Gill says a “couple of boundaries here and there” could have tilted the result in India’s favour

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Jul-2025

Mohammed Siraj was inconsolable after he was the last man dismissed in the final session•Getty Images

India could have had a fair chance of winning the Lord’s Test if they had forced England into taking the second new ball – Shubman Gill said that they were “optimistic” of executing the plan until Mohammed Siraj played on in one of the most dramatic finishes in Test cricket.England were 5.1 overs away from taking the second new ball when Siraj couldn’t stop the ball from spinning back to knock off his bail after he had defended an offbreak from Shoaib Bashir. It ended a 23-run last-wicket partnership after Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah had added 35 in 22 overs. The partnerships frustrated Ben Stokes and his men, who were challenged by a soft Dukes ball, a lifeless pitch, and a Lord’s crowd populated by mostly Indian fans.”When Bumrah and Jaddu were batting, every five-six runs that we were scoring, we could see there was pressure coming on them [England],” Gill said in the press conference after the game. “And that’s all it was: a small partnership of 30-40 runs could make such a huge difference. We were quite optimistic when Siraj [and Jadeja] were batting, that if we just go up to the second new ball and if we have just 12-15 [left to score] with the second new ball, you never know, you know. A couple of boundaries here and there and you never know, and you are right back on the top.”Related

Battered players leave bits of hearts and spirits behind after bruising Lord's Test

Stats – England clinch the narrowest Lord's win

Gill 'extremely proud' of India's lower-order fight

Jadeja's defiance in vain as England pull off dramatic win

Instead, Gill and his men wandered around Lord’s minutes after the defeat wondering what could have been. Proud match-winners like Bumrah, who had taken a five-for in the first innings, and Rishabh Pant, who ran himself out calling for a tight single just before lunch on the third day when on 74, stood with bowed heads.In the afternoon session on the final day, after stoutly and patiently dealing with everything that Stokes and Co. threw at him, Bumrah finally succumbed to the mounting pressure, skying an easy catch off a short delivery from the England captain. Midway into the third over of his second spell on Monday, Stokes, after a long chat with Joe Root, adopted the short-ball plan against Bumrah. The slips and gully fielders were dispersed to the ropes with a leg-side-heavy (6-3 ) field. Bumrah almost attempted a hook off the first ball of this plan, which flew high over his head, and then shadow practised a ramp, which left Jadeja shaking his head at the other end.Thereafter, though, Bumrah ignored such distractions, playing with soft hands, leaving what was not to be touched. Stokes would eventually bang 15 short or short-of-length deliveries in that spell, but Bumrah was not in control for just five deliveries.But Bumrah ran out of patience and attempted a pull against a short ball pitched outside off stump to sky an easy catch. Stokes looked like a man in a trance. England were ecstatic. Bumrah took one step at a time as if he was walking on crushed glass back to the dressing room.3:47

Gill: Pant’s run-out was the turning point in the Test

But Siraj, who walked in to loud boos from England fans, showed courage and heart to ally with Jadeja to resume India’s quest for an unlikely win. He endured a painful blow to his left arm while trying to get out of the way against a short and fast Jofra Archer delivery. India were 23 adrift of the target at this point. A message was sent to the batters, which Gill talked about after the match: “When he got hit by Archer, if Jaddu can play the whole over instead of leaving two balls every over. We thought the better chances for us if he [Siraj] plays the offspinner.”In the next over, Siraj stepped back to tap Bashir, but couldn’t believe what happened next. He stood stunned even as Bashir set off on a victory run chased by his team-mates. At the other end, Jadeja looked up in agony. Siraj went down on his haunches, head down, which he would raise when Harry Brook walked up to. Siraj was numb, angry.Asked if he had spoken with Siraj afterwards, Gill smiled, suggesting it was not the right moment.Gill, though, doffed his hat to Jadeja, who scored his fourth fifty of the series. Upon reaching the milestone, he didn’t unleash his usual wielding-the-sword celebration, knowing he still had a job to do.1:58

Manjrekar: India will regret the last half hour of day four

“He is one of the most valuable players for India,” Gill said. “The experience that he brings in, the skillset he brings with his bowling, batting and fielding makes him someone that is very rare and hard to find. The kind of composure he showed today was just tremendous to watch. Our lower order and tail have not been contributing that much in the previous two Tests but the character and courage that they showed was tremendous.”According to Gill, the most significant turning point for India was the Pant run out on Saturday. That run out, opener KL Rahul had admitted, was his mistake because he had told Pant a couple of overs prior to lunch, when he was on 97, that he wanted to get his century out of the way before the break. On the first ball of the last over before lunch, delivered by Bashir, Rahul failed to latch on to a loose ball and only took a single to move to 99. Two balls later, Pant called for a tight single with the sole aim of getting his partner back on strike, but instead was left sprawling on the turf after being beaten by a direct hit from Stokes.Gill said that fourth-wicket stand, which had accounted for 141 runs, could have been extended and helped India take a crucial lead. Instead, India finished level with England’s 387 in the first innings.”The most important moment for us was the Rishabh run out,” Gill said. “It was an error of judgment rather than [Rahul] thinking I need to get my 100 now. He might have had a word [with Pant] about getting the century prior to lunch because when a batsman is on 99, he feels some pressure. But I don’t agree the run out was caused due to the personal milestone. Rishabh called for the run and the danger end was for KL , but it was an error of judgment, which can happen by any batsman.1:56

Manjrekar: India could have been a little more attacking

“At one point, we felt that we could take a 50-100-run lead. We were aware that batting on day five would not be that easy, so the lead we get in the first innings would have been better for us.”By the end Saturday, the third day, the match had become a one-innings shootout and Gill said that the pressure was always going to be on the team batting last. It played out exactly that way as India’s batters failing twice, first in the last hour on Sunday and then the first hour on Monday, which left them at 82 for 7. Central to the downfall was Stokes, who bowled a marathon spell of 14 overs.Gill acknowledged that Stokes had elevated Lord’s to a theatre again, pushing his body and mind to the limit.”You have to give credit where it’s due,” Gill said. “The spell that he bowled, 11 [14] overs on the trot, never easy. The kind of efforts that him and his team put in, it was truly commendable to see. You give out your everything, and there are going to be moments where it is going to be heat and a lot of emotions involved, but at the end of the day, after a Test match like this, there’s always admiration from both sides. They also gave their everything, we also tried our best, but they were the better team today.”

