Wides, lbw calls, swing – plenty of things were different in white-ball cricket back then

Sidharth Monga30-Mar-2020 #RetroLive Last week, we at ESPNcricinfo did something we have been thinking of doing for eight years now: pretend-live ball-by-ball commentary for a classic cricket match. We knew the result, yes, but we tried our best to go in as ignorant about the actual match as possible, so as to react “naturally” to what was happening. The odd joke aside, we stayed in character and didn’t let our knowledge of cricket’s evolution since then inform our commentary.However, we can break kayfabe now and talk about what we learnt from how cricket was back then, which in this case is the World Cup final of the year 1992.Are we not calling wides?
Wide calls back then seemed to be based more on the umpires’ judgement of the bowlers’ intent than on how wide the ball was of the batsman’s stumps. There were no tramlines for starters (yes, it is easy to forget such a time existed in limited-overs cricket). Quite regularly balls outside leg were not wided: be they wrong’uns starting from within the stumps, inswingers gone wrong, or full tosses outside leg from a left-arm spinner. Just as regularly, the umpires were too harsh on wides outside off.The only explanation for this – other than it being a residue from amateur limited-overs cricket where umpires were lenient in order to complete matches before it got dark – is that they saw it as being the same as in Tests: nobody would intentionally bowl down the leg side, which would be bad bowling, but they might intentionally bowl wide outside off to restrict scoring. As a result, the bowlers had a much bigger margin for error if they bowled straight, but on the flip side, they couldn’t use the space outside off tactically.Wide calls are much less subjective today, except when the batsman has moved around in the crease or changed his stance before the ball has been delivered. The tramlines, introduced just as a guide, have now become an objective parameter in most cases. Going down leg is a strict no-no, but those tramline yorkers are fascinating to watch.Who do I have to kill to get an lbw?
Yes, pitches have got flat, bats heavier, and rules are loaded in their favour, but to really appreciate modern batsmen, you have to watch a rerun – not highlights – of a 1992 World Cup game. Let alone getting a positive reaction from the umpires, the bowlers were so conditioned to receiving apathy that they didn’t even appeal for lbws that were so plumb that even Virat Kohli might not have reviewed them. Batsmen back then hardly ever got out if they so much as got onto the front foot, and often they just pretended to play a shot if they were in trouble. Mad respect for modern batsmen.ALSO READ: Twenty-five things from 1993 that are no longer aroundWhite doesn’t swing? Says who?
It is hard to believe but that was a time when the white ball swung more than the red one. This is not a view based on watching just one rerun; it is based on the first-hand experience of commentators and cricketers.To make it worse for batsmen – and bowlers who struggled to control their swing – one new ball was used at each end in the 1992 World Cup. This is why teams, especially the winners, Pakistan, developed a strategy of batting the first 30 overs almost as if in a Test match. Imran Khan promoted himself to perform just that role. Bowlers struggled too: over the course of the tournament Wasim Akram, for example, went from being a quick bowler to trying to bowl within himself, to once more going all out when cutting the pace didn’t have any impact on the wides.It is amazing how we have a reached a stage where the same manufacturers are struggling to manufacture a ball that will swing.The wrist is history: Mushtaq Ahmed’s success in the 1992 World Cup heralded the age of the wristspinners•Getty ImagesNon-strikers stole ground then too
In the 24th over of the chase, Aamer Sohail pulled out of his delivery to warn Allan Lamb – who had just taken a quick couple the previous ball – against stealing ground before the ball was delivered. Boos punctuated the confused hush that fell over the MCG. Umpire Steve Bucknor called it a dead ball. Sohail ran in again, saw Lamb moving again and pulled out again. This time Bucknor had to intervene and break off a conversation between the two.After the over, the transmission cut to the studio in Hong Kong. Sunil Gavaskar was the expert in the studio, weighing in with analysis and comments between overs and during drinks breaks. The anchor said, “Running a batsman out who has left the bowler’s end is not considered cricket. You’d normally expect a warning first.” Not in limited-overs cricket, where every run is vital, said Gavaskar, whose tone suggested annoyance at Sohail being questioned.The lines were being drawn already: Asian sides were much more serious about limited-overs cricket, and wanted the law enforced over the spirit. Later in the year, Kapil Dev would go on to run Peter Kirsten out after warnings, only for ugly scenes to play out thanks to South Africa’s righteous indignation.ALSO READ: Retroreport: The 1992 World Cup finalImagine Gavaskar’s and Dev’s annoyance then, when 27 years later, exactly on the same day as that 1992 final, R Ashwin ran Jos Buttler out without a warning, only to be lambasted and ridiculed the world over. However, it is not a losing battle anymore, and people are beginning to realise the batsman is gaining an unfair advantage and needs to live with the consequences. Without a warning.Wrist and reward
Pakistan were a horribly balanced side. They had a specialist batsman, Ijaz Ahmed, playing at No. 9, with his utility being only part-time seam-up overs. Sohail was called upon to bowl his full quota. Imran Khan was injured, so he played mainly as a batsman whose job was to fast-forward the game to the 30th over without losing wickets. If other sides had slightly more urgency, they would have punished the bowling lightweights in the Pakistan side, but in one respect, Khan’s team was also ahead of its time.There was only one specialist wristspinner, and he wore the iconic light-green jersey. There was only one spinner in the top 19 wicket-takers in the tournament, and it was the same man, Mushtaq Ahmed. Khan insisted he wanted a legspinner in his side as Abdul Qadir reached the end of his career. Ahmed’s impact was clear not just from his numbers but visibly too, with batsmen finding him as illegible as modern batsmen do left-arm wristspinners. Ahmed, the second highest wicket-taker of the tournament, was, as is known these days, the point of difference between others and the champion side.The time was ripe for Shane Warne and Anil Kumble to rule the world.Other lessons Imran Khan could come to the toss wearing what looked like an undershirt and not be fined. The world still didn’t know much about reverse swing. The stage was set for a testy summer in England. A bouncer above the head was a no-ball even if you touched it. Nowadays it is called a wide, and if you happen to play it, it becomes a legal delivery. RetroLive

