He bowls controlled left-arm spin, hits the ball hard and is a livewire on the field, and just like his hero did a decade ago, Anukul Roy is making a big impression at the Under-19 World Cup

Shashank Kishore in Mount Maunganui21-Jan-2018Three games into the tournament and India are sitting pretty.Papua New Guinea were vanquished in three hours, Zimbabwe in little over four. Once Australia were clinically dismantled in the opening game, India emerging group toppers was all but a formality, assuming, of course, that no game was rained out.India have had it so easy so far that they have had the luxury of experimenting with their XIs. This has made little difference to the outcome. That is now a week in Tauranga wrapped up. Being based in the same city for the course of the group stages – largely owning to broadcast considerations – has allowed India to add some fun to their training routines without going through the regular protocols of hotel check-outs, flights, security clearances and acclimatising to new cities, unlike some of the other sides.On Saturday, those who haven’t had enough batting time underwent a net session in the morning. Post lunch, the team enjoyed a day out at Rotarua, famous for its geothermal hot springs and lakes. When they finally fly out of Tauranga on Sunday, they will do so with the knowledge that they have a week’s break and plenty of time in Queenstown ahead of their quarterfinal. The one person for whom the journey could be particularly sweet is Anukul Roy, the left-arm spinner.Roy’s Under-19 World Cup dream nearly crashed even before it took off. A stress-related ankle injury forced him to miss the Under-19 Challenger Trophy in November, the tournament that helped the selectors pick the final 15 from a 35-member longlist. Roy also missed the Under-19 Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur. He came into the World Cup straight out of rehabilitation and hours of bowling at India’s pre-tournament camp in Bengaluru.The team management obviously saw something in him. Rahul Dravid gave Roy the confidence that he was in consideration and asked him to focus only on his recovery. Whether this was a way to lift an impressionable 19-year old from a setback or an absolute show of confidence in his abilities, Roy has earned his stripes so far in the three games India have played. Against PNG, he picked up his maiden five-for in Youth ODIs. Against Zimbabwe, he picked up four wickets with his loop and flight. In the tournament-opener against Australia, his control against batsmen looking to go after him in the face of an escalating required rate stood out. In a side bursting with spinners – there are four others capable of completing their 10-over quotas – Roy has quietly left his imprint.Roy admits to being unsure of his place before the tournament. “I was disappointed to miss out on the Asia Cup”, he says. ” (I’ve often been injured, especially ahead of big matches). I was scared. The Challenger Trophy was the selection matches, but Rahul sir said you need rest, and the World Cup is the big tournament. Still, somewhere there was a fear that I won’t be selected because others were performing well in the Challenger Trophy. But Rahul sir showed confidence in me.”The show of confidence stemmed from Roy’s deeds on the tour of England in June-July, when he the highest wicket-taker in the Youth ODIs (10 wickets in four matches). He made a mark with the bat too, scoring 43 not out in the first match of that series. Here, against Australia, he was promoted to No.5 in India’s quest for quick runs. In short, his role is not dissimilar to Ravindra Jadeja’s in one-day cricket: bowl tight and score quick runs when needed. Roy, like Jadeja, is also a livewire on the field, with an excellent throwing arm. “I look up to him,” Roy says. “His energy on the field is brilliant, I like his intensity on the field.”Roy’s journey has not been easy. He comes from Samastipur, a town in northern Bihar. He grew up playing tennis-ball tournaments in the small town, and moved to Jamshedpur in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand in pursuit of serious cricket once his school coach and older siblings were convinced he was mature enough to live by himself.”In Samastipur there wasn’t much scope to improve my cricket, so I went to Jamshedpur and joined an academy there. Then I started understanding cricket,” he says. “Living away from home was difficult, but since Bihar did not play in the Ranji Trophy, I had to make the move early. I used to stay in a paying-guest accommodation first, which I hated. Then I moved in with a few friends. It was tough because I didn’t have much money in my pocket, but I at least did the basics well and kept playing matches.”Roy’s family wakes up early on every India matchday to tune in and watch their boy play for India. This was a distant prospect in 2010, when all Roy would do was shadow-practise while cricket was on TV. Some even mocked him. Now he has taken some significant steps in his cricketing journey. He hopes to play first-class cricket soon and take it from there. Before that, he has potentially three more matches at this Under-19 World Cup.”I didn’t expect to play so it’s a bonus,” he says. “I go out to enjoy every game. Keep learning, keep trying and good things will happen. If we win, it will be the best thing that will happen to all of us at this age. It could be the start of something big.”

Despite having won only one match in the tri-series in Bangladesh, Graeme Cremer and Co believe they have what it takes to make it to the 2019 World Cup

Mohammad Isam31-Jan-2018Zimbabwe are making some bold decisions in the hope of developing a side full of confident cricketers who will do well in the World Cup Qualifiers in March.Even though they are ranked No. 10 on the ODI table, their senior leadership is looking at giving players a good run in the team and not dropping them after one or two bad performances. In the just concluded tri-series in Bangladesh, they lost three out of four matches but stuck to the same playing XI. Many teams would have dropped a young fast bowler after he delivered four no-balls and went wicketless for 31 runs in four overs on debut. It was easy to misunderstand Blessing Muzarabani’s nervousness in front of a big crowd. But by his third game, he looked like he was starting to understand how to bowl in international cricket.Craig Ervine made only 15 runs in four innings, but he wasn’t dropped either. Any cricketer will tell you that such an assurance goes a long way in giving him confidence.Taking these decisions can’t be easy. Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer accepts his difficult position but says that such consistency has worked for them. “We try as hard as we can to give a particular team a long enough run,” Cremer says. “It is very tough for someone to play couple of games and then not play for a while. We have tried to give everyone a fair run. It is tough sometimes when someone is struggling. We know everyone’s ability, so it is never really an issue. Even if someone is out of form, it takes one innings or a good bowling performance. We are happy with selection in the last year.”This approach paid off in Sri Lanka last year, where Zimbabwe beat the home side 3-2 in the ODIs and pushed them all the way in the Test. They used only 14 players in the five-match ODI series. One of those who came into his own in Sri Lanka and in the tri-series in Bangladesh was allrounder Sikandar Raza, who has called the side a “band of brothers”.

“We have given guys the freedom, without the fear of being dropped. We have given guys the long run. They have become more positive now. We have tried to tell them to play freely”Graeme Cremer