It was a year in which Sri Lanka carved a glorious arc through world cricket, and at the heart of it was a man who did everything, everywhere, all at once

Andrew Fidel Fernando16-Jun-2025There was no indication early on that 2014 would turn out to be such a roaring tornado of a year for Sri Lanka’s men, though it did start strangely.Sri Lanka and Pakistan began a Test on the last day of 2013, and played it into the fourth day of 2014, a game that turned out to be a staid draw in the end. But upon this first match of the calendar year (there is some debate on which year this game belongs to) Angelo Mathews made sure to write his name. Without his 91 in the first innings, Sri Lanka would have been skittled for far less than their eventual 204. Without his 157 not out in the second innings, his team would have struggled to keep the opposition at bay.There was a lot going on at the time. The previous year, Mathews had been made captain of the Test and ODI teams at age 25, which at the time was unusually young for a Sri Lanka leader. The board, additionally, was in its brashest era. Sri Lanka Cricket was backed by a government that at the time controlled practically everything on the island, which in turn empowered SLC to fight battles on two important fronts – against the Big Three, who made their first brazen attempt to control the global game in the first quarter of 2014, as well as against the top men’s players, whom the board felt were too highly-paid while the SLC was trying to claw its way back from enormous debt.Related

• Mathews defies drama, one last time

• 'It's quite sad'- Mathews calls for more Tests for Sri Lanka

• Dhananjaya de Silva: SL missed 'big chance' to make WTC final

• Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh: New beginnings for both teams as WTC restarts in Galle

• Ambidextrous spinner Rathnayake among new faces in SL squad

The men’s schedule was packed as well. There was an Asia Cup coming up, a full away tour to Bangladesh, Test tours away to England and Pakistan (UAE), and late in the year, an away series in New Zealand. At home, there were Tests against South Africa and Pakistan, plus Mahela Jayawardene’s Test retirement. If you add to this the intolerable weight of having made it to four ICC tournament finals since 2007 and always having been runners up, there was clearly a lot of pressure on the main event of 2014 – the T20 World Cup.The team’s response to all of this was to be electric and unmissable right through those 12 months. And within that team, there was no one as electric, or as unmissable, as Mathews, across almost all fronts. He was, that year, as adept at taking new-ball wickets in T20Is and ODIs, as stonewalling when the team faced a major Test deficit, as crashing boundaries in big knockouts, as prowling the covers and ranging the boundaries, as marshalling the tail, as rebuilding after a collapse, as sneaking red-ball wickets in crucial passages. Because he was the main captain, Mathews would also find himself at the centre of various controversies, including a ‘Mankading’ dismissal in England.Angelo Mathews lifts the Asia Cup in 2014•AFPIn the Test at Lord’s Kumar Sangakkara deservedly got the headlines for his determined entry into the honours board in what would be his final Test there. But Mathews’ 102 in the first innings, and 90-ball 18 in the second, were vital to pushing that match so deep that Sri Lanka were able to save it by the skin of their teeth. In the T20 World Cup, Rangana Herath and the frontline quicks dominated the middle and death overs. But Mathews had often set the stage for them with his miserly early spells. In the semi-final against West Indies, his 40 off 23 was Sri Lanka’s best. In the final, he claimed figures of 1 for 25 off four overs.In a home Test series against South Africa, Mathews didn’t get out for any fewer than 63, showcasing remarkable consistency. Then in the following match, against Pakistan, he pushed himself up the order and began hooking manically into the stands as Sri Lanka chased a Test victory in the dying moments of the fifth day, a raucous crowd thronging Galle’s fort ramparts as well as the grass banks in the stadium. Mathews hit the winning run just as the heavens unleashed a torrent.Mathews and Sri Lanka’s finest hour: the 2014 T20 World Cup win over India•ICC”He was just one of the best cricketers that fit any situation,” Sangakkara says about Angelo Mathews. Sangakkara, by the way, was having no-less epic a year. But as exceptional as Sangakkara was with the bat and the gloves, no one was firing on as many cylinders as Mathews.”He never went in and read the situation wrong,” Sangakkara says. “For someone to instinctively do that at such a young age was phenomenal. Everyone talks about Michael Bevan and these other late order batters who were so good, but Angie was also exceptional in that – the way he batted with the tail, the way he attacked and cleared the boundary with such clarity. He seemed to have an answer to every match situation.”His greatest moment in Tests came in Headingley that year, when his 4 for 16 with the ball restricted England to a lead of only 108 when they’d been headed for much more, before his bruising 160 in the second innings – which featured a 149-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Herath, turned the match on its head. So often in this stretch of Mathews’ career, tailenders would observably bat with more responsibility if he was the batter at the other end, like office workers who would quit chit-chatting, straighten their ties, and get back to the desk when the boss walked in. In that second innings at Headingley, Mathews had thrown his bat in anger when Dhammika Prasad (who could bat a bit) squandered his wicket first ball. So desperate was Prasad to redeem himself, that he came out and produced the bowling performance of his career, to help Sri Lanka win that game, or so the story goes.There will always be the disappointment that Mathews didn’t keep this up. Why wasn’t he roughly this good for so many more years? Why does he now average less than 45 with the bat? Why has he not strode his way to 10,000 Test runs? There is the obvious structural difference post-2015, which is that Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, and Tillakaratne Dilshan, whose excellence had created space for the young Mathews, retired and left a young team to its own devices. Where the senior batters had once cleared the dancefloor on which Mathews busted his moves, after 2015 so many situations into which Mathews arrived felt like a crisis.Sri Lanka’s 2014 tour of England: Mathews was never far from moments of magic, or controversy•PA PhotosThere is also the sense that he flew a little too close to the sun. Between 2010 and 2015, no one played more international cricket. He wishes he’d clocked this workload at the time, but then asks when he would possibly have had the time to take a step back and adjust? In 2014, he was a leading figure of one of the greatest Sri Lanka sides ever assembled, desperate to finally win the silverware to reflect that greatness. Within six months in 2014, Sri Lanka won an Asia Cup, a T20 World Cup, a Test series in England, and a home series against Pakistan. Mathews was instrumental to every one of those victories.That Mathews was coming in lower down, bred the kind of trophy-winning aggression even the top order displayed. “It gave me huge confidence knowing that Angie was there, because you know you’re in absolutely in good hands,” Sangakkara says. “It gives you a lot of freedom to bat, and up your tempo, or reverse pressure and be a little more aggressive. You knew you had this exceptional batter to come.”There are other exceptional Mathews moments. His captaining of the 3-0 home whitewash of Australia is an obvious. Batting all day with Kusal Mendis to save a Test match at the Basin Reserve in 2018 is another.But even without any of that, Mathews’ 2014 was enough. This was a year in which Sri Lanka carved a glorious arc through world cricket, stirring controversy sometimes with their own board, sometimes with the opposition, enrapturing their fans for months on end. In addition to the great batters already mentioned, the likes of Lasith Malinga and Herath have also had their legacies partially defined by the trophies won through this stretch.All those superstars needed 2014’s wins to provide the late validation their great careers deserved. All those superstars needed every bit of Angelo Mathews they got that year.

