A wave of yellow washed over the Chinnaswamy Stadium, and CSK and RCB treated their fans to another high-scoring thriller

Shashank Kishore18-Apr-2023The M Chinnaswamy Stadium was predominantly yellow. Hours before the marquee match between RCB and CSK, hundreds of fans had queued at the ticket counter. They fully expected to be rejected, but wanted to try anyway.Earlier, there was similar fervour at the team hotel two kilometres down the road. Security personnel were told to reserve entry only for hotel guests once fans packed the coffee shop on the ground floor. They were waiting for one man, and the moment he stepped out of the elevator and onto the long walkway leading to the team bus, the coffee shop emptied quickly. Everyone had made a beeline towards MS Dhoni.With CSK’s fan army descending on Bengaluru in huge numbers, you could have mistaken this to be the Chepauk or anywhere in Chennai.Related

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It was Dhoni versus Virat Kohli, after all. Perhaps for one last time in the IPL, given the two sides don’t have a second league fixture this season, unless of course they meet in the playoffs.The only real ‘home advantage’ that RCB enjoys is their crowd support. Not the flat pitch or the small boundaries. Going by the number of yellow jerseys at the Chinnaswamy, that crowd support had been eroded to 50-50 at best. It was the first time the two sides were playing in Bengaluru since the pandemic; and this fixture has usually been an explosive, high-scoring contest.Monday night was no different. For the second time, CSK and RCB smashed the most sixes – 33 – in an IPL game. The previous occasion was in 2018, when Dhoni walked into the chase with 132 needed off 66, and smacked seven maximums on his own.Mohammed Siraj had suffered that night, going for 48 in four wicketless overs. His failed attempts at nailing wide yorkers dispatched repeatedly by Dhoni’s powerful bat swing. The much-improved Siraj who steamed in last night, however, was perhaps the reason RCB were chasing 227 and not 247. Coming into this game, his economy in the powerplay was 4.70 and he was even more economical against CSK, taking 1 for 6 in his first two overs.Rough estimates suggest that CSK had more support than RCB at the Chinnaswamy Stadium•BCCIDevon Conway is the most recent of CSK’s deceptively destructive openers, much like M Vijay, Mike Hussey and Faf du Plessis – now the opposition captain – before him. His 45-ball 83 set the tone for this high-scoring contest, and eventually earned him the Player of the Match award.Shivam Dube loves playing RCB ever since they released him after spending INR 5 crore to buy him at the 2018 auction. Last night was more of the same. His method was simple: stand-and-deliver to balls in his swinging arc. Each of his five sixes during his 27-ball 52 was different, but all were smashed whistle-clean onto the roof, near the DJ console, into the second tier, and the hospitality boxes.Despite the powerful batting performance, Dhoni was slightly testy on the field. Did he expect the defence to be any different? In the second over of RCB’s chase, two balls after Maheesh Theekshana dropped a catch at mid-off, Dhoni himself put down a chance. It was the kind of catch he’d take 99 times out of 100, but he didn’t even lay a glove on the ball.Du Plessis made him pay. His and Glenn Maxwell’s sensational six hitting threatened to blindside CSK. Wincing in pain because of a bruised rib that needed regular medical attention, du Plessis raced to his fifty off 23 balls. Maxwell got there in 24. The ferocity of their chase had Hussey, CSK’s batting coach, sitting in the dugout with his hands on either cheek. You couldn’t have found a better expression than that to describe a jaw drop.After dropping one early on, MS Dhoni took two high-pressure catches off Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis•Associated PressUsually not a man of many words on the field, Dhoni was seen talking to his fast bowlers often last night. He’s used to having the experience of Dwayne Bravo and Deepak Chahar to call on, but now CSK had the inexperienced Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh and Matheesha Pathirana taking on the marauding RCB batters. Dhoni ran instructions to his rookies – wonky knees be dammed – and often patted them on the back. There was a match to win.And when the first chance at redeeming himself came along – a steepling catch off a Maxwell slog – Dhoni allayed any fears CSK fans may have had of Theekshana having to catch it, by calling for it himself and waving everyone else out of the way. He did not celebrate though, and instead walked over to the umpire to tell them how close the ball had come to making contact with the spider-cam cables.Dhoni then did something even more unusual. He reviewed a not-out lbw decision against Shahbaz Ahmed even though it was clear the ball from Theekshana had pitched far outside leg stump. At 143 for 3 in the 13th over, RCB were still ahead.Then came the turning point of the chase. Moeen Ali had just been walloped for two sixes, while bowling flat and short. You couldn’t tell what Dhoni told his bowler while the ball was being retrieved, but Moeen immediately began giving his delivery more air. Two balls later, he forced a top edge from du Plessis. Another steepling chance, extremely similar to the Maxwell dismissal, and once again Dhoni called and caught it.The Dhoni-est of Dhoni actions, however, was reserved for the finish, when he backed ‘baby Malinga’ to defend 19 in the final over in his first game of the season. And it was only as 20-year-old Pathirana closed out an eight-run victory and the crowd went berserk that a hint of a smile appeared on Dhoni’s face.

Fireworks, loud music, a near sellout crowd, and a special knock from a special player: the opening night had it all

Zenia D'cunha05-Mar-20236:29

A curtain raiser to rival the IPL opener?

