Plays of the day from the first ODI between Australia and Pakistan at the Gabba

Daniel Brettig13-Jan-2017The big two, in twoIn his dreams before arriving in Australia, Mohammad Amir would have pictured a scenario something like this: swinging the new ball, he pins down David Warner with a series of back of length deliveries that test the opener’s desire to get off to a typically rapid start. When Warner can stand it no longer and has to manufacture a shot, Amir bowls straighter and fuller, with enough away swing to beat the angled bat and zip off the bails. Next ball, Steven Smith walks out conscious of the movement he has just seen, and so follows a ball angled artfully across for an instant edge behind. Amir’s dream came true at the Gabba, unfortunately too late for the Test series.The chip shotFor the most part, Glenn Maxwell played with good sense in a difficult situation, eschewing many of his more extravagant brainwaves for strike rotation with the odd boundary. But like a magician taken with a new trick, he became increasingly enamoured with chip shots as his innings went on. A slightly crusty, used Gabba pitch allied itself to the stroke, but Maxwell landed several just short, or just beyond, Azhar Ali’s field. When he skied a last attempted chip to offer up a simple catch on 60, Maxwell made his dismay clear. But not for the first time many at the Gabba could wonder at how necessary it all was.The taxing twoFor a long time it seemed Matthew Wade would be content with a strong rearguard to get the Australians up towards 250. But his late acceleration and the help of last man Billy Stanlake offered Wade the chance for a fine hundred. With two balls to go he needed three runs, and when he completely mis-hit Hasan Ali’s penultimate delivery it seemed he’d finish the innings stranded on 98, because only a single seemed possible. But Wade hared down the wicket as the ball bobbled away behind square leg, and turned with only the thought of a sprinted second. Stanlake was a little slow to respond, but the committee of Pakistan fielders that assembled at the striker’s end were unable to gather the return, and Wade was set up for a triumphant finish to the innings.The juggleMitchell Marsh is no stranger to the odd dramatic catch – see his stumbling but successful effort to claim Virat Kohli at a critical point of the 2014 Adelaide Test against India. But the effort to claim Mohammad Rizwan was very much the kind to cause spectators to spill their beers. Running to his left, Marsh got to the high chance with enough time, but his momentum caused him to fumble and then lose his footing. Sticking out a hand in hope, Marsh was gratified to find the ball landing right in the middle; the Gabba crowd were briefly dumb, then expansively delirious.

Leading up to the tenth IPL, a look at the ten most successful batting pairs in the tournament’s history

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-201710. Rahul Dravid – Ajinkya Rahane, 1145 runs in 32 innings at 35.78Master and pupil. Idol and protégé. For three seasons between 2011 and 2013, Dravid and Rahane were among the most prolific opening partnerships in the IPL, building strong platforms for the Royals’ middle order to launch from. Despite so many runs together, only 53% of these games ended in a Royals victory – a percentage which only dips further in run chases.9. MS Dhoni – Suresh Raina, 1159 runs in 43 innings at 28.97Dhoni and Raina were pivotal in Super Kings’ back-to-back title wins, and it is not surprising that significant partnerships between them almost always steered their side to victory. Perhaps the most striking aspect is the variety of situations they handled with ease. Top-order collapse? No problem. Late-innings surge? Leave it to us. Over two-thirds of their runs together came in Super Kings victories, an indication of their combined worth.8. Michael Hussey – Suresh Raina, 1166 runs in 29 innings at 41.64Hussey and Raina often came together after an early wicket at the top of the order, and quite often left their side in a position of total dominance. With a strong middle order to follow, they had the license to go after the bowling after steadying the ship. The duo’s true worth is reflected in the fact that nine of their ten fifty-plus stands came in winning causes.When Raina and Hussey were on song, their side invariably ended up winning•AFP7. Ajinkya Rahane – Shane Watson, 1169 runs in 29 innings at 41.75Royals’ march to the playoffs in 2013 was thanks largely to Rahane and Watson putting together invaluable stands at the top of the order. At one point, six of their seven league victories that season were set up by the duo. While Watson’s hitting abilities certainly helped score at a healthy clip, Rahane scored faster than his overall rate when batting with Watson.6. Brendon McCullum – Dwayne Smith, 1257 runs in 34 innings at 36.97A firebrand combination that only came together in 2014, McCullum and Smith have made it a habit to deflate opposition bowling attacks early on, sending them on leather hunts, as the Super Kings middle order then piled on the agony. They continued their destructive partnership under the Gujarat Lions banner in 2016. After three seasons together at the top of the order, the duo’s numbers tell a simple story: when they put together a stand of any significance, their side almost always ended up winning.5. Michael Hussey – M Vijay, 1367 runs in 35 innings at 40.2Hussey and Vijay are among the four pairs on this list to have put together over 1000 runs in match-winning causes. It is an astounding number, considering neither batsman started off the IPL with a big-hitting reputation. Between 2011 and 2013, the pair put together a number of significant stands in must-win fixtures, the most notable of which was their 159-run epic against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2011 final.4. Gautam Gambhir – Robin Uthappa, 1478 runs in 39 innings at 37.89Kolkata Knight Riders’ title-winning run in 2014 was courtesy Uthappa and Gambhir setting up games with dominant opening stands. As the season approached its final stages, their stands read 121, 106, 68 and 58 at one point, part of their hot streak of 14 wins in the lead-up to the final. In subsequent seasons, their opening partnership has continued to be among the most successful in the tournament.Warner and Dhawan had a phenomenal run in the 2016 IPL•BCCI3. Shikhar Dhawan – David Warner, 1711 runs in 36 innings at 48.88In a span of three seasons, Dhawan and Warner have accumulated nearly 1200 runs together in winning causes for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Statistically, no other pair on this list has put together fifty-plus stands with the frequency of this duo. Yet another feisty and consistent combination at the top of the order took Sunrisers to their first IPL title in 2016.2. AB de Villiers – Virat Kohli, 2117 runs in 50 innings at 45.04While team aggregates of 200-plus are still considered match-winning in T20 cricket, De Villiers and Kohli have become the only pair in the format’s history to put on two stands of over 200 on their own. It is hard enough for opponents when one of them is in form; when both wreak havoc in conjunction – as they have with astonishing consistency – they smash a number of records with their barely believable hitting abilities.1. Chris Gayle – Virat Kohli, 2512 runs in 54 innings at 52.33Virat Kohli’s batting position ahead of AB de Villiers for Royal Challengers Bangalore has meant he has strung together many a heavy-duty opening stand with Chris Gayle. Apart from a dip during the 2014 season, the pair has been remarkably consistent, taking their side to a slew of 200-plus totals batting first.

