The youngsters need to recapture the fearlessness and clear-headedness that drove India to an impressive one-day record over the past two years

Sidharth Monga12-Nov-2009The honeymoon is over, MS Dhoni now has some home improvement to do. Not only for himself but for his merry boys who went around playing merry cricket for more than two years. Fearless, for they knew no fear. Clear-minded, for they knew no confusion. Cue two first-round exits in world events and a home series loss to a severely depleted Australia and they are not so sure of themselves. The fear of the bouncer is evident, the fear of missing the length against big hitters is bringing the bowlers down, there is confusion when chasing and consternation when Yuvraj Singh is missing. It is time now for the same youngsters to overcome that fear, to sort out the confusion.The World Twenty20 and Champions Trophy failures weren’t catastrophic; they could be put down to injuries, to a stray off day. Against Australia, in home conditions, in front of fanatical crowds and with one opposition player leaving the country almost every day, with ample opportunity to come back in a series, they lost even before Cyclone Phyan could intervene. It ought to hurt them, a unit wanting to become the best team in the world.Because it’s not merely the losses but the manner in which they lost that will worry them. At 2-1, after winning in Nagpur and Delhi, India went to Mohali with the momentum, Australia with Murphy’s Law running the rule in their camp. To add to it, India finally bowled and fielded well, restricting Australia to 250. At that point, even a 6-1 scoreline in India’s favour seemed plausible – more so when Virender Sehwag got them off to a flying start and it was all a matter of batting out 50 overs on a flat pitch. Under pressure, the Aussies lifted their game, India’s youngsters faltered and they were bowled out with 24 runs and 20 balls to go.The critics sharpened their knives – Ravi Shastri wrote of mental strength and Sunil Gavaskar saw a lack of application in how India didn’t last 50 overs while the run-rate and the pitch were both manageable. Both are generally thrifty when it comes to criticising the Indian team so their words carried greater resonance. And if Mohali was partially India 1990s redux, Hyderabad was the full Monty.Big, improbable chase. Tick. Sachin Tendulkar plays a solo masterpiece yet makes the chase look easy. Tick. Tendulkar falls with a handful required. Tick. The rest fold tamely. Tick. “This column has lately been questioning the mental strength of this Indian team. It has now received a fresh coat of scepticism,” wrote Shastri.Dhoni, to his credit, didn’t hide behind words after Hyderabad. “I don’t think it was the talent part,” he said. “I think it was the mental part, where you know you can play a big shot and you back yourself to do that. At times you just go through the motions, you don’t know if such a shot is needed or no. I think we lost the mental part more than the cricketing aspect.”Dhoni has himself to blame for it too. Over the past two years he has talked about letting his batting line-up play its “natural game”. There hasn’t been visible pressure on the youngsters to learn how to build an innings, because perhaps they know if they fail Dhoni is there. And Dhoni usually is there. Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma have had a cushy initiation to international cricket. Bouncers in South Africa? No problem, we’ll send for Rahul Dravid. Flat pitches? Have fun, you won’t be pushed in at No. 3. Result: The fighting, unglamorous innings are missing. Both Raina and Rohit are considered future middle-order mainstays – though Rohit is out of the team right now – and they need to show they don’t shy away from gritty efforts.Ishant Sharma continues to remain a cause for concern•Associated PressSourav Ganguly, who was supposed to be suspect facing the short ball all his career, had specific advice for Raina. He feels the issue is more mental than technical. In Hyderabad Raina top-edged a bouncer, in Guwahati he played back to a full delivery. Ganguly’s advice: He just needs to be clear with what he wants to do when a bowler is running in to bowl at 90 miles an hour, and there are bouncers involved.India will also rue that Sehwag’s longest innings in six efforts lasted 31 balls. In a seven-match series, you expect him to win at least one on his own but it was not to be. It is easy to say that what he played was his natural game but what he plays in Tests is also his natural game. What he played in this series would suit Twenty20 more and, apart from Hyderabad, he was never under pressure to go out seeking adventure.Ashish Nehra brought a sense of purpose to the bowling and was Dhoni’s go-to man in the Powerplays but lacked support. Harbhajan Singh slowly turned around a poor start from Mohali, moving off-wards and slowing down his pace. As a unit, going at 5.3 an over through the series was par for the course but Ishant Sharma continues to be a worry.Through all the high-decibel chatter that is Indian television, one channel stumbled upon something close to the truth. Running a loop of the shots from the Guwahati collapse, it proclaimed that it was not the bowlers who lost the series. The voiceover was stinging in criticism: “Mr Sehwag, will you keep hitting wide ones for sixes, and leave the gate open for incoming deliveries?” “Look, he [Yuvraj] has no shame, he is laughing on his way back.” Yuvraj rightfully had a bemused expression on his face after being dismissed in freak manner. Every batsman was panned, some unfairly so, but when it came to Tendulkar, the anchor said, “So after Hyderabad did the other batsmen expect the Little Master to score all the runs again?”Lazy stuff, yes, but also pointing to the nineties when, more often than not, one man used to be the team. Dhoni’s team has worked hard for the last two years to not become such a unit, instead be one that gets the job done, that finishes off matches. He wouldn’t want three ordinary series to undo that effort.

