Tamim Iqbal talks about rediscovering his batting form through 2015, and Bangladesh’s shortage of cricket this year

Interview by Mohammad Isam29-Jun-2016Comparing two productive years may be a bit unfair, but do you still see a difference between 2010 and 2015?
The year 2010 was a great one for me. In 2015, I knew what I was trying to achieve. I planned and I achieved. I wanted to score 1000 runs in all formats in 2015. My goal was to average 50-plus in Tests and ODIs, which I almost did. It was a more pleasing year, as a result.Your masterpiece was the double-hundred in Khulna against Pakistan last year, where you also had a record-breaking opening partnership with Imrul Kayes. Bangladesh were in big trouble when you two went out to bat in the second innings.
After Pakistan declared on 628, we knew it was going to be really hard for us to save that Test match. Even if it was the best wicket in the world, it would be hard. Imrul asked me, “What’s the plan?” I said, “We will take them on.”It was the only way to get out of it. We can’t defend, defend, defend and survive. We have to score runs and take them on. We played our shots and it was going to plan. When we reached 150 for no loss, we started to believe. I thought, “Shit, everything is in our control. If we keep playing our way, nobody can take this away from us.” We would have to give it away.After I reached my hundred, I told Imrul that I had done my part. The only thing in my mind was to save the game. I started to think about my double-hundred. I was attacking constantly. There were times when we faced difficulties against a particular bowler. He asked me, “Can you handle him?” I did. I got very nervous in the last over of the day. I went to him and said, “Can you handle this over, by not taking a single?” So he helped me.There were a lot of emotions and stories in that partnership. Imrul was also keeping wicket though he wasn’t a [regular] keeper, and he did so for a long time in that game. We had a very good ODI series where I scored two hundreds. Imrul came in and saw a team high on confidence.On batting with Soumya Sarkar against Pakistan: “We were in the middle of a big partnership. When you face this situation, you laugh and joke in the middle”•AFPThere were also two hundreds in the ODI series against Pakistan.
The first ODI hundred was more important for me because I was struggling leading up to the series. The World Cup wasn’t my best tournament. There was a lot of talk about my selection. After getting a hundred, I was relaxed. Before the hundred, I was too focused on scoring runs.So this innings helped me relax and it led to the double-hundred. We were happy as a team, which enabled us to achieve a lot of things.One of those happy moments was batting with Soumya Sarkar in the third ODI against Pakistan. You were smiling and laughing during that partnership.
We had already won the series 2-0 and we knew we were going to win that game as well. We were in the middle of a big partnership. When you face this situation, you laugh and joke in the middle. We get into these situations often in the Dhaka Premier League but we don’t get this at the international level all the time. When we were getting the results, we said, why not? And I must say that he was also playing the sort of innings that would have made anyone else do what I was doing.We are also seeing glimpses of the 2007 Tamim Iqbal these days.
When you are very confident about your batting, there will be a year or two when you will score runs with a couple of shots. Then the next year, you will get it with a different shot.The one-legged pull through square leg is also back. Is it a conscious shot or did you pick it up from someone?
There are a few shots that stay with you forever. It is just a matter of time when it comes out. I didn’t want to follow anyone. It comes naturally to me. I know a lot of West Indian players do it, but I just do it out of instinct.Charging at the bowlers is also something you did regularly in 2007, and now again over the last year or so.
When you are charging a bowler, they start to think about you. When you are in a defensive mood, you think about that bowler. It gives him the edge but when he is thinking about you, it gives you the edge.The one-legged pull: “It is just a matter of time when it comes out”•AFPYou are a mentor of sorts to many of your younger team-mates. They say you are very welcoming and even in your worst days you hang out with them.
It is true that people look up to me, but I have to keep performing in the same way. My responsibility is to work even harder and achieve new things. In spite of my form, people in the dressing room like me. It could be how I behave with them. I feel I am lucky to be liked so much.You have also possibly been at your fittest over the last 18 months. Has that made you a better batsman?
Fitness won’t make you score hundreds, skills will. But fitness will make you play for longer. It is more important for the senior players, because I can’t really be a Sabbir Rahman. I can be someone who can be very fit within my limitations. It would give me an extra year in international cricket.Is there a number in mind?
I want to play for another six years. I really want to score 10,000 runs in either format. In Tests it is looking impossible, but if I play another 150 ODIs really well, it is possible. Bangladesh play next against England in October…
After such a great season, we are not playing for eight months. It would definitely hamper us. People should be more interested in playing against us, but instead we are sitting on the sidelines. We don’t know how we are going to play. There’s no team in the world apart from Zimbabwe which sits out for so long between matches.I could have understood it if we were playing like we did five years ago when our results were predictable, but after we have been performing so well they [other teams] don’t want to play us. Take any top team and tell them to sit for eight months. You will see how they perform. They won’t play the way they were playing.

One of only three to play 100 ODIs after the age of 35, Tillakaratne Dilshan’s performances only improved with age

Shiva Jayaraman27-Aug-2016Less than two months short of his 40th birthday, Tillakaratne Dilshan will make his last appearance in ODIs for Sri Lanka on Sunday. Dilshan finishes his career as one of only 11 batsmen with 10,000 ODI runs. His career spanned nearly 17 years and he is one of only two players – the other being Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik – to have played in ODIs this year having made his debut in this format before the turn of the century.Sri Lanka are looking for established openers in time for the next World Cup and Dilshan, being no spring chicken, obviously doesn’t figure in their plans, but his batting form over the last few years does suggest he may have had a few miles left in him yet.The year 2015 was a particularly productive one for Dilshan: he made 1207 runs – the most he has made in a calendar year – at an average of 52.47 and a strike rate of 90.75. No other Sri Lanka batsman has managed more runs in ODIs in a calendar year when averaging more than 50 and striking at a rate of at least 90 per 100 balls. And 2015 was no flash in the pan for Dilshan: he aggregated 1000-plus ODI runs in 2012 and 2013 as well, and fell short of that mark by only ten runs in 2014. Dilshan is one of only five batsmen have made 1000-plus runs in a calendar year after the age of 35, and he is the only one to have done so thrice. Kumar Sangakkara is the only other batsman to have managed this in more than one year.

