England’s white-ball captain has struggled with his batting recently and he has a poor record in Asia, but he still offers value as a leader and finisher

Alan Gardner21-Oct-2021

“Every moment in your life is a turning point and every one a choosing. Somewhere you made a choice. All followed to this. The accounting is scrupulous. The shape is drawn. No line can be erased.”
– Anton Chigurh, No Country For Old Men

Eoin Morgan has always been a matter-of-fact sort of cricketer, not given to the fatalism that dogs some of his colleagues. But he will know that decisions have consequences – and in cricket, to borrow from Chigurh, the cold-blooded killer of Cormac McCarthy’s novel, the accounting of the scorebook is always scrupulous.Morgan heads into the T20 World Cup, a tournament that could well be his last as England captain, in some of the worst form of his career. He will be hoping that the shape is not already drawn.Can England’s Iceman upend the wisdom of McCarthy’s hitman?Fortunately, it will not simply come down to the toss of a coin – Chigurh’s occasional method of offering would-be victims a different fate – although Morgan also well knows the important role luck plays in the career of a successful captain. Sometimes four years of World Cup planning comes down to a fortunate deflection off the back of a bat.Related

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We should rewind to that heady day at Lord’s two years ago. In the wake of England men’s maiden 50-over triumph, speculation swirled that that could be that for Morgan, only 33 at the time but a man who has always displayed a healthy sense of detachment from the game. It was not until October, more than three months after the World Cup final, that Morgan confirmed his intention to carry on. Few could have predicted how life would change in the time since.He joined up with England in Dubai a few days ago – after the small matter of the IPL final – with the team’s ambition to become the first to hold 50-over and 20-over men’s titles at the same time intact. Kolkata Knight Riders saw the benefit of his captaincy: they put together a run of seven wins from nine before losing out to Chennai Super Kings at the last. But with a single half-century in 38 white-ball innings in 2021 – and that in an ODI against an overmatched Sri Lanka – there is no way to gloss his waning batting returns.In his first press conference ahead of the T20 World Cup, he admitted that dropping himself was an option if it benefited the team. The next couple of weeks are likely to tell us whether the Morgan era, one of unprecedented limited-overs success for England, is soon to come to a close.

