It would have been easy for a captain to burn through his key bowlers too early, but Rohit Sharma got the balance spot on

Sidharth Monga10-Jun-20241:17

Kumble: ‘Pant has been the best player in India’s line-up’

“You can’t defend this total. You have to get them out.”Falser words have hardly ever been spoken about low scores in T20s. If India, playing their third match at a particular ground, get bowled out for a low total, there’s a high chance that particular ground is not conducive to a bigger score. There is a higher chance they might end up with a below-par total at a high-scoring venue than at a low-scoring one. So if the ball is seaming and bouncing unevenly, you don’t really need to bowl them out.There are a few IPL captains in this India team. They have all been at either end of such low defences, albeit on a slow, turning tracks. The principle is the same: unlike in ODIs, T20s are a short enough period for you to be able to defend. In fact, it pays to not go searching and offering the opposition easy scoring opportunities in the process.Related

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• Old debate, simple answer: Pakistan's batting just not very good

T20 is a highly-strung game. It doesn’t react well to high variance in conditions. You cannot score much higher than a run a ball if the ball does as much as it has done on Long Island. If you try to, you take a big risk.Rohit Sharma has been part of four successful defences of low totals (between 129 and 149) in IPL finals alone, one as a player for Deccan Chargers and three as Mumbai Indians captain. Only one of these wins came through early wickets; in the other three, Rohit’s team hung in for long enough.All that experience came into use in defending 119 against Pakistan. Rohit didn’t want to burn through Jasprit Bumrah’s overs looking for wickets. Even when Pakistan had partnerships going for the second and the third wicket, he didn’t become desperate for wickets. He just wanted to stay in the game long enough.Strike bowler and captain: the experience of Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma combined•AFPOn such pitches and outfields, you can set fields relatively easily. Even though the ball seamed less for India, it did enough to keep the other bowlers in it. When the opposition are 72 for 2 chasing 120, it is easy to make it a final roll of the dice and bring back your No. 1 bowler too early. Rohit didn’t. Perhaps on a flatter pitch, he might need to.”Even when there is help, you can be desperate, and you can try to go fuller and try to pull that magic delivery,” Bumrah said. “I tried not to do that but when we came, the swing and seam had reduced. So, we had to be accurate because if we go for magic deliveries and try to be too desperate, run-making becomes easy and they know the target. So, we had to be very mindful of not overdoing it and, yes, add up pressure, use the big boundaries, try to use things to our advantage. That is what we were doing. So, in that we created pressure and everybody got wickets.”India were helped in part by some docile batting from Pakistan. Take the 16th over, for example. This was going to be the last over of spin, and they had a left-hand batter on strike with a small leg-side boundary facing a left-arm spinner. Imad Wasim even had the wind going for him. Axar Patel bowled wide first ball, fully expecting Imad to shuffle across and try to hit to leg. Imad, though, tried only the late-cut and the cut, which could get him only singles on this outfield. If connected, that is. Axar bowled that over for just two runs, leaving Pakistan 35 to get in four overs.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhen Naseem Shah ramped Arshdeep Singh in the 20th over, it was the first unconventional shot Pakistan had played. Again, in conditions that allow bowlers to set fields for conventional shots, you have to play the unconventional ones.Not for nothing is Rishabh Pant the most successful batter in the New York leg of matches. He knows it is difficult to time the ball when going against its force. He knows the outfield is not his friend. So he has been hitting in areas where the bowlers don’t expect the ball to go. India won by six runs; they scored 12 more than Pakistan in ramps and reverse-sweeps. In the field, India were allowed to do what they wanted whereas Pakistan were put under higher pressure.Once the thought leaders of T20 cricket, among the early acceptors of the format, Pakistan are now playing T20 cricket from an era gone by. Not long ago, you could speak of Babar Azam and Virat Kohli the T20 batters in the same breath. Kohli, though, has gone on to work on his game, started slogging left-arm spinners, puts a lower price on his wicket, and has stayed relevant. Babar is stuck in a time warp. Awkward as it may be for him, Rohit has started playing the reverse-sweep. Pant and Suryakumar Yadav have been encouraged by the system.Given the limited scoring options the Pakistan batters have, at no stage did they look like the favourites to complete the chase. That Pakistan are being left behind is possibly down to their T20 isolation and also the stubbornness of their senior batters. Either way it is a waste of bowling talent.It might not have shown in the end because the toss advantage reduced the difference between the sides, but the difference between the sides was vast. Also, while they might have lost wickets at wrong times, India kept putting themselves in a position to get to a total that could bat Pakistan out of the game. That is something you can’t always say that of them: since 2014, the only teams India had defended successfully against in T20 World Cups were Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Netherlands and Zimbabwe.

He started his innings in fifth gear, slipped back into second through the middle overs and then slammed his foot on the accelerator at the death

Matt Roller18-Jun-2024Nicholas Pooran lay prone on the turf. His full-stretch dive onto his front might easily have been enough to take him to 99 not out with two balls left in West Indies’ innings. Instead, Azmatullah Omarzai’s direct hit from the deep extra boundary found him short of his ground as his body crumpled. The crowd went deathly quiet, and coach Daren Sammy put his hands on his head in the dugout.But as Pooran eventually got to his feet, brushing the dry dirt off his shirt, the airhorns started to blare again. Even if he had fallen two runs short of his first T20I hundred, his innings of 98 off 53 balls marked Pooran’s long-awaited arrival at the T20 World Cup. It was the highest score of the tournament to date, and an innings which showcased a batter who is entering his peak years.This is Pooran’s third T20 World Cup and his record before this cool, breezy night in St Lucia did not befit a player of his skill: 194 runs in 11 innings, with a quick 40 against Bangladesh in Sharjah his only innings of real note. In 2022, he captained West Indies’ worst-ever campaign, which saw them eliminated from a first-round group that featured Ireland, Scotland and Zimbabwe.Related

