All posts by h716a5.icu

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2016Mohammad Hafeez, however, was steady at the other end and scored his eighth T20I fifty•Getty ImagesMitchell Santner and Adam Milne restricted Pakistan’s middle order with quick wickets in the middle overs•AFPShahid Afridi, though, smashed 23 off eight balls to lift Pakistan to 171 for 9•AFPMilne ended the innings with a career-best 4 for 37•Getty ImagesPakistan got a huge boost in the chase when Martin Guptill was run out in the second over for 2•Getty ImagesColin Munro and Kane Williamson then put the hosts well on course by stringing together an 80-run second-wicket stand at almost ten runs an over•AFPHowever, Munro fell in the tenth over for a 27-ball 56, giving Pakistan a shot in the arm•Getty ImagesPakistan’s bowlers then carved out the hosts’ middle order, reducing them from 90 for 2 to 108 for 6. But with Williamson still at the crease, New Zealand still had a chance of chasing down the total•AFPHowever, Wahab Riaz dismissed Williamson for 70 and the hosts’ lower order failed to fire, handing Pakistan a 16-run victory•AFP

Plays of the day from the World T20 game between South Africa and Afghanistan in Mumbai

Firdose Moonda20-Mar-2016The one-handed maximumSouth Africa dazzled with an array of boundaries in the first six overs but the most eye-catching one came when Faf du Plessis took on Mohammad Nabi. The offspinner dropped one short, du Plessis gave himself room by stepping outside leg stump, went deep into his crease, took his top hand off the handle of his bat and carved the ball over cover using just one hand.The mix-up Quinton de Kock knew Faf du Plessis had his dancing shoes on, so when du Plessis jabbed Amir Hamza into the covers, de Kock thought a quick run was on. Then de Kock saw Mohammad Nabi swooping in and realised it was too risky so he turned back. At the other end, du Plessis had already responded but soon saw it was wiser to turn back. He was late to undo his steps and Nabi’s throw came in quickly for Mohammad Shahzad to catch the South African captain short of his ground.The drop AB de Villiers had just started to threaten when he offered Afghanistan a chance. He sent a Samiullah Shenwari delivery straight back to him. Shenwari had to react quickly in his follow through and got his hands up in time but then it all became too much. He could not hold on as the ball burst through his hands and de Villiers got his 27th run. He would go on to score 37 more.The placementHis ability to hit the ball anywhere he wants had already been on display but to further emphasise the point, AB de Villiers bisected the gap between the stands in the middle of his assault on Rashid Khan. After hitting him through midwicket twice and straight down the ground, de Villiers smeared a short ball straight into the daylight that peeped through a gap in the stand at midwicket. That also brought up fifty for him, off 24 balls.The poser Mohammad Shahzad probably knows he is not model material but that did not stop him from striking a pose after a perfect lofted drive. As the Kyle Abbott delivery was sent cleanly over long-on, Shahzad held his stance: head down, bat straight, elbows high. And there he stood.The misfield Faf du Plessis had specifically asked for discipline from his attack but he may need to extend that to include his fielders. Mohammad Nabi sliced David Wiese to short third man, where Imran Tahir was stationed. Tahir failed to move quickly enough to his left and by the time he got there, the bounce had the better of him. Tahir could not even get a hand to the ball as it disappeared past his legs and onto the boundary. Wiese’s figures were already mangled, but that didn’t help.

Plays of the day from the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam

Shashank Kishore08-May-2016Warner-Harbhajan mind games: Act I
David Warner made his intentions clear by welcoming Harbhajan Singh into the attack with a six over long-on. The over went for only 11, though. When he came back for a second over, his plan of firing the ball in and not allowing Warner to get underneath the flight was noticeable. The first ball of his second over – the eighth of the innings – was fired short and wide; Warner found point. The next one had width; Warner played the slap-chop to cover. He was forced to reach out for the third one, the fastest of the lot in excess of 100 clicks; he tried to play but then let it go. Then came another short ball which he hit to short third man for a single, to relieve the pressure. A good over until that point was somewhat shaded by a poor fielding effort by Krunal Pandya, though, whose uncertainty in trying to stop the ball with his feet or hands resulted in a boundary last up.Warner-Harbhajan mind games: Act II
Warner was ready for a barrage of short and wide deliveries by the time Harbhajan was in for his third over. Off the second ball, Warner walked across to fetch the pull and swatted the short ball into the deep-midwicket boundary. The next ball was once again fired outside off, and Warner missed. In trying to outfox Warner, who was eyeing the cow-corner fence, Harbhajan then bowled it full and flat, only to be forced to take evasive action as Warner drilled one straight down the ground to bisect long-on and long-off. Then he tossed one up outside off, the slowest of the lot, which Warner hit straight into the big hands of Kieron Pollard at long-off. Mumbai’s search for a breakthrough was finally over.Bumrah’s Dhawan reprieve
Mumbai were on the upswing, having prised out Warner and Kane Williamson quickly. There was a chance to dismiss a well-set Shikhar Dhawan in the 13th over, but it went abegging when Jasprit Bumrah’s throw at the bowler’s end missed the stumps by a mile. Bumrah bowled an excellent yorker, which Yuvraj Singh somehow kept out. Bumrah sprinted diagonally to his left to collect the ball from short midwicket before aiming at the stumps. Perhaps taking a second to aim would have helped as Dhawan had given up halfway down. He was on 41 then. It cost Mumbai 41 more.Yuvraj disturbs his own stumps
Mitchell McClenaghan kept pushing Yuvraj back. Once he couldn’t quite time the pulls, he tried to use the depth of the crease to paddle and carve the ball behind square. One such delivery resulted in a wicket when Yuvraj, who went back into the crease to angle the ball towards the off side, clattered the stumps with his bat while trying to swing through the line. He was so deep inside the crease that it first seemed like he had withdrawn from the stroke, until everyone saw the zing bails flash.