Meanwhile Rupganj, who had seven Bangladesh international in their line-up, lost to Old DOHS in Savar

Mohammad Isam15-Mar-2020Mushfiqur Rahim gave defending champions Abahani Limited a perfect start in the Dhaka Premier League, after his century helped them to a comfortable 81-run win over Partex Sporting Club at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.Batting first, Abahani had lost both openers Liton Das and Mohammad Naim for ducks. From there, they further slipped to 67 for 5 in the 22nd over, before Rahim helped rebuild the innings completely. He added 160 runs for the sixth wicket with Mosaddek Hossain, who made 61 off 74 balls with four boundaries and two sixes.Mushfiqur finished on 127 off 124 balls, hitting eleven fours and four sixes. Mohammad Saifuddin smashed five sixes in his unbeaten 15-ball 39 to take Abahani to a strong total.Partex were then bowled out for 208 in 48.4 overs with left-arm quick Mehedi Hasan Rana taking four wickets.Old DOHS Sports Club beat the big-moneyed Legends of Rupganj by 25 runs in BKSP.Rupganj, who had seven Bangladesh international in their line-up, were bowled out for 205 with three wickets each for Abdur Rashid and Avishek Das, who played in the Under-19 World Cup final. Das’ Under-19 teammate Rakibul Hasan also took two wickets.Earlier, Old DOHS reached 230 in 49 overs with Anisul Islam hitting 59 and Rakin Ahmed 48. Offspinner Sohag Gazi took three wickets.Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club edged out Brothers Union by eight runs in a close finish in Fatullah. Batting first, Doleshwar reached 238 for 7 in 50 overs, thanks to Taibur Rahman’s second List-A century.He made 110 off 94 balls, hitting five sixes and seven fours. In reply, Brothers were bowled out for 230 in 49.4 overs, with Junaid Siddique making a fighting 97 off 125 balls. Medium-pacer Rejaur Rahman finished with four wickets for Doleshwar.

And have any cricketers taken part in the Winter Olympics?

