First century against Australia in eight years was a remarkable display on a remarkable day

Vithushan Ehantharajah16-Jun-2023The clenched teeth and pumped fists barely lasted an instant, concealed in a split-second gap for privacy in front of thousands before Ollie Robinson invaded his personal space with a bear hug. A look to the heavens followed, cheeks puffed, before the helmet went back on. He wasn’t looking for anyone in particular up there, though of course he was grateful for any intervention from above. It was merely a chance to exhale all the stress into the atmosphere, and expel a few demons too.It feels like a contradiction to describe a seventh century in the space of 18 months, and a 30th across a celebrated career, as “necessary”. But Joe Root’s reactions after nudging his 145th delivery of the day into the leg side suggest that the man himself might have believed it to be true.An unwanted streak had been broken. A first three-figure score against Australia since Trent Bridge in 2015, finally closing a sequence of 12 half-centuries in 16 matches in the interim. As a heritage batter in an England Test team that had flunked all too often in that time, and as captain for most of those games too, perhaps Root himself had framed that period as a dereliction of duty. On the opening day of this series at Edgbaston, he went some way towards making amends.This was as much a reiteration of his brilliance – a fifth consecutive fifty-plus score, a feat he achieved on one previous occasion when he managed six in 2014 and 2015 – as a clear indicator of his top-rank among high-flying renegades.England’s innings jagged chaotically like an MC Escher painting. The stairs were leading somewhere, but not all were going up. A fair few fell off altogether in their rush.Joe Root reverse-scooped Pat Cummins for six in one of his most jaw-dropping moments•ECB/Getty ImagesNo dramas, of course. England’s set-up is all about ensuring mistakes are made in the right way. This was just falling with style. But when 175 for 3 became 176 for 5 as Ben Stokes blazed the best-looking edge through to the wicketkeeper you ever did see, it did feel a bit much. And when the England captain’s next act was to call an end to the innings on 393 for 8, it felt just fine.Root’s sensibilities became an even greater virtue. The process of rebuilding the innings was diligent, particularly in a stand with Jonny Bairstow which came to an end on 121 from 140. Moeen Ali button-bashed, Stuart Broad pressed the wrong button altogether, and Robinson, eventually, opted to stick around. By then, Root’s status as the only adult in the room had been established.Except, well, to describe this knock as “mature” might give you the wrong impression. Because while it was crafted by a seasoned hand, none of the pitfalls associated with maturity – limited creativity, suffocating responsibility – were on view. He was also charging up and down those upside-down stairs, albeit while remembering to keep one hand on the bannister.Joe Root’s hundreds in Ashes•ESPNcricinfo LtdThe reverse-lap-scoop-jaw-dropper sweep, now as reliable a club in his bag as that dab that accesses the same part of third man (albeit on the ground rather than over), got two airings – first off Scott Boland, then Pat Cummins. Both went for six.In the 50th over, as Nathan Lyon threatened to get into a groove, Root unfurled three successive reverse-sweeps. The first beat Josh Hazlewood’s attempt in the deep to stop it from going for four. The second was scuffed off his glove onto his pad, meaning the lbw decision given against him was overturned on review. And yep, the third – more ramp than scoop, but very much from the same family, under the same roof – was nailed as an act of uncharacteristically showy defiance.”It takes a lot of skill, a lot of endeavour and patience,” Bairstow said afterwards, and he knows a lot about defiance.”The way he manipulated the strike, the tempo of going up and down, sucking up pressure to then put pressure back on the opposition, is a trait of his that a lot of people would like to have.”We’ve always known that Root could be one of the boys if he wanted to, particularly given all this is very ODI Root. But it took time for the man himself to work out just how he wanted to fit in in his post-captaincy era. And having overcome a period of unnecessary introspection during the second half of 2022, this was the clearest indication yet that his decision to assume a more outlandish streak has enhanced previous strengths rather than drowned them out.Related

• Joe Root hundred guides England on freewheeling first day of the Ashes

• Live Report: England vs Australia, 1st Test, Edgbaston

• 'Thumped on the up through cover-point!'

• Jonny Bairstow feared he'd 'never walk again' after horrific leg injury

This is especially evident when you delve into the minutiae of this overdue Australian century. Coming into this Test, Root had hit five sixes against Australia. Two of them came in the 2013 home series, three in 2015. As captain in Ashes series – 29 innings across 15 matches – he did hit none. Today, he struck four.The last, skipping down to Lyon and depositing him over his head, was the most manufactured of them all, after news of the impending declaration had been passed on covertly. That jaws were still slack with surprise at the move meant Root’s ovation from the crowd was muted. But after taking a break for a rub-down as Australia’s innings began, he returned for the field for the final over of the day to lead England off on one of its most storied days.There’s another important nugget here. England have not lost to Australia in matches where Root has scored centuries. Given the hosts’ decision to advance the game, that already feels like a statistical quirk with less relevance. The game is still the same, but how it is being approached makes cues from history harder to gauge.Not unlike Root. He remains very much the same, certainly in the eyes of his teammates.”You see the smile on his face, you see the cheeky little grin that he has and when his legs bop around and runs through and what have you,” Bairstow said, recalling the moment Root reached three figures. Somehow he was still reminiscing about previous days, even while discussing this one.The Root of the past was great. The Root to come could be greater.