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This, to be fair, was not exactly the plan. When Morgan spoke in 2019 of his desire to continue, he had the T20 World Cup in mind – just not this one. “I still feel I have a lot to offer,” he said. “I won’t say I’ll be finished after the next World Cup, as I’d be afraid I’ll only creep over the line and maybe fall off. I don’t want to let anyone down. I want to drive through the World Cup in Australia and then make a call after that.”Instead, Covid-19 made the call for him. The 2020 tournament was deferred and rather than a World Cup played on hard, bouncy Australian surfaces, a war of attrition in the UAE awaits. Even before factoring in the pitches produced for the second half of the IPL – which threaten to become increasingly draining to bat on as the ICC tournament progresses – Morgan has ended up on the outer limits of his own predicted timeline. And the desert can be an unforgiving place.The touring treadmill: Morgan has played over 40 limited-overs matches this year – in England, India and the UAE – and captained his sides in each of them•Deepak Malik/BCCIMorgan’s recent struggles have been of a piece with his record in Asia, where slow pitches and slow bowlers proliferate. In all T20 over the last five years, he averages almost nine runs more per dismissal against pace and has a strike rate of 145.49, compared to 124.84 against spin. Although he enjoyed a productive IPL in the UAE last year – scoring 418 runs at rate of 138.41 – since the start of 2016, he averages 20 and strikes at 116 in Asia and the Caribbean.Nor is that the worst of it. In 2021, starting with England’s T20I series against India in March, Morgan has reached 30 five times in 35 innings, with a high score of 47 not out. More than half of his innings have been in Asia, where he is averaging 11.06 and striking at 98.22. Worryingly for England, in this season’s IPL, which kicked off in India before returning to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah after a Covid-enforced hiatus, his returns have even dipped against pace – seven dismissals from 81 balls faced, for an average of 9.57 and a strike rate of 82.71.For Morgan, the signposts along the road to the World Cup appear to be pointing in only one direction. But two things have to be weighed against the doom-mongering: his importance as a leader, and his likely role with the bat.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe first is a complicated matter likely to bring out the keyboard warriors – but even if you set aside KKR’s resurgence, his inspirational status with England is not in question. Under Morgan, appointed amid the wreckage of England’s abject 2015 World Cup campaign, the most inhibited of white-ball teams suddenly whipped off their starched pyjamas to reveal a posing pouch.Reigning 50-over world champions, they were the width of Carlos Brathwaite’s blade from winning the last T20 World Cup, and go into the upcoming tournament as the No. 1-ranked side, victorious in nine of their last 11 bilateral T20I series.As for England’s preferred batting order, a clearer picture may be starting to emerge – with Ben Stokes’ enforced absence arguably making some of their decision-making easier. Jason Roy and Jos Buttler are pencilled in as attacking openers, Dawid Malan is the anchor at No. 3, and then England can turn to the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali to take down spin during the middle overs.That would leave Morgan as the team’s de facto finisher, the potential benefit of which could be twofold for England: firstly by preventing him from getting stuck in slower bowlers’ crosshairs – his first-ten balls dot percentage was above 50% at the IPL – and then allowing him to maximise his strengths against pace at the death.Sealed with a six: Morgan finishes off in style against Pakistan, 2010•Stu Forster/Getty ImagesThis isn’t the first time he has been suggested for the role but, whether by design or circumstance, Morgan seems to be heading that way. As KKR found their mojo, he slid steadily down the order from No. 4 to No. 6 – even coming in as low as No. 7 in the eliminator against Royal Challengers Bangalore. His last two T20I innings were also at No. 6.Against Pakistan in July, on an unusually spin-friendly Old Trafford surface, his 21 off 12, which included twice launching Hasan Ali for six in the 18th over, was crucial in England reaching their target with two balls to spare.

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“I am very lucky to be in a position where I have been through stages like this in my career. I think the longer you go without contributing a significant score, the closer you are to actually contributing. And that’s coming from experience.” Morgan’s reply when asked about his poor run during the IPL group stage might seem like curiously circular logic – form is temporary, class is permanent taken to the nth degree – but it’s true that he is well versed in dealing with the vagaries of life as a batter.In late 2014, as England ploughed nose first into the dirt on their tour of Sri Lanka and Alastair Cook’s ODI captaincy became increasingly untenable, Morgan was being touted as the alternative. The problem was, he too was in a rut – as bad if not worse than Cook’s. In 31 limited-overs innings from England’s 2013-14 trip to Australia to the end of the year, Morgan averaged 19.32, scoring just three half-centuries.Swings and roundabouts? Morgan’s career has been a graph of peaks and troughs following close on the heels of each other•Surjeet Yadav/Getty ImagesAfter England finally grasped the nettle, with the World Cup looming, Morgan scored a century in the ODI tri-series in Sydney, only to follow up with 92 runs, including four ducks, in his next eight innings. And we all know how that trip turned out.England stuck with him despite their World Cup embarrassment, and Morgan soon rediscovered his touch. Now captain of both white-ball sides, he averaged above 50 across formats as he and Trevor Bayliss set about their game-changing agenda – a central tenet of which was that players would be given licence to fail so long as they were following the blueprint of taking no backward step. Sure enough, another dip followed, as Morgan went 23 innings without a fifty – a run that encompassed England’s run to the 2016 World T20 final.Rather than an end to “boom and bust”, as UK chancellor Gordon Brown once optimistically promised, such cycles have been a defining feature of Morgan’s time in charge. The upside is he knows how to roll with the good times. While the readout from the last six months is pretty grim, in the two years before that, Morgan was right in the vanguard of middle-order T20 batters. Between March 2019 and before the start of the IPL earlier this year, he scored 1237 runs at an average of 42.65 and a strike rate of 161.48 – among players who batted 15 or more times at Nos. 4-6 in that period, only three (Andre Russell, Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard) scored more quickly.There is an in-built volatility to life as a middle-order batter in T20, something that Morgan has long reconciled himself to. “The nature of T20 cricket and where I bat means I always have to take quite high-risk options and I’ve come to terms with that,” he said earlier in the week. “It’s just something you deal with.”It may also be relevant that since his form began to tail off again, Morgan has barely had a break. In 2021, he has played 40 games of T20 cricket for four different teams – England, Middlesex, London Spirit and KKR – captaining the side in all of them, while at the same time having to deal with various quarantine spells and restrictions brought on by the pandemic in India, England and the UAE. Morgan, who became a father for the first time last year, has previously described sustained life in bubbles as “untenable” .ESPNcricinfo LtdWe live in relatively enlightened times, where Stokes, for instance, was able to step away from the game to focus on his well-being. But the treadmill of top-level cricket remains unforgiving.

