The format, the players, the rules… and the possibility of a gesture or two in support of the BLM movement

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jul-20203:55

What exactly is the 3TC?

What exactly is the 3TC?
Well, three-team cricket is what it is, but that can’t mean much to you unless you have been following the updates from the first day. In case you don’t, here’s the lowdown. There will be three teams (obviously), of eight players each, called Eagles, Kingfishers and Kites. But it’s no triangular series, because the three teams will play the match, with the proceeds helping with relief for people, within the cricket industry in South Africa, who have been affected by Covid-19. The match – between teams led by AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks – will be played over 36 overs in two halves of 18 overs each. Each team will bat for one combined innings of 12 overs, facing the two opponents for six overs each, one of them in the first half and one in the second. The sequence for each team will be: bat, bowl, dugout, with a draw (toss of sorts) deciding which team bats first. Once the first half is done, the team with the highest score will bat first and the one with the lowest score will bat last – in case of a tie, the order of the first half is reversed.Getty Images It might make for odd viewing, but if a team loses seven wickets, the unbeaten batsman can continue batting. All right, clarification: if a team loses seven wickets with some balls remaining in their first six overs, their first hit ends there and then, some balls unused. But the not-out batsman can come out and bat alone in the second half, but can only score in even numbers – 2, 4 and 6. For the bowling side, each bowler can bowl three overs, and all their 12 overs are bowled with the same ball. And, finally, whoever gets the most runs wins gold, followed by silver and bronze, and in case of a tie among the top-two teams, we get a Super Over. If all three teams end on the same number of runs, they all win gold. And if we have a clear winner but a tie between the other two, they both win silver.ALSO READ: No more player tests, CSA certain of Covid-19-free 3TCHopefully that makes sense, even if it’s a bit difficult to visualise it. But it might be fun. The tournament website promises “an unrelenting and ever-changing contest that keeps captains (and fans) on a knife-edge as they strategise against two opponents at the same time”. It will be quite frenetic, that’s for sure.Also, DYK: Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher were involved in the developmental phase of the format.Who are playing?
Of the three captains named at the start, only de Villiers remains. Kagiso Rabada was originally named captain of Kingfishers, but dropped out because of the death of a family member, and was replaced as the captain by Heinrich Klaasen. But on the eve of the game, Klaasen was replaced by Reeza Hendricks as the organisers lent their support to the Black Lives Matter movement.Then, on the morning of the match*, it was announced that de Kock, the original captain of Kites, was out because of personal reasons, and had been replaced by Temba Bavuma.ALSO READ: Rabada, Morris to miss 3TC carnival in CenturionHere’s what the squads look like at the end of all the updates, including Kingfishers losing the services of Chris Morris and Eagles Sisanda Magala.Kingfishers: Reeza Hendricks (capt), Heinrich Klaasen, Janneman Malan, Faf du Plessis, Thando Ntini, Gerald Coetzee, Glenton Stuurman, Tabraiz Shamsi
Coach: Mignon du Preez
Kites: Temba Bavuma (capt), Jon-Jon Smuts, David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Anrich Nortje, Ryan Rickleton
Coach: Wandile Gwavu
Eagles: AB de Villiers (capt), Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Andile Phehlukwayo, Bjorn Fortuin, Junior Dala, Lungi Ngidi
Coach: Geoffrey Toyana
Hang on, is it safe to play right now, with the pandemic still very much on?
Erm…Okay, first things first: the game is at Centurion, which is in Gauteng province, which is currently being seen as the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa.But Cricket South Africa is pretty confident of things working out fine. And here are a couple of experts, who might not have the same points of view, but give us a pretty good picture.”The players were tested before they left their homes to enter the bubble which means the risk of asymptomatic carriers was addressed. It is expected that players will be asked symptom questions daily and will report if they are feeling unwell. Any further testing would be a waste of limited testing supplies” – Prof Ian Sanne”The current government protocols do not ensure complete safety but we need to balance out the need to get the economy and sport going against the growing pandemic” – Dr Jason SuterIf you want more on the subject, or want some other details about the tournament and the players, here’s what Firdose Moonda sent in earlier today.Faf du Plessis has indicated that he might take a knee during the game•Getty ImagesWasn’t there a delay of some sort?
Yes, and it might not have been a bad thing, considering the pandemic. Not that it’s gone away, but still…They had planned to have it on June 27, but the South African government scuppered those plans because CSA hadn’t obtained the necessary approvals from the sports ministry. CSA also required an approval from the country’s department of health, which it didn’t have at that stage. As reported by ESPNcricinfo, CSA had jumped the gun in announcing the date, which came after Smith, the CSA director of cricket, announcing that all boxes had been ticked.It’s happening now, though, so all is well. And we hope it ends well too.ALSO READ: du Plessis on racism in South African cricket: ‘All lives don’t matter until black lives matter’And what about the developments around the Black Lives Matter movement – should we expect to see any gestures?
Indeed. It started in South African cricket with Lungi Ngidi, and has since snowballed into a big debate. Soon after Ngidi spoke of “making a stand”, some former white cricketers, including prominent ones like Pat Symcox and Brian McMillan, criticised him for not bringing up the killings of predominantly white farmers in South Africa. Since then, some of the biggest names in the country have come out in support of Ngidi and BLM, including Hashim Amla and, in the latest update, Faf du Plessis and four other white Afrikaans cricketers.On the eve of the game, Hendricks replaced Klaasen as Kingfishers’ captain after the tournament organisers threw their support behind the Black Lives Matter movement. “It is important to stand by our convictions and to set the right example in everything we do,” CSA Acting CEO Dr Jacques Faul said in a statement. “Cricket South Africa stands for equal opportunity and showcasing our country’s talent and its diversity.”What should we expect to see on the field – well, no BLM logos on the shirts, it seems, because the kits had already been printed, but Smith did say last week that the players were thinking about innovative ways to show their support. Dwaine Pretorius and du Plessis have indicated that they would be taking a knee during the game. So enough to watch out for on Saturday, that’s for sure.

