“He just needed a little bit of time to bat out of that powerplay, which he did,” says Wasim Jaffer after Jaiswal’s 60-ball 104*

Ashish Pant23-Apr-20242:38

‘Jaiswal needed time to bat out of the powerplay’ – Jaffer

Yashasvi Jaiswal is back. He will say he never went away, and his strike rate will agree. But for a run machine, IPL 2024 was lukewarm. Before Monday night.Coming into his eighth game of the season, Jaiswal had scored 129 runs striking at 145.78, but only averaging 17.28. He was getting starts but was usually guilty of going too hard at the ball, losing his shape and his wicket in the process. He had failed to make it out of the powerplay six times out of seven, falling to pace on every occasion. Not having a fifty was also concerning, especially with everything being looked from a T20 World Cup point of view.Should India take him to the World Cup? Should Rajasthan Royals think of giving him a break? Should Jaiswal change his approach? Is it a form slump?Related

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On Monday, against one of his favourite IPL opponents, over 88 minutes and 60 balls, Jaiswal answered at least some of the questions: there was no form slump, and no need to change his approach. In Jaipur, Jaiswal hit his second century against Mumbai Indians in three innings, finishing with an unbeaten 104 at a strike rate of 173.33. And while the finishing was top-notch, the pacing of his innings was what set it apart.Jaiswal had a strike rate of 110 in the first ten balls of his innings.That went up to 180 after 20 balls.By 30 balls, he had got to his maiden half-century of the season.What had changed was how Jaiswal was allowing the ball to come on to his bat rather than go after it. He struck five fours and a six in the powerplay, all with the flourish and timing we are accustomed to.”It’s more the Yashasvi Jaiswal we know. I think he took his time early on, played some conventional shots and then we all know what he could do,” Wasim Jaffer said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut. “He has everything in his armoury, but he just needed a little bit of time to bat out of that powerplay, which he did. Those failures helped him to realise that this is how he needs to approach a T20 innings.”

“I really enjoyed [batting] from the start, and I was just trying to make sure that I was watching the ball properly and playing my cricketing shots, which I think I did today”Yashasvi Jaiswal

Jaiswal scored his first boundary, a straight six over Gerald Coetzee’s head, on the first ball of the fourth over. Coetzee didn’t take to being treated like that kindly. What followed were four searing back-of-a-length balls bowled at around the 150kph mark. Jaiswal was rushed into a pull on the fifth ball of the over, with the top edge just clearing the wicketkeeper.But it was the final delivery of that Coetzee over that would have pleased Jaiswal no end. A 151.1kph bolt was delivered around the length area on off stump. Jaiswal just stood tall and punched the ball through covers. #Jazball was on.”I really enjoyed [batting] from the start, and I was just trying to make sure that I was watching the ball properly and playing my cricketing shots, which I think I did today,” Jaiswal said after on the official broadcast the game. “I really enjoyed it, I really loved it. I am trying to keep doing what I do. Some days are tough, and some days are good. I was just playing – that is all. I didn’t have anything in my mind.”He had a slice of luck when on 50, as Nehal Wadhera shelled a simple catch at long-off, and Jaiswal knew it was his night. No Mumbai bowler was spared – not even Jasprit Bumrah – as Jaiswal heaved him away for six over deep square leg followed by a four to fine leg. He was lethal against spinners, collecting 47 off 25 balls at a strike rate of 188, while he struck at 162.85 against the quicks.It took Jaiswal 59 balls to reach his second IPL century, and as he removed his helmet and thumped the air, there was relief written all over his face. Three balls later, Royals had registered their seventh win of the season.2:10

What worked for Jaiswal? How accurate was Sandeep Sharma?

“He is the most exciting young player in world cricket at the moment. There are a couple out there, and he is right at the top of that conversation,” Tom Moody said. “[An] all-format player, how he has grown so quickly, from his Under-19 journey to international cricket to IPL stardom is quite remarkable. It is a privilege to watch. Some of those cover drives today were right out of the top drawer.”And how did the team engage with Jaiswal when he was not among the runs?”I don’t think he needs anyone. He is always filled with a lot of confidence,” Royals captain Sanju Samson said. “We knew that it is just a matter of one game. I think the way he batted in the powerplay, he was calm, composed and he knew that things are under control. We knew in the dugout that he is playing some [nice] cricketing shots today and he will be fine today. Really happy for him.”Rohit Sharma ended on the losing side but was one of the first to congratulate Jaiswal after the game. His runs are great for Royals, but also for India, after all. After an uncertain start to his season, Jaiswal will hope the worst is behind him, and that can only mean a stronger Royals unit. That’s ominous for the other teams.

