Aakash Chopra also throws the spotlight on Colin de Grandhomme’s intent against spin, and India’s rolling No. 4 spot

Aakash Chopra25-Oct-2017India’s plan against Latham
Tom Latham’s innings in Mumbai was one of the finest played by an overseas player in India. The way he swept the Indian spinners reminded one of Matthew Hayden and Andy Flower. The only place that he didn’t target against spin was the long-off region (he had scored only one run towards long-off on Sunday) and it felt that the hosts fielded with only eight men. The Indian bowlers and captain Virat Kohli learnt from that experience, prepared a plan and executed it well. The spinners bowled only a couple of balls within the stumps and constantly had both fine-leg and square-leg inside the circle. The line and the field placement meant the option of padding a single from outside off was cut off, and the only way to find the fence was to go aerial. In addition to that, even after Latham was well set, India had six men inside the circle, which included a fielder at mid-off instead of long-off. The outside-off line forced Latham to walk across all the time and that’s where the change of angle from Axar Patel worked. That was the only time Axar went around the wicket and instead of throwing it outside off, he pitched it towards leg and Latham played down the wrong line.Bhuvneshwar’s tight lines
It’s a little difficult for a swing bowler to maintain tight lines but Bhuvneshwar Kumar has shown that he’s capable of doing so without comprising on his ability to swing the ball bowl both ways. His beehive from today’s match was a testament to his accuracy; most bowling coaches tell you to bowl the length that will make the ball hit the top off stump, and he did that consistently. He dismissed Martin Guptill with a ball that was too close to leave but still a little wide to play at and it moved away after pitching. Against Colin Munro he went around the stumps to bowl bouncers and came back over the stumps with a his knuckle ball that tends to float into the left-hand batsman, which accounted for an inside edge. Even for Henry Nicholls, he used the angle from around the stumps and hit the top of the wicket after going through the gate.How spinners bowled to Colin de Grandhomme•ESPNcricinfo LtdDe Grandhomme v spin
The arrival of Colin de Grandhomme at No. 7 for New Zealand dispelled any thoughts about the quality of the pitch, for till his arrival India’s spinners had a vice-like grip on things. He came out with a positive intent and challenged India’s strategy of having more fielders inside the 30-yard circle than was necessary. Two shots that he played against Yuzvendra Chahal and Kedar Jadhav showed his range of shots against spin. Both balls landed at the identical spot but against Chahal he went aerial down the ground and against Jadhav, he whipped the same ball over midwicket. He is also one of the few batsmen who can hit the long ball against spin without leaving the crease and thereby giving no advance notice of his intentions. The ball that dismissed him might have shown the way for Indian spinners to tackle his threat in the future. The ball he got out to was the only one thrown wide, challenging him to go over extra cover while the ball was turning away. The same had plan worked against Glenn Maxwell and it won’t be surprising if the same continues to be the plan against de Grandhomme after today’s dismissal.Dhawan’s technical adjustments
Tim Southee and Trent Boult present different kinds of challenges and demand a radically different response. Southee brings the ball back into the left-hand batsmen while Boult takes it away. In Mumbai, Shikhar Dhawan stood on the leg stump and didn’t shuffle against Southee, keeping his front pad out of harm’s way. But the same tactic brought about his downfall against Boult, as he ended up going towards the ball with his hands. In Pune, while he stood on the leg stump for Southee, he stood on middle and off against Boult. In addition to that, he played extremely close to his body with soft hands to the fuller balls, ensuring that the edge didn’t carry.India’s No. 4 spot still up for grabs
Since the 2015 World Cup, India have tried more players (11) at No. 4 than any other team in the world. Among them, only Yuvraj Singh has got eight consecutive chances to bat at that position while the rest have got no more than three chances on the trot before the next man in. Manish Pandey had failed twice at No. 4 against Australia, and was pushed down the order for the remaining games in which he got runs. But he is no longer a part of the playing XI now. Kedar Jadhav started at No. 4 in this series but Karthik was sent at that position in the second ODI. Selection isn’t only about having faith in a player’s ability but, also, faith in your own eye for talent.

India’s batsmen could target the spinner for runs in seamer-friendly conditions, but he has already shown he can hold his own even when things are not in his favour

