Pakistan’s marks out of ten following their 3-0 loss in Australia

Osman Samiuddin08-Jan-2017

9

Azhar Ali
Has there been a better performance by a Pakistani batsman in Australia, that too by an opener? Azhar Ali’s evolution over this last year, in which he has had to assume opening duties, has been one of Pakistan’s happiest gains. In Australia he was outstanding, not least with the MCG double in which his straight-driving, in particular, reached heights he has never hit before. He looked good for another big one in the first innings in Sydney until cut short by poor running. But by series end, he was the wicket Australia wanted most – no Pakistani less deserved to be whitewashed.

6

Younis Khan
By his own admission, he came to the party late. And it says plenty about his stature that, for one of the very few times in his career, his hundred in Sydney was meaningless for Pakistan. It was still a very good one, a reminder that he is not yet quite done. More than ever, his start is the key: if he survives the first half hour or so, he looks fine, which is why he will be especially disappointed at a pair of 20s at the MCG. A couple of his dismissals were not great looks but if Misbah-ul-Haq goes, it won’t be a bad idea for Younis to stay on. Not much action in the slips, though he did drop a chance in the final Test.Asad Shafiq
He started the series magnificently, with an innings that will not be soon forgotten. But his tailing away thereafter will have disturbed Pakistan, especially as he looked so resolute in his first-innings 50 at the MCG. That one was ended by a good ball, but his three subsequent dismissals hinted at carelessness, and in situations where he is now expected to be extra careful. He still seems not quite to be over the bump produced by being shunted up and down the order. With Misbah on the verge of leaving, Pakistan desperately need him to acquire the kind of ruthlessness Azhar has shown in the last year when cashing in on good form and good starts.Wahab Riaz
By a distance the best of the worst bowling performance by a Pakistan bowling attack. By the last Test, he was the only one of them who looked up to the task of playing Test cricket. He was at the heart of Pakistan’s best bowling day of the series, the second at the Gabba. He was also at the heart of their most indisciplined phase, the third afternoon at the MCG where he imploded with a blitz of no-balls. It was, frustratingly, an outstanding spell of full-length, super-fast bowling, but little of it was legal and it was a big part of the reason Pakistan ceded advantage there and with it, the series. In Sydney, he showed off his range, slowing down and concentrating on keeping the run rate down. It felt like a coming of age, but a very strange one.If Misbah goes, Younis should stay•AFP

5

Sarfraz Ahmed
Don’t be fooled by the high batting average. That was the result mainly of a pointless but pretty unbeaten 72 in Pakistan’s last innings of the series. This was a poor series for Sarfraz, one where his glovework to spin especially was shown up alarmingly. It has always been poor but here, he looked lost. He missed three stumpings in Sydney, hardly even moving for them, and shelled what was, in hindsight, the most critical chance of the series; that of Steven Smith in the first innings at the Gabba, when he was on 48 and dinner just round the corner. He looked as he always does with the bat and ordinarily, Pakistan would be fine with his returns. But those missed chances are becoming impossible to ignore.Mohammad Amir
Once he had taken four wickets at the Gabba, it seemed finally as if the glut of wickets he had been threatening would come in this series. Instead, he took one more in the second innings and then none in the 57 overs he bowled in the series after that. At the MCG he was especially unlucky, tormenting David Warner in a wonderful opening spell and beating the bat through Australia’s mammoth reply. But a heavy workload finally caught up with him and in Sydney he bowled as poorly as he has done since his return. His batting, though, has come along nicely, raising hopes that Pakistan may finally have a handy No. 8 in their lower order.

4

Sharjeel Khan
He is not, as we all knew, Pakistan’s David Warner. He is, however, an intriguing option as Test opener. As that second-innings blitz in Sydney showed, he has more shots than are attributed to him. It is an experiment Pakistan can continue with.

3

Yasir Shah
What a fall. This was always going to be a tough series for Yasir, but could anyone have imagined he would be treated the way he was? He went at over 4.5 per over and it honestly felt like he was going for more than that. He claimed the strange, defensive leg-side line but that is difficult to believe given how Misbah manages his spinners. At least if, between them, they had attempted to attack when the series was alive, it would be some consolation. But Yasir became a stock bowler by the end of it, a man to just get the overs in because nobody else was around. Azhar and Nathan Lyon spun the ball more than him and Azhar genuinely has a better googly. Pakistan will hope desperately that Warner’s assault on him in the second innings at the SCG is not the undoing of Yasir.Yasir Shah had the wrong kind of flight going for him•Getty Images and Cricket AustraliaSami Aslam
Mickey Arthur was at pains to point out Aslam does have a long-term future with Pakistan and he is right: he does. But he needs to bring a little bit of the expansiveness that he does possess into his Test game. He bats too long for too few runs, a fatal flaw for an opener.Sohail Khan
Nothing new emerged from his single outing here. He is, as the management has said time and again, not fit enough and that outweighs whatever he brings with the new ball. Australia exposes bowling and fielding fitness like no other country and so it did with Sohail. Shame because with his tonking abilities with the bat, as a fun maiden fifty showed, he can be a real asset.

2

Misbah-ul-Haq
Easily the worst series of his career. With the bat he continued making a string of regrettable choices, an indication that mentally he is not quite in the right place. But it was his decisions as captain that inflicted more harm upon Pakistan’s cause. In particular, the strategy for Yasir made no sense and no amount of justification that they wanted to curtail Warner’s scoring areas will make that better. Never has he led by rote as much as he did here; Yasir would always come on after 10 or 11 overs and the fast bowlers never bowled in tandem beyond the shine of the new ball. It should be his last series and if it is, it will be a sad way to go.Babar Azam
Who knows what damage Pakistan may have done on this batting diamond of theirs by playing him at one down through the series? Australia is no place for inexperienced men at that position. He got three starts and lived up to the hype in each, but the sense of building an innings is not complete just yet. By the end, Josh Hazlewood had worked him over thoroughly around his pads.Rahat Ali

Emblematic of the problems of Pakistan’s pace attack when operating outside the UAE. He has consistently given away the advantage on the first day of Pakistan’s away series by not working out which lengths to bowl and he did again at the Gabba. Needs to become sharper about his game.Imran Khan

This is what happens when you keep a fast bowler in the squad but never play him. Imran has been in Pakistan squads over the last year and more, but played only a handful of times. In between he has hardly played any first-class cricket and it showed in Sydney where it became clear that his pace – never extreme – has faded away alarmingly.

