The underappreciated genius of Ravindra Jadeja

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

He is tireless and accurate, but there are other layers to his bowling as well, which perhaps aren’t as clearly discernible

Karthik Krishnaswamy09-Feb-20234:50

Chappell: Labuschgane’s dismissal showed how much Jadeja has improved over the years

It’s nearing 10am on Thursday when Ravindra Jadeja strolls in to bowl his first ball in Test cricket since July 2022. Since then, he has played a bit of white-ball cricket, injured his right knee and undergone surgery, and he has played only one first-class game since returning to action.He took a seven-for in that game, but this is a Test match, and facing him now is Marnus Labuschagne, the world’s No. 1 Test batter. The stage can’t be bigger, the stakes can’t be higher.Then Jadeja bowls, and it’s as if he had never gone away. Quick, angling in from left-arm around, and pitching on that most Jadejaesque of lengths. It draws Labuschagne forward, but still leaves a significant distance between the bat and landing point. Enough distance for all kinds of mischief threatening either edge of the bat.Related

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This ball grips the pitch and rips across the face of Labuschagne’s bat. Hello again, Test cricket. I’m well, how have you been?

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Of the 13 left-arm spinners with at least 150 Test wickets, no one has a better average than Jadeja’s 24.40. If you widen the net to include all spinners with the same wickets cut-off, only four – Jim Laker, Muthiah Muralidaran, Clarrie Grimmett and R Ashwin – sit above him.For a bowler with that sort of record, Jadeja has gone through a strangely unexamined career. While the methods of Ashwin – the Laker to Jadeja’s Tony Lock (who sits in second place in the left-arm spinners’ list) – are routinely dissected by commentators and cricket writers, often in minute detail, those of Jadeja have usually been described in simplistic terms: he is tireless, he is accurate, he is at you all the time.This is partly because Ashwin loves to talk about his bowling, and is comfortable doing so in English, the dominant language of cricket discourse. He is also hugely media-savvy, and runs a successful YouTube channel. Jadeja isn’t fluent in English, and is a far more reticent figure.The other reason is that it perhaps demands closer watching to get to the nub of why Jadeja is as good as he is. He is tireless and accurate, yes, but so is Ashwin. There are other layers to Jadeja’s bowling, just as there are to Ashwin’s, but they perhaps aren’t as clearly discernible.KS Bharat pulled off a sharp stumping to remove Marnus Labuschagne•Getty ImagesWhile interviewing India’s then bowling coach Bharat Arun after India’s 3-0 home-series win over South Africa in 2019, I asked him about Jadeja’s hidden layers. His reply was concise and illuminating.”Because he’s got such an efficient action, he can use the crease at will,” Arun said. “If you see most left-arm spinners, they’ll go wide of the crease and bowl. They can hardly use the crease. But his action is so good that it allows him to use the crease at will. It adds a lot of dimension to your bowling, because you’re spinning at different angles, the ball behaves differently from different angles. Not many bowlers have it.”

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Angles.Jadeja starts the 36th over of Australia’s innings from wide of the crease, bowling full and flat and angling the ball a long way in. Labuschagne gets forward and looks to defend, and the ball goes with the angle down the leg side and hits him on the pad.The second and third – delivered from wide of the crease and the middle of the box, respectively – are quicker and finish around off stump, not turning a great deal either time. Labuschagne, as he has done right through this innings, goes deep in his crease both times, but not across his stumps. He wants to stay leg side of the ball and minimise the risk of lbw. He punches one of these balls towards backward point, and defends the other in roughly the same direction.For the fourth ball, he goes wide of the crease again and bowls full, angling in towards leg stump. Labuschagne defends off the front foot, into the on side. The fifth ball looks a little like the fourth ball – or it must to Labuschagne – at least when it leaves Jadeja’s hand. He steps forward but not really across, so by the time the ball lands, his front toe is somewhere between leg stump and middle.This ball, unlike the previous one, lands ever so slightly shorter than expected, and because of that inward angle Jadeja has created, a little shorter also means it lands somewhere around off stump, or even a little outside.There is a gap between where Labuschagne’s feet are and where the ball is, and it widens dramatically as the ball turns – far more than any of the balls leading up to this one. Is there a chance this is intentional, and not merely natural variation?A zoomed-in replay suggests it may well have been intended to turn big. Jadeja has delivered this ball not with the square seam and undercut wrist action that maximises natural variation, but in the classic left-arm spinner’s manner. The seam points towards slip or maybe gully, and there is as much overspin as sidespin.It has dipped a little, it has turned a lot, and in an effort to reach for the ball and catch up with it, Labuschagne has stretched so far that he drags his back foot out of the crease. His bat gets nowhere near the ball, and before he knows it he is gone, stumped, to raucous celebrations from KS Bharat, debutant effecting first Test dismissal.That wicket gave every indication of a batter being set up, and during his end-of-day press conference, Jadeja was asked to describe how he did it.2:06

