All posts by h716a5.icu

Unscheduled break puts spotlight on captain’s faltering form in recent months

Matt Roller28-Jan-2022Are we heading into the final stages of Eoin Morgan’s England captaincy?Morgan was so quick to confirm his desire to stay on after the T20 World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand in Abu Dhabi that his future has hardly been raised. “I’m still offering enough to the side,” he said in the post-match presentation; Chris Silverwood, England’s coach, later revealed that Morgan had been making plans for the 2022 tournament on the team bus back to Dubai after that defeat.But Morgan’s absence from the final three games of England’s series in Barbados – he has been ruled out through a minor quad injury – does beg the question. He turns 36 in September, a month before the T20 World Cup in Australia, and Jos Buttler – his heir presumptive – is at a natural inflexion point in his career with his Test future in doubt.Morgan’s batting has reached a point where it is increasingly difficult to justify his place in England’s middle order. Since the start of 2021, he has averaged 16.36 with a strike rate of 108.43 for England. It is still a relatively small sample size, but the evidence at domestic level has been not better: across 28 innings for Middlesex, London Spirit and Kolkata Knight Riders, he has averaged 18.13 with a strike rate of 118.13.Morgan has always been a streaky player. His peaks and troughs have been extreme across a 15-year T20 career, and the volatility of middle-order batting in T20s – particularly since he shuffled down from No. 4 to No. 5 or 6 – has created what Buttler called “a myth” around Morgan’s form. “I think the longer you go without contributing a significant score, the closer you are to actually contributing – and that’s coming from experience,” Morgan said before the World Cup.And it was not long ago that Morgan was in the best hitting form of his career. In 2019 and 2020, he averaged 40.71 with a strike rate of 158.32 in T20 cricket, the third-highest in the world behind Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard among those who batted 40 times or more. At 5.25 crore (£560,000 at the time) he was one of the bargains of the auction for the 2020 IPL.But his recent run has been a tough watch. There have been occasional glimmers of form – five sixes in a Hundred game at The Oval, a cool-headed finish in the IPL and a late swing for victory at Old Trafford – but for the most part it has been a struggle, as highlighted by his only real innings of note for England: 40 off 36 balls on a slow, low Sharjah pitch, playing second fiddle to an extraordinary century from Buttler.His performances in Barbados continued the trend, with 30 runs off 41 balls across his two innings. In the first, he came in at 10 for 3 and missed the first six balls he faced in a maiden from Jason Holder, eventually scoring off his ninth ball thanks to a thick edge. The pitch was tough, but much flatter in the second game, when he picked out long-off for 13 off 12 balls – and then dropped two catches, one of them straightforward, during West Indies’ run chase.Perhaps all he needs is a break. Morgan’s schedule in the last year has been relentless: India tour, IPL (first half), isolation at home, T20 Blast, England’s home summer, yet more isolation, the Hundred, a short break, IPL (second half), World Cup, Abu Dhabi T10. He admitted towards the end of the Hundred that he was exhausted, and opted against playing in the BBL or PSL either side of this tour in favour of time off.Related

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“The break for every player, coach and support staff gets more necessary with all the restrictions around Covid,” he told magazine last month. “If I’ve ever gone through a rough patch and had the chance to take a break from it, I’ve always put the bat down and gone and enjoyed the rest for what it is.” Depending on February’s IPL auction – where he has a base price of Rs. 1.5 crore (£150,000) – he may yet get a longer break than anticipated.As for Morgan’s captaincy? It is impossible to put a value on the intangibles of leadership but there have been the first hints of cracks appearing. Morgan said at the toss in the first T20I that he was hoping to bat first, having chosen to bowl 23 times in a row dating back to September 2016 – a tacit admission that his insistence on chasing had been a factor in England making a par score of 166 for 4 in November’s semi-final defeat when their batting-heavy strategy and the conditions meant they needed more.Their death bowling has been poor for a while. Morgan was widely given credit for his calming influence on Jofra Archer in the Super Over in the 50-over World Cup final in 2019, having learned from Ben Stokes’ nightmare in Kolkata three years earlier; but that same influence could not stop Chris Jordan (twice), Chris Woakes and Saqib Mahmood all conceding 20 or more runs in a single death over during Morgan’s last three T20Is.What would England’s limited-overs set-up look like without Morgan? Phil Salt’s assertive debut half-century on Wednesday, out of position at No. 6, underlined the depth of talent in England’s T20 batting. Buttler is an inexperienced captain, but Morgan’s implementation of a signalling system with Nathan Leamon, the white-ball analyst, has made him replaceable. It is often assumed that Morgan would move to a coaching or mentoring role, but he may prefer to spend his thirties cashing in on the franchise circuit – or spending time out of the game altogether.Morgan’s legacy as England’s greatest-ever white-ball captain is already secure and has been reinforced by the depth of talent coming through the ranks under his watch. With a men’s ICC event scheduled for each of the next 10 years – including the defence of England’s 50-over title in 2023, by which stage he will be 37 – there is no perfect time for Morgan to step down. But it feels increasingly like this winter’s T20 World Cup is his natural endpoint.

The allrounder’s quick runs from No. 3 in the first T20I was no surprise – he’s done it before, after all

