Javed Miandad and MS Dhoni: a tale of two ageing lions

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Watching the 1996 India-Pakistan World Cup semi-final brought home the similarities between the two master ODI chasers

Sidharth Monga06-Apr-2020 the best in the business at it.” Gavaskar is quick to point out Miandad has not played for two years. When the equation gets particularly difficult, Khan, the other half of perhaps the greatest love-hate relationship in cricket, says a Miandad ten years younger would have pulled it off.However, the Indian team, the crowd, even the commentators, are not so sure. They have been at the receiving end so often they can’t breathe easy till they see the back of Miandad. And Miandad is not taking any risks. Instead Rashid Latif hits Javagal Srinath for a six and a four. In the next over, to the 53rd ball he faces, Miandad hits a straight boundary, the first of his innings. Look at his swagger now. He struts back, knocking gloves with Latif on the way. If you have lost unlosable matches to this man, this is a triggering sight, never mind that his strike rate has only now crossed 50, and the asking rate is nine.

It is the belief that they can still do it that sets them apart. It is this belief that has to one day become their downfall. It happens to the best of them

Miandad knows his presence at the end is crucial: analyse every situation, fight, take games deep is his cricketing philosophy. Once Latif falls, though, carrying as he was what two men should have been carrying, the spotlight turns on Miandad. He tries the big hits but they don’t come off. And he eventually runs himself out. A tame end to a tame last stand.Why it is so relatable is because we witnessed something similar at the World Cup last year. MS Dhoni is Miandad in many ways. He finds motivation in persecution, although he doesn’t make public shows of it. As a 50-over batter he has struck the same kind of fear in the opposition that Miandad once did. Which is why, despite being aware of his waning powers – much like Pakistan with Miandad – India invested in Dhoni at the 2019 World Cup.Just like Miandad, Dhoni was happy for others to do the hitting around him, Ravindra Jadeja in this case. They both left alone balls in tall chases, just that Dhoni did so in an era of memes. Dhoni didn’t make a comeback after an absence, but it wasn’t yet ruled out in a pre-Covid-19 world that Dhoni might come back to the IPL after chilling for a year and then go to the T20 World Cup. As things stand now, both players ended with run-outs, risks taken much sooner than they liked to take, a sign of faltering confidence in their own ability. Not before both had struck momentary fear in the opposition. Admittedly, Dhoni hadn’t deteriorated as much as Miandad. According to Hardik Pandya, he was kicking himself for not diving.To some, watching them meet an unsatisfactory end (though Dhoni hasn’t officially ended yet) might be painful, but I haven’t found myself wishing either had retired sooner. These matches are just a rite of passage. Miandad and Dhoni didn’t become the players they were by recognising defeat when they saw it. Four years before the 1996 World Cup, Miandad was not even selected – by Khan – but not only did he find a way to get into the side but also ended up as the second highest run-getter in the tournament, and his side’s highest.It is this belief that they can still do it that sets them apart. It is this belief that has to one day become their downfall. It happens to the best of them. Unlike champions, this process never gets old. RetroLive

Tentative West Indies batsmen walk into seam-and-swing trap

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

With little threat of being scored off, England’s four quicks were able to chip away at will

Nagraj Gollapudi25-Jul-2020An overcast day. Ball swinging even when 30 overs old. You didn’t need to be a cricket pundit to know it might be England’s day, especially when their four best fast bowlers were operating in tandem.Yet it was the West Indies batsmen that made it England’s day. By showing a total lack of intent. By getting intimidated in their minds even before the ball had pitched. By falling into the trap set. By forgetting they had a bat in hand to defend and strike with intent.West Indies’ batting unit is not the first one to buckle in such conditions. James Anderson can make even a Virat Kohli look like a mug. Stuart Broad can eyeball you and then send you to hell with his nip-backers. Jofra Archer, the smiling assassin, can rip you and snip you to pieces. Chris Woakes can look generous, but kill you softly with his swing.ALSO READ: Roach first West Indian to join 200-club since AmbroseAs a batsman, mentally, you are already thinking all that before you take guard. But the good and the best play the ball, not the man. That is why there are only a few greats. Steven Smith and Kohli, two modern greats, have built their aura by fighting off the mental demons. They have been vulnerable, but they have also improvised quickly.Last year Archer concussed Smith. The Australian finished the Ashes as the best batsman. It takes more than guts to succeed. It takes presence of mind.Most West Indies batsmen on day two at Old Trafford were neither bold, nor wise. Kraigg Brathwaite might have started the series playing the ball late, but here he went chasing a ball that was in the channel. John Campbell shrugged off an early mistake when he poked at a full away-swinging delivery from Anderson, but survived only because Ben Stokes spilled the catch.Campbell has had no forward stride into his strokes so far in the series. In the first two Tests, Campbell had been rooted to his crease and playing with his hands, even to fuller balls that shaped away. Broad said that he was happy because he knew he could easily lure Campbell, something he did successfully in the second Test.Campbell looked to score which allowed him to regain confidence. But as soon as Archer attacked him, Campbell succumbed meekly. Overall, of the nine balls that Archer bowled to Campbell, four were on a length, three full, one short-of-good length, and one short.That last one was the perfect short-pitched delivery, heading for Campbell’s throat when he least expected. The previous five deliveries Campbell dealt with confidently, moving towards the pitch and playing with the full face. Archer left Campbell off balance with the short delivery, just like he had opened up Roston Chase in the second innings in Southampton with a similar nasty delivery.The biggest disappointment though has been Shai Hope, recognised by none lesser than Brian Lara as one of the best talents in the Caribbean. Hope has shown no back bone in the series and he became more and more tentative and negative during his 64-ball stay, the longest by a visiting batsman. Despite standing way out of his crease, Hope rarely showed any intent. His diffidence only created an impression as if he was being suffocated by the discipline of England’s bowling. As the runs dried up, Hope’s body language became defensive and he was eventually gobbled up by and Anderson outswinger.Hope’s struggles have only created more pressure for the middle order. Even Chase, who had looked the strongest mentally, stayed rooted in the crease to a Broad delivery which he should have ideally played on the front foot, but instead ended up being caught plumb.John Campbell drives through the covers•Getty ImagesThe naturally aggressive Jermaine Blackwood paid the price for a scrambled mindset. Coming from wide of the crease, Woakes seamed in a fuller delivery on the middle stump. Blackwood, standing on leg stump, played from the crease instead of taking a forward stride and covering the line of stumps. The ball beat his flourishing bat swing to uproot middle.Late in the day, with the light weakening, Archer placed Ollie Pope at short leg in addition to the leg slip. Shane Dowrich looked nervous. Archer was intent on taking a wicket and banged a short delivery.Dowrich, slouching low, was already playing the short ball in his mind even before it had been pitched. Barring the first innings in Southampton, Dowrich has remained susceptible to the short delivery throughout the series.This ball did not even rise to his waist, but Dowrich had already closed his eyes, turned his face away and attempted to fend the ball one-handed. Luckily for him the leading edge flew high over Rory Burns at short gully. Archer smiled sarcastically in disbelief.To a large extent, West Indies’ batsmen have stayed rooted to the crease, worried by Archer’s short deliveries. This series Archer has got two wickets – Chase and Campbell – with that type of the delivery. As per ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, Archer has delivered 49 short-pitched balls giving away just 13 runs. In contrast, during last year’s Ashes, of the 172 short deliveries, Archer earned just one Australian wicket. Smith may have been concussed at Lord’s, but he showed positive intent and was not once dismissed by Archer (as he liked to point out).When West Indies did play with intent, as Jason Holder showed eventually, the pressure was on the bowler. Having been hit for three successive fours by the West Indies captain, Archer sprayed wide or over-pitched. Holder showed the value of playing bold. Archer did not like it, and between smiles exchanged a few words with the fellow Barbadian.Overall, though, West Indies batsmen did not dare on Saturday. The price could be the Wisden Trophy.