With just two matches remaining in Delhi’s campaign, and the realistic possibility of being knocked out, Sehwag needs to think quick and step up

Cricinfo staff13-Apr-2010It may seem inappropriate to hold Virender Sehwag responsible for Delhi Daredevils’ disappointing season thus far. But let’s just blame him. In fact, Sehwag has been out of sorts. This claim might seem audacious, given he’s the highest run-getter for Delhi Daredevils this season and is No.8 in the overall list. But barring his blistering 75 against Rajasthan Royals in their second match, Sehwag’s contributions have fallen short of improving Delhi’s fortunes. The seven others in that list have had a big impact in boosting their respective teams.Sehwag has failed to wield the same power that has demoralised the most formidable bowling attacks in international cricket. For India, nothing is a hopeless situation when Sehwag is around, and he has managed to pull off magical acts with an unflinching nerve in the last five years.However, Sehwag has failed to achieve such dominance in Twenty20 cricket and Delhi are slowly but surely feeling the pinch. Immediately after the last IPL, Sehwag voluntarily stepped down from the Delhi captaincy to concentrate on, and enjoy, his batting. When Sehwag enjoys his batting, he can play those bold strokes effortlessly. But in this IPL, Sehwag has managed to get out playing shots half-heartedly, as he did against Kings XI Punjab, or when unnecessary. The latter was evident today.David Warner’s powerful assault had put Delhi in a strong position at the end of the Powerplay and they needed a further 115 in 14 overs to get closer to a semi-final berth. Based on his track record and reputation, Sehwag had the might to achieve the target on his own. But he played a frustrating innings, taking unnecessary risks, surviving twice and eventually running out of luck. Sehwag had been lucky not to be caught by Ali Murtaza at mid-on, with the ball falling inches short; he then failed to improvise against the slower delivery from Dilhara Fernando, hitting a skier, but Murtaza spilled it.Sehwag was intent on clearing the fence and there was nothing wrong with his motive. The situation, though, demanded he drop anchor after losing Gautam Gambhir, who spooned a catch to Harbhajan Singh.The run-rate was still healthy and with match-winners in previous games like Dinesh Karthik and Paul Collingwood still to come, Delhi’s grip was still strong. Just then, Sehwag opted for a suicidal second run, having pulled into the empty space at mid-on. Despite seeing a charging Kieron Pollard, Sehwag scampered back foolishly and fell short of the crease, much to the crowd’s delight. Sehwag looked skywards a few times and squeezed his eyes shut, lamenting his unpardonable error.Sehwag is Delhi’s most important player, just like Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly are for their teams. While Gambhir claimed “there is no trump card” in Twenty20 cricket, he would be the first to admit Sehwag is Delhi’s pilot. Their flight will continue to be shaky till while Sehwag remains unsettled. With just two matches remaining in their campaign, and the realistic possibility of being knocked out, Sehwag needs to think quick and step up.

Plays of the day from the first day of the first Test between India and Australia in Mohali

Sidharth Monga in Mohali01-Oct-2010The reprieve(s)
You don’t expect to be so lucky on second ball of the day after the opposition has won the toss. Perhaps Virender Sehwag wasn’t expecting to when he dropped a simplish overhead catch from Shane Watson at gully. MS Dhoni, too, did Watson a favour, when on 37, dropping a thin edge off Pragyan Ojha. The beneficiary is yet to get out.The sixth sense
When Simon Katich shuffled too far across, and was hit in front by a Zaheer Khan delivery that swung in towards middle, Katich must have known he was adjacent. For, he didn’t even look up at the umpire. He just looked down, moved a bit towards leg, heard the happy noise from the small crowd, and walked off.The plan that almost worked
In the 10th over, Dhoni moved Sachin Tendulkar to a three-fourths deep square leg presumably for the Ricky Ponting pull. In the same over, Ponting fell over while clipping one off the pads, and ended up hitting the ball squarer and in the air. Tendulkar could have risked a boundary going for it, but he chose to play it safe. Silence all around. Not a single angry or questioning look from any of the team-mates.The Sami tribute over
Mohammad Sami, the holder of the record for the longest over in international cricket, would have watched in hope when Ishant Sharma started the 13th over of the day with two no-balls, and didn’t quite seem to be able to get around the problem. Later in the same over, to rub it in, Ricky Ponting nicked one of those no-balls down the leg side. If that wasn’t slat enough already, Watson hit him for back-to-back boundaries. Sadly, though, for Sami the over finished with 10 deliveries, seven short of his record. Better luck next time.The misjudgement
On a pitch with low bounce, and with the ball reversing madly, you need to be very brave to leave alone a delivery, no matter how wide or how short. Marcus North tempted fate when he did so in the 85th over, and almost lived to tell the tale. The ball swung back viciously, but managed to stealthily kiss the top of off on its way to Dhoni. The touch was so soft the ball hardly deviated, and accordingly Zaheer had hands on his head… until Dhoni pointed to the bail that belatedly came out of its groove. Joy to the reverse-swing bowlers.