Between December 2014 and March 2015 Dilshan had a run of 15 innings in which he made 996 runs at an average of 71.14. He hit five hundreds and three fifties in those innings against five different opponents. No other Sri Lanka batsman – barring the inimitable Kumar Sangakkara, who himself had an even more productive streak that overlapped Dilshan’s – has had a more prolific run.

Advancing age was hardly ever a debilitating factor in Dilshan’s career. It took about nine years for him to cement his place in the ODI side as an opener, by which time he was already 32. From the start of 2009 – when he started to open regularly in ODIs – to the end of the 2011 World Cup, Dilshan made 2462 runs at an average of 53.52. He notched up nine hundreds and eight fifties in 50 innings in that period before a brief slump in the latter half of 2011 saw him score only 279 in 16 innings at an average of 17.43. Well into his 36th year, Dilshan hit his straps again during the tri-series in Australia when he top-scored in the series with 513 runs at an average of 51.3. Since turning 35, Dilshan has made 4632 runs at 45.86; in 112* innings he has made 12 hundreds and 24 fifties – a fifty-plus score every third innings. Before 35, he had averaged ten runs fewer and had hit a fifty-plus score every six innings.

In fact, Dilshan’s last 100 ODI innings have fetched him 4264 runs at an average of 47.91. He has made 34 fifty-plus scores (one in every three innings) including 12 centuries in those innings. Only Sangakkara and Sachin Tendulkar managed more runs than him in their last 100 ODI innings and only three others – Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Matthew Hayden and Shane Watson – managed to score 4000 runs. However, among the six, Dilshan is the only batsman to have played all of his last 100 innings after the age of 35 – an age by which a cricketer’s reflexes and fitness are sternly tested by the rigours of the modern one-day game.

Sri Lanka’s decision to look for a younger opener to take Dilshan’s place ahead of the next World Cup may be a sound one, but his replacement will have some big shoes to fill: the batsman he will replace is the only one from Sri Lanka to top the run charts in any World Cup.11 Number of batsmen who have made 10,000-plus runs in ODIs. Dilshan has made 10,248 runs including 22 hundreds and 47 fifties. Only seven batsmen have hit more hundreds in ODIs.1 Number of captains to have hit hundreds in all three formats of the game. Dilshan achieved this distinction when he made an unbeaten 104* against Australia in a T20I in Pallekele in 2011. He had made 193 at Lord’s in only his second Test as captain and a hundred against Zimbabwe in 2010 in the finals of a ODI tri-series. Dilshan is also one of only 11 batsmen to hit a hundred in each of the three international formats in cricket.1 Number of Sri Lanka batsmen to finish as the highest run-scorer at any World Cup. Dilshan was the one in the 2011 edition when he made 500 runs at 62.50, hitting two hundreds and two fifties including a century in the quarter-final against England and a fifty in the semi-final against New Zealand. Dilshan was a key batsman in Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign in 2015 as well, scoring 395 runs at an average of 65.83 including two hundreds and one fifty in seven innings. Overall, Dilshan made 1112 runs in the World Cups at 52.95 including four hundreds and four fifties from 25 innings.65.83 Dilshan’s batting average as an opener in the World Cup – the second best for any opener with a minimum of 500 runs. Only Glenn Turner who made 519 runs at an average of 64.87 did better than Dilshan as an opener in the tournament. Dilshan’s four hundreds while opening in the World Cup are also the joint second-highest along with Mark Waugh’s. Only Sachin Tendulkar hit more centuries in the tournament as an opener.5 Number of players who have achieved the double of 10,000 runs and 100 wickets in ODIs. In addition to his 10,248 runs, Dilshan has taken 106 wickets, bowling his offspin. Sanath Jayasuriya is the other Sri Lanka player among the five.25 Man-of-the-match awards won by Dilshan in ODIs. Sanath Jayasuriya (48), Kumar Sangakkara (31) and Aravinda de Silva (30) are the only Sri Lanka players to have won more. Click here for a list of players with most Man-of-the-match awards in ODIs.329* Matches played by Dilshan in his ODI career. Only 11 players have had a longer career in terms of number of matches played. At 16 years and 258 days it is also one of the longest in terms of time span.*

It had been eight years since Mashrafe Mortaza had taken a four-for or scored 40 in an ODI. He did both on Sunday in a Man of the Match performance just when his team needed it