A look at some of the games that summed up the themes the tournament has come to embody over the years

Osman Samiuddin22-May-2017 • Updated on 10-Feb-2025A tool for cricket’s expansion; a bloated, pointless tournament; a World Cup warm-up; a test of the best; a dead man walking – the Champions Trophy has had more identities than a CIA convention. Here is a history through eight matches that reveal most about each edition of the tournament. (Now updated with a match from 2017 added.)1998: A cracker in BangladeshZimbabwe vs New Zealand
So much about the tournament’s uneven, thin history makes sense if we go back to the first match played in its name. Also, the name: it wasn’t the Champions Trophy but the Wills International Cup, although gave it some gravitas by calling it the Mini World Cup.The idea for the tournament came from the sharp mind of the spiritual father of modern Indian cricket administration, Jagmohan Dalmiya. The tournament was created to raise funds and to spread cricket beyond its closed Test-playing world. That was reflected in its location: Bangladesh may have been third on the list, but only behind other outlandish outposts such as Disney World in Florida, and Sharjah.The accent was on money-making – Bangladesh themselves weren’t allowed to enter – and to generate revenues in the long four-year gaps between World Cups. It made US$10 million, a big deal for the ICC at a time when it was starting to take control of its events.Some bright spark thought opening with Zimbabwe vs New Zealand was a good move. They got this crackerjack game, won off the last ball with a four through extra cover by Chris Harris. That was the exclamation point on a chase that saw 40 taken from the last three overs. But it was played out to a half-empty stadium in Dhaka, which, in that cricket-obsessed nation, was some feat of administrative ineptness. And so a pattern was set: an event that gave us some fine cricket, if only we could be bothered watching it.2000: Out of AfricaKenya vs India
If they had previously paid lip service to growth, this time the ICC seemed serious. Now called the ICC Knockout, not only was the tournament staged once again in cricket’s developing world – Kenya – but both Bangladesh and Kenya were invited to play. That seemed to speak unequivocally of how the ICC expected this tournament to evolve.102 beats 117: Sourav Ganguly made a hundred for India, but Chris Cairns made one of his own in the chase from No. 5 to give New Zealand the title in 2000•Paul McGregor/ESPNcricinfo LtdKenya had beaten India in an ODI two years before this game, and not long after this, they would reach the semis of the World Cup; they were a decent investment for expansion. They were convincingly brushed aside in this opener at the Gymkhana Ground in Nairobi, though. Ravi Shah and Maurice Odumbe put together a partnership of some promise, but once Shah was out, the momentum petered out. A top order featuring Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Vinod Kambli was never going to be troubled by a paltry chase of 209, and so it proved.By and large, however, the tournament worked. The ICC made an effort – their pitch consultant Andy Atkinson was sent out a few months in advance to spruce up sluggish pitches, and they eventually proved excellent for 50-over cricket. The ground was given a facelift. And they ended up making more money than before – $13 million.But there were also clear signs of how difficult a task spreading the game could be. Attendances were low throughout – 4000 for this game, far less for others. And both games involving the hosts and Bangladesh were mismatches.2002: Two finals, many questionsSri Lanka vs India
Around this time, as it finally found the right name, the theme that has haunted the Champions Trophy since began to form: what was the point of it? And much of that bewilderment was encapsulated by the denouement of this edition. Somehow, an 18-day tournament featuring 12 teams, failed to produce a clear winner.Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya put on 90 in the first final in 2002•Clive Mason/Getty ImagesTwo finals were attempted on successive days between the hosts and India, and monsoon rains let neither be completed. The pair had thus to be content sharing the trophy. In an immediate sense, it was a great shame, because both games were tantalisingly poised. In both Sri Lanka batted first and did so gamely on a pitch that was becoming slower by the over. In both, Virender Sehwag provided a brief but chilling portent of what he could have done before the rain came.The games were ellipses at the end of the tournament rather than the exclamation point it needed. And they brought out all the frustrations that were building. Why, for instance, was it scheduled so thoughtlessly, just before the start of what is Sri Lanka’s second monsoon season? Why was it taking place mere months before the flagship ICC event, the World Cup, in the process devaluing both events? Why were there so many teams playing in it, if it wasn’t the World Cup and if the quality of competition was so reduced (Netherlands was a new invitee)? Why, why, why?2004: Candy from babiesAustralia vs USA
In less than three hours – which were embarrassing for pretty much everyone involved – the dream (or pretence, depending on whether you were a cynic or romantic) died. Until this game, expansion was a priority on the Champions Trophy agenda. The ICC kept the tournament bloated, with 12 teams; USA took the place of Netherlands, bringing into sharper focus the idea that the US was a market waiting to be broken into.Ricky Ponting’s plan was to win the toss and worry about a washout in his game – that’s how irrelevant the opponents were here. Duly, USA were bowled out for 65, though they managed to prolong their painful collapse over 24 overs. Australia chased down the target in less than eight overs, in what remains one of the greatest mismatches in ICC history. After the game, Ponting questioned the value of including teams such as the US – and even Bangladesh – in such tournaments.USA opener Mark Johnson gets cleaned up first ball by Brett Lee in 2004•Mike Hewitt/Getty ImagesThose comments were, effectively, the start of a modern cricket conversation that has taken place at every 50-overs ICC tournament since, and showed up the flimsiness of the ICC’s “dream” in the process. What price expansion? To what end? For more of these matches? And is expansion through exposure in such tournaments the best way? And if not, then what is the point of the Champions Trophy?2006: What’s the point?West Indies vs Zimbabwe
