He owed his opportunity to a number of absentees, but it’s a notable honour nonetheless for allrounder

Matt Roller08-Sep-2020″It’s an absolute honour to captain your country” said Moeen Ali at the toss, standing in for Eoin Morgan. He had done the job before, in a tour game on the 2017-18 Ashes tour and when Morgan had picked up a knock against Ireland earlier this summer, but this was the real thing: an Australia encounter, with full responsibility.In Moeen’s 2018 autobiography, he describes a team-bonding session before the 2015 Ashes in which players were asked to submit a fact about themselves anonymously, for team-mates to guess who it was about. He wrote “my grandmother’s name is Betty Cox” on the piece of paper he was given, and recalls the dumbfounded looks on the squad’s faces when he admitted it was him.That sort of second-guessing has been a feature of his career. Not many England players have had to put up with hit pieces during their Test debut, after all. “You’re playing for England, Moeen Ali, not your religion,” blared one headline that week in June 2014.Moeen has been booed on his home ground, unceremoniously dropped, and scrutinised more than any England player over the last six years. Last winter, he lost his red-ball central contract on the back of one bad game.Perhaps it was fitting that Moeen should become the first Muslim, and the first British Asian, to captain England in a T20I. In that autobiography, one of the first innings he recounts in any detail is a score of 195 for Moseley Ashfield Under-15s in a T20 against Blossomfield, two years before the inaugural season of the Twenty20 Cup; it’s a format that has always suited his mentality of attacking a ball based on its merits, rather than how early it arrives in his innings.But Moeen’s influence extends beyond what he does with bat and ball. When England played South Africa in Durban in February, Moeen, Adil Rashid and Saqib Mahmood went to the mosque together. “Those two have really helped me,” Mahmood said. “They gave me almost a big brother talk on that tour.ALSO READ: Marsh comes good as Australia regain No.1 ranking”They were saying: if you keep going the way you are, you’ll be a lot bigger than you think, especially in the Asian community. It’s nice to be able to go to the mosque on tour for Friday prayers with other guys. Everyone respects what each other does in this team.” That same night, Moeen hit 39 off 11 balls in a tight win.Moeen’s Worcestershire team-mates rave about his captaincy. “You can see bits of Morgan in the way he leads,” Joe Leach, the club’s four-day captain, told The Cricketer magazine, in a feature on the county’s run to successive Blast finals under his leadership. “It’s just the belief everyone gets from him coming back,” purred Pat Brown. “Having him as a captain gives our team such a lift.”The critics were out early in Moeen’s innings on Tuesday night: “He doesn’t like the short ball,” Shane Warne declared on Sky. Not an over later, he rocked back to a Josh Hazlewood bouncer, upper-cutting for a one-bounce four.In the field, Moeen leant heavily on Morgan’s playbook: in fact, the pattern of bowlers he used almost exactly mirrored those used in the second T20I, with Chris Jordan’s use in the Powerplay ahead of Tom Curran being the only swap in the first half.After Australia’s fast start, Moeen continued to hunt for wickets, knowing it was England’s only chance of getting back into the game. Slip stayed in throughout Rashid’s spell, and when Glenn Maxwell came in at No. 4, Moeen brought an extra fielder into the ring to apply the squeeze.Moeen is a calm figure in the field. Many captains would have rolled their eyes or looked skywards in frustration at England’s sloppiness in the field; instead, he offered gentle words of encouragement, and led by example with a superb stop at short cover in the 10th over.Moeen Ali pulls off the perfect ramp shot•Getty ImagesAt the start of the 11th over, Moeen wandered over to Rashid to hatch a plan, setting another attacking field with a short midwicket and a short extra cover as well as the slip; within the next three overs, England had dropped two slip catches, and Rashid had taken three wickets.Moeen brought himself on in the 14th over, with a leg slip in place. When Jofra Archer came back early to bowl the 15th, he brought a fifth man into the ring to stop Agar from scoring early on. But Mark Wood was wayward on his return, and from that point the game was Australia’s.”We were pretty poor in the field,” he reflected. “You take those chances and we’d have won that game – we didn’t back the bowlers up as we would have liked. But it was an amazing experience.”Moeen would not have captained tonight but for Morgan’s injury and Jos Buttler’s trip home. In fact, Ben Stokes might even have led ahead of him, had he been available; there is every chance that Moeen’s first game as skipper will be his last.This has been a season that has seen the only Asian member of the ECB’s board leave his post, Yorkshire’s first British Asian captain reveal that “institutional racism” at the club left him on the brink of suicide, and fears raised that Covid will lead to a long-term drop-off in the South Asian participation in recreational cricket. The ECB hopes that its South Asian action plan will address some of those issues; time will tell if that proves to be the case.So Moeen alone is not some kind of saviour; him leading a team out will not put those problems to bed, or spark institutional change. But tonight he captained England, and that will never be taken from him.”When Morgs told me last night, I was over the moon,” he said. “I don’t feel proud a lot of the time, but that was one of my proudest moments. To lead my country out was amazing. I’ll never, ever forget it.”

Rahane visualised dominating Mitchell Johnson at the MCG in 2014, but will those visions be as clear and unambiguous this Christmas?

Sidharth Monga22-Dec-2020Four years ago, speaking about Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid had told The Cricket Monthly that having successfully completed a cycle of touring the world, Rahane must be experiencing the beautiful feeling that he belongs at the top level.”For me after playing a year of international cricket, I knew I could do it,” Dravid said. “I just knew. It took me a year. I played [Curtley] Ambrose. I played [Allan] Donald. I played [Courtney] Walsh. I got a good feeling. I got a one-day hundred. I went on tours. I approached tours differently. I just felt, ‘I actually belong here.’ Then you start thinking differently. ‘Now I want to do more for the team. Now I want to become a match-winner. Now I want to do it when it is tough.'”Sometimes you need a bit of success. Something just clicks. That’s when you know, ‘Boss, I belong here.’ He [Rahane] has developed his attacking game. He now knows it deep down that, ‘Boss, if I work hard, if I practice, I can succeed at this level.’ It is a very good feeling to have. It takes some time to come, but when it comes you know it. You know, ‘Boss, I belong here.'”You wonder, though, if that feeling is permanent or if it can disappear with time.