The Bangladesh batter is going through his first upturn in form after underachieving for five years

Mohammad Isam18-Jun-2023Najmul Hossain Shanto is on the path Mominul Haque has been on for years. So it felt apt that he had Mominul at the other end when he brought up both his centuries in the one-off Dhaka Test against Afghanistan.Shanto’s international career is going through its first upturn after underachieving for five years. Mominul has already been on this ride: he started with two very good years before losing form for three years between 2015 to 2017. He returned in a big way in 2018, but then went quiet again. His unbeaten century against Afghanistan in this game ended a two-year dry spell of centuries.Mominul, who is the only other Bangladeshi to hit two hundreds in a Test match, praised Shanto for the way he took toll of every bad ball bowled to him, while still maintaining his shape for long hours in Dhaka’s searing heat.”Shanto makes batting look very easy,” Mominul said. “He can play all around the wicket. When you see him bat, you want to bat like him. I can’t do that, the way I play. I like watching Shanto and Litton [Das] bat. Shanto doesn’t let go of the bad ball. He makes sure he gets a boundary. Shanto played outstandingly in these conditions, particularly in this heat. I think it is a huge achievement.”In February 2020, the early stages of his captaincy, Mominul had handed over his No. 3 role to Shanto. Barring five innings, Shanto has kept hold of this crucial batting position for more than three years now. He struggled for a long time, but over the past eight months, there have been very clear signs of improvement.”It is a terrible struggle,” Mominul said of dealing with ups and downs in sport. “Only those who go through it know what it’s like. When I went through such a phase, I felt that I was on my own. I was finished. The only option when you’re in that state of mind is to stick to your process. will give when He pleases. You cannot want it too much. It won’t come even if you scratch and gnaw to come back to form.”Another who could relate to Shanto is Litton. Not too long ago, Litton was punished for his poor form by being dropped. It changed him significantly. Litton said that when he saw Shanto struggle for a long time, he spoke to the left-hander.Litton said that becoming more organised in his training method has transformed Shanto’s career. “I was in Shanto’s place not too long ago. I have spoken a lot with him, though I don’t know how much it helped. I believe he changed his practice method. I think he is a little more organised. When you play international cricket continuously, you start learning things. You can pick up your strength and weakness quickly. I think he found those properly, and worked hard on them.”It is good to see that he is continuing his good form,” Litton said. “There will be a bad time but he should keep following what has worked for him. I think he can keep going well.”Shanto’s twin centuries against Afghanistan stood out for their fast pace and attractive shots. He liked meeting the ball early, especially when he chose to go leg side with his shots and wasn’t afraid of coming down the track. This opened up new areas of scoring for him, particularly against spin, because they tried to shorten their length and he was ready for them.Litton Das (R) believes Najmul Hossain Shanto’s (L) improvement is because of better training methods•BCBShanto profited heavily from drives through the covers and midwicket in both innings. There were hardly any boundaries through backward of square on the off side. He struck more boundaries through mid-off in the first innings, but only two in the second innings. Both centuries came during big second-wicket partnerships with one of the openers. He added 212 runs with Mahmudul Hasan Joy in the first innings. It provided foundation for Bangladesh to go big at a very good run-rate.Shanto left strong suggestions that he was carrying his white-ball form and approach straight into this Test match. His best work over the last eight months have mostly been in limited-overs cricket. It started with the T20 World Cup where Shanto was the team’s highest scorer, followed by runs against India, England and Ireland. With this good run, he has finally established himself in all three formats.But it was a different world for Shanto between 2018 and 2022. He had become a symbol of disappointment. He was trolled on social media. Recently, he spoke about how he sometimes allowed outside noise to bother him. He played only 23% of Bangladesh’s matches in the first five-and-a-half years since his debut. Coaches Steve Rhodes and Russell Domingo worked on him extensively, but Shanto only showed flashes of his potential in the middle.Mominul said that Shanto worked hard on his shortcomings as a cricketer and showed persistence. “Shanto was patient. He stuck to his process. We all have different processes. Mushfiq , Tamim , Litton and I all have different processes.”He improved where he needed to work,” Mominul said. “I don’t know his psychology, but he must have done something right. One becomes a big player when the performance is consistent. It has to go on. His focus should be on regular performance. He has to think about batting long, stick to his process and not think about anything else.”Shanto isn’t the only one who has struggled to establish himself in the batting order. Bangladesh have tried several options in the top three in the last five years. Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Shadman Islam and Saif Hassan are just some of the names that pop up when talking about Bangladesh’s search for a reliable top-order player.Whenever Tamim Iqbal has missed Tests in recent years, the selectors have tried new openers. Joy showed up and down form for the first eight months of his career before he got dropped for a year. Zakir Hasan has burst into the scene with a debut Test century against India, and now some runs against Afghanistan.It is not yet certain if Bangladesh’s strong performances against Ireland and Afghanistan will amount to a good start in the next World Test Championship cycle. But this team has found success in other formats by being true to their brand and by being patient with their players. It paid off with Tamim and Mushfiqur Rahim all through the 2010s. The 2020s might be Litton and Shanto’s time.

Pat Cummins has the chance to go where no Australian captain has gone in 22 years by sealing the series this week

Andrew McGlashan05-Jul-2023Just in case you hadn’t noticed, there’s been a bit going on in the past few days. But amid all the noise, Australia arrive at Headingley knowing they can secure the Ashes over the next five days.While they have three chances to get the win that would give them a first series win in England since 2001 (the last time they also led 2-0 in an away Ashes), there would be an added satisfaction in doing so at this ground after what happened in 2019.On that occasion, Pat Cummins bowled the ball that Ben Stokes carved to the cover boundary. “I’ve seen it about 1000 times in the last four years,” Cummins said with a smile. “I am sure that memory will be brought up quite a bit, just like 2005 was brought up at Edgbaston. But we have well and truly moved past that.”Related