Stats highlights from the third day of the second Test between West Indies and India in Jamaica

Bharath Seervi02-Aug-20168 Consecutive Test series in which Ajinkya Rahane has made at least one score of 90 or more, starting from the 2013-14 tour of South Africa. He has scored centuries in six of those series, while scoring 96 in South Africa 2013-14 and 98 in Bangladesh in 2015. He is the only India player to do this in each of the last eight series. Monday’s century was Rahane’s third in four innings, after twin centuries against South Africa in Delhi and 22 in the previous Test.444 India’s previous highest total in Tests at Sabina Park, which had come way back in 1952-53. India’s 500 for 9 is the sixth-highest total for any visiting team at this venue and only the second total of 500 or more in the last 20 years. This was India’s fifth total of 500 or more runs in the West Indies, all of them having come since 2000.2 Number of times India have taken a first-innings lead of 300 or more in consecutive Tests. They had a lead of 323 in the previous Test, and 304 in this Test. The only previous such instance came in 2009-10 against Sri Lanka at home: lead of 413 in Kanpur, and 333 at Brabourne Stadium. This is only the fifth time India have had a lead in excess of 300 outside Asia.2008 The last time India made two or more totals of 500 or more in an away Test series – during 2007-08 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. India have never made more than two 500-plus totals in any Test series.70.28 India’s average partnership for wickets one to seven in this series – their best in an away series where they had ten or more partnerships. In two innings in this series so far, India have had ten 50-plus stands from the 14 partnerships for wickets one to seven.3 Centuries for Rahane in Tests outside Asia at No. 5 – joint-most by an India batsman. Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Polly Umrigar also have three such centuries. Rahane is India’s first No. 5 to score a century in the West Indies since Rahul Dravid’s unbeaten 144 in Georgetown in 2002.1976 The last time a West Indies spinner took a five-wicket haul at home against India – 5 for 23 by David Holford in Bridgetown. Roston Chase, who took 5 for 121 in this innings, had gone wicketless in the previous match, his Test debut. In his four first-class innings at Sabina Park previously, he had taken just 2 for 84 in 24 overs.3 Number of higher totals for India, than their 500 for 9 in this match, with two or fewer centuries by batsmen. They had made 657 at Eden Gardens in 2000-01, 523 at Adelaide Oval in 2003-04 and 503 in Hyderabad in 2012-13 – all against Australia. In all three instances, there were two centuries, one of them being a double-century, unlike in this game where KL Rahul’s 158 was the highest.17 Sixes hit in this Test, at the end of India’s innings – already the most in a Test at Sabina Park. On two previous occasions, 16 sixes were hit. The most sixes in any Test in the West Indies is 22. India’s eight sixes in their first innings is their joint-highest against West Indies.3 Tests in the West Indies in which spinners from both sides took five-wicket hauls in the first innings. R Ashwin took 5 for 52, while Chase took 5 for 121. The first two occasions were: between the same teams at the same venue in 1952-53, and between Bangladesh and the hosts in Kingstown in 2014.2010 The last time three or more India batsmen were out for scores between 40 and 49 – versus Sri Lanka at Premadasa. In the first innings of this match, Cheteshwar Pujara (46), Virat Kohli (44) and Wriddhiman Saha (47) were all dismissed in the 40s. This was only their third such instance since 2000.

England continue to have questions over their top order but a few players enhanced their reputations against Sri Lanka