“I don’t know if it makes it easier or harder, but I bring my own identity and a different flavour to the squad,” Raza says. “Everyone expects, loves and enjoys it. We come from different cultures in the team. We have all races joining together in one team.”Every time there’s azaan [the call for prayers from the mosque], my team-mates will remind me: it is your call for prayers. Some call it the alarm clock because it is time for me to pray. It shows my team-mates respect my beliefs and religion.”Nowadays there’s a new law that you cannot have a sub fielder if it is not an external injury. No one stops me [from leaving the field]. I am allowed to get a replacement, which shows that ICC has a lot of respect for it. When it is time for prayers, I ask my captain the best time to get five minutes. I respect him and he respects my faith and religion.”Raza says Zimbabwe cricket is moving towards a more professional set-up.”Since our chairman Doc [Tavengwa Mukuhlani] and Faisal [Hasnain] have joined hands and [Tatenda] Taibu and [Heath] Streaky have taken over, a lot of things have changed. A lot of professionalism has come into our attitude and preparation. How we think, behave, eat, live our lives and make our decisions. It is an exciting period in our careers. I just hope that we can turn it into our full potential and be there at the World Cup.”To be at the tournament in England next year, Zimbabwe have to finish in the top two in the World Cup Qualifiers, which will be played at home in two months. West Indies, Ireland and Afghanistan will be the other Full-Member nations fighting Zimbabwe for those spots, along with six Associate teams.”I am not scared – never been for any challenge,” Raza says. “Excited, yes. There’s a lot of good cricket coming and there’s something to achieve at the end of it, which is to go to England for the World Cup.”I am nervous before every game. It is a sign that every game means something to me. You want to win games for your country. We are confident for us to qualify. It is the right frame of mind to be in.”Cremer acknowledges the pressure the hosts will be under and the difficulty of playing against much improved Associate sides.Sikandar Raza: “A lot of professionalism has come into our attitude and preparation. How we think, behave, eat, live our lives and make our decisions. It is an exciting period in our careers”•Raton Gomes/BCB”There’s huge expectations [on us],” Cremer says. “It is going to be a tough tournament. All the Associates are not where they used to be, especially Afghanistan and Ireland [now Full Members]. There’ll be the added pressure of playing in front of our home fans. But hopefully we can put that aside once we get on the field.”Cremer, who has been Zimbabwe’s captain role since June 2016, says his partnership with head coach Heath Streak has made a big difference to his on-field leadership.”I get along very well with Heath [Streak], who has been a past captain. He helps me to express what I need to to the team. It helps my own performance at the same time. I am really enjoying captaining the team.”We have given guys the freedom without the fear of being dropped. We have given guys the long run. They have become more positive now. We have tried to tell them to play freely.”Raza gives credit to their batting coach, Lance Klusener, for letting them think for themselves, rather than imposing his methods on the Zimbabwe batsmen.”He is constantly encouraging us to think about our own games. He has been hitting balls, throwing us balls and taking us through drills. He has given us a road map, mentally, to be successful. It is up to us now how hard we work,” Raza says.The way they are going, it will take some doing to beat Zimbabwe in the Qualifiers. Cremer says they have a team of experienced middle-order batsmen, skilful spinners and a pace attack now strengthened by the return of Kyle Jarvis and Brian Vitori.”We model our team around our spinners. We might have Sean Williams back by then. He is a huge asset. We have some real experience in the batting, although we didn’t show it in the tri-series.”We have guys like Hamilton Masakadza and Brendon Taylor, and now Sikandar Raza coming into his own. We have a well-oiled, all-round team,” he said.Cremer, Raza and the rest of the Zimbabwe side fly to Dubai to play five ODIs against Afghanistan before they head home to prepare for the Qualifiers. They know what they are doing, and if they continue to have the trust of their administrators, selectors and coaches, we will likely see them in England next year.

There were the makings of a full Broad ‘streak’ before rain brought an early tea, but this was the quick bowler at his menacing best

Andrew Miller at Lord's12-Aug-2018Four slips, leg slip, leg gully. Short leg. Silly mid-on. Silly mid-off. Two wickets in the over already, including a hat-trick of referred appeals. Virat Kohli back in the hutch and an intermittently soggy Lord’s now crackling like a heath fire. This was the Stuart Broad Effect. This is what it means to bend a Test-match innings to your will.Nobody in contemporary world cricket gets on a roll quite as remarkably as Broad. The signs that he is about to soar are as exhaustive as a final cabin check before take-off. Knees pumping: Check. Nostrils flared: Check. A mild sense of grievance after an excruciatingly near-miss: Check. And most importantly of all, a Test series that is begging to be seized: Checkmate.On seven occasions in his Test career to date, Broad has claimed five wickets or more in a single stunning spell, and had it not been for a merciful flurry of rain that allowed India to scarper for an early tea, that would surely have been eight today. Without exception, those previous interventions had come with the series still in the balance – most notably in three home Ashes deciders in a row from 2009 to 2015. Today’s break may have broken Broad’s rhythm (or more accurately his trance), but by then – and for the first time since the Johannesburg Test in 2016 – the contest had been snapped like a piece of kindling.”As a powerful performance, it was right up there,” said Broad. “We know we got the best of the conditions, but when we got them, there was a lot of skill in the side. When you get the ball swinging you can chase the game.”I was actually gutted when that rain arrived,” he added. “At Lord’s when you get those clouds it can zip quite late and it was really doing that, but when we came back after the tea break the clouds had lifted slightly, so that was a real shame because I was feeling in a great rhythm.”For Joe Root, England’s captain, all he had to do was harness that whiff of cordite, and keep it wafting underneath his bowler’s nose. “You have to make sure you don’t over-attack and get too giddy,” said Root. “But ultimately when someone is in that frame of mind, in that zone, it doesn’t really matter where you put the fielders. You know they’re going to ask the right questions, make it very difficult … it’s a lovely feeling to have as captain.”Broad’s fires had been ignited from the moment he returned for his second spell. Cheteshwar Pujara immediately aimed a loose swipe outside off, before Ajinkya Rahane inside-edged past his stumps two balls later. It was all the encouragement he needed to pick those knees up a touch higher and keep pounding that same sixpence of turf, just outside the right-hander’s off stump. In his very next over, Rahane’s resolve was splintered by consecutive deliveries that scuttled then kicked from the same awkward length. A fence to Keaton Jennings’ right at second slip, and Broad had been cleared for blast-off.”It was great,” said Root. “In his second over, he came up to me and said ‘I feel in really good rhythm today, and I’m looking forward to a long spell’ – which is exactly what you want to hear from one of your senior bowlers.””He didn’t disappoint – he bowled exceptionally well in those conditions, and it must have been very difficult to come up against that.”Stuart Broad’s spell before tea on the fourth day at Lord’s•ESPNcricinfo LtdThat is putting it mildly. Broad, like England’s other outstanding bowler of the week, Chris Woakes, endured a rough Ashes series – a loss of snap in his wrist exacerbated by nagging worries over his long-term heel injury – and he went into the New Zealand leg of England’s winter with his role as James Anderson’s new-ball partner under scrutiny, if not his overall place in the side.But in spite of a relative paucity of wickets in the first three innings of the series, the threat that went missing in Australia has been handsomely restored in the off-season – most notably thanks to some long and solitary hours of technical fine-tuning in the Trent Bridge indoor school ahead of the New Zealand Tests. According to Cricviz, Broad’s average speed this year has been a sharp 84.3mph, the fastest he’s clocked since 2011, and at an average length of 7.1m, he’s been bowling roughly a foot fuller than at any stage in those preceding seven years too.The upshot was a detonation of India’s resolve – once again epitomised by the extraction of their captain Kohli. Struggling with a back strain that all of India will hope is as much a metaphor as an ailment, Kohli survived one referral for a leg-side strangle, but not the next, as another Broad lifter flicked off the glove and into Ollie Pope’s outstretched hands at short leg.That wicket of Kohli meant, of course, that for the fourth innings in a row, the most prized scalp of the series had eluded the one bowler who hankers after it more than any other. But with overall match figures of 9 for 43 in 25.2 overs, as well as his 550th Test wicket, his 100th at Lord’s, and his 99th in Anglo-Indian contests, more than any other bowler in Test history, James Anderson won’t exactly be heading to Trent Bridge feeling short-changed.”He’s a special, special commodity, isn’t he?” said Root. “He’s something that doesn’t come along very often and we’ve got to enjoy him while he’s around. There’s been chat about his longevity but, at the minute, he’s bowling better than he ever has before. Even though the conditions suited him, you’ve still got to put the ball in the right area and ask the right questions of the batters. Throughout the whole game he did just that, he set the tone well with Stu, and as a whole bowling group we were really, really good.”For all that Broad has had his ups and downs in recent times, there was never an outright suggestion that he’s past his prime at the age of 32 – while Anderson, at 36, has arguably entered a period of zen-like mastery that will surely, finally, quieten those doubters who claim that his lack of equivalent impact in non-swinging conditions is a reason to disqualify him from the ranks of the all-time greats.Broad’s admirable indifference to what anyone other than his team-mates think of him means that any such debate about his status is irrelevant. And yet, as he slipped past Dale Steyn and Shaun Pollock into the all-time top ten of Test wicket-takers, it was another reminder of how fortunate England are to have two such titans in their ranks, and how crucial it will be to ensure they remain at the top of their game for as long as their bodies will allow.”I think that’s something we will have to manage, and will have to take into account the workloads over the next three games,” said Root. “But when they’re performing as they are, and making the game shorter, it makes it a lot easier for them to be fit and be ready to play in the next game. If there are, it’s a great position to be in.”

