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Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland, Oman and Papua New Guinea have battled their way through the qualifiers to the tournament proper. What lies ahead of them?

08-Oct-2021

Netherlands

By Hemant BrarPath to the World Cup
Having participated in the 2016 T20 World Cup, Netherlands got a direct entry into the T20 World Cup Qualifier, where they won five out of six league games and then trounced UAE in the playoffs to seal a World Cup spot. They went on to win the Qualifier, beating Papua New Guinea in the final.Peak in cricket (so far)
Beating England at Lord’s in a last-ball thriller at the 2009 T20 World Cup, and then repeating the feat in the 2014 edition with a 45-run victory in Chattogram. Another high was chasing down 190 in 13.5 overs against Ireland in Sylhet, also in the 2014 edition.Players to watch
Ryan ten Doeschate: He was the second-highest run scorer for Netherlands in the Qualifier. A year later, he topped the run charts for Essex at the 2020 Vitality Blast. Although his recent form hasn’t been great, and he no longer bowls in T20, the 41-year-old will be determined to make an impact in what will be his last tournament.Roelof van der Merwe: Another globe-trotting veteran, van der Merwe can change the complexion of a match with both his lower-order hitting and left-arm spin. In this year’s Vitality Blast, he picked up 11 wickets in seven games at an economy of 7.19 in Somerset’s run to the final. This will be his fourth T20 World Cup; the first two came for South Africa.Paul van Meekeren: A tall fast bowler who can touch 140kph, van Meekeren also possesses a handy slower ball. Earlier this year, in his debut CPL season, he picked up eight wickets in as many games at an economy of 7.93 for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, the eventual champions.How far might they go?

Netherlands are paired with Sri Lanka, Ireland and Namibia in Group A, from where the top two teams will qualify for the Super 12s. If they can beat Ireland in their opening game, they should make it to the next round, given they are favourites against Namibia. Anything beyond that will be a miracle.It’s a tough road for Namibia, who will come up against Sri Lanka, Ireland and Netherlands in the early part of the tournament•Peter Della Penna

Namibia

By Peter Della Penna
Path to the World Cup
Namibia went undefeated in the Africa Regional Finals to earn a trip to the T20 World Cup Qualifier. After two defeats to Netherlands and PNG forced their backs to the wall at the start of group play, Namibia rallied for five straight wins to clinch a spot in their maiden T20 World Cup.Peak in cricket (so far)
Qualifying for the 2003 World Cup, where they went winless. More recently, they achieved ODI status by winning the 2019 World Cricket League Division Two on home soil.Players to watch
Gerhard Erasmus: The captain is the spine of the batting order, capable of anchoring the innings or revving up the engine when necessary. In a big win over Singapore in the World Cup Qualifier, he struck four sixes in a 29-run over. He also later showed his class with a half-century against Ireland. Erasmus bowls more than handy offspin and is also Namibia’s best fielder.JJ Smit: The 25-year-old allrounder’s value as batter and bowler is at the death. He does not bowl at express pace but is accurate with his yorkers. He has also turned many middling totals into challenging ones with his belligerent striking, such as in his 59 off 25 balls with five sixes in a win over Oman that clinched their spot at the World Cup.Bernard Scholtz: Namibia’s all-time leading wicket-taker in first-class and T20 cricket, Scholtz is not a big turner of the ball but relentlessly probes away with accuracy to build pressure that results in breakthroughs both for him and anyone bowling in tandem. He was the Player of the Tournament in the 2015 T20 World Cup Qualifier, and had the most wickets among spinners at the 2019 Qualifier.How far might they go?

Namibia have drawn the short straw, getting paired with former world champions Sri Lanka, along with Ireland and Netherlands, both of whom they lost to in the T20 World Cup Qualifier by wide margins. It will be an uphill battle to advance to the Super 12s.Scotland didn’t make it past the first round in the 2016 T20 World Cup•Getty Images

Scotland

By Sruthi RavindranathPath to the World Cup
Scotland were the best team going into the 2019 World Cup Qualifier, ranked 11th in T20Is, but had a lacklustre outing, with three wins and three losses in the group stage, eventually finishing fourth on the Group A table. But they won the third qualifying playoff against hosts UAE and clinched their spot at the T20 World Cup for the second straight time.Peak in cricket (so far)
After failing to qualify for three T20 World Cups in a row, Scotland made it to the 2016 edition after winning the Qualifiers in 2015 (jointly with Netherlands), but exited in the first round after notching up a solitary win, against Hong Kong. They gained their best-ever ranking of No. 11 in T20Is in 2017, and got their first win against England in a one-off ODI in Edinburgh in 2018.Players to watch

George Munsey:The hard-hitting opener was Scotland’s highest run scorer in the Qualifiers in 2019, with 234 runs in eight matches. His T20I career strike rate of 155.01 is fourth best among batters who have faced a minimum of 500 balls. One of his best performances in international cricket came in September 2019 against Netherlands, when he hit 127 not out off 56 balls, the highest score in T20Is by a Scotland player.Safyaan Sharif: Sharif has emerged as the leader of Scotland’s pace attack in recent years. The right-arm quick was the top wicket-taker for Scotland in the 2019 Qualifiers, with 13 wickets in seven matches. He enters the T20 World Cup having just taken his best T20 figures – 4 for 24 against Zimbabwe in September.How far might they go?

They are likely to progress to the Super 12s – they start their first round against Bangladesh (ranked sixth to Scotland’s 15th), but their next two games are against Papua New Guinea and Oman, the teams they beat in the Qualifiers. But keeping in mind their fickle form in that tournament, and that they haven’t had much T20 game time ahead of the main event, they might be surprised by these teams.This will be Papua New Guinea’s first-ever T20 World Cup appearance•International Cricket Council

Papua New Guinea

By Peter Della PennaPath to the World Cup
After a series of close playoff heartbreaks at the 2013 and 2015 T20 World Cup Qualifiers, in 2019, Papua New Guinea progressed from the East Asia-Pacific regional qualifier to top Group B at the global qualifier in the UAE, their 5-1 record clinching them an automatic berth. Their only loss in the group stage came against Scotland. Arguably their most impressive win came by five wickets with an over to spare against Netherlands before to the same opponents in the tournament final.Peak in cricket (so far)
Securing ODI status in 2014 at the 50-over World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand. They had a brief lapse in status from 2018 to 2019 after a poor finish at the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, but regained it a year later at WCL Division Two in Namibia.Players to watch
Assad Vala: Papua New Guinea’s do-everything captain is a towering figure, literally and figuratively, in the national team. The six-foot tall batter’s size translates into muscle at the crease where he is a powerful striker of the ball at No. 3 and consistently PNG’s top scorer. He also regularly bowls a full quota of offspin and is often a handful for left-handers to get away.CJ Amini: The long-time vice-captain is a third-generation national team player. A showstopper in the field at backward point, he has produced some of the most spectacular run-outs and catches in world cricket to not be captured by television cameras. His fielding prowess often overshadows the fact that he is also a quality legspinner and capable of smashing a few quick runs in the death overs.Norman Vanua: The allrounder started off the 2019 T20 World Cup Qualifier by taking a hat-trick against Bermuda, and through the tournament proved himself to be PNG’s best death bowler with his accurate yorkers. With the bat, he has shifted roles between being a pinch-hitting opener and an inspirational finisher. Aside from Vala, he’s the most likely to clear the ropes.How far might they go?
PNG’s fortunes are the hardest to predict because of their difference in form between formats. They lost eight straight ODIs in the two months leading into the 2019 Qualifier, before morphing into a T20 juggernaut in the UAE. They are in similarly terrible ODI form going into the T20 World Cup, having lost another eight in a row to stretch their ODI drought to 16 straight losses. But few would discount their chances by conflating their ODI form with that in T20Is.Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood’s first task will be to take his team to a top-two finish against Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh and Scotland•Peter Della Penna

