All posts by h716a5.icu

Australia aren’t quite equipped to save Tests in Asia, but Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb pulled off an improbable result in Ranchi

Jarrod Kimber in Ranchi20-Mar-20171:45

Chappell: Australia’s batting more than Smith and Warner now

Matt Renshaw saw the shadow people. They hadn’t been there for four days, but someone had opened a door and now there they were, right in his vision, running, walking, swaying from side to side. Once he saw them he couldn’t concentrate. He had to pull away as the bowler ran in.This enraged Ishant Sharma, who threw the ball down in anger and started a fight with Steven Smith before being moved away. Angry Ishant, too rarely seen, is by far the best Ishant.He roars in next ball and follows right through to Renshaw to let him know how he’s feeling. Soon he hits Renshaw on the hip. Another ball gets stuck in Renshaw’s helmet after rattling around his face for a second. Then there is a bouncer that Renshaw barely avoids.When Ishant goes straight and gets one to skid a bit, Renshaw is trapped plumb in front. He shrugs his shoulders and leaves the ground, practising the shot he should have played as the shadow people dance and rejoice.A few minutes later, the shadow people dance again. Smith didn’t make many bad decisions in his first innings of 127 overs, or even when he was in the field for 210 overs. But this one is bad, and Australia have spent all tour doing the right thing.Australia have made a collection of decisions so far in this series. It started when S Sriram went from a development coach into the change room for this tour. He coached the batsmen on how to survive, and at times thrive, in India. But perhaps his greatest work was making Steve O’Keefe believe in himself. It was playing inside the line as Sriram had suggested and his constant mentoring of O’Keefe meant the weakest team to tour India, according to Harbhajan Singh, won a Test with a spinner who was fourth best , according to Shane Warne.They were supposed to be embarrassed. Instead they had done the thing that teams had been trying to do all season in India.In Bengaluru, Nathan Lyon got them off to a great start, and then it was the batmen’s turn to step up. On a day when India were outstanding, Australia tried to just get far enough in front to win the game. As good as Shaun Marsh had been, it was his wicket at the close on day two that ultimately kept India in it. When Smith dropped Pujara, India battled to a lead big enough that Australia with a team of their very best players of spin would have struggled to get over the line. The chase and pitch was set up for an Australian collapse.Australia have also been clever at little things. After O’Keefe’s 12-wicket haul in Pune it would have been easy to think he would be a strike bowler in India, but Australia went straight back to using him as their stock bowler. It allowed Hazlewood more rest, it allowed Starc (Cummins) to be Starc (Cummins), and when Lyon’s callous opened up, for O’Keefe to at least stop India getting away. They also got the ball to reverse while using their bowlers far better than Kohli used his. They played spin better over the first two Tests, they fielded and caught better, and they came up with intelligent plans and stuck to them well.It’s perhaps the most unAustralian they have been in India.Shaun Marsh stood tall and blunted India•Associated PressAn hour into this match, on a pitch so doctored that the Ranchi rolled mud was supposed to swallow the Australians whole, they looked completely at home. But then their first real problem on this pitch had nothing to do with this pitch: Warner failed again and they were leaving their fate in the hands of Glenn Maxwell.Maxwell was a bizarre choice, as Australia had barely used Mitchell Marsh’s allrounded-ness, and perhaps the more sensible thing to do was bring in Usman Khawaja. Very rarely is Maxwell a sensible thing to do, and when Australia needed someone to play very long innings, him coming out to bat at 140 for 4 with Australia at least 300 behind where they would need to be, few would have been confident. But Maxwell played either the best innings of his life, or the one that sets up the rest of it. But as good as he was, and as just phenomenally good as Smith continued to be, 451 never quite felt enough.When they had India at 328 for 6, with Pat Cummins defying pretty much everything to storm through the crease, it did seem like it might be enough. Australia had tried all the tricks they had. Bowling dry with interesting fields designed to stop batsmen scoring efficiently, short quick spells of reverse from Hazlewood, and short quick cutters from Cummins.India crawled past them, but no matter how good Cheteshwar Pujara looked, or how well Wriddhiman Saha timed the ball, Smith refused to concede a single run. Pujara made a double-hundred that was essentially a three-day arm wrestle with Smith’s fields. They let him stay in; they rarely let him score. They were tired, and never looked like getting a wicket, but they never rolled over, they never let India score. If India was going to score, it was going to be out of the footholes or with significant risk.Forget the part-timers, forget taking chances. There were no easy runs for India, and that took time, which turned out to be very important.Even with the restriction of India’s lead, and how long it took them to get there, there were problems for Australia. They had only faced more than 100 overs in the fourth innings of an Asian Test once, against Bangladesh, in 2006. The last time Australia batted an extended period to draw a game was six years ago in Sri Lanka. They hadn’t won a series since then either. They had only batted 100 overs in their second innings in Asia 16 times.This is a team that doesn’t win series in Asia, doesn’t bat out draws. Going into a final day with two wickets down, against the two best spinners in the world for these conditions, and a pit of despair outside the left-handers’ off stump, this team was not equipped to draw this match. Not that Australia were the team that should have won in Pune, or stayed in the game in Bengaluru for as long as they did.What makes this series more remarkable is that this isn’t a great time for Australian cricket. It’s hard to praise the selectors too much, when part of their plan was replacing Peter Nevill with Matthew Wade as wicketkeeper. Wade has averaged less with the bat since coming back into the team than Nevill did when he was axed. And it was Wade’s drop that ultimately cost them a chance of winning this Test.Then there is Mitchell Marsh, who even if he wasn’t injured – even if he had never been injured – was an odd choice for a team with an underperforming No. 7. He became odder when he barely bowled a charity over in two Tests.Then there was the fact that about five minutes ago, Callum Ferguson was playing. Or that the selectors seemed to pick Renshaw on a whim, and then started to second guess themselves when they realised the India tour was coming up. And they also threw Nic Maddinson into Test matches while they publicly slated the man who has now replaced him.But there was some method to their madness. Australian selections are still based on things like grit, youth, and aesthetic wonders that are apparently natural talent. However, when they turned their team around after the debacle in Hobart, they made three interesting calls with their batting. They went for a young kid who would become a star, the guy with the best recent first-class record, and the most naturally talented player they had.That got them two players who have been important since, Renshaw and Handscomb, and to be fair, Maxwell was out of favour, and Chris Lynn was injured, so Maddinson was probably third choice anyway.They continued to make big calls for this tour. At times it seemed like almost everyone did not rate Shaun Marsh outside of people who know his father, Western Australians, and Australian selectors. There is sometimes an overlap in those categories.Marsh is not a great batsman. If he was, with all the advantages he has had, he would have played a lot more than 22 Tests by the age of 33. He certainly would have averaged a hell of a lot more than 40 in first-class cricket and he would have averaged over 40 in more than one country. It just so happened that one country was Sri Lanka, and he also has a huge average in the IPL. So it made sense to see him as an Asian specialist.But it was still a risk. Marsh might know his game, he might be better in Asia than most Australian players, and he might also be one of Australia’s best players of spin – averaging 62, double his average against pace. While that might seem enough, in India you need big scores as well, and Marsh doesn’t do that. He can score, but he doesn’t score big daddy runs. His highest in first-class cricket is 182, and that is part of the reason he doesn’t average more.Matthew Wade and Virat Kohli shook hands and called it a draw after Australia had batted out 100 overs•Associated PressThat hasn’t been a big problem on this tour as Marsh has never gone past 70, and yet both of his fifties have been very good knocks. His 66 in Bengaluru ended up being remembered for its limp end, but in the context of the game it was a terrific knock. The incredible part was how he found a way to survive on that pitch. And that is what he needed to do today.The thing is, unlike in Bengaluru, Marsh had some help in Ranchi. Peter Handscomb has made three hundreds in each of the last three Sheffield Shield seasons. He played IPL and county cricket, and for someone still pretty young, he is a well-rounded and experienced. But he’s also weird. That’s okay if you’re chosen as a kid on a whim because you have something special about you. When you’re 25, and you’ve never played for Australia, and your batting technique looks like a drunk guy trying to imitate Steve Smith, getting into the Australian team is not a sure thing.Had there not been a crisis of faith after losing to South Africa, Handscomb might have had to wait a couple of years for a spot. Instead he was thrust in, and runs followed. Even in India, where he hasn’t gone on with it, he has almost always looked better than most of the other batsmen. In Bengaluru, on a pitch where to survive you had to cobble together three or four ideas and hope for the best, he was the one player who looked like he could have chased down the total.It was that cricket brain that shone again today. For 28 straight balls Marsh, who had fought hard against Jadeja in the rough, didn’t have to face Jadeja in the rough. When India finally got Jadeja back at Marsh, it was halfway through the day, the ball was softer, Jadeja wasn’t in rhythm, and the spit and fire were long gone.For the rest of the day, the two played so incredibly smart. Marsh made sure to get outside the line, Handscomb took 13 runs off a poor over from Ashwin, so India would have to take him off and change their plans. They looked for runs, turned the strike over when it suited them, and played the kind of cricket Australians don’t play in India that often.While India might have looked flat and out of ideas, and could blame the soft ball and the fact the pitch didn’t fall apart as they wanted, they also had to credit this partnership because both players were in control of over 90% of the balls they faced. That would be incredible on day one, but for the fifth day, with one guy still proving himself at 33 and another in his first Tests outside home, it was a tremendous effort. When the new ball did start to play up again, and Marsh struggled before getting out, it was Handscomb who remained.Had those two got out, the Test could have ended poorly for Australia. Wade could have got a ball from the rough, and then the tail would have not only had to handle the spinners and the pitch, but also the crowd.Instead, the crowd was quiet. Handscomb had silenced them and they were a shadow of how it had been the evening before.It even turned out that it wasn’t the shadow people distracting Renshaw. It was M Vijay on the field. The only shadows Australia saw at the end of the day were those of disappointed Indian fielders, as they knew a win was slipping away.When Handscomb knocked a ball gently through the covers, the shadows went to collect it, but Handscomb stood still. He could have run, but if he did there was a chance that Wade would have to face Jadeja out of the rough, so he refused the runs. While it probably wouldn’t have mattered much – the game was drawn shortly after – Hanscomb had made another sensible decision.Australia have no Starc, a barely functioning David Warner, and with one Test to play the score is 1-1. They haven’t been jumping at shadows like they usually do in India. They are determined to do the right thing. And more often than not, they have.