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur09-Oct-2016May 12, 2007 was the last time Mashrafe Mortaza scored 40 runs in an ODI. It had also been exactly eight years to the day since his last ODI four-wicket haul. He chose the right time to bring up both landmarks once again to lift a Bangladesh team to a much-needed win over England.After the shock of the first ODI in which Bangladesh collapsed spectacularly, Mashrafe could see that his teammates were feeling very disappointed. On the night after that game, they were in his room till the early hours, chatting away and trying to make sense of the batting collapse.”We were up till 3am that night, sitting and talking in my room,” Mashrafe said. “We tried to forget about the game and talk about other stuff. But it was tough not to. We talked about how we made a mistake in the end again. The last match was easier to win compared to the India defeat in the World T20. It was nice to see the comeback.”Team comes first for me. Anyone could have been the player of the match today. I am happy that we won today. We were shocked and disappointed with the last game. We were feeling down till the warm-up session today. But we believed that a moment can change everything.”And that moment came when he lifted the team with the bat from a dire position, and then took three wickets in his first spell that detached England from the 239-run chase.On the previous occasion that he took an ODI four-for, his bowling had inspired Bangladesh to their first-ever win over New Zealand. The win had also come just weeks after several Bangladesh players had defected to the rebel Indian Cricket League, which nearly decimated Bangladesh cricket. There was talk at the time that New Zealand were facing a below-standard home side but Mashrafe and later Junaid Siddique and Mohammad Ashraful brought the much-needed victory.The four-for in Mirpur on Sunday came in a much different era. This is the greatest time in Bangladesh cricket ever since they became a Test-playing nation. They have won six home bilateral ODI series in a row. There is experience in the ranks while young guns are firing almost regularly. The only danger this time was breaking that sequence of successive series wins.Struggling at 169 for 7, Bangladesh looked down the barrel, and were certainly just steps away from conceding the series to a rampant England side who quickly grabbed the whole idea of battling the humidity, using the sluggish pitch and using their fast bowlers’ physical strength to conjure bounce to attack the Bangladesh batsmen.Mashrafe’s delightful 44 off 29 balls changed the course of the game. He started off with two sixes against Moeen Ali, before a swat off David Willey landed just beyond the long-on fielder. One of the fours was a hilarious swat that he tried to move away from, but ended up middling to the midwicket fence. He said that after some poor innings against Afghanistan and in the first ODI against England, he decided he would revert back to his old ways of swinging from the hip.”I think this is the right approach for my batting,” Mashrafe said. “It is best to go on the offensive with the bat, not get bogged down by pressure. I thought that I should play shots today.”But it was with the ball that he made more impact. He cut one away from James Vince who scooped the catch to point in the fourth over, before cutting another slightly back into Jason Roy who was trapped leg-before. To Ben Stokes, he bowled a full seam-up delivery that moved back in. It is heard that Mashrafe was shown this delivery, where the seam wobbles only slightly, from the new bowling coach Courtney Walsh.Mashrafe said that getting the new ball again was a challenge but he used all of his experience to eke out the first three wickets, before he finished off the dangerous 45-run last wicket stand with his fourth scalp.”In 2015, I couldn’t bowl with the new ball,” Mashrafe said. “Now that Mustafiz isn’t here, I am having to do it. Mustafiz took most of the wickets so without him it becomes challenging. I am trying to do a good job with the ball.”Fitness obviously makes a difference [to how well I bowl]. Last year, I bowled after 15 overs in most matches. I didn’t get swing with my seam-up bowling with that ball, so I bowled my variation. I bowled more seam-up deliveries but got two wickets with cutters.”Regardless of Mashrafe’s own contributions, the Bangladesh captain said that Taskin Ahmed’s second spell, that also drew three crucial wickets including that of Jos Buttler, was what changed the game for Bangladesh.”I asked Shakib and Mushfiq to think what we can do,” Mashrafe said. “We had options between Mosaddek, Taskin and Sabbir. But then I kept faith in Taskin. He is my main bowler, and has pace. He bowled extraordinarily, and took three wickets. The game came back to us through his performance.”Taskin bowled very fast at his best rhythm. If he didn’t take those wickets, we wouldn’t have won the game. His spell was outstanding. Top fast bowlers bowl match-winning spells, and I see his that way.”

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Aug-2016He was well supported by Evin Lewis in a 126-run opening stand off just 57 deliveries•BCCILewis went into overdrive after Charles’ dismissal, bringing up a century off 48 balls in a knock that included five fours and nine sixes•BCCIAndre Russell, Kieron Pollard and Carlos Brathwaite all chipped in with handy cameos…•BCCI…but West Indies lost five wickets and managed just 46 runs in their last five overs to finish with a still-commanding 245•BCCIRohit Sharma did the early running with a dazzling 62 off 28 that helped India weather the early wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli•BCCIAfter Rohit’s exit, KL Rahul carried India’s chase with an unbeaten 110 off 51, in which he struck 12 fours and five sixes•BCCIRahul and MS Dhoni took India to the brink of victory with eight runs required off the last over, bowled by Dwayne Bravo•BCCIBut Bravo used his cunning variations to good effect, having Dhoni caught at short third man off the last ball to seal a thrilling one-run win for West Indies•BCCI