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He started this World Cup with two real grinds: a run-a-ball 27 against Papua New Guinea and 22 off 19 against Uganda. It was enough for a scathing editorial piece in the before they played New Zealand: “Too often though, Pooran becomes overconfident and a bit arrogant and gives away his wicket,” it read. Perhaps his 12-ball 17 against New Zealand on home soil proved their point.But West Indies’ batters had long ear-marked their arrival in St Lucia as a moment to look forward to and Pooran showed why. This was a flat, hard pitch which offered something for the spinners and his assessment of conditions was spot on. He started his innings in fifth gear, slipped back into second through the middle overs and then slammed his foot on the accelerator at the death.Pooran had faced two balls when he faced up to Omarzai and what followed was one of the most brutal assaults by a batter on a bowler in World Cup history. The first ball was outside-edged for six over the short third boundary; he violently pulled the second, a front-foot no-ball, through midwicket. When Omarzai’s bouncer sailed over the keeper’s head for five wides, he had bowled a single legal ball which had cost him 16.The free hit was an inch-perfect yorker, which crashed into the base of Pooran’s stumps, and he smiled wryly as square-leg umpire Allahuddien Paleker put the bails back on. The next four balls cost 20: four leg byes, a slice over point, another violent pull into the Johnson Charles Stand and a straight six into the sightscreen. The over cost 36, which somehow felt like a recovery.Pooran hit Rashid Khan for two boundaries in his first over, one over long-off and then a wristy late cut, but after the powerplay he eased up completely. He quickly recognised that Noor Ahmad was Afghanistan’s main threat: in the IPL, he has been dismissed by him twice in eight balls and clearly struggles to read his variations. He took his medicine, scoring nine off the 14 balls he faced from Noor.”Noor Ahmad has bowled well to me in the past,” Pooran explained. “Some people might criticise me for not putting him under some pressure but T20 is a game where you have to be smart as well: you can’t bat for an entire innings at a 180 strike rate. It just doesn’t work like that. I still feel like we have to play the game the right way: respect the game, and respect the opposition.”Nicholas Pooran stands at No. 1 among West Indies’ six hitters in men’s T20I cricket•ESPNcricinfo LtdBut Rashid was a different proposition. Pooran has played with him extensively for Reliance-owned franchises in the past 18 months and decided that his final over, the 18th, had to go. He tried to hit all six balls in the arc between midwicket and long-on, and connected with five of them. The over went dot, six, four, six, two, six.West Indies’ great T20 batting line-ups were characterised by their muscular six-hitter, glued together by the touch-play of the man who top-scored in both of their World Cup finals, Marlon Samuels. On nights like this, Pooran can marry the two together: immense power for a lean, lithe man combined with the maturity and intelligence to swallow his ego.He surpassed Chris Gayle as West Indies’ leading T20I run-scorer during his cameo against New Zealand, then went ahead of him as their leading six-hitter tonight. “It’s a proud feeling,” Pooran said. “What is happening now is only because of my hard work and my belief in myself. [Gayle] set the platform for us… I’m just really happy that I can continue to entertain people and take over where he has left.”Pooran added 18 off 26 balls in the middle overs, then smoked 44 off 14 at the death. By the time he had hit back-to-back sixes off Naveen-ul-Haq, he was batting with the confident self-assurance of a man realising just what he could achieve over the next two weeks. Aged 28, with a World Cup on home soil, Pooran has a chance to write his name into West Indies folklore.”It feels really good,” he said. “I think it’s a really good opportunity for us: not only for myself, but everyone is in the prime of their career and everyone is doing well. Hopefully, in the next two or three weeks, we’ll be smiling.”

And was USA’s defeat of Pakistan the biggest World Cup upset?