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More than a decade ago, at the Dubai International Stadium where England will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against West Indies on Saturday, Morgan played one of the innings that first marked him out as a special talent. Walking in after Paul Collingwood’s side had been reduced to 18 for 3 inside the powerplay, Morgan took his time to size up the Pakistan attack – six runs off his first ten balls (six dots), ten off his first 20. Then, from 14 off 26, he raced through the gears, thrashing 53 from his next 25, including nine boundaries off the pace bowling of Umar Gul and Abdul Razzaq, as England reached their target with nine deliveries to spare. His partner throughout, Kevin Pietersen, made 43 off 43.Much has changed since then. Morgan is a T20 World Cup winner, and the only England men’s captain to lift the 50-over World Cup, as well as their leading run scorer and most-capped player in both formats. After eight seasons of playing in the IPL, last week he reached his first final – although the manner of KKR’s win in the second qualifier rather summed up the fix he is in. Morgan walked out with ten needed to win from 12 balls but could only make a three-ball duck; Knight Riders started the last over needing seven before flopping over the line from the penultimate delivery.Can Morgan rediscover his mojo with the bat over the next few weeks? Is there enough gas in the tank to take him not just through this tournament but to another T20 World Cup – the one in Australia that he had targeted all along – in 12 months’ time? Morgan is already one of England’s greatest captains, and as ever, team success will matter more than his personal ledger. Nevertheless, the accounting is inescapable. All followed to this.

Whether in high achievement or failure while daring greatly, he deserves massive credit for leading England during the hardest of times

Alan Gardner16-Apr-2022It is one of the great tropes of modern American literature that a central protagonist often finds their day-to-day struggles foregrounded against the wider societal malaise. Whatever minor acts of heroism and failure these characters are responsible for, they are picayune concerns when compared to the bigger picture, the state-of-the-nation handwringing. Never mind the plot details, what does it all say about ?For much of the last five years, it has felt like this was Joe Root’s lot as England Test captain. If his one compelling goal was an Ashes series victory that never materialised, the overarching narrative was one of a declining empire, a system fallen into disrepair. Root could shuffle up or down the batting order, publicly chide his bowlers for not going fuller, attempt to reboot, recharge and reset – but his efforts seemed always destined to be subsumed by the broader psychodrama that swirls around the English game.He ascended to the captaincy, essentially, from a shortlist of one: in the wake of Alastair Cook stepping down, Root was the obvious candidate, the team’s best batter approaching the prime of his career. He leaves with no obvious successor, still the team’s best batter and – after the great Root run-glut of 2021 – still clearly in his prime. No one knows where the Test team goes from here, not least because there is currently no one left in a position of power (will the last person to leave the ECB please turn out the lights?).Related