The dream may have died, but the ICC was still rubbing its eyes awake. Instead of removing potential mismatches altogether, they just moved them to before the tournament</a began, and called them qualifiers. This unwieldy format placed the tournament halfway between what it had begun as, and what it would finally become: the top six teams made it to the tournament automatically and two from the bottom four would make it after this qualifier.Zimbabwe were in the throes of administrative crises and were no match for a West Indies side that could still rouse itself for the odd occasion. Jerome Taylor and Ian Bradshaw throttled them at the start, and it went downhill swiftly. Chris Gayle finished with 3 for 3, an indicator of the quality of the batting. And then he was dropped twice in his 41, as West Indies strode to a nine-wicket win with more than 35 overs to spare.Australia ran roughshod over West Indies in a hopelessly one-sided final in 2006•Clive Mason/Getty ImagesNot only was a game such as this still pointless, it was now consigned to a portion of the tournament that nobody really cared about, and it meant the championship dragged on for a month. Barely 5000 people turned up, in a Gujarat stadium with a capacity of over 50,000. Months before the tournament began, Lalit Modi – at the forefront of a growing rift between the BCCI and the ICC – had rung the first death knell for the tournament, claiming India would not participate again because it interfered with their home season.2009: The right stuffAustralia vs Pakistan
Two and a half years had passed since the last global 50-over competition. In that time, the world had changed: the IPL was two editions young (preceded by the Indian Cricket League) and the ICC itself had squeezed in two World T20s. Meanwhile, ODIs were like: “Hey, Sri Lanka, this is India. Seven ODIs? ‘KBye.” The 50-over format was under serious threat and to save it came the Champions Trophy, itself terminally ill by now. Trust cricket to solemnly bring the existential angst.And yet, this was one of the better tournaments, a shot of adrenaline for itself and the format. It was tight – just a fortnight long, played out at two venues within driving distance of each other, on good surfaces, in a country expert at holding global sporting events. All pretence of expansion was gone: the top eight teams duked it out, no pre-qualifiers, no room for the weak. It may not be immediately evident from the results, but there was some riveting cricket, played at a time when Australia’s dominance was thought to be just a little shaky.Ishant Sharma got rid of England’s top scorers, Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara (here), off successive balls in the 2013 final•Getty ImagesAll that was good about it was captured in this low-scoring, slow-burning thriller, in which three teams had a stake. Australia won off the last ball, edging out India for a place in the last four. The pitch in Centurion was slow (but three days earlier had been good enough for 624 runs) and Australia looked in control until the 32nd over. Then, Mohammad Asif, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Saeed Ajmal combined to cause a dizzying collapse of 6 for 47. Australia’s cussedness eventually saw them home, and eventually to the title.2013: Cricket in a time of existential crisisIndia vs England
The ICC was so confident the Champions Trophy was dead that over a year before this tournament, they decided 2013 was the last one. In fact, this edition of the tournament wasn’t even supposed to have happened – this, remember, was supposed to be a Test championship playoff. But this tournament had barely ended before administrators were considering one more after all.The format was unchanged from 2009. Twelve of the 15 games were officially sold out and the cricket wasn’t bad (which might one day make for a decent epitaph for the tournament). But the irony of the final was too difficult to ignore. For one, in an effort to be short, sharp and sweet, the organisers had no reserve day planned (in England, always a rain check) for the final, which, at one stage, might have led to a repeat of 2002. Somehow a game was arranged but reduced to – wait for it – 20 overs. The final of a tournament under gravest threat from T20 forced to switch, as a last resort, to 20 overs: literally, you cannot make this up.At least it was a compelling game, decided by an audacious – or plain fortuitous – move by MS Dhoni in the 18th over. Against all reason he brought on the hitherto expensive Ishant Sharma; having conceded a six and two wides off his first four balls, Ishant took two key wickets to change the game. India, the spiritual birthplace of T20 cricket, ended as fitting winners.After Pakistan made 338 in the 2017 final, Mohammad Amir struck third ball of India’s chase, removing Rohit Sharma for 0•Getty Images2017: How to look a gift horse in the mouthIndia vs Pakistan
If you wanted a template for the dream ICC tournament – as drawn up by its leading members, ICC execs and broadcasters at least – this was it. A limited number of the best sides in the world duking it out. In a country with a diverse, cricket-beholden population, great stadiums, located in a friendly enough time zone for India to tune in. One that doesn’t go on for too long or get in the way of anything else. An India-Pakistan game. And oh, an India-Pakistan final please, thank you.It wasn’t a bad result for a tournament that, for a moment a couple of months ahead of its start, had been given a hard dose of the economic reality of these events. The BCCI was unhappy with a reworked revenue distribution model in which it felt India wasn’t getting enough, and so the threat of not playing the Champions Trophy was aired. It would have been financially ruinous for the event if India had not showed up, as it would be for any ICC tournament, and this kind of bargaining had come to be international cricket’s leitmotif over the years.The tournament itself threw up some fun games and results, though Australia could feel hard done by with two of their three group games abandoned because of rain (hello, English summer). Pakistan’s run to the final was quixotic. Their margin of victory in the final was comprehensive but so dominant had India been in ICC encounters between the two, it did not feel that comprehensive. At least not until Hardik Pandya was out. The Oval, heaving and buzzing with good vibes, was the perfect backdrop.And so, having had a tournament like this one, what’s the first thing cricket thought about? Scrapping it, of course. As ever, here it is eight years later – the longest gap between two Champions Trophy events – refusing to be scrapped.

Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha on preparations for England, and his team’s recent success in Sri Lanka

Interview by Mohammad Isam25-Apr-2017In your stint as Bangladesh coach since 2014, where would you rate Bangladesh’s recent tour to Sri Lanka?
I think it is up there as one of the best tours we’ve had in my time, in terms of results and performance. It is on par with the 2015 World Cup, which was a bit of a challenge to play in those conditions. Winning a Test in Sri Lanka is really tough. I am a bit disappointed that we didn’t win the ODI series. I was expecting to win the ODI series in Sri Lanka. In terms of attitude, it is also up there, after the first game.What is Bangladesh’s target going to be in the Champions Trophy? You face England, Australia and New Zealand in the group stages.
It is going to be a bit unknown for us. We haven’t played in England for a long time. It is going to be a big challenge for us. A lot of it will depend on the English summer. If it is going to be a dry summer, it will help us. Even if it is not, we are going early to prepare so we have equal chance with others. Having said that, we are playing against three of the best sides in the world. I can’t predict what we are going to do, but whatever we achieve in any of those games is going to be a big achievement.You and many of the players talked about a team meeting after the Galle Test. Do you think bouncing back to win in Colombo was because the team was able to put emotion aside and play?
I won’t say that there was a lack of emotion, but certainly after the meeting, they were all prepared not to put themselves down in the middle. It was what they decided.After the first Test, I was a bit frustrated with the closeness. We performed well but, from a winning position, we gave it away in New Zealand, especially in the Test matches. It continued to happen in Galle, so I was a bit disappointed. I asked the boys the questions and they came up with something. Always as coaches, we want them to take their own decisions in the middle. As long as they are responsible for their actions, that’s all we can ask for. That’s what they decided to do.Bangladesh started well in the ODI series but couldn’t close it out. What do you put that down to? Was it just one bad day?
We played a very good game in the first game. They got 300-plus in the second, but unfortunately the weather intervened. We were confident that the pitch was very good. If the game was reduced, it would have played into our hands as well.We had an advantage winning the toss in the third game. I am very disappointed with the way we bowled. It was not a bad day. We didn’t actually perform to our ability with the bat and the ball. We didn’t bowl well in the first 15 overs when there was something in it for the bowlers. They got off to a start. And when we were batting well in not-so-helpful conditions, we lost three wickets. So it can be put down to poor performance.”I think I have strong views of how I want to do my job and bring the best out of the Bangladesh team. I want to push the players to find their best form or potential in international cricket”•Raton Gomes/BCBAs the head coach, how do you see Mashrafe Mortaza’s retirement from T20Is? Were you surprised, or had he already informed you of his intentions?
I am not surprised by his retirement. All good players know when to quit. Mashrafe has a lot of respect from the playing and coaching group. He earns it. Players like him know when to quit. I think that’s what happened. Mashrafe thought that there was not much challenge in front of him in T20s. He thought that this is the best series in which to announce his retirement.I never expected him to make the announcement at the toss. But I think he timed it well, because good players know when to go – either when their performance is not good or they don’t have anything to look forward to.What is the role of senior players like Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah? Do you feel they should have greater roles in all three formats, or do you want to see them become format specialists?
I think they are all good players. They can play for more than ten years in international cricket. They all warrant their places in their own right. Of course, form goes up and down, but that can happen to any player. I can’t say that they should become specialists but, as I said before about Mashrafe, it is up to them to understand what they want to achieve in their career and how they want to contribute to the team. I think they still have the drive to play all three formats.How would you rate the progress of the youngsters Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman and Mustafizur Rahman over the last three tours?
All three players have contributed significantly in our overall performance in the last three tours. I think they are the future. They are holding their own in the international level, competing with other players.Are you planning to use T20Is to conduct your experiments, like bringing in rookie fast bowler Mohammad Saifuddin to play Sri Lanka recently? Do you want players to prove themselves in this format before being selected for Tests and ODIs? Is it like a replacement for the Bangladesh A team?
I wouldn’t say that it is an experimental ground. Because we don’t have a World T20 in the near future, it is where we can look at our combination. Our record says we are not a very good T20 team.We discussed one thing before the second T20I against Sri Lanka. We had a good team meeting again. The boys took the responsibility when we prompted questions about how we wanted to get better in T20s. They came up with how they wanted to play. We are going into unknown areas. We can’t do what we have been doing, because we are not being good enough to win T20s.It is not experimenting, but a way to find out our best combination in T20s. In terms of that, we will try to find the best way to play. Probably we will play a more expansive game depending on the conditions and the team we are playing against.”Mashrafe has a lot of respect from the playing and coaching group. He earns it. Players like him know when to quit”•Getty ImagesHow do you respond to criticism about being too powerful and authoritative? Does it bother you, or do you believe that a coach requires more power under his jurisdiction to operate better?
(Laughs) I don’t feel powerful or authoritative. I don’t know how people are saying… I find Bangladesh people very warm and friendly. I sometimes may sound authoritative, but it comes with my job. I have to make decisions and I have to be responsible for my decisions. But if you find me outside cricket, I am just another person.I think I have strong views of how I want to do my job and bring the best out of the Bangladesh team. I want to give something back to the passionate Bangladesh fans and push the players to find their best form or potential in international cricket. Going about doing this kind of thing, if I come across as authoritative, I am not half-bothered because I am doing my job.I don’t see myself as powerful. I am just the head coach, but with that comes certain power and I use it for the best of the team.Do you feel that the new selection system is working in the team’s favour now?
The selectors had to make some tough decisions in the last few tours, especially after the injuries in New Zealand and India, and then in Sri Lanka after losing four Tests in a row. We had to make four changes because of injuries and lack of form. So making these four changes and winning a Test is a credit to the selection, isn’t it? I don’t think, in history, there are many instances of a team making four changes after losing a Test to then win matches.At the same time, we have been consistent in giving opportunities to players like Saifuddin and bringing them up. We have been specific with what we want. The selection committee looked ahead to the future and has not been emotional and afraid to make judgement calls on form and what is needed for a particular game.What would be your target in the preparation camp in Sussex and in the tri-series featuring Bangladesh, Ireland and New Zealand?
The Sussex camp is all about getting used to the conditions. I mentioned earlier, we really want to get hold of our game, how we approach. We want to go and see how we want to play in the English summer. We know that it can be different every year. We want to find our best game plan, one that is suited to our ability and skill set.In Ireland, we want to win the series. We want to improve our ODI position in the rankings and, of course, it is a big challenge. It is not going to be easy. And we want to be prepared for the Champions Trophy in the best possible way.

Alastair Cook and Joe Root scored two of their softer hundreds against a West Indies attack low on confidence and quality

George Dobell at Edgbaston17-Aug-2017As Mark Ramprakash applauded the England batsmen into the dressing room at the end of a successful day, he could be forgiven if his mind wandered, just for a moment, back to his own experiences of playing West Indies.Back in 1991, Ramprakash made his Test debut against this opposition. The attack he faced in that match, a match which also saw Graeme Hick make his debut, consisted of Patrick Patterson, Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.It was, perhaps, as hostile and skilful a foursome of pace bowlers as Test cricket has ever seen. And a strong-looking England side that also contained Graham Gooch, Mike Atherton, Allan Lamb and Robin Smith – all terrific players of pace bowling – was bowled out for 198 within 80 overs. Hick faced 31 balls for his 6 and Rampakash battled for 103 deliveries in making 27. There were 23 boundaries in the entire innings.Compare that to the attack faced by Alastair Cook and Joe Root in this match at Edgbaston. Sans the pace, hostility or control of the class of ’91, they conceded 47 boundaries in their first 80 overs and, while Ramprakash and co didn’t face an over of spin, this West Indies side offered it at both ends in twilight when the second new ball was available. Ramprakash, now England’s batting coach, would be quite entitled if, in a quiet moment, he reflected how his own international playing career might have developed had he faced such opposition.Now, it is unfair to continually compare modern West Indies sides with their forebears. They were, to some extent, freakishly good and it is no more Jason Holder’s fault that he does not command such an attack as it is his fault that he can’t fly.But it is fair to compare this West Indies attack to that put out by South Africa in the recently concluded Test series against England. And it is fair to conclude that, well though Cook and Root played here, their innings of 88 (at The Oval) and 49 (at Old Trafford) respectively were, in their way, more admirable.That is not to take anything away from either of them. Almost from the start here, Cook drove fluently through the covers – usually a sign that he is at his best – and the consistency with which Root is scoring runs in all conditions – this was the 11th Test in succession in which he has contributed a half-century at least – marks him out as special. Cook suggested he might be the best he had played with; it’s hard to disagree.But the number of boundary deliveries bowled at them, the fallible fielding, the lack of threat for much of the day, rendered these unusually soft Test centuries. And they were a reminder that, for all the success of the novelty of the day-night Test – a great success in terms of attracting spectators to the ground – it only provides a sticking plaster to the wounds facing Test cricket.

It was Stoneman’s great misfortune to receive by far the best delivery of the day: a peach of a ball that offered to swing in, then left him off the seam to clip his off stump