Steven Lynch11-Jun-2024Was the United States’ victory over Pakistan the biggest shock in a World Cup? asked Jack Wilkins from England
There aren’t official rankings for this sort of thing, so this will be a personal view, but the USA’s win over Pakistan after a Super Over in Dallas last week must be near the top of the list. In terms of the T20 World Cup, it was the 14th win by a non-Test-playing country over a Test nation (the 15th soon followed, when Canada beat Ireland in New York.) That number includes two wins apiece by Afghanistan and Ireland before they had Test status.I’m inclined to think that Netherlands’ victory over England at Lord’s in the opening match in 2009 was actually more of a shock, given that it was 15 years ago and the Associate nations were less well prepared then. The Dutch beat England again, by a whopping 45 runs, in Chattogram in 2014, and upset South Africa in Adelaide in the last T20 World Cup in 2022. Also in that tournament, Scotland beat West Indies convincingly in Hobart, the day after Namibia hammered Sri Lanka by 55 runs in the opening match of the tournament in Geelong.There have been 16 similar upsets in the one-day international World Cups, nine of them by teams who later acquired Test status (five by Ireland alone). The biggest surprise probably remains Kenya’s big win over West Indies in Pune in 1996, although Ireland scoring 329 to beat England in Bengaluru in 2011 must be high on the list too. And in last year’s 50-over World Cup, Netherlands beat South Africa by 38 runs in Dharamsala, and a week later crushed Bangladesh by 87 in Kolkata.Frank Nsubuga conceded only four runs in Uganda’s T20 World Cup win the other day. Was this a record? asked Samuel Nagendra from Uganda
Offspinner Frank Nsubuga had the outstanding figures of 4-2-4-2 in Uganda’s T20 World Cup win over Papua New Guinea in Providence (Guyana) last week. This wasn’t quite the most miserly four-over spell in all T20Is: for Canada against Panama in Coolidge (Antigua) in November 2021, slow left-armer Saad Bin Zafar delivered four maidens, finishing with 4-4-0-2.His figures were, however, the most economical for a full four overs in a T20 World Cup match. Going into the current tournament, the record was eight runs conceded, by three bowlers, the most notable figures being Ajantha Mendis’ 6 for 8 for Sri Lanka against Zimbabwe in Hambantota in 2012. However, two days before Nsubuga’s performance, Anrich Nortje finished with 4-0-7-4 for South Africa against Sri Lanka in New York.Nsubuga has done this sort of thing before: against Tanzania in Kigali (Rwanda) in December 2022 he had figures of 4-1-4-2, while against Rwanda in Kigali in October 2021 he returned 4-1-5-2.At 43, Nsubuga is the second-oldest player to appear in a T20 World Cup, after Ryan Campbell, who was 44 when he represented Hong Kong in March 2016.How many people have been out for 299? asked Kyle Longworth from England
Only two batters have had the mortification of being dismissed for 299 in first-class matches. The first was New Zealand’s Martin Crowe, in a Test against Sri Lanka in Wellington in 1990-91. Distracted by the upcoming milestone, he pushed at a gentle medium-pace devliery from his opposite number as captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, and was caught behind. “I had choked,” wrote Crowe. “I didn’t concentrate. I forgot to say ‘Keep still, watch the ball’. Out for 299 – tell me it’s not true! Tears streamed down my face as I realised that this opportunity might never happen again.” It didn’t, for Crowe anyway: and it was another 23 years before Brendon McCullum finally completed New Zealand’s first Test triple-century, against India in February 2014, also at the Basin Reserve.A similar fate befell Glamorgan’s Michael Powell in a Championship match against Gloucestershire in Cheltenham in 2006: after 667 minutes, he was caught behind for 299. According to one report, Powell “trudged off the field as if he had just got a first-ball duck”, after narrowly failing to match WG Grace, the only other man to score a triple-century at Cheltenham College.There have also been two scores of 299 not out in first-class cricket. The first was by Australia’s Don Bradman, in a Test against South Africa in Adelaide in 1931-32. He was left stranded when the No. 11 Hugh “Pud” Thurlow was run out. Irving Rosenwater, in his exhaustive biography of Bradman, puts the lie to the generally held belief that the run-out was caused by Bradman trying to reach 300: “In fact, had Thurlow made his ground safely, Bradman’s score would still have been 299… Thurlow was run out, having been sent back by Bradman.” A seamer from Queensland, Thurlow did not score a run, take a wicket or make a catch in what turned out to be his only Test.Many years later, in a Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh in Pune in 1988-89, Maharashtra’s Shantanu Sugwekar also finished with 299 not out. He could have fewer complaints about his No. 11: Anil Walhekar survived for 110 minutes, scoring 38 and helping to add 102, before being bowled with Sugwekar one short of 300. Sugwekar was more worried about his partner: “The moment he saw the stumps rattled, he started crying,” he told journalist Akash Sarkar in 2014. “He was crying so much, I didn’t know how to react. I told him jo hota hai hota hai [whatever happens, happens]. Only after I came back and sat down in the pavilion, I realised I had missed a triple-hundred.”Martin Crowe was the first man to be out for 299 in Tests, against Sri Lanka in 1991•Getty ImagesFurther to last week’s question about the men who scored two centuries in the same Test, has a woman ever done this? asked Joslyn Richardson from Australia
I did remember to check this in connection with last week’s answer. No woman has ever scored two centuries in the same Test: the closest was by India’s Sandhya Agarwal, who made 143 and 83 against Australia in Mumbai in 1983-84.New Zealand’s Emily Drumm had a notable double of 161 not out and 62 not out against Australia in Christchurch in 1994-95, and there were similar what-might-have-beens for the distinguished England trio of Rachael Heyhoe-Flint (113 and 59 not out against New Zealand in Scarborough in 1966), Enid Bakewell (114 and 66 not out vs New Zealand in Christchurch in 1968-69) and Jan Brittin (146 and 59 not out vs Australia in Guildford in 1998). For the list of those who have scored two half-centuries in the same women’s Test, click here.I’ve been told that two of the not very many instances of a bowler taking ten wickets in a first-class innings happened on the same day. Is this true? And when was it? asked Jamie Friston from England
There have only been 84 instances of a bowler taking all ten wickets in an innings in 11-a-side first-class matches. But it’s correct that two of these happened on the same day – Monday, June 20, 1921. At Cardiff Arms Park, Glamorgan (in their first season in the County Championship) were starting the second innings of their match against Derbyshire, in which 20 wickets had fallen on the first day. The procession continued: Glamorgan were all out for 106, with seamer Billy Bestwick taking all ten wickets for 40. Bestwick was 46 at the time, and remains the oldest bowler to have performed this feat in first-class cricket. He was well known for enjoying a pint or two of beer, as the Derbyshire historian John Shawcroft recalled: “It was a remarkable performance, and it indicates just why the county adopted a tacit policy of turning a blind eye to some of his drinking adventures. Derbyshire accepted Bestwick for what he was – a magnificent bowler whose behaviour, because of his drinking, was sometimes erratic, but who gave of his best on the field.”Meanwhile, not far away at New Road, Worcestershire were resuming their first innings against Somerset, having reached 108 for 4 overnight. Slow left-armer Jack White, who would make his Test debut for England a couple of weeks later, had taken all four – and he now worked his way through the rest, finishing with 10 for 76 as Worcestershire advanced to 237, exactly equalling Somerset’s first-day total. White was an amateur, a point made by the Times in their headline: “Ten wickets in an innings – Mr JC White and Bestwick”.By chance, two days later Derbyshire met Somerset in a Championship match in Derby. White took 13 more wickets as his side won, while Bestwick collected five. There’s a photograph in the Somerset museum of the two all-ten men shaking hands.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

The CSK allrounder has aced many challenges in his career and he’s up against another one at this IPL

Alagappan Muthu27-Apr-20244:16

Should Moeen bat above Jadeja for CSK?