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Nevertheless, Root’s mark on the captaincy remains a substantial one. He is both the winningest and losingest of England’s Test leaders (though in an age of fewer draws, that perhaps doesn’t tell us as much as it should). Having edged past Michael Vaughan’s mark of 26 Test wins with victory over India at Headingley last year, a winter of discontent in Australia and the Caribbean saw him eclipse the records of Cook, for both games in charge and defeats, with remorseless inevitability.So indelibly linked is he with the Sisyphean task of trying to haul England’s Test standards back to where they were a decade ago – practically at the moment when his international career began, in fact – that Root pretty much sweeps the board for accolades: most runs as England captain, most hundred and fifties, most catches. (He is joint-eighth for wickets taken, and could perhaps have got as high as third if he stayed on for another year. Tempting.)More significantly, only two captains in Test history have registered a higher number of losses than Root’s 26: Graeme Smith, with 29 from 109 Tests (compared to Root’s 64); and Stephen Fleming, with 27 from 80 (and a helluva shortfall on resources at his disposal).It hasn’t quite been a one-man show, of course, and the subplots of the Root era take in all the big names. Cook helped hold the batting together for a while, before giving way to a revolving cast of candidates as opener. Ben Stokes played the most consistent Test cricket of his career under Root’s captaincy, his efforts at Headingley, in Cape Town and Colombo helping to turn base metal into gold; but he missed the 2017-18 Ashes while under investigation for affray, and was powerless to avert a repeat 4-0 scoreline in Australia this time around, having just returned from an enforced break for injury – both physical and mental.Root’s pastoral strengths as a leader were never more in evidence than when he spoke after Stokes withdrew from the Test squad on the eve of last summer’s series against India. “From my point of view, I just want my friend to be okay,” he said, simply. Stokes has always stuck by his mate as captain, too, saying he had little interest in the role; he seems likely to be offered it regardless, as the only man alongside Root guaranteed to be on the team sheet.More complex was Root’s relationship with his bowlers. The handling of Jofra Archer, who bowled 44 overs on debut at Lord’s in 2019, and another 42 in a single innings in Mount Maunganui later that year, will forever be a black mark. Root admitted he had to learn to use Archer better, but he barely had the chance before a chronic elbow injury deprived England of his services – perhaps forever, in Tests. And if overuse was the problem with Archer, then Jack Leach became a forgotten man for long stretches of the captain-coach combination of Root and Chris Silverwood.Then there is the dual case of England’s seam-bowling totems, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, and how best to manage them (or move on entirely). Root’s contributions were praised in the early days, his chivvying to bowl a fuller, more-attacking length seemingly well received; Broad, in particular, was never more menacing than the David Warner-eviscerating summer of 2019. But Root’s comments about his attack dropping “a little bit short” in Adelaide this winter betrayed lingering frustrations, while suggestions that the team’s attitude had improved in the Caribbean – where Anderson and Broad were conspicuous by their absence – were interpreted accordingly.ESPNcricinfo LtdThat both posted messages of support on social media shortly after Root’s decision to step down again underlines how he was viewed in the dressing room, even when disgruntlement abounded. “Most Test wins as England Captain & a great human being,” wrote Broad.It also says plenty that the nickname Root was given at Yorkshire – “craptain”, following a County Championship defeat at Lord’s in which Middlesex chased 472 in the fourth innings – never remotely stuck with England. Times were rarely as golden as appeared possible when he scored a sun-dappled 190 in his first Test in charge, on the way to a 3-1 series win over South Africa, but there were notable successes along the way – victories in Sri Lanka (twice) and South Africa, as well as a 4-1 defeat of India in 2018, when England were fleetingly, vibrantly, greater than the sum of their parts.Though the mantle dragged his overall batting average down significantly – from 52.80 without the captaincy to 46.44 with it – that burden appeared to lighten even in adversity, his record further bolstered with each of the six magisterial hundreds he peeled off last year (plus two more since January). The lack of a Test century in Australia, where he became the first man to lead two failed Ashes tours in more than a century, will perhaps ache the most – though that, as well as his middling record at No. 3, is something Root can still hope to rectify back in the ranks.Above all, England could be grateful that Root, a man of utmost decency, was there during the hardest of times – there to guide the Test side through the exigencies of Covid, there to front up after each fresh batting collapse, there to have the shortcomings of England’s red-ball system pinned to him like a scarlet letter. Five series without a victory over the course of the last year – the worst run in England’s history – suggests this was the right time to go, but he has not done so without a fight.Because there is heroism in taking on the leading role in a doomed production. At the end of last month’s Grenada Test, Root didn’t so much resemble a character from fiction as that described in Theodore Roosevelt’s “man in the arena” speech, “whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes up short again and again”. Whether in high achievement or failure while daring greatly, the credit belongs to Root. He is hostage to England’s fortunes no more.