Jadeja: Used the crease to create doubt in mind of batters

Jadeja didn’t describe the dismissal, but spoke about his general plan of operation against Labuschagne and Steven Smith during their third-wicket stand of 82.”Some balls were turning, and they [Labuschagne and Smith] were searching for runs,” he said. “It wasn’t easy to score singles and keep rotating strike. If you kept bowling in good areas, the batsmen will look to try something different – these two are busy batsmen, they look to score runs.”When their partnership got going, I felt I had to bowl as many dot balls as possible, because there wasn’t a lot of help from the wicket – it wasn’t spinning consistently. I just looked to bowl on a good line and length.”All this was true and essential. Bowlers look to bowl good areas and force errors. They may also do other things along the way, but that wasn’t part of Jadeja’s answer.Then Jadeja was asked about his use of the crease.”Absolutely, I was using the crease because not every ball was turning, and there wasn’t that much bounce in the wicket. So just to create some doubt in the batsman’s mind I went wide of the crease, and every now and then close to the stumps. I was mixing it up, and if they step out and the ball turns, a chance could be created, and luckily that’s what happened – he stepped out and that ball happened to turn.”This, in a sense, is what happens most times a bowler appears to set up a batter. There is no grand plan to bowl a sequence of deliveries culminating in a knockout blow. Set-ups occur organically: there is a general plan for each batter, depending on their style of play, and as the contest develops, the bowler might try a certain kind of delivery at a certain time, and hope that something interesting happens. Sometimes it does.But wait, didn’t Jadeja make an effort to turn that particular ball to Labuschagne, with that classic seam position and everything? Did that not indicate he wanted that ball, at least, to do precisely what it did?Well, perhaps.In his third over after dismissing Labuschagne, Jadeja bowled a ball to Smith with a similar seam orientation, and landed it in roughly the same area. For what it’s worth, he bowled this from a little closer to the stumps than the Labuschagne ball.Ravindra Jadeja bowled Steven Smith with the one that went on with the arm•Getty ImagesHaving seen Jadeja turn the ball viciously on multiple occasions, having been beaten on the outside edge a few times himself, and having possibly spotted the seam’s orientation – the very best players of spin have an extraordinary eye for a rapidly spinning ball – Smith played for turn, leaving a gap between bat and pad as he pressed forward to defend.The ball went straight on, more or less, and squeezed through that gap to bowl Smith.”From the same spot the ball went straight to Smith,” Jadeja said, later. “So the natural variation happened, but I kept trying to mix up the angles to create doubt in the batsman’s mind.”

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On a pitch lacking bounce, Jadeja constantly kept the stumps in play. There aren’t too many bowlers in the world who do this as well as him, and the result was this: Labuschagne, Matt Renshaw, Smith, Todd Murphy, Peter Handscomb; stumped, lbw, bowled, lbw, lbw.There was certainly more help in the pitch than Jadeja suggested in his press conference, but less, perhaps, than what media predictions might have led you to believe. The most eagerly anticipated contest – Jadeja and Axar Patel spearing the ball into the dry, rough areas outside the left-handers’ off stump – barely happened at all. It may yet happen in the second innings. On day one, Jadeja’s successes against the left-handers, and most of his bowling to them, was from round the wicket, using that angle to try and pitch within the stumps and finish within them.Along the way, he varied his release positions, delivering from different parts of the crease – usually wider to right-handers and from closer to the stumps to left-handers – and also by bowling with a lower arm every now and then. But he did all this subtly. He usually didn’t brush past the umpire one ball and threaten to cut the return crease with his next ball, but changed his crease position by a few inches this way and that. His arm, usually at 11 o’clock when viewed from behind, occasionally dropped to 10:30.All this, of course, was gleaned from pausing, rewinding, and studying replays over and over. In real-time, most of these variations were far too subtle for a non-cricketer sitting in a press box to pick up. Jadeja doesn’t want the batter to pick his variations, so he sure as hell doesn’t want the rest of the world to pick them.The unintended consequence, regrettable for cricket fans, is that his method is bloody hard to describe. It’s led to Jadeja closing in on 250 Test wickets at a sub-25 average while being somewhat underappreciated, but he won’t mind it if that makes him a more effective bowler.

Chronicle of a collapse foretold – Pakistan's meltdown in Multan

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

For a while, Pakistan promised much in the second Test, but there would be no improbable fourth-innings glory, just another defeat

Danyal Rasool12-Dec-2022The fog that hovered over the Multan Cricket Stadium has dissipated, and the sun is shining. England’s lead spinner, Jack Leach, doesn’t seem much of a threat to Pakistan’s chances of a series-equalising win. Abrar Ahmed has made the surface look like a raging turner on day one, but on the other side of the weekend, the pitch only appears to be improving. Saud Shakeel is batting with the confidence of a man playing his 92nd Test rather than his second. Mohammad Nawaz is sweeping his way through spin, and using his feet against seam. Monday morning blues? This Multan crowd doesn’t know the meaning of it.Related

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Faheem Ashraf falls early in the morning, but there are no signs of Shakeel following suit. Across this series, the newbie to Test cricket has carried himself with the vibe of a high-schooler rocking his dad’s best clothes for a formal occasion, and pulling it off with gusto. This stage suits him fine. His fourth-innings average in first-class cricket is in excess of 66. He is born for this occasion, and an innings conceived in various Quaid-e-Azam trophy competitions is being delivered against England.Nawaz’s promotion ahead of Salman Agha catches enough people off-guard, and wonder if the latter was nursing a niggle, particularly as Pakistan eschew a left-right combination for Nawaz to come in at seven. But the variety in the two batters’ playing styles still gives England plenty to ponder.Nawaz sweeps one of every five balls he faces off Leach or Joe Root; Shakeel one in 52. Shakeel is content to defend – nearly half of all deliveries against spin are defended or left alone. Nawaz, meanwhile, is pointedly proactive against spin, scoring 28 in 30 balls. England push fields out, and get catchers in for the sweep. Then, as the pair exchange ends, the fielders creep in that bit closer, sweepers move squarer.Pakistan cricket has days like these. Three chases in excess of 300 in the past decade would attest to that, as would two remarkable Test matches against Australia in Karachi. Multan, meanwhile, was home to a classic fourth-innings heist against this very team in 2005 – Pakistan dragging a side that had just won the Ashes over the summer back down to earth with a 22-run win. It would prove to be a dynasty-killer, with that England side dismantled over the next few seasons. England now seem to be building another dynasty, and Pakistan have the chance to prove the foundations are wobblier than Brendon McCullum would have you believe.Ollie Robinson wheels away after taking the final wicket•Matthew Lewis/Getty ImagesAs lunch beckons, Ben Stokes turns to Mark Wood. It’s not the first time he’s tried that; 24 hours earlier, with Pakistan’s opening partnership unbroken, Wood was brought on for a two-over pre-lunch burst. He couldn’t break through but he did enough to whet English appetites: Mohammad Rizwan was given out lbw before it was overturned on review, and Abdullah Shafique had taken on a short ball, only to get a top edge that sailed for six. Stokes knew the outcome did not override the potential behind the strategy. So here, with lunch three overs away, is Wood once more.At times like these, Wood has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, and all its destructive power, too. There’s a short leg around the bat, and three men in catching positions on the leg side. Just before he bowls the first ball, Zak Crawley moves out of first slip, and positions himself at catching square leg. Unless it’s a phenomenally good double bluff, even the most unobservant viewer would tell you to watch out for a short-ball burst.Nawaz ducks the first, but it’s the boundary he scores off the second that really encourages England. It was straying on to the hips. That could suggest inaccuracy on the bowler’s part, but he might as easily have been testing Pakistan’s willingness for a dab down the leg side. It doesn’t get up high enough, and Nawaz clips it past the wicketkeeper for a four. The trap is set, the bait in place.Every one of Wood’s 12 balls before lunch lands short of a length. It’s an unsustainable barrage from a bowler who frequently exceeds the 90mph mark, just returning to Test cricket from an injury that kept him out in the first Test. It’s a desperate throw of the dice on a monopoly board where Pakistan own most of the best properties. As with any kind of baiting, it only works if the baited engages. Pakistan do not need to engage, and England are desperate for them to.Pakistan cricket has days like these, as Babar Azam has found out too often of late•Getty ImagesAside from that flicked four, Pakistan try and play just two of Wood’s short balls, leaving all others well alone. But with the risk-reward ratio stacked so thoroughly in the bowler’s favour, it’s a very high number. Once Nawaz, and then Shakeel are drawn by the temptation of an easy boundary to fine leg, the carrot of four fewer runs to get dangles much too closely to be resisted. Twice, Pakistan walk into the trap, and twice, the trap springs shut.Few among the locals at the ground are looking forward to lunch; the knot in the stomach leaves little room for an appetite. The calm assuredness the long-suffering fans get to see so rarely has vanished again, to be replaced by the frenzied status quo, at the end of which only lies heroic failure.They still cheer animatedly when Abrar swishes and flicks his way to a breezy 17, but there’s a knowingness to it all, like counting your pennies as you save up for a dream car you know you’ll never be able to afford. There’s comfort in moving closer to that unobtainable destination, and as Pakistan count the runs required each time Abrar hits another boundary, that’s exactly what it feels like.Pakistan are snapped out of that daydream soon enough, and before long, England squash the last dregs of resistance out of Zahid Mahmood and Mohammad Ali. Far from adding to the improbable flurry of recent fourth-innings heroics, Multan instead bears witness to the burgeoning list of Pakistan’s batting collapses. Last week, they lost their last five wickets for nine runs. This time, 38.The sun is still shining just as brightly, but as the fans stream out from behind the shaded columns of the stadium, they can no longer see it. Pakistan cricket has days like these, too.