Ravindra Jadeja is having a weird season.A new recruit has bowled more than he has – which considering he plays for Chennai Super Kings – is saying something. He hasn’t been needed to complete his full quota of overs in three out of eight games – two of those at Chepauk.On the flip side, after being with CSK since 2012, last week was the first time he managed to face more than 35 balls in an innings. This is a bit of an inversion of the player he used to be. Back in the old days, people used to say Jadeja was a fielder first, bowler next and batter last.Related

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And it is so tempting to think his bowling informs his batting. Jadeja with the ball is forever urgent. He never gives the batter any time to settle and he beats them because of it. Is that why whenever he goes in to bat, he always gives himself a few deliveries to get the lay of the land first? Nearly 90% of his innings for CSK have been at No. 5 or lower and yet he tends to start slow. This season, for example, his strike rate in the first 10 balls is 120.75. Even his greatest performance for the franchise, in last year’s epic final, started with a couple of entirely non-violent drives down the ground for singles.”One of his strengths,” CSK batting coach Michael Hussey said of Jadeja on Saturday, “is being able to work the balls into the gaps, use his pace running between the wickets and picking the right times and the right bowlers to attack.”Jadeja isn’t, by any definition, a power-hitter. He is a pace-hitter. That is really why he gets pushed down the order. There’s a significantly higher chance of facing fast bowling when you walk in towards the end of the innings. In 2021, he maximised this strength to such an extent that he was not that far behind AB de Villiers’ strike rate (229 vs 195) in the death overs.It is a bit ironic that at the exact time he has won a place in CSK folklore – even gaining a title that the fans only bestow upon their favourites – Jadeja is facing a crisis on not one but two fronts. First, the pitches in Chennai aren’t offering their usual help to the spinners. He has come away wicketless in three of the four innings he’s bowled at Chepauk. And second, his touch is a little off. Last season, Jadeja faced only 21 dots in the first 10 balls of his innings. This season, even though its only halfway through, that count is already up at 16.Jadeja may have a new puzzle to solve this season•AFP/Getty Images”He’s playing, sometimes now, a slightly different role,” Hussey said, “because in the last few years he’s come in very late, batting with MS [Dhoni] towards the back end. And this year we’ve asked him a few times to come in at the No. 4 position. It’s a very different role and sometimes according to the situation, you need to just be free and go quite quickly. But other times you’ve lost a couple of wickets in the powerplay, you need to take a little bit of time to build the next partnership.”I think he’s doing a pretty good job actually, of reading the situation and playing accordingly. I know we’re seeing some games where teams are just teeing off, but if the conditions, or the match situation doesn’t dictate that, then you’ve got to play a different way. I think he’s doing a really good job and he’s adapting to the different situations of the game.”Jadeja isn’t exactly bombing in either discipline – he has a three-for, with an overall economy rate of 7.85, and a 35-ball fifty against one of the top four teams. And his spirits are pretty high. In the match against Kolkata Knight Riders, he helped wind the crowd up by putting on his gear and pretending to walk out to bat only to turn right around and take his seat so that MS Dhoni could take centre stage. It’s just that it almost feels like he’s having to learn the whole game again. What can he do when Chepauk doesn’t grip and turn? How will he deal with promotions up the order, which will expose him to situations where he won’t have pace on the ball to exploit?Jadeja has gone through his entire career with questions like those flung at him and more often than not he comes up with an answer that doesn’t just shut people up, it wins them over. “Need new haters,” he tweeted once. “The old ones are starting to like me.”

The NCA chief talks about the work involved in looking after India’s top and emerging players

Shashank Kishore03-Oct-2024Meetings, mentoring sessions, project walkthroughs – VVS Laxman’s life as the head of BCCI’s new Centre of Excellence is comparable to that of a CEO’s.We’ve travelled about 35km from Bengaluru’s city centre to this new facility near the international airport. Once fully operational from January 2025, it will replace the existing National Cricket Academy, which adjoins the Chinnaswamy Stadium.”Better than the world’s best,” is how Laxman describes it to our media contingent. This “new NCA” has been in the making for 15 years, with litigation hurdles stalling its progress until two years ago. Since Laxman took charge in December 2021, he’s been busy engaging with site engineers and building consultants, overseeing blueprints, action plans and budgets among other things.”The target for completion was 15 months [from November 2022],” Laxman says. “I was a bit sceptical, but the way work has progressed right from the time construction began has been remarkable. I have been to some of the best academies in the world, not only limited to cricket, but other sports also, but I have not seen this kind of a facility.”As Laxman takes a seat in the media conference room on the second floor, overlooking the ground, he is reminded of his time before becoming the NCA head. “Haven’t seen mics and cameras for a while,” he jokes, referring to his television commentary stint in the past.This is his first official media interaction since taking on the administrative role and while Laxman has consciously avoided the media glare, today, he is happy to explain the ins and outs of his role as he basks in the afterglow of the project’s inauguration a day earlier.Related