Also: double-centuries in low totals, and a foreign-born England XI

Steven Lynch01-Nov-2016In the respective first innings of the Dhaka Test, Bangladesh reached 150 for 1, while England were 150 for 8 – but went on to get the lead. Was this some sort of record? asked Mahinda Gunasekera from Sri Lanka
That remarkable turnaround in the second Test in Mirpur was certainly a noteworthy occurrence: Bangladesh actually reached 171 for 1, while England at one point were 144 for 8. The only other Test in which a team claimed a first-innings lead after losing their eighth wicket at a lower score than the opposition’s second was in Bombay in 1960-61, when Pakistan slipped from 301 for 1 to 350 all out, and were overtaken by India, who had been 300 for 8 but went on to declare at 449 for 9.Has any side ever won a Test – or a first-class match – without losing a wicket? asked Ed Atkinson from England
There hasn’t yet been a Test match in which the winning side lost no wickets at all. The fewest is two, which has happened five times – most recently by South Africa (637 for 2 dec) against England (385 and 240) at The Oval in 2012. The previous instance was also by South Africa, against Bangladesh in Chittagong in 2002-03. The other three were all by England: against South Africa at Lord’s in 1924, New Zealand at Headingley in 1958, and India at Edgbaston in 1974. There have been eight instances of a side winning a first-class match without losing a wicket. The first – and the only one in England – was by Lancashire (166 for 0 dec and 66 for 0) against Leicestershire (108 and 122) at Old Trafford in 1956. Four of the others were in Pakistan, most recently when Karachi Blues conceded the match – saying the pitch was too dangerous – after slipping to 33 for 4 in Faisalabad in 2004-05.Josh Cobb is the only player to win match awards twice in the final of England’s T20 competition•Getty ImagesI saw a match last season in which Alviro Petersen of the Lions scored 203 in a total of less than 300. Was this the lowest total to include a double-century? asked Tiaan Strydom from South Africa
Alviro Petersen’s fine effort – 203 out of 295 – was against the Titans in Potchefstroom in January 2016. It is actually second on the list for completed innings, behind only a remarkable effort by Namibia’s Gerrie Snyman in an Intercontinental Cup match against Kenya in Sharjah in January 2008. Snyman battered 230, with 11 sixes, in a total of 282; the only other double-figure score was Michael Durant’s 13. There is one lower innings, in which not all the wickets fell – Oxford University made 280 for 1, with Micky Walford hitting 201 not out, to beat MCC at Lord’s in 1938. Gloucestershire scored 292 for 6 (Charles Barnett 204 not out) against Leicestershire at Aylestone Road in 1936, and in 1957, Worcestershire made 292 for 6 declared (Don Kenyon 200 not out) against Nottinghamshire at New Road.Who’s the only player to be Man of the Match twice in the final of the English domestic Twenty20 Cup competition? asked Matt Clarke from England
The Twenty20 Cup started in England in 2003, and in its various guises until 2015 the Man-of-the-Match awards in the 13 finals were shared around 13 different players. But in this year’s T20 Blast final, at Edgbaston, Northamptonshire’s Josh Cobb won the prize for his match-winning 80. Back in 2011, when he was playing for Leicestershire, Cobb had received the award for his 4 for 22 – all of them catches by the substitute Matt Boyce – which restricted Somerset’s score in the final, again at Edgbaston.In an ODI in Colombo in 2012, six Pakistan batsmen were dismissed for ducks•Getty ImagesWhat’s the record for the most people in an England Test team who weren’t born in England? asked Darren Hurst from England
There have been four England teams that contained seven players born outside England, all of them in the early 1990s. The team for the first two Tests at home against West Indies in 1991 included Phillip DeFreitas (born in Dominica), Graeme Hick (Zimbabwe), Allan Lamb (South Africa), Devon Malcolm (Jamaica), Derek Pringle (Kenya), Robin Smith (South Africa) and Steve Watkin (Wales). It might be stretching a point to include the Welshman Watkin, but the following winter in New Zealand the England side for the first two Tests included DeFreitas, Hick, Lamb, Pringle and Smith, plus Chris Lewis (born in Guyana) and Dermot Reeve (Hong Kong). The most recent England side made up entirely of people born inside the country was against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2003-04.There were five ducks in New Zealand’s innings in the fifth ODI at Vizag. Was this a record? asked Prashaan Raga from South Africa
New Zealand’s five ducks in their paltry total of 79 against India in Visakhapatnam last week equalled the New Zealand record, set against Pakistan in Auckland in 2000-01 (in a total of 149). But there have been five one-day international innings that contained six ducks, three of them by Pakistan: against England at Edgbaston in 1987 (in a total of 213 for 9), v West Indies in Cape Town in 1992-93 (43 all out), and against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2012 (199). There were also six ducks in South Africa’s 106 against Australia in Sydney in 2001-02, and Zimbabwe’s 127 v Sri Lanka in Harare in 2008-09.Post your questions in the comments below

Australia have struggled to find a No. 6 batsman in Tests and it appears the search will continue for a while

Brydon Coverdale in Melbourne29-Dec-2016It may not be the sexiest position in a batting order, but it is the sixiest. And over the years Australia have had some jaw-droppingly sixy Test batsmen – Steve Waugh, Allan Border, Ricky Ponting and Doug Walters to name a few. But Australia currently find themselves frustrated, unable to break a six-drought that grows with every Test. Australia, you see, have a headache, and they’ve had it for more than two years.Whether Nic Maddinson is the man to break this drought remains an unanswered question. He struggled badly on debut in Adelaide, and again in his next Test in Brisbane. On day four at the MCG he seemed in the mood, but was then bowled by Yasir Shah for 22. Maddinson’s innings was neither one thing nor the other, neither failure nor success. His 55 deliveries at the crease did little to confirm or annul his Test future.And so Australia’s headache continues.Number six is a deceptively important position, and one that requires versatility. A good Test No.6 is a buttress in case of a top-order collapse, and needs to bat well with the tail. But if the top order has built a big score, he should also be capable of quick runs to capitalise on that platform. He is often the newest batsman in the side, sometimes a veteran shuffling down later in his career, at other times an allrounder.For Australia right now, an allrounder has the greatest six appeal – they just can’t find one. During this Test, bowling coach David Saker said Australia were “desperate” to find a fifth bowler who could ease the workload on the fast men. Desperation does not necessarily equal success. Mitchell Marsh has been tried, Hilton Cartwright could be next, Moises Henriques could even be considered down the track.Since Marsh made his Test debut against Pakistan in the UAE in October, 2014, No.6 has been a problem for Australia. The following figures – batting average, number of centuries and number half-centuries for each position in Australia’s top six since Marsh made his debut – are revealing:

Position Average Fifties HundredsOpeners 48.49 24 15No. 3 50.78 10 9No. 4 58.67 7 10No. 5 54.42 9 6No. 6 21.75 5 0Marsh was No.6 for the vast majority of those innings, and his lack of batting output eventually led to his axing after the first Test of this summer. Callum Ferguson was then tried and discarded, a one-Test stand that satisfied neither party, and Maddinson replaced him. Both Ferguson and Maddinson meant a return to Australia’s old formula of six batsmen and four bowlers, which worked when those bowlers included Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.There are those who point to Steve Waugh as an example of why Australia should have persisted with Marsh as an allrounder. In 19 Tests, Marsh has made 626 runs at 23.18 and taken 29 wickets at 37.27. Waugh’s output after the first 19 Tests of his career was only slightly better: 689 runs at 27.56 and 29 wickets at 33.75.Mitchell Marsh’s lack of batting output led to his axing earlier this summer•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesBut this comparison ignores a couple of critical factors. Waugh’s breakthrough as a Test batsman did not come simply from staying in the team and gaining Test experience. He made serious Test runs – including his maiden century – only after going away and dominating at first-class level. Specifically, Waugh piled up mountains of county runs for Somerset in 1987 and 1988, and scored eight first-class hundreds in those seasons, averaging 78.76. Marsh has done nothing like that.And when Waugh was first selected for Tests, he was averaging 43.21 as a first-class batsmen – Marsh was averaging 28.51. This is not meant to belittle Marsh – who is a fine player with all-round potential – but rather to show that expecting him to blossom as a Test No.6 was always a tall order. In fact, the uncapped Cartwright’s first-class record – two hundreds and an average of 44.50 – is much closer to Waugh’s pre-Test numbers.There is a chance Cartwright could be considered for a Test debut at the SCG next week, given the workload for Australia’s fast bowlers over the past two Tests, which would squeeze Maddinson out. But of course, the whole selection philosophy could change for the upcoming tour of India, where two spinners will likely play – perhaps even a spinning allrounder – and Shaun Marsh will also come under consideration.And it should be noted that No.6 is far from Australia’s only issue in the lower middle order. During the same period – October 2014 to now – Australia’s Test No.7s have produced no centuries, five fifties, and averaged 21.66. Matthew Wade, brought in at the same time as Maddinson with the aim of shoring up the batting order, is yet to reach double figures in a Test innings this summer.After Maddinson fell for 22 and Wade made 9 in the first innings in Melbourne, the captain Steven Smith said that Maddinson “looked pretty good” and Wade was “in a good headspace”. But it’s patently obvious that Australia remain at sixes and sevens with their sixes and sevens. It’s the headache that just won’t go away.