Deivarayan Muthu11-Jun-20220:45

van der Dussen: Dwaine is probably one of the hardest hitters

At the IPL, which he described as part of his “bucket list”, Dwaine Pretorius got the opportunity to work with Chennai Super Kings batting coach Mike Hussey, who has had a strong influence on his approach.When Pretorius asked Hussey what made him tick, the former Australia batter said that he used to make notes of the things that worked for him over a period of time and repeat those at the crease. Pretorius took a leaf out of Hussey’s playbook at the IPL and made his own list of five points, on his personal website, that were “very important” for him while batting.I believe whenever my body language is good and my energy is up and my mind is alert. Then that is when I play my best cricket so the first one as I’m walking out onto the field is to charge out for like five or six meters, have good intensity, run, lift my legs up, or whatever it is that makes me tick on the day but just get my energy up and I’m saying go let’s go.The second one is the method, what am I going to do now in the next 3 balls? Take my time or am I going to play? What is my method? What am I thinking? Yeah, and then after that I have decided my method.I get clarity on what type of shots I’m looking to play. Am I looking to go aerial? Am I looking to just defend it? Am I looking to get through the next three balls or am I looking to explode in the next three balls? This creates a lot of clarity for me.Next, my fourth thing that I really make sure that I remember is a very important thing for myself and that is when I’m triggering I need to trigger quite early. So for me, the word that I think of is Get ready.The last one is to watch the ball onto the bat or make good contact with the ball. That is the last thing that I would tell myself as the bowler is running in to make good contact.Bumped up to bat at No. 3 in a steep chase of 212 against India in Delhi on Thursday, Pretorius ticked most of those points while clattering a 13-ball 29, which set the scene for South Africa’s highest successful T20I chase. According to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, which adds context to every performance, Pretorius’ knock was worth 38 runs.Related

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In the Covid-19-enforced absence of Aiden Markram, South Africa had promoted Pretorius as a pinch-hitter after they lost Temba Bavuma in the third over. What stood out from the get-go was the third point: clarity. Pretorius scythed his second ball, from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, for four and then he unsettled India’s premier spinner Yuzvendra Chahal by slog-sweeping his second ball over midwicket for six.India turned to Hardik Pandya, fresh off a sensational spell for Gujarat Titans in the IPL final. Hardik’s first ball burst from a short of a length and whizzed past the shoulder of Pretorius’ swinging bat. Some balls were zipping through like that while others didn’t come on to the bat on a tricky track, but that didn’t cloud Pretorius’ clarity of thought.Despite the presence of deep square-leg and long leg, Pretorius launched three leg-side sixes in four balls, taking South Africa up to 60 for 1 in five overs. When Pretorius tried to maximise the last over of the powerplay, Harshal Patel castled him with a signature slower dipper. Pretorius had done his job, though, as David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen launched from the platform he had laid.Pretorius’ promotion shouldn’t have come as a surprise to the South African audience. After all, his highest T20 score of 77 not out came from No. 3, against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers in 2019. In the Mzansi Super League final the same year, he marked his return from a hand injury with a 21-ball 43 in a similar pinch-hitting No. 3 role, helping Paarl Rocks secure the title.ESPNcricinfo Ltdvan der Dussen, Pretorius’ former team-mate at Lions and Jozi Stars, certainly wasn’t surprised with what he saw. “I think Dwaine is probably one of the guys in world cricket that hits the hardest, if you look at his domestic and international stats,” he said at the post-match press conference. “No. 3 is a position that he has been successful at before and the thing tonight [was] he had clear instruction to go in and put the bowlers under pressure.”A total of that nature you sort of know you have to go hard for 20 overs. And we know when Dwaine gets it right it’s really, really tough to bowl to him because he’s just so powerful. He played brilliantly and got out to a really good ball from Harshal, but I think he will take a lot of confidence from that and going into the series, I think he’s definitely going to put the bowlers under pressure.”With Markram still recovering from illness and young Tristan Stubbs just working his way into international cricket, Pretorius will have greater responsibility with the bat in a thin line-up during this series in India.At the T20 World Cup last year in the UAE, Pretorius had called bowling at the death as an “ugly job”. Similarly, you don’t have to look pretty while batting in the powerplay. If Pretorius can keep doing that job – with bat and ball – and keep ticking things off that list, it will give South Africa a leg-up, in the lead-up to another World Cup.

It makes no sense, follows no script, and laughs in the face of conventional wisdom, but Pakistan are somehow in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup

Danyal Rasool06-Nov-20222:27

Mumtaz: ‘The middle order has stepped up and saved Pakistan in every game’

If the only value of bilateral T20I cricket lies in the opportunity to make the right tweaks ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup, then Pakistan spent the last year wasting everyone’s time. They built in seven (7!) games against England, ostensibly to experiment with the top order, only for Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to open in six of them.They wanted to trial Shadab Khan further up the order, but he wouldn’t bat once in the top four. When, in a tri-series against New Zealand (yet more T20Is!) they did try Shadab in the top four, he whacked Ish Sodhi around for fun. It suddenly made so much sense. So of course, they didn’t bat him there again next game. Like against India in the Asia Cup, where Mohammad Nawaz had come in at number 4 and sensationally won Pakistan a match they looked to be stuttering in. He wouldn’t bat there again all tournament.Related