Oman

By Peter Della PennaPath to the World Cup
Oman entered the 2019 T20 World Cup Qualifier in the UAE as one of the group favourites and performed like it. Only a last-day slip-up in the group stage to Jersey denied them an automatic berth in the T20 World Cup – that went to Ireland, who finished with the same 4-2 record as Oman but with a superior net run rate. Oman then lost to Namibia in their opening playoff match before finally clinching a spot in the T20 World Cup in a tense second-chance eliminator against Hong Kong.Peak in cricket (so far)
Beating Ireland in their opening match of the 2016 T20 World Cup in Dharamsala. It showed that their qualification journey was no fluke and they used it as a springboard to securing ODI status in 2019.Players to watch
Bilal Khan: Oman’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is, with 51 scalps, Bilal is one of the most devastating fast bowlers at Associate level. The left-armer generally bowls in the 135-140 kph range, but gets prodigious swing with the new ball and is a menace at the death with his yorkers. His new ball spell in the Qualifier reduced Hong Kong to 13 for 4 and then he came back with the old ball to end with figures of 4 for 23.Zeeshan Maqsood: The 33-year-old built his early reputation as a firecracker at the top of the order. In more recent times, he has been far more potent with the ball while leading Oman’s arsenal of left-arm spinners. He can still bring explosiveness with the bat when called upon, and is arguably Oman’s best player of spin, another reason why he shifted himself down to the middle order upon taking over as captain in 2018.Naseem Khushi: The 39-year-old wicketkeeper is Oman’s most explosive death-overs hitter. In that same must-win game against Hong Kong, he deflated the opposition by belting an unbeaten 26 off 9 balls. He is sometimes held back as late as No. 9 in the batting order, but can be promoted higher to suit the very specific requirement of teeing off in the last four overs, something he does better than most at Associate level.How far might they go?
Oman gained the biggest advantage due to the tournament venue reshuffle, which now sees them hosting matches in the opening round. They are a far stronger and deeper team than they were at the same event five years ago. Now that two teams advance from each opening round group instead of one, they have the strongest odds of any of the Associate teams to reach the main draw.

A mega auction is around the corner and things are bound to change, but on Friday night it was all refreshingly familiar

Karthik Krishnaswamy16-Oct-20213:26

Steyn: ‘Faf outstanding, Uthappa the game-changer’

When you type Faf on your phone, it autocorrects to Dad. Sometimes, the joke literally writes itself.On Friday, when he played his 100th game for Chennai Super Kings, there were times when Faf du Plessis looked a little like Dad du Plessis. By the time Super Kings’ innings was into its final stages, he was doubling over to catch his breath after running twos, and when he swung at slower balls, he swung with tired legs and a wobbly base, and struggled to impart the power he desired.

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This, of course, was mostly because du Plessis batted through the Super Kings innings on a 36-degree day in Dubai, but let’s stay with the dad narrative for a bit. du Plessis was one of five over-35s in the Super Kings XI, and one of four players to have played at least 100 games for the franchise. Another player who fulfilled both those criteria was sitting in the dugout.As the 2021 IPL final approached its end, and as Super Kings closed in on their fourth title, an era seemed to be ending. MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, du Plessis. One or more of them could still be in yellow next season, but never again all of them, together.A mega auction is around the corner, and with the tournament set to feature two extra teams, it’s unlikely Super Kings will be able to reassemble a squad full of familiar faces as they’ve done on previous occasions. And it’s unclear whether they’ll want to, given that these players were already being called Dad’s Army when Super Kings reunited them at the 2018 auction.”Well, look, maybe. We don’t know,” Stephen Fleming, the Super Kings head coach, said at his post-match press conference, when asked if this was indeed the end of an era. “Yeah, there is emotion around it. Whenever you get to the end of [an auction] cycle you’re not going to get some players back. There is some emotion around these last games, and when you win it it’s a celebration but also a recognition of what players have put in.”Chennai has always had a system, or a belief that if you can maintain players and keep them with you for a long time, you get the best out of them, and yeah, there are some players here that have been with us for a long time, and it’ll be interesting to see over the next few months how it pans out. Most teams are probably going to have a bit of change to them, and we will be one, but how that looks like, it’s too early to tell.”Faf du Plessis scored over 600 runs this season•BCCIIt must be gutting for a coach to have to disassemble a group of players that he knows this well. It’ll be especially hard given that they’ve reached three finals and won two titles in this four-year auction cycle. All teams go through transitions, but the IPL demands transitions more abrupt than in any other league.There’s a chance, therefore, that du Plessis may never play for Super Kings again – this after scoring over 600 runs this season and ending it with a match-winning 86 in the final.If this was his final innings in yellow, it was quite a sign-off. Before fatigue slowed him down – he only scored 34 off his last 24 balls – he had played his specific role in the top order to perfection, and the batters around him had played theirs just as well.Related

• N Srinivasan: 'There is no CSK without Dhoni and no Dhoni without CSK'

• IPL 2021 – Three Chennai Super Kings players in ESPNcricinfo's Team of the Tournament

• du Plessis and bowlers seal CSK's fourth IPL title

• Super Kings 'pretty darn good' – Steyn

• 'We have to decide what is good for CSK' – Dhoni on his future with the franchise