“I don’t know why hundreds are such a big thing,” Cook said afterwards. “But as a batter you are judged by hundreds. I felt that innings of 88 at The Oval was as good a knock as I could play in those conditions against four quality seamers. Today was different: the sun was out and the pitch was flat.”Ramprakash and Hick may not have been the only ones shaking their heads ruefully as they watched events unfold at Edgbaston. Spare a thought for Gary Ballance and Keaton Jennings, too. Both struggled in the series against South Africa on far more testing conditions and against a far more demanding attack. Both may be judged permanently on their struggles.In Ballance’s case, in particular, that would be harsh. Three times in his four innings against South Africa, he reached 20. And, while he failed to capitalise on those starts, he had at least taken some of the sting out of the ball and the bowlers which may well have rendered life a little easier for those that followed in the middle-order. It is impossible to predict how he would have fared against this attack in these conditions, though he would surely have found life much easier.That is not to say Ballance is necessarily one of the men England should be taking to Australia. He still has questions to answer against the sort of pace he may face there and his two more recent runs in the side have produced consistently disappointing returns. But it was reminder that we are fools if we judge players by raw stats or limited appearances.Certainly Mark Stoneman will hope he is not judged on his first Test innings. It was his great misfortune to receive by far the best delivery of the day: a peach of a ball that offered to swing in just a touch, then left him off the seam to clip his off stump. The word “unplayable” is one of the most over-used in cricket (“promising” runs it close), but this delivery just about qualified. “There’s not much you can do about that,” Root told Sky ruefully after play.There was better fortune for Dawid Malan. Missed at slip (off a spinner) on 2 and almost struck by a bouncer from Kemar Roach, it was his fortune to be given something of a breather when West Indies delayed taking the second new ball. It was only a couple of overs but Malan was on 7 at the time – four of which had come from an edge – and looking far from comfortable. Sometimes these moments can have enormous ramifications. Rarely does a Test side show such a lack of ruthlessness and rarely does a coach look as frustrated as Stuart Law, who quickly send a message on to the pitch to implore his team to take the new ball immediately.”We had discussed that,” Roddy Estwick, West Indies’ bowling coach, said. “So it was disappointing. We had to send a quiet reminder on to the pitch. We conceded 53 boundaries; it shows we were very inconsistent.”They sure were. The sight of Root bringing up his century with a pull for four off a filthy, wide long-hop down the leg side said it all. England were efficient and ruthless, but rarely will they have it so easy.

Dane van Niekerk had talked up South Africa’s pace bowlers coming into this tournament. You couldn’t fault her assessment after their demolition job against West Indies

Firdose Moonda in Leicester02-Jul-20172:34

‘Couldn’t have asked for anything better’ – van Niekerk

Dane van Niekerk did not need to see West Indies reduced 16 for 5 to know she had the most destructive opening pair in the women’s game. She knew that weeks ago.Pre-tournament van Niekerk proudly called her attack “the best in the world.” She promised Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp would supply a formidable combination of speed and swing, the kind South African teams are known for. She warned opposition line-ups they would not know how to handle them. She didn’t say anything about herself.In fact, van Niekerk’s prediction was that the “spin to win” mantra of women’s cricket would be forced into a supporting role in English conditions. She spoke about needing to adjust lines and lengths, changing mindsets to become more containing and allowing the quicks to come to the fore.But glance at the scorecard of this match again, blink once or twice to make sure of what you are seeing, and you won’t be able to miss which figures stand out. Beyond the 48 West Indies totalled, the ten single-digit scores on their batting card, Ismail’s 2 for 16 and Kapp’s 4 for 14, there is van Niekerk’s match analysis: 3.2-3-0-4.She is the only bowler in the world, male or female, to take four wickets without conceding a run in internationals, and she admitted she was both stoked and stunned by the returns. “Not to sound naive, but the ball’s not coming out great. I don’t know what happened. I can’t tell you what happened. I can’t even tell you I bowled to a plan — I was just hoping to land it, to be honest,” she said afterwards. “I bowled so many full tosses in the nets, I was just thinking, ‘Don’t bowl a full toss’. I guess they just missed the balls. I can’t say I bowled to a plan. I’m going to lie if I said that I did. I’m just glad I pitched the ball.”Eye-catching as her numbers are, especially against the backdrop of the tough training she had the day before, let’s not be, in van Niekerk’s words, “naive” about the impact she had on the game. By the time she brought herself on, West Indies had already lost.They were defeated by South Africa’s opening pair who had just the right amount of grass on the pitch and just the right amount of warmth and moisture in the air to be at their very best. They made their opposition look worse that what they really were.”I looked at the dismissals and the way the ball moved and any batter in the world would probably struggle,” van Niekerk said. “Shubby was nipping them back, and Kappi was swinging the ball miles – we know when they are on song that is what happens. They’re going to trouble most of the best batters in the world.”West Indies will have to question their shot selection, which started off merely lacking in defence, and then degenerated into complete carelessness. By the time van Niekerk was brought on, the sweep and the hoick were being employed, as though even the batsmen wanted the innings over as quickly as possible. Though Hayley Mathews insisted the problem does not go any deeper than “lack of execution”, the side that strode to World T20 victory last year seem to be down on confidence.South Africa are the complete opposite. “It’s surreal. If I could script it, I couldn’t script it any better. We had our plans coming into the game and, umm, they worked,” van Niekerk said. “To the tee. Our opening bowlers are world-class.”Though they have yet to come up against three of the top four teams at this event – Australia, England and India – and had a washout against New Zealand, South Africa’s dominance over higher-ranked West Indies went some way to justifying van Niekerk’s claim about their potential. The real proof is still to come with the matches they have left in the pool stage, starting with England on Wednesday.South Africa know it and so they chose to prepare almost immediately. Instead of allowing themselves an afternoon off, they decided to use the time they had gained to train. Ayabonga Khaka, for one, wanted to bowl six complete overs before leaving Grace Road. “The last thing we want to do is sit in the changeroom, have a drink and put our feet up,” van Niekerk said.Really? “Well, we came here to win a World Cup. That’s our goal.”

A hat-trick, runs for Kohli and a raucous Kolkata crowd cheering India on to victory

Sabyasachi Chowdhury22-Sep-2017Choice of game
An India-Australia clash generates a fair amount of buzz and I didn’t want to miss out on witnessing the match live at the Eden Gardens. There’s always immense pleasure in watching a contest with a packed house at one of the most renowned stadiums in the country.Team supported
Virat Kohli’s men have simply been stupendous in limited-overs cricket and have also been able to roll their oppositions over without much fuss. On the other hand, Eden Gardens hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for India in ODIs as they have lost quite a few games at the iconic venue. However, I still prayed for them to dictate terms to the visitors and register their second victory of the series.The climate
In the days leading up to the match, it rained cats and dogs in Kolkata. During the Indian innings, the clouds and the sun seemed to play hide and seek way too often.Dark clouds hovered over the stadium for the entire length of the innings when India batted. It rained eventually, but thankfully it wasn’t menacing enough to force a reduction in overs.Wow Moment
Kuldeep Yadav’s googly to dismiss Patrick Cummins, which fetched him the hat-trick. After Kuldeep got rid of Matthew Wade and Ashton Agar off consecutive deliveries, everyone waited in anticipation of what he would dish out in his hat-trick delivery.The left-arm wristspinner bowled a wrong’un to Cummins. The batsman pushed tentatively at the ball, more in hope than with conviction, and it took the outside edge of his willow.One thing I’d have changed
Virat Kohli’s dismissal, against the run of play, was the only thing I would have liked to change in the game. The pitch wasn’t a batsman’s paradise, but Kohli made batting look extremely easy. He blended caution with aggression and hardly played any extravagant stroke, which could have led to his dismissal.Every shot he played had a stamp of authority on it and he hardly looked out of touch during the course of his knock. It’s unfortunate that after doing the hard yards, the Indian skipper missed out on the three-figure mark.Crowd meter
It wasn’t a full house at the Eden Gardens, but it didn’t affect the decibel-levels. The atmosphere was absolutely electric and so was the crowd. There wasn’t any dearth of enthusiasm in cheering for their favourite team.Crowd comment
Over the past few years, several comparisons have been drawn between Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. However, this time around another member of the Indian cricket team has been compared to the Master Blaster.An Indian fan, sitting on the row behind me, commented that Kedar Jadhav is somewhat similar to Tendulkar. It was a statement which left me completely perplexed as I had absolutely no idea of the reasons behind the comment.Face-off you relished
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah bowled exceptionally well in the first ten overs. While Kumar nipped out the wickets of David Warner and Hilton Cartwright, Bumrah bowled with venom and ferocity to maintain the pressure from the other end.However, Steven Smith and Travis Head weathered the storm and didn’t allow the Indian opening bowlers to get under their skins. An array of streaky boundaries flowed and they eventually survived the new-ball bursts from Kumar and Bumrah.Shot of the day
Marcus Stoinis’ six on the leg-side off Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling was the shot of the day for me. Bumrah is an out-and-out fast bowler and clearing the boundary off his bowling is not a walk in the park. Bumrah went for an attempted yorker, but it went horribly wrong for him. It turned out to be a full-toss on the pads. Stoinis made a proper connection and the ball cleared the ropes by a fair distance for a flat six.Marks out of 10
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Jarrod Kimber watches India, and Smriti Mandhana in particular, produce a performance worthy of a World Cup opening fixture

