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It’s not hard to work out Arsenal’s most significant area of need this summer.

This season has proven beyond all doubt that Mikel Arteta’s side need a new striker, not only to help cover for injuries but to come in and replace Kai Havertz in the starting lineup.

The first choice among the majority of fans would likely be the simply unreal Alexander Isak, who has been linked with the club on many an occasion in the past.

However, it was reported that he could cost up to £150m earlier this year, and since the Toon qualified for the Champions League, we can only assume that the price tag has increased further.

Yet, the good news is that the Gunners are now being heavily linked with a centre-forward who could be their own Isak.

Arsenal's striker search

Given Arsenal’s need for a new striker this summer, it’s hardly been a surprise to see them linked with a plethora of free-scoring forwards in recent weeks and months, such as Viktor Gyokeres and Ollie Watkins.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

The former could reportedly cost around £59m and has a simply sensational tally of 54 goals and 13 assists in 52 games for Sporting CP this term, but a lack of a track record in a top-five league makes the comparison to Isak difficult.

Watkins, on the other hand, has that experience and a brilliant haul of 17 goals and 14 assists to his name in 54 games this season, but with him set to turn 30 at the end of the year, he’s too old to draw paralells to the Swedish superstar.

Fortunately, another centre-forward has been heavily touted for a move to the Emirates, someone who very much could be compared to the Toon star: Benjamin Sesko.

Yes, according to a recent report by journalist Ben Jacobs, Arsenal have maintained their intense interest in the RB Leipzig star.

In fact, Jacobs goes a step further, stating that it now “looks like they [Arsenal] are going to make a bid for Benjamin Sesko,” and that while he has a €80m release clause in his current deal, which is about £67m they’d “like to negotiate something a little lower.”

It might be a costly deal to get over the line, but given Sesko’s impressive ability and potential, it would be more than worth fighting for, especially as he could be the club’s answer to Isak.

Why Sesko could be Arsenal's Isak

So, the first thing to say is that we are not trying to claim that Sesko is as good a striker as Isak at the moment.

After all, the Swedish international is arguably one of the best in the business, and his brilliant tally of 27 goals and six assists in 42 games this season proves as much.

However, there are some key ways in which signing the Slovenian star could be looked upon as the Gunners recruiting their own version of the Newcastle phenom, but before he’s quite at the same level.

For example, the “incredible” Leipzig ace, as dubbed by The Athletic’s Alex Barker, only turned 22 this season, whereas the Toon’s talisman reached that age in the 21/22 season while he was still plying his trade in Spain with Real Sociedad.

That campaign saw the Solna-born monster rack up a decent but hardly earth-shattering haul of ten goals and three assists in 41 appearances, totalling 2761 minutes, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 3.15 games, or 212.38 minutes.

Appearances

45

41

Minutes

3258′

2761′

Goals

21

10

Assists

6

3

Goal Involvements per Match

0.6

0.31

Minutes per Goal Involvement

120.66′

212.38′

In contrast, the Gunners’ current target scored 21 goals and provided six assists in 45 appearances, totalling 3258 minutes, which comes out to a better average of a goal involvement every 1.66 games or every 120.66 minutes.

Furthermore, just as respected analysts and scouts like Jacek Kulig were describing the then-Sociedad gem as “simply amazing,” the likes of EBL have recently claimed that the former RB Salzburg ace “has the potential to become the best #9 in the world.”

Ultimately, it’s unlikely that Sesko will be able to reach the same level as Isak next season, but in a couple of years, there is a genuine chance we could be looking at the two strikers as equals, and for that reason, Arsenal should be doing all they can to sign him this summer.

Arsenal's own Wirtz: Berta now eyeing "one of the best 10s in the world"

The incredibly gifted attacking midfielder would add some much-needed dynamism to Arsenal.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Jun 4, 2025

Burnley will be playing Premier League football once again next season after they finished second in the Championship to secure promotion back to the big time.