As befits a city of thinkers and artists, the finest Test played there was a long, slow, examination of skill and character

Mark Ray19-Nov-2010Australia’s series against India in 2001 was Test cricket at its best. High-quality, varied, dramatic. And the middle match, the second Test in Kolkata, was as different from the first as Kolkata is different from Mumbai.Mumbai had been a blast – on and off the field. The city is famously flash and fast and the first Test was played at a frantic pace. It was
all over in three exciting exciting days, the highlight of which was the hitting onslaught by the two left-handers, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, in Australia’s first innings.After a quiet week in Delhi – if there can be such a thing – for a tour game, we arrived in Kolkata in time for Holi. It was my first
visit to the city, and as I always did on tours, I spent my spare time wandering the streets with my camera. But with limited time and
knowledge of the city, I saw only the central part.I wandered bustling streets and the busy bookshop area before I ended up on the Hooghly’s shore. On one side of the road, opposite small temples where priests and holy men watched the passing parade, I saw the entrance to an impressive set of buildings. Young men were playing cricket in the driveway and as I watched a man came up to me and said: “That is Tagore’s school.” Back then I knew only a little of the great writer.On Holi day, the other spare day before the Test began, the Australian media and a few of the players drove in a long convoy of police cars, private vehicles and minibuses to Barrackpore, to the Udayan home for children of lepers. By that stage Steve Waugh had been raising funds for the school for a few years. It was a long drive but there was little traffic. People were preparing for Holi. A few hundred delighted children welcomed us to their home. I can still see Mark Waugh reuniting with the girl he sponsored; Justin Langer, the father of young children back home in Perth, spending most of the day hand in hand with a boy of about five who had latched onto him when we first walked into the school.At one point, children performed for us and the highlight was a dance by a group of girls. One girl caught my eye – and, as it turned out,
the eyes of all of us. She danced beautifully and her eyes and smile glowed brightly. When the performance ended and the press
photographers asked to set up a picture, they all asked if that little girl could be in the photo. She was delighted to oblige, posing in
front of a plaque marking Steve Waugh’s major contribution – a new wing for girls.On the drive back to the hotel we saw groups of people heading out to celebrate Holi. We passed an open truck with about 20 adults in the back. All were painted in silver – clothes, faces, hair. I couldn’t stop the convoy, so I missed getting a photo of them.As we reached the centre of the city, we asked our minibus driver to let us off. Half a dozen Australian journalists landed in the middle
of Holi day. The city was buzzing, mainly with somewhat inebriated young people, and we attracted quite a lot of attention. It was an
insight into a special day in a special place.One of the inmates of the Udayan home stands before the plaque acknowledging Steve Waugh’s role in the setting up of the wing for girls•Mark Ray/Mark RayThe Test match was completely different from Mumbai’s. There is something about Eden Gardens that is familiar to Australians. It and
the MCG are cricket’s only true stadiums, grounds that can hold 100,000 people. The size makes them special. I first looked in awe at
the MCG when I was a ten-year-old. My parents and I had driven down from Sydney on holiday and we went to the MCG to watch Ted Dexter’s Englishmen practise before the Boxing Day Test in 1962. Eden Gardens was just as impressive on that first visit.Still, getting into the ground was no mean achievement. After negotiating the massive crowds that curled around the huge next to the ground in snaking ticket queues, you had to have all the appropriate passes to get into the stadium. These passes had to be authorised by the Kolkata police, who were very strict. Channel Nine’s Australian news crew had failed to get one of the passes and spent the first two days of the match broadcasting from the street.I ended up with five passes: one to get into the ground, one to get into the press box, one to get out of the press box and into the outer
grandstands, one to get lunch in the press box, and a fifth to get afternoon tea there. A record in my cricket-writing career.Inside the ground the noise was phenomenal. Not as frenetic as Mumbai, nor as constant as it would be in Chennai in a week’s time. At Eden Gardens it was deeper and more powerful, no doubt because of the size of the crowd and because this Test match ebbed and flowed at its own stately pace. This famous match went for five days, turned this way and that and will always be remembered for India’s magnificent fightback, thanks to a great partnership of 376 between VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid. Not to be outdone, Harbhajan Singh whirled his way to 13 wickets in a thrilling and decisive performance.This match had a style that reflected the city’s, just as the first Test had reflected Mumbai’s personality. Kolkata was played at a
totally different pace. It was a slower match, more classical, more thoughtful, emotions running deeply rather racing across the surface.
In Kolkata, the city of artists and writers and thinkers, this was a classical Test – a long, profound examination of skill and character.Outside the stadium the great city went about its varied and complicated daily life. So it was after the match, when both teams and
the travelling media drove straight from Eden Gardens to the airport to catch a plane to Chennai for the third Test, which would start three days later. It had been an enriching and exhausting week in Kolkata.