From the emergence of Jayant Yadav and Karun Nair to Virat Kohli’s stunning new heights, ESPNcricinfo rates India’s players after their 4-0 win over England

Alagappan Muthu21-Dec-20162:12

Who is India’s MVP?

9

Virat Kohli
There were many feats he performed over the past six weeks – hitting grubbers to the boundary in Visakhapatnam, and scoring nearly 60 percent of what the entire England team managed in Mumbai. It’s the attitude that makes him as good as he is. He loves a fight, and when he is in the middle of one, he seems to have the time of his life. On the final day in Rajkot, with India facing the possibility of losing the first match of the series, a ball from left-arm spinner Zafar Ansari burst out of the pitch and went past his right shoulder into the wicketkeeper’s hands. Kohli had a mischievous little grin on his face and turned to the square leg umpire to make a signal for one bouncer for the over. He hasn’t quite faced a side, or conditions that undermine India’s strengths yet, and may still be learning as a captain – odd as that is to say after he’s led the team through an unprecedented 18 Tests without a defeat.R Ashwin
A strong stock delivery. A host of variations. No shortage of confidence. And more than happy to indulge in mind games. There was a legspinner who used to do all that. Ashwin seems to be doing his best to fill the void. “I’m looking forward to try and play on his confusion,” he said of Ben Duckett the day before dismissing him a third successive time and forcing him out of the XI. If a 22-year-old, playing his second series may not have been the toughest opponent, how about the man tipped for the England captaincy? Ashwin got Joe Root with dip in the second Test, when he had gone well past fifty, and with drift in Mumbai. The surface was not needed for any of those dismissals. The deception was all in the air. Bodes well for when he travels outside. Became the first Indian to score 300 runs and take 25 wickets in a series.

8

Ravindra Jadeja
Often, the praise he gets is tinged with a sense that it won’t last. He had Michael Clarke’s number in 2013. He had Alastair Cook’s number in 2016. And the critics are still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Zips through his overs. Retains his discipline whether it is his first ball of the day or the last one. The batsman gets no respite. Additionally, in this series, he has shown a willingness to toss the ball up more, thereby gaining drift and dip. Keaton Jennings’ dismissal during the Chennai collapse was a prime example of how this new-found skill enhances his threat. The batsman came down the track, but the ball weaved away in the air, forcing him to check his shot and pop a return catch. Jadeja’s 90 in Mohali also featured all the characteristics of a top-order batsman, and his catch in Chennai to dismiss Jonny Bairstow was comfortably the kind that kept getting better with each viewing.

7

Cheteshwar Pujara
Marked the first time his father came to see him play for India live with a century. It also contributed to India staying afloat despite England putting up 537 on the board. Followed it up with another ton in Visakhapatnam. Responded to the team asking him to show more intent. Seemed at ease though he is playing only one format and as such has to go through long periods without international cricket. Was troubled by the bouncer, though, and the old weakness of his – playing around straight balls – hasn’t been cut out of his game yet. It was, however, masked by the patience he showed against the quicks, and the skill with which he dominated the spinners.M Vijay
The mental strength he has is readily apparent, for he has a game that demands high levels of concentration: leaving countless balls outside off stump while waiting for the right one to put away. In Mumbai, he used a part of that to overcome a perceived weakness. After a century in Rajkot, it seemed like Vijay was not dealing with lifters well. He responded by scoring 136 in Mumbai to make sure England do not get a lead despite making 400. Of course, the Wankhede pitch was awful for the seamers, but there was plenty of spin, and Vijay is remarkable at handling that. He steps down the track late, and yet gets to the pitch of the ball quickly. And the hit is clean more often than not. He put the pressure back on Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, and they buckled. Since they were the only two spinners in the team, England buckled too.Karun Nair
One innings does make all the difference. He was a replacement player – getting his chance only because Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma were injured – but his 303 not out might just make his among the first names put down on the team sheet in the next Test. Granted the innings was played on perhaps the best batting track of the series, but Nair did have other things to worry about. There were notions that even if he made a hundred, he might end up losing his place because he was not among India’s first-choice options in the middle order. By turning that into a triple, he has forced the selectors, if not to vote in his favour, to at least feel awkward when not doing so.Karun Nair has given Kohli a selection headache with his triple century•AFP

6

Jayant Yadav
“You might see some surprises,” Kohli said the day before Jayant made his debut, and an impression so strong that he became part of the first-choice XI. His athleticism helped India make the incision they wanted, and England’s blockathon fell away after that. There appear to be no tricks to his bowling, but he did castle Ben Stokes with a ripping offbreak that was almost too good to be true. A high-arm action allows him to extract more bounce than the opposition expects. A very capable lower-order batsman, he became the first Indian to hit a century at No. 9. Could become a regular feature when India play at home.KL Rahul
It may be hard to erase the sight of him on his knees, horror in his eyes, trudging back to the dressing room in Chennai. The disappointment was understandable – he had fallen on 199 – but it dissipated soon enough as he took the catch that set off England’s final innings collapse, racing away from leg slip to square leg in celebration. He admitted that it was “tough” being in and out of the side; “tough” that he kept getting injured. But when he is fit and firing, Rahul appears to have incorporated just enough of the one-day game to be an excellent foil to Vijay and Pujara at the top of the order.Parthiv Patel
For someone who hadn’t played for India in eight years, at times, he was doing some very important jobs. Stepped up to open when the specialists were injured, and did so after keeping wicket for over 150 overs in Chennai. Earned the approval of his captain, and perhaps a long-term presence in the squad moving forward. Missed out on a maiden century, playing an unnecessary shot. Could be sharper behind the stumps.Mohammed Shami Would have been rated higher had his body held up. Bowled the ball of the series to break Cook’s off stump in the second Test. Later derived reverse swing – with the second new ball when it was only seven overs old. Clearly India’s No. 1 fast bowler. Emphasis on the fast because he has often hit the mid 140 kph. One of the main reasons why the experts think India’s quicks outbowled England’s in the series.

