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Get ready for the start of the Rothesay County Championship with our Division One preview

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2025.

Durham

Last season: 5th in Division One
Director of cricket: Marcus North
Head coach: Ryan Campbell
Captain: Alex Lees
Overseas: David Bedingham, Brendan Doggett (April-May)
Ins: Emilio Gay (Northants), Will Rhodes (Warwickshire), Sam Conners (Derbyshire)
Outs: Michael Jones (Lancashire), Jonathan Bushnell, Brandon Glover, Oliver Gibson (all released)Durham were viewed in some quarters as dark horses for the title on their return to Division One. Such predictions took a dent when their first outing, following a washout in the opening round, saw Warwickshire pile up 698 for 3 declared. Scott Boland, the club’s marquee overseas signing, was ruled out after one appearance, while Matt Potts, Ben Raine and Brydon Carse couldn’t get a peep out of the Kookaburra on the way to combined figures of 0 for 334.
The team’s character shone through in battling their way to a draw (Potts scoring 149 not out as nightwatcher), and although they never quite managed a sustained run of form, losing as many games as they won, a fifth-place finish showed that Ryan Campbell’s Bazball-adjacent methods were comfortably at home in the top tier.Related

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• Will Smeed fighting on all fronts for Somerset after red-ball reversal

Their durability was summed up by David Bedingham topping the Division One run-scoring with 1331 at 78.29, and Durham’s batting riches will present a conundrum for Campbell to solve this season, with Emilio Gay and Will Rhodes arriving to provide top-order competition. Scott Borthwick remains available for selection having moved into a player-coach role, while Ben McKinney is one of the most exciting young players around – and then there’s the potential that Ben Stokes, England’s Test captain, will want a game here or there, too, though Campbell is planning to be without.One to watch: The day after Daniel Hogg completed figures of 7 for 66 on first-class debut, the ‘s doyen of cricket coverage, Scyld Berry, tweeted that he would take “150 plus” Test wickets for England “if he stays fit”. Hogg, 20, is early in his journey, with six first-team appearances to his name, but looks to be the latest off the Durham fast-bowler production line. Alan GardnerBet365: 10/1David Bedingham was the leading run-scorer in Division One last year•Getty Images

Essex

Last season: 4th in Division One
Director of cricket: Chris Silverwood
Captain: Tom Westley
Overseas: Simon Harmer
Ins:

Outs: Ben Allison (Worcestershire), Feroze Khushi (released), Aaron Beard (retired)An air of optimism and renewal envelops Chelmsford at the start of what promises to be a hugely significant season. In 2017, Chris Silverwood delivered the club’s first Championship title in a quarter of a century, and now he is back as director of cricket. Just as he built the structure that has sustained their red-ball standards in the intervening eight years, the replenishment of those stocks is right at the top of the to-do list. In particular, a succession plan for their pre-eminent new-ball pairing of Jamie Porter and Sam Cook is a pre-requisite.To that end, the loss of allrounder Shardul Thakur to the IPL is a huge blow. It ought to have been a win-win, with Thakur using his Championship stint to vault himself back into the reckoning for India’s five-Test tour later this summer, but Essex’s loss has already been Lucknow Super Giants’ gain. Finding a replacement overseas quick will be vital, though no easy task in the current franchise market.They’ll be lacking their other overseas pro too, at least in the short term. Dean Elgar is due to return for a second season, having seamlessly filled the role of nuggety left-handed opener that was Alastair Cook’s for so many years, but for the time being he’s on indefinite paternity leave after the recent birth of his twins. Meanwhile Jordan Cox – so luckless this winter with a Test debut on the cards – needs a mountain of runs to force his way back into England’s plans. If his personal hunger translates to the squad as a whole, there’s exciting times ahead.One to watch: Essex’s reputation for homegrown players could be perpetuated if this is the season in which Jamal Richards breaks into the big time. Aged 21, he’s an alumnus of Graham Gooch’s old school in Waltham Forest, and his pace was amply displayed on his first-class debut in 2023, when he wrecked Ireland’s top-order en route to a first-innings five-for. He’s young and raw, but he’ll get his chances, and with Silverwood back in the building, rapid development is on the cards. Andrew MillerBet365: 13/2

Hampshire

Last season: 2nd in Division One
Director of cricket: Giles White
Head coach: Adi Birrell
Captain: Ben Brown
Overseas: Kyle Abbott, Brett Hampton (April-May), Dewald Brevis (May-July)
Ins: Sonny Baker (Somerset), Mark Stoneman (Middlesex)
Outs: James Vince (red-ball retirement), Mohammad Abbas (Nottinghamshire)James Vince’s relocation to Dubai leaves a sizeable hole in the batting for Hampshire, who also released seamer Mohammad Abbas after four seasons yielding 180 wickets at 19.07. Mark Stoneman’s arrival from Middlesex goes some way towards filling the Vince void, while Sonny Baker, from Somerset, joins the pace ranks led again by the formidable Kyle Abbott, in his ninth season with the club.In Abbott and Liam Dawson, Hampshire had the No. 2 and No. 3 wicket-takers in the competition last year, lending plenty of stability despite those big-name departures. Dawson can also provide valuable runs, having contributed 956 in 2024, just 30 runs shy of club leader Vince and with a better average of 59.75.It’s a new era off the field with Hampshire entering the Championship as the first overseas-owned club in English county cricket. If they can improve on their top-three finishes of the past three seasons and go one better than last year, it would be an instant return on the investment of India’s GMR Group.One to watch: Tom Prest has just turned 22 but with three centuries from his 10 appearances last season, he heralded himself as another batter capable of covering for Vince’s absence. The stage is now set for the former England Under-19 captain to grab his own piece of the spotlight. Valkerie BaynesBet365: 10/1Liam Dawson will again be a key cog for Hampshire•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire

Last season: 8th in Division One
Director of cricket: Mick Newell
Head coach: Peter Moores
Captain: Haseeb Hameed
Overseas: Kyle Verreynne, Fergus O’Neil (April), Mohammad Abbas (May & September)
Ins: Conor McKerr (Surrey)

Outs: Fateh Singh (Worcestershire), Luke Fletcher (released), Tom Loten, Toby Pettman (both retired)Last year’s dabble with relegation was inexplicable given the talent at Trent Bridge. The squad riches were typified by the fact many were in action over the winter. Even head coach Peter Moores dipped into the franchise circuit. But success closer to home will be scrutinised extra keenly, and it is reasonable to suggest that Moores’ job may depend on it.Red-ball silverware is a stretch, but there is no reason why Nottinghamshire cannot register a high finish. They boast a host of England cricketers, plenty of them in active service, many of whom reside in their bowling stocks.Olly Stone and Josh Tongue (who should finally make his Nottinghamshire debut) are on central contracts, while Dillon Pennington remains in the selectors’ thoughts after a winter with the Lions. The addition of Conor McKerr adds another tall, bouncy quick into the mix.Factor in Brett Hutton’s return to fitness after battling achilles trouble last summer, Lyndon James’ emergence and Mohammad Abbas for a couple of months, there is plenty of wiliness to supplement the speed. And with Haseeb Hameed and Joe Clarke set to build on their consistency with the bat, plus South Africa keeper-batter Kyle Verreynne on hand for the majority of the season – he averaged 248 from three appearances in 2024 – there is little reason why a top-half finish cannot be achieved.One to watch: It is probably cheating to put Farhan Ahmed in this category given he has already been seen. A debut first-class campaign might have only amounted to four games, but with 22 wickets at 23.22 – almost half of them against Surrey when, aged 16, he became the youngest to take 10 wickets in an English first-class match – everyone is on notice. The offspinner’s superstrength is his accuracy, a hell of a trait for someone so young. With left-arm twirler Liam Patterson-White and leggie Calvin Harrison also vying for playing time, his opportunities won’t be plentiful, but he’ll be sure to make them count. Vithushan EhantharajahBet365: 16/1

