On the other hand, putting Shadab Khan’s recent form into perspective is not going to lessen that panic. Not least because over the last couple of years, he has been the absolute barometer of Pakistan’s white-ball teams. If he is having a good day in the field, Pakistan soar. A bad one, as at the Asia Cup, and Pakistan flounder. He bowled as poorly in that tournament as he has at any stage in his career, but even if it is unlikely he will be that poor again, the most striking impression was that his bowling has perhaps not evolved in the 50-over format in the same way it has in T20s.In large part, put that down to cricket’s wonky scheduling in these pandemic years. If Shadab has not grown, it could be because he’s barely played any ODI cricket: only 23 matches since the last World Cup. Tom Latham has played 17 this year alone. Shadab himself played nearly twice as many ODIs in the first bit of his career, two years from his debut to the 2019 World Cup. But after that World Cup he’s played nearly six times as many T20s.Has Fakhar Zaman really lost his form?•Associated PressThe conundrum for Pakistan is that he is, by default, their lead spinner without being the kind of specialist, wicket-taking spinner – at least not yet – that almost every other successful side possesses. He’d make for a great second spinner except Pakistan have rarely played a specialist spinner alongside him. Usama Mir, who is in the squad, is the only one since the last World Cup and he’s only played three ODIs alongside Shadab. All of which is why Abrar Ahmed could have been a big, but very tantalising, punt.The steadier uptick in Shadab’s batting is why he should play though. He’s gotten relatively more opportunities to bat since the last World Cup and though his average has only inched up (25.92 to 26.46) the strike rate has bolted (68.63 to 102.84). Plus, he makes it to the side for his fielding alone.For the loss of Naseem Shah, it’s difficult to keep any perspective. It is a deep wound for Pakistan, made deeper still by persistent muttering that it was preventable, that he had been complaining of shoulder pain and in need of rest. Shaheen Shah Afridi is the bigger star but, across an entire innings and across formats, Naseem has been the bigger bowler this year. Mohammad Wasim and Hasan Ali are capable, and their good days can be electric, but hope currently outweighs expectation with both.Anyway, the optimist will see the signs they want to see from this. Waqar Younis on the eve of the you-know-which World Cup. Poor warm-up games back then as well. A little bit of disarray on the field. Plenty off it back at Gaddafi Stadium. Two new balls, the same format as that World Cup (with one extra team), you know this drill.And it’s ok to admit this is the campaign we’re all rooting for, even if it means there will be pain before the possibility of joy. Even if it feels churlish, at this stage, to point out that with the cakes that keep on coming and all that Hyderabadi biryani, it’s clearly not Ramadan. Which, IYKYK.

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.

A ruptured Achilles tendon can take nine months to heal, but the SA spinner was back on the park in less than six, thanks to cutting-edge medical science and steely resolve

Firdose Moonda14-Sep-2023When you will see Keshav Maharaj in action at the upcoming ODI World Cup starting in three weeks, look closely and you might notice a slight limp on his left side caused by the barest of external rotations. But that is the only clue that just over six months ago, he suffered a complete rupture of his Achilles’ tendon, an injury that typically keeps athletes off the park for between nine months and a year, and which was almost certain to prevent him from playing in the tournament.Thanks to a combination of improved medical science and a militant approach to rest and rehabilitation, Maharaj has fashioned the unlikeliest of comebacks, and doesn’t mind that he has the proverbial scar to show for it.”I will have a limp for some time, but it’s all about teaching yourself how to do certain things again,” Maharaj said ahead of South Africa’s fourth ODI against Australia in Centurion. “It was about putting my head down and giving myself a chance. It’s about giving yourself a chance to get back to where you feel you belong.”Related