Explosive white-ball hitter targets run of Championship games to boost his all-round game

Paul Muchmore05-Apr-2022After a successful winter away honing his white-ball skills in T20 leagues, Surrey’s Will Jacks is looking to strike the balance to excel across all formats in 2022.Jacks, 23, has embraced his reputation as one of England’s most promising white-ball hitters, but heading into his fifth season of senior county cricket, has only one first-class hundred to his name, and only featured in six matches of the 2021 County Championship.Speaking at Surrey’s pre-season media day, Jacks was keen to set out that his priorities for the season are split “50-50″ between the red and white-ball formats.”Obviously at the moment, I’ve been progressing more in the white-ball game and the T20 game, and haven’t excelled in the longer form as much as I would have liked,” Jacks said. “I’m really trying to nail down a middle-order spot that we possibly have available and make that my own.”I’m working a lot on my offspin to try and become the second [spin] option, or if there’s a greener wicket, we can play an extra seamer and I can be the spinner.”Jacks has a reputation as an explosive batter – in a T10 fixture against Lancashire in 2019, he hit a 25-ball century featuring six sixes in an over. The change of gears down to more attritional red-ball cricket can be challenging, but Jacks believes that mastering the basics will make it easier to switch between formats at short notice.”It’s definitely harder, especially having been away all winter. I came back on March 2 so exactly a month from then to the start of the season, basically to practice my red-ball play, I hadn’t hit one since the last ball of the [2021] season.”But it’s definitely something I’m getting better at, changing between formats, because as long as you have a good solid base, I’ve tried to keep my technique simple this year.”It’s the basics of balance and keeping his head up that Jacks has been working on at The Oval ahead of their season opener on Thursday against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.Jacks, with Hashim Amla, during the 2021 Blast campaign•Getty Images”I’ve been working on my head position, try not to fall over to the offside,” he said. “It’s a constant thing through the last few years, I’m trying to stay balanced and counter that and keep my head in line. And then just generic balance, which I work on for T20s to keep a good base, and it’s obviously very similar for [red-ball], the basics are the same.”I just have to get myself in good positions really, and once you do that, it’s all mental, which I have to work on too, the patience, not being scared to bat all day to get a hundred – stuff that I haven’t done too much in my career.”On the white-ball front, Jacks’ winter saw him spend time at the Abu Dhabi T10 League in November, before a productive spell in the Bangladesh Premier League, where he topped the run charts with 414 in 11 innings for Chattogram Challengers, displaying his versatility on turning pitches away from the batting-friendly tracks of The Oval, and showing responsibility and patience beyond a gung-ho, hit-from-the-word-go approach.”The pitches were very different, here [at The Oval] you probably face eight overs of spin, 12 of seam, it probably flips the other way round there, maybe like 14 of spin.”So that was something for me to work out, if you found your single, found your options against spin, especially in the powerplay, you obviously face more dots in the powerplay, and it’s important not to get worried about that. Because the spinners are very high quality, but the local seamers weren’t as good, so when they came on I knew I could cash in.Related