Steven Lynch28-Jul-2020Which South African Test cricketer never played a first-class match in his home country? asked Michael Roberts from England
The owner of this peculiar distinction is seamer George Parker, who won two Test caps in England in 1924. South Africa’s bowlers, used to matting pitches at home, struggled on turf in England, and the management cast round for alternatives. Parker, who was born in Cape Town in 1899, had been in England for four years, and was playing for Eccleshill in the Bradford League. He made his first-class debut in a rain-affected match against Oxford University, and took four wickets – and was hustled into the Test side for the opening match of the series at Edgbaston.Parker did his side proud, taking six wickets, although they cost him 152 runs: his victims included Herbert Sutcliffe, Frank Woolley, Patsy Hendren and Percy Chapman. Parker sent down 37 overs, an effort that took its toll, as Wisden reported: “He bowled himself to a standstill and became so exhausted that he had to leave the field shortly before the drawing of stumps, the South Africans finishing the day with ten men.”Parker’s league commitments meant he did not play again before the second Test, at Lord’s, where he dismissed both England’s openers, Sutcliffe and Jack Hobbs – but not before they had shared an opening stand of 268. And that was it: Parker wasn’t called on again during the tour, and never played another first-class game. He eventually moved to Australia, where he died in 1969.Joe Root was run out for the second innings running at Manchester. Has this happened to an England captain before? asked Albert Ross from England
Joe Root’s run-out on the opening day of the third Test against West Indies at Old Trafford made him only the third England captain to fall this way in successive Test innings. The first was Archie MacLaren, who was run out in the final innings of the 1901-02 Ashes, in Melbourne, and fell the same way on the first day of the return series in England, at Edgbaston a couple of months later. Another Lancastrian, Mike Atherton, was run out in successive innings in 1995, against West Indies at Old Trafford and then at Trent Bridge, where he did at least score 113.Root has now been run out four times as captain, the most for England, ahead of three by MacLaren (Ricky Ponting was run out nine times, easily the most for any Test captain). In all Tests, Root has now been run out six times: only Geoff Boycott and Matt Prior (seven) fell this way more often for England. Overall, Ponting was run out 15 times in Tests, two ahead of Rahul Dravid, while Allan Border and Matthew Hayden fell this way 12 times each.Have any cricketers also taken part in the Winter Olympics? asked Kartik Venkataraman from India
I’m not aware of any cricketers – internationals, anyway – who have participated in the Winter Olympics. The nearest I can think of is the left-arm seamer Dirk Nannes, who played white-ball internationals for Australia and Netherlands: he was also an accomplished moguls skier, who took part in World Cup events – but he missed out on the Winter Olympics, although he has commentated on them for Australia television. “My dream as a young bloke was to ski for Australia at the Winter Olympics,” he told the Sydney Daily Telegraph in 2018. “It’s my first love. I didn’t find cricket until I was 26.”There may be some others, especially from the early days when winter sports were a favourite of the English gentry. David Gower, who would surely have been a dashing jazz-hatted amateur if he’d been born a few years earlier, was for a while a regular on the fearsome Cresta Run at St Moritz (a skeleton racing track), once braving the ice shortly before embarking on a tough trip to the Caribbean, as he told The Guardian: “A week before a Windies tour was probably very good timing to get used to handling fear, expectation and speed.”Australia’s Dirk Nannes narrowly missed out on making the Australian ski team for the 1998 Winter Olympics•Getty ImagesSir Garry Sobers lost a Test to England in 1967-68 after declaring in both innings. Is he the only captain to suffer this fate? asked Gary Dockerty from Hong Kong
That match in Port-of-Spain in 1967-68 effectively allowed England to win the series, as they won the game after Sobers’ two declarations, and took the rubber 1-0. The only other captain to declare twice in a Test and lose is South Africa’s Graeme Smith, who closed at 451 for 9 and 194 for 6 against Australia in Sydney in 2005-06. Smith was trying to level the series, which Australia won 2-0 as a result of their victory in this match.There’s a case for saying it also happened in Centurion in 1999-2000, when South Africa declared their first innings at 248 for 8, and forfeited their second, which allowed England to pull off a surprise victory in what became an infamous match, after it emerged that Hansie Cronje, the South African captain, had accepted gifts for ensuring a positive result.Who played the most Tests, all of which were won – and played the most, all of them being lost? asked Steve Rafferty from Ireland
The 1980s West Indian allrounder Eldine Baptiste is the answer to the first part – he played ten Test matches, all of which were won. And the unfortunate holder of the opposite record is Alok Kapali of Bangladesh, who appeared in 17 Tests and lost the lot. Kapali, who’s still playing domestic cricket, holds another peculiar Test record: he took only six wickets with his legbreaks, but they included a hat-trick – Bangladesh’s first in Tests – against Pakistan in Peshawar in August 2003.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

The biggest and richest cricket tournament outside the World Cups begins on Saturday. Here’s all you need to know about it

