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Hardik Pandya, meanwhile, became the first Indian player to score 30 and take four wickets in a T20I match

Bharath Seervi08-Jul-2018India have registered their sixth successive T20I series win with their 2-1 victory over England. The streak began last year with a 2-1 win over New Zealand, since when they have beaten Sri Lanka and South Africa, won the tri-nation Nidahas Trophy, and beaten Ireland and England on this tour. This was also their ninth successive three-match bilateral T20I series without a defeat. Since 2016, they have won eight series and one was drawn.

*third game of the series was washed out due to rainRohit Sharma’s third ton
Rohit Sharma became only the second player to score three T20I hundreds. Colin Munro was the first to do so, getting there last year. Rohit scored his maiden T20I century against South Africa at Dharamsala in 2015 and his second against Sri Lanka in Indore last year. Rohit’s 100* off 56 balls was his fifth century in all T20s, which is the most among Indian players and Asian players.Hardik Pandya’s all-round show
Hardik Pandya picked up his maiden four-wicket haul in T20s in the first innings and then scored an unbeaten 33 off 14 balls to finish off India’s chase. He became the first India player and eighth overall to score 30 and take four wickets in a T20I match. The last such all-round performance by any player was in 2015, when Dwayne Bravo scored 31 and picked up 4 for 28 against Sri Lanka.ESPNcricinfo LtdMS Dhoni’s unique record
Dhoni became the first ever player to take five catches in a T20I innings. He was involved in six of the nine dismissals in England’s innings including a run-out. Mohammad Shahzad is the only other player to effect five dismissals in a T20I. He took three catches and effected two stumpings against Oman in 2015.

The new biopic, shaped around the World Cup win of 2011, works best when it depicts one youngster following his calling

Jai Arjun Singh03-Oct-2016To begin with an admission that will seem astounding to regular readers of this site: I was more stirred by the opening scene of , set in the Wankhede Stadium during the 2011 World Cup final, than I had been by the actual match five years earlier.The main reason for this is that my love affair with cricket ended a decade ago, occasioned partly by the ugly, fair-weather displays of nationalism-jingoism associated with the sport (one example being a crowd attacking MS Dhoni’s Ranchi house in 2007). As one of the very few people in the country who didn’t much care when the real Dhoni hit that winning six on April 2, 2011, I was unprepared for my reaction – the adrenaline rush, the growing anticipation – when I watched Sushant Singh Rajput as Dhoni in the dressing room deciding to go in at No. 5, padding up and heading out into the deafening arena. Call it the power of a tense, tightly constructed scene that uses camerawork, space and sound effectively, or a sudden burst of nostalgia for a once-loved sport.In other words, begins on a rabble-rousing note. But after this World Cup scene (which Neeraj Pandey’s film will, of course, return to at the end), the narrative backtracks to a quiet afternoon in July 1981 and Dhoni’s birth in a Ranchi hospital ward, while his father Paan Singh Dhoni (Anupam Kher), a hard-working lower-middle-class man, waits nervously outside. A series of well-constructed vignettes follows: Dhoni as a boy being coerced by a coach to give up football for cricket, and to take up wicketkeeping (though he prefers batting); the support of his friends as it becomes evident that he has special talent and drive; the misgivings of his father, who has sensibly conservative ideas about what constitutes a secure future; repeated frustrations followed by a job in the Railways and the possibility of becoming a “” (“Ticket collector ?” as Paan Singh puts it” [What can be bigger than a ticket collector?]).Rajput’ portrayal of Dhoni starts from when he is 16, and these early scenes have a slightly off-kilter quality – as if the actor’s head has been digitally superimposed on a slim teen body – but that doesn’t matter after a while, because this is a fine performance. Rajput captures not just Dhoni’s boyish exuberance and the enigmatic smile that stops just short of being cocky, but also something of the placid, Buddha-like inscrutability that emerges in moments of stress; a sense that he is calling on inner reserves only he knows about. This is a convincing portrait of a young man who can be impetuous but is also grounded enough to buy snacks for his friends as a sort of “celebration” after being selected for a team – because he never wants to forget this day of failure.

Rajput captures not just Dhoni’s boyish exuberance and the enigmatic smile that stops just short of being cocky, but also something of the placid, Buddha-like inscrutability that emerges in moments of stress; a sense that he is calling on inner reserves only he knows about