“I wanted to do something really special and make sure I was there till the end as well and finish the job’

Chinmay Vaidya25-Sep-2020Jess Kerr remembers getting the call.”Do you know what happened to Amelia?”The New Zealand women’s team had played an ODI against Ireland overnight. Since the match wasn’t televised, Jess hadn’t caught any of the action. She didn’t know yet what her sister had accomplished.”I just thought, ‘Oh yea she would’ve got a 50 or a few wickets’,” Jess recalled.Technically, she wasn’t wrong. At one point, Amelia Kerr did have 50 and a few wickets.”Then I checked the scoreboard and I was like ‘Oh my goodness that is insane’.”ALSO READ: The irresistible rise of Amelia Kerr, New Zealand’s ‘once-in-a-generation’ prospectThe scoreboard from June 13, 2018 revealed 232 not out to Amelia Kerr’s name with 31 boundaries and two sixes. Amelia had become the youngest cricketer, male or female, to hit a double hundred in an ODI. She was the second woman to reach a double century in a one-day match and the eighth cricketer overall to hit the milestone and now held the third-highest individual score in the format.”It was the first time I got the opportunity to open the batting, so I wanted to make the most of that opportunity,” Amelia recalled.She relished the chance to start the innings with in partnership with Amy Satterthwaite, someone Amelia says she watched a lot growing up and considers one of the best cricket brains around. She also got to watch Leigh Kasperek, normally her bowling partner, reach her first century.”My dad always told me once you get to a hundred make it big. Lots of people get out as soon as they get a hundred,” Amelia said. “Once I was in that zone, I wanted to do something really special and make sure I was there till the end as well and finish the job.”Amelia Kerr took three wickets in an over•Getty ImagesAmazingly, Amelia’s record-setting double hundred was only half of her total contribution to New Zealand’s 305-run win.”I checked the wickets too and it was five wickets,” Jess remembered.After batting through 50 overs, Amelia didn’t think her eventual five-wicket haul was going to happen. Even a nap during the innings break couldn’t shake the toll of a double hundred.”I didn’t think I was going to bowl,” Amelia said. “[Then captain] Suzie Bates told me to warm up and I was pretty sore, but again you’re representing your country and every time I have the ball or bat in my hand I want to do the best I can.”Amelia bowled seven overs, taking five wickets and conceding just 17 runs. “For me once I had the ball in hand it was just bowling, trying to bowl consistently and set batters up for plans and I sort of happened to get five wickets,” she said.”I’m very proud of her. Can’t really believe it still,” Jess said”I guess it was just one of those days where everything seemed to go your way,” Amelia added.Everything except for the law, that is. “I think I was too young to buy lottery tickets then,” Amelia said. “Should’ve got one of the girls to though.”Following her historic match, Amelia received her first central contract with New Zealand in August 2018. In June 2020, Jess joined her sister with a contract of her own following an appearance at the Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia.The duo are now back in Australia for the limited-overs tour as the women’s game resumes in the Covid-world, the pandemic having caused the ODI World Cup that was due to be held in New Zealand next February and March to be pushed back to 2022.”To be able to play in front of your friends and family for a tour is really special, but for a World Cup is a step higher. To be in a final for that would just be incredible especially with sort of the year that’s been happening too,” Jess said. “It’s good motivation.””There’s nothing like playing at home,” Amelia said. “Other countries coming over to New Zealand and experiencing the culture, playing in front of friends and family, you can’t beat that. It would be a big event for women’s sport in New Zealand.”

The men do know what they need to do – if only they did it often enough

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Jan-2021Batting conscience: All right, we’ve got a lead of 37. Nice one. I mean, it could have been more, but in these conditions, 37 is nothing to scoff at. They’ll be worried. Lasith Embuldeniya only needs stare at their openers for them to wet themselves. Most of their batting order doesn’t look too comfortable. But there’s that bloody Joe Root. Getting outside the line, sweeping the offies, reverse-sweeping the left-arm spinner like a demon, using the depth of the crease. Fu! He’s in ridiculous touch, and we have to make sure we put the lead beyond him. Let’s get ourselves in, get some partnerships going. Really knuckle down today. I’m feeling good. We’ve got this.Batsman: Hahah yeeaah, s***w you, I’m not doing any of that.Conscience: Uhh, what?Batsman: Look, buddy, I’ve listened to you for the last two innings. We’ve passed 350 twice. We’ve applied ourselves just like you said and very seriously blocked out James Anderson and, oh, so carefully batted longer than a day and gritted it out and showed restraint and ohmygod I’m falling asleep just thinking about it. But I’m sick of that negative approach trash. It’s “me” time now.Conscience: Got to say I’m a bit surprised. You do know the Test and the series are on the line, right? And that they won the first Test, and they’ve won their last four in a row in Sri Lanka? Do you really want to be the team that gave up five Tests out of five to England?Batsman: Wow, look at Mr Booksmarts over here. Lighten up, bro. Hahah.Related

• Mickey Arthur bemoans poor batting after second Test goes 'horribly wrong' for Sri Lanka

