Plays of the day from the IPL match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils

Deivarayan Muthu12-May-2016Mishra’s seam-up ball – IAmit Mishra, tossing the ball up generously, was into his second over. He tested Shikhar Dhawan with a loopy googly, which was swept with control to deep square leg. Mishra then let rip a fast, fizzing seam-up ball at 114kph. Dhawan, looking to swing, was late to bring his bat down and was foxed by extra bounce as well. The ball hit the sticker of his bat and skewed to Sanju Samson at deep midwicket.Mishra’s seam-up ball – IIIn his third over, Mishra tested Yuvraj Singh with a brace of googlies. Yuvraj picked the first and lofted it over long-on for six, and chopped the next one hurriedly to point. Mishra followed it with his second seam-up ball of the match, clocked at 112kph. Yuvraj was rushed into his flick and skied a leading edge to Rishabh Pant, who completed a running catch at short fine leg. Mishra let out a roar and set off on a celebratory stint.The collisionChris Morris sent down a short ball outside off and Deepak Hooda chopped it to the right of backward point. Hooda aimed for a quick single and Kane Williamson responded. They tried to get out of each other’s way but Hooda’s shoulder jammed into Williamson’s chest as the New Zealand batsman lost his bat. A fumble from backward point meant that Daredevils could not capitalise on the collision. A bat-less Williamson made his ground. The pair then got together and exchanged pats.Hooda steps on his stumpsNathan Coulter-Nile kept pushing Sunrisers back with extra bounce. Hooda stayed back and went deeper in his crease to glance a 118kph short ball in the 18th over. He went so deep that his back foot disturbed the stumps and lit up the zing bails. Hooda became the second batsman after Yuvraj to be hit wicket in IPL 2016. There had been no such dismissal during the last three seasons.The switch late-cutDavid Warner had batted right-handed at the nets during Australia’s tour of England in 2009 to negate Nathan Hauritz’s turn. The power of his switch-hit came to the fore when he swapped his hands and swept R Ashwin over midwicket for six in a T20I in 2012. Warner unfurled a switch late-cut on Thursday night. He pre-meditated by swapping his hands, but fingerspinner Jayant Yadav lobbed it close to the leg stump. Cramped for room, Warner checked his switch-hit, and ended up late-cutting it to short fine leg.

The optimism levels are low, and the players don’t sound confident at press conferences where questions of disunity in the team prevail

Sidharth Monga in Mohali24-Mar-2016Pakistan are still alive in this tournament. You wouldn’t guess it from the lack of optimism in the voices in the press conferences, or the lack of intent in their nets sessions. They need to beat Australia on Friday, and then hope that Australia beat India. Then they stand a good chance of being in the clear on the net run rate. Yet the lack of optimism was perhaps best summed up by coach Waqar Younis after the loss to New Zealand. Presented a similar scenario, he said, “If you say we can keep our hopes up, but the way we have been playing is regrettable. Don’t think we deserve…”A day before facing Australia, Shoaib Malik mostly answered questions related to rifts within the team. He is seen as someone who would like to be captain again, and Shahid Afridi is on his way out. There have been other reports of batsmen unhappy with their batting positions.Malik’s answers were about the relationship between the players, and there was a defence of his own selflessness. He said the team was united, that he is a team man, that he gave up the captaincy of his PSL team, that he quit Test cricket so that youngsters could break through, that Afridi is like a big brother, that the team would love to win this World T20 for Afridi, who is retiring after this.

Coming back to groups within the team, in the 2009 team, six of us were not talking [to each other] during the World Cup, but still we won that World CupShoaib Malik on seemingly stressed relationships between players in the side

There was also an unconvincing reply to whether Pakistan truly believe they can beat Australia and what Malik thought of Waqar’s lack of optimism. “When you lose, you are disappointed,” Malik said. “In the heat of the moment, even wise people can say or do unwise things. I am sure Waqar didn’t mean to say we have no chance of beating Australia. We are professionals; it doesn’t matter if we go to the semi-final or not, our job is to give our 100%. This is our opportunity. This is a big event, yes, but you learn that tomorrow is a new day. There is a day after that. There is a new tournament after that. Our first goal is to win tomorrow.”In Afridi’s moving up the order, in not sorting out their fielding issues, in looking for boundaries and not for ones and twos, Pakistan have shown in Mohali that they have been looking only for miracles. The thing about Pakistan cricket, though, is that miracles can happen. The 2009 World T20 win was a miraculous one after a slow start. Asked how different this team was to those teams in 2007 and 2009, Malik perhaps summed up Pakistan cricket in his reply.”If you compare 2009 team with this team, I would say skill wise this team is much better, but the 2009 team was more professional,” he said. “Coming back to groups within the team, in the 2009 team, six of us were not talking [to each other] during the World Cup, but still we won that World Cup. When you lose, a lot of people obviously start talking, ‘this should have happened or that should not have not happened.’ But in 2009, it was so obvious, six of us were not talking [to each other].”Yes, other teams have improved. They have very strong leagues in their countries and the best thing PCB did was we have PSL. It will take a bit of time to get cricketers from that league, but it is obviously a great sign for Pakistan cricket.”While it will take time to create those Twenty20 cricketers, the immediate concern for Pakistan in this World T20 is their fielding, their strategies and the lack of intent in their batting when boundaries are not readily available. It is a matter of skills. To pick the ball early, then to trust your batting enough to pick the gaps and finally be confident of being able to hit a boundary in a clutch situation.These aren’t skills that can be acquired overnight. Perhaps that is why Pakistan seem to have lost all optimism even though their chance of making it to the semi-final is not that outlandish. In their perfect scenario, they beat Australia and Australia beat India. That leaves all three teams on four points. Pakistan currently have the best net run rate, India the worst. So in this scenario, only a big win for Australia over India knocks Pakistan out.The catch is, Pakistan need to beat Australia first, which is not a small ask for a team in this form. The question is, do they believe they can beat Australia? And even if they do believe they can do it, they will need an overhaul of attitudes, or a miracle through great individual performances. It is not always the best route to success, but Pakistan don’t always take the best route.