All the stats as Akeal Hosein’s record five-for helps West Indies bag a mammoth win

Sampath Bandarupalli09-Jun-202439 Uganda’s total against West Indies is now the joint-lowest at the men’s T20 World Cup. The Netherlands also got bowled out for 39 runs against Sri Lanka in the 2014 edition.1 Uganda’s 39 all-out is also the lowest by any team against West Indies in men’s T20Is. Ireland’s 68 all-out in the 2010 T20 World Cup was the previous lowest against West Indies.It is also Uganda’s lowest total in men’s T20Is, with their previous lowest being 58 all-out against Afghanistan earlier in this tournament.134 West Indies’ win margin against Uganda is their first win by a margin of 100-plus runs in the men’s T20Is. Their previous biggest was by 84 runs against Pakistan in the 2014 T20 World Cup.2 West Indies’ 134-run win is the second-biggest by runs for any team in the men’s T20 World Cup. The biggest win was by 172 runs for Sri Lanka in 2007, when they bundled out Kenya to 88 while defending 260 for 6.1 Akeal Hosein became the first bowler from West Indies to bag a five-wicket haul at the men’s T20 World Cup. The previous best bowling figures for West Indies were 4 for 15 by Samuel Badree against Bangladesh in 2014.1 Number of bowling figures in men’s T20Is for West Indies, better than Hosein’s 5 for 11 against Uganda. Obed McCoy’s six for 17 against India in 2022 are the best figures for West Indies in this format.Hosein is also the first spinner to take a five-wicket haul for West Indies in the men’s T20Is.10 All ten batters dismissed in Uganda’s innings scored less than ten runs, the second instance of all ten batters getting out for a single digit score in an innings at the men’s T20 World Cup.
West Indies were the batting side in the first such instance, during the semi-final of the 2009 edition against Sri Lanka.8 Uganda batters were dismissed leg-before-wicket or bowled by the West Indies bowlers. Only once before, there have been eight or more leg-before-wicket or bowled dismissals in an innings at the men’s T20 World Cup – 9 by Scotland against Afghanistan in 2021.

England captain in “a really good space” after extensive work with batting coach Sid Lahiri

Matt Roller29-May-2024When England left India in mid-November, it was the lowest moment of Jos Buttler’s tenure as white-ball captain. His side were eliminated at the group stages of the ODI World Cup after three wins in nine matches – and only one in seven when they were still mathematically alive. His own form was non-existent.Buttler managed 138 runs across nine innings, 43 of which came in the tournament’s opening match, and looked worn down by England’s string of defeats. Innovative and impish at his best, he instead became restricted and robotic: he reverse-swept just two of the 142 balls he faced at the tournament, and played neither a sweep nor a scoop.But as England prepare for the T20 World Cup, Buttler looks ready. After missing the Cardiff washout to be with his wife Louise for the birth of couple’s third child, he is set to return as captain on Thursday night at The Oval. He does so after winning the player-of-the-match award in the only completed match in the series so far.In his first international innings of the year at Edgbaston, Buttler took Pakistan’s attack for 84 off 51 balls and seemed to have recaptured the spirit of the player that broke through as a 20-year-old. He used his feet against the seamers to create different angles for himself and destroyed Shadab Khan, looting 40 runs off the 15 balls he faced from him.Related

