The quiet, consistent brilliance of Sunil Narine

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The KKR match-winner did it all, hit sixes, pick up wickets, run people out and even captain his team

Matt Roller29-Apr-20251:36

Rayudu: Narine completely dismantles oppositions

Anukul Roy turned around to embrace his team-mate. Varun Chakravarthy slapped him on the back. Rahmanullah Gurbaz beamed from ear to ear, while Ajinkya Rahane and Rinku Singh both cheered in celebration. Only Sunil Narine remained unmoved as ‘OUT’ flashed up on the big screens, utterly emotionless as he pursed his lips.It is easy to get caught up in IPL 2025’s delirium: sold-out crowds, bright floodlights, cheerleaders, smoke machines, and the strains of over a deafening public-address system. But Narine has seen and heard it all before across 186 IPL appearances; he will soon overtake Kieron Pollard as the most-capped overseas player in the league’s history.Yet even Narine’s calmness could not conceal the significance of the moment. He has spent most of his career looking utterly ambivalent to the very idea of fielding, but his dead-eye pick-up-and-throw from short fine leg was perfection. It caught KL Rahul just short of his ground at the striker’s end, and put Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on track to defend 204.Related

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“I’m obviously not the greatest fielder,” Narine said with a smile at the post-match presentation. “But it’s always good to give a good run-out whenever it’s possible.” His thought process, he said, was as simple as it could be: “Just pick up and swing, and throw the ball as hard as possible.”Two nights after a stellar all-round performance from Krunal Pandya defeated Delhi Capitals (DC), Narine delivered an even better one. His run-out came after he had cracked 27 off 16 balls from the top of the order, and shortly before he was pressed into captaincy duties with Rahane (struck on the hand) and Venkatesh Iyer (subbed out) both off the field.KL Rahul was run-out by a direct hit from Sunil Narine•Associated PressBut Narine’s biggest contribution came with the ball. His first 13 balls cost 25 runs, including three towering sixes from Axar Patel; after the third, DC needed 69 off 41 and were ahead of the game. In his next seven deliveries, Narine had put KKR in control: Axar miscued to extra cover, Tristan Stubbs was done on the inside edge, and Faf du Plessis picked out deep midwicket.Narine has been opening the batting on and off in the IPL since 2017, and opposition captains know what to expect from him by now. But his potential to wreak havoc is still enough to make bowlers – and captains – second-guess themselves: after opening the bowling two games in a row, Axar did not dare bring himself on while Narine was at the crease.He hit the first ball he faced for six – a feat nobody has done more often in the IPL – by swinging Dushmantha Chameera straight back over his head, and his opening stand with Rahmanullah Gurbaz was worth 48 in just under three overs. Kevin Pietersen, DC’s mentor, said that Narine’s presence had prompted Axar to give Mitchell Starc a third over in the powerplay; he gave the strike to Rahane, who slog-swept him for six then whipped him for four.And with the ball, Narine remains a banker for any captain under pressure – including, on this occasion, himself. His lengths are typically immaculate, and while analysts now have more than 500 T20 matches worth of footage on Narine across nearly 15 years, batters still struggle to read his variations out of the hand.”He’s been a champion bowler for this franchise,” Rahane said. “It’s so good to have him and Varun in the team: I can always go back to them whenever we are in trouble… He’s been working really hard, coming early for the practice sessions, bowling for hours and hours in the nets.”Tristan Stubbs was bowled by Sunil Narine•Getty ImagesNarine has never been an expressive player: he has very rarely given interviews outside of contractual obligations, and wears his emotions lightly. But it is all too easy to make assumptions about players’ character without knowing them: Andre Russell, the man who has played more with Narine than anyone else, believes he is misunderstood.”He’s very active when he’s on the field,” Russell said. “A lot of guys maybe misjudge him. He’s a quiet individual when he is in a certain environment, where he’s not comfortable. But on the park, he’s a leader. He’s been more talkative over the last five years, and it just goes to show that when you express yourself, you enjoy the game and your performance shows as well.”Narine is largely motivated by “self-pride” at this stage in his career, aged 36. “I always want to be able to give the captain an option that any time you’re in a pressure situation, you have someone – and that comes with hard work,” he said. “If you want to be that kind of player, you have to put in hard work.”If Narine has not quite lived up to his performances of last season, that is largely because he had set himself such a high bar: 488 runs and 17 wickets in a title-winning campaign, securing an unprecedented third MVP award. Even in what has been a relatively quiet year by his standards, Narine sits sixth in ESPNcricinfo’s own MVP rankings.It is easy to take Narine’s consistency for granted, but consider this a mark of his longevity. When KKR first signed Narine at the 2012 auction, Vaibhav Suryavanshi was yet to celebrate his first birthday. Now, Suryavanshi is an IPL centurion for Rajasthan Royals – and Narine is still winning games in purple and gold almost single-handedly.