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So how exactly did he do it?Maharaj underwent surgery six days after sustaining the injury in seemingly innocuous fashion. He took off in celebration after dismissing Kyle Mayers in a Test against West Indies in Johannesburg, and then crashed to the floor with an expression that we thought revealed extreme pain. But for most people, a complete rupture can look worse than it feels.”Athletes I’ve worked with often say that they felt like someone had thrown a stone that hit the back of their leg, or maybe just accidentally kicked them,” Dr Shuaib Manjra, Cricket South Africa’s head of medical, told ESPNcricinfo. “But what you will see is that they lose power in the leg immediately.”That’s why when Dean Elgar rushed to Maharaj’s side and lifted his foot off the ground, it appeared almost limp in his hand. That alone suggested the injury was serious.”It was traumatic to watch,” Athmanand Maharaj, Keshav’s father, said. “And Keshav was a bit down when he found out later that he would be out for a while, and that he needed an operation.”Keshav Maharaj ruptured his Achilles tendon while celebrating a wicket against West Indies in March•AFP/Getty ImagesWith good reason. At that stage, Maharaj was South Africa’s first-choice white-ball spinner, and was looking forward to helping them qualify for the World Cup. He was ruled out of a stint with Middlesex for the County Championship and the T20 Blast; and with leagues popping up in the USA and Canada may have even fancied an extra gig.But all those plans came to an abrupt halt as Maharaj’s only choice was going under the knife. For that, he opted for his hometown of Durban, where leading orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Kevin MacIntyre is based. MacIntyre’s practice is based on minimally invasive surgeries, and for Achilles’ ruptures he has been using a method pioneered in 2018 called percutaneous repair. This involves making several small cuts to access the damaged tissue instead of only a single large one. This facilitates quicker healing and leads to fewer wound complications.”With the old method, we had to go right through the tendon sheath, and so healing would take a long time,” Manjra said.Despite the advancement in the procedure and MacIntyre’s expertise in the field, CSA did not quite agree when he predicted Maharaj would take five months to recover.”We were much more circumspect, and were working on around six to seven months,” Manjra said. “We knew that psychologically, it’s difficult for any player. With a World Cup looming, you think, ‘Will I make it?’ And also, ‘Is it the end of my career?’ And being immobile is terrible for anybody – but especially for someone like Keshav, who is very active. We were cautious.””I sacrificed a hell of a lot – from a diet, a rehab and a recovery point of view” – Keshav Maharaj•BCCIPerhaps they did not realise the strength of Maharaj’s resolve. Although, as Athmanand recalled, Maharaj would occasionally “get a little ratty because he loves to be on the field and he could see all his friends there”, he also pulled out all the stops to get better.Having previously changed his diet to lose weight and improve his fitness in order to be selected for his provincial side, Maharaj consulted a nutritionist again – this time to understand if food could help his recovery, and he admitted to being fastidious about it.”I sacrificed a hell of a lot in that time – from a diet, a rehab and a recovery point of view,” Maharaj said. “I was making sure I was getting eight to ten hours of sleep every night; and I put my family under pressure because in terms of diet, I had to make sure I ate certain things. And I had to make sure I ate on time, and things like that.”There was no miracle diet, but Maharaj’s focus on eating was to ensure he could build and