The film’s first half, with its depiction of the rhythms of small-town life, is a reminder that director Pandey has a feel for place and period (see his recreation of 1980s Delhi in the con-job film ). There are many engaging little moments, such as an early encounter, in a Bihar-Punjab match, between Dhoni and future team-mate Yuvraj Singh (played here by Herri Tangri as a regal kid whose very presence leaves most people awestruck). The cricket scenes are shot with panache and wit, even when they centre on a deadpan hero. The stage also gradually shifts to show us officials in the sport’s higher echelons in Mumbai and Delhi pulling strings and deciding the fate of thousands of struggling youngsters around the country.In the second half, a tonal unevenness sets in, and to a degree this is understandable given the arc of Dhoni’s life. It seemed natural that the early scenes would have the texture of a gritty, understated small-town story about aspiration, the sort that Hindi cinema often does so well now (in another such film, (2013), Rajput played a character whose cricketing dreams pan out). But once Dhoni gets his chance in the Indian team, he rises to stardom fairly quickly, and as more glamorous locations take over – plush hotel rooms, advertising studios where he says cheesy lines while endorsing a range of products – the film’s look and pace alter as well; it becomes glossier, more languid.That in itself is not a problem, but around this time, also becomes looser, more random, and whimsical in its decisions about what to show and what to leave out (there isn’t even a scene that shows the circumstances that led to Dhoni becoming captain) – and when this happens, one recalls that this is largely an “authorised” project, with the real-life Dhoni and his associates having been consulted and kept abreast of the script.Fox Star StudiosThere are two romantic interludes – the first involving a girl named Priyanka (Disha Patani), who dies in a car crash, then with the cricket-indifferent Sakshi (Kiara Advani), who goes on to become Dhoni’s wife – that feel much too generic given how the film has unfolded up to then. This section includes an exotic-location song sequence, superfluous flashback inserts, and embarrassingly forced attempts to generate pathos (wondering about their future together, Priyanka dolefully repeats the line ” time ?” [We have plenty of time, don’t we?] as if she were aware of her own impending fate). Briefly glimpsed in these scenes is the suggestion that a man who is assertive as batsman and captain might be defensive-passive when it comes to relationships, but the film doesn’t take this idea anywhere. The two-woman trope is handled better here than in the recent, utterly lacklustre Mohammad Azharuddin biopic , but that isn’t saying much. (The goofy climactic scene of that film had the “wronged” Azhar being vindicated when his two wives walk into the courtroom side by side to support him and provide the ultimate character certificate!)These sequences notwithstanding, the film builds unerringly towards that World Cup win, which is presented here as the culmination of a remarkable career (never mind that real-life sport doesn’t usually provide such tidy or definitive endings – Dhoni did, after all, also captain India in their 2015 loss, but there isn’t space here for such troughs). Ending with real footage of the post-match celebrations is a guaranteed way of having the audience out of their seats and applauding; as mentioned above, I was one of those viewers.In the final analysis, the film worked best when it did the small moment well. In one notable scene, a subdued Dhoni explains why he is so frustrated by his Railways job – not because he considers it below him (“” [I don’t think the work is small], he says) but because it doesn’t allow him to give cricket enough time and attention. This nuanced scene comes as a refreshing counterpoint to a shoe-polish ad that the real Dhoni did a long time ago, where he turned to the camera and said, “I decided not to be ordinary. I chose to shine.” A good, smooth line for the product, but also one that seemed to condescendingly imply that people in some professions can be dismissed as “ordinary” and that real winners can simply to reach the top through hard work and perseverance. is a bumpy film, very stimulating in its good parts, oddly inert at other times, but in its better moments – like that “” scene – it ducks the grand, overarching narratives and gives us a ground-level story about a young man following a calling with the knowledge that things might not work out perfectly, but that he has to at least give it a shot, he can’t die wondering. That’s a compelling tale in itself, and a more inspirational one in some ways than the one hinted at in the film’s more triumphal scenes – the ones about a blazing star who was so good and so determined that he was destined to reach the top no matter what, and who might well have had that World Cup-winning six inscribed on his horoscope.Have you watched ? Share your thoughts on the movie by mailing us at [email protected].

The league stage of the 2015 IPL has just crossed the half way mark, which makes it a good time to analyse what teams have been doing differently this season

Bishen Jeswant30-Apr-2015Sunrisers Hyderabad – A two-man team
Sunrisers batsmen have made six fifties this season. However, only two batsmen have scored fifties for them: four by David Warner and two by Shikhar Dhawan. Only two batsmen have scored 200-plus runs for them this season: Warner (317) and Dhawan (201). Warner and Dhawan have cumulatively scored 518 runs, which is almost 50% of the runs scored by Sunrisers (1042). All of Sunrisers’ other batsmen combined average 20.96 at a strike rate of 115.16.Mumbai Indians – Best in the slog overs, worst otherwise
Mumbai Indians have a run-rate of 12.19 during the last six overs of an innings this IPL, by far the best for any team, with the next-best being 10.83 for Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, their run-rate of 6.94 in the first 14 overs of the innings is the worst for any team. Every other team has scored at more than seven runs per over. Mumbai Indians are responsible for the four highest scores in the last six overs this IPL, and also for the two lowest scores in the first 14.Rajasthan Royals – Best start to a season
Rajasthan Royals started the season with five consecutive wins. This is the best start to an IPL season for any team. Kings XI Punjab started the 2014 IPL with five consecutive wins as well, and eventually finished runners-up in that edition. Royals’ currently have 12 points, the joint-most with Super Kings, and are therefore still reaping the rewards of those wins at the start of season despite not achieving a win in their next four games, two of which were washed out.Chennai Super Kings – Stable playing XI
Super Kings have used only 11 players in the 2015 IPL so far, which means they have played the first seven league matches with an unchanged XI. Interestingly, Super Kings also played the last seven league matches of the 2014 IPL with an unchanged eleven. On the other end of the spectrum are Mumbai Indians, who have already used 19 players this season. Super Kings have been known for their stable squads, having used only 57 players over eight IPL seasons, the fewest for any team that has played in every edition. Royal Challengers Bangalore have used 90 players.The World Cup heroes have continued piling it on for Royal Challengers Bangalore•BCCIKings XI Punjab – Misfiring top three
Kings XI Punjab have already tried six different players in their top three this IPL. Only one of those six batsmen have scored 100-plus runs over their seven games this season – M Vijay, and even he averages only 22.57, at a strike-rate of 106.04. In five of the seven matches this season, the first wicket has fallen for ten runs or less. In fact, their opening batsman Virender Sehwag holds the IPL record for being dismissed in the Powerplay most often: 56 times. Kings XI’s top three average only 19.14, easily the worst for any team this IPL, at a strike-rate of 119.64, the second-worst.Royal Challengers Bangalore – World Cup stars to the rescue
Chris Gayle became the first double centurion in a World Cup, AB de Villiers scored three fifties and hundred at an average of 96.40, Virat Kohli averaged more than 50 and scored a century against Pakistan, while Mitchell Starc was the Man of the Tournament. Each of the Royal Challengers’ three wins in the 2015 IPL have come with significant contributions from these players – Gayle scoring fifties in two of those games and Kohli in the other, while Starc picked up a three-for. De Villiers is their top run-scorer this IPL with 233 runs, at an average of 46.6 and a strike-rate of 165.24. Starc has twice bowled the 20th over of the innings and conceded only three runs per over.Delhi Daredevils – Lots of losing streaks
Delhi Daredevils have made some unwanted records their own this season. They lost their first two games of the 2015 IPL, which meant they had lost 11 consecutive IPL games, the longest-ever losing streak in IPL history. They won the next two games, before having to return to their home venue in Delhi, where they lost to the Kolkata Knight Riders. It was their ninth straight loss at the Kotla, the longest ever home-losing streak in IPL history. Just as they thought their ‘streaks’ were ending, Daredevils lost their seventh match of the season to Royal Challengers Bangalore, their eighth consecutive loss against the Bangalore team!Kolkata Knight Riders – Middle-order prowess
Kolkata Knight Riders’ middle order batsmen (Nos 3 to 7) average 30.58 in the 2015 IPL, the highest for any team. Their strike-rate of 142.46 is only marginally second to Royal Challengers’ (143.32), whose batsmen benefit from playing in the relatively small Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Knight Riders are the only team who have four middle-order batsmen each scoring 100 runs or more this IPL: Andre Russell (130), Manish Pandey (123), Suryakumar Yadav (122) and Yusuf Pathan (104).