The first match of the long-awaited Women’s Premier League (WPL) is at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, the venue that set the record for the highest crowd for a women’s cricket match in India last December.Walking up to the stadium from the main road, you can already feel the buzz. The buzz of the crowds lining up to enter, and the buzz of excitement to see what’s in store.If one had to paint a visual to describe this buzz, it would be blue.Related

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Blue, the colour of the Mumbai Indians’ jerseys worn by a large section of fans. Blue, of the Indian team’s jerseys a few others, are wearing. A whole shade card of blue in the usual knock-off kits being sold on the streets, both men and women trying the Mumbai Indians one for size. They belong to different editions of the IPL, but it’s the dress code of the day.The team flags, horns, tri-colour memorabilia, face-painters and long queues that circle the outside of any cricket stadium on match days are omnipresent as well.As far as signs of public interest go, this is a good one in Indian cricket.Blue was probably also what Gujarat Giants were feeling after an all-round capitulation against Mumbai Indians.But the crowd wouldn’t mind, they had after all come for two main things and they got exactly that: A historic occasion and a Harmanpreet Kaur special.”This is history in the making, it’s the first-ever women’s match like this and because it’s in Mumbai and this is our team, it feels very good. I’m getting goosebumps already,” one fan outside the stadium said. “It was decided, we had to come for the first match,” another one said.Most people entering the stadium had the same answer when asked the player they are most excited to watch at the WPL – Harmanpreet.1:51

Buzz and anticipation abound in Mumbai as the inaugural WPL kickstarts

One superfan, conspicuous by his vintage Mumbai Indians jersey from the 2013 edition of the IPL – the year they won their first title – wanted Harmanpreet & Co to end a strange jinx.”Mumbai Indians are known to lose their first match, it’s actually a pretty good omen for them. But I hope that’s not the case today, I want them to win.”They did win, and in a way fulfilled the many expectations. The Indian captain delivered a memorable knock to start the tournament on a high, smashing a boundary-studded, 22-ball 50 that helped Mumbai cross 200 in the first game.It was the kind of innings that got the home crowd involved from the beginning – the gasps when she smacked the ball, the cheers when she effortlessly found the gaps, the roar for her shots and the acknowledgement after her dismissal, and the constant chants of her name.With the inaugural WPL taking place entirely in just two venues, Mumbai are the only team to have a home crowd at all their matches and to start it with a bang is exactly what the tournament needed.”We keep discussing how we want to enjoy this moment because we waited for this for a long time,” Harmanpreet said about the atmosphere after the match.”Personally, it was very special to me because whenever I played other leagues, [the crowd] went more towards the local players, but today the Punjabi singer came [AP Dhillon] and it felt like home. The Mumbai crowd was special for all of us, it felt like the whole family came together cheering for this big moment.”Meg Lanning, Beth Mooney, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Alyssa Healy pose with the trophy•BCCIThe others played their part too, the opening fireworks by Hayley Matthews, the handy cameo by Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar and Nat Sciver-Brunt keeping the boundaries coming, the dominant bowling in the powerplay. And the crowd loved every moment.They may have come for the Indian players they know, but as the game progressed, the Mumbai crowd adopted the others also their own. Issy Wong, the fire-cracker fast bowler from England, got her own chant of ‘Wong, Wong, Wong’ as she started a run-up. All of 20 and not as well-known yet in the international circuit as yet, it was her spectacular first-ball six and second-ball wicket of Ashleigh Gardner (on a golden duck) that endeared her to the cricket-lovers watching.Before the match began, the playing XIs of both teams were announced in the stadium with corresponding images on the big screen – a nice touch given how new all this is. One would hope this player introduction with photos continues through the WPL.Not all was perfect, of course. The one-sided second innings saw the crowds thin out midway through the innings and the stands were almost empty by the end. Already, despite the sold-out sign while booking online, the stadium was not completely full and there were some walkouts after the opening ceremony too.But even at the death overs, nearing 11 pm and long after the stadium announcer and music had stopped at the deadline, there was a sizable cheer when Harmanpreet was fielding at long-on boundary. It’s the power of good, old-fashioned cricketing excellence.”It was a different experience and I hope that we continue to get the kind of crowd support we got today,” she said.That may be difficult in the stadium on weekdays and when the home team is not involved, but what her knock has ensured is that WPL has begun well and will be followed.

Late finishes are the norm this season and have always plagued the league – this is not ideal for the viewers, the broadcasters and, by extension, the IPL itself

Sidharth Monga05-Apr-2023Even Jos Buttler has had it with the pace of play in IPL 2023.”Let’s speed up the pace of play,” Buttler tweeted, along with a folded hands emoji and the IPL hashtag, 43 minutes into the match between Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants. That match started five minutes late because a resident dog strayed onto the Chepauk field, and the innings during which Buttler tweeted lasted an hour and 48 minutes. The match ended past 11.30pm.Get this, though: that was not even close to the longest innings in the first seven matches of this IPL. Royal Challengers Bangalore took two hours and two minutes to finish their bowling against Mumbai Indians, and Gujarat Titans took an even two hours against Super Kings in the tournament opener after the match had already started two minutes late because the opening ceremony went into overtime.Related