Shashank Kishore18-Sep-2020The Indian Premier League (IPL) begins in the UAE on Saturday. The biggest and richest cricket tournament outside the World Cups, it is usually held in India but has been taken outside because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Here’s all you need to know about the tournament – and why holding it at all is such a big deal.First up, why should we care about the IPL taking place in the UAE?
The IPL is at the front and centre of India’s – and the world’s – cricket economy. It is so important that, typically, very little other top-level cricket is scheduled at the same time. A cancellation, because of the pandemic or otherwise, would have led to losses of between US$500-530 million for the Indian cricket board (BCCI) – and that’s just the value of the media rights for a year. The fact that the tournament is being held this year, though a few months off its original March-May window, is an encouraging sign in a challenging economic climate. The IPL economy goes far beyond India – cricket boards of the smaller nations, like Afghanistan, too earn incomes for letting their players participate.Why not hold the tournament in India?
Logistics, mainly. Cricket has resumed since its mid-March halt, with England hosting the international teams of West Indies, Pakistan, Ireland and Australia, but the IPL is an entire tournament, logistically a more complex operation and far more international in nature. It involves eight teams and several hundred players, support staff and officials. The usual IPL scheduling template, involving eight venues across the country and multiple (and often very long) flights, wouldn’t have worked in a Covid-19 world. More so given India’s climbing infection rate. What was needed was a more compact host country, in roughly the same time zone, with stadiums close to each other, reachable by short road journeys, and with top-level communication, accommodation and other facilities. And reasonably virus-free.Mumbai Indians are the defending champions•BCCIWhy the UAE?
Simply put, the UAE ticks those boxes: size, facilities and location. It’s roughly the geographical centre of the cricket world. Most of the players are from India but the overall mix of those involved is truly global: Other countries represented this year are New Zealand, Australia, England, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Afghanistan and several Caribbean nations. And the Covid-19 infection rates are still very low and localised. The UAE is anyway a long-standing venue for cricket matches – it has been Pakistan’s “home” venue since 2009 – and also hosted part of the 2014 edition of the IPL.So how has the tournament been organised there?
Like the NBA did by putting together a bio-bubble in Orlando, the IPL, along with the eight franchises, have put together bio-bubbles in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, where the matches will be held. Players and officials have had to clear a total of five Covid-19 tests – two before flying out and three in their first six days of arrival in the UAE – before entering the bio-bubble. Then, all squad members will be tested on the fifth day of every week throughout the tournament.Under IPL rules, no person can leave the bio-secure bubble during the course of the tournament. Strict social distancing norms have been recommended, including squad members discouraged from having any close contact even within the bubble, which includes moving between hotel rooms. Squad members have also been asked to wear masks outside their rooms at hotels and avoid any unnecessary movement. There will be exceptions, of course. If an injured player needs to visit a hospital for X-rays or scans, then the guidelines suggest the movement be restricted to the clinic with minimal interaction with outsiders. All the teams have booked out entire wings of hotels or resorts from a safety standpoint.This is similar to the rules for the cricket matches in England, isn’t it?
Yes, it is. England hosted West Indies, Pakistan, Ireland and Australia at two venues: Ageas Bowl, Southampton and Old Trafford, Manchester. Both these grounds have on-site hotels, which made local travel and accommodation simpler. Players were all part of a bio-bubble for the duration of the matches. Simple breaches – like a player taking a detour home while travelling from one venue to another – were dealt with very strictly.Andre Russell and Virat Kohli are among global cricket superstars•BCCISo the stage is set, then. Are the players ready?

You’d hope so. They’ve been in the UAE since the end of August, first completing their quarantine process and then getting down to training. The fans definitely will be ready because they’ve been starved of cricket. Indian players, on an average, play for 10-11 months a year. That includes eight-nine months of international cricket and two months of the IPL. But they last played in early March, before the pandemic struck. That has made it seven full months of no cricket for a cricket-crazy country. That could potentially make this the most-watched IPL ever.Really? What are the numbers usually like?
According to a report in the , the IPL final in 2019 – the Indian equivalent of the Super Bowl – had 462 million TV viewers worldwide. On digital media, Star India’s video streaming service recorded a reach of over 300 million viewers, with a peak concurrency of 18.6 million viewers for the final, between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.What are the big talking points this season?
MS Dhoni, the celebrated former India captain, is now retired from international cricket but will captain Chennai Super Kings. Virat Kohli is a global superstar, who has made the Forbes list of richest athletes in the world for a few years now, but his team, Royal Challengers Bangalore, have never won the tournament. Among the foreign players, there’s Jamaica’s Andre Russell, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan and Australia’s David Warner – all of them are global cricket superstars.Is there any American interest?
For the first time ever, an American national will be part of the IPL. Ali Khan, 29, resides in Ohio and plays for the USA national team. He was first noticed while playing a local T20 tournament at Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida, by a few talent scouts. Over the last three years, he has already featured in T20 leagues across the Caribbean and Pakistan. This year, he will play for Kolkata Knight Riders, a franchise co-owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan.

The former South Africa batsman and ace fielder looks ahead to his T10 coaching stint, and talks about the best fielders he’s seen so far

Interview by Shashank Kishore07-Jan-2021The full-length dive into the stumps to run out Inzamam-ul-Haq at the 1992 World Cup is one of cricket’s most iconic images. The man in that picture, Jonty Rhodes, is pushing 52 but looks no older than 25. Fitness is a big part of his life, adventure even bigger. It’s this streak that has now taken him to Sweden, where he’s coaching a team of committed amateurs looking to pose a serious challenge at the Associate level. Rhodes is also a part of the IPL with the Kings XI Punjab, and will be seen in the upcoming T10 League as the head coach of the Pune Devils.In this chat, Rhodes talks about modern fielding, coaching below the elite level, and whether he has any World Cup regrets.You’ve had a busy post-retirement life. Fielding coach, head coach, motivational speaker, bank officer, commentator. Is there a box you are yet to tick?
I retired in 2003 and immediately started working with Standard Bank as a sponsorship manager. I didn’t really get back into cricket for six years. I retired thrice, which is crazy (laughs), but I could never leave it because this is a game I’m so passionate about.Related

