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Guidance from two older statesmen, empowering of youngsters, a horses for courses selection policy and clarity of roles for players are beginning to bear fruit for Gujarat

Sidharth Monga29-Dec-2015″,” (Get the youngster in the frame) is the cry as Gujarat pose for a group photo with the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Young cricketers from north India are hard to tell from each other nowadays. They all have a particular length of a beard, not one strand out of place, and hair short at the sides and mushrooming at the top. A thousand Virat Kohli lookalikes if you will. It is also the look of about every Punjabi pop star. The young Delhi team that made it to the Vijay Hazare Trophy final had its fair share of the look, but they were up against different kinds of beard on two different 30-year-olds.You look closely at Parthiv Patel’s face and you will see greys appearing, but you remove that beard and you will have bouncers asking him for ID at pubs. RP Singh, the “youngster” in question, looks older than his 30 with a fair sprinkling of greys. The actual youngsters of the Gujarat team had just poured a bucket of ice-cold water on RP while celebrating their maiden Vijay Hazare triumph. RP’s reaction was that of a benevolent senior, just a smile that seemed to say: “The kids these days.”On the big night, these two faces that won’t fit the prototype of a modern athlete turned up with their experience. Parthiv first scored his maiden one-day century to give Gujarat a comfortable total to defend, and RP then, playing in his first match of the knockout stage, ripped the heart out of Delhi’s chase with a first spell of 7-2-23-4. On the big night, the two experienced players proved to be the difference between the teams.The real reason why Gujarat were such a successful team this season, though, was that the seniors turned it on because the youngsters had failed, but because they got the chance ahead of the youngsters and grabbed it with the finality you need on the big day.Even on the big day, there was Rujul Bhatt, the bespectacled 29-year-old allrounder who is a relatively youngster in experience, scoring 60 to end as Gujarat’s highest run-getter. And there was the 22-year-old promising seam bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who wiped off the tail to take the most wickets in the tournament. Axar Patel, Gujarat’s talisman, didn’t even have to flex a finger.Every time Gujarat were stuck in this tournament, they had someone produce the magic. Bumrah bowled MS Dhoni with a yorker in Alur to win the league game against Jharkhand. Against Vidarbha, in the quarter-final, when Axar was running out of partners, the 20-year-old left-arm spinner Hardik Patel added with a match-winning 36 for the ninth wicket. At 87 for 5 against Tamil Nadu, who were on a roll, in the semi-final, Gujarat found runs from the 25-year-old Chirag Gandhi and a return to form of the otherwise prodigious Manpreet Juneja. Even when Axar was taking six wickets in the defence, Bhatt kept the pressure up with 10 overs for 34 runs.RP Singh’s selection for the final was an example of the team’s ‘horses for courses’ selection. He was picked only because the conditions at the Chinnaswamy, especially under lights, aided swing bowling•PTI Parthiv acknowledged all these contributions after the win in the final. “Priyank [Panchal] got 750 runs this season in the Ranji Trophy,” Parthiv said. “He is in good form, he has been around for years. Rujul has been a utility cricketer who would score 300 runs and take about 15 wickets every season in the Ranji Trophy. It was his time of reckoning in one-day cricket this year, scoring almost 300 runs and taking wickets. It plays the role of allrounder.”And the way Bumrah bowled. And I think Rush Kalaria was the most unlucky bowler. He bowled brilliantly with the new ball but he doesn’t have wickets to show for it. Young Hardik Patel, who scored 20-odd not out against Vidarbha where we needed 40-odd runs. Right players have clicked at the right point of time.”If you can roll off so many crucial contributions off the tongue, you are talking of a successful team. Then again, in the last name mentioned – Hardik – is the other factor that worked for Gujarat. Hardik played a crucial role in both the quarter-final and semi-final, but he knew why he wasn’t playing the final against Delhi, full of left-hand batsmen.RP hadn’t played the earlier knockouts, but allrounder Rohit Dahiya knew he was making way for a man who could use the conditions and had massive experience of playing at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Also they had an association happy to fly in an offspinner to make debut on the big night.”What we have done in this team is that we tell players why you are in the team and why you are not in the team, so they are not in the dark at all,” Parthiv said. “They understand with seven left-handers in the team, there is no point playing two left-armers. Player understands it. We know that we have always been fair with them and the player also understands it, that whatever the selectors and the association has been very fair and very transparent with them, so they take it in the right spirit.”Also RP took in right spirit that when they were playing in Alur earlier he as a pure third seamer was surplus to requirement. And these was no ego stopping him for acknowledging that Kalaria was the No. 1 left-arm seamer in the squad. “What happened was that sometimes I have myself taken a rest because like me, a lot of players sit out,” RP said. “I have come to play as a professional. I shouldn’t come in their way.”RP has spent the last IPL season as an analyst, and when he puts that hat on, he feels Bumrah is ready to play limited-overs cricket for India. The analyst inside him was full of praise for captain Parthiv. “The beauty about [winning with] the state team is that you build it from scratch, like [Mohammad] Kaif did for us in UP,” RP said. “Parthiv has built this team along similar lines. He has been captain for 10 years, he has picked players, hired professionals so that the team does well. His motive was that along with his own performances, the team also progresses because when you win championships, when you play finals, that’s when your boys play more. The examples are Bombay, Delhi, Karnataka… Maybe Parthiv is slowly taking Gujarat in that direction.”For Parthiv himself, scoring the maiden century in the title triumph is big because this is no small victory in his mind. “Winning the championship for a state is something special. I have been a part of two IPL victories, I have been a part of the World Cup final team as well but winning a championship for your state, you know the people have worked really hard behind you, and winning a championship for them is really special.”