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“When I took up this role, I was very reluctant,” he says. “But once I embraced this position, it’s been such a satisfying and fulfilling experience. You’re dealing with not only the established international stars, but you’re creating bench strength. And that has been very, very fulfilling – to see the amount of talent, the amount of potential at our disposal.”In the past the perception has been that the NCA is merely a facility for injured players. Laxman rejects that notion.”There has been a lot of misconception about how NCA is just used for rehab programmes and how players getting back also are getting injured [soon after they resume playing], but you have seen it with Rishabh [Pant], how well NCA manages [players],” Laxman says. “I can’t comment on what has happened in the past, but I can say with a lot of conviction that I am very, very proud of every member of my team.”It’s high-pressure work because they are dealing with injuries, and there is a misconception that timelines have to be met. I understand that at times you [the player] know you will be fit in a particular time frame, but sometimes the recovery won’t be [within a specific time frame] or the result won’t be seen, so having patience and following the protocols is very, very critical.”He also highlights the work the NCA staff put in to motivate and care for injured players.”I sometimes joke with my S&C coaches that they’ve become good counsellors because there will be days when the player will feel little down, a little frustrated, but you have those conversations to convince players that whatever is happening is in their best interest.”The challenging part of rehab is that the entire rehab will probably be done within two-three hours [in a day] and players have nothing to do for the rest of the day. We’re talking about elite sportspersons who are usually busy playing or training six to eight hours, and suddenly they realise they are confined to the rehab room.One of three grounds at the Centre of Excellence that can host first-class cricket•Shashank Kishore/ESPNcricinfo Ltd”Once they recover, they progress to the ground [at the NCA], but it’s a maximum of four to five hours, so they are required to be mentally strong and to not get frustrated. It’s very important that the player also understands that and there’s always one or two conversations around it.”Another aspect of the NCA that has come under criticism is the methods used for injury diagnosis. A few players have complained about the rigidity of the system – like having an injured player field for the entire duration of a 50-over game before being declared fit. Players say there have been instances when the ball has hardly come to them while fielding during the game and that processes designed to simply tick a box don’t help in the long run.Laxman tries to explain why the processes are necessary and insists that rapid strides have been taken towards injury prevention in recent times.The BCCI has adopted a system that determines through a series of tests – on shoulders, hip flexors, and hamstrings, for example – certain markers that indicate player fitness, which are then assessed to fine-tune their workloads.This helps determine the extent of injuries and monitors a player’s physical state. If any of the parameters seem off, the physios and coaches can tailor workloads, or look to avoid certain routines that run the risk of causing injuries.”The idea is to prevent injuries,” Laxman says. “And that’s why there has been a focus on recovery and setting fitness standards – it’s very, very critical. In fact, what we have done over the last two years is to standardise fitness procedures from top to bottom. It’s not only the Indian team, but even the state teams. As far as the fitness, recovery or S&C part is concerned, one of the main challenges was how to standardise. How can a player who is at the NCA continue to work on their fitness levels with the same intensity when they are at a zonal camp or back with their state associations?”A view of a dressing room in the 40-acre campus•Shashank Kishore/ESPNcricinfo LtdTo do that, the NCA has tied up with the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association (ASCA) to introduce upskilling programmes for state-level coaches and physios.The NCA also keeps tabs on players throughout the year, not just during camps, using an Athlete Management System (AMS), which monitors several parameters, like fatigue, sleep, mood, menstrual cycle in case of female athletes, and non-sport stressors. The data is analysed to chart out personalised programmes for every player.”When Rahul [Dravid] was the head coach of the Indian team, he used to take care of the contracted players and we at NCA took care of the targeted players, emerging players and the U-19s throughout the year.”They come for camps and once they go back to their respective state association, we [continue to] monitor them. Every coach would have at least ten players they are monitoring. So, one spin bowling coach, like a Sairaj Bahutule, would have ten spinners under him.”We know the areas they are required to work on, and through the year we make sure the player is working [on those]. We collaborate with the coaches back in the state. A majority of those coaches are part of our ecosystem through the summer programmes. I think ours is always a very open and inclusive way of working.”Laxman says the focus is centred on the player. “We don’t want the player to feel the burden of whose advice he has to listen to. We take into confidence the state association coaches, because they spend a lot more time with that player than we do [at the NCA].”The outdoor nets at the new facility feature 45 pitches•Shashank Kishore/ESPNcricinfo LtdAhead of the Border-Gavaskar series down under, India’s A team will also tour Australia, which gives players on the fringes of the Test squad the chance to make their case for selection. In recent times, there have been fewer India A tours, partly due to the knock-on effects of the pandemic on cricket’s calendar, but Laxman says the focus is to have at least two A tours every year.”It’s just about getting exposure to different kind of conditions, so that when they graduate to the national team they are ready. That is the whole objective of the A programme. I think the pitches here [some of which have been made from soil imported from UK and Australia, and others using soil from other parts of India] will allow them to improve their adaptability.”After this Q&A session, Laxman is heading to Chennai to meet the India men’s Under-19 team, currently playing a Youth Test against Australia, so the conversation moves towards the BCCI’s development programme, whose main focus is on age-group cricket.India have featured in the last five men’s U-19 World Cup finals, and won two. They also won the inaugural women’s one in 2023. While the policy of picking an age-group player for only one U-19 World Cup remains in force, there is a concerted effort to make sure that players who miss out on qualifying for the biennial event get some high-profile exposure as well. It’s partly why Samit Dravid was picked in India’s U-19 squad for the Australia series, even though he wasn’t going to be in contention for the next World Cup (injury has ruled him out since then).”When you go from one U-19 World Cup to another, there’s always one batch who misses out. While I’m not saying that it is the most important step in their growth and progress as a cricketer, when you represent India at any level it gives that confidence.”So now currently we are playing a series against Australia U-19 and, luckily, a lot of the guys who may miss out on the next World Cup are part of this series.”It’s time for Laxman to catch his flight to Chennai to meet this next generation of Indian talent. He signs a few autographs, poses for photographs with the Centre of Excellence ground as the backdrop, and as he exits, he asks: “I’ve given y’all three years worth of quotes, haven’t I?”He sure did. And as was the case most times in his career, he couldn’t have timed it better.

England handed out four debuts on the day. While that seems exciting, an absolute commitment to youth could turn out to be detrimental to these players

Cameron Ponsonby01-Nov-2024New England, it’s just like the old England.Almost exactly a year ago, a fresh-faced England ODI side arrived in Antigua tasked with the mission of driving forward a new era of English white-ball cricket. That new era lost their first match to the West Indies by four wickets. Cut to 12 months later and this one lost by eight wickets.It would be an unfair assessment, though, to say England are going backwards. This is an incredibly exciting group of young players, all of whom individually are talented enough to either be considered England players now or England players of the future. But in Thursday’s showing, they were less than the sum of their parts.Fewer than half of them are first choice. Of the XI that took to the field against Australia for the fifth and final ODI in Bristol in September, just five from that squad are in the squad for this tour. England gave out four debuts, as all of Jordan Cox, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton and John Turner made their bows.In truth, this is closer to an England Lions white-ball tour and it is hard to hold a group that includes the likes of Cox, in just his fifth List A match, walking out at No.3 for England on debut, to one which has Joe Root, who’s played over 450 international innings, batting there.Nevertheless, in a change from the hyper-positive messaging you associate with England when on the receiving end of a chastening day of Test cricket, stand-in head coach Marcus Trescothick and stand-in captain Liam Livingstone were visibly rankled by this defeat.Before speaking to the media, they held a debrief together on the sidelines talking through the events that had contributed to their crushing eight-wicket defeat.