For Zimbabwe to remain relevant, they need more game time against top sides – something that continues to reduce every season. Will the new 9-3 proposal rescue them?

Firdose Moonda28-Feb-2017Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) will welcome the ICC’s proposed scheduling revamp which, if adopted, should see the country benefit from more fixtures, more often. National coach Heath Streak is hopeful that not only will game time allow Zimbabwe to drastically improve their performances but will also encourage players to stay in the country instead of moving their playing careers elsewhere.”When the Future Tours Program was changed to operate on a negotiation basis – that really hurt us. There was no obligation for people to play some countries and too much emphasis was on the financial viability of tours and not enough on the development of cricket worldwide,” Streak told ESPNcricinfo. “And it also had the effect of us losing some players because people who play international cricket want to do so regularly. They want to play something like ten Tests a year and 20-30 ODIs. That’s what we are hoping to get.”In 2014, three years after Zimbabwe’s Test comeback, the FTP was moved from a centrally controlled program to a bilateral structure, which allowed the member countries to negotiate their own series. In that time, Zimbabwe have only played eight Tests and even though they have enjoyed more limited-overs matches – 63 ODIs and 23 T20s – the bulk of those have come against Bangladesh (two series) and Afghanistan (three). They have not played England at all and have not had any Tests against India, Pakistan, Australia or West Indies.That is set to change under the new proposal, which is based on a 9-3 split that will see Zimbabwe grouped with Ireland and Afghanistan and will guarantee at least one Test against all Full Members in every two-year cycle. A tentative idea is for teams to travel to Zimbabwe on their way to South Africa. Zimbabwe will also be part of an ODI league, which will mean more matches in an attempt to qualify for the World Cup.Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s general manager of cricket, will travel to Zimbabwe next week to explain the new structure ahead of an ICC scheduling workshop, which will be attended by Streak, and Tatenda Taibu, who works in a multi-faceted role at ZC. It is understood that Allardice will assure Zimbabwe the 9-3 split will not marginalize them, as they feared it would, but will ensure they have a fuller cricket calendar and that, in time, more teams may be added to the bottom tier, which will result in even more matches.Zimbabwe beat West Indies to face Sri Lanka in the finals of the tri-series ODI tournament that concluded in November 2016•AFPFor now, though, Zimbabwe have to rely on themselves to plug the gaps – the latest of which would be as long as four months between the end of the recently completed series against Afghanistan and a yet-to-be-confirmed trip to Scotland in June-July on the way to Sri Lanka in August. Zimbabwe’s A side are planning a trip to Namibia in the interim which could take place around April-May, when Streak will be at the IPL in his role as Gujarat Lions’ bowling coach, a deal that was negotiated when he took the job.Although Streak will be away, he is likely to keep a keen eye on proceedings if the A team plays, because it is from there that he finds his best performers. “It’s no surprise that the guys who performed against Afghanistan were the same players as those who had done well in the A series we had just before,” Streak said.Tendai Chatara is the best example. After finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the A series, Chatara was second, behind Chris Mpofu, in the ODIs against Afghanistan. Tarisai Musakanda, the top-order batsman who scored one of Zimbabwe’s four fifties in the series, was another.Although Zimbabwe lost 2-3 and so, have yet to beat Afghanistan in an ODI series, Streak was not too disappointed in the result, and said his men still have a lot of unfulfilled potential. “I feel as though we had a lot more left in the tank than Afghanistan did. Our bowling was really good and we are a better fielding side and if we can encourage a few players to come back, then in a year’s time, I am confident we can play a side like this and look to dominate them,” Streak said.Brendan Taylor was one of Zimbabwe’s high-profile cricketers who chose a lucrative Kolpak deal over playing for his country•AFPBrendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis, both having chosen Kolpak deals, are two of the players Streak has regularly mentioned when looking to lure cricketers back, but even someone like Solomon Mire is an example of players whose talent he looks to tap. Mire plays grade cricket in Australia and represented Zimbabwe at the 2015 World Cup but then fell off the radar. Streak and Taibu have negotiated a deal with him in which he can continue to live in Australia but has committed to attending all national team camps and availing himself for all international matches. Mire was even used to open the batting, a task that Streak calls, “the eternal search,” for some solidity at the top and bigger runs continues.Zimbabwe did not total over 200 once in the five matches and were shot out for 54 in the final game to raise serious concerns about their ability to build totals. Streak explained it was a combination of conditions and the absence of some personnel and a whole lot of application that undid them.”Our batting is a worry but Sikandar Raza and Elton Chigumbura were both injured and the other guys really lacked match practice. I feel for Lance [Klusener, batting coach] because he has done a lot of hard work and it’s now up to the batsmen to repay him, but these things take time,” Streak said.”And a lot of our batsmen were challenged by facing spin. We didn’t always get the types of wickets we wanted – hard, bouncy wickets with a bit of grass. With the amount of rain around, that was difficult to get and the pitches actually ended up spinning a bit which played into their [Afghanistan’s] hands a little.”With spin being a consistent challenge for Zimbabwe, one of their most pressing concerns will be the upcoming 2019 World Cup qualifiers. Originally scheduled for Bangladesh in March-April next year, the event may be moved if Bangladesh automatically get through to the tournament, which will suit Zimbabwe better. Bangladesh are currently ranked seventh and play Sri Lanka, a triangular series in Ireland and then at the Champions Trophy before the cut off on September 30 this year. Zimbabwe will be rooting for Bangladesh to finish in the top eight in the hope the qualifiers will be held in less spinner-friendly conditions, and later in 2018.That will give Streak time to prepare his team properly for an event that, financially, Zimbabwe simply cannot afford to miss out on. Some of Zimbabwe’s plans are to take on South Africa’s High Performance Squad this winter and to invite some South African franchises to pre-season camps in Zimbabwe. But to get to the World Cup, they will have to start beating teams like Afghanistan, and Streak remains confident that with enough matches, they can.”We beat West Indies, who are ranked above us, to reach the final of a tri-series (which also included Sri Lanka) and we lost 3-2 to Afghanistan, who are also ranked above us so it’s not all doom and gloom,” he said. “It’s about filling the big gaps. We camp and do a lot of training but nothing replicates game time and we need to play more cricket.”