Of all the full-member teams, New Zealand’s top seven batsmen have the poorest average in the last two years

Nagraj Gollapudi in Nagpur25-Feb-2011Brendon McCullum, having hit two boundaries against a wayward Shaun Tait in his first over, slashed hard at a wide delivery in the bowler’s next over only to be pouched easily at third man; Martin Guptill failed to go forward to a length ball, which kept low and hit his off stump; Jesse Ryder, feet static, chased and nicked a Mitchell Johnson delivery that moved away a wee bit after pitching on a length; Ross Taylor moved in trying to play across to an inswinging yorker that re-arranged his furniture; James Franklin and Scott Styris played shots they will never even attempt in the nets.None of those deliveries were really unplayable. Few could have been actually left alone. On paper most of these names are a top cast and evoke a strong appeal, but come audition day they tend to fail miserably, and often. Firsthand it is difficult to know if the hurdles are more mental than technical. The one certainty is New Zealand’s top order has had more troughs than peaks in the recent past.In the last two years, New Zealand’s top-order batsmen (Nos. 1 to 7) average the least among all full-member teams. In 25 matches since January 2009, New Zealand’s top seven average 27.49. That is less than even Zimbabwe, whose batsmen score at 28.48 runs. The best teams like India and South Africa peak above the 40-run mark. Another damning number in the same period is the New Zealanders have registered 36 ducks, a record for any team. On a per match basis New Zealand have less than one fifty-plus score, which is lower than all other teams.On the back of the disaster back home, it was pretty evident that New Zealand’s players were a little bit distracted. But Daniel Vettori, a man who is stoic at the best of times, said later that they were professionals and the remorse felt back home could not be compared or used as an excuse for the dip in the performance today. So is it then the mental approach of players that is vulnerable? Considering the match had been designated for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, it was natural for the players to stay pumped up. Sadly, on Friday, there was only team which was high on adrenaline and it was not New Zealand.Never once during their act did New Zealand look fluent and solid. They started slowly and grew more timid every over. In the first 15 overs, when the first two Powerplays were on, New Zealand had 78 dot balls and lost their top five batters. Australia had come out with a plan and Ricky Ponting deployed his pace arsenal of four quicks for the first 19 overs to combat the opponent. It worked wonders. “The pressure that Australia put on us in a number of different aspects really hurt us but in the end it was about wickets. It is more about psyching up the pressure and being able to repel that,” Vettori said. He felt the batsmen could have hit back through coming back in the batting Powerplay but that never happened because there was no man left standing.To begin with, McCullum was frenetically chasing everything Tait threw at him and trying to hit it hard. Considering he was facing the fastest bowler in the game, a better ploy could have been to just use the pace to his advantage. McCullum is New Zealand’s senior-most top-order batsman, and the team looks to him to provide the ballistic starts he is famous for. But it is not mandatory that he needs to go guns blazing each time. He can study a like-minded batsman in Virender Sehwag, who is showing the determination to bat out as long as possible, which effectively helps India reach bigger totals. It is not necessary that McCullum to go bashing in the first fifteen. If he can last longer he can always convert the final 15 overs into a Powerplay and use the long handle. His team will have no complaints.It is just not McCullum who has cobwebs to clear. It is difficult to understand the reason a batsman like Ryder, who scored a brilliant 107 in the final match of the one-day series at home against Pakistan earlier in the month, cannot thread together two big scores on a trot. After the early fall of McCullum, New Zealand depended on Ryder to provide the thrust. He gladly licked Johnson when he failed to get enough height on some short-pitched deliveries aimed at Ryder’s hips. A few words were exchanged and Ryder was not shy to open his mouth. But then when Johnson pitched it a little fuller Ryder grew circumspect.”The two balls in the over before [which Ryder pulled for fours] I did not get them right. I obviously fed him on his hips where he likes them,” Johnson said. But Johnson improvised his length immediately. “I actually said to Ricky that I just felt I would nick him off from that good length. Fortunately he nicked it for me. Not sure the plan of bowling short and not getting it up worked but just bowling that good length worked.”That was the case with most other batsmen. Australia had many plans today. New Zealand had barely any answers. Vettori was concerned. “We have got very good players in the top 5. We just need to be stand up and be counted particularly in these big games. They have got the skills, but we have to look it as a unit. We got to find a way to find a result.”New Zealand’s top five can learn a lot from the grit of Nathan McCullum, who has hit three half-centuries in his last four innings. If he can dig in deep, why not the rest.