New Zealand vs Sri Lanka: Visitors' opening woes, Shipley's likely T20I debut and IPL auditions

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Here are the talking points ahead of the three-match T20I series between the two teams

Andrew Fidel Fernando01-Apr-2023The cricket world’s attention may mostly be trained on the opening weekend of the IPL, but there’s plenty for New Zealand and Sri Lanka to play for, in this three-match T20I series starting Sunday. Here are some of the narratives to watch out for.Can Hasaranga be effective in New Zealand?Just as Sri Lanka are looking for their first victory of the tour, Wanindu Hasaranga is looking for his first international wicket in New Zealand. He was not especially threatening in the ODIs, but he tends to be much more effective in the shortest format, where he is ranked second among bowlers, internationally. He has a tough challenge first up, as Sunday’s match is at Eden Park, one of the smallest grounds in the world, where even mis-hits off legspinners can sail into the stands.Will Shipley make a big entry into T20 internationals?Henry Shipley has had a spectacular start to his limited-overs career at home, having taken five wickets in the first ODI, then three in the third. A tall quick, who braces his front leg in his bowling stride, and as such is able to deliver the ball from a substantial height, Shipley caused problems with the bounce he generated, in both Auckland and Wellington ODIs. He’s likely to make his T20I debut at some point in the series.Sri Lanka’s top order woesThey collapsed twice in the ODIs, crashing to 76 all out in Auckland, before being 100 for 6 in Hamilton. Their problems tend to start in the powerplay, where they struggle with the moving ball. But the middle order has been little better, failing to contend with shorter lengths, and the bounce New Zealand’s quicks get from their surfaces. Sri Lanka’s batting does tend to be better in T20Is than in ODIs, however, with the likes of Dasun Shanaka, and Kusal Mendis having been especially good in the format. They will feel the pressure to redeem themselves after a horror ODI series.Matt Henry was in excellent form in the ODI series against Sri Lanka•AFP/Getty ImagesHenry’s rhythmFor a bowler who has been around the New Zealand team for much of the last decade, Matt Henry has not had the chance to play consistently. At 31, he doesn’t quite have 100 international appearances to his name. He has come into his own recently, however, and appears to be in excellent rhythm across formats. He was a force during the Test series against Sri Lanka, where he was the joint-highest wicket-taker, and bowled with superb discipline in the ODIs. If he sets the tone with the new ball again, Sri Lanka are in for another tough series.IPL auditionsWhile the Sri Lanka board generally insists that their players put international matches ahead of their IPL commitments, New Zealand allowed their IPL cohort to join their franchises in India ahead of this series. Those that remain have not secured contracts, but still, have an outside chance to be picked up as replacements during the tournament. Good performances in this series for the likes of James Neesham, Henry, and Shanaka, could propel them into IPL reckoning, with a long IPL season likely to feature some injuries along the way.

BPL blueprint serves Shanto proud as Bangladesh achieve statement win

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Influence of domestic tournament plain to see as homegrown matchwinners come to fore

Mohammad Isam09-Mar-2023It is commonplace for players from India, Pakistan and Australia to feed their form, confidence, planning and attitude from tournaments like the IPL, PSL and BBL into the international game. That has hardly been the case for Bangladeshi players and the BPL. The nine editions to date haven’t produced many players organically, neither have they influenced the playing style or confidence that Bangladesh’s national side has carried into T20Is.Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy have bucked this trend for once. The pair reproduced their Sylhet Strikers’ form and partnership in the first T20I in Chattogram, resulting in Bangladesh’s maiden victory against England in the format. The BPL ended less than a month ago, with many of its top performers picked in this Bangladesh squad. The policy has paid dividends in several aspects of this win.Shanto was the BPL’s leading run-getter with 516 runs at an average of 39.69, with four half-centuries. Hridoy made one more fifty, scoring 403 runs at a strike-rate of 140.41. They put together 466 runs in 12 partnerships, with one century stand, the best in the BPL this season.At 43 for two in the sixth over, chasing 157, Bangladesh really needed Shanto and Hridoy, on debut, to keep the run-rate up on a pitch that, as England had discovered, got trickier as the ball got older. Shanto responded by hitting Mark Wood, England’s fastest bowler, for four consecutive boundaries in the seventh over.Shanto went on to hit his third T20I fifty in four matches, following on from the two he scored against Zimbabwe and Pakistan in the T20 World Cup last year. He was the team’s top-scorer in that competition, and has now carried that form through the BPL and the ODIs against England.Related