New ball or old, Henry will make things happen

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

He was always an excellent new-ball bowler, but Matt Henry has evolved into a fine death-overs bowler now, and being the leader of the attack has freed him up

Deivarayan Muthu07-Mar-2025Between the otherworldly swing of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, Matt Henry’s own swing and seam had often gone underappreciated. In New Zealand’s first ICC competition without Boult or Southee since 2010, Henry has finally emerged from the shadows of those two greats, topping the Champions Trophy wickets chart with ten strikes in four innings at an average of 16.70 and economy rate of 5.32.Much like Boult and Southee, Henry is known to the wider world as a new-ball phenom. When he was a late addition to New Zealand’s squad for the 2015 ODI World Cup, he reminded Martin Crowe of a young Richard Hadlee. Ten years on, Henry isn’t just about swing or seam anymore. He has evolved into a complete fast bowler, who can be just as potent with the old ball.Matt Henry with the old ball? Stop kidding me!Related

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No, really. Since 2023, Henry is the joint-highest wicket-taker, alongside Shaheen Shah Afridi, in the last ten overs in ODI cricket, with 25 strikes in 20 innings (Shaheen has the benefit of bowling in 22 innings) at an economy rate of 6.79. And nobody has a better bowling average than Henry’s 12.36 for a minimum of 200 balls between overs 40 and 50 since 2023.His corresponding numbers in the death between his ODI debut at the start of 2014 and end of 2022 were poor: 23 wickets in 41 innings at an average of 26.86 and economy rate of 8.56.Henry’s outrageous improvement with the old ball has transformed him into an all-purpose, all-format bowler. Since 2023, he is also the highest wicket-taker in international cricket across formats with 136 strikes in 66 innings. Ravindra Jadeja (125), Jasprit Bumrah (124), Afridi (124) and Mitchell Starc (117) all slot in behind Henry on this list.The IPL, the Hundred and the MLC all wanted Henry. You can’t just sit idle with your skills these days. Unless you keep upgrading them, cricket will leave you behind.Henry refused to be left behind. A career-threatening back injury had already left him far behind during his early years. He then spent a number of years watching Boult and Southee, and then Kyle Jamieson, surge ahead of him.ESPNcricinfo LtdIt was the 2023 T20 Blast that unlocked the old-ball skills of Henry. While he continued to attack and hunt for wickets with the new ball, he developed defensive skills with the older, softer one, hiding it away from the hitting arcs of batters with slower balls and cross-seamers. He came away with 31 wickets in 14 matches at an average of 13.25 and economy rate of 7.85 on surfaces that were largely flat and favoured hitting through the line.Henry’s title-winning run at Somerset in the T20 Blast gave him the belief that he could succeed with the old ball as well. Henry doesn’t have a magic slower one, like the knuckle ball or the back-of-the-hand variation, yet, but he can get his offcutter to react differently on different pitches.Look at this dismissal from the 2023 ODI World Cup. Mushfiqur Rahim collapses to the floor like a house of cards. The slower ball hits the Chennai pitch and skids under his bat – as opposed to bouncing higher – and knocks out his off stump.Henry can also get his offcutter to rise at the rib cage or even higher. He drew a mis-hit from Hardik Pandya with that slower bouncer in Dubai last Sunday on his way to a five-wicket haul. His change-ups, bowled without any discernible change in his action, were particularly vital to New Zealand limiting India to 249 for 9.

“He’s always had the reputation of being an outstanding new-ball bowler, but you see the development in his game is using that slower bouncer and different fields, etc at the back end. He’s a much more rounded bowler and that’s why he’s having success across formats”Shane Bond on Matt Henry

Shane Bond is so impressed with Henry’s versatility that he rates him as one of New Zealand’s best ODI bowlers. “When you look at New Zealand’s great one-day bowlers, you think of Trent Boult… but Matt Henry has been his partner-in-crime for a long time. If you line up their records, it will be pretty similar,” Bond said on ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day show. “He’s got an exceptional one-day record, and he just continues to be a world-class bowler now. He does it on the big occasions.”He showed that he’s really developed his skills at the back-end of the innings. He’s always had the reputation of being an outstanding new-ball bowler, but you see the development in his game is using that slower bouncer and different fields, etc at the back end. He’s a much more rounded bowler and that’s why he’s having success across formats.”Two of New Zealand’s frontline quicks, who usually operate with the old ball, Lockie Ferguson and Ben Sears, were sidelined from the Champions Trophy even before the start of the tournament. All of Will O’Rourke, Nathan Smith and Jacob Duffy had never played in an ICC tournament before this Champions Trophy, but despite various setbacks, Henry has made Black Caps’ seam attack work across four venues in two countries.ESPNcricinfo LtdHe won’t agree that he’s the leader of this attack, but he certainly has all the attributes of one: he fronts up to bowl across phases, produces significant breakthroughs and is often spotted at mid-on or mid-off, passing inputs to the rookie bowlers and putting his arm around them, like a protective older brother embracing his younger one, when they get hit.All of New Zealand perhaps went down with Henry when he landed awkwardly on his shoulder to grab the catch of Heinrich Klaasen at long-on in the semi-final against South Africa. Henry then picked himself and New Zealand up, returning to bowl two boundary-less overs at the death to go with the wicket of Kagiso Rabada with a grippy offcutter from over the wicket. New Zealand are hoping that he will be fit for the final.India, of course, will be more familiar with new-ball Henry. He blitzed through their line-ups in the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final in Manchester and more recently in the Bengaluru Test last year with his mastery of the upright as well as the wobble seam. He even tricked Shubman Gill into playing across the line with an inducker when New Zealand met India in Dubai.Henry makes things happen with the new ball. Now, he can make things happen with the old ball too. Bet against Henry 2.0 at your own peril.