ESPNcricinfo reviews the Test series between West Indies and India

Sriram Veera11-Jul-2011In the end both teams said they are happy. From the outside it appeared West Indies should be a happier unit than India who never quite stamped their authority. They won the series but was that ever in doubt against this West Indies batting line-up? This series was about testing out the youth for India but barring Suresh Raina and Ishant Sharma, not many stood up.And their decision to pull out of the chase on the final evening without really having a go at it was puzzling. And revealing. West Indies lost the ODI and the Test series but they slowly reached a point where they were fighting as a unit. The victory lap with thousands cheering them on at Dominica signalled that. The crowd recognised that the team had fought.Sometimes the way the opposition views you at the end can give a fair idea about how the battle went. Here is Duncan Fletcher on West Indies: “I think they have improved all the time. I think Ottis Gibson is doing a great job. I have come here before with England and watched them in England and watching the way they just have put it together, they are definitely moving up. I wouldn’t like to be another touring side and come out here and face them if this improvement continues. The bowlers did very well. The batters slowly got better and better as the series went. I was also impressed with how they put it together off the field. How they did the warm-ups. They acted as a team and they looked like a professional unit which is good to see.”Here is what Sammy said about India: “With 15 overs to go and 86 runs required, and considering the calibre of players they have like Dhoni and guys who could hit the ball, I thought they would give it a go being one up … I was surprised they shut the shop.” India left you with that kind of strange taste in the mouth.West Indies would have gained a lot from this tour. The bowlers impressed and the middle order is slowly beginning to take a solid shape. Marlon Samuels played an innings of substance in the second Test, Shivnarine Chanderpaul showed he has plenty to offer as a batsman, Darren Bravo showed glimpses of his talent, and Kirk Edwards came to the fore. The main worry will be the openers. Adrian Barath showed he has problems against the seaming delivery and he still hasn’t found a stable partner. Sammy led the team with passion, bowled his heart out but as long as he doesn’t contribute with the bat, the questions will continue. Ian Bishop, the former West Indies fast bowler, reckons he has done enough to continue in this team as a captain for another year till West Indies unearth another leader.India’s strengths are obvious. Ishant Sharma impressed and the bowlers were pretty good though by the end they were down and out physically. The batting was mixed. Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina did what the other was supposed to do. Many felt Raina would show weakness against the short ball and that Kohli would grab his opportunity. The reverse happened. M Vijay failed, S Badrinath never got a chance in the Tests after his poor performance in the ODIs, Abhinav Mukund showed grit and seized the opportunity.The series started and ended with two vital dropped catches. If Sammy had caught Rahul Dravid in the first Test who knows what might have happened there? If Dravid had caught Chanderpaul in the final Test what could have been the result? Those turning points indicate how well-fought the games were. India usually always dominated because West Indies’ batting was weaker but it wasn’t a cakewalk by any means.India were lifted out of the hole in the first Test by Raina and Harbhajan Singh; Dravid played the rescue act in the second innings; VVS Laxman was the saviour in the second Test. It was never easy. It was that kind of series. The pitches were tilted towards the bowlers and the groundsmen should be thanked for providing us with an enjoyable series.India won but with this West Indies batting line-up, they would see the 1-0 margin as an opportunity lost.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the day from Bangladesh’s must-win match against South Africa

Firdose Moonda in Mirpur19-Mar-2011The perfect placement
Jacques Kallis had played his way cautiously to 30, rotating the strike with Hashim Amla and managing two boundaries. Then, he rolled out a vintage stroke. Shafiul Islam bowled a regular, on-a-good-length ball and Kallis just presented his bat. He made contact that had better timing than all the clocks in the world. The ball snuck in between Faf du Plessis’ legs, evaded a diving Tamim Iqbal, escaped the exasperated Mahmadullah at mid-on too and eased it way to the boundary. Effortless.The mind-the-gap moment
Bangladesh cost themselves in the field with some sloppy work but this was the most careless. Abdur Razzak was at point when Kallis cut the ball to him, off the bowling of Shakib Al Hasan. Razzak kneeled down and should have picked it up immediately, giving away no runs in the process, but he somehow allowed the ball into the gap between his left knee and right leg. As it was teasing him, his hands couldn’t get around the ball in time and it rolled away for four.The un-noticed 50
Jacques Kallis was playing a low-key innings but he must have expected someone to clap when he reached his half-century. It wasn’t brought up in a flashy fashion – a small flick to fine leg, an ambled single. But nobody seemed to notice. As Kallis stood, bat in the air, acknowledging the crowd, there was minimal sounds beyond the constant burble. A section of the crowd must have realised what was going on and offered small applause but most didn’t seem too aware that South Africa’s greatest all-rounder had reached another milestone.The catch that stuck

After a solid display of butter fingers, Shakib Al Hasan finally gave Bangladesh their moment in the field. Jacques Kallis wanted to use the batting Powerplay to capitalise and decided to start from the get-go. He rocked on the back foot and smacked the third ball of the over back to Shakib. It wasn’t a clean catch at first, as the captain juggled it on the first attempt but held on it on the second.The tragedy
It was only the 8th over of the Bangladesh chase but at 21 for 4, the dream was crashing fast. Lonwabo Tsotsobe had exposed too many weaknesses and what lay before the fans, a raw batting line-up, was too painful for them to see. Rows of seats became empty and dozens of people were making their way to the exit. The dream was dying and they weren’t hanging around to see it splutter and struggle its way to the inevitable end.The giant catch
Graeme Smith and agile are not two concepts that marry easily, but he showed his nimble side while fielding at slip. Robin Peterson had tempted Mushfiqur Rahim to go onto his front foot and drive and the push from the Bangladeshi batsman resulted in nothing more than an edge. It flew to the right of Smith at first slip and was dipping fast but Smith lunged with his full reach and took the catch.The lowest is over
When Shakib Al Hasan gently took a single off Johan Botha on the leg side, in the 21st over, the crowd began to cheer louder than had for the entire Bangladesh innings. Not because they were applauding their captain supreme who had to be a one-man team for much of the match, with the bat and ball, but because the worst they’d seen of this World Cup would not come back to haunt them. That single was the 58th, the same amount that Bangladesh had been bowled out for against the West Indies and they still had five wickets in hand. Even though Mahmadullah was run out on that score, the same ignominy was avoided, but not by much.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the IPL game between Kings XI Punjab and Deccan Chargers in Dharamsala