Fast bowler Ben Laughlin on all the T20 teams he has played for, dismissing AB, and a future career as a celebrity carpenter

Vishal Dikshit15-Apr-2017What was the experience of playing T20Is for Australia at two different points – in 2009 and 2013 – of your career like?
The experience is obviously amazing, playing for your country. But the T20 team is not always our full-strength team, with a few guys coming in. It can be a bit disheartening when you’re not in the best team. But you always play for your country when the opportunities pop up. So good fun.Why do you think the Australian T20 team has not done very well despite so many clubs and the BBL there for a few years now?
I think it’s because our big guys, like Steve Smith and Davey [David Warner], are always away. They don’t actually play a bulk of T20 cricket during our T20 time. They’re always playing Test matches and we’re playing Big Bash. They come in and they’re probably not as sharp as they need to be and it’s normally a one- or two-game series. I think it’s one thing Australia is pretty disappointed about back home, that we haven’t performed very well in the World Cups and these bigger tournaments.You retweeted a stat that since the start of 2016 you’ve taken 18 wickets at an economy rate of 6.58. In the second innings, your economy rate was 5.57. What have you done differently recently?
Yeah, I was a bit shocked when that stat came through. They are pretty good, aren’t they (laughs)? I think it’s [about me] getting a bit older and being really comfortable in life and almost stop caring about results, just really enjoy playing the game and competing and going well. It seems funny that when you stop caring so much, things [turn out well]. It’s funny way to say “not care”. It’s more like not putting so much pressure on yourself. I’m in a pretty comfortable place where [if] things finish tomorrow, I can go home and spend time with my family. Keep riding while it’s going. It’s good fun, but if things finish, so be it. I’ll move on to the next chapter.What were your expectations from the IPL auction this time round and how were you following it back home?
It’s always a bit hard to get IPL stuff in Australia. It doesn’t seem to get much free-to-air coverage. I ended up just watching the Twitter feed. I thought I had a pretty good Big Bash and if I was going to get picked up again, this was going to be the year. So I was a little bit disappointed and annoyed after the first round had gone through. I think my wife and I were a bit depressed, eating dinner quietly. And then I refreshed the screen and saw that I got through. Almost woke my son up, which wasn’t great, but I was very excited when I got picked.Which Australian player is going to perform the best this IPL? Will Warner do it again?
I was talking to Kane [Williamson] the day before the first game and I said, “Davey can’t do this again, can he?” Just trying to jinx him. We’re so early in the tournament and we’ve already seen Steve Smith play amazing, Glenn Maxwell play amazing, Davey is playing amazing. There’s definitely a lot of talent coming from Australia and these boys can turn it on.”I’ve been a carpenter and a builder since I was about 17, so I’ve done a few renovations over the time. You never know, one day I might pop up on the TV, doing a few renovations”•Getty ImagesWho are the players you have gelled with in your first couple of weeks in the Sunrisers set-up?
I’ve spent a bit of time with Kane, which is really good. Our thought process is very similar. I actually play for Kane’s local team in New Zealand [Northern Districts], which is cool. Shikhar Dhawan’s an awesome and really funny guy. Bipul [Sharma] and even Vijay Shankar, who I spent some time with at CSK [Chennai Super Kings], is here and he’s a great guy to hang out with.What do you miss the most about Chennai Super Kings?
I think CSK was a pretty amazing squad, having MS [Dhoni] and [R] Ashwin and [Ravindra] Jadeja and [Suresh] Raina. An amazing squad, which probably won’t be seen together again with the way it’s all panned out. Just seeing the kind of culture in India compared to back home, like MS can’t go out anywhere. But they are all such normal people when you get to know them and talk to them.You’ve bowled in different parts of the world in recent times. Which ground did you not like?
I really don’t like bowling at the Gabba, which is weird because I’m from Queensland and I’ve played a fair bit of cricket there. The Gabba has got one very short end and I always bowl from that end. Chris Lynn is at the other end, which isn’t great fun. Internationally, I did get to play one game in Mumbai for CSK and didn’t fancy it. It’s quite a small ground. I haven’t had the pleasure of bowling at Bangalore. The boys say it’s not a great place to bowl. So those are the top three which are a bit scary.Your Twitter bio has three words: “future block contestant”. Is it about the TV series in Australia?
It is about a TV show called , which is about renovating houses on TV. I’ve been a carpenter and a builder since I was about 17, so I’ve done a few renovations over the time. It’s a bit of tongue in cheek. You never know, one day I might pop up on the TV, doing a few renovations. We’ll see.Do you fix and renovate things in your house too?
I do. I’m renovating at the moment and I’m almost finished with a phase. A couple of months to do when I get home and this one will be finished, which will be nice. It’s good fun.Did you study carpentry or was it a hobby?
I wasn’t very good at cricket till I got to the mid-twenties, so I did my carpentry apprenticeship and worked up until then and have been chipping away ever since.My best: Laughlin leaps at the boundary to take a catch to dismiss Albie Morkel, Johannesburg, 2009•Associated PressDale Steyn once tweeted: “I enjoy watching Ben Laughlin bowl. Plenty skill, skiddy pace, always smiling.”
That was a nice tweet from such a legend of the game. I’ve only met Dale once or twice and he’s an amazing person. He has a really good outlook on life. I’ll say I’ve been taken away with the way Dale plays. He’s always hard and aggressive but always happy and just loves being in the contest.He was your first wicket in ODIs. Do you think he remembers that?
Probably not, knowing Dale. I do. It was a little slower ball, which he popped up to Mike Hussey. So I put that one in the bank. Would have been nice to get AB [de Villiers] as my first ODI wicket, but I’ll take Dale.But you did dismiss AB twice in four international matches.
I don’t want to talk that one up too much. One was a full toss that he missed somehow and hit to cover. Not amazing wickets, but I’ll definitely take them.Who was a bigger batsman to dismiss for you in 2009 – AB or Younis Khan?
AB was pretty good still but the Younis one was actually a pretty good ball. It kicked away and he nicked it through to the keeper. But probably AB – there was pressure in that game.Which batsman has been the hardest to bowl to for you?
One of the main reasons I signed for Adelaide [Strikers] was because Brad Hodge was going to Adelaide. I’d hate to see my stats against Hodgy, they’d be horrible. He just whacks me everywhere. At least now it’s only in practice games or in the nets, so no one gets to see on TV, which is good. But then Hodgy is an exceptional player.You’ve taken some stunning diving catches over the years. Which is your favourite?
I took one in an ODI – the one in which I got AB out – caught Albie Morkel with a jump sort of a thing at the boundary. It was by far my best catch. I took a good one this year for Adelaide in front of a full stadium but the one in South Africa sticks in my mind.Do you scream at yourself when you put one down?
Yeah, I get pretty shattered when that happens. I am a firm believer that if you can touch it, you can catch it.How would you advise Ben Laughlin of 2009 to become a better player overall?