Prematurely retired from first-class cricket due to a medical condition, Tymal Mills is fully focused on being the best T20 player he can be

Tim Wigmore01-Jun-2016″Chris Gayle’s the big wicket you want to take. If you want to be a T20 specialist around the world you’ve got to play against and take the wickets of the best players.”Tymal Mills is not shy declaring his ambitions before Sussex meet Somerset on Wednesday night in Hove. It is not only Gayle’s wicket Mills is after: he also seeks reaffirmation that he is the fastest bowler in England.”Yeah, probably,” he proclaims breezily. “We’re playing on TV so I’ll have one eye on the speed cameras probably, to see how I fare. I’ve not bowled on TV since last summer.”Though he is not yet 24, there has long been a sense of showmanship to Mills. In a cricketing culture famed for conservatism, the old rules – that reputation is garnered solely through hard-won results in the shires – have been thrown out for Mills, who has induced excitement far out of proportion to his still underwhelming statistics.But the point isn’t these numbers; it is 90mph, a figure Mills has regularly vaulted over in front of the cameras. He reached 94mph for Essex versus an England XI three years ago, imperilling Graeme Swann’s Ashes involvement after hitting him on the arm.”I’m not camera-shy, and like to think I do step up to the moment and enjoy it,” Mills says. “The boys wind me up about it, saying I bowl 5mph quicker on TV.”Besides rattling Gayle and ratcheting up the speed gun, Mills has another aim. “I’ve got to get my face out there if I’m going to forge a good career playing T20s around the world. In the group stages we play two, maybe three, televised games so I’ve got to make sure I bowl well in those games.”Mills has attributes to make him coveted in T20 leagues the world over: he is a quick left-armer with a potent yorker and bouncer, and a penchant for pressure moments. “I like to bowl at the death and in the Powerplay – they’re obviously the two hardest times to bowl, so if you can get a reputation for being good at bowling at both times you’re going to make yourself a more valuable commodity in T20.”

“I’m not camera-shy, and think I do step up to the moment and enjoy it. The boys wind me up about it, saying I bowl 5mph quicker on TV”

He expects to be bowling up the hill to Gayle, “because it’s the harder job to do”.For all his brawn, Mills has the brains to thrive in the format too. “I’m lucky the way I bowl my slower ball, it’s quite hard to pick. When I get it right, my slower ball is my best ball – I get good bounce on it and can bowl it at different lengths.”His variety of slower balls could be enhanced by working with Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman, who will shortly join Mills to play T20 cricket at Hove. “He’s got rubber wrists,” Mills says. “That’s how he can bowl all his cutters.” It could be quite a sight: the fastest bowler in England at one end, the most cunning T20 bowler in the world at the other, and Chris Jordan in support.

****

Unlike so many other T20 specialists, Mills’ path came not out of choice but was forced upon him.On May 14 last year, he strode into an office in Hove, where he was greeted by Sussex’s chief executive, coach and several doctors. They told him that he had been diagnosed with a rare congenital back condition that could cause substantial mobility problems if he continued to bowl in first-class cricket. At the age of 22, Mills had to retire from the first-class game: the Test ambitions that had sustained him since he was a boy, and which he had just moved to Hove to pursue, were destroyed.”I went home and was thinking, ‘Oh God, what am I going to do here?'” But amid the disappointment there was also profound relief. In the weeks after Mills’ involvement against Worcestershire was curtailed by back pain, he had been tested for a range of far more serious illnesses, including multiple sclerosis. Those tests had come back negative.”Nothing like this had happened before in cricket so they shared it with different doctors and got opinions from guys in America, seeing if there was anything in baseball that was similar. They came to the conclusion that the ramifications down the line could be not great. It’s your back, it’s pretty sensitive, so you’ve got to take the safe option. It’s just the way I’m put together, really. It is what it is, but you’ve just got to accept it and get on with it.”Three days after being told the news, Mills was selected to play Gloucestershire in a T20 Blast match. “The first ball, I was a little apprehensive. I wasn’t worried about how the cricket would go, it was more about how my body would go.”His body held up, and so did his bowling. Mills took 3 for 30 against Gloucestershire, his career-best figures at that point. By the season’s end he had taken 19 T20 wickets at 18.84 apiece. It was enough to keep him firmly in England’s minds.Two years earlier Mills had been touted as England’s Mitchell Johnson during the 2013-14 Ashes, despite a record of record of six Championship wickets at 66.33 in the 2013 season. He can laugh about these surreal weeks, which included giving a huge bruise to Alastair Cook in the nets. Now Mills has the chance to build a more substantial relationship with England.Mills in 2013, before his back condition was diagnosed•Action PhotographicsTheir interest is palpable. Last winter he was selected in the England Lions squad for a T20 series against Pakistan A, between trips to South Africa.Mills also has a personalised training programme devised last October by Pete Atkinson, England’s lead strength and conditioning coach. “He became my personal trainer over the winter – we couldn’t get away from each other.”The regime for Mills is very different to most cricketers. That it does not include any weights is not just because of his back but his build as well: more middleweight boxer than archetypal fast bowler. “I’m a bit different to most guys, because I’m not really built like a cricketer. I’m bigger than most people.”While Mills’ new ambitions feel altogether more realistic than the hope that he could replicate Johnson in whites, there remain significant obstacles.The first is the schedule. In an age when complaints about the onerous, ever-shifting county fixture list seem ubiquitous, Mills faces an altogether different problem: not playing enough. June has begun, and he has only bowled two overs all season, in a rain-affected T20 in Bristol.”This last six weeks has been a bit tough, just training. It’s been a long pre-season, watching the boys play. It’s been a means to an end, but it’s a necessary evil.”When his T20 season starts in earnest, Mills will still be restricted in his training regime. Last year his schedule was reminiscent of Ledley King’s during his final years at Tottenham Hotspur: King would not train at all between weekly games.Mills is now able to spend time in the nets – his back doesn’t give him “any day-to-day problems” – but at England’s behest, he is still carefully managed. In an average week he expects to play in a T20 game and then bowl a couple of five-over spells in the nets, although that might be upped when the 50-over county competition begins.If there remains a pang of regret at being denied the chance to try and pursue a Test career, Mills is a man “at peace with it”. He knows, too, that he has been lucky in his timing. Had he been born a decade or so earlier his back condition would have ended his professional cricket career.Now, misfortune has afforded Mills the opportunity to be a trailblazer. In an age when English attitudes to T20 are warming, thanks to a vibrant World T20 performance and Andrew Strauss’ enlightened approach, Mills can mark himself out as England’s first true specialist T20 bowler, a bowling equivalent to what some radicals hope will become of Jos Buttler. “In a perfect world I could make a career doing this for a long time. I’ve just got to stay fit.”Mills hopes that fully committing to mastering the subtleties of T20 bowling, rather than simultaneously trying to find his way in the first-class game too, could “give me the edge”.When not hurtling the ball down at speeds seldom spotted in the county game, he is not a man prone to looking back. He has not even picked up a red ball since last summer. “Everything I do is aimed at being a top T20 player. I want to play for England even if it’s just in T20 cricket.”