'Envious' Bates not willing to give up on Test dream just yet

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The New Zealand allrounder is closing in on 20 years of international cricket, but is yet to represent her country in the longest format

Vishal Dikshit04-Sep-20251:33

Bates: Will be ‘over the moon’ to play a Test match

Closing in on 20 years in international cricket, New Zealand allrounder Suzie Bates is still keeping her dreams alive of playing a Test match before she retires. Bates has represented New Zealand in 171 ODIs and 177 T20Is, captained them full-time from 2012 to 2018, has featured in nine T20 World Cups and is ready to play her fifth ODI World Cup starting later this month.But she remains without a Test cap as New Zealand last played one 21 years ago, against England at Scarborough. Bates made her international debut 19 months later and has gone on to become the top run-scorer in T20Is and sits third on the list in ODIs, behind Mithali Raj and Charlotte Edwards.New Zealand are not scheduled to play a women’s Test as per the current FTP that runs until April 2029, but Bates keeps her hopes alive while watching the other women’s teams play Test cricket, as was the case even 10 years ago, when she had said she “felt cheated”.Related

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“The feeling [of not having played a Test] is just like I’m envious,” Bates told ESPNcricinfo. “Like I think I’ve said this in another interview when I watch the [women’s] Ashes and even when I watch men’s Test cricket and they talk about it being the toughest game, it tests your skills, it tests you mentally, it tests you physically as an athlete and a sportsperson I want to be tested. So you sort of watch when there are women’s Test matches on and you’re like, ‘oh I wonder what I’d do in this situation or how I’d go about it’, and to not have that opportunity when others are playing it, you do want to experience it.”But I understand the decisions and the politics of it at times but just as a player I’m like, ‘I’d love to have a taste of how I would handle that mentally and physically’. If it happens and I’m still playing I will be over the moon. I do just think for the future of the game – I think Virat Kohli’s talked about it saying that is still where you learn the most about the game and where you are tested and if young players, if a young New Zealand player gets to go over and play a four or five-day Test match in India in those conditions with the ball turning, the amount of learning that you do and that compared to a 20-over game is you just can’t compare. So yeah, I think there’s space for it, but those decisions aren’t up to me.”171 ODIs, 177 T20Is, and nearly 20 years of international cricket, but Suzie Bates is yet to play a Test•ICC/Getty ImagesEven if Test matches aren’t scheduled for New Zealand Women in the current FTP, extra bilateral matches can be added to the schedule if there is an agreement between two boards. Bates will be 38 later this month before the World Cup starts, but was willing to work further on her fitness, tempted by the possibility of playing a Test match, if the chance came in the next year or so.”Yes, it would motivate me but there is a long time between now and then and I am just focused on contributing at this 50-over World Cup and then we will see what happens after that.”New Zealand begin their World Cup campaign against defending champions Australia on October 2 in Indore before taking on South Africa (October 6, Indore) and Bangladesh (October 10, Guwahati). They will then fly to Colombo to face Sri Lanka (October 14) and Pakistan (October 18), before returning to India for their final two league games in Navi Mumbai, against India on October 23 and England on October 26.

India A hit Canterbury nets: Nair still in IPL mode, Reddy in fluent touch

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Shardul Thakur also hit the nets, with hopes of reclaiming his Test spot

Nagraj Gollapudi29-May-2025Karun Nair was still in IPL mode as he effortlessly reverse-swept any loose deliveries outside off from the spinners. Nitish Kumar Reddy stood half a yard outside the crease but was solid in both defence and punishing any delivery in the hitting zone. Shardul Thakur showed patience as he dealt with the seaming ball. And Abhimanyu Easwaran did not miss any scoring opportunities.With potential slots up for grabs for the first Test of India’s tour of England starting June 20, all four players will be looking to put on an impressive show in the first of the two unofficial Tests India A are scheduled to play against England Lions starting Friday in Canterbury. Thursday was the third consecutive training day for India A, with players free from IPL commitments linking up with the squad in England in batches this week.One of the key selection questions for India during the five-Test series in England concerns the allrounder’s position. Reddy had performed that role in the five-Test series in Australia, where he scored his maiden Test century in Melbourne, primarily making an impact as a batting allrounder. Having picked up an injury after the Australia tour, Reddy played IPL 2025, but has only resumed bowling in the last few weeks.Related

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On Thursday, Reddy looked the most fluent, playing the ball under his eyes, leaving with assurance most times, and driving both off the front and back foot. Also eyeing the allrounder position is Thakur, whose last Test was in December 2023 in South Africa. Having undergone a foot surgery last year, Thakur, 33, forced his way back into the Test squad on the back of a successful run with both ball and bat in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy, helping Mumbai reach the semi-finals. Thakur has played four of his 11 Tests in England and has made impactful contributions in the two games he played during the 2021 tour.As for Nair, success against Lions will help him stake a claim for the sixth specialist batter’s position if India decide to play an extra batter alongside Ravindra Jadeja at No. 7 followed by an allrounder. While he last played a Test in 2017, Nair has had two prolific domestic seasons for Vidarbha. Nair has also played for Northamptonshire in the last few years and is coming off a few impressive performances in the IPL for Delhi Capitals.