Chasing has been the template for winning T20s in the recent past, but Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore have been handicapped into batting first

Sidharth Monga19-Apr-20173:11

Both Ends: To bat first? Or chase?

Twenty20 is an unfair sport. The side batting second has a massive advantage: by knowing the target, they can use their batting resources accordingly. As the contest gets longer, the batting resources have to be used judiciously, which evens the game. In T20s, the conditions don’t deteriorate that much, and the side batting first – not knowing what a good score is – runs a big risk of either under-utilising its batting resources or failing by aiming too high.As most of T20 cricket is played in the night, dew further disadvantages the team batting first. It has become a largely predictable sport, in that the chasing side ends up winning with more than what can be termed as fair regularity.In the 2016-17 Big Bash League, teams chose to bat first in seven out of 35 matches, and lost each of those. Overall, 12 out of 35 matches were won by teams batting first. In last year’s IPL, teams willingly batted first on 11 occasions out of 59, and that resulted in only two wins. Overall, 19 out of 59 matches were won by sides batting first. In the previous CPL, only five of the 34 tosses resulted in sides batting first, which in turn resulted in no success. In the 2017 PSL, only once did a team choose to bat first.Yet, during the current IPL, sides batting first have won 40% of the 20 matches so far, which is a better rate than expected. Two sides – Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore – have willingly chosen to bat first; the four matches that they have won between them have been successful defences. They both started doing so out of necessity.In the match between Daredevils and Royal Challengers, the fifth of this season, Royal Challengers chose to bat first. They scored an underwhelming 157 and ended up defending it. Look at those two batting units: Royal Challengers were missing Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers and Daredevils were missing Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy, who are out for the season.Their batting resources don’t seem as abundant as are required in predictable chase-and-wins. Both batting units were inexperienced, in that they couldn’t call on bankable T20 gun batsmen, who back themselves to chase 11-12 runs an over in the end overs. Batting first allows them to bat without the pressure of being active in the decisive moments of the match.This is more so the case with Daredevils, who have a better bowling unit compared to their batting. Just as a strong batting side backs itself to chase whatever is put in front of it, this Daredevils side is asking the experienced bowling unit to defend. Sanju Samson, for example, now has the freedom to go through a mid-innings slowdown as he did in two of his big innings this season, without having to worry too much about a rising asking rate. Batting first in all IPLs, he averages 31 and strikes at 132 per 100 balls as against 23 and 115 in chases.Both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils have won four games while batting first this season•BCCIRahul Dravid, the former India ODI captain, had gone through a phase where he would chase if he won the toss irrespective of the conditions or the opposition. That was at a time when India were not a good chasing side, and as Greg Chappell, the then coach, wrote in , Dravid wanted the side to learn chasing. Dravid, the Daredevils coach, is unlikely to be going out of the way to bat first so that his bowlers can learn how to defend. It is likelier that he has an unbalanced squad, and he is taking the tougher route to competitiveness.The case might be slightly different with Royal Challengers even though they batted first against Daredevils, after having failed to come close in a chase against Sunrisers Hyderabad. They felt it was easier for the batting unit missing Kohli and de Villiers to just bat. However, last year, they were the only side that had an even record when batting first. That, though, came through their gigantic first-innings scores via the big hitting of Chris Gayle, Kohli and de Villiers. They have the firepower to consistently score over 200: in the last 10 matches at their home ground before this IPL, five scores of over 200 were defended successfully, and five others of under 200 were chased down.This year, the pitch in Bengaluru has been different too, either by design or because of the new drainage system. Whatever be the reason, the pitch in Bengaluru has been dry, and the evening dew has not been able to make the ball skid.A lot of T20 is about tactics and strategy, but the value of improvising cannot be overstated. Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders don’t need to make such an adjustment so they will continue chasing. It’s quite possible Daredevils might grow confident in their batting and might revert to the more trusted T20 strategy of chasing in the second half of their season. It is quite possible Royal Challengers’ bowlers might fail them in a tall defence, and they might end up going back to chasing.However, these imperfect sides and their adjustment to the imperfections is proof that T20 hasn’t yet become the opposite of what WG Grace is known to have said: win the toss and chase; if you are in doubt, think about it, and chase.

This week’s round-up of the most interesting social media posts about the IPL has a festive mood

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-2017In case you’ve been hibernating, it was Sachin Tendulkar’s birthday on April 24, and among the hundreds of wishes was this suggestion from R Ashwin that we’re rather worried will become a national campaign.

Many more happy returns of the day @sachin_rt , April 24th should be marked as Indian cricket day. I was lucky to have played along side you

— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) April 24, 2017

Hardik Pandya, thoughtfully, reminded Tendulkar of that time Pandya had looked at him in adoration.

The Man who gave millions reason to smile the Man who made the game greater happy birthday Sachin sir #god @sachin_rt pic.twitter.com/FYprOmnm2X

— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) April 24, 2017

And Virat Kohli, thoughtfully, reminded Tendulkar of that time Tendulkar had looked at Kohli in adoration.

Happy B'day Paaji . May God bless you with more happiness and peace in life. My cricket hero always. @sachin_rt pic.twitter.com/HGgrdFGv3x

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) April 24, 2017

Mahela Jayawardene, coach of Mumbai Indians, was lucky enough to be celebrating with Tendulkar.