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We didn’t understand this side well enough, though, you see. Rizwan and Babar always had to open because they were Specialist Chasers™. It didn’t matter whether the total was 140 or 200, these two were built to run it down. Never mind that Babar and Rizwan are what you might imagine the opposite of Marilyn Monroe to be: if you couldn’t live with them at their worst batting first, you didn’t deserve them at their best batting second.So the first game Pakistan chased at this World Cup, they had Babar and Rizwan up top, of course. They threw in Shan Masood, too, because it never hurts to have too many anchors, right? And they were set 130 by Zimbabwe, a chase so built for anchors it was almost offensive. It was all set up so beautifully for Pakistan it was too tempting not to fluff this up. No World Cup is as valuable as brand reinforcement and narrative consistency, so naturally, Pakistan fell short by one run.Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan always had to open as they are Pakistan’s Specialist Chasers™•AFP/Getty ImagesIt was their second defeat of the tournament, and they sat dolefully at the bottom of a group containing Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and the Netherlands, less than a fortnight after they had lifted a T20 tri-series trophy in New Zealand. The first defeat, too, came in the most characteristic fashion, complete with a top order failure, a middle order salvage, and a lower-order slap and dash to perfectly set their fast bowlers up to defend 160. They duly put India to the sword, and pretty much the game to bed, only for Virat Kohli to play the T20I innings of his life and deny Pakistan at the last.The match against the Netherlands was that one clinical game Pakistan sometimes have when they’ve stunk a place up so much everyone’s left, and therefore no one’s watching to put any pressure on them. Haris Rauf hit Bas de Leede in the face, Mohammad Rizwan’s strike rate finally realised 100 isn’t the speed limit, and there was some wholesome content to be had from Haris giving de Leede some encouraging words and a cuddle.Shadab Khan celebrates after dismissing Soumya Sarkar in the crucial encounter against Bangladesh•Getty ImagesJust like 2007 and 2009, though, Pakistan suddenly discovered the value of the low-value wicket up top, and the futility of anchors in this format. Fakhar Zaman’s injury saw them replace him in the squad with Mohammad Haris. He’s a man who has travelled alongside the team without playing so much he might have been mistaken for a hanger-on, the sort of person sports stars end up stuck with and don’t know how to shake off.Pakistan had the entirety of the Asia Cup, the seven matches against England, and the tri-series in New Zealand to figure out if this Haris bloke might be any use to them. They gave him all of eight balls in those 18 T20Is. He tried to hit the ball too much, took far too many risks, and looked like he had never met the forward defensive shot in his life. How would he play against high-class fast bowling in Australia? No, thank you, out you go.Having made that judgment call, there was only one thing to do. “You want to play a World Cup, boy? Here you go, you play tomorrow.”Not against the Netherlands or Zimbabwe to get settled in. “We play South Africa tomorrow, and good news, you’re playing. We’ll stick you right there in the top order, just after Rizwan or Babar get out for a strike rate so low it might even shock Temba Bavuma. There’ll be lots of pressure to get runs quickly. You like to do that, yeah? Well, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje like to test out how strong helmets are. Let’s see who wins.”Even Wayne Parnell smacks him on the grill second ball. But the six balls he faces off Nortje and Rabada see him plunder 22 runs. Pakistan have hit one powerplay six all tournament; Haris smashes three in 11 balls. Pakistan realise attacking cricket can also be quite fun, an epiphany that neatly escaped them through the scores of build-up T20 games they had been playing. Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab wallop everything, their 103 runs coming off a combined 57 balls. They blow South Africa away, a side that was top of the group, just beat India last game and thrashed Bangladesh by 104 runs.

“There’s perhaps no point talking about rebuilding for 2024 when this World Cup comes to an end, because Pakistan rebuild on the hoof, right in the middle of World Cup campaigns”

Rizwan’s consistency over the past two years means there’s no template for how to play when he isn’t fit and firing. For all the criticism around his alleged conservatism, he has spent the last two years before this World Cup averaging 64.51 and striking at 131.89. It prompts Pakistan to brush aside all criticism and stick with him as their man up top. So, across five innings, here, his average drops to 20.60, and he’s striking at 100, the lowest among all players at this World Cup to have faced over 100 balls.It is almost impudent for Pakistan to have the cheek to dream of a semi-final spot with their T20 setup in this state, but here in Adelaide, the Netherlands have just beaten South Africa. It is close to the only thing that could keep Pakistan in the hunt, and just about encapsulates Pakistan perfectly. The form team of last year’s World Cup, with the number one ranked opening batter in the world, bowlers so fast and skilful it’s almost unfair to stock them all into one team, preparation so exhaustive it could generate performances through muscle memory alone. And yet, their hopes come down to a sleepy, sunwashed Adelaide morning, and how well a 38-year-old Stephen Myburgh playing his last match can attack Kagiso Rabada, or how fast Roloef van der Merwe can run backwards to dismiss David Miller.They still have their own work to do, needing to beat Bangladesh, and are well on their way with the ball. But Babar and Rizwan almost parody themselves as they inch their way along, an alarmed Pakistan fanbase watching the asking rate rise ominously up. Even Mohammad Nawaz, who’s shot up to three ahead of Haris for no discernible reason can only manage 4 off 11. Haris comes in and whacks just enough to break the back of the low-scoring total because, surprise, that is what hitters with a license to slog do. Shadab, of course, has been shunted far down again, but who can really keep up anymore?This team’s in the semi-final, folks. It makes no sense, follows no script, laughs in the face of so much received wisdom we’ve come to learn about T20 cricket. There’s perhaps no point talking about rebuilding for 2024 when this World Cup comes to an end, because Pakistan rebuild on the hoof, right in the middle of World Cup campaigns. And they’ve made it to six out of eight T20 World Cup semi-finals doing that, a feat unmatched by any other side.You really can’t understand Pakistan cricket. You can only enjoy it. And on days like today in Adelaide, that can seem ever so easy.

Islamabad-Multan diary: While the focus on safety is very understandable, it regrettably drains the travelling reporter’s experience of authentic local flavour

Vithushan Ehantharajah09-Dec-2022It was probably when heading outside for my first cigarette in Multan that I realised the true nature of this tour.Islamabad was fine, the spectre of heavy security easy to ignore given the scale of the Serena Hotel, the drives to the ground, and the occasional manufactured dalliance into the real world. But lighting up and seeing four police officers form a square around you as if they are about to start up an impromptu game of rondo was a reminder of the lengths local law-enforcement people need to go. Everyone here harbours a collective responsibility to do their bit for this England tour of Pakistan. They thought I might try and leave my hotel, but I knew better than that after the way they panicked when a colleague tried to go for a wander. No one can leave without police presence and getting out at night is a straight no-go. Hopefully that softens, but I’m not holding out much hope.Related