John Hastings made a comeback to international cricket recently after a spate of injuries, and will face another test when he bowls on Indian pitches, which may not offer much to him

Arun Venugopal15-Mar-2016It is easy to picture John Wayne Hastings delivering such a punchline. He is, after all, quite a throwback to the archetypal ultra-manly Australian cricketer of the ’70s and ’80s – strongly built, bears ample facial fuzz and wears a perpetual frown. Hastings has got a reputation to keep too, with his father, a big fan of westerns, having named him after a colossus of the genre. Thanks to the connection with actor John Wayne, Hastings, too, is nicknamed ‘The Duke’. “It’s one of those things you learn to grow up with when you are younger,” and he admits to having fancied growing up to be a cowboy.But beyond the machismo, Hastings would probably identify more with Wayne’s line above considering his “fight” against what he calls “unfortunate” injuries. In over five years of international cricket, he has played only 20 ODIs and seven T20Is besides a solitary Test. Eleven of his ODIs and three T20Is came before September 2011 and his next round of international matches would come four years later.Hastings’ comeback in 2015 was uninspiring as he conceded 56 runs in 6.2 wicketless overs in a game where England chased down 300 with 10 balls to spare. But a different Hastings turned up at the decider in Manchester; he registered figures of 10-2-21-3 and, along with Mitchell Marsh, shot out England for 138 to help Australia win the series.He strung together more consistent performances during the India series where he took 10 wickets from four games at less than six runs an over and finished as the highest wicket-taker in the series. While he continued to do well in the New Zealand one-dayers, he was a touch on the expensive side in the T20s against South Africa. But going into the World T20, Hastings finds himself as one of Australia’s more valuable bowlers, ironically because of an injury to Mitchell Starc, who is not in the squad, and with Nathan Coulter-Nile and James Faulkner having only recently recovered from shoulder and hamstring troubles.At 30, Hastings believes his body has finally become sturdy enough to withstand injuries. “I think the main thing is I had a lot of injuries when I was younger. I participated in the 2011 World Cup… So I’ve been in the scene for a while but I’ve not had a lot of opportunities. That’s because my body has let me down whether it’s an ankle injury or shoulder or back or something. It’s been unfortunate injuries. Some of them have been [freakish].”But I feel now that I’ve played a lot of cricket, my body – touch wood – is going really well. That’s probably the main factor why I’m doing better. Now I am more experienced and my body is used to bowling a little bit more now.”The major reasons for Hastings’ success against India was his relentless adherence to bowling shorter of a length outside off stump and slipping in a few slower deliveries to mix things up. By his own admission, subtlety is his best ally. “As a bowler the hardest thing is to try and eliminate some of their shots,” he said. “Trying to take away their leg side… If they move around the crease they can hit you over cover, they can move across and hit you through midwicket. They have the lap shots and all these type of things. I think it’s hard as a bowler to predict what is coming next. For me, I try and hit a similar sort of area on the pitch and subtle variations. It’s about trying to be not as predictable as you can.”Hastings, though, is aware he will have to quickly come to terms with lesser bounce on offer on Indian surfaces. He admitted that the transition was hard to effect, especially at such short notice. “I think our plans will change slightly. We just came off playing in Australia and South Africa where traditionally the ball carries through so you can afford to be back of a length trying to get the nicks to carry or get a catch in the outfield,” he said.”But we have to bowl more at the stumps [here]. It can be difficult to reassess. For me it is little bit more difficult because it’s not my natural length. We just have to be a little fuller and bowling at the stumps and not be too predictable. If we’re too slow to react, then the game can get away from us.”Hastings has benefited from being a good listener, not only to his Australian team-mates but also in his interactions with other international captains during his time with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. He attributes his growth to taking on board a lot of feedback on offer, and feels he is only just getting higher on the learning curve.”I learnt a lot during the 2011 World Cup. We had Brett Lee, he’s the one I have learnt an awful lot from. Obviously having [Craig] McDermott around has been fantastic. He has had a lot of experience playing around the world so he is very knowledgeable,” he said.”You just have to sit down and listen to these guys speak. Being at Chennai in the IPL was good as well. To get to be around [MS] Dhoni, [Dwayne] Bravo, [Brendon] McCullum, Faf [du Plessis]… these guys are international captains so I learnt a lot through that… just what their mindset is in trying to set up a batter or in different conditions on what ball to bowl when.”It’s good to have feedback from these guys. That’s the only way you learn. By sitting around and talking and watching some footage and understanding what ball could I have bowled differently there.”

A batsman’s destructive power is better highlighted if we take into account the actual length of an innings

Siddharth Banka07-Apr-2016In cricket, numbers matter as much as style, flair and grace. If Sir Don Bradman is the Shakespeare of cricket, then “99.94” is its “to be or not to be”. There are many statistics in cricket, some more “significant” than others. Why do we care more about the asking rate at the start of a chase but base our calculations on runs v balls towards the death? The answer perhaps lies in our preference for data that is simple and requires least additional computation to provide a meaningful inference. A good statistical measure in cricket should give the relevant information in an intuitive form to easily assess the state of a game or contribution of an individual.Batting strike rate – number of runs scored per 100 balls – is probably the most frequently referred to statistic in T20s. Its bowling equivalent is the economy rate, average number of runs conceded per over. How do these two measures measure against each other? Shane Watson, who hung his boots recently as the No. 1 ranked T20I allrounder, has a career bowling economy rate of 7.65. That tells me straight away that in every T20I over, Watson conceded an average of 7.65 runs without having to do any additional mental maths – simple and clear. However, it is harder to extract the intrinsic meaning of his batting strike rate of 145.32.Batting strike rate is a useful barometer of the destructive power of batsmen in limited-over formats. Chris Gayle’s career T20 strike rate of 150.11 clearly shows why is he feared by his opponents more than his opening partner, Johnson Charles, who strikes 119.76 runs per 100 balls, is. However, batting strike rate lacks the inherent meaning that a bowling economy rate carries. This is because batting strike rate is out of sync with rest of cricket. Strik -rate is a decimal measurement but cricket ticks in units of six (balls per over). Calculating a batsman’s impact with strike rate in per cent is similar to measuring speed of your car in miles/100 minutes.Can we do any better? I think we can, especially in T20s, by measuring the strike rate in units of 120, rather than 100 balls. A “120 strike rate” will reveal that Jason Roy’s inning of 43 in 16 balls against South Africa in the World T20 was equivalent to scoring 322.5 in an entire T20 inning of 120 balls. Compare the meaning of this stat with Roy’s traditional strike rate of 268.7 for that innings. Which number reflects the impact of his innings more easily?Or think about Virat Kohli’s masterful 82 not out off 51 balls against Australia in the same tournament. He clocked a 120 strike rate of 192.9 in a chase of 161. Relate that with the combined 120 strike rate of 138.7 for his team-mates in the same match and immediately you can see that, statistically, India would have fallen short by nearly 22 runs without Kohli.You may ask, similar to bowlers, why not have an over-based strike rate for batsmen too? However, unlike bowlers, a batsman’s unit of performance is not an over. Most consequential batting innings last longer than an over (even in T20s) and, therefore, measuring the rate of scoring runs per over is unintuitive and less meaningful.In my opinion, 120 strike rate should replace the traditional strike rate in T20s as it resonates much better with the game, feels more intuitive and has extra information built into it.