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In many ways, Rahane the batsman has been the hardest to pin down among the group of batting talent that emerged from India since the retirements of the Sachin Tendulkar batch. Cheteshwar Pujara is the out-and-out defensive bulwark; Virat Kohli the all-round, all-format genius; and Rohit Sharma the limited-overs colossus whom you try to push into Tests every opportunity you get. What is Rahane, though? Difficult to put in a bracket.When he was piling up the runs in domestic cricket, Rahane somehow didn’t get a debut, travelling with the squad on 13 occasions before finally being handed the cap against Australia in Delhi in 2013. Putting a nervous debut behind, Rahane showed he could dominate world-class attacks – be it South Africa at Kingsmead, Australia at the MCG or England at Lord’s. Often run down by domestic bowlers – in casual conversations – as someone who didn’t turn up on the big occasion, Rahane became India’s go-to batsman on a stretch of 11 straight Tests in South Africa, England and Australia.In the first 13 Test series that he played, Rahane averaged under 29.66 in only one. In nine of them, he averaged over 50. This was enough for him to become the second name on Indian team lists – R Ashwin wouldn’t be picked for all away Tests – and thus the vice-captain. Then came a horror home series against Sri Lanka in late 2017 in which he averaged 3.4, which was deemed to be reason enough for India to drop Rahane for the South Africa tour that followed in early 2018, even though Rahane was the rare Indian batsmen who averaged better away than at home and played pace better than spin.All this while his limited-overs cricket confounded. That the selectors made him captain when MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli rested for the short Zimbabwe tour in 2015 showed they had identified a future captain, but then again Dhoni would find – not unfairly – that Rahane was a pretty limited limited-overs batsman: dashing against the new ball but sluggish once the field spread. The next management rated him higher in limited-overs cricket than in Tests, dropping him in the longer format in South Africa but during the ODIs anointing him India’s No. 4 for a World Cup that was less than two years away. A series later, he was back to being the Test specialist with no place in the ODIs.Ajinkya Rahane, who once dominated Dale Steyn in Durban, James Anderson at Lord’s and Mitchell Johnson at the MCG, has been lost somewhere•Getty ImagesEver since then, Rahane has come across as a batsman not at peace with his game. It will be simplistic – and perhaps unfair – to blame one selection call: if you are good enough, you should come back. It is not that Rahane has not come back – and to be fair to them, the team management have shown more faith in him since that South Africa tour – it is just that you don’t feel he is the same batsman. In 23 Tests since then, he has scored only two centuries, averaged under 40 and his strike rate has been 45. Before that, he had nine centuries in 43 Tests, used to average 44 and strike at 53 runs per 100 balls.One of the reasons experts feel Rahane has hit this inertia is that he relies on getting away with a couple of early risks before he settles in. In this phase, he has not had that much luck with these starts or perhaps has lost the attacking instinct a touch – which can be the difference between a four and a nick – or perhaps attacks have figured him out better.It is an observation that has backing in numbers: according to ESPNcricinfo logs of whether a batsman was in control of how he reacted to a delivery, in the last three years, no Indian batsman has hit more not-in-control boundaries in the first 30 balls of an innings than Rahane. And yet, his overall control numbers at the start of an innings are better than even Kohli, but his strike rate lower. It points to a possible pattern of defence, defence, defence and then the need for a four.Even when he gets off to a start nowadays, Rahane doesn’t settle into the efficient pace he used to earlier. He used to average 86 in innings he crossed 20 before that South Africa series in 2018, but since then the number is down to 61 – behind Kohli, Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw and Rohit.

The issue with Rahane will be the dual responsibility of leading – for more than one Test for the first time in his career – a diminished side that might still be shocked and of turning around a plateauing personal career. And as is usually the case with a stand-in, he will have a less than ideal XI at his disposal.

That young man mistaken by many as a pushover but who had this urge to dominate the best in the world – Dale Steyn in Durban, James Anderson at Lord’s and Johnson at the MCG – has been lost somewhere at a point of his career where you would expect him to come into his own. It is not that Rahane has been a liability, but those VVS Laxman-like classics – doomed as he is to be compared, with Laxman also being the No. 5 – have gone missing. The last of those arguably was the pocketbook version of the epic Dravid-Laxman Eden Gardens stand, which came in Bangalore in a match-winning 118-run association with Pujara to halt what looked like a marauding Australian side, in early 2017.In normal circumstances, this series would have been extremely important for Rahane to keep the question marks away come the home series – against England in February – where his record is not great. It is at this time though that Rahane will captain India for more than one Test for the first time. It cannot be ideal that he comes in with the possible match-turning run-out in Adelaide to his credit, and the most scrutiny over his shot and his defensive technique during the 36 all out in the second innings. And as is usually the case with a stand-in, he will have a less than ideal XI at his disposal in the regulation captain’s absence plus the forced loss of Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami to compound his problems.Rahane has captained India twice before in Tests. In the first of those, in a crucial series-decider against Australia in Dharamsala in 2017, he pulled out all the positive moves – from selection to bowling changes to field placements to an attacking innings to kill a potentially tricky chase – so his diminutive demeanour should not be an issue. The issue will be the dual responsibility of leading a diminished side that might still be shocked and of turning around a plateauing personal career.Melbourne around Christmas is not a great time to be visiting: it is a great time of cheer for families, but it remains only within those families. If you don’t have your family there, you want to go out; but there is nobody outside. Streets of the CBD can seem eerie with no people. You know it is a special time for the country, but somehow you are not part of it. It is only the next morning that tens of thousands of cheerful people walk into the MCG.It was here on Christmas day six years ago – when possibly cricketers preparing for the Boxing Day Test are the only ones working – that Rahane visualised himself dominating Johnson. And he duly did that in a brutal assault, even as the bowler got under the skin of Kohli at the other end, drawing three bad shots in a brief spell of play. This visualisation is almost manifestation: “if there are positive things in your mind, they will happen,” Rahane says.But will those visions be as clear and unambiguous this Christmas?