Somerset

Last season: 3rd in Division One
Director of cricket: Andy Hurry
Head coach: Jason Kerr
Captain: Lewis Gregory
Overseas: Matt Henry, Migael Pretorius, Riley Meredith
Ins:
Outs: Sonny Baker (Hampshire), Ned Leonard (Glamorgan), George Thomas (Sussex), Roelof van der Merwe (released)Three near-misses across formats in 2024 have Somerset battle-sharp and determined to avoid the late-season fade-out which cost them greatly in the Championship when Hampshire pipped them to second place in the final round, the week after a loss to Lancashire confirmed Surrey as winners.Matt Henry, the New Zealand seamer so pivotal to Somerset’s Vitality Blast success in 2023 and who took 32 wickets from six Championship games that season, is expected to arrive for his second stint at the club between rounds one and two despite missing the home series against Pakistan with shoulder and knee problems.Will Smeed offers a fascinating storyline with the bat after reversing his decision to play only white-ball cricket. A fractured foot suffered during the SA20 may delay plans for his first-class debut slightly, but, when the day does arrive, his explosive style combined with a new-found enthusiasm for the long format could be quite something to watch.With Shoaib Bashir on loan to Glamorgan for the start of the season, veteran Jack Leach spearheads the spin attack and believes a strong start will provide added insurance against any slips later on. “There’s no point in thinking about the last two weeks of the season until you’ve taken care of the first weeks of the season, so we need to get off to a really good start,” he said. “A moment in April could be the moment that allows you to go and win it.”One to watch: Archie Vaughan, the 19-year-old son of former England captain Michael, thrived in his four Championship games last season, averaging 33.71 with the bat and taking 15 wickets at 20.13. That included a match-winning 11-wicket haul against Surrey which kept Somerset’s title hopes alive. Having said he can be his “own man” at a club where “my dad’s not known”, it feels like only a matter of time before another Vaughan is famous in these parts. VBBet365: 13/2Archie Vaughan has already made a name for himself at Taunton•Harry Trump/Getty Images

Surrey

Last season: 1st in Division One
High performance cricket adviser: Alec Stewart
Head coach: Gareth Batty
Captain: Rory Burns
Overseas: Kemar Roach (April), Nathan Smith (May-Sept)
Ins: Matthew Fisher (Yorkshire)
Outs: Conor McKerr (Nottinghamshire), Ben Geddes (Middlesex), Amar Virdi (released)Boring, isn’t it? Not for Surrey, they like it. And they want more.A squad who have lost just five Championship matches across their hat-trick of title-winning campaigns have arguably been strengthened without doing all that much, and with the possibility of losing Dan Worrall to England duty.The Anglicised Aussie has 139 dismissals at 21.17 since moving to the Kia Oval in 2022, and should Rob Key give him a call, he will undoubtedly be a miss. But with Matthew Fisher now down in south London and New Zealand’s punchy bowling allrounder Nathan Smith on deck from May, there is handy cover.Factor in Dan Lawrence losing his England place, Will Jacks on the outside looking in, the desires of Jamie Overton and Sam Curran to push their cases with more red-ball work, and Ben Foakes relieved to no longer be subject to the “will they, won’t they” discourse, there are plenty of personal ambitions to fuel the whole. Ollie Pope, Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson will play some part in the first six rounds. It will business as usual for openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley.Even with Alec Stewart’s more subdued role this season – not that subdued, by all accounts – the Surrey juggernaut rolls on. Will it be four in a row? Perhaps the better question is who can stop them?One to watch: A tough one to pick given Surrey’s depth – and the fact precocious allrounder Tom Lawes already has two winner’s medals around his neck – but 20-year-old Ollie Sykes is another highly rated batter off the production line. A new-age leftie who crouches low with a high backlift, he debuted across all formats for the club last season, making his first-class bow in the final Championship game at Essex, though he made a two-ball duck in his only knock. He tuned up for this summer by hitting 32 off a James Coles over in a warm-up match down at Sussex. VEBet365: 11/10

Sussex

Last season: 1st in Division Two
Head coach: Paul Farbrace
Captain: John Simpson
Overseas: Daniel Hughes, Jayden Seales (April-May), Nathan McAndrew (June-July), Gurinder Sandhu (June-July), Jaydev Unadkat (Sept)
Ins: George Thomas (Somerset), Nantes Oosthuizen, Troy Henry
Outs: Sussex walked the talk after Paul Farbrace challenged his players to secure a place in the top tier for the first time since 2015, winning eight of their 14 games to claim the Division Two title. John Simpson proved a revelatory appointment in his first crack at captaincy after a 15-year career, leading from the front with five hundreds and 1197 runs at 74.81, while 24-year-old offspinner Jack Carson enjoyed his best summer with 50 wickets at 22.46 (not to mention 458 runs). A balanced squad was lifted by incisive contributions from Sussex’s overseas signings, including Jayden Seales (24 wickets at 24.25), Jaydev Unadkat (22 at 14.40), Cheteshwar Pujara (501 runs at 62.62) and Daniel Hughes (340 at 56.66).The challenge is to replicate such consistency at a higher level. Paul Farbrace has rejected talk of survival and is targeting a top-four finish as a minimum; for that, Sussex will need strong performances from the core of their side, players such as Carson, Tom Haines, Tom Clark, Tom Alsop and James Coles, all of whom have yet to prove themselves in Division One. It could also be a big summer for Ollie Robinson. Last year’s return of 39 wickets at 25.53 was solid without being spectacular, but the bigger stage might galvanise attempts to remind England of his qualities.One to watch: At the end of last summer, Troy Henry was one of two cricketers in the groundbreaking African Caribbean Engagement (ACE) programme to be awarded a professional rookie contract live on Sky Sports. That will fund his first year at Sussex, after the 20-year-old was signed following open trials at the club in January. A left-arm spinner and former ACE captain, he has previously played national counties cricket with Hertfordshire. AGBet365: 16/1Ollie Robinson will lead the Sussex attack on their return to Division One•Getty Images

Warwickshire

Last season: 7th in Division One
Performance director: James Thomas
Head coach: Ian Westwood
Captain: Alex Davies
Overseas: Vishwa Fernando (April), Tom Latham, Beau Webster (May-July), Hasan Ali (May-Sept)
Ins: Ethan Bamber (Middlesex)
Outs: Will Rhodes (Durham), Chris Benjamin (Kent), Liam Norwell, Michael Burgess (both retired)An underwhelming seventh-placed finish wasn’t going to cut it for Warwickshire’s management, who responded with a restructure in which Mark Robinson left his role as head coach after four seasons and the club recruited performance director James Thomas from Manchester City. New first-team coach Ian Westwood, the former Warwickshire opener promoted from his position as Robinson’s assistant, has an early headache with the delayed arrival of New Zealand Test captain Tom Latham due to a broken hand, the club hoping he will be back in action by early May.Wicketkeeper Michael Burgess’s surprise retirement to pursue other career opportunities in London headlined a player exodus from the club. They are also without Will Rhodes, whose third century of the season sealed safety before he left for Durham. Warwickshire only recruited Middlesex seamer Ethan Bamber locally, in addition to Australian allrounder Beau Webster and Sri Lanka quick Vishwa Fernando. With only Vishwa available from their overseas contingent before May, when the returning Hasan Ali will also link up with the side, Warwickshire face a challenging start to a season where any slips could leave them vulnerable.One to watch: Hamza Shaikh, the 18-year-old academy product added three Championship appearances last season to his first-class debut for England Lions against Sri Lanka, where he scored a first-innings 91. An unbeaten 33 in a supporting role to Rhodes as Warwickshire held out for a draw – and top-flight survival – against Worcestershire, was an impressive next step after his performance as leading run-scorer in England Under-19s quadrangular series in India in 2023. VBBet365: 14/1

Worcestershire

Last season: 6th in Division One
Head coach: Alan Richardson
Captain: Brett D’Oliveira
Overseas: Jacob Duffy (April-June)

Ins: Ben Allison (Essex), Fateh Singh (Nottinghamshire)
Outs: Joe Leach, Josh Cobb (both retired)As press releases go, the one that landed from Worcestershire on March 25 took the biscuit: “Scheduled cricket scheduled to go ahead as scheduled …” was the gist of the message from Ashley Giles, the club’s chief executive, “… unless it doesn’t”.Such are the extraordinary climate-related pressures on Worcestershire these days. Tellingly, the ECB hadn’t scheduled a Championship match at New Road until the fourth round, starting April 25, in a bid to protect the club against the worst of the potential spring floods that have blighted their iconic home in recent years. With studies showing that 19 of the ground’s 30 worst floods since 1899 have occurred in the last 25 years, Worcestershire’s concerns about their long-term viability permeate every facet of the club, and even their share of an anticipated Hundred windfall won’t in itself be sufficient to start planning for a relocation.In the circumstances, therefore, the club’s achievements in the past two seasons have been remarkable. If 2023’s promotion from Division Two was impressive, then last summer’s calm retention of their top-flight status was even more so.It promises to be an even tougher year ahead, however – not least because of the absences in the club’s ranks, most notably their gut-busting captain Joe Leach, who retired last summer after finishing as their joint-leading wicket-taker for the campaign with 27. New Zealand’s Nathan Smith and West Indies’ Jason Holder proved to be model overseas pros too. Much rests on Jacob Duffy to provide similar impact with the ball as his compatriot.One to watch: Kashif Ali has been the breakout star of the renowned SACA program, and the consistency of his 2024 campaign – 1180 runs at 42.61, including twin hundreds against Warwickshire – underpinned their solid season-long showing. The challenge is now to carry that form into a third season, with expectations heightened and ambitions ignited for higher honours. AMBet365: 33/1Jonny Bairstow will hope to lead from the front at Yorkshire•Getty Images