When I went on the Australian tour, I felt like I had made it and that I was done. I probably switched off mentally a little bit when I got there instead of realising that I’m here now and I’ve got to go again and train harder and get better and better. It was quite interesting that I was playing grade cricket nine months before that and I had a pretty good one-day tournament for Queensland and got picked for Australia. So it all happened quite fast and I didn’t have massive experience in training and preparing and all those things. In hindsight, I would have knuckled down a bit more and worked a lot harder. But hindsight is a great thing.”I am a firm believer that if you can touch it, you can catch it”•Getty ImagesWhat was it like to play an international match in 2013 after 2009?
It was probably a personal goal. I got picked early in 2009 and sort of got discarded. It was always a goal to prove to everyone that I wasn’t just a one-hit wonder and that I could get back in there. So that was really satisfying to get back in there. I didn’t perform too well in the last couple of games, which was really annoying so I was looking to get back in. You never know, hopefully I can get another couple of T20 games for Australia. That would be lovely. Just show the world that I can be better.If you could change one rule in T20s in favour of the bowlers, what would it be?
One rule that annoys me is that you can bowl one above the shoulder and if you bowl another one above the shoulder, it’s a free hit. It’s a no-ball and it’s a free hit. I think it’s pretty harsh on missing your length by an inch maybe. So maybe fair enough to call it a wide but having a free hit for a second bouncer is pretty harsh. Not a huge tinker of the rule, but I think that would be better.Of all the colourful jerseys you’ve worn, which is the closest to you?
I actually really enjoyed my time in New Zealand, playing for Northern Districts. That’s probably my longest-standing contract; I’ve been there four seasons in a row now. It’s the place I most correlate with home. I’ve kept a jersey from every team I’ve played with. It’s all in the closet. One day I’ll get them all up in the bar and stuff. I spent a lot of time in New Zealand. I really enjoyed it there. There’s not a lot of money in cricket in New Zealand but the boys play because they love it. The passion is there and I found it a very nice environment to come in and compete in.Do you remember all the T20 teams you have represented?
I can probably rattle them off. I started playing for Queensland, then I played for Australia, I played for Hobart Hurricanes, Adelaide Strikers, I played for Nagenahira Nagas in Sri Lanka. I played one game for Canterbury in New Zealand, then Northern Districts. And then CSK, Antigua Hawksbills. I don’t know if we can count this but I’m with Sunrisers now. Then in the MCL, I played for the Capricorn Commandos. Am I missing any?Nope, all done. So who was the messiest in the Strikers dressing room?
Travis Head.Who was always late for training or the team bus?
Not late but probably cutting it very fine – Polly’s (Kieron Pollard) on the minute. So if you’ve to be there at 5.30 then he’s there at 5.29. So he’s never early.And who was the quietest?
Some of the young kids are quite quiet, but from the experienced players, Polly’s pretty quiet. And Dizzy’s (Jason Gillespie) quiet too – the coach. So there’s a few different characters there.You’ve played with George Bailey at Hurricanes. Is there any moment when he’s not smiling?
No, George has a really good outlook on life and cricket. Once or twice maybe when Tasmania have had some bad games, he got a little bit grumpy. But the smile’s always back in ten minutes. He’s a lovely person and it’s great to see him still do very well in first-class cricket.

Former Yorkshire and England offspinner Geoff Cope’s biography is a good-natured, insightful look back at the career of a man who was no stranger to adversity

David Hopps26-Aug-2017Fairfield Books has claimed a valuable niche in the world of cricket publishing. In its pages lie the neglected voices of the game’s past, valuable and award-winning stories about the likes of Bob Appleyard and Tom Cartwright, players who never achieved the greatest or longest-lasting fame but about whom there were valuable insights to be gained and stories to tell.Much in that vein comes
By Stephen Chalke
Fairfield Books£16, 256 pages

Singled out as a bright prospect in the domestic circuit, the Tamil Nadu allrounder has earned a call-up to the Indian side for the Sri Lanka Tests by dint of his all-round abilities

Shashank Kishore21-Nov-20175:35

Playing Test cricket for India is a dream come true – Vijay

Tamil Nadu allrounder Who is Vijay Shankar?
Vijay is a batting allrounder who can bowl nippy medium pace. Since 2012-13, Vijay is one of six cricketers who has scored over 1500 runs and taken more than 25 wickets. His first-class batting average is an impressive 49.14 after 32 matches, while his bowling average is 42.81.What has he done to merit selection?
Being an allrounder has worked in his favour. Although he was brought in as a replacement for Bhuvneshwar, Vijay has been brought in effectively as cover for Hardik Pandya, who has taken a break from the first two Tests of the Sri Lanka series. With the pitches for the last two Tests likely to assist fast bowlers, the team management and selectors could look at Vijay as a fourth bowler who can also double up as a batsman.Did you know that Pandya actually replaced Vijay once?
Vijay missed out on India A’s tour of Australia in 2016 and was replaced by Pandya, who cashed in on the opportunity and was fast-tracked into the India dressing room.What are his strengths?
In the Tamil Nadu dressing room, Vijay is known as the ‘tough runs man’, a batsman with tight defence who is nonetheless capable of scoring quickly.Is he a handy bowler?
His ability to swing the ball and bowl accurately has only added to his reputation, even though his first-class numbers – 27 wickets in 32 matches – hardly do justice to his bowling abilities. While his bare bowling numbers – an average of 42.8 compared to a batting average close to 50 – are far from impressive, Vijay has worked on improving his bowling under the guidance of L Balaji, the former India fast bowler who is currently Tamil Nadu’s bowling coach.”I started off with a gentle medium-pacer, but over the last two years, I’ve worked hard on my bowling,” Vijay told ESPNcricinfo. “I’ve been fortunate to have the guidance of Bala. I’m now comfortable bowling long spells. Strength training has brought the pace up. Basically, I’ve tried to be accurate and keep up the pressure created by the new ball bowlers.”What is Vijay’s domestic record like?
Vijay gained prominence in the 2014-15 season after helping Tamil Nadu finish as runners-up in the Ranji Trophy. Vijay scored 577 runs and had eight wickets. He captained Tamil Nadu to a title victory in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (domestic 50-over competition) in 2016-17, fetching198 runs and eight wickets. He struck a century for India A against the visiting Bangladesh A side in a two-day fixture in Hyderabad in February, and then showed his prowess as a finisher during a 133-run stand in a successful chase with Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner in IPL season 10.How has his form been this Ranji season?
In three Ranji matches this season, Vijay has managed one century and taken six wickets across 66.3 overs, including a four-for that gave Tamil Nadu the first-innings lead against Mumbai. Prior to the season, he was part of India A’s limited-overs squad for the series against New Zealand A in Visakhapatnam in October, and also traveled to South Africa for the A team tri-series featuring South Africa A and Afghanistan A.