India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar highlighted the importance of Nair’s experience in the batting department, something India need with the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. While he also played his strokes at the Canterbury nets on Thursday, Nair paid more attention to his defensive play, including leaving the ball.The two unofficial Tests against Lions also offer Abhimanyu, who will lead India A, a chance to get his India spot. Despite playing over 100 first-class matches, with an average of nearly 49, Abhimanyu, 29, is yet to get his Test debut, though he has been part of the main squad for the past few years. In 2021, he replaced Mayank Agarwal, who was ruled out of the series due to a concussion, but never found an opportunity as Rohit and KL Rahul opened across the four Tests. Abhimanyu could not make the most of the two unofficial Tests in the lead-up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last November, but he will hope to convert the starts against Lions.

Will Australia's pitches be juicy for the Ashes?

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

More grass on the surfaces, and changes to the Kookaburra ball, have made Test batting in the country difficult over the past half-decade

Andrew McGlashan14-Nov-20251:45

Will Australian pitches affect England’s Ashes chances?

One of the many areas of interest leading into the Ashes is what type of pitches the series will be played on. Questions abound about whether it’s better to take on England on flatter surfaces or on more lively pitches that may narrow any gap between the two attacks but also make it harder for the Bazball batters to flourish. Steven Smith recently endorsed the latter approach.There is no doubt that batting has become tougher in Australia in recent years. Anyone with a top-order spot is usually happy to mention that, and the numbers back it up. In some cases, especially at the MCG, more grass is being left on the pitches – the 2017-18 Ashes Test, which included Alastair Cook’s double-century, finally persuaded those in charge that change was needed. The tweaks to the Kookaburra ball around 2021 have also had a significant impact.The way England’s ODI top order – consisting of at least four Test players – floundered against the moving ball in New Zealand won’t have gone unnoticed, either.Related

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“England play pretty well on the flatter wickets, the way they play,” Smith said last month. “So, if there’s a bit in it like there has been the last three or four years, with our bowling attack, it certainly makes things a lot more difficult for their batters.”The ten-year trendIn the last five seasons, since 2020-21, when Australia faced India in the Covid summer, the collective Test batting average in the country has been 26.75. Globally for the same period – excluding the handful of Tests staged in the UAE and Ireland – that places Australia seventh between Bangladesh and India.Although conditions had already started to change, in the five summers previous, the average was 34.46, which, for countries that had hosted at least ten Tests, gave Australia the highest collective average. Last summer’s series against India had a collective average of 24.43, which was the lowest for an Australian home season since 1978-79.

Significantly, the altered Kookaburra ball was first used in Tests in Australia during the 2021-22 Ashes. The major changes were a double coating of lacquer, which helps the ball retain its hardness, and a plastic lining under the leather, which means the seam stays more prominent.Smith said during last season’s series against India that he thought batting had got more difficult since the changes to the Kookaburra. “Particularly when at the same time wickets have got greener, so it’s kind of like the perfect storm coming together.””But the ball’s definitely staying harder, so I think the last three years have probably been the hardest that I’ve experienced in my career batting-wise, in terms of the amount of movement that’s being generated.”If you look back five years ago, you’re seeing consistent 400-500s being scored in the first innings. If you put a three in front of it these days, you’re usually in a pretty strong position, so you know you’ve got to think about that as well when you’re thinking about play. Sometimes if you don’t get a hundred, it’s not the end of the world.”The downward trend of batting averages has not only been seen in Australia. Analysis by ESPNcricinfo earlier this year showed how bowlers have dominated since the World Test Championship was introduced, which brought with it the incentive to push for victories. Only four Tests in the last WTC cycle ended in draws – and all of them were affected by rain, preventing 300 overs of play – although the trend in result-oriented Tests pre-dated the WTC.MCG head curator Matt Page has changed Melbourne’s Test pitches•Getty ImagesHow the venues have changedAll of Australia’s major venues that continue to host Test cricket – the WACA staged its last men’s game during the 2017-18 Ashes – except for Perth Stadium, have seen a decline in their batting average over the last five years, with the MCG and SCG showing a significant shift. The MCG, where Scott Boland took 6 for 7 during the 2021-22 Ashes, is widely regarded as the spiciest Test pitch in the country now, although it mellowed somewhat for last season’s visit by India, where the game went deep into day five. That may be the balance that is sought in the future, although the T20I against India late last month did plenty with the new ball.The SCG’s figures changed substantially with last year’s ball-dominated game against India, where, in an attempt to bring some life back to the square, the ground staff veered too far in the other direction. How the pitches in Sydney shape up this season will be worth watching.

Perth Stadium, which missed two seasons due to Covid, is an interesting example as it beds down as a Test venue. Last year both first innings were over within four sessions. The pitch then flattened for a period on days two and three as India made 487 for 6 before unevenness started to come through via large cracks. The year before, against Pakistan, it was a nightmare for batting in the fourth innings thanks to those same cracks.A different day-nighter this seasonAdelaide Oval has been the traditional home of the day-night Test but for this year’s Ashes, the pink-ball game will be staged at the Gabba, which has hosted three previous floodlit Tests, including Australia’s only defeat in matches of this sort, against West Indies in early 2024.Damien Hough, the Adelaide curator, has pretty much got his day-night preparation spot-on and the players widely regard it as the best venue for such matches. In the most recent day-night Test at the Gabba, against West Indies in early 2024, Mitchell Starc felt the pitch was too firm for the pink ball, although it’s worth noting this season’s match will be played much earlier in the season.Mitchell Starc: a fan of Adelaide day-nighters•Getty Images”I think it now comes down to the wicket, which I think Adelaide’s got right because of the ball, and we know it goes soft at certain stages depending on the wicket,” Starc said at the time. “I think there’s a certain cushion to what they make in Adelaide and just why it’s been such a good Test match, the pink-ball Test in Adelaide.”Although there is limited data available for the Gabba, the third session has the lowest batting average, while the middle one has the highest. In day Tests at the ground, the last session has the highest average.Wither (overseas) spinIt remains a realistic scenario that England don’t play a frontline spinner in the first Test, in Perth, and the role may be limited for the visitors throughout. Will Jacks could play a part or the spin may be left in the hands of Jacob Bethell and Joe Root. From the numbers alone, you can understand why England would consider that.On the whole, across the last decade, Australia has been an awful place for visiting spinners. Only once in that time, during India’s victory in 2020-21, have the overseas spinners fared better than Australia’s (which largely means Nathan Lyon).