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“I have been scoring regularly, which allows extra confidence,” Shanto said. “Game awareness gets better. I had a better understanding of building my innings. I wasn’t given a specific plan. We just tried to continue with the momentum from the openers. We stuck to a normal plan, reacted to the ball. We tried to apply the way we batted in the BPL. It was nothing different than that.”Shanto added that Hridoy’s confidence at the other end also helped him play his shots. Hridoy struck two fours and a six in his 17-ball 24, but like Shanto, looked full of confidence from the BPL. “[Hridoy’s] approach and intent, in his first international match, gave me a lot of confidence. He never got nervous playing against such a big team. We just batted the way we batted in the BPL, where we had some big partnerships.”Shanto said that he hadn’t planned to go after Wood, but focused on finding the gaps, and it all came together. “There was no pre-planning. I reacted to the ball. I tried to use the gaps, which is obviously why I could find the boundaries,” he said.Even the opposition noticed how well Shanto played, arguably changing the course of the game with his quickfire fifty. Phil Salt said that Bangladesh completely aced the 157-run chase.”Shanto played very well in the chase,” Salt said. “I think the openers set the chase up very well for them, and I think in the middle they played really well. I think the lads that were in for them, they found a way of getting a boundary early in the over quite a lot of the time. I think they ran pretty well as well. So, they’ll be sitting in that dressing-room right now, thinking that’s as close to a perfect chase as they’d have wanted these conditions.”Shanto said that he sensed that Bangladesh were slowly coming into control of the game from the midpoint of England’s innings. The visitors added only 76 runs in the last ten overs, after they had rushed to 80 for 1 in the first half.”The way we made the comeback in the last ten overs [of the England innings], that gave us the confidence” he said. “Then we started well with the bat. We knew that two more partnerships will get us close to the win.”Bangladesh’s fast bowlers – who only gave away 21 runs in the last four overs – were instrumental in turning their fortunes around, not least Hasan Mahmud, another star of the BPL, whose 17 wickets for Rangpur Rangers had been the joint-most in the competition.”He bowled an important spell. I think his BPL performance gave him confidence today,” Shanto said. “Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed and Mustafiz bowled really well in the last few overs. They played a big role in closing them down on 156 for 6.”Bangladesh have been a poor T20I team for a long time, but the recent T20 World Cup offered them some timely confidence after they won two games in the competition for the first time. Shanto scored key runs, Bangladesh won some close games, which all added up to their increased self-belief.The talk of impact, a watchword in the latter half of 2022, has finally come through for them. “The batsmen were given freedom in this series,” Shanto said. “Impact can’t happen quickly. It takes time. It depends on wickets, conditions. I think the batsmen have a lot more freedom, and soon there will be more impact.”

The slow burn finish that took South into the Duleep Trophy final

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

North Zone’s delay tactics – they took 53 minutes to bowl the last 5.5 overs – didn’t bear fruit

Himanshu Agrawal08-Jul-2023Wet weather or dark skies interrupted the Duleep Trophy semi-final in Bengaluru 17 times across the four days.The intermittent monsoon rain had most people feeling lethargic, not least when play was to begin at 3.50 pm local time – after what would be the final delay – and South Zone requiring just another 32 runs for victory with six wickets in hand.The 20-member ground staff looked determined to get the game going, animatedly wiping, dusting and tending to various parts of the pitch and the outfield which had taken damage.And when play was finally ready to resume, the partnership for the fifth wicket, between young guns Tilak Varma and Ricky Bhui, stood at 42 off just 24 balls. Grey clouds lingered above, it seemed like rain could stop play any moment again, and South were running out of time. So Varma and Bhui knew it was now or never.And that produced a mistake. With the requirement reduced to 24, Bhui found the fine-leg fielder off the fifth ball of the 32nd over, bowled by Baltej Singh. South were five down, with Varma firm, and Washington Sundar in next. It was still very much possible.Even two balls later, when Prabhsimran Singh tumbled to his left to have Varma caught behind off Harshit Rana, it felt far from fatal. After all, Washington was there at the other end, and the incoming Sai Kishore was a handy lower-order batter.Even as North got those back-to-back wickets, their captain Jayant Yadav was trying to eat up precious time. The 33rd over took as long as ten minutes, with the next one by Harshit consuming just as much, as the bowlers took their time in tying shoelaces, digging up the heels of those shoes and waiting for the field to be set just right.Darkness was approaching, and the rain clouds were hanging right above but Jayant was in no hurry. After all, a draw would have been enough to push North into the final thanks to a first-innings lead of three runs.

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Sai Kishore swung Baltej for six over long-on in the 34th over, which ended with South at 201 for 6. Only 14 more to get. There was comfort. It was a matter of two or three good hits, especially with Washington on strike to the start the 35th. I got into scribbling my report for the day, the first line of which already mentioned a four-wicket win for South, with Washington and Sai Kishore unbeaten.But Washington gave a catch to deep extra cover and the tension finally began to build. Suddenly, the small bunch of spectators, who had been hooting so loudly that vuvuzelas would have fallen short, were checked in their cheer.The new batter was No. 9 KV Sasikanth, who was under pressure to give the strike to the more dependable Sai Kishore. Momentum was tilting towards North with the late drama, and yet Jayant and Baltej took 12 minutes to get the 35th over done. They tried to slow the game down, and sitting in the dressing room, South’s captain Hanuma Vihari had no objection to such tactics.North Zone captain Jayant Yadav has a chat with umpire Rohan Pandit•PTI “We have come across a lot of games where teams are trying to delay the final few overs to take advantage, which is not wrong,” he said after the day’s play. “Even if I was the captain, I would have done the same thing… so anything to win, [but] to a point. I think it was fair. Overall, I wouldn’t complain.”During the course of that 35th over, which took longer than an entire innings break, Sasikanth dispatched a six over deep square leg. The partisan crowd found its voice again, yelling and whistling to remind everyone of their presence. On the field, the umpires had to separate a charged-up Sai Kishore and Harshit.And off it, even superstars Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya, who were working at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) there, were watching from the stands. So was the NCA’s head VVS Laxman.