Firdose Moonda in Cape Town03-Jan-2018Keshav Maharaj is the fastest South African spinner to 50 Test wickets since readmission in 1992, and the joint-second fastest in the country’s history. In 14 Tests, he has only gone wicketless once, in Hobart in November 2016 where he bowled only seven overs. He has names like Jonny Bairstow (five dismissals in four matches), Joe Root, Alastair Cook and Steven Smith in his wicket’s column – this much success in such a short span despite not playing in the subcontinent yet.The last bit is pertinent because Maharaj’s left-arm spin has been successful even in conditions that don’t suit him. It makes you wonder how he may have done if the opposite was the case. In more spinner-friendly conditions, will Maharaj become South Africa’s Ravindra Jadeja? We may only know in July-August, when South Africa are due to tour Sri Lanka. However, a possible follow-up question could be answered in the next three weeks: how will Maharaj fare against batsmen who have been brought up on spin?The Indian line-up will be Maharaj’s first real pressure test. It’s the first time he will be truly targeted, partly because it will come naturally to India and mostly because the pace pack and a lively pitch will make scoring off seamers difficult. If India want quick runs or just to feel a release, it is more than likely that they will dial Maharaj. But there’s someone who thinks this won’t be all that easy.”He is not an easy bowler to hit and if they are going to attack him, they might get away with it for a while but then he may get one to spin a little more or to skid on. He has got a way of picking up a few wickets,” Robin Peterson, one of Maharaj’s predecessors, told ESPNcricinfo. “The other thing about playing against India is that you need to be mentally tough and expect them to come at you. Keshav definitely has what it takes. He is fit enough to bowl long spells and his control is excellent.”Consistency is one of the key features of Maharaj’s bowling, perhaps why he was preferred over Dane Piedt, the offspinner, who has tended to be a touch expensive. “Keshav doesn’t bowl many bad balls. Not many full tosses, not much you can hit. He is very accurate,” Claude Henderson, South Africa’s spin bowling consultant, said.Henderson is the only member of the coaching staff who was retained from the Russell Domingo era to work under Ottis Gibson, primarily because of the work he has done with Maharaj. Together they have worked on some key technical tweaks that have helped Maharaj make the step up to international cricket seamlessly.”When I first saw him, there were a few technical things we needed to work on, like where he delivered the ball from and his wrist position,” Henderson said. “He needed to be delivering the ball more from mid-crease, especially on good decks, and he used to undercut the ball with this wrist, which he does not do anymore. He has also started to put more revolutions on the ball and gets late drift.”Maharaj’s ability to turn the ball more than almost any other South African spinner in the 2000s and the late drift make him more than just a defensive option, although his primary role will be to contain. “He is a defensive bowler if conditions can’t help him, but even to be able to hold up things you’ve got to be a good spinner because it’s difficult to keep top-order batsmen who are in quiet,” Henderson said. “But if conditions suit him, then he will obviously become more attacking and maybe on day four or five, if the team is in the lead, we can have more catchers around the bat. It’s also having smart field placings and connecting with the captain.”The leadership angle is where Peterson thinks Maharaj has it better than those that came before him. “He has a captain who backs him,” Peterson said. “I think there has been a change in culture in terms of spin, which probably started towards the latter end of my career and South Africa started to see they really do need a spinner. Before it was like the spinner was just that irritating player who they needed to include but now they have seen the importance a good spinner.”Now, the hope is that other countries will experience that South Africa’s attitude has changed too. They’ve gone from a team that considered a spinner, especially at home, nothing more than a glorified 12th man, to one who is a player they can rely on against any opposition, even those who are stronger against spin like India.While Maharaj can take heart from the recent evidence of spinners’ success against India – Nathan Lyon and Stephen O’Keefe took 38 wickets between them in India on Australia’s 2017 tour – he will be mindful that those numbers were achieved in helpful conditions. He will be equally aware that South Africa are not planning to provide anything similar and so even if he just plays more of a supporting role, he can still enjoy some success in this series.”It’s about knowing your opposition very well and understanding what the team needs. He is clued up on if the ball goes around, he to keep an end quiet so the seamers can bowl with fresh legs,” Henderson said. “That doesn’t mean he isn’t working on different angles and different deliveries. He is a smart cricketer, very humble and works extremely hard.”

Nicknamed ‘camel’, the fast bowler recorded the most economical spell – 4-0-8-4 -by an Australian in T20Is

Liam Brickhill in Harare02-Jul-2018Billy Stanlake has rediscovered his aggressive streak. Less than a week after he was carted for 44 in three overs at Edgbaston, Stanlake recorded the most economical completed spell by an Australian in T20Is, with his four wickets coming at a cost of only eight runs. That this was to be Australia’s day became apparent right from the moment the anthems rang out across the ground.The singing of national anthems is a standard of international sport, but Australia were taken by surprise when the PA system at Harare Sports Club belted out not just one, but two verses of . That’s the sort of thing usually for Australia Day or state funerals. There were some wry smiles, and some fluffed lines, and the jokes continued when the team took the field, with plenty of laughs when the cover fielders set up and then launched into a second verse of “c’mon Billy’s” to complement their first round as Billy Stanlake stood smiling at the end of his run-up.”[The second verse] took a lot of us by surprise,” Stanlake joked after the game. “We sort of took our arms away from each other and were ready to start going, and then we had to keep singing. Most of us actually hadn’t heard that before. Growing up back home through school it was never played, so it took all of us by surprise.”I don’t know the words,” he admitted. “There’s a lot of us that have to do a bit of learning. I think there’s only one or two of us who actually knew the words.”Stanlake’s nickname in the side is ‘Camel’, because of alleged similarities between Stanlake, who at 2.04m is the tallest fast bowler to play for Australia, and the camel from a car advert in Australia that sticks its head out of the sunroof of a vehicle because it’s too tall.But Pakistan would have seen nothing funny in the sight of Stanlake pounding in from the City End of Harare Sports Club to rattle the splices – and find the edges – of their top four. He harried sides in just the same way throughout the Big Bash, and also at times in the T20 triangular featuring England and New Zealand, and the hype around him seems to have been growing ever since. His performance on Monday will only amplify it. Stanlake, on his part, pointed to a renewed focus on aggression as the catalyst for his success.”The boys have been talking to me in the last few days about being a little more aggressive, so that’s why I came out and tried to do that,” Stanlake said. “In the last game, at Edgbaston, I probably got away from that a little bit, JL [Australia coach Justin Langer] was getting in to me at training the other day about getting a bit more aggressive at our boys in the nets, and he kept reinforcing that, so I really wanted to make an emphasis on that today.”Langer’s reward for geeing Stanlake up is his very first win as Australia coach, and a chance for Australia to start moving beyond their disastrous England tour, where they lost all their six matches across both limited-overs formats.”England was a challenging tour for all of us, but the key message was doing the simple things well and sticking to our strengths,” Stanlake said. “And I probably got away from that at times during England, so that’s why I came back today just trying to be aggressive with the new ball.”Billy Stanlake bowls against Pakistan•AFPBeyond the hype built around his menacing height, there have been concerns in the past around Stanlake’s stamina and a history of injuries. He hasn’t played a Sheffield Shield match since 2015, and Cricket Australia pulled him out of a potential stint with Yorkshire so that his workload could be more carefully managed.His most recent return from injury was nothing more than a broken finger, though, and Stanlake insists that his body is feeling as good as ever. “I’ve come back from a broken finger, so that was nothing major,” he said. “I stayed on my feet throughout that injury. I’m feeling really good at the moment. The body’s feeling good.”Stanlake was feeling so good today that he completed his opening spell with four overs on the trot – something he doesn’t remember ever doing in T20s before, and something he’d be happy to do again when Australia face Zimbabwe on Tuesday. “I think that was probably the first time I’ve ever done that in T20 cricket,” he said. “I’m happy to do so if that’s what the captain wants. Today, it was because of the early wickets Finchy just kept going with me. If I hadn’t got a wicket, I would have stopped after two and then come back in the middle overs.”Stanlake might not have learned the second verse of his anthem by the time it is sung again at Tuesday’s game, but he’s hoping his bowling will sing from the same song sheet as it did on Monday.”I think I’ve probably had faster spells, but it was great to get early wickets and I was backed up by Finchy with a couple of great catches as well,” he said. “There have been times where I have been [both fast and accurate], but it’s been a little inconsistent. The challenge for me is being able to do that game after game.”