Over the last two seasons, du Plessis has been Super Kings’ designated pace hitter in the top order, striking at 154.45 against the quicker bowlers and at 109.19 against spin. Their other top-order batters in this time have all tended to score significantly quicker against spin than pace.On Friday, du Plessis took down Kolkata Knight Riders’ main pace threat, hitting Lockie Ferguson for 40 off 16 balls. He only managed 29 off 29 against Knight Riders’ three spinners, but the rest of the top order took care of that part of the job, with Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa and Moeen Ali taking a collective 66 off 38 balls against Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy.Had Knight Riders’ chase not fizzled out like it did, this piece may have been obliged to look at du Plessis’ late slowdown with a critical eye. But Super Kings won, and won convincingly, so we can put the result aside and talk about the pleasure of watching him bat.The Chennai Super Kings players’ kids join in the celebrations•BCCIRewind to the 11th over of Super Kings’ innings – specifically the third ball of the over. This is one of those days when nothing goes right for Ferguson, and this ball isn’t a good one. It’s shortish and it’s wide, and du Plessis puts it away like he should, but not quite like most batters would. Rather than slap it through point, du Plessis shifts his left leg away from leg stump, opens up at the hip, and hits a flat-bat drive over extra-cover. The ball clocks 147.6kph, and he hits it like an inside-out Andre Agassi forehand, meeting the ball early and well in front of his body, using his hips to generate power.It’s the shot of an unusually bottom-handed player, and he plays another soon after, a drive for six over long-off, with his bat twisting in his grip. You’d think it’s a mis-hit if it were anyone else, but you’ve watched du Plessis hundreds of times and this is how he drives. It’s idiosyncratic, and you might even call it ungainly, but it’s full of the warmth of the familiar.As the match goes on, these moments keep coming. Dhoni collects a ball down the leg side, and almost in the same motion passes it to mid-on with a mighty underarm flick. Jadeja raps Shakib on the front pad and sets off towards square leg in celebrappeal. You’ve seen them do these things a thousand times, but now you’ve properly noticed them.And noticing these things only reminds you more forcefully of their transience.

Pakistan are looking for a way out of the rut, and the return of Bismah Maroof should help them on that path

S Sudarshanan and Danyal Rasool05-Mar-2022

India

Overview
India have blown hot and blown cold in ODIs since the last World Cup in 2017, when they were the beaten finalists, losing a match they had every right to win against England.They have won 19 and lost 21 of the 40 they have played since. More importantly, India have just four wins in 16 matches since the start of 2021, which should be a major concern. However, they came close to beating Australia in Australia before ending their record-winning streak.The other concern is that India may or may not have zeroed in on their best XI. Yastika Bhatia was seen as the No. 3 before Deepti Sharma moved up to take the spot in New Zealand.The spotlight, though, would be on their bowling attack, led, perhaps for the last time, by Jhulan Goswami. They failed to defend scores of 270 and 279 in successive games against New Zealand. Without the experienced Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur and Pooja Vastrakar will have to step up and support Goswami, who has continues to keep things tight.Squad
Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-capt) Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Taniya Bhatia, Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad | Travelling reserves: S Meghana, Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil BahadurRecent form
Having returned to the ODI circuit in 2021 after a 15-month gap, India have lost series against South Africa (at home), England, Australia and New Zealand (away). However, the run has also included a win that ended Australia’s record winning streak of 26 ODIs.Player to watch
Richa Ghosh has slotted seamlessly into India’s lower-middle order, using her attacking game to help India finish strongly. In her seven ODIs, she has hit two fifties, one of which was at a strike rate of 179.31 against New Zealand. Though she has some tidying up to do with her glovework, her ability as a batter should help India push their totals towards 300, something that won’t be too rare in New Zealand.What the captain said
“The young talent in the side today, I tell them that you don’t have the experience of the past World Cups, so it’s a clean slate for you, all you have to do is enjoy the big stage. The only advice I would give the young players is enjoy the big stage because if you pile up the pressure you may not be playing the best that the team and you would want to do in the World Cup.”
Mithali RajPakistan will hope that a refreshed Bismah Maroof hits the ground running•Getty Images

Pakistan

Overview
For far too long, Pakistan have simply existed on the circuit without the sort of progress they might have hoped for. There are plenty of reasons why that’s the case, but at this World Cup, they would want to shelve that reputation in search of tangible on-field progress. They have gone winless at the last two ODI World Cups, and go into this tournament far from being the favourites. There have been limited signs of improvement, though. There were a couple of away ODI wins against West Indies last year and an upset T20I win against South Africa in Durban. Not to forget the win over New Zealand in the warm-up game the other day. But Pakistan have tended to lose the matches they are expected to lose, and win the ones they’re supposed to win. It’s been a bit predictable, but that’s the rut they have found themselves stuck in, and will want to break out of.Squad
Bismah Maroof (capt), Nida Dar, Aiman Anwer, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Ghulam Fatima, Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali, Nahida Khan, Nashra Sandhu, Omaima Sohail, Sidra Ameen, Sidra NawazRecent form
It’s been underwhelming. There was a recent big victory against Zimbabwe in Harare, but also a defeat against Bangladesh, and those three wins against West Indies and South Africa were accompanied by nine losses against the same oppositions last year.Player to watch
Bismah Maroof has been a pioneering cricketer for Pakistan for more than a decade and a half. She returns to the fold after her maternity leave, which prompted the PCB to adopt a maternity policy for the first time. The Pakistan captain’s presence is a major fillip for a side that doesn’t quite boast the strength and depth of some of the legitimate contenders. After spending nearly a year away from cricket, it will be key to Pakistan’s chances that a refreshed Maroof hits the ground running.What the captain said
“We arrive in New Zealand well prepared, with our eyes set on one of the four semi-final spots. We have never made it to the knockouts of any World Cup across the two formats, but that does not mean that time will never come.”
Bismah Maroof

Counties are concerned about ticket sales but dual system has worked elsewhere

Matt Roller24-May-2022This town ain’t big enough for the both of us. That was the conclusion drawn by some after the inaugural season of the Hundred last year; that for all the T20 Blast’s success in its 19 seasons, the advent of a new competition with a huge marketing budget and commercial backing rendered it useless.”My personal view (hard hat at the ready) is that given the overwhelming success of the Hundred, the Blast should now be discontinued,” tweeted Harry Gurney, the former England seamer who was part of the BBC’s commentary team during the Hundred. Few joined him in saying so publicly, but many shared his sentiments in private.But as the Blast enters its 20th season, the big-picture question is not about one competition superseding the other but about how they can coexist. Clearly, they are an odd couple: the county game is financially dependent on ECB distributions – which include £1.3 million a year as part of the agreement to introduce the Hundred – while the Hundred cannot take place without the players and stadia which the counties provide.This summer will be the first real test as to whether there is appetite for two men’s short-form competitions in England and Wales, after attendances were limited by Covid restrictions for the vast majority of last summer’s Blast. Some counties have reported slower sales than anticipated: the competition starts two weeks earlier this year than in 2021, and the fixture list was published two months later than usual due to uncertainty over the schedule.”We’re tracking to get back to somewhere near where we were in 2019,” Neil Snowball, the ECB’s managing director of county cricket, told the BBC last week. “We’ve got some pretty ambitious targets for the Blast this year, it being the 20th anniversary. If we can get up to that level, it would be a pretty incredible year after two years of hiatus in between.”Related

• Smeed pledges to be 'greedy' as Somerset look to go one better

• David Lloyd: 'The Blast is the best T20 competition in the world'

• Wright captains ESPNcricinfo's all-time T20 Blast XI

• Players call for quality over quantity in PCA consultation

• Strauss calls on ECB to be 'ambitious, bold and radical' in resetting red-ball fortunes