A growing feeling of uneasiness among the young crop brought about by the country’s transformation policy may have contributed to their downfall in the Caribbean

Firdose Moonda29-Jun-2016South Africa’s inability to reach the final of the tri-series in the Caribbean has once again reopened old debates over the team’s inability to deliver under pressure. Both Damien Martyn, the former Australia batsman, and Ian Bishop, the former West Indies fast bowler, who commentated on the tournament, pointed to “not getting the mental side of things right,” while assessing South Africa’s performances for the television show .”There’s great talent there but when it comes to these tournaments, it’s just not clicking,” Martyn observed. Bishop agreed: “I don’t think it’s a skill thing. I just think it’s a mental thing, where something is blocking them in those pressure situations and that has to take some introspection.”South Africa are no strangers to self-examination, but have been reluctant to using outside assistance. HD Ackerman, the former South Africa batsman who has worked with A teams, felt there was perhaps a case of the national team hiring a mental conditioning coach.”The one member of coaching staff who fails to appear is a psychologist,” he said. “Everyone is saying there is something mentally not right. Let’s not attribute that to this group of players because this is something South Africa have struggled with for a number of years. Maybe we need to appoint a full time guy who will say there are some issues here that need addressing.”Ackerman also hinted that lack of confidence and certainty could be the biggest issue behind South Africa’s problems. “Australia’s young players believe they belong there. Our young players are very unsure when they get into a national side,” Ackerman observed. “Do I belong here? Why am I here? Who wants me here? There are a lot of unanswered questions for those players rather than them thinking, ‘I belong here’. That’s what Australians believe – that they are good enough.”Several board insiders have revealed that there is an underlying feeling of uneasiness as players struggle to understand how they fit into a system that has somewhat been thrown into a state of flux because of the country’s transformation policy.Last year, Cricket South Africa signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the county’s sports ministry underlining its commitment to transformation, which meant an increase in the number of coloured players across all levels. In the 2015-16 summer, franchises increased their targets to six players of colour, of which at least three had to be black African. While the same policy wasn’t outlined at the national level, at least one black African player has been fielded in most matches.Despite that, CSA along with three other federations were banned from bidding for or hosting major tournaments as sanction for the slow progress of transformation. The ministry explained that it expected 60% of national teams to be of colour, which in cricket translates to seven players in an XI. While CSA has not announced any additional targets at any level, it seems evident that they are applying them anyway.South Africa had eight players of colour in their squad of 15 for the tri-series in West Indies. All the players brought into the squad – Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso and Tabraiz Shamsi – were of colour, while those left out from the previous ODI squad – David Wiese, David Miller and Marchant de Lange – were not.Form and merit aside, those included had decent domestic numbers to justify their places and those excluded had been through unremarkable patches.At the domestic level, there has been major shuffling as franchises have looked to balance their squads. The national team is grappling with exactly the same issue. It’s not a case of there not being enough players who are good enough – of colour or not – but it is a matter of making sure there are enough players to fulfill every role the team needs while still meeting targets. It’s little wonder that with all that to think about, strategies and game plans appear only half-formed.For that reason under-fire coach Russell Domingo may have earned himself a little more time to manage the expectations put on him in both performance and transformation terms. As things stand, Domingo still has 10 months left on his contract and the backing of captain AB de Villiers, even as the public calls for his head.”To a degree I agree with AB. Sometimes players need to take responsibility, it can’t always be about coaching,” Ackerman said, as he provided his idea of when South Africans will know Domingo’s time is up. “It’s so difficult for us to sit on the sidelines and say the head coach is at fault. We don’t know the instructions that are being given to players within the dressing room and whether they are being followed.”If the players aren’t doing what the coaches are suggesting it would mean that there is a communication breakdown or a relationship breakdown, then it is time to move on. But if it’s just about execution, then either improve or you’ve got to get new guys in.” And one of those new guys may need to be a psychologist.”

After Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane ground New Zealand into fatigue on a punishingly hot day, the tourists bounced back with late wickets, much to Rahane’s disappointment

Sidharth Monga30-Sep-2016Those who are not cricket fans sometimes like to laugh at the lack of physicality of Test cricket. But bowling itself is an unnatural act. Human bodies are not meant to hurl round objects accurately at 140 kph across 22 yards without straightening the arm. To do it in temperatures north of 30 degrees centigrade and humidity over 70% over six-and-a-half hours, even with all the breaks, is a mammoth task. To do so with consistent accuracy and skill is what makes cricket. To face this wearing all the armour is not easy either, but it is more demanding on the bowlers, which is why batsmen like to absorb all the pressure before taking liberties. Fatigue is inevitable in the human body.Fatigue is what Tom Latham spoke of before the Kolkata Test. Fatigue is what New Zealand coach Mike Hesson spoke of when asked why their spinners provided more loose balls in Kanpur. Fatigue is what Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane played on in rescuing India after they had been reduced to 46 for 3.New Zealand are a wonder of human spirit and strategy. With such low numbers, both in terms of participation and in terms of following, they do a great job of being competitive in cricket. On Friday morning, they were stretched to the limit, losing their best batsman Kane Williamson, and then the toss. The moment they caught their first break of the tour, though, they were all over on it. This pitch had bounce for their bowlers. It had a bit of movement.New Zealand read it right. Again. They brought in a fast bowler who rarely puts a foot wrong but gets to play only when others are injured. Still Matt Henry manages always to be ready. There was also a spinner in the side who last played three years ago and as recently as last week thought he was done as a New Zealand cricketer. Jeetan Patel reached Kolkata a little over 24 hours before the Test. He came back with experience of bowling in county cricket; he had finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker in this year’s county season.Spirit doesn’t beat science, though. Bodies get tired. So when New Zealand had everything going their way, Pujara and Rahane decided to absorb it all. Pujara only went after errors, but went after all of them. There was a time when Pujara had scored 39 of India’s 67 runs, having faced 99 of India’s 192 deliveries. The value of having tired the bowlers now started showing as the loose balls started to appear. Not too many, but they did.Rahane spoke of the need for a solid defensive game. “I think your defence is very important on a turning wicket,” he said. “If you have faith in your defensive game, nobody can get you out. We did that in the first and second sessions, but in the third session we thought this is an opportunity to score runs. The ball had got old and the bowlers were tired, so we thought that if we could increase the run rate there, we could put pressure on them. It’s not necessary to look for boundaries only, but you must have seen that we used our feet to the spinners a lot. So our plan was to disrupt their lines and lengths, because it was easier to play the spinners off the back foot than the front foot.”To cash in on them, Rahane was the perfect man. Not long ago, in the third Test in the West Indies, Rahane had failed to accelerate after getting himself in. He had put himself under pressure, and was dismissed for 35 off 133 balls. India batting coach Sanjay Bangar had said that day that Rahane should have switched gears when he had got himself in. Rahane is not the man to repeat mistakes. And he has gears.Here he effortlessly switched. You didn’t notice them from the shots he played, but every time you looked up at the scoreboard he had moved up a gear. The first 26 balls he faced brought India three runs, the next 30 yielded 14, he scored 18 off the next 24 balls he faced, and by the time he reached his fifty, Rahane had reached a strike rate of 50.Patel’s and Mitchell Santner’s fingers would have tired, the relentless Neil Wagner’s pace came down, Trent Boult bowled only three overs in that middle session, and Henry only two. This was a period when both sides realised that the new ball was going to be the next crucial play. New Zealand wanted to contain runs, India wanted to deny them this containment. Rahane used his wrists and deftness to beat fielders; Pujara did so too but his strike rate didn’t go up as much as Rahane’s did.After the 64th over, in the heat, India finally broke free. Forty runs came in five overs. Pujara scored 19 off 12. This is the time that perhaps Kohli spoke about. Pujara was getting on. The elusive century was within sights, but also he was facing Wagner, who was bowling to a plan that wasn’t quite working. He had gone around the wicket, trying to shape the ball away and was looking to make the batsmen hit to that tight ring on the off side. Finally Pujara made an error, finding short cover on the full. Wagner’s plan had worked, ten overs before the crucial new ball.In the end, Rahane was hard on himself and Pujara. “Pujara and myself will take this blame, because we were set,” Rahane said. “He got out on 87, and I got out on 77. I think it was our responsibility to carry that partnership forward. See batsmen just need one ball to get out, but I think if between the two of us, if one had made a hundred, maybe our position would have been different. I can’t blame anyone else.”New Zealand were back into it, and, with R Ashwin denying them, they finally got their first bit of luck. Ashwin was given out lbw by umpire Rod Tucker with the ball looking likely to slide down. Immediately, though, the same umpire denied them Ravindra Jadeja’s wicket. That set up a tantalising first session on day two. New Zealand will be mindful of what happened in the first innings of Kanpur when India’s tail scored valuable runs, while they lost their last five wickets for seven runs.Rahane believes his side will need at least 70 runs from the last three wickets this time. “We lost two extra wickets here. Five wickets would have been ideal on this kind of two-paced pitch. But Jadeja and Saha are batting, and if we get 75 to 100 runs tomorrow, 325-330 will be a good total for the first innings here.”