Sam Curran can count himself unlucky to be dropped, but it is an understandable decision once it was decided Ben Stokes was available

George Dobell at Trent Bridge17-Aug-20181:47

Root explains tough Stokes-Curran swap

Deserve, as Clint Eastwood said, has nothing to do with it.While it’s probably unfortunate to evoke an Eastwood character in connection with Ben Stokes at present – the above quote comes from Unforgiven, where Eastwood played the part of William Munny, but you wouldn’t have to look too far to find a Dirty Harry comparison (“Would you, Punk”) – it fits pretty neatly.Did Sam Curran deserve to be dropped for Trent Bridge? No. He’s averaging 42 with the bat and 24 with the ball in this Test series. It’s only a couple of weeks since he was Man-of-the-Match at Edgbaston and his left-arm swing has given England some much-needed variation. He is unlucky, for sure.But the question should not be ‘who deserves it’ but ‘who gives England the stronger team.’ And Stokes is, at this stage of his career, almost certainly the better all-round option. He’s scored six Test hundreds (Curran has yet to make a first-class century) and taken four five-wicket hauls, after all. And he may be the best fielder in the side.And while he is deemed the better player, his selection makes sense. Once the team management were sure Stokes was fit, mentally and physically, to return to the side, he had to play. Painful though it is to disappoint Curran who deserves so much better. In an era where England are rich in all-round talent – Moeen Ali hasn’t played a Test this summer, remember – something had to give. Stokes has been, as Joe Root put it, “a proven performer for a long period of time” and, in that same Edgbaston Test in which Curran excelled, produced the spell of bowling which secured victory.Stokes did look drained towards the end of the trial. Not only that, it became apparent in the witness box that he cannot stand still for long periods of time as he suffers from back pain. It is one of the reasons he is a reluctant slip fielder to the seamers. He needs to keep moving.So, having ascertained he was fit to bat and bowl in the nets on Thursday and Friday, Root sat him down sometime on Thursday and tried to come to a conclusion over his mental preparedness.”It was just me and him,” Root said. “And I asked him where he was at. He told me he’s desperate to get out there. I felt he was ready to play. I’ve known him since we were both really quite young and I feel very confident he will be able to go out and put in a strong performance. No, I’ve no doubt.”Might Stokes’ selection send an unhelpful signal to potential players? Might it suggest that, while England talk a good game about culture and responsibility, they’ll turn a blind eye to a certain level of indiscretion when it’s convenient?It probably can be seen that way, yes. But Stokes has been cleared of serious wrongdoing in a court of law and, as when he was recalled for the New Zealand tour, the England management are keen not to prejudice the conclusions of the Cricket Discipline Commission case that will follow. Stokes may face more censure yet. But he has missed an Ashes tour already and Root, perhaps better briefed and a bit more sophisticated in the ways of the media, was very reluctant to follow Trevor Bayliss’ lead and be drawn into suggesting Stokes should make any sort of public apology.Ben Stokes walks past Trevor Bayliss and Joe Root•Getty Images”There are certain things that should be kept within the group and I will leave it there,” Root said. “It is up to Ben [whether to offer any sort of public apology] and I am sure when it’s the right time he will say what he feels he needs to say.”There were other options. Jos Buttler, for all his talent, is 22 Tests into a career that has yet to yield a century and is averaging just 8.33 in this series. At some stage that talent has to be turned into something more tangible. But the England management are confident he will come good and, only four Tests into his latest comeback, do not want to abandon the plan just yet. He might well require a display of belief from the management to build the levels of self-confidence required to unleash that ability. Still, he’s probably no more talented than Mark Rampakash and we know how his Test career ended.Adil Rashid or Ollie Pope might have been considered vulnerable, too. But, for all his inactivity in this series to date, England value the option of Rashid’s spin while none of England’s middle-order batsmen are ideally suited to batting at No. 4. Well, none but Root. And he’s already a place too high. They don’t need five seamers in the side, either, and it says much for Chris Woakes’ comeback at Lord’s that he hardly occurs as an option to be dropped.England’s real problems are higher up the order. Alastair Cook is averaging 11.33 this series and Keaton Jennings 20.33. And while conditions have been demanding for batsmen and Cook’s career record has long since been assured, the sense remains the team management are in denial as to his decline. The monster double-century he scored on a horrifically slow pitch in Melbourne represents one of only three occasions he has reached 40 in his most recent 23 innings. He has reached 25 only six times in that period and his slip catching has become a real worry. If a county opening batsman can use the narrow of window of opportunity offered by the last few weeks of the season to make a compelling case – and you might well think Rory Burns has already done that – there may yet be more changes at the top of the order before the end of the year.In the end, though, it made sense for Curran to make way. Every selection is brutal. Every selection brings joy and pain in equal measure. And just as James Hildreth doesn’t deserve to have missed out on international cricket, Graham Onions didn’t deserve the back injury that robbed him of just a little nip and Ezra Moseley didn’t deserve to be born in an era when Caribbean cricket was bursting with wonderful seamers, Curran can absolutely consider himself unfortunate.But that doesn’t make this decision wrong. And Curran can console himself with the knowledge that he is, aged 20, already established within the set-up. If, as is being rumoured, England opt to rest both Stuart Broad and James Anderson from the Sri Lanka tour, Curran will be one of the beneficiaries. So, too, will Jamie Porter, who is impressing in almost every training session.”Sam wasn’t delighted,” Root admitted, “but he took it extremely well and very maturely for a young guy who is desperate to play.”The difficult part is the fact that everyone is performing so well. Sam has done an exceptional job throughout the series. It made it very difficult to leave him out; probably one of the most difficult selections I’ve had to make as captain. He’s been fantastic when he’s played and I still feel he has a big part to play throughout this series to come.”But Ben played exceptionally well at Edgbaston. He’s in a really good place to go out and play for England.”

Up-and-down pitch, sizeable deficit, great leggie at his peak. How do you take those ingredients and score a hundred of seeming inevitability?

Osman Samiuddin06-Dec-2018Kane Williamson had just reached fifty. Matters were somewhat stable though in no way were New Zealand out of danger. They were only 34 ahead and four down. More pertinently, Yasir Shah was in the middle of a tidy little spell, buoyed no doubt by the breaking of a record. We were in the 38th over of the innings and lunch was a couple of overs away.Yasir found some drift on this one, a little like the drift he got in that spell in Dubai, like somebody holding the planet tilts it one way and suddenly everything kind of slides to that side. It was not a good length but a great length. Williamson went back to it, which looked for all the world like a mistake. In truth any movement looked a mistake.The ball fell somewhere between middle and leg and Williamson, no doubt having read it was the leggie, knew what would happen next. Twice in this series, near-identical deliveries had done for him. In Abu Dhabi in the first Test, where he was bowled, the line was more middle and off. In Dubai, where he was caught behind, it had pitched outside leg and caught his outside edge.Both those times it turned more, but this turned too and it was flatter and quicker. Back already, Williamson brought his bat down and with the outside half of his bat, bunted it to safety. He didn’t bring it down in a hurry or in panic. It came down straight. His feet and body remained in fair shape. You can never know for sure but if you figured only a handful of batsmen would survive such a delivery, at such a moment, against such a bowler, nobody would say you are mad. None would have done it with as little fuss or made such a delivery look so not special.Earlier in the session, just before drinks, Yasir had even bowled a googly at him. That doesn’t happen often. And that too had spun and then kept low. That too Williamson had played out, in shape and without crumbling in a heap as so many batsmen do when a ball keeps low.

