What postponing the PSL means for Pakistan cricket

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

It’s likely to impact the confidence of other teams due to tour Pakistan over the coming months

Danyal Rasool04-Mar-2021It’s difficult to overestimate the impact of Thursday’s dramatic developments for Pakistan cricket. The decision to indefinitely postpone the Pakistan Super League strikes at the heart of one of the most salient buds of optimism that had begun to pervade cricket in the country. It throws a T20 franchise competition that didn’t exist five years ago, and rose to become arguably the world’s second-most valuable league of its kind, into some jeopardy; the possibility, at least, that this season may never be completed looks the likeliest scenario.Since Fawad Ahmed tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this week, organisers scrambled to try and get a potential outbreak under control, but it was already too late. Further cases were discovered at several different franchises, meaning the league wasn’t just dealing with one outbreak, but any number of them. The decision, taken late on Wednesday to vaccinate all participants, in the desperate hope it would stop the outbreak in its track, looked neither feasible nor scientific; vaccination takes weeks to have an impact. On Thursday morning, when further cases at various franchises turned up, the inevitable happened: the league was off.Compared to last year’s postponement when the pandemic first hit, this is different – and by an order of magnitude – more damaging on two counts. To the PCB’s credibility as a board that can responsibly organise cricket during a pandemic, and to the chances of this season ever being completed. Little was known about the virus when one player displayed symptoms and tested positive last year, and even less about the measures necessary to prevent an outbreak. Cricket across most of the world was being called off, and the PCB was desperately trying to get through the final few games of 2020’s season, even getting rid of the playoffs to try and shave a few days off the competition’s length. Even when the season had to be postponed, there was an inevitability it would be back on at some point; there were only four games remaining, and with most teams unable to play almost any cricket due to global restrictions, there would always be time to carve out a week-long window.Related

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There will be lesser sympathy, and even fewer excuses, this time. PCB CEO Wasim Khan said on Thursday the players and franchises needed to take individual responsibility, but expect that responsibility to be passed around between the league, the franchises, the officials and the board over the coming days. It has been observed throughout the world that without effective centralised standard operating procedures that are enforced, cracks invariably appear. For a virus that spreads collectively through populations, quixotic expectations of individual responsibility don’t cut it.The PCB will have had the best part of nine months to analyse how the likes of England, India, the UAE and New Zealand pulled off extended cricket events in their countries without much of a hitch, and cautionary tales with regards to how England’s tour of South Africa last year panned out. They will have had the chance to consult doctors, pandemic experts and sports organisers. Test and tracing procedures will have been fine-tuned, isolation protocols perfected. With the experiences of others who have had success in staging complex, lengthy cricket tours, the PCB will have backed themselves to possess the professionalism and expertise to follow in those footsteps.With PSL 2021 indefinitely postponed, it’s time for the broadcasters to pack their equipment up•Getty ImagesThe failure to do that is likely to impact the confidence of other boards whose cricket teams are due to tour Pakistan over the coming months. There was great excitement in Pakistan over a two-match T20I series England were due to play just before the T20 World Cup. Whether they opt to do that now, and potentially expose their players days before the start of the world’s biggest T20 event is a much bigger doubt, now.A New Zealand tour later this year was also pencilled in, but that country’s confidence in Pakistan’s pandemic protocols was already at a low following the eventful – and at times bitter – three weeks Pakistan spent in quarantine in New Zealand, leading to the Director General of Health berating the side for violating safety protocols, and veiled threats of deportation. What has transpired in the PSL over the past few weeks is unlikely to have bolstered confidence that Pakistan has learned lessons from what happened there.With a congested international window coming up that stretches right through to next year’s PSL, it isn’t yet obvious when the PCB can find the time, not to mention the availability, of most of their star foreign players to viably conduct this tournament. The T20 World Cup in October and November means the window that was used last year doesn’t exist.Another possible avenue to go down is to conduct the remainder of the competition in May. That has the considerable disadvantage of clashing with the latter stages of the Indian Premier League, with which no T20 competition can currently compete for eyeballs and financial might. However, fewer than ten players who are part of the PSL are also scheduled to play the IPL, meaning if the PCB went down that route, player unavailability might not be as significant a concern as at first it appears.Laughed at, even as a concept, five years ago, because Pakistan weren’t able to play these matches in front of its home crowd, the PSL survived those nascent years, and games gradually trickled their way back to Pakistan. Last year, with the entire league played in Pakistan to overflowing crowds, it looked like fate had been kind, even to Pakistan, of all countries. Unbeknownst to all involved, an incipient threat, one far more potent than security concerns or TV viewership figures, was awakening from its slumber. Enter the Covid-19 pandemic.Being compelled to organise the latter stages of last season – and then played in front of no crowds in Pakistan – was a cruel twist of fate for a league whose for returning to Pakistan was to avoid empty stadia. Following that, the PCB established what it believed were stringent security protocols, and conducted its fullest home season in over a decade, albeit not without some alarm bells. It looked like the PSL would pass off with just a few problems, but little could be further from the truth.