In part two of the interview, Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur talks about the attacking brand of cricket he wants his team to embrace

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi14-Sep-2016Read part one of the interview herePakistan have 14 ODIs scheduled between now and next September, the cut-off date for qualifying directly for the 2019 World Cup in England. How realistic are their chances of making it to the World Cup without having to play the qualifiers, given they are ranked No. 9?
I have to be realistic. We haven’t got the time, but we have started the journey now. We will have to start again. I have got a really good feel for the personnel and the areas we need to improve on. I have looked at people we can work with, people we can bring in, and I am comfortable we will be okay.Do you reckon Pakistan are behind the curve compared to the modern ODI teams?
With the brand of cricket they are playing, definitely. We can’t play that brand of cricket anymore. We have to be brave. You have to take the game on.Not playing in the IPL and other premier T20 leagues – do you reckon that has hurt their understanding and development of limited-overs cricket?
And facilities and the domestic competitions, which are average. You can’t blame them. Then they are potentially fighting for places all the time. There has been no stability [in the ODI side]. They start playing for themselves. We have a massive challenge in our ODI team.Fitness is amplified in one-day cricket – fielding, running ones, twos, threes. Sometimes in an over you are running six twos. If you are not fit enough, you can’t run those runs. It is to the detriment of the team. Without a doubt, that message has started getting across. But it can only go across to the players if I am consistently delivering it. I am not going to tolerate players turning up unfit. They are professional athletes representing a country. It is not good enough [being unfit].

“I want us to play an attacking brand of cricket, a brand that is good to watch, a brand that inspires the players to play and gives you so much more gratification from your supporters”

Why was Mohammad Irfan not played in the Ireland ODI series? A bowler like him could have done with some overs under his belt considering he had not played for a few months?
Irfan came into the ODI squad as a replacement for [Mohammad] Hafeez, so he wasn’t with us [in Ireland]. That made it even worse for me because your replacement players are the ones with the fresh legs. They are the people who up the ante, who bring in fresh energy. And he comes in and starts cramping. That potentially cost us an ODI [in Cardiff].But he just got off the plane. That could have played a part in the cramps, considering his height. And about two days later he plays in the Cardiff ODI. Can you entirely blame him?
Funnily enough, a couple of bowlers cramped in the same ODI, but they were fit enough to get back and finish their overs with the intensity required.I don’t want to harp about Irfan. It could be about any other player that joins the squad in the future. I get disappointed when players arrive and are not at peak condition. Ultimately that is the reflection of the set-up I run. Ultimately that is the reflection of me and my support staff. We are judged by that, so I am not going to tolerate guys that jeopardise that. And it is not a Mohammad Irfan thing. It is an integral part of the Pakistan system. If I can change and make it 10% or 15% better, we have a better chance of success. I sat down the T20 squad and told them: when you arrive, you need to understand the standards demanded by this set-up; that you come in and meet minimum requirements. And those minimum requirements are lower than what South Africa or Australia have. I am taking baby steps at this point of time.Discipline is another aspect where you think things can improve. Can you talk about the example of Yasir Shah turning up two days late for camp when you first arrived in Pakistan?
We thought he was arriving on Friday, but he came on Sunday. I had just arrived at the NCA. I am not sure what the communication between him and the PCB was, but I asked him, “Hey Yas, weren’t you supposed to be here on Friday?” He said, “Yeah, coach, I’m just two days late. It’s okay.” We both had a laugh and I went back to my room and thought, “Gee, he is being serious.” I hope he was joking.”To be able to close off a run chase or finish off when you are setting a target is a real skill. And I wanted Shoaib Malik to do that”•AFPThat sort of thing will not happen again even if it was true?
Absolutely not.Are you going to take hard decisions in terms of players?
I think we have to. If we keep picking the same [players], we are going to get the same, and we will be sitting at No. 9 in the world. We have nothing to lose. We just have to invest in some players. I know for a fact that from the first ODI to the fifth [in England], we changed the whole brand and style of cricket.In the first ODI, in Southampton, we played like cricket was played back in 2002. By the last ODI, in Cardiff, we chased down 302 with overs to spare. We took the attack to England. That is how we have to play. If we play the way we did in Southampton, we are not going to win the game.Grant Flower said he sensed insecurity among some ODI players, which was holding them back from expressing their game openly. Have you seen the same?
Maybe there was [a sense of insecurity] with the old regime. In fact, probably there was. I would like to be able to think we can identify the players we can take forward and then invest time in them. Create clear roles for them and hopefully we will get the results. Because if we want them to play high-risk, high-octane stuff, we ought to back them for a period of time as well.You have seen various players in the PSL. What do you think of the pair of Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad making a comeback in the ODI set-up?
They have to prove that they are not going to be a disruption to the team, because clearly in the past they have done things that weren’t right. I was not there, but clearly they have. They have to conform to the standards and requirements of the team.