The Clarets finished on a staggering 100 points in the second tier, somehow only finishing second to Leeds United, and are now preparing to build a squad that can avoid an instant relegation from the top-flight.

Scott Parker will need to make some big and tough decisions on players who will leave Turf Moore, and ones who will come in, and one star whose future is uncertain at the moment is Ashley Barnes.

Why Ashley Barnes could be released this summer

The veteran striker signed for the club from Norwich City in the January transfer window and put pen to paper on a deal until the end of the season, which means that his current contract is due to expire at the end of next month.

Speaking ahead of the final game of the season, Parker was asked if a decision had been made on the striker: “Not at the moment, no.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

“We’ve not really discussed in great detail next year or certainly how it would look in terms of players’ contracts. We’ve got one game left and that’s been the main focus.

“But Ashley Barnes has been incredible since he’s come in and there’s an opportunity for him at the weekend as well, depending on the decision I make.”

In the weeks since those comments, there has still not been any official confirmation of his release or a new contract, but his limited impact on the pitch could mean that they look elsewhere ahead of a Premier League season.

Barnes ended the campaign with one goal in 21 appearances, including two starts, in the Championship, and the Clarets have been linked with a striker who could be the next version of the veteran forward, George Hirst.

Why George Hirst could be the next Ashley Barnes

Burnley and Leeds are both reportedly interested in signing the Ipswich Town centre-forward after their relegation from the Premier League has already been confirmed, and he could be Barnes 2.0

Barnes joined the Clarets from Brighton at the age of 25, having come up through the lower leagues in League One and the Championship, and went on to score 42 goals in 200 Premier League games for the club.

Like the Burnley icon, Hirst has worked his way up the EFL. He played in League One for Portsmouth and Ipswich and the Championship with Blackburn Rovers and the Tractor Boys, before his first taste of regular top-flight football at the age of 25/26 this season.

Appearances

25

23

Minutes per game

24

35

Goals

3

1

Assists

1

0

Ground duel success rate

33%

34%

Aerial duel success rate

59%

44%

As you can see in the table above, Hirst’s form for Ipswich this season in the Premier League has been more impressive than Barnes’ last outing in the top-flight with the Clarets in the 2021/22 campaign.

These statistics also show that the striker, who was described as “unique” by Kieran McKenna, has the physical attributes to be a Barnes-esque figure for Burnley, particularly with his strength in the air to win flick ons and compete with opposition defenders.

Parker has struck gold on Burnley star who's worth more than Brownhill

Burnley will hope this star can settle into Premier League life well after an impressive debut season at Turf Moor.

ByKelan Sarson May 23, 2025

Hirst, who has scored three goals from 2.13 xG, has the potential to combine physical and technical attributes to be an effective centre-forward at Premier League level if he can kick on with regular minutes, as he only averaged 24 minutes a game behind Liam Delap.

That is why Parker could unearth Burnley’s next Ashley Barnes by signing the experienced striker, who has done the hard work in the lower leagues and could now be given a chance to really show his quality at the top level.

One of Aston Villa’s standout players could still be on the move this summer, despite both the club and the player reportedly being “happy” with the current situation, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

Villa thump Magpies to boost Champions League hopes

Aston Villa kept their Champions League hopes alive in emphatic fashion over the weekend with a dominant 4-1 win over high-flying Newcastle United at Villa Park. Ollie Watkins, Ian Maatsen, and Amadou Onana all found the net for Unai Emery’s side, while Magpies defender Dan Burn added to their tally with an own goal.

Forget Watkins & Rogers: 9/10 star is becoming Aston Villa's best player

Aston Villa secured a vital 4-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday

ByRoss Kilvington Apr 20, 2025

The result moved Villa within just two points of Newcastle. They’re also now just one point behind Manchester City and level with Chelsea, making the race for a top-four finish incredibly tight with only a handful of games remaining.