Daniel Brettig12-Oct-2013Australia’s solitary Test series victory in India since 1969-70 is one of the more humbling statistics in the record of the world’s ‘winningest’ cricket country. The series ledgers alone – 2-0, 0-0, 1-0, 2-1, 2-1, 1-2, 2-0, 4-0 – tell a tale of ignorance, difficulty in adjusting, and lessons often learned too late in a tour, then invariably forgotten in time for the start of the next one. Those results would suggest that there is no more difficult place on earth for an Australian cricket team to prosper, not least in the years after the greats began to retire in 2007.Yet the Antipodean ODI tale on the subcontinent is more about triumph than humiliation. Starting with a 1987 World Cup victory that marked the official start of Australian cricket’s regeneration under Allan Border and Bob Simpson, the 50-over format has brought something near to consistently strong results in India. Since 1998, when regular international series contact between the two countries was resumed after a mid-1990s freeze-out phase, Australian teams have emerged triumphant in five out of the six limited-overs series contested there, whether they be triangular tournaments as in 1998 and 2003, or bilateral visits on other occasions.They also won the 2006 Champions Trophy and reached the quarter-finals of the 2011 World Cup. In 2009, Ricky Ponting’s team managed to claw to a 4-2 victory despite having a full XI first-choice players absent injured.These series victories have come in a range of circumstances, whether after a Test series or standing alone. The only time Australia have not won a limited-overs contest against India in recent times is 2010, when the one match of three not to be washed out resulted in a home victory at Vizag after a high-scoring chase. But otherwise, the tourists have found themselves excelling away from home at a vast assortment of venues, from Bangalore in the south and Mumbai on the west coast, to Mohali in the north and even Guwahati on the distant eastern fringes. A multitude of factors can be pointed to by way of explanation, but here are a few of the most salient.A history of successConfidence in the knowledge that those before you have achieved great things in India has helped Australia’s ODI teams ever since Border lifted the Reliance Cup aloft at Eden Gardens 26 years ago. The doubts, phobias and conspiracy theories that cloud the mind of an Australian Test cricketer on the subcontinent tend to fall away for one-day matches, while the roars of Indian crowds feel less claustrophobic and distracting for the knowledge that they have not stopped the visitors before. Individuals, too, have benefited from strong records there. Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting have all fared better in ODIs than Tests, while the likes of the tweakers Nathan Hauritz and Brad Hogg have held their own in coloured clothing despite being swatted away in the five-day game.More familiar pitchesAustralia’s stand-in captain, George Bailey, believed this to be one of the most critical factors in the team’s greater level of comfort relative to Tests. Where five-day wickets are commonly worn, spitting and spinning, Indian groundsmen prepare their most even-tempered surfaces for limited-overs contests, sometimes allowing grass to hold them together and so granting fast bowlers a little more assistance. Add this to the swing that can be occasionally generated in early starts and the picture becomes far more familiar to Australian players. Damien Fleming, Nathan Bracken, Doug Bollinger and Johnson all profited from early morning seam and swing at various times, while Shaun Marsh, Cameron White, Michael Hussey, Ponting and Watson have played freely without worrying too much about the ground beneath their feet.Less reliance on spinAnother notable quality to Indian ODI surfaces is the fact that they seldom require the selection of a team brimful with quality spinners. Australia’s preferred reliance on fast men with the odd slow bowler for variety has worked effectively, with Shane Warne, Hauritz and Hogg playing fair supporting roles. It is arguable the ability of the pacemen to make headway in 50-over matches on the subcontinent has at times lulled the national selectors into thinking that the same might occur in Test matches, but the differences in pitch preparation have generally conspired against the success of such a tactic.A lower keyIt cannot help a team to view anywhere as the final frontier, even if the 2004 tourists managed to accomplish a Test series win while embracing the idea of India as their last mountain. The pressure Australian Test players feel in India, both in the middle of the ground and from the edges, has inhibited their performances at times, timid strokes and indifferent bowling spells reflecting the sense that the world is closing in around them. By contrast, that feeling tends to be on the other side during ODI series. No nation loves the one-day game more than India, and the expectations upon the home team for ODI tournaments that mean little in the wider scheme have allowed an unfancied Australia to sneak up on them more than once. The 2011 World Cup quarter-final in Ahmedabad is a notable exception.Ricky Ponting’s captaincyThree ODI series in India for three victories is one of many garlands Ponting gained over a storied career, though as he has noted it will be one of many obscured by the loss of three Ashes series. Nonetheless, his calm leadership, sparkling but sturdy batting and peerless example in the field contributed greatly to a legacy of limited-overs confidence on Indian shores. In this, Ponting shares something in common with Border. Both men provided a solid core around which transitional teams swirled and bubbled, while they showcased a greater tactical alacrity in 50-over matches that occasionally eluded them in Tests. His binding together of the injury-strewn 2009 tour party was something few on the tour will forget. Before departing, Bailey consulted Ponting about how best to tackle the current series. There was no better man to ask.