“I get disappointed when players arrive and are not at peak condition. Ultimately that is the reflection of me and my support staff. We are judged by that, so I am not going to tolerate guys that come in and jeopardise that”

Azhar Ali, Pakistan’s ODI captain, is a committed player. But is he really a modern ODI cricketer?
He is. He is getting better. He is a fantastic batsman. Azhar’s batting ability is brilliant, which means he can adapt without a doubt. Again, in the ODI series against England, he adapted throughout, so he is good enough.What about Shoaib Malik? He is the most experienced, yet that is not reflected in his numbers (in ODIs he averages 26.80 with the bat outside Asia, 38.72 in Asia, 24.41 in Australia, where Pakistan go on their next tour, and 12.94 in 19 innings in England, where the next Champions Trophy will be played next year).

He knows where he stands. I was so happy to see him come out in Cardiff and play with a real intent that had probably been lacking just a little bit. I am talking about intent in his defence, intent in his attack. He committed to every shot. He was committed to that innings. I was so happy he came through that.Is there a reason he bats in the lower order?
That was me. I wanted a guy that could finish for us. No. 6 is such an important and tough position in the batting order. Michael Hussey did it for Australia for a period of time. To be able to close off a run chase or finish off when you are setting a target is a real skill. And I wanted Shoaib Malik to do that. We promoted him to No. 4 in Cardiff and he gave us what he wanted, so maybe his role changes now, going forward.”If we keep picking the same players, we will be sitting at No. 9 in the world”•Getty ImagesYou said this recently: “I don’t want us to fear failure. I think any team that fears failure is a team that struggles.” Why did you say that?
I don’t want us to be tentative, whether it is with bat, ball or in the field. I want us to be 100% committed to the decisions we make, because if we do that, we’ll have a lot more chances of success than failure. I want us to play an attacking brand of cricket, a brand that is good to watch, a brand that inspires the players to play and gives you so much more gratification from your supporters. It must be a brand that challenges, a brand that stimulates, but it must be a brand that is encapsulated by fun.You need time to help build and grow that kind of brand. Is the PCB willing to give you that?
I am pretty sure the PCB will give me the time. Definitely.Read part one of the interview here

At various points in their first innings, New Zealand’s batsmen looked like they might defy the odds and give India a real scare; in the end, they did not quite manage that

Sidharth Monga in Kanpur24-Sep-2016On day three of the series, New Zealand came face to face with the enormity of the task that is playing India in India on turning pitches. Against much better – crucially, much more experienced – spinners, on a track that had become much more difficult than in the first innings, New Zealand’s batsmen did a lot of things right. In fact, they batted much better than India did in their first innings, and even denied India when they got on their first roll, but they still ended up conceding a 56-run lead, which is good as 150 when you have to bat last on such a pitch.Before that final collapse, for 90 overs, we had a near perfect innings featuring two excellent spinners at the top of their game, bowling in their own conditions against batsmen using every sinew of discipline, technique and awareness to counter them. As it happens in such contests, the errors were few and far between. There was a passive attempt by a batsman here, a freebie on the pads there, but quite a few spells of play deserved to be part of a classic; they were denied that distinction by the eventual 56-run deficit.Martin Guptill defied low expectations by taking a toll on the fast bowlers when the ball was new, and then starting off well against spin. At first, Ravindra Jadeja had long-off back for him, doubting if Guptill could score without going aerial. Guptill waited, took singles, and forced Jadeja to bring the fielder up. Aware that he had to score too because there weren’t going to be too many scoring opportunities, Guptill went over mid-off immediately. Then the fielder went back, and he started taking singles again.As can often happen, Guptill worked hard against the threatening bowlers, and dropped his guard against pace, which normally serves mainly as relief for the spin bowlers – and the batsmen. Guptill played across the line of an Umesh Yadav delivery and paid the price. The lbw call was touch and go, but would likely have returned an “umpire’s call” verdict had DRS been available and called upon.Kane Williamson and Tom Latham then put up a masterclass much like Cheteshwar Pujara and M Vijay had. They picked the length early, they moved decisively, either well forward or right back, they swept the right lines, and they didn’t let Jadeja run through his overs. This should not be confused with what India complained about. India complained about the comfort breaks; this was more about making Jadeja wait till they were ready. While it may not make that much of a difference, it doesn’t let Jadeja dictate the pace. The bigger difference was their techniques.

While you appreciated India’s skill and composure even as New Zealand got closer and closer, you felt a little sorry for New Zealand. They had zero rub of the green.