This is an era of exaggerated home advantage and overseas records of a number of fine batsmen are simply collateral damage

Karthik Krishnaswamy16-Aug-20184:34

How do India negate the swinging ball?

In five Tests in South Africa and England this year, India’s fast bowlers have collectively taken 69 wickets at an average of 24.75. All five frontline quicks India have played – Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav – average below 26 across the two tours, and have strike rates of less than 50.These are rare and spectacular numbers. We need to go back 12 years – to 2006 – for the last year in which India’s quicks averaged less than 30 as a collective in Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa, and go back another decade, to 1996, for the next-most-recent instance. It doesn’t happen often.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhy then is no one heralding the birth of a new fast-bowling power in world cricket? In one word, context. India’s fast bowlers have achieved these numbers in conditions unusually loaded in their favour.Ishant’s average across these two tours, 23.20, is on a different planet to his career average of 35.32. He’s an improved bowler now, sure, but not that far improved. He doesn’t bowl rank bad balls, but he still bowls spells where he’s a foot too short and a foot too wide of off stump to really test top batsmen. Shami can look deadly when he lands the ball in the fourth-stump channel with seam bolt upright, but he still bowls spells interspersed with long-hops and leg-stump half-volleys.In the same conditions where Ishant has averaged 23.20 and Shami 21.61, should it surprise India at all that their batsmen have struggled terribly? That too against two of the world’s best fast-bowling attacks in their own backyards?Graphic: India’s pace bowlers have outperformed their career averages this year•ESPNcricinfo LtdThink back to the first Test of this cycle, in Cape Town, and the first session of the second morning. India, three down early, played that session about as well as they could have, losing just the one wicket in green, seaming conditions against a four-man pace attack comparable to the best of West Indies’ fast-bowling packs from the 1980s: Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada.Only 48 runs came in that session of 25 overs, and it was hard to tell how Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma, who batted through the bulk of it, could have scored any more. Over after over, both did most things right – they played with a straight bat and soft hands, and were vigilant outside off stump – but even so, it seemed a matter of time before an unplayable ball or a small error of judgment would arrive. The conditions increased the frequency of the former and magnified the consequences of the latter.Pretty much every innings India have batted in on these two tours has been similar, give or take a couple of degrees of difficulty. The cumulative effect on this batting line-up cannot be overstated. Form can be self-perpetuating, whether it’s good form as in the case of Virat Kohli or bad as in the case of every other India batsman. You can trust in your methods, as Pujara has done, soaking up pressure and avoiding any risk whatsoever, and average 14.75. Or you can change your game and go after balls you might ordinarily leave, as Ajinkya Rahane has done, and average 17.50.Before the series began, Pujara’s form was a major concern, with the No. 3 having endured a terrible season with Yorkshire. “I feel he is one innings away [from a big score],” India coach Ravi Shastri said, when asked about this. “He needs to spend time at the crease. If he gets one 60-70 under his belt, he will be a different player altogether.”A player being “one innings away” from regaining form is one of cricket’s oldest cliches, but it’s also true – a good score calms the mind, fills you with confidence, and gets your footwork and bat-swing back in rhythm. That one innings, however, is exceedingly difficult to come by in conditions like those at Edgbaston or the damp, overcast second day at Lord’s, where, according to CricViz’s data, the ball swung seamed twice as much as the global average.In such conditions, with play constantly interrupted by rain, and against one of the masters of swing and seam in James Anderson, 107 was just about par as a first-innings total. With a bit more luck and a couple of instances of better judgment – Pujara’s run-out in particular – they might have stretched it to 150.In extremely bowler-friendly conditions, the margin between failure and success can be that small. Go back to India’s only win on this cycle of tours, and M Vijay’s second-innings masterclass on a Johannesburg pitch of shockingly inconsistent bounce. It yielded him all of 25 runs. Imagine batting with utmost vigilance for more than three hours, leaving painstakingly outside off stump, taking a battering from rising balls, and ending up with just 25.ESPNcricinfo LtdA Test batsman can expect to be challenged by such conditions occasionally, once or twice a year perhaps. This year, India’s top order has had to endure them week in and week out. There have been no cheap 25s, forget cheap fifties and hundreds. In the era of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, India never went through back-to-back tours in conditions as difficult as this, with New Zealand in 2002-03 perhaps the only comparable single tour.Could India have been better prepared for both South Africa and England? Definitely. Could their batsmen do with a little more mental security, knowing that they aren’t one failure away from being dropped? Undoubtedly. But neither of those issues is the cause of their struggle as a batting unit on these two tours, which is largely down to the conditions they’ve faced.It’s not as if the South African and English batsmen have prospered. Both teams have trusted in the superiority of their pace attacks to win them Test matches, and been willing to sacrifice the records of their own batsmen. Only one of England’s top-order batsmen – Jonny Bairstow – has averaged more than 40 in this series, and only one South African batsman – Dean Elgar – did so in their home series against India in January.It’s not dissimilar to what India did when South Africa came visiting in 2015-16, preparing square turners to weaponise their own spinners and negate an opposition line-up that included Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis.”I don’t mind compromising on [batsmen’s] averages as long as we are winning Test matches,” Kohli said then. “I think that’s our main concern, we are not playing for records, we are not playing for numbers or averages … If you don’t take 20 wickets, you can have an average of 55, it doesn’t matter.”India have gone back to preparing more sporting pitches since then – with Pune 2017 a notable exception – but the rest of the world seems to have absorbed quite a lesson from that 2015-16 series. As we’ve seen from India’s two most recent overseas tours, and South Africa’s just-concluded visit to Sri Lanka, this is an era of exaggerated home advantage. The overseas records of a number of fine batsmen are simply collateral damage.