Next up is a daunting trip to the Etihad Stadium to face City on Tuesday, a fixture that could prove decisive in the push for Champions League qualification. Speaking after the weekend’s win, Emery stressed the importance of maintaining momentum.

“We can’t stop. We are involved in the key moment of the season. Through the Premier League, we are trying to reach our first objective,” he said.

On Watkins – whose goal drew him level with Gabriel Agbonlahor as Villa’s all-time top Premier League scorer – Emery added: “I’m so happy with how he’s performing and progressing under our management. His individual goal is important—for him, for us, for the club, and for our overall development. Hopefully, we can keep helping him to achieve more and more.”

Watkins could leave Villa Park this summer

While Unai Emery is clearly thrilled with Watkins—who has scored 15 Premier League goals this season—his future at Villa Park isn’t entirely secure. According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Watkins could still leave the club this summer if the right offer arrives. Writing in his exclusive GIVEMESPORT newsletter, Romano noted that both Villa and the player are happy with the current situation, but didn’t rule out a move.

“They’re happy with Watkins and he’s happy at the club,” Romano wrote. “Then if a proposal comes, never say never – as it was the case in January.”

Watkins was reportedly the subject of a £40 million bid from Arsenal during the winter transfer window, though Villa ultimately chose to reject the offer.

Having already seen Jhon Durán depart for the Saudi Pro League in January, losing Watkins this summer would represent a major blow for Aston Villa – particularly if they’re unable to secure the permanent signing of Marcus Rashford from Manchester United.

That said, Villa have shown a knack in recent seasons for replacing outgoing talent with even stronger additions, so it wouldn’t be wise to bet against them pulling off something similar again if Watkins does move on.

As Ruben Amorim looks to get ruthless this summer, he is reportedly keen to show the door to one Manchester United star who could leave amid claims of a recent bid worth over £60m.

Man Utd and Amorim ready for busy summer

Sat closer to the relegation zone than they do to champions-elect Liverpool in the Premier League, to say that Manchester United are once again in desperate need of a summer overhaul would be a major understatement. The Red Devils simply must sell before buying this summer in an attempt to hand Amorim the players capable of thriving in his 3-4-2-1 system.

The former Sporting Club boss is well aware of just how much needs to change at Old Trafford and just how long that change may take to arrive. He told reporters in his pre-match press conference before the Manchester derby: “I understand, but I’m not naïve.

“I don’t want to think we need a lot of years to be competitive. I can’t think like that, I cannot manage that, it’s not in me. That’s why I’m putting pressure on myself.

“I know we won’t be the biggest challengers in the next year or two years. We are changing a lot of things inside the club and we know it will take a lot of time, but I will not say I need a lot of years. Next year is our goal. I’m not saying we’re going to win the title in the next year, I’m not crazy.

“I’m saying I don’t want this conversation that we need a lot of years and let’s keep it calm – no, we are in a rush. We are suffering a lot for next year to be so much better.”

Related Development: Man Utd hold positive talks with "strong" £68m star over move

He’d be an instant upgrade.

Posts ByTom Cunningham Apr 5, 2025

That improvement could yet come courtesy of the summer transfer window, but despite names such as Jean-Philippe Mateta already threatening the steal the headlines, those at Old Trafford must first raise funds through much-needed sales.

Amorim wants Garnacho out of Man Utd

One player who could fund INEOS’ summer business is Alejandro Garnacho. According to reports in Spain, Amorim wants Garnacho out of Man Utd this summer due to his ‘shortcomings in defensive duties and collective work’. This could yet see Napoli’s earlier reported bid worth as much as £67m accepted ahead of the summer transfer window.

The young winger has struggled ever since Amorim’s arrival and even found himself dropped alongside Marcus Rashford in the early stages of his tenure. Now, when the summer arrives, he could suffer the same fate as his former teammate as Manchester United look to swing open the Old Trafford exit door.