Both England batters tried to rein in their natural games but failed in different ways

Vithushan Ehantharajah10-Jul-20252:23

Pope: We’re constantly trying to get batting balance right

It was in Multan, ahead of the first Test of 2024’s tour of Pakistan, that Zak Crawley, as he presented Ollie Pope with his 50th cap, joked that the pair run Clapham, referencing their adopted south London neighbourhood. Which is funny because no one runs Clapham. The whole point of Clapham – especially if you’re in your mid-20s, like Crawley and Pope are – is to give you the impression you run Clapham.Really, Clapham runs you. Enticing you for the early years of the rest of your life – a 2021 census revealed 59% of residents are aged between 20 and 39 – as it did for Pope and Crawley. With it comes a false sense of agency and a flawed understanding of adulthood.You end up doing what you had been doing at university, but for more money. And thus the highs feel greater, making you square that you’ve held on to joy for this long so you’ll never grow old, until one day you do and the place spits you out for the next crop of wide-eyed, energy-filled vessels. Before you know it, you’re in a dogfight with the place to stay relevant. To stay young. To stay put. And only when you give in to the grind – that, maybe, you’re too old for Infernos and Café Sol, and the common is actually a great way to get your 10,000 steps – does it keep you around.Related

Reddy credits Cummins and Morkel for bowling improvement

Bumrah and Root show their class on bizarre Bazwalling day

Root holds the fort with 99* as India put brakes on Bazball

England sweat on Ben Stokes as spectre of injury looms

On Thursday, north of the river, both SW residents were in a domain that, as vice-captain and senior opener, is very much their own. But one which was playing awkward and unreliable underfoot, squeezing them to offer more against an India attack making their beds at the Home of Cricket. Both struggling in very different ways. One by choice as a team built on their kind of stroke-making and effervescence deliberately fizzled towards a quietly respectable 251 for 4 on day one of this Lord’s Test.Test cricket has been kind and cruel to both, though crueller to Crawley than to Pope, and not without good reason. Collectively, though, they have been lucky.Both have more caps than Jonathan Trott. By the end of the series, Crawley (57 and counting) will have more than Darren Gough (58), and Pope (59) will pass Graeme Swann (60). And to already know they will leapfrog modern greats without fighting against ingrained, unflattering reputations acquired so deep into a Test career is a luxury. One afforded to an opener and a No. 3 who benefit from a never-more-forgiving England set-up. Which, all told, has only compounded the scrutiny on them and worn patience thin, even with the acceptance that they occupy challenging positions for batters in this country. Though even that makes it worse.Crawley’s 43-ball 18 was basically an AI-generated innings of a waywardly dominant player at his worst. The control percentage was 51.2 (playing a false shot to 21 of the deliveries he faced) and spoke of the Russian Roulette nature of his stay, except with bullets in three of the six chambers. By contrast, fellow opener Ben Duckett “boasted” a control percentage of 60 during his 40 balls.The sixth over of the day provided a snapshot of the wrestle between Crawley and his game that seems to have emerged since a calm 65 set England’s first Test chase in motion. Against Akash Deep from the Nursery End, he adopted four different starting points and triggers; a foot outside, a foot inside, one impulsive charge, another pre-meditated shuffle and dart which almost cost him leg stump.2:23

Pope: We’re constantly trying to get batting balance right

The positive spin on that is Crawley was trying to give Akash Deep something to think about, aiming to unsettle his rhythm, encroach on his radar. But at 1 off 18, the flailing arms were of a man trying to keep his head above water, not swimming meaningfully against the tide.There was no real consolation that he could do little about his dismissal, managing to edge a pearler down the slope from Nitish Kumar Reddy after living so charmed. Lucky to still be there, unlucky to have nicked it. The delivery justified the intent behind the approach. You’re going to get a good one, and he got a great one to end a bad, bad knock.For Pope, however, this was a peculiar riddle of guts and bunkering down sandwiched between being dropped first ball – it would have been a hell of a catch from Shubman Gill at second gully – and getting out first ball after tea, inexplicably driving at a delivery too short. That was the 17th time out of the 62 where Pope has resumed an innings at the start of a session and been dismissed in its first ten deliveries.For context, Root – unbeaten at lunch on 24, at tea at 54, and overnight on 99 – has “done a Pope” just 15 out of 126 times since Pope’s debut in August 2018. That, really, is the reliability England fans crave from their No. 3, without even yearning for the qualities of Root, who everyone accepts is now done with the role.