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It was his highest score in any international cricket since an ODI century against South Africa in February 2023, and an innings defined by its impudence. He twice reverse-swept Shadab – once for four, once for six – and scooped Haris Rauf over fine leg to bring up his half-century. He even tried a rare reverse-scoop off Rauf, though toe-ended it towards point for a single.Since he became a regular T20 opener in 2018, Buttler has evolved into a more clinical, consistent player: in T20Is, he averages 47.95 with a strike rate of 151.98 from his 50 innings as an opener. But of late, he has made a conscious decision to dip into his extensive repertoire of unorthodox shots: “What’s really important for me at this stage of my career is to always be trying to improve and get better, and add new things to my game,” Buttler said last week.”There’s certain shots that I want to add to my game more, different things that I want to try. I think that’s really exciting. That feels really motivating for me, and it’s always been a mindset of mine, but it’s more [about] connecting to that again and not being afraid to try new things, and fail in different ways.”Buttler with Sid Lahiri in the Rajasthan Royals’ nets•Rajasthan RoyalsButtler has worked closely with Siddhartha ‘Sid’ Lahiri, his batting coach at Paarl and Rajasthan Royals. “Sid’s had a huge impact for me,” Buttler said last month. When Buttler arrived at the SA20 in January, he was “not really enjoying my cricket, a bit unsure with my batting, trying to find that rhythm. Lahiri told him: “Just give me this tournament, I’m going to work with you,” Buttler recounted.Buttler “gave myself over” to Lahiri, and empowered him to run his training sessions. “He’s got some great thoughts around the game,” he said. “He’s a very positive guy, always reminding you how good you are but at the same time, giving you some honest feedback, and stuff you can do better. He’s had a great impact on my batting.””Jos didn’t have a particularly great time at the World Cup,” Lahiri told ESPNcricinfo. “What I felt was that he had slightly gone away from his usual sync. He’s not a conventional Ian Bell or Joe Root; he’s an unconventional batter whose greatest strength is his hand-eye coordination. It’s all about the time when the bat meets the ball, and his ability to sync that with the way he watches the ball.”Lahiri encouraged Buttler to move away from underarm feeds in practice, introducing “some harder spin throwdowns, where he had to play with the bat because he wasn’t wearing pads”. He also suggested that he should bat against the Royals’ seamers in the nets more often as opposed to net bowlers – another change designed to “ensure that he kept on finding his rhythm”.They also worked on his alignment early in his innings, after some bowlers – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, for example – targeted his pads with the new ball. “We didn’t tinker too much on his basics, more how he positions himself,” Lahiri said. “There were certain areas which he was not accessing, and bowlers were targeting. Now, if they target him in towards him, he’s going to hit it through midwicket for four.””i’ve worked closely with Sid… just [to get] some different ideas”•Rajasthan RoyalsButtler believes that he is sometimes “a victim of my own expectations”. Lahiri agrees: “When Jos is walking out for the Royals, his level of expectation is at its peak; the same pressure is there playing for England as captain. He can’t just think, ‘Let me go and smack a few balls’, which possibly he would love to. It’s a challenge for him.” His main aim, therefore, was simple: “To bring back the fun and the joy, and for Jos to actually enjoy batting again”.They are not major interventions but Buttler believes they have been beneficial and his statistics back that up: he averages 40.36 for the Royals’ teams this year, striking at 142.30. “I feel in a really good space,” he said last week. “I’ve worked closely with Sid… just [to get] some different ideas. He had a couple of drills that he thought would be really good for me. Change is good, change is nice.”Lahiri is an unlikely figure to be working so closely with Buttler: he is a self-described “outsider” who, unlike most IPL coaches, did not have a professional playing career. He played representative cricket in Bengal but went to the UK in his late 20s to qualify as a coach and never returned to Kolkata, instead building his career overseas.He played club cricket for Stoke d’Abernon in Surrey while working at Parkside School in Cobham, and launched his own business, the Star Cricket Academy. It was incorporated into the Rajasthan Royals Academy in 2019 and Lahiri has worked with the franchise’s professional set-up around the world since, including five seasons with their IPL team in various roles.”My coaching journey has come from the grassroots level up,” he said. “I’m very proud that I am a little bit of a trend-setter.” He admitted that he has, on occasion, found it “tough” to get buy-in from top players, but said: “The time is not that far away when people will take coaching as completely different to playing… it’s there already in football.”Lahiri has been empowered by the Royals’ director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara, and is grateful to Buttler for his support: “At the Royals, we talk a lot about trust… Jos has obviously supported me in all of this, and that is why it has been able to work.”His influence on Buttler encapsulates the unlikely multi-national relationships which have been forged in the IPL era. If it helps Buttler play a decisive role at the T20 World Cup, England’s supporters will be grateful.

England bowler not getting carried away despite startling success in first series at No.8