The growth of Graeme Smith as captain can be seen reflected in his team as South Africa finally ended their wait to be crowned No. 1

Firdose Moonda at Lord's20-Aug-2012Not many cricketers can say they have grown to be men as international cricketers. Some of them start as men already, some of them remain boys forever but very few of them make their most important developments as professional sportsmen. Graeme Smith is one of the few who has.Sometimes you can see those phases at play all on the same day. When Matt Prior and Graeme Swann were engineering a classic, Smith’s forehead was frazzled into a frown. He chewed the index finger on his right hand, as he so often does when thinking. He looked older and it was an age gained through the rigours of Test cricket.Less than an hour later, when he took the low catch at first slip to remove Prior that left only fingernails on England’s hold on No. 1, he charged like a young boy. There was victory in his eyes again. He watched as Vernon Philander’s seam movement and Jacques Kallis hands finished England off and he held up that same finger that was being chewed earlier. He mouthed the magic words, “Number one”.”All I keep thinking is that it stuck in my left hand, that one catch, that’s the one moment that I am most conscious of,” Smith said, looking at his hand. “These three fingers managed to hang on to Matt Prior, who was playing unbelievably well.”It was as though a new chapter of Smith’s life had opened in front of the Lord’s pavilion: the life where he will be in charge of the best team in the world. Smith has waited a long time for that – longer than any other captain in world cricket.When Smith took over as captain, the ICC has only just introduced a ranking system and South Africa were placed second. At the time, the early 2000s, no one but Australia could have been first anyway. South Africa stayed second for about 18 months before slipping into obscurity and then getting themselves back up. As far as they got, their ceiling sat at being second best, save for a few months in 2009 when a concoction of some good away form and other results combined to place them fleetingly on top.Smith emerged as something of a prodigy on the tour to England in 2003, his first major assignment. His double-hundred at Lord’s, his slaying of Nasser Hussain and the strength of his youth made South Africa a team that looked as though it could achieve more. As Smith became an adolescent captain, however, the South Africa team followed him into a period of indecision and uncertainty. Those years included series loses on the subcontinent, to Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, a series defeat at home to England and more misery at the hands of Australia.They may not have had the players capable of overcoming those situations but they also lacked the will and the drive. Only later, when the party years had ended and adulthood was calling, did the team and Smith start to change. Focus began under Mickey Arthur, under whom there was a push to mould a specific type of cricket side. The assembly line of allrounders was stopped and there was a move to specialists. The batting unit had the fat cut off and took on more muscle on top, meat in the middle. The bowling became a crop of genuine specialists with varied skills.Results were steady and occasionally spectacular, with series wins in England and Australia and a strong record away from home. The team matured and Smith, the man, matured with them. He was more confident and as a result more thoughtful in his decision making. On that second trip to England, Smith scored runs when South Africa needed it but more importantly, he led South Africa the way they needed to be led.Smith took charge of situations that would previously have gone without a shepherd, such as the fourth innings at Lord’s in 2008. He showed players who had been in the squad for longer than him how to do the same and had an impact on younger players so that by the time South Africa went to Australia at the end of the year, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy were in a position to operate the same way.The only reason South Africa could not firm their grasp on greatness then was because they lacked the same thing Smith did – an added element of creativity. They had some cricketing flaws, the uncertainty at No. 6, the lack of a third seamer and the inability to produce quality spinners. Their biggest flaw came from somewhere else, though, the place where a certain strain of mental toughness is found.

“In the last year, Smith has grown almost as much as he did in the eight before, under the guidance of Gary Kirsten’s management team”

In the last year, that has changed. Smith has grown almost as much as he did in the eight before then, under the guidance of a new management team led by Gary Kirsten. From someone who reacted angrily to even the slightest hint of disagreement, such as during India’s visit in 2010, when Smith grew more agitated every time he was asked about the opposition greats, he has become someone who could handle those things more delicately. These days, he considers issues before reacting and even if he is faced criticism, he is able to control his anger.Smith was forced to change in the aftermath of the 2011 World Cup, when he did not return home with the squad but flew to Ireland to propose to his partner, Morgan Deane. A public outcry and calls for his head made him question his own position and he returned to South Africa determined to win back hearts and minds. He did it the way someone who has lived a life through cricket does. Centuries against Australia in both the Tests and ODIs went a long way to giving Smith his public credibility back and he accepted it graciously, not greedily.He and Deane are now married and have a young daughter, who was born mid-series and the good wishes they received were an indication that Smith is one of the most popular sportspeople in the country. It has allowed him to come full circle and to realise the No. 1 dream in England with the support of a nation behind him. He acknowledged the role of the last 12 months in the wider context of what South Africa have achieved now. “It was a tough last year for me but to be the person that put South Africa in the space with so many different cricketing names is something I am definitely proud of,” he said.When England toured South Africa in 2009-10, the series was drawn 1-1. Popular sentiment was that South Africa were in a position to claim a 3-1 series victory, because the two draws came with England nine wickets down and fighting to survive. The word “deserve” was used to describe what South Africa should have done. It was a word that held no merit because as Smith has discovered, such a word can only be used when it is actually true.”We felt we deserved to win the series,” Smith said. “The way it finished was the perfect way for us because we have learned to win when things are tough and to come back when we are not ahead of the game. We had to win tough this time.”There’s a real sense of happiness and excitement now but there’s also calmness that we have achieved where we wanted to go and that we can carry it on. We don’t just have hope that we can carry on, there is belief that we can do it.”

The spin legend is attempting to turn a lifelong hobby, poker, into a career every bit as illustrious as the one he is leaving behind on the cricket field