At this stage, it seems like an optimistic prediction. The Hundred’s ticket-pricing strategy has been admirable in one sense, cutting prices to make the tournament as accessible as possible, but an unintended consequence has been to undercut the price of Blast tickets: the cheapest available adult ticket costs £24 for Hampshire vs Gloucestershire at the Ageas Bowl in the Blast but some are on sale for £16 for Southern Brave’s double-header against Manchester Originals in the Hundred.The Blast’s lock-out last year saw many of its regular supporters roll through the gates in the Hundred, best evidenced by raucous chants of “Yorkshire! Yorkshire!” from Headingley’s Western Terrace as Northern Superchargers racked up 200 in their men’s fixture against Manchester Originals.The ECB were keen to highlight the younger, more diverse profile of ticket-buyers at the Hundred and the arrival of new fans – but it remains to be seen if they will be drawn to county fixtures too. “The early signs are that people who attended the Hundred are also attending the Blast this year,” Snowball said, while acknowledging that “we’ll get a much better sense of that this year”.Perhaps the Blast’s biggest problem as a competition is its sheer scale, with 126 group games packed into a five-and-a-half week block which also contains two rounds of County Championship fixtures. Sky Sports, the rights holders, can only televise a small fraction of them and the sheer volume of fixtures means that many storylines are lost to those who are not there to witness them in-person.In 2019, AB de Villiers smoked nine sixes in 35 balls for Middlesex against Somerset but only the 4,000 or so fans at Old Deer Park witnessed it live. “If it’s not on TV, did it really happen?” administrators often ask rhetorically; most counties have invested heavily in their live-streaming services but viewing figures suggest their appeal is generally restricted to hardcore supporters.Counties rely heavily on Blast fixtures for income, both in terms of ticket sales – which far outstrip those for other formats – and commercial revenue, though with the tournament squeezed by the Hundred’s August window, most teams face the prospect of playing midweek fixtures this year.The ECB highlighted a younger, more diverse demographic of fans at the Hundred•Getty ImagesThe schedule has been uneven for several seasons, with nine teams per group playing 14 fixtures each. It would be no surprise for Andrew Strauss’ high-performance review to recommend reverting to a format with three regionalised groups of six, with a full home-and-away schedule: each county would lose two home games but would be able to target marketing and avoid the unglamorous Monday and Tuesday-night slots which have proved a hard sell.Players are relieved that this year’s schedule at least sees the Blast’s knockout stages played immediately after the end of the group, after a five-week hiatus last summer. “We came back to play in the quarter-finals and we had lost all our momentum,” Nottinghamshire’s Samit Patel recalled. “I’m happier now it’s in a block: it’s done and dusted by mid-July and that’s way better.”The biggest tension at the heart of the debate around the two tournaments’ futures is the split between those counties who host Hundred games at their home grounds and those who do not, one which was exacerbated further when the ECB doubled-down on the decision to stage women’s fixtures as double-headers with men’s games rather than taking them to smaller venues.In the women’s game, there are no great concerns about the professional schedule: the women’s domestic T20 competition, the Charlotte Edwards Cup, is a short, sharp competition with six group games per team and few commercial pressures, providing players with opportunities in a lower-stakes competition before the arrival of overseas players and heightened scrutiny presents a step-up in the Hundred.But in the men’s, in Snowball’s words: “some counties and some venues have got an oversupply and some have got an undersupply.” Taunton, for example, will host only four games in August, all featuring a weakened Somerset side in the Royal London Cup; Emirates Old Trafford, by contrast, hosts four Hundred matchdays, two RLC games and an England men’s Test match against South Africa in the same window.From a playing perspective, the co-existence of two short-form competitions is a huge positive for England’s white-ball depth: players involved in both the Blast and the Hundred will play 22 games of short-form cricket every summer even if their teams are knocked out in the group stages.Blast form is the main guide for coaches and analysts drafting Hundred teams and eight players are selected as Hundred ‘wildcards’ at the end of the Blast’s group stages, rewarding them for their performances and providing an additional incentive. Last year, Jake Lintott signed for Southern Brave after an impressive Blast and was their leading wicket-taker as they won the competition; while counties may resist losing more players at short notice, plans to turn another £30,000 draft pick into a second wildcard spot have been discussed.Jake Lintott was Southern Brave’s wildcard pick in 2021 – and their leading wicket-taker•Getty ImagesThe quality of overseas players in the Blast has been aided by the Hundred, too: Sunil Narine has never played for a county and Kieron Pollard has not since 2011 but both were picked up by London teams in the Hundred draft and opted to extend their summers in the UK by signing for Surrey, too.”The Hundred has probably helped us get them over,” Ollie Pope said. “It’s great for the standard of the Blast, having guys like that involved.” A number of overseas players at other counties without Hundred contracts have entered the overseas ‘wildcard’ draft on June 9 and are hoping to push their case for selection by starting the T20 season strongly.The dual system has worked well in India and Pakistan, where the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the National T20 Cup have given players the opportunity to impress and be fed into the IPL and the PSL respectively. Australia’s talent pool is smaller due to the lack of a national competition beneath the BBL – teams plucked players from grade cricket during Covid outbreaks last season – and Pollard voiced his frustrations at the fact the CPL is the only region-wide T20 tournament in the Caribbean during his tenure as West Indies captain.But how will the high-performance review square the benefits of a dual short-form system with a multitude of other demands? Players want fewer games and for the best in the country to play 50-over cricket, while ensuring the Blast remains “an elite competition”, the Hundred is “central” and more Championship games are played at the height of summer.It is near-impossible to untangle that web of internal contradictions and with Strauss calling for “ambitious, bold and radical” solutions, there has rarely been less clarity. But one thing is self-evident: that as the Blast turns 20, it must find a way to coexist with its noisy neighbour.

New York Strikers, themselves first-timers, face Samp Army in Qualifier 1, while Team Abu Dhabi and Deccan Gladiators meet in the Eliminator

Aadam Patel03-Dec-2022The final four of the Abu Dhabi T10 is set after Friday’s triple-header at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, with New York Strikers and Morrisville Samp Army, the two new franchises, topping the league table. They will now be going head-to-head in Saturday’s Qualifier 1, with the winner directly making it to Sunday’s final.After Delhi Bulls beat Chennai Brave in a dead rubber on the last day of the round-robin matches, Samp Army brushed Northern Warriors aside to temporarily go atop before Strikers reclaimed top spot by hammering Team Abu Dhabi.In what is the same format as the IPL, the loser between Samp Army and Strikers will get another go on Saturday evening against the winner of the Eliminator between Team Abu Dhabi and defending champions Deccan Gladiators.Related