Siddhartha Talya21-May-2011The reprieve Part I

He went on to make 95, when he should have been run-out first ball. Shikhar Dhawan rushed for a single, Ryan McLaren picked up, dived and didn’t miss the stumps at the non-striker’s end by much. Dhawan was miles out of his crease. As it turned out, he won the game for Deccan Chargers.The reprieve Part II
D Ravi Teja should have been out for a duck too; instead he made 60 and had plenty of luck on the way. He swung hard at his third delivery, got a top edge and Paul Valthaty, running in from the deep on the leg side, got to it, spilled it and then dived. A complete mess.Asad Rauf does his bit
Umpires these days rarely decide against a referral when the appeal for a run-out is a close one. McLaren had done a splendid job trying to prevent a single off his bowling, running forward, sliding and aiming accurately at the non-striker’s end. Ravi Teja appeared to have made his ground, except that replays showed his bat had popped up as he tried to slide it in on the dive. Asad Rauf didn’t refer it to the third umpire, much to the surprise of the fielders, and there was more frustration in store when the next two deliveries were edged for boundaries.Harris’ nightmare

A horrible day for Ryan Harris. Forget that he conceded 35 in four overs. He twice dropped Ravi Teja while at long-on, the first off a miscue and the second struck cleanly at him. The first drop cost 21 runs, as Ravi Teja smacked Piyush Chawla for two sixes and a four. The second cost just two as Abhishek Nayar held his nerve the next ball to break the trend. It wasn’t over for Harris, though. Facing a hat-trick ball from Amit Mishra in the chase, he couldn’t resist the temptation to slash at a googly and edge straight to second slip.Christian shows how it’s done
Mishra’s first victim was McLaren, who slog-swept one cleanly only to find Daniel Christian prowling at deep midwicket. He reacted quickly, running to his right and diving forward to pluck the catch inches from the ground. It summed up Deccan’s performance on the field – they caught everything that came their way – and reminded Punjab of their sloppiness.

Victoria have made 14 of the last 18 state finals. Now they face the challenge of bouncing back after their first disappointing summer in years

Brydon Coverdale13-Jul-2011Victoria is an AFL state. Even in summer, its theoretical off season, Aussie Rules Football, with all its scandals and speculation, robs cricket of headlines. And when the Australian team has to fight for a place on the back page, you can imagine how deep into the sports section readers must delve before a story about the Victorian Bushrangers appears.That’s a shame, because over the past six years the Bushrangers have been one of the most dominant teams in Australian sport. They have reached 14 of the past 18 state finals and have raised seven trophies. In that time they have groomed six Test debutants, second only to New South Wales, and they are the only state to have kept the same captain and coach (Cameron White and Greg Shipperd).But now, in AFL terminology, their premiership window is threatening to close. Although they won the Ryobi One-Day Cup last summer, for the first time in a decade they finished in the bottom two on the Sheffield Shield table. Something just didn’t click, and Shipperd is desperate to make sure that, to borrow another AFL-ism, they don’t bottom out.”We don’t want to be yo-yoing as a group,” Shipperd told ESPNcricinfo. “With 14 finals out of the last 18, we’ve been, in terms of consistency, a benchmark team. We really want to push on and maintain our standards. It will be challenging, though.”One of the major tasks will be to build a match-winning attack. Last summer, only two of the Sheffield Shield’s top 20 wicket-takers were Victorians. And neither will play much for Victoria next season: Damien Wright has retired and Peter Siddle should spend most of his time on international duty.Also gone from the attack are three of Victoria’s oldest heads: the 39-year-old legspinner Bryce McGain, and fast bowlers Dirk Nannes, 35, and Shane Harwood, 37. Of those three, only McGain played in the Shield last season, but the combined experience from the trio, who lost their Cricket Victoria contracts last month, will be hard to replace.Victorian fans can expect Clint McKay and James Pattinson to be key men in the bowling group this season. There will also be some aggression from the newly contracted pace bowler Jayde Herrick, whose bald head, black headband and tattooed arms could well become a fixture of Victoria’s side this summer. There’s plenty of other young talent in the rest of the squad as well.”We’ve released four senior match-winners from our squad last season who provided us with fantastic cricket over a long period of time,” Shipperd said. “We’ll miss them for sure, but we’re equally excited by the young players we’re developing, and Ryan Carters, Aaron Finch, Matthew Wade, Glenn Maxwell and Jon Holland are just some of the names that are going to lead Victoria in the years to come.”Our board certainly wanted in the previous five years to find that balance between winning titles and producing Australian players. Across that period of time I think we’ve generated about 12 Australian players in the three forms of the game, so we’ve actually been ticking both boxes there. But given Australia’s situation in the longer form of the game, there’s been an even greater importance put on developing Test players of the future. We’ve probably gone a fraction younger a bit earlier than we might normally have done. We’re looking forward to seeing that process unfold.”Not that the older members of the squad have nothing to offer. Chris Rogers, 33, is keen to have a productive season after missing much of 2010-11 with a knee injury, and David Hussey, also 33, wants to prove he is good enough to earn a baggy green, after surprisingly winning a Cricket Australia contract this year.And the allrounder Andrew McDonald, 30, has a point to prove, having slipped off CA’s contract list. McDonald had an injury-interrupted season last summer, but when he was in the side he was unstoppable. In his six Sheffield Shield appearances, he made three centuries – no other player in the competition made that many in a tough season for batsmen – and averaged 76.33.Victoria factfile