Andrew Miller31-Jul-2009When great sportsmen retire, they often find it hard to carve a new niche in life. Some find solace in coaching or commentary, but many drift listlessly into middle age, unable to find a suitable outlet for the competitive instincts that drove them to the peak of their professions. Not for the first time in his life, however, Shane Warne has taken it upon himself to buck convention. His 40th birthday is fast approaching at the end of the summer, but far from dwelling on past glories, he has immersed himself in a second career that promises a whole new wave of fame, fortune and razor-sharp gameplay.The world of professional poker is where Warne’s passions reside these days, and it’s hard to imagine a cricketer more likely to succeed in such a glitzy and unfamiliar world. While his punditry during Sky Sports’ Ashes coverage has been lauded for his acerbic opinions and typically keen insight, his absence from last month’s historic first Test in Cardiff was ample proof of his new priorities. Instead of fronting up at Sophia Gardens, Warne spent the week holed up in the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, competing in the World Series of Poker – the single most prestigious tournament on the circuit – and coming within a whisker of taking the event by storm.It’s a safe bet that, somewhere in a quiet corner of the England and Australia dressing rooms on a frustrating first day at Edgbaston, a deck of cards and a stack of chips were brought out of someone’s coffin, as the players whiled away the washed-out hours in traditional fashion. In his retirement speech on the eve of the Ashes, Michael Vaughan said that the England squad’s regular poker games at the back of the team bus were an aspect of his professional life that he would particularly miss, while in London last month, Warne and Darren Gough brought the two pastimes together under one banner, and led their respective countries in the inaugural Poker Ashes, a contest that finished in a familiar 4-1 Australian victory.”I see a lot of similarities between poker and cricket, and I thoroughly enjoy them both,” Warne told Cricinfo. “People associate poker with gambling, but that’s not actually the case. Tournament poker, which is what I play, is completely different to playing at home or in a re-buy tournament, and it has actually been deemed in a court of law a sport and a game of skill. It’s all about reading your opponents, it’s all about when you think they are bluffing and when they are not, it’s about table image, and position on the table, and playing the percentages. There’s a real sense of satisfaction about risking your chips and making a great call, or making a great lay-down when you’re behind, Playing your cards right gives a massive sense of satisfaction.”Poker, like cricket, has a wealth of jargon designed to baffle the uninitiated, but when you cut through Warne’s complicated turns of phrase, it’s self-evident why he is so well suited to this alternative form of cut-and-thrust. When you think of the traits that turned him into arguably the greatest match-winner of his generation, there’s more at play than merely his peerless ability to spin a cricket ball on all surfaces. There was the showmanship that he brought to his game – the strut and confidence with which he set his fields and controlled the tempo of the innings, the look of incredulity after each delivery that failed to take a wicket, the absolute confidence that he, and only he, had the power to dictate the direction of a match.

“It’s all about reading your opponents, it’s all about when you think they are bluffing and when they are not”

There was his ability to seize the slightest moment of weakness in a team (especially England, who were in thrall of him from the very first ball he bowled in Ashes cricket) or an individual (for instance, Daryl Cullinan, who was effortlessly out-psyched throughout their jousts in the mid-1990s). And there was his ability to adapt his game to suit the needs of the hour, never more memorably than at Adelaide in 2006-07, when he took his licks from Kevin Pietersen during a humiliating first-innings return of 1 for 167, only to strike with lethal speed and intent on that irresistible final day, when at last the cards fell in his favour.”There’s a huge element of skill and tactics involved in poker, and that’s one of the things I enjoyed with cricket,” said Warne. “The tactical side, the gamesmanship involved, when to push your opponent around and when not to, when to huff and puff and when not to. I’d like to be as successful on the poker table as the cricket field, but I think I’ve got a few years to go before that happens. “Days at big tournaments are pretty tough,” he added. “Before my first World Series [in 2008] I played in three or four Aussie Millions, a tournament in South Africa and a European World Series, and they are all long days in which you have to concentrate from first hand to last, and in that respect it’s just like cricket as well. You have five two-hour sessions, and every two hours you have 20 minutes off. That adds up to 12- or 13-hour days, which start at 12pm and finish at 1 o’clock in the morning.” His Test-match instincts could hardly have honed him to better effect.The basic rules of Texas hold’em poker, the world’s most popular form of the game, are simple enough to grasp. Each player is dealt two cards, upon which they make an initial judgment on whether to bet or to fold (and as a rule, picture cards or pairs are the likeliest route to success). After an opening round of betting, the first three of five community cards are dealt in the middle of the table (“the flop”), followed by “the turn” and “the river”, each punctuated with another round of betting. The aim of the game is to create (or give the impression you’ve created) the strongest five-card hand from the seven cards available, just as the aim of cricket is to score more runs than the opposition. But as with both games, the devil is in the details.”The more tournaments you play, the more you get to understand the tactics, and you don’t get intimidated when the big heavies are at play,” said Warne. “One of my tables [at the WSOP] was described as the table of death. I started on 19,000 chips with six really aggressive pros at the table, but I managed to get down at 100,000 and then walked away at the end of the day in 24th position overall, and more than 173,000 in chips. You don’t just do that by luck. There’s a lot of strategy at play.”Dealing with aggression, particularly of the batting variety, is something Warne proved long ago he was a past master at. While fast bowlers have their own aggressive tendencies to throw back at belligerent opponents, Warne could only rely on his innate skill and deeply considered strategies to stay in command of the situation. Given that he has been a card-player for as long as he can remember (he and his brother Jason used to play for matchsticks while their parents hosted Friday-night card games) you sometimes wonder in which direction his skills have travelled.You’ve gotta schmooze: Warne with Matt Damon at the World Series of Poker•888.comBut even Warne was not an instant success at Test level. On debut against India in January 1992, he was clattered around the SCG for figures of 1 for 150, and it wasn’t until the tour of Sri Lanka eight months later that he came up with the performance that confirmed he could mix it with the big boys. His final-day figures of 3 for 11 inched Australia to a remarkable 16-run victory, and from that moment on there was no stopping the momentum of his career.”I had to try and hide my nerves in my first Test, and in poker the same thing applies,” he said. “When I played my first Aussie Millions tournament in 2004-05, sure, I was nervous, but I pulled off a bluff on the flop, and won my first pot, and once I’d got over that, I started to feel okay. After that, you can start to understand the tables a bit more, and establish your own table image, and then you can begin to work out who the pros are, and who the weak players on the table are. Hopefully the weak players steal the good players’ chips, and then you steal the weak players’ chips! But it takes a while to work all that out.”And when it comes to stealing weak players’ chips, that is where the bluff comes into its own. “A bluff is all about telling a story,” said Warne. “You have pick the right opponent, and set it up right from the word go, pre-flop. It’s about representing strength. You have to fire again on the flop, and fire again on the turn, and expect some action on the river, and actually have the strength to do that. It takes a fair amount of skill to actually back your bluff up, or if you’re halfway through a bluff and you realise you haven’t got the best hand after all, you have to have the skill to know that too, and lay it down.”Once again, the parallels with Warne’s Test career are self-evident. Take, for instance, the occasions (usually before an Ashes series) when he would announce to the world that he had developed a new and mysterious delivery, such as the zooter, which nobody to this day is sure ever actually existed. “I vary my play depending on what table I’m at,” he said. “If I’m at a super-aggressive table, I just play tight, and try to pick my mark, and wait for someone to try to take me off a hand that I’ve actually hit. But if I’m at a tight table, I play aggressive, because I’m a pretty aggressive player full stop, which probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise!”All the same, there’s a subtle difference between aggression and blind recklessness, and as far as Warne is concerned, the greatest pride he takes from his play comes on the occasions he actually has to admit defeat – which he never knowingly conceded on the cricket field. “It’s really tough to do, but it gives you great satisfaction when you make a great lay-down,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t find out whether you were beat, but usually, about five seconds after a hand has finished, you generally get an instinct or a gut feel that it wasn’t on, just by your opponent’s reaction. He’ll look down at his chips or he’ll swallow, all those little tells that say you got away with one, and actually made a great decision.”Sometimes, however, even the best calls don’t work out in your favour – as Warne, to his chagrin, discovered in Las Vegas this month. The manner in which he was eliminated on the third day of the World Series still brings him out in a grimace, but typical of his sporting career, he refuses to take a backward step. Here, in his own words, is his tale of World Series woe:

“Hopefully the weak players steal the good players’ chips, and then you steal the weak players’ chips!”

“About an hour into the day’s play, a guy in middle position raised four times the blind, I called on the button with J10 hearts. The flop came 7, Q, K hearts. I think I’m good. He checks, I bet the pot, he calls, the turn card comes a spade. He bets the pot, and has about 70,000 left in his chip stack. I put him all in. He calls and turns over a set, he’s got three kings. I’m good, I’m miles ahead, but then he beats the bullet with a queen on the river, and that crippled my stack.”In layman’s terms, Warne was brutally unlucky. After the first four cards of the crucial hand had been dealt, he was sitting pretty with a king-high flush, which meant, at that stage, the only hand that could have beaten him was one involving two further hearts, one of which had to be an ace. When the two players laid their cards out on the table for “the race”, the only way his opponent could escape was if the river produced the last remaining K, to complete four-of-a-kind, or paired up with one of the other cards on the table, for a full house. The odds were therefore roughly 4 to 1 in Warne’s favour, and had he won the pot of 300,000 chips, he would have been propelled up to fifth in the chip count, from an initial field of nearly 6500 competitors.”People say poker is all about luck, but it’s not about good luck, it’s about not getting unlucky,” he said. “Four out of the five times I risked all my chips at the World Series, I actually had the best hand. The fifth and final time came right at the end of my tournament, after I had waited an hour with my last 20,000 chips. I went all-in with a pair of eights, and when the flop came 4 2 6 rainbow [a variety of different suits] I was looking pretty good. But I ran into a pair of aces, and that summed my day up. I copped some pretty ordinary beats.”There’s no question, however, that Warne will be back for another crack next year. With the best players in the world, a buy-in of $10,000, and an outlay of US$70 million in sponsorship and TV rights, the World Series of Poker is a massive event, and as prestigious in its own way as any cricket contest he’s ever played in. “The winner of the WSOP gets more than $10 million, and I can’t think of any individual sporting prize in the world that pays out that amount,” said Warne. “You might get a million dollars for winning Wimbledon, or three or four million for a golf tournament, but $10 million is massive.”So too is his desire to turn a lifelong hobby into a career every bit as illustrious as the one he is leaving behind on the cricket field. In only one aspect does his outlook to poker seem to differ, however. “I just stick to my game, and don’t worry much about the verbals,” he said. “If a conversation comes up I might get involved, but usually I just stick my headphones on, and that’s it.” If, one day, we spot Warne goading Phil Ivey to “have a go, go on, you know you want to,” in the manner in which he destroyed Mark Ramprakash at Trent Bridge in 2001, then maybe we’ll know for sure that he really has arrived as a poker star.888.com is offering cricket lovers the opportunity of a lifetime – a net session with Shane Warne. The king of spin will visit one lucky cricket club and put the players through their paces as he shows off the skills that earned him 708 Test wickets. Warne is looking for a group of cricketers who share his passion for poker. For full information on how to enter, please email [email protected]

There is still no clarity on Livingstone’s fitness for Punjab Kings or Sandeep Sharma for Rajasthan Royals

Ashish Pant12-Apr-20243:06

McClenaghan calls for Royals to trust in Boult

Match detailsPunjab Kings (PBKS) vs Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Mullanpur, 7.30pm IST (2pm GMT)Big Picture – Pace the way to go in Mullanpur?It is still early days this season, but the surfaces in IPL’s newest venue Mullanpur have given all the indications of being a a fast bowler’s ally. In the two matches so far, 30 wickets have fallen – 27 picked by the bowlers and three run-outs. Out of these, 23 wickets have been picked up by the quicks. There was significant movement and carry noticeable under the lights when Punjab Kings played Sunrisers Hyderabad at this venue on Tuesday, with run-scoring not as easy initially. That is reflected in the numbers, too.Among all the venues so far in IPL 2024, Mullanpur has the best average for fast bowlers (19.7) and the lowest run rate (7.7) in the powerplay. Nine wickets have fallen in the first six overs here in two games, joint second with Mumbai. Only Jaipur has seen more wickets fall in the powerplay this season, but four games have already been played there.Related

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Will this concern Rajasthan Royals, who are coming into the game having just been beaten for the first time in IPL 2024 on Wednesday? Nope. On the contrary, they might be the happier side. The Royals’ quicks have picked up nine wickets in the powerplay at an average of 24.3, the best among any team in the tournament. Kings are also not too far behind averaging 26.6 runs per wicket in the powerplay and that could make for an interesting battle up top.The other thing Royals will need to be wary of is not letting history repeat itself. They had a great start to their IPL 2023 losing just one of their first five games and a playoff spot seemed imminent. But, they won just three of their next nine matches and failed to qualify for the knockouts. In IPL 2024, they’ve again lost one and won four of the first five games, but this time will hope to right their wrongs of last season.Form guide Punjab Kings: LWLLW
Rajasthan Royals: LWWWWTeam news and Impact Player StrategyPunjab KingsWith Liam Livingstone unfit, Kings went with an unchanged line-up in their last game against SRH. Fast bowling coach Charl Langeveldt didn’t shed much light on Livingstone’s availability stating that they “will make a decision tomorrow”. If fit, he could replace Sikandar Raza in the XII.Kings have been consistent in subbing out Arshdeep Singh for Prabhsimran Singh or Ashutosh Sharma and vice-versa and that is likely to remain unchanged.Likely XII: 1 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 , 4 Sam Curran, 5 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 6 Shashank Singh, 7 Sikandar Raza, 8 Ashutosh Sharma, 9 Harpreet Brar, 10 Harshal Patel, 11 Kagiso Rabada, 12 1:27