Celebrating Sachin's birthday yesterday after the game #happybirthday #legend #mumbaiindians #IPL10

A post shared by Mahela & Chris Jayawardena (@chrismahelaj) on Apr 24, 2017 at 9:45pm PDT

We bet he didn’t try anything like this. Nitish Rana, though, has several years of cricket ahead of him before he is beyond dressing-room pranks.

#MIcam – 'Bhajji Smash'#NitishRana gets the orange cap and a cake smash from @harbhajan_singh #CricketMeriJaan pic.twitter.com/HrjAckfABc

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 20, 2017

Another person receiving lots of wishes on April 24 was the Delhi Daredevils captain, Zaheer Khan, who announced, on Twitter, his engagement to actor Sagarika Ghatke.

Never laugh at your wife's choices. You are one of them !!! Partners for life. #engaged @sagarikavghatge pic.twitter.com/rUOtObFhiX

— zaheer khan (@ImZaheer) April 24, 2017

Delhi Daredevils, who don’t have the strongest record of making calm, calculated decisions, rushed to congratulate him, but ended up tagging Sagarika Ghose, the well-known journalist.

oops wrong Sagarika, sirs! Main do bachche ki ma hoon https://t.co/37wH9INQZP

— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) April 24, 2017

The Indian dressing room has been filled with beards recently, and Ravindra Jadeja was concerned fans would not be able to tell the players apart. So he did this.

Change the game on the field. Change the look in the dressing room. #BreakTheBeard #rajputboy #newlook #timeforchange #vivoipl #glvsrcb pic.twitter.com/iEr7i7gPIL

— Ravindrasinh jadeja (@imjadeja) April 18, 2017

Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane all also decided to #breakthebeard.

Surprise! Decided to finally have a summer style of my own. My time to #BreakTheBeard! What say Paltan? #NewLook #MIGotStyle pic.twitter.com/h5H1XNfXpc

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) April 22, 2017

Here's the classic way to #BreakTheBeard!#newlook #classicman #myway @rohitsharma45 @royalnavghan @hardikpandya_official

A post shared by Ajinkya Rahane (@ajinkyarahane) on Apr 24, 2017 at 3:40am PDT

Jaddu, this one's for you.We got no dressing room confusions here now. #BreakTheBeard #MIGotStyle #newlook #KKRvGL #OneMoreSurpriseComing

A post shared by Hardik Pandya (@hardikpandya_official) on Apr 21, 2017 at 10:11am PDT

Virat Kohli didn’t look too impressed with his India team-mates’ new looks.

#KRKonMasalaCommentary
Look how Virat Kohli Reacted on Ravindra Jadeja's new look.
Read:- https://t.co/5WJTS7D1yY pic.twitter.com/e08TvxY9ea

— Tech-Check (@TechCheck_) April 21, 2017

And he confirmed he would not be joining them.

Sorry boys @hardikpandya_official @royalnavghan @rohitsharma45 but iam not ready to break the beard yet. Great job on the makeovers though. Kudos

A post shared by Virat Kohli (@virat.kohli) on Apr 23, 2017 at 12:10am PDT

Royal Challengers Bangalore were bowled out by Kolkata Knight Riders for 49, the lowest total in IPL history, and when Ravi Shastri suggested their scorecard, which consisted of single-digit contributions from each of their batsmen, looked like a mobile number, people were curious to know if the number actually existed. Turns out, it belonged to a man in Himachal Pradesh.

Today's #RCB Batsman Score Is Someone Mobile Number Wo Bhi #Jio Ka
#KKRvRCB #Gambhir #Kohli #CoulterNile # pic.twitter.com/bzd86S41o9

— Lord Voldemort (@iamtnvr) April 23, 2017

The number has since been switched off, but if you dial it, the Truecaller app will tell you it belongs to #rcb. Meanwhile, jokes about how quickly Royal Challengers’ star-studded batting line-up was rolled over were in abundant supply, including this one comparing the innings to disclaimers read after advertisements for financial products.

RCB lost first 4 wickets faster than 'MutualFundsAreSubjectToMakertRiskReadAllSchemesRelatedDocumentsCarefullyBlaBla.." #KKRvRCB

— prayag sonar (@prayag_sonar) April 23, 2017

Another big story in the IPL this week was MS Dhoni proving he can still finish games. He struck a boundary off the last ball of Pune Supergiant’s clash with Sunrisers Hyderabad to win the game. Some, however, didn’t think this was a vintage Dhoni performance.

Dhoni won the match with a boundary instead of a six, that's what demonetization has done to big players. #RPSvSRH

— Rofl Gandhi (@RoflGandhi_) April 22, 2017

One group of players needing a big finish is the squad of Arsenal Football Club. The debate over whether their manager, Arsene Wenger, who has been at the English club for 21 years, should continue in his job has already led to planes flying over their stadium. Now, it has reached the stands at IPL games.

Huge night here at Eden Gardens, 70k expected for @KKRiders v @RCBTweets – but even here, some things are more important.. @piersmorgan #IPL pic.twitter.com/KvNLV46uvS

— mark butcher (@markbutcher72) April 23, 2017

#wengerin Vs #wengerout at the #ipl with @saumarezsmith pic.twitter.com/H38g1uhjQu

— George Oborne (@GeorgeOborne) April 24, 2017

Hardik Pandya’s calculated aggression against Australia on Sunday proved his adaptability and maturity. In the long run, it could give an already formidable India an extra bowler without compromising on the batting