Teenager Alice Capsey caps historic day as Lord's delivers social karma

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Crowd in excess of 13,000 witness remarkable matchwinning display from 16-year-old

Cameron Ponsonby25-Jul-2021And so the rain arrived. Just after the first women’s Hundred’s London derby had ended and just before the men’s was due to begin.A sort of social justice piece of karma delivered by the sky to anyone who thought they’d only turn up to the latter game and skip out on the former. Oh you wanted to watch some cricket? Well you could’ve and you would have seen possibly the most exciting teenage English talent in the game right now. Tough luck.Women’s cricket, and sport in general, is always going to suffer from lazy comparisons to the men’s game. Which has never really made sense. No one should look at Shelley Ann Fraser-Pryce with all her Olympic sprinting medals and think, “cor she’s quick…wonder how she’d get on against Usain Bolt?”. Because it’s a false equivalence. Why bother in the first place?And yet it’ll continue to happen. And I think it’s mainly down to how we consume our sport, which is through TV. We’re accustomed to watching cricket in the context of 90mph thunderbolts and sixes being launched 100m as we sit on the sofa lazily grunting our approval. The Olympics’ (recently updated) motto includes the words ‘faster, higher, stronger’ and so when things are smaller and slower people can think of it as less. But when you’re watching at the ground, the context of TV is removed and the skill of the players comes to the fore.Today, in the space of five balls, 16-year-old Alice Capsey lofted the spinner over mid-off for four, reverse-swept the next one for four more and then gave herself space to slap Deandra Dottin through point. It was thrilling. And you’d be a fool to miss it.The women’s game is increasingly being dominated by players of the skill level of Capsey. Whilst today was her day to announce her arrival, the likes of Shafali Verma, Sophie Ecclestone and Sophia Dunkley have all had their days in the sun to announce their arrival on the world stage. Young players, each phenomenal in their own right who are no doubt the rule of the women’s game moving forward rather than the exception.Related

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Today the attendance for the women’s game was measured at 13,537, a figure that grew throughout the match as fans filtered their way into the ground for a Sunday at the cricket.A record for a domestic women’s game in the modern era, which should be celebrated. However, perhaps it’s the greed of progress that it still left me wanting more.It’s the gift and the curse of the double header that the women’s game is put in front of more people’s eyes than ever (good) but only as a curtain-raiser (bad). But, because of the rain today, it took centre stage for the second time this tournament after Wednesday’s opening night. And far from it being a warm-up, it hopefully left 13,537 people asking for an encore.Certainly those who arrived on time for the match action will have left wanting to know and see more of Capsey following her imperious display.Much has been made of Capsey’s age, or lack of. The youngest player in the tournament at 16 and recently embarked on her A levels, it could have been expected, or at least forgiven, had the occasion of playing at Lord’s got the better of her.Or, on the other side of the coin, and as I’m sure many will comment, “she played with the fearlessness of youth.”As a phrase it’s one that’s always confused me and I can only assume it is only said by those who don’t remember being 16 (sorry). Because being 16 is terrifying.You’re constantly being confronted with so many firsts in your life happening at one time. Your first love interest maybe, your first drink perhaps, your first major set of exams for definite. It’s just that, unlike us, Capsey has added her first innings at Lord’s to that list as well.To say Capsey’s youth made her fearless is to diminish her achievement. She batted brilliantly for 59 off 40 balls on the biggest stage of all. There’s no doubt it was a daunting occasion and that’s what made it all the more impressive.Her innings shifted from one of promise to one of certainty in the space of five balls midway through the innings. Consecutive boundaries off the bowling of Dean was followed by a dismissive shot through the off-side against Dottin. Three boundaries in five balls. A drive, a reverse sweep and a cut. Three different shots with the same outcome each time. This was a batter in control of her game and of the occasion.Further testament to her innings was that she was supported, not led, by South Africa captain and star of the Invincibles opening night win on Wednesday in Van Niekerk.”It’s a special moment. There were a few nerves, but I just wanted to be able to express myself and stay true to how I play,” Capsey said afterwards.”I just wanted to take it in my stride and show I’m not going to be pushed to the side. I want to play how I want to play.”The Hundred Rising is providing eight aspiring, young journalists the opportunity to tell the story of The Hundred men’s and women’s competitions through their own eyes.

Yuzvendra Chahal's simplistic approach recaptures confidence in familiar conditions

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Through basic control and bowling smarts, Chahal delivered a match-turning performance