All guns set to blaze as England enter Bazball's last-chance saloon

Hazlewood's 'uncharted territory' puts Australia on alert

Todd Murphy prepares for Ashes baptism-of-fire after Nathan Lyon injury

It would be legacy-defining for this Australian Test team following their World Test Championship title a few weeks ago and cement them among the finest sides the country has produced.Australia’s UK mission is at the midway mark and, barring the injury to Nathan Lyon, it could barely have gone better. There is still a chance that will change and the margins so far in the Ashes have been tight – two wickets and 43 runs – but Australia have found a way, in contrast to some near-misses in this country since their last series win, while on the flip side England have missed their opportunities.It’s worth remembering that when Lyon went down at Lord’s, Australia only had one of the 20 wickets they would need for victory. England may have given them a helping hand, especially in the first innings, but it was still another impressive show of resilience and adaptability to overcome the loss of such a pivotal player. His absence may yet have a telling impact, but Todd Murphy should not be underestimated.Much was made about the lack of warm-up matches, with their preparation limited to a handful of training sessions, but it appears to have worked out ideally. They held back Josh Hazlewood from the World Test Championship final and have been able to get the first two Ashes Tests out of him, although three may be a bit much for him.In hindsight, they could have played Mitchell Starc on a docile Edgbaston surface, but he had a significant impact at Lord’s. Scott Boland was superb against India at The Oval and though taken to by England, remains a very fine bowler. The home side, by contrast, are only now able to get their fastest bowler, Mark Wood, onto the park.On the batting front, they won in Birmingham without contributions from Marnus Labuschagne or Steven Smith, but the latter bounced back at Lord’s. David Warner came into the tour under a huge cloud but while the major score has proved elusive, he has provided valuable contributions, especially last week. Usman Khawaja, currently the leading run-scorer in the series, is a player at the top of his game.Alex Carey’s series has been given an added dimension after his stumping of Jonny Bairstow, but he has been outstanding with the gloves and played a crucial innings at Edgbaston.1:27

‘Seen it 1000 times’ – Cummins on Stokes and Headingley 2019

“I felt our lead-in was excellent for that World Test Championship and hopefully we can reap the rewards now,” Cummins said. “Everyone seems to be in a really good position where we’ve played enough but feel like we are really hitting our straps.”Cummins, himself, has been at the forefront of things; firstly his tactics at Edgbaston came under scrutiny, then he played a match-winning innings and now he has found himself having to defend his decision not to withdraw the appeal against Bairstow. And he’s copped a black eye for good measure.His outward calm, which has been a trait of Cummins throughout his captaincy, has been impressive. As you would expect, he is strongly standing up for his team, but not in an overly combative way that some previous Australian captains may have done.”The way our team has conducted themselves over the past couple of years has been flawless,” he said. “We have been fantastic and I think that showed again at Lord’s. The team did nothing wrong, so we’re all comfortable.”We’ve had an amazing tour so far, there’s so much that this group should be really proud of,” he added. “I think when we look forward to this game, that will be the message I’ll be giving. That’s where our thoughts will be placed as opposed to this outside noise that has nothing to do with cricket.”That noise is unlikely to die down and a still angry England are certainly more than capable of pulling a game back, but so far Australia have managed to stay one step ahead. Do it again for the next five days and Cummins will have gone where no Australian men’s captain has been in 22 years.

The hours of training, planning and research weren’t enough for top-notch batters to cope with what the fast men dished out

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Nov-20232:20

What sets this Indian pace unit apart from the rest?

How do you possibly play that? How do you prepare for a ball that vicious? How many hours of batting in the nets does it take? How many sets of how many reps of weights to condition the muscles? How many hours on treadmills and cycles to strip the fat that might slow you down?How many coaches must take a look, poring over how much footage, of how many balls faced, from how many angles?Second ball of the day at the Wankhede, Dilshan Madushanka bowled what in normal circumstances would be the best of the day. A contender, even, for ball of the tournament. He rolled his fingers over it, kept his wrist upright behind it, had it skid away off the surface, beat Rohit Sharma’s bat, and sent off stump into a cartwheel, in split seconds making futile all the preparation one of the best batters on the planet had undertaken for this match.Related

• Jasprit Bumrah is a species of exactly one

• India's Avengers assemble at the Wankhede

• Shami smashes records, while Sri Lanka plunge to new lows

• Shami: 'No rocket science, just rhythm'

It was a ball that had to pitch almost exactly at that length to have Rohit pinned on the crease, had to be bowled at almost exactly that speed to be quick enough to beat Rohit and still take the deviation off the pitch, and had to land on almost exactly on that line to take off stump.A magic ball.The kind that – from your earliest days of surging in, bracing your front leg, and whipping your body through your action – you dream of bowling. Even just once in a lifetime.But these are not normal circumstances, and Sri Lanka are not facing a normal attack.At the first possible instance, Jasprit Bumrah summons magic from an even higher realm. He comes from wide of the crease, angles it towards leg, has it dance off the seam, hits Pathum Nissanka in front of the stumps. How do you play this? How do you prepare for it?Mohammed Siraj, with his first delivery, also flirting with the supernatural, bowling from tight into the stumps, angling it seemingly across the left-handed Dimuth Karunaratne. It keeps going that way for most its trajectory before curving back, suddenly and emphatically. Karunaratne is in such a tangle, he times the pants out of his own boot instead of the ball, gets off balance, is hit in front of middle stump.For Angelo Mathews, Mohammed Shami had a ball straight out of fantasy•ICC/Getty ImagesIt is almost forgotten amid the sheer admiration these deliveries elicit, that both batters have reviewed these decisions, refusing to believe the angles. The wickets raise six roars from the exulting Wankhede – once each when the stadium goes up in appeal with the bowler, once each when the lbw is given, once each when confirmed on review.More come in quick succession. Siraj has one swing away late again, draws another batter into another false shot, but the batter is not good enough to edge it. Later in the over, knowing he is in a desperate fight, Sadeera Samarawickram comes out of the crease and tries to hit Siraj off his length. Siraj just pulls it back, pitches it wider, gets Samarawickrama’s edge anyway.In Siraj’s next over, more sorcery first ball, angled in, swinging late, seaming away, hitting the top of Kusal Mendis’ off stump, breaking the bail. This is after Bumrah bowled an over in which he had struck Mendis on the pad with a wicked ball that jagged, and after Bumrah had beaten Mendis’ edge with an awayswinger.The crowd is watching an opposition fail to put up even a semblance of a fight. But they are out of their seats anyway, slapping thighs and backs, gasping when the ball whizzes past the edge, living every electric moment. They are, like the batters themselves, in thrall. In thrall of a group of bowlers who are stringing magic balls together, bowling magic overs, turning them into magic spells. At one stage, it seems as if there are more dazed and dismissed batters in the Sri Lanka dressing room than there are runs on the board.2:18