Yorkshire

Last season: 2nd in Division Two
Director of cricket: Gavin Hamilton
Head coach: Anthony McGrath
Captain: Jonny Bairstow
Overseas: Ben Sears, Jordan Buckingham (May), Will Sutherland (May-July)
Ins: Jack White (Northamptonshire)
Outs: Matthew Fisher (Surrey), Dom Leech (Northamptonshire), Mickey Edwards (retired)
It says much for the turbulence at Yorkshire in recent seasons that neither captain nor coach from their promotion campaign will return. Ottis Gibson signed off from three challenging years in the job by getting Yorkshire back into Division One before the club moved for one of their own, appointing Anthony McGrath after a success-filled reign at Essex. His brief is a simple one: make Yorkshire contenders once again. With Jonny Bairstow taking over the captaincy from the departed Shan Masood, there will be no shortage of pride in the White Rose this summer.Having started slowly, with five draws and two defeats in the first half of 2024, Yorkshire found their stride to win five of their last seven games – three of them by an innings – and shoulder their way past Middlesex. Adam Lyth, now in his 38th year, finished as the division’s second-leading run-scorer and is a proven performer in the top tier. With Bairstow set to benefit from the presence of Joe Root and Harry Brook for at least some of the Championship’s opening stretch – although Brook will miss the first three rounds – Yorkshire could field an intimidating top six. The bowling, led by Ben Coad, will miss Fisher but has been supplemented by a trio of Antipodean quicks. Spin could prove to be a weakness, however.One to watch: James Wharton has been around Yorkshire’s first-team squad for several seasons but 2024 proved a coming of age. His maiden first-class hundred, 188 against Derbyshire at Chesterfield, helped spark Yorkshire’s charge in the second half of the season. He then hit the runs to secure promotion on the way to a mammoth 285 in the final round. AGBet365: 16/1

Labels and expectations have dogged the South Africa captain through his career, but he’s over them now

Firdose Moonda09-Jun-2025Don’t tell anyone but maybe, quietly, and very, very privately, Temba Bavuma is getting excited for the next few days.And why the hell not? On Wednesday, he will lead South Africa out at Lord’s for their first World Test Championship final, one they reached powered by team spirit.His is not a side filled with superstars, he is rarely listed among the great Test captains, and South Africa are not in the Big Three. But here they are, greater than the sum of their parts, punching above their weight, and – if you listen carefully to the outside noise – showing what’s possible for cricket outside of the India-England-Australia axis. Those are massive responsibilities to shoulder, but no bigger than those Bavuma has already hefted.”I don’t allow myself to get caught up in all the emotion about it, because I guess I know there’s a lot more important and bigger things out there,” Bavuma said before South Africa left for the UK. “I’ve accepted what comes with being in the presence of the national team. There’s good that comes with that and there’s the negative that comes with it.”Related

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So here we go again, with the story of how South African sport is always about more than the game: from how it was used as a political tool, in support of and as resistance against apartheid, to how it serves to provide hope to a nation filled with socioeconomic problems. Now you also know what we know: that it matters and it matters so damn much.Bavuma has lived some of this and he has lived it intensely for almost a decade. His Test debut in 2014, as the first black African batter to play for South Africa, was one thing but it was the century he scored against England in Cape Town in 2016 that opened the door to expectations that he may never be able to shut.”The first time I really came across that [the bigger responsibility of being a black African player in the South African team] was when I scored my first international hundred,” he said. “One of the articles you wrote – the headline was ‘Temba Bavuma: a product of transformation’ [it was “Africa applauds a son of transformation”]. At that point, I wasn’t super clued up about transformation and all of that, and when it was introduced at that moment, I struggled to accept it. A couple of years later, I see the positivity in it, but I also see how the narrative kept following me through the good and the bad of my career.”Maybe the media was wrong to create that narrative, but it seemed unavoidable, especially as it came a few years after Cricket South Africa introduced a quota specifically for black African players, and mere months after a group of black African players complained about the way they had been treated by CSA. More recently, Bavuma has played (and captained) in the shadow of the Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings, which threatened to tear South African cricket apart. Having gone through all that, he also knows that the discussion about race can never be totally avoided.”I’m not emotional about it. We [black African players] accept if we don’t score runs in two or three games, you’re going to be called certain names. You accept that even if you do well, there will be people who will be questioning why you are in the team or why you are leading the team.Since the start of December 2019, Bavuma has scored nearly 1800 Test runs at 48.4•Gallo Images/Getty Images”The bigger responsibility is to try and carry yourself with dignity so that other black players who are batters, who hopefully also become leaders, don’t see it as a burden being within the Proteas team. I don’t think that’s really going to change.”But it’s starting to. Last summer, when Bavuma was the leading run-scorer in the home series against Sri Lanka and finished with two centuries in four Tests, he talked about finally being able to be spoken of, and to, as just Bavuma the cricketer and captain, titles he felt he’d earned a few years prior.”If I look at the last four or five years in Test cricket, I think I’ve been more than a solid performer. I’ve probably scored the most runs within the team. My average has been up there,” he said.He’s right. Since December 2019, in a period of lean batting, Bavuma has been South Africa’s leading run-scorer in Tests and averages close to 50. Is it a case of those numbers not being celebrated as much as they should?”I try not to live off what the hype is out there,” Bavuma said. “If the stats are telling a different story to what people are saying, then why should I really worry about people who are trying to find things that aren’t really there? Maybe the difference now is that I’ve started to score 100-plus scores and that’s probably given a lot more confidence to people. But in terms of actual run-scoring, I’ve been doing it for the last four to five years. I find myself in the ICC’s top ten – that doesn’t happen over a space of six months, so I’ve obviously grown as a batter, I’ve grown as a player, as well as a leader.”Bavuma is currently sixth on the ICC’s Test rankings and even that is barely spoken about, but it points to someone who is both consistent and in form, which are two labels hardly ever pinned on him. Why is that?Shukri Conrad’s presence as South Africa’s Test coach has helped the players just focus on their game, says Bavuma, and “not worry about the peripheral stuff that in the past we’ve allowed to poison our culture”•Matthew Lewis/ICC/Getty ImagesIt may be that the seven-year gap between his first and second Test hundreds was long enough to cause people to doubt him. It may also be that his poor form in T20I cricket (where he was also captain till early 2023) was conflated with his ability as a Test player. Whatever it is, Bavuma is now over it and happy to say so.”My career has been an incredible one for me, not from a statistical point of view, but from the experiences I’ve had. With all the things I’ve gone through, all the things I’ve managed to overcome, you almost get to a point where you feel like it can’t get any worse” he said. “I’ve been disappointed. I’ve been rejected. I’ve been embarrassed. So I don’t feel like there’s anything that can really be any worse than what I’ve gone through. And I take a lot of belief and comfort in the fact that here I am, I’m still standing stronger than ever. I believe that I have whatever it takes mentally to deal with whatever comes my way. The acceptance comes from that.”He reached that point when he began to see that being the Test captain didn’t have to be all-consuming. The realisation came around the time he welcomed his first child and was replaced as the T20I captain. That was also the time when current Test coach Shukri Conrad took charge.”In the earlier parts of my leadership, I tried to take on a lot of responsibility because when I came in as a captain, there was a lot of turmoil happening in the team off the field. I allowed myself to get caught up in all of that and didn’t pay due diligence to me as the batter, as the player,” he said.”Now, as much as I’m a team player, I’m not insecure in allowing other guys to lead within the space. Working with a guy like Shukri has really made it simple and easy for players to just play their cricket, not worry about all the other external or peripheral stuff that in the past we’ve kind of allowed to filter and poison our culture. Players are in a space where they can just play their best cricket.”Conrad’s mantra of “this is going to look different” has given South Africa the freedom to dream while also setting a standard. It also has its foundations in respecting the work-life balance of a player, which, in Bavuma’s case, includes fatherhood, a milestone that has changed his perspective about what’s important.Tony de Zorzi (left) and Tristan Stubbs were two of three South Africa batters to score debut hundreds in the Chattogram Test last year•AFP/Getty Images”Growing up, cricket’s obviously always been the main thing. You’d hear the older guys saying that cricket is not everything, but as a young guy that’s all you ever knew. Now I have a different, stronger purpose in a child and really understand that whether I score 100, whether I score 50, whether I don’t score runs, it doesn’t change how that little guy looks at me.”Bavuma’s son, Lihle, is 21 months old and he won’t be making the trip to London. Neither will his wife, Phila, who is taking exams in architecture. But Bavuma’s parents and siblings will be in attendance to watch the culmination of a journey that only properly began after South Africa’s disastrous tour of New Zealand with an under-strength side in February 2024. They lost that 0-2 and then had to win seven out of their eight remaining Tests to qualify for the final.In August, they won 1-0 in the West Indies, but they only really started to believe they had a chance when they were in Bangladesh in October. Bavuma was out injured but still part of the travelling party.”We had a very inexperienced side in foreign conditions, against a team that can be very competitive in their own conditions,” Bavuma said. “And you look at the performances there. Kyle Verreynne scored a hundred in the first Test, KG [Rabada] took a five-for – that’s never easy as a seamer in the subcontinent. And then in the second Test, you had Tony [de Zorzi], Stubbo [Tristan Stubbs], Wiaan Mulder, who is really starting to live up to the expectation that he came in with as a 20-year old, and Senuran Muthusamy as well. He came in as almost a super sub in the game, scored runs and took wickets as well. For me, it was almost like the turning point.”With debut hundreds from de Zorzi, Stubbs and Mulder in Chattogram, South Africa proved to themselves they could bat big, an asset missing from their arsenal before. From there, they had to beat Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home, which they did, and what had seemed to be a long shot a year before – reaching the final – became reality.”We don’t have the wealth of experience that the Australians have, but we’ve got a bunch of guys who play for each other. We believe our chances are 50-50″•ICC via Getty ImagesBavuma admitted to hiding in the toilet when the winning runs were hit against Pakistan in Centurion late last year, too nervous to watch but quietly hopeful.”You obviously have to be optimistic, in whatever challenge or campaign that you start,” he said. “We set the vision as a team as to what we wanted to achieve but a lot of it at the beginning was just trying to find the best make-up of our team. We used quite a lot of players and then without even knowing, we kind of started ticking off a lot of milestones, beating different countries in different conditions, having young guys stepping up and putting in match-winning performances. Along the way, we were still kind of trying to find our philosophy as a team. What was always there within the group was just this willingness to win, this willingness to play with each other and this willingness to just find a way to make sure that things go our way.”Now, they are one step from the summit against the defending champions. Some former players have indicated that South Africa don’t deserve to be there, and they know they go in as underdogs.”We don’t have the superstars,” Bavuma said. “We don’t have the wealth of experience that the Australians have, but we’ve got a group of guys who are super determined to make sure that the result is in our favour. We’ve got a bunch of guys who play for each other. We’ve got a bunch of guys who are desperate to be the man for the occasion. We know we’re coming up against a strong, experienced side in Australia, but we believe our chances are 50-50.”Those odds will be different depending on who you ask, but what isn’t in dispute is that this final is the most important match of the careers of these South African players, and Bavuma in particular.”It will probably be the biggest thing in my career. I grew up wanting to play Test cricket, so now I have an actual opportunity to be in the Test final, but also to lead the team as well. I don’t think it gets bigger than that. What gets bigger than that is obviously winning it. What gets bigger than winning it is winning another one. At this point in time, that’s probably the biggest thing in my career.”And that is worth getting excited about.