Harare, Bengaluru, Dehradun and now Georgetown. Each of these cities has witnessed a close Bangladesh defeat in which Mushfiqur Rahim has been out in the last over, caught on the leg-side boundary

Mohammad Isam26-Jul-2018Mushfiqur’s hits and misses

Not out in successful chases
T20I v West Indies, 2011
ODI v India, 2012
Test v Zimbabwe, 2014
Test v Sri Lanka, 2017
T20I v Sri Lanka, 2018
Last-over dismissals in defeats
ODI v Zimbabwe, 2011
T20I v Zimbabwe, 2013
T20I v India, 2016
T20I v Afghanistan, 2018
ODI v West Indies, 2018

Georgetown. Dehradun. Bengaluru. Harare.These four cities, connected by a line more than 18,000km long, have one thing in common: tense chases in which Mushfiqur Rahim has been caught on the leg-side boundary in the last over.It has now happened five times in the last seven years, and Bangladesh have lost on each occasion, heartbreakingly, from positions of strength. Georgetown was the latest entrant on this list. This time, Mushfiqur was out hitting a Jason Holder full-toss down deep midwicket’s throat, leaving the side with eight needed off the last five balls. He had batted brilliantly up to that point to score 68 off 66 balls.Just over a month ago, in the third T20I against Afghanistan, he had hit another full-toss straight to deep midwicket, this time off Rashid Khan’s bowling. He had done all the hard work then too, hitting five successive fours in the penultimate over to bring the equation down to nine off six balls. Bangladesh lost that match by one run.Bengaluru, 2016, was the most high-profile Mushfiqur meltdown in the last over. His premature celebration after hitting successive fours to bring the equation down to two runs off four balls, his dismissal the next ball – caught at deep midwicket – and Bangladesh’s subsequent failure to win a World T20 game that had seemed all but wrapped up, have become the stuff of a million memes. Every tight chase Bangladesh have been involved in since then has been measured against this game, the headlines announcing either that they’re still haunted by the ghosts of Bengaluru, or that they’ve exorcised them.Now that Mushfiqur has succumbed the same way again, at the same stage of two tight chases in the space of seven weeks, it has become necessary to ask why he gets out like this. The trend goes back to 2011 and 2013, when he was also dismissed in the last over of chases, both times in Harare, caught at long-on and deep square leg.Does Mushfiqur have a deep-rooted tendency to try and finish with a flourish, and does that option invariably involve trying to hit the ball over the leg-side boundary, his favourite six-hitting zone?Months after the Bengaluru game, the then Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha told that he would continue to bank on Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah, the two chief protagonists of that final-over brainfade, in similar scenarios. “If the situation arrives again, those are the two batsmen I want,” he had said.While the so-near-yet-so-far moments tend to stick longer in the memory, Mushfiqur has also been instrumental in numerous Bangladesh wins, home and away, and after the Bengaluru defeat was unbeaten on three big occasions:In Colombo last year, he held his nerve for more than an hour to complete Bangladesh’s maiden Test win over Sri Lanka. Against New Zealand in Dublin, Mushfiqur’s calm, unbeaten 45 steered Bangladesh home with 10 balls to spare. Against Sri Lanka in the Nidahas Trophy earlier this year, it was Mushfiqur’s unbeaten 35-ball 72 that powered them home in 19.4 overs.There have been three previous instances when Mushfiqur played the pivotal match-winning knock in Bangladesh’s chases that went into the last two overs. His level-headed presence for over 90 minutes guided Bangladesh to a gritty Test win over Zimbabwe in 2014, before which he spoiled Sachin Tendulkar’s party during the 2012 Asia Cup. In his first match as Bangladesh captain, against West Indies in 2011, he hit the winning runs: a six over midwicket.But it now seems like an ill-fated area for Mushfiqur.At the end of the game in Georgetown, Mashrafe Mortaza said the three late dismissals – Mushfiqur’s and those of Mahmudullah and Sabbir Rahman – ultimately hurt Bangladesh.”We were in the match till the last ball,” Mashrafe said. “It is hard to say which way these matches usually go. But definitely if [Mahmudullah] Riyad had avoided that mix-up (which led to his run-out in the 46th over), the chase would have been easier. If Sabbir or Mushfiqur didn’t get out at that stage, we would have won the game.”Mashrafe insisted that Bangladesh shouldn’t have left the chase as late as the last over. “Of course it is disappointing to lose these matches. We needed 14 off the last 13 balls with six wickets in hand, so we were not supposed to lose this match,” he said. “It hasn’t just happened today. We have seen it recently as well. I think we are failing to learn from mistakes. We should have finished the game with more ease, which we failed to do.”It is hard to describe, whether it is just mental or technical too. It wasn’t 20 needed off 12. We needed 14 off 13 balls. So you can’t say it was technical or mental. Maybe we could have eased our nerves, by just trying to pick singles.”

Prithvi Shaw and Deepak Chahar are also among ESPNcricinfo’s breakout performers of IPL 2018