The dressing room will appreciate Pope’s pluck, but the public will only see another start spurned. For Crawley, however, the fight to justify his place gets a little harder. To stay, to remain. A player that has thrived off the environment no longer seems to be thriving

And yet, amid familiar twitches outside off stump where, wicket aside, he was scoreless from 17 of 19 deliveries, was clearly a bit of caution. He was only beaten by six of the 75 balls in that region. The 87 he took to reach 30 was the second-slowest after a 108-ball effort against New Zealand in December 2018. There was struggle, but it was not shirked.Restraint came to the fore in the middle session, which he and Root saw out for just 70 runs in 24 overs. During the 41st over, after Root had almost played Akash Deep on to his stumps, Pope was in the zone at the non-striker’s end shadowing a charge down the pitch. It was not all that dramatic, akin to the way one might shimmy to leap off a hill, the express intention to scare a friend by momentarily listening to the mischievous voice in your head.Three overs later, Pope tried it off Akash, failing to work a single to the leg side. Back it went in the box. Perhaps surprisingly given how often members of this team use the charge to momentarily relieve pressure, like a boxer windmilling punches when they are backed into a corner. For Pope, this was growth.”I did it once – it can mess up the lengths a little bit,” Pope said. “But for me, I think it’s something I’ve not done as much over the last year or so, mainly because I feel like I’m just trusting my defence a little bit more. I don’t feel I need to try and hit them off their lengths the whole time.”Ollie Pope was distraught after being caught behind•Getty ImagesNipping conditions curbed that enthusiasm. Even outright, he kept schtum against Bumrah, at one point facing 28 deliveries of a five-over spell in which Root faced just two. Of the 42 deliveries Bumrah bowled when both were at the crease, Pope faced 32 to Root’s ten, but only managed two more runs than Root. Not that this was the plan, of course. This was a man who usually flies too close to the sun realising his limits.”I don’t think that would be a smart conscious choice of me,” Pope joked when asked if he was shielding Root. “He just hit a pretty good area and I guess with the field up I couldn’t sneak down to the other end. Root’s good at nicking the ones like that.”You’ve just always got to be switched on, so it wasn’t a conscious choice, but I was happy to try and absorb the pressure.”It’s tempting to say this was a teaser of a new Pope, but that idea was shot to earth by a narrative-skewing dismissal that clipped England’s wings, too.Having toughed it out, he should have gone on. And there is something so typically Pope that having started the series with a century that seemed to lock in his place for this series and the Ashes to come, he is now averaging 36.40 from five innings.The dressing room will appreciate Pope’s pluck, but the public will only see another start spurned. For Crawley, however, the fight to justify his place gets a little harder. To stay, to remain. A player that has thrived off the environment no longer seems to be thriving. It might be time to move.

Australia quick feared his Test career was over after injuring his hamstring last year, but worked his way back to take his team closer to a 2-0 Ashes lead

Andrew McGlashan06-Dec-20251:21

Neser: Starc ‘the greatest leftie of all time’

Michael Neser admitted he feared his Test career was over after badly injuring his hamstring last season, but can now say he produced the spell that sparked Australia’s push towards what will be, barring an England miracle, a 2-0 Ashes lead and the urn being nearly retained.England had motored to 90 for 1 in their second innings, making significant inroads into Australia’s lead of 177, when Neser bagged two return catches in the space of four overs to remove Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley. From there, Australia sensed their moment and their pressure was rewarded with a collapse of 3 for 7 which, briefly, threatened a three-day finish before the visitors limped to the close.Neser, who played his previous Test three years ago, was a last-minute and controversial selection for this match when he was preferred over Nathan Lyon on the morning of the game. He was not part of the original squad for the opening Test in Perth, only drafted in after injuries to Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott, but has fully justified the selectors’ call on his home ground.Related