Ijaz Ahmed wasn't pretty to watch. Did that blind us to his quality as a batsman?

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

We remember him for the odd stance, but there was a whole lot more to Pakistan’s axeman of the 1990s

Osman Samiuddin08-Jul-2020Come to Think of itLet’s get the gags out of the way first.There’s the Dominic Cork dismissal doing the rounds, though it’ll have to do many more rounds before anybody can make sense of it.The 1992 World Cup, where, well, Ijaz Ahmed was there. Bemused all these years later, we still ask: why? He faced 26 balls in seven matches. Which would be the most remarkable thing had it not been for the other thing, that he bowled 216. Thirty-six overs – a third of all the ODI overs he bowled in a 250-match career. Overs of what, who knows, and with an action even a mother couldn’t love. But he was there.His stance we’ll come to, though having lived through Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Steven Smith, Ahmed and his posterior-proud start barely raise an eyebrow.Let’s also kick the elephant out of the room. His name is all over the Justice Qayyum report, in nearly all the major allegations. His wife and Salim Malik’s wife are sisters. But he was not found guilty of anything and faced no sanctions. So what if he was embroiled in a cheque forgery case nearly a decade later?ALSO READ: Sidharth Monga: Was the 2007 World Cup really a disaster?Stripped of all that, you’re left with a career neatly split into two halves. The first seven years, a drifting, unfulfilled jumble; the second, whatever constitutes exactly the opposite. Mostly it is this half, from 1994, that is the business here, a time when Ahmed could claim to be all but Pakistan’s best batsman. That comes across all preposterous but it’s not. We just tend not to pay much attention to him because with the likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq, Malik and Saeed Anwar – three once-in-a-generation types – swanning around, it’s easy not to. And because there’s the first half of his career to drag his legacy down.Now that stance, which wasn’t weird as much as that it made him play weird. He really was an unusual batsman, a quality amplified by the contrasts with the trio above in particular. An accurate description was once rendered by Sanjay Manjrekar, who said Ahmed was a batsman, a description to capture the swagger and disregard he brought. There was something uncouth about his batting, a healthy unconcern for the social mores and rules of batting.Had he been playing today his game would have been dissected down to the last newton with which he hammered his bat down, waiting for the delivery. Dissected, more likely celebrated.He had two areas: one square of the wicket on the off, one square on the leg, and the rest was scenery. Every ball on off or wider, pretty much regardless of length, was cut. I say cut but would much rather call it a slap, and I’d much, much rather call it a , or a chapair: slaps in Urdu or Hindi but the pronunciation allows for so much more feeling. everywhere, in a semicircle from over the cordon all the way through extra cover.Most of everything else was an indescribable brutality through leg. He loved pulling and was effective with it, even if it always looked like he only decided at the very last millisecond to pull and then hedged his bets and tried to evade the ball as well as play it.All ten of Ijaz Ahmed’s ODI hundreds came at a run a ball or quicker•Hamish Blair/Getty ImagesThere does exist evidence of him driving, straight as well as through extra cover, but with a bottom hand so dominant, he was built to play square. Not unlike MS Dhoni, actually, with equal swagger and less foot movement forward. It was only natural, with his love of pulling and -ing, that Australia suited him to a tee. Like very few other subcontinental batsmen.Everyone can recall how good Ahmed was in – and against – Australia, at least by the headline numbers. Half of his 12 Test hundreds were made against them; half of those in Australia. The first was, for me, one of the great what-ifs. What if Geoff Marsh hadn’t pulled off a catch that everyone from your great-grandfather down to your great-grandson would be blown away by, at the MCG in 1990 (off a proper cut)? Could Ijaz have marshalled the tail to pull off a heroic chase? How different would Pakistan’s modern history in Australia look had they won that Test?But it was better than that. Only a handful of players have at least one Test hundred on every tour of Australia (from three or more tours) and Ahmed is one of them, bettered by Brian Lara, and alongside Archie MacLaren, Herbert Sutcliffe, Richie Richardson and Virat Kohli. Only Sachin Tendulkar has as many as Ahmed’s three Test hundreds in Australia through the 1990s.If you take away the 1994-95 series in Pakistan, in which he played just one Test, he made at least one century in every series he played against Australia, from 1988 all the way through to 1999. That is, right from Australia’s resurgence to deep into their golden years; against Craig McDermott, Terry Alderman, Merv Hughes, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, all of them. Not that it is any validation but for the sake of this argument, it is striking that he didn’t make Warne’s list of the top 100 cricketers of his time: even Monty Panesar made that list.That Australia record is the cornerstone of Ahmed’s career, but from 1995 – a year after his return – until 1999, he pretty much scored runs against everyone, almost everywhere (except South Africa and India), in all formats. In that time he had a more prolific Test record than even Anwar: more runs, better average, more hundreds, better conversion rate, and a better average and more hundreds than Inzamam. Most of it happened at one-down, where Inzamam and other worthies didn’t want to bat. People snigger at that Cork dismissal but Ijaz’s scores in that series after it were 76, 141, 52, 61 and 13 not out.ALSO READ: Osman Samiuddin: Is Saeed Anwar criminally underrated?He made 48, 79 and 59 in the ODIs on that tour too, which is little surprise given that he was behind only Anwar in the format in that period – and he’s probably even more underappreciated for what he did (as well as when and how) in ODIs. Three simple facts illustrate this.Every single one of his ten ODI hundreds, from the first in 1988 to the last in 1999, was made at a 100-plus strike rate. Only four other players – AB de Villiers, Jonny Bairstow, Shahid Afridi and Shimron Hetmyer – have done that (with a cut-off of five hundreds). AB’s genius is unmatched, but Ahmed is the only player on that list who finished his career before T20s had even arrived.An even better illustration of how long ago he was doing such modern things is in the table below, of all batsmen with at least ten ODI hundreds at a 100-plus strike rate. Note his debut year, the earliest on this list by a distance; by the time Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle and Tillakaratne Dilshan were starting their careers, Ahmed had already made his last hundred.