Arun Venugopal in Chennai18-Sep-20172:43

Gambhir: A long way to go before comparing Pandya and Stokes

The crowd at the MA Chidambaram Stadium had finally sputtered to life. Forty-eight legal deliveries had not yielded a single boundary, making voice-boxes somewhat redundant. But Hardik Pandya was up to something, smashing a second successive six off Adam Zampa to bring up his half-century in the 37th over. The fans instinctively lapsed into the chant they are most familiar with: “Dhoni…Dhoni…Dhoni.”The man they were invoking, however, was at the non-striker’s end, and walked up towards Pandya. MS Dhoni is Pandya’s first international captain, senior statesman, and the original badass finisher – a role Pandya is currently auditioning for. And when Dhoni speaks, you listen. Typically, Dhoni’s (advice) appeared to the point, accompanied with minimal animation.Whatever Pandya may have gleaned from the conversation seemed to have little bearing on the next ball. He got his front leg out of the way and swatted one wide of long-on. That shot helped him record a unique achievement: it was the fourth time this year that he had hit three consecutive sixes in international cricket. He had done it twice against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy and against Sri Lanka in a Test in July.The manner in which Pandya struck those sixes – creating a strong base and not losing shape – was breathtaking to watch. But it was the grunt work that he did on either side of the glamour shots that ultimately stood out. A calculated method that married mad rush.

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Natural gameDuring India A’s tour of Australia last year, Pandya broke free from the clutches of a cliché that has had plenty of airtime in cricketing discourses over the years. He learned something that changed the way he approached batting. That Pandya did it on a tour he wasn’t originally meant to be a part of – he was picked after an injury to Tamil Nadu allrounder Vijay Shankar – only made it more fascinating. A poor IPL – he averaged 6.28 with the bat and took only three wickets – resulted in his exclusion from the India side for the Zimbabwe tour. The high-profile A tour was a chance to make himself relevant again.Heading into the second unofficial Test in Brisbane – the last game of the tour – Pandya had produced an average performance with the ball. He hadn’t made too many runs either, but knew a crucial performance in the final game wouldn’t go unnoticed.Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid, the India A coach, had debunked the “natural game” theory in his conversations with the team, making it clear that players can’t hold up natural game as an excuse for rash cricket. The message was simple: play according to the situation and the needs of the team. Pandya could probably identify with it given his struggles adapting to a different role at Mumbai Indians, where he was slotted in at No. 3 in the 2016 season.In Brisbane, when Pandya walked out to bat with the score at 46 for 6 in the first innings, he decided to put the lessons into practice. The pink ball was swerving around, but Pandya gritted out the first day and returned the next day to finish with 79 off 116 balls and steer the team to a respectable, even if ultimately inadequate, 169.Associated PressThe game ended in a draw. It was, however, a long-term victory for Pandya even if he hadn’t recognised it then. With Dravid’s mentorship to tap into, the crinkles in his regimen were smoothed over. There was greater emphasis on fitness, eating right and sleeping on time, which is now an indispensable part of his routine. His flamboyant “West Indian-from-Baroda” persona mellowed down, too, without the loss of competitive zing.

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This was quickly turning into a forgettable Sunday for the Chepauk faithful, who had turned up in thousands. The dismissal of a set Kedhar Jadhav left India half their side down for 87, with nearly 30 overs remaining after opting to bat on a tricky surface. In came Pandya at No. 7, but you couldn’t tell which Pandya was walking out. Was it the late-game slugger from Birmingham or the lone ranger from The Oval. Regardless of how long he lasted, his modus operandi, you felt, was going to be slam-bang. Pandya, however, activated a slightly different mode: controlled explosion.One of his early acts was more restraint and less offence. Marcus Stoinis bowled a bouncer and Pandya shaped up for a cute ramp but bailed out in the end. Not for the last time, substance had trumped style. From there on, there were backfoot punches, nurdles, clips and dinks, and in general, percentage cricket. His strike-rate, though, consistently hovered around the 80s and 90s. There were barely any twitchy fingers waiting to pull the trigger. The Delhi game against New Zealand last year, where Pandya came close but couldn’t go the distance, must have served as a timely reminder.Dhoni’s presence at the other end must have helped, too. He knows how the long game is played and imparted some crucial on-the-job training to Pandya. Lesson one: don’t overreach. By Pandya’s own admission, they would have been happy with a total of 230. Together, the pair lay in prowl for a bowler who could provide them with the release they sought.Once Pandya identified Zampa as the target, he went after him the way Dhoni often did in his prime. India blasted 50 runs between overs 36 and 40, Pandya going from 35 to 77 and Dhoni quietly trudging from 28 to 35. When Pandya eventually fell to Zampa, he was out trying to do what he did all innings: pick a target and tear him down. By that time, he had added 118 runs with Dhoni, and finished with 83 off 66 balls, including five fours and five sixes. To rub it in, Pandya claimed two wickets, including that of Smith, and fractured Australia’s pursuit.The victory will be sweet for Virat Kohli. More important, though, is the larger implication of Pandya’s all-round punch. In the past, Kohli has backed Pandya to play the role Ben Stokes does for England. Now, there is more evidence that he can live up to the billing. Not only could Pandya take over the finisher’s mantle from Dhoni at No. 6, he could also give India the luxury of playing five bowlers, a strategy Kohli has aggressively pursued in Tests. As Pandya matures, Kohli can afford to go the way other top teams have and ensure India don’t go one bowler light without compromising on the batting core. With less than two years to go for the World Cup, Pandya’s rise has given an already formidable India side much-needed all-round ballast.

Vince van der Bijl’s career was stunted by isolation, but he is now working to ensure that South Africa’s less privileged kids have opportunities in the game

Firdose Moonda16-Jul-2017There’s a bit of the BFG in Vince van der Bijl, especially when he talks about the children of the Ukhanyo Primary School in the township of Masiphumelele, 45km from central Cape Town.”They are flawless, they are beautiful, and they come into this school in this desolate township to find a haven of people who can care for them educationally. We want to care for them sports-wise to show what the world can offer and how good they are,” van der Bijl told ESPNcricinfo at Lord’s, where the MCC pledged £50,000 over three years to a project aimed at providing sustainable resources to a community that has long gone without.