Captain Cameron White
Coach Greg Shipperd
Where they’ve finished in the Sheffield Shield since 2001-02 fifth, third, first, fourth, second, fourth, second, first, first, fifth
Australia Test debutants since 2001 Brad Hodge, Cameron White, Peter Siddle, Andrew McDonald, Bryce McGain, Clint McKay
Slipped through the cracks
Andrew McDonald Played four Tests in 2008-09 and acquitted himself reasonably well, but there was not room in the Test team for both him and Shane Watson. Will find it hard to break back into Australia’s side.
Jon Holland The left-arm spinner went on an ODI tour of India with Australia in late 2009 as a project player, but still hasn’t quite found his feet at state level. At 24 he has time on his side but must stand up soon.
Future Fund
Glenn Maxwell A spin-bowling allrounder who last summer burst on to the scene with the fastest fifty in Australia’s domestic one-day history. He also posted a century in his second first-class game.
Ryan Carters An exciting young wicketkeeper-batsman, Carters made his first-class debut against the touring England side last season, opened the batting and scored a gutsy 68.
James Pattinson Although he has already played one-day cricket for Australia, Pattinson still has only six first-class games to his name. If he can develop the red-ball skills expected of him, he will be a key player for Victoria over the next decade.

Even more impressive was the way he scored his runs. At Test level, McDonald looked rigid at the crease and was hesitant to play his shots. For Victoria last year, he loosened up and scored at a strike rate of 84.97 in the longer format. McDonald was the one batsman who might have managed a thousand-run season were it not for his injuries, and Shipperd expects him to have a big summer again.”Every good judge in Australia would certainly agree that Andrew McDonald is still a worthy international-quality player, and but for injury last season, he would have just knocked the door down that strongly that he could not be ignored,” Shipperd said. “I expect that he’s in the prime in terms of his cricketing powers right now. His next couple of years, I’m sure he’s going to perform some deeds that would have him beautifully placed to take the place of someone like Watson, should he be injured, for the Australian team.”That McDonald was able to thrive in such a difficult season for batsmen was not enough to help Victoria reach the final of the Sheffield Shield. They did, however, get to the decider in the Ryobi Cup, for the fifth straight season. And after being runners-up four years in a row, the Bushrangers finally won the title summer.When the team huddled around for the traditional celebratory photo with the trophy, Shipperd was at the back, while his assistant coach, Simon Helmot, was front and centre. Helmot had taken over the coaching of the one-day team for that campaign, with Shipperd as his helper – the roles reversed from the Sheffield Shield. It’s an arrangement that will continue next season. Shipperd likens it to the AFL team, Collingwood, whose premiership coach, Mick Malthouse, will eventually be replaced by his assistant, Nathan Buckley, by mutual agreement.”That was the proposal we came up with last year to allow him to spread his wings as a coach, and it was just the natural thing for Cricket Victoria to do, in terms of down the track finding a succession plan for me and a development plan for Simon that worked really well. He’s a terrific young coach. I assisted him in the Ryobi Cup and he assisted me in the Shield, but we both took responsibility for the whole Bushrangers programme.”Adding to the complex relationship between Shipperd and Helmot are their roles in the Big Bash League, where they will coach against each other. Helmot has taken charge of the Docklands-based Melbourne Renegades, while Shipperd has control of the Stars, who will play at the MCG. The state’s players have also split into two camps, and Shipperd said it would be hard, for the younger players especially, to find the balance between being Twenty20 opponents and team-mates in the longer forms.”It will be mentally challenging for them, because one of the strengths of our squad has been its closeness, and the success that they’ve had over this last five to eight years is because of the quality of the team and the way they’ve interacted as a group. That essentially has been split in two. The more senior players are not totally unfamiliar with that environment, having played against each other. We had 11 players in the IPL last year, so a lot of them played against each other and have been through those emotions before.”A few of the older players also know the feeling of failure – from 1991 to 2003, Victoria didn’t win a Sheffield Shield title. Mastering the switch between formats will be one of many key factors if they are to keep their premiership window open. The grand era of Shipperd’s Bushrangers might earn a few more column inches yet.

The groundwork which enabled England to reach No. 1 in the Test rankings was put in place before the new millennium

