Power vacuum at the governing body – and a severe lack of alternatives – means captaincy debate may rumble on

Andrew Miller29-Mar-2022Say what you like about the World Test Championship table, but it doesn’t half concentrate the mind. There England are, rooted to the foot of the standings having won a miserable 12.5% of the available points in their three series to date for the 2021-23 cycle, and not even the asterisk attached to the incomplete series with India can provide any mitigation. This team really is producing the worst Test cricket in the world right now.It was another World Test Championship table, Wisden‘s unofficial version, that effectively woke England up to its last most urgent crisis of competence, way back in 1999. That summer famously finished with Nasser Hussain, England’s new captain, being booed off the balcony at The Oval after England’s 2-1 loss to New Zealand – and like the winter just gone, the defining trends were a series of batting collapses from established players, and an air of fatalism at the merest hint of adversity.It was a focal point of anger that somehow hadn’t materialised throughout a preceding decade of, let’s face it, distinctly intermittent glory, but if history is repeating itself, then it’s not from an entirely equivalent footing. Once again, England’s Test team has been substandard for a while – just as in the 1990s, their rare bright spots have been sufficiently compelling to distract from the marquee moments of defeat that have dominated the era. By 1999, however, most of the major changes that would revolutionise the coming decade were already on the cards.Related

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These included Hussain’s appointment, of course (although it would take Duncan Fletcher’s arrival as coach to unlock his true potential as a leader), but more significantly, the creation in 1998 of the ECB as a unified body to oversee all levels of the game in England and Wales. This cleared the way for the introduction of central contracts, and began the process by which England’s Test players could be treated as elite international athletes, rather than reluctant loanees from their counties.But now, 23 years later, here England are again. At rock-bottom by pretty much any measure that matters, but without so much as a footstool in situ to begin their long, and long-overdue, traipse back towards the standards expected of one of Test cricket’s Big Three teams.Far from being the sport’s impending saviour, the ECB of 2022 is arguably too cumbersome to cope with a crisis of this variety. The pandemic revealed it to be a lumbering corporate machine with more financial imperatives than sporting ones – and until it splurged all its reserves on the setting-up of the Hundred, Tom Harrison, the lame-duck chief executive, would probably have hailed that fact as proof that English cricket had “entered another paradigm”.Instead, the ECB currently lacks a full-time chairman, a full-time director of cricket and a full-time head coach, and also lacks any genuine cricketing nous within its boardroom. Andrew Strauss is back in an interim capacity, and emitting all manner of reorganisational vibes, but as he’s made clear from the outset, his family circumstances will win out over any petitions to make his role full-time.A fraught Nasser Hussain and David Graveney face the press after New Zealand beat England in 1999•Getty ImagesAnd it is against that backdrop that we arrive at the sadly compromised status of the captain, Joe Root – arguably England’s finest Test batter of the 21st century and as such one of the ECB’s few unequivocally blue-chip assets, but one whose most primal desire to stay at the crease for as long as possible (a trait that hasn’t often rubbed off on his team-mates of late) is currently coming across as an obstinate refusal to face up to the realities of his tenure.”I’m very passionate about trying to take this team forward,” Root said in the wake of the Grenada defeat. “I feel like the group are very much behind me. We’re doing a lot of really good things. We just need to turn that into results.”It’s entirely possible that Root is as right to stand his ground as he is wrong. Just as Ashley Giles, England’s since-sacked MD, was correct in his assertion after the Ashes loss in Sydney that a mass cull of the existing hierarchy – himself included – would only be “setting up future leaders for failure”, so it could be that Root knows, more viscerally than anyone else could ever fathom, that he alone has the stature to contend with such hopeless circumstances.That said, a mere two months have elapsed since the horrors of Hobart, and already Root’s England have come up with an even more insipid display. Never mind hitting rock-bottom, their performance in Grenada was more akin to spinning out into the void like an astronaut unmoored from a space-station – a team so disconnected from the gravity of their situation that there no longer feels like any limit to how far they could drift.