George Dobell14-Jun-20169.5James Anderson (21 wickets at 10.80)After a modest series in South Africa, Anderson was back to something approaching his best in more familiar conditions. Surgical in exploiting helpful conditions in the first three innings of the series, he also impressed in unhelpful conditions in the second innings in Durham. 21 wickets at 10.80 apiece is exceptional by any standards. Indeed, it was the best by an England bowler taking 20 wickets in a series since Derek Underwood claimed 24 at 9.16 in 1969. Had a strong claim to be Man of the Series.7.5Chris Woakes (105 runs at 52.50, 8 wickets at 18.75)Took the opportunity offered by the absence of Stokes with a maiden half-century and eight wickets at an average of 18.75. The quickest member of the England attack, he also demonstrated the control and skill to suggest he could be a useful member – perhaps in a supporting role – of the pack of England pace bowlers. Only Anderson and Angelo Mathews conceded fewer runs per over in the series. Conditions will not always be this helpful, but Woakes did look more comfortable for playing two Tests in succession. A very strong understudy.Jonny Bairstow (387 runs at 129.00, 19 catches)Outstanding with the bat; inconsistent with the gloves. With two centuries and an average of 129, Bairstow helped England rebuild amid those familiar top-order failings and did so at such a pace that it snatched the game away from Sri Lanka and resulted in him winning Man of the Series. A combination of his improvement, the moving ball and the excellence of England’s seamer helped him finish with 19 catches, too – a new record for an England keeper in a three-Test series – but he also missed four chances including a stumping standing-up to the spinner. Bearing in mind England’s schedule in Asia later in the year, that remains a worry. His points were awarded on the basis that he gained 9/10 for his batting and 6/10 for his keeping.Alex Hales (292 runs at 58.40)Solid progress. With three half-centuries in five innings, Hales showed greater assurance around off stump and finished the series as England’s second highest run-scorer. If there were times he took the wrong attacking options against spin, he showed he was learning from his mistakes with his innings of 94 at Lord’s. That maiden century still eludes him, but to have established himself in the side and helped England to a series win still represents a fine start to the international summer.Stuart Broad (12 wickets at 24.58)Bowled well – and sometimes without reward – in a support role. Didn’t quite have the impact of Anderson, but 12 wickets at 24.16 is very good.After passing 10,000 runs, Alastair Cook had his best Test of the series at Lord’s•Getty Images7Alastair Cook (212 runs at 70.66)A couple of not outs – both times with his score in the 40s – boosted Cook’s series average above 70. While that perhaps doesn’t fully reflect some slightly tentative batting in the opening couple of innings, any series which ends in a comfortable victory and sees him pass 10,000 Test runs can only be viewed as a success. He will be tested far more as a captain, but there were signs – not least the declaration at Lord’s and the decision to open the bowling with Woakes at the start of day three in the same match – which showed he is continuing to grow into the leadership.6Steven Finn (seven wickets at 28.14)While not absolutely at his best – he endured a disappointing second innings in Durham, in particular, and his pace is some distance from what it was – Finn still claimed seven wickets at an average of 28.14. Encouragingly, with the wicket at Durham playing ever more slowly, he dismissed a well-set opening batsman (Kashual Silva) with a short ball and seemed to be inching back towards his best at Lord’s. An improving batsman, he faced more balls than Compton or Vince in the series.5.5Moeen Ali (189 runs at 63, two wickets at 90)Contributed his highest Test score to help England to victory in Durham, but bowled only 48 overs and claimed only two wickets in a series dominated by the seamers. Still gives the impression of struggling to adapt to the demands of batting at No. 8 – he was dismissed in the second innings at Lord’s attempting to set-up the declaration and at Headingley with an odd waft – and conceded his runs at a slightly high rate of 3.75 per over.It was an unconvincing start for James Vince but deserves a longer run•Getty Images4.5Joe Root (87 runs at 21.75)With just one half-century in four innings, this was a surprisingly modest series for Root. There is some mitigation: he received an unplayable delivery in the second innings at Lord’s and only batted four times. But he will know he was guilty of a couple of poor strokes – especially in Leeds and Durham – and be frustrated at his failure to convert his 80 in the second Test into a century. Realistically, though, this was probably nothing more than a blip after a prolonged run of outstanding form.2James Vince (54 runs at 13.50)An unconvincing start. Vince averaged just 13.50 and dropped a couple of chances. It is too early to draw conclusions – he has had only four innings, after all – but batting is only likely to grow harder with Pakistan to face next. Bowled in both innings at Lord’s – leaving the ball the second time around – the suspicion is growing that England may have picked the prettiest applicant for the job rather than the best. Deserves a longer run to prove himself, though.Nick Compton (51 runs at 12.75)Given three Tests in which to prove himself, Compton was unable to take advantage and has surely now played the last international cricket of his career. Tentative footwork and hard hands were probably the manifestations of his anxiety but, having failed to reach 30 in his last 10 Test innings (one of which was a not out), he cannot really complain when the axe falls.N/ABen StokesAble to bat just once and bowl only seven overs before injury intervened, Stokes had little chance to make an impact in this series.

Plays of the Day from the first ODI between England and Pakistan at the Ageas Bowl