To say van der Bijl is pro-transformation would be understating it. He believes neither the government, not Cricket South Africa have done enough for those the system forgot

The school in question was built to accommodate 500 children, but has had to make room for almost four times that number. Between 1900 kids, they have one netball court, one sprint track, and only one physical education teacher. The first bits of the MCC’s investment will go to building three cricket nets, which will be unveiled on August 22; in subsequent years van der Bijl hopes to develop an entire sporting structure.”We’re hoping to raise a million rand (about US$76,000) a year through donations. We want people to put hands in their pockets for 100 rand or 200 rand a month ad infinitum,” he said. “But more importantly, we want them to visit, see the township and integrate the white residents of that area with the township, because I think that’s the way forward for South Africa.””We want to care for them sports-wise to show what the world can offer and how good they are”•MCCConsider where that statement is coming from. Van der Bijl’s entire career took place during South Africa’s sporting isolation and he experienced first-hand what that robbed him of. He was picked for the 1971-72 tour to Australia, which was cancelled, but he holds not an iota of bitterness. In fact, he sees it as his responsibility, as one of the privileged, to make amends for the wrongs of the past. “Every single country has a need to look after its poor and people who have a very poor image of themselves and who have been downtrodden,” he said. “That’s happened in South Africa and we need to rectify that.”To say van der Bijl is pro-transformation would be understating it. He believes neither the government nor Cricket South Africa have done enough for those the system forgot, and he points to the Springbok Sevens rugby team as the only example of an inclusive team in the country. “They are the only sustainable rainbow team we have produced, which produced excellence and includes people from all walks of life – wealthy, poor, black, white. They have one aim – to be the best in the world – and they show us… we see it in cricket from time to time when we play at our best, but not always.”

“We want people to visit, see the township and integrate the white residents of that area with the township, because I think that’s the way forward for South Africa”Vince van der Bijl

Compare that with the statements made by both Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock in the last month against South Africa’s transformation policy – Richards said he thought South Africa was “far enough along the line” to no longer need targets and Pollock asserted the Test side would be “middle of the road” if transformation remained in place – and you have some idea of the polarisation this topic brings about. But van der Bijl is adamant wounds must be tended to in a country where the effects of legalised racial segregation are still being felt. He is convinced sport is one of the vehicles that can be used to heal.”It could be anything – cellos, chess, reading – it doesn’t really matter, but sports is my love,” he said. “It binds people because it gives people joy instantly. If you see kids run, they laugh. If you see kids hit a ball, they laugh, whereas other disciplines are slightly more cerebral and quieter. Sport brings instant joy.”Van der Bijl poses with students of Ukhanyo Primary School•MCCHis ultimate aim is not for the Masiphumelele project to produce an international cricketer, though that would be “a bonus”, but rather to provide a facility that the people of the township can ultimately run themselves. Initially, with the MCC’s help, van der Bijl will supply coaches, but eventually he will train coaches in the area. The facilities they build and the kit they provide will be for keeps, and there will also be peripheral projects that concentrate on things like entrepreneurship.Over three years, not just the schoolchildren but also the 40,000 residents of Masiphumelele will benefit, and van der Bijl hopes others will see the value of what the MCC is doing. “We’re going to start girls’ cricket, and we hope to double the participation and the number of teams in the school. And then we’re reaching out to the community and the MCC has allowed this to happen. They see the need and they have been generous in saying, ‘Here’s some money, give it a start and we will be right behind you.’ What they do in this field, around the world with Chance2Shine, is absolutely fantastic.”

The Durham quick bowler, making his way back in Test cricket, has not been able to provide additional spark to England’s pace attack