Maharoof: Inconsistency has let Sri Lanka down

The one batter who has somehow resisted is Angelo Mathews. For him, first-change bowler Mohammed Shami has another ball, straight out of fantasy. A yorker that swings spectacularly from outside off, dives beneath the bat, and clatters into stumps. Even the hope of the tail hitting late boundaries feels distant. Shami rips through them, taking 5 for 18.This is a batting line-up that has twice crossed 320 this tournament, have a batter averaging 66.20, another who had hit four consecutive fifties and a 46 in the World Cup, and in Mathews a player with 193 ODI innings and some all-time great knocks on his record. Collectively, there are tens of thousands of hours of batting practice here, hundreds of coaching hours just in the last three months, and decades of knowledge in the dressing room.But India have seven in a row now. Their quicks have KOed a top order for the second time in a row. And they have now blasted Sri Lanka out for well under a 100 for the third time this year.They can do all this, defy all this history, make batting orders question how they can possibly be played, and rack up incredible numbers, because there is a sense emerging now: the attack might be once in a lifetime.

His usual plan hasn’t worked at the World Cup for a variety of reasons, but Shaheen Afridi has still managed to get to the top of the wicket-takers’ chart

Sidharth Monga31-Oct-2023Shaheen Shah Afridi has probably not been among the best bowlers at the World Cup. Yet, he is the joint-highest wicket-taker, going at an acceptable 5.22 an over and taking a wicket every 23 balls.It is an achievement more remarkable than it looks. Firstly, because it is easier to isolate a bowler in a one-man show than a batter. A batter can still bat through an innings even if the others have not turned up; a bowler gets to bowl only ten overs and the batters can sit on them if they know others are not in form. Rashid Khan, for example, knows that feeling, and has to consistently fight for success.With Naseem Shah injured, and with Pakistan’s spinners arguably the poorest at the World Cup, it is easy to play Afridi out and then cash in on the others. Afridi is no stranger to bowling the aggressive lengths to counter that, but there has hardly been swing on offer at venues Pakistan have played in.Related

Whispers of 1992 return as Pakistan look to stay alive, 'the Pakistan way'

Bangladesh knocked out after Afridi and Fakhar fashion big Pakistan win

Pakistan are low on power and behind the times

There is a reason why Afridi, on Tuesday, became the quickest fast bowler to 100 ODI wickets, beating his bowling twin Mitchell Starc by one match. There is a reason he has the best strike rate bar Sandeep Lamichhane in that 100-wicket club. His approach is direct: bowl fast, bowl straight, swing it, hit the stumps or the pads if they come in the way. Coming into this World Cup, Afridi had taken 34 of his 86 wickets inside the powerplay, which is with the new, swinging ball.As you expect with such bowlers – Starc is another – their career is one spectacular highlights reel.This World Cup has been harder work. When he tried his usual method, the results were not great, especially against India when the problems of a thin attack were compounded by a small total to defend. So he had no option but to attack. At the end of the India game, his figures for the tournament were an average of 34.75 and economy of 6.31.”Not a surprise because it doesn’t swing that much in the IPL also,” Afridi said when asked if he was surprised at the lack of swing. “I think this ball is also slightly different. It’s not just me, all left-arm fast bowlers, even Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult [are finding it difficult]. I am trying to swing it, but it is not going that much. So length is crucial.”In the next match, Afridi cut the number of full balls in the powerplay to a third. He moved less into the fuller part of the hard-length band and more into the shorter part. It is a subtle difference: from six-to-seven metres to seven-to-nine metres.

In finding ways to take wickets with hard lengths and in the middle overs, Afridi has personally gone past perhaps the first stumbling block in his limited-overs international career. And, perhaps in a quiet moment, he will be slightly more satisfied that he has found a way

This is what Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Hazlewood, perhaps the two bowlers one would like to emulate, have been doing. But Naseem was the Hazlewood to Afridi’s Starc; now Afridi had to do both the jobs. It is amazing how accurate elite international bowlers are: they are deliberate enough to create two zones in a three-metre zone, and move between those depending on conditions.Afridi had to wait for his wickets. Counting the two in the match against Bangladesh, one of every four wickets for him has come in the powerplay. Even when he got a first-over wicket against Bangladesh, it wasn’t his usual full, swinging delivery. It was pitched bang on the seven-metre spot. Sometimes, you have to hit the knee roll and not the shin. This World Cup has been the knee-roll World Cup.Thanks to a dry and abrasive square, there was reverse to be had later, with which Afridi knocked off Bangladesh’s best batter, Mahmudullah, in a manner that will add to the highlights reel. Around the wicket, angling it in, then taking it away, almost Wasim Akram-like.In finding ways to take wickets with hard lengths and in the middle overs, Afridi has personally gone past perhaps the first stumbling block in his limited-overs international career. Once Naseem is back, Afridi can probably get more attacking, but having overcome adversity in this World Cup will only leave him a better bowler. And while the team performance remains a disappointing one, perhaps in a quiet moment, he will be slightly more satisfied that he has found a way.

RCB will expect Patidar and Akash Deep to carry the confidence from their India debuts into the IPL

Shashank Kishore16-Mar-2024

Where RCB finished last season

For the first time in four seasons, RCB missed the playoffs after being in contention until their final group game, where they were blindsided by a Shubman Gill century at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. It meant they finished sixth, with seven wins and seven losses.

RCB squad for IPL 2024

Faf du Plessis (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan

Player availability

RCB have all their players available right through the season.There had been doubts over Cameron Green’s availability for the first two games, but he is due to arrive in India ahead of the tournament opener after being given the green signal to miss the Sheffield Shield final by Cricket Australia.After missing the five-Test series at home against England to be with his family for the birth of his second child, Virat Kohli is set to return to competitive cricket. He will link up with the squad at a pre-tournament camp in Bengaluru ahead of the opening game on March 22 in Chennai.

What’s new at RCB this year?

Green’s acquisition during the pre-auction trades potentially gives them a four-overs bowler and batter in the top six. There’s also out-and-out pace, with the option to bring one of Lockie Ferguson and Alzarri Joseph into the first XI.