Jarrod Kimber at Derby24-Jun-2017To get into the County Ground at Derby, you have to go around the Pentagon. It’s a roundabout with an impressive name. On the Pentagon is a giant pair of stumps to tell you how close you are to the ground. But there is also a smaller sign on the roundabout, one that one says: “Derby’s done it”.The “it” is to be the co-host of the Women’s World Cup, and to get the opening game. Derby doesn’t get a lot of world events followed by millions of people, so this means something for them. The staff and organisers looked nervous as the day started. The opening ceremony was underwhelming, featuring kids holding bits of coloured material that didn’t really represent the nations they were supposed to (Pakistan was teal, West Indies pink and New Zealand blue). And then the singing of the song was meant to be met with the flags being carried out on the ground, but instead, it was met by one man running manically across the outfield trying to get the attention of the flag holders.And if the game meant a lot to Derby and the organisers, think about what it meant to the women playing in it. This is the only tournament that they get on their own. The World T20 is tacked on to the men’s tournament. Women almost never play Test matches, and while their T20 leagues are growing, none of them has yet caught fire. The Women’s World Cup isn’t just the peak of women’s cricket; it’s the peak, the slope, and the entire mountain of the sport.Not to mention that, as the women’s game becomes professional, the pressure to perform and justify your contract also comes into play. They are no longer earnest amateurs and they are no longer playing for family and friends. The stage is bigger; so is the potential for failure.That extra pressure seemed to play on England and Punam Raut in particular, both of whom started tentatively. Raut amassed dot balls while being dropped early twice; England bowled either too short, or too wide, or both. If Smriti Mandhana was nervous, it was hard to see through the barrage of effortless back-foot square drives and brutal pull shots. If the World Cup wanted an opening ceremony, forget a few unorganised kids holding things, the 20-year-old Mandhana brought her own fireworks.The crowd was loving it. But then, the crowd seemed to love all of it. They lined up for autographs before the game and screamed for the first ball. Fathers explained the scoreboard and fielding ring to their daughters, boys and girls played throwing games out at the racecourse end, middle-aged women were signed up for cricket clinics by volunteers. A husband and wife (he suppported India, she supported England) argued over which team had the upper hand, and a teenage girl walked around the ground holding a 1990s vintage Hawk cricket bat. There was even a technical recreation of Jenny Gunn’s action with a father and son. Not to mention the normal cricket crowd of odd people scoring the match and one guy watching the action in between reading The Turncoat by Alan Murray.Derby’s County Ground doesn’t get to host many global events•Getty ImagesAlan Murray must be some writer to stop you from watching Mandhana slapping 90 from 72 balls. And if Mandhana brought a sledgehammer, Mithali Raj brought in a paintbrush. Wearing her floppy hat, she was stroking the ball like she was painting the scenery and not scoring a run a ball half-century. It was stunning, and not remotely as brutal as the manner in which she had smacked down the journalist who asked who her favourite male cricketer was before the tournament began.The press still hasn’t quite embraced the Women’s World Cup. No full-time cricket writer from an English newspaper turned up at Derby, despite the fact that the England’s men’s team isn’t playing today, let alone the fact that they are in the midst of a T20 series that couldn’t matter less if it were being played by sock puppets.It was only six years ago that John Etheridge, The Sun’s cricket writer, tweeted “Women’s cricket – what is worse? Those who criticise it or those who patronise it?” and followed up with “I’m sorry, but women’s cricket is a joke. The standard is truly appalling”. He went on to add: “I’m afraid that fewer than 10 per cent of cricket pundits (esp TV commentators) think it is any other than rubbish,” and “All the TV comms privately say it is appalling but, of course, they can’t say that on air”.In the last few years, attitudes towards women’s cricket have changed, especially among the press. But there is still a feeling that women’s cricket is such a rare event that it isn’t covered like a proper sport. It was Ellyse Perry, speaking to the BBC, who called for more critical analysis of the women’s game. Had more of the cricket press turned up today, they would have seen how much the women’s game has changed. Harmanpreet Kaur clipping sixes and muscling straight boundaries was a heavy-handed indication of that.England very much pioneered the professionalism in women’s cricket that Kaur’s shots represent. But, as the entire game’s standard and athleticism has risen, England are no longer the powerhouse they once were. This is a good sign for the world game, but England looked like also-rans in the last WT20, and even after dumping the great Charlotte Edwards in a bid to revitalise their cricket, today they didn’t look much better. Their new-look full-time and well-trained outfit managed two wickets in the first 49.5 overs of their bowling, which was a combined effort between bowlers and fielders. And then they batted. They lost early and frequent wickets, slowed down their tempo, rebuilt and came back, only to lose wickets again.They did make history, when Nat Sciver was given not out, and then out, making her the first-ever victim of DRS in women’s cricket history. But mostly they weren’t very memorable.When Heather Knight ran herself out by hitting the ball back to the bowler and taking off, England were pretty much out of the game due to being consistently poor in four parts of the match. But when Katherine Brunt came in to bat with Fran Wilson, they put together the kind of partnership that makes poor days end in wins. They took risks with their shots, and also started pushing their running to dangerous tip-and-run territory, but India couldn’t capitalise. In the final over of the Powerplay they took 17 runs, four of them boundaries, from Shikha Pandey. And suddenly England needed 76 off the final ten to win, just two more than India had scored in their final ten.Katherine Brunt’s dejection epitomises England’s collective display•Getty ImagesThen something amazing happened.Katherine Brunt gave herself room to cut from a full length to point, and took off. The ball travelled towards Deepti Sharma – and at this point, it is important to note that the Indian women’s cricket team received its first-ever fielding coach two weeks ago. It’s important to note it because Sharma ran in, picked up, turned and threw down the non-striker’s stumps like it ain’t no thing. The umpire didn’t even bother going upstairs; Brunt was lying on her back, covered in dirt.England never left the dirt.Ekta Bisht added another run-out, a clever one in her followthrough, that will guarantee that Biju George remains the Indian women’s fielding coach for some time. It wasn’t just any old player, it was Fran Wilson, England’s last hope. Wilson scored her 81 runs at better than a run a ball, and if anyone could have got the tail home, it was her. Instead she became England’s third and second-last run-out of the day. England’s loss was a true team effort.India were magnificent. They dropped some catches, and they got very nervous before Brunt was run out, but their bowlers and batsmen were in charge of match from start to finish.India were embarrassed in the last World Cup; they finished fourth in a four-team group in a World Cup that they hosted. This was a big event for them. They are now professionals; Raj’s comments got them more exposure, and they were opening the tournament against one of women’s cricket’s great sides. India’s women team needs one big moment; they lost embarrassingly to Pakistan women in the WT20 last year, a defeat that contributed to their failure to make the semi-finals of another tournament that they had hosted. They needed something big.The Indian team has not had a lot of big World Cup wins, so beating England in the first game certainly was Something Big. When Veda Krishnamurthy launched herself to complete the catch of Anya Shrubsole, they’d won, they’d done something big. India’s done it.