Alan Gardner at the Ageas Bowl24-Aug-2016The comeback
It has been a while since Mark Wood took that distinctive sprint-relay starting position at the top of his mark in international cricket. Fit again to play for England after a 10-month absence, his first delivery was clocked at 90.5mph and thudded into Sharjeel Khan’s pads as he hung back on the crease; the next drew him forwards and zipped past the outside edge. Sharjeel would not be cowed, rifling a pull for four and picking up another boundary inside-edged past his stumps; but Wood’s gears were now oiled, his speed pushing 93mph, and he struck in his third over, a feathered edge on another attempted pull. Wood had his first England wicket since Mohammad Hafeez nicked to slip in the Dubai Test last October.The spinner
There had been some talk of England playing Liam Dawson, the local boy, as their third spinner at the Ageas Bowl but in the end they settled for three quicks alongside Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali. But it was neither of the established slow bowlers that Eoin Morgan turned to after the Powerplay, with Joe Root thrown the ball instead. Root had bowled only three overs in his previous 13 ODIs but settled into a four-over spell that included the wicket of Hafeez, carelessly sweeping to deep backward square – Root’s first since the World Cup game against Scotland in Christchurch last year.The failed review I
The hot technology topic in this series is the decision by the ICC to trial front-foot no-balls being called by the third umpire – but the wait goes on for that slice of history. Instead, the early stages of Pakistan’s innings were marked by gambles with the DRS. Sharjeel seemed to think he had not hit the ball but Snickometer detected a faint edge; that burned review then came back to singe Babar Azam, when a clear inside edge was not detected by Simon Fry, who gave him out lbw off Rashid. With no reviews left, Azam had to lump it.The failed review II
England also lost their one recourse to the DRS when reviewing a not-out lbw decision against Hafeez in the 10th over. Liam Plunkett’s delivery was judged to be only clipping leg stump, although it might have been overturned under the forthcoming change to the guidelines for umpire’s call and lbws, which will increase the area in which half the ball must be deemed to be hitting the stumps from October 1.The dismissal
Mohammad Amir quickly marked out Alex Hales as something of a red-ball rabbit during the Test series, removing him in four innings out of eight and constantly making demands on the opener’s judgement outside off stump. An early slash for four through the covers against the less frolicsome white ball suggested Hales was more at home back in this format – he has three ODI hundreds in the last year – but the very next ball, Amir found the outside edge of Hales’ bat, only for it to fall short of second slip. Three overs later, Hales steered Umar Gul to slip as if offering catching practice and the search for some form continued.The salvo
Gul made his ODI comeback after more than a year out of the side in Dublin last week, picking up 3 for 23 in a gentle workout, and it was quickly apparent that Jason Roy was keen to make his acquaintance. Gul’s second ball was only slightly leg-side but that was enough for Roy to whip it wristily away in front of square; the fourth was again too straight and again squired though midwicket; the fifth even more respectable but creamed off the back foot with fast hands and a straight bat through cover point, only a couple of yards to the left of the fielder but giving him no chance. Welcome to West End.The drop
Roy suffered a dizzy spell a few overs into the chase but, after being attended to by the physio, he decided to carry on. Shortly after, he top-edged a hurried pull high towards square leg off Amir and looked set to be given a break to collect his thoughts. However, despite Gul being perfectly placed to take the catch, Sarfraz Ahmed raced enthusiastically to his left, cap flying off his head as he gazed skywards and made clear it was all his. But the ball swirled a little, Sarfraz only got fingertips to a diving effort and Amir had suffered to latest drop of a luckless summer, in which at least seven chances had gone down off his bowling. The dizziness was catching.The captain’s call
England were costing along at 158 for 2 in the 28th over, with Root adding a measured half-century to follow Roy’s pyrotechnics, when Eoin Morgan decided to liven things up. A dab into the covers off Amir was met with an immediate call of a single, only for Azhar to race in, collect the ball on the bounce and throw down the stumps with Root well short of his ground. The captain’s call had met with a captain’s response.

After having spent a better part of the last seven years on the fringes, the Haryana legspinner is finally graduating from being a short-format option to an all-weather bowler