Australia are set to face Pakistan this week without the services of almost half of their first-choice team. ESPNcricinfo looks back at other Test campaigns that were affected by a spate of significant, and unscheduled, absentees

Andrew Miller06-Oct-2018Australia go into the first Test against Pakistan in the UAE this week without the services, through suspension as well as injury, of almost half of their first-choice team. ESPNcricinfo looks back at six other Test campaigns that were affected by a spate of significant, and unscheduled, absenteesGetty ImagesThe background
The 1977 Ashes had some unquestionably memorable moments – Ian Botham’s debut and Geoff Boycott’s 100th hundred, to name but two – but the series was played out in something of a bewildered haze following the revelation that a host of star names, including almost the entire Australia squad, had agreed terms to play in Kerry Packer’s inaugural season of World Series Cricket. It meant that, come the arrival of India for the start of the Australian Test season in December, the Australian selectors were obliged to dredge up an almost unrecognisable team. Out of retirement, at the age of 41, came the former captain Bob Simpson, to lead a cast of rookies featuring six new caps for the first Test at Brisbane.Missing players
Dennis Lillee, Greg Chappell, Rick McCosker, Ian Redpath, Doug Walters, Ian Davis, David Hookes, Gary Gilmour, Len Pascoe, Mick Malone, Wayne Prior, Max Walker, Ray Bright, Rod Marsh, Richie RobinsonWhat happened next?
In an unexpected boost to the beleaguered ACB, the India series turned out to be a five-match thriller – Australia were pegged back to 2-2 before sealing the decider by 47 runs at Adelaide. But in the longer term there could be only one winner of the stand-off, especially after a 5-1 Ashes trouncing in 1978-79. Packer got what he’d been battling for all along – broadcasting rights to Australia’s home internationals – and the star names returned for the 1979-80 season.***Getty ImagesThe background
For the first two Tests of a Packer-dominated tour, it was the Simpson-led Australia who appeared to have all the problems, as they were routed by a full-strength opposition that appeared to have deftly sidestepped the politics. But then, for the third Test in Guyana, the WICB attempted to play hardball with three young players who had belatedly joined their senior colleagues in signing for WSC. Clive Lloyd resigned in protest and took his senior men with him, leaving a skeleton West Indies side to play on in their absence. Some of the stand-ins, such as the savage and speedy Sylvester Clarke, were unquestionably worthy of picking up the Mean Machine’s mantle. Others less so – notably the opening batsman Alvin Greenidge, who proved to be a poor non-relation of his more illustrious namesake Gordon.Missing players
Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge, Joel Garner, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Richard Austin, Deryck Murray, Colin CroftWhat happened next?
West Indies’ core players were welcomed back after WSC, and brought some important lessons with them – most notably the benefits of fitness, as drilled into them by the physio Dennis Waight, who had been hired by Packer to work with the squad and ended up staying with them for 23 years. They would go unbeaten for 15 of those, up until Australia’s tour of the Caribbean in 1994-95. Many of the players who had stepped in during the stand-off, however, had less fruitful futures. Several signed for the ill-fated rebel tour of South Africa in 1983, and were treated as pariahs on their return.***Getty ImagesThe background
Contracts disputes had become a regular feature of West Indies cricket in the mid-to-late 2000s, but few stand-offs were as dramatic as the one which led to a third-choice Test team taking on – and losing to – Bangladesh for the first time in their history. Thirteen of West Indies’ first-choice names withdrew themselves from selection on the eve of the series and, with several others indicating that they would be unwilling to step up in their place, the WICB was obliged to scour the Combined Colleges and Campuses team to cobble together a faintly serviceable XI. Floyd Reifer, whose previous Test appearance had come ten years earlier, was recalled to captain a side that would feature seven debutants, the most in any West Indies team since their maiden Test in 1928.Missing players
Chris Gayle, Adrian Barath, Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Runako Morton, Brendan Nash, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Andrew Richardson, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome TaylorWhat happened next?
In front of barely a handful of spectators, West Indies were humbled by a Bangladesh team that had lost 52 of its first 59 Tests, and won just the once (against Zimbabwe four years earlier). They did fare slightly better a week later in Grenada but couldn’t prevent a 2-0 series loss. There were a handful of finds amid the debris, however – in particular Darren Sammy and Kemar Roach, who would go on to become stalwarts of the side in future years.***Getty ImagesThe background
England hardly needed to tear their own team apart in the summer of 1989 – Allan Border’s Australians were already doing that job very nicely indeed. But by the fourth Test at Old Trafford, any remaining vestiges of national pride and unity had been scrubbed from the summer. In the course of another crushing defeat, this time by nine wickets, England’s dressing-room was used to plot the announcement of that winter’s rebel tour of South Africa – a trip that was to be led by the recently deposed England captain, Mike Gatting, and would include nine players who had already featured in a dismal Test campaign. And that in itself was telling. The fact that England’s selectors churned through 29 players in the space of six Tests was as much a vindication of the rebels’ frustrations as it was a reaction to the absences they created.Missing players
Mike Gatting, Chris Broad, Graham Dilley, John Emburey, Neil Foster, Paul Jarvis, Bill Athey, Kim Barnett, Chris Cowdrey, Richard Ellison, Bruce French, Matthew Maynard, Tim Robinson, Greg Thomas, Alan Wells, David GraveneyWhat happened next?
England’s fortunes nosedived even further as they were crushed by an innings in the fifth Test at Trent Bridge – Australia’s openers Geoff Marsh and Mark Taylor batted throughout the first day’s play in a stand of 301. But then, with Graham Gooch installed as captain, England embarked on a scarcely credible renaissance. Their victory over the mighty West Indies in Jamaica was a result that ranks among the most jawdropping of all time.***Getty ImagesThe background
Australian Ashes whitewashes have become de rigueur in recent years but, until the meltdowns in 2006-07 and 2013-14, there had been just one clean sweep in the history of the rivalry. That came at the hands of Warwick Armstrong’s men in 1920-21, and irresistible though they proved to be, the margin was exacerbated by England’s sheer lack of readiness after four gruelling years of war. “The tour … resulted, as everyone knows, in disaster,” wrote Wisden with a stiff-upper-lipped lack of sympathy – the deaths of some 700,000 British soldiers in the preceding years had been rather more disastrous. However, it did note that MCC had baulked at sending a touring side a year earlier in 1919-20, rightly concluding that “English cricket had not had time to regain its pre-war standard”.Missing players
CB Fry, SF Barnes, and countless unfulfilled talentsWhat happened next
England’s fortunes didn’t improve in a hurry, as they were crushed by 10 wickets, eight wickets and 219 runs in their first three Tests of the home summer, against the same opponents. But, with Jack Hobbs rekindling his pre-war form, new heroes such as Herbert Sutcliffe and Wally Hammond emerged to join him as the decade progressed.***Getty ImagesThe background
Even by Pakistan’s habitually chaotic standards, 2010 was a year of staggering upheaval. Against Australia at Sydney in January, they lost ignominiously despite a first-innings lead of 206, whereupon their two senior batsmen Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan were banned indefinitely from selection … then unbanned hours later. But that was nothing compared to the mayhem on the England tour seven months later. The spot-fixing scandal erupted midway through the Lord’s Test, leading to bans and jail sentences for Mohammads Amir and Asif, and the new captain Salman Butt.Missing players
Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Salman ButtWhat happened next?
Pakistan’s unrivalled powers of bouncebackability kicked in almost immediately, as Misbah-ul-Haq slotted into the vacant captain’s role and established the parameters of a squad that would rise, within six years, to the top of the ICC Test rankings. A drawn series against South Africa in the UAE was followed by an away win in New Zealand and a creditable draw in the Caribbean, and when they were reunited with England in the spring of 2012, they crushed them 3-0. Which just goes to show, that some teams cope with chaos rather better than others.