India began with in-out fields, looking to see if the batsmen had the patience and the skill to score runs without lofting the ball. They also wanted to keep a lid on the scoring while the partnership was on because they knew on this pitch one could bring many. New Zealand passed that test. Ones and twos kept coming. R Ashwin didn’t get to bowl more than six balls in a row at one batsman. There were no traps being laid.On the third morning, the fields changed. Anil Kumble, India’s coach, asked Jadeja and Ashwin to make sure the ball was ending up on the stumps. That is typical Kumble. He made a career out of balls ending up on the stumps. The fields changed too. Singles dried up. Ashwin now bowled 11 straight balls at Latham. He wouldn’t need more. The 11th was an offbreak that didn’t turn. After all the hard work, Latham, who played for a marginal amount of turn was beaten on the inside edge.Williamson fell to the pitch, a massive offbreak from well outside the off, accompanied by an explosion off the pitch and low bounce. He stayed back, he didn’t open the face, but it still spun past his defence. Having lost three wickets in four overs, New Zealand were in danger of conceding a huge lead, but Luke Ronchi and Mitchell Santner were about to arrest the collapse.Ronchi showed enterprise, Santner defence. India threw the bait. Jadeja and Ashwin bowled with no point to Ronchi. At every ball slightly short of driving length, Ronchi would go back, but not go ahead with the cut shot if it wasn’t there for the taking. Once he even left an Ashwin offbreak alone after shaping to cut. For the first five overs of the partnership, there was nothing. The batsmen were in the bowlers’ sights. There were close calls. The pressure – and anticipation of the spinners – was palpable.Then, bowling his eighth straight over of the morning, Ashwin blinked. Ronchi was 8 off 28, Santner 1 off 18, the partnership 3 off 32. A slight drop in length was all Ronchi needed, and he was all over it. Ashwin’s next three overs went for 19. The tide was turning. India’s advantage had come down to 121. Ashwin was taken off. Against Yadav, there were few problems. By the time Ashwin came back, the deficit was down to 111, and there were 36 minutes to go to lunch. This was a crucial 36 minutes. New Zealand had more to lose because India could easily take three wickets in those 36 minutes.Ashwin dropped another ball short. Santner picked up another boundary. Rohit Sharma was tried for an over. He conceded a four too. With the lead under 100, just before the start of the 80th over, Ajinkya Rahane had a word with Jadeja, who went over the wicket to change the angle. Now was the time for the umpire to make an error. As a rule, you don’t give lbws for left-arm bowlers to right-hand batsmen unless the ball has turned back or straightened or it is so full there is no time for the angle to take it past the stumps. Ronchi swept, had a stride in, but was given out lbw.Santner continued to concentrate hard and take Ashwin on. The way he hit two boundaries after stepping out to Ashwin was pure class. Down the pitch, not worried about the stumping while he was, right to the pitch of the ball, using his levers not power to chip over mid-off and back over Ashwin’s head.Kumble’s advice to attack the stumps helped Ashwin and Jadeja recalibrate their strategies on day three•AFPJust after lunch India made a mistake. Five overs of pace were not just mental relief but offered two free leg-side fours and a third that could have been, and a half-volley that Santner drove beautifully back past the bowler.Not for the first time a New Zealand batsman was looking like he could play a blinder despite the obvious disadvantages they face when playing in India. They were against spinners who were at the top of their game on a pitch that one of them, Jadeja, termed as similar to the “underprepared” ones he has played all his domestic cricket on. They didn’t know which way Jadeja was turning the ball so they had to pick the length early and play him off the pitch. Still, they had come within 67 of India’s first-innings score with five of their wickets standing.This time Ashwin produced the special delivery. Going over the wicket, changing the angle, spinning one big, taking the edge of Santner’s bat for an extraordinary catch for Wriddhiman Saha. This was a thick edge. Saha had to follow the ball quite quickly. It stuck in the webbing. Another potential classic was nipped in the bud. The fact that so much mental energy was spent and it was still in the bud shows you how difficult it is when these two spinners bowl for almost two sessions and their errors can be counted on your hands. Jadeja then ran through the tail.While you appreciated India’s skill and composure even as New Zealand got closer and closer, you felt a little sorry for New Zealand. They had zero rub of the green. They lost the toss, another umpire might have given Rohit out on 16 fewer than his eventual 35, and Ronchi definitely got a rough one to end a 49-run stand on a pitch where new batsmen found it extremely tough to bat.These are not the things you budget for. You expect to win matches despite losing tosses. You expect to get over an umpiring call here or there. New Zealand certainly weren’t complaining. These things are not in their control. What was in their control is for every batsman to follow his game plans; that Ross Taylor couldn’t will hurt New Zealand the most. He had a platform coming in at 159 for 2, he held the potential of playing around with India’s discipline with his unorthodox sweeps, but he made the biggest error. When you are not picking which way Jadeja is turning the ball, you want to pick the length early and either smother the turn or stay back to adjust. Taylor played passively, stayed on the crease, and was beaten on the inside edge. Batsmen who have followed the series between Sri Lanka and Australia will tell you that you don’t want to be beaten on the inside edge.It is a little harsh to single out Taylor based on a two-ball innings, his first in the series, but such is the nature of the beast when you haven’t had enough acclimatisation to the kind of bowling you are facing and you are having to stretch every sinew to even think of parity with the favourites.

Middlesex have topped the Championship with a focus on the team’s ‘DNA’ and playing for each other, reveals opening batsman and leading run-scorer Nick Gubbins

Will Macpherson31-Aug-2016Middlesex sat down, as most sports teams do, at the start of the season. They discussed cricket, of course they did. But they also picked through how they wanted to be viewed, and how they were going to go about their business in 2016 and beyond. The results were written down, and pinned to the home dressing room wall at Lord’s. The All Blacks call it the “no d*ckheads” policy. At Lord’s, it is the Middlesex DNA.Team spirit is a tenuous and fragile notion, but the Middlesex DNA can be tangible and visible. It defines director of cricket Angus Fraser’s recruitment – based as much on personality as playing prowess – and has ensured it is an easy team to come in to, with a series of youngsters slipping in seamlessly as injuries and international call-ups are juggled.It is the Middlesex DNA that makes them riotous celebrators of each other’s successes; wickets taken, centuries scored, matches won (each greeted with a trip to the Lord’s Tavern). Thus the team has no social divide, as batsmen mix with bowlers, the newest signing with the oldest lag. It is no coincidence; there is science to their chemistry. “Everyone is mates, whether you’re 22 or 36,” Nick Gubbins, a batsman at the bottom end of that spectrum, says. “We want to work hard for each other, and for the next man in to see that everyone is united.”By the time they left The Oval after the final day of their fifth game of the season was washed out for a fifth draw, Middlesex’s belief that they could win the title – written into the Middlesex DNA – was being tested. The batsman had been scoring runs, and the bowlers taking wickets, yet they were winless and exasperated. There was mitigation: two of those five draws had come on the deadest of Lord’s pitches – and a sixth would follow there a week later, against Somerset, by which point they had lost 618 overs to bad weather. That Lord’s pitch would become such a problem that when they drew again there against Lancashire, captain James Franklin said that they would officially complain to their landlords, the MCC.That game at The Oval was Gubbins’ 22nd first-class match, and he crossed the Thames more frustrated than most. The baby of a seasoned side, he had looked a class apart in coasting to 91, before a leading edge popped to mid-off. Still without a ton, three of his eight half-centuries had ended in the nineties, and it was becoming a problem. At The Oval, he had bottled a ‘gimme’, and he knew it. Toby Roland-Jones, one of the team’s japesters-in-chief and a centurion himself, took to gently ribbing Gubbins; hands up, he would joke, if you’ve scored a ton.