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Two more to win. Three wickets in hand. Sasikanth facing Baltej. Fielders in most directions are halfway towards the rope, except the man at midwicket, who was Jayant himself. Baltej bowls one full and straight, and Sasikanth chips to Jayant. Eight down.Or maybe it wasn’t. The umpires asked Sasikanth to wait while he was walking back, confirming from their colleague upstairs if Baltej’s front foot was within permissible limits. The next batter Vijaykumar Vyshak was halfway into the field of play, perhaps praying that it was indeed a no-ball so he won’t to face up to a fired up Baltej.The wait grew longer and longer, the stress multiplied – like it used to do in school when board exam results are out and we’re searching for our marks – before Sasikanth was given out.

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While speaking after the third day’s play, Vyshak was asked if the three-run lead they had conceded would end up hurting South, considering the inclement weather and he said, “if somebody had got an extra boundary, or maybe if we could have stopped one boundary per bowler, it would have made a difference”.Now there he was with bat in hand. Two runs to win. Two wickets remaining.A nervous-looking Varma sat under an umbrella right below the journalists in the press box, as Vyshak took guard. All Vyshak had to do was negotiate Baltej’s three remaining deliveries. And he did that. Each time the ball hit the bat and dribbled away safely, the crowd rallied, with every roar louder than the previous one.

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Jayant replaced Harshit with himself. Sai Kishore on strike, with two runs to get. The field tempts the batter to go over the top, and Jayant goes full on middle and off. Sai Kishore spots it early, and heaves the ball over long-on for another six. Game over.Yet again, those at the P3 stand screamed themselves hoarse. Their prayers were answered. The sound of their eruption must have travelled all the way to the nearby Cubbon Park. In the end, South squeezed home by two wickets under grey skies and dying light; the last 5.5 overs had taken 53 minutes, which was met with no protest. Even those 17 interruptions in play seemed worth it.

Duleep Trophy: Four good men, four great opportunities missed

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Abhimanyu will have to wait for his next chance, while Pujara, Suryakumar and Sarfaraz will hope for another shot

Shashank Kishore05-Jul-2023Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sarfaraz Khan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Suryakumar Yadav have all had the spotlight on them for different reasons lately.There was surprise – even shock, in some quarters – that Sarfaraz and Abhimanyu were ignored for India’s Test squad despite compelling performances in domestic cricket; Pujara and Suryakumar were in the news for being dropped from the Caribbean tour party.Abhimanyu, a prolific run-getter for India A, has been leapfrogged by Yashasvi Jaiswal, who in addition to the weight of domestic runs has IPL numbers to strengthen his case. Sarfaraz, well, he has a first-class average of 79.65, second only to Don Bradman among batters who have played at least 50 innings, but hasn’t found takers at the highest level yet. And, for now, it seems as if the selectors want to look beyond Pujara for the Test No. 3 slot, one he made his own for a better part of the last 13 years over which he played 103 Tests.For Suryakumar, it’s a little less straightforward. He was handed a Test debut against Australia in Nagpur, seemingly to counter their spin threat and take the game forward on a rank turner, but he was jettisoned thereafter. Now, with Ajinkya Rahane back for the time being and named vice-captain and Shreyas Iyer waiting to return following rehabilitation after a back injury, the route back looks tougher.Abhimanyu Easwaran managed just 0 and 11 in his only Duleep Trophy match•Manoj Bookanakere/KSCAWhich is why solid performances in the ongoing Duleep Trophy could have stirred the pot a bit, kept them in the mix and given the selectors – where Ajit Agarkar is now the man in charge – healthy headaches.But…Abhimanyu only managed 0 and 11 in his two innings as East Zone, the team he captained, crashed out with a loss to Central Zone. In his first innings, he didn’t last long enough for the selectors to gauge his form, after being done in by a superb in-ducker from Avesh Khan that got him first ball. Abhimanyu was done in by a fraction of a second’s indecision, by which time the ball snuck past the inside edge to trap him plumb in front.In the second innings, he was out to square turn from Saurabh Kumar on a slightly up-and-down third-day surface. Could he have played forward? Perhaps. In playing back, he was a dead duck because there was no second line of defence against a supremely accurate left-arm spinner who has mastered the art of bowling with the new ball.Has Cheteshwar Pujara got any Test cricket left in him?•AFP/Getty ImagesSarfaraz’s case is somewhat similar. He has tons of runs over the past three seasons and has a game that he believes is an all-weather one. When you have scored runs across India, there’s perhaps merit in thinking that way. But his lack of runs for India A and the perception that he has a short-ball weakness – and poor fitness – aren’t without merit.He arrived in Bengaluru a week prior to the Duleep Trophy and trained at the NCA because the rains in Mumbai didn’t allow him much batting time. But in his first outing at the Duleep Trophy, against Central Zone, it was the short ball that felled him. Shivam Mavi got the ball to rear up as Sarfaraz chopped on, unable to get on top of the bounce. He was out for a 12-ball duck and will dearly hope a second innings awaits to make amends.Pujara could have opted to rest, and no one would have faulted him for it. He isn’t part of India’s Test squad, and it appears as if it could remain that way for the foreseeable future. But what’s life without a challenge for Pujara?When he was dropped from the Test team for the home series against Sri Lanka early last year, he piled on the runs for Sussex, 720 of them in eight innings, including four centuries. It paved the way for his return for the postponed fifth Test against England in July 2022. It’s a spot he held on to for another year during which he got to a milestone, his 100th Test.Suryakumar Yadav swept his second ball in Test cricket to the boundary, but scored just 8•BCCIHere, at the Duleep Trophy, he held fort for over two hours, faced over 100 deliveries, seemingly blunted the Central bowling, played close to his body, left well and steadied a wobbling innings. Pujara, the rock, was bedding in for a significant knock as the clouds closed in.Mavi was zipping it both ways, Yash Thakur was getting it to bounce, and Avesh was working up serious heat with his hit-the-deck style. Pujara was unperturbed by wickets falling around him, went for it only if he was dead certain the ball was in his half. He was in a zone for much of his time at the crease and then, having dug in, he threw it away slashing to the slips on 28.Related

  • Pujara – back to the grind, back to grinding bowlers down

  • Atit Sheth rescues West Zone; Kaverappa takes five on 14-wicket day

  • What more can Sarfaraz Khan do to get selected for India?