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Since arriving in Pakistan at the end of November, the sense of local pride at hosting England for a first Test tour since 2005 has been abundantly clear. But in Multan, you can feel the anxiety.Cricket has only just returned to this city after 14 years, following a few ODIs against West Indies in March, and it is clear the PCB isn’t keen to take the training wheels off the place just yet. And fair enough. These international tours, costing US$ 2 million a pop, are so reliant on Western sensitivities. If the choice is between making your guests feel frustrated and safe and liberated and exposed, then, yeah, why wouldn’t you choose the latter?There is a sense among the travelling press corps that those who have never been to Pakistan before, like myself, won’t get to see the real Pakistan before we leave. As important as the cricket is on this occasion, it largely defeats the point of touring.The previous week in Islamabad was heavily cricket – one-of-a-kind cricket, to be fair – but for a visit to the British High Commission. It was pegged as one of the few places to openly consume alcohol in the city, and barring the plush setting and three levels of security clearance required, it basically ended up with all the English media packed into what was a glorified cricket club bar talking loudly, playing pool and asking if they had anything else other than BrewDog (they did – plenty). Just as that night was winding down, an invite came for a jaunt into Islamabad. Specifically, a house party.No, this was not simply another manufactured Anglo comfort rouse. A friend of a friend had an in, and three of us were cool by association. An hour later, we found ourselves in the kind of house that would be the final boss on MTV Cribs.If the choice is between making your guests feel frustrated and safe and liberated and exposed, then why wouldn’t you choose the latter?•Getty ImagesIt was surreal for many reasons, but perhaps the most heartening was the breadth of those in attendance. The kind of bolshy creative types responsible for layers of culture among younger generations. Quite apart from being made to feel totally welcome was the gratitude of getting an opportunity to glimpse into a side of Pakistan that is rarely considered. This, we were told, was the start of Islamabad’s party season. Many in attendance were prominent members of niche yet thriving industries, some of whom were back from abroad to catch up with old friends in their old haunts. All older, worldlier, and a little more appreciative of home and how it forged them.During the 3am ride back to the hotel through the dark empty streets of Islamabad, the glee at finally seeing something real beyond those who come to cheer in the stands reinforced something: there are many personalities of Pakistan, but they will only reveal themselves to you if you’re willing to meet them more than halfway.As I recall that thought now, on the eve of the second Test, maybe a cricket tour is one of the worst ways to do that, especially with England? None of this is inauthentic, but also none of this is real. Perhaps other opportunities to embrace the real Pakistan will come before I head home, especially with Karachi on the horizon. My aim for now is to at least shake its hand in Multan.

And India and Pakistan make everyone else uncomfortable with their Asia Cup saga

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Jun-2023If there are still those who consider England the home of cricket, then India is cricket’s Vegas mega-mansion. The glitz has been impossible to miss for years now. They are highrolling like no one’s ever highrolled before, carving out vast tracts of real estate on the calendar for the IPL, raising obscene sums from broadcast contracts, and drawing more nations, more players, more companies, and more spineless political shills into orbit.If the Briefing sounds grumpy about all of this, it has nothing to do with our not being on the Indian cricket gravy train. It’s because we have morals*.We thought we were friends
Dearest BCCI,We hope you are well. Your president looks dashing on his magazine covers.We are writing after receiving the new proposal at the ICC, which suggests the BCCI will receive 38.5% of the ICC’s net revenue over the next four years. As India is the nation that contributes the most to the media rights’ value, it is, of course, only right that the BCCI gain the most from the ICC’s profits.However, we were dismayed to see that we receive a mere 6.89% and 6.25%, which is less than $40 million per year. This is almost as little as Pakistan and not much more than New Zealand.Forgive us BCCI, but perhaps there is some mistake? Did we not come together as brothers in 2014 to carve out the greatest shares of the ICC’s net revenue between the three of us? Did we not together invent the reasoning for this lionising? How could this have possibly turned upon us?We will of course not go so low as to seriously suggest that the global game is best served by an egalitarian spirit at the ICC, or that it may ultimately be counterproductive for one side to dominate all others at global events. The plan was to dominate them together.Concerned,The England and Wales Cricket Board and Cricket AustraliaDon’t cry because it ended; smile because it happened
“Bro, how great was it when it was just the two of us?Imperial Cricket Council 4eva *handheart emoji*”Franchises eye year-round player contracts
It’s now become commonplace for cricketers to retire early from internationals to spend time with their franchise families. But indications are that IPL franchises are about to step it up several gears, by signing players on for the majority of the year to play in various leagues owned by the same bosses around the world.Just to flex, Chennai Super Kings even used England Test captain Ben Stokes as the world’s most expensive benchwarmer for most of his two months at the IPL.Asia Cup drama
As Oscar Wilde once famously said, “Everything in the world is about sex. Except the Asia Cup. The Asia Cup is about scheduling difficulties.”This year’s tournament, which almost everyone will agree would be excellent practice for the World Cup, is supposed to be hosted by the Pakistan Cricket Board. And the PCB don’t just want to host, they want to HOST it. None of this “take the profits but play the games in the UAE” stuff. They want the Asia Cup to come home, baby. They’ll show it the biryani joints of Karachi, the architecture of Lahore, the broad avenues of Islamabad, and hold it safe and tight when the Pindi boys get too close.But like the aunties who lead rival factions of the family, India and Pakistan are intent on making this get-together uncomfortable for everyone yet again. India, unwilling to travel to Pakistan, have suggested that their matches be played at a neutral venue. The BCCI even went as far as to invite heads of the Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and ACC boards to the IPL final, while floating Sri Lanka as a potential alternative venue (much to SLC’s joy, because obviously the BCCI would never dump its allies the moment it no longer needs them).Is this any way for the big South Asian boards to behave, though? Should there not be bonhomie based upon mutual joys? Joys such as the dance (Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka), crowd violence (Afghanistan vs Pakistan), the threat of nuclear war (the big boys), and wild gesticulating (Virat Kohli vs Naveen-ul-Haq).While the scheduling remains uncertain, the likes of Nepal – who deserve a big tournament, having won 13 of their last 14 ODIs – are in limbo.In 2035 on the Briefing:
– Sri Lanka player selfishly abandons franchise who made him what he is to pursue glory with his national team.- Star 15-year-old batter in Shropshire believes he can get into his favourite Kanpur Autocrats IPL side if he works hard enough, though any of the other 35 teams would do.*Our morals are currently available for sale if the BCCI would just return our communications via telephone, email, Instagram, or Onlyfans DM

Royal Challengers scored only 61 runs in the overs between 7 and 14; Super Giants amassed 117 in the same phase

Ashish Pant11-Apr-20233:39

Pooran: ‘I hit a couple out of the park and that got me going’