Shashank Kishore28-May-2018Mujeeb Ur RahmanWe’re not even halfway through 2018, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s had an unforgettable year already. In February, he bowled Afghanistan to the Under-19 World Cup semi-final in New Zealand. In March, he played in key role in helping Afghanistan clinch a 2019 World Cup berth in Zimbabwe. In April-May, he proved to be an all-weather T20 bowler in India. And we aren’t even into June, when he could potentially make his Test debut in Bengaluru.His strengths? Use conditions to his advantage. When R Ashwin, the Kings XI Punjab captain, trusted him with the new ball, he relied on front-of-the-hand sliders and mixed them with googlies and carrom balls. With the old ball, his lengths and the bounce he got off deliveries denied batsmen room to swing through, most notably when he defended 16 off the final over against a rampaging Shreyas Iyer at Feroz Shah Kotla, a venue with notoriously short boundaries.By any stretch, 14 wickets in 11 games at an economy of 6.99 is mighty impressive. Who knows, what more he could’ve done if not for a savage Sunil Narine blow that copped him a stinging blow on his thumb to rule him out towards the end of the league phase.K GowthamHis bare numbers read 126 runs and 11 wickets in IPL 2018, but that wouldn’t tell you the full story. Few have the ability to hit sixes from the get-go, and K Gowtham is one of them. His unravelling of one of the best death bowlers this IPL season was among the highlights. In his fifth IPL innings, he walked out with Rajasthan Royals needing 43 off 17 balls. Jasprit Bumrah’s previous over had gone for just one run and fetched two wickets, his reputation hardly a deterrent as Gowtham came up with some of the cleanest hitting. He swindled 18 off the over, his unbeaten 33 off 11 balls helping Royals pull off a heist.Which is why his holding back in the Eliminator, with the asking rate very much under control going into the last five overs was one of the more bizarre decisions Royals made this season. With the bat, he was an on-demand six-hitter, with the ball, he was asked to do a holding job upfront mostly. On the field, he was as reliable as they come.Gowtham has had to make up for lost time. For four years, between 2012 and 2016, he was in the wilderness, not even at times part of his club team in Bengaluru. This was the time he battled form and issues with his bowling action that had to be remodelled. Later in 2017, he was pulled up for missing a Duleep Trophy game with illness but turned out for his Karnataka Premier League team because he was the highest paid player in the tournament. He was then dropped from all developmental teams. Now, he’s back and will travel to England with the India A squad, a limited-overs berth in the national team no longer far-fetched.Deepak Chahar had Sanju Samson holing out in the deep•BCCIDeepak ChaharDeepak Chahar, 25, has three dreams: the first was ticked off in 2010 when he was part of Rajasthan’s historic first Ranji Trophy title in his debut season, when he picked up 8 for 10 on debut to skittle Hyderabad for 21. On Sunday, he ticked the second box: an IPL title with Chennai Super Kings, for whom he was superb with the ball: 10 wickets in 12 games at an economy rate of 7.39.Last season, he was part of the Rising Pune Supergiant squad under the same think tank, but was “still developing.” However, this season, he was thrust into the hot seat straight away. It all started with him troubling Rohit Sharma with a succession of outswingers before eliciting an ugly heave in the tournament opener. It ended, quite fittingly, with a frugal spell: 4-0-25-0 at the same venue, all inside the halfway mark, in the final. His batting potential, which coach Stephen Fleming said was “very underrated” also shone through when he made a 20-ball 39 after being promoted to No. 6 with CSK tottering at 58 for 4 in a 159 chase on a seaming Pune deck.The third box could be a while away, but at least the IPL performances have ensured he’s on the plane to England with the India A one-day squad that will play the tri-series with England Lions and West Indies A.Prithvi ShawThe weight of the famed ‘Mumbai school of batting’ hasn’t deterred him. That he’s being talked up that much is a motivating factor, but insists on the need to emerge from the Under-19 shadows quickly.He has five hundreds in 10 first-class matches, an Under-19 World Cup medal and is now among one of just four players to find an India A berth for both formats. He was slowly initiated into the IPL and was part of nine opening combinations Delhi Daredevils tried, but held his own in the nine games he played, scoring two half-centuries and a 47 at a commendable strike rate of 153.Blessed with supple wrists and hand-eye coordination to die for, Shaw’s strengths lie square of the wicket. He cuts and pulls well, but has shown improvement when the balls have been pitched up. It’s one thing hitting on the up in India, another trying to spend time and cover the line against the swinging ball in England. The one aspect he may have to improve though: fielding and slip catching.Lungi Ngidi For a week, the South Africa quick warmed the bench. Then he flew home after his father’s demise. Upon return, he tied down Delhi Daredevils’ batting line-up in a spell that read 4-0-26-1. It would be the start of an emotional fairytale journey. He played the next six games, including the final, and picked up 11 wickets in all with a best of 4 for 10 on a Pune surface that he said looked more like Johannesburg. He finished the tournament with a smart economy rate of 3.77 – the best among all bowlers in the tournament.He is tall, hits the deck hard, consistently bowls in the 140kph range, generates good bounce, and can get the ball to move around sharply. Initially brought in to lend balance because of Chahar’s untimely injury, Ngidi’s performances made him a permanent fixture even after his return. This even as his South Africa captain Faf du Plessis warmed the bench and could only break in much later in the competition.

The new PCB chairman, Ehsan Mani, spoke to ESPNcricinfo about his vision for Pakistan cricket

Umar Farooq16-Oct-2018
Ehsan Mani addresses a press conference•AFPHow has the PCB changed over the years since you last represented them? You have been very critical over the years.
The PCB needs to become a professional organisation with specialists running the various departments. There are a lot of good people here and there is no doubt about that, but what I am trying to assess is whether we need to help them with further expertise or not.So if things are good, then why do you have to push hard for changes?
Things are not that good. They are fine but they could be improved. That is the reason I talked about the constitutional change when I looked at the constitution, and this is before I became a PCB chairman when my name went up for approval.I saw that the chairman is also a chief executive of PCB. But chairman’s role is to head the board that makes the policies, which management is supposed to implement. When a chairman is actually acting as an executive of the board and trying to implement the policy that he and board made, that is a clear conflict of interest.Because there is no chief executive at the operations level, there are no checks and balances on the chairman, which can’t be healthy. I want a board that is transparent and very accountable to stake holders, including the public. You cannot do that if you are wearing two hats. So that is the key reason for me to look at the PCB constitution.We have a situation where a huge amount of cricket is being played in Pakistan: 16 first-class teams and 16 non-first class teams, so a lot of quantity but not quality. We need to improve the domestic cricket structure and to enable that we need to bring changes in the constitution.It’s not going to happen overnight because it is not only about what I want. We need to study the cost benefit analysis and impact – if we take an action, what does it do to cricket in the country? So one has to think very carefully before making any change, but I can promise you there will be a lot of changes.How bad are PCB finances?
From what I have gathered so far, it is in reasonable health in spite of not playing India, which is unfortunate. But at the same time, I am concerned whether we are using the PCB’s resources in the right way or not: whether they are being used in prime areas that money should be invested, and not in running the PCB or its overheads. So that going to be a big focus for me.So you cutting resources .. like previous chairmen did?
The PCB runs cricket in the whole of Pakistan; that doesn’t happen anywhere in the world. You take England, Australia, India or even South Africa, their cricket associations are the ones who run local cricket affairs. But here the PCB takes care of it and pays the costs. It’s not the right way to run cricket.You are doing an extensive appraisal of PCB officials, is there a plan for the head coach and selection committee too?
As far as cricket is concerned, it is totally wrong for the chairman to be making these decisions on his own. My intention is to set up a cricket committee comprising former cricketers with good reputation who have a better understanding of the game than any chairman, including myself. I don’t think this is a role for the operations side of the PCB to do. So there should be a cricket committee that takes all decisions related to cricket.We have had cricket committees in the past with no powers. Are you going to give it enough power?
The way I envisage it, they will have complete autonomy. There will be certain things that might be referred to the board for its views, but as a whole I will give them autonomy.How do you see PSL as a product?
It’s an excellent product – it was started against all odds on very short notice and a lot of credit to the PCB management to have done that. Now we have to build the brand, we got to take it forward. It’s been a great conduit for bringing foreign players to Pakistan and we hope to build on it. We’ve been playing games in Pakistan, and with every passing year the number of games is increasing and in the near future all games will be played in Pakistan. Eventually, the idea is to bring back all cricket back to Pakistan.Shahryar Khan once said that Pakistan can survive without playing India. What’s your point of view?
Playing against India is not only about money. Money has its own place. Whenever we get money, it affects our viewership and sponsorship. The value of an ICC event in which Pakistan and India are playing each other in the first round is twice as much as the best IPL match. An India-Pakistan match has the highest value financially in the world. The main thing is that we play against each other.When we play cricket – when we go to India or when they come here – it helps increase people-to-people contact. Lots of fans have come to Pakistan from India and everyone goes back happy. There’s no better way to improve relations between countries than having sporting contact, cultural contact. For me, that is far more important than any amount of money.The Indian public loves to see India and Pakistan playing, and so does the Pakistan public. The rest of the work is for the politicians, and frankly India is in a lead-up to elections next year so I don’t think there will be any softening in their attitude. But in the long term, the people want it and you can’t go against the will of the people.For how long can the PCB survive without playing India?
Forever. There is a lot of hypocrisy at the moment; India plays an ICC event against us but not a bilateral series. That is something we need to address. Pakistan can survive without playing India, and financially as well. I’ve told you before that money isn’t the issue, it’s more about the game. There are more viewers for an India-Pakistan match than any other match in the world. So, if the Indian government decides to deprive its own citizens of watching an India-Pakistan match then that is their choice.Had you been PCB chairman at the time, would you have taken this legal route against India for not playing Pakistan?
I would have preferred board-to-board discussions and board-to-government discussions. I was ICC chairman in 2003 and India and Pakistan were not playing each other then. I went and met the Indian government and I took with me the people that were leading the Indian cricket board at that time – Mr. Dalmiya, Mr. Bindra, Mr. Raj Singh – and we went to the different ministries concerned with India-Pakistan cricket relations and they spoke more in favour of resuming cricket between India and Pakistan than I did as a Pakistani. I had to be slightly neutral since I was with the ICC.There is always some political interference in India but the Indian government has said, “Look, at the end of the day, it is the BCCI’s decision to play or not play against Pakistan. But they have to come and present a case to us, and I took them on face value. It took us about a year but they came in 2004 because I kept going back with people on the Indian cricket board and I was going as the ICC president, and not as someone representing Pakistan.So what if the PCB loses the case, what’s the plan going forward?
Cricket has to resume between India and Pakistan at some time. It will have to be accepted that we have toured India far more times than they have played against us at home. That equation will have to be adjusted. Eventually, it will get evened out somehow or the other if it is resumed. If it doesn’t get resumed, it will carry on as it is. It is not going to make any major difference to the PCB.How do you see the PCB’s position in the ICC?
I was in the ICC like 12 years ago and Pakistan was a member of every committee and there was no position in the ICC where there was no Pakistani representation. I noticed that we don’t have any Pakistani referees on the ICC panel and we have one umpire in the elite panel so we have definitely gone backward. This has to change and it won’t happen overnight. We need to enhance performance of our match officials. In terms of our involvement with the ICC, it will depend on more contributions the PCB could make and I will find out more on this.In domestic cricket, schedules are cramped, pitches are poor, players are overburdened, there’s too many teams, and the format changes every year. How can these issues be resolved?
It is my top priority because unless we have a strong domestic system, we are not going to have a sustainable international team. We are looking at the present structure and we know that we want fewer teams to play first-class cricket but a higher quality of cricket. There is a lot of work going on internally by my staff here, people like Mudassar Nazar, Zakir Khan and Haroon Rashid. We are giving shape to what we feel is the best for the future of Pakistan cricket. It won’t be for this year or next year but we want to make something that is sustainable over a long period.You met with Majid Khan about his plan for domestic cricket. How feasible is it and does it fit in with PCB’s plans?
Both [Majid and his son Bazid] have been working on it. Their ideas are absolutely superb. Majid understands what Pakistan requires. What I particularly like about his thrust is that it increases the involvement of former players in every cricket association. It will get them jobs, give them career opportunities, so when you finish playing you are involved in running cricket associations and eventually hopefully running the PCB. This whole process comes from the bottom up, rather than the PCB being run by people like myself from outside drafted in. So eventually it’s the cricket system that should throw up future leaders.Are you happy with Pakistan’s commitments in the Test Championship and the new FTP?
There are negotiations going on. But clearly I would like to see far more Test cricket for Pakistan. The series with Australia that we playing, I am totally against two-Test match series. They should be playing minimum of three Tests. Pakistan went to England for two games, that is unfortunate.There have been limited-overs games held in Pakistan. Is there a possibility a side will stay long enough to play a Test in Pakistan?
I have no doubt that Pakistan is safe. Recently a lot of teams came and played cricket and there was no issue. But there is a perception in people’s mind, and players have to play in their comfort level so until they have that reassurance it won’t be easy, but we are working on that. We are going to work on teams from abroad, whether they are club or school cricketers, or PSL. More people we get from outside, whatever the level, a message goes back that how beautiful the country is and how good people are. So people go back with a good perception, it sends a soft image of the country, and I believe this will work to bring back cricket to Pakistan.