Saurabh Somani26-Jul-20210:58

I backed myself before coming on this tour – Chahal

Since India turned to wristspinners in the white-ball formats in the second half of 2017, Yuzvendra Chahal had been a regular fixture in the playing XIs, in both ODIs and T20Is. However, after the 2019 World Cup, both Chahal and fellow wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav were no longer able to command a spot in the first XI. The Covid-19 pandemic meant India’s squads were split, with Chahal being a more reliable inclusion in the limited-overs side playing in Sri Lanka. It was in Sri Lanka that Chahal established himself as a regular in the playing XI, and returning there has also seen the form of old return.Chahal was full of fizz in the first two ODIs, rested in the third since India had sealed the series, and went up a notch in the opening T20I on Sunday. In the ODIs, he had been thrown the ball after good starts by Sri Lanka, and invariably offered India greater control. He did the same thing in the first T20I, only better. Brought on immediately after the powerplay with Sri Lanka 46 for 1, Chahal bamboozled Dhananjaya de Silva with a delivery of a legspinner’s dreams. A loopy delivery that was so perfect it could have represented an equation, teasing drift, hitting the perfect length on leg, and then ripping across the batter to knock out off stump.That would be Chahal’s only wicket in the game, but his figures read 4-0-19-1. The bare numbers are impressive enough, but in terms of Smart Economy – which is arrived at after taking into account the stage of the match a bowler has bowled in and the batters bowled to – Chahal’s was an astounding 2.69, easily the best in the game for any bowler that delivered more than one over.Chahal could tie Sri Lanka down not just by skill, but by smarts too. He was bowling with a shorter leg-side boundary to the right-hand batters, and therefore didn’t bowl a single googly to them. Not just that, he maintained control of his line immaculately too. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, of the 13 balls Chahal bowled to right-hand batters, three were on the stumps and 10 were outside off stump. Not a single ball down leg. Of the 11 balls bowled to left-hand batters, seven were on the stumps, not giving them room to target the off side, which was the shorter boundary.Yuzvendra Chahal provided plenty of control with figures of 4-0-19-1.•ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images”The end I was bowling from, the leg side boundary was shorter and they were looking to hit that side,” Chahal said after the match. “That’s why I didn’t bowl googlies to the right-handers. I didn’t want to give them confidence, I thought that if I can bowl a lot of dot balls, pressure will build. So even if I don’t get a wicket, my partner from the other end can bowl more freely. If I had tried to go for wickets, or tried something extra, and they had hit a six or four, the pressure would have automatically come on us, because the total wasn’t so big. So I bowled more googlies to the left-handers. I kept mixing it up.”Chahal gave up seven runs in his first two overs, and an asking rate that was 7.66 before he came on, had ballooned to 10.00, with Sri Lanka having also lost two wickets inside three overs. Just before his final over, Charith Asalanka had taken debutant Varun Chakravarthy for 14 runs, giving Sri Lanka a set-up for a final-overs charge. On came Chahal for the 15th over. He conceded just three runs, varying pace, adjusting length if the batter moved and keeping the ball out of their hitting reach. ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats had Sri Lanka’s win probability at 40.47% before Chahal’s last over. After he bowled, it had dropped to 22.92. He said his job was “to control the middle overs”, which is exactly what he provided to India.Getting the fizz back in his bowling was the result of spending time during the pandemic-enforced lockdown with coaches, and with Haryana team-mate Jayant Yadav, whom Chahal bounced ideas off.”When I was not playing, I was working with my bowling coach, about where I should bowl, why I was not able to perform in a couple of matches. During the lockdown, I did single-wicket bowling, practiced with my friends,” Chahal said.Yuzvendra Chahal’s only wicket in the first T20I was of Dhananjaya de Silva with a ripping legbreak•SLC”I didn’t want to make too many changes. I thought about which lines I should focus on, whether to go wider or go stump to stump. I sat with (Bharat) Arun sir, there is Paras (Mhambrey) sir here and Rahul (Dravid) sir, so I sat with them, saw videos to see what am I missing? I have been doing well, but it was not happening in a couple of matches. During the lockdown, before this tour, I couldn’t really go much to cricket grounds due to Covid-19 restrictions. But the three-four sessions I got in my hometown, I went and practiced. Jayant Yadav was there, I’ve been playing with him since childhood, so we practiced together. I spoke to him also, and things started from there. The main thing was that the more confident I can be while bowling, the better I will be able to bowl.”Related

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For Chahal, it was important to do well in this series, given the depth of options India have to choose from. In this squad alone, among pure spinners, Rahul Chahar is on the sidelines as another promising legspinner, while Kuldeep and Chakravarthy are around too.”Definitely when your bench strength is so good that you have a pool of 30 players overall, it is a boost, and you get quality there,” Chahal said. “All spinners are doing well. You know that for your spot, there are already two people ready, who have already performed in the IPL, here. My focus when I play is that I should perform whenever I play. If you perform (well), then you get to play. You can stay in the team only with performance. When I bowl, I keep my mind clear, I don’t think of ‘this guy has done this, that guy has done that’. My mind is on the fact that I have the ball, and what I need to do now.”Chahal is likely to face sterner challenges after the current T20I series, with the twin behemoths of IPL and the T20 World Cup later this year. If he can continue to employ the skill and nous he has regained in Sri Lanka, there will be more happy days ahead for him and his team.

Stats – Can England bury the ghosts of their last two Australia tours?

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

England have lost nine of their last 10 Tests in Australia, but with Root in form and a promising pace attack, they will hope to change the narrative

S Rajesh06-Dec-2021Since their 3-1 series triumph in Australia in 2010-11, England have lost nine out of 10 Tests in the country, averaged 25 with the bat, and nearly 46 with the ball. That is the sort of recent history England will be up against over the next few weeks, as they try to regain the Ashes.

Australia have been battling problems of their own recently, and lost their last home series, against India. However, their overall win-loss record in the last 10 years is still an impressive 36-8, with 11 series wins out of 16; they have lost twice each to India and South Africa, and drew a series against New Zealand in 2011-12. In fact, South Africa and India have been the two teams which have competed strongly in Australia. South Africa have a 3-1 win-loss record and are the only overseas team to score more runs per wicket than they concede in Australia in this period, while India’s record is marred by their hopeless 4-0 drubbing in 2011-12.Smith, Warner vs Anderson, BroadJames Anderson will play his fifth Test series in Australia, and Stuart Broad his fourth. How they go against Australia’s line-up in their home conditions could be a key component of which way the series pans out. Of particular interest will be their battles against Steven Smith and David Warner, the two giants of Australia’s batting.Broad was dominant against Warner in the 2019 Ashes series in England, dismissing him seven times while conceding just 35 runs, an average of five runs per dismissal. However, the last time they played in Australia, Warner scored 73 off 175 deliveries from Broad without being dismissed.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Overall, both Anderson and Broad have dominated Warner in England, but Warner averages more than 50 against each of them in home conditions. Smith’s numbers against them have a remarkable symmetry – his average against Anderson in England is his average against Broad in Australia, and vice-versa. In Australia, Anderson has had more success against him, though Smith still averages a healthy 45.2.Red-hot Root’s century missionJoe Root’s average in Australia is a modest 38 from nine Tests, but the last time he toured there – in 2017-18 – he did much better, averaging 47.25, and scoring five fifties from nine innings. A century eluded him, though, which means his highest score from 17 Test innings in Australia is 87. It is the only country where he has played at least 10 innings without a hundred. Australia will be happy if those stats still hold true at the end of this series.

However, Root and Test centuries have had a strong bonding in 2021 – he has scored six of them, which is twice his previous best in any calendar year. That suggests he should end his century drought in Australia this time around, and also lift his overall Test average in the country to beyond 40.Going by his numbers against Australia’s current bowlers, his biggest threat will be his opposite number, the newly appointed captain Pat Cummins. Cummins has had the better of Root both in England and Australia. Against Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, Root averages more than 45 in Australia.