4

Umesh Yadav
Good in spurts. Would have got a five-for in the first innings in Mohali but for a dreadful morning when India dropped three catches. Is always in the XI on pitches that are unhelpful because he has raw pace and can make the old ball hoop around. But becomes surplus when conditions are ripe for swing and seam because of his problems with consistency.

3

Ajinkya Rahane
His first dismal series since his debut in 2013. His wicket on the final day in Rajkot – cutting against the turn – gave England hope of an unlikely win. Fell to the second new ball late on the opening day in Visakhapatnam and bagged his first duck in over a year in Mohali. Was injured before he could play his first Test at home in Mumbai. Remains India’s first choice at No. 5 though, considering in each of the nine previous series, at home and abroad, he made at least one score of 90-plusWriddhiman Saha
Looked uneasy as a batsman – as he normally does at the start of every innings. Seemed a little vulnerable behind the stumps too. Fluffed opportunities in Rajkot – Ben Stokes, who scored a century, was dropped twice and survived a stumping chance in Visakhapatnam too. Both the management and the pundits back him to regain his form, but he would know the competitionAmit Mishra
Skillful legspinner. But he struggles on slow surfaces and may well have slipped down the line to his Haryana team-mate Jayant. Did well on the last day in Chennai to keep the pressure up and unveiled a lovely googly to dismiss Liam Dawson for a duck. More was expected of him.Balls such as the one from Mohammed Shami that splintered Alastair Cook’s off-stump showed the upswing in India’s fast bowling•Associated Press

One Test

Gautam Gambhir (29 runs at 14.50)
Did well on the second day in Rajkot to help India go to stumps unscathed and then mount their charge. But a dreadful lbw dismissal in the second innings, getting into a tangle and falling across to a full, straight delivery, left him open to the axe.Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Like some of his team-mates, who play in only one format, he seems to be needed only when the pitch and overhead conditions are in favour of fast bowlers. Came in for the Mumbai Test and didn’t make quite the impact he would have liked.Ishant Sharma
Took a wicket in the third over of his return. Has learned to bowl a fuller length to make himself more of a threat. But again, on unhelpful pitches, he goes out of favour and the outright fast bowlers come in.

Rahul Dravid and Mark Ramprakash talk about what goes into coaching players at the Under-19 level

Nikhil Kalro05-Feb-2017It is the eve of England Under-19s’ five-match Youth ODI series in India. On a practice pitch at the Wankhede Stadium, two left-arm spinners are being put through their paces. Liam Patterson-White and Louis Shaw, both 18, have played second-eleven cricket for Nottinghamshire and Surrey respectively. In a little over an hour, they bowl close to 10 overs each – some deliveries are too full, some short, some are either too slow or too quick, and some even land perfectly at the right pace.On an adjacent pitch, an England batsman is facing throw-downs from a member of the support staff. He is informed of the field set for him: “a mid-off, cover, point, a sweeper cover, third man, mid-on, deep square leg and fine leg.” A slip is belatedly added. A few crisp drives into the net and a couple of false strokes ensue, including a badly-timed pull that finds the imaginary mid-on fielder.There is plenty of talent in these nets, but a lot of it is raw talent. What goes into turning these bright teenagers into consistent, successful players at a higher level?”It’s important for me not to forget how young they are and how little cricket they’ve played,” England’s batting coach Mark Ramprakash, who is in India with the Under-19s squad, says. “The simple things that we take for granted, you have to remember that they may not know that. Coaching is a balance of supporting them, telling them what they’ve done well, but also asking the right questions to where they can improve.”As soon as the batsmen come in, they’re talking about their dismissal, which I don’t like. I want to know what they’ve done well.”Ramprakash, who has never coached at this level before, says there isn’t too much of a difference between coaching the senior team and the Under-19s.”It’s a similar task and a similar style. With the senior team, I don’t give my opinion too much unless I’m invited. If they say ‘what do you think’, then I’ll give my opinion but otherwise I’m trying help them think about their game and how they want to play in different situations.”A lot of the players now are mature in the way they carry themselves. They are open-minded, level-headed, and that impressed me because the youngsters weren’t like this 15-20 years ago. There’s a lot of support, almost parenting in a way because they are young.”The emphasis is to meet halfway – the player must give and the coach must give. I try to build a friendly relationship between the players where they can feel open and confident in talking to the coach. As a player, that two-way relationship was never established with any coach in my England career.”As the series wears on, you begin to see the players improve subtly. In the first two ODIs, the India Under-19s opener Shubman Gill is dismissed as a result of hard hands through the line of the ball. In the third ODI, he plays the ball a lot later and strikes a match-winning 138.Gill’s coach Rahul Dravid is in charge of the Under-19s as well as the India A side. The two roles, Dravid says, are slightly different.”You’re looking at skills and temperament. To identify the pitfalls for them at a higher level,” he says. “For example, if one of the boys looks good here, but you tell him, “if you don’t improve in these areas, you will have a problem in the Ranji Trophy”, making them aware of that. They don’t play fast bowling, short bowling as much, we try to give them exposure of that here. It’s a little more technical here compared with India A. Here you intervene. Here you have time. I tell them it doesn’t matter where you are now, it matters where you are at the end of the cycle.”Rahul Dravid, the India Under-19s coach, would prefer his players failing and learning from it rather than succeeding and not reflecting upon it•PTI In the England Under-19s’ camp, both coach Andy Hurry and Ramprakash stress on the importance of inculcating the basics at this level, since the players’ instincts aren’t as developed as at more senior levels.”If people have good technique, they have a method of play that repeats,” Ramprakash says. “Some of the Indian top-order players, technically, they’re very good, they have a good stance, balanced, orthodox, good grip, pick the bat up. It looks in sync and so it repeats. So you’re more likely to be successful. That technical input is important at an early age to find that technique. With the first team, I find myself talking little about technique, more tactical.”If you have good basics, you can succeed at any level. In trying to produce an international cricketer, you have to have the basics that work at first-class level. You still need to be able to score at the first-class level, where there may be less pace, otherwise you may not get to the international level. In training, we want to expose the boys to challenging practice, pushing them in terms of pace, the method of playing accurate spin bowling.”Dravid is insistent that players learn, imbibe and reflect at this level, rather than focus on results or creating a winning habit. He has also broadened India’s pool of Under-19s, creating an environment for studying the game and taking those lessons to whichever level the players go on to next.”As long as they learn, I don’t care about much else,” Dravid says. “Even if you fail, if you go back with the right feedback, you’re better off than having succeeded and not reflected on it. I was at an Under-17 camp and Hanumant Singh used to tell me, “don’t focus on results at this stage, focus on developing your career”. I feel so similarly about this.”The more they fail, as long as they reflect upon it and recognise these are the shortcomings and this is what you need to improve on. That’s our job, to make them aware of the things they need to work on and become better players. No magic pill; I can’t give them a formula that will make them successful. It’s up to them to go back and put in the work.”Even if some of them don’t make it to the [Under-19] World Cup, I want them to feel they’ve had an opportunity in and around the group. And they’ve got some level of feedback, exposure at this level so that it can only benefit them when they go back to play.”