George Dobell at Trent Bridge16-Jul-20171:06

Butcher: Wood’s spot under scrutiny

There was a theory that did the rounds during the 2015 World Cup that the reason England’s bowlers persisted with the slower-ball bouncer was that, when they attempted the delivery in the nets to their own batsmen, it worked a treat. It’s just that when they tried it against almost every other side’s batsmen, it was thrashed into the stands.Maybe it has been the same with Mark Wood in the Test series against South Africa. Had Wood been bowling to his team-mates at Trent Bridge, he might have had a hatful of wickets. But as he was bowling against men who were prepared to graft through tough periods, men who were prepared to play the ball on its merit and who sell their wickets dearly, he has been left empty handed. The only wicket he has taken in the series has been that of JP Duminy – something of a mercy killing, really – and that was with a long-hop. His average for the series – 197 – is so ugly it only goes out under cover of darkness and wearing a broad-brimmed hat and sunglasses.Wood hasn’t bowled badly, by any means. While his speeds have not, perhaps, been quite what they once were – or at least what once was hoped of from him – he has still bowled the quickest delivery by an England seamer in the match (90.1 mph in the second innings; Ben Stokes was quickest in the first with a delivery of 88.6 mph. Chris Morris – at 92.5 mph – has been the quickest in the match so far) and, while he has been hit for more boundaries (22) than any other England seamer in the match, his lines and lengths have been reasonably good.But Wood is meant to be a weapon of shock and awe. Not dull and bore. And as South Africa’s second innings started to shut the door on England, it became increasingly apparent that Wood didn’t have the keys to unlock it.It wasn’t the first time, either. Wood was relatively anonymous at Lord’s. While he was, again, the quickest member of the attack, it was only by 0.1mph from Stokes. And that’s not enough to count as a point of difference. And if he isn’t offering anything different – anything explosive; anything that can threaten a breakthrough on flat surfaces – his value to the side is vastly reduced.There are other bowlers – the likes of the injured pair of Jake Ball and Chris Woakes – who can offer control. And while Wood has gained a little swing in the first innings at Trent Bridge, it has tended to be early and predictable. Again, Woakes and Ball can probably provide that skill more reliably.The man who Eoin Morgan turns to in white-ball cricket – the man who dismissed Kane Williamson with a snorter (albeit one that may have benefited from some assistance from the pitch) in a key Champions Trophy match in Cardiff – has regularly looked the most innocuous member of England’s seam attack in this series. Instead, it was Stokes who produced the stand-out spell of the third day. A spell of nine overs for eight runs that included the wicket of Dean Elgar caught fending off a bouncer. It was exactly the sort of spell England hoped for from Wood. And if Stokes can provide it, England may well be better served looking for a bit of variation from another source.There are several caveats to all this.The first is that South Africa’s batsmen have played excellently. Elgar and Hashim Amla in particular – Heino Kuhn, too – have demonstrated the discipline and patience that England’s batsmen should have shown in their first innings. They have played the moving ball like experts and put a much higher price on their wickets.Mark Wood’s lone wicket for the series is JP Duminy at Lord’s•Getty ImagesThe pitch has also slowed. Whatever moisture might have been in it at the start has long since departed and, while there is a little movement on offer, batting is certainly easier against an older ball. And Wood usually has to wait a while before he gets his hands on it.It might well not be the sort of surface that suits him, either. Wood appears to be at his most valuable when the pitch is flat but offers some pace. He can, when conditions suit, gain dangerous reverse swing and he can, when conditions suit, generate pace and bounce from a length that few bowlers in England can match. This surface increasingly seemed to suck the energy out of his bowling. It will be interesting to see how Morris copes on the fourth day and it doesn’t necessarily mean Wood won’t be useful in Australia.Wood is feeling his way back after injury. The Lord’s Test was his first since late 2015 and, when a man has had three operations on an ankle within a year, it is only natural there is to be some hesitation, perhaps subconsciously, when he returns. He has admitted he thought he may never play Test cricket again. It may take a while for him to regain full confidence in his body.The England camp also reported that he had a bruised heel towards the end of the third day. While they specified that there was nothing the matter with his much operated upon ankle, it seems fair to conclude that his performance may have been inhibited a little.Is that last one a caveat? The worry remains that Wood simply doesn’t have the frame for the rigours of Test cricket. Certainly back-to-back Test cricket. Or that those injuries have robbed him of that little bit of magic – that extra one or two percent – that gave him that point of difference. Either way, it might well be a mistake to consider him for back-to-back matches in future.And while he might still have a valuable role as a squad player, it really does seem optimistic to the point of recklessness to expect him to be at his best in all five Ashes Tests in a few months’ time.There is some encouraging news for England. Woakes takes another step on his recovery on Tuesday when he plays for Warwickshire’s Second XI in their Championship match against their Durham counterparts. But he is appearing only as a specialist batsman and, with Warwickshire not playing another first team Championship match until August 6 – the final Test starts on August 4 – he will have very little chance of gaining match-readiness before the end of this series. The window created for T20 cricket has some pretty obvious downsides.Wood, to his credit, has shunned the option of life as a limited-overs specialist. Even on the eve of this match, he spoke of his hunger to prove himself as a Test player and he doesn’t seem the sort to change his mind after a tough few days at the office. The fact is, though, he had a relatively short window of opportunity in which to prove himself as a first choice and, right now, he hasn’t been able to take it.

Stats highlights from the fourth ODI between West Indies and India in North Sound, where MS Dhoni crawled to a 108-ball half-century and Jason Holder bagged his maiden ODI five-for

Bharath Seervi03-Jul-2017108 Balls taken by MS Dhoni to reach to his fifty – the slowest by any India batsman in ODIs since 2001. It was also Dhoni’s slowest fifty, beating the 88 balls he took to get there against Pakistan at Eden Gardens in 2013. Dhoni’s crawling innings came to end when India required 14 off seven balls.54 Runs scored by India between the 21st and 40th overs, including just one boundary. In those 20 overs, the most productive over was of five runs, the 39th over. Dhoni had faced more than half the deliveries in that phase and scored at the lowest strike rate – 36.92 (24 runs off 65 balls). Only thrice since 2001, India scored fewer runs in that phase in an ODI. West Indies had scored 88 runs in that phase.

47.36 Dhoni’s strike rate – 54 off 114 – the lowest in the 149 innings in which he has scored 25 or more runs. His previous slowest 25-plus run innings was 38 off 75, at a rate of 50.66, against New Zealand in Dambulla in 2010.2006 The last time West Indies batted complete 50 overs and scored fewer than 200 runs – 198 for 9 against India in Kingston. They had won that game by two runs. Since falling short by one run in that game, it was the first time India failed to chase a target of less than 200 runs in a completed ODI.1998 The last time India failed to chase a target of 190 or less in ODIs. They were all out for 163 chasing 172 against Sri Lanka in Colombo (SSC) in a 36-over contest. Overall, this is the 10th-smallest target India have failed to achieve in their ODI history.3.68 The run rate of this match – 367 runs in 99.4 overs – the lowest in any ODI in the last five years in which more than 95 overs were played. In the West Indies, this is the fourth-slowest ODI ever, with 95-plus overs bowled.5/27 Jason Holder’s figures – his maiden five-wicket haul in an ODI career of 62 matches. Before this, none of the West Indies players in the current squad had a five-wicket haul. He is the third West Indies captain after Viv Richards (twice) and Dwayne Bravo to take a five-for. Against India, Greg Chappell and Shaun Pollock are the other captains with five-fors.3-10 West Indies’ win-loss record in ODIs in North Sound. Incidentally, two of those three wins have come against India, in four games. They had won by 103 runs against India in 2011. Their win-loss ratio of 0.3 is the worst among 12 home venues that hosted 5 or more games.11 Consecutive ODIs without a 50-plus opening stand for West Indies, before Kyle Hope and Ewin Lewis added 57 in this game. Their openers lasted for 17.2 overs – the most in 53 ODIs since 2014. However, their last seven wickets added only 68 runs and they ended only on 189.