Clashes between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have been full of twists and surprises. Here’re five of the best

Liam Brickhill and Mohammad Isam20-Oct-2018Bangladesh and Zimbabwe go as far back as the 1982 ICC Trophy, when they faced each other for the first time. Zimbabwe dominated till 2004, before their team disintegrated and Bangladesh were on the upswing. ESPNcricinfo takes a look at five big moments from Bangladesh-Zimbabwe matches.Bangladesh break the duckFollowing their shocking victory over Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup, Bangladesh lost 71 out of 75 international matches – this at a time when they’d become the tenth Test-playing nation. One pounding after the other had made the World Cup win a distant memory, and that continued into their 2004 tour of Zimbabwe, where they lost the Test series 2-0.It was in the ODI leg that they finally broke their streak. After the first two games were washed out, Bangladesh prevailed in the third, by 14 runs. And they really had to earn it. Fifties from captain Habibul Bashar, Rajin Saleh and Mohammad Ashraful hauled them to 238 for 7 in 50 overs. Mushfiqur Rahman and Mohammad Rafique then stifled Zimbabwe’s middle order, before seamer Tareq Aziz took two late wickets to end a world-record sequence of 47 ODIs without victory.Zimbabwe won the next two games to take the series 2-1, marking the end of the golden era of Grant Flower and Heath Streak. But Bangladesh had a win against Zimbabwe at last, having lost to them since 1982. The next time the two sides would meet, in Bangladesh, Zimbabwe were an unrecognisable outfit.The Aftab-Rafique show on BNS’ farewellTatenda Taibu’s Zimbabwe were very low on experience, but in the 2005 ODI series, they had actually taken a 2-0 lead. Bangladesh fought back with wins in the third and fourth matches to set up a decider at the Bangabandhu National Stadium..A government decision to shift cricket to the Shere Bangla National Stadium, in north of Dhaka, wasn’t welcomed in the fraternity. Nonetheless, it meant this would be the BNS’ last international match.Rafique’s left-arm spin bowled Zimbabwe out for 198 in 49 overs. Sent out to open the innings, he then shared a 150-run second-wicket stand in just 21.4 overs with fellow big-hitter Aftab Ahmed. It was by far the fastest century-stand in Bangladesh’s history. Aftab’s unbeaten 81 came off 87 balls with 10 fours and two sixes, while Rafique cracked seven fours and four sixes in his 66-ball 72.Bangladesh said goodbye to a stadium they had shared with their footballing colleagues with a lap of honour. But even with all the nostalgia, the Aftab-Rafique show had given the fans an inkling into what they may see over the next two years.ESPNcricinfo LtdTaylor’s Miandad momentUndoubtedly one of the greatest matches ever witnessed at Harare Sports Club. Let’s start with the set-up: Zimbabwe had squeaked home by two wickets in the series opener, and Bangladesh bounced back to take the second match by 62 runs.With little to separate the teams, Bangladesh were bowled out for 236 in the third ODI after being put in by captain Prosper Utseya. Bits and pieces from the top order had carried Zimbabwe to 151 for 4 in response, when Shahadat Hossain returned for a second spell and claimed the first hat-trick by a Bangladeshi bowler. The fast bowler nipped out Tafadzwa Mufambisi, Elton Chigumbura and Utseya to leave the hosts punch-drunk and tottering. Then came the fightback that wrote Brendan Taylor and Tawanda Mupariwa into Zimbabwean cricketing lore.With ten overs to go, Zimbabwe needed 83. In the last five, they were still 51 adrift. With 17 needed from the final over, Taylor heaved Mashrafe Mortaza’s second ball over wide long-on and slapped his fourth for a one-handed boundary in the same direction. Hearts stopped when Mupariwa was dramatically run-out, and injured, off the fifth. With his mum and dad looking on, and an entire stadium holding its breath, Taylor faced up to the final ball, needing five to win in an atmosphere of pure lump-in-the-throat adrenaline. “The most important ball of his career … here it goes,” bellowed a breathless Jeremy Fredericks on TV commentary. How did it end? With a gift from Mashrafe: a full toss that Taylor dispatched over midwicket to seal a nerve-wracking win.Zimbabwe’s second comingOn a bright, crisp August morning, Zimbabwe returned to Test cricket after six years of slugging through international cricket’s backwaters. “Back from the wilderness …” said Pommie Mbangwa as he opened coverage of the game. “A grand occasion,” added Alistair Campbell a little later at the toss.It was Shakib Al Hasan who called correctly at the toss, but from the moment he decided to bowl on a pitch that Kepler Wessels called “an absolute beauty”, Zimbabwe took control of the game, showing that they still had currency as a Test side. Vusi Sibanda and Tino Mawoyo – on debut – started with a century stand, before Hamilton Masakadza scored his second hundred (a decade after his first), and in the second innings Taylor added a maiden ton that allowed Zimbabwe to declare and set Bangladesh 375 in four sessions.In between times, a Zimbabwean attack fatefully dismissed as “ordinary” by Tamim Iqbal before the match, snatched a first-innings lead for their side and closed out the game on an exhilarating fifth day. There was a palpable sense of destiny being fulfilled when Kyle Jarvis’ offcutter rapped Robiul Islam’s pads to spark joyous celebrations for the 130-run win at Harare Sports Club.Zimbabwe had won their first Test in more than seven years, with four debutants in their side and a unity of purpose in their preparation and methods. This was their Test comeback, but it also revived something not seen in Zimbabwean cricket for even longer: hope.Desperate Bangladesh sneak throughBangladesh were having a really bad 2014, having lost 22 out of 25 international matches. On top of that, head coach Shane Jurgensen had resigned, the BCB banned Shakib twice, and Mushfiqur Rahim lost his limited-overs captaincy.Against this backdrop, Zimbabwe arrived in Bangladesh having also endured a woeful year, their only high having come in a three-wicket win over Australia in August.Shakib’s six-wicket haul kept them to 240 on the first day of the first Test, before Bangladesh took a slim lead of 14 runs. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 114 in their second innings, with left-arm spinner Taijul Islam taking the first and only eight-wicket haul by a Bangladeshi.But there were a few more twists. In the 101-run chase, Bangladesh lost their first three wickets without a run on the board, with Tamim, Shamsur Rahman and Mominul Haque getting out for ducks, a first in 62 years in Test cricket. Captain Mushfiqur kept his head for more than 90 minutes, before Taijul, the bowling hero, took Bangladesh to a three-wicket win.Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe seven more times during the tour, and then progressed rapidly through the 2015 World Cup and into more home series wins in the next three years. Zimbabwe, meanwhile, went the other way.