The good – Patidar and Akash Deep come in hot

RCB have seen several of their key Indian players enjoy a breakthrough season over the past few months.Rajat Patidar’s return after missing IPL 2023 because of a heel injury strengthens their top order. Patidar, who struck the first hundred by an uncapped Indian in the IPL playoffs in 2022, has been capped in Tests and ODIs over the past three months.Fast bowler Akash Deep’s excellent returns for India A against the England Lions in January-February led to him being handed a Test cap against England in Ranchi.Fast bowler Vijaykumar Vyshak has come in the selectors’ radar after earning a fast-bowling contract on the back of an excellent domestic season for Karnataka. His 39 wickets in eight Ranji Trophy matches in 2023-24 were the second-highest among fast bowlers this season. He also contributed wholesomely with the bat, hitting 343 runs in 13 innings.

The not-so-good – no leggie or death-overs back-ups

They lack an experienced legspinner having released Wanindu Hasaranga. They will have to rely on the uncapped Himanshu Sharma or Karn Sharma, who has featured in barely a handful of games for the franchise over the last two seasons. Without Harshal Patel, they also need to find a death bowler.

Schedule insights

RCB open their campaign with an away fixture in Chennai, where they haven’t beaten CSK since 2008. They then return to play three straight home games before flying to Jaipur to end their first leg of matches as per the tournament’s schedule.

The big question

What’s different, what’s the same? Where and when will the matches be played? What’s new about this season?

Ashish Pant20-Feb-2024Will it all be played in Mumbai again?
Unlike last year, when the tournament was held in its entirely across Mumbai, WPL 2024 will be played in Bengaluru and New Delhi. The M Chinnaswamy Stadium will host the first 11 games, while the second-half of the season, including the eliminator and the final, will be held at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla.Is the format any different from last year’s?
No, the same number of games (22) will be played this year too. Each of the five teams plays the other four twice. The table-toppers directly qualify for the final, while the second and third-placed teams square off in the eliminator.After the Mumbai vs Delhi game, Royal Challengers Bangalore will open their campaign the following day against UP Warriorz, with Gujarat Giants, the fifth team, facing Mumbai on day three.Here’s a detailed look at the fixtures.What are the timings?
All the matches will start at 7.30pm IST and, unlike last year, there are no double-headers this time.Let’s go back to the auction: how did that go? Were there any major buys?
The biggest surprise in this year’s auction was the uncapped duo of Kashvee Gautam and Vrinda Dinesh pocketing bids of INR 2 crore (Giants) and INR 1.3 crore (Warriorz) respectively. Gautam, however, has been sidelined by injury and won’t feature in the competition.Amandeep Kaur is the only left-arm wristspinner in the WPL•Mumbai IndiansAustralia allrounder Annabel Sutherland, who was released by Giants ahead of the auction, was the most expensive overseas pick (Capitals) at INR 2 crore, while Shabnim Ismail, released by Warriorz, was picked up at INR 1.2 crore by Mumbai. Australia’s Phoebe Litchfield attracted a handsome bid of INR 1 crore from Giants. This will be 20-year-old Litchfield’s maiden WPL appearance.Related

Bengaluru ready to jazz up women's cricket through WPL

Five Indians going into the WPL with T20 World Cup hopes

Shubha Satheesh just wants to be responsible

Athapaththu: 'Rejection is a kind of motivation for me'

Gouher Sultana's ten-year hiatus

Kate Cross, who was working as a broadcaster last year, has gone to RCB, and Danni Wyatt (Warriorz) will also be a part of WPL 2024 after being unsold at the auction the last time. Scotland’s Kathryn Bryce (Giants) is the lone Associate player in the tournament.Did any major player miss out? Any withdrawals?
Chamari Athapaththu seemed set to miss out for a second straight season, but was picked up by Warriorz as a replacement for England’s Lauren Bell, who opted out to prepare for England’s tour of New Zealand (starting March 19). RCB’s Heather Knight too will miss the season for the same reason; she has been replaced by South Africa allrounder Nadine de Klerk.Among the notable exclusions are Australia bowling-allrounder Kim Garth, who was released by Giants after last season, and former West Indies allrounder Deandra Dottin. On the Indian front, there were no bids for Devika Vaidya, who was picked up for INR 1.6 crore in the inaugural season by Warriorz.Australia fast bowler Lauren Cheatle (Giants) too has withdrawn from this year’s WPL after undergoing a medical procedure for skin cancer on her neck. New Zealand veteran Lea Tahuhu has replaced her.And, along with Gautam, spin-bowling allrounder Kanika Ahuja has had to opt out with an injury. Gautam has been replaced by uncapped allrounder Sayali Satghare, while Ahuja has been replaced by Shradda Pokharkar at RCB.Gouher Sultana and Harmanpreet Kaur are the only Indians in WPL 2024 to have made their international debuts before 2010•Gouher SultanaAre the captains and coaches for the teams the same as last season?
While the five captains: Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai), Meg Lanning (Capitals), Smriti Mandhana (RCB), Alyssa Healy (Warriorz ) and Beth Mooney (Giants) remain unchanged, there have been some movements on the coaching front.Most notably, Giants parted ways with Rachael Haynes after just one season, bringing former Australia batter Michael Klinger on board as the head coach. Luke Williams, who won the WBBL with Adelaide Strikers, takes over from Ben Sawyer as RCB’s head coach.Which country – apart from India – has the maximum representation?
Australia has the biggest representation with 13 players, including three captains. Capitals lead the way with four Australians in their squad, while Giants, Warriorz and RCB all have three each. Mumbai are the only team to not have a single Australian player in their set-up. England have six players taking part in the tournament, while South Africa have five.Who were the breakout stars of WPL 2023?
Mumbai’s left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque and RCB allrounder Shreyanka Patil have gone on to play for India. They are considered to be products of the WPL to an extent.Recognising the need to reward performers, the BCCI has ensured that players who were capped between the two seasons automatically received an upgraded WPL contract. Signed at base price (INR 10 lakh) at the inaugural auction, both Ishaque and Patil will be paid INR 30 lakh this season following their India debuts.