****

One quality of Kane Williamson’s batting is that it can easily pass you by. With at least two of his three great contemporaries – and you would call them rivals if it was anyone other than Williamson we were talking about, a man who’d struggle to create a rival in a two-man shootout – you cannot help but know they’re batting.Virat Kohli at the crease, such is the energy, brings the challenges that gravity does to the watcher. Can’t escape it. Steven Smith cuts such an odd batting figure that even if you’ve seen each of his 241 international innings, every time he starts it looks like something you’ve never seen before. Only Joe Root has this capacity to go unnoticed but because he is Joe Root, Boy Wonder now Captain of England, nothing he does, not even exhale, goes unnoticed. Plus the crowd won’t ever let you forget it’s “Rooooooot!” in action.It’s not at all that Williamson is an unattractive player. Au contraire. But he is so proficient with every shot he does play that his finest innings not only gather a sense of invincibility, they acquire the unfortunate byproduct of inevitability. Of course he played out those two Yasir deliveries. Of course he’s going to rise up and punch through the covers off the back foot. Of course he’s going to lean forward into those drives. Of course he combines moving forward with playing the shot late.Which is crazy because the situation and circumstances of this innings had naturally dramatic ingredients. Nothing should have been inevitable about it. Yet you’d forget this was the third innings of a slow-scoring game, on a sluggish fourth-day surface given to inconsistent bounce, turn of varying pace available from day one, not just against a strong attack but one led by a world-beating leggie. Some broke sharp and bounced, others turned slower but also didn’t climb as high. Runs have not come fluently for anyone, apart from Williamson that is.
But every time Williamson was on strike the only conclusion was that yeah, this is what batting is supposed to be and Williamson is a batsman, ergo why are we getting our undergarments in such a twist?Here’s a theory: it could be about ownership, the one shot most great batsman turn into theirs and theirs alone, the one people wait to see and then store away in their minds, the one opposition bowlers try to first turn into a weakness and then leave well alone. Does Williamson have one? The back-foot cover punch could be, never an easy shot least of all on this kind of wicket. He played it for fun in this innings, and repeatedly against the turn, timing it like a Seinfeld punchline.But it is an orthodox shot and he plays it without any unnecessary flourish. He plays it just as it should be played, as it has been played, and probably as it is written it should be played in some tattered old textbook. Plus Joe Root plays it as pretty as well. You could then pick another, but the truth is you could pick every shot he plays and the problem with that truth is that it leaves no particular one standing out.An outrageous celebration could do, some manic bat-twirling or beating of the chest, some swearing, or a photogenic leap. A bat drop? No sir. When he reached his hundred – another back-foot punch through the covers getting him there, what do you know? – he waited a little before taking his helmet off. He looked towards the dressing room. And that was it. If there is an especially energetic or expressive Williamson celebration that is being missed here, tweet it in.Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls congratulate each others at stumps•AFPHis metrics speak the same language his batting does. They sometimes pass you by, to the degree that remembering to include him in the big four is like a little win.Neither his home nor away average is the highest among the quartet, so 55.06 at home won’t leap out at you like Kohli’s 64.68 or Smith’s 77.25. And 49.93 away is just marginally less than Smith’s 50.96, even though it’s comfortably above Root (44.95) and Kohli (46.79). The difference between the two, though, is the smallest among the four. As is the difference between his first and second-innings averages – 52.60 and 51.18; Kohli averages 61.39 and 42.93, Root 55.75 and 43.53 and Smith 77.92 and 40.77. Even in this coding, Williamson is equipoised come rain, hail, hell or high water.If you really wanted to stand him out from the quartet, you could throw his fourth-innings average at it. At 60.81, it towers above Root’s (34.94) and Smith’s (31.11) and at nine runs, is a low-rise building better than Kohli’s. His average in Asia is better than those of Smith and Root and in wins, it is second only to Smith. Smith is the only other from the group to have averaged 60-plus in four of the last five calendar years.Equally it’s not difficult to let some humanness in through the cracks. He doesn’t have a hundred in South Africa (but only four Tests there because, New Zealand) and averages less than 40 there and in England and India.But at some point tomorrow a question could creep up on us. How good, maybe how great, was this innings? The result will colour assessments but it’ll be worth reminding ourselves of the basic sternness of the challenge laid out in front of him – the surface, the trouble New Zealand were in, Yasir Shah and company (and usually, ‘and company’ doesn’t even matter in these situations). Keep those two balls that he played for no runs, the googly that didn’t bounce and the perfect legbreak, in your mind. No doubt some will remember a boundary here and there and some grump will of course point to the two missed chances, like it takes away from the innings.Then you’ll think back through his other hundreds and maybe the early match-saving hundred against South Africa will stand out. Or that eye-popping 140 at the Gabba, which, taken together, tell you something about the vast spectrum within which his batting can operate.But as you go through the 19 you’ll realise that so many of them have been of such a quality, of making difficult situations appear – as his batting coach Craig McMillan would later say – “ridiculously easy”, that this one blends in with the others. Like his shot-making, if they’re all so special then it doesn’t mean none are special. It means that we need to redefine special.

Joe Root’s men are in sight of a memorable series whitewash in Sri Lanka, but can their recent failings be forgotten that quickly?

George Dobell22-Nov-2018England have the chance to complete their first overseas whitewash – in a series of three matches or more – since 1963 in Colombo over the next few days.Whatever happens in the Test, England will rise to No. 2 in the world rankings. But, if they win, it will be their first whitewash since the 2011 victory over India that took them to No. 1 and only the third ever inflicted against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. On top of that, England have already achieved their first series win in Asia since 2012 and their first in Sri Lanka since 2001.All of which sounds excellent.And it is true that, over the last few weeks, England have found a way to win in conditions which have nearly always troubled them. In developing an attack that can take wickets in Asia and a batting line-up that can score runs against the turning ball, they have developed nicely since the tour of India two years ago. Their allrounders give them remarkable depth in both departments, while the emergence of Jack Leach has helped bring the best out of a spin attack that previously lacked the control required to build pressure. On the basis that Sri Lanka’s record is pretty good and that England will take confidence from this victory, it does seem fair to conclude they have made admirable progress.But this week’s talk of England reaching No. 1 in the Test rankings was just a little uncomfortable. While it is an admirable aim and it could, if results go their way, be achieved with victory in the Ashes, it could also seduce England into thinking they have made a little more progress than is really the case.To be fair to Joe Root, he has always maintained that England are “not the finished article” and he is quite right to celebrate success. But talk of England rising to No. 1 seems premature.For a start, England have won only two of their last 15 games away from home. They were thrashed in Australia and India – both 4-0 – beaten in New Zealand and the UAE (by Pakistan) and held to draws in Bangladesh and the Caribbean. Until several of those results can be corrected, any No. 1 ranking – while welcome – is going to feel just a little hollow.It has to be acknowledged that Sri Lanka are not the team they once were, either. While their recent record is decent – they beat Pakistan in the UAE and had not been defeated at home by a non-Asian side since 2014 – they have been hit by a succession of retirements in recent years (Rangana Herath being the latest) and are struggling to develop replacements of a similar standard.Joe Root sweeps in the nets at Colombo•Getty ImagesEngland might accept they have had some fortune, too. Root has – remarkably – won the toss in England’s last seven Tests. While there are times that matters little, there have been other times – not least in Kandy, Galle and at Lord’s against India – when that has been a substantial advantage.That’s not to detract from England’s success. They won the toss a few times in India, too: it made little difference. A team still has to be good enough to take advantage. But it is a factor that has to be acknowledged.The enduring issues remain, too. In picking Jonny Bairstow as their fourth No. 3 of the series, England have underlined their inability to fill the role since the loss of form of Gary Ballance or, before him, Jonathan Trott, while their newest pair of openers still have lots of questions to answer. Impressive as Rory Burns and Keaton Jennings have been this series, it is premature to view the former as a settled member of the side, while Jennings’ long-term Test record – he averages 28.20 after 14 Tests – remains modest. It shouldn’t be forgotten England were 103 for 5 in Galle and 139 for 5 in Kandy, either. That top-order batting remains fragile.Meanwhile, England are no closer to finding a replacement pair of seamers for James Anderson and Stuart Broad. They still don’t have a proven fast bowler who could give them a realistic chance of success in Australia and they were saved in Kandy – up to a point, anyway – by a couple of outrageously good pieces of fielding and final-wicket stands that added 101 runs across the game.So England deserve great credit for their success and the progress they have made. They are developing into a highly-entertaining side with a very exciting future. But at the risk of bringing some early humbug to Christmas, let’s go easy on talk of No. 1 for a while. There are substantially more difficult challenges to come.