However, apart from Root, England will also need the rest of the top order to score big runs. Among the batters who have played in Australia, only Dawid Malan averages over 40. Malan was impressive on the tour in 2017-18, scoring a century and three fifties in nine innings.

Australia’s pace advantageOn the last two tours, England’s fast bowlers have struggled in Australia: they have averaged 38.56 runs per wicket, compared to the home fast bowlers’ average of 25.73 in the period since November 2011. The only country where they have a poorer average in these 10 years is in India (41.85).

The Kookaburra hasn’t been a friend for England’s pace bowlers: Anderson (35.43) and Broad (37.17) both average over 35 here, while Chris Woakes’ 10 wickets have cost him 49.50 each. Ben Stokes has done better, averaging 32.80, but England will want more from their frontline fast bowlers this time around. They’ll hope that Mark Wood’s pace, and Ollie Robinson’s accuracy and ability to extract bounce, will change the narrative this time around.Spin problems in AustraliaIf England’s fast bowlers have underwhelming records in Australia, then the spinners have been an embarrassment in the last two series, taking 22 wickets in 10 Tests at an average of 87. Except for Scott Borthwick, who picked up 4 for 82 in the last Test of the 2013-14 series, no England spinner averages less than 80 in Australia during this period. That underlines the challenge before Jack Leach and Dom Bess – should they play – as England try to emulate their achievement of 2010-11.

IPL 2022 big questions – Part II: Will Wade open for Titans? Where do Sunrisers slot in Pooran?

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Also, do Lucknow Super Giants have enough back-up for their first XI?

Nagraj Gollapudi and Gaurav Sundararaman18-Mar-2022
Rajasthan Royals: Where does Buttler bat, and who’s at No. 7?
Last IPL, Jos Buttler played only the first half but was his team’s leading scorer (254 runs at a strike rate of 153) before the Covid-19-enfored break. He signed off with 124 against Sunrisers. In six of seven Royals matches in the first half, Buttler opened. But given the addition of Devdutt Padikkal, will Buttler continue at the top?If he opens, Padikkal will possibly play at No. 3 followed by Sanju Samson, Royals’ captain, at No. 4. That will also mean a left-right opening combination instead two left-hand openers in Yashasvi Jaiswal and Padikkal. That said, if Buttler bats at No. 3 or 4, Royals would have a power-packed middle-order that also features Shimron Hetmyer at No. 5.Related

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You would expect R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal and Prasidh Krishna to be Nos. 8-11. That leaves No. 7. For that, Royals would ideally want an allrounder, who is likely to also be the fourth overseas player. Rassie van der Dussen could perhaps swap batting positions with Hetmyer to create batting depth, but then Royals would end up light on bowling. So it is essentially a toss-up between James Neesham and Nathan Coulter-Nile. Coulter-Nile might just be the front-runner considering he is a bowling allrounder who scores at a strike rate of 132 in T20s and can bowl at 140-plus kph.Punjab Kings: Should Bairstow bat at No. 4?
Punjab Kings have an enviable top five in Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone and Shahrukh Khan. The only question for them is whether Livingstone should bat at one-down and Bairstow at four, a role he performs for England in T20Is when Buttler and Jason Roy open.Will the big-hitting Liam Livingstone deliver for Punjab Kings?•Arjun Singh/BCCILivingstone has played at No. 3 18 times in T20s, scoring 496 runs at an average of 33.06, with a strike rate of 144.18 and five fifties. Both Bairstow and Livingstone have good records against spin in the last two years, scoring off the slow stuff at close to 140. Livingstone has similar a strike rate at Nos. 4 and 5 too, but his average drops to the mid-20s.If Bairstow bats at No. 4, not only will he allow more freedom to the top order, but with his extensive experience, he could also guide the lower-middle order, which is likely to have Shahrukh and Odean Smith.Sunrisers Hyderabad: Where should Pooran bat?
Sunrisers have a lot of depth and flexibility in their squad: many of their batters can bat at different positions and bowl too, while a lot of their bowlers can bat. Their main decision will be where to fit Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram in the line-up.Markram performed well at Nos. 4 and 5 for South Africa in the T20 World Cup. Pooran, who had a disappointing IPL last year as well as a lean World Cup, can slide between Nos. 3 and 5. With Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma likely to open, Pooran can follow Rahul Tripathi (No. 3) – that would provide a good balance, and also create the left-right combination that teams crave. Markram will then be No. 5.Another option could be to have Markram and Abhishek open the innings followed by Williamson and Tripathi, with Pooran playing the finisher. Sunrisers have a happy headache on their hands.Matthew Wade: the hero of Australia’s 2021 T20 World Cup semi-final•Getty ImagesGujarat Titans: Who opens with Gill?
Jason Roy’s withdrawal left Gujarat Titans with the immediate hurdle of finding Shubman Gill’s opening partner. Afghanistan batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Roy’s replacement, could end up being the reserve opener. Titans’ best option might be Matthew Wade, who provides a left-right combination with Gill, and doubles up as the wicketkeeper. Wade also has an impressive strike rate of 156.14 in all T20s as an opener since 2019 IPL, the fourth best in the world (min. 30 innings).Wade might have played only three matches in the IPL, for Delhi Daredevils in 2011, but he has a lot of experience, can be the aggressor at the top or even at the finish as he has proved, emerging as the hero of Australia’s semi-final win against Pakistan in last year’s T20 World Cup. Playing Wade at the top also gives Titans the additional option of considering Wriddhiman Saha at No. 3, a position which does not have a designated name to it yet. Vijay Shankar is the other option at one-down and don’t be surprised if Hardik Pandya fancies himself in the top order in some matches.Quinton de Kock could prove vital for Lucknow Super Giants at the top, especially early in the tournament when several of his IPL team-mates are yet to arrive•Getty Images Lucknow Super Giants: Do they have enough back-up for each role?
Lucknow Super Giants had a good auction, getting many in-demand Indian IPL players like Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi. However, they picked just seven overseas players and do not seem to have enough depth in case of injuries or unavailability. For at least their first three matches, Super Giants are likely to be without key overseas players Marcus Stoinis and Jason Holder, who are busy with bilateral series. And then there’s the loss of Mark Wood, out with an elbow injury picked up during England’s Tests against West Indies.*There are three main overseas players available from the start in Quinton de Kock, Dushmantha Chameera and Evin Lewis. With the opening slots likely to be taken by KL Rahul and de Kock, Super Giants will find it hard to play Lewis at the top. While their first XI is strong, the lack of like-for-like replacements and squad depth could prove costly.*