  • Gavaskar defends 'loyal servant' Pujara: 'Why make him the scapegoat for our batting failures?'

  • Pujara dropped; Jaiswal and Gaikwad in India's Test squad for West Indies

Now to Suryakumar, who had a massive slice of luck against Central when he nicked to the slips only for Vivek Singh to put down a regulation catch. Next ball, he was out fishing outside fifth stump as Mavi had him edging to Dhruv Jurel, who replaced Vivek in the slips. And, just like that, he was out for 7.Looking at the immediate future, Pujara, Suryakumar and Sarfaraz may yet have second opportunities at the Duleep Trophy. In Pujara’s case, there’s more, given that he’s set to return to the UK to complete his county commitments with Sussex. For Abhimanyu, though, the wait to press his red-ball credentials could stretch to the Irani Trophy beginning only in October later this year.

Root: 'I average more with reverse scoop than with forward defence'

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

England batter reflects on his white-ball game, the Ashes, his bond with Ben Stokes, and more

Vithushan Ehantharajah22-Aug-2023Like most fathers in their early 30s, Joe Root has recently resurrected an old hobby now that his firstborn, Alfie, is old enough – Mario Kart.It was once a regular indulgence on England duty. Root’s go-to character is “Shy Guy”, partly because he grew tired of the arguments with regular sparring partner Mark Wood over who got to be Yoshi.”My lad is six now and he watched that Super Mario movie,” Root explains to ESPNcricinfo. “We got Mario Kart out the other day and he absolutely loved it.”Related

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  • Root's Ashes reboot could be sign of new greatness to come

  • Root's mantra: To be 'consistently useful' within evolving set-up

  • Root reinvents himself while maintaining trademark style

Root brings this up because, when it comes to white-ball cricket, he feels like he is in last place on Rainbow Road. Far back enough to need a few special items to overtake those in front of him if he is to move forward as a multi-format cricketer.”It almost felt like you’re the one being chased and now you get the chance to try to catch everyone else up again,” Root says. “You want the star, or the rocket you get when you’re at the back that gives you a boost to overtake other people. It doesn’t always work out like that but you’ve got nothing to lose, do you?”I’m fully aware that I’m way down the pecking order compared to the other guys. But that’s almost quite a nice challenge to have at the age I am and the career that I’ve had.”It seems unnecessarily self-effacing for one of England’s greatest batters, particularly as Root prepares to help defend their 50-over World Cup crown this autumn. It will be his fourth white-ball World Cup, and he has made it into Jos Buttler’s squad of 15 for India this autumn ahead of dynamic talents like Harry Brook, Ben Duckett and Will Jacks. It’s also worth noting he was England’s top-scorer in 2019’s success with 556 runs.Root last played an ODI in July 2022•AFP/Getty ImagesHe is highly regarded, which is an odd set of words to type out when talking about Root and batting, but it feels necessary given he talks of his game as if there is something missing. Since relinquishing the Test captaincy at the start of the 2022 summer, he has looked to rectify that by being more proactive in the franchise market, resulting in stints for Dubai Capitals in the ILT20 and a couple of appearances for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL earlier this year.”I’ve harped on about it for what seems like forever, but I feel like I don’t ever get to play white-ball cricket anymore,” Root explains. “When I stepped down as Test captain, I saw it as a great opportunity to get in and around some more white-ball cricket. I searched out a little bit this year with the ILT20 and the IPL.”The way I see it, it’s about opening your mind up again and exploring new things which I think improves every facet and format of your game. Because if you want to keep getting better and help your teams succeed, you need to find ways to evolve and improve.”To watch Root over the last year is to see a batter with horizons broadened, based on Test performances alone. The 1527 runs scored across 18 caps under Ben Stokes have come at a better average (58.73) and strike rate (75.63) than his first four years under Sir Alastair Cook (52.80 and 55.00), not to mention the five years he held the top job (46.44 and 54.35).Beyond the numbers is a newly adopted verve at the crease. And, of course, that reverse-lap-scoop. From the jump to stand square-on to the bowler like a matador, right to the moment he flips the ball over the slips, it is perhaps the most outlandish sight in a Test set-up encouraged by head coach Brendon McCullum to push the envelope constantly.That reverse-lap-scoop is perhaps the most outlandish sight in a Test set-up encouraged to push the envelope constantly•Getty ImagesTo more traditional observers, it is akin to catching the head boy smoking behind the bike sheds with a can of Red Stripe on the go. But it works. Beyond a couple of hair-raising moments – the opening day dismissal in the first New Zealand Test back in February, the play and miss off Pat Cummins to the first ball of day four of the first Ashes Test – it has been a banker. All in all, Root has 60 runs from the 19 scoops played since the start of last summer, 12 for boundaries, of which half have gone the distance.”The hardest thing to hone with that shot was being terrified of getting it wrong and looking stupid in a Test match,” he says. “Almost the bravery of just saying, ‘I’ve got to trust everything I’ve been practising and just give myself the best chance of doing it by staying in the shot’.”The other hardest thing was playing it the next time having got out in Mount Maunganui. I’m sure there were people out there giving me pelters. ‘Imagine doing that on day one of a Test match?!’ At the same time, I think I average near enough 100 with that shot. I average more with that than with the forward defence, and I’ve got out with that plenty of times! What’s the difference, really? I get more runs from the other one.”But the bat-face turned around, the feet momentarily in the air, the first ball of an Ashes day, Joe?”It’s the change in mentality. What you perceive as risk and what you perceive as failure. Just because someone thinks it’s risky doesn’t necessarily mean it is. I played that shot at The Oval against Mitch Marsh. I hit that [for six] and he tries to bowl a leg-stump yorker, he misses and it goes down to fine leg for four. He doesn’t bowl the next over, someone else has to come back. They are calculated ways of manipulating the game that might look unusual in a Test setting but it’s just managing risk in a different mindset.”