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“It was about planning out the whole 20 overs. When I’m at Surrey, we have a deep batting line-up, with international players, and I can just free-flow and just keep going with my shots, whereas as an overseas player I had more responsibility obviously.”A short two-match cameo for Islamabad United at the Pakistan Super League followed, and although he returned just 0 and 11 with the bat, Jacks called his time at the competition an “incredible experience” and is eager to return in future seasons.”In Bangladesh, we didn’t have any crowds, then it was 25% for the knockouts, so to go to Lahore and play in front of full houses – my last game we played against Lahore Qalandars and it was sold out – it was incredibly loud, it was a great atmosphere to be part of.”It was like a T20 here but on steroids, with the horns and the loud noises. It’s a great experience. The quality of the bowling in Pakistan is world renowned. It was a good challenge, unfortunately I only got to play two games, but it was something I loved and something I’ll hopefully be part of again in the future.”One opportunity to revisit those Lahore crowds sooner would be to break into England’s T20 side for their seven-match tour of Pakistan ahead of the T20 World Cup. But for now, Jacks’ mind is firmly set on repeating his white-ball success on the home front – first with Surrey, for whom he was the Blast MVP in 2020 and their top run-scorer in 2021, and then in the Hundred with Oval Invincibles.”Of course, that’s the aim,” Jacks said of his England ambitions, “but I can’t really think about that, you’ve got to think about your performances here for Surrey, I’ve had two good seasons in the T20 Blast, so hopefully I can continue that and try to be the leading run-scorer here, work on my bowling, and then there’s the second year of the Hundred obviously.”We just want to try and win it this year. That’ll be the main thing, trying to score as many runs as possible and win games for the team. We felt like we missed out last year. We had a great squad and probably should have been closer than we did. We’ve got the core of the squad back together so we’ll be going all the way this year.”

From power-hitters to speed demons, this IPL has the potential to be a showcase of bright young talent

Yash Jha24-Mar-2022The addition of two new teams this IPL has opened a lot of doors for a lot of young Indian players. ESPNcricinfo has handpicked a dozen of them to keep an eye on.Shahrukh KhanPunjab Kings

Having already built a reputation as a power-hitter, Shahrukh Khan got his IPL break in 2021 but it proved to be a frustrating season with Punjab Kings. He got ten hits and returned 153 runs at a strike rate of 134.21, but it felt like he was batting too low in the batting order and wasn’t getting enough chances to influence the game.What did he do next? He took the domestic calendar by storm, across formats: 101 runs off 64 balls in six innings in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s – including knocks of 19*(9) and 33*(15) to seal last-over victories in the quarter-final and the final respectively – 253 runs at a strike rate of 186.02 from seven outings in the Vijay Hazare 50-overs Trophy, and 285 runs from four innings in the Ranji Trophy (strike rate 102.88). Chennai Super Kings went all out to try and secure the Tamil Nadu man at the auction, but Shahrukh will return to Punjab – for INR 9 crore (USD 1.2m), this time – who, surely, can’t repeat their mishandling of the finisher.Arshdeep Singh’s skills at the death have been eye-catching•BCCIArshdeep SinghPunjab Kings

Punjab did back Arshdeep Singh though – he was one of only two retained players at the franchise ahead of IPL 2022. Through 2019 and 2020, the left-arm seamer had modest returns – 12 wickets from 11 games while leaking 9.38 per over. In 2021, Arshdeep turned a corner with 18 wickets from 12 outings, conceding 8.27 per over. Even more impressive was his skill at the death: between overs 17 and 20, Arshdeep took eight wickets in 80 balls while keeping the scoring down to 9.67 per over – only six bowlers took more wickets at the death in IPL 2021; among those who bowled at least ten overs in the phase, only five had a better economy rate. A certain starter now, Arshdeep – and Punjab – will hope to build on the gains this season.Anuj Rawat has been around a while but hasn’t set the IPL alight just yet•BCCI/IPLAnuj RawatRoyal Challengers Bangalore

Three seasons, two appearances, one ball faced – Anuj Rawat has been around the IPL for a while (at Rajasthan Royals), but it’s safe to say this will be his first real break in the competition. The bare numbers don’t say much – 501 runs in 22 T20 innings, strike rate 121.01 – but there’s a reason why Royal Challengers Bangalore had to go all the way up to INR 3.4 crore (USD 453,000), fending off interest from Sunrisers Hyderabad and then Gujarat Titans, to make him theirs: Rawat is a left-hander who bats in the top-order and can take down spin. Given the constants at No. 1 and No. 3 for RCB, Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, and their fairly similar frailties (read: attacking spin), the 22-year-old becomes a potentially key cog in the wheel. He also doubles up as a back-up wicketkeeper, although that might not be required much given the presence of Dinesh Karthik.Rajvardhan Hangargekar: bowls fast, hits long•ICC/Getty ImagesRajvardhan HangargekarChennai Super Kings