The Ishan Kishan metric to measure the chasm between young India and Sri Lanka players

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The India batter smashed 89 off 56 while Sri Lanka’s youngsters had more sedate returns

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Feb-20222:14

Ishan Kishan: Our approach is to attack the bowlers rather than wait for a bad ball

Seven balls into his innings, Ishan Kishan gets a full toss outside his off stump. In a blink, it has scorched its way to the cover boundary. The next ball from Chamika Karunaratne is a shorter, slower delivery. The shoulders swing into action. The elbows are a blur. This ball blazes and takes an even quicker route to the rope. Straight of cover this time.In the late 1990s, when Sanath Jayasuriya reigned over India versus Sri Lanka fixtures, word on the streets in India was that Jayasuriya had springs hidden in his bat. How else did he get the ball to boing off over the infield when the likes of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad bowled at him?Related

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Kishan’s bat functions more like rocket launcher than trampoline. That he is no conventional “timer of the ball” is clear, because he throws every milligram of his body weight into some of his shots. But this is not the same thing as saying he does not have timing. On evenings like these, the force that goes up from his toes, through his hips, chest, shoulders, arms, wrists, seems to be matched by the energy that his bat, of its own accord, is producing. It’s big-effort batting mixed with glorious-timing results. The best of both worlds. It took seven years at the international level for Jayasuriya to mesh his explosive power with batting’s more refined virtues. Kishan is in his ninth T20I.But we know where the refinement came for Kishan, right? He’s hit 1452 runs in the IPL, and commanded a pay packet of more than US$2 million in the most-recent auction. He’s played 56 innings in that competition, and 108 T20 innings overall, and in that time, batted in a host of match situations and positions. On Thursday evening, he had to face two 140kph-plus bowlers up front, and a legspinner and a left-arm spinner, none of whom seriously troubled him. He batted, as on his debut against England last year, and in several internationals since, as if pounding bowlers of every description was a birthright.When Sri Lanka came out to make their response to Kishan’s 89 off 56 and India’s 199 for 2, they had some promising young batters too. Pathum Nissanka, a first-class star who had sort of made the switch to being a decent T20 batter, having top-scored in the recent series in Australia, was opening the innings. Charith Asalanka, who was excellent in last year’s T20 World Cup, was batting lower down.Through the course of this tour, you might notice their better shots. Like Asalanka’s ramp off Jasprit Bumrah at the end of the fourth over. Or his flat, hard, reverse sweep through point off Ravindra Jadeja in the 14th.But you might also notice this. Young India players are largely doing things they’ve done before, going into their memory banks, calling up moments from their past in which they’ve triumphed in similar situations, against oppositions of perhaps somewhat worse but not-dissimilar quality. Sri Lanka’s young players are always reaching. The next level. That big step. This vast chasm they have to somehow bridge.Occasionally, they manage it. But often, they don’t. You see their talent warring with their inexperience when Kamil Mishara, who has all of 15 T20s (of any description) on his ledger, punches the second ball he’s ever faced from Bumrah to the cover fence on the up, before failing to connect with the next three deliveries, as Bumrah mixes it up. You see it in Janith Liyanage’s pained 11 off 17, or even in Nissanka’s fatal first ball, where he failed to account for the low bounce in the Lucknow pitch. Even Asalanka, the Sri Lanka batter who has best transitioned to T20Is in the last few years, was dropped twice on his way to his half-century.We will not tread over SLC’s many sins here, because they have been lavishly documented in these pages. But even if their officials were competent, Sri Lanka will never have the likes of this Indian cricketing machine, of which Kishan is a proud product. There are some harsh judgements on the Sri Lankan system, but also some bald economics. For much of Kishan’s IPL career, he was coached by one of Sri Lanka’s greatest cricketing minds.Sri Lanka have two more T20s, and two Tests, in a country where they have done exceedingly poorly in both those formats. If they are to make something of this tour, they will have to reach for the kinds of performances they have never produced before.India, like Kishan, ferocious at home in any case, need only to do what they’ve been doing.