After a long winter, it's time to take a break and recharge ahead of the summer, but I believe in the future of this team pic.twitter.com/MwmnLTlikP

— Joe Root (@root66) March 29, 2022

Getting the show on the road itself will count as an achievement considering the Covid-affected build-up to the marquee series

Andrew McGlashan18-Jan-2022Covid. Schedule changes. Dodgy nets. Postponed matches. Injuries. Fear of missing the World Cup. To say the preparations for Australia and England ahead of the women’s Ashes have had their challenges would be an understatement.However, the squads have (mostly) made it to Adelaide to begin the multi-format series, which in itself is no mean feat. The men’s Ashes had to navigate Covid from the second Test onwards – while England’s support staff was severely depleted, Travis Head finished as the only player impacted – but the women’s series feels as though it will be even more of a tightrope walk because of the need to travel to New Zealand as soon as it finishes.”We’ll endure what we have to,” Australia coach Matthew Mott said. “We know we are in for a tough three months but players and staff are really dedicated and see this as really important opportunity for women’s cricket worldwide to get this series up and through the World Cup.”

“It’s not ideal. But every sporting team in the world would say that at the moment and it’s certainly no excuse. This is the moment where we click into cricket mode”Matthew Mott on the team’s preparations

There have already been cases in both camps. One member of England support staff tested positive in Canberra, while Katie Mack and Molly Strano from the Australia A squad will miss the T20s against England A. Ellyse Perry’s arrival was delayed but she will be available for the T20Is – whether she is selected is one of the fascinating early storylines.Pre-series plans have largely been thrown away after the rejigging of the schedule, to start with the T20Is instead of the one-off Test. Mindsets have had to switch from the longest to the shortest format, although it’s a game the players are very familiar with. England were twice beaten by Australia’s A side as batters tried to hit their way into form and rhythm.”I wouldn’t say we’ve started that well, to be totally honest,” England coach Lisa Keightley said. “We’re trying to get up to speed as best we can. I’m confident when we get to that first T20 they’ll be in a better place than what they are now.”Related

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Australia, at least, are in their cricket season. But there has been precious little match time for most since the end of the WBBL, with the WNCL one-day competition barely getting started amid Covid, although Perry, Rachael Haynes and Nicola Carey all made hundreds in the matches that were possible. It is most problematic for the quicks who need to build up their workloads.”Scattered,” Mott said when asked about preparations. “The English would probably say the same. It’s not ideal. But every sporting team in the world would say that at the moment and it’s certainly no excuse. This is the moment where we click into cricket mode. We’ve done a lot of workshopping, what can and can’t happen… I’m confident the group is resilient and adaptable enough to deal with whatever comes.”England have not held the Ashes since their away victory in 2013-14. Given their depth and home advantage, Australia will start favourites. They were challenged by India earlier in the season and the eventual 11-5 margin was a little flattering, but it gave a chance to bring in a number of newer players with Jess Jonassen and Megan Schutt missing from the bowling attack.This time, they will be without Georgia Wareham and Sophie Molineux and though that is balanced by Jonassen’s return, it leaves the spin department looking very different. And the preference of uncapped legspinner Alana King ahead of Amanda-Jade Wellington was a big call by the selectors.Tammy Beaumont and Nat Sciver will be key to England’s batting along with captain Heather Knight•PA Photos/Getty ImagesTahlia McGrath, Player of the Series against India, has added to Australia’s strength after returning to international cricket looking a complete allrounder. From a fringe player, she now demands inclusion and, though Beth Mooney’s broken jaw may have changed things in the short term, it will provide some interesting selection debates.Australia’s growing list of quick bowlers is one thing that sets them apart. Darcie Brown and Tayla Vlaeminck are two of the fastest, while Stella Campbell, who took 7 for 25 in the WNCL recently, has only been able to make the Australia A squad. In that regard, it was a little surprising that Issy Wong did not make England’s main Ashes group. Although she only managed nine wickets in 13 WBBL matches for Sydney Thunder, her fast outswing often did not get the reward it deserved.England do, however, have a strong squad of their own, led by Heather Knight, who will carry a lot of the batting expectations alongside Nat Sciver and Tammy Beaumont. With the ball left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, who took a remarkable 7 for 14 in a warm-up match, will be crucial across all formats while Katherine Brunt, a warrior of an allrounder who may be playing her final Ashes, continues to lead the pace attack.Brunt is one of five England players who were part of the Test victory in Perth in 2013-14 – regarded as one of the finest matches in the format – along with fellow seamers Anya Shrubsole and Kate Cross, who took 13 wickets between them.There is a new generation starting to make their mark as well. Sophia Dunkley had a breakout series against India, and offspinner Charlie Dean claimed ten wickets in five matches against New Zealand. In the England A squad, 17-year-old Alice Capsey may soon be pushing for higher honours.But regardless of how the two sides match up, what happens in the middle will likely be only one part of the story of this Ashes.