This final one shows the difference in strike rate between him and all the other batsmen in the games in which he scored hundreds. The company he is in speaks for itself – he wasn’t playing different matches to the others, he was playing different eras.

Finding himself in unexpected company on unusual lists was Ahmed’s thing. The reason, ultimately, that he didn’t end up with higher averages, more runs, or a shinier place in the pantheon is evidenced in one final list: exactly a third of all of his international dismissals were for under 10, the fourth-highest percentage of all time (among batsmen in the top seven with a cut-off of at least 300 international innings). Once he was in, he was in, but boy was he a candidate for not getting in in the first place.The company here is eclectic: behind Shahid Afridi, Kapil Dev and Grant Flower, and ahead of Marlon Samuels. Two allrounders, a batsman from a historically weak side, and, in Samuels, an all-time enigma. In the final reckoning, who’s to argue Ijaz doesn’t fit right in here as well?Come to Think of it

Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia and the art of the unbelievable

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

They had to overcome near-impossible odds to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad and they did it all as if it was always the plan

Alagappan Muthu11-Oct-20205:09

Moody: Tewatia’s confidence a big reason for his success

Sometimes you just need swear words. So, borrowing the sentiments of the immortal Eleanor Shellstrop from , holy shirt.They did it again. The Rajasthan Royals stared defeat in the eye, then poked it with a bat and while it was crying out in pain, they just coolly walked away with the win. Holy shirt.They were 105 in 16 overs. Their time was running out. Their target may as well have been to prove there can be life on Mars. The last recognised batting pair were in the middle. Fork. (Thanks Eleanor!) Jofra Archer was there too. Alright, they had a batsman and two bowling allrounders. That’s still not enough resources when the required rate is at 13.5. Plus, these guys will have to take on Rashid Khan. Ho-oly shirt.The Sunrisers are trying to fill up an over. They turn to Sandeep Sharma. A man who has bowled 51.5 overs in the death. They are banking on his experience. Back when he was in Kings XI Punjab, he used to find the blockhole with almost robotic consistency. It’s one of the biggest reasons he will always be around when an IPL comes up. An Indian fast bowler you can trust to close out an innings is rare. Cut to Dubai and he’s hit for a six first ball and his over goes for 18 runs. Holy shirt.Riyan Parag already has the strength to hit a back-of-a-length ball – the hardest variation to line-up on a two-paced pitch – over extra cover for a one-bounce four. He’s only 18-years old. He also already has the game sense to know that the bowler would now switch to a fuller length and attack the stumps. When Sharma tried that, Parag just scooped a near yorker for another four. Holy shirt.Rahul Tewatia and Riyan Parag scripted a fantastic comeback for the Royals•BCCI”I told Riyan that the wicket was playing slow, as we saw from the outside also, and the deeper we take it, the better our chances,” Rahul Tewatia said at the presentation. “Even if we needed 55-60 from the last four overs, we had a chance because we both do power-hitting well.”It’s now the 18th over. The activity is more frenzied. The Sunrisers go into team meetings. They have six deliveries of Khan left and they’re wondering if he should come on right away or if he should be saved for later. There are still 35 runs to play with. David Warner decides to make them look bigger. Go with his best man now and hope that he gives away as little as possible. The Royals take 14 runs off that over. Holy shirt.Tewatia says this is why he has been picked. The pinch-hitter who breathes life into dead and buried chases. It’s officially a thing now. If his last magnum opus was hitting a fast bowler for five sixes, here he whacked a genius legspinner for three boundaries in a row. Two of them were utterly bonkers, out-of-nowhere, middle of the bat reverse sweeps. And the thing is, it was all part of the plan. Ho-oly shirt.”I told him (Parag) if you take a single off the first ball, I would take a chance,” Tewatia said. “I saw the field [third man and point up], and I thought I could play a reverse sweep with this field. I took a chance on the first two balls, and both connected.”The world may as well be upside down at this point. Khan usually concedes only seven runs an over in the last four of an IPL game. Tewatia took him for twice that and instantly made himself a lightning rod for the Sunrisers’ frustration. Khaleel Ahmed began mouthing off. Tewatia wouldn’t care for it and expressed as much in the most menacing way possible – by, uhm, wagging his finger. The umpire still had to come in to separate them. And that incident, more than anything else, highlighted how the Royals had turned from no-hopers to match-winners, all in the blink of an eye, for the second time in two weeks, with the same man doing impossible things.Sometimes you just need swear words because holy shirt!

The Adam Zampa role in Yuzvendra Chahal's supersub display

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Watching his RCB team-mate taught the India leggie a thing or two about bowling in Australia

Sidharth Monga04-Dec-2020″I didn’t even realise when I played this match.”As far as unusual quotes go, this from Man-of-the-Match Yuzvendra Chahal to the Hindi experts on Sony-Ten is up there, but it also sums up the surreal day Chahal had.Chahal was chilling when he saw Ravindra Jadeja walk in “wonky” after a 23-ball 44 that had kept India alive in the contest. Chahal might have had reason to be grumpy: he had just had his best IPL with 21 wickets and an economy rate of 7.08, but he was left out of India’s first T20I after the event based on his ODI form.5:25