• Smith praises 'exceptional' Neser and 'freak' Carey

• Starc's all-round show leaves England facing humiliation at the Gabba

• Australia's tail smokes and chars predictable England in Gabba cauldron

He was in the frame as back-up for last summer’s series against India, but badly damaged his hamstring playing for Australia A against India A at the MCG which kept him out for 12 months. He was only back to peak fitness for the start of this summer having opted to stay home rather than return to county cricket earlier this year.”To be honest, after last season when I thought I was bowling superbly…and I did my hammy really badly, I thought that could have been my chance [gone],” Neser said. “I’ve always dreamed about playing for Australia. It’s something that I live and breathe, is cricket. So to be given another chance, I’m very honoured.Michael Neser ripped out two caught-and-bowleds to dent England•AFP/Getty Images”It was a long recovery, think it was 12 weeks out of it, and I may have come back a week or two quicker than I should have. I probably wasn’t 100% [fit] at the back end [of last summer]. I chose not to go to county cricket and focus on getting my body right for the start of the season and really focus on Australian summer. A big pre-season did me wonders. I feel strong again and I feel like my hammy is back to where it was.”In the first innings at the Gabba, Neser broke a 117-run stand between Crawley and Joe Root when the former was caught behind, but a brace of return catches is a somewhat more unconventional route to claim back-to-back wickets for a new-ball pace bowler. However, Australia’s quicks have been on alert given how England go hard at the ball and drive on the up.Mitchell Starc held a stunner in Perth to remove Crawley in the second innings and other chances have flown past face and hands, including one to Neser offered by Ben Duckett before the two which stuck.”They obviously try to put you under the pump the way they bat,” Neser said. “They’ve given us a couple of opportunities with caught and bowleds. Most of them we’ve dropped because they’ve been hit so hard, but thankfully those two seemed to stick.”One of the notable features of this Test has been how much time Alex Carey has spent stood up to the stumps to Neser, as he was for Crawley’s wicket on Saturday, and as he had done during Neser’s previous Test against West Indies in 2022. Carey’s glovework has been outstanding and Neser said it helped build pressure on batters, but conceded it had been a tactic that did not initially come naturally to him.”I know the role I play is very different to the other quicks,” Neser said. “Being a shorter bowler, maybe not as quick, it’s a way for me to keep the batters on the crease and bring the stumps into play. I’ve done it a lot in the past.Zak Crawley rues his shot selection after falling to Michael Neser•AFP/Getty Images”The first time I did it, I definitely didn’t want to do it as a fast bowler, but Uzzy [Usman Khawaja] taught me to just put the ego aside because it’s beneficial for you. We’ve seen Vernon [Philander] do it a lot in his Test career, successfully, so it’s something I’ve brought in later on in my career.”At the other end of the pace scale to Neser in the Australia attack has been Starc, who followed his 77, the top score in Australia’s innings, with two more wickets including that of Root which was the biggest blow to England’s hopes. Starc is putting together one of the great all-round performances.”He’s a special player,” Neser said. “He doesn’t like to admit it, but he is the GOAT, the greatest leftie of all time. He does it with the ball [and] with the bat and to be next to him witnessing what he does is just amazing.”The longevity of his career, it is something you’ve got to admire. Someone who can bowl 140-plus; I think that last spell today was probably his quickest spell the whole game which just shows what sort of athlete he is and what a competitor he is. He’s amazing.”Starc and Neser are virtually the same age: the former is playing his 102nd Test, the latter his third. Neser’s trio of outings have all come with the pink ball but, even with the prospect of Pat Cummins returning in Adelaide, he hopes he can be more than a day-night specialist.”I do love the red ball as well,” he said with a smile. “I’m very fortunate and privileged that I’ve been given the chance with the pink-ball Tests. Obviously, it’s a dream to play more Tests and red ball, pink ball, I love it all.”

Against South Africa in the second T20I, Suryakumar Yadav perhaps missed a trick by going down to No. 4, and promoting Axar Patel to No. 3 for the first time

Deivarayan Muthu12-Dec-2025Since November 2024, Suryakumar Yadav has scored only 227 runs in 20 innings at an average of 13.35 and strike rate of 120.10 in T20Is. He hasn’t scored a fifty – and only two of his innings have lasted beyond 20 balls – in this period. Marco Jansen prolonged that lean run on Thursday, when he dismissed Suryakumar for 5 in four balls.India were eventually bowled out for 162 in pursuit of 214 in the second T20I against South Africa in New Chandigarh. It was only their fourth defeat in 21 completed T20Is since November 2024. That record is down to India’s depth, which allowed them to win without substantial contributions from Suryakumar.But, on Thursday, another bad day for Suryakumar coincided with a rare bad day for most of the other batters. Bad turned to worse when India tumbled to a 51-run loss, their second-biggest in terms of runs in the format, putting the spotlight on the SKYfall – both as a batter and captain.Related

Classy de Kock shows shades of old at just the right time

Quinton de Kock's 90 powers SA to massive win

Suryakumar had walked out to bat at No. 4, and nicked his fourth ball from Jansen behind in a Test-match-style dismissal. There was a brief window of early movement available, and South Africa’s attack made the most of it, taking three wickets in the powerplay – including that of Suryakumar’s. Though the dew, which was also present during the first innings, threatened to hamper the bowlers even more during the second, South Africa were never really tested by the elements.Suryakumar perhaps missed a trick by not staying at No. 3 after Shubman Gill was also swung out, for a duck. He didn’t send Tilak Varma in at No. 3 either. India instead bumped Axar Patel up to No. 3 for the first time in 52 T20I innings, and exposed him to that swing and seam movement. Axar laboured to a run-a-ball 21 in an unfamiliar role – he is used to being promoted, but as a spin disruptor. Neither Axar nor Shivam Dube, who is also a spin hitter, ended up facing a ball from left-arm spinner George Linde in a tactical mis-step. Linde got away with figures of 3-0-23-0.ESPNcricinfo Ltd”We just thought in the last game [in Cuttack]… we’ve seen Axar bat really well in the longer format, and we wanted him to bat the same way today as well, but [it was] unfortunate,” Suryakumar told the host broadcaster at the post-match presentation. “He did bat well, but we’ll see what works out for us going on in the next games.”Suryakumar said that he should have fared better with the bat, and taken “that responsibility” in the chase.”I think myself, [and] Shubman, we could have given a good start because we can’t rely on Abhishek [Sharma] all the time – the way he’s been batting, he might have an off day,” Suryakumar said. “Me, Shubman and a few other batters, we should have taken [the responsibility], I think it would have been a smart chase. But then it’s okay, Shubman got out on the first ball, but yeah, I should have taken that responsibility, batted a little deeper. But as I said, we learn, we try and do better in the next game to come.”Only two of Suryakumar Yadav’s 20 innings since November 2024 have lasted beyond 20 balls•Getty ImagesWhile Suryakumar’s low output is a concern, there are no real set patterns to his dismissal. From November 2024, he has been dismissed 17 times to pace – in various ways ranging from caught in the deep to caught behind to chopping on – and just once to spin.Such a low output can happen to any batter, and especially to someone who plays high-risk cricket in T20s. It’s easy to forget that Suryakumar has been in this position before, and broken out of the funk.Suryakumar had entered IPL 2025 on the back of two ducks in five innings against England at home, but turned his form around in spectacular style, cracking 717 runs in 16 innings at an average of 65.18 and a strike rate of 167.91. He won the MVP award that year, and propelled Mumbai Indians into the knockouts.Big runs have been sparse either side of the IPL, but India’s team management will be hoping that Suryakumar can turn his form around, again, this time in the lead-up to a home World Cup.