maintain muscle in difficult circumstances.”Because Keshav is vegetarian, we had to make sure he was increasing his protein intake, as proteins are the building blocks of muscle,” Manjra said. “There were some modifications to his diet to make sure he got adequate nutrition.”Maharaj also did not stop training. Even while still wearing a moonboot, Maharaj concentrated on upper-body strength and core work, and then began to use an anti-gravity treadmill at the rugby academy. The machine was developed in the 1990s by biomechanics researchers at NASA, who wanted to help astronauts working at the International Space Station, and who were at risk of losing bone density and muscle mass.’At five months, I started to believe once I started to run again. I realised the dream is reality’•Associated PressEssentially, it encloses the lower part of the body in an airtight chamber, which allows an athlete like Maharaj to train his legs without bearing weight, and slowly increase the weight-bearing as they become more able.Maharaj was given a weekly training program, and had to submit regular reports. Athmanand recalls the medical staff being “stunned” by his son exceeding his goals on each occasion. That’s when Maharaj himself knew he was healing.”When you see how slow the initial phases of rehab are, you have a negative thought here and there. But at four months, when I started to walk in the moonboot, then I pushed myself beyond certain levels that I don’t think most people would have been able to do,” Maharaj said. “At five months, I started to believe once I started to run again. I realised the dream is reality. Once I started bowling in that period, the belief never left me.”All the while, there was one golden opportunity which lay ahead, one which Maharaj did not want to pass up.”The World Cup was a big thing for me. I’ve played in two T20 World Cups, but 50 overs is very hard on the body,” he said. “That’s something I wanted to experience. I always like to challenge myself. I plotted the way. At three months, I probably wouldn’t have said I’d get here. But my medical team gave me the best chance.”And then seeing as I was very close to the World Cup, it meant everything to want to play. My forefathers are from India, so I want to go back there and try to do something special. That was the motivation I needed.”‘You want to be a role model. So for any guys with long-term injury, there is hope at the end of the tunnel’•Getty ImagesAthmanand, who has watched Maharaj play in India before, admitted that when he heard his son’s name mentioned at the World-Cup squad announcement, “it was so emotional”. Although he now finds himself in charge of the renovations for the house Maharaj bought during his period of injury, Athmanand doesn’t mind the extra work “because Keshav is going there to live out his dream”.Not just his. Maharaj recognises that the story of his successful recovery could encourage anyone who finds themselves on the sidelines.”As a professional cricketer, you want to be a role model,” Maharaj said. “So for any guys with long-term injury, there is hope at the end of the tunnel.”Already, South Africa’s ODI captain Temba Bavuma has hailed Maharaj as an inspiration and proof that hard work pays off. For those close to Maharaj, it’s not really a surprise that he went the extra mile. He is known to be one of the fittest members of the squad, one who runs the 2km time trial as quickly as in 6 minutes and 20 seconds – the standard is 8:30 – and who prides himself on his commitment to being the best he can be.”That’s Keshav – he left no stone unturned,” Athmanand said. “Nothing is a barrier for him. He is a warrior.”Fitting then that it was the tendon named after the great Greek hero that threatened to derail Keshav Maharaj’s career, but that he didn’t allow it to and became the champion of his own story.