Matt Roller30-Aug-20240:35

Gus Atkinson proud of century after ‘frustrating’ year with the bat

Joe Root’s grin as he sat on the Lord’s outfield made clear that his outlandish comparison between Gus Atkinson and Jacques Kallis was tongue-in-cheek. But while Atkinson is unlikely to graduate to official allrounder status anytime soon, there was no questioning the talent he showed in making his maiden Test – and first-class – hundred.Atkinson has shown glimpses of his batting abilities in his international career, thrashing 35 off 21 balls in England’s heavy defeat to South Africa at last year’s World Cup and twice belting 21 from down the order against West Indies in his maiden Test series this summer. Even still, he looked a spot high at No. 8 when England reshuffled their side to cover Ben Stokes’ absence.Yet at Lord’s, he lived up to his promotion to reach 74 not out on Thursday evening, twice lofting Prabath Jayasuriya over mid-off and pulling Lahiru Kumara’s tired short ball over midwicket. “Being at the other end when he hit those straight sixes, they were unbelievable,” Root said, laughing, at the close of play. “It’s like watching someone like Jacques Kallis play.”It only took him 22 balls to convert his overnight score into a hundred, though not without a scare. After hitting the first two balls of the morning for four – a flick off the pads and a punch through cover – he was given out lbw by Paul Reiffel, only for a review to save him, with the ball shown to be missing leg. Marcus Trescothick, England’s batting coach, punched the air in relief on the balcony.Atkinson showed no such emotion, characteristically unflappable as he cruised to three figures. He has worked hard on his basics with Surrey’s coaches Gareth Batty and Jade Dernbach, trying to stay as still as possible with his eyes level on release. His practice came to fruition with the shots that took him from 95 to 103, crisp drives either side of mid-off.Finally, Atkinson allowed himself to smile, beaming as he charged towards the pavilion with fists clenched. His father, Ed, watched in disbelief from a hospitality suite in the Grandstand, and his team-mates stood to applaud from the balcony, all grinning as they shared in the unlikely success of a man averaging 6.71 in the County Championship this season.Atkinson had dinner with Zak Crawley and Harry Brook on Thursday night, and was gently ribbed by them about the prospect of reaching three figures. “There was a bit of pressure on from them, but thankfully I got there,” he said. “It was just pure elation. I was so happy, so relieved. It was a pretty surreal moment.Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes applaud Gus Atkinson’s century•Getty Images”I was pretty happy [last night],” Atkinson added. “I’d scored 70-odd already, so I tried to not put too much pressure on myself: if I got out, I got out. I just wanted to continue to play the way that I played yesterday. Thankfully it came off for me today. I feel like I hit quite a few boundaries today, so it was nice just to get there quite quickly this morning.”The innings put Atkinson in esteemed company, making him one of six men to take both a ten-for and hit a hundred at Lord’s, following his 12-wicket debut haul against West Indies last month. This was also the first century from England’s lower order (No. 8-11) for more than a decade, since Matt Prior in 2013; and, excluding innings which involved nightwatchmen, the first since Stuart Broad’s 169 against Pakistan at Lord’s in 2010.Related

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That Broad averaged 15.64 after that hundred, with eight fifties and no hundreds in his 199 subsequent innings, should be a reminder that Atkinson will not always have things this easy. For all his poise, he was up against a four-man attack with 57 previous Test caps between them: batting may look a little less straightforward next year when he comes up against India and Australia.Atkinson, however, does not seem the type to get ideas above his station, and made clear that he is not looking for a promotion. “I’m happy at eight; eight is good,” he said. “I haven’t thought about it too much… obviously missing Stokesy this series gave me the opportunity to bat No. 8, and thankfully I scored a hundred. Going forward, obviously I’d like to bat as high as possible.”I’ve been frustrated with my batting this year: I haven’t really scored many runs for Surrey at all. But I know how good a player I can be. I feel like I’ve got so much natural ability with the bat and I felt like I was moving really well and hitting the ball really cleanly. It was just one of those days where it comes off for you.”In the long term, his emergence with the bat might enable England to make bold decisions away from home: Atkinson becoming a regular contributor from No. 8 would empower them to leave Chris Woakes out overseas without unduly compromising the balance of their side. More immediately, it has put them on the cusp of a fifth win in a row, and a second series victory of the summer.

Smarts? Check. Innovation? Check. Banter? Yes sir. It was all so familiar that it took until he brought up three figures for the reality of his arduous comeback to sink in

Alagappan Muthu21-Sep-2024This was a really chill day in Chennai. Literally – some people had come in wearing winter caps – and figuratively.India were already 308 runs ahead. Bangladesh didn’t exactly see the point of being active participants in this Test anymore. In a weird way, it made sense. This game was deep in declaration territory. Might as well preserve their bowlers for the next one. Or maybe they were worried about the over rate. In any case, under overcast skies, after early-morning rain, on a fast-bowling pitch (though there wasn’t as much movement as earlier), Mehidy Hasan Miraz delivered twice as many overs as any of his team-mates in the morning session of day three. The spread-out fields added to the batters’ sense of comfort. They were walking singles.Related