Bold selection calls, senior players mentoring youngsters, and an environment that sucked out mediocrity helps deliver maiden Ranji title

Vishal Dikshit in Indore02-Jan-2018Soon after arriving in Nagpur and signing the contract to take over from Paras Mhambrey as Vidarbha’s head coach at the start of the season, Chandrakant Pandit asked the state association’s vice-president Prashant Vaidya: “What happens to the prize money?”Vaidya thought he hadn’t heard Pandit right and asked: ” prize money [what prize money]?” Pandit was clear in his head and told Vaidya he was referring to the prize money the Ranji Trophy champions are entitled to. His planning of winning the Ranji Trophy had begun even before he had met the players.It started in his head, in his attitude, in his thinking. He had already won the title with Mumbai as a player and coach, but this Vidarbha team hadn’t even reached semi-finals in their past 60 attempts. Pandit knew the Mumbai attitude was not going to be enough, he had to be bloody-minded.”I started believing [that we could win the trophy] on the first day he [Pandit] came to Nagpur,” Vaidya recalls. “When he asked me about the prize money on the first day, I said, ‘Of course we will share the prize money’. This man was already thinking of winning the trophy, so I thought Vidarbha will definitely have a good season.”The seeds of Vidarbha’s success, however, were sown many years ago, right at the grassroots levels. The efforts took time and included chasing Pandit for “six-seven years”.After a forgettable Ranji Trophy campaign in 2013-14, in which they managed just a solitary win in eight matches, Vidarbha made it to the quarter-finals for the next two seasons. The encouraging results had a positive effect on their junior cricket too: in January 2017, Vidarbha’s Under-16 side lifted the Vijay Merchant Trophy at the same venue where the senior side would go on to lift their maiden Ranji Trophy crown.”The process takes time,” Vaidya says. “We started somewhere in 2009, when we got the residential academy working. Last year we did well with the juniors, this year as well. Of course, Chandu’s presence has got us here. I have been after him for six-seven years. For some reason or the other we could not get him. This year fortunately we got him and the results are there.”Pandit had been occupied throughout. He spent the last two seasons coaching Mumbai, the 41-time champions. He helped mastermind their most-recent title success, when they beat Saurashtra inside three days in the final in February 2016. He was replaced by Sameer Dighe for the want of “fresh faces and fresh outlook” after the side finished runners-up last season. While he stayed on to coach the side for the limited-overs competitions, a decision had been made.The sacking was ironic because his approach led to the unearthing of a number of talented cricketers. During his stint as Director of Cricket Operations at Kerala, Sanju Samson and Basil Thampi came through the ranks. When he moved to Mumbai, teen sensation Prithvi Shaw burst onto the scene, making a century on first-class debut during the 2016-17 Ranji semi-final against Tamil Nadu. Shreyas Iyer too hit the high notes with Mumbai, becoming the highest run-getter in a victorious 2015-16 season.PTI Now with Vidarbha for the first time, he handed 19-year-old Aditya Thakare, the fast bowler, a first-class debut in the final. Thakare, who was named as one of the reserves in India’s Under-19 World Cup squad, stepped up with a wicket in his first over with an outswinger. When the pitch eased out in the second innings, Delhi were showing signs of taking a bigger lead. Even though Thakare picked up no wickets this time around, he bowled with the new and old ball with precision and conceded only 14 runs in his 12 overs, including six maidens.”I would say that the credit for Aditya Thakare goes to Prashant Vaidya,” Pandit says. “He was talking to me about Thakare for maybe the last two-three games and I was not very keen, to be honest. Being an Under-19 boy, giving him an opportunity in the knockout phase would have probably put pressure on him.”But he [Vaidya] told me: ‘Why don’t you take him to the final and have a look at him?’ It really motivated me after looking at his performance for two days in the nets. Then I spoke to Faiz [Fazal, the captain] and he was also very impressed and said, ‘Sir, we should go with him’. The same type of history that you are talking about with Prithvi Shaw. Milind Rege, who was the chairman of the Mumbai selection committee, did the same thing that Prashant did. That clicked, so I thought this will also click. That is why I said let’s go [with him].”Vidarbha needed a fast bowler in the final because Umesh Yadav had to leave for South Africa after his subdued performance in the semi-final against Karnataka. Rajneesh Gurbani had already given them an edge with his match-winning performances of 12 wickets in the semi-final and seven in the quarter-final. He usually delivers better once the SG ball gets older. Now they needed a bowler who could move the new ball around too. Vidarbha had the option of going back to Lalit Yadav, who played seven out of their eight matches before the final, but Fazal thought Thakare had the “x-factor” they needed.Along the way, Pandit also laid emphasis on team unity and bonding. Ganesh Satish, a professional who came over from Karnataka after scoring a century in the final that they won in 2013-14, feels the transformation in their focus on excellence and not tolerating mediocre results has also helped.”I think apart from bringing in the discipline, the relaxed nature was thrown out of the dressing room,” Satish says. “Nobody could relax anymore, everyone had to be focused and determined, and everyone had that one goal of winning the trophy. Mediocre performances were not tolerated and everyone had to deliver.”Pandit firmly believes a team needs to stick together for several reasons, whether it shows in the results or not. “Basically, every team success is because of unity,” Pandit explains. “When you don’t do well, people say there is no unity. But it is not that way. The support staff were also equally contributing. Subroto Banerjee, the bowling coach, helped a great deal. If you look at the performance of the bowlers, especially fast bowlers, Gurbani has been taking so many wickets. That has also helped us in the dressing room.”Wasim Jaffer, Ganesh Satish, Karn Sharma, these are senior players, they have been role models in the dressing room. Akshay Wakhare is also there, [Akshay] Wadkar has peformed, [Aditya] Sarwate has performed. All these senior cricketers are in the dressing room and they pass on this very positive energy. They [the young players] have been watching them playing. We are grooming the youngsters.”I am very thankful to the [VCA] president and Prashant for giving us three extra players in the squad to groom them for the future. They can share in the experience of the dressing room, the captain can groom them. You see the young boy Thakare coming through. You could see the change, that a young boy is playing in the Ranji final. That makes a lot of difference.”PTI Satish was the third player in the dressing room to have won a Ranji title earlier, apart from Pandit and Jaffer. These three and Banerjee combined as the senior forces this time, to work out how to take them past that quarter-final barrier. The coaching staff assigned specific roles to the players, Jaffer worked with the bowlers and not just with the batsmen, match simulations were held to tackle the pressure situations.”They [the coaching staff] were very clear in terms of what roles were given,” Satish says. “This year there was something different. I felt definitely this team had something special in it – especially when we won that game against Bengal in Kalyani, we beat them at their home ground, I thought then that we had something different this year. If you see the previous years, our away performances were not that great but this year, beating Punjab in Mohali and then Bengal at their home ground… that gave us a lot of belief that we could beat the top sides.”Vidarbha ended the season in such fashion that they had three batsmen among the top 10 run-scorers of the season: openers Faiz Fazal and R Sanjay in second and third positions respectively, and Satish at eighth. On the chart of top wicket-takers, Gurbani shot up to second place, offspinner Wakhare was fourth and left-arm spinner Sarwate at 11th.Pandit knows his task is not over yet. Apart from winning the Irani Cup – played between the Ranji champions and a rest of India side – next, he wants to stretch this winning habit and make it sustainable season after season. He wants Vidarbha to become a force to reckon with.Vaidya said: “About the future as such, it’s more about consistency, that is what personally we would like to achieve. And see that there is constant flow of cricketers coming through and graduating to higher levels. That is the process we have started and that is the structure we want to build.”Vidarbha will now continue to dream with the clarity Pandit has given them. The state association, meanwhile, can think of what needs to be done with the prize money they win.