The 24-year old left-arm spinner from Uttar Pradesh has had to cross thousands of hurdles to fulfill his dream of playing cricket

Nikhil Sharma06-May-20222:39

Vettori: Royals looked for a bad ball, but Kartikeya never gave it to them

Left-arm everything.That was quite an apt description by commentators when Kumar Kartikeya Singh made his IPL debut in Mumbai Indians’ last match. You saw him bowl left-arm wristspin, wrong’uns, fingerspin and even the carrom ball. You probably don’t know that till about six months ago he was just a left-arm orthodox spinner. His coach Sanjay Bharadwaj told ESPNcricinfo that in order to be successful in T20 cricket, Kartikeya taught himself wristspin – the most difficult art in cricket – and obsessively practised to master it.It was this obsession nine years ago that brought a 15-year-old Kartikeya from Kanpur to Bharadwaj’s academy in Delhi. He had promised his family that he won’t let his cricket add to the financial burden of his father, a constable in Pradeshik Armed Constabulary (PAC). Kartikeya knew nobody in Delhi except his friend Radheshyam, who used to play league cricket. Radheshyam took him to many academies, but everyone demanded a hefty fee.When they went to Bharadwaj and told him Kartikeya was in no condition to pay for the coaching, he agreed to give him a trial. All it took was one ball in the nets for Bharadwaj to agree to coach him pro bono. “His action was so smooth,” Bharadwaj told ESPNcricinfo. “His use of fingers imparted action on the ball.”

Kartikeya would walk miles to get to his cricket academy to save INR 10 for a pack of biscuits.

Now that coaching was taken care of, Kartikeya had to work for his food and lodging. He started as a labourer in a factory in Masuri, a village next to Ghaziabad, about 80km from the academy. He found shared accommodation near the factory. He would work in the factory all night, and then make it to the academy in the morning. Often he would walk miles to save INR 10 for a pack of biscuits.When Bharadwaj came to know of the amount he travelled, he asked Kartikeya why he didn’t stay someplace closer. That’s when Kartikeya told him of his job in the factory, the night shifts and the arduous travel. Bharadwaj offered to let him share the on-site accommodation he had for the academy’s cook.Bharadwaj clearly remembers the first day Kartikeya stayed at the academy. “When the cook gave him lunch, Kartikeya began to cry: he hadn’t eaten lunch for a year.”Kumar Kartikeya, on his Mumbai Indians debut, returned 1 for 19•BCCIBharadwaj then got Kartikeya enrolled in a school. He played schools nationals, and took 45 wickets in DDCA league. He was the Player of the Tournament in three tournaments including the prestigious Om Nath Sood Tournament in Delhi. And yet when Kartikeya went for the DDCA trials, he didn’t make it to the longlist of 200.Bharadwaj had dealt with these issues previously. Known more famously as the childhood coach of Gautam Gambhir, Bharadwaj saw the same happen to Amit Mishra when he was young. So he got Mishra to move to Haryana when he was not getting selected in Delhi. This time he sent his latest protege to Madhya Pradesh.”Looking at his ability and dedication, I sent him to my friend and secretary of Shahdol Cricket Association Ajay Dwivedi,” Bharadwaj said. “He played division cricket there and took 50-plus wickets in his first two years.”Related

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In the state trial matches, Kartikeya took five-fors in every match. Soon he went on to play Ranji Trophy cricket, having represented MP at Under-23 level earlier in the same month. When he debuted in 2018, Kartikeya made Bharadwaj speak to his father on the phone, the only time the coach has interacted with the family of his favourite ward.Since then Kartikeya’s new home was Bharadwaj’s new academy in Bhopal, which had boarding facilities too. That’s where, while playing his active cricket, Kartikeya quietly taught himself wristspin. He bowled it with such control on his IPL debut that the former great Daniel Vettori was impressed that he didn’t bowl any loose balls. We might be surprised that till as recently as six months ago he was just a fingerspinner, but Bharadwaj is not surprised at all.”Whenever he is free, he starts bowling in the nets,” Bharadwaj said. “Many a time he comes back from matches in Indore late in the night and gets the lights on and spends the next two-three hours in the nets. His obsession has only grown in the last nine years.”In his first over in the IPL, Kartikeya took the wicket of Sanju Samson, and will go on to add other big names to it. Even if he hadn’t achieved instant success, Kartikeya would not have been perturbed: in coming this far, he has crossed much bigger hurdles.