• Russell finally comes to the party to put Gladiators in Abu Dhabi T10 final

• Azam Khan catches the eye again as Strikers snap Samp Army's streak

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Moeen Ali’s Samp Army side came into their final league match knowing that a win would be enough to finish in the top two, but found themselves in a bit of bother after losing four wickets in the space of eight deliveries during their chase of 118. At 82 for 5 at the start of the seventh over, the game was in the balance, with Moeen, David Miller, Shimron Hetmyer, Karim Janat and Johnson Charles back in the dugout.Both Moeen and Miller were dismissed without troubling the scorers, but a rapid 45 off 18 deliveries from Hetmyer – including five monstrous sixes – had set Samp Army up, after which Dwaine Pretorius (17* off seven) and Chamika Karunaratne (22* off eight) held their nerve to take their side home with nine balls to spare.Hetmyer was in the headlines in October after missing West Indies’ rescheduled flight before the T20 World Cup, and subsequently getting removed from the West Indies squad, but has enjoyed being a part of the T10. He walked into the post-match press conference with a bandage around his left arm after hurting himself during the run chase, but still with a beaming smile.”Whatever’s happened before has happened, and I’m trying to put that behind me,” Hetmyer said. “One of the best things about T10 cricket is just the freedom to go out and express yourself. Win, lose or draw, I try and play the game with a smile on my face, and enjoy it as much as I can.”After seeing Samp Army’s win, Chris Lynn’s Abu Dhabi outfit knew that nothing less than two points would do if they wanted to get back in the top two, and coming off the back of a four-game win streak, they would have certainly fancied their chances. But Strikers have found another gear throughout the last week, and came into the game with a five-match winning run of their own. And from the moment Kieron Pollard won the toss, they were in control.They struck regularly with the ball, with Wahab Riaz taking 3 for 4, and Rashid Khan showcasing his craft and guile by bowling his namesake Adil Rashid and Andrew Tye. At the halfway mark, a total of 78 was never going to trouble Pollard’s side, who had spent their previous two evenings in Abu Dhabi pulling off chases of 144 and 113.Though Paul Stirling was undone by a superb inswinger from Naveen-Ul-Haq, it was Eoin Morgan and Muhammad Waseem who steadied the ship before Adil Rashid removed his former England captain. But any doubt of a Strikers’ win was removed in the next over, as David Payne was sent for three sixes by Waseem, and Pollard secured victory in style with a huge hit over long-on.Eight teams are now down to four, and it is the new boys who are making all the noise at season six of Abu Dhabi T10.

Knowing his game, a lot of training, and being a step – or three – ahead of the bowler are the secrets to Suryakumar Yadav’s success

Hemant Brar08-Jan-20234:14

Hardik Pandya: ‘Today it felt like Sri Lanka versus Surya’

Knowing his game inside out
Suryakumar made his T20I debut at the age of 30. By then, he had already played 170 T20s – the most for any player before representing his country. While not getting the call must have been frustrating, his passion for the game kept him going. In his own words, wherever he played, he tried to put up a show.A delayed debut made him hungrier, but it was the time he spent playing domestic cricket and the IPL that helped him know his game well. He has a T20I career strike rate above 180, but you rarely see him trying to muscle the ball. He knows his strength is timing the ball, and he relies on that to score his runs.Related

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“You don’t have to tell him anything,” Hardik Pandya said after Saturday’s game. “He is always clear about his plans and that’s the reason he is successful in this format; he doesn’t doubt his ability.”In the first T20I, Suryakumar was caught at short fine leg when he failed to execute a scoop. The same shot brought him more than 28% of his runs on Saturday. During the innings break, he was asked about his innovative shots, and if he premeditates them. “Yes, a few shots are predetermined,” he replied, “but these are all my shots, which I have been playing since the last one year.”Quick off the blocks
In 43 T20I innings, Suryakumar has three hundreds, and all three have come while batting at No. 3 or lower. No other non-opener has scored that many T20I centuries. A big reason behind Suryakumar’s success is that he hardly takes any time to get into his groove; a six off his first ball in international cricket was perhaps a foretelling of the future.His first-ten-balls strike rate in T20Is is 154.55. Among batters from Full-Member nations, only Marcus Stoinis (172.73) and James Neesham (156.82) are quicker off the blocks (minimum 100 balls). However, Stoinis and Neesham mostly bat at No. 5 or lower, where they are expected to throw their bats around straightaway. Suryakumar, batting at No. 4 or sometimes at No. 3, doesn’t always have that freedom.But his quick starts mean he doesn’t really have to play the catch-up game. That’s why each of his centuries have taken fewer than 50 balls. In fact, eight of his 16 50-plus scores have come at a strike rate of more than 200. The slowest of those – 51 off 36 in the second T20I of this series – came at 141.66.

Watch the match replay (UK only)

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360-degree wrists
Everyone knows Suryakumar can play shots all around the park. What allows him to play that 360-degree game is his 360-degree wrists. He can open them to carve a full delivery over deep third, or close them to scoop the same ball over fine leg.On Saturday, he was most destructive over the fine-leg region, smashing 32 off six balls with the help of two fours and four sixes. He also picked up seven runs off two balls to deep third, including a six.”The boundaries behind [the stumps] are actually 59 to 60 metres, so I just try to clear them,” he explained. While he mentioned he was still trying to master that six over deep third, his ability to clear the fine-leg boundary is unmatched.Since his T20I debut, he has hit 27 sixes over fine leg. The next best in that period is Mohammad Rizwan with 13. Suryakumar was in control of 25 of those 27 sixes, which means only two came via a top edge. As he said, those are indeed his shots.3:41

Maharoof: ‘If the bowler has plan A, Suryakumar has plan B and C already lined up’

One step ahead of the bowler
On ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out show, former Sri Lanka allrounder Farveez Maharoof said that if a bowler has plan A in place, Suryakumar has plan B and plan C already lined up. The batter, too, spoke along the same lines after the match.”There are a few strokes that are predetermined,” he said, “but, at the same time, you got to have other shots as well in your armoury, because if the bowler bowls some other delivery, then you also have to be ready with other strokes.”He also tries to figure out from the field what a bowler might do next, and uses the field to his advantage. At times, instead of aiming for a six, he is happy to time the ball over extra cover or mid-off for a four, as there’s inherently less risk in that. At the death, when fast bowlers generally have the fine leg inside the 30-yard circle, he uses the scoop to pick up the boundaries.ESPNcricinfo LtdPreparation makes perfect
The frequency with which he is playing these innings can mislead viewers into thinking it’s easy. It is anything but. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes.”I think it’s really important to put pressure on yourself when you are preparing for the match,” he said. “What you do in your practice sessions, what process and routines you follow is very important. If you put a lot of pressure on yourself when you are practising, then it gets a little easier in the game.”Of course, there’s a lot of hard work involved, but at the same time you got to be doing some quality practice as well. At the end of the day, you should know what your game is and how you are going to get your runs.”Later, in a chat with Rahul Dravid on , he said: “During the net sessions, I only try to hear the sound [of the ball] off the bat, [to know] if I am hitting the ball well. I set [imaginary] fields for myself whenever a bowler is bowling, and try to time the ball as much as possible. And if I am happy with the sound off the bat, even if it has been only ten minutes, I come out of the nets.”Fitness and family support
Dravid narrated an incident from two years ago when Suryakumar took the Yo-Yo test at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and “dived to get across the line” instead of running all the way through.”That was actually the turning point,” Suryakumar said when Dravid asked him about his fitness journey. “After I got married, my wife has been pushing me really hard in terms of nutrition, in terms of staying fit. We talk about cricket a lot when I go back home, and we discuss how we can get better, how we can be one step ahead at this level, and we really enjoy doing that.”My family has played the most important role in my cricketing journey till now. They have sacrificed a lot. When I started, they were the ones who helped me. In my family, there’s no history of sports. My dad is an engineer. So I had to be a little different for him to see a spark in me and push me.”