Jaffer: Dhawan and Bairstow need to step up

Rajasthan RoyalsNandre Burger was out injured in Royals’ previous game against Gujarat Titans, while Trent Boult bowled just two overs and was not brought back in the death. While that could just be down to match-ups, Boult’s fitness will also be one to watch out for. Royals had brought in Keshav Maharaj as an Impact sub for Yashasvi Jaiswal in the previous match, but that is likely to change considering the surface in Mullanpur has more in it for the fast bowlers.If Royals bat first, Jaiswal could start and be subbed later for one of the fast bowlers or vice-versa. Kuldeep Sen is likely to keep his place after a good showing in the previous game. If Burger is fit, he is likely to walk back into the XII and be one of the Impact Player options. There is no clarity on Sandeep Sharma’s availability as well, though he has been training with the squad.Likely XII: 1 Jos Buttler, 2 In the spotlight – Shashank Singh and Yuzvendra ChahalShashank Singh has twice shown his calibre as a finisher. After his heroics against Gujarat Titans, he almost took Kings to another improbable win in their last game against SRH. While Kings fell narrowly short, he proved his innings against Titans was no flash in the pan. Kings have been going at a run rate of 11.33 so far in the death overs this season and Shashank has been a major contributor. His strike rate of 195.71 is the third-highest for any batter who has faced 35 balls or more in the tournament. Shashank is also yet to be dismissed since his first-ball duck against Delhi Capitals in Kings’ first game. Do his numbers warrant a move up the order?Yuzvendra Chahal is three shy of 200 wickets in the IPL•BCCI

Yuzvendra Chahal is just three shy of becoming the first bowler in the history of IPL to reach 200 wickets. He is the joint-highest wicket-taker (10) this season along with Jasprit Bumrah and has picked up at least a wicket in every game so far. Eight of those have come in the middle phase, more than any other bowler in IPL 2024. His economy rate of 7.50 during the middle overs also stands out. Chahal has been unafraid to take risks and has often been Samson’s go-to bowler once the powerplay is done.Stats that matter Jonny Bairstow averages 17.33 against Chahal in T20s and has fallen to him three times in seven innings.R Ashwin has removed Dhawan four times in 14 T20 innings. Dhawan strikes at only 84.4 against the spinner.Arshdeep has dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal twice in 15 balls in T20s. Jaiswal averages just 7.50 against him and strikes at 100.Shimron Hetmyer has crashed Sam Curran for 45 runs in 18 balls in T20 cricket, striking at 250.00. Jos Buttler strikes at 157.35 against Kagiso Rabada in T20 cricket, while averaging 53.50. Pitch and conditionsThe surface in Mullanpur has aided pace, bounce and carry and that’s likely to remain unchanged come Saturday. The temperature is expected to be in the mid-30s in the afternoon but is likely to drop down to mid-20s by the time play will get underway. There is also likely to be a 90% cloud cover and some chances of rain.Quotes”We want him to take wickets for us. The other night he started well. His mindset is very positive, he is a wicket-taker for us. He has hit the intensity and I will not be worried about it.”
“If you look at the [Royals] team, you always want leaders within the team. Obviously, Sanju is the leader of the team and he entrusts certain people. It is always good in a cricket team whether you are young or old, if you have good advice, nothing wrong with passing on the information because you never know when it may help.”

MatériaMais Notícias

O clube-empresa Referência FC vem buscando, com sucesso, seu espaço no futebol de base do Brasil. Com metas batidas em 2022, o clube segue trilhando um caminho promissor. Na temporada passada, o Referência conquistou resultados de impacto nos torneios sub-15 e sub-17. No sub-13, garantiu uma vaga inédita nas quartas de final do Paulistão da categoria

Agora, buscando ter um time ainda mais competitivo para 2023 para estar entre os melhores e até mesmo brigar por títulos, o clube-empresa tem outro grande objetivo: obter o selo de time formador junto à CBF, permitindo o registro de contratos de formação com atletas de 14 até 20 anos. Isso assegura o direito de assinar o primeiro contrato como atleta profissional, além de preferência na renovação.

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O objetivo é impactar diretamente em melhorias internas, que vão desde investimento no CT do Referência, atualmente localizado no bairro do Jaguaré, zona oeste de São Paulo, até implantação de processos em departamentos específicos.

– Vamos investir em um centro de treinamento que possa atender ainda mais as necessidades diárias dos atletas e dos membros das comissões técnicas- revela Walter Júnior, presidente do Referência, que garante a ousadameta prevista de colocar o clube para participar da Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior em 2024.

– Esta decisão também tem um impacto direto nas melhorias que estamos fazendo para este ano.Introduzimos as categorias pares, ou seja, sub-10, sub-12 e sub-14, que apenas grandes clubes têm hoje em dia, sendo assim, subimos mais uma prateleira no futebol de base – explica Walter.

تلقى مانشستر يونايتد ضربة موجعة خلال مباراة السبت التي تجرى حاليًا ضد بيرنلي على ملعب أولد ترافورد ضمن منافسات الجولة الثالثة من الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

ونشرت صحيفة “ميرور” البريطانية أن ماتيوس كونيا قد اضطر لمغادرة الملعب بسبب إصابة تعرض لها في أوتار الركبة.

ولم يكن كونيا قادرًا على البقاء في الملعب بعد أقل من نصف ساعة من انطلاق اللقاء، وكان قد انضم لمانشستر يونايتد مقابل حوالي 62.5 مليون جنيه إسترليني.

ويتقدم مانشستر يونايتد حالياً في النتيجة بهدف نظيف ضد بيرنلي، وقد شعر البرازيلي بمشكلة فخرج من الملعب مباشرة ولم يتلق حتى العلاج الطبيعي قبل مغادرته.