And was Pakistan’s Abu Dhabi total the biggest to not include a century?

Steven Lynch23-Oct-2018Fakhar Zaman and Sarfraz Ahmed both made 94 in the same innings in Abu Dhabi. Has this happened before? asked Hemant Kher from the United States
Pakistan’s innings in Abu Dhabi last week was the first in any Test to contain twin 94s, if that’s what you mean. But in Karachi in 1972-73, both Majid Khan and Mushtaq Mohammad were out for 99 in Pakistan’s first innings against England – for whom Dennis Amiss also scored 99 in the match.Mark Taylor and Ricky Ponting (on debut) were both out for 96 for Australia against Sri Lanka in Perth in 1995-96. And VVS Laxman and Irfan Pathan both made 90 for India against Pakistan in Faisalabad in 2005-06.In all there have been no fewer than 56 Test innings that contained two scores of between 90 and 99. The record for a whole match is four, which has happened twice: by New Zealand and England in Christchurch in 1991-92 (Dipak Patel and John Wright both 99, Robin Smith 96, Allan Lamb 93), and by England and West Indies at The Oval in 1995 (Graeme Hick 96, Michael Atherton 95, Richie Richardson 93, Jack Russell 91; Sherwin Campbell also made 89 in this game). With Babar Azam also making 99, the match in Abu Dhabi became the 15th Test to contain three individual nineties (including the match in Karachi mentioned above).The highest repeated score in any Test innings is 234, by Sid Barnes and Don Bradman for Australia against England in Sydney in 1946-47. Barnes wrote in his autobiography, It Isn’t Cricket, that he got out deliberately at the same score, which at the time was the highest for Australia at the SCG: “I preferred to have my name associated with Don’s in holding the joint record. I worshipped him… I hit one high above my head and walked out. In cricketer’s language, I tossed my innings away.”Have any other Pakistanis reached the nineties on Test debut but failed to make a hundred before Fakhar Zaman? asked Kamal Siddiqui from Pakistan
Fakhar Zaman, with his 94 against Australia in Abu Dhabi, was the fourth Pakistani to be out in the nineties on his Test debut. The most agonising miss of all was recorded by Asim Kamal, who was out for 99 against South Africa in Lahore in 2002-03, and never did score a Test hundred. Nor did Abdul Kadir, who made 95 on debut against Australia in Karachi in 1964-65. But Taslim Arif, who started his brief Test career with 90 against India in Calcutta (later Kolkata) in 1979-80, did later make a double-century against Australia.Eleven players have scored a century on Test debut for Pakistan; one of them, Yasir Hameed, actually made two.Fakhar’s match aggregate of 160 (94 and 66) has been exceeded on debut by non-centurions only by Australia’s Bruce Laird, with 167 (92 and 75) against West Indies in Brisbane in 1979-80. Clive Lloyd also made 160 runs on debut (82 and 78 not out) for West Indies against India in Bombay in 1966-67.Is Marnus Labuschagne the first man born in South Africa to play a Test for Australia? asked Nathan Crosby from Australia
Marnus Labuschagne – here’s how his surname is pronounced – who was born in Klerksdorp in South Africa’s North West Province, made his Test debut for Australia in the first Test of the ongoing series against Pakistan, in Dubai. His family moved to Australia in 2004, when he was ten.The only other South African-born man to win a Test cap for Australia is Kepler Wessels, who appeared in 24 matches between 1982-83 and 1985-86, scoring 162 in the first, against England in Brisbane. He later returned to South Africa and played 16 Tests for them too.Hilton Cartwright, who played two Tests for Australia last year, and turned out for Middlesex during the 2018 English season, was born in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, in 1992.Asim Kamal was dismissed for 99 on his Test debut, against South Africa in Lahore in 2003•AFP/Getty ImagesWas Pakistan’s victory in Abu Dhabi the largest not to include an individual century? asked Irshad Hussain from Pakistan
Pakistan’s 373-run victory in Abu Dhabi was the 17th-biggest by runs in all Tests. All the 16 matches above it on the list included at least one individual century. The previous largest margin of victory without one was South Africa’s 340-run win over England at Trent Bridge in 2017, when the highest score was Hashim Amla’s 87.Nathan Lyon claimed four wickets in six balls in Abu Dhabi. Has anyone bettered this in a Test? asked Cameron Mitchell from Australia
Nathan Lyon’s remarkable burst of four for none in six balls on the first morning in Abu Dhabi briefly put Australia in charge during the second Test. The sequence, which spread across two overs, went WW00WW. The only other Australian known to have taken four in six is Jason Gillespie, against England in Perth in 1998-99 (W0WW0W). Despite ending the match with this performance, Gillespie was dropped for the next match; in his next Ashes Test, in 2001 – he had played 11 Tests against other countries in between – he struck with his first delivery, making five wickets in seven balls against England.England’s Ken Cranston took four wickets in a six-ball over against South Africa at Headingley in 1947 (W0WW0W), as did Fred Titmus, also for England at Headingley, against New Zealand in 1965 (W0WW0W). Andy Caddick also took four wickets in an over at Headingley, as England roared to a two-day victory over West Indies in 2000, but that one included a no-ball (W0WW0NW).The others to have taken four wickets in six balls in Tests, spread across two overs, are England’s Willie Bates against Australia in Melbourne in 1882-83 (a wicket fell at the other end during this sequence), Mohammad Sami for Pakistan v Sri Lanka in Lahore in 2001-02 (across two innings), Sohag Gazi for Bangladesh v New Zealand in Chittagong in 2013-14, Trent Boult for New Zealand v West Indies in Wellington in 2013-14, and Kemar Roach for West Indies v Bangladesh at North Sound in 2018.Three men have taken four wickets in five balls in a Test match. The first was England’s Maurice Allom, on his debut, against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1929-30 (his sequence went W0WWW). Another English seamer, Chris Old, followed suit against Pakistan at Edgbaston in 1978, with WWNWW (the third delivery was a no-ball). Wasim Akram joined this exclusive club in 1990-91, for Pakistan against West Indies in Lahore (WW0WW).And there’s one man who has taken four wickets in four balls in Tests, and five in six – but his feat was spread across two different matches. England’s George Lohmann ended the first Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth in 1895-96 with a hat-trick, then struck with his first and third deliveries in the next match, in Johannesburg. (Many thanks to the eminent Melbourne statistician Charles Davis for helping to complete this list.)Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