The allrounder replaces Ellyse Perry as the club look to the future after just one finals appearance in six seasons

Tristan Lavalette07-Nov-2025

Ashleigh Gardner will further her leadership development after taking the reins from Ellyse Perry as captain of Sydney Sixers, a WBBL franchise hoping to recapture their former standing.The transition signals a new era after Perry had captained Sixers since the inaugural season in 2015-16, yielding back-to-back titles in the second and third seasons of WBBL. But Sixers’ status as an on-field powerhouse has faded away having failed to qualify for the finals in five of the past six seasons.Related

Tayla Vlaeminck 'shattered' to miss another WBBL

Chinelle Henry's thoughts with Jamaica ahead of first WBBL season

FAQs – What's in store for you at WBBL 2025-26?

It is a major reset for Sixers under the fresh leadership of Gardner and new head coach Matthew Mott, the former coach of the Australia women’s team and England men’s white-ball sides.Gardner, 28, has been an integral part of the Sixers from the start, holding the club record for games (135) and wickets (102), while also sitting third for runs (2607). She has long been viewed as an Australia captain in the making, particularly impressing over the years in promoting Indigenous culture and history.Gardner should be in the mix to succeed Alyssa Healy, who confirmed the recent ODI World Cup would be her last in that format. Earlier this year, Gardner was the vice-captain on the T20I tour of New Zealand, where Tahlia McGrath captained in Healy’s absence.Her Sixers appointment follows being handed the captaincy of Gujarat Giants in the Women’s Premier League and Trent Rockets in the Hundred.”I’m honoured to be appointed captain of the Sydney Sixers, a club I’ve proudly represented for my whole career,” Gardner said. “Over the past decade I’ve learned from some amazing leaders, including Pez [ Perry] and Midge [Healy] at the Sixers, and I can’t wait to lead the team.”Perry, 35, will remain at Sixers for at least the next three seasons. “It’s been an immense pleasure to have the opportunity to lead the Sixers over the last ten years,” she said.”Ash has offered so much to Sixers on-and-off the field and her strong interest in giving her best as a leader will be an exciting starting point for our team this season.”Healy will miss Sixers’ season-opener due to a minor thumb injury sustained in the World Cup semi-final. The injury will be monitored when she returns to training next week.Sixers start their campaign against Perth Scorchers on Sunday at the WACA.Meanwhile, Melbourne Renegades captain Sophie Molineux will miss the opening two matches as she manages a minor quad strain. Georgia Wareham will take the captaincy in her absence.

Reece Topley carved his first ball and the penultimate ball of the match for four to take Southern Brave to a dramatic and unexpected one-wicket win against Manchester Originals in the Hundred.Last man Topley walked out with three runs needed from two balls, after Craig Overton (18 not out off 8) and Tymal Mills (8 off 4) had wrestled the game back from the home team’s grasp with a vital 25-run partnership.The equation was 28 needed from 13 when Scott Currie (4 for 28) had Michael Bracewell caught behind, and the smart money would have been on Manchester Originals. Indeed, Phil Salt might wonder how his team didn’t get over the line, across an innings that saw both 43-year-old James Anderson (0 for 36) and 17-year-old Farhan Ahmed (0 for 8 off five balls) make their debuts in the competition.Reece Topley and Craig Overton were the unlikely heroes with the bat•Joe Prior/Getty Images

“We managed to somehow get ourselves in a position where it was in our hands, one hit away,” Mills said. “Credit to Manchester Originals, they bowled really well for the best part of the innings but Craig pulled out some big hits at the end. It’s always good to win close games like that and it stands us in good stead for the rest of the season.”Bat on ball was the main thing. We needed to hit every ball and scamper as best we could, and obviously we managed to get a couple of boundaries in there as well – that was a brilliant knock from Craig. We just wanted to take it as deep as we could and Toppers finished it off brilliantly.”Mills was awarded Meerkat Match Hero partly for his efforts with the bat, but he had earlier taken 3 for 22 – with the wickets of Salt, Jos Buttler and Heinrich Klaasen – as Originals made 132 for 4. Salt was the stand-out for the home team, making a 41-ball 60 and overtaking James Vince to become the all-time leading run-scorer in the men’s Hundred as he did so.Tymal Mills dismissed Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and Heinrich Klaasen•Joe Prior/Getty Images

Mark Chapman added some late impetus to the Originals batting effort and the home faithful would have been confident throughout much of the Brave’s reply that their total would be enough to see them to a winning start, but they weren’t counting for the late intervention of Overton, Mills and Topley.”I think it was a wicket that rewarded you for hitting the pitch hard,” Mills added. “We saw in the Powerplay that we were perhaps a little bit full, but once we dragged our lengths back and hit the pitch hard there was a little bit of bounce there and we saw that when Manchester Originals were bowling as well. We were happy halfway with that score, and we were confident of chasing it, but we probably made a little bit more hard work of it than we would have liked.”

The game is moving from the Captain Roop Singh Stadium, the site of many memorable matches, to the shiny new Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium

Daya Sagar05-Oct-2024When an international cricket match was last held in Gwalior, Sachin Tendulkar scored the first double-century in men’s ODIs. Fourteen years after that historic game, international cricket is set to return to the Madhya Pradesh city.However, cricket is not back at the historic Captain Roop Singh Stadium but at the newly built Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, where the first T20I between India and Bangladesh will be played on Sunday. The Captain Roop Singh Stadium, though, is inextricably linked to cricket in the city.When you arrive at the old stadium, located near the railway station in the heart of the city, it feels like you have arrived at a single-screen cinema hall in a small town. Built in the shape of a hexagon, it doesn’t look like a cricket stadium from the outside. There are no cricket-related hoardings, no floodlight towers visible from a distance.Related

• Rohit hopes 'exceptional' series against Bangladesh doesn't go 'unnoticed'

• Mayank's fitness, Jadeja's replacement among India's priorities in Bangladesh T20Is

• Gwalior takes centre stage as youthful India prepare for experienced Bangladesh