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Not a single completed innings of 20 overs so far has had the last over begin inside the stipulated 90 minutes, which includes five minutes of timeouts. The IPL aims for matches to finish in three hours and 20 minutes, but no match has been able to achieve this target. Only two matches in which both sides have faced 20 overs each have taken under four hours to complete, and barely so. This is despite cutting short the 20-minute innings break.As a result the double-header days have been chaotic for those looking to follow both games, and night matches have gone well into after-hours, which can’t be ideal for the viewers who have to wake up for work the next morning. And that can’t be ideal for the IPL or the broadcasters.Time-keeping has perhaps been the stickiest in-game issue the IPL has had to deal with. It has tried various penalties to no significant effect, it has moved start times from 8pm to 7.30pm, which, in the opinion of many, including MS Dhoni, skews the matches in favour of the chasing sides because the dew has not yet set in by 7.30pm. Eventually in-game penalties had to be introduced, which means any overs not bowled inside the stipulated time will have to bowled with one fielder fewer outside the 30-yard ring.ESPNcricinfo LtdOnly one of the 12 innings that have run into overtime so far this IPL has featured this penalty though – when Super Kings bowled to Super Giants – and that tells you a lot about the nature of delays during the games. With no evidence to point otherwise, it is safe to assume the match officials have seen mitigating circumstances to make allowances for such inordinately long delays. One culprit is the added DRS reviews for wides and no-balls, which the league might want to re-evaluate if it wants to provide a crisp product.These are early days in the competition’s proper homecoming. It probably can’t be as streamlined as it was when played at a limited number of venues without full houses over the last three years. However, it is pertinent that teams get their acts together – or are forced to do so – and not play a slow brand of cricket that loses spectators towards the thrilling final moments just because the match went on till too late in the night.In 2018, the reported, quoting Star Sports’ managing director, that IPL TV ratings began to dip after 10.45pm and took a nosedive post-11pm. These numbers essentially say that viewers just don’t keep watching till that late.Granted, a lot of slow over-rates occur because of the competition. Competitive teams want to recover enough before bowling the next ball so that they can be at their best. But when one of the said competitors, Buttler in this case, tweets out that even he is finding the pace of the game too slow, you know the IPL needs to do something about it.

At just 22, the India batter has played two World Cups, the Commonwealth Games, and won the inaugural WPL title, but she’s just getting started

S Sudarshanan07-Jul-20231:21

“Wicketkeeping has helped me pick deliveries out of bowlers’ hands better while batting”

Yastika Bhatia has featured in only 13 of the 35 women’s T20Is India have played since the start of 2022. Two of those were crunch matches – the Commonwealth Games final in August 2022 and the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final in February this year. While it said a bit about how Yastika fit into India’s T20I plans, it also revealed the management looks at her as someone who can hold her own under pressure.”I am still learning about how to play in that situation,” she says, ahead of India’s white-ball tour of Bangladesh. “That usually comes only from experience.”In the CWG final, Yastika walked out to bat at No. 9, with India needing 17 off 11, as a replacement for the concussed Taniya Bhatia, and was the last player out for a five-ball 2. She was trapped lbw when she missed a reverse sweep against Australia’s Jess Jonassen, and India fell short by nine runs.Related

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“Anybody can sit outside and say you should have done this or that,” she reflects. “When you are inside, you know what’s going on and how to tackle the situation.”If that shot had come off and it [had] been a boundary, everybody would have said something else. I just take it in my stride, whatever has happened. My intent was to win the match for the team. That will always be there. I will always put my best foot forward, never anything else.”Tackling pressure at the international level is vastly different from that in domestic cricket, Yastika says. She scored 223 in six matches in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, 212 in six outings in the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Trophy, and 203 in four outings in the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy in the 2022-23 season. She often stayed unbeaten in tricky chases, including in the final of the T20 Challenger Trophy for India D.Yastika doesn’t rue her missed chance in the CWG final: “If that shot had come off and it was a boundary, everybody would have said something else”•Aijaz Rahi/Associated Press”At the domestic level, if you face four dots and then if you hit a boundary on the fifth ball, you can cover up,” Yastika says. “But at the international level, you don’t get boundaries easily. You have to be on your toes from the first ball and cannot afford too many mistakes. That is what brings the best out of you. If you just play for Baroda, how would you understand your capacity? You understand that only at the international level.”Yastika is coming off a successful Women’s Premier League (WPL), where she was part of Mumbai Indians’ title-winning outfit. She formed a potent opening pair with West Indies’ Hayley Matthews, scoring 214 runs in the tournament. She flourished at the franchise under India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and a coaching set-up that made her feel valued.Head coach Charlotte Edwards’ clear message to Yastika – that she would play all games in the season – helped, giving her a “boost of confidence”, she says.”You must have seen in the WPL how that translated!” she laughs. “She gave me a lot of freedom. [Edwards said] ‘You just go out and play like a youngster would, without any pressure. There are a lot of good batters after you, so you need not just rotate strike. Just play your game and go for fours and sixes.'”At 22 and in only her second year of international cricket, Yastika has played an ODI and T20 World Cup each, the Commonwealth Games, and a Test – a checklist that many aspire to tick over a long career. She is well aware of what works for her and which of her skills she needs to hone.”If I focus on one thing, I more often than not accomplish it. That has been one of my biggest strengths since childhood and I am proud of that,” she says, reflecting on her learnings from the World Cups.”It is not always that [the expectations at world events] get fulfilled because the other team is also there [to win] after [putting in] a lot of effort. Perhaps our efforts may not be enough, and we need to do more. It is about learning from other teams or by looking at players from your own team; what they have done better, we can learn and apply [those lessons]. You only understand these once you go through those situations. Playing World Cups showed me what I am and what I need to do better. That was an important experience for my career.”Yastika was Mumbai Indians’ fourth highest run-scorer in the WPL, with 214 runs from ten games•BCCIAnd for times when things don’t go to plan, Yastika has her support system to lean on.”I vent to my parents – they listen and don’t say much, but I know they are there for me. They don’t judge me at all and are like ” [You have overcome multiple obstacles, so this is also something you can get through]. My coaches Kiran [More] sir and Santosh [Chaughule] sir help me in terms of what’s lacking in my game. For them, I am their kid.”You will treat your child the same, whether they have scored a century or a zero. Their [the coaches’] behaviour is the same and they shower me with a lot of love. That gives me belief that my support will be the same irrespective of results.”The white-ball tour to Bangladesh next month is the start of a busy season for India, one that features Tests against England and Australia, apart from white-ball series against South Africa and New Zealand. One eye will also be on the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh next year. Yastika has had a taste of it all, and she wants more of it.