Andrew McGlashan15-Aug-2011Not for the last time as England captain, Nasser Hussain was emotional after the team sank to bottom against New Zealand•Getty Imagesv New Zealand, The Oval, 1999: Bottom of the pileWhen Alan Mullally skied Chris Cairns to mid-off, England had been beaten by 83 runs in the fourth and deciding Test and were, according to the Wisden rankings that predated the official ICC ladder, the worst team in the world. Nasser Hussain was booed as he made his way onto The Oval balcony for the presentation. The only way was up.November 1999: From now on, this is how it worksDuncan Fletcher, at the time a fairly unknown name outside of his achievements for Zimbabwe, had been confirmed as England’s new coach earlier in the year. However, he had a watching brief as the team hit rock-bottom against New Zealand and it wasn’t until the tour of South Africa that he could start to change English cricket. On his first day in charge, England slumped to 2 for 4 against South Africa at Johannesburg, yet slowly, but surely, a strong relationship with Hussain began to formMay 2000: England firstA hugely significant moment in the bigger picture of English cricket’s future came with the first batch of ECB central contracts. Some, such as Chris Schofield and Mark Ramprakash, faded away, but the principle of the leading players being managed by the England coach brought a new professionalism to the set up.v West Indies, 2000: Regain the Wisden TrophyWest Indies weren’t the force of old, but with Ambrose, Walsh and Lara they still had plenty of matchwinners. When they secured the first Test at Edgbaston it looked like normal service, but after producing a wonderful fight-back at Lord’s to win by two wickets the momentum was with England. On a heady day at The Oval they bowled out West Indies to take the series 3-1. Hussain, who’d barely scored a run, sank to his knees. England were on the climb.December-March 2000-01: Subcontinent successThis is a winter that doesn’t get the acclaim it deserves. Firstly the team won in the dark at Karachi to secure a series victory in Pakistan after 39 years then, even more impressively, came from 1-0 down to beat Sri Lanka on their home soil. A core of experienced players, led by Darren Gough and Graham Thorpe, was forming alongside younger stars such as Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan. This was Hussain’s finest hour.July-September 2001: Ashes hammeringHowever, any thought that England were ready to make a challenge for the top was brought into stark focus by another Ashes hammering. The first three Tests were over within 11 days and only Mark Butcher’s career-defining 173 saved face. Australia were still light years ahead.July-August, 2002: Missed opportunitySri Lanka had been dispatched 2-0 in helpful conditions and when India were beaten by 170 runs at Lord’s, confidence was high. However, inconsistency still dogged the team and at Headingley they were thrashed by an innings and 46 runs. A 1-1 draw was unfulfilling and, more crucially with an Ashes on the horizon, Andrew Flintoff had been stretched to breaking point with a double hernia.By 2003 Andrew Flintoff was becoming a world-class allrounder and would be central to England’s success•Getty Imagesv Australia, Brisbane, 2002: “We’ll bowl.”It’s a moment Hussain has never lived down, putting Australia into bat at the Gabba and watching them amass 364 for 2 on the first day. Worst still, Simon Jones suffered a career-threatening knee injury sliding on the sandy outfield. The Ashes finished 4-1 and, despite the consolation victory at Sydney, the team was still treading water.v South Africa, Edgbaston, 2003: Hussain loses the teamHussain had packed in the one-day captaincy following another poor World Cup campaign and Michael Vaughan made a promising start in the job with two early trophies. Hussain returned for the start of the Test series against South Africa and watched his team struggle to make an impression although the opening match was saved by a mixture of Vaughan and rain. Immediately after the game a tearful Hussain stepped down saying the side had moved on. But he had played a huge role dragging England off the bottom.v South Africa, The Oval, 2003: A tone-setting victoryVaughan’s reign started with a crushing innings defeat at Lord’s and England verged from the very good (winning at Trent Bridge) to the very bad (another defeat at Headingley) to leave the series 2-1 heading into the final match at The Oval. That’s when the first signs emerged of the cricket the side could be capable of playing, having fought back from South Africa being 345 for 2. Trescothick hit a double hundred, Thorpe a comeback century, Flintoff bashed 95 and Steve Harmison rattled South Africa with pace. The series was levelled. It was the start.May-September 2004: Magnificent sevenA summer of complete domination as England wiped the floor 7-0 against New Zealand and West Indies. Harmison became the No.1-ranked bowler in the world, Flintoff became the leading allrounder and the batting line-up was formidable. Momentum was building for the greater challenges ahead.England conquered the Ashes summit in 2005•Getty Imagesv South Africa, Johannesburg, 2005: One of their bestThe series was level following three Tests and after the two first innings at the Wanderers it was still even. Then Trescothick produced a scintillating 180 and Hoggard stunned South Africa on the final day with 7 for 61 to take his match haul to 12 wickets. The totality of their final-day performance proved they were ready to challenge Australia.January-February 2005: Enter Kevin PietersenIt’s easy to forget that Kevin Pietersen wasn’t in the Test side at the start of the 2005 season. Thorpe played against Bangladesh, but was pensioned off when Fletcher and Vaughan decided England needed an X-factor player. That player was Pietersen, whose scintillating arrival in the one-day side against South Africa had proven both his talent and big-match temperament. Three centuries in the series, in a sometimes poisonously hostile atmosphere, meant his Test call-up was a given.July-September 2005: The Greatest SeriesThe summer became the ultimate contest between the two best sides in the world. They exchanged blows throughout the series with the famous two-run win at Edgbaston producing wonderful sporting emotion. Australia hung on nine-down in scenes of rare drama at Old Trafford then England went ahead with another nail-biter at Trent Bridge. It all came down to the final day at The Oval and England stuttered. Would old failings emerge at the crucial hour? Pietersen ensured they didn’t with his spine-tingling 158. Australia’s years of consistent success meant they remained top of the rankings, but the belief was England were genuine contenders for the years ahead. It didn’t turn out that way …