Sarfaraz Khan opens up about returning to Mumbai from UP and his appetite for recent big scores in red-ball cricket

Vishal Dikshit07-Jun-2022A teary-eyed Sarfaraz Khan was packing his bags to move from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh before the 2015-16 season. Having spent all his childhood in Mumbai, Sarfaraz, barely 18 at the time, wasn’t pleased at all with his father’s decision about the move for better opportunities. But his father, Naushad Khan, is also his coach and mentor, and once Naushad takes a decision, Sarfaraz doesn’t counter it.Sarfaraz had already played Under-14 and 16 for Mumbai, made his first-class debut, and had started dreaming about scoring centuries for the senior Mumbai side. Leaving his home city didn’t make any sense to him.”When I was packing all this to move to UP, and I don’t know now why I decided to move to UP, one thing I was thinking about was that at Under-19 we were shown videos of some of the big players in the Mumbai Ranji shirt, either hitting centuries or lifting the trophy,” Sarfaraz told ESPNcricinfo from his home, before the IPL started this year. “It was my dream to hit a century wearing the Mumbai Ranji shirt. So when I was packing all that, I was crying while thinking, ‘what will happen to my future now, how will things work out for me in UP’ etc.”Sarfaraz soothed his nerves by scoring a scintillating 155 on his UP debut but he ended up playing only three Ranji games that season because he was part of the India Under-19 squad and there was a World Cup coming up in early 2016. UP, meanwhile, didn’t make the Ranji knockouts that season, and agonisingly for Sarfaraz, Mumbai, who hadn’t won the title since 2012-13, lifted the trophy for the 41st time.ESPNcricinfo LtdSarfaraz felt like he would “never come back.” The next season too, he played in only five of UP’s eight games and averaged under 30 with just one half-century. By now he was frustrated. “I told my father: (I don’t want to play for any other team anymore, if I play cricket, it will be for Mumbai). And home is home. We all make mistakes and sometimes you take such decisions [of switching teams], and it feels bad till now. There I was scoring 60, 70 kind of scores so I thought I need to score big and I returned to Mumbai.”Returning wasn’t as straightforward though. As per the BCCI’s rules, he had to serve a cooling-off period of one year before he could play for Mumbai again, and Sarfaraz piled up plenty of runs during that period playing club cricket around the city. It was almost as if Sarfaraz was going back in time. Having played three Ranji seasons, two of the IPL, and all three formats in the domestic circuit, he was now back to club cricket.In early 2020, he finally wore the Mumbai jersey again, after five long years. But against Karnataka in the first innings, he lasted just 20 balls for eight runs.”After getting out, I felt like I would get dropped,” Sarfaraz says.When Mumbai batted again, Prtihvi Shaw picked up an injury, and the experienced top four of Aditya Tare, Ajinkya Rahane, Siddhesh Lad and captain Suryakumar Yadav fell before Mumbai had 30 on the board. Nervous already, Sarfaraz had the added responsibility of trying to retain his place, and he was in a tricky situation which made him shed off his natural attacking game.”I thought that I would just stand there,” Sarfaraz says while reminiscing his unbeaten 71 off 140, even if it came in a lost cause as the Karnataka quicks shared all nine wickets between them. “I had been working on my game against swing bowling for a while with my dad. I knew I could play it; I had the confidence. So I decided to stay at the wicket and get set. But the wicket was such that scoring big wasn’t possible and we were losing wickets too. It was one of my best innings, it gave me a lot of confidence.”In the Mumbai circuit you must constantly score because there are a lot of players who have scored a lot but they’re on the bench. I didn’t think that they would remove me from the team, I just knew I had to score, and I was hungry for runs after the cooling-off period.”Sarfaraz Khan has hit over 1600 runs in 14 Ranji Trophy innings at an average of nearly 150 since his return to Mumbai•PTI Sarfaraz has struck record-breaking form since then. He followed that with an unbeaten 301, a 226 not out, 78 and 177, all in one season – 2019-20 – to aggregate 928 runs for a whopping average of nearly 155.”When I hit that triple-hundred, I was on 132 against UP [at the end of the third day], and I saw my photo in the paper the next day, that Ranji Trophy was written on my chest and I was celebrating my century. It got kind of addictive after that. It was my dream – lifting my bat and helmet in the Mumbai jersey – and that’s not going to go anywhere. That motivates me a lot.”Like most addictions, this one has taken Sarfaraz to another level. A pandemic, a lockdown and a Ranji-less season of 2020-21 happened in between, but his hunger for big knocks did not dwindle. Before his 153 off 205, his seventh first-class hundred, in the ongoing quarter-final against Uttarakhand, he started this truncated Ranji season with a 275, followed by 63, 48 and 165 which helped Mumbai into the knockouts.Related