• Dom Sibley breaks out of slump to help see England home

• Dickwella's dance of destruction. Or creation. Or whatever it is

• Embuldeniya's unsexy virtues put him on the right path

Conscience: I feel like you’re really not listening to reason. But ok, look, just to get on the same wavelength, I’ll cut you a deal. What if you get out there, and play your first 30 balls normally? Once you’ve got yourself going and are feeling good, then we can talk about aggressive shots.Batsman: Man, 30 balls! Are you joking? That’s like, six overs or something, right? Like a whole powerplay? You want me to bat out a powerplay? It’s not the year 1900.Conscience: [Sighs deeply] First of all this is a Test match. Secondly 30 balls is just five ov….Batsman: Gaaaaaaawd listen to yourself talk, Grandpa. Live life. You’re in Galle, bud. Look at that ocean, those coconut trees swaying. Smell the flowers man like the hummingbirds in the garden over there…Conscience: Ok but Sri Lanka has no hummingbi…Batsman: And another thing. How are you gonna tell me to be worried when their spinners are Jack Leach and Dom Bess, man? They’re playing at Galle and couldn’t even get a single wicket in the first innings.Be a bit more like Joe Root? Sure, reverse sweep coming up…•SLCConscience:They literally got 14 wickets between them in the last match, which they won.Batsman: Oh, but that was a fluke. You know it was a fluke. I know it was a fluke. Everyone knows it was a fluke. You can’t read into that. We just batted reeeeaaally badly in that first innings.Conscience: What do you think I’m trying to stop you from doing again?Batsman: Whoa, hey. This is your problem. You’re so tense all the time. You saw how Joe Root scored all his runs yesterday, he was loose and positive and fun. And he swept the ball. Did you see those sweeps? I’m definitely going to get me a piece of that. Anyway, you should be more like Root.Conscience: No, should be more like Root you idio… [Inhales] Look, so if you’re going to sweep, can you promise me that you’re not going to try the slog sweep too early, and that you’re going to sweep with the turn?Batsman: Sure.Conscience: Really?Batsman: Haaaah, ok, you got me. No, not at all. I’m just going to sweep, man. With the spin, against the spin, non-slog, slog, what’s even the difference?Conscience: There’s a GIGANTIC difference!Batsman: Uhhh, only if you’re not very good at executing your shots, duh. Did I mention we scored 350-plus in the last two innings?Conscience: [Sighs] Against my judgment, I’m going to try one more time. Your poor team-mate Lasith Embuldeniya has bowled 42 overs in the first innings, which just wrapped up this morning. He’s probably going to be our main threat again in the second innings. If for no other reason, then just for him, can you please make sure the team bats a couple of sessions?Batsman: For Embula? Sure, I’ll bat carefully for him.Conscience: You won’t, will you?Batsman: Nope. Not at all.

Essex batsman starred on England Lions’ 2019-20 tour Down Under

Matt Roller12-Nov-2020″I just love Australia.” An unusual sentence to hear from a promising England batsman, perhaps, but one that makes perfect sense in Dan Lawrence’s case.After various stints in grade cricket, including on an ECB placement working with the renowned batting coach Neil ‘Noddy’ Holder, Lawrence went on England Lions’ tour Down Under last winter and scored heaps of runs – 493 of them to be precise, in six innings across formats. Not since Kevin Pietersen in 2003-04 had an England ‘A’ player caught the eye to such an extent on a second-string tour, and Lawrence’s performances did not go unnoticed by the powers that be.Circumstances conspired to deny him the breakthrough summer that many had anticipated, but Lawrence is returning to Australia this winter for his first stint in a major overseas T20 competition, after signing for five games with the Brisbane Heat. It will not be lost on him that if he is back again the following year, there is every chance it will be as part of an England Ashes squad.”It’s a place I love playing,” Lawrence says. “The wickets are really good so it’s a brilliant place to bat. But I also just love the country. I feel at ease there. It’s such a great place to play. I’m really looking forward to heading out – I just love Australia.”Dan Lawrence starred on England Lions’ tour of Australia last winter•Getty Images for ECBJust getting the chance for regular cricket will be a step-up from Lawrence’s summer experience. In the midst of the pandemic, the need to keep a number of reserves alongside the England squad meant that for players on the fringes of the Test team like him, James Bracey and Jack Leach, there was no real opportunity to put performances on the board in county cricket.Instead, he will have to hope that he impressed sufficiently while training with the Test team, and continue to score as many runs as he can when the opportunity comes. He admits to some level of disappointment about not being given a chance for a Test debut, but is more positive than many about the bubble experience.ALSO READ: Technical tweaks trigger Lawrence’s stellar Lions form”It was quite an odd summer,” he says. “I was obviously desperate to get out there. It was amazing to be involved in the squad – yeah, I was a bit disappointed not to get a go, but I understand why [I didn’t] and it was good to be in the mix. There’s only a certain amount you can actually do without playing but I trained really well and enjoying being with all the lads. Hopefully I left quite a good impression.”I definitely didn’t find it [living in a bubble] horrendous. There was the odd moment when I wanted to get out into the outside world – even little things like going out for a coffee and stuff like that. But with what’s going on, you can’t, and it’s quite a nice position to be in, being involved with England. You’ve got to take the good with the bad.”After a short break from the game following the death of his mother Claire, Lawrence returned to Essex for the final months of the season and admits that he did not contribute in the way he would have liked, averaging a shade below 30 in both the Bob Willis Trophy – which Essex won – and the T20 Blast.”It was a tough one, being put straight back in. I think I only batted five or six times in red-ball cricket. In the T20s I’d have liked a few more runs [but] I felt like I only batted a handful of times, so it was tough to get into any sort of real rhythm.”He will get a chance – albeit a brief one – to find that rhythm in the Big Bash, where he is set to be one of more than a dozen English overseas players. With multiple offers for a short-term deal on the table, he opted for Brisbane Heat due to the opportunity to work under Darren Lehmann’s stewardship, as well as Chris Lynn’s captaincy. His suitability as an overseas player is helped by his experience on the pitches being used early in the season, as well as his proficiency against spin and the fact he offers teams an extra bowling option with his whirly offbreaks.Dan Lawrence and Shaheen Shah Afridi share a laugh•Getty Images”Having people like that around you out there is the brilliant thing about franchise cricket. You can only keep on learning. I’ll definitely be badgering a few people, and there should be more time for it [than usual], sitting in a few hotel rooms.”The Big Bash is a competition that I’ve always wanted to be involved in: I think they market it so well and it looks like such an inviting league to go and play in. I’m only there for five games so if I can turn up and make a score in two or three of them, put in big performances and catch the right people’s eyes then I’ll take it from there.”In addition to the BBL, Lawrence has been retained by the London Spirit in the Hundred ahead of its 2021 launch. He suggests it was not a difficult decision to re-sign with the opportunity to work with Eoin Morgan and Shane Warne on the table, but maintains that despite penning two short-form deals simultaneously, there is no doubt as to his preferred format.”I think red-ball cricket is always going to be my bread and butter. It’s always going to be the format that I’m most desperate to play in, and even though these leagues and opportunities are brilliant, I think trying to play for England in Test cricket is the ultimate goal. Who knows, hopefully in the next 12-24 months I can get the nod.”I’ve just got to try and bang out the runs as much as possible, and put pressure on the boys who are currently in those spots any way that I possibly can. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, and I’ve got to keep scoring runs to do it. I love T20 cricket, but I think red-ball cricket is always going to be my number one.”