Skipper’s woes show state of South African cricket, and the magnitude and multitude of roles they ask him to fill

Firdose Moonda29-Nov-2020″Get me outta here,” Quinton de Kock seemed to gesture as he attempted to escape a toss-time interview. The technical difficulties and the repetition of who was in and who was out aside, de Kock had a real reason to want to run away. This captaincy thing is getting tough.De Kock has been in charge for 10 T20s, and South Africa have lost seven of them. That is not necessarily an indictment on de Kock, it is an illustration of the state South African cricket finds itself in, and the magnitude and multitude of the roles they have asked de Kock to fill.Not only does he have to open the batting and keep wicket (although Kyle Verreynne could relieve him of that if Verreynne ever makes it into the XI), but he also has to field pre- and post match questions, when it is clear public speaking is not his forte, and jump through South Africa’s many selection hoops. He doesn’t do the last of those alone and is doubtless being guided by coach Mark Boucher and the selection convener Victor Mpitsang, but it is quickly becoming the trickiest part of the job.ALSO READ: Malan fifty sees England home for 2-0 series leadSouth Africa have had overt transformation targets since the Vernon Philander/Kyle Abbott drama at the 2015 World Cup and which they usually meet. They are required to field, on average over the course of a season, six players of colour of which at least two must be black African. That means tough decisions have to be made on occasion, like the one to bench Anrich Nortje for the series opener, for example.Few other teams would have been able to excuse leaving out someone who clocked 156.2 kph on a speedometer a month ago, and the conditions at Newlands almost gave South Africa the reason they needed, but the threat Nortje posed immediately at Boland Park, suggested otherwise. Of course, there are all sorts of other combinations of the XI that could have seen Nortje slot in at Newlands (like playing Reeza Hendricks ahead of Pite van Biljon) but that causes other problems in the line-up like the one we saw today.In order to play both Temba Bavuma and Hendricks in this match, they had to bat Hendricks out of place. Previously, Hendricks has opened in 92 of his last 93 T20 innings but today he came in at No.3. That may not be such a big deal except that it also pushed Faf du Plessis, South Africa’s best batsman from Friday, to No.4. Du Plessis has not batted outside the top three in a T20I since the first game of the 2016 World T20.And all that’s is not even getting into what would need to happen if they also wanted to fit Janneman Malan in. The problem is that South Africa’s squad is top-order heavy and middle and allrounder light which continues to leave them unbalanced. Then, layer the impact of the coronavirus and how that affects player availability and you have a perfect storm.Quinton de Kock looks on as Dawid Malan is interviewed as Player of the Match•Getty ImagesOn Friday, du Plessis explained that the issue is that South Africa don’t have enough allrounders, and in this series, that’s true. Dwaine Pretorius is out with a hamstring injury. Andile Phehlukwayo, who is the other frontline two-in-one player is unavailable for selection at the moment. If not for George Linde, the margin of South Africa’s defeats may only have been bigger. Other players they have to consider in the squad are Jon-Jon Smuts, who is in the squad and Wiaan Mulder, who is not. All but Phehlukwayo are white.South Africa’s franchises are not producing enough batsmen of colour and it is beyond the scope of this piece to analyse the various socio-economic or circumstantial reasons why. Suffice to say that Hashim Amla and JP Duminy’s retirements have not helped, neither has overlooking Zubayr Hamza, who was the second leading run-scorer in the domestic one-day cup last season.And that’s just what’s happened in the last 18 months. Historically, actions like taking Khaya Zondo on a tour to India and not playing him, even when an opportunity an arose, or not finding room to cap Henry Davids more than twice in T20Is can also be pointed out as examples of where a different decision may have resulted in an entirely different calibre of player being available for South Africa now. But it is not too late to start changing the way things are being done.Of the batsmen of colour on the scene, apart from Hamza, there is at least one other player worth discussing. Sinethemba Qeshile played two T20s against Sri Lanka in early 2019 and does not have a huge amount of experience in domestic T20 cricket but is being talked about as one of the most exciting prospects for the future. Keeping him close to the national side won’t hurt, and though it might not solve immediate problems, South Africa have to play the long game.They can’t say the same about this series, which is gone, or the questions that are going to be asked of some of de Kock’s on-field decisions. On Friday, his choice to give Heinrich Klaasen an over, against Ben Stokes, opened the door for England’s victory; today, the last-minute decision that saw Lungi Ngidi bowl the 18th over in place of Nortje all but ended the game.T20 cricket is about these seemingly small decisions that ultimately make the difference between winning and losing. Get too many of them wrong, suffer too many defeats and suddenly a team that was able to explain mistakes away as part of the process of rebuilding is looking like one that can’t get off the starting blocks.De Kock is hamstrung by what is available to him. South Africa have gone into both matches with only five frontline bowlers which (and apologies for bringing him up again) du Plessis has repeatedly said is not enough. A team only needs one of those bowlers to have one bad over and the game could be lost. This series is a case study in that.It’s difficult to say what South Africa need more of apart from consistency from their quicks and the ability to land the yorker. In this match, they could also have used another over or two of spin and because it’s unlikely they will have room for three spinners, a batsman who could turn his arm over would be useful. And we don’t mean Klaasen. Smuts is a good candidate and has been overlooked so far, which may also have something to do with the top-heavy nature of the squad.The dead-rubber might give South Africa the space to experiment with some of the combinations mentioned here and others we haven’t thought of. But unless it brings a win, it probably won’t allow de Kock to get any closer to piecing together the puzzle he needs to be complete in a few months, for the T20 World Cup. And the more the losses mount up, the more he might feel like he just wants to get out of the position he is in, and of all the things South Africa can ill afford, that is the biggest one.