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Sarfaraz is currently miles ahead of his contemporaries in terms of runs scored or batting average in the Ranji Trophy since his return to Mumbai. He has over 1600 runs in 14 innings, while the next best is 1158; his average is nearly 150; and he has a staggering strike rate of over 75 with a monstrous number of boundaries, 184 fours and 35 sixes.Sarfaraz, 24 now, and his streak of big scores doesn’t come down only to his appetite for runs, his love for Mumbai and how he has worked on his fitness to lose weight. When Sarfaraz was a teenager, Naushad once saw his son looking clueless against swing and fast bowling, helped by dew in an early-morning session in Mumbai. The reason? Naushad had until then taken his son for batting practice only in the evenings.The very next day, Naushad changed things around and kept Sarfaraz’s batting sessions at Cross Maidan, in south Mumbai, in mornings. He also laid a turf pitch in front of their ground floor home where he would make Sarfaraz first water the pitch in the evening and then make him bat against the moving ball. Apart from creating hostile conditions, Naushad also taught Sarfaraz a few things about technique and temperament.”Like not to attack needlessly, not to throw my wicket away, defending for two hours non-stop in the nets,” Sarfaraz recalls his learnings. “I’m an attacking player but when an attacking player develops some patience, he can become really dangerous. There was still some problem in my technique, but my father and I worked on that a lot. So I learnt to stay on the wicket and knowing exactly where my off stump is in red-ball cricket.”I would play 600-700 balls every day at Cross Maidan and at home combined, especially against the swinging ball. If T20s are coming up then I just hit out in the nets, like playing the cut and pull. For day’s cricket [first-class games], I would focus on leaving the ball because once you see through the first hour or so, you can get going and nobody can stop an attacking batsman like me.”It’s [the pitch at home] the toughest wicket I practice on. After playing in such places when I go for matches, I don’t find it so difficult because this practice I go through is really tough – it has bounce, speed, swing, cut, dampness, everything.”Sarfaraz Khan brings out the ramp during his IPL stint with Delhi Capitals•PTI Sarfaraz’s return to home also partially coincided with the start of the pandemic. In March 2020, when Sarfaraz was in Madhya Pradesh for a club game after the Ranji season, Naushad sensed the government was going to impose a lockdown. He wiped the dust off his SUV, drew down to MP with his other son, Musheer, to pick up Sarfaraz, and drove them all over UP during the lockdown to make them train on fields and farms for 400-600 balls per day while the whole world was shutting down.Reaping the benefits of years of hard work is reflecting in his performances now, Sarfaraz says, as he continues to score runs by buckets against the red ball. The rest he leaves to destiny.”People would earlier think that Sarfaraz is just a white-ball player because I had been playing Under-19 World Cups and IPL, nobody counted me as a red-ball player,” he says. “But I knew that if I get the opportunities, then I can perform because for four-five years I had been working hard continuously.”My job is to make runs. I have a lot of confidence in myself that I can keep scoring in Ranji Trophy. If I work more with my father, I can score even more. I never go out to bat thinking I’ve to score 200 or 300. I think about the team first, what is required from me. I go out and play like four overs of each bowler, understand their bowling and once the sun comes out and they have their lunch, then I change my game.””I believe a lot in destiny. Even if I get out for ducks, I don’t stress about it; I focus on working hard. If it’s written in my destiny [to do well], nobody can take it away from me.”For similar reasons, Sarfaraz is currently not thinking too much about an India call-up and merely making the most of wearing the Mumbai jersey and scoring centuries in the Ranji Trophy.