The former England captain and well-known psychoanalyst talks about Bazball, the current England side, and his new book

Paul Edwards18-Apr-2024Last September, Mike Brearley travelled to Old Trafford to watch Middlesex play Lancashire and to promote his memoir . As part of the visit he was interviewed for Lancs TV by Paul Allott, who made his Test debut under Brearley’s captaincy against Australia in 1981. Naturally, their conversation turned to Bazball and the ways in which Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes have transformed the attitudes of England’s players and the results of the team. Midway through their chat, Allott asked his old captain whether he’d have enjoyed captaining the current England side with McCullum as its coach. The answer came back in a trice. “Yes, I think I’d have loved it”.Now it is six months later and Brearley is sitting at his kitchen table, sipping coffee and eating an almond croissant. His answers to a different set of questions are more measured and invitingly nuanced but the enthusiasm for this England team’s approach is no less keen than it was before they lost 4-1 to India. He likes the idea that Stokes’ players have been liberated by possibilities rather than constrained by expectations, and he admits that some England teams during his career suffered from the latter limitation.”I couldn’t imagine anyone changing the team’s morale and performance overnight in the way McCullum and Stokes have done, and you don’t do that by accretions of technique or little nudges this way or that,” he says. “You do it by changes of heart and attitude, and these seem to have released people from their inhibitions and tensions and the view that you must never get out playing an attacking shot if you could have defended the ball. The changes have been very much for the good.”Related

The mind of Mike Brearley (2007)

What is the point of sport? (2013)

'You need to work by intelligent hunches' (2019)

Typically, Brearley traces Bazball to one of its sources: McCullum’s resolve to change the culture of the New Zealand team he captained in 2013, a few days after they had been bowled out for 45 by South Africa in Cape Town: “Just because there is more at stake now doesn’t mean you should lose the innocence of why you played the game in the first place,” said McCullum in an interview. “For a long time we had lost that, and I think our team had lost it… We expected the game to owe us something. We almost felt entitled… There was no soul about our cricket… It sounds a bit corny, but we talk about the playful little boy who fell in love with the game. When you have that mindset you can be positive and aggressive because you’re thinking about what can go right rather than what might go wrong.”Brearley identifies examples of the changed approach in many areas, not least selection, and talks with fascinated delight about the success enjoyed by Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed in the Test series against India.”The old spinners like Fred Titmus and Ray Illingworth would have completely pooh-poohed the idea of anyone playing Test cricket after playing half a dozen [first-class] games, and I think I would have done too, but I thought the three young spinners kept at it and they did remarkably well,” he says. “Rehan Ahmed reminds me of Warne with his strong shoulders and his busy, energetic, strong action. He certainly has chutzpah.”

“Winning is essential to a game. I’m very suspicious of the attitude expressed by some people that they don’t mind losing”Mike Brearley

As so often with Brearley, there are links with his working life as a psychoanalyst. One of the abundant joys of is to see how its author’s profession informs his understanding of the game he has been passionate about since the age of four. For example, the chapter “Prophet to a Profession” pays tribute to the psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion, a figure who is probably well known only to specialists. For Bion, the essence of psychoanalytic treatment is “to introduce the patient to that person with whom he has most dealings in his life, namely himself”. Brearley takes to the suggestion that Bazball has introduced cricketers to the players they could be if they weren’t so burdened down with precedent and expectation. “I think it’s true of sides who could have a distinctive way of playing the game, just as orchestras could have a distinctive way of playing music,” he says. “Stokes and McCullum introduced their England team to the team it could be.”Yes, but acquainting oneself with new ways of thinking can produce strange decisions. I challenge Brearley about Stokes’ declaration near the end of the first day of last year’s opening Ashes Test, when Joe Root was 118 not out and Australia’s attack seemed to be flagging. It was a decision Brearley has described as bizarre. Or what about Root’s own comment to his overnight batting partner, Ollie Pope, that he would reverse-scoop the first ball of the fourth morning’s play? How can that be squared with Greg Chappell’s statement, quoted in , that “premeditation is the graveyard of batting”?”Well, I wouldn’t have declared when Stokes did and I don’t advocate it, but I don’t necessarily blame him because it was part of his overall approach, in which I still believe,” says Brearley. “And Bazball has changed. For example, when Stokes first came to Bazball, he got out wildly in Pakistan, running down the pitch and slogging. That was a result of his determination to lead by example, but he did modify his approach.”As to Root’s reverse scoop, it’s got to be almost regardless, hasn’t it, and he did it for a while and had some considerable success. I have seen people readjust from a reverse scoop but I haven’t seen many do it. And what Greg Chappell would allow is that you could look for something; you have in your mind where you’re going to score runs off a certain bowler. Where might I get a four off Joel Garner, say?” Brearley smiles wryly at the memory. “There’s a difference between looking to do it and absolutely determining to do it.”So in addition to welcoming the change in England’s approach to Test match cricket, Brearley is fascinated by the way in which that approach might evolve after a series in which England’s 4-1 defeat hardly reflected the balance of the five games, which were played on very fair pitches.Brearley suggests that Stokes and McCullum have opened the England players’ eyes to who they could potentially be•Getty Images”I was sad that we didn’t get to two-all but I thought India were the better side and they deserved to win,” he begins. “I was disappointed that we didn’t take advantage of the positions we were in during one or two of the earlier matches, and particularly so in Pope and [Ben] Duckett, who both made huge hundreds and then got worse rather than better.”Pope looked just as jumpy even after making that wonderful 196 in the first Test, and Duckett played that extraordinary innings of 153 and yet lost it against Ashwin and Kuldeep [Yadav]. By the end he didn’t want to block, yet he didn’t want to lap. I thought [Zak] Crawley played extremely well and moderated his style but was unlucky to get good balls, and I was glad to see Root come back and play in his old way.”Brearley’s knowledge is as deep and his observations as informed as one might expect, yet is also notable for its author’s continuing enthusiasm for the game and his youthful, wide-ranging desire to find out new things and learn more. Brearley’s wife, Mana, says that he is more relaxed in the company of cricketers, and his editor, Andreas Campomar, believes he writes with more spontaneity on the game than on psychoanalysis, albeit that he has written a “memoir of the mind”.”Cricket is something that I feel I know more thoroughly but it’s also more limited than psychoanalysis, which is about the whole of life and you’re less likely to think you know it,” Brearley says. “There are people still doing psychoanalysis who are more renowned and better at it than me. And after having played for all those years, it is easier to write than to play. I was more anxious because of my limitations as a batsman at the highest level, so I was more liable to get tense about batting than I am about writing or psychoanalysis. Now I’m not answerable to anyone and I still sometimes have strong views about cricket, whereas I’m still a practising psychoanalyst and I’m in the thick of it.”But what does Brearley make of the times when sport and psychoanalysis overlap? I’m not thinking about captaincy here, an area in which his expertise has frequently been explored, but more about the purpose of playing games at all and the satisfactions to be derived from them. In , Brearley references the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga’s famous book and also quotes Bion, for whom play was easily contaminated by the will to win, or paradoxically in Brearley’s case, by his ability, which led to his being considered for a leadership role. For example: “Excellence meant that the prospect of captainship began to appear over the horizon. That would mean that the prospect of games for the sake of games would no longer be a feasible aim.”Little, BrownPrompted by such thoughts and connecting them to current debates, I ask Brearley whether the health of a country’s sport should be judged by the health of its national team.”That does seem to happen,” he acknowledges. “If you have a view of cricket like Bion or Huizinga’s, you would think that if the game is played in its purest spirit, it doesn’t matter who wins. The purity of the game is in the spontaneous, playful enjoyment of it – just as young lions play without hurting each other. You do it for its own sake. I hope we never lose that, and it’s actually what Stokes and McCullum are trying to achieve. But I do think winning is important – the rules of a game determine what a win is and winning is essential to a game. I’m also very suspicious of the attitude expressed by some people that they don’t mind losing.”It is nice if the national cricket team does well, especially if they play in the right spirit, as they have been doing. And there’s no other way of learning how to get there, except through county cricket. So it is a function of the county game that it should produce players of international standard, just as it’s a function of club cricket that it should produce players who are ready to go into county second teams and the first-class game. If you don’t have those stepping stones and strengthen them, then you don’t get the top level either.”Turning Over the Pebbles