Seldom does a team conceding 212 in a T20 game go into the break between innings thinking they have done all right. However, on Monday night at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where 200-plus totals have been scored 24 times in the IPL, the feeling was that Royal Challengers Bangalore had left a few runs out in the middle.The feeling became even stronger when Marcus Stoinis, first, and Nicholas Pooran took down the Royal Challengers bowlers, despite Lucknow Super Giants having started poorly in their big chase.When Stoinis walked out, Super Giants were 23 for 3 after four overs. At the same stage in their innings, Royal Challengers were 33 for no loss, with Virat Kohli scoring quickly, though Faf du Plessis was struggling.Related

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The foundation was set, but Royal Challengers managed only 61 runs in eight overs after the powerplay, with Kohli and du Plessis slowing down against spinners Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, and Amit Mishra.In contrast, Super Giants hit 117 in the same phase – the second-highest in the league’s history.During that phase in the chase, Stoinis bludgeoned a 30-ball 65, and when Pooran arrived at the crease in the 11th over, Super Giants were ahead of where Royal Challengers were at the stage, despite losing four extra wickets. His 19-ball 62 didn’t quite finish the game, but it was 24 needed in three overs with four wickets in hand then.It generally comes down to small margins in T20 cricket. Where Royal Challengers slowed down against spin, Super Giants took Karn Sharma and Shahbaz Ahmed for 65 runs in four overs. Royal Challengers, on the other hand, scored 93 in ten overs of spin.ESPNcricinfo LtdIt might not have had to do with intent, or a milestone in the case of Kohli, who took ten balls to go from 42 to 50. When he did, off 35 balls, du Plessis was on a run-a-ball 18. Momentum shift? Yes, but the surface did seem to hold up a touch for the spinners in the first innings, and got better to bat on progressively, which made stroke-making easier.”When we were batting, it was quite slow between overs seven to 14; a little bit dry,” du Plessis said at the post-match presentation. “Then as the innings went in the last five overs, I think maybe there was a bit more moisture and the ball started skidding better, and that was the case right through the second innings. Really nice to bat on, really nice for good cricket shots.”Pooran agreed, at least as far as the second half was concerned. “The wicket was really nice to bat [on],” he said. “It was about cashing in, getting in the right positions and executing.”The numbers against fast bowling were quite different. Kohli hit 33 in 19 balls against them, striking at 173.68. Against spinners, he scored at 112. Du Plessis scored 37 off 20 balls against the quicks at 185, which dropped to 161.53 against spin. Among the top three Royal Challengers batters, only Glenn Maxwell went quicker against spin than pace. In comparison, Stoinis scored at 283.33 against spin (34 off 12) and Pooran at 380 (19 off five).2:04

Parnell: Stoinis and Pooran looked like they wouldn’t mis-hit anything

And this, that the top few Royal Challengers batters would go at the quicks more than at the spinners, wasn’t a surprise to the Super Giants players.”We always knew that they would target the powerplay hard and would slow down after the powerplay,” Pooran said after the game. “That was the discussion we had. But that’s how they play their cricket, they obviously try to set up the game and try to go for a strong finish.”Which they did, but “Bishnoi and Krunal bowled extremely well after the first few overs and probably kept us back after an electric powerplay”, as Maxwell admitted.Apart from his batters’ struggles against spin, the ineffectiveness of his own spinners is also a cause of worry for du Plessis. Wanindu Hasaranga is expected to join the squad soon, and that should provide some relief. But with four of their next five games to be played in Bengaluru, Royal Challengers will have to devise a plan to contain the opposition. And score more. Because, as Stoinis pointed out, at the Chinnaswamy, “history suggests that 200 is pretty much par a lot of the time”.

While the national attention is largely on other South African sporting teams, the cricketers will quietly fancy their chances in India

Firdose Moonda18-Sep-2023For a change, South Africa’s cricket team will go to the World Cup without much fuss or fanfare and they have their rugby counterparts to thank for it. The world champion Springboks are competing at their own World Cup, for a record fourth title, and the country’s sports lovers are too Bok-befok (an Afrikaans phrase that can be loosely translated as obsessed with the Springboks) to be distracted by other things, even if the other thing is a World Cup in a different code.That may come as a relief to Temba Bavuma, Rob Walter and co, who will have to deal with far less pressure and expectations than squads before, but they’re also using it as inspiration – to go where no South African side has gone before.”We understand that we are a vehicle for inspiration for the country. When the team are at its best, they provide a mirror for what the country can look like, where race is not an issue, there are no political divides and they are only focused on one thing, which is the collective.”Related

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Those are powerful words at a time when the country has faced unprecedented success alongside unprecedented hardship. In a landmark year for sport, the women’s national team became the first senior cricket side to reach a World Cup final, the women’s national football team, nicknamed , became the first senior side in their code to reach the knockout rounds of a World Cup and wheelchair tennis players Kgothatso Montjane and Donald Ramphadi won gold in their respective categories at Roland Garros. At the same time, there have been more rolling blackouts this year than at any time before, the Rand slipped to its lowest rate against the Dollar in history, and wealth inequality remains the largest in the world.No sports team can solve those issues but between them, the Springboks, , the tennis stars and the Proteas men and women are going to try to at least put smiles on faces and hope in hearts.”The role of the team is to provide inspiration and hope and to unify,” Bavuma says. “The way to do that is by playing a brand of cricket people can get excited about. And everyone likes to win.”That was evident at a sell-out Wanderers, where more than 34,000 people turned up on Sunday afternoon, watched the cricketers on the field and the rugby players on the big screen and celebrated their victories in the spring sunshine with party vibes. What they saw from France was expected: the No.2 ranked Springboks downed 19th placed Romania 76-0. What they saw in front of them was not. South Africa went from 258 for 6 in the 45th over, to 315 and then defended their total successfully for the third fixture in succession to claim the ODI series 3-2.Though Walter cautioned that South Africa need to “very careful,” about “reading too much,” into the result ahead of a World Cup that will be played in vastly different conditions, there are positive signs for a side that only got automatic qualification to the tournament in eighth place. A tough top-order At first glance, and especially when stacked up against names like Jonny Bairstow, Rohit Sharma or Babar Azam, South Africa’s top three don’t exactly seem menacing but Bavuma, Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen have numbers that suggest otherwise. They boast averages of 56.95, 44.88 and 57.62 respectively and can all lay a foundation for the big-hitters in the middle-order.Bavuma’s 50-over pedigree is particularly overlooked, in part because of criticism over this T20 strike rate and blurring of lines between formats, but in 2023, he averages 79.62 in ODIs, has scored three hundreds and two fifties and proved himself as an astute captain.Quinton de Kock will retire from ODIs after the World Cup•AFP/Getty ImagesMarco Jansen shaping up as a leading allrounder South Africa raised eyebrows when they chose to include only one genuine allrounder in their squad especially as other squads were stacked with them but Marco Jansen is proving more than useful. He had his best game in the series-decider against Australia with a career-best 47 off 23 balls and his first five-for and Walter warned this is only the beginning. “Marco has got such huge potential. There is so much more in the tank from him,” Walter said.Jansen has indicated he enjoys the roles differently, as he is allowed to be more carefree with the bat and more stoic with the ball. “It’s tough but it’s nice at the same time,” he said, when asked how he is carrying both loads. “It’s a bit more responsibility but for me it’s important to go out there and enjoy it. I enjoy batting and when I am batting I try and express myself and then when I am bowling, it’s more like I have a real job to do.”South Africa probably see his division of labour the same way: bat with freedom but bowl with maturity, especially as he is likely to be their quickest bowler, with Anrich Nortje in doubt because of a back injury.