In six weeks, Angelo Mathews has modified the way he uses DRS; and in two weeks the Sri Lankan attack doesn’t need the seamers it relied on. Where’s the logic?

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle06-Aug-2016It was only six weeks ago, when on day two at Chester-le-Street, Angelo Mathews walked down the pitch, conferred with a team-mate, and, having been given out, decided to review the decision. He had quite clearly hit the ball, so this was the shambolic head-on collision to cap a veritable pile-up of facepalm reviews. “Does he understand the rules?” people wondered on social media. What the hell is going on?In Galle, the same captain had his top-scoring batsman overturn a review on day one. He got his best bowler Sri Lanka’s second Test hat-trick by reviewing an lbw shout on day two. Then on the third day, Mathews set his offspinner on track for a first career ten-wicket haul with a bat-pad review, and for good measure, got his young left-arm wristspinner a scalp off a ball that spun at the batsman as if it had been shot out of a cannon, from point.In six weeks, the same man who appeared not to know how caught behinds worked, had become a DRS-savant capable of mentally simulating the ball-tracking for every delivery. In addition, there was the inspired promotion of Kusal Perera to No. 3. There was the fruitful decision to have David Warner face a lot of offspin. There was a breakthrough almost every bowling change, and the close fielders appealed themselves hoarse.So adept was Mathews at turning everything he touched into a wicket, you almost expected the official who handed him the winner’s cheque to look back at splayed stumps and ruefully trudge off.How on earth has the transformation happened? What the hell is going on?****It was only 13 days ago, ahead of the Pallekele Test, that Mathews said he “[didn’t] know what to call himself”, when asked if he considered himself an unlucky captain. “We’ve had so many injuries in the past few months,” he said. “At the international level, I can’t go and say we can’t play because we don’t have any bowlers. We need to know how to produce them.”He would have desperately liked Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera to have been fit through the England tour. He would have loved for Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal to be available through this one.Yet, in Galle, all but four wickets were the work of two bowlers. Dilruwan Perera and Rangana Herath might conceivably have won this match on their own. Having been required for only two overs on the first evening, seamer Vishwa Fernando would have had a more productive debut Test if he had set up a stall at fine leg and sold ice creams to fans for the rest of the Test. Lakshan Sandakan had spent much of the Pallekele match bamboozling Australian batsmen after coming in for Lakmal, but he produced more grinning high-fives than deliveries in this game.In a way, Pradeep or Prasad or Chameera or Lakmal would have been counterproductive here, because they would have all had longer spells with the new ball, and that would have delayed Perera and Herath’s introduction. Fewer of those sliders – which Australian batsmen appear to believe are the work of paranormal spiritual forces – would have been bowled.It seems the more Sri Lanka’s bowlers are injured, the more effective Sri Lanka’s attack becomes.Which leads you to wonder how on earth is this all happening. What the hell is going on?****It was only two weeks ago that SLC’s public profile reached a nadir, for the board’s public maligning of Muttiah Muralitharan, and its stipulation that the Test match mace be only privately handed over.During the Galle Test, though, the opening of the country’s largest indoor nets complex – in Pallekele – was announced by the board. This came, of course, with much trumpet blowing. The release claimed that ICC chief executive David Richardson was so impressed by complex, that following a mere inspection of these nets, he immediately took the field and struck a double-century against an attack consisting of Warne, Murali, Hadlee and Marshall (I’m paraphrasing here). According to the statement, the project will also be completed at less than half the initial budgeted cost.So forget that after two matches, Sri Lanka have a young batsman in Kusal Mendis whom coaches are already speaking of “building a top order around”. Forget the turnaround in Mathews’ fortunes. Forget the historic Under-19 win in England overnight, or the fact that a spin-bowling succession plan for Herath has now emerged.SLC is making common-sense, cost-effective decisions that will benefit the island’s elite teams, and promote cricket’s growth.What on earth is bloody happening? What the hell is going on?

Cheteshwar Pujara’s curious loss of form and KL Rahul’s impressive conversion rate leaves India in a top-order selection conundrum when M Vijay returns to full fitness