England captain rues the loss of control with the ball as India seal the ODI series after escaping from another tough start to their innings

Vishal Dikshit at Cuttack19-Jan-20172:08

‘Haven’t produced near our best this series’ – Morgan

England can have had no complaints with the two pitches so far produced in their ODI series in India. They are not turning much, they are not particularly slow, and they are the kind of tracks on which a batting-heavy side like theirs can score easily. The flip side is that scoring is easy for both teams, leading to high-scoring matches that aren’t over until the last over.England, however, have managed something that has been beyond India – getting early wickets on two flat pitches. While David Willey removed the openers with his swing in the first match, Chris Woakes – who stifled India’s top order in both matches – removed KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli single-handedly on Thursday. If 63 for 4 was not enough to win the match while defending 350, he made it 25 for 3 this time. His penetrative spell with pin-point accurate bowling finished a first spell of 5-3-14-3.And yet England squandered such strong positions in both matches and conceded the series after coming close in a spirited run-chase. Their captain Eoin Morgan, who steered them almost all the way to their target of 382, admitted they had paid the price for allowing India to regroup in spite of all that early pressure.”We weren’t at our best again with the ball,” he said. “We took early wickets, which is a really good sign, but letting two experienced guys get themselves in like that… and we struggled to break the partnership throughout, probably due to just not executing our plans well enough.”We didn’t produce our best performance – or anywhere near our best performance – with the ball, in this game and the last, which is very disappointing. Chasing 382, we had an incredible amount of belief in the changing room, we believed that we could chase it down, and again we weren’t far off. I didn’t think we batted [as] well [as we can].””When you don’t execute your plans, you’re obviously backtracking a bit and chasing a tail, and just trying different things. If a bowler doesn’t get it right on the day, which can happen all the time, you try different things. When you’re trying different things against the two guys who are in, they can really hurt and today they did.”The two batsmen who hurt England – Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni – cashed in as soon as the England bowlers faltered, once the opening bowlers ended their first spells. Ben Stokes offered too much room to Yuvraj, Jake Ball didn’t bowl the right lines, while Liam Plunkett encountered Dhoni at his most unstoppable in the 48th over and was smashed for three sixes in the over. The platform laid by Woakes’ spell was effectively nullified by his team-mates in the middle overs.That both games came close is a tribute to the batting displays of both sides; 1453 runs have been scored so far in four innings for the loss of 28 wickets. If England’s bowling was unable to build on the momentum established by the openers, their batting could not finish things off after the stage had been set. It was the skill level of the two teams in these conditions that made the difference.Shikhar Dhawan played on to Chris Woakes as England applied more early pressure with the ball•AFP”It’s different from what we are used to,” Morgan said. “The grounds have been very similar, very small, very batting-friendly which continues to be the case for white-ball cricket. It’s almost the case of who bats the best wins. And we haven’t produced our best with the bat. We’ve pushed them close twice, there are positives signs within themselves, but we’ve lost the series.”It’s with our skill level. The belief is there, the character is there, the talent is there – it’s reproducing your skill level. As I mentioned, India are a tough side to beat at home. You need to have skill level. The guys playing the IPL, I believe, will set them up.”Within their side there are a few World Cup winners who were a part of the 2011 side and, of course, having that experience and coming up against these sides in world competitions is a big test for us. You’ve got to produce close to the best to beat them when they’re at their best and we haven’t managed to do that.”We have another chance to do that in Calcutta. Although the series is gone, looking further ahead, it’s going to be a good test for us to prepare for the Champions Trophy. The wickets are not turning square, it’s not the typical India, it’s actually modern-day 50-over cricket. Finding a way to deal with that is a challenge.”Morgan fought valiantly with the lower order and the tail, compiling his eighth ODI century with a plan executed almost to perfection, especially once spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja had finished their quotas by the 40th over. Morgan saw them through carefully, he didn’t even score at run a ball against them because he knew he could try and make up for that against the quick bowlers. He unleashed his full repertoire against Hardik Pandya’s erratic lines and the odd loose delivery from Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He barely celebrated his hundred in the penultimate over because England still needed 29 runs off 11 balls. And he didn’t get to celebrate later at all.”A pretty disappointing day,” he said. “Anytime you get runs, more often than not, you’re in the team, you perform, the side wins. But when you lose, there is absolutely no satisfaction.”Morgan’s partnership with Moeen Ali took them close to satisfaction. Morgan played second fiddle to his partner in their counter-attacking 12-over stand that instilled life in their chase again, as Moeen targeted the leg-side boundary repeatedly. But a big swing against Bhuvneshwar left Moeen’s stumps rattled . It was, admitted Morgan, a big turning point.”Joe [Root] and Jason [Roy], when they got going, obviously losing the two of them hurt us a bit. And then when myself and Mo got going, losing Mo. It’s more a case of breaking partnerships as opposed to losing one wicket in particular [that turns the match].”If the Kolkata pitch also offers plenty of runs on Sunday, Morgan can only hope his bowlers put up a better show, so that his batsmen’s best statistical efforts don’t contribute to yet another lost cause.