Stats highlights from the Oval, where India registered one of their biggest ever wins

Sampath Bandarupalli12-Jul-2022110 – England’s total in the first game is their lowest against India in men’s ODIs. Their previous lowest against India was 125 in Jaipur during the 2006 Champions Trophy. It is also the second-lowest total for any team at The Oval in the 50-over format, behind England’s 103 against South Africa during the 1999 World Cup.6 for 19 – Jasprit Bumrah’s returns are the third-best for India in men’s ODIs. Stuart Binny’s 6 for 4 against Bangladesh in 2014 tops the list, while Anil Kumble’s 6 for 12 against West Indies comes second.ESPNcricinfo Ltd4 – Wickets for Bumrah in the first ten overs of England’s innings. He is only the third Indian bowler to claim four wickets within the first ten overs of an ODI innings since 2001. India claimed five wickets in the first ten overs in this game, the joint-most by them in an ODI since 2001.6 – Instances of Indian pace bowlers sharing all ten wickets in a men’s ODI, which includes their effort at The Oval. The last of the previous five instances came against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2014.Most runs as an opening pair in ODIs•ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 – India’s first win against England by a margin of ten wickets in men’s ODIs and their first since defeating Zimbabwe in 2016. It is also the first ten-wicket defeat for England in this format since losing to Sri Lanka in the quarter-final of the 2011 ODI World Cup.188 – Balls remaining when India reached the target, making this their third-biggest win in the format with respect to balls left in the game. India won with 231 balls to spare against Kenya in 2001 and chased a 105-run target against West Indies in 2018, with 211 balls to spare.80 – ODIs taken by Mohammed Shami to complete 150 wickets. He is the quickest Indian and the joint third-fastest overall to reach the milestone. The previous fastest Indian to 150 ODI wickets was Ajit Agarkar, who got there in 97 matches.ESPNcricinfo Ltd9 – Wickets shared by India’s new-ball bowling pair in the first ODI – Bumrah (6) and Shami (3). These are the most wickets for India’s opening bowlers in an ODI. There are two previous instances of India’s new-ball pair recording eight wickets in an ODI – against Bangladesh in 1998 and England in 2005.4 – Ducks recorded by England’s top six batters. It is only the sixth instance that four out of the top six batters in a line-up have bagged a duck in an ODI. The last such occasion was also by England, during the 2018 Adelaide ODI against Australia.26 – England’s total at the fall of the fifth wicket. These are the fewest runs India have conceded to have the opposition five down in an ODI. The previous lowest was 29 against Pakistan in1997.5108 – Partnership runs between Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan for the first wicket in ODIs. They are only the fourth opening duo to have scored 5000-plus runs as a pair in this format.18 – Century stands between Rohit and Dhawan, the joint third-most by any pair in ODIs. Four of those 18 partnerships have come at The Oval, the joint-most by any pair at a venue in ODIs. Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq and Zimbabwe’s Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor have stitched four century stands each at the Queens Sports Club, in Bulawayo.

With a crucial series against Sri Lanka starting this week, Mominul Haque’s men have some big questions to answer

Mohammad Isam09-May-2022Was Mount Maunganui definitive proof of how good Bangladesh can be, or was it a fluke?That wonderful win five months ago is hard to forget. It is evidence of their progress, of believing in the fact that they can win abroad, that too against the world Test champions. The dismal showing against spin in South Africa last month, on the back of their maiden ODI series victory there, has brought down the house on them. There is confusion and concern.Bangladesh are caught between wanting to back their pace attack, which has done very well for them recently, and trusting spin, which has given them mixed results even at home. Injuries to Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam mean that Ebadot Hossain and Khaled Ahmed have to step up again, but that isn’t a problem. Both fast bowlers have shown a lot of improvement.What is really alarming is the indecisiveness in their batting. Defend or attack? Which is right? Which is better? How Bangladesh answer that question may well determine how this series against Sri Lanka goes. Fortunately, the first Test is in Chattogram, considered the country’s best batting pitch.