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Kingston01-Aug-20162:00

Manjrekar: Pujara does not look the assured batsman he used to be

A sashay down the pitch, a free swing of the arms, and KL Rahul had gone from 96 to 102. It was his third Test hundred, and he had taken 182 balls to get there.At the other end, Cheteshwar Pujara was batting on 28 off 106 balls. His strike rate was 26.41. Rahul’s was 56.04.If you had just arrived at the ground, or had just switched on your televisions, it might have seemed like two top-order batsmen adopting contrasting methods against the same bowling attack, in the same conditions. That wasn’t quite the case.At the start of day two, Rahul had been batting on 75 off 114 balls, and Pujara on 18 off 57. When he reached his hundred, Rahul had added 27 to his overnight score in 68 balls, and Pujara, in that time had made 10 off 49. India had scored 45 in 19 overs, at a run rate of 2.36.On a pitch still offering bounce and seam movement, West Indies’ quicks had bowled with discipline, holding a fifth-stump line, trying to draw the batsmen into indiscretion. Neither batsman had obliged. Of the 84 balls that Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder and Miguel Cummins had sent down in the morning, till that point, Rahul and Pujara had left 38 and defended 29.Against the fast bowlers, Rahul had been just as watchful as Pujara. Ten of the 27 runs he had scored had come off two strokes; the six that brought up his hundred and a swept four, both off the offspinner Roston Chase. Take out those two shots, and Rahul’s strike rate for the day was 25.00, hardly different to Pujara’s 20.41.Both batsmen were playing exactly as the situation demanded. It was hard-nosed Test cricket.West Indies had been shot out for 196, and had ended day one with India one down and 70 behind. They had bowled poorly on the first afternoon, the fast bowlers sending down half-volleys and the spinners, particularly Devendra Bishoo, routinely dropping short. Rahul had taken full toll, with languid drives, deft clips off his toes and dismissive pulls, and scored his runs at a strike rate of just over 65.West Indies must have resolved to bowl with far more discipline on the second morning, use whatever help the pitch still gave them, and hoped they could get a wicket or two early to put India under some sort of pressure. Given the quality of bowlers at their disposal, they perhaps did not feel confident enough to bowl a more attacking line. And so the fifth-stump line, and the hope of inducing errors.India were determined not to make those errors. Followers of Indian cricket may have become used to self-denial from Pujara, the refusal to be drawn into looseness outside off stump. Rahul they knew less about. This was only his sixth Test. He had scored freely on the first day, but had been allowed to do so to a large extent. Now the bowling was better, and he was showing he could handle that as well.The day began with Holder bowling to Rahul and Gabriel to Pujara. Holder bowled three successive maidens as Pujara played the second line expertly. When the line was wide outside off stump, he could leave comfortably, but when it was closer, he waited until the last possible moment, eyes locked on the ball’s trajectory, before deciding whether to leave or defend. It took him until the last ball of the first hour, in the first over of spin, to score his first runs of the morning.Gabriel, quicker and more aggressive, posed a more direct threat, getting some balls to straighten off the pitch and others to climb awkwardly. Rahul weaved away nimbly from the short ones, got on top of the bounce when he could, and by and large left comfortably outside off stump.He had a couple of edgy moments, playing and missing when he tried to cut one too close to his body, and then again while defending a legcutter off the front foot. But he made sure his hands didn’t jab at the ball, and ensured it kept a safe distance from his edge.Cummins, the debutant, came on after the drinks break, and tested Pujara, beating both his edges with seam movement and getting a shortish ball to rear at him and hit his glove. Pujara handled this as well as he possibly could, his top hand snug against his chest at the point of impact and his bottom hand off the handle, and the ball fell harmlessly by his side.There was still life in the pitch, but there was nothing to show for it on the scorecard. West Indies had bowled poorly on the first day and taken just one wicket; they had bowled much better now and taken no wickets.Cheteshwar Pujara got himself out after another start while KL Rahul converted his fifty into another hundred•AFPAs the partnership moved towards lunch and then past it, the runs flowed a little easier. Pujara drove Cummins and Gabriel to the straight boundary, and in between slapped Cummins through cover point. Rahul stepped out to Bishoo and lofted him over extra-cover, achieving a full, fluid extension of his arms.Then, a boundary short of a half-century, Pujara made a fatal misjudgment. A shortish ball at his hips, tucked into the leg side. Perhaps the ball came on slower than expected, and went squarer than he intended, reducing the distance Chase had to cover to his right from midwicket. Chase ran, picked up, spun around, and threw down the stumps at the bowler’s end. A beautiful moment of athletic poise. Pujara, sprawled flat on the ground, knew he was out. He picked himself up, his shirt streaked with dirt, and trudged back.He had made 21, 31, 14, 28, 16 and 46 in his last six Test innings.Shrugging off a brief attack of cramps, Rahul moved to a career-best 158 before he fell in the fifth over after tea. This was some effort. Five of his six Tests had come because of injury to one of India’s settled openers. He had scored three hundreds in those six Tests. With this latest performance, he had made himself extremely hard to leave out.When Vijay, one of India’s most consistent Test performers in the last two-and-a-half years, recovers from the thumb injury that has kept him out of this game, India will have a hard decision to make. Rahul has just scored a hundred. Shikhar Dhawan made 84 important runs in Antigua. Pujara’s recent scores do not leap off the page. Since scoring an unbeaten 145 against Sri Lanka last year and starting the home series against South Africa with 77 in a low-scoring Test in Mohali, he has made a string of in-between scores.In Antigua, he steered India past the early loss of Vijay, saw off a testing spell from Gabriel, and took India to lunch with no further loss of wickets, but had only made 16 when he got himself out to a miscued pull. Now, again, he had got himself out after doing the hard work.If there’s one single, unified cause for Pujara’s recent run, it’s hard to identify. But something isn’t quite right. Rahul has three hundreds and no fifties in six Tests. Pujara once had a similar record. After the first Test of India’s 2013-14 tour of South Africa, he had scored seven hundreds and only two fifties, in 16 Tests.Since then, he has made one hundred, four fifties, and 15 scores between 20 and 49. His failure rate is still quite low – he has only been out 11 times for single-digit scores in 58 Test innings – but has not been converting his starts for a while. Something has changed, and it has been a while since Pujara last looked like the big-hundred machine he was in his first few seasons.If India leave out Pujara when Vijay returns and play Rahul at No. 3, they will not quite get a like-for-like replacement. Rahul has shown a great ability to convert his starts, but he has also shown he can be vulnerable early on, and has been out six times for single-digit scores in just eleven Test innings. Rahul brims with talent, but still has to show he isn’t a hundred-or-nothing batsman.How will India line up when Vijay returns to full fitness? Will they back Pujara to find a solution for his curious malaise? Will they play Rahul, perhaps out of position, and back him to show he has tightened his early-innings game? Or will they leave out Dhawan or even, unlikely as it seems, Vijay? No matter which way they go, they will have made a difficult decision.