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Initially, I thought I’d walk away from cricket completely, until the IPL came along. I started with Mumbai Indians in 2009 as fielding coach – did it for nine seasons. After that, a two-year break helped me, from a journey point of view. I spent a lot of time developing the game at the grassroot structures as opposed to working with high-performance players or teams. That was an eye-opener. I spent time in Nepal, Malawi, Zimbabwe, in different parts of South Africa – places with passion for the game but with limited facilities, yet it doesn’t diminish people’s love for what they do.Hopefully 20 years later, I’m still throwing balls around, scoring, umpiring or doing something in cricket.What are the challenges of coaching a small Associate member country like Sweden?
At Sweden, I’m not just the national coach, I’ve got to also look after the pathways from junior cricket to Under-19s to women’s cricket because there are only four paid professionals at the Swedish Cricket Federation. I’ve got players from Sweden who originate from Pakistan, Afghanistan, India. There aren’t too many locals, so that’s something I’m looking to push for. If you can harness that diversity, it’s a huge asset to have.There’s also a T10 gig coming up with the Pune Devils. How did that come about?
Interestingly, Sweden has a lot of T10 cricket. They don’t have many facilities, but there are a lot of clubs who want to play on weekends. It’s too drawn out to facilitate 50-over cricket. All the players registered with us are working professionals, so they only have the weekend off. Both T20 and T10 are a big part of the Swedish cricket make-up. I’ve got to get as much experience from this shortened version, even if it isn’t from an ICC point of view, because Sweden isn’t participating in a tournament currently.I’ve worked as a sponsorship manager when we introduced the Pro-20 in South Africa in 2004. I’ve been a stakeholder in T20s for a long time, so I’m looking to try and see that adjustment is very quick in T10 as well. It’s a different format. There are players who have more experience than I have [Pune’s marquee signings include Thisara Perera and Mohammad Amir], so I’m also looking to learn from them.On boundary catching: “If your feet are shuffling sideways, you can have the power to spring up and land at the same place”•BCCIWhat is the biggest attribute needed in a team environment today?
The ability to listen. As coaches, your first instinct is to feel the need to say something, but when you have so many experienced players in your line-up, you need something unique and powerful, because they have seen it all. On the field, you have no say when things unfold. Also, from the business point of view, there’s lot of strategy and analysis that could work, but it’s about the actual execution that’s important. And that’s done better by listening rather than telling them what to do. If you’re listening, you’re giving them a chance to work out what the best plan could be. It allows people to grow. It’s an important attribute to any environment – T20, T10, even life.Batsmen often have to change mindsets when they switch formats. Does it apply to fielding as well?
Yes, you talk about fielding in T20 cricket, but fielding is huge in Test cricket too. I still remember Ravindra Jadeja’s one-handed catch at deep square leg in a Test in New Zealand [in Christchurch in March 2020]. Those sorts of efforts can change a Test, but yes, T20 has certainly highlighted the importance of fielding and its intensity. In the IPL, you saw some brilliant saves at the boundary, not just great catches. Everywhere you’re looking to save a run. In a lot of games, it all comes down to the last over, last ball, so it’s not about if the guys are doing it differently, I don’t think so.Over the years, have you seen a fundamental shift in how young Indian players approach fielding?
One hundred per cent, but it’s more about the fitness levels. MS Dhoni started it in his quiet way. As captain, he was a quiet, behind-the-scenes guy with a lot of authority. Compare that to Virat Kohli. Heart on his sleeve, he’s very determined in what he wants to change and what he thinks is important. You think of his fitness level and how it changed his game and his athletic ability. You’ve seen that with guys like Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina – players I’m a great fan of – because of the ability to move in the field and the contributions they make with the bat.If you’re setting standards in your fitness levels consistently, that’s amazing. Because as a fielding coach, I can always coach somebody to catch the ball, but the difficulty is in getting somebody to the ball to catch it. If they don’t have that ability and mobility, it’s difficult. From what you’ve seen, the athletic ability has changed of all youngsters coming through.Cricket is a game of habit. Too often, you’ll have ten years of “this is how we field” and it’s difficult to change that. You can bat for two hours, but in India in April-May during the IPL, there’s no chance you can field for more than 20 minutes, so we work together in small groups: ten to 20 minutes of high-intensity fielding, 100%, get it right and move on. Players who spend lot of time bowling and batting, if you can improve their ability to move, that’s a massive change in the right direction.”If you’re listening [as a coach], you’re giving the players a chance to work out what the best plan could be. It allows people to grow”•Samuel Rajkumar/BCCITalking of athletic ability, we’ve seen some incredible boundary catches in the IPL. What is the key to being a good boundary rider?