The Pakistan captain pointed to Babar Azam’s run out as the turning point, while admitting to being disappointed with the shot he himself played to get out

Danyal Rasool19-Nov-2018Despite all the decades of groundwork Pakistan have laid building a reputation of unpredictability, nothing could have prepared their fans for this. The post-lunch capitulation on Monday in a target of 176 – what is it with that number and Pakistan? – was so improbable, it caught even the ever-pessimistic Pakistan public by surprise. This is a fan base that has turned the name of its team into both an adjective and a verb, that, when things go uniquely wrong, resignedly explain it away as “a Pakistan kind of performance”.However, it was difficult to accept even Pakistan could lose a match from the position they were in, and it played out like bad satire. From 147 for 4, with 29 runs to win, Pakistan were bowled out for 171, handing the team their narrowest, and perhaps most painful, Test defeat.Sarfraz Ahmed, sounding as disconsolate as a man in his position should be, bemoaned the “soft wickets” his side had given New Zealand. “Things were completely in our control and we wasted the opportunity,” he said after the match. “Nobody played a long innings. All the dismissals were soft dismissals. We will have to look at all this as set batsmen got out cheaply and you saw that happening in first innings as well. After getting starts, we did not carry on and we will have to look at this.”In classic Test matches like this one, which will be talked about in years, if not decades to come, there’s always an element of sympathy for the side on the wrong side of the result. Think of a devastated Brett Lee being consoled by Andrew Flintoff at Edgbaston in 2005, the shattered look on David Warner’s face in Hobart in 2011 when he carried his bat while New Zealand came away with a seven-run win. Anyone sympathising with this Pakistan team, however, clearly couldn’t have watched the match.”Soft”, as Sarfraz called it, was an understatement. The way several batsmen, particularly in the manic last hour, gave away their wickets – that phrase is exact – would see Sunday league players fear for their places in their respective sides, or at least serious questions raised about their aptitude. There was Hasan Ali at the end, of course, trying to hit a six when he was better off giving Azhar Ali company – ditto Bilal Asif.Sarfraz himself found a particularly disagreeable way to get out, sweeping at a ball that wasn’t full enough for the shot, gloving it in the air. It was the second time he fell to Ajaz Patel in that manner this match. The sweep may be his favourite shot, but increasingly under pressure, the Pakistan captain seems to bring it out to avoid playing sharp spin with a straight bat. “I’m very disappointed that I couldn’t preform with the bat. I’m disappointed with the shot I played and got out,” Sarfraz admitted.Ajaz Patel shakes hands with Sarfraz Ahmed•AFPAnd then there was Babar Azam’s run out, according to Sarfraz the wicket that started it all. “We didn’t handle the pressure well is what I would say. When we had 40 [29 runs left to win] runs, that run out for Babar was the turning point. Our collapse started from there. I would say we didn’t handle the pressure well.”It is very upsetting to say the least. The way we started off yesterday, we felt we would get through to the target easily. But then we lost three wickets before Asad Shafiq and Azhar struck up a good partnership. The pitch’s behaviour on all four days has been the same. It was important for set players to play on it and capitalise on their starts. We have seen throughout this match that as soon as wickets fall, the teams collapsed, be it us or them.”As far as the chase goes, we should have achieved that target and it a huge disappointment for the team.”The pressure on Sarfraz was supposed to ease after this match, with Pakistan looking to convince fans the series against Sri Lanka last year had simply been an aberration. However, with Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan’s void nowhere close to being filled, and Sarfraz miles from the batsman he was when not laden with the responsibility of captaincy, it is unclear where Pakistan go from here.For most of the past decade, Sydney 2010 has been the byword for Pakistan at their worst, but it is Abu Dhabi 2018 that takes centre-stage on that list now. Sydney put paid to Kamran Akmal’s future as a Test match wicketkeeper for Pakistan, with none other than Sarfraz making his debut in the following Test. With his place in the Test side, as captain, wicketkeeper and batsman, never more publicly under the microscope than it has been of late, Sarfraz of all people will know how much work he has to do if he is to avoid suffering an eerily circular fate over the coming weeks and months.