Whenever Mumbai have been in trouble in recent times, Lad has stood up and has almost always helped his team to victory or safety

Vishal Dikshit29-Dec-2018If you get close to the old-school Mumbai batsman Siddhesh Lad, you may notice a certain scribble peeking out from under the sleeve on his right arm. It’s not a style statement because Lad is not a big fan of tattoos. He got one because it sums up his struggles and the hard days he is putting in to make it to the “next level”.A consistent performer and batting mainstay for Mumbai for the last few years, Lad – who averages 53.58 this season – is reaping benefits now of the seeds he has sown since childhood.”You can’t become a strong person if you don’t face tough situations in your life,” he tells ESPNcricinfo in Mumbai. “I have also had to work hard for what I’ve achieved, I’ve had to fight for them.”Like the stories of many Mumbai players, Lad has had to travel in the sweaty local trains from the suburbs to south Mumbai. He used to study at the Swami Vivekanand International School in Borivali and when he was barely 10, the director of the school spotted his flair and approached his parents. Soon, Siddhesh’s father, Dinesh, was asked to coach at the school, the father-son duo started training together and Dinesh thought it was time Siddhesh started making the trips to south Mumbai, where the “real cricket” was. A new academy was coming up then at Shivaji Park Gymkhana, where former India batsman Pravin Amre was the head coach.”Dad told me, ‘ (go and give it a shot)’,” Lad recalls. He impressed Amre in the Under-14 trials and thus began his journeys. He would begin his day by first practising at school before classes began, then attend classes, hop on the local train to commute from Borivali to Shivaji Park (nearly 30 km). Lad would be so tired sometimes that he would sleep through his stop (Dadar), end up at the last one (Churchgate) and then take another train back to one of the most chaotic stations.”It was quite an experience to travel at a young age in that kind of crowd for so many years. If you go through all this at the age of 11-12 at the beginning of your career, it shapes your mental toughness.”

Whenever I have faced a challenge, I have done well by accepting the challenge and bailing the team out. I really enjoy doing that

Lad was carrying not one dream but three during those train rides. His father was a former cricketer who represented Western Railways, and wanted his son to become “an even better player”. The second dream was of representing Mumbai, and the third of playing for India.”My first aim to was to represent Mumbai,” Lad says. “Right from my childhood I dreamt of getting selected in the Mumbai Ranji team and then perform to get into the Indian team. I had never thought that I would get to play four-five seasons for Mumbai.”Dad told me from the beginning how I’d have to work hard if I wanted to play for the Indian team. (that passion was always there from the beginning).”Rising through age-group cricket, Lad made his first-class debut in the 2013-14 season with several established batsmen already in the side – Wasim Jaffer, Ajinkya Rahane, Suryakumar Yadav, Hiken Shah, even Sachin Tendulkar played a match that season. What even Lad wouldn’t have known then was that his best knock of the season would offer a glimpse into his promising future.On a green pitch in Bengaluru against eventual champions Karnataka, Mumbai were reduced to 61 for 4 in reply to the hosts’ 251. In only his third first-class match, Lad exhibited the maturity many only attain after a few seasons; he batted with the tail, looked comfortable against both pace and spin, and fought a potent bowling attack for over four hours for his 93 runs. Even though Mumbai lost, Lad had pulled them out of a crisis for a first-innings lead.Two seasons later, Lad was batting at No. 7 after Tamil Nadu had piled up 434 and Mumbai were reeling at 52 for 5. Batting with the tail again, he burst through the mountain of pressure with a counter-attacking 150 off 184 balls – still his highest score – with 16 fours and seven sixes to take them past the follow-on mark. Such was the effect of his fightback, Mumbai then shot out Tamil Nadu for 95 and then chased down 236 in dramatic fashion on the last day with only one wicket in hand.”I don’t think too much about pressure, I bat depending on the match situation,” Lad says. “Before I go out to bat, I’m nervous but I don’t take much pressure in such situations. It’s a challenge for you that if you bail the team out from here, it will be great for the team. And if you can’t do it, there’s no problem, all the blame won’t come on you. I go with a positive mindset that if I can score in such situations, then it will have a different impact and I’m not very nervous.”Dinesh Lad (left) watches his son Siddhesh bat for Mumbai•Sidharth Monga/ESPNcricinfoA few months later, Lad was playing his first Ranji final, against Saurashtra. After bowling them out for 235, Mumbai knew they had to take a substantial first-innings lead on the green track in Pune. From 195 for 3, Mumbai collapsed to 268 for 9 with Lad holding one end and No. 11 Balwinder Sandhu for company. The two stretched the score past 350 with a record stand of 103 that eventually earned them an innings win on the third day.”That was a memorable knock for me because it came in the Ranji Trophy final,” Lad says with glee. “I counterattacked with the last wicket, I was playing my shots, I was playing well.”A match that doesn’t bring as much happiness but some level of satisfaction to him is Mumbai’s historic 500th, at the Wankhede Stadium last season. For the momentous occasion, the Mumbai Cricket Association held a felicitation for former Mumbai players, their 41 titles and the current squad that was carrying the legacy forward.On the first day itself, though, Mumbai were skittled for 171 by Baroda, who went on to amass 575 over the next two days. When Mumbai batted again, they were buried under a deficit of 404 and were soon 125 for 5. Before batting with the tail, Lad, at No. 7, had Suryakumar at the other end as his last hope. Suryakumar (44) batted for over three hours while Lad remained unbeaten on 71 after surviving for five hours, with a strike-rate of under 30. Mumbai’s skilled sailor had salvaged them through troubled waters yet again, this time for a draw.