On the eve of the third India-Australia Test, our correspondent visits a forgotten venue that once hosted the likes of Tendulkar and Botham

Karthik Krishnaswamy01-Mar-2023Every Sachin Tendulkar fan has a list of favourite Tendulkar shots that excludes the obvious candidates – no Shoaib uppercut, please – and is painstakingly curated to show the breadth and depth of their Tendulkar fixation. Mine includes a front-foot late cut from an innings of 139 in an ODI against Australia in 2001. During the course of that innings at Indore’s Nehru Stadium, Tendulkar became the first batter to reach the 10,000-run mark in ODIs.I can summon up nearly every frame of this shot in my mind’s eye, but memory is a tricky thing. I can tell you how this shot was actually three shots in one, a moment of improvisation born of two changes of mind in one delicious instant: a premeditated lap-sweep morphing into a push through cover point before morphing again, with a miraculous twirl of the wrists, into a deft slice past the keeper’s right glove.I can tell you all this, but I had no recollection, until I began writing this piece, of who the bowler was. Mark Waugh? Ian Harvey? YouTube tells me it’s Damien Martyn bowling his occasional medium pace. Yes, of course.I’m watching this innings now because it’s the eve of another India-Australia match in Indore. This match, however, will be played not at the Nehru Stadium but at the newer, larger, purpose-built Holkar Stadium.All these years later, Indore’s Nehru Stadium is a relic of a time when a number of Nehru Stadiums across India – multi-sport facilities maintained by municipal corporations and leased out to sports associations – hosted international cricket regularly. From 1956 – when Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy put on 413 for the first wicket against New Zealand at the Corporation Stadium in Madras (now the Nehru Stadium in Chennai) – to 2014, six Nehru Stadiums and one Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium combined to host 61 international games.A departure from Nehru in more ways than one, that 2014.A statue of CK Nayudu stands outside Nehru Stadium. A new one was inaugurated by Rohit Sharma and Steven Smith at the Holkar Stadium•Karthik Krishnaswamy/ESPNcricinfo LtdIndore’s Nehru Stadium hosted nine ODIs, the last of them the 2001 game that featured that Tendulkar late cut. Ian Botham once smashed a 48-ball hundred here, in a first-class match against Central Zone during England’s 1981-82 tour of India.Walking around the ground now, it’s impossible to picture Tendulkar or Botham ever having played here. The entire outfield, including what must have been the square, is dry earth that’s crumbly in patches and cracked in others, with barely a tuft of grass.Cricket endures, nonetheless, though not of the kind that’s covered on this website. A pitch is being rolled out, well off centre, and a group of boys in cricket whites are practising near one edge of the outfield.Most of the seating is uncovered concrete terraces, and the pavilion is a modest, utilitarian structure with a corrugated concrete roof. It isn’t without charm, though. There are broad swathes of ochre and blue as well as little touches of indigenous architectural flair that modern stadiums often lack. The outer windows, for instance, feature latticework that tussles playfully with the sunlight.There are nods to history too. You enter the pavilion through a gate named after the swashbuckling Mushtaq Ali. And right outside the stadium is a public park with two notable bits of sculpture.One is a statue of CK Nayudu, India’s first Test captain. It’s hard to say with any certainty what shot it depicts. Is Nayudu shouldering arms? Or has he picked the spinner’s length in a flash and rocked back and across to cut or maybe pull? Whatever shot it may be, it’s a statue of a cricketer playing cricket – the new one at the Holkar Stadium has him decked up in colonel’s regalia.The other is the Vijay Balla (Victory Bat), a giant bat commemorating India’s Test-series wins in the West Indies and England in 1971. It features the names of the players who went on the two tours, all in the Devanagari script, and the captain’s jaunty autograph, in English: Ajit Wadekar.The Vijay Balla has weathered storms, both physical and metaphorical•Karthik Krishnaswamy/ESPNcricinfo LtdThree years after the bat went up, an irate mob defaced it, a reaction to 42 all out and every other misfortune that befell India on their 1974 tour of England. Wadekar never captained or played for India again.The Victory Bat shows no signs of the defacement now. Instead, it wears a faint and by no means unattractive network of surface cracks, like a Test-match pitch on a fifth morning that begins with all four results still possible. A monument to a monumental achievement, weathering the passage of time with grace.But what’s old and what’s new can be hard to pin down in Indore. The Nehru Stadium was built in 1964, a year after the remarkable Nayudu played his last first-class match – for the Maharashtra Governor’s XI against the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s XI – at the age of 68. His opponents in that game included a 22-year-old Wadekar.Nayudu never played at the Nehru Stadium, but he played 27 first-class matches at the Yeshwant Club Ground from 1935 to 1953. The old Yeshwant Club Ground occupied a patch of land that partly coincided with what is now the Holkar Stadium. The pitch on which Nayudu and Mushtaq batted is said to have occupied a space that’s now a lane between the new stadium and the Indore Tennis Club, which abuts the Yeshwant Club.Time, like Tendulkar’s late-cutting wrists, traces complex paths in Indore.

An extended scouting network, a new main allrounder, and pizza dinners are part of their roadmap as they look to get back to winning ways in 2023

Deivarayan Muthu12-Aug-2023With two titles in the past two years in the Caribbean – the 2021 CPL and the 2022 6IXTY – St Kitts & Nevis Patriots emerged as a force that could challenge serial CPL winners Trinbago Knight Riders. But with Dwayne Bravo, who had led them to that CPL title, now returning to his home franchise for this season – and Chris Gayle not in action – they are on a mission to rebuild the side with the same-old vision of winning titles.Ambati Rayudu, who recently retired from international cricket, has signed with Patriots as their marquee player, replacing South African allrounder Tristan Stubbs. Rayudu brings with him the experience of having played over 100 IPL games and won six IPL titles – the most, along with Rohit Sharma. He will join Malolan Rangarajan, the former assistant coach at Patriots who has now been promoted to head coach, replacing Simon Helmot. This is Malolan’s first stint as head coach in a T20 league but having already worked with the franchise for three years as a strategist and assistant coach, he has earned the trust of the Patriots players and the rest of the staff. He has also been part of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s support staff in the IPL.In the lead-up to the 2021 CPL, allrounder Dominic Drakes was injured and around the same time, he had to deal with the passing of someone close to him. But Malolan and Co sat down with Drakes and created a “family-like” team environment that enabled honest conversations. He ended up hitting the winning runs in the final to give Patriots their first title.Related