Five first-timers who impressed at the World Cup

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

From Charlie Dean to Fatima Sana, here’s a look at a group of potential stars for the future

S Sudarshanan05-Apr-2022Sophia Dunkley (England)

Having made her ODI debut last June, Sophia Dunkley had an important spot in England’s lower-middle order, taking over from Fran Wilson, who quit last year. Dunkley made regular contributions throughout the World Cup, not just with the bat but also on the field, often in the deep. She scored back-to-back half-centuries – in England’s last league match against Bangladesh and in the semi-final against South Africa – to help the side post what turned out to be match-winning totals. She finished with 291 runs, second behind Nat Sciver’s 436 for England.Yastika Bhatia unfurls a slog sweep against Bangladesh•Getty ImagesYastika Bhatia (India)

After a rough start to her international career, Yastika Bhatia came into the World Cup having batted in the middle order in each of her seven ODIs. But in India’s second game of the tournament, she was brought in to open in place of an out-of-form Shafali Verma. She played a couple of contrasting knocks before being pushed down to her regular No. 3 position, where she returned successive fifties against Australia and Bangladesh. Though she failed to convert her starts into something substantial at times, her impressive strokeplay showed she could be one for the long haul.Alana King was the second-highest wicket-taker for Australia in the tournament•Getty ImagesAlana King (Australia)

While Alana King is 26, she made her international debut just over a month before the World Cup. Her 16 wickets in the WBBL 2021 saw her leapfrog Amanda-Jade Wellington in the pecking order after Georgia Wareham was out injured. She picked up three wickets in each of her outings against England – both in the league-stage game as well as in the final – to stamp her class. In the league game, she bluffed a set Tammy Beaumont to have her stumped before cleaning up Dunkley towards the end with the game in the balance. In the final, she dismissed Heather Knight and Dunkley at crucial junctures to dent England’s chances, and finished joint-fourth on the wickets’ chart with 12 strikes.Fatima Sana picked up 3 for 43 against South Africa•ICC via GettyFatima Sana (Pakistan)

Named ICC Women’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year in 2021, Fatima Sana finished with seven wickets in as many games. She exhibited her full range of skills in the match against South Africa, where she picked up three wickets. She had Lizelle Lee with the new ball and then, at the death, dismissed a set Sune Luus and deceived Trisha Chetty with a slower ball. Though she showed last year that she can be handy with the bat, Sana didn’t trouble the scorers much in the World Cup.Offspinner Charlie Dean picked up 11 wickets in just six games•Getty ImagesCharlie Dean (England)

In the inaugural edition of the Hundred, Charlie Dean made a name for herself by getting big wickets, finishing with six overall, the second-most for London Spirit. Left out of the XI for England’s first two games, Dean showed her worth by picking up four wickets against India and then a couple more against New Zealand. What stood out was her smart use of the arm-ball along with her offbreaks. She picked up nine of her 11 wickets in the competition in just three matches. Dean also showed her ability with the bat in the final, scoring 21 off 24 balls in a 65-run ninth-wicket partnership with Sciver.

What a ten-team, four-venue IPL might look like

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

No team starts as favourite, but will the thinner spread of talent compromise the league’s competitiveness?

Nagraj Gollapudi and Gaurav Sundararaman25-Mar-20225:10

IPL 2022 – Will KL Rahul win another Orange Cap?

Fast bowlers could dominate the powerplay
With the IPL returning to India from the UAE, batters should look forward to playing on smaller grounds and the potential for dew. But fast bowlers could enjoy themselves as well, especially at the Wankhede Stadium. During the first half of IPL 2021, which was played in India, fast bowlers were dominant during the powerplay at this venue. As per ESPNcricinfo logs, in the first six overs, fast bowlers took 31 out of 33 wickets that fell here in 20 innings, the highest for all the seven venues last season.Related