Of the five India Under-19 World Cup winners to get maiden IPL contracts, only one fetched a higher auction price than Rajvardhan Hangargekar, who went to Chennai Super Kings for INR 1.5 crore (USD 200,000). The teenager from Tuljapur, Maharashtra boasts the one important skillset that every T20 team needs – serious pace, touching 140kph – and another that is highly valued – lower-order muscle (at the U-19 World Cup this year, Hangargekar hit six sixes off the 28 balls he faced). Deepak Chahar’s absence opens up a slot for at least one of the Super Kings’ several domestic pace options, but Hangargekar’s utility can tip the scales in his favour ahead of Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary and KM Asif.Abhinav Manohar rose to prominence at the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s in 2021•Abhinav ManoharAbhinav ManoharGujarat Titans

He only made his professional debut in November last year, but Titans shelled out INR 2.6 crore (USD 346,000) to secure the services of Abhinav Manohar. The 27-year-old has shown appreciable versatility, even considering a low sample size of four T20s: on debut, against Saurashtra, Manohar walked out with Karnataka at 34 for 3 chasing 146, and hit an unbeaten 70 off 49 balls to secure a final-over finish; in the Syed Mushtaq Ali final a week later, against Tamil Nadu, he entered at 32 for 3 and scored a measured 37-ball 46 that helped Karnataka reach 152 – which almost proved enough. Manohar’s range could be essential for Titans, whose batting wears a rather thin look.R Sai Kishore is yet to play an IPL game despite having a solid domestic record•R Sai KishoreR Sai KishoreGujarat Titans

Few players can claim to have a more impressive track record on the domestic circuit and yet be without any IPL caps, but that may soon change for R Sai Kishore. He was picked up by Super Kings ahead of the IPL 2020 auction following a stellar Syed Mushtaq Ali campaign – 20 wickets in 12 games, economy rate 4.63 – but with Ravindra Jadeja a fixed starter, Sai Kishore couldn’t force himself into the playing XI. The 25-year-old’s frugal left-arm spin – a career economy of 5.46 after 38 T20s – could prove to be the ideal foil to Rashid Khan in the Titans set-up. Sai Kishore’s ability to bowl in the Powerplay could also enable Titans to free up some overs of Mohammed Shami and Lockie Ferguson to utilise elsewhere.Sheldon Jackson may get a proper go this IPL with Kolkata Knight Riders•kkr.inSheldon JacksonKolkata Knight Riders

All of Sheldon Jackson’s four IPL appearances came in 2017, for Kolkata Knight Riders. Five years on, at the age of 35, he’s on the cusp of a first ‘proper’ stint in the tournament – and it comes on the back of his best year in T20 cricket. In 2021, through two Syed Mushtaq Ali campaigns, Jackson smashed 513 runs in 11 matches, striking at 147.83 and averaging 73.28 (up from career figures of 110.52 and 22.17 in 54 T20s prior to 2021). With Aaron Finch, Pat Cummins, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine the expected overseas quartet (when available), there may not be room for Sam Billings, leaving Jackson as the only wicketkeeping option. Knight Riders will hope he can carry his recent T20 surge into the IPL.Abhishek Sharma bats well in the top order and Sunrisers may take advantage of that this season•BCCIAbhishek SharmaSunrisers Hyderabad

Abhishek Sharma has been with Sunrisers for three seasons, but he has only just begun to his true potential. The left-hander from Punjab averages 31.37 while striking at 141.57 when batting in the top three, compared to an average of 15 and a strike rate of 131.75 lower down the order. The last two games of IPL 2021 were the first time Sunrisers batted him in his best position, and he smashed 33 off 16 against Mumbai Indians. Having shelled out INR 6.5 crore (USD 866,000) to get him back at the auction, Sunrisers are likely to stick with Abhishek at the top, along with Rahul Tripathi and Kane Williamson. Given he can bowl a bit of left-arm spin as well, including a remarkable little backspinning legcutter, the 21-year old makes for an attractive first-team option.Umran Malik, who can bowl 150kph, has the chance to learn from the best in the IPL•BCCIUmran MalikSunrisers Hyderabad