Gambhir: India picked Chahal as concussion sub to best of their advantage

India’s fans might have had reason to be grumpy too. They had gone from wholeheartedly embracing wristspin and dropping both Jadeja and R Ashwin to now being back to having no wristspinner at all based on someone’s performance in a completely different format. Chahal being Chahal, though, was chilling, and said he had nothing to stress over. “In a way there was no pressure because when you are not playing you can relax,” he said.ALSO WATCH – Chahal’s match-winning spell (India subcontinent only)Chahal might have had his reasons to be chilling at that point, but the BCCI medical team’s inaction was confounding. Every other team’s doctor goes running out, gives a player a concussion test, and checks his helmet the moment he is hit on the head, but India waited until the end of the innings to ask Jadeja how he was feeling. As it turned out, he was dizzy, which is a big red flag. Soon he was diagnosed to be concussed. A medical team of an elite professional team needs to take player safety more seriously, and overrule players even if they wave away help.Be that as it may, Chahal said that 10 to 12 minutes before resumption of play he was told Jadeja was concussed and that he might be called upon to play. He might have been chilling but his brain had been working. He had been trying to work out what was going wrong. Two ODIs had brought him combined figures of 19-0-160-1, which resulted in the axe. He watched a lot of his IPL team-mate Adam Zampa, and decided he needed to bowl quicker, and draw extra bounce from the surface.”I had been watching Zampa especially because the ODIs hadn’t gone well for me,” Chahal said. “I wasn’t able to bowl the way I usually do. I was trying to work on my bowling, and make sure I make a good comeback whenever I get the chance.”Yuzvendra Chahal made a big impact after coming on as a concussion substitute•Getty ImagesThe chance came at a notice of 10 minutes. “I just ran in quickly the moment I was told I might have to play. I warmed up quickly, came out, bowled two overs and did some fielding drills. The pitch was gripping so I decided I was not going to flight it for them, and bowl quick legbreaks like the Australian spinners had in the ODIs.”If they hit a quick legbreak, it is a good shot, but from my side I was not going to flight it.”Chahal also conceded that the extra fielder out – in ODIs, you are allowed five fielders outside the circle for only 10 overs out of 50 as against 16 out of 20 in T20s – gave him the extra confidence. All his victims – Aaron Finch, Steven Smith and Matthew Wade – were caught in the deep. It left Australia questioning if Chahal was a like-for-like replacement for Jadeja, who is more of a restrictive bowler.Sanju Samson, who took one of the catches, said such quick action from Chahal – turning in a match-winning performance at such a short notice – was indicative of the quality and the depth of the Indian team. They might just need to be more stringent with player safety protocols in the future.

Damien Wright: 'You've got to be able to throw a few curveballs at the other teams, get ahead of the game'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The Punjab Kings’ bowling coach talks about their newest recruits, finding balance in their attack, and their objectives for this IPL

Interview by Varun Shetty08-Apr-2021Damien Wright’s coaching has taken him all around the world, but this year will be his first at the IPL, as bowling coach for the Punjab Kings. He talks about his approach to analytics, and working with fellow-Australian IPL debutants Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson.Are you generally a coach who uses a lot of analytics and data?
If it’s at your disposal, I think it’s very important. I don’t think it’s for all coaches and all players, but for me, I like to make a lot of notes, and take a lot of data down. It just helps you to look at areas to improve, and also what sort of attack we’re going to have. We’ve got some good options, so it allows you to go, “Oh at this ground we can go this way” and whatnot. So it is very useful.Is death bowling one of those key areas? Only the Rajasthan Royals had a worse record in the death overs last season.
Last year, in Abu Dhabi, it was a little bit different in regards to conditions. We’re back in India now, and we have one of the greatest bowlers in the world, Mohammed Shami, in our team, who’s very helpful with that sort of information. It can help new [players like] Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson, [to know] about grounds and things like that. But yeah it was an area we had to improve, and it’s certainly no secret what we’re trying to do in our training. We’re also going to have options, with the two I just mentioned and Chris Jordan’s been such a fantastic cricketer for a number of years now. He’s also got so much experience in that area and will probably take a major role in that.Related

Big-hitting batsmen on show in battle of wicketkeeper captains

How will the change in venues affect teams' strategy this IPL?