Lyon was left out for Australia’s most recent Test, against West Indies at Sabina Park, which was played with a pink Dukes under lights and finished in less than seven sessions. It’s highly unlikely that scenario will play out on home soil, although even Lyon was reduced to a bit-part player for large chunks of last season’s series against India.No domestic blissThe more challenging conditions for batters in Test cricket have been reflected in Australia’s domestic first-class competition, the Sheffield Shield. The 2023-24 summer was the only edition in the last 20 years that ended with a collective batting average below 26. The figure climbed a little last season, but pitches remain a gripe among some domestic coaches, who believe the preference for result-oriented surfaces has skewed too far.Nathan Lyon did not bowl a lot on the lively pitches last summer•Getty Images”It was strongly reported and happily received by batting groups across the country… that there was a desire to tone down the pitches across the country and find that better balance between bat and ball,” NSW coach Greg Shipperd told ESPNcricinfo before the season. “I think that worked for two-thirds of the season, until some places [identify] that a result is necessary, and the nature of the pitch changes quite aggressively. I think for that to be stamped out would be excellent.”It was a sentiment echoed by Victoria coach Chris Rogers. “Whether we want to produce pitches that favour bowlers who don’t have to bowl that fast or have huge skill… I’d say we just have to be mindful that we’re going down a path that’s so different to what we face in international cricket,” he told . “I think that’s what England are trying to do with Bazball – they’re trying to play a lot of their domestic cricket on really flat wickets and almost say that that’s what you’re going to face when you play international cricket.”Those who need to balance the budget at CA – and, probably, most who have bought tickets – would no doubt like the Tests to stretch deep into day four. CA chief executive Todd Greenberg recently joked he would get on the roller himself if he could.”I hope the groundsmen stick to their guns and prepare the wickets they want,” Starc said this week. “If we’re worried about five days of revenue, then there’s bigger problems at hand.”

South Africa are selecting based on character rather than just stats now

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

South Africa’s Test captain, currently on an injury layoff, looks back at the team’s memorable draw in Pakistan

Temba Bavuma27-Oct-2025Professional cricketers get used to missing matches through injury but it’s never easy when you miss out on moments like our eight-wicket victory in the second Test, in Rawalpindi to level the series against Pakistan. You are obviously super-happy and proud of the guys and their achievements, but selfishly, as a player, you want to be there. You want to have contributed to the cause in some form.Being out of action with a grade-two calf tear is frustrating but the interval has been enjoyable in terms of readjusting and tinkering with my training programme. Over the last few weeks I have generally started my day with a session with the biokineticist in the morning, followed by a batting session. I have then done strength and conditioning sessions with my trainer based at the Wanderers Stadium.My rehab has been a collaborative effort between Lions and the national side. Ziyaad Mahomed, Lions’ physiotherapist, and Proteas’ physiotherapist Sizwe Hadebe have been administering my rehab and plenty of communication has flowed between them. Tumi Masakela, CSA high-performance strength and conditioning coach, took over from the physiotherapists once they were happy that I was able to train pain-free. I’m at that point now where everything I’m doing is pain-free whether it’s batting or running.Related

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In my absence, Aiden Markram has captained the side and led well, especially in the second Test. For us as South Africans, we are not super-accustomed to the subcontinent, so it will take us a little longer to adapt to the conditions and start getting the feel from a field-setting and bowling-changes point of view. I think Aiden had a stronger sense of that in the second Test, which was seen in the way he used his bowlers, found the balance between attack and defence, and placed fielders at the right angles. I thought his handling of the spinners, especially, which is never easy to get right, was good and they were a lot more effective for those conditions.Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer were superb. Kesh is doing Kesh things and is really cementing himself as one of the best spin bowlers we’ve produced as a country. He is a wily character and he knows how to read you as a batter and is able to adapt his skill to what the opponent is doing. When playing against him, I feel like you have to make the play.That is generally the case when facing good bowlers. They don’t often give you bad balls and you sometimes have to score off their good balls. Kesh gets the ball to drop and angle, utilises the crease, and he is always in the game.Simon, who took his 1000th first-class wicket during the second Test, is a silent warrior. He actually reached out to me after the Test Championship final and said that he’s still available to play South African cricket. He expressed that’s still his goal, and it was exciting to hear that. I then had a conversation with the coach, Shukri Conrad, to get him back involved. I’m glad he’s returned to the fold, and looking at the Tests we’re going to have on the subcontinent, it made a lot of sense. The partnership between Simon and Kesh will become a formidable one, especially in subcontinental conditions. I also like the competitiveness between them. We also have Senuran Muthusamy and Prenelan Subrayen to support them, and Aiden, who can turn his arm over as well.South Africa have an attack tailored for the subcontinent with Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer in their ranks•Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty ImagesSen was a well-deserved Man of the Series against Pakistan. He contributed with the ball in the first Test and the bat in the second. It would have been nice for him to get to the three-figure mark, but the way he’s come into the team, he’s really bolstered our resources from both a batting and bowling perspective. He took 11 wickets and scored 106 runs, but he’s an unassuming character; he’s not loud and gets his job done. Whenever the opportunity is there, he tries to grab it with both hands. I’m sure the guys would have celebrated hard for a bloke like Sen.What we have been able to do well and something which has served us, is selecting based on character rather than simply basing it on stats. Character is a big thing for us as a team and everything we do, we do it for each other. It’s knowing you have individuals, who on their day will make the play for the team.A great example of that came from Kagiso Rabada with the bat. We obviously all know him with the ball. But, for me, with him making a play like that, making 71 runs in the second Test, it was probably the defining moment in the game. I hear they call him “Brian Charles” Rabada now!KG killed all energy within the Pakistani team. It was always going to be tricky for them going into their second innings and trying to play with any great deal of confidence, having suffered that at the hands of Kagiso and his bat.