The Pakistan batsman was a treat to watch as he subdued South Africa’s spinners

Firdose Moonda27-Jan-2021If there’s one thing we know about Fawad Alam, it’s that he’s patient.This is a man who waited his whole career – 11 years but just eight Test matches with no proper explanation of why he did not play more – for an international at his home ground. So it’s no surprise that he batted five hours and 53 minutes and faced 245 balls to put Pakistan in a position of strength against an opposition that seem unable to adapt to unfamiliar conditions.While South Africa are struggling to wrap their heads around a surface that has settled even though it’s stayed low and is not offering much for anyone, Fawad knows just how to play here. He has scored runs at National Stadium season after season, amounting to almost a fifth of all his first-class runs. He averages a shade under 70 (69.97) on this ground, and in his last six first-class matches here, he has scored seven hundreds including a double-hundred.It’s fortress Fawad in Karachi, where he built himself up to having the highest batting average in Pakistan’s first-class history in 2013. He still holds that record, and only Steven Smith and Hanuma Vihari have better first-class averages, but Fawad undoubtedly has the most interesting stance.At the crease, Fawad looks like it’s the last place he wants to be even though his 100% conversion rate (three Test hundreds, zero fifties) suggests there’s nowhere else he’d want to spend his time. He stands outside leg stump with his right leg lagging 30cm behind his left and then almost goose-steps his way across to around middle as the ball is leaving the bowler’s hands. It’s been described as crab-like, Chanderpaul-esque or just confusing and it definitely had that effect on South Africa, at first.”It’s not something you are used to because it’s not conventional,” Keshav Maharaj said. “It takes a few balls to adapt because you are constantly focusing on him but if you stick your lines and lengths because when the ball is about to be delivered he is still in a neutral position.”And that shifting of his feet is what allows Fawad to score heavily square of the wicket, areas which South Africa did not police enough as they set out to limit Pakistan in the same way they had been. But they faced a few hurdles in that regard, not least that 220 was a, “very very under-par score,” as Dean Elgar put it and the pitch simply required some application; the kind of application Fawad showed.Fawad Alam batted five hours and 53 minutes and faced 245 balls for his century•Associated PressIt goes a little something like this. Firstly, don’t rush, especially if the opposition does not have their most threatening spinner in the side. Secondly, be willing to wear a few, especially because the bounce is variable. Kagiso Rabada hit him on the glove last night and Lungi Ngidi struck him on the finger today, and even though it seemed he may need some medical attention at times, Fawad was not going to show it. And lastly, use your feet.Fawad scored almost half of his runs – 53 – against Maharaj and George Linde, including five of his nine boundaries and both his sixes. While he was strong on the back foot to cut Maharaj, he regularly advanced on Linde. South Africa’s spinners, both left-arm orthodox because the wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi suffered back spasms on the morning of the first day and had to be withdrawn at the last minute, did not find nearly as much turn as Pakistan did yesterday. “From the straight it didn’t turn too much, not as much as one would have thought having seen Yasir Shah,” Maharaj said. “But he is a wristspinner so he does get more revolutions on the ball.”South Africa’s problems of personnel can’t be helped, or solved immediately, but their slip-up in strategy deserves some scrutiny. They took the second new ball at the start of the 84th over, with Fawad on 87, and gave it Maharaj expecting a harder nut to bring more turn and bounce which is understandable. Eight overs later they gave that ball to Aiden Markram, to bowl part-time offspin. It cost them just 10 runs in three overs, but it spoke of a captain who was out of ideas.By then, Fawad had waited long enough. He reached his hundred after spending an over on 94 defending an increasingly irritated Rabada, who had been hit by Faheem Ashraf for three fours before hitting him on the helmet before having him dropped by Quinton de Kock on what would have been his 200th wicket. The first chance Fawad got after that, he marched down the track to smash Maharaj over long-on for six, fist-pumped, prostrated and played to the gallery, except that there wasn’t one. Where Fawad may have wanted to see his father, Tariq, the first-class cricketer to whom so many go to learn the art of playing spin, he saw just empty stands. But it was still a dream come true.”This was the first Test at my home ground in Karachi so I just prayed to God for success. I couldn’t have asked for more and feel extremely satisfied,” Fawad said. “I feel out of this world.”The good news is that closed-door matches are (hopefully) not going to be around forever, and with international cricket flooding back in Pakistan, there may be another opportunity for him to acknowledge his loved-ones at his home ground but he will wait for it. And that might not be a problem for a player as patient as he is.

With the playoff race heating up, these players have given their teams’ qualification chances a significant boost

Vishal Dikshit27-Oct-2020ESPNcricinfo LtdChris Gayle, Kings XI Punjab (Innings: five, runs: 177, strike rate: 138.28)
The Kings XI Punjab were reeling at the bottom of the table with only one win from seven games when Chris Gayle returned after a stomach bug made him miss two matches. Since then, the Kings XI have won five matches in a row and Gayle has featured in all of those.One of the issues ailing the Kings XI was their middle order either not building on strong starts or not being able to close out chases. By incorporating Gayle at No. 3 – something he had done only five times in 396 T20 innings earlier – they have added both experience to their line-up and fear in the oppositions’ minds.His 177 runs, studded with 15 sixes, have already handed them two eight-wicket wins, one five-wicket win, and two points from the double-Super Over game against the Mumbai Indians, in which he came out with the aim of hitting a six first ball in the second eliminator, and did it in trademark style to clinch victory. With Glenn Maxwell off form, Gayle’s intimidating presence at No. 3 has ensured that once their opening stand is broken, the Kings XI don’t slide and also sustain – if not increase – their scoring rate.Jason Holder celebrates a breakthrough•BCCIJason Holder, Sunrisers Hyderabad (Matches: two, wickets: five, economy: 7.50)Named replacement for the injured Mitchell Marsh early on in the IPL, Jason Holder got a chance only when Kane Williamson picked up an injury after seven games. More than being a handy lower-order batsman, his ability to bowl both in the powerplay and the death has given the Sunrisers the cushion of a solid fifth bowler, which they were trying to squeeze out of their batting allrounders, especially in Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s absence.Bowling in the powerplay against the Rajasthan Royals, Holder first struck by running out Robin Uthappa at the non-striker’s end with a direct hit. He then returned after the halfway mark and for the 19th over, first foxing Sanju Samson with a slow offcutter, and then putting the brakes with the wickets of Steven Smith and Riyan Parag in three balls and conceding just seven in the over and limit the Royals to a gettable 154.Two days later, against the Kings XI, Holder got hit by Gayle in the last over of the powerplay, only to return four overs later and dismiss his West Indies team-mate. With another frugal over in the death and the wicket of Chris Jordan, Holder finished with 2 for 27 to limit the Kings XI to only 126 for 7, but the Sunrisers batsmen were bowled out for much less.Chris Morris has been a valuable addition to RCB•BCCIChris Morris, Royal Challengers Bangalore (Matches: six, wickets: 10, economy rate: 5.74)How the Royal Challengers use their allrounders has always been a big talking point. Chris Morris – who cost them INR 10 crore ($1.4 million) in the last auction sat out the first few games with a strain, and then burst on to the scene to help them fix a long-standing weakness: death bowling.ALSO READ: ‘It’s nice to feel important’ – Chris Morris on bond with RCBMorris has mostly bowled in the phases when batsmen go the hardest – powerplay and the death – and has kept his economy rate well under six despite sending down 17.4 of his 23.4 overs then. He has also picked up ten wickets to finish with figures that read more like standalone spells of outstanding bowling: 3 for 19, 2 for 17, and his best figures of 4 for 26.Morris has been the most economical fast bowler this IPL by a distance, conceding only 136 runs from his 142 balls, while also striking every 14.1 deliveries, only behind Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Shami (minimum ten overs) among the quick bowlers.He breaches the 140kph mark, and has helped split the fast-bowling workload considerably, which was being carried by Navdeep Saini almost single-handedly.Fast, furious, irresistible – Lockie Ferguson rearranges the stumps•BCCILockie Ferguson, Kolkata Knight Riders (Matches: four, wickets: six, economy rate: 5.93)If fast bowling is the flavor of the IPL, how can you keep Lockie Ferguson away? The Knight Riders did keep him on the bench initially because they were spoilt with their overseas choices, but once Sunil Narine and Andre Russell picked up injures, Ferguson got in, and impressed in his first game in seven months.He delivered fiery yorkers at will and hurt the Sunrisers batsmen with his slower deliveries that also hit the hole to finish with 3 for 15. And once that game when into the Super Over, all he took were three deliveries to clinch victory for the Knight Riders.With his express pace – over 150kph – and target to hit the top of the stumps, Ferguson has managed to stem the flow of runs from one end even though he hasn’t been as regular among the wickets since his first game. His awkward lengths that are mostly short or short of good length make it hard for batsmen to go after him, which makes him the tournament’s second-most economical quick bowler, behind Morris.