Arun Venugopal12-Nov-2016Yuzvendra Chahal has built a reputation of being an efficient T20 bowler in the IPL, but making Haryana’s first XI in the Ranji Trophy was a struggle until recently. He debuted in 2009, but it’s only now that he’s finally getting game time, because the side’s two frontline spinners – Amit Mishra and Jayant Yadav – are away on national duty. The legspinner has grabbed the opportunity and is currently the third highest-wicket taker in the tournament with 26 scalps.”The responsibility of being the frontline spinner is a good thing because I was mostly branded as a one-day and T20 bowler,” he tells ESPNcricinfo. “It was challenging at the start, but there was a lot of self-belief because I have done well from the IPL (he was Royal Challengers Bangalore’s highest wicket-taker this season) to the Zimbabwe tour with the Indian team. The confidence that comes with playing for India shows in your performance. It is also satisfying to deliver for your captain, coach and the team in the absence of our two big spinners.”At the IPL, Chahal has largely been used as an attacking option by Virat Kohli, and he has delivered most times. At the domestic level, however, his challenges have been to remain consistent through the course of long spells, something he hasn’t been used to, but has learnt on the job. Former India legspinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan said on commentary recently that Chahal was among the country’s best legspinners, and praised Chahal for not overdoing his variations. Chahal attributes the disciplined approach to greater “maturity and awareness.””It’s about my line and length again. When you bottle up the scoring, you put pressure on the batsmen because he has to score runs ultimately,” Chahal, who has played three matches or more in a season just once, in 2011-12, explains. “You have to continuously keep bowling on a spot. There comes a time when you know that the batsmen is about to try something, and that’s when you use your variation and try to deceive him.”You can’t try too hard for wickets in [multiple] days cricket because your patience is constantly tested here. For your part, you need to test the batsmen’s patience. First, I need to patiently settle down into a good line and length in my first spell, and then try my variations. Often you go wicketless for 20 overs, but by the time you come to the end of your spell you have five wickets in 30 overs.”Chahal calls IPL 2014, where he picked up 12 wickets from 14 games, a turning point in his career. He followed up that season with 23 wickets in 2015. This season, he was the tournament’s second-highest wicket-taker behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar. “In the IPL, I go for wickets a lot more. If you see, I have been hit for two big sixes, but I’ve come back to get the batsmen out,” he says. “Leg-spinners are by nature wicket-taking bowlers, and that was what I was told to do by my coaches there, although tactics depended on the game’s situation as well.”Chahal is grateful to RCB coach Daniel Vettori for his technical guidance•BCCIChahal’s is a classical action. He hasn’t been intimidated by the small boundaries at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where his franchise plays its home games, and has instead derived satisfaction at picking wickets despite the obvious disadvantage. “It’s not really about the ground,” he says. “If you bowl well then regardless of the size of the ground you will get wickets, if you bowl badly it will go for a six.”When somebody hits me for a six I don’t look to bowl faster. My strength is to induce the drive by flighting the ball. Virat [Kohli] would support me a lot on the field. It wasn’t like he would get flustered when you are hit for a six; the way he saw it was if the ball went for a six it went off a good ball with the batsmen playing a good shot.”Much of his confidence, he says, is a product of bowling to the likes of Kohli, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson and Chris Gayle in the nets. Frequent conversations with them have helped Chahal get an insight into the minds of world-class batsmen. “Often when you plan what to bowl to them and when they aren’t able to hit you then you know this length is right,” he says. “They would keep telling me if I had to shorten my length or flight the ball more or less. Whenever I bowled to Gayle I would bowl well wide outside off, and work out that if he isn’t able to hit me then I can try this against Warner and the likes.”Chahal is also grateful to coach Daniel Vettori for his technical guidance. “During the IPL, he would immediately tell me when my body was falling over or if my stride was getting longer or if I was rushing through my run up,” he says. “Even recently when I was playing the KSCA tournament I told him about the one or two no balls I bowled. He told me either my stride was getting longer or I was running a touch faster. I communicate with him on Whatsapp all the time.”During the IPL I would watch videos with Vettori sir, Allan Donald sir and Bharath Arun sir and find out a batsman’s strong areas. If somebody plays well through the covers, the idea is to not let him bowl a drive-able length, and for a batsman who sweeps well we would set fields accordingly.”As a result of constantly engaging with the game’s greats, Chahal says there was not much nervousness when he made his international debut in Zimbabwe. He did himself no discredit with six wickets from three ODIs, including a man-of-the-match in his second game, and finished with three scalps in as many T20Is. Chahal says the bonding within the Indian camp made learning a lot more fun.”Mahi [MS Dhoni] would come and we would all play FIFA together [on the Playstation]. Then we would all gather together for dinner and order food from Indian restaurants,” he says. “We also went to watch a movie. So it was a pretty good thing, because we were together not only on the field, but also off it.”Bonding aside, what has he learnt from Dhoni? “Mahi bhai reads both the pitch and the batsmen very well from behind the stumps,” he says. “If I bowled short, he would tell me I could bowl outside [off stump] and vary my pace a bit. If he spotted something he would alert me, ‘yeh batsman kuch karne waala hai abhi’ (The batsman is going to try something now). If I bowl four to five balls well he would say ‘yeh achcha hai, chalne do (this is good, don’t try anything else).”Chahal’s long-term ambition is to play Test cricket, but is aware of the need to turn in consistent performances over a length of time. “There will be lean patches, but it is important to recover from it quickly,” he says. “This is in some ways my first season and I hope I can perform well and take Haryana into the Elite division [Groups A and B]. That’s my primary focus for now.”

KL Rahul stood out for India on the first day of the Bengaluru Test, and he showed how he could change gears against spinners, especially with wickets falling around him

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Bengaluru04-Mar-2017In the nets in the lead-up to the Bengaluru Test, KL Rahul was sweeping and reverse-sweeping pretty much every second ball of spin he faced. It was only to be expected, therefore, that he would try to sweep Nathan Lyon in his first over on the first morning of the Test, and reverse-sweep him in his next over. He ended up missing the sweep and sending the reverse ballooning off the back of his bat towards the vacant – and soon-to-be filled – leg-slip area.KL Rahul on…

Bengaluru pitch
“I think this is pretty much the same wicket we get for Ranji Trophy. Maybe the cracks start to open up at the end of the second day or the third day. But here the wicket was pretty dry and the cracks were prominent. Their bowlers, especially when Starc bowls from over the wicket, creates that rough for Lyon which helps them get that spin and bounce.”
Why it became difficult for India to score
“Once the spinners came on I felt that the wicket was a little damp in the first session. That’s why they were getting some spin and the ball was holding to the wicket. To drive or to go over the top wasn’t really easy. Once the ball got older and there was more rough outside the off stump, Lyon exploits the rough. He kept bowling there consistently and got some purchase out of the wicket.”
Nathan Lyon
“It gets a little difficult to play him if he starts getting some spin and bounce. He was very consistent, kept putting the ball there and kept asking questions. He got the rewards this innings.”
Ashwin potentially emulating Lyon
“That’s the only way we are looking at this match. The cracks are opening up and it’s only getting harder to bat on this wicket. We know Ash is a top-class bowler and once he gets a couple of wickets and gets into that rhythm then he is going to run through the Australian batting line-up, which we are very confident of.”