He played his shots during his run-a-ball 48 as he looks to bounce back from a poor Test series in South Africa

S Sudarshanan12-Jan-2024The last time Shreyas Iyer played a first-class match for Mumbai, he was yet to play Test cricket, back in the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy. The Iyer that walked out to bat in Mumbai’s latest Ranji Trophy match on Friday is a different person. He has played regularly in all three formats for India, and though he was left out of the T20I squad for the ongoing series against Afghanistan, he is the incumbent No. 5 in Tests.Which is why this game, against Andhra, is significant for Iyer.He had a tough tour of South Africa, where he scored 31, 6, 0 and 4 not out. The two Tests there were his first in over nine months, part of which he was out because of a back problem that required surgery. The match against Andhra gives him a chance to get into his groove ahead of the home Tests against England starting January 25.Related

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Mumbai were asked to bat on a greenish surface on a sunny morning. The openers added 69 in a steady start before Jay Bista and Ajinkya Rahane, the No. 3, fell off successive balls. Bhupen Lalwani, the other opener, and Suved Parkar, the No. 4, then took Mumbai to lunch, giving Iyer some more time.He walked to the nets just outside the playing area with batting coach Vinit Indulkar, left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar, and a throwdown specialist in tow. He started slowly, but raised the tempo as time went on, and finished his close-to-25-minute stint with aerial shots in all directions.When Iyer walked in with Mumbai 130 for 3 in the 43rd over, it did not take him time to get going. He is known to be a quick scorer in the domestic circuit, which his first-class strike rate of 78.48 attests to. He is also known to be an excellent player of spin. He put away two full deliveries from the quicks – a flick through midwicket and a loft over mid-on – to get his boundary count going.Andhra mixed it up against Iyer by bowling pace from the dressing-room end and spin from the media end. Medium pacers Penmetsa Raju first, and then his replacement Nithish Kumar Reddy – the most impressive Andhra bowler on the day – bowled from around the wicket to test him. But Iyer’s feet moved nicely, and he kept out the good length and full balls, with a push to the off side or a flick towards midwicket. He was also ready to take on the short ball and punish it, like he did off Raju to beat long leg to his right in the 56th over.Shreyas Iyer had a poor Test series in South Africa, scoring 31, 6, 0 and 4 not out•AFP/Getty ImagesBut nothing perhaps showed that Iyer was switched on and up for the fight like in the 54th over, bowled by Raju. With two fielders deep on the leg side – forward square-leg and long leg – and a backward short-leg in place, he played the perfect pull shot all along the ground for a four. The very next ball was shortish but had just enough width for Iyer to crash it over the covers.This prompted Andhra to go all-out on the mean bouncer – Iyer’s perceived weakness. They had a six-three leg-side field with midwicket, forward square-leg, backward square-leg, long leg, third and point all out on the boundary. There was also a forward short-leg under the lid. That would, however, not prevent Iyer from taking a third four off the over – another pull that sent the ball rolling past backward square-leg – perhaps his best shot of the day. In all, Iyer scored 25 in the 14 balls he faced from Raju, including five fours.Reddy went on to dismiss him caught behind, after he wafted at a fullish ball angling away from around the stumps. Iyer would trudge back with a run-a-ball 48 against his name. But in only his second domestic red-ball game since his Test debut, he had signalled his intent, and readiness.

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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We take a look at the teams vying for promotion in our Division Two preview

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2024DerbyshireLast season: 6th in Division Two
Head coach: Mickey Arthur
Captains: David Lloyd
Overseas: Blair Tickner
Ins: David Lloyd (Glamorgan), Pat Brown (Worcestershire), Aneurin Donald (Hampshire), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire), Ross Whiteley (Hampshire), Jack Morley (Lancashire, loan)
Outs: Leus du Plooy (Middlesex), George Scrimshaw (Northamptonshire), Billy Godleman, Mark Watt, Tom Wood, Archie Harrison (all released), Mattie McKiernan (retired)Derbyshire went winless across 14 games in Division Two last summer and were only saved the ignominy of finishing second-bottom by Yorkshire’s 48-point deduction. Factor in the departures of talisman Leus Du Plooy and England-capped quick George Scrimshaw, and things look a little bleak. Du Plooy’s loss will be particularly hard to overcome, having scored 3482 first-class runs for the county since joining in 2019.And yet, the winter’s acquisitions bring a freshness to the Incora County Ground. David Lloyd arrives to assume captaincy duties for the County Championship, while Samit Patel adds untold experience and class as white-ball skipper. Aneurin Donald and Pat Brown, 27 and 25 respectively, have something to prove after bright starts to their careers elsewhere were hampered by injuries. A season-long loan for left-arm twirler Jack Morley adds variety – and has Derbyshire doing their bit for the spin backlog – while the return of Ross Whiteley is a nod to former glory days. Whiteley struck the winning runs – a six – to seal the Division Two championship in 2012.It remains to be seen how well (and quickly) they will integrate. But alongside established talents of Wayne Madsen, Anuj Dal, Luis Reece, Sam Conners, Alex Thomson and Zak Chappell, this looks a squad with far more about it. As such, the onus falls on Mickey Arthur to meld the group into the sum of its parts. Now solely focused on Derbyshire after being relieved of his duties with Pakistan, Arthur’s third season will have to be his most productive yet.One to watch: Donald is starting again after an injury-hit five years at Hampshire. A loan spell at Derbyshire comprising just two T20 Blast appearances last season was enough time for Arthur to see the drive and talents of a cricketer looking to make up for lost time. It is eight years since Donald shot to prominence at Glamorgan with a record-equalling 123-ball double-century. You’ll never guess who that was against… Vithushan EhantharajahRelated