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After a point, Rishabh Pant couldn’t take it anymore. “,” he cried out, beseeching Bangladesh to make a change. “. One fielder here. Midwicket.” He’s been out of Test cricket for two years. He must have missed it a lot. Enough that on the third day of his comeback, he started playing not just for his team but the opposition as well.A Pant century is never short of highlights and this one was no different. There were so many scoop shots, and a crowd that is used to the culture of repeat viewings – you need to schedule some soul searching if you’re a Chennaite and you’ve watched a major movie just once – really appreciated that. There was also a straight six which he only managed by letting his bottom hand go off the bat. He played that once in the IPL three years ago, against Chennai Super Kings in Dubai, and Matthew Hayden on commentary dispelled the notion that the ball clearing the boundary was a fluke.He has all the party tricks, but he can do soft hands too•AFP/Getty Images”He’s nowhere near that. Now if he had two hands on his bat, that wouldn’t have gone half-way to the boundary. But he actually gets the extension through his hands which carries the bat out in front of him, and therefore he gets the distance towards the short side of the ground, granted, but what a shot!”Pant’s scoops have the same counterintuitive quality about them. He is perfectly happy to stay in line with the ball. Other players – like Jos Buttler for example – make an effort to get outside of it because the biggest thing preventing them from accessing that gap at fine leg is their own body. Pant just bends his torso away at the last instant and clearly that’s more than enough. He has an instinctive understanding of shot-making mechanics and that knowledge seems to be expanding.When he made 39 on the first day of the Chepauk Test, and the conditions were considerably harder to bat in, Pant thrived by playing the ball with really soft hands. It is easy to forget – because of his inextricable association with all things outlandish (like making his name as a babysitter first, batter later) – that he has this skill too. At the Gabba in 2021, he was content with just one boundary off his first 48 balls. He had a reason to bat that way. A Test match was on the line. Here, there were no big-picture constraints. He was 30 off 65 because he was being thorough. It is possible he might be growing out of his impulse-driven strokeplay phase.Why two hands when one will do?•BCCIThe fun that followed – Pant scored 19 off his first 39 balls against spin, then 64 off his last 48 – kept the crowd on their feet, and Shubman Gill on his toes. They had to celebrate a lot of boundaries and each time Pant seemed to insist on a routine. Two punches of the glove and, simultaneously, two taps of the bat. It resembled the secret handshake between Troy and Abed, from the hit series Community, and looked pretty cool but…”I was telling him to not to [do that],” Gill said, “Because I’m playing with a bat that I played the England series [with]. My bat is quite old actually. And he was hitting my bat so hard, I was telling him you know, I’m trying to save my bat. And if he didn’t middle it while in the middle, he would say no let’s do it again. I was like, bro, calm down.”There’s a chance that India have discovered a fun new partnership to follow with one of their old ones watching on with great interest. Rohit Sharma was sat in the dressing room, waiting for it. Virat Kohli had hit the nets at lunch, but he made sure to be back for it. Pant brought “it” with an effortless push to long-off. He only needed one more for his century. Gill thought he’d settle for that and soak in the moment. But Pant insisted on the second. Then he walked off to the side just a little. He must have had so many complicated feelings. Maybe his mind even went to that night on December 30, 2022. To come back from that, alive, is a lot to take in. To be good enough to play cricket again is a lot to take in. To score a hundred in his first Test back?Those two or three seconds just before he raised his bat, when the reality of what he’d done set in on Pant, might be one of the only known stretches of time in which he has ever looked overwhelmed.

Head doesn’t just score runs, he scores them quickly, and often against balls that aren’t all that bad – a recipe to deflate any attack

Alagappan Muthu15-Dec-20241:33

Pujara: India fed too many balls to Head outside off

Sometime during the 2019 Ashes, there was an announcement at St Johns Wood tube station: “Mind the gap. Also, does anybody know how to get Steven Smith out?” The moment stands out in “The Test”, Amazon’s documentary about the Australian team. There might be some places in India sending out a similar SOS about Travis Head. The irony is that he came into this Test having been dismissed for 0 off 1 three straight times at the Gabba.Getting a bogey batter out early is the ideal scenario, and also maybe a slightly easier one, when compared to getting them out after they’re set. And Head is not without his weaknesses. There is one that India failed to exploit rather famously at the WTC final in 2023. And they might be guilty of something similar here too. According to HawkEye data only 10% of the fast bowling he faced was bouncers.When Head came in at No. 5, Jasprit Bumrah was fairly fresh and he was brought on pretty quickly. His first over included one that rose up towards Head’s chest. He went for the pull and made no effort to keep it down because there was nobody at deep square leg. He was happy to hit it in the air. there was nobody down at deep square leg. The field wasn’t set for that ball.Related