The contrast tells you why the series turned out the way it did

Ian Chappell14-Mar-2021One of the big differences between the approach of the Indian and English cricketers is easily identified in Rishabh Pant’s demeanour in the recent Test series compared with that of Ollie Pope and Dom Bess.The two young Englishmen became more tentative as the series progressed. Pope was keen to use his feet, but as his back foot continually craved the safety of the crease, it was obvious he was worried about being left stranded by the spinners.Bess appeared to be deflated by his omission from the Test team. With his confidence severely diminished, he bowled in the final Test, hoping that the ball would land on a good length rather than being confident of its destination.Related

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• Dom Bess' struggles and England's sickly spin system

• The audacious, and gloriously disrespectful Rishabh Pant

Both England players were in need of a psychological boost rather than, in Bess’ case, a discussion about field placings.Meanwhile, Pant was scared of… well, nothing actually. The chirpy Indian keeper, armed with a supremely confident disposition, played each innings balancing aggression with appropriate caution. His approach of “see the ball and hit it” is a simple one but it’s fortified by the common-sense approach of always looking for opportunities to score.In most cases this sums up the difference between India and England’s batting. The home side was constantly thinking about ways to score, while the visitors were preoccupied with survival. There are a number of reasons for this vast difference.Firstly, there’s their upbringing. English players are conditioned to be conservative. In 1968, I was asked by a county player why I left my crease to the spinners. After hearing my many reasons, he disagreed: “But you’re giving yourself one more way of getting out.”In modern India the players are more confident and aggressive. This attitude is boosted further on reaching the international arena by the positive encouragement of the leadership group of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Ravi Shastri.Then there’s the IPL. It has resulted in Indian players being exposed to more international thinking and training, which has had a positive effect on both cricketers and coaches.And finally, selection plays a part. Contrast England’s treatment of Bess and Jonny Bairstow with the encouragement Pant received.After acclimatising in Sri Lanka with a reasonably successful series, Bairstow was sent home to rest, where he endured the rain and snow for a month. He was then expected to reappear in the heat of India and be a saviour at No. 3. Is it any wonder he finished the series with more ducks than an English aristocrat in hunting season?Dom Bess couldn’t capitalise on the Test bowling rhythm he had built up over the winter when he was replaced for the second and third Tests in India•BCCIIn Bess’ case, he built up a good head of steam with 17 wickets in three Tests in Sri Lanka and India. His Indian victims included Kohli, Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Pant in the same innings and yet he was banished from a winning team.He was replaced by Moeen Ali, who provided no more control – the excuse used to omit Bess. The young offspinner was then expected to pick up the pieces in the final Test, after Ali left the tour. If England think ahead to Ashes selection, Bess is a better bet than Ali, who has already been overwhelmed by the Australians.Contrast that with Pant’s treatment. He was read the riot act in Australia when he turned up overweight. He then “worked his backside off”, according to the coach, and was reinstated in the team after the Indian debacle at Adelaide Oval.What followed has been a revelation. Pant has produced three innings that changed the course of a Test with mature counterattacking when the team was in trouble. Most players don’t contribute that many in a career.Not content with just batting heroics, Pant has also evolved as a keeper when standing up to the spinners, going from fumbling to fabulous in the space of a few weeks.Pant is a popular player in the Indian side and his spirit epitomises the team’s confident, attacking approach to the game. England have players who could provide a similar stimulus to their team. What they lack is a conducive environment.