A confounder of expectations, since late last year he has been the team’s mainstay in T20

Osman Samiuddin09-May-2021Sometime in 2012, around three years on from his first-class debut, Mohammad Rizwan confronted a career choice. And as this is professional sport, let’s recognise the reality and call it a life choice: get it right, survive, hopefully thrive; get it wrong, say hello to a life that begins with a snowflake of regret and ends in a snowball of bitterness and anger.To an extent he had already made it. He was playing first-class cricket for Peshawar and had a job with WAPDA, a prominent department, where, potentially, he could end up playing for their side with its attendant attractions of better cricket infrastructure and a secure financial future.Now, however, SNGPL – the domestic powerhouse of the day, who had nearly half the Pakistan side in their ranks – came calling. Rizwan had attracted the attention of their coach, Basit Ali, during a Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division Two game in October 2011. Rizwan, a wicketkeeper, wasn’t even playing that game – he hadn’t played a first-class game for two years. But – and this is a Pakistani story – he came on as a substitute for Riaz Afridi (older brother of Shaheen), who had broken his finger, and took a catch at third slip. This must have been some catch because Ali decided then that he Rizwan at SNGPL. When, just over a month later, Rizwan played against SNGPL – this time in the division final – and scored 46 and took eight catches, SNGPL made him a formal offer.Here was the choice. Stay with Peshawar, keep working at WAPDA. He was averaging over 40 with the bat but playing with and mostly among weaker regional sides – a growing fish in a smallish pond. Or move among the whales of the ocean but as a tiny fish. He sought advice from several people. Every single one told him to stick with what he had, because at least he’d be playing regularly. At the star-studded SNGPL there was no guarantee of first-team action. The sole dissenter, an old coach of his, said he should move, because even if he didn’t get into the XI, at least he’d be learning around the best players in Pakistan.Rizwan moved. In his first innings for SNGPL, he top-scored. Against WAPDA.And the boy can keep: Rizwan pulls off an acrobatic run-out against South Africa earlier in the year•AFP / Getty ImagesEvery choice reveals a trace of its maker and in this choice was an early idea of the kind of person Rizwan might become. Unafraid to move against prevailing opinion. And given that he swiftly became a mainstay in that elite SNGPL side, a confounder of people’s expectations.In the years since, it has all crystallised into the more concrete shape we see before us: arguably Pakistan’s most important cricketer after the 2019 World Cup. All of what came before makes the most sense right here in this rich phase of his career.That he became a cricketer against the wishes of his father. That he was called “Jonty” when growing up in tape-ball cricket because he didn’t care about terrain when diving around. That he would wake up at dawn, first for prayers and then practice, a time of day when every cell in every human’s body rebels against that exact act.That his wicketkeeping credo is that he’d rather break any bone than let a ball go past him because leaked runs are a pain that will never go. That no bitterness emanates from him from the time of Sarfaraz Ahmed’s captaincy, when there was a near-paranoid aversion to picking Rizwan as a back-up in the Pakistan squad. That despite being warned by Mickey Arthur to expect bouncers on his Test debut and to be judicious, he told him, “Mickey, I don’t leave bouncers, if I get one I’m going to play it.” That he then did get a bouncer first ball and that he hooked it straight to the fielder at deep square leg. That he then didn’t play another Test for three years but said he’d play that way again because the hook is shot. That, when he returned to New Zealand four years later and Pakistan had lost two wickets in the previous over, now as a stand-in captain he hooked the first bouncer he faced five balls into his innings.That he plays while fasting when he could well afford to miss fasts and make up for them later in the year. That he went to England last year having never kept there before, and – in conditions acknowledged as the toughest for the uninitiated – was flawless. And not least, that when the situation spells trouble and doom for everyone, it makes the mood for him; that what this means in plainer terms is, since the start of the England tour last year, he has arrived at the crease at Nos. 6 or 7, with Pakistan, on average, 115 for 4 or 91 for 5, and he has averaged 55.83 and 47.8 respectively, with a hundred and five fifties altogether in those situations.Challenge him at your peril. Question him with extreme caution. Best idea? Don’t, because he’ll make you look silly.Still, it’s one thing to shatter people’s expectations or go against received wisdom. To do what Rizwan has done in the last few months as a T20 batter goes far beyond merely proving people wrong. What he has done is prove himself right: infinitely more challenging – but rewarding – because unlike the praise of others, self-acceptance can’t be faked.He is unrecognisable from the T20 batter he was this time last year. In one way that’s easy because he wasn’t a T20 batter this time last year. By the start of 2020, Rizwan had played 95 T20s with a strike rate – 115 – that never let any conversation about him as a format player begin. In the 2020 PSL, he played two games for Karachi Kings, faced one ball, and was otherwise understudy to Chadwick Walton. That did that not feel unjust.Suddenly now, since December last year, he has been among the leading T20 batters in the world. In that period, Rizwan tops ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats batting rating charts for batters who have played at least ten matches (114 players in total). Given we’re in an age where batting roles are becoming increasingly separate and specialised, it’s a little unreal he has done this while simultaneously becoming Pakistan’s most reliable Test bat.