There was a time when Garnacho was among those who looked most secure at Manchester United, with Erik ten Hag a clear fan of his and describing the 20-year-old as “brave”. Those days are long gone, however, and Amorim doesn’t seem to share the same affection for the academy graduate as his predecessor did.

Whether that means Garnacho is destined to depart Old Trafford remains to be seen, but an offer in the region of £60m could certainly be a tempting one for all involved at Manchester United.

Rahul Dravid’s Adelaide 2003 performance voted as the best by fans

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-202425:34

Exclusive: Rahul Dravid relives his Adelaide epic

ESPNcricinfo LtdFinalRahul Dravid’s 233 & 72* vs Rishabh Pant’s 89*
Winner – Rahul Dravid’s 233 & 72*Semi-finalsSemi-final 1: Rahul Dravid’s 233 & 72* vs Jasprit Bumrah’s 6-33 & 3-53
Winner – Rahul Dravid’s 233 & 72*Semi-final 2: Rishabh Pant’s 89* vs Virat Kohli’s 115 & 141
Winner – Rishabh Pant’s 89*Quarter-finalsQuarter-final 1: Rahul Dravid’s 233 & 72* vs Sachin Tendulkar’s 241* & 60*
Winner – Rahul Dravid’s 233 & 72*Quarter-final 2: Jasprit Bumrah’s 6-33 & 3-53 vs Cheteshwar Pujara’s 123 & 71
Winner – Jasprit Bumrah’s 6-33 & 3-53Quarter-final 3: VVS Laxman’s 167 vs Rishabh Pant’s 89*
Winner – Rishabh Pant’s 89*Quarter-final 4: Virat Kohli’s 123 vs Virat Kohli’s 115 & 141
Winner – Virat Kohli’s 115 & 141Round of 16Match-up 1: Rahul Dravid’s 233 & 72* vs R Ashwin’s 3-57 & 3-92
Winner – Rahul Dravid’s 233 & 72*Match-up 2: Sachin Tendulkar’s 241* & 60* vs Virender Sehwag’s 63 & 151
Winner – Sachin Tendulkar’s 241* & 60*Match-up 3: Jasprit Bumrah’s 6-33 & 3-53 vs Cheteshwar Pujara’s 50 and 77
Winner – Jasprit Bumrah’s 6-33 & 3-53Match-up 4: Cheteshwar Pujara’s 123 & 71 vs Shardul Thakur’s 3-94, 67 & 4-61
Winner – Cheteshwar Pujara’s 123 & 71Match-up 5: VVS Laxman’s 167 vs Ajinkya Rahane’s 112
Winner – VVS Laxman’s 167Match-up 6: Rishabh Pant’s 89* vs Ajit Agarkar’s 6-41
Winner – Rishabh Pant’s 89*Match-up 7: Anil Kumble’s 8-141 & 4-138 vs Virat Kohli’s 123
Winner – Virat Kohli’s 123Match-up 8: Virat Kohli’s 115 & 141 vs Sourav Ganguly’s 144
Winner – Virat Kohli’s 115 & 141

The Ireland keeper and umpire talks about how she came to cricket after nearly making it in football

S Sudarshanan11-Feb-2023Cricket was nowhere on Mary Waldron’s radar.”My only recollection of it growing up was watching my dad watching a cricket match on Channel 4 during my school holidays,” she chuckles. “And I was mad because I was like, ‘What is this on TV? This is ridiculous!'”About 25 years on, Waldron has played not just as a wicketkeeper for Ireland Women, she has also represented Ireland in football. She also tried her hand at basketball and hockey in school.She was among the first players to benefit from Cricket Ireland’s part-time contracts for women in 2019 and also among the 20 first fully professional women cricketers for Ireland, when the board invested £1.5 million in the game last year. She has also been on the ICC’s International Panel of Development Umpires for over three years.Related