Lunch was approaching and Rahul, having just entered the forties, was looking a little edgy. On 30, he had been dropped by a diving Peter Handscomb at short mid-off, when he looked to drive Steve O’Keefe and ended up – not for the first time – playing well out in front of his body.India, at that point, were in a relatively solid position, their score 61 for 1 when Rahul played that miscued reverse-sweep. Either side of lunch, however, Lyon sent back Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli and India were far less secure at 88 for 3.Around this point, Rahul changed his approach against the spinners. He shelved the drive, and, barring one lap-sweep that he middled to present a half-chance to leg slip, the sweep as well, and began trusting his defence far more. With both spinners protecting the boundaries towards the direction of their turn, he was content to pick up singles to the deep fielders.It was about the most comfortable that India looked all day. Rahul added 30 with Ajinkya Rahane and 38 with Karun Nair, stumpings terminating both partnerships just as they were promising to grow into serious proportions.”That’s been my responsibility and the gameplan in the last six to eight months. As soon as the spinner comes on, it’s important for an opening batsman to not let him settle. So that’s what I tried to do,” Rahul said at the end of the day’s play, when asked about the thinking behind his change of approach. “The wicket was a little damp so [Lyon] was getting a lot of bounce.”I felt like if I swept I could get the top edge. They had the fielders back right from the first ball. We couldn’t really get the big hits or boundaries. So I looked to play time and tire out the bowlers. We were getting singles pretty easily when I was with Ajinkya and then when Karun came in. Strike was being rotated and we were getting three to four runs [an over] without any risk. That’s when I decided that I’ll be happy with the singles and maybe then they will pull the fielders in and I can take a chance. But that didn’t happen because we kept losing wickets at regular intervals.”KL Rahul fell short of yet another milestone falling on 90 trying to take the spinners on•AFPRahul may have had cause to feel miffed at how Rahane and Nair – who looked more fluent than pretty much every other Indian batsman while scoring 26 off 39 balls – were dismissed, but he was philosophical about it.”Karun and Ajinkya looked set, they were batting on 20 each, and looked set,” Rahul said. “We were getting runs quite easily. Our game plan was to attack the spinners whenever we could but sometimes it just doesn’t go your way. We have to take it in our stride and come back stronger.”Kohli’s dismissal was another point of debate – for the second time in successive innings, he was out not offering a shot to a spinner, this time lbw to Lyon, struck in front of middle stump.”Virat’s ball didn’t spin as much,” Rahul said. “The whole over it was spinning and bouncing and that ball went straight, which can happen.”In the end, Rahul fell ten short of a hundred when, running out of partners, he decided to go after the spinners and spooned Lyon to mid-off. By then, however, he had shown he was capable of batting at more than one gear. He hit eight fours in scoring 48 off 93 balls before lunch, and only one more while scoring a further 42 runs off 112 balls.The two phases of Rahul’s innings seemed like a reverse-chronological microcosm of his career so far: the all-format dasher turning back the clock and transforming into the technically correct, patient accumulator of his early years. At this point in his career, Rahul is still finding the balance between the two approaches, but innings such as this one – or his 158 in Jamaica or his 199 in Chennai – hint at the fully formed batsman he promises to grow into.

Australia’s 2-1 series defeat in India has plenty of echoes from history; various sides have responded to such hard-fought results in starkly contrasting manners

Daniel Brettig29-Mar-2017A fledgling team wins a shattering early victory over the world’s No. 1 side, then fights them all the way to the deciding Test of the series, where they fall mentally and physically to earth, frustratingly short of a seismic result. The script of Australia’s narrowly failed Indian campaign has been played out at other times in Test history, with a signal lesson: longer-term success is far from guaranteed.Perhaps the greatest parallel for Steven Smith’s team sits with the England side that ventured to the Caribbean in 1989-90 for a meeting with Viv Richards’ seemingly unbeatable West Indies. Preparing judiciously and selecting a team for the expected conditions under the stolid leadership of Graham Gooch, England beat the hosts at their own pace-oriented game on a rapid pitch in Jamaica to start the series, and fell only narrowly to a 2-1 defeat by the end.As Wisden noted: “The essential weakness of any statistical record is that it can reflect neither circumstance nor injustice. A potted summary of England’s Test series in the Caribbean, early in 1990, indicates merely that they lost 2-1, with one match drawn and the other abandoned. In years to come, that stark scoreline may be read to mean that England did slightly better than