India’s oldest T20I debutant reflected on her journey as a cricketer and expressed her delight at playing alongside ‘elite athletes’ like Mandhana and Harmanpreet

Srinidhi Ramanujam07-May-20242:37

Asha on India debut at 33: ‘Never stop dreaming’

Monday was an emotional day for S Asha. At 33 years and 51 days, and after waiting out a heavy downpour and storm in Sylhet, the legspinner made her maiden India appearance, becoming the country’s oldest debutant in women’s T20Is. Asha is a living example in this sport that your wildest dreams can and do come true when you don’t limit yourself.”I have no words to describe the feeling I’m going through,” Asha said in an almost empty press-conference room after the game. “I was pretty emotional, of course. 2012 was the year when I came into probables for the first time in India. From there, if you see, it’s like touching 13-14 years. So, I am feeling so happy.”Related

• Harmanpreet impressed with India's calmness in 5-0 win

• Radha Yadav, batters lead India to 5-0 T20I series sweep over Bangladesh

• S Asha levels up to awesome for RCB

• How Radha Yadav levelled up her game with a 'smiling face'

• Spinners, Harmanpreet seal comfortable win for India in rain-hit match

Asha’s journey, in fact, has been longer than 13-14 years. She made her debut for Kerala in 2006, at the age of 15. In 2011, she made the step up to Railways, the most formidable domestic side in Indian women’s cricket, and played there for a decade, before leaving in 2022. At one time, she even took up a commentary gig during a men’s T20 tournament in Puducherry. Eventually, she agreed to lead a young Puducherry women’s team in the 2022-2023 season. It was during her time in Puducherry that Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (now Bengaluru) scouts were impressed with her bowling and decided to rope her in for the inaugural WPL season in 2023.She stole the limelight in WPL 2024. She ended the competition – during which she also became the first Indian to take a five-wicket haul – as the second-highest wicket-taker with 12 scalps at 15.41, with an economy rate of 7.11. These displays for RCB, who eventually won the title, helped her earn her maiden India call-up for this tour of Bangladesh.On Monday she starred with two wickets as India went 4-0 up with a match to spare with a 56-run win in the fourth T20I against Bangladesh. She had finally arrived, after all those years of anticipation, patience, downturns, hardships, passion and dreams.Despite Asha bringing a bucketload of experience from domestic cricket, India waited until they had taken an unassailable 3-0 lead to unleash her at this level. For Asha, it was worth the wait.Asha was the second-highest wicket-taker of WPL 2024•BCCI”I have been through so many struggles and [put in a lot of] hard work. It was worth this moment. Really happy,” Asha, who was handed her India cap by Mandhana, said. “It was not easy for me to make [my] debut at the age of 33. But the credit goes to BCCI, selectors, captain, vice-captain, all the team members, coaches and management for having faith in me and giving me the opportunity to play at 33. The kind of faith they showed [in] me, that’s amazing.”[WPL] was an amazing journey, playing under Smriti in WPL. Coming along with Smriti and Harry [Harmanpreet Kaur] , the most experienced player at the moment, it’s an amazing feeling. At one point in time, I thought I could never make it to the national side. But WPL gave us that opportunity and showed us that everybody can dream, and dream is not that far, and we can always achieve it. So WPL changed my life.”It was also a special day for her captain Harmanpreet, who at 35 became the second Indian woman after Mithali Raj to play 300 international games. Having watched Harmanpreet play from a young age, Asha said it was a “nice feeling” to play alongside her in Indian colours.”I am feeling so blessed to share some time with some elite athletes of our country,” she said. “They know [when to] switch on and switch off really well. They are very free [with] us, they come to us and talk. At the same time, they know when to switch on. Next moment, they are that serious team player. I am watching Harry from my 18 years. I never thought I would be playing with her.”Asha’s debut also made her the third player from Kerala, after Minnu Manni and S Sajana, to make her way to the India Women side. A year ago, none of the three had represented India. And before Asha, only two over-30s had debuted for India in T20Is. Acknowledging what she has achieved at her age, she only had one message to those putting in the hard yards behind the scenes: Never stop dreaming.”If it’s a long journey, don’t give up. That’s what I want to say,” Asha said. “Sometimes what happens is in the journey ahead, we will think, ‘oh, it’s a long journey. I might want to take a break. Maybe I will quit.’ But don’t do that. You never know what’s going to happen next. So, the way WPL changed my life, anything can happen to anyone. And never stop dreaming. Dreams are not so far to achieve.”Maybe, Asha’s dream of “playing a World Cup for my country” isn’t far away either.