Rebranded Punjab Kings seek more stability in search of maiden title

Australians at IPL 2021

As a coach are you partial to fast bowlers?
() Yeah I have to say I probably am, a little bit.I do love working with the spinners. It’s such a great thing to experience over here, working with legspin, offspin, all of that. You see the ball move so much more in India than it does in my home conditions in Australia. I’ve had some great chats already with M Ashwin. [Ravi] Bishnoi is a young and enthusiastic guy who bowls a bit different to Ashwin – so it’s learning as you go with that stuff. But we’ve got Anil Kumble [director of cricket operations] here as a coach, so I think if I need to talk to anyone about some areas of spin bowling, I’ve probably got the best in the business to help me out.You’ve been coaching for about ten years now. Have you coached in these conditions before? What are the challenges, especially with fast bowling?
I’ve come over and played a few times in India but I’ve also coached in the Champions League Trophy in 2014, with Hobart Hurricanes. I was head coach at the time, and we had a pretty successful campaign – we made it through to the last four and KKR knocked us out. It certainly is challenging, with fast bowling in particular. I think the ball in conditions here can swing a lot up front, at night, in humidity, so that’s something we’ve got to really utilise as a weapon.Mohammad Shami (right) and Ravi Bishnoi (left) were the top two wicket-takers for the Punjab Kings last season with 20 and 12 apiece, while Chris Jordan picked up nine•BCCIBut the other difficult part is a lot of dew. That is very common over here. We’ve trained at night a couple of times and you can already see how wet the ball gets and how difficult it is sometimes for the bowlers to hold it. They’re the little challenges for the pace bowlers.You played a fair bit of T20 towards the back end of your career. T20 looks a lot different these days. What does a modern coach in this format have to do to evolve?
I don’t look at it like it’s really hard. It’s exciting, the game’s evolving all the time. I think we’re seeing so many different [versions] of even the shorter formats, you know? You’ve got the ten-over [T10] competition in Dubai, and The Hundred about to begin over in England. You’ve got to come up with your message and your styles and things that are going to work for you.Funnily enough, we had a chat with Anil at training yesterday and we had a game situation, centre-wicket if you like, and the good old yorker is still a pretty good delivery. The game might be getting shorter and changing more, but if you can show that you can execute your skills when you’re put in those situations, it’s pretty much all it comes down to.What makes the ideal T20 bowler?
It can be broken down to the key areas of the game. There’s bowlers that are really fired up in the powerplay – that’s a very difficult time to bowl. Through the middle you’ve got your allrounders generally and spin bowlers that are able to hold things [together]. And the death, that’s the part where you have to have the execution on song, to be able to nail yorkers, or if you’ve got a very good slower bouncer, to get that right. It’s such a game of chess as it goes down.Ideally you’ve got to have somebody like Shami up front, swinging the new ball. And Jhye, specifically in those areas where the ball moves through the air. I think it’s really important to swing the new ball. In the middle you can have some good-quality spinners. Someone like Riley for us is a fantastic addition, to have that raw pace and to be able to take wickets. It’s really important to take wickets at every phase. And then at the end you want the best yorker bowler – [Lasith] Malinga, who’s unbelievable, has shown us how to do it over so many years. Somebody like that, ideally, in your perfect team.I can’t quite explain the exact bowler that I want – probably want about four of them! They’re all a little about those specific skills, if you know what I mean.From a coaching perspective, how do you train for something like that? Do bowlers specifically train for the phases they’re good at?
You still have your good old-fashioned nets, for people to get ready to play the game. We’re very lucky with the set-up we have over here to prepare our players. Plenty of wickets – there’s centre wickets, there’s tired wickets, all sorts of stuff. You have a big group of people you’re training with, and specific training sessions as well. We’ve done a lot of game scenarios, different set-ups – chasing, defending – depending on what it is.Arshdeep Singh played eight of 14 IPL matches for the Punjab Kings last year, taking nine wickets. Wright thinks he has a “huge future” ahead of him•BCCIWhat you really want is for them all to be able to bowl in those periods when required, or needed. It’s not just, you know, someone’s going to play a part up front and that’s it. It might be a key area that you’re very good at [bowling at the start], and we’re going to improve you through the middle and at the end, if that’s the case, or the other way round. If you’re able to do that, then you can have a very balanced attack going into your tournament and you can throw the ball to anyone at any given time.The other teams are analysing your [attack] as well, so you’ve got to be able to throw a few curveballs, get ahead of the game a little bit and try to upset their rhythm and hang on as long as you can in a 20-over match.Is it hard getting that sort of a rapport when it’s a short tournament?
Yeah it is, but at the IPL you’re mixing with the best in the world. And they’re all so used to being in these environments now, in this format, and going from one to the other. And what I’ve seen so far in training has been absolutely brilliant. They’ve come out of Test matches against England into one-dayers… just seeing the great players come back, they’re more than capable of going from format to format within a day or a night. It’s quite impressive. Richardson and Meredith are first-timers. Richardson is potentially going to lead the attack in his first season in the IPL.
It’s good, it’s healthy competition too. In the auction they [the management] did a marvellous job in regards to where they needed a bit of strike power, and support for Shami. He was sort of the sole man last year, did an awesome job and you know he’s going to perform for you throughout this tournament. He just needs a bit of support from other fast bowlers to help him and I thought the two signings were terrific.I know Riley really well. Jhye I’ve seen progress through the Big Bash to play for Australia. So he’s going to bring great skills. I think the conditions here are going to suit both of them. I’m keen to see how they go, because I think they’ll really shine in this tournament.Could you tell us a bit about both of them, starting with Richardson?
What’s really good about Jhye is that in specific roles for the teams he plays with – certainly with the [Perth] Scorchers, and he’s done a bit of it with Australia as well – he bowls the really tough overs. He’s asked to bowl up front with the new ball, then he’s asked to bowl in the different powerplays [in the BBL] – he’s bowling one of those overs already, and then he comes back and bowls one at the death. And his numbers are exceptional for somebody who has to do that every game. He knows his role and is able to execute. But he does swing the ball both ways, and that’s a hell of a weapon to have. He’s got a terrific slower ball and when he wants to bowl a bouncer, it’s a pretty good one. We’re really grateful and lucky that we’ve got him.Jhye Richardson was the BBL’s leading wicket-taker of the 2020-21 season. “He’s got a terrific slower ball and when he wants to bowl a bouncer, it’s a pretty good one,” Wright says•Getty Images Meredith is probably thought of as a tearaway fast bowler. Does he have a lot of variations?
I’ve known Riley a long time. I coached him from his rookie seasons back when I was in Tasmania, and he was always destined to play at the highest level. It was very exciting to see a young fast bowler coming through the Tassie ranks – he was fast and had plenty of skill.It’s been done really well back in Tassie, how they actually progressed his cricket. He was well managed from the very start by Stewart Williamson, who is a great physio back at home. And that’s paid off beautifully for Riley and he’s doing really well, not just for the [Hobart] Hurricanes but for Australia. His tour of New Zealand was outstanding.He bowls at a good pace. He really knows one way, which is to attack. That’s probably one of the areas we’ll talk to him about, on what we’re going to do at the death or if he does bowl up front. He’s pretty comfortable doing so, but it’s probably the end of the innings where he’s going to have to work a little bit harder. But he brings so much in regards to exactly what we wanted, which is a bit of firepower.What are the other strengths of this bowling unit?
The best way to describe this unit is, it’s versatile, very flexible. A lot of options, a lot of different ways we could go about things, and I think that’s the first time – certainly over the last couple of years – that we’ve been able to do that. There’s a chance to go all-out, strike with fast bowling, or to pull it back with spin options with an allrounder.It’s a well-balanced attack. [Apart from the] two we talked about [Richardson and Riley], there’s also Chris Jordan, who’s such a dynamic fielder, can hit the ball out of the ground late in the innings and also bowl a fantastic yorker. I’m really excited about the different ways we could go with our attack, supporting our No. 1 man Shami up front.You also have guys like Arshdeep Singh and Ishan Porel. Who from the domestic bunch has impressed you?
Arshdeep has just arrived; he was in quarantine for a while. But I had a centre-wicket bowl with him, just him and I, last night, and mate, he was fantastic. I think having a left-armer in your attack is also a big tick. I’m really impressed already with the one or two sessions we’ve had so far – he’s got a huge future ahead of him.Riley Meredith was “always destined to play at the highest level”•Getty ImagesI think Ishan as well, we’ve had a good week together and he’s a terrific young fella who is keen to do well. You want people, young kids, who are really willing to work hard to get there. He’s bowled with good pace at training so far, good aggression.And Darshan [Nalkande], he’s a quality little allrounder. He’s another one who’s a bit hungry. You can tell from his eyes he’s keen to play, and if his opportunity comes, I know that he’ll grab it as well. Those three in particular have been great to work with.Would you say the fast bowlers are going to be carrying a major part of Punjab’s bowling this season?
It’s a hard one. We’re stacked in that regard – we’ve got a quality pace attack now, with all the guys we’ve mentioned. That’s actually quite a nice place to be. But watching our legspinners bowl – I’ve taken the mitt to them – they’ve had terrific tournaments last year, both Bish and Ashwin. So we’ve got some quality spinners as well. I wouldn’t say we’re certainly going to go all pace. We can play to any conditions, and we’ve got a nice, balanced attack to choose from.What would a successful season look like for you, personally, in your first time here?
Every team comes here wanting to win. So that is the benchmark. But for us, success would certainly be to make the semi-finals, the last four. I think they were unlucky last year to miss out by a game. And you can tell they’re really hungry to make amends for that.I think that’s great – to experience a little bit of disappointment and then to do what they’ve done in the auction and get it right. I think we’re going to see some exciting times from the Punjab Kings. I believe that’s where we want to go first. We want to get into that last four, and that would, for me, be the bare minimum that we want to achieve. And then, from there, let’s hope we can create a bit of history.Have you ever worked with anyone on this staff before?
I’ve had a little bit to do with Andy Flower over the years, crossed paths with him. I’ve never with Andy before but we know each other well, so that was handy. It’s always nice to have somebody you’re familiar with. But I can say that getting involved with this team and this group, feels like I’ve known these guys for a long time. So that’s credit to Anil and his staff, and all the players we have here.