Plays of the day from the third and final ODI between Bangladesh and Afghanistan in Mirpur

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur01-Oct-2016The clangerIf ever there was an example of how a second’s indecisiveness could cost you on the cricket field, this was it. Mohammad Nabi’s rank long hop should have been dispatched. But Tamim Iqbal, who was slightly off balance as he struck a pull, mistimed it towards mid-on where Asghar Stanikzai, the Afghanistan captain, made a right royal mess of it. He seemed to be confused whether to take the catch with his palms facing the sky or the traditional way. As it turned out, he was pressed for time in the end and the ball bobbled out. Tamim, on 1 then, went on to add 117 more.The embarrassmentIf the dropped chance was embarrassing, several such moments were in store for Afghanistan. Another instance came in the 28th over when Mirwais Ashraf messed up a regulation stop. He did all the hard work by running around the ropes to stop a powerful cut at deep point, but fell over as he tried to flick the ball back to his partner. In the process, he dived over the ball to concede a boundary. Later, in the penultimate over, Mohammad Shahzad couldn’t stop the ball with both his legs as a throw rushed in from deep square leg. It was Mahmudullah who was given a reprieve this time.The missed hat-trickMushfiqur Rahim hasn’t quite been able to execute the slog sweeps in this series. In the first two ODIs, he was bowled and trapped lbw respectively. This time, he should have been caught trying to play the stroke. But Afghanistan were in a generous mood. Dawlat Zadran was the culprit this time as he put down a chance at deep square leg. The only hint of solace was that the ball may have been dipping on him, making it much more difficult that it initially appeared.The clanger, part twoMushfiqur Rahim dropped Asghar Stanikzai in the first game and missed Najibullah Zadran’s stumping in the second. There was scrutiny over his wicketkeeping ahead of the third ODI and unfortunately, he missed another chance. In the eighth over, he couldn’t fully reach Nawroz Mangal’s edge off Shafiul Islam. It was a tough catch to complete but one that you would expect from an experienced keeper.

In a corner of the vast Gabba stands, a small band of Pakistan supporters watched their team almost pull off the greatest chase

Melinda Farrell at the Gabba19-Dec-2016Nine-hundred-and-fifty people walked through the Gabba gates before the first over was bowled.There wasn’t the swimming pool, bikini, Hawaiian-shirted, beery-party atmosphere that had set the scene for the first three days of the Test. The eye-watering confetti pattern of the seats, meant to give the illusion of greater numbers but hidden by actual people from day one to three, was now revealed.The fans hadn’t paid to enter: why would anyone pay to see a few overs, a couple of Pakistan wickets and a quick victory for the home side?A hundred and eight runs to win. Surely it may as well have been 1008. 100,008. A million and eight.

****

Asad Shafiq and Yasir Shah start quietly and solidly, Shafiq trying to keep the strike when Mitchell Starc, in particular, is bowling. The countdown is on.A hundred runs to win.A trickle of Pakistan fans, clad in green and bearing flags, have started to arrive. Some are families, cousins passing children around and chattering in Urdu. Others are on their own, or with a mate or two. But they all come to the same place.There is Rohan, from Lahore. He only arrived in Australia a few weeks earlier, here to study in Brisbane. The last time he saw Pakistan play was nine years ago in Karachi, when he was 14 years old.The chanting starts in earnest: Pakistan zindabad! For the players, this must be like playing in the UAE, their home that isn’t a home: a huge stadium, virtually empty, echoing with the cries from a small pocket of noisy green loyalty.Yasir, with a top Test score of 30 to his name, crouches and waits as Starc steams in and spears a yorker at his toes. Yasir jams his bat down just in time. Another yorker, another jam.The fans know this is about survival; Bear Grylls should probably be out in the middle. They know Yasir needs all the help he can get. They scream at Starc as he runs in, “No ball! No ball!” As if they can, by shouting, force his foot to overstep.Josh Hazlewood is next. He bowls wide to Shafiq, who slashes through the covers for four.They jump to their feet. Maybe they don’t all really believe yet, truly believe that their team can pull off the most preposterous chase in all of Test history. But they are starting to.Drinks are called. Eight-four runs to win.A family sits in the middle of the small crowd, all in green shirts with their names printed across the back. The father, Faisal. Next to him a young girl picks up a flag. She’s wearing green sunglasses with the Pakistan moon. As she stands on the chair her name becomes visible. Hidayah. Her tiny Mini-Me sister, Mahdiyya, smiles and claps as Hidayah starts the chanting, her young, clear voice ringing around the stands and out to the players in the middle. Pakistan zindabad!Nathan Lyon comes on to bowl. “Come on Garry,” they cry. Then laugh.Across the ground, a single Australian attempts the “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” call. It sounds lonely and a little pathetic, so the Pakistan fans take it up. They’ll cheer for both sets of fans.Yasir almost edges Lyon to Peter Handscomb at short leg. There’s a collective intake of breath so sharp it seems all the air has been sucked out of the Gabba. Yasir safely sweeps the next ball for a single and the air is released. The countdown now comes after every run.Yasir Shah was given lbw, but survived on the DRS•Cricket Australia/Getty Images”Only 73! Only 73!”Smith sends Hansdcomb to field at third man, directly in front of Little Pakistan. It almost seems like a punishment for not taking the catch. Handscomb is greeted with a rousing rendition of Pakistan”. It’s a song that’s ubiquitous at any cricket match involving Pakistan. Now, just weeks after the death of the iconic pop singer Junaid Jamshed, who made it famous, it evokes an added poignancy.Mani is singing along. He’s originally from Multan but has lived in the Australian capital, Canberra, where he umpires in a local competition, for five years. He’s never seen Pakistan play and he is beyond nervous.The fans have now become celebrities. The television crews arrive. “Ian Healy, zindabad!” The radio crews and photographers follow. There are jeers for Starc when he shapes to throw the ball back at Yasir. There are cheers when Yasir responds by nudging another single. Jeers and cheers all round. Mani and Rohan shake hands. They’ve never met but they share a bond and could be about to share in history.Fifty-three runs to win.Omair has been standing on his seat, leading the singing. He was born in Australia and lives in Sydney but his parents hail from Karachi. Lyon leaps full stretch in an attempt to take a ball that flies past him, and lands face-down. He stays there. Omair also goes down. He drums the seat with jittery hands. Every exhale is a gust of pure tension. “I can’t do this. I can’t do this.”Yasir is rapped on the pads and Hazlewood appeals. The the umpire’s finger rises and so do the hands of the fans as they clutch their heads. Mani turns away and mutters, “He didn’t offer a shot. He didn’t offer a shot.” He can’t look at the big screen as Yasir calls for the DRS, but his neighbours do, all on their feet, all on edge. When the cheers go up for the not-out call, Mani shakes his head. He’s too anxious to celebrate.But the calls for a no-ball have disappeared. There’s no need for them. Shafiq and Shah have got this. Now they all believe.Forty-one runs to win.Starc. A bouncer. Shafiq. Warner.It happens so quickly and this time there is no review, no chance, no reprieve. There isn’t even time to inhale. A few seconds of disbelief and then they are on their feet again. Shafiq removes his helmet and looks to the sky in despair and then raises his bat to Little Pakistan. “You’re a hero. You’re a hero,” they reply.They rouse once more for Rahat Ali. He squirts out a single. “Rahat for president!”Forty runs to win.And then it’s over. Quickly and inexplicably. As the bails flash in the sunlight and Yasir is caught flailing out of his crease, no one seems to believe it could end this way. Even though they started the day barely believing it could be this close.Two thousand five hundred and ninety-three people are now in the Gabba. They haven’t paid of course. Why would anyone pay to see a few overs, a couple of Pakistan wickets and a quick victory for the home side?The fans in Little Pakistan combine their chants. “Aussie Aussie Aussie! Pakistan zindabad!””So close,” says Mani, as he leaves his new friends. “Maybe… in Melbourne.”