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe biggest difference is that he is now opening. Before 2020, Rizwan had opened eight times in 75 innings in all T20s; since then he has done so 26 times in 33. Much of that was down to the domestic sides he played in already having settled openers. Nobody ever considered him an opener, despite Rizwan knowing he’d be good at it. No surprises that it took him becoming captain for him to start opening consistently, at the National T20 Cup last October, for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Yet though he ended up as one of the tournament’s highest run getters, Pakistan most likely would not have opened with him had it not been for Babar Azam breaking a thumb on the tour to New Zealand. Until then, Rizwan’s T20I career was much like his T20 career. He had batted at seven different positions in 15 innings until he opened in Auckland; in domestic T20s he hadn’t batted more than a quarter of his innings in any one position. Nobody really knew what kind of T20 player he was, or whether he even was one – other than Rizwan himself.And then, having been criticised for two innings of 17 (17 balls) and 22 (20), he hit a 59-ball 89 in the third game, an innings that has become a fair template for how he operates best. He was energetic through the powerplay with 29 off 23, rather than shredding it apart; there was an extra gear available depending on circumstance through the next phase, with 41 off 27; then a blitz of 19 off nine through the death.ESPNcricinfo LtdSince the start of December in all T20s, Rizwan’s strike rate through the three phases is 133.55, 132.24 and 201. He can go harder in that middle phase (post-powerplay to the 16th) and as in Auckland, often has done. His striking at the death is no small deal in Pakistan’s context.That’s kind of a point about this run, that Rizwan is often enough found at the death. Eight times in the 18 innings in this period, in fact. The run has seen him hit a hundred (at the time, only Pakistan’s second in T20Is), a pair of 80s, a pair of 70s, and an unbeaten 91. These are daddy T20 scores.Big individual scores are slippery measures in this format, even if, in this case, each of those six innings led to a win and – an even more slippery measure – four match awards. Instead, an instructive gauge is the trade-off between the time he spends at the crease and his boundary-hitting. In this period, 30 batters have faced at least 300 balls in all T20s. The median balls-per-boundary (BpB) of these players is 5.6 and Rizwan’s is 5.4. It’s a tight list outside the top three: Jos Buttler, with a BpB of 4.9, is fifth while Rizwan is 14th.But among batters with a better BpB than Rizwan, nobody comes close to matching his consistency in keeping it going – his average, in other words, of 73.4. Devon Conway is next best and not really close, averaging 58.7 with a BpB of 5.3. In the entire list of 30, Baroda’s Kedar Devdhar’s average is closest, at 69.8 but his BpB is 6.7. Rizwan goes big, in other words, he can go hard.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe plank, by all accounts, has been an expansion in the range of his shot-making. But equally it is that we are only now discovering the T20 game he has never been able to show us. That range, by the way, is not just about different shots but also different aesthetics, like he is mimicking different strands and traditions depending on what shot he’s playing. His driving, for example, works off fairly orthodox but minimal movements. The timing in these would be unmatched were he not in a batting order with Azam and Mohammad Hafeez.There’s some give in those wrists when he goes square, for glides and glances. But when he pulls or sweeps, he brings big, dirty violence to it, uncaring of how it looks as long as it works. All through, as he harries runs, it’s very street. It doesn’t sound like it should come together as it does, but it does.T20 being such an oniony format, where layer upon layer of data can be peeled off endlessly to reveal new, often conflicting truths, there is a legitimate conversation to be had about his role and position – not so much about Rizwan as about his opening partnership with Azam. Worlds apart as batters, their role in a T20 innings as high-functioning anchors can feel a little samey in impact. In Rizwan’s case his death-overs strike rate sets him slightly apart, and it’s worth noting that his powerplay strike rate since December is hardly tardy: 133.55 makes him 11th best (among those who have played at least ten innings), not far off Buttler and ahead of Jason Roy, Martin Guptill, Azam, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.But because both Rizwan and Azam play to bat long, it brings into play that pre-eminent modern philosophical tangle of T20 – of the most efficient and effective use of batting resources. In Pakistan’s case specifically, it amounts to asking whether Rizwan and Azam are for a misfiring middle order or for them (by leaving them with fewer deliveries to play with).That’s for another time, though, because in this moment in Rizwan’s career it doesn’t feel an urgent question to address. Or maybe eventually he will, like with all questions that have been asked of him, answer it in a way that makes it feel that it should never have been asked in the first place.