Who have the teams retained? Who have they released? And what do they need at the auction?

Hemant Brar, Shashank Kishore, S Sudarshanan15-Nov-2025 • Updated on 09-Dec-20256:53

Samson-Mhatre CSK’s new opening pair?

Chennai Super Kings

Players released: Ravindra Jadeja (traded to RR), Andre Siddarth, Deepak Hooda, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Matheesha Pathirana, Sam Curran (traded to RR), Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rahul Tripathi, Shaikh Rasheed, Vansh Bedi, Vijay ShankarPlayers retained: MS Dhoni, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson (traded in from RR), Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brewis, Shivam Dube, Urvil Patel, Noor Ahmad, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Khaleel Ahmed, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Choudhary, Jamie Overton, Gurjapneet Singh, Anshul KambojPurse remaining: INR 43.40 crore out of INR 125 croreSlots remaining: 9 (4 overseas)What they need at the auction: A gun overseas allrounder to replace Curran. They have the purse to go hammer and tongs for Livingstone or Green. They will also look to sign a seam-bowling back-up for Ellis.

Delhi Capitals

Players released/traded out: Donovan Ferreira (traded to RR), Darshan Nalkande, Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Manvanth Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Sediqullah AtalPlayers retained/traded in: Nitish Rana (traded in from RR), Abishek Porel, Ajay Mandal, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel, Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Sameer Rizvi, T Natarajan, Tripurana Vijay, Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mukesh KumarPurse remaining: INR 21.80 crore out of INR 125 croreSlots remaining: 8 (5 overseas)What they need at the auction: DC need top-order options after they let go of Fraser-McGurk and du Plessis. Plus more overseas players since they are left with only three.Gujarat Titans traded Sherfane Rutherford to Mumbai Indians•Associated Press

Gujarat Titans

Players released/traded out: Sherfane Rutherford (traded to MI), Dasun Shanaka, Gerald Coetzee, Karim Janat, Kulwant Khejroliya, Mahipal LomrorPlayers retained/traded in: Anuj Rawat, Glenn Phillips, Gurnoor Brar, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Jos Buttler, Kagiso Rabada, Kumar Kushagra, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Arshad Khan, Nishant Sindhu, Prasidh Krishna, R Sai Kishore, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, B Sai Sudharsan, M Shahrukh Khan, Shubman Gill, Washington SundarPurse remaining: INR 12.90 crore out of INR 125 croreSlots remaining: 5 (4 overseas)What they need at the auction: A finisher, now that they are without Rutherford. They could also look at adding at least one allrounder to the mix.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Players released/traded out: Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Luvnith Sisodia, Moeen Ali, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Spencer Johnson, Venkatesh IyerPlayers retained/traded in: Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun ChakravarthyPurse remaining: INR 64.30 crore out of INR 125 croreSlots remaining: 13 (6 overseas)What they need at the auction: KKR could go in search of a wicketkeeper as well as an opening batter, since they have left out de Kock and Gurbaz. Them leaving out Iyer and Russell means they could well do with an allrounder. And their huge purse will allow them to do that.8:52

Who saw the Russell release coming?

Lucknow Super Giants

Players released/traded out: Aryan Juyal, David Miller, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Ravi Bishnoi, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Shardul Thakur (traded to MI), Akash Deep, Shamar JosephPlayers retained/traded in: Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram, Akash Singh, Arjun Tendulkar (traded in from MI), Arshin Kulkarni, Avesh Khan, Ayush Badoni, Digvesh Rathi, Himmat Singh, Manimaran Siddharth, Matthew Breetzke, Mayank Yadav, Mohammed Shami (traded in from SRH), Mitchell Marsh, Mohsin Khan, Nicholas Pooran, Prince Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shahbaz AhmedPurse remaining: INR 22.95 crore out of INR 125 croreSlots remaining: 6 (4 overseas)What they need at the auction: They need replacements for Miller and Bishnoi. Apart from that, they will be keen to have an allrounder.

Mumbai Indians

Players released/traded out: Arjun Tendulkar (traded to LSG), Bevon Jacobs, Karn Sharma, Lizaad Williams, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Reece Topley, Krishnan Shrijith, Satyanarayana Raju, Vignesh PuthurPlayers retained/traded in: Shardul Thakur (traded in from LSG), Sherfane Rutherford (traded in from GT), Mayank Markande (traded in from KKR), AM Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell Santner, Naman Dhir, Raghu Sharma, Raj Bawa, Robin Minz, Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, Will JacksPurse remaining: INR 2.75 crore out of INR 125 croreSlots remaining: 5 (1 overseas)What they need at the auction: They seem to have all bases covered with the current squad. Given they have just INR 2.75 crore left, don’t expect any big buys either.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Punjab Kings

Players released/traded out: Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, Kyle Jamieson, Kuldeep Sen, Praveen DubeyPlayers retained/traded in: Arshdeep Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harnoor Pannu, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Marco Jansen, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Owen, Musheer Khan, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Yuzvendra ChahalPurse remaining: INR 11.50 crore out of INR 125 croreSlots remaining: 4 (2 overseas)What they need at the auction: Given their first XII looks quite settled and they have only 11.5 crore left, expect a quiet auction for them as well.

Rajasthan Royals

Players released/traded out: Sanju Samson (traded to CSK), Nitish Rana (traded to DC), Akash Madhwal, Ashok Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kumar Kartikeya, Kunal Singh Rathore, Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu HasarangaPlayers retained/traded in: Donovan Ferreira (traded in from DC), Ravindra Jadeja (traded in from CSK), Sam Curran (traded in from CSK), Dhruv Jurel, Jofra Archer, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Nandre Burger, Riyan Parag, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yudhvir SinghPurse remaining: INR 16.05 crore out of INR 125 croreSlots remaining: 9 (1 overseas)What they need at the auction: Spin-bowling options since they have left out all of Theekshana, Hasaranga and Kartikeya and only have Jadeja on that front. They can also look towards an experienced fast bowler.8:23

Do SRH see themselves as a settled XI?