Mary Waldron retires from international cricket

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Waldron is now in South Africa for the T20 World Cup – her fourth, after Ireland narrowly missed out in 2020 – and at 38 is the oldest player in the competition. Her enthusiasm belies her age, though. She believes this is the best time to be playing cricket for Ireland.”We have been crying out for more support over the years and it’s finally here,” she says. “The bus is nearly full with all the support staff. To be part of that journey and to see it come to fruition and see all the other players just at the start of their journey. It’s actually really exciting.”Gutted not to play in the last World Cup, purely because you get to play against the best in the world on such a cool occasion.”Because even a couple years ago, we’d be like, ‘What’s the fixture list for the year? We might be going on one tour’ – or you just never really knew. But now we have a Future Tours Programme. We know what we’re doing. And it’s very exciting.”Growing up in hill country south of Dublin, Waldron only got into organised sport at 12, in secondary school, when she joined a football club. She was picked for the Ireland Under-16s when she was 13. She also played basketball, volleyball, and a bit of hockey at school but football was her focus. Transport was limited in the mountains, so her parents – whom she calls “very good sports parents” – drove her around. There was only one occasion, she recalls, when her father said no to her on a matter to do with sport.Waldron prudently wears protective gear standing up to the stumps in a 2022 T20I. “In hindsight now, looking at some of the fielding I did – like standing far too close to the batter and that sort of stupid stuff – I didn’t know what I was doing!” she says•Ramsey Cards/Sportsfile/Getty Images”I asked my dad if I could join a basketball club as well and he said no,” she says. “And that was just purely because there was not enough hours in the day. I was already going to hockey training at that stage, going to soccer, going into school games and stuff. It was just not logistically possible.”Her first brush with cricket came when she was at University College, Dublin. By then she had represented Ireland in football and had played all the age groups in the sport. One of her friends was “obsessed with cricket” and asked her to come watch her play. Waldron went along and liked what she saw, and ended up joining Pembroke Cricket Club in Sandymount, which her cricket-mad friend played for. While football was important to her – she was training hard and playing at a high level – playing cricket allowed her to socialise and network outside of her primary sport, which she liked.Once, when Pembroke’s wicketkeeper was unavailable, they picked Waldron to keep because of her ability to be unflinching. “I wasn’t scared of the ball, and actually in hindsight now, looking at some of the fielding I did – like standing far too close to the batter and that sort of stupid stuff – I didn’t know what I was doing!” she says. “I kept for a few games even though football was still priority.”The following pre-season I was keeping in a game and the Ireland A coach saw me and said I should come to training the following Friday. So it was very random, very organic, how that came about, but I just loved it from there.”She made her ODI debut in July 2010 and played her first T20I three months later. Her rise was too rapid for it all to sink in – in her mind, football, which she played for Raheny United and Shelbourne FC, who played the Premier Division in the Irish league, was still her real game.Waldron stands in a game in the men’s T20 World Cup Europe Region Qualifiers in 2019•Martin Gray/ICC”It was all a bit of a whirlwind. And I don’t think I thought