Kuldeep makes it worth the wait

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

After warming the bench throughout in England, Kuldeep Yadav picked up a four-for in his first T20I since the 2024 T20 World Cup final

Shashank Kishore10-Sep-20252:21

Can UAE take anything away from this thrashing?

Kuldeep Yadav couldn’t resist a bit of mischief at training.After a lengthy bowling session, as he settled in for a refreshment break, he turned to the journalists that had gathered to focus on every single aspect of India’s training ahead of the Asia Cup.Which of his team-mates had matched his Yo-Yo test score, he asked them. He was referring to the chatter he had apparently seen on social media about certain players achieving certain fitness benchmarks. It was all light-hearted fun after two hours of bowling in sapping heat and humidity.Related

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Kuldeep didn’t stop there. Soon the chatter veered towards Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal and Neymar, the latter his favourite footballer. Kuldeep was effortlessly drawn into a football tangent. Recently, the self-confessed football tragic has even found a new outlet for that obsession in the form of his own YouTube show, .As he bantered with journalists, he looked completely in his element. It spoke of the mindspace of a man at ease with where he is at with India returning to the white-ball formats, where he is more or less assured of a place in the XI. Only two months ago, the England Test tour had felt agonisingly long.He had spent the entire summer warming the bench, often spotted with an earpiece plugged in, listening to commentary when not running drinks. For a bowler at the peak of his powers, it must have taken enormous mental discipline to stay focused, knowing it wasn’t because of his primary skill, but because of the team’s need for batting depth, that he had to sit out.On Wednesday, when the chance finally came, Kuldeep grabbed it with both hands – taking four wickets to run through UAE in India’s Asia Cup opener. It was a nice evening out upon his return to the T20I set-up since that memorable June afternoon in Barbados at the T20 World Cup last year.ESPNcricinfo LtdThat tournament should have triggered another surge in his stop-start career, but a groin injury that was later diagnosed as sports hernia forced him to miss five months of cricket. He returned to play a part in India’s Champions Trophy win, and had a decent IPL – 15 wickets in 14 games at an economy of 7.07 – for Delhi Capitals, but the England tour was a setback of sorts personally.”It was tough for me,” Kuldeep said at the post-match presentation of the time spent sitting out in England. “I was working on my bowling and my fitness with Adrian [Le Roux, India’s strength and conditioning coach], and everything came together tonight. In this format, the length is the key – reading what the batters are trying to do and reacting to it ball by ball.”When Kuldeep came on to bowl, UAE were decently placed. Their only bright sparks came early in the innings when Alishan Sharafu’s audacious lofted drive over extra cover off Axar Patel and a flurry of boundaries from Muhammad Waseem against Jasprit Bumrah had them end the powerplay at 41 for 2.Kuldeep Yadav ran through UAE’s batting order•Getty ImagesBut two boundary-less overs thereafter, including one from Kuldeep, forced the batters to take extra risks. One such mistimed hit against a nicely tossed-up delivery had Rahul Chopra drag Kuldeep to Shubman Gill at wide long-on. Three balls later, Kuldeep picked up another with his trademark fizz, trapping Waseem lbw.He nearly had a third the very next delivery against left-hand batter Harshit Kaushik but the inside edge narrowly missed leg stump. But Kuldeep wasn’t to be denied. He tossed up a wrong’un that dipped, drew Kaushik forward, and ripped past the inside edge to crash into the stumps. The zing bails lit up, as did Kuldeep’s face.He had just taken three wickets in an over, all off different deliveries. It was as if he was laying out one trick after another for everyone to see. He finished with a fourth, off another wrong’un that brushed the batter’s pad on the way to Samson – a fortuitous wicket into his kitty only because UAE had run out of reviews. UAE were bundled for 57, which India knocked off in bext to no time.After a summer spent waiting for his turn, it felt like Kuldeep was finally beginning to revel in the joy of being back where he belongs.