“I had been lying in bed wondering. Once I got there, I can’t describe the feeling, and since then I haven’t worried about hundreds”

Gubbins is playing his 30th first-class game this week. He now has three centuries, including an unbeaten double. He was the first man to 999 Championship runs this season, has passed 50 nine times and averages more than 60. The first of the three tons, in that draw against Somerset, was watched in secret by his nervous parents and Gubbins admits he may have shed a tear. A weight had been lifted.”I had been lying in bed wondering,” he says. “Once I got there, I can’t describe the feeling, and since then I haven’t worried about hundreds. I probably got into a selfish mindset, as our psychologist would call it, thinking about the hundred not the team, whereas now it’s all about the team. What can I do for them? Can I get us off to a good start? My outlook’s changed.”Middlesex have mirrored Gubbins’ newfound appetite for conversion, winning four of their last six to top the table. There have been remarkable victories at Scarborough (all three of Yorkshire’s losses since the start of 2014, each as extraordinary as the last, have come to Middlesex) and Taunton. They even won at Lord’s, in three days against Durham.Others have helped to build on last season’s second place. John Simpson, the pugnacious, punchy wicketkeeper, has taken his all-round excellence to a new level, just like Roland-Jones, part of a revolving door seam attack (the win at Taunton came without Tim Murtagh, Roland-Jones or Steven Finn). Ollie Rayner’s offbreaks, meanwhile, have brought 35 wickets and a new contract. Rayner’s role was once merely to keep the over rate down, as well as provide a few runs and bucket hands at second slip. Now, though, liberated by the captaincy of Adam Voges and Franklin, he is, put simply, trying to get batsmen out. Pitches have been more helpful, but Rayner has helped himself, too; it has been conspicuous that he has spent the summer chatting to opposition spinners about how they go about their shared craft.But it is Gubbins, with more than 900 of his Championship runs in coming in the first innings, who has helped to decisively shape games.This is quite a contrast. Before, he was the original wide-eyed junior pro, known as much for playing the fool as hitting the ball. In 2015, he tripped celebrating a catch during a T20 at Lord’s; at a pre-season photoshoot he again went viral as Murtagh tricked him into imitating DJ Bravo’s “Champion” dance. Both incidents – as well as a cheery disposition and a tongue-out smile when he bats – have made him an easy target for a sledge.Middlesex’s players celebrate victory at Scarborough•Getty ImagesHis glut of runs has spoken for itself, though. Throughout, he has been brutal on either side of the wicket to anything short, driven elegantly down the ground, and had sound judgement outside off. While he is constantly compared – for a shared school, county, role in the side and left-handedness – to Andrew Strauss (with whom he chats “occasionally”), it was a chance pre-season conversation with Alastair Cook, and constant dialogue with his team-mates Nick Compton and Sam Robson, that inspired his breakout year.”Compo’s a massive help,” he says. “We live close by, and we go for coffee and just chat batting. We set targets together before the season, and he helped hone my process at the crease, and how I’m building my innings. I set myself a modest amount to reach, and then I build from there. Robbo, too. The way he started the season was massive for me, because it gave me time to just work out my game. I also chatted to Cook. He said how he doesn’t have a huge number of shots, but when the ball is in his area, he punishes bowlers. That made me really consider my strengths, then work hard on them.”Unsurprisingly, the ECB’s lead batting coach Graham Thorpe has been in touch and, while he plans to spend his winter playing for Subiaco in Perth (where work with Justin Langer has already been lined up), it seems likely he will tour with England Lions; a full international tour would be premature, even if those close to him are convinced the Strauss connection will eventually go one step further. “Perhaps the most important thing is that I’ve just learnt from experience to stay level and in the moment,” he says. “I’ve had a good year, but that doesn’t guarantee a good end to it, or a good one next year. That said it’s definitely nice to talk about something I’ve achieved, not the silly stuff.”Gubbins believes it is the Middlesex DNA that has underpinned their unbeaten run to the top of Division One. With three games to go, including a potential decider against this great Yorkshire side (another team with a distinct identity) at Lord’s, Middlesex are in position to win the Championship for the first time in 23 years. In the 17 years before that, they had won it six times. A barren run, they feel, that needs ending; now that really would be achieving something.

Pakistan’s first-innings failings under the Gabba lights didn’t augur well for their second attempt. But they found a new resolve to fight another day

Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane17-Dec-2016On the first two days in Brisbane, Pakistan watched Australia pile up runs, then suffered a pile-up of their own. The road of a pitch was safe enough during the daylight hours, oncoming traffic easy to see. But as dusk and then evening arrived and the pink ball swung under lights, carnage ensued. Pakistan’s batsmen crashed and burned on Sunset Boulevard.So, when the third evening arrived and Australia declared at the dinner break, nobody knew quite what to expect. Could the match be over tonight? Would Younis Khan, the ageing star of yesteryear, be “ready for his close-up”? Or were there genuinely starring roles still in his future? By stumps he had at least completed an entertaining cameo, with more to come.To look at the scorecard from the final session of play would tell you nothing of the gripping contest that it was. Pakistan batted for two-and-a-half hours and made 2 for 70. One-sixth of their runs came in a single over, the antepenultimate of the evening, as Jackson Bird served up three half-volleys that Azhar Ali dispatched through cover for boundaries.The rest of the session was a good old-fashioned Test battle, insofar as pink-ball Test cricket under lights can be called old-fashioned. Standard & Poor’s rates Australia’s economy AAA with a negative outlook; here Australian cricket’s economy earned a AAA rating with a positive outlook. They will win this Test, it is just a matter of when.There were more dots than in a dictionary of Morse code. Josh Hazlewood bowled 66 deliveries from which only three runs were scored: a pair of singles from Azhar and a three driven past mid-on by Babar Azam. Among the big crowd of 20,915 would have been countless children – it wasn’t a school night – raised on the BBL. There, dot balls are cheered, so they must have loved the 166 Australia bowled tonight.Australia’s discipline was hard to fault, but Pakistan’s too was a great improvement from the second evening. Sami Aslam’s concentration was impeccable, until a piece of rubbish flew across the ground at the Vulture Street End, right behind Mitchell Starc, who was steaming in to bowl. Perhaps it snapped Aslam’s focus, maybe he should have pulled out. Instead, he drove outside off and edged to slip.But if garbage flew across the outfield, none was delivered by Australia’s bowlers. They built and built and built the pressure, and Aslam’s lapse came during a string of six consecutive maidens. Would it spark the kind of chaos that came the previous evening, when Pakistan lost 8 for 61 in 30 overs? Not this time.Nathan Lyon has become Queensland’s favourite son, in spite of hailing from south of the border•Getty Images”Azhar will just sleep on that pitch,” Waqar Younis said while commentating on radio, and indeed a few fans might have done so in the crowd while watching him bat. Only two months ago, Azhar batted for nearly 11 hours in a Test innings against West Indies in Dubai, also against a pink ball, and scored a triple-century. Had Misbah-ul-Haq not declared he would probably still be batting.So it was that Azhar learnt from his first-innings error of poking half-heartedly outside off. On the rare occasion when his concentration waned in the second innings – as when he pushed at a Hazlewood delivery that whizzed past the edge – he visibly chastised himself. Otherwise, Azhar bedded down for the night.If his lack of strokeplay allowed the crowd’s attention to wander, Nathan Lyon snapped them back out of it. Such has been the adoration of the Brisbane crowd for Lyon this Test that you’d think he was a born-and-bred maroon, not a cockroach from south of the border. Why? Perhaps his underdog status played a part, for Lyon was perilously close to being dropped for this Test.At stumps Usman Khawaja, the Queensland captain, joked that Lyon had become Queensland’s favourite son. So you can imagine the roars when Lyon struck, and Babar Azam edged his straight ball to slip. Adelaide Oval is Lyon’s most productive Test venue, but the Gabba might quickly have become his favourite.Perhaps the only man happy to see Babar fall to Lyon might have been Younis, for it meant that he walked to the crease on a king pair facing a spinner, not a fast bowler. Last time Australia saw Younis in Tests he scored 106, 103*, 213 and 46 against them in the UAE in 2014. By stumps here he had 0 from 19 balls, but it was every bit as riveting as any of those hundreds.Younis faced up to Lyon with two leg slips, short leg, and one slip. Australia tried to apply pressure, but Younis can handle offspinners in his sleep. When he faced Hazlewood the battle truly began. A bouncer was fended away in front of his eyes, a yorker kept out by a bat slammed on the pitch. Every ball seemed to pose a threat.Younis has nearly 10,000 Test runs, but here was battling for survival as had the rookie Nic Maddinson earlier in the day. Never in 113 Tests has Younis scored a pair, but the run he sought did not come tonight. And yet he survived. Hazlewood had 15 deliveries at Younis: every one was a dot, and with every one Hazlewood’s frustration grew.It was rousing Test cricket, and both teams should have been proud of their work in that final session. Australia’s bowlers offered nothing, until Bird’s half-volleys. Pakistan’s batsmen learnt from their errors and focused on getting through the night, much as Khawaja and Matt Renshaw had for Australia during a challenging floodlit session in Adelaide.On the third evening, Pakistan crawled along Sunset Boulevard. There were a couple of fender benders but no major accidents, and certainly no speeding fines. A long two-day journey awaits if they are to avoid defeat in this Test, and many obstacles will be in their path. But for now, at least they reached their waypoint.