Gautam Gambhir speaks to ESPNcricinfo about his ‘two faces’, his on-field confrontations, and the pressure of an IPL price tag, among other things

Interview by Nikhil Naz10-Dec-201812:08

Azharuddin’s name clearly mentioned at anti-corruption meetings – Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir, former India cricketer – how do you like the sound of that?Like it, love it, because I think it just takes the entire pressure off my shoulder as well, which I’ve literally carried for 20-25 years, and I think now I can relax, now I can concentrate on other things which I’ve missed for the last 15-20 years being on the road, and obviously I’ve got a young family so it’s time for me to spend some time with them, because I’ve really missed spending time with them, and it’s time now to just enjoy that side of life as well.Congratulations on your last game, you’re one of those lucky few who’ve got a hundred, that too playing at your home ground. Second thoughts now, about your retirement, now that you’ve struck some good form?Absolutely not. I wish I was 27, I could have thought about it, but I’m unfortunately 37, plus, at the same time, when there’s nothing… when your runs can’t take you anywhere forward, there’s no point scoring those runs as well, and I think it’s better that a young kid can come in and score runs and then dream of playing for India and probably do something special for India as well. That is how I’ve always thought about it. Till the time I was thinking that my runs can take me forward and try and get me a national call-up I was giving everything I had, but the day I thought that it’s not going to take me anywhere, there was no point continuing.One is the national call-up, which you thought may not come, which is why you took that decision. The other school of thought is, you were doing fairly well in the IPL – maybe a season or two there?Look, I’ve always actually believed that IPL, for me, was serious cricket. It’s not about money, and I’ve always thought that I’m going to score runs in first-class cricket and I’m going to score runs in IPL, which is going to help me get a national call, so that is how I used to think of IPL. IPL is a platform where you could actually go on to play for India as well, because that is a huge platform for any cricketer playing in this country, and it only adds up to your profile if you have a good first-class season plus you’ve had a decent IPL season. But the day you have this thought in your mind that wherever you score, however many you score, you’re not going to go anywhere forward, there was no point playing, because there’s not much left to achieve in IPL either.I think you’ve won it twice – there’s one thing I wish I could have won, that was Champions League, which doesn’t happen unfortunately anymore. Yes, you could have won thrice, you could have been the No. 1 ranking of top run-getters and other stuff, but I thought that IPL for me was another platform where I could go on to play for India. When I thought that it’s not going to happen, there was no point continuing playing IPL either.

“… I would not be honest if I say that money is not a huge pressure. Whoever says that money is not a huge pressure would be lying to you.”