“[We have to] try to get into the rhythms of 50-over cricket as quickly as we can. We had four debuts and they’ll have all learnt a hell of a lot from what they experienced and hopefully they’ll come on from that.”Liam Livingstone

Individuals, including themselves, are on show here and eager to prove a point. So while the matches may soon disappear into the ether of white-ball games you forgot ever took place, that’s not the case for those involved, who are, in effect, taking part in an audition for the future.”We’ve got to get up to speed as quickly as possible,” Livingstone said. “We pride ourselves on putting in performances for England, it’s always special when you wear the Three Lions on your chest and we’re pretty disappointed with how we played.”It’s easy to point to the absence of List A cricket in the calendar as the reason for England’s inability to find the correct tempo for a wicket where 250 would’ve been competitive. But between Will Jacks, Phil Salt, Livingstone and Sam Curran, you have four players with ODI experience. Whereas, perversely, the absolute inexperience of Jacob Bethell and Mousley means they’re not completely new to the format. Bethell played in the One-Day Cup last year and has more List A matches than first-class games to his name. Mousley, on the other hand, has only made ten one-day appearances, but has a century and two fifties in that time.But while there isn’t a complete lack of experience in List A cricket, there was in the actual roles each player was being asked to perform. Of the top six, only Salt and Jacks had batted in those positions for England more than once in their careers. Everyone, collectively, was taking their stabilisers off for the first time.”[We have to] try to get into the rhythms of 50-over cricket as quickly as we can,” Livingstone said. “We had four debuts and they’ll have all learnt a hell of a lot from what they experienced and hopefully they’ll come on from that.”A pertinent question is whether England’s absolute commitment to youth could in fact be detrimental to the players they’re trying to blood in the first place.Liam Livingstone top-scored for England in the first ODI•Getty ImagesThe benefits of a blend of youth and experience is a trope so old it borders on cliche, but cliches exist for a reason. Rather than attempt to give all of Cox, Bethell and Mousley their chance in one go, could it not be better for two, or even just one of those players to be gaining their opportunity, with the addition of an experienced professional in the line-up for them to bat around. Your James Vinces, your Dawid Malans. Or even Jonny Bairstow. He is still an England contracted player for at least another year. The prodigal talents could stand on the shoulders of journeymen.Of course, a recall for the elder statesmen of off-Broadway white-ball tours can be argued to be a step backwards. And there’s no guarantee they’d be interested either. You can only call someone last minute as a second choice so often.But you’re also not meant to chuck your children into the deep end without armbands. England have now lost 12 of their last 18 ODIs. Cox spoke ahead of the tour that one of the main benefits of being in an international environment is rubbing shoulders with the best. And does picking such a young squad allow for that?”I don’t think we read conditions quite as well as we could have,” Livingstone said. “When me and Sam were in, we were on for 240-250. But unfortunately I got out at the wrong time, it fell away from that. We pride ourselves on one of our top six getting a score and unfortunately we didn’t get that.”The top six he’s referring to has four List A hundreds between them in 271 matches.There’s no disputing the talent in the group. This is an exciting team and regardless of whether they turn the series around and win, or crash and burn to a three-nil defeat, they will be fun to watch along the way.But part of the reason they’re exciting is because they’re new and we haven’t seen them before. And arguably, while they might be less fun if they slotted in some reruns of in the middle order, they may also be better off for it.

No Healy, no Gardner but it’s no problem for Australia, who retained the Ashes in style

Andrew McGlashan20-Jan-2025Losing two key players in the hours leading up to a match, one of which is the captain, would be enough to unsettle a lot of teams, but Australia barely put a foot wrong in an emphatic performance at the SCG that retained the Ashes.It’s not job done yet for the home side, with memories of the 2023 drawn series still lingering, but it was a notable display of composure and depth.”That was a pretty special win after some great performances in the ODIs,” Beth Mooney, who made 75 off 51 balls, said. “There’s a lot of excitement within the group to do it in that fashion.”Related

• Healy in doubt for rest of Ashes series as she misses first T20I

• Mooney and King help clinical Australia retain Ashes

A couple of hours before the start confirmation came through that Alyssa Healy was out of the match and her prognosis for the rest of the series does not sound encouraging. Then, when the team sheet dropped, Ashleigh Gardner, who made her maiden international hundred three days ago in Hobart, was missing due to a calf strain. That was suddenly a lot of runs, wickets and experience missing.”It’s happened a little bit to us in recent times,” Mooney said.” So I think we’re a well-oiled machine when this happens. These things come up a little bit in high-performance sports. Thankfully we’ve got great support staff and a great group of players that put our arms around each other.”Rather than being knocked out of kilter, Australia came racing out of the blocks. Georgia Voll, making her T20I debut, cracked her fourth ball for four and then added three in a row against Charlie Dean in the third over. She was lbw without adding another run, but the tone was set. At times, England’s fielding fell to pieces under the pressure.Mooney led the way as a senior player with an expertly-paced innings, dispatching some wayward lines from the England bowlers but also drawing them into errors by her use of the crease. Phoebe Litchfield, elevated to No. 3, unfurled a magnificent switch-hit for six and stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath continued her batting revival with 26 off just 9 balls.

“This group’s hungry to keep getting better and I think the really important thing is that we’ve got the personnel that can keep pushing the boundaries”Beth Mooney

In the field, Kim Garth, playing her first T20I for a year, struck with her opening ball before coming in for punishment from Sophia Dunkley with 22 runs taken from her second over. But just as there was a modicum of pressure on Australia, Alana King, in her first T20I since the 2023 World Cup, bowled Nat Sciver-Brunt first ball and produced a maiden in the fifth over.Still, when England reached the 10-over mark at 96 for 3 with Dunkley having made a 24-ball fifty they had an outside chance. King then pinned Heather Knight lbw straight after drinks and that was about that.”Whilst it’s disappointing, obviously for Ash and Midge [Healy] tonight, I thought Georgia Voll played exceptionally well at the top of the order,” Mooney said. “Kim Garth hasn’t played a T20 for a little while and took [a wicket] early in the game. And obviously Alana King was back in the T20 side. So it probably was a great showcase of our depth in the end.”King is having a huge impact on this Ashes with 13 wickets now in four matches. “At the moment, it just looks like she’s going to take a wicket every ball,” Mooney said. She wants to take the game on. Those are the players that you want in your team. You throw them a ball in that situation. That fifth over…probably changed the momentum of the game pretty significantly in our favour.”It was a significant evening, too, for stand-in captain McGrath. She led in the three ODIs against India last December, but this was Australia’s first T20I since their World Cup exit to South Africa when McGrath was also standing in for the injured Healy.Amid the batting riches in Australian cricket there had started to be some speculation about McGrath’s place but her innings here followed the 38-ball half-century in the last ODI. She then claimed the wicket of Dunkley that removed any lingering potential threat to Australia.”It was really nice to see T-Mac at the other end have that partnership with me and score runs as freely as she did,” Mooney said. “I think she’s unlocked her game again.”Mooney added that Australia would enjoy the SCG victory, knowing that the Ashes are safely in their grasp again, but focus will quickly turn to Canberra where they can be won. “Hopefully, the conversation in the dressing room is we’ve got a play on Thursday like we’re on no points and that’s the start of the series,” she said. “This group’s hungry to keep getting better and I think the really important thing is that we’ve got the personnel that can keep pushing the boundaries.”Talk of 16-0 whitewash, though, was off limits – for now. “Let’s just get it to 10-0 and we’ll talk about that again,” Mooney said.On current form, few would bet against them having a chance to go for it.