If you do well in IPL, it’s almost like you’re ready for international cricket. That’s something I’ve missed in the last four seasons

“I was personally hurt in that because one day before the match we had a function and so much was said about Mumbai cricket,” Lad says. “And then I was hurt to see the situation the next day. Baroda didn’t have such a strong team then, they had a few debutants also. Despite that we got into a tricky situation so there was a drive that if I do well in this situation, it will be a great boost for my confidence too. I spoke to daddy a day before the match, Pravin sir had also come. I spoke to some senior players also about what to do. I just decided that day to not get out.”Such knocks have earned Lad the title of Mumbai’s “crisis man”. Whenever Mumbai have been in trouble in recent times, Lad has stood up against threatening attacks, on lively pitches, in crunch situations, in big matches and has almost always helped his team to victory or safety.”Whenever I have faced a challenge, I have done well by accepting the challenge and bailing the team out,” he says. “I really enjoy doing that. (I’ve done well so I’ve been given that name). But I don’t think much about that, I’m a normal batsman and I need to play with responsibility.”Now a senior in the squad in the absence of Rohit Sharma, Rahane and Prtihvi Shaw, Lad is playing a different role. After starting the first-class season with 88 and 68 for India Red in the Duleep Trophy, he scored a flurry of half-centuries in the Ranji Trophy, mostly in the middle order, including a 99 and a 93. Then he decided to move up the order and immediately scored two centuries – 130 against Baroda and 108 versus Saurashtra as Mumbai’s hopes of making it to the knockouts started dwindling. So far in 12 innings this Ranji season, Lad has accumulated 643 runs with two centuries, four half-centuries as Mumbai’s highest scorer and seventh on the overall charts.Siddhesh lad celebrates his milestone•Prakash Parsekar”Given the option, I would want to bat at No. 3 or 4. If you want to move to the next level, you will have to bat in the top order because that’s how you get time to score big runs. I’ve always been consistent but I didn’t get the time while batting at No. 6. Last year when I got to bat at No. 3 in Vijay Hazare then I scored three hundreds in five innings. In T20s I was the highest run-scorer [for Mumbai] last season. When you bat in the top order, the field is also attacking so you get more chances of scoring.”Lad belongs to that rare species in domestic cricket that has not played IPL yet and has to bank on his first-class and List A performances to make the India cut. He has been with the Mumbai Indians set-up since 2015, training with international players and coaches such as Lasith Malinga, Ricky Ponting, Mahela Jayawardene, Shane Bond, among others. Even though he rues not getting the chance to make his IPL debut yet, he is finding his own ways to prepare himself for the international circuit if the chance arises.”I feel performing in the IPL has a different impact because it’s a platform where you are exposed against international players. If you do well there, it’s almost like you’re ready for international cricket. That’s something I’ve missed in the last four seasons in the IPL. If I had played and done well, I could have been somewhere else right now.”It’s important to be prepared for how to dominate international bowlers because thinking about it is not enough,” Lad believes. “I need to prepare for months for that because I’m not playing international cricket. My preparations are going on for that.”One of Lad’s ways of preparing is batting against the wet rubber ball, another is standing in the middle of the pitch and setting the bowling machine at a speed of 60-65 mph, which, he says, is effectively 90-95mph. He feels he is “almost there”.With plenty of runs under his belt and maybe many more to come, the father-son duo’s aim left to be fulfilled is to reach the destination Siddhesh set out for when he started those train journeys many years ago.

The senior opener’s good form has coincided with Delhi Capitals’ upward move on the points table

Srinath Sripath28-Apr-2019They made the playoffs thrice in the first five seasons. In the first two of them, they had Shikhar Dhawan in their roster. He was released, as were many others, players who have since gone on to hurt Delhi – then Daredevils, now Capitals – along the IPL journey. Now, under a new management and very different personnel in the ranks, they returned with smart buys at the auction, giving new leader Shreyas Iyer an opportunity to carve a niche. And Dhawan back where he began. And they have broken a six-year itch.For an idea of the scale of the turnaround, since 2012 – when they were last in the playoffs – they have never finished above sixth place, taking the wooden spoon thrice in six seasons along the wayESPNcricinfo LtdDhawan continues stunning resurgenceDhawan has been a consistent performer in the IPL – six times he has crossed the 400-run mark in a career where he has represented multiple teams, returning to Delhi with Capitals this season after turning out for Daredevils, Mumbai Indians, the now-defunct Deccan Chargers and Sunrisers Hyderabad over the years.Even by those high standards, he’s having arguably his best season as an IPL opener this time: his strike rate of 137 is currently his highest ever.ESPNcricinfo LtdOn Sunday, Dhawan cracked another fifty, his fourth in the last six games, to keep alive the purple patch and recover from a poor start to the season. So well has he gone that Dhawan has surpassed the likes of Chris Gayle and David Warner in this period, topping the Powerplay strike-rates chart at 173 runs per 100 balls.Dhawan’s run has coincided with a run of form that has seen Capitals win five of their last six games, despite opening partner Prithvi Shaw struggling to find his range after an epic debut season in 2018.Late surge makes the difference for CapitalsThe pitches at Feroz Shah Kotla have been tricky ones, some of them have come into a fair bit of criticism too. On Sunday, however, it was a good one to score runs on, at least at the start and, thanks to some poor death-overs bowling, at the end too.Capitals put up the biggest total of the season at the ground, their 187 for 5 marginally higher than the 185 both Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders put up back on April 12. Could it have been more, even 200-plus? Perhaps.At the toss, Capitals captain Iyer opted to bat and explained that he was “assuming it will play well in the first half”. It did, and Shikhar Dhawan and Iyer put together 68 runs for the second wicket, both batsmen going on to score half-centuries.But, after Capitals had reached 102 by the end of the 12th over, they added just 12 runs in the next two. Capitals started the 17th over with just 141 on the board. It took some big hitting from Sherfane Rutherford and Axar Patel to take them to 187, perhaps slightly lower than where they could have been.ESPNcricinfo LtdAnother chart-topper Royal Challengers could have done withoutStill, the finish was spectacular. Rutherford and Colin Ingram in the middle and there were only three overs left. Navdeep Saini had the ball. He went for 10 runs, even if he saw the back of Ingram, and the next three overs were smacked around for 10, 16 and 20 as Rutherford and Axar got stuck into the bowling.Capitals added 56 runs in the final four – death – overs, and the last three had all of the don’t-bowl lengths: full toss outside off – check. Short on leg – check. Full outside off – check. The last ball, an attempted yorker that became a full toss outside off, was dispatched for a one-handed six over backward point by Rutherford.The Powerplay starOff-hand, what would your picks be if we asked you: who are the quickest-scoring batsmen in the Powerplay in IPL 2019?Will Parthiv Patel make your list? Unlikely, but he should.Here, look at the batsmen with the best strike rates in the Powerplay this season…ESPNcricinfo LtdThere are many things Royal Challengers haven’t done right this season – sticking with Parthiv at the top of the order is one they have.