“The other hardest thing was playing it [reverse scoop] the next time having got out in Mount Maunganui. I’m sure there were people out there giving me pelters. ‘Imagine doing that on day one of a Test match?!'”

Such a shift in the way Root thinks about the game, specifically run-scoring, is remarkable considering he was raised on a high front elbow and playing in the V. Not to mention some past mistakes that could have left an imprint on his psyche.He can picture his dismissal in the 2016 T20 World Cup final to this day – “scooping Carlos Brathwaite, caught in the circle” – and laments that he should have gone on. His innings ended on 54, as did a rebuilding stand of 61 with Buttler.Though Brathwaite finished the match with four consecutive sixes against Stokes in the final over, Root still harbours regret that he was the reason England only had 155 to defend. Balancing that is a sense of perspective: “I mean, how else am I going to score my runs if I can’t hit the ball behind me?” he laughs, offering another not-so-veiled dig at his capacity to clear the ropes.The latest chapter in Root’s quest to expand his repertoire has come in the Hundred, the only domestic cricket he will play this summer. He has donned the yellow of Trent Rockets for the third season in a row, and it is no coincidence he has been chosen to play a more significant role in 2023.The first of his six outings so far came nine days after the 2-2 Ashes scoreline was confirmed at The Oval. In those, his 142 runs off 92 balls has put him third on Rockets’ run charts, with the fourth-best strike rate. It is also a feather in Root’s short-format cap that he has been used as an opener at the expense of England’s current T20I No. 3, Dawid Malan. The last of Root’s 32 T20I caps came in May 2019.Joe Root lines up another reverse-scoop during his Hundred stint with Trent Rockets•ECB via Getty ImagesDefeat to Oval Invincibles on Monday means victory for either Welsh Fire on Tuesday or Southern Brave on Thursday will end Rockets’ season before the knockout stages. Still, Root feels the format has helped reinforce belief in his own process.”The great thing about this format when you’re chasing is you never feel you’re out of it,” Root says. “As long as you’ve got a clear way of getting to the end goal and breaking it down. The odds might not be in your favour, but as slim as they are, they always give you a chance.”We played a brilliant game at Lord’s versus London Spirit, two strong teams, quality white-ball players on both sides. We were two runs short in the end, but my innings [72 not out off 35], it was a nice reminder, even if I do it a slightly different way to a lot of others, I can still score in my own manner, in my own way. Going into these T20s and ODIs [against New Zealand] in September ahead of the World Cup, that’s such a huge positive for me.”As for his thoughts on a competition lamented by many, he sees encouraging signs off the back of a Test summer that ticked the boxes of “entertainment” and “greater engagement” set out as part of the Hundred’s objectives.”It is a very different feel to a lot of other Blast and Friday night cricket. You only have to stay behind at the end of a game for 20 minutes and you see 500 kids waiting for autographs and the guys staying out and signing for them. I think it’s great.”There are clearly a lot of young people that are very interested and engaged in this tournament. That was one of the main goals, wasn’t it – bring in a new audience and try to broaden the game out to a different viewership? And it seems to really work. If anything, it has got stronger over the three years and hopefully that will continue.””Probably, I think, the best player we’ve ever produced as a country” – Root on Ben Stokes•Getty ImagesThe stint has allowed him to reconnect with Rockets’ head coach Andy Flower, his first England coach, who crossed the divide this summer to work as a consultant for Australia. “Don’t worry, he has got plenty of stick for that. I’ve given him plenty, whether it be in meetings or gentle ribbing around training. He has got nailed.”On the Ashes itself, enough time has passed for Root to have gone through the full range of emotions. Personally, there were 412 runs at 51.50, one century – that opening day at Edgbaston when Stokes declared with him on 118 – and scores of 84 and 91 in the last two Tests. He wanted more, of course. There is also pride at being part of something so captivating, as well as a hint of “what might have been”.”We did pretty much everything we set out to do except win it,” Root says. “The first two games, the first one in particular, could definitely have gone a different way. You look back and you think, bar a crazy half-an-hour at Lord’s [when England lost three to the hook for 34 in their first innings, Root the third], you’d be sat 5-0 up if everything fell your way perfectly.”But you can say ifs and buts and all the rest of it. The fact is, we played some really strong cricket, were authentic, and were true to how we wanted to play as a team. It’s still in its infancy in many ways. We’ve played less than 20 games, completely changing how we want to do things. We’re going to make mistakes, we’re going to get small things wrong occasionally.”We are on a journey, we are at the start of things. We can’t hit a bump in the road where something doesn’t go our way the first time and say ‘that’s it’. It’s almost like we’re on the second floor of a skyscraper. The lift is going up quickly, but we’re nowhere near the top. We’re looking to get to the penthouse suite!”The real aim should be going and winning in Australia and creating a legacy that continues on a bit like the All Blacks. There’s a potential there to do what we’ve done in white-ball cricket in the Test game as well, and pave the way for the next generation to get excited about Test cricket and want to be involved in it. It certainly seems to be that way.”