As the PSL draws to a close, ESPNcricinfo picks out the best XI of the competition, which includes a 36-year-old veteran fast bowler and Pakistan’s T20 captain

Charlie Reynolds and Danyal Rasool04-Mar-2017Babar Azam – 291 runs, strike rate 112.35, one fiftyIn a tournament where most of the stellar batting performances have come from the foreign players, Babar Azam has stood out as a notable exception. His consistency – so elusive for most Pakistani batsmen – is what has impressed most. He has made four scores over 45 in 10 innings, and finished the pre-final part of the tournament as the second-leading run-scorer. He had a lot to do with Karachi’s third-place finish.Ahmed Shehzad – 241 runs, strike rate 135.39, three fiftiesWhile his inconsistency has led to a lengthy spell out of the international team, Shehzad has the capability to be as pure a batting match-winner as any Pakistan have had in recent times. After a lean start to this year’s competition, the opener found form as the tournament progressed. He saved his best for the big occasion, smashing 71 off 38 balls in the first playoff against Peshawar, and showing Pakistan’s chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq – present at the ground that night – what the national side was missing.Kevin Pietersen (overseas player) – 241 runs, nine games, two fiftiesShehzad’s Quetta teammate had a similar PSL campaign: a horror start – he made three runs in the first four games – before finding his destructive best later in the tournament. Chasing 201 against Lahore Qalandars, Pietersen hammered 88 off 42 balls, the last 39 coming off 9 deliveries. Scores of 69, 41 and 40 followed as the PSL finally saw Pietersen in full flow, leaving Quetta with the impossible task of replacing him for the final.Rilee Rossouw (overseas player) – 255 runs, strike rate 151.57, two fiftiesRossouw’s form tailed away as the competition progressed, but played a significant hand in giving the Quetta Gladiators a good start to the PSL. He began with 60 in a low-scoring game against Lahore, before an unbeaten 76 in one of the most clinical partnerships of the tournament with Sarfraz Ahmed gave Quetta two wins – and Rossouw two Man-of-the-Match awards – in the first two games. He continued to chip in as the tournament wore on, and finished with the highest average (42.50) of any batsman with over 200 runs.As usual, Shane Watson was dependable with both bat and ball for Islamabad United•PCBShane Watson (overseas player) – 171 runs, strike rate 139.02, 10 wickets, economy rate 9.08)Without ever quite grabbing the limelight, Watson has been an efficient contributor for Islamabad United, hitting 171 runs at a strike rate of 139.02. He has also been a reliable man to turn to with the ball in hand, picking up 10 wickets.Sarfraz Ahmed (captain and wicketkeeper) – 161 runs, strike rate 125.78, one fifty)It hasn’t been a vintage tournament for wicketkeepers, but Sarfraz has arguably been the pick of the bunch. He played his part in a sensational match-winning partnership with Kevin Pietersen in a Sharjah thriller and has captained well, with Quetta Gladiators often looking a team much greater than the sum of their parts.Shadab Khan – 66 runs, nine wickets, economy rate 6.61The breakout star of the tournament, the 18-year-old allrounder made an instant impact. He hit a 24-ball 42 in the one-wicket defeat to Lahore, and showed an excellent ability to clear the ropes. He has also been more than handy with the ball, including 3 for 13 against Karachi. Islamabad coach Dean Jones is so impressed with him he thinks he’s ready to play for Pakistan already.Sunil Narine (overseas player) – 10 wickets, economy rate 6.46The West Indian had a terrific tournament, but his team, Lahore, didn’t make it to the playoffs. He claimed 10 wickets at a fairly miserly economy rate of 6.46, always looking a threat, but has also chipped in with the bat. He hit 11 sixes and struck 116 runs at a strike rate of 181.25.Mohammad Sami showed he hasn’t lost the speed and accuracy that made him a force in international cricket•PCBMohammad Sami – 12 wickets, economy rate 6.96Sami has been in and out of the Pakistan team for years, but he showed this tournament what he can still provide with his pace and accuracy. His ability to generate swing and bowl yorkers on demand under pressure caught the eye. His crowning glory – defending four in the final over to send his side through to the playoffs on his 36th birthday – is a contender for moment of the tournament.Yasir Shah – nine wickets, economy rate 6.03Although Yasir’s team didn’t make the playoffs, his nine wickets, including a superb 4 for 7 against Peshawar, kept Lahore in the hunt till the last group-stage game. He finished with an economy rate of just 6.03 an over. He certainly made up for lost time after missing last year’s PSL through a three-month suspension.Rumman Raees – 12 wickets, economy rate 6.19Although Sami hogged the attention, Raees has been a quietly-effective contributor for Islamabad. Raees has been fantastic for the defending champions, picking up 12 wickets at just 6.19 per over and proving himself a reliable performer in the final few overs. Has kicked on from a promising start in last year’s competition.