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Bangladesh’s yo-yoing from the high of New Zealand and the low of South Africa isn’t just a case of one step forward, two steps back. The tentativeness in their game is actually understandable when you consider the sheer level of scrutiny they are under. With a passionate fan following, attentive media and an intrusive cricket board to deal with, they don’t have the luxury of getting away with .This team is now preparing for its most important Test series this year. They are playing Sri Lanka, whom they consider equals in Test cricket, in a home series. Recent results however suggest Bangladesh still have some ground to make up.In the two previous Test series in 2018 and 2021, they capitulated to spin after Sri Lanka’s patient batting softened them. South Africa used a similar formula in the two Tests last month, which came as a surprise to Bangladesh who were expecting a trial by pace instead of spin.Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer broke all kinds of records when they took 29 wickets between themselves. Bangladesh were bowled out for 53 and 80 in two embarrassing fourth innings performances, especially when you consider the amount of left-arm spin they face almost every day at home.

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Taskin Ahmed has come on in leaps and bounds thanks to the work he put in during the pandemic•AFP/Getty ImagesThis is the same side (considerably weaker on paper) that won in New Zealand, arguably the toughest place to tour in recent times. Bangladesh showed surprising amounts of patience with bat and ball, exploited the conditions better and applied an extra skill, reverse swing, to tilt the game at a crucial juncture.People might still say it was a fluke. After all, one of the lowest-ranked Test teams beat the top-ranked one in their backyard. Plus, there’s Bangladesh’s record in New Zealand. And their subsequent results.

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But was it really a fluke? Over the course of five full days, Bangladesh displayed concentration, patience and the very best of their skills. Methodically they managed to out-bowl, out-bat and out-catch New Zealand, despite being without Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.

Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Mominul Haque, Litton Das and Yasir Ali batted out of their skins in a rare display of experience and youth coming together. Mehidy Hasan Miraz chipped in with tight spells and late runs. Taskin , Ebadot and Shoriful were the bowling architects, and arguably the main match-winners.Bangladesh’s fast bowling has come a long way in a short time. As recently as September 2019, they went into a Test with Soumya Sarkar as their lone seamer. But now, Taskin has come on in leaps and bounds. Shoriful is a breath of fresh air. And Ebadot, well he became the first Bangladesh pacer in nine years to take a Test five-for.Despite injury concerns, Taskin and Shoriful continued to bowl well in South Africa, while Ebadot kept getting better at keeping the runs down. Mehidy too has grown as a cricketer in these five months, but there ends Bangladesh’s individual improvement.

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The batting is unsettled. Concern begins at the top as captain Mominul’s struggle for runs continues into a third Test series. There doesn’t seem to be any specific technical errors but he has had huge trouble getting starts, having got out for single-digits nine times in the last 12 innings.Bangladesh have tried six openers in these six Tests, with only Joy scoring more than 200 runs. Shadman Islam has been woeful in his five appearances, eventually losing his place when Tamim returned to the Test side in South Africa.Only Litton has really stood out among all the batters, scoring 501 runs at an average of 45.54, with two hundreds and two fifties. Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim and Yasir have averaged in the twenties, while Mominul lurks at 15.The return of Tamim and Shakib against Sri Lanka will boost the batting line-up but Bangladesh are looking for more than that. They want to build a Test team that can stand up on its own, with the likes of Litton, Joy, Yasir, Mehidy and Taskin at the forefront. Tamim, Shakib and Mushfiqur won’t be around forever. It’s time for the next generation to take the lead.