The West Indies batter has had an extraordinary year in the format, and looks set to go further, faster

Philip Spooner14-Nov-2024Nicholas Pooran arrived at Kensington Oval on Sunday afternoon fully prepped for the second T20I against England, his 100th international in the format. He gave thanks for another day to showcase his flamboyant batting, knowing there was a time when it seemed like he might never play again.”It’s what I love to do. I just love playing cricket, it’s what I wanted to do from a child and I get to live my dream,” he said.”Everyone knows my story: when I had the accident [in 2015], when many people felt I would never play cricket again. At the time I felt playing cricket again was impossible. When I recovered in the hospital the first thing I asked was if I would be able to play cricket again.”Now I’m on both feet and I enjoy everything I do for West Indies cricket and for the fans who come to see me play. I play for them. When the fans are around that is when the magic happens. There was a time during the pandemic when we had no fans [in the stands]… that felt strange. I always give thanks for my blessings. Having represented West Indies in my 100th T20I is a special feeling… I feel like I can play a hundred more.”Hearing the West Indies anthem and seeing the fans celebrating West Indies cricket is what makes me happy. As a little boy growing up, I used to love to see Brian Lara and hearing Ian Bishop’s voice on TV, that’s what I enjoyed as a young fan… so that inspired me.”Related

Pooran: 'One bad season is not going to change the player I am' (2022)

Pooran: 'The complete T20 batsman can bat at 135, 140 and 200 SR'

How Nicholas Pooran came back from the brink (2017)

Off the cricket field, Pooran is soft-spoken, mild-mannered and engaging. On it, he is vocal and demonstrative behind the stumps with the gloves on and sensational in front of the stumps with bat in hand.Ahead of the England series, he had scored 2251 T20 runs at an average of 45 and a strike rate of 161 in 67 innings in 2024 – a record for most T20 runs in a calendar year. His 165 sixes is also 65 more than the next highest batter on the 2024 list.”In the last 14 months I have been playing really well and winning games. Everything is happening nicely. I’m still pretty young and I believe I still have a lot of cricket left in me.”There is a still a lot I want to accomplish, there is still a lot to win. I believe this is the start for me… I will remain humble, and I will remain grounded and be the best version of myself. I want to continue to put smiles on the faces of my fans.”Sunday was a bit of a blip on this otherwise stellar year of performances. As far as landmarks go, this one was not marked by anything memorable or marvellous. There was no signature special edition “Pooran” jersey with “100” emblazoned on his back, and he did not send the colourful crowd into a frenzy with his 14 off 23 balls in an seven-wicket defeat to England, which put West Indies on the back foot, trailing 0-2 in the five-match series.Eight years ago in the UAE, Pooran made a slow start to his career and recorded scores of 5, 4 and 16 against a potent Pakistan attack. He was the rookie in the camp, but he was surrounded by a wealth of experience, including Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine — and he learned the ropes quickly.”It was my first match, and I was delighted to get my first cap from the team manager, Joel Garner. Everyone made me feel at home in the West Indies dressing room, and I felt that my journey started.”I wanted to be a household name. I wanted people to want to watch me bat. Whether it’s 7 o’clock in the night or 4 o’clock in the morning. I wanted to put smiles on people’s faces. I want to continue to share the talent I have been blessed with from my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Nehra was not the first member of a coaching unit to get in the match officials’ bad books

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-2025

Ashish Nehra

GT vs MI, IPL 2025After rain at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Indians (MI) had the win in the pocket if there was no further play. It was getting close to cut-off time, and GT were understandably agitated, willing the groundstaff to dry things up quickly and get at least one more over in. Nehra, the GT coach, wasn’t only going to will them on. He was there, speaking to the groundstaff and the match officials animatedly to get the covers off quick. ESPNcricinfo understands that the demerit point and fine (25% of his match fee) he was slapped with was for his conduct at that tense juncture in the game. Happily, for Nehra, GT got a win out of it in the end.The tension of the Super Over got too much for Munaf Patel to handle•Getty Images

Munaf Patel

DC vs RR, IPL 2025Nehra wasn’t the first from the coaching staff to get pulled up for crossing a line during a match in IPL 2025, his former India team-mate Munaf beat him to it. This was during the Super Over in the game between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), when Munaf collected a demerit point and coughed up a 25% match fee fine, the same as Nehra. While the IPL didn’t specify what Munaf’s offence was, he was spotted arguing with a match official when he was not allowed to send a reserve player into the middle to pass on a message. Like with Nehra, Munaf’s team won that Super Over.MI’s batting coach Kieron Pollard added a responsibility to his job profile in IPL 2024, that of DRS coach•Mumbai Indians