Sam Billings: 'I just want to be tricky to bowl at'

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

After missing out on the 2019 World Cup squad, Billings is looking to the India series to help him lock down a middle-order slot for the T20 World Cup

Matt Roller09-Mar-2021Sam Billings uses one word more than any other over the course of a 30-minute Zoom call, looking forward to a period of his life that he knows could define his career: perspective.After missing out on the chance to break into England’s 50-over World Cup squad in 2019 through injury, Billings is targeting the T20 version of the competition this year as a chance to make amends. He is aware his performances in the upcoming white-ball series – five T20Is and three ODIs – in India, and in the IPL which follows, will either enhance or hinder his case for a spot in the squad.The first challenge is one that is all too familiar to him: how to get into the XI. For a man turning 30 in June, Billings’ appearances have been surprisingly sparse. Dom Sibley, Dan Lawrence and Sam Curran have all played more first-class games than him despite being several years younger, while he has only batted 18 times in ODIs, six years after his debut. Such is life on the fringes of the international set-up.Related

  • Sam Billings primed to seize his chance after life on England's fringes

  • Jos Buttler on New Zealand Tests clashing with IPL: 'No perfect answer to current schedule'

  • 'This is one of the hardest sports teams to get into in the world'

  • Billings ready to do away with understudy tag

  • Sam Billings targets T20 World Cup finisher's role for England

When Billings made his first international hundred last year, a fluent 118 against a full-strength Australia at Old Trafford, he finally looked like he was ready to lock down a spot in England’s middle order. Asked exactly that post-match, he was candid in his assessment: “Ben Stokes isn’t here and I don’t think, however many runs I get, that I’ll keep that spot,” he said.”I thought, ‘I don’t know how many [runs] I need to get, but I’m just seat-warming for the time being,'” he recalls. “Since my injury, in terms of perspective, I’ve gained that through a really bad experience, and can deal with disappointment and bad runs far more easily.”I’ve gained so much more confidence in my own game over the last two years, in terms of doing it more consistently. I’ve still got the highest score ever by a No. 6 in T20I cricket [second-highest; the record was broken by Belgium’s Shaheryar Butt in 2020], I’ve got one of the fastest fifties in T20 cricket for England, so I’ve done it sporadically. It’s been the consistency that has let me down, with in-and-out team selection.”It is tough. It’s a really tough part of the game. But I think as a youngster coming into that side, you then take being dropped a lot harder. Through that experience, I’ve been able to mentally be in a really good place and be ready for that opportunity, whereas in the past I’ve put way too much pressure on myself, not enjoyed it, and it really gets to you.”Since his injury, Billings has had an up-and-down time of it with England – or more accurately, down, then up. He was named vice-captain for the T20I series in New Zealand at the end of 2019, but fluffed his lines auditioning for the finishing role with 34 runs off as many balls across five innings and was left out for the white-ball leg of the South Africa tour in early 2020.That led him to withdraw from franchise cricket for the rest of the winter in a bid to refresh himself ahead of the home summer – though his break ended up being longer than planned with the UK in lockdown. Handed an unexpected opportunity due to Joe Denly’s back spasm ahead of the first ODI of the English season, Billings made 132 runs for once out in the series against Ireland – enough for him to keep his place for the Australia series, even with multi-format players available once again.His first international hundred was an obvious highlight, albeit in a losing cause, and having missed the chance to further his claims in South Africa after the ODI series was postponed at the last minute, he performed creditably in the Big Bash for Sydney Thunder, with 260 runs in ten innings and a strike rate of 142.85 from the middle order.”Last year was the best year for me in an England shirt by a mile, because of that consistency,” Billings says. “It started against Ireland and I managed to maintain that. That’s the challenge. I’m really excited for the next few months and the opportunities ahead with Delhi at the IPL afterwards as well. I’m in as good a place as I can be to challenge for a spot in the side, and I just want to make a spot my own.”In what’s been a horrendous time for everyone, how lucky am I to have that in front of me and to look forward to? That’s the mindset I’m going in with. If I play, brilliant, and I’m in a great place to do that. If I don’t, I’ve got a fantastic opportunity to learn and grow and be part of this. There are a lot of people stuck at home during lockdown who would like to be in my position. I think it’s a really good, healthy perspective to have.”Billings scooped, paddled and swept his way to a maiden international hundred against Australia last year, albeit in a losing cause•Getty ImagesBillings seems likely to start the T20I series on the bench, but his form over the last year or so has ensured that he will be the first man England turn to if they decide they need reinforcements at No. 5 or 6, the spots currently occupied by Stokes and Eoin Morgan.Three main features of Billings’ game stand out: clean striking while playing orthodox shots; innovative sweeps, reverses and paddles; and an ability to tick over in the middle overs, evidenced by the lowest dot-ball percentage against spin (26.7%) in all T20 cricket since the last World Cup in 2016. It is the third of those that makes him stand out from England’s pack in Indian conditions.”That’s one of my strengths, and one of those roles that I really enjoy,” Billings explains. “It’s a role that people just expect batsmen to do really well, but if you do it badly, everyone rages about it and says, ‘What’s going on in the middle overs against spin?’ The challenge for me now is to move it on even further.”You look at Eoin Morgan’s numbers over the last few years and they’ve been absolutely phenomenal. The way he has transformed his game and kept on moving [it] forward is something I really want to emulate and continue. I just want to be tricky to bowl at.”If I can put pressure on [India’s bowlers] and rotate spin like I do, again, that’s giving myself the best chance to perform. I know it’s going to be a test because they’re world-class performers – [India are] one of the best teams in their home conditions. It’s going to be tough, but it’s a really exciting challenge that I’m looking forward to.”After this series, Billings will stay in India for the IPL – he was signed by the Delhi Capitals in last month’s auction. Involvement in the competition has been a blessing and a curse for Billings: he has never attracted a life-changing bid. His Rs 2 crore (US$270,000 approximately) contract for 2021 is twice his previous-highest salary, and he has played only 22 times in his four seasons, but he says he has learned plenty from the format’s top coaches and team-mates.His participation has split opinion at Kent, too, with some members unhappy at the prospect of the man who became club captain in 2018 missing the first two months of the county season yet again.”I had a very honest conversation with Kent – with Paul Downton [director of cricket] and Walks [Matt Walker, head coach] – and they completely backed me, 100%. After missing out on a World Cup, I’ve got the bit between my teeth to make up for lost time and build upon the momentum that I built last year. That is my focus: I want to be in a winning World Cup team, no doubt about it.”You look at the squad that Delhi have, and especially the overseas options: you could go with any combination and it would be a successful one. The competition for places is phenomenal: they obviously got to the final last year, so game time might be limited, but it comes back to the point of preparing for a World Cup and giving myself the best chance in these conditions to prepare for that.”Delhi’s most-used overseas combination last season involved two fast bowlers, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje; an allrounder, Marcus Stoinis; and Shimron Hetmyer in the middle order. If they go with a similar balance, then Billings is likely to be competing for Hetmyer’s role, with Steven Smith also pushing for selection.He is particularly excited by the prospect of working with Ricky Ponting – “a hero growing up… he does not miss a trick” – and linking up with India’s three star performers in their recent Test series win against England: Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel and R Ashwin.”Facing those two spinners in the nets is one of the great things about the IPL, and other franchise competitions,” he explains. “[If] you face these guys day in, day out in testing conditions, you’re going to get better – it’s impossible not to. That’s a huge plus point… I’ll be writing a few notes about a few different cricketers that I see about.”Fingers crossed, it’ll be perfect preparation. It’s really exciting, the cricket coming up. I like to work on the next thing and really focus my energy on this series before we move onto the next one, but big picture for me, the strategy was always to give myself the best chance of being selected in the World Cup at the end of the year.”