While Virat Kohli said the liberal amount of grass on the Rajkot track was a factor in India’s lack of dominance in the Test, SCA secretary Niranjan Shah called it a pitch fit for five days of Test cricket

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Nov-2016Disagreeing with Indian captain Virat Kohli’s assessment that there was too much grass on the pitch in the first Test in Rajkot, Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) secretary Niranjan Shah has said it was a “perfect” strip.”I was quite surprised to see that much grass on it, to be honest,” Kohli had said after the Test, going on to make his displeasure clear. “Shouldn’t have been the case.” Kohli was responding to a question if the long England batting line-up had prompted him to play five bowlers. Kohli said it was the “surface as well” before talking about the grass.The pitch offered turn beginning late on the third day, but the ball turned from the rough – not from the centre of the pitch, which makes spinners lethal. The Test ended in a draw, with India having to hang in on the final day after England scored 537 in the first innings. This was the first time India had conceded 300 in an innings since the start of the last season, which is when India began to play on tracks that turn from day one. England batsmen scored four centuries, the first by any team against India in India since early 2013.Kohli said the ball did spin, but only in the last hour of each of the last three days. He said the first two days were good for batting while the rest of the time the spinners had to be accurate “to get some purchase”. Kohli said, “Day three onwards it slowed down a little bit, but no demons as such.”Defending the pitch, Shah pointed to the interest generated by the Test, till deep into its final session. “It is a perfect Test wicket,” Shah told ESPNcricinfo. “After a long time you can see a Test match completely for five days. I don’t think the grass on that wicket prevented the ball from turning.”Generally, soil on Indian pitches is loose, and they start to crumble late on day three. Shah, a former first-class cricketer for Saurashtra – where he has served as an administrator for more than three decades – said this pitch did not “crumble” even though conditions remained dry throughout the five afternoons because it was “hard and stable”.India players spoke about the pitch during the Test too. When asked which of the three first-innings centurions took the game away from India, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja had said it was the toss that took the game away from them. This was the first toss India had lost under Virat Kohli in India. Jadeja, who plays for Saurashtra in domestic cricket, said he didn’t expect spinners to be as dominant on the remaining three days as spinners generally are in later stages in first-class matches in Rajkot. “After two days whatever foot marks are there on both ends, the ball can turn from there,” Jadeja had said. “The middle of the wicket, though, has not changed at either end.”A BCCI official agreed with Jadeja about the toss, but said India have grown used to batting first and having their spinners performing well on a wearing pitch. The official pointed out, out of the last seven Test matches before Rajkot, India won all the tosses and went on to win the six matches they batted first in. The one time they decided to field, in Bangalore, the match was eventually washed out. The official said that although it was fair for Kohli to expect home advantage, SCA obviously wanted its debut Test to go the distance. “The wicket was under preparation much, much earlier,” the official said. “It was hard like a stone, and had grass covering.”Moisture and grass on the first day is usually a norm in Test matches. Subsequently the grass wears off with every passing session. However, in Rajkot the grass cover remained even throughout the Test, surprising not just Kohli, but many others. In his pitch report on the second day, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar said the grass on the pitch was greener than on the first morning. “The grass kept on coming back every morning due to overnight rest. The official said, “Though the pitch was mowed, the grass cover still remained in the morning.”A local ground expert said that nothing could have been done to prevent the growth of the grass overnight. The reason, he pointed out, was the nature of the black cotton soil that forms the base of the pitch. “This black cotton soil in Rajkot has an in-built fertile nature,” the expert said. “Rajkot is also close to the coast. There is sea breeze in the morning and evening. So the pitch does not need watering. If it gets the moisture the grass will grow back. Another reason is, when you cover the pitch overnight, the moisture makes the grass grows back once again due to the in-built fertile soil.”The expert said the groundsmen do understand that the home team should be offered a certain advantage, but it was difficult to do so in Rajkot. It is understood that the Indian team management did have an informal word with the SCA officials, just to understand the nature of the pitch. The team officials were told that the grass could not be cut lower than 2mm. “All the needs of the Indian team [historically] are exact,” the expert said. “It is very, very difficult for a groundsman to fulfil those requests. But I think it was a good Test match.”Shah said grass has never affected the spinners here before. He also pointed out another reason for the draw: “You can’t always blame the wicket. India dropped few catches early. Grass on the pitch was not that important for the turning of the ball. That is what I have known in Rajkot.”