A look at the Australian batter’s 32nd Test century by the numbers

Sampath Bandarupalli29-Jun-202332 Centuries for Steven Smith in Test cricket are the joint-second most for Australia in the format. Ricky Ponting tops the list with 41 hundreds, while Steve Waugh also has 32 tons.ESPNcricinfo Ltd174 Innings Smith needed to score his 32nd Test century, the fewest among the 12 players with the feat. The previous quickest was Ponting, who scored his 32nd Test ton in the 176th innings he batted.22 Hundreds for Smith in the first innings of Test matches, the most for any batter, surpassing Ponting’s 21 tons. Seven of Smith’s 22 centuries came when the team was put into bat, the joint-most, alongside Jacques Kallis.ESPNcricinfo Ltd8 Test hundreds for Smith in England, the second-most by any visiting player in the country, behind only Sir Donald Bradman’s eleven tons. Smith has seven of those eight centuries against England, while another came against India in the WTC final earlier this month.12 Test centuries for Smith against England. Only Bradman (19 against England) and Sunil Gavaskar (13 against West Indies) have more triple-digit scores versus an opponent in Test cricket than Smith.1 Number of players to complete 9000 Test runs in fewer innings than Smith’s 174 innings. Kumar Sangakkara is the fastest to the 9000-run milestone, needing only 172 innings. Smith, however, is the fastest in terms of Tests played to complete 9000 runs, as he needed only 99 matches, while the previous fastest was Brian Lara in 103 games.ESPNcricinfo Ltd12 Smith’s hundreds in the Ashes. Only Bradman’s 19 tons rank higher in the Ashes, while Jack Hobbs also has 12 centuries. Smith is also now the fourth-highest run-getter in the Ashes with 3176 runs.2014 Test runs scored by Smith in England. Only three other visiting players have scored 2000-plus runs in England – Bradman (2674), Allan Border (2082) and Viv Richards (2014).416 Australia’s total in the first-innings is the highest for a visiting team at Lord’s since Australia’s 566 for 8 in the 2015 Ashes. Australia’s run rate of 4.13 is also the highest for any visiting team to make 400-plus in a Test innings at Lord’s.

Their technique and temperament kept the visitors at bay on a tricky Wankhede surface

S Sudarshanan22-Dec-20231:26

Ghosh: ‘I didn’t let the pressure of playing my first Test get to me’

Pure vibes.”One, two, three, four, mic testing. One, two, three, four.”Richa Ghosh walked in and settled down in front of the microphone. She blew air into it when asked to give a sound check, eliciting laughter around the room, before speaking into it. The next few minutes were about having fun and reacting to the questions, with some cheekiness in the mix. Like you expect a 20-year-old to be.Pure vibes.Adira, a nine-year-old fan dressed in cricket whites, was merrily waving the India flag from the Garware Pavilion, which is above the Australia dugout. Unlike the opening day, where three stands were open to the public as opposed to just two on Friday, most of the 600 people (approx.) at the Wankhede Stadium were in that section.Related

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The weather was kind. The hazy afternoon did not force you to search for shadows or the back-row seats despite the floodlights being on since the post-lunch session. [oh, there goes a four!], accompanied almost every four. The youngsters in the middle kept them clapping, dancing, and cheering their hearts out.Pure vibes.Jemimah Rodrigues is no stranger to adverse situations, given the rocky phases she has faced in her brief career. She was replacing her best mate, Smriti Mandhana, in the middle. A horrible mix-up with Ghosh had seen Mandhana run-out for 74, but she paused in her walk back towards the dugout, turned towards Ghosh and gestured to her to forget about it, stay in the middle and play her game.And so, Rodrigues and Ghosh, on Test debut, found themselves in the middle with India 147 for 3, still 72 runs behind Australia’s first-innings total of 219, with an hour to go for lunch.Australia’s fast bowlers had struggled to maintain their lines and lengths. Captain Alyssa Healy was forced to turn to her spinners quite often on the day – 71 of the 100 overs of the day were bowled by spin. Rodrigues, fresh of a fifty on Test debut, was confident in getting her stride out – be it for off-drives or to defend the ball. Ghosh managed to pick spin and also adjusted to the variable bounce on offer. They felt that the sweep was the way to go on the surface.Three of the four fours they hit in the period leading up to lunch were via the sweep shot – the conventional and the slog. They ensured that they got the front foot as close to the line of the ball as possible while trying to sweep; unlike Healy, who was beside the line of the ball and was bowled by one that kept low. The method Rodrigues and Ghosh followed allowed them to adjust to any variable bounce, and on the odd occasion they got the top edge on the sweep, it landed in the vacant spot at 45, behind square on the leg side.Richa Ghosh brought out the sweep to good effect•BCCIIn all, Rodrigues played the sweep to 18 balls and Ghosh opted for it eight times in their 113-run partnership off 187 balls. More importantly, they played out a combined six dot balls while attempting that shot, which meant Australia’s spinners couldn’t pin one batter down. “We decided to react to the ball. If we get the ball to sweep, we will sweep, if not we will defend,” Ghosh laughed after explaining the pair’s simple logic.They even kept offspinner Ashleigh Gardner, who finished the day with 4 for 100 in 41 overs, at bay. Gardner was the major threat on a surface which had a tinge of grass but was predominantly bare and dry, often casting doubts in the batters’ minds about their footwork. She got one to keep low and trap Harmanpreet Kaur – who went back – for a two-ball duck after Rodrigues chipped one to cover. She also trapped Yastika Bhatia lbw while sweeping.”Ash [Gardner] is just a real, classical offspinner,” Australia head coach Shelley Nitschke said later. “She gets a lot of revs on the ball. She is just continuously able to put the ball in a good spot and ask questions [of the batters], and with the revolutions she puts on the ball, she extracts whatever she can from the wicket.”India showed there is plenty of runs out there if you can just be patient. At times we were not able to build the pressure, but they also were really patient and played the long game. When we gave them something to hit, they made sure that it went to the boundary. They showed us that they were patient and built some partnerships, which we didn’t do in the first innings.”It was a fair assessment, as Rodrigues and Ghosh managed to hit 16 fours through their stay, each notching up a half-century. The partnership put India in the lead and the mini-wobble later magnified its importance. India lost 4 for 14 but were once again steadied by a patient alliance – an unbroken 102 – between Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar.That Australia managed to squeeze in some quiet phases – like the hour leading up to tea, where they picked up those wickets, or the one after tea where they managed to bowl three successive maidens and give away just 20 in ten overs – did not faze India. Because their young guns created the vibes at the Wankhede, feeding off the few noisy fans in a pocket.Adira goes to the Cross Maidan for cricket coaching and is a massive fan of Mandhana, but that Rodrigues and Ghosh helped India dominate another day of Test cricket at home will take time to sink in for her – and the other fans in the pocket.