England have been at pains to provide public support to Roy in recent days. Quite right, too. There is no point pursuing a continuity of selection policy and then undermining it with whispers in the media

George Dobell10-Jun-2017Such have been the indignities suffered by England in limited-overs cricket – not least at the hands of Australia – that days like this can never be taken for granted.To see Ben Stokes, arguably the best limited-overs allrounder England have ever had, produce a century of composure and class (including strokes so good they convinced Virat Kohli to take to Twitter to praise them). To see Eoin Morgan help him steer England from the rocks of 35 for 3 to the riches of 194 in the 32nd over. To see Adil Rashid befuddle Australian batsmen with his legspin, as a certain Australian leggie used to torture Englishmen. To see Mark Wood bowl with a potency his Australian counterparts could not, and to hear the Hollies Stand roar it all on (at one stage they made a beeping noise every time Aaron Finch, who bore the brunt of their humour, walked backwards to simulate the noise of a heavy-load lorry reversing)… this was a good day for England cricket.England have now won 11 of their most recent 12 ODIs, including all three in this tournament. They have scored 25 centuries in 47 ODIs since the last World Cup; a stat in stark contrast to the 22 in 88 ODIs between the 2011 and 2015 World Cups. They have a bowling line-up that dismisses batsmen while others struggle to contain them. They are clearly the team to beat.The batting form of Morgan and Stokes is particularly pleasing. Stokes, who has now scored three centuries in his last 13 ODIs, was immense in this game. It wasn’t just his power (though one hooked six off Pat Cummins and another driven off Adam Zampa will linger long in the memory) and it wasn’t just his timing – though a couple of pushes down the ground sped to the boundary with barely a hint of persuasion. Rather, it was his calm in between the boundaries. Sixty-one of the 109 deliveries he faced were dot balls. He knew he could take his time. He knew he could wait. He knows he belongs at this level now. He is oozing confidence.Stokes rattled Australia here in a way you very rarely see an Australian team rattled. Their fielding wilted. Their heads dropped. They knew they were beaten long before the rain came. It was similar to the way he rattled South Africa during that double-hundred in Cape Town. Not many players can do that and he’s going to make many more bowlers suffer over the next few years. He bowled at the death, too, though he’s clearly feeling his way back after knee trouble. As one wag on Twitter put it, he may be the most important red-head in England since Elizabeth I.Ben Stokes’s century sealed Australia’s elimination•Getty ImagesBut England have won nothing yet. And as they look ahead to the semi-finals, they must confront the areas where they could do better. And nowhere is that more obvious than at the top of the order.Jason Roy is the designated driver on the night the drinks are on the bar. He has now failed to pass 20 in his last nine ODI innings and, in that period, has suffered six single-figure dismissals. Leaving him out might be considered a mercy killing. In a side missing the safety-net of Chris Woakes at No. 8, his continued poor form might be considered an accident waiting to happen, and it will not have gone unnoticed by England that, had Matthew Wade taken a relatively simple chance offered by Eoin Morgan on 12, they would have been in deep trouble.England have been at pains to provide public support to Roy in recent days. Quite right, too. There is no point pursuing a continuity of selection policy and then undermining it with whispers in the media.But there was a hint ahead of this match that England’s patience was wearing thin. Asked about Roy’s continued selection, England’s assistant coach, Paul Farbrace, replied he “didn’t see any point in making changes before the semi-final”. There was no need to add that caveat. It is relevant.It was a caveat repeated by Morgan in the post-match press conference when he accepted that England would “revisit” the selection ahead of the semi-final. “We’ll take a couple of days to have a look at what our best team is for the semi-final,” he said. “We revisit it every game. Everybody’s position. Whether it can be changed around and we can we do anything better.”While Jonny Bairstow is probably next in line at this stage, the fact that he has never opened in an ODI might cause the selectors to think long and hard before making the change. He has, though, taken to opening for Yorkshire in 50-over cricket and smashed a career-best 174 a month ago. Other options would be to move Moeen Ali up to open – he has scored two ODI centuries in the top three, after all – or move Joe Root one place up the order. He has been coming in against the new ball anyway. Sam Billings, who has opened in ODI cricket, is another possible option though it seems unlikely Bairstow can be denied at this stage.Jason Roy’s form concerns deepened as he fell second-ball for 4•Getty ImagesDropping a player is a delicate business. If they struggle with the timing or the manner of the decision, it can knock them off course for months or years. Think of Graeme Hick or Mark Rampakash in the 1990s or even Gary Ballance a couple of summers ago.But it needn’t. Moeen Ali was dropped – perhaps ‘left out’ would be a more accurate description – from the Ireland ODIs and responded with a man-of-the-match performance against South Africa at Leeds. And Adil Rashid was left out of the side for the first game of this tournament and has responded with some of the most mature bowling of his career. While the Roy situation is slightly different – he would be left out due to poor form more than a tactical change dependent on conditions – it need not be too destructive. In his case, it might even be considered a kindness – his dismissal, missing a straight one, was not encouraging; the subsequent review the act of a desperate man – though the outrageously good catch he pulled off at deep midwicket does hint at a deep reservoir of self-confidence.Rashid played a huge role in this victory. Where once he started his limited-overs spells with an off-break – a safe but unthreatening way of easing into the game – here he was confident enough to give the ball flight and run through his variations. Only Steve Smith could pick his googly with the others timid for fear that it could come at any moment. It rendered his legbreak and slider ever more effective and made him a potent force in those middle overs in which other teams are struggling to take wickets. With Wood equally threatening, England have an edge in that crucial area that might differentiate them from every other team in the competition.Speaking after the game, Rashid put his confidence down to a couple of good training sessions coming into the game and the faith he feels his captain and coaches have in him. All of which reflects well on the environment around the team at present.But Rashid also mentioned another crucial breakthrough. After years of being told he had to bowl quicker, he has now accepted the pace he bowls and, perhaps more importantly, everyone else has accepted it, too. That has allowed him to relax and focus on what he is good at doing. It’s proving a huge asset to England on a tournament played on flat wickets and with unresponsive balls.So that’s the conundrum the management have to contend with when deciding what to do with Roy. If they feel the confidence of this team is strong enough to withstand some disruption, it is probably time to make the change. Bairstow simply looks likely to score more runs than Roy and, sooner or later, England are going to need that contribution.