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The Wankhede also logged the second-lowest powerplay scoring rate in IPL 2021 – 7.22 – behind only Sharjah. Franchises invested heavily on Indian fast bowlers during the auction, and the onus will be on them to drive home the early advantage.New rule, a potential game-changer
This IPL will not only see teams have two DRS reviews per innings, but also newly revised playing conditions that, if triggered, could have a potential impact on the match result.It concerns the new batter taking strike regardless of whether the two players crossed or not in case of a catch being taken, unless it is the last ball of an over. Previously the new batter would head to the non-striker’s end if the batters crossed, but the MCC recently revised the law and the playing condition was first tried out in the Hundred last year to give the bowler the advantage. While this is applicable at any point during an innings, the effect will be felt the most in the end overs.Take the example of Qualifier 1 between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals last season. The Capitals might have felt they had the edge when Tom Curran had Moeen Ali caught off the first ball of the final over, which had begun with the Super Kings needing 13 runs. Moeen’s pull failed to clear square leg and MS Dhoni, who had hit Avesh Khan for a six in the previous over, quickly crossed to take strike. He duly finished off the match with two balls to spare and led Super Kings into the final. Under the new rule, new batter Ravindra Jadeja would have been on strike against Curran.Umran Malik is all ears as Jasprit Bumrah holds forth•BCCI7.30pm starts and the dew factor
Remember Dhoni fussing about 7.30pm starts because of the dew factor? He felt that with dew usually setting in around 8pm, teams batting first were under pressure to score 15-20 extra runs in the Powerplay. To add to their challenge, teams bowling second in dewy conditions then had to also try and pick up early wickets. Dhoni hinted that the advantage was with the teams that bowled with a dry ball for the first 30-40 minutes of the match before dew kicked in. The 7.30pm starts were put in play to ensure matches didn’t spill over past midnight, as had become the trend in previous seasons. The dew factor will be on the mind of teams this time around, too, when they go out to toss.Short straight boundaries, bigger square boundaries
All four venues have short straight boundaries, measuring around 70 yards. Surfaces at all four venues are also known for good bounce and carry. The red-soil decks in Mumbai help the ball come nicely on to the bat. This means the par score could hover close to 170-180. Harshal Patel, IPL 2021’s highest wicket-taker, believes bowlers can still dominate by using hard lengths on fresh pitches, as will be the case at all four venues. Harshal reckons another good strategy to counter the short straight boundaries would be to bowl very full and either at the heels of the batter or wide outside off stump. Why? To bring the longer square boundaries into play. However, teams will also need to keep in mind that one square boundary might be significantly shorter than the other; it is understood each of the four venues will use five pitches across the square to ensure all of them remain lively through the league phase.Rashid Khan will play for the Gujarat Titans this time•BCCI/IPLWristspinners vs fingerspinners
Surfaces at each of the four venues have different characteristics. While the numbers are strongly stacked against spinners of every variety, it can’t be denied that spin will eventually play a part, mostly from the second half as pitches begin to tire. In the first half, though, wristspinners who are quicker through the air are likely have an edge over traditional legbreak bowlers. So expect the likes of Rashid Khan and Ravi Bishnoi to prosper as compared to, say, Kuldeep Yadav, who has struggled with his pace variations lately.The bounce, the short boundaries, and dew are all factors that could work against loopy wristspinners. Based on the history of the venues, the role of the fingerspinners would be to contain. Their role could change towards the business end as surfaces slow down considerably due to the heat and the volume of cricket played through the tournament.An emerging crop of new leaders
IPL 2022 will unveil four new captains: Mayank Agarwal (Punjab Kings), Hardik Pandya (Gujarat Titans), Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings) and Faf du Plessis (Royal Challengers Bangalore). Among them, only du Plessis has the been a long-term captain, at South Africa, but even he will acknowledge that leading a popular franchise like RCB is a different challenge. His predecessor Virat Kohli, a highly successful international captain, could not take the franchise to a title in nine seasons.Agarwal might be happy to team up with former India captain and coach Anil Kumble, but it is his responsibility to quickly earn the trust and respect of a team brimming with explosive batters. In addition, he may also have some pressure from the ownership for they have been desperate for Punjab to win an IPL title. They have rebranded the team, wiped slates clean, and changed coaches and captains several times. Will it be their year?Jadeja was announced as CSK captain just 48 hours before their first game and has admitted he has “big boots” to fill. He will, however, benefit from Dhoni’s presence even though the former India captain will want Jadeja to be his own man. That is the key to successful teams: they are made in the image of their leaders.Mayank Agarwal is set to lead a franchise for the first time this IPL•BCCI/IPLA test of India’s talent pool
The IPL’s expansion to a 10-team event will test the tournament’s quality. The fluctuating auction prices for certain skillsets was the first indicator of the challenges of demand vs supply, with teams chasing the same set of players rather than looking for new ones. There is a possibility of frequent one-sided matches, which was the case a decade ago during the 2011 season when the IPL had 10 teams for the first time.If that happens, it could affect the narrative surrounding the last days of the league phase. Since 2016, the playoffs spots have only been confirmed after the last match of the league phase. Can the 10-team IPL keep that trend going? Some pundits want the IPL to allow teams to field five overseas players in order to keep its competitive nature alive, but that might not necessarily work.Take this auction, for example. Lucknow Super Giants, Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals failed to even fill their quota of eight overseas slots. Then there is the issue of availability with several overseas players missing the initial set of matches for their teams. One advantage of the additional teams is that it offers opportunities to several more Indian players, especially uncapped ones. While the youngsters will be excited, their franchises will remain anxious and hopeful that they can fulfil their talent and withstand the pressure of the IPL.

'It's a stupid game that we play' – Jack Leach reflects on moment of Black Cap comedy

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Latest moment of misfortune epitomised tour in which NZ have struggled to get a break

Matt Roller23-Jun-20225:44

#PoliteEnquiries: How does Daryl Mitchell middle EVERYTHING?!

“It’s out! It’s out!” Ben Stokes shouted at a dumbfounded Jack Leach, giddy with bemused excitement. Henry Nicholls was left to drag himself off after a bizarre, surreal dismissal, one which seemed to sum New Zealand’s tour of England up. It is meant to be black cats, not Black Caps, that bring bad luck.Nicholls’ innings had been a grind, one in which he had made only 19 runs in over two hours as tea approached. He had put on 40 at less than two an over with Daryl Mitchell, leaving and defending with caution and surviving several plays-and-misses outside his off stump. It had not been pretty, but after winning the toss and stumbling to 83 for 4, New Zealand did not care about aesthetics.With five balls left before tea, Leach overpitched and Nicholls shimmied to turn the ball into a half-volley, driving slightly uppishly down the ground. Mitchell, at the non-striker’s end, flinched and tried to pull his bat away from the line of the ball, but somehow managed to deflect it straight to Alex Lees at mid-off.