Sri Lanka’s interim coach on challenges of playing in England, his team’s pace attack, future plans, and more

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Aug-2024As someone who routinely took attacks apart, including in England, in the Test format, what do you make of Bazball?
You get various styles depending on the time. Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist did it too during our time. This is something similar to what we have had in the past. There has just been some media publicity that this is something new. They try to play attacking cricket from the outset, but the end goal is to get to those totals of 300 or 400.As someone who used to often put the opposition under pressure with your aggression, what can Sri Lanka do when England attack them?
It’s in the first ten overs that there will be the most pressure I think. If you look historically, they have been attacking in that first ten overs and getting runs on the board quickly. We have got some plans to counter that. And we know this is how they will play.Related

• Ian Bell named SL batting coach for Test tour of England

• SL raise security concerns about England Tests due to UK riots

• SL call up Ratnayake, Tharaka for England Tests

• Madushka, Mathews, Dhananjaya find form against England Lions

We have to bowl in the right places, and if they hit the good balls, that’s okay. We need to identify the right lengths given the conditions. There will be times when we need to cover the areas of the field where they are attacking, to cut down the boundaries.This is the first time since 1998 that Sri Lanka are playing in England late in the summer. To what extent will that help?
The fact that we have got a late-summer tour is great, because a lot of wickets have been used a lot, and there’s more sunshine at this time of year. It’s more similar to our conditions than the early summer tours. I have made sure the players know it’s a great opportunity.You have been a consultant at the High Performance Centre since December, before being the interim coach. Could you explain more about what that role entails?
When Chris Silverwood was still the coach, my job with the national team was to consult with Chris and decide the team, to address any communication gaps with the players, and to share my experience with Chris. After his contract ended I got the India tour and England tours as interim coach.

“The fact that we have got a late-summer tour is great, because a lot of wickets have been used a lot… It’s more similar to our conditions”

We had a bit of responsibility during the India series, because they sent a full side. We backed our strengths and figured out our advantages, then played to those. I managed players and the coaches. On the coaching side, there was some fine-tuning to do, and the players also had to be motivated. I tried to create an environment of freedom, with the encouragement to play their natural games.We played really well in that ODI series and beat India for the first time in 27 years. It’s not something I can do myself. I had support from the other staff and SLC. Kumar Sangakkara also brought Zubin Bharucha [Rajasthan Royals team director] to run a programme for the batters, and Lasith Malinga was also involved in advising the bowlers. I’m very grateful to Sangakkara and Malinga. We need that help and we need all of them to keep contributing.What are Sri Lanka’s strengths going into this series?
We have an experienced batting order. Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal – they have all played a lot of cricket. We have the personnel there, but we need to fight hard. If you play six or seven batters, only two or three will perform for sure. If they get a start they need to play big innings. They know they have that responsibility on challenging wickets.Everyone should play their natural game, but once you get that start, there are places where you need to break things down a little, and either bat quickly, or slow down for a bit. When the ball gets older, it can still seam here, which is the uniqueness of the Duke ball.Jayasuriya on Karunaratne: “He knows what his strengths and weaknesses are”•AFP/Getty ImagesOpening is often pretty tough in England, but you have got Sri Lanka’s most prolific Test opener in your team. How important is Karunaratne going to be?
He is a very strong-minded player. He knows what his strengths and weaknesses are, and has worked on them. He can do something major on this tour.Several players here are single-format Test cricketers. Is there a hunger you are sensing that comes out of that?
I want to make sure there is that hunger. Playing three Tests like this, this is not an opportunity you will get easily again. So we have to take it while we can. Scoring runs here is challenging, because even if the pitches are flat, the ball can still start swinging, or seaming. We have to know how to adjust to that.There’s not quite as much experience on the seam-bowling front, though Vishwa Fernando did play three games for Yorkshire this season. How are the bowlers looking?
They have prepared well. Vishwa has played a lot of cricket, and the cricket he played in the last couple of months here in England would have been fantastic for him. He would have learned a lot and he will help the others with that. Asitha Fernando has played here a bit too. Lahiru Kumara is coming here after an injury and has a little bit of rustiness about him, but if we get his rhythm right, we will be in great shape. Others like Kasun Rajitha and Nisala Tharaka are there too.One area in which Sri Lanka have struggled for several years on overseas tours is with injuries to fast bowlers. How have you tried to counter that?
That’s something that’s out of our control. The players and the physios and trainers are all doing their part in terms of strength and conditioning. We know that it will be colder here and what we need to do in those conditions. They are doing everything possible. But we have got all the bowlers that we wanted here.What are your own plans after this tour? Sri Lanka Cricket is currently looking for a head coach…
Sri Lanka Cricket must be looking for a new coach. I think they have advertised and must be interviewing candidates now. I’m not involved in that process. I’m at the High Performance Centre. One thing I want to do is to give our batters long batting sessions, which is something that Zubin talked about. It’s important for batters to get batting for two-three hours. I want to take that process forward with the other coaches and improve our batting.