Kieron Pollard

MI vs PBKS, IPL 2024Pollard, the MI batting coach, and Tim David were pulled up and fined 20% of their match fees during the match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in New Chandigarh. Sitting in the dugout, they were found suggesting batter Suryakumar Yadav to review a wide call.The review was allowed and MI got the decision in their favour. But later, the IPL sought footage from the broadcaster to check for the sequence of events leading up to the review, and found that Pollard and David had asked Suryakumar to take the review. As per the IPL playing conditions, the two batters can consult with each other before taking a review but cannot receive help from the outside.Not a scene we’re used to seeing: Pravin Amre, the DC assistant coach, out on the field speaking with the umpire•BCCI

Pravin Amre

DC vs RR, IPL 2022Three seasons ago, before Munaf had joined the DC back room, there was Pravin Amre there, as an assistant coach. And he was banned for a game for his part in the chaotic events in the final over of the game, when he was spotted walking into the playing area and speaking to on-field umpires Nitin Menon and Nikhil Patwardhan.It all blew up after the third delivery of the final over of DC’s chase of 222. RR bowler Obed McCoy bowled a high full toss, which Rovman Powell pulled for six. But DC felt it should have been called a no-ball for height. Powell and non-striker Kuldeep Yadav asked the umpires about it, and Rishabh Pant, the DC captain, and others joined in, gesticulating from the dugout. Pant then appeared to ask Amre to go and speak to the umpire, which he did. Both Pant and Amre were slapped with 100% match fee fines, but Amre had to also serve the ban. What’s worse, DC lost the game by 15 runs.

Big chases bring all the drama and here is a list of five from the IPL that had almost everything

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-2025Jonny Bairstow made an unbeaten 108 in a chase of 262•BCCI

Punjab Kings 262 for 2

In a season where run-scoring and six-hitting scaled new heights, this clash raised the bar for T20 cricket. The match featured a record 42 sixes and produced the highest successful chase in the format – 262. KKR’s 261 for 6 was powered by a 138-run opening stand between Sunil Narine and Phil Salt, with the middle order adding the finishing touches. In reply, Prabhsimran Singh provided the early thrust before Jonny Bairstow’s fiery hundred and Shashank Singh’s 28-ball 68 sealed the mighty chase with eight balls to spare.

Sunrisers Hyderabad 247 for 2

It was Abhishek’s night in Hyderabad. A stroke of luck came early when he was caught on 28, but it turned out to be off a no-ball. Most times, when he hit the ball in the air, it either disappeared into the stands or dropped safely in no man’s land. Occasionally, as is the case when playing such high-risk innings, the ball went in the general direction of a fielder but PBKS weren’t able to hold onto their catches. Abhishek dismantled PBKS’ bowling attack with audacious ease. He stormed to his maiden IPL century in just 40 balls and went on record the highest individual score (141 off 55 balls) by an Indian in IPL history. Head played the perfect supporting act, hammering 66 off 37 in a dominant 171-run opening stand.Jitesh Sharma and Mayank Agarwal stitched a match-winning 107 in just 45 balls•Associated Press

Royal Challengers Bengaluru 230 for 4

The night seemed to belong to Rishabh Pant. His blazing 118, off just 61 balls, meant that RCB had to gun down 228 to earn a spot in Qualifier 1 against Punjab Kings. RCB began well, with Kohli and Phil Salt adding 61 inside six overs, but three quick wickets tilted the advantage LSG’s way. Kohli raised a fine half-century, but his dismissal in the 12th over left RCB with 105 runs still to get from just 52 balls. Enter Mayank and Jitesh. While Mayank’s 23-ball 41 was impressive on its own, Jitesh seemed to batting in a different dimension altogether, blasting 85 off 33 balls, with eight fours and six sixes. Will O’Rourke, in particular, came in for some heavy punishment, conceding 74 from his four overs – the third-most expensive spell in IPL history.The game wasn’t without drama from other corners. Jitesh looked to be out at the start of the 17th over, but a back-foot no ball from Digvesh Rathi handed the batter a reprieve. A few moments later, Rathi, before delivering the ball, clipped the stumps at the bowler’s end with Jitesh well sort of his crease. However, the wicket was not given because the umpire deemed that Rathi had completed his delivery stride before he removed the stumps. Pant also asked for the appeal to be withdrawn. In the end, RCB were not to be denied, as Jitesh himself sealed it with a six to send every Bengaluru fan into delirium.Rahul Tewatia was the centre of attention after his spectacular innings against Kings XI in IPL 2020•BCCI

Rajasthan Royals 226 for 6

With Rajasthan Royals (RR) needing 51 off the final three overs, Rahul Tewatia’s 17 off 23 balls was turning into a disastrous promotion to No. 4. But what followed was one of the most dramatic turnarounds in IPL history. Tewatia smashed five sixes off Sheldon Cottrell’s over. He and Jofra Archer added three more sixes, and a four, in the next nine balls. RR chased down 224 – the highest IPL chase at the time – with three balls to spare. Earlier, Sanju Samson’s 85 off 42 had kept them in the hunt against PBKS.Jos Buttler pulled off a great one-man rescue act for Rajasthan Royals last year•BCCI

Rajasthan Royals 224 for 8

The standout performer of KKR’s title-winning campaign, Sunil Narine, smashed his maiden T20 century to lift his side to 223 for 6 and then struck with the ball too. With 103 to defend off 46 balls and four wickets remaining for RR, KKR were cruising. But Jos Buttler had other plans. With a strapped-up hamstring that kept him out of the previous game, Buttler single-handedly turned the chase on its head – scoring 70 of the remaining runs, retaining strike for the final 18 balls, and completing the win with five sixes and six fours.The Pandya brothers run to congratulate Kieron Pollard on taking Mumbai home in a chase of 219•BCCI/IPL

Mumbai Indians 219 for 6

This was one of those chases that cemented Kieron Pollard’s status as Mumbai Indians (MI) saviour. Ambati Rayudu’s blazing 72 off 27 balls had powered CSK to 218 for 4. MI came out swinging in the powerplay but stumbled with three quick wickets. MI needed 125 off the last eight overs with Pollard batting on 2 off 4. Then the tide started turning – he hit three sixes off Ravindra Jadeja, followed by a barrage against the quicks. Cameos from the Pandya brothers helped bring it down to 16 off the final over. Pollard kept strike throughout and sealed the win off the last ball with a nervy, match-winning double.