اقرأ أيضًا.. أموريم يلمح لقرار صادم قبل لقاء مانشستر يونايتد ضد بيرنلي في الدوري الإنجليزي

خروج كونيا كان مفاجئًا لمدرب مانشستر يونايتد روبن أموريم، إذا لم يكن لدى الفريق المضيف أي بديل جاهز ليحل محل مهاجم وولفرهامبتون السابق قبل أن يدخل بدلًا منه جوشوا زيركزي.

وقد لا يبتعد كونيا عن مانشستر يونايتد كثيرًا بسبب اقتراب فترة التوقف الدولي، ومع ذلك فإن النادي يحتاج لحسم موقفه سريعًا حيث تنتظره مباراة الديربي ضد مانشستر سيتي على ملعب الاتحاد بعد ذلك.

جدير بالذكر أن مانشستر يونايتد قد عانى من أجل استعادة توازنه هذا الموسم، وتعرض لهزيمة مذلة أمام جريسمبي في كأس الرابطة ليغادر المسابقة.

On a track typical of the ones we’ve seen at Chepauk in seasons past, Super Kings handed Knight Riders their first loss of IPL 2024

Ashish Pant08-Apr-20243:17

What made Jadeja so difficult to score off?

After two back-to-back defeats on the road, Chennai Super Kings returned to the comforts of home and to winning ways, consigning Kolkata Knight Riders to their first loss of IPL 2024.On a surface that was typical of the one we have been used to at Chepauk in seasons past, CSK bowled first and restricted KKR to 137 for 9. This after KKR had raced to 56 for 1 in the powerplay. But as the ball got older, the CSK bowlers, led by Ravindra Jadeja who picked 3 for 18, came into their own.In the chase, Ruturaj Gaikwad got back into form, shepherding the innings with an unbeaten 58-ball 67 to take CSK over the line with seven wickets and 14 balls to spare. He added 70 off 55 balls with Daryl Mitchell (25 off 19) before Shivam Dube came in and tonked 28 off 18 to take CSK closer.With three to win, in walked MS Dhoni, causing bedlam in the Chepauk stands. But it was Gaikwad who fittingly finished off the chase by crashing Anukul Roy through covers.Gaikwad’s welcome return to formIt hasn’t been the strongest of starts for Gaikwad in IPL 2024. Coming into the game, he had only managed 88 runs in four innings, averaging 22 in the tournament. But with a modest target in front of him, he bedded in for the long haul. After a watchful first over, he got going with a ramp off Vaibhav Arora and moved from 4 off 9 to 32 off 23 by the end of the powerplay.Ruturaj Gaikwad and MS Dhoni saw CSK home•BCCI

The early impetus was provided by Rachin Ravindra who went after Mitchell Starc, but once he fell, Gaikwad made sure to keep the things moving forward. With Ajinkya Rahane struggling with a calf strain, he had additional responsibility and took up the role well.Gaikwad took on the left-arm spin of Anukul Roy, backing away first ball of the fifth over and creaming him through covers. He repeated those shots twice over before smashing Vaibhav Arora for two back-to-back fours. CSK had raced to 52 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.CSK make it 3/3 at homeGaikwad got excellent support from Mitchell and Dube in helping CSK get over the line. Mitchell, promoted up the order to No. 3, hit his straps by thumping Sunil Narine for a six and four immediately after the powerplay. The duo did not always keep the boundaries flowing but they kept the scoreboard ticking. In the 36 balls between overs six to 12, they scored 44 runs – 17 singles, five doubles, two fours and one six – and that was all CSK needed as the asking run rate crept below the six an over mark.Once Mitchell fell, it was the Dube show as he continued his merry run in IPL 2024. He hammered Varun Chakravarthy for back-to-back sixes and then muscled Arora for another one over deep midwicket. Dube is the current leading run-scorer for CSK this season and has a strike rate of 193.93 against all spinners. On Monday, he only enhanced his credentials. It didn’t take long for CSK to finish off the chase after Dube fell, wrapping up the game in 17.4 overs.Win contribution CSK vs KKR•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Sunil Narine – the powerplay kingAfter losing the toss and a wicket off the first ball of the game, KKR were propped up by Sunil Narine, their powerplay wrecker-in-chief this season. He went after Tushar Deshpande in his second over. A four through square leg, one over mid-off and then a six over deep square – Narine was up and away. Not even a shoulder injury seemed to stop him.During his innings, Narine also went past Virat Kohli to now have the most runs in the powerplay this season – 127 at a strike rate of 201.58. He found an ally in Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who continued on from his debut innings as the duo added 56 runs off 36 balls for the second wicket.The slowdown courtesy Ravindra JadejaThe CSK spinners had not picked up a single wicket at Chepauk in the first two matches there in IPL 2024. And Jadeja seemed to take it personally. He picked up three wickets in his first eight balls of the match, putting a big dent in the KKR middle order.Ravindra Jadeja turned the game on its head with three wickets in eight balls•BCCI

He first sent back Raghuvanshi, who shaped up for a reverse sweep, missed and was caught right in front. Then he got rid of Narine for the fourth time in five T20 innings, the batter slicing a length ball straight to long-off. Venkatesh Iyer was Jadeja’s third victim holing out to deep midwicket with Mitchell taking a good catch diving forward. Normally Jadeja’s plan in these conditions is to be as accurate as possible. Here he knew he had to do one other thing as well. Not bowl full. Let the natural variation that this pitch was offering do its thing.After scoring 56 in the first six overs, KKR only managed 43 in the next nine, losing four wickets in the process.The quicks go slowOnce 15 overs were done, Gaikwad got the fast bowlers into play, and they relied more on the cutters. Deshpande had Rinku Singh chopping one back onto his stumps before Mustafizur Rahman took over. He might have been coming off a long run-up but got slower cutters in, which would have made any slow left-arm orthodox spinner proud.He delivered a stellar final over picking up two wickets and conceding just two runs. While Deshpande finished with 3 for 33 off his four overs, Mustafizur picked 2 for 22, and became the highest wicket-taker in the competition. Sixteen of the 24 balls delivered by the duo in the last four overs were cutters, and KKR had no clue.