“We understand that we are a vehicle for inspiration for the country. When the team are at its best, they provide a mirror for what the country can look like, where race is not an issue, there are no political divides and they are only focused on one thing, which is the collective”Temba Bavuma is aware of the job at hand

Winning with spin and seam There are concerns over the make-up of South Africa’s attack with Nortje and Sisanda Magala in a race against time to prove their fitness ahead of the squad’s departure this weekend but South Africa look otherwise well stocked. Walter was particularly pleased with the different departments of the attack in the Australia series ahead of the World Cup. “We won the game in Potchefstroom with spin, we won the game at SuperSport Park with pace and we put it all together today,” he said.South Africa defended 338 in the third ODI, largely thanks to Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi’s strangling efforts. They bowled 17 overs between them, took four wickets and gave away only 66 runs – fewer than four runs an over in a chase where Australia were required to score above six. They defended 417 in Centurion, where Lungi Ngidi and and Kagiso Rabada shared seven wickets between them and at the Wanderers, Jansen’s short-ball barrage which led to his five-for and Maharaj’s four wickets saw Australia slump to a third defeat by 100 runs or more, and to Walter, justified how he has put his squad together.”It’s one of the biggest cliches in sport: sticking to the process. But it’s a cliche because it’s true. You have to trust the processes, trust the way you want to play the game.”South Africa want to play fearlessly and understand the other nine teams at the World Cup are aiming for the same. But they also know South African eyes may not be entirely on that for some time. The Rugby World Cup started last week and will conclude on October 29, six matches into South Africa’s Cricket World Cup campaign. That buys the cricketers time, to gauge the national mood, to work on their own game and to start their tournament under the radar. They could not have asked for a more relaxed way to enter the competition, or for more motivation. The Springboks have established themselves as the heartbeat of the nation, and they’ll set the pace but a country needs other things too. Over to you, Proteas.

Coach Hafeez and captain Masood believe the batters needed to have been more aggressive in the first innings

Danyal Rasool17-Dec-20234:28

‘Pakistan don’t have the belief to beat Australia here’

Pakistan coach and team director Mohammad Hafeez found himself in a critical mood at the press conference immediately following the first Test against Australia. Freshly smarting from a 360-run defeat sealed with a 30-over batting display that saw his side skittled out for 89 with a day and change to go, it was perhaps just as well, because there was plenty to be critical of.But the squarest aim he took was at Pakistan’s batting approach, particularly in the first innings, saying the batters failed to apply themselves and stick to their pre-match plans.”Well, we couldn’t execute our skills well,” Hafeez said. “We made plans for the team, but unfortunately we couldn’t execute them well. That’s not an excuse. The guys wanted to, but they never applied themselves, to be very honest. As a team there were a couple of tactical errors we made during this Test match. There were certain situations where we could have dominated, and as a team, the plans were there and we prepared ourselves for that. But the execution wasn’t great.”A cynic might wonder if Hafeez, only recently appointed to his roles, ahead of a tour to a country he has never played a Test match in, was looking to establish a buffer between the playing group and the management group. Pakistan do, after all, still have on their books Mickey Arthur, a man who coached the West Australian state side for nearly two years, in addition to overseeing a Test win in Perth and a series win in Australia as coach of South Africa. And while that might have made little difference – when Arthur was coach of Pakistan, they still lost an away series in Australia 3-0 – the PCB’s decision not to send him on this tour has thrown the rawness of the new-look coaching staff into sharper focus.Related