He will play his final Test at the SCG like many others but ending a career unlike any other

Andrew McGlashan02-Jan-20243:51

Warner: ‘It’s been surreal to be here for 112 Tests’

David Warner has made it to Sydney. It has been one of the longer retirement build-ups and with Warner on Monday saying the end could have come at Lord’s, there was no guarantee that he was going to reach this point.It raised a few eyebrows when he laid out his preferred finish so clearly, although it wasn’t the ultimatum it was sometimes made out to be. There had been a window for a farewell 12 months ago after he had scored a double-century in his 100th Test against South Africa with the next game at the SCG. However, the lure of tours to India and England (which ultimately included the World Test Championship final) was strong.India was ended after two Tests due to injury then England, it appears, was a game-by-game scenario for much of the time. Half-centuries at Lord’s and The Oval were just enough to keep the wolf from the door. His 164 in Perth a few weeks ago meant his path was secure.”I know that people have been gunning for him for a period of time but for us internally, we’ve seen the great value in what he brings to the table, hence why we’ve kept picking him,” coach Andrew McDonald said last week in a clear indication that it has been the potential of what he still do that swayed things his way.Related

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The uncertainty over who will replace him has been a reminder that, even with the blemishes on his overall record, he has been among the highest calibre of player. An all-format great, without doubt, if probably a notch below in Test cricket alone given his struggles overseas.”Personally, I think of him when he first came on the scene and really changed Test cricket,” Pat Cummins said. “Walking out there and taking the game away from the opposition in the space of an hour or two, and doing it for over a decade. His longevity is something that gets overlooked.”So now the final stage of his Test career will play out against Pakistan. “Warner week”, Cummins termed it. It’s rare, especially in Australian cricket, for a player to be able to map out their finale although the SCG has seen a few by dint of normally being the final Test of a summer.In 2007, the ground witnessed a trio do it when Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer bowed out. A few years earlier, Steve Waugh brought down the curtain in 2004 against India having set the ground alight the summer before with his last-ball-of-the-day hundred against England.”For Davey, his 112th Test match, the impact that he’s had on Australia, the way he’s gone about the game, has been incredible,” McGrath said ahead of the Test that continues to raise millions for the Jane McGrath foundation. “Hopefully he can go out on a high.”It’d be great to see him get a hundred here in front of his home crowd. It sort of takes me back to my final Test match with Justin Langer and obviously the late great Shane Warne. So many incredible memories there and just the way people came out and supported us during that final Test match, I’m hoping they do the same for Davey.”2:13

McGlashan: ‘The game will be less interesting without Warner’