A field of dreams for Sohaib Maqsood

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

An international recall and tournament-winning innings on the same day continued a remarkable resurgence

Danyal Rasool25-Jun-2021A security guard saluted before the rusty metal gate creaked open, and the traffic barrier moved aside to let the SUV pass. We were ushered through several acres of private farmland and then it came into view: a field with the grass cut very short. Clearly, this patch of land wasn’t meant to grow any kind of crop.It was a full-sized cricket ground, and the host was an influential local businessman in Multan clearly eager to show off his pride and joy. A 40-over game was underway, a number of the cricketers were seasoned veterans of the Pakistan domestic scene in search of a game while the 2020 edition of the Pakistan Super League was underway. This was weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic brought world sport – and much else – to a standstill, and while we idly lazed about the ground watching the game, the businessman said something that stood out. “Sohaib Maqsood plays here from time to time,” he beamed proudly.You couldn’t help wonder what Maqsood might have made of his career as he enjoyed a casual hit at this ground. Unlike the players we were watching, Maqsood was a Pakistan international who had played 46 white-ball internationals for Pakistan, someone whose exploits had been witnessed by crowds at the Wanderers and the Gabba, Eden Park and Sharjah. It was difficult not to feel that while Maqsood’s presence here might be a feather in the businessman’s cap, the reverse was very much not true. Maqsood playing here – it just didn’t fit.It’s everything he’s done in the time since that explains why it sounded out of place. On a whirlwind day that saw him called up to the national side in fortuitous circumstances for the first time in five years, Maqsood smashed 65 off 35 balls in the PSL final, leading his native Multan Sultans to their first title.Related

Mohammad Rizwan: 'We've never felt an issue with Babar's strike rate in T20Is'

PSL XI – Red-hot Sohaib Maqsood, explosive Colin Munro, all-round Mohammad Nawaz, and more

Haider Ali and Umaid Asif suspended from PSL final for violating bubble

Sohaib Maqsood: 'If I start on the top, you will see a big fat strike rate'

Multan Sultans complete turnaround title win on back of Sohaib Maqsood, Rilee Rossouw fifties

He came out to bat around the halfway mark, but it was his presence in the dugout that allowed Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan to spend the first eight overs anchoring their way through an innings that really should have taken off by then. Rizwan was struggling for rhythm while Masood managed just four runs off his first eleven deliveries, and by the numbers, Peshawar Zalmi were well on top at that stage, having stifled the openers during the Powerplay.But there’s a reason Sultans’ openers bat the way they do, why they have more 50-plus partnerships than any other franchise all season. They can afford to be cautious in the Powerplay because when they look across to the dug-out Maqsood is padded up, raring to go in the form of his life. Only two batters have more runs in the tournament, with no one in the top seven matching his strike rate.

For a player who, on his day looks like everything comes easy to him, Maqsood knows of the grind that follows when runs dry up, the phone stops ringing and relationships sour

Few of his team-mates need to take risks because Maqsood will take more than his fair share, all without looking like he is. And when he came in to replace Masood in the ninth over, he delivered what he had promised he would: a big fat strike rate.Maqsood and Rilee Rossouw combined for a 98-run partnership that came in 44 balls, pushing what appeared to be a 170-run target to one in excess of 200. Maqsood set things going by clobbering 17 off Wahab Riaz in a glorious innings that showcased the full range of his shotmaking ability. There was the mid-off punch off the Zalmi captain that got things going, and the hoick over midwicket which tends to travel the furthest distance. There were wristy drives, and paddles past fine leg. And the magnum opus, the inside out drive over extra cover for six he appears to execute with perfection against pace and spin with equal effortlessness.This was the player that drew breathless comparisons to Inzamam-ul-Haq when he first put on Pakistan colours in 2013. He excited Pakistan supporters because he seemed to be everything they lacked in T20 cricket, a power hitter who doubled as a quality batter. Now he finds himself on a plane to England and the West Indies for two T20I series ahead of the T20 World Cup as Pakistan continue to search for a big hitter up top. The changes in Pakistan cricket can be hard to keep track of, but some things really do always stay the same.

Not for Maqsood they don’t, though. This was a player who was unofficially written off by Pakistan, consigned to the burgeoning scrapheap of talent cast aside for a great diversity of reasons. There were rumours about discontent with his attitude, while several coaches and selectors were understood to be less than impressed by the care he was taking of his body. “Fitness issues” became the catch-all explanation for his exclusion, with Pakistan appearing resigned to having lost him for good.But in the past year, from being hidden away in private grounds behind barricaded metal gates, Maqsood was surfacing once more. Picked for the Southern Punjab side in the National T20 Cup, he had a blast, finishing third in the runs charts, his strike-rate of 167.94 superior to anyone in the top five. It included a barmy chase that saw Maqsood at his magnificent best as he smashed a 29-ball 81 as his side ran down a chase of 166 in 10.4 overs to qualify for the final. The PSL draft was weeks away, and, as it was on the pitch, Maqsood’s timing couldn’t be better.”I took a break from red-ball cricket and worked on my skills,” Maqsood said after being named the Player of the Match in the final. “Form plays a big role, though, because when you’re in form, your mind works better and you make more assured decisions. I don’t want to do anything different in England and West Indies, and just keep repeating what has made me successful here. I want to take responsibility and hopefully the results will follow.”Maqsood has never been to England with the Pakistan side, but that’s not just why the tour that follows feels somewhat like the start of a new career for the 34-year old. 2016, the last time he played international cricket, feels a world away, especially so in Pakistan cricket. For a player who, on his day looks like everything comes easy to him, Maqsood knows of the grind that follows when runs dry up, the phone stops ringing and relationships sour.Much more significantly, he understands what it takes to scrap his way back, spending time in gyms and obscure cricket grounds no one gets to see. All for nights like these, when you can hardly look anywhere else. How’s that for attitude?