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India had reason to explore more traditional lengths on this Gabba pitch. Even at 54 overs, Akash Deep was getting the ball to bounce past the shoulder of Smith’s bat. Normal Test-match bowling was working in Brisbane… so long as Head wasn’t the one facing it. This is what his talent to a cricket ball – not meet it under his eyes, not defend it close to his body but it – does. It breaks a game in two.Morne Morkel, the India bowling coach, in explaining their plans to Head, hinted at just how easily he forces oppositions on the defensive. “The margins to him were just so small. And like I said, once he’s in, you know, what is the best way for the team and for you to maybe slow down the scoring rate? Because you know he’s going to be aggressive. What is the best way of bringing a little bit of control into the game?”Morkel was still talking about getting Head out but the way to do it had changed from targeting him to tying him down. India had a deep point in very early into Head’s innings. They had discovered that unlike most left-hand batters they come across, he enjoyed the ball coming into him from around the wicket. “Our plan going into this game was to bowl a little bit more over the wickets, just to bowl a straighter line,” Morkel said.Travis Head notched up a 115-ball hundred•Cricket Australia via Getty ImagesAustralia scored 130 runs in the middle session at 4.8 an over with Head scoring 80 of them to bring up his fourth century against India across formats. Bumrah went to a bouncer and actually cramped him once, but Head adjusted by leaning back from the ball and just letting it glance off the face of his bat which he had propped up like a ramp. It was deliciously intentional.The ball that most people think brings him down, bowled by one of the best in the world, simply flew off the middle of his bat. That’s how Head brings the opposition’s shoulders down. He doesn’t just score runs, he scores them quickly, and often against balls that aren’t all that bad.”The way he’s able to put the bowlers under pressure from the outset is quite incredible,” Smith, a fellow century-maker and his partner over the course of 241 runs, said. “You know, he’s got an unbelievable eye and the areas in which he scores, it’s tough to put fielders in those positions in a way.Steven Smith and Travis Head combined well for Australia•Associated Press”You know, you see them put the deep point out and stuff, but he just finds ways to just put it past him. Yeah, he’s batting beautifully, he’s confident and it’s nice to get in a partnership with him because the scoreboard moves extremely fast. And I was just in the sheds with him then and he goes, ‘geez, that went quick today.'”Ravindra Jadeja thought he had Head caught behind in the 55th over. It was a lovely ball, spinning into the batter against the angle from around the wicket. But he couldn’t bowl it again. One of the most accurate spinners in the world couldn’t back up a good ball with another good ball because when he tried he was hit for two successive boundaries, which forced Jadeja into bowling darts. Head faced them with ease, off the back foot, with all the time in the world. He had thrown the bowler off what he wanted to do and made life easier for himself seconds after being in trouble.India weren’t at their best on Saturday. Morkel admitted that there is a lot of work they still need to do on bowling between the 30th and the 50th overs and that finding the right length at the Gabba has been a bit of a challenge. They had a scare with Mohammed Siraj grabbing his left knee and walking off the field (he came back though). As they waited for the second new ball, cycling through their change bowlers just before tea, and leaking three fours in 12 balls, they turned to Bumrah sooner than they might have liked. He had two balls’ notice to warm-up. Every ball, every over, every session, Head kept pushing India to the brink and now they are teetering.

The T20 World Cup win was the highlight, but right through the year, India set new benchmarks in T20I batting

Sampath Bandarupalli16-Nov-2024India ended their 11-year ICC trophy drought in 2024 with the T20 World Cup win – their second, after winning the inaugural one in 2007. It came in a year in which India found immense success in the format, wherever they played.They won all five bilateral T20I series they played this year, and lost only two matches – one of them played a week after their World Cup win with a fairly depleted line-up in Harare.Overall, India won 22 of the 26 completed T20Is they played in 2024 outright. They also won the two matches they tied via Super Over. And they lost only two, including the second match of the latest series in South Africa.

Inspired by Shashank Singh and Amandeep Khare, the two Chhattisgarh batters are aiming to make it big in the upcoming Duleep Trophy

Deivarayan Muthu26-Aug-2025Aayush Pandey and Sanjeet Desai, two emerging players who are motivated by the success of Chhattisgarh’s biggest star Shashank Singh, have made the Central Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, and are hoping to enhance the reputation of their state in Indian domestic cricket.Pandey, 21, is a left-hand opening batter, while Desai, 27, is a right-hand middle-order batter who often uses his long reach to mess with the lengths of bowlers.They were both among the top-ten run-getters in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy. They were also among the top-ten run-getters in the 2025 Chhattisgarh Premier League. More recently, their contributions on a Chennai turner helped Chhattisgarh beat a more fancied Maharashtra side, which included Ruturaj Gaikwad, in the pre-season Buchi Babu tournament.Related

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Kushagra hopes to remain 'in the eyes of the selectors'

IPL star Priyansh Arya sets sights on Ranji Trophy

“I’ve learnt a lot from Shashank and he has helped me develop over the last two-three years,” Pandey says. “His advice on mental tactics has helped me build my innings and also support my team-mates.”We have a lot of talent coming through in Chhattisgarh. Our age-group teams are also doing well and we’re also doing well in [senior] state matches and the win against Maharashtra in the Buchi Babu gives us confidence going into the domestic season.”Before Shashank put Chhattisgarh on the Indian cricket map, it was Amandeep Khare, the current captain, who had played at the higher levels, representing India Under-19s as well as Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy.”Shashank has inspired a lot of us and at the same time, Amandeep Khare is a legend from our state,” Desai says. “You see more talent and the results are also coming. It’s been just a few years since we got the affiliation [2016-17], and things will soon come our way.”Pandey’s career has been trending upwards since he toured the UK in 2023 with a Mumbai Indians (MI) development squad. In the 2024-25 Buchi Babu, he won the Player-of-the-Tournament award and in the following Ranji season, he racked up 744 runs in 12 innings at an average of 67.63, including a century against Tamil Nadu and a double-century against Assam. He has also attended IPL trials with a number of franchises but is yet to break into the big league.