Four years after a meteoric rise and fall, the young left-arm spinner has gathered experience on bowling, international cricket, and life

Daniel Brettig31-Dec-2017In the four-and-a-half years since his memorable Ashes debut at Trent Bridge, Ashton Agar has shed the boyish brown hair and gained plenty of experience about spin bowling, international cricket, and life.His recall to the Australian Test team as a second spin bowler in the squad for the SCG match – a tradition in itself – is far from the surprise that surrounded his selection ahead of Nathan Lyon in 2013, having toured India as an intern earlier in the year. That experience was an adrenaline rush for many, particularly when he put together a masterful 98 at No. 11 alongside Phillip Hughes.But it is now generally accepted that Agar needed more time to develop his skills as a bowler and a lower-order batsman, something that he has now gained over numerous years of struggle and improvement. “I don’t look back on that too much,” Agar said. They are great memories, but I’ve definitely moved forward since then and I feel like I’ve improved as a player.”I was a kid. I was 19… I’m certainly better for the experience. I’ve grown up a lot since then. Life experience and cricket experience. I’m still reasonably young, but the time is now, so I’m just going to give it a good crack.”Agar’s first state captain, Michael Hussey, has written about the whirlwind of Agar’s initial selection. “After just three first-class games, the Australian selectors invited him on a national team tour to India to be a net bowler and gain experience from being around the team,” Hussey wrote in . “It sounded like the right thing to do, but the alarm bells went off for me immediately. I knew he would bowl really well, I knew the selectors had doubts over Nathan Lyon, despite investing eighteen months of hard work in him, and I had a sneaking suspicion they would see Ashton as the bolter who could fix everything.”Unsurprisingly, Ashton turned heads while with the team in India. I remember getting a message from the assistant coach Steve Rixon saying, ‘How good is this Ashton Agar? I think he should play the first Test in India.’ I thought to myself, ‘No way! Please don’t make this mistake!’ Ashton was nowhere near ready. In my opinion he needed three or four seasons of first-class cricket to learn and grow and have some idea of what he would be in for if he was to play Test cricket.”The selectors did not pick Ashton to play in India but he was thrown into the side for the first Ashes Test not long afterwards. I felt it was a huge mistake. Like in India, playing in the Ashes is akin to being in a cauldron. There are a multitude of distractions. There is so much hype and expectation. There are functions to go to, people to meet and huge interest from the media. There was no way this young fella could have been ready for that. For him to come out and score runs in his first match was a great achievement but it also created a perfect storm.”Hussey then watched as Agar slipped from public view and wrestled with his youth and his game. “For some time after the Ashes, Ashton was on a high while the public raved and the media loved him. But the wickets began to dry up,” Hussey wrote. “The harder he tried, the worse he performed. He became frustrated and had too little experience to draw from to help him to change course. Eventually, he got suspended in a match for showing dissent to an umpire.Ashton Agar celebrates his first wicket in Test cricket•Getty Images”Ashton went from Ashes superstar to possible has-been in an alarmingly short time. In my opinion the whole episode was very poorly handled. The duty of care to this young Australian cricketer was pretty much ignored. If everyone associated with making the decision to pick Ashton had just been patient and let him develop, he would have held on to his youthful zeal, grown gradually in confidence, expanded his knowledge and been much better off in the long run.”He could have made the regular mistakes that young guys do and worked his way through them away from the spotlight. He should have been given space to learn about bowling, learn about life and enjoy the maturing process. I believe Ashton will come through this chastening experience and become a fantastic player. But I worry it will happen a lot later than it otherwise would have.”At 24, Agar is now in the position where the selectors wish to employ him as often as conditions will allow, the better to help him grow into the sort of spin bowler Australia will need for future Asian assignments such as facing Pakistan in the UAE in 2019, before facing India once more in 2021. At the same time, he has worked to better groove his bowling action, evidence of which was seen in Bangladesh earlier this year. Other spin bowlers, such as Jon Holland, Steve O’Keefe and Mitchell Swepson, have also emerged, but there is no question about the preference for Agar in the minds of the selectors.”We’ve worked on my action a little bit a few years ago. Its just been a lot of bowling and self-confidence,” Agar said. “All you’ve got is yourself out there and it’s certainly grown. It’s more just understanding my basics and how to consistently bowl my best ball – which is what you have to do in Test cricket.”You have to consistently hit that length and challenge the batter’s forward defence, so that’s what I’ve worked on. I feel better coming into a Test match now. It doesn’t feel too fresh or too out of the blue. Playing the one-dayers in India was a pretty whirlwind experience. So I certainly feel a lot better walking out onto the SCG now.”Lyon, of course, has made enormous strides in that time too. Four years after Agar unseated the older Lyon, the pair may now finally play an Ashes match in tandem.