Ghosh puts finishing touches to another middle-order rescue act

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

India’s top-order batters have yet to get going in this World Cup, but the good sign for the team is they are still winning comfortably

Andrew Fidel Fernando06-Oct-20254:12

Goud, Deepti, Ghosh make it two from two for India

Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues have a tournament average of 20 and 18 respectively so far, having batted twice each. Smriti Mandhana, India’s form batter leading in, has a tally of 31. Even Pratika Rawal, their latest top-order smash hit, hasn’t yet struck a 40 at this World Cup.And yet twice India have clambered their way to good totals against decent attacks, scrambling runs on pitches opponents have nosedived on. They were 124 for 6 in Guwahati against Sri Lanka, 159 for 5 against Pakistan. Without a half-century from any of their top five, they are two wins up in a World Cup that hasn’t pushed them yet.Related

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It’s the multi-dimensional cricketers in the lower middle order that have prospered. In these two games they’ve rebuilt at times, consolidated at others, and attacked successfully at the death. They’ve suggested strongly, that this India World Cup team has more gears, and more depth than most that have come before.Deepti Sharma has been at the centre of India’s dynamism. Having made a busy 53 against Sri Lanka, she struck a more measured 25 off 33 against Pakistan, on a Khettarama surface no batter looked truly comfortable on.Clearly there is variety here already, but she has yet another mode, thanks to the improvements she has made to her hitting, partly at the WPL. In an extremely high-scoring match against Australia a little over two weeks ago, Deepti clobbered two sixes and five fours to score 72 off 58.Deepti had Sneh Rana for a co-conspirator in both innings at the World Cup, but faced with varying challenges, produced excellent partnerships, both worth 42. Against Sri Lanka, the two had come together with only 21 balls left in the innings, and had thumped their way to the close, Rana hitting 28 not out off 15 balls.Richa Ghosh showed the full range of strokes to provide India a late boost•Getty ImagesAgainst Pakistan, they were joined with 15 overs left to play and were required to take the innings deep. This 42-run stand took 56 balls – Rana scoring her 20 off 33 balls. Rana too is riding a WPL high, her two rapid, finishing innings at this year’s tournament giving India’s selectors a little more confidence in picking her. She had made useful batting contributions in that series against Australia as well, hitting 24 and 35.But against Pakistan it was Richa Ghosh who produced India’s best innings, raising them to an imposing 248 when they had once been at risk of being restricted to 220. She came in with 34 balls to go and got stuck at the other end while Diana Baig bowled a wicket maiden. But roughly midway through the 47th over, she picked a Fatima Sana slower ball and launched it over wide long-on.There was plenty more power in her 35 not out off 20 balls, particularly against Baig, whose full tosses she smoked down the ground for a four then a six. Also against Baig, but in the final over, Ghosh showcased newer elements of her game – a reverse swat that brought four runs over short third.All three of these cricketers also offer substantial skills when India bowl. Deepti claimed 3 for 45, dismissing Pakistan’s best batter Sidra Amin. Rana took 2 for 38 at a ground she has dominated in this year. Shree Charani didn’t get wickets against Pakistan, but had taken 2 for 37 against Sri Lanka.Throw these three spinners together with a batting order that is getting the team to good totals without big innings from the bigger names, and you have an outfit that is beginning to look ominous at a home World Cup. They will face higher-rated opposition when they return to India, but they have unlocked a new level of versatility.

Tottenham's Yves Bissouma loses over £800k in 'fraud' case after money 'unknowingly' sent out of his bank account

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma has reportedly lost more than £800,000 in a fraud case that saw funds "unknowingly" sent out of his bank account. Said losses are said to have occurred between September 2022 and June 2024, with the Spurs star initially unaware of what was going on. A suspect in the case was arrested over a ago and faces a possible prison sentence.

  • Suspect in Bissouma fraud case faces threat of prison sentence

    has revealed that Bissouma suffered significant financial losses at the hands of Maurice Gomes. The 31-year-old was taken into custody during 2024 following a report to authorities from Bissouma.

    The Metropolitan Police confirmed in October 2025 that Gomes had been charged with "two counts of fraud by false representation". If found guilty, then the maximum sentence for each offence is 10 years behind bars.

    Money is said to have been moved out of the VIP bank account that Bissouma holds with Coutts – a brand used by many celebrities, including billionaire business owners and members of the royal family.

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    Bissouma may be required to give evidence

    has obtained court records that report on how Gomes is alleged to have "dishonestly transferred Bissouma’s cash to himself without the Premier League star’s knowledge or consent".

    According to prosecutors, Gomes was behind illicit transfers that total £834,334.40. He stands accused of acting "to make a personal gain", with Bissouma being left in the dark. The Spurs star is said to be on a £50,000-a-week pay packet in north London.

    It is unclear how Gomes was able to access the account in question, with any possible links to his victim yet to be revealed. Bissouma – who lives in a £1.4million, six-bedroom house in Enfield, north London – is due to appear at Highbury Corner magistrates’ court on November 7 and is expected to give evidence if the case goes to trial.

    A source told : "This has been deeply hurtful for Yves. It’s been a tough year for him on and off the pitch, and this hanging over his head will have contributed to that."

  • Spurs star had watch stolen during trip to Cannes

    Bissouma had a watch worth £255,000 stolen in June 2024 during a visit to Cannes. He was stood outside a luxury hotel in France with his partner when the incident in question took place at around 4am.

    The 29-year-old has also endured a tough time in his professional life of late, with no appearances for Tottenham being made in the 2025-26 campaign. His last outing for the Premier League giants came on May 25 against former employers Brighton.

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    January sale of free agency: What next for Bissouma?