The CPL rejig, India’s home season, impact on T20 World Cup venues and more

Nagraj Gollapudi25-May-2021
Men’s T20 World Cup
The 16-team global tournament has been scheduled to take place in India between mid-October and November 14. However with India being one of the worst-affected countries during the Covid-19 pandemic, the tournament is likely to move to the UAE. If that were to happen, player movement between the IPL and World Cup bubble would be one of BCCI’s biggest advantage.However, in the event the UAE is the venue for both tournaments, the most significant challenge for the ICC would be the fitness of the venues – Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The ICC would ideally look at having a breathing space between the IPL and the World Cup to ensure pitch preparation and sprucing up of venues for the marquee tournament.While there’s little doubt about the quality of training venues, the ICC would be more mindful of the pitches (at the three big venues) slowing down due to the sheer amount of cricket being played on them. The three venues will end up hosting a total of 76 matches in case both the IPL and the World Cup were to happen in the UAE.Of these, IPL would account for 31 games while 45 would be part of the World Cup quota, including the qualifiers at the start. Comparing that to the 2020 IPL, where all the 60 matches were conducted in the UAE. It would mean a total of 16 extra matches. It is learned that the ICC might consider including Oman as a potential venue for the first round of matches subject to permission from the UAE government for teams to cross borders without quarantining.The other concern for the ICC would be the support period, where teams arrive and train. Usually this period starts a week before an ICC event begins. However, during the pandemic, the ICC will also need to factor in the quarantine norms set by the UAE government for different overseas countries, which could mean teams would need to land by end of September.Another issue to address would be questions around the FTP. As things stand, India are scheduled to host South Africa for three T20Is and as many ODIs. India are also slotted to host New Zealand before the T20 World Cup.Kieron Pollard captains the Trinbago Knight Riders•Getty ImagesClash with the CPL
On May 20, the CPL announced the upcoming season would be held in St Kitts & Nevis between August 28-September 19. Given West Indies players are in much demand at the IPL, this could potentially have a direct impact. These players include Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine (both Kolkata Knight Riders), Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran (both Punjab Kings), Dwayne Bravo (Chennai Super Kings), Shimron Hetmeyer (Delhi Capitals).The other big-ticket overseas players at the CPL include Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir (Super Kings), Chris Morris (Barbados Tridents).The big question for the CPL is how it can tweak its schedule so that the tournament to finish well in time for the IPL bunch to travel directly the UAE on a charter plane and avoid missing any games. To accomplish that, the CPL would need Cricket West Indies to potentially tweak the itinerary for the home series against Pakistan.Pakistan’s Caribbean tour, comprising five T20s and two Tests is scheduled to begin from July 28, four days after the West Indies’ home series against Australia ends. After the five T20s finish on August 3 in Guyana, West Indies and Pakistan play two Tests in Jamaica between August 12-16 and 20-24.Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer may not feature in the remainder of IPL because of international commitments•BCCIEngland player availability
Virtually the entire first-team of England’s white-ball squad also features on the first XIs of IPL teams. This includes: England captain Eoin Morgan (Knight Riders), Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer (all Rajasthan Royals), Johnny Bairstow and Jason Roy (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Sam Curran, Moeen Ali (both Super Kings), Chris Woakes, Tom Curran (both Capitals). However most of these players are likely to miss the remainder of the IPL with ECB’s director of cricket Ashley Giles recently indicating England players’ priority would be the bilateral series scheduled to played immediately after the India Test series and before the T20 World Cup.England are scheduled to play a white-ball series in Bangladesh followed by two ODIs in Pakistan, with both these series planned between late September and mid-October. Other than England, New Zealand are also scheduled to play a white-ball series in September-October in Pakistan while Afghanistan are hosting Pakistan in the UAE in September for a white-ball series.Bubble to bubble transferIn 2020, players moved between tournament bubbles from CPL and the England-Australia white-ball series. Both sets of players flew on a charter flight directly to the UAE: those that went to Abu Dhabi, where their IPL teams were staying, had to spend a week in quarantine while those joining their teams in Dubai were allowed to start training straightaway after clearing the testing.With the pandemic evolving rapidly across the world, existing rules at the time would determine the quarantine norms set by the UAE government for members of the IPL teams who would be travelling from several different countries including India. The challenge then for the BCCI would be to assemble teams in time for them to undergo the required quarantine before being eligible to play.

The Royals captain looks ahead to the second half of the IPL season

As told to Nagraj Gollapudi20-Sep-2021Now that India’s selection for the T20 World Cup is done, at least that will not be a distraction any longer and I can now devote all my focus and energies towards the IPL. I will confess that it was very disappointing to not be selected. Playing for India and playing in the World Cup is a great dream for all players and I was very much looking forward to that.As the cliché goes, selection is not in a player’s control, so it is very important to stay focused on what you control and where you are as a player. You need to have that maturity in your thinking.We are resuming the tournament after a four-month break, so it feels like a new season. The mood in the Rajasthan Royals camp is like we are starting another IPL. We also have had a few changes in our squad. So that too makes it feel like a new tournament for us. Overall it is good to come in with that mindset regardless of what happened in the first phase.Related

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The break has also allowed us to not just recoup our energies but also review our ideas and strategy going into the second half. The key points me and Sanga have spoken about are mainly about the roles individuals can play and about the combinations.Playing this format, one has to understand the margin of error is very small. You can’t really blame your players or your team. The only things you can take care of are the mindset you go in with and the intent and attitude the players display in the games.I am aware that one of the areas that the Royals have been inconsistent in is the middle order, and the numbers will say as much. So we can’t deny that is a weakness.To score quickly in that phase, you need to have your best batters around.
That doesn’t mean I’m saying that I want to drop anchor at one end. In T20 you have to show intent every ball and play your shots, and not think that you can sit back, play it safe in the powerplay and then score in the middle overs. You have to take good decisions as a batter to play a lot of overs, but equally, not miss scoring opportunities.Luckily, if I am not wrong – and you can look up the numbers – Royals have finished powerfully in the death overs with the bat. So if you have enough wickets in hand or your best batters around, you will more often than not come up with a powerful finish.ESPNcricinfo LtdKeeping that in mind, I am very happy and excited that we once again have got Liam Livingstone, who has been hammering bowling attacks off late. We have seen glimpses of his attacking strokeplay for Royals before but this time we would like to give him more opportunities, give him the freedom to express himself, without assigning him a specific role. For him and other batters, we want to keep options open. We’ll have chats with the players and figure what kind of role they want, and then the final call will be taken by the team management.One other potential weak area people from outside point at is our death bowling. The stats will say we are nowhere near the best, but I am not bothered by that. If you are only conceding ten or 11 runs in each of the final four overs, it is actually not a very bad run rate at the death.Last year in the UAE we finished eighth. So any improvement would be good. But in my first huddle with the Royals family this year I made it clear that while the goal is to win the championship, we need to focus on our process, on our preparation, and take it one match at a time. We give everything out there. I don’t mind if we end up at No. 8 again, but I want everyone to go all out. No matter who the opposition is, I want to see that attitude in your eyes and your body language. We are going for the kill – die or win. As simple as that. No one is holding back. I said that I wanted that commitment from each and every one.We are a young IPL team and the brand of cricket I want my team now to play is to fight and succeed. Of our remaining seven matches this season we have to win as many as possible. The goal is not to qualify for the playoffs but to win the championship.