too much about it at the time. And looking back, it was kind of mad. I remember playing in the European championships in cricket, and we’re in Holland, and I remember saying that I can’t stay because I had to go back – this was after about a year after my debut – because we had a training camp for the soccer team. It did take me a few years to transition my mindset that cricket was actually more important.”With Ireland rising as a cricketing team, it was increasingly tough for Waldron to juggle her two sports. Ireland qualified for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2014 and with cricket activities – gym, conditioning, skills work – taking up the better part of the week, she had to let go of football.”I just knew that I wouldn’t be able to commit to the soccer training,” Waldron says. “Playing in a World Cup has always been a goal, though I never wrote it down as a goal. I knew that I’d always love to play in a World Cup, and I assumed that would have been with soccer. But it just turned out that it was in cricket.”An invitation from 1990s Australia wicketkeeper Julia Price, who coached Tasmania and wanted to expand the club structure there, took Waldron to Hobart in 2015. While playing and training in Australia, she completed the Level 1 umpiring course. Back home she was a cricket development officer in a club in Malahide, where she coached the Under-15 boys’ side and also scored for and umpired in those games.That kicked off a period where, unless Ireland had a winter tour, she would travel to Australia to play and umpire. Ahead of the qualifiers for the Women’s World Cup in 2017, she moved from Hobart to Adelaide to be able to play more 50-over matches. There she took more umpiring courses and got more games under her belt as an umpire.Waldron (right) with Eloise Sheridan. The two became the first women to umpire in a men’s first-grade game in Australia in 2019•Ramsey CardsIn 2018, Waldron was appointed to the first-class panel of Umpires in Ireland and became the first woman to umpire in a men’s List A match, between Ireland Wolves and Bangladesh A. She and Eloise Sheridan of Australia became the first pair of women to umpire in a men’s first grade game in Australia in 2019. That year she stood as one of the umpires in the men’s T20 World Cup Europe Region Qualifiers. She also has officiated in the men’s and women’s Big Bash League and in the Women’s National Cricket League in Australia.When the pandemic struck in 2020, cricket in Ireland was thrown into uncertainty. They had missed out on making it to the Women’s T20 World Cup and the next tournament was at least two years away. The 50-overs World Cup, originally to be played in 2021, was postponed.Waldron was clear – cricket was her priority and umpiring had to wait. “The potential progression for Irish women’s cricket at that stage was still huge, so even though I love umpiring, I wasn’t ready to finish playing,” she says. “There was a lot of unfinished business. Many people told me that I should retire and umpire.”I enjoyed the opportunity to train even when it was a two-day-week contract. To be fair, Cricket Ireland still gave me the opportunity to go away whenever we didn’t have a winter tour. Between time at home and being able to travel in the winter, it still was a great lifestyle. I wasn’t planning on giving that up anytime soon.”I have to be based in Ireland now for full-time contracts. But that’s not hard. Having the opportunity to play full-time and train full-time is brilliant. I wasn’t able to go to Australia for the winter but I’ll be playing [the T20 World Cup]. I don’t mind missing out on a few umpiring opportunities because I’m sure there will be chances down the line. And even if they are not, I still wouldn’t miss a chance to play in the World Cup for anything.”