RCB’s faith in his abilities brought him into the XI, and he made sure to make the most of it

Saurabh Somani15-Apr-20213:58

Bishop: Kohli deserves praise for bringing Shahbaz on

This time last year, Shahbaz Ahmed was sitting at home in Mewat, Haryana, and wondering when his next opportunity to play would come. India was in lockdown due to Covid-19 and there was uncertainty about whether the IPL would happen. For Ahmed, the timing couldn’t have been worse. The original IPL 2020 schedule had the tournament starting a fortnight after the Ranji Trophy 2019-20, which would have meant Ahmed came into the tournament riding the crest of a form wave.Batting at No.7 for Bengal, Ahmed had made 509 runs at 36.35, most of them scored in back-to-the-wall situations that turned certain defeat into victory. He had also taken 35 wickets at an average of 16.80 in a remarkable effort for his first full season of playing. The batting and bowling were ticking over nicely, and he was primed for a debut IPL season with the Royal Challengers Bangalore. But then the world turned upside down in ways no one would have imagined.Related

Knight Riders seek pick-me-up against high-flying Royal Challengers

Talking Points: Are Manish Pandey's runs hurting Sunrisers Hyderabad?

David Warner: Cross-batted shots in the air not the way to go

Archives: Ahmed wants to be Bengal's Ben Stokes

Even then, sitting at home and looking at an uncertain future as most of India’s domestic cricketers had to, Ahmed was focussed on the bright side. “I think positive. Whatever will happen, will happen for the good,” he had told .”You do get in the mind that it is my first season, I was performing well, if it had taken place as scheduled it would have been great, I would have carried the momentum from the domestic season and if the IPL had also gone well, I might have got further opportunities through that,” he had said. “But in this situation also, I am thinking positive. Whatever cricket happens in the future, if I do well, I’ll still get chances.”Ahmed’s words turned out to be of the crystal-ball gazing kind, or perhaps he them come true with the force of his belief in self. And a year later against the Sunrisers Hyderabad – a team that had called him for trials before IPL 2020 which he couldn’t attend on account of having a Ranji game in two days – it all came together beautifully.Thrown the ball late into the game, Ahmed came on to bowl only in the 15th over. His first over was a tight one, the second was game-changing, with the wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey and Abdul Samad. The Sunrisers had begun that over smelling victory in a chase of 150. They ended it cooked to a crisp. Ahmed wouldn’t bowl another over but his returns of 3 for 7 in two made the primary difference between victory and defeat for the Royal Challengers. The player of the match may have gone to Glenn Maxwell, but ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats put Ahmed as the best performer of the game.Shahbaz Ahmed celebrates a wicket with Virat Kohli•BCCIHe had been given the ball late, with Virat Kohli juggling his bowlers around. The pitch was showing some grip, but a marauding David Warner was still at the crease. As soon as the left-handed Warner was out and with two right-handers in the middle, Kohli brought on Ahmed and Yuzvendra Chahal, both bowlers who would turn the ball away from the men at the crease. Both of them kept things tight in two overs, and as the asking rate crept up ever so quietly, Ahmed found himself in the crossfires of a moment that could swing the game either his way, or take it completely away from his side if a couple of hits connected.Three times the batsmen tried to get that hit away that would make the rest of the chase easier, and all three times Ahmed kept the ball just enough away from a natural hitting arc, making for ugly, mis-timed swipes that were all caught inside the circle.That Ahmed had made it to the XI spoke of the team’s faith in his abilities. The Royal Challengers already had plenty of bowling options so with Devdutt Padikkal returning, the thought of keeping Rajat Patidar in – whom Kohli had called “very exciting” and who is a more pedigreed batsman – might have been a real one. But Ahmed not only kept his place, he was promoted to No.3 too, faith being shown in his batting skills to be the bridge in the top order that would allow the Royal Challengers to have Maxwell and AB de Villiers at four and five.Fun fact: Ahmed had never batted at No.3 across his first-class, List A and T20 career before this game. In 58 games across formats, the highest he batted at was No.5, and just six times. His highest score in a T20 game at No.5 was 13. Another indication of the Royal Challengers’ faith in him was his batting promotion. While he didn’t get a big score, he did his job during his brief stay, with 14 off 10 balls, including a shovelled six off namesake Shahbaz Nadeem, and showing intent to score throughout his stay.Back when he still didn’t know when he would get to practice again or be near a cricket ground, he had said “whatever cricket happens in the future, if I do well, I’ll still get chances.” With this performance, Ahmed has just created his own chances.

And what has led to the transformation in Dhawan’s strike rate over the years?

Saurabh Somani18-Apr-20213:29

Can KL Rahul learn a trick or two from Shikhar Dhawan?

Here are the main Talking Points from the 11th game of the IPL, in which the Delhi Capitals chased down 196 in the 19th over.Is KL Rahul being too conservative at the top?
This was a more or less constant debate during IPL 2020. Rahul then started IPL 2021 with a sparkling 91 off 50 balls against the Rajasthan Royals. However, he reverted to 2020 type in the third match against the Capitals, ending up with 61 off 51 balls for a strike rate of less than 120, while his opening partner Mayank Agarwal smashed 69 off 36 in a game where 196 was chased down with 10 balls to spare.Since IPL 2020, there have been only five instances of a batter facing 50 balls in the first innings and ending up with a strike rate of less than 140. The lowest three are all by Rahul, and the Punjab Kings have lost the game each time.As Shiva Jayaraman from ESPNcricinfo’s stats team pointed out: “Rahul got seven scores of 40 or more in IPL 2020, all but one helping them to post scores in excess of 170. But five of those scores by Rahul were at a strike rate of less than 130, and the Kings ended up losing four of those games. Even the only game they won was off the last ball of the match. Perhaps the Kings are getting the ‘big’ scores with their captain batting through the innings, but these totals are not proving enough for the conditions.”KL Rahul’s strike rates have not been too hot since the start of IPL 2020•ESPNcricinfo LtdESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats calculated that Rahul’s 61 runs were worth only 44, taking into account his low strike rate, and even though he was one of only three players to score a fifty, his impact was only the tenth-best in the match. More damningly, Luck Index calculated that Steven Smith dropping Rahul in the second over actually the Kings 16 runs. Which is another way of saying that the Capitals benefitted more from Rahul staying at the crease than the Kings did.What has led to the transformation in Dhawan’s strike rate?
Before IPL 2019, Shikhar Dhawan was traded out from the Sunrisers Hyderabad to the Capitals, a trade the batter was in favour of. Playing under head coach Ricky Ponting, Dhawan began 2019 poorly, with the first six matches yielding an average of 25.33 at a strike rate of 116.03. Before their next match on April 12, Ponting delivered some blunt words to Dhawan, and made it clear he expected more of the senior batter. That seemed to unlock something prolific in Dhawan as he went on to hammer an unbeaten 97 off 63 .”It was a conscious effort from my side,” Dhawan said of the rise in his strike rate, at the presentation on Sunday. “I knew that I have to improve on that, then I started taking more risks. It paid off nicely for me. I’m not afraid of changes and I’m not scared of getting out as well.”No one, for instance, has scored more IPL runs than Dhawan’s 1773 since April 12, 2019. But what’s more impressive are the conjunction of a high average (45.11) with an elite strike rate (147.73). To illustrate better, Dhawan has averaged higher than David Warner and Virat Kohli in this period, and amongst the top ten run-getters, only AB de Villiers has a better strike rate than Dhawan’s.Where Dhawan’s value is really shown, though, is through ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats. With his 92 off 49 on Sunday night, Dhawan has moved ahead of even de Villiers, and since April 12, 2019, in the IPL than Dhawan.Shikhar Dhawan has been a batsman transformed since mid-2019•ESPNcricinfo LtdDid Punjab Kings give themselves enough options?
That dew can cause a massive impact on the game is known, especially at this time of the year in India. The Kings were unlucky that they got a particularly heavy-dew evening and lost the toss, being forced to bowl second. However, the make-up of their XI meant they had no cushion for the dew. All of Mohammed Shami, Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson were carted to all parts of the ground, and Rahul had only Arshdeep Singh as a pacer who could offer some control. While Shami had an off day, the Australian quicks were faced with conditions they have not encountered. Could the Kings have drafted in someone like Chris Jordan instead?With a sameness to the attack, the conditions that affected one affected them all.Who are Jalaj Saxena and Lukman Meriwala, and why were they picked?