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Last week, when Pakistan were training at the WACA, Hafeez had gone after the surface laid out for Pakistan in Canberra for the first-class game they played against the Prime Minister’s XI, calling it the “slowest pitch a visiting team could have faced in Australia”. He also promised a brand of cricket that would see Pakistan take the attack to Australia, particularly Nathan Lyon. As it turned out, though, no Australian bowler took more wickets than Lyon’s five, which came in 32 overs at an economy rate of 2.50.Hafeez defended Pakistan’s plans and preparations, and once more rued their inability to execute them.”The Canberra pitch was totally different. But this pitch, obviously, as you expect in Perth, there was bounce and a little lateral movement. And that was obviously what we’ve seen during the last four days. But the amount of deterioration we witnessed, I wasn’t expecting that much because on the fourth day the deterioration in the pitch was really high. But still, we believe it was a good toss to the win for Australia. They managed to put runs on the board and then obviously batting in the fourth innings and on the fourth and fifth day is going to be a real challenge and we couldn’t do that, to be honest.Shan Masood and Shaheen Afridi ponder Pakistan’s tough position•Getty Images”You can say that [the plans we made weren’t followed], but not really that much. I believe that the message is very clear. And as I said to you earlier, we prepared accordingly. In the last 20 days of my role, the message was very, very clear to everyone.”It appears to be something Pakistan’s leadership group agrees upon. Captain Shan Masood at the post-match press conference also pointed to the side’s sluggish scoring rate, while mentioning they’d batted nearly as many overs as Australia in the first innings – 101.5 compared to the hosts 113.2.”When you come to these shores you look for progress,” Masood said, setting the bar somewhat lower than the bullish Hafeez had. “If you had told me that Australia would have batted 110 overs and we would play 100 overs, I would have taken that as a batting unit.”While Pakistan’s scoring rate isn’t particularly notable in its own right – no side will ever find taking the game to the Australian attack easy on their own shores – the variance between what Pakistan promised before the game and what they delivered is. With Hafeez and Masood both committing to an exciting brand of cricket, Pakistan instead found themselves bogged down right from the get-go, barely managing above two an over for the opening partnership.Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq did hold out for 36 overs in the first innings without giving away a wicket, though Masood felt more urgency might have put a different spin on the game. “We could have batted a bit quicker, even though we were facing one of the best bowling attacks in the world. We probably missed out on 60-70 runs, which could have made the lead a bit less sizeable.”Masood, for his part, did stick to that method, coming down the wicket to wallop Lyon for a boundary off his second ball. The scoring rate did tick up – thanks largely to him – during a brief partnership with Imam, though expansive drives led to his downfall in each innings. And a score of 32 across two innings of the Test – the lowest for any specialist Pakistan batter in Perth – suggests taking on this Australian attack may require more than wanton belligerence.Hafeez had struck a particularly optimistic tone ahead of the Test and continued in the same vein, the defeat seemingly doing little to subdue it. “I said to you earlier that the vibe I got from the preparation and the amount of talent these guys have, there’s no doubt the guys can beat Australia in Australia. But obviously execution-wise we couldn’t do that. The plan was there, we prepared things accordingly and I still believe as a team that Pakistan can beat Australia here in Australia. Obviously as a team we need to execute our skills whenever it requires.”There are a lot of positives in this game. The two debutants [Aamer Jamal and Khurram Shahzad], the way they bowled, the way they showed the passion to represent Pakistan, that is very special and heartening to me. I really enjoyed personally the way they did and they were presenting themselves for every challenge and they are the most positive side we had during this test match. Unfortunately, our premier fast bowlers couldn’t do well in this game, but this can happen to anyone. But I’m sure these guys will come harder in the next game.”It might take some time. But gradually we will get up there where I feel like we know, ‘this is the way to play international cricket at the moment.'”It is time Pakistan may not have, at least not in this series. In a little over a week’s time, Pakistan play a Boxing Day Test at the MCG, their losing streak in Australia now stretching to 15 Tests. It will require little short of a miracle or a freak weather event not to see that stretch to 17 in about three weeks’ time.

Our correspondent writes up a report card for England’s not so merry fellows in India, ranking how true they were to the B-word philosophy

Alan Gardner15-Mar-2024Firstly, the Light Roller would like to make a statement to our loyal reader.It has come to our attention that we may have, at various unspecified points in the past, referred to the so-called “Bazball” as the greatest thing ever to happen to cricket, a feat of genius with no parallel in the history of the game, the latest English sporting innovation set to sweep the world, and the only thing worth getting out of bed for in the morning.Regretfully, we must now inform you that these views were, at best, misguided, at worst, deviant. The so-called “Bazball” is in fact an overhyped chimera, a flawed piece of one-dimensional thinking that was destined to fail, the latest blight on England’s much-tarnished sporting reputation, and a very annoying word to boot.This much has become painfully clear in the wake of England’s 4-1 humiliation in India, which differed so vastly from their previous visits to the country – such as in 2021, when they valiantly lost 3-1 despite not having a single batter who had ever faced spin bowling, and in 2016, when they stodgily plodded to a respectable 4-0 defeat (which included twice scoring 400 only to lose by an innings).With the so-called “Bazballers” returning home in order to be publicly flogged/made to practise their forward defence, the Light Roller hopes to help make amends with this special England report card.Related

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Ben Stokes
Scored his runs at a strike rate of 54.22. Only took one wicket. Failed to produce any miraculous single-handed match-winning heroics. Has this guy even heard of the so-called “Bazball”?So-called Bazball rating: -1James Anderson
About as funky as you would expect of a man who has seemingly been bowling fast-medium swing since the dawn of Test cricket.So-called Bazball rating: 3Jonny Bairstow
The batter who blew India away with twin hundreds at Edgbaston in 2022 barely blew more than a few raspberries this time around – though he did admirably try to hit the cover off every ball in his 100th Test.So-called Bazball rating: 6Shoaib Bashir
Trust in youth, let players express themselves. Ideally make sure they get issued their visa in time. These are the tenets of the so-called “Bazball”. Loses a mark for being an offspinner, which is quite boring.So-called Bazball rating: 7Zak Crawley
Turns out that when Crawley is consistent, England don’t win Test matches. Chalk that one up to Brendon McCullum’s galaxy brain.So-called Bazball rating: 6Tom Hartley: understood the “Bazball” assignment•BCCIBen Duckett
Scored an 88-ball hundred and not much else besides, but – crucially – wound up the opposition at a key juncture with a textbook bit of needless preachy grandstanding in a press conference.So-called Bazball rating: 7Ben Foakes
So endearingly old school that he rarely hits the ball off the square, never mind in the air. Often seems to be working at deliberate cross-purposes to the so-called “Bazball” agenda.So-called Bazball rating: 0Tom Hartley
Got hit for six from his first ball on debut. Hit the first England six of the tour. Often got out trying to hit the ball for six. Oh yes, and he took quite a few wickets.So-called Bazball rating: 9Jack Leach
As he did in the very first Test under Stokes and McCullum, Leach injured himself in the line of duty and was not seen much from that point on.So-called Bazball rating: 5Ollie Pope
Played the “greatest innings by an Englishman in the subcontinent” in Hyderabad, according to his captain. The rest of his series reminded us more of infinite monkey theorem.So-called Bazball rating: 8Next in the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka rivalry: Sri Lanka fielders welcoming Bangladesh batters on to the field with a rendition of Britney Spears’ “(Hit Me) Baby One More Time”•BCBRehan Ahmed
Made an appearance as the Nighthawk, batting at No. 3 in Vizag and bowled nicely on several occasions without changing anything much. Loses several marks for not liking golf.So-called Bazball rating: 4Ollie Robinson
Can you do the so-called “Bazball” if you are injured/busy recording a podcast? No, it would seem.So-called Bazball rating: 1Joe Root
A series of two halves. Was having an absolute shocker, epitomised by his reverse-scoop dismissal in Rajkot, before remembering he is the team’s best batter and losing all the slap-happy credit he had built up.So-called Bazball rating: 9, 1Mark Wood
Scored 48 runs from 53 balls faced for a strike rate of 90.56, thereby topping the standings for the series in the only metric that counts.So-called Bazball rating: 4