He’s been out nicking while driving five times in his 15 Test innings, but he also scores more runs through the covers than anywhere else

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2017Among the many sub-plots of this year’s Ashes is a fast developing love-hate relationship between England fans and James Vince’s cover drive. While it was the highlight of his 83 at the Gabba, it got him out in the second innings in Adelaide, after he had been dismissed edging a back-foot drive in the first. The two nicks mean Vince has now been out edging to the wicketkeeper or slips eight times in his last 10 innings and nine times in his 15-innings-long Test career.ESPNcricinfo LtdFive times already Vince has been out edging while playing an attacking shot. Plus, he’s been out twice caught at cover while driving against a spinner. So that makes it seven times he’s been out playing an attacking shot to the off side.It might seem like the solution is simple: Vince should just take the cover drive out of his game a la Tendulkar in Sydney, 2004. The problem is that it’s by far his most productive shot. In his short Test career, Vince has scored nearly 37% of his runs through the cover region. By contrast, he has scored just 0.4% of his runs through mid-off, suggesting he doesn’t drive straight much.The dilemma of Vince and his cover drive has caused many much consternation, not least our ball-by-ball commentators, as evidenced by their increasingly shrill descriptions of his dismissals:Shaminda Eranga to Vince, England v Sri Lanka, Headingley, 1st inns
More catching in the slips. Keeping it full pays dividends again, the ball straightens on Vince who is playing forcefully on the front foot and sends a thick edge to third slip.Wahab Riaz to Vince, England v Pakistan, Lord’s, 2nd inns
Pitched up outside off stump, Vince goes for the drive, thick-edged to second slip… and Younis holds on at the second attempt!Rahat Ali to Vince, England v Pakistan, Old Trafford, 1st inns
Goes full, entices the drive… and this time Sarfraz bags the catch!Mohammad Amir to Vince, England v Pakistan, Edgbaston, 2nd inns
Edged and caught! And just as I had been praising Vince for his watchfulness outside off, he’s gone and fallen for the same old flaw! Outside off, a nothing flirt, offering catching practice to the tumbling Younis at second slip, and that is a very slow trudge from a batsman who has blown his best start yet.Josh Hazlewood to Vince, Australia v England, Adelaide, 1st inns
Edged and gone! Regulation nick off, Vince’s resistance wilts to his fourth ball of the day! There was no need to play at this, really – back of a length and rising in the channel, for some reason Vince felt compelled to try and force it away, but only succeeded in tickling through to the keeper. Loose and goosedStarc to Vince, Australia v England, Adelaide, 2nd inns
Pitched up and nicked off! Vince is a goner… A familiar tale of briefly attractive (or should that be attractively brief) accumulation, before a loose stroke gives it away. This Australia attack don’t need gifts, but they’ll gladly accept them.

Could the green Eden Gardens surface make India choose between Ashwin and Jadeja even before they reach South Africa?

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Kolkata13-Nov-2017It’s usually an exaggeration when someone describes a green pitch as being indistinguishable from the outfield. But at Eden Gardens on Monday, when the groundstaff whisked away the white tarpaulin that had covered the Test-match pitch all afternoon, it was close to being the truth. Live green grass covered every inch of the strip, and you had to squint – at least if you were looking at it from the stands – to discern the subtle shift of shade where it bordered the rest of the square.Even though three days remain before the start of the first India-Sri Lanka Test, it’s hard to see it changing too much.While the extent of its greenness may have come as a bit of a surprise, the pitch was always expected to help the seamers. Ever since the square was re-laid in 2016, Eden Gardens has been a fast bowler’s ground. Last year, aided by seam movement and uneven bounce, the quicks took 26 of the 40 wickets that fell during the India-New Zealand Test here, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar picking up a five-for in murky conditions late on day two. Just under two months ago, Bhuvneshwar was at it again, swinging the new ball wickedly under lights to bowl India to an ODI win against Australia.And it isn’t just Bhuvneshwar who’s enjoyed himself at this ground. In six first-class matches here since the New Zealand Test, seamers have picked up 16 innings hauls of four or more wickets, while spinners have only managed four.It was perhaps with this in mind that Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain and current Cricket Association of Bengal president, expressed surprise at the news of India resting Hardik Pandya for the first two Tests against Sri Lanka.”I’m surprised,” he told reporters on Sunday. “I don’t know if he’s injured. He has played only three Tests… This is the age to play. I don’t know the exact reason. Hope he’s fit.”India won’t play with three spinners, definitely not at the Eden Gardens as the pitch here is different. They will play with two spinners and now since they don’t have Hardik Pandya they may have a different combination for the allrounder’s slot.”Against New Zealand last year, India played six specialist batsmen, and a second-innings 82 from that sixth specialist, Rohit Sharma, played a key role in India’s win. India have played five bowlers – or four and Pandya as the allrounder – in each of their last four Tests, but they have been pretty flexible otherwise over the last couple of years, winning Test matches home and away with 3-2, 2-3 and 2-2 combinations of seam and spin.They haven’t used three seamers at home since the rain-truncated Bengaluru Test of 2015, however, and Thursday could give them an opportunity to do so. Having Pandya could have allowed them to do this while still being able to bat deep and play two spinners. In his absence, they will either have to play three genuine quicks and two spinners, or – wait for it – three quicks and just the one spinner.Three quicks, one spinner. It seems outlandish for India to even consider such an idea when their two main spinners are ranked No. 2 and No. 4 in the world, but it’s a move they’ll probably have to contemplate anyway when they tour South Africa in a month-and-a-half’s time – with or without Pandya in their line-up.In his debut Test series in Sri Lanka, Pandya was hugely impressive with the bat, scoring 50, 108 and 20 in his three innings and going at over a run a ball, and useful with the ball, picking up four wickets at an average of 23.75 but only bowling 32 overs across three Tests.In India’s dream scenario with Pandya, he is a good enough batsman to bat at No. 6 while being a good enough bowler to be their third seamer. As of now, he may or may not be a No. 6; he definitely isn’t a genuine third seamer for conditions where third seamers are expected to bowl a lot of overs.And so, even with Pandya in their XI, India might need to pick three frontline quicks outside the subcontinent. And that, more often than not, will mean playing only one out of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.On Thursday, they might just have to make that choice at home, on a pitch that could be, by accident or design, a dress rehearsal for South Africa.