anticipated. The truth of the matter is that at worst they merited a shared series, and at best an unimaginable upset of the world champions of Test Cricket.”For a team that, like Smith’s, had suffered enormous humiliation just a matter of months before – the 4-0 Ashes hiding of 1989 – this seemed a new dawn under Gooch, with a gaggle of young players eager to work hard after the fashion of their captain. Yet the success that followed was fleeting at best; a firm home summer against New Zealand and India followed by another pasting in Australia the following winter. England would not defeat the West Indies for another decade, and left the Ashes in Australian hands until 2005.One reason for England’s struggles was that the single-minded approach taken to the West Indies tour was not effectively followed up in terms of structure or philosophy. England team selection and talent identification remained shambolic for years afterwards, despite plenty of efforts to change things by Gooch and his successor Michael Atherton. By the time England did start to get things right, Gooch had long since passed into retirement.The other pathway for a team that gets close to victory over the world’s best is that followed by Australia three years after the 1990 series. Allan Border’s men got within two runs of pinching the Frank Worrell Trophy from Richie Richardson’s team in Australia in 1992-93, before falling short by that familiar 2-1 margin. Instead of falling back like England, they followed up, and under a new captain in Mark Taylor were able to win in the Caribbean in 1995 to set-up their own decade ofdominance. That series, also 2-1, began with a strong opening win, a subsequent West Indian challenge, then a commanding Australian performance in the decider.David Warner’s poor form away from home continued on the tour of India•AFPLike Gooch, and Smith, Taylor had the rough outline of how to win, and a fair idea of the areas in which his team had to improve. Positive batting that refused to be cowed by West Indian intimidation; sharp and aggressive fielding; and a combination of disciplined pace bowling and wrist spin. Australia lost in January 1993 largely because they were unable to assert themselves from a position of dominance, a symptom of self-belief that still had some growing to do.Unlike Gooch’s England, Smith and the coach Darren Lehmann have a sound and well-resourced Australian cricket system to support the team, and the thorough Dubai preparation for this India tour is likely to be replicated on future Asian visits. Like Taylor, Smith will have a potent bowling attack at his disposal for years to come, personified by the ample pace and variety of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson, with worthy support from Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe where applicable.The challenge ahead for Smith is two-fold. Broadly, he must find a way to ensure his team make the most of the sorts of opportunities presented in India. This is a mental hurdle above all else: no-one gave the Australians a chance of toppling India in this series and, in the moments where they genuinely could have done, it appeared that they did not quite believe it either.A more confident and seasoned team would not have blinked on days two and three in Bengaluru, nor day three in Dharamsala. The stand between Mark and Steve Waugh in Jamaica in 1995, right when that series could have swung either way, is the sort of display Smith’s men could not quite conjure against India. Finding that sort of mental fortitude at the end of a long series, when bodies and minds are tired, was a task beyond a young team, but something to aim for in future contests.More pointedly, Smith and Lehmann need to sit down with several of their team and work out the best approach they can take to contribute to victories at home or away. Chief among these is the vice-captain David Warner, whose failure to offer the sort of runs Smith managed should be cause for plenty of introspection.After Ranchi, Warner remarked that his overseas troubles were merely a statistical quirk, but an unbroken wait of nearly three years for a hundred away from home speaks pretty loudly to the contrary. Smith stated before the series that both captain and deputy needed to make big runs for Australia to be a chance. It was one of several prescient observations.There is one example of which Warner can take note: Nathan Lyon. After last year’s ignoble Sri Lanka tour, Lyon was far from assured of even being selected for India, let alone playing all four Tests. At the same time he was fighting to maintain his place with gradually improving displays over the home summer, Lyon worked assiduously on plans and techniques for India, all of which he would showcase in holding his own against his opposite number R Ashwin over the four Tests. When Lehmann said of Lyon’s Dharamsala spell that it was “the best I have ever seen him bowl for Australia”, the praise was both rich and deserved.So for Warner and Australia the way ahead is clear. Whether or not the 2017 India tour is seen as the start of a drive to sustained success, a la Border/Taylor, or simply an anomalous near-miss, per Gooch, will depend largely on how closely they choose to follow it.