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Players released: Liam Livingstone, Lungi Ngidi, Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Bhandage, Swastik Chikara, Mohit RatheePlayers retained: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Jitesh Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Bethell, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Dar, Swapnil SinghPurse remaining: INR 16.40 crore out of INR 125 croreSlots remaining: 8 (2 overseas)What they need at the auction: An overseas fast bowling back-up for Hazlewood, especially with his workload likely to be stretched if he features in both the Ashes and T20 World Cup back-to-back. They may also need a back-up for Dayal, who has not played any cricket since the IPL 2025 final.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Players released/traded out: Mohammed Shami (traded to LSG), Atharva Taide, Sachin Baby, Abhinav Manohar, Wiaan Mulder, Adam Zampa, Simarjeet Singh, Rahul ChaharPlayers retained/traded in: Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, Brydon Carse, Eshan Malinga, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Heinrich Klaasen, Ishan Kishan, Jaydev Unadkat, Kamindu Mendis, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins, R Smaran, Travis Head, Zeeshan AnsariPurse remaining: INR 25.50 crore out of INR 125 croreSlots remaining: 10 (2 overseas)What they need at the auction: Having released Zampa and Chahar, they need a couple of spinners. They also need an allrounder and probably an Indian fast bowler.

Their warring fans have united and are now railing together against the team management, while we wait, series on series, to see if they can make it to the 2027 ODI World Cup

Sidharth Monga17-Oct-20252:16

What to expect from Rohit, Kohli in this phase of their careers?

If you are the type that follows cricket for cricket’s sake, you have surely missed them. If, on the other hand, you fiendishly go looking for cricketers’ holiday photos or training photos or reassurance that they matter, you have had your fix.Actually, for once, forget social media, forget the smattering of promotional “content” reminding you how they are getting ready for the “2027 World Cup”. Forget anything that makes you cynical. This is bigger than all the cynicism and PR and pettiness and fan wars.Seven months after they last played international cricket, nearly five months after they were seen playing in the IPL, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are coming back to do what we love them for, in their best format, now their only format for India, against a team that provided the highest purpose in their working lives, in a country that proved to be the scene of their last Tests. It is hard not to be emotional.Related

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• Green ruled out of ODI series against India with side soreness, Labuschagne called up

There will be so much going through our minds and hearts during these three ODIs against Australia in Perth, Adelaide and Sydney. It is a chance to watch again two of the greatest ODI batters of all time. The effortless, almost risk-free accumulation of Kohli, and the joyful explosiveness of Rohit in the back half. Okay, let’s not give in to nostalgia too much. For about three years now, Kohli has been taking risks but with the same efficiency, and Rohit has taken on such high-risk starts that he rarely ever bats into the back half.We will be looking for changes in their appearance, in their fitness, in their games to imagine what they have been up to all this time. For more than a decade, they never went away for this long except during Covid. For more than a decade, our times have been shared. We have given them our hours, they have given us theirs.Now time is what they are running out of. Not just we, but the selectors and the team management will be looking for signs to see if they can last till the 2027 ODI World Cup.Not long ago, these two were making such decisions for others.Neither, arguably, had to make such big calls.Just imagine, Kohli tweets something that is not an ad and news channels end up doing shows deciphering the meaning and significance of the tweet only for him to reveal that it was a teaser for an ad. This happened on Thursday.5:49

Agarkar on Kohli-Rohit: ‘Too early to think about 2027 ODI World Cup’

These are huge names. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Ro-Ko is how this series is being sold everywhere. At some point, without us noticing, these two supposedly bitter rivals became hyphenated. At first, it was just a media creation, but look at them now. One gets selected for the T20 World Cup because the other is the captain and you can’t drop just one of them. They end up winning the title, and retiring together. Their Test career ends in the same series. Now their “fan armies” are united in their hatred for the team management.A part of that team management is a young man, who has already benefitted immensely from these two. Kohli has always been a barometer for Shubman Gill, somebody whose scores at the same age the kid Shubman used to check to measure up to. Rohit’s new incarnation of a fiery opener has allowed Gill the ODI opener the time to be able to play a more sedate role and accumulate relatively risk-free runs.Now Gill has to be part of the decision on whether his trusted Test opener Yashasvi Jaiswal will serve him better than Rohit. Not just in this series and the next, but two years down the line. He has to decide whether the hyphen is fair on Kohli, who might have arguably benefitted from it in T20Is.We will watch not knowing if any given series could be the last for one or both of them. We will wait for every ODI series selection. For now, though, we will savour the three full ODIs. For we have missed them. And there the hyphen is okay.

The fast bowler opens up about his evolution over the last two years, his struggles, and the attitude that has shaped his success so far

Nagraj Gollapudi10-Sep-2025In the last year, Delhi fast bowler Harshit Rana has debuted for India in all three formats. Rana, who is 23, and plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, was picked for the Asia Cup, where he could audition for the crucial No. 8 role. In this interview he talks about his growth over the last two years, and how he hopes to fulfill his dream of becoming a regular all-format bowling allrounder.In Kolkata Knight Riders’ first match of the 2024 IPL, Sunrisers Hyderabad brought the target of 209 down to 13 runs from the final over. Heinrich Klaasen had made 50 off 25 balls. You had only played 12 T20s till then, and you were bowling the last over for only the second time in your career. Can you reconstruct that over for us?
It was a very important over for me [in my career]. Shreyas [Shreyas Iyer, the KKR captain], while giving me the ball to bowl the final over, told me: ” time hero defend problem . [This is your time to be a hero, but even if you are not able to defend those runs, it’s not a problem.] The first ball, Klaasen hit me for a six. It was now seven runs from five balls. Shreyas told me to “chill” and bowl what I wanted to bowl.The idea to bowl the slower ball was playing in my mind already. I would like to credit Nayar ‘s [Abhishek Nayar, KKR assistant coach], role here. He passed the same message from the dugout, saying bowling slower would benefit me, because the slower ball sometimes grips at Eden [Gardens]. And I had practised and developed the slower ball while recovering from the injury that year at the NCA [National Cricket Academy in Bangalore]. I had not bowled the slower ball before that IPL, so it was a moment where I needed to deliver perfectly because otherwise it would be a six and the game would have ended.Related