Warner has divided opinion like few others. You just have to witness the fallout from Mitchell Johnson’s column a few weeks ago. But the ovation at the MCG last week sounded genuine, even if a quick glance at social media (not often a wise thing) suggested differences remained. On Monday he offered to have a beer with anyone who had an issue with him. There will still be those who won’t be sorry to see him go, but even they will struggle to make a case that he won’t be a loss to the spectacle of the game.What happened in 2018 will always be part of Warner’s story and there remains a chance that skeletons will reveal themselves in the future. At his retirement press conference he said he had become “disconnected” with the game beyond the bubble of international cricket.”Davey has been exemplary over the last four or five years,” Cummins said. “I think we’ve all grown up a lot over the last four or five years. Davey is a leader in our squad and he’s led the way along with a lot of other senior guys on how we want to behave on and off the field. He’s been outstanding.”Warner’s career has tracked a path through the most dramatic evolution the game has seen. He was ahead of the curve when he made his T20I debut before playing any first-class cricket. Whatever else will be said, it has been an extraordinary feat to compile the three-format returns he has managed.When he plays his next T20I, which could be against New Zealand in March, he will bring up 100 appearances in all formats. There’s a handful of others who will likely achieve that (Tim Southee is very close), but given the direction of travel for Test cricket Warner could be among the last of his kind.In Test cricket, his average has not been below 40 since December 2013. From then on, it peaked at 51.34 in early 2016. There was a period through 2014 and 2015 when few could touch him for a combination of volume and speed of scoring: across 23 Tests he averaged 61.30 with a strike rate of 83.09 including 11 centuries.”Warner has made the life of his dozen opening partners much easier with his belligerent style,” Greg Chappell wrote in a column for newspapers. “With a strike rate of 70, Davey took the opposition on. By doing that, he allowed his partners to go about their business sedately, without having to worry about the scoreboard. Doing the heavy lifting came naturally to him.”The scoops, the flicks, the ramps, Warner’s array of strokeplay was often breathtaking. And even amid the leaner times of the last few years he has still had it in him, as he showed in Perth when he scooped Shaheen Shah Afridi over fine leg.His record at home has been immense – an average of 58.11 going into his final outing – with his numbers abroad more modest. His overseas returns are propped up by his impressive performances in South Africa in 2014, in conditions which closely resembled home, and two handsome Tests in Bangladesh. In England (26.48), India (21.78), Sri Lanka (25.22) and the West Indies (26.90) it was a struggle. But even in some of those contests, he has been part of compelling storylines, not least Stuart Broad’s dominance of him in 2019.The level of fitness he has maintained is also worthy of note. It was his fielding against Sri Lanka in the ODI World Cup that was a catalyst for Australia’s resurgence. There have been few quicker between the wickets than him, or a better judge of a run. And he has remained an excellent close catcher.But amid all the focus that Warner week will bring, this isn’t quite the end, although confirmation that he was also closing the chapter on ODI cricket brought it a step closer. There remains the unknown of what he will say when he finally hangs up the bat for good, what he is saving for the book and who should be worried. He will make a swift move into the commentary box. Still, whatever your views on him, he has never been dull. And however the closing stages of his career play out it’s unlikely to ever be so.

The star-studded XI represents five of the six teams, with no entrant from Karachi Kings

Danyal Rasool19-Mar-20241. Saim Ayub (Peshawar Zalmi)
345 runs, 31.35 ave, 157.53 SR, two fifties, eight wickets, economy 7.45Ayub’s season was about as complete as it can get for a 21-year-old. He partnered up with Babar Azam for the most formidable opening combination of the season, with his explosiveness embellishing Zalmi’s strong opening starts. Two fifties might sound like an indifferent return, but Ayub crossed 30 three times more, and the damage often lay in his strike rate. He added another potent layer to his formidable T20 repertoire, sometimes sending down a few tidy overs in the powerplay. He also picked up valuable top-order scalps.2. Babar Azam (Zalmi)
569 runs, 56.90 ave, 142.60 SR, five fifties, one hundredWell, what’s new? Babar dominated the runs charts once more, topping that list for the third time in the last five seasons.. Ayub was the perfect foil alongside him, but Babar added an element to his own game too. This is now not only his highest run tally in the PSL but also his highest strike rate. The Zalmi captain showed he didn’t have to sacrifice one for the other, and thrived as a sandwich between hard-hitting Ayub and Mohammad Haris.3. Usman Khan (wk, Multan Sultans)
430 runs, 107.50 average, 164.12 strike rate, two fifties, two hundredsUsman Khan was arguably the surprise of the tournament. A couple of years ago, he went unpicked and switched allegiances to the UAE but this time around lit up Multan Sultans. He wasn’t in the starting XI at the beginning but ensured he was nailed on by the end with a breathtaking mix of devastation and accumulation.Related

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He would finish behind only Babar in the run charts but at nearly twice the average and a much superior strike rate. He hit two of the season’s four centuries and his runs in the final allowed Sultans to have a fighting total in the final.4. Shadab Khan (capt, Islamabad United)
305 runs, 30.50 ave, 142.52 SR, three fifties, 14 wickets, economy rate 8.54He didn’t have an elite tournament as a bowler, but Shadab Khan’s runs ensured his all-round combinations didn’t go away. As Islamabad United captain, he came in at No. 4 in all but one match and demonstrated he was good enough to bat there. Three half-centuries and an impressive ability to attack spin after the field restrictions kept United moving. With the ball, his 14 wickets made him the fourth-best spinner, but an economy of 8.54 would be one to improve.Rassie van der Dussen struck the season’s first century•Associated Press5. Rassie van der Dussen (Lahore Qalandars)
364 runs, 72.80 ave, 154.89 SR, three fifties, one hundredRassie van der Dussen was as close as Lahore Qalandars got to greatness, with the team’s torrid season vastly different from the form he personally showed. Sometimes their lone runmaker, van der Dussen was near-invincible during the seven games he played with the Qalandars, making up for a misfiring top order with a dazzling array of shotmaking from lower down.His unbeaten 104 was one of the best innings of the season and left the campaign with a player-of-the-match award in Qalandars’ only win.6. Iftikhar Ahmed (Sultans)
259 runs, 64.75 ave, 193.28 SR, one fifty, two wicketsWith the highest strike rate of the season, Iftikhar Ahmed demonstrated he is still at his best in T20s. Most runs came as valuable cameos that either got Sultans out of trouble or stretched their advantage. Iftikhar truly demonstrated what an impact player was, and all that’s best about him shone through in the final. He hit an unbeaten 20-ball 32 that kept them in the final before he chipping in with his only two wickets of the season.7. Imad Wasim (United)
12 wickets, economy rate 6.60, 126 runs, 21.00 ave, 128.57 SR, one fiftyThe player of the final, Imad Wasim stormed back into national reckoning with a sensational all-round season. The overs he sneaked in at the top for barely over run-a-ball were a total outlier. Imad was the steel to United’s flair with bat in hand too, with handy contributions, none more so than an unbeaten 13-ball 30 that gave United a last-ball win to keep them alive in the group stages. He saved his best for the finale, becoming the first bowler to take five-for in a PSL final, and hanging around with bat in when the winning runs were hit.8. Akeal Hosein (Quetta Gladiators)
15 wickets, 20.53 ave, economy rate 7.70Quetta Gladiators’ only entry in this list, Akeal Hosein provided reliability to his side’s bowling attack. He rarely went for too many runs and almost always chipped in with wickets. The fifth-highest wicket-taker of the tournament, Hosein’s value lay in his ability to bowl at any stage of an innings. He finished with the second-lowest economy among spinners.Usama Mir had a high-flying season•PSL9. Usama Mir (Sultans)
24 wickets, 15.87 ave, economy rate 8.13The economy rate is skewed by one poor showing, but Usama Mir was the most prolific bowler of the tournament by a distance. No one else managed even 20 wickets, nor could anyone match his balls-per-wicket ratio of 11.7. Mir shook off an indifferent winter with the national side and found a level of control of his flight and variation that troubled every side. He was also responsible for the tournament’s only six-wicket haul and went wicketless in just one of his 12 games.10. David Willey (Sultans)
15 wickets, 20.40 ave, economy rate 7.46Arguably the canniest draft pick of the tournament, David Willey’s economy was second only to Imad. And no bowler who took more wickets comes close to being as economical as the Englishman. Willey gave Sultans dependency at the top or the tail of their bowling innings, and his variations on slowing pitches made him near-unhittable at times. Add his wicket-taking prowess, and he was one of the pillars in Sultans’ impressive run to the final.11. Naseem Shah (United)
15 wickets, 22.20 ave, economy rate 7.56Naseem Shah is fine. That, in itself, is a win for a Pakistan bowler returning from a serious injury. But Naseem was more than fine. Leading United’s attack, he demonstrated he’s still the same bowler, in pace, accuracy, and mentality. He conceded 36 in his first game and was never as expensive again. Never one to hide, he opened and closed off United’s bowling frequently, and bowled two of the seven maiden overs of the tournament. Don’t forget the nine-ball 17 in the final that levelled the scores and teed up his younger brother Hunain to hit the winning runs.