Blessed with some of the finest players in the world, you can be sure that this New Zealand team knows what it is doing

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo26-Aug-2019On a dark day in Colombo, in a rain-afflicted match that has no rights to be even close to yielding a result, New Zealand are on the hunt. They have mostly been supreme predators over the last few years. Eight times they have bowled last, under Kane Williamson; on six of those occasions they’ve defended fourth-innings targets. One time, in Hamilton, when the match seemed destined to end in a comatose draw – Pakistan going to tea on the final day at 158 for 1 – the bowlers defibrillated the contest to violent life early in the last session, left-armers, right-armers, spinners, medium-pace dobblers, all snatching key wickets in twilight like a mob looting a jewellery store.This, in Colombo, is not a fourth-innings defence. But up against them are a side that had denied them from strong positions twice in the last three Tests. In Galle, eight days ago, Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne tamed a wearing surface, as Sri Lanka chased down by far the highest total at that venue. Nine months before that, in Wellington, Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis wore balls on their bodies before dead-batting, counter-punching and push-up-celebrating their way through an entire day, ultimately saving the Test.

When the spinners are at the bowling crease, the infield is packed with more men than molecules. Williamson would shove fielders up each of the batsman’s nostrils if he could

But, New Zealand are desperate to level this series now, and on show from them are all the fifth-day Asian-pitch tropes. With fast bowlers tearing in, there is a short cover, a short midwicket, two slips spaced wide apart, a gully and a short leg. When the spinners are at the bowling crease, the infield is packed with more men than molecules – leg slips, silly points, catching mid-offs. Williamson would shove fielders up each of the batsman’s nostrils if he could. And as soon batsman appeared to work out a plan against a bowler, Williamson would swap the bowler out, or change the field. So you think you passed that test? Try this one. A packed offside field, a spinner ripping the ball away from the bat. Dare you to sweep against the turn.Trent Boult celebrates a wicket with a his teammates•Getty ImagesFor virtually all of day four, Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain Mathews sat back and had expected a notorious P Sara Oval pitch to do the wicket-taking, rarely presenting the New Zealand batsmen with a fresh examination. This was the day on which New Zealand made 186 for the loss of just one wicket and swung the Test emphatically in their favour.Essentially, Williamson was outdoing a seasoned local, but he wasn’t the only one. Trent Boult, his fast left-arm weapon, averages a respectable 31.70 in Asia, but far more importantly, an outstanding 18.05 in Sri Lanka. Tim Southee, Boult’s right-arm soulmate, has numbers that are even more monstrous, averaging 25.12 across 11 Tests in Asia, and a sublime 15.47 on the island. By the time they are done with this innings, both quicks have more than 250 Test wickets.On the spin front, Ajaz Patel and William Somerville, inexperienced though they may be, had both made outstanding bowling contributions during New Zealand’s victory in the UAE last year, sharing 20 wickets between them. On the final day, they take two apiece, Somerville bowling a drifting, dipping, ripping offbreak to wriggle between bat and pad, and clip the stumps of Kusal Mendis, one of Sri Lanka’s best players of spin.This is a stirring New Zealand victory. Even at the end of day three, no one had quite imagined it. But then maybe we should have. This team knows what it is doing. The win didn’t come out of nowhere.Tim Southee removes Dimuth Karunaratne•Associated Press****The last time New Zealand played at Test at the P Sara Oval, Ross Taylor and Williamson hit centuries. Neither of their careers are over, but for almost any observer, Taylor and Williamson will go down as two of New Zealand’s five greatest ever batsmen, or even perhaps two of the best three, alongside Martin Crowe. At Galle, Taylor had hit 86, and Williamson had made two single-figure scores, but still, New Zealand put up two good totals.

Their being “greater than the sum of their parts” is now such a cliche, banks should let New Zealand cricketers withdraw more money than they have in their accounts, without going into overdraft

At the Sara, these two great batsmen made 43 runs between them in the only batting innings the weather had left to New Zealand’s disposal. And yet, they could hardly have dealt with the situation better. Tom Latham, swept intelligently – almost always with the spin – picked the right balls to defend, pounced on the short deliveries, and fought his way to 154. This was his biggest hundred in Asia, but not his first, two tons in the UAE having come before. This might have been his highest-quality innings of the past nine months, but not inarguably so – scores of 264 not out, 176 and 161 also having come in his eight most-recent innings. In fact, since the start of 2017, no opener can even come close to Latham’s numbers – his average up at 58.03, the second-best – Shikhar Dhawan – down at less than 45.BJ Watling and Tom Latham get together•Getty ImagesBJ Watling, who also hit a hundred at the Sara, had previously made a century in India, and now averages 37.45 on the continent. Aside from one missed stumping in Galle, his wicketkeeping has been characteristically immaculate, and he also claimed maybe the catch of the series – a delayed, full-length dive to have Suranga Lakmal caught off the gloves in Sri Lanka’s first innings. Henry Nicholls, meanwhile, had hit a vital hundred in Abu Dhabi last year, and currently sits fifth on the Test batting rankings. He didn’t cross 50 in this series but was involved in important stands, both in Galle and at the Sara.Colin de Grandhomme’s ballistic 83 off 77 balls, without which this victory may not have been possible, was perhaps a breakout performance. He had never hit a fifty away from home. But his was the only one. In New Zealand’s top order, they had batsmen ranked third (Williamson), fifth (Nicholls), 12th (Taylor) and 13th (Latham). Taylor and Williamson may not have made runs in this match, but someone was going to. This team knows what it is doing. The win didn’t come out of nowhere.****New Zealand weight above their punch. They stop never fighting. No matter how much you garble those sentences, you know what they mean. We’ve heard these things about New Zealand before. Their being “greater than the sum of their parts” is now such a cliche, banks should let New Zealand cricketers withdraw more money than they have in their accounts, without going into overdraft.William Somerville is overjoyed after a key wicket•Getty ImagesThe only area of bona-fide excellence many would grant to New Zealand was their fielding. “One of the best,” most say. Only “one of” even in eras in which New Zealand were at the cutting edge of the craft, clinging to impossible chances in the gully like cartoon characters cling to speeding trains. On the last day at the Sara, it had been Latham’s brilliance at short leg that effectively sealed victory, as he sprinted toward leg slip when he saw Dickwella go down for a paddle sweep, before intercepting the shot beautifully. Even this was no fluke, though. He’d taken a far more impressive catch, in exactly the same position, in virtually the same fashion, off Faf du Plessis, in 2017. On that occasion, the ball had been flying faster and higher, to his right – his off-hand.In Colombo, New Zealand claimed a draw to claim their sixth undefeated Test series in a row. The previous five, they had won outright, including against Pakistan in the UAE, where the likes Australia and England have had infamous troubles. They’ve done all this, because whatever New Zealand outfits of the past have been like, this team’s “parts” are genuinely outstanding now.In the next eight months, they will play series against the most high-profile sides on the planet – England first, then Australia, then finally India. If they pull off victories there, there’s genuinely no need to resort to old cliches. Blessed with some of the finest players in the world, you can be sure that this New Zealand team knows what it is doing. Their wins don’t come out of nowhere.