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Drakes, now Patriots’ main allrounder in the absence of Bravo, counts such a team environment as one of the franchise’s strengths as they prepare for the new season starting August 17.”Normally when you change a head coach, it can be a bit challenging, in terms of getting the players together,” Drakes tells ESPNcricinfo. “But Malo was here before as the assistant coach when we won, and it doesn’t feel like a big change. He was always there for the players and feels like family, so I don’t think it makes a big difference as players are used to working with him.”In all the teams, even up to date, I don’t think I’ve ever been in an environment that has been so relaxed like St Kitts. Everyone felt comfortable and that they were part of something bigger than themselves. We don’t have too many superstars in the dressing room, which is good. Anyone can have a chat with anyone at any time. It’s always good to have a situation where you feel welcome.”Having worked on his fitness and having played franchise cricket all around the world, including for Birmingham Bears last month in the T20 Blast in the UK, Drakes backs himself to bowl the tough overs, this time without Bravo.”The body is feeling good. It’s just old age (laughs), but the body feels very good at this point,” says Drakes, who missed last year’s CPL due to injury. “Bravo had a very strong influence on us and on me, for sure. He helped me a lot and passed on a lot of knowledge, so looking forward to using it on my own this year. I’m not putting pressure on myself. I think the last I played with Bravo was at the T10 and I haven’t played a lot of cricket [along with him] in the last 18 months.

“In a league where there are three IPL teams, for a non-IPL team to be the first to conduct a talent scouting camp and to have a development squad in the CPL, full marks to our owner and our management”TA Adhishwar, Patriots’ director of cricket

“Playing in the UK at the Blast was a massive help. It was a different world. When you’re playing in the CPL, you don’t have as much pressure as an overseas pro. They always look forward to the overseas pro to do well. It gives you the mentality to be there in the pressure situation, so you can take that calmness and experience going into international cricket and local franchise cricket.”Local fast bowler Oshane Thomas, who was traded in from Barbados Royals, and Afghanistan wristspinner Izharulhaq Naveed, who was signed at the draft, are among the new faces in the Patriots side for this season’s CPL. Thomas is fit again and is back to hitting speeds north of 145kph while Naveed has a deceptively quick wrong’un in his repertoire, a skill that had caught Malolan’s attention when Naveed was a net bowler at RCB in the IPL. Malolan said that the squad was constructed with a sharp focus on the batting-friendly conditions at Warner Park, where Patriots will play four of their ten league matches.”Warner Park is nothing like Chinnaswamy, if you ask me,” Malolan says. “The scores can be quite identical, higher altitude so on and so forth…But Warner Park under lights is a batting paradise and the wind plays a huge, huge factor. Day games feel like you’re playing at one venue and night games feel like you’re playing in a different venue.”Most of players we have retained and [those who have] come in like Oshane have some sort of experience playing at Warner Park. We have enough experience to understand what the conditions are there – how early you go into bowling death at Warner Park, which type of bowler to attack, how to hit into the wind and against it, small details like that. If you hit high into the air, you’re gone, you’re better off hitting flat into the wind.”Patriots had a forgettable CPL last year, when they finished second from last in the six-team league. After that season, the team management cast their scouting nets wider and set up a first-of-a kind player development camp in the CPL in April this year. Allrounder Kofi James, who had also impressed in a local Antigua T20 tournament, is among the products of Patriots’ extensive scouting.Patriots finished fifth in last year’s CPL•Ashley Allen/CPL T20/Getty Images”St Kitts is not a big island,” TA Adhishwar, the director of cricket at Patriots, says. “If you see the kind of diversity in the West Indies national team, there are a lot of players from Trinidad, Barbados and Jamaica. These three are the bigger islands which have a clear cricketing structure in place whereas St Kitts doesn’t have as much.”In the second-third year of a cycle, it’s difficult to get quality talent through a common recruitment process – be it an IPL auction or a CPL draft. The only way we can identify new talent was to go through guys who are undrafted and paying attention from grassroots cricket upwards. So we did a lot of talent scouting right from the Under-16s in the Caribbean to going up to senior cricketers. In a league where there are three IPL teams, for a non-IPL team to be the first to conduct a talent scouting camp and to have a development squad in the CPL, full marks to our owner Mahesh [Ramani] and our management.”For both Adhishwar and Malolan, the off-field activities and team bonding are as important as the on-field action.”It’s not just about creating facilities on the field, it’s also about creating that environment off the field,” Malolan says. “Dominic was one of those cricketers with whom I was able to connect, funnily off the field regarding on-field activities. He wanted to talk more about his bowling, then we met over pizza. Me, him, and Joshua Da Silva have this pizza dinner usually during the CPL. Things like that are going to be very important and I don’t think it’s any different to someone who has a nine-to-six job, and someone who is not comfortable there will put in their papers.”With Sherfane Rutherford, fresh from winning the Global T20 Canada, and with Evin Lewis coming into the CPL on the back of making the knockouts of the Zimbabwe Afro T10 league, Drakes believes that Patriots can do the three-peat this CPL.”I think we still see ourselves as champions,” Drakes says. “Winning two out of three cups in the last two years, I think anyone would take that. We didn’t have a really good showing last year [in the CPL], but if anything, we always have the belief to bounce back. Evin is in good form, Rutherford is in good form, and I think overall we’re in a good space to challenge for the title once again.”Having drifted away from West Indies’ T20I radar, Drakes, Lewis and Rutherford all have a point to prove. Impactful performances in the CPL could potentially put the trio back in West Indies’ plans ahead of a home T20 World Cup next year. They have everything to play for in this CPL.

And will they continue with Shubman GIll at No. 3?

Sidharth Monga23-Dec-2023As India prepare to play their first Test match in five months, against South Africa at Centurion, they will have four areas of debate when they select their team. Here are their options, and what each of them offer.Top order
India have tried it once previously but for the first time in a year, and the first time away from home since January 2012, they line up for a Test match with neither Cheteshwar Pujara nor Ajinkya Rahane in their XI. While the transition away from those two seems to be complete, there are still some questions around certain roles, particularly No. 3.Related