A team known for its reliance on spin now chooses to pick three fast bowlers more often than not. How did that come to be?

Mohammad Isam13-Jun-20170:50

The numbers behind the rise

For a long time, you wouldn’t have associated Bangladesh with the phrase “strong pace attack”. A subcontinent team playing on slow, low surfaces, some of which turned, was never going to be big on fast bowling – and Bangladesh wasn’t. Kids growing up in the country in the 1980s and 1990s had few fast bowling heroes.The change was a long time coming. Mashrafe Mortaza and Chandika Hathurusingha, the captain and coach so vitally responsible for Bangladesh’s ODI success in the last two years, were firm believers that an aggressive approach would take them to the next level, and were instrumental in Bangladesh beginning to actively picking more pace bowlers in their attack.It began in 2015
Like all revolutions, this one too was met with resistance initially. Having mooted the idea of employing a four-pronged pace attacked after a careful study of their resources before the ODI series with India in 2015, Mashrafe and Hathurusingha didn’t find too many in the BCB’s hierarchy who agreed with them. “Risky” was one of the words floated around strategy meetings at the time.Mashrafe and Hathurusingha are, however, men of conviction.They had faith in Taskin Ahmed and Rubel Hossain, who had done well in the World Cup. Mashrafe himself was fit. Most noticeable was the trust they had in Mustafizur Rahman, who had until then played a solitary T20 international.The Mirpur pitch too encouraged them; Gamini Silva, the curator, had left a hint of green on. But despite these arguments in favour of a pace-heavy attack, the decision to go with four fast bowlers in the XI came just a few hours before the first game, and was accompanied by much trepidation.The attack worked well enough for Bangladesh to clinch their maiden ODI series win over India. Mustafizur took 11 wickets out of the 16 that went to the fast bowlers in those first two games. Rubel, Taskin and Mashrafe served too, but a side strain ruled Taskin out of the third game, which forced the team management to take their foot off the pedal.Mashrafe Mortaza with trump card Mustafizur Rahman•AFPApart from one game against South Africa, Bangladesh used three fast bowlers in each of their other five ODIs in 2015. The next year, that trend continued in all but one of nine ODIs. This year, they finally used a four-pronged pace attack again against New Zealand in Cardiff – almost exactly two years since they last deployed a similar attack. During this time injuries to Taskin, Rubel and Mustafizur prevented Mashrafe and Hathurusingha picking four fast men, though considerations of pitches, conditions and oppositions also played a part.Now, however, it has finally been established that if the pitch and overhead conditions are right, and their bowlers fit, Bangladesh are quite eager to pick a four-man pace attack. And failing that, picking three is the new normal. This is a far cry from the days of their spin-heavy attacks. Just two times since the 2015 World Cup have Bangladesh not used a three-man pace attack.Four is an army
In the 2015 World Cup, Rubel took four wickets against England and looked the most impressive bowler in the quarter-final against India. He had had an up-and-down international career till then, and had been more successful in ODIs than in Tests or T20s. Even in ODIs, Rubel’s troubles in the slog overs and injuries meant that he wasn’t always an automatic choice. But his late movement with the slightly older ball always attracted attention.Taskin, who had made a barnstorming debut against India in 2014, wasn’t hitting his stride. But he had pace and was improving his fitness, and in Mashrafe he had a hero he didn’t want to let down.Seeing Mustafizur in the nets convinced Mashrafe and Hathurusingha that India needed to be tackled with pace. It wasn’t just that Mustafizur was dismissing Tamim Iqbal and company, but that he was doing it with something unique. He had developed an offcutter, all on his own, that kicked in front of the batsmen, and, when it took an edge, carried to the wicketkeeper.Shane Jurgensen (right) was instrumental in developing Bangladesh’s pace attack during his stint as bowling coach•BCBBangladesh have tried others, but generally the team management have gone with Mashrafe, Rubel, Mustafizur and Taskin when fit and when presented with the right conditions.The enablers
For years Mashrafe and other senior Bangladesh bowlers had argued it is best to use pace in the last ten or 15 overs of an innings. When Mashrafe became captain, this became a guiding principle. An important enabling factor in making Bangladesh evolve from picking eight batsmen in their ODI XI into one that picked four fast bowlers was the all-round skills of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim. In those two, Bangladesh have two full batsmen, a front-line bowler and a wicketkeeper. Still, that hasn’t always been enough to justify picking four pace bowlers. They needed bowlers who could take wickets.Mashrafe himself had to work hard to remain fit, but his bowling has improved as he has grown older; he is subtle in his variations and most effective when he can swerve and cut the new ball. His captaincy has ensured that fast bowlers were given a fair run as a collective. When Mashrafe talks, people listen. Hathurusingha, likewise, is inclined to using pace.A little coaching help
There had been occasions in the past when the need for speed prompted the BCB to hire short- and long-term bowling coaches. Andy Roberts’ 2001 stint is usually credited with providing the final push in Mashrafe’s elevation into the Bangladesh team. Champaka Ramanayake, Bangladesh’s first full-time bowling coach after joining in 2008, is said to have encouraged the selectors to pick a raw Rubel, who reminded him of Lasith Malinga.Robiul Islam, who had a short stint as the leader of Bangladesh’s Test attack, learned to use his first-class experience in Test cricket thanks to Sarwar Imran and Shane Jurgensen. These two fine coaches were also important in Taskin’s growth. Jurgensen made sure Taskin played in the 2014 World T20 to get exposure; a couple of months later, he made his sensational ODI debut, with five against India.Taskin Ahmed (left) and Rubel Hossain: key cogs•BCBLast year the BCB hired Aaqib Javed for a short stint. The bowlers found him to be very well read, and approachable. There remains curiosity about whether Aaqib passed on vital tips on reverse swing, but the bowlers who worked with him were eager for more of what he offered.When Courtney Walsh joined last year, it was seen as the BCB acknowledging that the team needs a big name to guide them. Walsh agreeing to join was also validation from a legendary fast bowler that this was a pace attack that was challenging enough, with enough potential to work with, for his first international coaching job.The ones who fell by the wayside
There have been casualties on Bangladesh’s road to picking four fast bowlers. Some arrived with big reputations but crumbled in the face of international cricket’s relentless pressure, either physically or mentally. There were some whose bodies couldn’t handle the day-to-day stresses of bowling for a team that lacked teeth for a long time. A few couldn’t handle fame.Talha Jubair was one of the first whose frail body couldn’t take the toll of international cricket. He bowed out early, leaving Tapash Baisya to fend for the team in difficult circumstances. An unheralded pace bowler who had limited skills but a big heart, Baisya fell out of favour as soon as other attractive pace options became available. Syed Rasel didn’t last long; Nazmul Hossain succumbed to far too many injuries.Robiul too couldn’t quite replicate his superb Test series against Zimbabwe in 2013, eventually falling out of favour with country, club, and even his division in the first-class competition. Shahadat Hossain served for a while, but he was always seen as someone better suited to Tests (though the numbers don’t reflect such a notion).Mashrafe and Chandika Hathurusingha’s belief in the value of fast bowling has been crucial in Bangladesh adopting a pace-heavy bowling line-up•Getty ImagesBut in Taskin, Rubel and Musafizur, Bangladesh have an odd combination of bowlers that has clicked.Taskin is the city boy who became a YouTube sensation even before he played for Bangladesh. Rubel has seen it all, having been on the receiving end when Bangladesh lost the final in his first ODI series, in 2009. His difficulties in Tests, multiple injuries, and a constantly changing action held him back before he came out of his shell in the 2015 World Cup.Mustafizur too is now realising that the road isn’t smooth. Since fully recovering from his shoulder surgery in 2016, he has had good days and bad days. Against New Zealand in Cardiff, his last two spells showed that he was ready to sacrifice his natural ability in order to stop the batsmen from scoring too heavily.And then, of course, there’s Mashrafe, the leader who knows exactly when to praise his charges, and when to deliver a rocket. It is not that he meddles with his young pace attack, but he is close enough to know exactly when to speak to Rubel and Taskin, and when to leave Mustafizur alone to do what he does best.