Both teams had an IPL debutant each, and both had sound reasons to bring them in. The Kings brought in Saxena, an offspinning allrounder, to counter the left-hander heavy Capitals’ top order. They might have thought Shimron Hetmyer would play too, ahead of Steven Smith, which would have meant the Capitals had Dhawan, Rishabh Pant and Hetmyer as left-hand batters. That meant a good offspinner was key, and Saxena has proven to be just that over years of domestic cricket.Saxena has been the foremost red-ball allrounder in the Ranji Trophy for Madhya Pradesh and Kerala over the years. A wily offspinner who has drift and loop, Saxena also bats anywhere in the top six. He had been part of the Mumbai Indians, the Royal Challengers Bangalore and even the Capitals earlier in the IPL without getting a game.Meriwala was brought in by the Capitals because he offered the left-arm angle, with all their other pacers being right-armers. When the Capitals left out Ajinkya Rahane and Tom Curran on Sunday, and brought in Steven Smith, they could bring in an Indian bowler, and it was Meriwala.Meriwala has been a consistent performer for Baroda especially in white-ball cricket, and moreover, Ponting said during the game that he had been impressive during their training sessions. With Ishant Sharma still not fully fit and Umesh Yadav probably lacking full match fitness, Meriwala was the natural choice in the XI.

It’s the final of the first IPL. Enter the Blaster

Sidharth Monga13-May-20216:31

Irfan and Yusuf Pathan on the innings that won the Rajasthan Royals the first IPL title

We polled our staff for their picks of the top ten best batting, bowling and all-round performances in the IPL through its history. Here’s No. 1Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings, final, 2008Harsha Bhogle tells a story of Yusuf Pathan and Shane Warne at the Rajasthan Royals. Pathan had been given a specific role by Warne in the inaugural IPL: to “take ’em on” and “dominate the start of the innings”. When you truly try to fulfil that sort of brief, there are chances you will fail. Thirteen years on, it is a concept many batters still struggle to come to terms with.On a night when Pathan had had one of these unavoidable failures, he sat in his hotel room moping, blaming himself for a defeat. He heard a knock on the door. It was his captain, Warne. “Mate, one man doesn’t lose a game,” Warne said. “The team loses it. Don’t worry, sleep well.”Does one man win a game, though? It would appear so on the evidence of the final later that year.Back in 2008 cricket was still only entering – with trepidation but without intention to look back – the era of T20 and data analysis. Most of the analysis at that time, though, was technical in nature: footage (from matches and nets), split-screens, etc. There was no exhaustive data bank on match-ups, or much else, to fall back on.What we know looking back is this. Among those who faced a minimum of 80 balls in the middle overs that IPL, Pathan scored the fastest, at 10.58 runs an over. He started his T20 career, and the tournament, as an opener. Not that his rate of 9.45 runs per over in the powerplay was to be scoffed at, but he also averaged 80 in the middle overs as compared to 28.75 against the new ball. By the middle of the tournament he started playing in the middle order and he ended up facing 136 balls in that phase as against 73 in the powerplay.Yusuf Pathan: one-man band•AFPAmong those who faced at least 50 balls of spin, Pathan scored the fastest, at 12.82 an over. Again, it is not like he held himself back against pace. He might have averaged half the 62 he did against spin but he still struck the fast bowlers at 10 an over in the first ten balls. He did not need time to settle in nor did he slow down once in.As a bowler, he went at 7.36 against left-hand batters and 9.96 against right-hand ones. He bowled 110 balls to left-handers, and only 59 to right-handers.Warne is known to have come up with nicknames straight out of professional wrestling during his time at the Royals. Pathan was “the Blaster”, whose stated role other than dominating the bowling was to bowl stump to stump – not cutting edge by modern standards, but Warne’s cricketing brain didn’t need too much data to make good use of Pathan.Twenty-three of the 110 balls that Pathan bowled to left-hand batters were in the final; only one was bowled to a right-hand batter. Warne and Pathan outwitted the Chennai Super Kings, who did nothing to disrupt the Royals. CSK had four left-hand batters at the top, followed by three right-handers.Pathan continued with his plan of bowling stump to stump. The lack of pace handcuffed S Vidyut, Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina and Albie Morkel. The quicker, flatter deliveries got the wickets. Only two boundaries came off his four overs, leaving the Super Kings at 97 for 3 by the time he was done.The numbers

200 Pathan’s strike rate against Muttiah Muralitharan; he scored 24 off 12 balls

10 Number of dots bowled by Pathan in the final. Only Makhaya Ntini managed more

0 Number of players other than Pathan who have taken two or more wickets and scored 50 or more runs in an IPL final.

However, it was perhaps with the bat that Pathan made the more telling contribution of the final. By the time he walked in in the seventh over, the Royals were 42 for 3, chasing 164, and had one of the most economical bowlers of the tournament, Muttiah Muralitharan, to contend with still.It turned out to be Pathan’s most subdued effort with the bat in the tournament, pointing to the difficult nature of the surface. He hit no boundary in the first nine balls he faced, and only tried once. After he picked on L Balaji, hitting him for two fours in the tenth over, he was dropped off Murali. At 21 off 23 balls, he had brought the Royals to needing 75 off 45.Then came the storm you had sensed for a while. Pathan had just charged at Murali and only managed to squirt the ball to the off side. Now, though, his footwork was precise and he lofted successive sixes.It was Murali’s second-most expensive over out of the 58 he bowled in the tournament. He came back to claim the eventual Player of the Tournament, Shane Watson, but before he was done, Pathan hit him for another six, and he took down Balaji once again, to leave a manageable task for Warne and Sohail Tanvir.ESPNcricinfo’s Super Stats metric rated Pathan’s impact at 146.8, more than twice the next-best contribution by a Royals player. In the first final of what would go on to become the most competitive and prestigious T20 tournament in the world, Pathan produced a performance whose impact would be bettered in only two of the 12 finals since to date. There was no sulking that night.The Greatest IPL performances 2008-2020