Once inside, there is a gallery that leads you past some offices and the scorecard featuring the details of Tendulkar’s historic knock. With the exception of some VVIP seats towards the pavilion end, all the seats – the stadium has a capacity of around 20,000 – are in the form of cement steps. At both ends stand small floodlights, erected in the lead-up to the 1996 World Cup.Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) scorer Sunil Gupta’s eyes light up as he recalls Tendulkar’s double-century. According to him, it feels like yesterday, when Tendulkar played Charl Langeveldt past point and achieved an “impossible historical feat”.”We couldn’t believe we had seen something that was almost impossible in one-day cricket at that time,” Gupta says. “This match was accidentally moved from Kanpur to Gwalior 20 days earlier. Our pitch and ground were ready, but international cricket requires a lot more preparation. Our association completed these preparations in a very short time and what happened after that, the whole world knows it now.”Gupta, who is a believer in destiny, says, “That is why it has been said that on every grain is written the name of the one who eats it. We were destined to watch the double-century of [God] and when he waved his helmet and bat in the air, many people, including me, had tears in their eyes. These were tears of joy.”The entrance to the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior•Daya Sagar/ESPNcricinfoThe stadium has played host to many other memorable ODIs too, including the India-West Indies match in the 1996 World Cup, the fourth India-Pakistan ODI in 2007, India’s win against Australia in the TVS Cup months after their 2003 World Cup final defeat to the same opposition, Kenya’s first win over India in an international match, and two ODIs against England in 1993 on consecutive days. The 1997 Ranji Trophy final was also held in this stadium, the only day-night Ranji Trophy final till date.”At times, this stadium has come in handy for the BCCI during crises,” Gupta says. “When the first India-England ODI was cancelled in Ahmedabad due to riots in 1993, two ODIs were held on this ground on two consecutive days. This is the only ground in the India where ODI matches have been held on consecutive days.”Apart from this, in 2010, when the preparations were not deemed to be complete in Kanpur, we were given an ODI match in a hurry. At the same time, when we did not have that much funds for the 1996 World Cup, we made smaller floodlights on three stands instead of four, so that day-night matches could be organised.”The stadium once hosted ODIs regularly, with a match every two or three years in the 1990s and 2000s. But as the facilities became dated, this stadium, which has hosted 12 ODIs, gradually faded into the background.The stadium belongs to the Gwalior Municipal Corporation, and was leased by the Gwalior Division Cricket Association (GDCA) for 25 years; the lease ends in 2025. So the MPCA decided to build its own stadium in Gwalior. Named after former BCCI president Madhavrao Scindia, plans for the new stadium were laid out in 2011 and it was completed in 2024 and inaugurated by BCCI secretary Jay Shah and former India captain Kapil Dev.Gwalior scorer Sunil Gupta with the scorecard from Sachin Tendulkar’s ODI double-century•Daya Sagar/ESPNcricinfoLocated on the outskirts of Gwalior, on around 30 acres of land near the Mumbai-Agra highway bypass, surrounded by the hills of Chambal, the new stadium has all the modern frills: towering floodlights, the latest drainage system, indoor-training facilities, plush dressing rooms, a separate practice ground, nine cricket pitches, a gym equipped with new machines, a TV broadcast control room, a closed and air-conditioned media centre, and PVC seats for spectators.But like the new stadium in Mullanpur in Punjab, the stadium is still open, with canopies for the stands to be installed only later. At present, the capacity is 30,000, with an increase to 50,000 planned by the MPCA. This is why there are exposed pillars on both sides of the square boundary – to allow for another round of construction later on.India vs Bangladesh will be the first top-level match at this stadium – not a single domestic match has been held here yet. In June this year, however, the Madhya Pradesh Premier League was held here and, in a total of 12 matches, a lot of runs were scored.How many runs are scored on Sunday remain to be seen, but off the field security will be tight. Prohibitory orders – aka Section 163 – have been imposed in the city, which means that more than five people cannot gather and hold any demonstration. The orders were passed after right-wing organisations called for a boycott of this match in the wake of media reports of violence on Hindus in Bangladesh. There had been similar calls for a boycott of the Kanpur Test.The effects of these developments are visible in the preparations for the match. The road to the stadium, which is located around 8km from the city, has already been blocked by a barricade at about the 4km mark, with only those working inside the stadium and the media allowed access to the stadium. Section 163 will remain in place even after the end of the match, until October 7, when both teams leave for Delhi for the second match of the series.For now, though, Gupta is happy that the cricket is back, after a 14-year “exile” from his city. He is ready to score another historic match in the annals of Gwalior cricket.

He’s now been caught behind the wicket in four out of five innings on this tour of Australia

Alagappan Muthu16-Dec-2024Steven Smith is a reasonable authority on batting. He understands the subject enough to conduct the odd experiment or two. “I’ve changed my set-up pretty much every game I’ve played for the last 15 years,” he said. On Sunday, Smith spent a little time talking about the importance of scoring a good 30 and he seemed earnest, so let’s ignore the fact that when he was dismissed for 101 he threw his helmet and flung his gloves like they were carrying disease.India lost three batters by the time they got to 30 on Monday. Theirs was a tortured 30. KL Rahul was hit flush on the wrist to start the second over. He expected that good length ball to arrive somewhere around his knee, maybe a bit higher. So when he went forward to meet it his hands were a little low. From that point though, with a throbbing left wrist to remind him, Rahul made an essential adjustment. He has been India’s best batter on this tour because he’s put a premium on playing with soft hands and close to the body. He took it to a whole other level in Brisbane. He was almost retracting his bat at the moment of impact with the ball to take all the sting out of it.Virat Kohli didn’t seem like he was worried about what the ball was doing. That’s served him well in the past. There have been low-bounce wickets back home which didn’t spook him from going on the back foot. There have been high-bounce wickets out here which seemed to add to the glow of every shot he pulled off. There have been seaming wickets which couldn’t sway him from driving on the up. There have been spinning wickets which made his flicks against the turn that little bit more chef’s kiss.All of that has contributed to Kohli having immense trust in his method. In Melbourne at the 2022 T20 World Cup, on a Test match pitch against Pakistan’s fast bowlers, he could still dictate terms from 31 for 4 without changing anything. He planted that front foot down and cricket bent to his will. When he tried that here on Monday, against Josh Hazelwood at the end of the fourth over, a fairly full ball came up to take the shoulder of his bat. Would Kohli incorporate this new information into the way he went about scoring runs?Related

Is it too late for Virat Kohli to fix his weakness outside off stump?