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But with them [Iyer and Nayar] giving me the confidence and telling me to bowl the slower ball [bravely], I bowled the next ball and it was a good slower one. Just one run came off it. So I decided I would only deliver slower balls for the rest of the over, because the batters would be waiting and guessing if it was the quicker delivery or the slower one. Even the [fifth] ball, when they needed [five runs off two balls], I thought whether I should go for the yorker, but Shreyas told me to stick to the slower ball and not be bothered even if it got hit. In fact, I was telling him that he – Klaasen – would swing the bat against the slower ball and even if he mistimed it, it could go for a six if I faltered. But it went my way.Since you bowled the slower ball the previous four deliveries, Klaasen might have predicted you were going to bowl the same again and might have planned for it, right?
Our plan for Klassen was to bowl wide outside off stump because he didn’t use his feet that much and used his hands more to hit those sixes. So the plan was to keep the ball far from his arc and that is exactly what happened, and he was caught at third.The execution sounds simple in hindsight. But what kind of preparation goes into delivering such balls?
You have to repeatedly do the things in the practice that you want to deliver in the match. So I bowled – and continue to bowl a lot – against a single stump, on the same spot. I specifically trained a lot for getting the slower ball close to the wide tramline or the wide yorker.Rana nervelessly defended 12 runs in the final over of KKR’s first game of the 2024 IPL season, with the full backing of his captain Shreyas Iyer•BCCICutters, like the one you used to dismiss Klaasen in that match, are not easy. Do you worry about the ball slipping out of your hand?
Yes, it happens at times. Because when the ball is wet, it becomes difficult to bowl the offcutter. Because a cutter is such a delivery that if it is [full/short] then it usually goes for a six. If it is full then it comes in the arc, and if it is short then the batsman gets extra time to hit it. So the five- to six-metre length becomes essential for a cutter for a fast bowler. In death overs the ball becomes wet usually due to dew, so we train using a wet ball for such a scenario. During training I place the cones at the five- to six-metre-length area with the aim of hitting that length at least ten of the 12 balls.Shah Rukh Khan [KKR co-owner] was watching that match. But there were two more special people watching. Can you talk about them?
It was the first game for Mumma and Papa when they had come to watch me live at a stadium. I had called them [insisted they come]. Papa would always tell me that he doesn’t want to see me live at a ground because he gets nervous easily. Even on that day after Klassen hit me for a six, Papa told me after our victory that he had quickly gone inside towards the washroom, as he couldn’t bear to watch it. Later when he started hearing the and ecstatic noises from KKR fans, he walked out. I was very happy in that moment for all of us.Tell us a bit about your childhood and how you came to cricket.
My dad is a property dealer and Mummy is a housewife. I was born and brought up in Ghevra, which is the last village on the border of Delhi and Haryana. My parents still live there. When I was young, there was no ground in Ghevra and we had to travel some distance towards the neighbouring village to play. But when I was there recently, I noticed every second corner had a big ground full of turf pitches and good enough facilities.Cricket would allow me to get [time] off from tuition. I have studied [for the] BA [degree], the simplest for cricketers. My sister, who is six years older, insisted I do my graduation and she ensured I completed it.In IPL 2024, there was another key match at Eden Gardens. Mumbai Indians needed 22 runs from the final over in a rain-shortened match. A win would make KKR become the first team to qualify for the playoffs. You had been hit for runs in the powerplay by Ishan Kishan, but you gave away just three runs in that last over, and picked up two wickets. What was the planning there?
My first three [wicketless] overs were nothing special prior to that. It was between me and [Mitchell] Starc for the final over. Shreyas handed the ball to me. The planning for that over was a little bit different because on that day there was no hold [grip] on the surface.The day before the match we were chatting to Gautam [Gautam Gambhir, KKR mentor in 2024 IPL], on what we could do differently in the death overs, because you can get predictable for batters who know you might only bowl the slower ball or you might only bowl yorkers. He told me that batters usually will predict I could bowl a slower bouncer or a yorker or a slower ball, but they don’t normally expect a fast ball on a hard length. In my previous over I had delivered a few slower balls, but against one of them Tilak [Varma] swept a four and a top edge had flown over the third man. So I realised I had to change something and not get predictable.”I love to bat. In domestic cricket for Delhi, I have felt that we have won due to my batting, and that gave me that inner confidence that, yes, I can bat”•BCCIThe first ball of that final over I bowled quick, pitched on hard length, and Naman Dhir was caught skying towards deep midwicket. Next ball, against Anshul [Kamboj], I decided to go slower because I did not want him to mistime a faster delivery that he could edge and sneak a four. They took a single and that brought Tilak on strike. I decided to go for the hard-length plan but set a field for the slower ball. He was caught behind.Gambhir who rarely smiles, was happily smiling after that KKR win. How has he helped you?
He has changed my mindset. I had never met Gautam before he joined KKR. In our first conversation, which was before the start of IPL 2024, he said: “You will play the 14 matches in the season regardless of how many runs you give. I just want you to continue playing cricket with the same aggressive nature as you have always – with your head up. Whether you get hit for 70 or 80 runs in four overs, your head should not be down. And if you are able to do that, I am telling you, 100% you will do something.”To be told as a player, just go out and play openly, don’t think too much, that, I feel, was the turning point. My confidence shot up and I could express myself fully, including in my celebrations, which you might have seen, where I was aggressive at times.Gambhir is a straight talker. Has there been an incident where he scolded you?
Whenever I am around GG , I am always on my toes (). I hope I don’t do anything [that leads to] scolding me. Because he always tells me that things have just started in my career and if I can devote as much time and energy towards cricket, I will grow in the game that much.How do you deal with bowling in pressure situations? What are your strengths?
More than skills it is my mindset. When I stand at the start of my run-up I think, , I will do it. I will save [the situation]. I’ve had this mindset from the beginning. And it’s because of my father. In the first decade when I started playing cricket, I never achieved any success. I never played anywhere. I played nothing. I only got rejection from every place I went. I only heard no, no, no. I used to cry, wondering what I would do in life. Papa used to always say: , do the hard work and do the things that are in your hand [control], you will get something in life.He never allowed me to doubt myself. I used to cry in front of him, saying, my name is not coming anywhere, nobody is playing me, I won’t be able to do anything in life, what will happen if I don’t succeed in cricket? He would always motivate me and say, “[As long as] I am around why are you taking the tension? You just play with a free mind.” Whenever I went to play a match, he would always say, “As a bowler, think how you can be one step ahead of the batsman.” I feel it is a mind game. If your mind is working quicker than the batsman and you are more proactive, then you are better.Rana had Harry Brook caught out for a duck on the third-ball Brook faced in the Nagpur ODI, discombobulating him with a head-high bouncer•AFP/Getty ImagesWhen was this rejection phase?
I did not play Under-14, did not play Under-16, played just three matches, and that too for a year, for Under-19 for Delhi. Then, again, I got rejected in Under-25, which was before I started to play IPL. I would go for all the trials but never got my name shortlisted. I could never get a reason why I was not being selected.Let’s talk about your white-ball debuts during the England series earlier this year. On ODI debut, in Nagpur, you picked up three wickets. You must have fond memories?
The debut was amusing, to say the least. [Phil] Salt had hit me for 26 runs in an over. I had leaked a good amount of runs [0 for 37] after my first three overs. Soon after, Shreyas brilliantly ran-out Salt. As everyone gathered to celebrate in the huddle, I stood there quietly. Rohit [Rohit Sharma, India captain] then told me, “” [Bowl from the other end].[Ben] Duckett got out immediately, caught by [Yashasvi] Jaiswal. Gautam always says, your strength is high pace, you should focus on doing that. So when [Harry] Brook walked in, I thought a new bat has walked in, why not bowl a head-high bouncer. I asked Rohit “?” [Shall I bowl a head-high bouncer?] He said, “” [Bowl it.] So I bowled the short-pitched delivery. Brook tried to fend it away and KL [KL Rahul] took a very good catch behind the wicket.You also got rid of Liam Livingstone, taking advantage of his aggressive intent.
Livingstone was trying to swing his bat at each and every ball of mine. He swung at it jumping out of the crease, he swung at it standing in the crease. I was thinking to myself, , you are swinging at the ball despite being new to the crease. Why don’t you wait for a bit, since there are so many overs still left in the innings? So when he attempted to go big while jumping out of his crease again, I bowled the short delivery, which he edged.You made your T20I debut in Pune under interesting circumstances. Morne Morkel, India’s bowling coach, said you were eating your dinner, mid-innings, when you were told.
() After the first innings, we reserve bowlers did some bowling against a single stump, and we went upstairs to have our dinner. As I came down after dinner, Gautam told me, “Be ready, you can [might] go in.” Initially, I couldn’t understand how that was possible. Then I was told [Shivam] Dube had been hit in the head and he was feeling dizzy and I would be the concussion substitute. So I walked in without doing any warm-up. I was standing at third and immediately I had a catch off [Ravi] Bishnoi’s bowling come towards me. I took it cleanly, thankfully. But what I remember is that it was that day I logged my fastest ball in T20 – 151 kph. I had walked in without any warm-up, but I loosened up as it started sinking in that I was making my T20I debut.Rana’s substitution for Dube in the Pune T20I was not without controversy, with England saying it was not a like-for-like replacement•Associated PressYou turned in a match-winning performance of 3 for 33. Did you joke with Dube on the like-for-like substitution?
pace like-for-like batting [Since I am a like-for-like sub for you, I will need to improve my batting.]You have been picked for the Asia Cup where you could end up playing at No. 8. What gives you the confidence that you can deliver if you get the opportunity?
I love to bat. I don’t feel like I can’t bat. In domestic cricket for Delhi, I have felt that we have won due to my batting and that gave me that inner confidence that, yes, I can bat.Did Rohit give you any suggestions on how you can improve as a batter?
During one of the training sessions for the 2025 Champions Trophy, I had just walked out after hitting in the nets. While I was removing my gear, he walked to me and said: “” [We all know you can hit sixes, but you first play safely to begin with.] He impressed upon me the important role the lower-order batters play and that the runs I make will eventually be helpful for the team.In terms of your fitness, do you feel anything needs to change?
There are many things I need to continue to work on. To play cricket for long, very long, for years, I need to work more on my strength.There is this interesting incident with Starc during the 2024 IPL when you were KKR team-mates. Tell us about that.
We were in Mumbai. We both started running around the ground. But he is very tall and he would stride ahead. After one of the runs, I said, “Starcy, I’ll beat you in the next one.” I knew I would not be able to and he would win easily. He said, “Don’t beat me, you just run with me.” He was telling me to run at his pace and run the distance he ran. At the end of it, I was lying flat on the turf. Then I heard Starcy say, “Eh, come on, one more.”What did you learn from him in terms of bowling?
Mindset and calmness. He is at the next level. If you remember, Starcy did not have a good start to the 2024 IPL, but I never saw that guy worried about anything. He was always smiling, though he might have gone for 80 runs in four overs. He did not get many wickets for the first four or five matches and people were talking, but he was still smiling. I liked that thing so very much, because if he is the world’s No. 1 bowler and if he is going through a rough time and he is still like this, then I thought, we younger lot, who have just started, what do we have to be tense about? The things we want, we are getting, so let’s enjoy our time playing the game.Starc and Rana’s KKR camaraderie spilled into a bit of sledging during the 2024 Border-Gavaskar trophy•AFP/Getty ImagesYou have been lucky to work with another bowling legend, Dwayne Bravo, who joined KKR as mentor last IPL. Has he helped you make any tweaks to your game?
Bravo told me, “Do whatever you feel like, I’m not going to teach you the mechanics, I’m going to focus on the mindset.” He always says that even if you are bowling your first over and if you feel like everybody is getting hit or if the wicket is really good, then straightaway you can go for a death-overs field. Since I bowl in the powerplay, I applied that plan a few times, like straightaway bowling a slower ball wide outside off stump, or a wide yorker or a yorker.Your body language is always positive whenever you play. After KKR’s victory in the 2024 IPL opening match, your senior team-mate Andre Russell said how your body language “was on point” in the last over. He said, “With the first ball gone for six, still there was some doubt there, but he came back strong and he got the job done.” Do you agree it is a strength?
When you are on the cricket field, the way you portray yourself can define you. Say, my day is not going well and I am getting hit, then if I am thinking about that with my head down in the field, I will not enjoy that. I play cricket for my feel and my enjoyment. I like being on the cricket ground and if even there I am not happy and have a weak body language and allow doubts to creep in, then I will not enjoy playing cricket. So if my bowling is not going well, I tell myself I will do well in fielding, or dive, or whatever to make an impact.Does your feisty attitude help you with the mindset?
Yes, it does. Others might doubt you, but if you doubt yourself then I don’t think you can do much. So I tell myself not to doubt myself.Having played for India across the three formats, what is the immediate next step in your plans as you evolve?
I need to work more on my batting to become a three-format player. Because if I can make more runs it will be beneficial for both me and my team.What is the best thing someone told you recently?
Last year after I got picked for the Zimbabwe series immediately after the IPL, I told my father about the selection. He said, “You have fulfilled my 35-year-old dream. Thank you so much.” Those words were bigger than anything else for me. We both cried.