The Pakistan side has toured the world more than any other since the pandemic began, hoping for reciprocity – which has not materialised

Osman Samiuddin22-Sep-2021Here is a list. It is of cricketers who have played the most international games away from home in the time of the pandemic.Eight of the top ten are Pakistan players. Pakistan might not be the biggest draw in cricket, though they are enough of one in England to have been invited for bilateral contests in five of the last six years, and enough of one for games with India to regularly feature in ICC press releases about being the most-watched ever.Two of the top three in that list – and arguably all three of Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan – would walk into any national side’s squad. Into any T20 league too, including, if it was allowed, the IPL. Babar and Afridi, especially, are bona fide superstars. They are players you’d pay to watch.Related

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In the 18 months or so since Covid hit in a big way, these three have toured England twice, played a full tour in New Zealand, played a white-ball series in South Africa, Tests and T20Is in Zimbabwe, and then Tests and T20Is in the West Indies. If the world had corners, they would have been to all of them.At a time when, for much of the world, air travel has represented a serious health threat, they have flown on commercial planes, on chartered planes, through large, busy airports. They have then lived through some of the strictest periods of isolation; for ten days in England last year; for 14 days in New Zealand, when the only time they could open their hotel-room doors was to pick up a tray of food; for ten days in England again this summer.The intensity of those periods of isolation has since eased. In each of South Africa, Zimbabwe and the West Indies, for instance, they had to undergo three days of isolation before they could get out. But it adds up quickly, and New Zealand apart – where there were no restrictions once isolation was over – they have had to live in biosecure bubbles of varying stringency over six tours. On some of these tours they have not even been allowed out of their hotels.They have gone through it in silence. Part of it is because Pakistani players don’t talk about mental health, and so, though we know it must have had an impact, we have no idea of the extent of it. Shan Masood did talk a little but he’s an exception. Pakistan’s players have also gone through it all out of compulsion because there is no players’ body to articulate and represent their views, and more importantly, to protect their right to air those views. The PCB agrees to a tour, the players have little choice but to agree, because, to its enduring shame, Pakistan cricket remains an insecure place of employment for a player. Speaking out about bubble fatigue, or voicing concerns about well-being and acting on those concerns means risking a place in the side.ESPNcricinfo LtdQuite a few of them have contracted Covid in this time, yet they have continued, selling their labour here, there and everywhere. They are never paid especially well for it, yet off the back of that very labour other boards have also profited.These players helped save a summer last year in England. They not only did not ditch South Africa when their original tour, in September-October 2020, was postponed because of the pandemic, they made sure to return to fulfil that obligation in six months. And they tacked on an extra T20I, recognising that CSA had been hit by England’s abrupt departure earlier that season.They played Zimbabwe, one of the three most neglected Full Members, in not one but two series. They would have played the other two – Ireland and Afghanistan – as well, had it not been impossible for the ECB to find space in their calendar to allow use of their grounds, or had the Taliban not taken over Afghanistan.In this time, Pakistan have been the most frequent contributors to ensuring that cricket continues around the world. They didn’t do it solely out of the goodness of their hearts, or out of a sense of wider responsibility to the game. They expected reciprocity. They expected that their sacrifices would pave the way for the final step of the return to international cricket to Pakistan: the visit of teams such as England, New Zealand and Australia.Instead, what they have got from the ECB and its players is not just a withdrawal from a tour and an apology, but the middle finger. The fans and the PCB, of course, but most of all, a finger to those at the very front end of this: Babar, Afridi and the players, because it is their mental and physical health that has been at most risk in all those days of travel and competition.For all the days spent in isolation, away from their families, from their homes, for all the admonishment in New Zealand, for all the accommodation made in England this year in the wake of the Covid outbreak within the England camp, a middle finger, right back at them.What they have got is a reminder that the Big Three’s real mistake in 2014 was to put out a position paper and attempt to formalise the new order. All they needed to do was simply start playing as if the new order existed.Pakistan have toured England twice since the pandemic hit, last playing to packed stadiums in July this year•Getty ImagesFor example, let’s be generous and give Cricket Australia’s cancellation of their Test against Afghanistan its moment. But the pandemic has hit their scheduling with a – help me out here – pattern? They have toured England, and not hosted the T20 World Cup but hosted India. They pulled out of a tour to South Africa because they were worried about the health of their players during what was the second wave of the pandemic there, but the day after that decision, were happy to issue NOCs for players to go to the IPL in India (where a second wave was beginning) based on the biosecurity protocols of the previous IPL, held in a different country, during a different phase of the pandemic.England have pulled out of tours to Bangladesh and Pakistan but have squeezed in eight Tests against India this year and are smarting from not playing one more; and are willing to field an under-strength side and risk a player boycott to get to a country that has shut its borders harder than any other save New Zealand for three more Tests this year.Officially, the Big Three was disbanded back in February 2017. Since then, nearly half of all Australia’s international matches have been against England and India; a third of England’s have been against the other two; and 35% of India’s have been against the other two.What Pakistan have got is the irony of a Big Three board cancelling a bilateral series, while still being a Big Three board that wants more bilateral cricket in the next calendar at the expense of an extra ICC event (with the support of the ICC chair, by the way). An extra ICC event that offers a majority of Full Members a more reliable guarantee of revenue than the currently empty promises of bilateral cricket the Big Three make to those teams, because what the Big Three really mean by more bilateral cricket is bilateral cricket among themselves.What Babar, Afridi and Pakistan cricket have got, above all else, is a reminder of how broken international cricket already was before the pandemic broke it further. This is the epiphany that struck Ramiz Raja, the PCB chairman, on Tuesday, when he responded to a question about what the PCB could do next: “Withdrawal doesn’t have an answer, frankly speaking.”Pakistan has no real recourse to recouping the losses incurred by these two withdrawals other than to bear it. They cannot go to the ICC because, hello, there is no such thing really as the ICC, not beyond, as senior Australian journalist Gideon Haigh has often put it, an event-management company. Instead the real governors of the game are the very same ones whose middle finger Pakistan, along with the rest of cricket, are staring at.