The third day ended with England having wiped off a sizeable deficit with plenty of batting to come, but their way back into the match wasn’t smooth

Alan Gardner at Headingley27-Aug-2017England came into the third day behind in the game knowing they had to exert concerted pressure on West Indies. Standards had not been met, either with bat or ball, but the tourists are not a side with much experience of closing out victories away from home – they have not won in England since 2000 and, in that time, have only twice beaten opposition other than Zimbabwe or Bangladesh on the road. The onus was on England, and they were given the perfect start…Anderson at the doubleWest Indies began the day with Shai Hope on 147 not out, with the pugnacious Jermaine Blackwood – normally No. 6 but down a spot because of the use of a nightwatchman – at the other end. With five wickets still to take, England knew they had to limit the damage; on the previous evening, James Anderson had suggested they needed to keep West Indies’ lead below 150. This time it wasn’t a cloudy start but, with Headingley bathed in sunshine, Anderson walked the talk. Two balls, two wickets: Hope applauded back to the dressing room, then Shane Dowrich roared back. Anderson’s Headingley mojo is confirmed by a five-wicket haul. Could he get to 500 this morning?Mo’s momentum-killerEngland, and Joe Root, would prefer it of course if Anderson didn’t have to do it all himself. Stuart Broad has seemingly battled for rhythm again, particularly bowling to right-handers – despite briefly clicking under the lights at Edgbaston to surpass Ian Botham last week – and there is nothing especially threatening about his second ball of the day, angled in on a length to Blackwood. But the batsman hits wildly across the line and miscues towards mid-on… where Moeen Ali flubs a straightforward catch. England’s spotless start has its first blemish.Holder takes a gripAnderson’s admission that England did not bowl well enough on the second day seems to have been heeded initially. Broad’s frustration at the drop is expressed with a sharp bouncer that Blackwood does well to punch away and Anderson nearly removes him in the next over, when a thick edge evades the leaping Ben Stokes at gully. England are clearly keyed up – there are two direct hits from fielders inside the first half hour – but they are unable to maintain control as Jason Holder plays the aggressor. Broad is hit for three princely fours in a row and looks about as pleased as a man who has just been promoted to White House press secretary.The last-wicket niggleHolder and Blackwood pile the pressure back on England by raising the fifty stand from just 55 balls and the session is quickly unravelling for Root. Chris Woakes does not fare much better than Broad but he does get his first Test wicket of 2017, caught at long-off, when Holder levers a drive up into the sky. Moeen takes the catch this time, to general merriment/relief. Blackwood is then run out by a good bit of fielding and in the same over, with the lead still just under 150, Shannon Gabriel edges Moeen to short leg… only for Mark Stoneman to put it down, allowing Gabriel and Kemar Roach to riff on England’s pain during a 21-run last-wicket beano.Westley’s swansong?In response, England raise their first fifty opening stand of the series, calming the roiling sea of humanity that is the Western Terrace in mid-afternoon. Alastair Cook is eventually prised out during a good spell of bowling by Holder from round the wicket, bringing his Essex team-mate Tom Westley to the crease. He makes it to tea, but not much beyond. First, Devendra Bishoo makes a ricket of running Westley out after he had stood watching at the striker’s end while Stoneman charged down towards him. “Blimey, he’s got away with it,” was one observation in the stands. Not so… In the very next over, Westley makes sure of things with a frazzled drive at a wide delivery, before walking off with his head bowed.Don’t spill your drink in the last-chance saloon…Stoneman makes his maiden fifty, battling on after being hit on the hand, but is undone by his second off-stump homing missile of the series. Root is joined by Dawid Malan, with West Indies’ still 75 ahead and knowing that one more breakthrough could be crucial. Malan, tightly squished up alongside Westley under the microscope, pushes at his seventh ball and there’s an appeal from Gabriel and the cordon – but they’re not sure. There is no review, but Ultra Edge reveals moments later for those watching on television that there was probably a nick.Root to victory?Moments later, with England still on the ropes, Roach finds the edge of Root’s bat – only 10 runs to his name – but the chance bursts through the hands of Kyle Hope in the gully. Clearly, neither team in this fight has the ringcraft of Floyd Mayweather (nor the braggadocio of Conor McGregor). Holder then thinks he has Root lbw on 35 but somehow, seemingly at odds with the observed laws of physics, it is shown to be missing leg. Root is still there at the close, with England edging into the lead. They are still bobbing and weaving, looking to land the decisive blow in a contest that looks like going the distance.