It’s important to not take your eye off the ball. Whether you’re batting or fielding, you still have to watch the ball. Awareness is the key. What I try and promote as fielding coach is the need for players to play different sport. Whether it’s badminton, football – not seriously, just to get that lateral movement. As a field hockey player, there was a huge benefit to my fielding. It was a massive benefit to me [to be] a football player, because it gives you that peripheral vision and the awareness of space.From a catching point of view, it’s about getting back to the rope as quickly as possible and not looking at it. I was trying to get the guys to shuffle back to the boundary like they are stepping out when they are batting. You don’t run forward or run backwards when you’re stepping out to bat, you still come with a good shape. It will give you a good base to work from because if your momentum is taking you back towards the rope, as soon as you jump, you’re going to jump outside the rope. Whereas if your feet are shuffling sideways, you can have the power to spring up and land at the same place.Those sorts of things do have a technique to it. It’s about doing it enough times so that it becomes a habit and the players become aware. You can work on the technical skills, but it’s the awareness, the anticipation, that’s important.From memory, can you pick out some of the boundary catches that have stood out?
Hmm, not really. You think of the 2019 World Cup. Ben Stokes caught Andile Phehlukwayo at the boundary, but he got it wrong. He came in, one hand, leapt up and caught it. Adam Bacher caught Sachin Tendulkar one-handed in a Test in Cape Town when Tendulkar was just defying us. He got 100-odd, I think [169], and the only way we could get him out was through that incredible one-handed catch at the boundary over his head.With regards to T20, there’s been so much brilliance. What I’m loving is that for the first six years of the IPL, if you had a top-ten compilation [of the best boundary catches], it was only the international players in it. Two would be Indians. Now, you’d have at least seven Indians. That, for me, is way more exciting than one particular catch that stands out. It’s just the awareness that these young kids coming through have and the work that they are putting in as fielders.Who are the some of the best fielders you’ve seen?
Ricky Ponting was an incredible fielder. He shattered his ankle sliding into the advertising boards once. In Perth, there used to be a concrete wall as the boundary, as you saw in a lot of Australian grounds. Guys like myself and Ricky, who were committed in the field, had it tough diving around to save every run because we didn’t have a cushion to slide over while trying to pull the ball back in. We either had a wall or picket fence. So Ricky was incredible. Also, the accuracy with which he hit the stumps was amazing.Herschelle Gibbs – I spent a lot of my career playing with him, having him at cover and me at point was a lot of fun. The two of us terrorising the opposition batters was a lot of fun.I’ve enjoyed watching Suresh Raina throughout his career. He was Mr IPL. Everyone spoke about his batting, never missing a game for so long. My impression of him was: here’s a guy who is diving around, having grown up in India, which is an indication that he wasn’t afraid. Him and AB de Villiers, in the modern day, I’ve enjoyed. It’s not about the catches, it’s about the anticipation – them putting pressure on the opposition and never taking the foot off the gas for the full 20 overs.”I played in four World Cups. In four attempts, we didn’t win. If you tell me that I had a disappointing career, no. I don’t have any regrets”•Chris Turvey/PA Photos/Getty ImagesI have to ask you about your international career as we wrap up. Was there a hint of regret at not having won a World Cup despite having the teams to do so?
I played 11 years for South Africa. I played in four World Cups. My career spanned from the start of one edition to the end of another, and I never got to a final. Part of T10 is my focus on the process, less the outcome. As coach, it’s important to allow players the freedom. In four attempts [with South Africa], we didn’t win. If you tell me that I had a disappointing career, no. I don’t have any regrets. Talking of South Africa being chokers at ICC events, having been a part of it, never once have we walked onto the field thinking, “We’re going to win” or “Oh, we’re going to choke.” So from that point of view, I have no single regret.I had an incredible opportunity to represent my country at a stage where three years before 1992, even three months before the World Cup, no one even thought we’d be going there. Having that larger picture of life has shaped me in my cricket. I don’t have a regret. I’m just grateful. I didn’t even have a country to play for six months before the World Cup. And when I came in, people went, “Who is this guy Jonty Rhodes?” Because my average in state cricket was really poor. I was a feisty young guy on the field, but it wasn’t a big part of the game. Kepler Wessels was my captain. He’d played in Australia and knew how important it was. You couldn’t hit the ball out of the ground. The boundaries were big. You needed speed on the outfield, and he chose Hansie Cronje and myself in the squad.Not a single regret with regards to my cricket. No player envy either. How many cups you won doesn’t define me as a player. Australia won three World Cups during my time, but it doesn’t make my career any less of an incredible opportunity to do what I did to make a name for myself by playing a sport in the backyard with my brothers.