“Are you joking? Did you not see my tenure as captain, the amount of times I would tell him [Stokes] to stop bowling and he would tell me to f*** off?! I didn’t see the point in even trying!”Root clarifies he had nothing to do with Stokes coming out of ODI retirement

It does not take long for praise to be heaped on Stokes, as much for unlocking potential in the group’s younger members as for drawing a little more out of Root. Their bond, forged long before Root had his best mate as vice-captain, is unbreakable. Though apparently not strong enough for Root to have had anything to do with Stokes coming out of ODI retirement for the World Cup.”It’s got nothing to do with me! Are you joking? Did you not see my tenure as captain, the amount of times I would tell him to stop bowling and he would tell me to f*** off?! I didn’t see the point in even trying!”Root scoffs at the idea that coming in as defending champions and one of the favourites will mean anything when England start their campaign on October 5 against New Zealand in Ahmedabad. But he does cede the presence of a match-winner in two World Cup finals, in 2019 and 2022, gives them something over the rest.”You know every other international team are looking thinking, ‘Damn, I thought we got rid of him!’ At the same time, it fills the rest of the squad with confidence, knowing you’ve got a proven match-winner who will always seek out those big moments.”You look at the two World Cup finals we won, and he won for us. Even the one we lost against West Indies in 2016, he still took on the big moment – he wanted that final over. To be able to come back from that in the manner that he has and deliver some of the things he has done in an England shirt is a testament to what a legend he is in the game. Probably, I think, the best player we’ve ever produced as a country.”Not many within English cricket would dispute that call on Stokes. But it is a bold one, nonetheless, from a player who also has a strong claim for that title. Not that Root himself would make it, of course.

Ladies who Switch: Women's Ashes ramps up – Sophia Dunkley interview

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Valkerie Baynes and Firdose Moonda hear from the England allrounder ahead of the Women’s Test at Trent Bridge

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2023England and Australia have arrived at Trent Bridge to prepare for the Women’s Ashes Test which kicks off their multi-format series. Sophia Dunkley was there to share her thoughts on being a part of it, the England team’s new approach and her progress since making her Test debut two years ago. Valkerie Baynes and Firdose Moonda also discuss how the match might pan out.

Switch Hit: It's a knockout

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

England’s miserable World Cup defence is finally over. Alan Gardner sat down with Andrew Miller and Vithushan Ehantharajah to pick through the pieces

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2023England’s reign as World Cup-holders is finally over, although they spared themselves the ignominy of missing out on Champions Trophy involvement by winning their final two group games. With the dust beginning to settle – and squads already announced for a tour of the Caribbean – Alan Gardner was joined by Andrew Miller and Vithushan Ehantharajah to look at what went wrong and where the one-day side goes from here. Topics up for discussion included Jos Buttler’s form, departing greats and the next men in, and whether multi-year contracts are actually such a good thing after all.

New Zealand's do-it-all man Glenn Phillips shows he can play the waiting game

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

He can whack, he can bowl, he can keep, he can leap – and he can rebuild an innings on a slow track with his side under immense pressure too

Deivarayan Muthu18-Oct-20231:07

Bond: Pleased with how Phillips batted today

Glenn Phillips is a man of many hats. He played both hockey and football at school before becoming a professional cricketer. He is also into archery, hiking, surfing and mountain-biking. He even has a flight simulator back home and dreams of becoming a commercial pilot after he finishes his sporting career.Phillips is also New Zealand’s do-it-all man on the cricketing field. He has opened the batting alongside Rachin Ravindra in Under-19 cricket. He can tee off from the get-go in the middle order. He can finish an innings. He can also keep wicket, though a back condition has somewhat restricted that skill. His outfielding skills need no introduction. He can also bowl quickish offspin. He is also an innovator.All of these skills have made Phillips a sought-after package in T20 cricket. But there were some questions around Phillips’ ability to build – or rebuild – an ODI innings, despite his unbeaten 63 against Pakistan in Karachi in January earlier this year. Those questions resurfaced after New Zealand had slumped to 110 for 4 against Afghanistan on a tricky, two-paced Chepauk pitch.Related

  • NZ keep perfect record as Afghanistan fall apart in chase of 289

  • Trott, Afghanistan lament sloppy fielding

  • Ball-by-ball – New Zealand's six lives

Azmatullah Omarzai was getting the ball to skid and zip off the surface. Rashid Khan was doing his thing. Mujeeb Ur Rahman was also turning the ball both ways. At one point, New Zealand went 64 (legal) balls without a boundary. Phillips absorbed all of that pressure along with his captain Tom Latham in a 144-run fifth-wicket partnership, acing yet another role for New Zealand.When Omarzai found late inward movement, Phillips accounted for it and shelved his big shots. He was prepared to wait for the loose ball in a passage of play that was straight out of the ’90s. His footwork was also decisive against the spinners: he was either right forward or right back. Phillips needed 69 balls for his half-century – his slowest in List A cricket. But this was arguably the most vital among his six List A fifties.While Phillips’ batting against spin is largely untested in international cricket, he has excelled on Chepauk-style turners at the CPL after having worked closely with Ramnaresh Sarwan during a stint at Jamaica Tallawahs. Regular trips to the Caribbean helped him understand his game against spin better.”It’s [about] understanding where my strengths and weaknesses lie,” Phillips said after winning the Player-of-the-Match award. “I guess the way a lot of boys play over here – sweeping really well and reverse-sweeping really well – but unfortunately I don’t have that quite in my game plan or to the level I’d be happy to use it consistently in a match.Glenn Phillips started slow but helped stem the flow of wickets•Associated Press”So for me it’s about sticking to my strengths: play from the crease and I do have power. So I can wait for the guys to miss [their line or length] a little bit more. But also the beauty of batting at No. 6 means that you have the opportunity to soak pressure or mount pressure [on the opposition] depending on the time you come in. So, [it’s] about being able to flip between the two depending on what the team needs.”After having seen off the spin trio of Rashid, Mujeeb and Mohammad Nabi, Phillips found a favourable match-up against his IPL team-mate Fazalhaq Farooqi and swatted him for two imposing leg-side sixes in the 45th over. One of those was off a blameless slower ball into the pitch.”At that point of time, our game plan was we had wickets in hand, with six overs to go,” Phillips explained. “For us, it’s the perfect time for us [Phillips and Latham] to both launch. I’ve faced a lot of Farooqi in the [Sunrisers Hyderabad] nets albeit with the new ball most of the times. But I do know he’s got a lot of tricks up his sleeve and he’s a really talented bowler. So to be able to get those two away off him, and to have a big over to start our launch, that was really crucial to get to 289 [288] as opposed to 260.”Phillips wasn’t done just yet. With the ball, he operated from around the wicket and bowled darts, denying the Afghanistan batters access to the shorter boundary. He then fronted up to the media, grinning from ear to ear.There’s nothing that Phillips can’t do.

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