Four learnings for second-string Sri Lanka

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Can they help Hasaranga achieve his world-class potential, and can they fix their soft middle order?

Andrew Fidel Fernando30-Jul-2021Hasaranga could become world-class (some would argue he already is)
It’s been a sharp rise either side of the pandemic for Wanindu Hasaranga. It was in the ODI series against West Indies in early 2020 that he really announced himself, before becoming the Lanka Premier League’s player of the tournament late in the year. Now, 20 innings into his T20I career, he’s risen to second on the bowling rankings, and was easily the best bowler of the series. If Yuzvendra Chahal had been available for all three games, that contest might have been interesting, but in any case, Hasaranga now has an economy rate of less than seven against every team he’s played against apart from Australia.But Hasaranga doesn’t just keep batters quiet – he’s also now got a strike rate of 13.20. It’s the googly he is known for, but lately his legbreak and slider have also been dangerous. On top of which he can also bat, as he showed on the recent tour of England.As a legspinner who just turned 24 on Thursday, Sri Lanka should be thinking about him as a player that could play for another 12 years. But can they manage promising young talent? The way in which the careers of the likes of Kusal Mendis have gone suggests they’ve not made the most of their superstar potential in recent years. Hasaranga may be in demand in franchise leagues around the world over the next while. Can Sri Lanka hold on to him and develop him?Chameera has got into the groove
Since emerging in 2015, Dushmantha Chameera has gone through tough phases. He’s had stress fractures and other injuries that have kept him out of the game for months. Every time he seemed to be making a comeback, another injury would set him back. Now, for the first time in his international career, he’s had some serious continuity. He played each of the three ODIs against Bangladesh in May, in all six matches against England (though Sri Lanka didn’t have to bowl in the last ODI), and now all six games in this India series. He’s not had a bad game right through that stretch.During these two series, he was unlucky not to have taken more than six wickets. He was frequently the best new-ball bowler (across both teams), though he wasn’t quite as effective through the middle overs as some of India’s seamers. He also bowled quicker than anyone else, sometimes cranking it up past 145kph, and often delivering menacing bouncers. He’s packed on a little muscle since his early years, and perhaps this long uninjured stretch means the body has become accustomed to the rigours of the international game (fingers crossed, touch wood, pray to all the gods). If he stays fit, Sri Lanka have the makings of a good fast-bowling spearhead.Dhananjaya de Silva anchored two modest chases, but Sri Lanka seemed to lack the middle-order firepower for conditions demanding big hitting•Ishara S.Kodikara/AFP/Getty ImagesThe soft middle order
Even in the days of Kumar Sangakkkara, TM Dilshan, and Mahela Jayawardene Sri Lanka’s middle order was not especially strong. Now, with Angelo Mathews also out of the side, there is a particular flimsiness to it. In this series, this has been exaggerated by Dasun Shanaka’s lack of form with the bat. But then he’s never been a consistent batter. Sri Lanka have hoped to make a batter out of Hasaranga, but you suspect that for now, bowling is his focus, and you can’t expect big innings, particularly when the top order fails.In the T20Is, this was especially apparent. Dhananjaya de Silva was able to anchor two modest chases, but do Sri Lanka have the firepower to hit 180-plus, if the situation in the forthcoming T20 World Cup demands it? With Shanaka out of form, Hasaranga and Chamika Karunaratne largely unproven, and Isuru Udana’s batting having fallen away, this is among their major concerns.Kusal Perera was missed
Thisara Perera retired early, Angelo Mathews isn’t being picked, and the Durham bio-bubble trio got themselves suspended, but the player Sri Lanka missed the most was Kusal Perera.Out through injury right through this tour, Perera would have added some much-needed experience to the top order. Although he has toned down his aggression in the last year, perhaps the unbridled version of Perera is what Sri Lanka needed the most. In the ODIs, there was a lack of urgency in the top order. In the T20Is, they could have done with more boundaries. He should slot right back into the XI if fit for the South Africa series in September.

Australia ace their balancing act as David Warner, Aaron Finch cut loose

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Fifth-bowler gamble gives openers confidence to go for their shots from outset

Matt Roller28-Oct-2021Australia made a significant change to their strategy on the eve of the T20 World Cup, confirming their intentions to move away from picking five specialist bowlers and instead back their allrounders to cover off four overs between them.The move appeared to work well in their opening game of the tournament against South Africa: Glenn Maxwell took 1 for 24 in his four overs before Matthew Wade finished things off with an unbeaten cameo of 15 off 10 balls from No. 7. Justin Langer, their head coach, said it had been “a very, very difficult selection” and hinted the balance could change later in the competition, but they remained unchanged against Sri Lanka.In their second game, by contrast, their batting-heavy strategy came under pressure. Sri Lanka’s batters were ruthless: Charith Asalanka demonstrated their desire to take down the ‘fifth’ bowler by slog-sweeping Maxwell’s first ball for six, and all told, Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis leaked 51 runs between them in four wicketless overs.Watch cricket live on ESPN+

Sign up for ESPN+ and catch all the action from the Men’s T20 World Cup live in the US. Match highlights of Australia vs Sri Lanka is available here in English, and here in Hindi (US only).

The flipside was that the cushion of an extra batter allowed Australia’s top order to play more aggressively, as evidenced by Aaron Finch and David Warner taking 63 runs off the six Powerplay overs; while Mitchell Marsh, Stoinis and Wade were not required with the bat, the top order could go harder as a consequence of their presence in the middle order.”It does [allow us to go harder],” Warner said in his post-match press conference. “It’s dictated by the wickets we’re playing on as well. You’re going to have to have those runners in the middle, especially when you come up against an attack with three spinners like we did today. You’ve got to have that balance so you can go hard at the top and then mix it around in the middle. We’ve got some firepower.”Warner pointed to Maxwell’s success in Australia’s opening game as evidence that their batting-heavy strategy could work. He also hinted that the pitch for their next fixture on Saturday night against England could have “more bounce and carry”, though it remains to be seen if that will lead to a shift in their balance.”If you look at Maxi last game, he obviously did a good job,” Warner said. “These are the match-ups that happen. This happens in a game of Twenty20. Either way, you’re going to have to pick one of them.”For us to have that all-round option as well with Mitch Marsh, Maxi and Stoin – we know they’re not specialist bowlers, but they do a job and they do a great one. These wickets at the moment – I think the other one we’re playing on looks like it’s going to have a bit more bounce and carry and come on nice. This wicket was a tad slow.”It’s about identifying with Finchy, when he’s out there, which bowlers you want to go with. They [Maxwell and Stoinis] did go for a little bit tonight together, but we’re not too worried at all.”

Game
Register
Service
Bonus