The July 31 trade deadline is almost here, and there are still plenty of teams yet to emerge as buyers or sellers. When we released our initial trade candidate rankings and predictions a month ago, there were only six teams more than seven games outside of a wild-card spot. Now, there are … seven. 

Even so, since then there seems to be more teams that have internally admitted they aren’t going to win the World Series in 2025, adding some more players to the rumor mill to boost what had been quite a barren trade market. We’re still waiting for our first game-changing deal of July, however—and it seems more than likely Rafael Devers will be the most talented player traded this season.

Still, there are plenty of intriguing players available. We’ve updated last month’s initial rankings of the 25 best players who seem most likely to be traded, with six new entries making their debut. We’ve identified each player’s most logical landing spots, and offer predictions for where (or if) they’ll be dealt.

1. Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins SP

2025 stats: 10–4, 2.63 ERA, 3.13 FIP, 0.90 WHIP, 132 K, 23 BB, 2.9 fWAR in 116 1/3 IP

Best fits: Cubs, Mets, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Astros

Ryan has put everything together this season, flashing masterful control with a five-pitch mix that keeps hitters guessing. He’s a legitimate ace who just turned 29 and carries two more years of team control beyond 2025. The Twins will rightly demand a massive return for the righthander, but if he’s moved, it’s difficult to foresee a better player changing teams over the next week.

Prediction: Not traded

2. Jarren Duran, Boston Red Sox LF

2025 stats: .257/.323/.433, 9 HR, 10 3B, 25 2B, 54 R, 51 RBI, 1.7 fWAR in 101 games

Best fits: Padres, Braves, Royals, Dodgers, Phillies, Guardians

Duran ranked fourth in the AL in WAR last season—directly above Juan Soto and José Ramirez—while leading the majors in doubles and triples. The 28-year-old has fallen off quite a bit this season, but he’s under team control through 2028 and still profiles as an above-average leadoff hitter for the next several years. The Red Sox would have to be blown away by an offer to consider trading another building block so soon after the Rafael Devers deal, especially after their recent surge that has them right in the thick of the playoff race, though they do possess a surplus of outfielders and Duran has been the name most frequently popping up in rumors.

Prediction: Not traded

3. Eugenio Suárez, Arizona Diamondbacks 3B

2025 stats: .257/.328/.605, 36 HR, 18 2B, 64 R, 86 RBI, 3.4 fWAR in 99 games

Best fits: Yankees, Cubs, Tigers, Mariners, Brewers, Royals, Twins

Suárez is a streaky power hitter who’s had a terrific first half—the 33-year-old leads the majors in RBIs and with 36 home runs is on pace to top his previous career high of 49 homers set during the 2019 juiced-ball season. He also hit the 300th home run of his career last month and will likely be the best bat moved before the deadline. D-Backs GM Mike Hazen has thus far indicated an unwillingness to sell, but top prospect Jordan Lawlar is waiting in the wings, Suárez is a pending free agent and Arizona may not have the pitching to keep up in the playoff race following season-ending injuries to ace Corbin Burnes, starter Jordan Montgomery and closers Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk.

Prediction: Traded to Yankees
Update: Suárez was traded to the Mariners.

4. Jhoan Durán, Minnesota Twins RP

2025 stats: 5–4, 1.62 ERA, 2.12 FIP, 1.13 WHIP, 15 SV, 50 K, 16 BB, 1.4 fWAR in 44 1/3 IP

Best fits: Cubs, Phillies, Tigers, Dodgers, Rangers, Rays

Durán has taken his game to new heights in his fourth big-league season, blowing hitters away with a four-seamer that sits 100.3 mph and a devastating knuckle curve that’s generated a 42.6% whiff rate. He’s posted a staggering 67.8% ground ball rate and has allowed just one home run. Should the Twins decide to capitalize on what is likely to be Durán’s peak value, there should be no shortage of contending teams lining up to add a game-changing closer to the back of their bullpen.

Prediction: Traded to Cubs
Update: The Phillies acquired Durán for starting pitcher Mick Abel and catching prospect Eduardo Tait.

Mainz have lost their legal battle against former player Anwar El Ghazi after a court ruled that the Dutch winger’s dismissal over pro-Palestine social media posts was invalid. The verdict upholds an earlier decision made in the summer of 2024, forcing the Bundesliga club to honour his full salary for his time with them.

• Court rules in El Ghazi’s favour

  The Rhineland-Palatinate State Labour Court rejected Mainz’s appeal, concluding that El Ghazi’s right to freedom of expression outweighed the club’s justification for termination. Mainz had initially issued the 30-year-old a warning after his first post, but decided to terminate his contract without notice following a second post. The court found that a summary dismissal was not legally justified, maintaining that expressing a personal political opinion did not amount to grounds for immediate termination. As a result, Mainz must pay the full contractually agreed salary owed to the Dutch winger.

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  El Ghazi’s controversial termination

  El Ghazi was dismissed in late 2023 after posting a message on social media expressing support for Palestine in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.

  “This isn’t a conflict and it’s not a war. This is genocide and mass destruction and we’re witnessing it happen live. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," the Dutch winger wrote on Instagram.

  Mainz immediately suspended him, calling the post 'unacceptable.' When El Ghazi later stood by his words in a follow-up post, the club terminated his contract. The decision came despite the player later deleting the post and apologising, saying he regretted his choice of words and that he stood for 'peace and humanity.'

• From Ajax, Aston Villa to Qatar

  Born in Netherlands, El Ghazi began his professional career with Ajax in 2014, making an immediate impact as a young winger. After four seasons in Amsterdam, he joined Lille in 2017 for €8 million. Following an injury-hit spell in France, the Dutchman moved to Aston Villa on loan in 2018, helping the club secure promotion to the Premier League. Villa made the move permanent in 2019 after his strong performances in the Championship.

  During his time in England, El Ghazi scored four goals and provided four assists in his debut Premier League season, playing a key role in helping Villa avoid relegation.

  In 2022, he joined Everton but struggled to make an impact, leading to a move back to the Netherlands with PSV. After a short stint in Eindhoven, he signed with Mainz in September 2023 on a two-year deal but made only three substitute appearances before his controversial dismissal.

  Following his contract termination, the Dutchman moved abroad to continue his career and now plays for Qatari side Al-Sailiya.

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  What’s next for Mainz and El Ghazi?

  Club chairman Stefan Hofmann acknowledged the ruling that was handed down this week, saying: "We have to accept this decision. However, we stand by our position on the substance: Based on the values and convictions that define Mainz 05, the continued employment of persons who express and behave in fundamental contradiction to these values will be excluded in the future as well."

  Meanwhile, El Ghazi is continuing his career with Al Sailiya, having signed a two-year contract in September of this year. 