Umran Malik was still waiting to debut even as IPL 2021 went into its final week of the league stage. He got a go in the last three games Sunrisers played; two months later, he had the distinction of being the player to have featured in the fewest IPL matches before being retained. The speedometer instantly came into focus once Malik arrived on the scene – in his second match, he bowled the fastest delivery by an Indian in the tournament’s history, clocked at 152.95kph. High pace remains an exclusive club in the IPL; high pace, from an Indian, who is still only 21, marks Malik as the rarest of the rare – and explains the retention. Expect him to feature prominently, especially on the speed lists.Tilak Varma scores his runs rather quickly•ICC via GettyTilak VarmaMumbai Indians

Nineteen-year-old Tilak Varma is yet to play in the IPL, but already has a glowing endorsement from an all-time great: Mahela Jayawardene, Varma’s coach at Mumbai, labelled him a “massive talent” ahead of the season – and Mumbai’s squad composition suggests this talent is set to get his opportunity. Varma has enjoyed a productive start in domestic cricket: he made 215 runs at a strike rate of 147.26 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021-22 – of the 20 batters with 200-plus runs in the tournament, only four scored faster – to follow his returns of 391 runs (average 97.75, strike rate 97.26) in the 2020-21 Vijay Hazare Trophy. The left-handed batter could shuttle between No. 3 and No. 4, helping Mumbai maintain a left-right combination in their top four.Sanjay Yadav could fill the Krunal Pandya shaped hole in the Mumbai squad•TNPLSanjay YadavMumbai Indians
Five years in the domestic grind have seen Sanjay Yadav travel from Tamil Nadu to Meghalaya to Tamil Nadu again; he’s also found squad spots at Sunrisers and Knight Riders, but his quest for an IPL debut could finally end at Mumbai – where he could be looked at to fill the Krunal Pandya role from the last few years. He’s no big hitter (T20 career strike rate 124.12 from 23 innings) but he’s more than handy with the bat, as evidenced by a first-class average of 46.38 and a List A average of 45.50. He doesn’t take a lot of wickets either, at least not in T20s (16 in 27 outings), but his slow left-armers go at 6.65 per over and give Mumbai the match-up card, when needed.Yashasvi Jaiswal is a work in progress but his talent is undeniable•BCCIYashasvi JaiswalRajasthan Royals

One of four uncapped players to have been retained ahead of IPL 2022, Yashasvi Jaiswal has had the backing of the Royals for a few seasons now. To be part of a retained trio featuring Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson at such a nascent stage of his career is an exhibition of the faith. While he didn’t take the tournament by storm in 2021, the left-handed opener showed glimpses of his destructive abilities in several cameos – none more emphatic than his 19-ball 50 against Super Kings in Abu Dhabi, which included an incredible assault on Josh Hazlewood (38 off 12 balls). At 20, he remains a work-in-progress, but there’s little doubt he’s set for a lengthy run at the top of the Royals line-up.All USD figures are approximations where 1 USD=75 INR

Bangladesh were reeling at 24 for 5 before the two got together

Sampath Bandarupalli24-May-2022272 The Mushfiqur Rahim-Litton Das partnership is Bangladesh’s first-ever double-century stand for the sixth or lower wicket in Test cricket. The previous best was 191 between Mohammad Ashraful and Mushfiqur for the sixth wicket against Sri Lanka in 2007. The 272-run stand is also the third-highest for Bangladesh in Test cricket for any wicket.ESPNcricinfo Ltd0 Instances of a 200-plus stand for the sixth or lower wicket in Test cricket after a team lost its first five wickets for 25 or less. The previous highest was a 100-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Nkrumah Bonner and Joshua Da Silva against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2021 after West Indies were reduced to 18 for 6. The previous highest sixth-wicket stand from a team score of 25 or lower was 86 by Wallis Mathias and Shujauddin for Pakistan against West Indies in 1959.0 Previous instances of a team reaching the 300-run mark after losing their first five wickets for less than 25 runs in Test cricket. The previous best was India’s 266 against New Zealand in the second innings of the Ahmedabad Test in 2010.