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Bet365: 11/1GlamorganLast season: 5th in Division Two
Director of cricket: Mark Wallace
Head coach: Grant Bradburn
Captain: Sam Northeast
Overseas: Marnus Labuschagne, Colin Ingram, Mir Hamza
Ins: Mason Crane (Hampshire, loan)
Outs: David Lloyd (Derbyshire), Andrew Salter (retired), Callum Taylor (released)Glamorgan drew 12 of their 14 Championship matches last year to finish mid-table in Division Two. They have not played in the top flight since 2005 and are conscious that merely avoiding defeats will not be sufficient if they are to avoid a two-decade absence from Division One next year.No bowler managed 40 Championship wickets last summer and Michael Neser, the Australian allrounder, will not return this year, preferring a short stint at Hampshire after his wife gave birth to twins. “We’re going to have to risk losing at times to win more games,” Sam Northeast, who will captain in the Championship following Lloyd’s departure to Derbyshire, told the BBC. “We’re going to have to be a bit smarter with the way we want to get 20 wickets and at home, we’re going to have to be more experimental in the pitches.”Grant Bradburn has replaced Matt Maynard as coach and has brought Pakistan’s Mir Hamza in for the first two months of the season. Marnus Labuschagne will also return to Wales and should be available for the majority of the summer, while Colin Ingram will be on standby as the back-up overseas player in the Championship.One to watch: Mason Crane has been a case study in English cricket’s love-hate relationship with legspin: thrown in at the deep end with a Test debut in 2018, then left treading water ever since. He has only played five first-class games in the last two years but Hampshire have loaned him out to Glamorgan for the whole summer, where he should play regularly. Matt RollerBet365: 6/1Mason Crane has joined Glamorgan on loan for the season•Getty ImagesGloucestershireLast season: 8th in Division Two
Head coach: Mark Alleyne
Captain: Graeme van Buuren
Overseas: Cameron Bancroft, Zafar Gohar, Beau Webster
Ins:
Outs: Tom Lace, Will Naish, Paul van Meekeren, Jared Warner (all released)The only way is up after Gloucestershire’s winless Championship season culminated in the club’s first wooden spoon since 2012. There has been a clearout behind the scenes, with coach Dale Benkenstein and his assistant Will Porterfield joining Lancashire and bowling coach Robbie Joseph moving to Kent. Mark Alleyne is back as Benkenstein’s replacement, having previously coached the club from 2004-7.They have strengthened their batting line-up with the addition of Cameron Bancroft, who missed Western Australia’s recent Sheffield Shield victory with a concussion but is expected to be available from the start of the season. They will again rely heavily on the Price brothers, Tom and Ollie; Ollie made three hundreds last year, and batted at No. 3 for the Lions in two of their three recent unofficial Tests against India A.The stated aim is promotion, which Alleyne has described as “a realistic goal”. It is difficult to see how Gloucestershire will bowl teams out on a regular basis. Zafar Gohar, the Pakistani allrounder, is back to lead their spin attack, but Matt Taylor was their leading wicket-taker among seamers last season with just 20.One to watch: James Bracey is the forgotten man of English cricket, drafted into the Test side in the absence of more established wicketkeepers in 2021, then unceremoniously discarded after eight runs in three innings. At 26, he is young enough to come again and despite a poor Championship season with the bat, he showed signs of a revival during an unbeaten 224 against Somerset in a 50-over game. MRBet365: 16/1LeicestershireLast season: 4th in Division Two
Director of cricket: Claude Henderson
Head coach: Alfonso Thomas
Captain: Lewis Hill
Overseas: Wiaan Mulder, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris (April-May)
Ins: Ben Mike (Yorkshire), Liam Trevaskis (Durham), Ben Cox (Worcestershire), Scott Currie (Hampshire, loan)