Leach was mystified, looking around at his celebrating team-mates with his arms out in confusion. Nicholls stood dumbfounded before slinking off, consoling himself only with the knowledge that he will soon feature on YouTube in a video titled: “O M G ….. How can this happen in cricket??? MOST UNLUCKY DISMISSAL OF ALL TIME”.”It’s just one of those unfortunate things,” Luke Ronchi, New Zealand’s batting coach, said. “Daryl just happened to middle it again like he’s been doing the whole time.” As Ronchi left the room, his old Somerset team-mate Leach repeated another of his lines back to him: “I like those little quirks,” he said with a grin.”I didn’t even know if that was allowed,” Leach added. “I don’t actually like the dismissal but I felt like I bowled pretty well to Nicholls leading up to that… you just have to take it. It’s a silly game, isn’t it? That’s what it made me think: it’s a stupid game that we play.”Henry Nicholls drives and is caught by Alex Lees via the bat of Daryl Mitchell•Getty ImagesNew Zealand are due a slice of luck when it comes to deflections off stray bats working against them; at least Trent Boult could see the funny side at Lord’s when Stokes nearly managed, completely involuntarily, to recreate moment from the 2019 World Cup final.”Tragedy is when I stub my toe. Comedy is when you fall into an open manhole and die,” the comedian and film-maker Mel Brooks once said, and England couldn’t help but laugh. This was a moment of black comedy for New Zealand – Black Cap comedy, if you will – and one which felt grimly familiar on a tour that has lurched from one misfortune to another.A year ago to the day, New Zealand were celebrating at the Ageas Bowl after Ross Taylor clipped the winning runs off his pads to seal victory in the inaugural World Test Championship. They had been dominant since the first session of the first Test at Lord’s, beating England 1-0 and then overcame India to put the finishing touches on their journey from no-hopers to world-beaters.This tour has been a stark contrast: from the moment the touring party touched down in the UK, just about everything that could have gone wrong seems to have done so. On the fifth day of the trip, Nicholls tested positive for Covid-19, as did Blair Tickner and bowling coach Shane Jurgensen, and the virus has been a constant nuisance in the camp ever since.Injuries have ripped the heart out of the team that beat India last year: the retired Taylor and BJ Watling have been ably replaced by Mitchell and Tom Blundell, but the losses of Colin de Grandhomme and Kyle Jamieson turned the first and second Tests respectively. Nicholls’ dismissal even put de Grandhomme’s horror day at Lord’s – comically run out, denied Stokes’ wicket by a front-foot no-ball and limping off with a foot injury – in perspective.Mitchell, meanwhile, is having the worst best series of his – or just about any – career: he is averaging an eye-watering 150.33, yet somehow seems to have spent much of the past three weeks dropping catches at slip and running out his partners. At least he had one moment of fortune today. He was given not out on 8 when Matthew Potts’ inswinger crashed into his pad and England decided not to review the on-field decision, only for ball-tracking to confirm it would have crashed into middle-and-leg.By the close, his partnership with Blundell was worth 102, their third century stand of the series, and Stokes’ non-review had cost 70 runs. New Zealand are clearly not where they would have liked to be after choosing to bat first but at least they had a wicketless evening session to cling to: without it, they would be staring down the prospect of a whitewash on the anniversary of their crowning moment.

Pieces shuffle into place in India's batting jigsaw

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Kohli’s sideways shuffle a sign of India’s batters buying into their new approach

Karthik Krishnaswamy03-Oct-20222:05

Rahul: ‘When batting first, we always try to be aggressive and take a lot of risks’

In an innings containing 25 fours and 13 sixes, this was perhaps not the most eye-catching boundary. But it was significant in two ways.One, it moved India’s score past 190. This was the 10th time in 21 innings this year that India had ticked off that milestone while batting first in T20Is. Across 2020 and 2021, India had only reached 190 three times while batting first, in 16 attempts.Scoring bigger totals more often has significantly improved India’s record while batting first. Duh, you might say, but this transformation has come from a recognition that par is simply not enough, given the advantage chasing teams enjoy in T20 cricket. On Sunday, India made 237 for 3 – their fourth-highest T20I total – and South Africa still gave them a scare.”It is something that all of us came together and we said, you know, this is what we want to do as a team,” Rohit said during the post-match presentation, when asked about India’s batting approach. “Sometimes it has come off; there will be times where it doesn’t come off, but we want to stick to it. We felt that this is the method of moving forward, it has given us results, and we will continue to take that approach.”You need special players to pull off this sort of approach, of course, and India have more than one in their ranks. Rahul is one of them, and while his shot-making ability can sometimes lie puzzlingly dormant in the early parts of his T20 innings, it was in evidence right from the first ball of the match, when he punched Kagiso Rabada past point off the back foot, silkily and with time to spare.He’s taken a bit of time finding his rhythm since coming back from injury in August, and on Wednesday he had battled his way to a slower-than-run-a-ball fifty on a hugely challenging pitch in Thiruvananthapuram. But that back-foot punch off Rabada seemed to flick a switch in him. You know Rahul is in rare and almost unearthly touch when he plays that shot, and when he whips sixes effortlessly off his pads, as he did twice in this innings.It was a standout innings in every way other than the fact that Suryakumar Yadav found a way to upstage it. Suryakumar is in the sort of form where he can seemingly decide to hit any line and any length from any bowler to any part of the ground, and all that’s been written about in ample detail already.His 22-ball 61 in Guwahati, however, brought another facet of his game to light.During his half-century in Thiruvananthapuram, Suryakumar had adopted a scissor-like trigger movement, segueing from an open stance into a side-on position at release, with front foot moving across to the off side and back foot jumping towards the leg side. On Sunday, he used an entirely different trigger movement, starting from the same open position and ending up even more open, with his back foot moving back and across and his front foot remaining stationary.It would be hugely illuminating to hear Suryakumar talk about these technical adjustments. What we do know is that he looked just as comfortable with both set-ups, and just as capable of accessing every part of the field.Dinesh Karthik: India’s most futuristic T20 cricketer?•BCCIAnd to cap it all off, Dinesh Karthik came in with less than two overs remaining and scored an unbeaten 17 off 7. Karthik is 37, and he first played international cricket in 2004, but he’s perhaps India’s most futuristic cricketer, the sort of hyper-specialist that could one day define the way T20 is played. He came in with only 11 balls remaining, but he greatly prefers that to having time to play himself in.Rabada bowled the last over to Karthik with deep backward point, deep cover, long-off, long-on and deep midwicket on the boundary. The plan was to go wide of off stump and short, to try and take away Karthik’s leg-side options. Twice, Karthik stepped across and found himself still having to drag the ball from well outside the line of his body, but he still managed to use his bottom hand and wrists to swat the ball over square leg.Rabada had done little wrong, but it didn’t matter.All through this year, all through the lead-up to the T20 World Cup that begins later this month, India have tried to push themselves to bat in a certain way. It’s not always been smooth; individual batters have struggled for rhythm at times, and there have been flurries of top-order wickets at other times. But in the longer term, good processes beget good outcomes, such as India’s improved bat-first record.On some days, good processes beget immediate outcomes. Sunday was such a day: a day of vindication, a day when almost everything fell into place.

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