Pujara’s philosophy is to spend more time in the middle to create more chances of scoring runs

Sidharth Monga09-Jan-20212:11

Chopra: Pujara’s back leg movement a ‘flaw’ causing dismissals against Cummins

“I don’t think it was the right approach, I think he needed to be a bit more proactive with his scoring rate because I felt it was putting too much pressure on his batting partners.”That was Ricky Ponting’s assessment, posted on Twitter in response to a question posed to him about Cheteshwar Pujara’s approach in India’s first innings of the Sydney Test. Pujara had scored his slowest half-century, facing 176 balls, but despite facing only five overs fewer than Australia, India ended 94 runs behind. There was a run-out and a played-on dismissal while Pujara was at the wicket, which were indirectly linked to his rate of scoring.This is not opportunistic criticism in hindsight. The questioning of Pujara’s approach began well before his, or Ajinkya Rahane’s or Hanuma Vihari’s, dismissal. The import of it is that if you bat with that approach, you put others around you under pressure and, thus, don’t leave yourself and your team an option but to score a big one yourself. And on difficult pitches against good attacks, you are bound to get a good ball before you score a hundred going at that pace.There is merit to this criticism, but “approach” can soon start to give way to “intent” and it can begin to sound like the batsman is not even thinking of runs. In reality, the approach is not decided by a batsman based on which side of the bed he wakes up. It is a reaction to the quality of the bowling, the nature of the pitch, the match situation, the strength of his own batting line-up, and, perhaps most importantly, his own ability.It isn’t as though Pujara doesn’t know the pitfalls of not scoring at a certain rate. This is a method – let’s not call it approach because it leads to the awful word intent, which suggests the player doesn’t intend to do what is best for the team – that has worked the best for Pujara and India. This was the method that worked on the last tour of Australia when he won India the series by facing more balls than any visiting batsman in a series in Australia in which he played four Tests or fewer. This was the method that worked in Johannesburg where he took 50 balls to get off the mark. This is a method that works for him at home.This method relies on the philosophy that the more time you spend at the wicket, the better your reactions get and the less accurate and intense the bowling gets. Pujara has shown more than enough times that he can make up for these starts once he has bowlers where he wants them. And it is not always accurate that if he gets out for 20 off 80, he has done his side no favours. The last Test was a good example of Shubman Gill and Pujara tiring Pat Cummins out, forcing him to bowl an eight-over spell in the morning session. The centurion Rahane was well into his 20s, having faced 70-plus balls when he first faced a proper spell from Cummins. It is not always apparent, and it is not always extremely significant, but it has some benefit for those who follow him.Of course, Pujara can show more “intent” and try to play quicker, but his judgement tells him that involves an undue amount of risk. He was up against stronger, quicker, taller and more accurate fast bowlers than Australia’s batsmen were on a pitch that called for accurate banging of the ball into the pitch. The bounce available meant Nathan Lyon was in the game too.There was no release available for Pujara unlike for Australia’s batsmen who had Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja – his four wickets perhaps flatter his effort – and even R Ashwin, who was now getting hit off the back foot into the off side. All told, Pujara faced 20 full balls and duly scored 14 runs off them. It was the good balls that he didn’t go after.Look at how Rahane got out: that late-cut over the cordon would perhaps work on another pitch, but the uneven bounce meant he played on. Look at how Rishabh Pant got hurt: trying to pull. Pujara knew this wasn’t a pitch for the horizontal-bat shots.Cheteshwar Pujara drops his hands and sways out of the way of a snorter•Getty ImagesThe combination of the pitch and the quality of the Australian bowling meant that the slight closing of the face or opening of it for even those singles was deemed to be too risky by the batsmen in the middle. Pujara has faced more than 31,000 balls in first-class cricket in varied conditions and match situations, close to 13,000 of them in Tests. Perhaps it is wise to trust his judgement of what is risky.Of course, you can try to play the shots regardless, and they can come off on your day, but elite batsmen don’t like to take that much risk. Not leaving things to chance is what makes them elite. Especially when they are playing just five pure batsmen.The risk involved here is of another nature. Pujara concentrated hard for 176 balls, helped take India to 195 for 4, but then an injured Rishabh Pant and he fell on the same score and the tail stood no chance of getting India close to Australia’s score. The ball Pujara got was, according to him, the ball of the series, a ball that he said would have got him had he been batting even on 100 or 200. While Pujara can take solace in that he made Australia throw the best punch they possibly could, Cummins, the bowler of the monster ball that kicked off just short of a length, rubbed it in that Pujara’s scoring rate helped him and the other bowlers.”At one stage he had been out there for 200 balls or 150 balls and I looked up there thinking they are still 200 away from our first-innings total,” Cummins said after the day’s play. “So if things go that way and we can keep bowling well, you’re not overly bothered. He is someone you know you are going have to bowl a lot at. I think we got our head around that this series, for him to score runs we are going to make it as hard as possible. Whether he bats 200 or 300 balls, just try and bowl good ball after good ball, and challenge both sides of his bat.”Related

• R Ashwin on Pujara: 'Mirugam will never lose an argument; his game is an extension of that'

• Cheteshwar Pujara: 'My passion became my profession'

• What's wrong with Pujara? The answer might lie in his feet

• Cheteshwar Pujara: 'The most important thing is to score runs. How you score hardly matters'

• Cheteshwar Pujara: 'You can punch me as long as you can. Then I'll punch back'