****

Is the rivalry that accompanies contests between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh petty, small-minded and unbecoming? Yes. Is said rivalry the main reason we take an interest in contests between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh? Also yes. After the -dance years, we are now officially in the timed-out era, after Sri Lanka’s players celebrated their T20I series victory by posing with the trophy while pointing to their wrists – a classic bit of banter referencing Angelo Mathews’ dismissal at last year’s World Cup. We can only hope the BCB stands ready to respond and is already in discussions with international watchmakers about sponsoring this timeless beef for years to come.

It’s the least Indian of all Indian grounds at least at a conditions level, as the pitch is fast and bouncy

Karthik Krishnaswamy05-Mar-20247:09

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Just over three weeks ago, the HPCA Stadium hosted a Ranji Trophy match between Himachal Pradesh and Delhi, where seamers took all 36 wickets that fell over its four days.This was far from unusual. In four Ranji games at the venue this season, fast bowlers have bowled a combined 814 overs and taken 122 wickets at an average of 23.17. Spinners have sent down 122.2 overs, and taken seven wickets at 58.42.The fast bowlers, in short, have taken as many wickets as spinners have bowled overs.Welcome to Dharamsala. It’s cold here, it’s high up in the Himalayas, and it has what may well be the most spectacular backdrop of any sporting venue in the world. It’s only natural to come here to watch cricket and go back having spent more time gazing upon the snow-veined Dhauladhars and pondering your own insignificance in the grand scheme of geological space and time.Related

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It’s also the least Indian of Indian grounds at a conditions level: the pitch here is fast and bouncy, and during the winter months when cricket is played in India, it doesn’t bake under the sun and deteriorate in the way Indian pitches tend to. Fast bowlers like it here.Spinners? Well, it’s complicated.It’s clearly not a ground for spinners during India’s domestic season. Over the 49 first-class games that have been played here, they have averaged 41.02 to the fast bowlers’ 27.90.But there’s only so much extrapolation you can do when a Test match rolls into town.Dharamshala has hosted one previous Test, back in March 2017, and while it’s fondly remembered by India fans for Umesh Yadav’s third-innings spell of new-ball venom, it was also a match where spinners took 18 of the 30 wickets that fell to bowlers. Kuldeep Yadav made his debut and took a first-innings four-for; Nathan Lyon picked up five in India’s first innings; R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared six in Australia’s second.Before that Test match, the pitch had worn a tinge of green, and the curator had said it would offer something to all four disciplines: pace, spin and batting, of course, but fielding too, with good carry to the slips cordon.Axar Patel, Shubman Gill, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar in training•AFP/Getty ImagesThe pitch delivered on that promise, and it helped that the match was played in the end of March, by which time warmer weather had arrived in Dharamsala. The sun helped turn the surface into something like day four in Australian conditions- fast and bouncy but with plenty of cracks for the spinners to work with.It’s a little different now, as Dharamsala gears up for its second Test match. It’s still the first week of March, and there has been rain in the weeks leading up to the game. Rain is forecast for Thursday, day one of the Test match, and maximum temperatures on all five days are likely to hover in the early to mid-teens (Celsius). It’s not the kind of weather for cracks to open up.Against that, though, is the look of the pitch itself, two days out from the match. It seemed to be a pale brown rather than green – the pitch that hosted the third Test in Rajkot had looked significantly greener in the lead-up – and Jonny Bairstow called it a “used pitch” in his press conference on Tuesday. He was not wrong, since it’s the same pitch that was used in that HP-Delhi game, but that was three weeks ago – how much time must elapse between matches for a used pitch to cease being one?James Anderson bowls with the Himalayas in the background•Getty ImagesEven so, it seemed fairly evident that the powers that be have made an effort to get this pitch to play in as Indian a way as possible, and minimise the advantages it bestows upon fast bowlers through its soil and location.It could still be fast and bouncy, then, and there could be swing if it’s overcast – as is likely to be a case for at least parts of the Test match – but it’s not a green seamer. The fast bowlers could still have a big influence, but the spinners could enjoy the bounce too. The lack of grass on the surface could help it wear a little quicker, though how quickly, in these conditions, remains to be seen.The outfield – a distinctly different and darker green to the square – is lush. Reverse-swing, if it happens, may take some time to happen.From England’s perspective, any help for the fast bowlers is welcome, potentially even-ing the battle between the two attacks. There is every chance they will play three quicks.It’s a little trickier for India to play an extra seamer, though. Any Indian pitch that’s not an outright greentop – and this one isn’t – is one where Ashwin. Jadeja and Kuldeep can find a way to take wickets. They’ll certainly enjoy the bounce, particularly if England keep sweeping and bring the top edge into play. And cooler weather allows fast bowlers to extend their spells; Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, used judiciously, could still deliver enough overs to ensure India don’t waste windows of fast-bowling opportunity.The question for India is whether a third seamer – likely Akash Deep – could get them more wickets, and get them quicker and cheaper, than a third spinner. It’s a question they’re likely to spend a lot of time mulling over, over the next day-and-a-half. It’s the kind of question they rarely have to ask themselves when they’re playing at home, but this is Dharamsala. Everything is different here.