With Zimbabwe enjoying a T20I purple patch, WI have their backs against the wall

Firdose Moonda18-Oct-20222:17

Jason Holder: We need to be more ‘situation-aware’ while batting

How much can we read into the fact that ahead to their crunch Group B clash, West Indies sent their best-performing player from their defeat to Scotland to face the media and Zimbabwe presented their only batter who didn’t perform from their victory over Ireland?Perhaps there’s nothing more to it than the luck of the draw and those were the players tasked with press conference duties on the day or maybe in there is a small glimpse into the mindset of each of these teams: West Indies are looking for heroes who can do what Jason Holder did (2 for 14 and 38 runs off 33 balls against Scotland) and more; Zimbabwe are comfortable that even if someone like Regis Chakabva (who was dismissed for a two-ball duck against Ireland) fails, they have the resources to rally. That’s the word usually reserved for West Indies and it’s what they have to do to keep their hopes of progressing to the Super 12s alive, primarily with the bat.”We didn’t bat well. We were four down by the tenth over and that’s not ideally where we need to be in a given T20 match. We’ve got to really set it up better for the back half to really prosper,” Holder said, putting the spotlight on the obvious fault from West Indies first match. “We just kept losing our wickets at bad phases of the game and I think that’s where the game got away from us. I don’t think there’s much more. When you keep a team to 160 in T20 cricket, you expect to walk home, but we didn’t. So it’s just a matter of us to really look at how we build partnerships in the middle and to really set the game up for the back half.”Asked whether West Indies were missing power-hitting of the past like Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard, Holder was unequivocal: “I don’t think we’re missing everyone. We’ve got every tool we need in this dressing room.”Zimbabwe have won eight of their last nine T20is•ICC via Getty ImagesChakabva agrees with that, and said Zimbabwe are bracing for a West Indian rebound, even though they have barely played against them in this format. They’ve only faced off in three T20Is, and the last one came more than nine years ago. They haven’t played against each other in more than four years, in any format, but on reputation alone, Zimbabwe are talking the opposition up. “West Indies are a force to be reckoned with, and they’ll be hungry tomorrow to put in a big fight, and we know they’re going to bring a big fight,” Chakabva said.He’s right in that West Indies are serious about getting their campaign back on track. They have played open cards, both in the media where coach Phil Simmons called their batting effort “unprofessional,” and with each other in the post-match analysis. “We had a very frank and honest discussion,” Holder said. “The guys really shared how they felt personally and got their emotions across. I think it’s important to have constructive conversations within the dressing room – it only builds the character of the team. Once we continue to be honest with one another, then go and execute, then I think we’ll be in much better stead.”Whether the conversation will impact performance remains to be seen but the proof will come on the playing field and there, Holder did not hold back on what he expects from his team-mates. “Tomorrow would determine if the chats and discussions were fruitful. We just need to deliver. It’s no uncertain terms about it. I think we’ve got what it takes to win this competition within our dressing room, but there’s no point in just having the talent. We’ve got to produce it. Execution is the name of the game,” Holder said. “We just need to find a way to put it together, not only put it together in the batting front but a complete game.”Zimbabwe have not gone anywhere near predicting something as massive as a tournament win. They wouldn’t. For them, the first goal is getting into the Super 12s as a tribute to their new coach Dave Houghton, who said he didn’t regard their tournament to have started unless they reached that stage, and who has allowed them to believe in themselves again. “Dave has been brilliant with us, with everybody really around the team, and we’ve all loved having him,” Chakabva said. “He’s really brought that fun and really positive nature and aspect of our games back into the squad.”But it’s not all love and light. Zimbabwe have also brought variety and skill to the tournament, especially in their bowling. In Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani, they have a left-right opening bowling combination of pace, bounce and seam movement. Tendai Chatara and Luke Jongwe complete a four-seam attack, for whom Australian conditions seem tailor-made. When operating at what both Chakabva and Holder identified as Test-match length, this attack could present a stern challenge to West Indies’ shaky line-up. And they are followed by at least three spin option – Sean Williams, Ryan Burl and Sikandar Raza. If needed, Zimbabwe have more in reserve.The depth in their squad and their recent successful run – Zimbabwe have won eight of their last nine T20Is – means West Indies are not taking anything for granted, and they sent their best player to confirm it. “Zimbabwe are a very good cricket team and they have been more and more competitive. They seem to be on a nice winning streak too,” Holder said. “We expect a highly competitive game, probably one of the toughest games that we’re going to have here in this competition.”

Luck Index puts a value to each of the chances and how they affected the result

S Rajesh01-Sep-2022Kusal Mendis was the hero of the run-chase for Sri Lanka with a 37-ball 60, but he could have been dismissed a lot earlier had it not been for huge slice of luck going his way. Mendis had four clear chances, and thanks to ESPNcricinfo’s Luck Index, we can quantify the impact of those chances, in terms of the runs they cost Bangladesh.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe most expensive of those lives was the first one, which came in the second over of the innings, when Mendis had scored just 2 off 3 balls. Mushfiqur Rahim dropped a tough catch off Taskin Ahmed, and according to Luck Index, it cost them a whopping 37 runs. In short, had that chance been taken, Bangladesh would have almost certainly won the game.Bangladesh had three other opportunities to dismiss Mendis, but failed each time. In the seventh over, he was caught-behind off a no-ball when on 29 off 16. That cost Bangladesh 10 runs, while the non-review of a caught-behind (which was called a wide) cost them seven runs.