Outs: Callum Parkinson (Durham) Colin Ackermann (Durham), Will Davis, Ed Barnes, Nick Welch, Arron Lilley, Scott Steel, Michael Finan (all released)Leicestershire provided the feelgood story of the 2023 season, with a sustained and surprising promotion push that dovetailed gloriously with their first List A silverware in 38 years – and at a time when 50-over cricket has been shunted to the margins of relevance, there was arguably no team could have valued that Metro Bank Cup win more than the ECB’s most maligned county, the winners of eight wooden spoons in 14 Championship campaigns. What, though, can Leicestershire make of their taste for that winning feeling? After taking over from Paul Nixon last summer, Alfonso Thomas – aided by his assistant James Taylor – has undertaken quite the clear-out over the winter, with eight players making way but Peter Handscomb, crucially, committing to a second season after his vital contributions across formats. Ben Mike is back after his abortive switch to Yorkshire, and the sense that Grace Road is suddenly in vogue was exacerbated when Chris Wright, the veteran seamer, reneged on his move to Sussex.One to watch: A first-class record of nine wickets at 62.77 isn’t much to write home about, but you need only to look at Josh Hull’s physical attributes to know that Leicestershire are in possession of a potential world-beater. Aged just 19, his 6’8″ left-arm seamers played a pivotal role in the Metro Bank Cup win, inswinging at pace from a steepling release point. His fellow teenager Rehan Ahmed has shown how quickly players with such unique attributes can be fast-tracked in the modern era. Andrew MillerBet365: 10/1 Leus du Plooy will carry a weight of expectations as Middlesex•PA Photos/Getty ImagesMiddlesexLast season: 9th in Division One
Head of performance: Alan Coleman
Head coach: Richard Johnson
Captain: Toby Roland-Jones
Overseas: Ins: Leus du Plooy (Derbyshire), Henry Brookes (Warwickshire)
Outs: Tim Murtagh (retired), John Simpson (Sussex)It was misery for Middlesex wherever you looked in 2023. On the field, they lost each of their top four for ducks in their first innings of the season against Essex and scarcely regained their poise in slipping towards relegation. Off the field, the club’s parlous finances took centre stage (heightened by an ugly stand-off with their former CEO), the upshot of which is the outsourcing of some home Blast fixtures to Chelmsford, and the notable absence of any overseas signings.At least in Leus du Plooy they’ve landed themselves a proven and prolific run-scorer – his experiences at Derbyshire will have prepared him well for the challenge that awaits – while Henry Brookes’ arrival from Warwickshire means that Tim Murtagh’s retirement won’t leave such a large a hole in the seam-bowling ranks. John Simpson’s surprise departure for Sussex won’t be so easily covered off, however. Jack Davies has big gloves to fill behind the stumps.One to watch: Josh De Caires went from a solitary first-class wicket in 2022 to a prolific haul of 27 at 25.59 last summer, including two startling displays against Hampshire and Essex – 7 for 144 in the former and 8 for 106 in the latter. As the son of Mike Atherton, the fact that it was his chip-off-the-block batting that earned him initial recognition augurs well for his hopes of developing further this summer. AMBet365: 11/2 NorthamptonshireLast season: 10th in Division One
Head coach: John Sadler
Captain: Luke Procter
Overseas: Karun Nair, Prithvi Shaw, Chris Tremain
Ins: George Bartlett (Somerset), George Scrimshaw (Derbyshire)
Outs: Tom Taylor, Josh Cobb (both Worcestershire), Gareth Berg, Simon Kerrigan, Graeme White (all retired), Hasan Azad, Harry Gouldstone (both released)Northamptonshire’s shoestring operation defied gravity to survive a season in the top flight for the first time in 2022 but they could not repeat the trick. A brittle batting order managed just one bonus point from their first nine games, and saw Northants bowled out for scores of 63, 72 and 56 – although they did manage to win a dogfight against fellow strugglers Kent in the second round, the writing was on the wall by the halfway point of the campaign, when they had lost five times, four of them by an innings.Their season was lifted by the arrivals of two India batters, both of whom will return this summer. Prithvi Shaw lit up the Metro Bank Cup in August with 244 off 153 balls; he could play a pivotal part in Northants’ promotion push when he returns for the second half of the 2024. And Karun Nair’s 150 at The Oval threatened to derail Surrey’s title push in the penultimate round. Nair, unwanted at the IPL, will add fibre to the batting for the first block of seven games, while the signings of Georges Bartlett and Scrimshaw demonstrate ambition. An attack featuring Chris Tremain, Ben Sanderson and Jack White is one to be reckoned with, too.One to watch: Alex Russell, a 21-year-old legspinner, broke into the Championship team last year, taking 6 for 175 against Kent in his second appearance. Those were his only wickets in three outings – but, remarkably, he went to Zimbabwe over the winter and finished as the Logan Cup’s leading wicket-taker. Could be a real find. Alan GardnerBet365: 5/11:21