“There is good bonding and understanding between us. We’ve had some big partnerships for Chhattisgarh. I know which bowlers he is going to target and which bowlers may be difficult [to face] for him. [In] the same way, he tells me how to play the bowlers and go about my batting”Aayush Pandey on batting with Sanjeet Desai

“The MI tour of the UK helped me assess and adapt to different conditions,” Pandey says. “It’s different to playing in India with more swing and seam. The last Buchi Babu and Ranji season has given me a lot of confidence and I hope to carry that through to the Duleep Trophy.”Like Pandey, Desai can bat for long and score big, too. After chalking up four consecutive centuries in the CK Nayudu Trophy in 2023, he showed that he could score a similar volume of runs in the most recent Ranji Trophy. Desai credits his coach Umesh Patwal, who has also worked with Afghanistan as their batting coach, and regular stints in Chennai’s competitive first-division league for his red-ball progress.”Umesh Patwal, who is from Mumbai… I went to him in 2021 and after that my cricketing journey changed and I think I’ve scored 12 centuries in the BCCI seasons after that [including age-group tournaments],” Desai says. “I have also been playing for India Cements for four years in the TNCA [Tamil Nadu Cricket Association] league and playing the league has flourished my game like anything.”Playing in Chennai, you get different kinds of wickets, which you don’t get in the north or central part. By the time I come to the Ranji Trophy, I would have scored 350-400 runs in the league, which has really helped me in the Ranji season.”Desai also has some exposure outside of India, having played as a professional for the Sri Lankan Airforce Sports Club in 2023. He is eager to harness all of those experiences and make an impression in the upcoming Duleep Trophy that starts on August 28.Sanjeet Desai celebrates his double-century against UP in the 2023-24 season•Randhir Dev/Ekana Sportz City”The Duleep Trophy is the gateway to the Indian cricket team,” Desai says. “All the selectors are thoroughly watching the players and monitoring them. So, it is really important for me, and runs in the Buchi Babu will boost my confidence because I think my last Ranji game was in January-February.”Pandey is relishing the prospect of batting together with Desai for Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy. “There is good bonding and understanding between us,” he says. “We’ve had some big partnerships for Chhattisgarh. I know which bowlers he is going to target and which bowlers may be difficult [to face] for him. [In] the same way, he tells me how to play the bowlers and go about my batting.”Chhattisgarh had posted five totals of 400 or more in seven Ranji games in the 2024-25 domestic season, but their attack struggled to bowl out oppositions. To remedy that, they have brought in the experienced Aditya Sarwate, the left-arm spin-bowling allrounder who has represented Vidarbha and Kerala in the past, and paired him up with seamer Ravi Kiran, another professional.”If you look at the graph, our batters have all scored runs,” Desai says. “Last year we had just one professional [Ravi Kiran]. Other than that, there was some bowler making his debut. In the next game, someone else was making his debut. Now, we have got Aditya Sarwate and there will be support for Ravi Kiran this season.”

“In the first year, I didn’t take the Chhattisgarh Premier League seriously, but when I went for IPL trials, franchises were telling me that they are monitoring our league too. So, I was serious about it and this season was good”Sanjeet Desai

Desai believes that he has the tools to succeed in T20 cricket too. In the 2025 Chhattisgarh Premier League, he struck 166 runs in five innings at an average of 41.50 and a strike rate of nearly 160.”I won two games for my team in the Chhattisgarh Premier League,” Desai says. “I think I have the height and power, and it was just about the mindset switch. I want to be a three-format player. I scored a 24-ball 68 in the Chhattisgarh Premier League. At the same time, in the Ranji Trophy, I scored a 200-ball hundred too.”In the first year, I didn’t take the Chhattisgarh Premier League seriously, but when I went for IPL trials, franchises were telling me that they are monitoring our league too. So, I was serious about it and this season was good.”Pandey also delivered a good appraisal of the league, saying it has helped younger players, such as himself, deal with pressure better and press for higher honours.”Playing in the Chhattisgarh league builds composure and it’s helping me build my character under pressure,” Pandey says. “We have to keep getting better and better. We should not be satisfied with just a few wins and look to win big tournaments like Ranji Trophy or Syed Mushtaq Ali or Vijay Hazare.”