Unrestricted movement between overlapping tournaments risks calling integrity into question

Matt Roller13-Feb-2024You are a T20 cricketer, who has spent the last three weeks at a franchise league playing for a team which has performed below expectations. Your final group game is approaching, and only a win will be enough to take you through to next week’s knockout stages – but you have a dilemma.Your agent has been on the phone, and tells you that a team in another league is looking for a replacement for a player who has left on international duty. You are their first choice, but the deal could fall through unless you are available next week. How does that knowledge affect your mentality heading into your must-win group game?Similar scenarios have been cropping up on a daily basis this month: whenever a team was eliminated from the SA20, their overseas stars hopped on flights to Dubai or Dhaka to play in the ILT20 or BPL. More than a dozen players – including Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone and Jimmy Neesham – have made appearances in more than one league already this month.For the economically rational cricketer, the financial incentives are clear: early elimination from one league is likely to open up an extra week of availability for another, maximising overall earning opportunities. Any situation where it might be in a players’ interests for their team to lose should cause alarm; an official at one franchise describes it as “the sign of a broken sport”.There is no suggestion that any player has deliberately underperformed in one league in order to ensure their availability for another. But, as one agent puts it: “It’s a bizarre thing to have in the back of your mind.” The blame lies not with the players, who are making the most of cricket’s T20 boom, but with the administrators who have let an unregulated market mutate.Sam Curran swapped the SA20 for the ILT20 after MI Cape Town’s early elimination from the SA20•ILT20There are other bewildering scenarios for players who represent affiliates of one Indian franchise yet play in the IPL itself for another. Last month, Nicholas Pooran made his debut for Durban’s Super Giants – the South African offshoot of his IPL team, Lucknow – against MI Cape Town. His stint lasted three matches: nine days later, he played for – and captained – MI Emirates in Dubai.The status quo does not work for fans, regardless of their preferences. Purists lament the demise in bilateral international cricket’s status, but even younger fans who have grown up with leagues are poorly served. Is there any meaningful way in which to follow – let alone support – a franchise whose squad changes every other day, often without any public announcement?The six ILT20 franchises cycled through 129 players – the vast majority of them from overseas – in 30 group games this season. The seven BPL franchises have used 133 between them in the first 28 matches; that number will grow further this week when Keshav Maharaj plays for Fortune Barishal, even while South Africa’s understrength Test side are playing New Zealand.The fundamental issue is that five leagues – the BBL, SA20, ILT20, BPL and PSL – stage at least a portion of their season between late January and late February. The problem has been exacerbated during this cycle by the World Cup, which ran until November 19, but will be again in 2024-25 with the Champions Trophy set to start in early February. Everyone wants a window, but there is not space for all of them.Keshav Maharaj is heading for the BPL, only days after the SA20 final•SA 20There are some attempts to find a resolution. FICA, the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, will invite players to a global scheduling symposium in the second half of this year. “Current players’ collective views are critical,” Tom Moffat, FICA’s CEO, told ESPNcricinfo. “They are at the coalface, and should be at the centre of these conversations.”This is ultimately a scheduling issue… the same national governing bodies who control international cricket scheduling also own most of the domestic leagues. As difficult as it is to achieve, if global scheduling was built around clearer scheduling windows for international cricket, and therefore the leagues, it would provide more clarity, enable appropriate balance, and naturally line the leagues up more symmetrically.”Related