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Shubman Gill has opened in 16 of his 18 Tests so far, and alongside Rohit Sharma in 10 of them. In the West Indies earlier this year, he dropped down to No. 3 with Yashasvi Jaiswal opening wiith Rohit. Jaiswal’s first three innings in Test cricket brought him 171, 57 and 38. In the same two Tests, Gill made 6, 10 and 29*.It leaves Gill on unsure footing: he averages 32.20 after 18 Tests and his two centuries have come on flat tracks: against Bangladesh in Chattogram and Australia in Ahmedabad in a rare home draw. KL Rahul, who batted superbly on the last tour of South Africa, can be a good fit at No. 3 but that gives him little time to recover should he take the keeping gloves too. And if Rahul doesn’t keep, it leaves India half a batter light.Wicketkeeper
Virat Kohli – assuming he rejoins the team ahead of the first Test, as expected, following his departure for personal reasons – and Shreyas Iyer are locks in the middle order as is Ravindra Jadeja. That leaves a question mark over only one remaining slot: that of the wicketkeeper. India have preferred of late to pick the better batter of the choices available to them. If they continue with that philosophy, Rahul will be starting only the second first-class match of his career as the designated wicketkeeper. If he does so, it will only be fair he is not asked to bat in the top order. If India do go with KS Bharat, either Gill or Rahul might have to make way depending on who they prefer at No. 3.Bowling allrounder
The No. 8 has always been a matter of debate when India have travelled to seam-friendly countries, and they have tended to pick Shardul Thakur ahead of R Ashwin, one of the Test greats. That seems to be the likely choice more so because there is rain forecast on the first two days of the first Test, which in Centurion means more assistance for seam and little time for the pitch to deteriorate.Fast bowlers
Jasprit Bumrah, playing his first Test since July 2022, and Mohammed Siraj are certain starters barring any fitness issues. With Mohammed Shami injured, the choice for the third seamer comes down to Mukesh Kumar, who debuted in the West Indies earlier in the year, and the uncapped Prasidh Krishna.Mukesh has the Shami-like attributes of upright seam and skiddy accuracy, but not at Shami’s pace. Prasidh brings exactly what India seemed to miss on their last tour of South Africa: Ishant Sharma-like height and the ability to hit the deck.A third option for the third quick could be Thakur but that would mean going in with two spinners.

He opens up about chasing elusive title at the Under-19 World Cup, his “awesome experience” in India, pursuing a bachelor’s in criminal justice, and more

Shashank Kishore30-Jan-2024Oscar Jackson was 11 when cricket truly captivated him. A day out at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington in the summer of 2015 was his ticket to a “lifelong dream.” Nine years later, he is captaining New Zealand at the Under-19 men’s World Cup, hoping to win the tournament, something no other Kiwi team has managed to.”Watching Martin Guptill wallop that double-hundred in a World Cup game against West Indies sparked something.” Jackson reminisces with ESPNcricinfo. “The way he was hitting them out of the park, it was an amazing moment to be a part of, especially watching from the stands. It wasn’t my first memory of the game but quite an experience nonetheless.”How Brendon McCullum and Co won the hearts of an entire country had several youngsters, including Jackson, take to the game. Until then, he had grown up playing both cricket and rugby. When Jackson made his school’s first XI two years down the line, he eventually decided to pursue cricket “more passionately” than any other sport.Related

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“It was around then I realised I want to push as hard as I can for as long as I can with cricket,” Jackson says.In 2017, he had his first taste of cricket outside New Zealand when he toured India with the Hutt Hawks Cricket Club. He was part of the group alongside current New Zealand star Rachin Ravindra. Jackson remembers his time in India fondly, for he brought up his first hundred in any form of cricket on that tour, in Anantapur, a town 200 kilometres north of Bengaluru.”Went over to India with Ravi [Krishnamurthy, Rachin’s father] at the end of 2017 and it was an awesome experience,” Jackson says. “To get the opportunity was cool. It’s the kind of cricket I had never experienced before. To play against quality spin on those pitches was tough and scoring my first-ever hundred was special.”A lot of guys, me included, are grateful for Ravi for taking us on those trips. I haven’t come back to India since, but I’m really looking forward to another opportunity whenever it happens.”On Tuesday, he will play against India in a Super Six game at the ongoing Under-19 World Cup. New Zealand will have one other game against Ireland. They will likely need to win both to make the semi-final. Jackson himself has had a middling tournament, scoring a match-winning 75 against Nepal followed by scores of 26 and 12. He has also picked up three wickets with his seam-ups.Before coming on tour, he sought out Ravindra for some advice. “He’s an unbelievable guy,” Jackson says. “He’s super nice and shows genuine interest towards the youngsters coming up in Wellington. He’s very relatable. To see him make the step up from Under-19s to Wellington to the Black Caps side is very cool. He’s humble and grounded, is always looking out for the youngsters, so to be able to learn off him has been awesome.”Oscar Jackson made 75 against Nepal, followed by scores of 26 and 12•ICC/Getty ImagesJackson is equally passionate about his academic pursuits. He’s currently pursuing a bachelor’s in criminal justice from the University of Canterbury. “I love it,” he says. “It keeps me motivated in terms of balancing cricket and university. It’s tough. I play in two different cities. I’ve been fortunate to have two supportive clubs. So balancing studies, cricket, social life, friends and family – it’s tough but I am working towards getting the balance right.”What is his degree all about? “It’s sort of looking into preventing crime,” Jackson explains. “Looking to rehab those who have committed a crime, how you can help reintegrate them back into society after serving time in prison. It’s a mix of policing, studying law, and psychology. It’s a nice little mix of all those things put together. To have those in one degree is pretty cool.”Jackson plays for the Onslow Cricket Club in Wellington from November to January and represents Burnside West Cricket Club in Christchurch from February to April. Shuttling between two cities has given him the best of both worlds. More importantly, it has made him a “true allrounder.””At home, I was pretty useless,” he laughs. “Everything was done for me. You put the dish in the sink, and you see the dishwasher has done the job. You put the clothes into the washing basket and the next day the clothes come clean. So moving to Christchurch for university was a step up in terms of life skills and self-management which I took time to adjust to.

“He’s an unbelievable guy. He’s super nice and shows genuine interest towards the youngsters coming up in Wellington. He’s very relatable.”Oscar Jackson on Rachin Ravindra

“It wasn’t that hard, I wasn’t sad or anything, but yeah it was a bit of a wake-up call for me to take more ownership. That has really helped me in all facets of my life, including cricket.”Jackson also looks up to Kane Williamson for his calm demeanour, and range of strokes and he hopes to be able to discuss with the New Zealand white-ball captain one day. He likes building an innings, and lives by the mantra of “batting positively without being reckless.””I’d like to think I am naturally aggressive,” he says. “[I] take some time at the start, but look to also put pressure back on the bowlers by being dominant. I like to show good intent.”Intent the Finn Allen [another Wellington mate] way?”Nah, nah, definitely not that level,” he laughs. “He’s had remarkable success lately. His ball-striking is second to none. I’m not quite that aggressive but yes, I do give myself a chance to get in initially, play percentage shots and take it from there.”As we wind up the chat, Jackson has one simple request. Of wanting to show his gratitude and acknowledge the contributions of some key personnel in his life.”Ivan Tissera my one-on-one coach from childhood, has been a great mentor for me who has helped me technically and mentally,” Jackson says. “Our school’s first XI coach Duncan Murray was an unbelievable leader and role model on and off the field. They’ve shaped me to become the cricketer I am.”For now, he’s happy to indulge in everything – fun and serious – that teenagers do. Including cooking, playing golf and, of course, cricket.”Golf is a nice way to reset,” he says. “I don’t play it too seriously, but I put it with my mates. I love spending time outdoors, never been those indoor guys on the PlayStation or Xbox. That’s not for me. I’d rather be outdoors, playing ball, kicking or hitting the ball or teeing off. Being active outdoors keeps me going.”