Ashwin now has 11 Player-of-the-Series awards, the joint-highest with Muthiah Muralidaran

Sampath Bandarupalli01-Oct-202415 – Test matches for India against Bangladesh without a defeat, out of which they have now won 13. Only two teams have played more Tests against an opposition without losing a single game: 20 by Sri Lanka against Zimbabwe and 17 by New Zealand against Zimbabwe.18 – Consecutive Test series wins for India at home, a streak that began with a whitewash of Australia in 2013. England, in 2012, were the last team to defeat India at home in a Test series.India haven’t lost a Test series at home or away since their defeat to South Africa in 2021-22. They have won six of the seven bilateral Test series played in this period.312 – Balls batted by India across the two innings in Kanpur – the fourth-fewest by any team to win a men’s Test. The lowest is 276 balls by England against West Indies in Barbados in 1935, while India batted only 281 balls for their win against South Africa earlier this year in Cape Town.ESPNcricinfo Ltd7.36 – India’s run rate across the two innings in Kanpur, the highest for any team in a Test match where they scored 300-plus runs. The previous highest was 6.80 by South Africa, who made 340 in 50 overs in the only innings they batted in against Zimbabwe in 2005.1040 – Number of balls bowled in Kanpur, making it the third-shortest completed Test match to have gone into the fifth day.The 2000 Centurion Test that ended on the fifth day saw only 883 balls bowled, but both South Africa and England forfeited one innings each on that occasion.England needed only 909 balls to complete a win against South Africa at The Oval in 2022, where no play was possible on the first two days.128.12 – Yashasvi Jaiswal’s strike rate in Kanpur is the third-highest among the batters with fifty-plus scores in both innings of a men’s Test (where data is available). The highest is 137.7 by David Warner against Pakistan in the 2017 Sydney Test, while Harry Brook had a strike rate of 132.59 in the 2022 Rawalpindi Test.1 – Jaiswal is now the first Indian batter to score fifties in both innings of a Test match in fewer than 50 balls. Nine others have had fifties in less than 50 balls in the same Test, with the last being Pathum Nissanka against England at The Oval in September.ESPNcricinfo Ltd8 – Fifty-plus scores for Jaiswal in 13 Test innings at home – all have come in 2024. These are the most fifty-plus scores by any batter in a calendar year on Indian soil in Tests.His 901 runs are also the third-highest in a calendar year in India, behind GR Viswanath’s 1047 in 1979 and Virat Kohli’s 964 in 2016.11 – Player-of-the-Series awards for R Ashwin in Test cricket, the joint-highest alongside Muthiah Muralidaran.7 – Instances of a team winning a men’s Test match despite no player scoring 75-plus runs in an innings and no bowler with a four-plus wicket haul.No Indian took a four-wicket haul in Kanpur despite four three-wicket hauls across two innings, while Jaiswal’s 72 in the first innings was their highest individual score in the match.

“Aligning the domestic and international schedules by format was well received by the playing and coaching groups last year,” NZC chief cricket operations officer Catherine Campbell said

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Aug-2025The men’s Ford Trophy (one-day competition) will kick-off New Zealand’s domestic summer for the second year in a row. The Ford Trophy will start on October 25, followed by the women’s Hallyburton Johnstone Shield (HBJ) taking off on November 15.NZC had changed the order of the men’s domestic competitions last year after two decades to offer different pitch conditions across formats, as well as to better align with the international schedule.”Aligning the domestic and international schedules by format was well received by the playing and coaching groups last year, so we’re continuing that this season,” NZC chief cricket operations officer Catherine Campbell said in an NZC release. “It helped our domestic bowlers build-up their bowling loads initially through one-day cricket, which better prepared them for the physical demands of four-day cricket later in the season.”It’s not always possible to line the fixtures up like that, but this season we’ve been able to again with the Ford Trophy being played over the top of England’s white-ball tour of New Zealand, and the Plunket Shield providing a good run-up into the West Indies Test series.”At the start of the season perhaps the pitches are a bit less batter friendly, which presents opportunities for the bowlers to make a big impact on the game. By the second half of the season in February, conditions generally are more batter friendly.”With the Women’s ODI World Cup in India ending a few weeks before the start of the HBJ Shield, Campbell expects a lot of the New Zealand international players to return to domestic cricket after the global event.”The WHITE FERNS will come back from the 50-over world cup and we’d expect many of those players to be available for HBJ,” Campbell said. “We are also playing another North v South series in the week leading up to Christmas, which adds a little extra context on performances.”All that should allow players to go into Super Smash in some good domestic form.”The Basin Reserve in Wellington will host the one-day finals weekend, with the men’s eliminator on February 20, the women’s grand final on February 21 and the men’s grand final on February 22. Fourteen venues across New Zealand will host the domestic one-day fixtures this season, ranging from Queens Park in Invercargill in the south to Cobham Oval in Whangārei.The women’s team of Otago and Canterbury men will be chasing their third consecutive one-day titles this season.Like last season, the one-day competitions will be split by the first half of the Plunket Shield and the full Super Smash.The Plunket Shield schedule is set to be released on August 13, with the Super Smash fixtures to follow on August 18.

It’s difficult to see a road for his return with Webster and Hardie moving up the list and Green set to return later in 2025

Andrew McGlashan02-Jan-2025It has been one of the feel-good stories in Australian cricket over the last 18 months, but not quite a year on from being named the Allan Border Medalist, and giving an acceptance speech for the ages, Mitchell Marsh’s Test career is at a crossroads.”Not necessarily blindsided,” Cummins said of Marsh’s reaction when the news was given to him that he was dropped for the final Test against India at the SCG with Beau Webster handed a debut in his place. With 73 runs in the series and limited impact with the ball, the numbers were not in his favour.Having been informed of the decision before Cummins spoke to reporters, Marsh left the nets having not batted but still signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans who had come in to watch Australia’s opening training session. A very popular team figure, Cummins made a point of mentioning Marsh’s first thoughts on Webster’s inclusion. “The first thing he said was, ‘I can’t wait to see Beau out there and give it a crack’,” Cummins said.Related

• Mitchell Marsh out of Champions Trophy with back injury

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Sydney Tests against India have not been kind to Marsh. In the 2018-19 series he was also dropped for the equivalent fixture having made a one-match return at the MCG where he was booed in what became an often-recalled story of his career. From there he played one Test in four and a half years before his return midway through the 2023 Ashes.In the last few weeks Marsh has looked a shadow of the player who produced a string of match-changing innings since his recall against England. That day at Headingley he was dropped on 12 at slip before racing to a thrilling hundred. Marsh said he played that game as though it was his last, having undergone ankle surgery earlier in the year to give himself a chance of playing Test cricket again. But such was the impact he had he remained for 14 consecutive matches, even forcing Cameron Green to the sidelines early last summer.However, this series he has only once threatened to dominate with the bat, making 47 in the second innings Perth with Australia’s defeat inevitable. At times he has appeared caught between attack and defence.Mitchell Marsh has made just 73 runs across seven innings in the series•Getty ImagesMarsh’s bowling workload has been a regular talking point – since the Perth Test he has sent down just 16 overs – but while Cummins referenced Webster’s capabilities with the ball, for a match where the workloads of the captain and Mitchell Starc will be of particular focus, it is the lack of runs that has cost Marsh his spot.”He was in the side this summer for being a top six batter so that’s generally a guiding principle when you are picking a top order,” Cummins said. “Think when he’s at his best he gets into the side on his batting alone and his bowling’s a bonus.”At 33 it doesn’t have to be the end of Marsh’s Test career, something which Cummins stressed when he confirmed the team, but like Green missing out in England to give him his unexpected return, he will now wait for the cards to fall in his favour. Green will return later in 2025 while Webster has moved ahead of him in the pecking order and, if he can regain bowling fitness, Aaron Hardie will likely soon move up the list.It’s difficult to see a road for Marsh’s return. Australia are likely to get creative with the balance of their side in Sri Lanka in late January, and playing spin is not one of Marsh’s strengths despite his natural power down the ground. It would be difficult to see him being recalled for a World Test Championship final should Australia qualify having just been left out. Being a key part of Australia’s ODI side means he will also miss Sheffield Shield cricket in February and early March.Beau Webster is set to make his Test debut at the SCG•Getty ImagesIt is the second significant selection call Australia have made in the last two Tests following the axing of Nathan McSweeney in favour of Sam Konstas, a move that paid off in dramatic style at the MCG.In contrast to 19-year-old Konstas, Webster is a player who has done the hard yards through domestic cricket to earn a debut aged 31. In 2023-24 he scored 938 runs and took 30 wickets in the Sheffield Shield, a return only bettered by Garry Sobers. He is also one of the best slip catchers in Australia.He has reinvented himself, too, having revived his medium pace during the 2020 Covid lockdowns to a point where it has now overtaken offspin as his primary weapon with the ball.”I don’t think I’d be standing here if I was still wheeling out the offspinners,” Webster said in Melbourne last week. “It’s a part of my game I’ve been really proud to develop in the last four years. It’s taken a lot of hard work early doors from being sore at the start and trying to get my body used to bowling a few overs here and there and then bowling lots and lots of Tasmania.”Now it feels like it’s as important as my batting game and they go hand-in-hand if you’re struggling with the bat you can still contribute with the ball and vice versa.”Webster will have good memories of his most recent outing at the SCG where he helped Tasmania to victory over New South Wales with a total of 110 runs and five wickets in the match.”He’s a special player at the moment,” Tasmania captain Jordan Silk said after that match in late November. “Any time I feel like we’re in trouble, I feel like I can throw him the ball and he just seems to be able to create something.”