Barring the Sri Lanka game, a set method has resulted in success so far, and proceedings in the semi-final weren’t too different

Nagraj Gollapudi in Edgbaston15-Jun-20173:00

Tait: Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar in good shape going into the final

The pressure is on India.Sarfraz Ahmed said that first. Mashrafe Mortaza said that next. Yet Virat Kohli’s India have waltzed into the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy without breaking much sweat or missing too many steps. India have made winning look ridiculously easy.That success has come through a set template: throttle the opposition in the first 10 overs, take wickets in the middle overs and finish well each time they have bowled first. Indian bowlers have taken the most wickets in the middle segment of the innings – 19. And when it comes to chasing down targets, India are well-versed in this art, evident in the semi-final against Bangladesh.On Thursday, the Indian batsmen cut loose from the start. Their run rate was much quicker in the first Powerplay – 63 for 0 was their best start after 10 overs in four matches of the tournament after scores of 37, 48, 46 at the same stage (against South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan respectively). By the halfway stage India were 164 for the loss of Shikhar Dhawan. Having wrapped up the Bangladesh innings almost 20 minutes ahead of the regulation time, India turned the screws fast on their opponents even with the bat.Critics have pointed out that in tightly-run tournaments like these, the opposition usually is not consistently of high standard and that the pitches are skewed in favour of the batsmen, which feeds India’s strength. But those conditions should apply to the other seven teams too. England were the firm favourites. South Africa and New Zealand disappointed themselves. Australia were unlucky to be beaten twice by the weather. You cannot fault India for doing what they are good at.On the eve of the tournament, Virat Kohli had mentioned there were three factors that helped India win the title in 2013: the success of the Shikhar Dhawan-Rohit Sharma opening combination, the domination of their spin pair – R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja – and their fielding.Virat Kohli was delighted with how the Bhuvneshwar Kumar-Jasprit Bumrah combination had stepped up in the last two matches•Getty ImagesTwo of those factors have contributed to their success four years later. Dhawan and Rohit are the most successful opening pairing not just this edition but in Champions Trophy history. Both men have one century each so far in this edition and their four 100-plus partnerships are the most by any pair in the tournament’s history.After the Pakistan victory, Kohli had admitted fielding was a grey area and he would give his unit six out of 10. Against South Africa,the ruthless fielding unit effected three run outs, of which two- AB de Villiers and David Miller – were match-turning.As far as Ashwin and Jadeja go, they have been forced to be defensive on pitches where the ball has not gripped the surface and spun much. Despite that, India’s bowling has managed to squeeze the opposition throughout the innings barring the solitary failure against Sri Lanka, who transformed a challenging target into a cakewalk.Forced to re-think after the loss, India gave Jasprit Bumrah the opportunity to share the new ball with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, possibly the best death-bowling pair in cricket currently. In fact, in this edition, among teams bowling first, they have the best economy rate in the final 10 overs.Australia captain, Steven Smith, has called Bhuvneshwar the best death bowler, but the Indian seamer is equally smart as a strike bowler too. The conditions at the start of the Bangladesh innings were exactly what Bhuvneshwar would have wanted: overcast with a little breeze. He started by pitching some deliveries wide, tempting the batsmen to reach out. Tamim Iqbal did not. Soumya Sarkar did and paid the price by playing on.Sabbir Rahman was eager to bolt out of his crease almost every ball, thus revealing his hand. Bhuvneshwar hit the hard lengths and pitched short to frustrate him. The batsman was kept on the edge of the crease as Bhuvneshwar would angle in a fuller length delivery next ball. Bhuvneshwar eventually trapped Sabbir as he stretched out to play a wider delivery on off stump to Jadeja at point.”Outstanding,” is how Kohli summed up the role the Bhuvneshwar-Bumrah new-ball combine. “Especially in the last two games. they have been terrific initially and in the later stages as well. Their wicket-taking ability is always something that the opposition knows, so they are always careful about going hard against these two guys.”According to Kohli, the fast bowlers had worked hard to improve their lines and length, an exercise that was monitored under the sharp watch of India coach Anil Kumble. Kohli agreed it has paid dividends. “After the Sri Lanka, the lengths and line has been impeccable, so consistent, bowling close to the batsman, always there with an opportunity to get a wicket. Even in conditions which are not offering too much bowling such lines that can produce wicket-taking opportunities. Big credit to both of them for getting us where we stand right now.”With bat, ball, and in the field, India have strived hard to be on top. They have made mistakes, but they have also swiftly corrected them – like the bowlers improvising their line and lengths or the top order scoring at a brisk rate. Today when they found themselves under pressure – as Tamim and Mushfiqur played aggressively between the 12th and 25 overs, adding 93 – Kohli brought in part-timer Kedar Jadhav to distract the batsman. Jadhav was eventually the catalyst for victory.As Kohli said, the hype about playing Pakistan for the second time in two weeks could distract everyone else, except India, who will continue to play “boring cricket.” Boring = consistent, proactive, ruthless.On Sunday India will find themselves at a place they have desired to be in. The pressure, obviously, will be back on them. Pakistan will, no doubt, say that.