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

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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.

At the halfway stage of IPL 2021, only a few teams have been able to achieve clarity about their best XIs

Gaurav Sundararaman03-May-2021 17Traditionally Mumbai don’t make too many changes. In IPL 2020, Mumbai used just 15 players – the least in the tournament. Already this season, the defending champions have fielded 17 players. Chris Lynn and Marco Jansen had to start due to the non-availability of Quinton de Kock and Nathan Coulter-Nile. Chennai, where Mumbai played their first set of matches, did not suit their batting style and hence they had to make a couple of tactical changes. Jayant Yadav played when there were a lot of left-handed batters in the opposition and if the pitches were slow and taking spin. But, in Delhi, playing against the Super Kings, Mumbai strengthened their pace attack playing Dhawal Kulkarni and Jimmy Neesham. It has meant that Ishan Kishan, who hit a staggering 30 sixes last IPL, has had to sit out after struggling for form in the intial matches this season, but also to accommodate the extra Indian bowler. Kishan’s position has gone to Krunal Pandya, who has been given the new role of batting at No.4Points Table•ESPNcricinfo Ltd Delhi Capitals 17Delhi Capitals have mainly had to make a few forced changes. Indian bowling allrounder Axar Patel was indisposed recovering from Covid-19 and missed the first five matches. Patel’s return offset the absence of R Ashwin, who was forced to leave the tournament after five matches to attend to his family that had been enveloped by Covid-19. South African fast bowling pair of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje joined the IPL late while Indian pair of Amit Mishra and Ishant Sharma missed the first few matches recovering from niggles. Tactically Steven Smith for Ajinkya Rahane was one change and the Capitals have made. Nortje has been kept out thanks to the scintillating form of uncapped Indian fast man Avesh Khan, who is the second-highest wicket-taker this IPL at the halfway stage. Don’t fix what is not broken and expect the Capitals to persist with the winning combination. Punjab Kings Players used: 18Similar to the Royal Challenges, the Punjab Kings have also played at three venues. That has prompted tactical changes. Despite enduring his worst IPL with four ducks in six matches, West Indies powerhitter Nicolas Pooran was persisted with for the first seven matches. The bowling department was changed based on the opposition and venue. One curious move by the Kings has been the late introduction of Ravi Bishnoi, who sparkled in IPL 2020 with his attitude and his googlies. Expect the Kings to continue backing their core group of batters with changes in their bowling line up as they move towards Bangalore for their second half, which is very batting friendly. Sunrisers Hyderabad Players used: 21Sunrisers Hyderabad have had the worst start to the IPL since they entered the IPL in 2013. A solitary win in seven matches has meant they’re at the bottom of the points table. Desperation to win combined with injuries to key bowlers has resulted in several changes – 21, the most for a team this tournament so far. The franchise also took the bold move of dropping all-time Sunrisers and IPL great David Warner as captain and player in order to provide more balance to the team. What has also not helped is lack of swing in venues like Chennai as well as the fitness struggles of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the knee surgery that ruled out T Natarajan. The team that has made the IPL play-offs consistently since 2016 has pressed the panic button and expect that extending to the second half of the IPL.

The season may have been abruptly cut short, but there were a number of players who dazzled us with their performances

Sreshth Shah09-May-20211. Shikhar Dhawan (380 runs, ave 54.28, three fifties)Dhawan returned home with the Orange Cap for the most runs. He began the season with a match-winning 54-ball 85 against the Chennai Super Kings. Then against Punjab Kings, he wallopped 92 in 49 balls as he married precision with power in equal measure and followed it up with an unbeaten 69 to anchor a second win against the same side. In between, he notched up two more forties. Dhawan also hit the most fours (43) this season.2. Prithvi Shaw (308 runs, strike rate 166.48, three fifties)After a forgettable IPL 2020, all eyes were on Shaw this season after superb white-ball performances in domestic cricket. He mauled a 38-ball 72 against the Super Kings. Then against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he played a patient 39-ball 53 on a two-paced surface. And against Kolkata Knight Riders, his 41-ball 82 was set up by the first over against Shivam Mavi where he hit his Under-19 World Cup batch-mate for six fours in an over. Shaw pipped Faf du Plessis to the second opener’s spot after a 7-5 vote by the jury.ESPNcricinfo’s IPL 2021 team of the tournament•ESPNcricinfo Ltd3. Moeen Ali (206 runs, strike rate 157.25, 5 wickets)The Super Kings’ 2021 auction recruit took the No. 3 spot and helped his side change gears with his cameos. He also hit a fifty against the Mumbai Indians in a high-scoring contest. His aggressive shot selection helped the well-equipped Super Kings middle order to carry the momentum and helped them post scores of 220, 218, 191, 188 and 188. With the ball, he was used almost always against left-handers alone, and his best performance was a 3 for 7 against the Rajasthan Royals.4. Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper) (277 runs, strike rate 145.78, 1 hundred)Samson lit the tournament up early with a brilliant century, in a loss against the Punjab Kings. His 119 (12 fours and seven sixes) nearly took the Royals over the line as he failed to deposit a six off the final ball of the match in a chase of 222. Then came a string of low scores for the side’s captain, but his return to form with scores of 42*, 42, and 48 in his last three games was interrupted by the tournament’s postponement. He is also the wicketkeeper of our side.5. AB de Villiers (207 runs, strike rate 164.28, average 51.75, 2 fifties)Although de Villiers did not play any cricket since IPL 2020, there was no rustiness in his batting. His 27-ball 48 against Mumbai ensured the Royal Challengers Bangalore started the tournament with a win. Then came his unbeaten 34-ball 76 in an afternoon game against the Knight Riders where he hit Andre Russell to all parts in the death overs and followed it up with the 42-ball 75 against the Capitals. He helped the Royal Challengers win the game by a run, as he went after Kagiso Rabada and Marcus Stoinis in particular. It was de Villiers’ first time batting a whole season at No. 5, and he aced the challenge with flying colours.6. Kieron Pollard (captain) (168 runs, strike rate 171.42, average 56.00, 3 wickets)After hitting just 12 runs in his first two games, Pollard returned to form when he creamed three sixes in a 22-ball 35 against the Sunrisers and followed it up with a two-over spell at an economy of only five. Pollard saved his best for the blockbuster against the Super Kings. He dismissed du Plessis and Suresh Raina, going only for only 12 in two overs in a game where both teams scored over 200. With Mumbai’s backs against the wall in the chase, he masterminded a counterattack by smashing 87 at a strike-rate of 255.88 to chase down 219 off the game’s last ball. The jury also picked Pollard as the team’s captain, over the only other option Samson.Related