Seales hopes Sussex stint can boost Test chances

SussexLast season: 3rd in Division Two
Director of cricket: Keith Greenfield
Head coach: Paul Farbrace
Captain: John Simpson
Overseas: Cheteshwar Pujara, Jayden Seales, Daniel Hughes, Nathan McAndrew, Jaydev Unadkat
Ins: Danny Lamb (Lancashire), John Simpson (Middlesex)
Outs: George Garton (Warwickshire), Ali Orr (Hampshire), Steven Finn, Jamie Atkins (both retired)Any sense that things had got too cosy down at Hove was banished by Paul Farbrace’s first year in charge. For the first time since 2019, Sussex won more than a single game – and they were still in the hunt for promotion until mid-September, when a fractious encounter with Leicestershire led to the club being docked points. They ultimately finished third, with Farbrace suggesting that another season in Division Two might not do them any harm as he attempted to build a squad equipped for the step up.Letting homegrown talents Ali Orr and George Garton go was not the obvious next step, and certainly did not please the members. Ian Gould and Chris Adams resigned from the cricket committee, reportedly in protest. The departure of Rob Andrew after seven years as chief executive to take up a new role at the ECB added to the upheaval.The playing squad at least looks settled for the new season. Experienced wicketkeeper John Simpson will take charge of the Championship side after joining from Middlesex, and Cheteshwar Pujara returns for a third stint – although a back complaint will keep him out of Friday’s opener. With West Indies seamer Jayden Seales sharing the new ball alongside Ollie Robinson in the first block of games, Sussex will be looking to get an early jump on their rivals.One to watch: James Coles became Sussex’s youngest first-class debutant in 2020 and last season nailed down a spot in the first XI with 849 runs at 42.45, including three first-class hundreds. England Lions recognition followed and, while his bowling remains a work in progress, his presence in the top six allows Sussex to always play two spinners. AGBet365: 6/1YorkshireLast season: 7th in Division Two
Head coach: Ottis Gibson
Captain: Shan Masood
Overseas: Shan Masood
Ins: Dan Moriarty (Surrey)
Outs: Ben Mike (Leicestershire), Will Fraine, Jack Shutt (both released)Will this be the season that Yorkshire finally emerge from the shadow cast by the racism scandal that engulfed the club in 2021? Relegated on the final day the following summer, their chances of an immediate promotion in 2023 were torpedoed by the 48-point penalty handed down by the ECB over their handling of revelations by Azeem Rafiq. It remains to be seen whether the return of Colin Graves as chair during the offseason – essentially to repeat the financial bailout he provided back 2002 – further hampers attempts to move on.That doesn’t mean expectations in the Broad Acres will be set any lower. Even before their sanction, Yorkshire’s expected charge failed to materialise last year. Losing at home to Leicestershire in the opening round set the tone and it was not until June, and their sixth game, that they managed to record a win. Results did improve during the second half of the season, enabling them to avoid the ignominy of the wooden spoon, and head coach Ottis Gibson will demand continued improvement. The opening partnership of Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean was a rare bright spot while Ben Coad and Matt Fisher are bowlers with Division One pedigree.The expected availability of Harry Brook and Joe Root in early season will help. And in Shan Masood, who also leads Pakistan’s Test team, Yorkshire have a captain who knows a bit about impossible jobs.One to watch: Powerfully built allrounder Matthew Revis first played for Yorkshire as a 17-year-old in 2019 but last year put together a complete season, missing only five games across formats. In red-ball cricket, he scored his first two hundreds while averaging 44.27 and also claiming a maiden five-for. AGBet365: 2/1

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.”