Looking back at your career, there are two ways of looking at it. One, did you wish that you could be one of those that played 100 Test matches, or are you happy with the fact you were one of those who got to play for India?Absolutely happy and honoured to be given the opportunity to do something special for India, for your country. I had never had this dream of playing 100 Test matches or scoring 15- or 20,000 international runs. When I picked up the bat for the first time in my life, probably when I was four or five, my only dream was to be part of the World Cup-winning team, and that was my ultimate dream, and probably that dream was so strong that I only ended up playing one World Cup, 50-over World Cup, and ended up being part of the World Cup-winning team. There have been so many cricketers who’ve played for 15-20 years, have played three or four World Cups, and never been part of the World Cup-winning team. Had that dream of scoring 10,000 or 15,000 international runs been so strong, I could have done that, but that dream was never there. The dream was always to be part of the World Cup-winning teams, and that is how I was, growing up, and that is why I picked up the bat.For people who’ve seen you from beyond the boundary, you’ve been an enigma. Now I want to really know which is the real Gambhir. Is it the one that can be in a gathering of a hundred people and yet be the quietest person, or is it the one who can be on a cricket field and yet almost come to fisticuffs with the other guy. Are you Gautam – which is Buddha, calm – or are you Gambhir?Look, I can be both. I can be the quietest person off the field and I can be the most aggressive person on the cricket field. There are these two faces that I have, the reason is completely different. I like being aggressive on the cricket field because I haven’t gotten anything so easily, I had to fight for everything when it comes to my profession. When I was a 12-year-old kid, when I went for the Under-14 selection for the first time in my life, I got rejected. Then I got rejected when I was absolutely deserving to be part of the Under-19 World Cup where I was the highest run-getter in the entire country. I got rejected then as well. I had to really score a lot of runs to be part of the Ranji Trophy team and then, obviously, I was in and out for a very long time there as well. I was pushed to play Under-19 when I had really done well against Karnataka in my second game, then I was pushed to go and play Under-19s and I still had to come back and score a lot of runs in Under-19s to come back in the first-class team.And then, 2007, again I still believe that I should have been part of that World Cup team which went to West Indies and I missed it and that was probably the lowest moment of my career. So nothing had come easy to me. I could never afford to let my guard down and that is probably the only reason I could not smile more and could not enjoy more as well. A lot of times people have asked me this, that I don’t smile enough, but there’s a lot of history behind that as well. Everyone wants to smile, everyone wants to enjoy as well, but I couldn’t, because I wish I could have got things easily and I didn’t get it so that probably was the reason why I had to be aggressive and had to fight every inch to get where I wanted.Gautam Gambhir during a nets session•Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesSince you’ve mentioned the smile bit, I just saw SRK (Shah Rukh Khan, the actor and owner of Kolkata Knight Riders) congratulating you on a great career, but he has a suggestion for you – smile a little more. Now that the pressure’s off?Look, I wish he would have given me less money, because that was a huge pressure on me as well and I would not be honest if I say that money is not a huge pressure. Whoever says that money is not a huge pressure would be lying to you. I think, for me, the kind of individual I am, I think the biggest pressure when I got picked for KKR (for USD 2.4 million) was about money. First was the money, the amount of money, because I thought I had to be worthy enough to get that money, so the first thing was to try and score my own runs, and try and help KKR revive.That probably was a lot of pressure, and then obviously I was fortunate enough that we could qualify for the playoffs in the first year and then the monkey was off the back when we won in 2012 as well. But again, I thought the money I was getting, I had to prove that I am worth taking this much of money, so probably for seven years, that was a pressure as well, plus there was a pressure of changing the culture, plus there was the pressure of turning the fortunes as well. All I did, and all I want to say is, thanks to all the owners because they gave me a lot of freedom to work the way I wanted to. They’ve given me a lot of freedom, they’ve given me a lot of responsibility, they’ve trusted a lot in me as well, they’ve never questioned what I wanted to do and I hope that I’ve lived up to their expectations.ALSO READ – The enigma of Gautam GambhirTaking on from your answer, do you then think the money in the IPL is over the top? Would it make it tough for players to perform, especially young players?I don’t know about other people. For me it did. For me in 2011 I felt the pressure, and I felt the pressure for seven years. It was not only in 2011, I felt the pressure even after winning in 2012, I felt the pressure in 2013, I felt the pressure in 2015 when we won in 2014. It really depends on an individual, there will be individuals who will turn around and say, I’ve not asked for this money, it’s up to them to end up giving me that money, but there are people like me who would say that if I’ve got that kind of money, I have to deliver. I can’t just look at myself in the mirror and say that I get a certain amount of money and I have scored only this much amount of runs. I think, how can I justify my own self if I haven’t performed with the bat, and getting that much amount of money as well, so there was a lot of pressure from my personal performance plus there was a whole lot of pressure from the point of view of changing the fortunes of the team as well.Since you talk about money, did you not feel that pressure playing for, let’s say, Delhi in the Ranji Trophy? Where you were not getting paid as much?I felt the pressure even when I was playing Ranji trophy because I felt that was the platform where I could keep scoring runs and can fulfil my ultimate dream of playing for India, so that was a completely different pressure. There are completely different kind of pressures when I was playing for [Delhi] and when I was playing for KKR – that was, there was money involved, there was the responsibility of turning the fortunes. Delhi because obviously I had to score a lot of runs to be part of the first-class team, plus this was the only platform which I had where I could actually keep scoring runs and get a national call up, because times have changed. There’s so much of India A, Emerging Trophy, India B and all that kind of stuff. When I was growing up there was only Under-19s, Ranji Trophy and India. Or there was an odd Board President’s XI side game against a touring team, so Ranji Trophy was the only platform which I had to showcase my talent and try and achieve my ultimate dream.MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir have a chat•AFPGoing back to your international cricket, I’m going to take names of four cricketers. You’re going to tell me whether you’ll be sending them a Christmas/Id/Diwali card every year. Let’s start with Shane Watson. Would you?I will. I don’t mind doing it, because I think we’ve been fierce competitors on the field and there was nothing wrong with it as well. I think if someone is so passionate and they want to win a game of cricket for their country, there’s nothing wrong in it. I’ve always believed, I remember in one of the conclaves I said – someone asked me, do I regret all the confrontations I’ve had on the cricket field, and I said not at all, and if I had to do it in future, with the same people or even more, for the best interest of my team, I will be the first one to stand and say that I am ready to do that, so there are no regrets.So should I take the other three names or will the answer be the same?Absolutely the same, because I have no regrets doing it.Okay, so the other names, of course, were going to be MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Shahid Afridi…My answer remains the same – for the best interest of the team if I had to do it, get into the confrontation again with the same people, I’ll be the first one to do that.Just going back to that incident, now that you’ve retired, you have time to look back on that situation – the comment that was made much of in the media with regards to MS Dhoni finishing that game in the last over, when you had made that comment. Now looking back, was it presented in the right way? Were you misunderstood at that time? Did you genuinely feel, yes, the game could have been finished earlier, or was it the fiery Gautam Gambhir who said it because he felt that he was being mistreated in the team?Not at all. I was absolutely misunderstood in that, because I remember that we went to Australia as the World Champions, and we were chasing down 230 (270), and I had not taken a dig on anyone. It was not my responsibility, the point was, it was absolutely not shown in the right spirit as well, during that press conference. I remember someone asked me – do you think that this game should have gone that deep, and I said, absolutely not. Being the World Champions, you’ve got to go out there and dominate the game, not take it that deep as well. It had nothing to do with me trying to push someone down or put someone down, it is just about that when you are chasing 230, on a wicket like Adelaide, and being the World Champions, and trying to dominate white-ball cricket, you’ve got to go out there and be so dominating that it can have an impact on the rest of the games as well.When you just try and scrape through, when you end up chasing a total like 230 in the last over, probably you’re giving other people this thinking that this team can be beatable. You put 250 or 260 on the board, we can beat this opposition. But you end up chasing that 230 in probably 40-42 overs with seven or eight wickets in hand, you’ve dominated the game, and you’ve shown that we’re here not only to scrape through but we’re here to dominate this one day series. This was exactly my take. I remember MS won us the game, MS had hit Clint McKay or someone for a six in the last over, probably he’s the one who won us the game as well, but it was only about being more dominating, and that is why you play the game of cricket as well. Look at the Australian side of the past, they’ve dominated world cricket, they’ve got 400 runs in a day, that was their ultimate aim, to get 400 runs in 90 overs in a Test match. They’ve done it, and been so dominating, that is the reason I said that being world champions, you should play like world champions.Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir walk with the trophy•Getty ImagesDo you think your comments – as you say, misunderstood – could have been misconstrued because of the fact that, at that time, there was this new trend that came along, that the openers have to be rotated. How did you take that?Look, it was probably the most shocking thing that I’ve ever heard that, in 2012, that people who are scoring runs will be rotated. If MS had decided this, or if the management has decided this, they should have stuck with that policy. They didn’t. Initially they started with that policy, but when it became a must-win situation for the team, we all three played. We all three played in Hobart, when we had to win a game against Sri Lanka where we had to chase it down in 35 overs, I’m not sure how many overs we had to chase it down. Sachin and Sehwag opened, I batted at three, Virat Kohli batted at four. In Gabba, all three of us played where Viru captained the side.So, if you’ve decided on something, and if you feel so strongly about that something, stick to it, don’t change it midway. Either you were wrong at that time, or you were wrong when you’ve changed your own policy. If you’ve taken a stand, and believe in it – if you don’t believe in it then it’s different – but if you believe in it so strongly, stick to it irrespective of what the results are.Now, looking back at your career, if you could pick three moments that will always stay with you.The New Zealand Test series… winning a Test series abroad was always my ultimate dream and probably some of my lowest moments as well, when we got thrashed in England and in Australia, 4-0 and 4-0, after 2011.South Africa, Cape Town – where I batted the whole day, on day five where it was up and down and we could draw the series, the only time we’ve been able to draw the series in South Africa. It was up and down, with the likes of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Jaques Kallis and [Lonwabo] Tsotsobe.And the third thing probably will be the World Cup final… The only thing that can come right now is World Cup final, because that was at home and that was my first World Cup of any sort.Gautam Gambhir is distraught after his first golden duck•AFPNow the grapevine suggests that Gautam has quit cricket because he may be heading towards politics. Is this also misunderstood?Absolutely misunderstood, I’ve never even thought about it. I’ve done something for the last 25 years and I’d like to stay in the present as well. I don’t know whether I’m good at anything else apart from playing cricket, because you literally have done this all your life, and day in, day out, you’ve had the ups, you have the lows. You’ve been hard on yourself, so I don’t know if I’m going to be good at anything else or not, so politics is something which is a completely different field as well. Just because I tweet, just because I tweet on certain issues, doesn’t mean that I’m trying to get into politics as well.It is just because I tweet because I believe that as a citizen and as a taxpayer of this country I’ve got all the right to take up social issues because I strongly believe that what we have got to leave for our next generation is something which is our responsibility, and it is the responsibility of the current government or whichever government it is, whether it is Aam Aadmi Party or BJP or Congress, it is their responsibility to answer it back as well. That’s why they’ve been elected, so if you take up social issues it doesn’t mean that you’re inclined towards politics.My next question was going to be on those political tweets, but you’ve clarified that. Staying with a tweet, one of the tweets that came along was cricket-related, which created a bit of controversy, with regards to Mohammad Azharuddin ringing the bell at that time in the [T20I] at Eden Gardens. Many agreed with you, but if I was to play the devil’s advocate, some may say that he got a clean chit by the court.But the fact is he hasn’t. Only his ban was removed, he was never given a clean chit. I’ve read the report as well. I don’t do tweets just for the heck of doing it or just to take publicity out of it. Obviously that is not something which was there. Had it been that he was given a clean chit from CBI – it wasn’t the case. Only his ban was removed and still, if you go through the report, it says that yes, there’s been something wrong that has happened, which he has done wrong. To be honest, I’m sure if you ask other cricketers as well, when we go for this ICC… before any big event, whether it’s IPL, when we go for this anti-corruption meeting, it is very clear there, they take his name. They take his name, there are other cricketers which they show on the screen as well. I’m sure ICC would not do something like this [lightly]. ICC is such a big organisation, they run the cricket throughout the world and I’m sure they’re not going to do something like this, where they’re going to show someone who hasn’t done anything wrong.And I felt let down by the BCCI, I think BCCI or CoA or whoever is in charge at the moment should have taken this as well. Okay, you’ve allowed him to contest elections, that’s fine, that’s up to the country to elect him, whether they want him as a Member of Parliament or not. But I’ve absolutely and thoroughly believed in it, and that is the kind of policy that I’ve had. If someone has done something wrong, especially of this sort, he’s got no place in my life and I’m going to stand by what I believe, what I said.