We take a look at some of the most interesting numbers ahead of the Ranji Trophy 2018-19 semi-finals

Hemant Brar23-Jan-2019As Saurashtra and Karnataka and Vidarbha and Kerala get ready for their Ranji Trophy 2018-19 semi-final engagements, here are some interesting numbers to chew on.Vidarbha31 – Runs Wasim Jaffer needs to score to become the first to reach the 1000-run mark in a season more than once. Playing for Mumbai in 2008-09, he had scored 1260 runs from 16 innings at 84.00. This time, he has 969 runs from 12 innings at an average of 80.75.1 – Among the four semi-finalists, Jaffer is the only one to score a double-century this season.4 – There have been only five 500-plus team totals this season, and Vidarbha have registered four of them.6 – Number of wickets Aditya Sarwate needs to break Akshay Wakhare’s record of most wickets for Vidarbha (49 in 2015-16) in a season. The left-arm spinner has 44 wickets from nine games at an average of 21.02 so far.Kerala0 – The number of Kerala batsmen with a batting average of 50 or more this season. Akshay Chandran has the highest average with 45.00 (135 runs from seven innings).23.50 – Difference between Jalaj Saxena’s batting and bowling averages. In eight matches, he has scored 537 runs at 44.75 and taken 28 wickets at 21.25.0 – Kerala’s Ranji final appearances; among the four semi-finalists, Kerala are the only ones to have never reached the title round.Karnataka1 – Karnataka batsmen with a higher batting average than Vinay Kumar this season. Vinay has scored 312 runs from nine innings at 62.40. Only Manish Pandey – 351 runs at 70.20 – has done better.5 – Karnataka bowlers with 20 or more wickets this season – Shreyas Gopal (31 wickets at an average of 21.83), Ronit More (30 at 19.20), J Suchith (24 at 19.45), Abhimanyu Mithun (22 at 21.63) and K Gowtham (20 at 20.20). None of the other semi-finalists have more than three in that list.1786 – Balls faced by Dega Nishchal – the most by anyone among the four semi-finalists. In 18 innings, Nishchal has scored 620 runs at 36.47 with three centuries and as many fifties.Saurashtra6 – Saurashtra batsmen with centuries this season – the joint-most with Kerala among the semi-finalists. However, Saurashtra are the only team with no batsman who has scored more than one century.5 – Number of wickets Dharmendrasinh Jadeja needs to become the first Saurashtra bowler to take 50 wickets in a single season. So far, Jadeja has taken 45 wickets from nine matches at 28.15.16 – Catches taken by Harvik Desai so far – the joint-most for Saurashtra in a single season. Sheldon Jackson had the same number in 2015-16. The overall record belongs to Jaffer, who had taken 23 catches for Mumbai in 2003-04.

Gayle and Rahul’s Powerplay strategy, Agarwal’s blitz and R Ashwin’s bowling change central to Kings XI’s victory

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Mar-2019Yuvraj Singh warmed many old hearts with his fluent bat swing and epic timing as he picked Yuzvendra Chahal for three consecutive sixes in Bengaluru. Against Kings XI on Saturday, though, he struggled to get going against their wristspinner Murugan Ashwin.Yuvraj has traditionally been a good player of legspin, but his recent IPL numbers don’t make for great reading: he’s been dismissed nine times by legspinners in 25 innings since 2015, averaging 17.4 and striking it at 120. It is a steep fall from corresponding numbers of 57.5 and 164.1, and in line with his diminished IPL returns in recent years.Ashwin immediately pushed Yuvraj on the backfoot, tossing a googly first ball to fox the veteran left-hander straightaway. It seemed like the Kings XI think tank had done their homework proper: Overall, Ashwin would end up bowling nine deliveries to Yuvraj, four of which were googlies. The last of those got him, as he went for the slog sweep only to be caught at deep square leg. The googly was Ashwin’s go-to ball: he had 14 wrong ‘uns, giving away 13 runs while picking a prize catch.”The googlies were sticking on the pitch much more than the legspinners probably because of the over-spin, so I used them a lot more,” Ashwin told in the innings break.His spell meant Mumbai Indians lost their way in the middle overs (7-15). In the previous two matches, despite losing wickets, they had accelerated, making 88 and 87 runs in those eight overs. Today they only managed 69. Ashwin bowled four of those: 7th, 9th, 12th, and 15th, ending up with exceptional figures of 4-0-25-2.The omission of Mujeeb Ur Rehman might have surprised a few, but Ashwin made a telling statement as he finished Kings XI’s best bowler.Getty ImagesGayle-Rahul get off to their slowest start. What happened there?
Chris Gayle and KL Rahul managed just 38 in the Powerplay, their slowest return since joining forces last year. In comparison, Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock walloped 62 for Mumbai Indians. Rahul had smashed a 14-ball 50 last year in Mohali. Saturday was his slowest IPL start, while facing a minimum of 15 balls. Kings XI played out 20 dot balls in the first six overs, with Rahul playing out nine of those. And while Gayle had 28 (20 balls) to Rahul’s 10 (16 balls), both batsmen struggled to counter the slowness of Lasith Malinga. But, their manner of offsetting the slow start made a telling difference.First, Gayle broke the shackles with a couple of big sixes off Hardik Pandya, becoming the first IPL batsman to 300 sixes in the process. He fell soon trying to smoke another one into the stands, which brought Mayank Agarwal in.Getty ImagesAgarwal sets the pace, lets Rahul find his touchAgarwal has been in scintillating touch so far this season. His 34-ball 58 came in a losing cause in a steep chase against Kolkata Knight Riders the other night, but back on home turf, he raced to 21 off 10 balls, even while Rahul found his range. Rahul hit just one boundary in his first 35 balls, his first six came off his 38th, but by then, Agarwal had played the impact innings of the game: a 21-ball 43 that had brought the equation down to 60 off 40 balls. Rahul eventually found his boundary-hitting form towards the end, finishing with an unbeaten 66 to take them home.