Ireland’s top performer, and franchise cricket globetrotter, has gone five years between world events. “It’s great to be back,” he says

Matt Roller17-Oct-2021Paul Stirling heads into the T20 World Cup with Ireland’s hopes and dreams resting on his shoulders, but he could easily have found himself watching the tournament from his sofa back home.Two years ago Stirling was forced to make an unenviable choice. Ireland got ICC full membership, which meant that, following a two-year grace period offered by the ECB, he would be unable to play county cricket as a local player for Middlesex if he continued his international career for Ireland. Given he had roots in London, a decade-long association with the county, and a long-term contract on the table, there was a genuine possibility that he had played his final game for Ireland.One factor tipped the scales, leading him to turn down Middlesex’s contract offer and commit his future to Ireland: the opportunity to play at World Cups. “It’s the pinnacle for us,” Stirling says, “the top level we can perform at. We grew up watching World Cups and seeing Ireland punching above our weight – across our sports – and it’s a great test of where you are as players and how far you’ve come.”Related

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That he was forced to make the decision at all was something of a surprise. Born and raised in Belfast (Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland together play cricket as “Ireland”), he had only ever held a British passport but was effectively losing his right to work in the UK. He did not seriously consider launching a legal challenge – “just not my style” – and jokes about being “booted out” of his home country. “It was certainly strange, but you’ve just got to get on with it,” he says.Stirling and Ireland have not had a chance to perform on the global stage since the 2016 T20 World Cup, when a shock defeat to Oman in their opening fixture and a wash-out against Bangladesh saw them eliminated before their campaign had really started. They have since undergone a significant overhaul, with a young and much-changed squad in place for the 2021 tournament. Stirling himself has flourished; only Babar Azam has scored more T20I runs since the 2016 final.The long interlude between T20 World Cups and Ireland’s failure to qualify for the 50-over event in 2019 has seen Stirling go half a decade without the opportunity to play at the highest level, a hiatus made all the more frustrating because he has been in the prime of his career. “I was quite lucky early on that we tended to make it to World Cups, and to be honest – and not on purpose – you took it a little bit for granted,” he says.ESPNcricinfo Ltd”Having that length of time, five years without being at a World Cup, it gives you that time to reflect and reminds you how important these games are and what a privilege it is to be here. I’ve missed getting into the later stages, in particular: that’s where the real high-profile stuff is. It’s a long way off yet and we’ve got big games coming up first, but that’s the stage when the media jumps onto it back home and helps add to the profile of cricket back in Ireland.”In general, when we play the big teams [in bilateral series], sometimes they can rest their players or play ‘first-and-a-half’ XIs. At a World Cup, you know it’s going to be full-strength teams that you’re playing against, no matter what. It’s great to be back.”Stirling comes into the tournament as Ireland’s undisputed star and a marked man, due not only to his performances in green but also in franchise tournaments. He has figured in a number of different leagues across the last four years, including the Abu Dhabi T10, Lanka Premier League and Pakistan Super League, and says that regular opportunities have helped “keep me ticking at that high intensity level”.His decision to turn down Middlesex’s offer to stay on as a local player has not ended his career in England, either. Over the last two summers he has earned contracts with Northamptonshire and back at Middlesex in the Vitality Blast, and in 2021 he was Player of the Match in the men’s Hundred final, making 61 off 36 balls for Southern Brave at Lord’s while opening the batting alongside Quinton de Kock.Stirling was Player of the Match in the inaugural Hundred final•Stu Forster/Getty Images”Once you’ve made the decision for yourself, you’ve just got to go with it with everything you’ve got and make sure it’s the right one,” Stirling says. “To get those gigs in franchise tournaments has been really important for me: when you have periods without high-level cricket for three or four months, it’s hard to switch things on like a switch. The top six or seven teams are always playing international cricket but that’s not the case for us.”The Hundred, with crowds back in, was great. When you haven’t played in front of many people for a year and a half, that extra nervousness or anxiety before you bat comes back into play, as if you were 20 years old again. It was nice to get those cobwebs out of the way and to push myself, making sure I’m good enough to play at that level. A full house at Lord’s in a final is hard to beat, and to have a day out like that makes everything worthwhile.”The World Cup will provide Stirling with a stage to show his talents once more, and for some of Ireland’s brightest young prospects to make names for themselves on the big stage. Stirling highlights the involvement of four Irish players (Curtis Campher, Josh Little, Mark Adair and himself) in the Abu Dhabi T10, which follows the big event, as evidence that franchises are taking note of their performances. Also, the squad’s youth is having a positive effect on senior players.”The young lads have no scars and will hopefully go out and play with a lot of freedom as we’ve seen them do this year. Lots of these guys are only about 21 years old and have played a lot more international cricket against the highest-standard teams than I had at that age. They’ll have a lot to give.Stirling with Josh Little: “His ceiling is really high”•Harry Murphy/Sportsfile/Getty Images”Josh Little, for example, has been fantastic – he feels like he’s the leader of the pack at the minute. He bowls fast, he’s started to swing it, and as a left-armer, he has that point of difference. His ceiling is really high.”Then Curtis, with every game he plays, you see that confidence growing, and Harry Tector has a really good head on his shoulder and is one of the best fielders in the competition.”There’s a lot of talent there. The thing about playing for Ireland is, you’re often learning your trade on the international circuit – you don’t necessarily have that level underneath to prepare yourself, so they’re all learning on the job. You see glimpses that make you think, ‘These lads are going to be really good’ but it’s when those glimpses turn into consistent performances that we’ll really see results turn. It’s sink or swim, but some of them are starting to swim.”We felt as an Irish side maybe ten years ago that if teams took us for granted, that’s when we could really slip in and get wins. We know not to do that because the standard across the board in associate cricket these days is as high as I’ve seen it. Namibia, who we play in our third game, are a great example: they’re such a strong side, playing a good level of cricket in South Africa throughout the year.”I don’t need to say much about Sri Lanka because we know the experience and quality they’ve got, and the same goes for the Dutch, who are up first. All three teams are really difficult to beat, so it’s important we focus on ourselves and make sure our game is up to scratch. I wouldn’t want to put any expectations on us because I’m not sure how it will play out but it’s exciting.”