“If you don’t feel emotionally about something, you will never care about that something. If you don’t care about Delhi cricket, which has given you the platform to go out there and fulfil your dream, and you don’t want to commit yourself to that state, that state doesn’t need you.”

As a stakeholder in cricket, would you then want some steps to be taken? So one thing is, as the International Cricket Council, or as the BCCI, that you can ensure that they don’t play active cricket. Would you like some other steps taken, so that, as you’re saying, certain elements that are tainted, if I could use that word, should be kept away, whether it is via broadcasting or in any other way?Absolutely. Look what Hansie Cronje went through, he’s done something wrong, and South Africa didn’t even allow him to enter the ground as well. Look at what happens in India, tainted players end up being Members of Parliament. Imagine, if this is how politics is going to run in this country, good luck, because I believe that a tainted individual is not a young kid that he doesn’t know what is right and what is wrong. No one has to tell me what is right or wrong, no one has to tell you, after a certain age. I’m not a five-year-old kid that my mom-dad has to tell me this is not right, that is not right. After one age, I know what is right and what is wrong, so if you’ve made a mistake, you’ve probably got to face the consequences as well. If I make a mistake tomorrow, if I become a tainted cricketer, face the consequences, probably at that time, whatever they’ve done, they just got carried away with certain things. If you get carried away at that stage, you’ve got to face the consequences, and that should stay with everyone, whoever’s done something wrong should face the consequences.I’m coming back to active cricket. There’s a series on at the moment. I want your thoughts on a gentleman that you’ve worked with closely, with Justin Langer. I know you went down to Australia [to work with him]. Now he’s become coach of Australia. What do you think he would bring to the table?He’ll turn the fortunes of Australian cricket. I think the best thing the Australian board has done is they’ve appointed him as the Australian coach, because there couldn’t have been anyone better than Justin Langer to take this Australian cricket forward, especially after what they’ve gone through, after the South Africa episode, that sandpaper episode in South Africa. I think if there’s one gentleman who can take Australian cricket forward, it’s Justin Langer, that is how much I respect him and that is how much I know of the person, and that is how honest he is to his profession, whether when he played the game plus when he’s coached Western Australia or Perth Scorchers, and I’m sure he’s going to turn it around. He just needs a little bit of time.Finally, I’m coming back to Delhi cricket. Because now you can look back, many would say that in the decade that you played or around that time, Delhi has been the most outstanding nursery of Indian cricket. I don’t think any other region has produced as many India cricketers as Delhi has. Keeping that in mind, do you think Delhi has underachieved in the Ranji Trophy? I think there’s only one title to show for [in that period]?Big time, I think we won in 2007[-08] after 16 years, and it’s been 10 long years and we haven’t won anything. We reached the final last year but Delhi being Delhi, we should have dominated first-class cricket as well. Look at where Bombay is. Bombay has won 40-odd times, you’ve won eight times, so there’s not even a comparison. Why do you tell yourself that you’re the powerhouse of Indian cricket, powerhouse of Indian cricket remains Mumbai because they’ve dominated Ranji Trophy. Okay, you’ve given a lot of players to Indian cricket, but obviously the thing is you still haven’t dominated first-class cricket, and I wish that Delhi could have won more titles regularly, because 16 years gap, then we won the Ranji Trophy, and now it’s been 10 years, we haven’t done anything since then, so obviously it’s a little unfortunate.Gautam Gambhir directs an adjustment on the field•BCCIDo you think one major reason why that hasn’t happened, between Delhi and Bombay, because you made that comparison, is that a lot of star players are never available for Delhi. You’re an exception who’s played a lot, but just to quote an example of a Rohit Sharma, who’s a regular in the team, the first opportunity he got, he turned out for Bombay – that doesn’t happen in Delhi, that culture doesn’t exist.That’s the mistake of the selectors – don’t pick them. I’ve been very clear and I’ve been very honest that someone who is not committed to play for his state side should never be allowed to play for the state side, because this is the platform which has got you to international cricket. When you wanted this opportunity, you got this opportunity and you ended up playing for the country, but now when the state wants you, you don’t want to give it back to the state, you’ve got no right to come back with your own whims and fancies, with your own wishes, and say that, now I won’t…ALSO READ – Gavaskar to BCCI: ‘Why aren’t Dhoni, Dhawan playing domestic cricket?’But would that be a solution, because a lot of them would be happy not being picked for the state.But then which state would you play for? Go play as a professional [for another Ranji team], you’ll know how tough it is. See how many people have gone as a professional and how many people have succeeded. Very few. Your state team is your own state team, plus you’ve got to have that emotional connect as well. If you don’t feel emotionally about something, you will never care about that something. If you don’t care about Delhi cricket, which has given you the platform to go out there and fulfil your dream, and you don’t want to commit yourself to that state, that state doesn’t need you. That is what I’m very clear about, and that is why I’ve always told the selectors [not to pick them]. Sometimes selectors do not have the spine to do it.Final question. Now that your cricket career is done from all forms of the game, there are two types of people – one who end up playing cricket for the fun of it because they’ve done it all their lives, some don’t ever do it [again]. Which are you?I’m not going to touch my bat ever again, not because I don’t love the game. I’m going to love it till death. I’m going to probably watch the game, probably going to the ground and watch Ranji Trophy, probably watch it on the television as well. But I can’t bat anymore, because there’s nothing left in the tank. I’ve been so hard on myself when it comes to my batting, the practice sessions I’ve had for so many years, for literally 20 years, have been very very strenuous, have been very tough as well. I’m absolutely done with batting, there’s nothing left to pick up the bat. Not that there’s no passion. There’s no fuel in the tank.

Can he reunite Raj and Harmanpreet, the two limited-overs captains, who are at loggerheads? Can he juggle multiple roles in the absence of a bowling coach?

Annesha Ghosh21-Dec-2018Unite and rulePut yourself in Raman’s shoes. You apply for a vacancy that, until a month ago, didn’t exist. Then you compete with some of the most high-profile names to have ever applied for coaching women’s team in the world. And, after a selection process replete with controversy, you are deemed the best candidate owing to your vast coaching experience and your credentials as a former batsman.So far so good? Well, how’s this for the fun part: the team you’ll be taking over has two limited-overs captains, Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur, at loggerheads. Raj, the ODI captain and the most celebrated face of Indian women’s cricket, said she has “nothing against” her T20I counterpart, also the ODI vice-captain and among the most sought-after names in various T20 leagues across the world. But in reality, that does little to lighten the baggage of discomfort that has existed between the two for the longest time.Their stand on the ousted coach – Powar – is as divergent as their temperaments and playing styles. And the vice-captain of the T20I side, Smriti Mandhana, who is next in line to succeed both Raj and Harmanpreet, backed her T20I captain in the hope of finding an “amicable” solution to the ugly mudslinging.In less than a month, India leave for their limited-overs tour of New Zealand, their first international assignment since the World T20 that left the team split. A home series against England is scheduled after their return. Raman’s role will, therefore, entail far more than just being a coach. The side’s dynamics require him to be an astute reader of temperaments, a personnel manager, a leader who can cultivate a culture where there is no sense of entitlement and the skills-sets of established names and rookies are subject to the same the standards of scrutiny.Capitalising on playIn his three-month tenure, Powar proved to be very much his own man: he tried to break the hierarchy among the players, hoping to centralise the power so the focus could solely be on leading India women to their first world title. He backed the players – both young and experienced – to play a “fearless” brand of cricket on the Sri Lanka tour. The result? They won both limited-overs series, with many young players, in particular, standing out.His vision heading into the World T20, too, was clear: this Indian side, he said, was “about dominance rather than just competing”. It translated into India piling on the highest total in the tournament’s history, the young Deepti Sharma emerging as a frontline wicket-taking option in the Powerplay, and Harmanpreet matching her epochal hitting with consistency.India head coach Ramesh Powar and fielding coach Biju George have a chat•Annesha GhoshA seven-match winning streak preluded India’s semi-final qualification, including topping the group stage on the back of beating heavyweights New Zealand and Australia. And much of it was down to Powar’s blueprint that was based on aggression and intent. As Raman tries to suss out the needs of this team, his task may get a touch easier initially, for he will be inheriting an Indian side that is familiar with Powar’s credo of delivering results.On talking termsOff the field, Raman may stand to benefit from the brand of professionalism Powar injected; the T20I captain, vice-captain and even the support staff, were not immune to his demand for greater efficiency and discipline. But given it backfired in one big regard, if Raman is to adopt one learning from his predecessor, and of those that coached the side just before Powar – Tushar Arothe and Purnima Rau – it is the mastery of communicating decisions to his players. That’s the one key factor that will decide the length of his stint with a team that now finds itself deeply entrenched in the off-field politics of Indian cricket.Two-in-two and combination conundrumsOne of India’s two ODI mainstays, Jhulan Goswami, is no longer part of the T20I set-up; the other, Raj, said last month that “now the team is settling”, it could have been the last World T20 for her. However, Raj has been named in the T20I squad for the New Zealand tour. With 15 months until the next world tournament – the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia – where does the ODI captain figure in the coach and the T20I captain’s scheme of things?In addition, who will partner Mandhana at the top in T20Is? Will the new think-tank persist with wicketkeeper-batsman Taniya Bhatia, who had a lean run as an opener in the World T20, or will Jemimah Rodrigues, a proven punt at first drop, be reunited with Mandhana? How accommodating will Raj be to playing in the middle order in the T20I side?With direct qualification for the 2021 World Cup in New Zealand at stake, how can the young quicks Mansi Joshi, Pooja Vastrakar and Arundhati Reddy feed off the experienced Goswami? These questions aside, as far as dispute-resolution goes, perhaps Raman’s plans for the future – both tactical and managerial – may also need a look back on a not-so-distant past, when Goswami played mediator between two high-profile warring figures in the side.Juggling multiple hatsThe team has not yet been equipped with a bowling coach, despite senior players demanding one since April, when Arothe was in charge. Raman himself, it is learnt, suggested during Thursday’s interview the BCCI consider hiring one. But until that materialises, much of India’s fortunes in the next two bilateral series will depend on how he bolsters the confidence of the bowling unit, especially its spine – the spinners.