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The solution must involve collaboration – exemplified by the Caribbean Premier League’s successful avoidance of a clash with the Hundred in its 2024 window – as well as long-term thinking. It is a curiosity that the windows for leagues are often vague until weeks before they start, and that they are airbrushed out of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) despite dictating so much else.But the men’s international schedule is effectively locked in until March 2027 through the FTP, and cricket’s administrators cannot wait that long to address the perverse incentives that leagues have created. Instead, boards must find collective regulatory solutions to these problems which can then be presented for approval at ICC level. These might include:1. Restructuring of contracts
Most leagues operate with a contracting system which involves players being paid the majority of their salary via a retainer, with match fees and win bonuses representing only a small proportion. Shifting the balance might avoid some situations where players stand to benefit financially from early elimination.2. Mandatory ‘cooling-off periods’
Franchise league contracts and No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) are rewritten to stipulate that players are required to declare their availability for the knockout stages of a tournament when they enter a draft or sign a contract. If they declare themselves available for the knockout stages, they should be rendered unavailable for any other domestic cricket until the day after the final, regardless of their own team’s progress.3. Standardise the Blast’s ‘Bravo Rule’
England’s T20 Blast has long stipulated that, for knockout matches, counties can only field players who have been in the matchday squad for at least one group game, a rule devised in response to Essex signing Dwayne Bravo specifically for Finals Day in 2010. Other boards should follow suit, prompting teams to use the local talent in their squad. Bizarrely, the ECB introduced the same regulation for the second season of the Hundred – then removed it during the third.4. NOC limits for centrally-contracted players
Boards could consider following the Pakistan Cricket Board’s lead and implementing a limit on the number of NOCs they grant their players within a certain window, making extremely short-term stints less appealing to those who intend to spend a significant proportion of the year playing in leagues.The fourth suggestion was advocated by Ricky Ponting last week, but the context of his comments – he was speaking while being unveiled as Washington Freedom’s new coach, in addition to his roles with Delhi Capitals and Hobart Hurricanes – outlines the scale of the challenge. Change will require administrative leadership in a sport where that has been scant.Cricket handed itself over to the free market long ago and its governance now relies on an uneasy truce between self-interested actors. Players – and their agents – have more power than ever before, and want to make hay while the sun shines. Boards want to keep hold of their players, but also to keep them happy. Leagues want to attract fans, but also to turn profit. The only unrepresented interest is that of the sport itself, with no central authority with sufficient power to keep these actors in check.Franchises want to grow their profile, but also to win. Therein lies an important question: how do SA20 team owners feel about the idea that their early elimination might open up an extra week of earning opportunities for their players elsewhere? The irony would be lost on nobody if private investors end up being the parties lobbying for regulation.

With 14 matches of the league stage left, no team has yet been knocked out, though that could change very soon

S Rajesh08-May-2024The top twoKolkata Knight Riders

With 16 points already in their bag and an excellent net run rate of 1.453, Kolkata Knight Riders are almost through to the playoffs. Their worst-case scenario will be if they lose all three remaining games and stay on 16. It’s still possible for three other teams – Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, and one of Lucknow Super Giants or Sunrisers Hyderabad – to make it to 18, in which case KKR will be fighting for the fourth playoffs spot with LSG or SRH. Or, if Delhi Capitals win their last two, there could be a four-way tie on 16 with two spots up for grabs, with Royals and CSK already through. KKR can avoid all the NRR complications if they win another game and move to 18, which will ensure qualification.Rajasthan Royals

Like KKR, Royals too are just one win away from ensuring qualification. If they lose all three remaining games, it could come down to NRR, either for the last spot between two teams, or for two spots among four teams, just as in the case for KKR. Royals have two home games still to come, but those will be in Guwahati, not Jaipur, where they have won four out of five.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe 12-pointersChennai Super Kings

CSK are one of four teams jostling in the mid-table melee with 12 points, but they are the only ones of the four with a positive net run rate, which could be a significant advantage. Three wins will ensure qualification regardless of other results, but if they lose one it could come down to run rates, as six teams can finish on 16 or more points. Fourteen points could be a messy affair, as up to six teams can finish on 14, fighting for two places.Sunrisers Hyderabad

SRH’s three remaining games are all at home, and against teams below them on the points table (though in the case of LSG it’s only a run-rate difference). The next match against LSG will be crucial given that both teams are on 12 after 11 games. A win will be a huge boost to their chances, but 14 points won’t give them safety, as there could be as many as six teams finishing on 14.Related

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Lucknow Super Giants

LSG are identically placed with SRH in terms of points and matches remaining, but a significant difference is that they play their last three matches away from home – in Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai. Two of those games are also against teams on the same points tally, which means wins against them will not only boost LSG’s chances, but also diminish the prospects of those teams. However, 16 points still doesn’t guarantee qualification as six teams can get there.Delhi Capitals

Capitals are one of four teams on 12, but have played an extra game. That means they can only get up to 16, while the others on 12 can still aim for 18. If SRH and CSK win their remaining matches, you could have four teams on 18 or more points, shutting Capitals out even if they finish on 16. On the other hand, 14 points might be enough for qualification without even NRR coming into play, if other results go their way.Mumbai Indians aren’t out of contention yet, but they are hanging on by the barest of threads•AFP/Getty ImagesThe eight-pointersRoyal Challengers Bengaluru

Punjab Kings

Mumbai Indians

Gujarat Titans

The last four teams are all bunched together on eight points. Among them Mumbai Indians are the only team to have played 12 games, and are hanging on by the barest of threads, as it’s still possible for seven teams to be tied on 12, fighting for one spot. That thread will snap on Wednesday night if SRH beat LSG, or if their game is washed out and points are shared.For the three other teams, there’s still the possibility of getting to 14 points and qualifying without resorting to NRR.