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7. Ravindra Jadeja (131 runs, strike rate 161.72. six wickets, economy 6.70)In his six outings, Jadeja was out only once, and played the role of the finisher so well that he came out to bat ahead of MS Dhoni and Sam Curran on most occasions. Although his unbeaten knocks of 26 and 22 against the Capitals and Mumbai came in the Super Kings’ only two losses, he produced one of the best all-round performances in IPL history against the Royal Challengers. He first destroyed the 20th over from Harshal Patel to extract 37 runs from it to finish on a 28-ball 64. He then followed it up with a three-for that included the wickets of Glenn Maxwell and de Villiers. And to top it off, he also effected a direct-hit run out in the same game.8. Rashid Khan (10 wickets, average 17.20, economy 6.14)One of the few bright spots in a disappointing season for the Sunrisers, Rashid was the second-highest wicket-taker among spinners and had the best economy of all those who delivered 12 or more overs. The quality of his wickets are even more remarkable: Shubman Gill and Russell against the Knight Riders. Gayle against Punjab, de Villiers against the Royal Challengers, Dhawan against Capitals and Ruturaj Gaikwad, du Plessis and Moeen against the Super Kings. He also bowled a Super Over against the Capitals, and nearly defended a target of 8.9. Rahul Chahar (11 wickets, average 18.36, strike rate 15.2)Chahar was the best spinner in the tournament. Whenever Mumbai needed a breakthrough, they turned to Chahar, and he almost always delivered. His four-for against the Knight Riders helped set up an unlikely win. His 3 for 19 against the Sunrisers bowled them out for 137. And his 2 for 33 put the brakes on the rampaging Royals opening stand, as he dismissed Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal in quick succession. With other Indian wristspinners struggling in the tournament, Chahar’s IPL performances have made him a frontrunner for a starting spot in India’s T20I team.10. Avesh Khan (14 wickets, average 16.50, strike rate 12.8)Avesh Khan 2.0, a leaner, fitter version of his past self was so successful for the Capitals that he was preferred ahead of Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav. He bowled the difficult transitionary overs between the powerplays and also at the death. He took a wicket in all eight games with two three-fors. His ability to get seam movement with the hard ball and execute yorkers with the older ball made him the player with the most impact points per match average in the whole season, according to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats. Khan’s consistent performances also helped him get a call up as a standby for India’s red-ball tour of England next month.11. Jasprit Bumrah (6 wickets, economy 7.11)The wickets may have dried up for Bumrah, but the impact has not. And that’s because he is now usually reserved for the back end of the innings where the economy is more impact than wickets. Bumrah’s performance this season gave batsmen a big dilemma. Because if they tried to attack him, they would get out. And if they did not, they would allow the required run-rate to balloon. Either way, Bumrah was king when he had the ball with his wide yorkers and back-of-length balls that awkwardly angle into the batter, or the yorker around leg stump. The way Boult and Bumrah hunted in pairs was a sight to behold.

A stunning Rohit Sharma hundred made him the toast of the Twitter world

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2021On the opening day of the second Test in Chennai, Rohit Sharma’s sublime 161 in tricky conditions earned praised from current and former players on Twitter.

What an amazing innings from the graceful and elegant @ImRo45 ! Such class, love watching him bat

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) February 13, 2021