Sidharth Monga, ESPNcricinfo’s assistant editor, picks his all-time India World Cup XI

Picked by Sidharth Monga12-Mar-2019Unpopular opinion first: Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have outdone Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly as ODI openers. Now the difficult decision: touch and go among those two and Gautam Gambhir. I went for a left-hand batsman, and Dhawan’s slightly better record at the World Cup than Gambhir, who played a great innings in that 2011 final and could very easily bat in the middle overs too.ESPNcricinfo LtdRahul Dravid is quite underrated as an ODI batsman, and you need that one solid middle-order batsman that gives MS Dhoni the licence. Really wish Jasprit Bumrah had played a World Cup or Bhuvneshwar Kumar had played more than just one match. Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan select themselves. Final spots came down to R Ashwin v Manoj Prabhakar, and Javagal Srinath v Ashish Nehra. For the balance of the side, more than anything else, I went with the spin of Ashwin. And for his superior death bowling, Nehra pipped Srinath for me.

Australia exploited England’s long-standing weakness by picking an extra left-arm quick in Behrendorff, who came away with five wickets

Jarrod Kimber26-Jun-2019Australia were not shy in naming the reasons why Jason Behrendorff played against England. Speaking to in Australia, assistant coach Brad Haddin said “Jason just matches up really well against England. It wasn’t a really hard decision to pick him, we had this game in mind for Jason a long way out. And then leading into the game the conditions were perfect. He knew this game was coming, and his preparation was tailored towards that, he just matched up today with the conditions and the English batting line-up.”Behrendorff had played one other game this tournament, but it was only as a replacement for a sore Nathan Coulter-Nile. And Australia used him out of place – as a first-change bowler. Because of this he had little impact. Against England at Lord’s, where the clouds were in his favour, he bowled the first ball and ended with five wickets.But the reason Australia planned to use Behrendorff is that they – like others before them – have noted that England are struggling against left-arm seam. So far in this World Cup, it’s clear, England are struggling against left-arm seam.ESPNcricinfo LtdAnd this isn’t a new thing, though. Over the two years before the World Cup, England have been struggling against left-arm seam for quite some time. Not just in ODI cricket, but in Tests too.ESPNcricinfo LtdOnly in T20 cricket do they do well, but that’s from less than 200 balls of left-arm seam, so it’s far too small a sample size. The economy rates in ODIs are the same, it is just that the batsmen keep being dismissed by left-arm pacers.While it may feel like the entire world is being overrun by left-arm seam, in fact, most teams handle it well. And it is only 9% of all balls in ODI cricket.While England might have a problem with it, they are not the worst. Sri Lanka have the lowest average against left-arm quicks. But they are the same against left and right, there is no reason to target them. England are the best against right-arm seam, and below average against left-arm. They have no other obvious weaknesses. If you have a left-armer on the bench, it is worth using them.The only other team with a differential that is noticeable is the West Indies. It’s interesting that both teams have also struggled to create left-arm seamers at ODI level. Meaning they’ve faced little high quality left-arm pace in the nets as the opposition batsmen.ESPNcricinfo LtdBut while this list shows West Indies and England towards the end, it also has South Africa there, and they have played left-arm seam better than the right-armers of recent times.Even if the overall problem might come from facing less quality left-arm seam, each individual batsman would have their technical issues with it. Eoin Morgan’s will not be the same as Jonny Bairstow’s faults. It’s also something not happening with the tail or middle order, it starts right at the top. Three of England’s top-four struggle against it.ESPNcricinfo LtdBen Stokes, Jos Buttler and Joe Root have no problems, but in the top four, Jason Roy, Eoin Morgan and Jonny Bairstow do. But you can also see it in the lower-order allrounders: Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and even Adil Rashid have poorer records against it. James Vince is new to the side, and even his record shows problems against it, but these are not problems he’s had when playing domestically in T20s.In a franchise team, a good general manager would make sure you’d never have a team with this kind of weakness running down it, because you’d be a sitting duck. In international sport, there is not much you can do, these are England’s best players, it’s almost bad luck that so many seem to be weak against left-arm pacers.The World Cup format helps England, as there is only a 15-man squad, so South Africa can’t carry Wayne Parnell for one game.And the drop-off of England is so noticeable because they have been incredible against almost all other forms of bowling.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe only other kind of bowling against which England average under 40 is left-arm wristspin. And more than half of those balls are from Kuldeep Yadav, who regardless of his arm and spin, is one of the best bowlers in the world.When Sheldon Cottrell came back into the West Indies side, his left-handedness played a huge part. Cottrell had played ODIs before, but not been that successful, and had been out of the side for over six months when England came to Bridgetown. In that match Cottrell took five wickets and suddenly became the West Indies’ new-ball bowler.Before that game, Cottrell was a long way behind in the pecking order. West Indies had Shannon Gabriel, Oshane Thomas and Kemar Roach. Not to mention the allround seam options of Jason Holder, Carlos Brathwaite, Andre Russell and Keemo Paul. But because it was England, they took the gamble and it paid off. Later in the series Obed McCoy was brought in as injury cover, another left-arm seamer.No other team this World Cup has included a left-armer in their team for England who hadn’t been picked for the prior game. Pakistan, the kings of left-arm seam, even had one left on the bench in Shaheen Afridi. Australia were the first team since the West Indies to make the tactical move, and Jason Behrendorff took five wickets, with Mitchell Starc taking four of his own.ESPNcricinfo LtdEngland knew about all this for a while, their backroom staff have been tracking it. And they also made a very interesting move in having Donovan Miller – who coached the Jamaica Tallawah’s last year – in their coaching set-up. Miller is here in part because of his skill in throwdowns, and because he throws them left-arm.They have tried to prepare the England players as best they can, but this World Cup, left-arm seam is still their weakness.