In another era, Woakes may well have been England’s premier swing bowler for a decade

George Dobell02-Sep-2021In another era, an era without James Anderson, Chris Woakes may well have been England’s premier swing bowler for a decade. And in another era, an era without Ben Stokes, Woakes may have been England’s premier seam-bowling all-rounder, too.But sometimes it seems it is Woakes’ destiny to be the supporting actor to the Oscar-winning star; the sidekick to the hero; the straight man to the comic. Despite his outstanding record – and it might be remembered he was England’s player of the year in 2020 – he had not played a Test in more than a year and, if England were at full-strength – with Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad and Stokes et al available – there’s every chance Woakes would have been overlooked once again.He should, by rights, be a star in his own right. Instead you get the impression that, when he is recognised in public, people come up and ask what it’s like to play with Stokes. You imagine Stokes doesn’t get that in reverse.So it was pretty typical that he should end without a five-for after the first day of the LV= Insurance Test at the Kia Oval. It wasn’t that he didn’t deserve one – he surely did – but more that it seems more than a little typical that he shouldn’t quite gain the credit he is due. He has a better bowling average in England (22.47) than either Anderson (24.06) or Broad (25.78) but, aged 32, he has played only 39 Tests.He provided a reminder of his abilities here. Generating movement that none of his colleagues, even Anderson, could match, and bowling at a slightly quicker pace, Woakes maintained a probing off-stump line and claimed four wickets to help his side gain the upper-hand on the first day of this match. In English conditions at least, he really does demand selection.Related

• Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav's strikes lift India after batting folds

• #LordShardul changes the mood of the day

It should have been even better. There were two dropped chances off Woakes’ bowling, both of them in a slip cordon that seems to change every time you look at it. Virat Kohli, poking at a beauty which left him, one of those fortunate to survive. How like Woakes to defeat the best player and still end up without the wicket. His figures (3-19 from 11 overs at one stage) were dented by a late assault from Shardul Thakur, too.Maybe a reminder of Woakes’ skills required. He hadn’t played a first-class game for more than a year – his previous one, the final Test against Pakistan last summer, finished on August 25, 2020 – and has had a frustrating time of late. Having been sidelined in Sri Lanka after being deemed a close contact of Moeen Ali, who had been diagnosed with Covid, he then found himself surplus to requirements in India. As an IPL player, he was not considered for the Test series against New Zealand and then suffered a freak heel injury, sustained when he slipped down some stairs, which kept him out of the first three Tests of this series.Joe Root recently described Woakes’ last year as a “nightmare,” but Woakes, typically, was more phlegmatic.”There are a lot of people in the world who have had a lot worse 18 months than me,” he said. “But it has been a weird time. And I was absolutely desperate to play cricket again. It’s felt like a long time coming. I do feel I’ve missed out a bit by not being able to build on the year I had before [in 2020] but I loved it today. They were good conditions in which to bowl and I was happy to show what I could do again.”You wonder if that unassuming affability has sometimes held Woakes back. You can’t imagine him taking to TV, as Broad once did, to bemoan the decision to leave him out of a side, can you? Or posting videos of himself on social media, as Anderson once did, to prove his fitness to reluctant selectors. He is not a sulker, a moaner or a prima donna. He spent several months in bio-bubbles over the winter without bowling a red ball in anger. He didn’t utter so much as a tut. Maybe, at times, he should make it slightly less comfortable for coaches to leave him out.”I don’t look at it that way,” he said. “It’s well publicised that my record in England is much better than my record away. But I played a lot of cricket last summer. I like to think that, had I been available this summer, I would have been in the first XI.”Chris Woakes celebrates the wicket of Rishabh Pant•Getty ImagesWoakes’ reputation as a home-track bully is understandable. He takes his wickets in England at a cost of 22.47 apiece, but overseas they cost him 51.68. But it might also be a bit outdated.When Darren Gough worked with the England team as a bowling consultant, towards the end of 2019, he encouraged Woakes to forget about floating the kookaburra ball up in the hope of gaining swing. Instead he encouraged him to hit the pitch harder – as hard as he could – on a length in a bid to extract anything he could from the seam and surface.Combined with his other skills – not least the wobble-seam, which is a relatively new addition to his armoury – this seemed to add an edge to Woakes’ game. In two overseas Tests since (one of them on the bowlers’ graveyard that is Hamilton) he claimed seven wickets (including that of Kane Williamson) at a cost of 25.71. It’s a small sample size, but his potential value in Australia shouldn’t be discounted at this stage.It was no coincidence that Woakes’ introduction into the attack coincided with England seizing the initiative in this match. India were 28 without loss after eight overs when Woakes came on. He didn’t concede a run in his first three overs – there was only one scoring stroke in his first five-over spell – and, with Ollie Robinson (8-6-8-1) equally frugal at the other end, England delivered seven successive maidens at one stage.The pressure brought two wickets, with Woakes dismissing Rohit Sharma in his first over with one that lifted and left him to take the edge. Later Ravi Jadeja poked at one which left him, Rishabh Pant was defeated by a slower ball – a reminder of Woakes’ limited-overs skills which, but for Stokes’ brilliance, might have been player of the match in the World Cup final – and Thakur was beaten by one which nipped back.Woakes later confessed that, having “not played a lot of red ball cricket,” he was more than a little nervous and concentrated on his core skill of moving the ball away from the right-handers. “I knew the lads have had some success with the wobble seam, so I tried that more than I usually would,” he said. “And thankfully, I got away with the nerves as the surface was responsive and I got that early wicket.”He confessed, too, that the efforts of bowling 15 overs would hurt him tomorrow. But it will be sweet pain. He had waited a long time for this and had proved, once again, that England are lucky to have him.