This is a team that has a lot of talented players, but not an understanding on how they want to win Test matches

Sidharth Monga25-Jul-20252:05

Manjrekar: Gill’s hands were tied with India’s lack of bowling depth

This is the first time India have conceded 500 outside Asia and the West Indies in more than a decade. Use “water in eyes” emoji if you are an India fan. They went a whole 10 years without conceding a single 500 in the countries that used to be India’s stumbling ground. There is a reason for it: in the 10 years immediately before that, they went for 500 in these countries on 16 occasions, five of those on two horror tours of England and Australia barely months apart.Even providing for the nature of pitches in the last 10 years and then this being their first tour of England on Bazball surfaces, this represents a big change in the way India played Test cricket. They had great spinners at home for the start of these 10 years, and then when they started touring outside Asia and the West Indies in 2018, they had a battery of fast bowlers who were quick, fit, experienced and stayed on the field.Now India are in a transition and the leader of their attack is not able to play every Test. There have been threats of this for some time, but the third day at Old Trafford was the first time the wheels came off well and proper.Related

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Not since the 2014 tour of England, when Pankaj Singh registered figures of 0 for 179, have India had a fast bowler look as innocuous as Anshul Kamboj on debut. Two years previously, R Vinay Kumar, another domestic workhorse, was taken for 1 for 73 in 13 overs at the WACA Ground. Since then, debutants have come looking equipped for Test cricket.Kamboj’s case is perplexing. He is in his prime. He has passed through various filters. Administrators and coaches at his state, Haryana, always felt he was destined to play Test cricket. Not ODIs, not T20Is. Specifically Test cricket. Then he has had glowing endorsements from people who should know something about cricket: MS Dhoni and R Ashwin at Chennai Super Kings. Then the India selectors, and eventually the team management.When Kamboj ran in for his first spell of the morning, India were desperately hoping that the impostor had been replaced by the real Kamboj who had earned the hype. This was the time when Joe Root and Ollie Pope had smartly negotiated the testing first spells of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.Anything even remotely a repeat of what Kamboj and Shardul Thakur did on the second evening would almost certainly play India out of the Test. This, at around noon at Old Trafford, was India’s last chance to stay in contention in the Test. Root and Pope were champing at the bit. India needed a big effort to back up Bumrah and Siraj.What followed was a drop from day two when Kamboj averaged 128.26 kmph. On day three, his average pace was down to 125.34 kmph. Needless to say, there was no follow-up on that spell, and Root did what elite batters do: accumulate without risk. It is one of the shocking selections calls in a decade of Test cricket because Kamboj went through so many filters and then impressed the team management enough to not only leapfrog Prasidh Krishna, who had been in the original squad, and walk into the XI straight off the flight, but also get the new ball.2:09

Manjrekar: Siraj did his best within his limitations

Bowling coach Morne Morkel was at a loss to explain why he was so slow. At the IPL, Kamboj bowled about 55% of his deliveries at over 135kmph. Here his fastest was 134.58kmph. Morkel himself saw a much quicker Kamboj during the India A games before the start of the Test series, and possibly at the nets two days before the match.Even if you provide for a soft outfield that can slow down your running pace, possible stage fright, and four overs in the IPL versus settling in for a long Test spell, this was a sharp drop in pace. Morkel confirmed Kamboj was fully fit. That ends up on the team management’s door then.”If he wasn’t fully fit he won’t be playing,” Morkel said. “I wish I can give you that answer because I would’ve told him then how to bowl quicker. But he arrived here, he bowled well in the nets and then obviously we went with what I discussed earlier (earlier Morkel said they wanted someone who could bowl a volume of overs and keep testing the off stump). Why speeds are so low, that is something that we are working on.”It would be cruel to point only Kamboj out. This India has notoriously been one that hedges its bets. Even when they won in Birmingham, they won through the freakish occurrence of two bowlers sharing 17 wickets between them, striking in the first innings in clumps of five each. That is not something you can rely on for repetition. Now that they saw the overhead conditions, they added Thakur to the XI, but were reluctant to bowl him. This is a team that has a lot of talented players, but not an understanding on how they want to win Test matches.It doesn’t help that the last two fast bowlers who impressed straight from their debut are now showing signs of fatigue. This innings demonstrates why Bumrah can play only three Tests. In the first innings of the first Test, he bowled 42.7% of his deliveries at over 140kmph, in the second it was down to 22.3%, and at Old Trafford he went into the 140s only once, accounting for 0.5%. He is still a handful, he still kept runs under check, but this drop in intensity is perhaps why he went searching too straight on day two.The attack just didn’t seem to back themselves to do what has worked for them over the last 10 years: keep bowling good balls, keep the intensity and pressure up, and the wickets will take care of themselves. This is precisely the time when a little bit of the wicket-taking wizardry of left-arm wristspin would have come handy, but India had Kuldeep Yadav carrying drinks. Not that he wouldn’t have been a great pick in any of the Tests that have gone by, but now more than ever India needed reinforcements.They hedged their bets, showed little faith in either batters or bowlers, tried to cover too many bases instead of owning the ones they are equipped to own. Now they need the batting depth they keep opting for to rescue them to keep the series alive.