In what can be a bit of a mind game lies an admission too. That Pujara makes you bowl at your best for longer periods of time than other batsmen. Against the same attack, it worked on the last tour. It came close to working on this tour too. At least it gave Pujara a chance.On this pitch, against this bowling, to force the pace and drive on the up, while not taking an undue amount of risk, you have to be as good as Virat Kohli at that kind of batting. Pujara probably knows he isn’t. That is not his skill. His skill is to absorb the blows before taking down tired bowlers. Since about late 2018, even Kohli has started buying into the Pujara philosophy. The best innings of this series in terms of method, Kohli’s 74 in Adelaide, took 180 balls. For the first 80 balls of that innings, he went at a strike rate under 30. It was exactly like a Pujara innings, except that Kohli’s higher skill at shot-making meant he opened up sooner than Pujara could have.There is another, more nuanced criticism of Pujara’s batting, something he probably needs to work harder on. You don’t see too many driveable balls when he is at the wicket because he gets stuck on the crease. So what might be a half-volley for other batsmen is a length ball that Pujara is forced to show respect to. It gives the bowlers a wider margin of error, which means they feel no pressure and thus make less errors.There is merit to that but Pujara will turn around and tell you that this is what allows him to keep out balls that take other batsmen’s edges. Instead of pushing at the ball, he either lets them seam past his edge or play them late and under his eye if they are straight. That by facing more balls the way he does, he actually makes some unplayable balls look negotiable. That by facing more balls, he gives himself a better chance at scoring runs.With bowlers getting fitter and stronger, with bowling attacks now carrying fewer weak links, it is true that Pujara’s method will become less and less prevalent with the future batsmen. This is why probably India made a reasonable call when they dropped him for lack of intent in the past, but Pujara came back and showed with his immense powers of concentration that his method can work. That the criticism of method is not necessarily on the mark. That he shouldn’t be praised for the same method in 2018-19 and be criticised for it in 2020-21.The biggest problem with the criticism perhaps is that Pujara’s method was not a significant difference between the two sides. Or any batsman’s method for that matter. Australia’s bowling in the absence of Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami is far superior to India’s. It is high credit to the visitors that they pulled off the Melbourne miracle but the longer a series goes in Australia, an attack with stronger, quicker, more accurate fast bowlers will prevail over one whose seam attack has a combined experience of 17 Tests, one of them a debutant who has shown the tendency to not be accurate. That is exactly what has happened in Sydney so far.

MatériaMais Notícias

Juventude e Athletico se enfrentam neste domingo (28), no Estádio Alfredo Jaconi, pela quarta rodada do Brasileirão. A bola rola a partir das 18h30 (de Brasília), em Caxias do Sul (RS), com transmissão do Premiere (pay-per-view). Os donos da casa somam quatro pontos em três partidas até aqui, enquanto o Furacão tem seis.

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Confira abaixo todas as informações que você precisa saber sobre o confronto entre Juventude e Athletico (onde assistir, horário, escalações e local).

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✅FICHA TÉCNICA
Juventude x Athletico
4ª rodada – Brasileirão

📅 Data e horário: domingo, 28 de abril de 2024, às 18h30 (de Brasília)
🏟️ Local: Estádio Alfredo Jaconi, em Caxias do Sul (RS)
🟨 Árbitro: Alex Gomes Stefano (RJ)
🚩 Assistentes: Thiago Henrique Neto Correa Farinh (RJ) e Luiz Claudio Regazone (RJ)
🖥️ VAR: Bruno Mota Correia (RJ)

⚽ PROVÁVEIS ESCALAÇÕES
JUVENTUDE (Técnico: Roger Machado)
Gabriel Vasconcellos; João Lucas, Danilo Boza, Zé Marcos e Gabriel Inocêncio; Caíque, Jadson e Nenê; Marcelinho (Rildo), Lucas Barbosa e Erick Farias.

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ATHLETICO (Técnico: Cuca)
Bento; Léo Godoy, Kaique Rocha, Gamarra e Esquivel; Fernandinho, Erick e Christian (Zapelli); Julimar, Cuello e Pablo.

Tudo sobre

AthleticoAthletico-PRBrasileirãoCampeonato BrasileiroJuventudeOnde assistir