'We are in transition' – Bumrah defends India's bowling show

Australia's quicks rattle India on stop-start day in Brisbane

Mitch, Josh and Pat stay ahead in race against the weather

Stats – Bumrah hits fifty in Australia

He did. In a way.He became Kohli-er than normal. Eager to get on that front foot. Looking for the slightest opportunity to drive. Hazlewood gave him one in the eighth over.This scene has played out several times – in four out of five innings this series. Like the part in the movie where someone gets separated from the group, stumbles upon a suspicious doorway and simply has to open it. Kohli’s cover drive has become a horror movie trope. You could almost hear the India fans at the ground saying, “no, don’t do it.” You did hear them saying “why did he do it?”Well for one, Kohli appreciated that when conditions were as tough as this, scoring runs is doubly important. Travis Head’s performance over the course of this series lends weight to that argument. He walked in with Australia in trouble both in Adelaide and in Brisbane and put the pressure right back on the opposition and that’s worked out fairly well. For another, according to ESPNcricinfo ball-by-ball data in the last two years, Kohli had been dismissed only once by a fast bowler tempting him wide outside off stump, while averaging 71 and striking at 145. And this ball was wide. It wasn’t in the corridor, which is as much a Kohli weakness as it is for every batter.It is tempting to install ODI Kohli into these situations. His success was built on being risk-averse, especially at the start of his innings, and he grew to supplant one of the greatest batters India has ever produced. It has been a bit jarring to see Test Kohli lunge headlong into the traps Australia have placed all through the series.In the first innings in Perth, when the danger wasn’t really seam movement as much as the pace and bounce, he worked against himself by batting a foot or so out of his crease and then pressing forward to a ball that Hazlewood aimed into the middle of the pitch. He might just have been trying to replicate the methods that he has used in the past to overcome difficult conditions and put fast bowlers on notice. But the fact that he could only play half a shot to that delivery, and was completely surprised by it, is hard to ignore. He shifted his stance back a bit during the century he made in the second innings, almost an admission the gamble hadn’t come off.The pink ball presented him with a different challenge and his first innings dismissal in Adelaide, where he was uncertain whether to play or leave was startling as well. Kohli is rarely in two minds. As much as he is hounded for the pattern of dismissal most associated with him – chasing outside his off stump – he goes at those balls heartily. He is clear they are run-scoring opportunities. Those dismissals packed in with this one in Brisbane, where he had seen evidence that hitting on the up was risky with the taller Australian bowlers getting more out of the new Kookaburra ball, and was unable to find a suitable solution to it, is troubling. He used to be able to rise above difficult conditions. Both at home and now here in Australia, he’s not quite done that.Smith modified his trigger in a way that he thought might help him combat the bounce at the Gabba. Rahul seemed so conditioned to holding his bat softly that he lost control of it while he was patting the pitch in between balls. Head loves staying beside the ball and taking every opportunity to free his arms. Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney tried to leave the ball on length as much as they could. Whether they succeeded or not, they had contingency plans for good bowling. Kohli, for once, seems to be lagging behind.

India will play five matches on this tour, beginning with three one-day games, followed by two four-day matches

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-2025Mumbai batter Ayush Mhatre will lead India Under-19 in a multi-format tour of Australia, which begins on September 21 at Ian Healy Oval in Brisbane. The 17-member side includes 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who had lit up IPL 2025 with his power-packed batting.India will play five matches on the tour, beginning with three one-day games, all at the same venue, on September 21, 24 and 26. That will be followed by two four-day matches, the first one also at Ian Healy Stadium from September 30 and the second in Mackay from October 7.From the U-19 side that recently toured England for a similar multi-format series, the players missing are Maulyarajsinh Chavda, Yudhajit Guha (now among the stand-bys), Pranav Raghavendra and Mohammed Enaan. In come Vedant Trivedi, Khilan Patel, Udhav Mohan and Aman Chauhan.Khilan, who was ruled out of the England tour due to a stress reaction in his right leg, has recovered and is included in the 17-member squad. Top-order Punjab batter Vihaan Malhotra, who excelled in both the four-dayers and 50-over leg of the England tour, has been rewarded with the vice-captaincy for the Australia tour.Mhatre was the leading run-scorer (340 in four innings) in the youth Tests in England, a high-scoring series which ended 0-0 with both matches severely curtailed by rain. India had earlier taken the one-day series 3-2, with Suryavanshi topping the run-charts with 355 runs in five innings. Offspinner Kanishk Chouhan led the wickets column for India in the one-day series, while fast bowler RS Ambrish impressed with six wickets in the youth Tests.The squad also includes wicketkeeper-batter Harvansh Singh Pangalia and offspinner Anmoljeet Singh, while Naman Pushpak and D Deepesh also retain their places. Apart from Guha, Laxman, B K Kishore, Alankrith Rapole and Arnav Bugga are the standby players.India had earlier clean swept the Australia U-19 side in both the one-day and four-day series at home in September-October last year.India Under-19 squad: Ayush Mhatre (capt), Vihaan Malhotra (vice-capt), Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Vedant Trivedi, Rahul Kumar, Abhigyan Kundu (wk), Harvansh Singh (WK), R S Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Naman Pushpak, Henil Patel, D Deepesh, Kishan Kumar, Anmoljeet Singh, Khilan Patel, Udhav Mohan, Aman Chauhan