    He has made exactly 100 appearances for Spurs since joining them from the Seagulls for £30m ($39m) in 2022, but faces an uncertain future at club level. His contract is running down, with free agency set to be hit in the summer of 2026.

    Bissouma is currently sidelined with an ankle injury. He picked up that knock a matter of seconds after stepping off the bench for Mali in a World Cup qualifying clash with Madagascar on October 12.

    Said ailment has required surgery, with Bissouma having posted on social media from his hospital bed: "Everything went well. I thank God for everything that happens to me. Everything happens for a reason I’m simply following my destiny. Grateful to God for His protection." Spurs boss Thomas Frank said: "Biss unfortunately had a situation with the national team, I think everyone saw that unfortunately, so he got a ligament injury to his ankle, they'll keep him out for weeks."

    Bissouma missed the start of the 2025-26 season while nursing a separate fitness problem, which scuppered any plans of a transfer to Turkish side Fenerbahce being lined up.

    While he is set to become available for noting at the end of the current campaign, there remains a chance that a sale will be sanctioned by Spurs in January – allowing them to generate a fee for a player that no longer forms part of long-term plans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Best of WPL 2025 so far: Ghosh's hitting, Henry's sixes, Gautam's promise

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Ash Gardner’s clean hits, Sneh Rana’s comeback, Ellyse Perry’s top form, and more highlights from the league phase of WPL 2025

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2025

A moment that made you go ‘wow’

Srinidhi Ramanujam: The first match of WPL 2025. RCB’s Richa Ghosh vs Giants’ Ashleigh Gardner. It was the 16th over of the chase when Ghosh slammed 4, 6, 4, 4, 4 and eventually helped RCB chase down 202 with her unbeaten 64 off 27.Hemant Brar: Gujarat Giants’ Kashvee Gautam stepping out to Mumbai Indians’ Shabnim Ismail, hitting her for a six, and celebrating with multiple fist pumps. An uncapped Indian taking on the fastest bowler in women’s cricket with such chutzpah was a sight.Related

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  • Priya Mishra spins her way into the spotlight

Sruthi Ravindranath: Sneh Rana’s six-ball cameo from No. 10 that almost won RCB their must-win match against UP Warriorz. She went 4, 6, 6, 4, 6 and out in the 19th over of the 226-run chase, giving her team a glimmer of hope. That one innings and her bowling throughout the season would make one wonder why she is not even in the fray for T20I selection.Shashank Kishore: Every time Smriti Mandhana went out for the toss at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Mandhana often had to wait for the cheers to subside before speaking into the mic. It was another reiteration of how far women’s cricket has come: from playing in front of empty stadiums to seeing full houses, from students and volunteers being driven into grounds by force to it being a ticketed event.Vishal Dikshit: Medium-pacers in women’s cricket often hover around the 105-110kph mark. This WPL threw up a spinner who breached 100kph. When Hayley Matthews resorted to bowling bouncers at the end of the league stage, one of them hit Phoebe Litchfield’s helmet and another fetched her a wicket. When she saw RCB’s S Meghana was going after her offbreaks, Matthews sent down a bumper at 102.8kph, which rose on the batter and induced a top edge.S Sudarshanan: For long, Gardner has thwarted Indians at the international stage, and it was refreshing to see Ghosh take her down in the season opener. Ghosh hit Gardner for a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 4, 4 to take 23 off the 16th over and turn the match decisively in RCB’s favour. The power shots were interspersed with some deft touches, evidence that Ghosh is growing as a finisher.Kashvee Gautam launches Shabnim Ismail for a six•BCCIAshish Pant: Rana’s six-ball 26 against Warriorz. It was some of the cleanest hitting you would ever see in any form of cricket. You wouldn’t generally associate Rana with the big hits, and that they came against Deepti Sharma, who has a T20 career economy rate of under seven an over, made the knock even more special.

One player you couldn’t take your eyes off

Vishal Dikshit: Without doubt, it was Gardner. She came into the season with runs in the Women’s Ashes, but in the WPL she had a new responsibility of leading Giants, who had suffered two forgettable seasons. That pressure didn’t show at all as she started the league with two blistering knocks, against RCB and Warriorz, that featured some breathtaking sixes.Ashish Pant: Chinelle Henry. Every time she walked out to bat, it felt like she owned the stage, even when she did not score as many runs. Ditto with the ball. Her 23-ball 62 against Delhi Capitals was special.S Sudarshanan: Gautam. There aren’t many Indian fast bowlers who can move the ball at speed. Gautam, who missed last season due to injury, had worked on becoming stronger and increasing her pace. It was so good to see her attack the stumps, and the nip-backer to clean bowl Meg Lanning was one of my favourite moments of the season. With Pooja Vastrakar having a long injury layoff in a home World Cup year, Gautam’s success as a seam-bowling allrounder is a good sign for India.Shashank Kishore: Gautam. Raw pace, late swing. What a cocktail. Add to it her rocket throws from the deep and big sixes in the middle order, she has all the makings of being India’s next all-round wonder.Hemant Brar: Ellyse Perry, who made four fifties and an unbeaten 49 for RCB in eight innings. In the first two WPL seasons, Perry’s strike rate was 123.41 and 125.72. This time, she not only lifted it to 148.80 but also scored more runs (372) than the previous two seasons.
Sruthi Ravindranath: Bharti Fulmali, Giants’ finisher. She showed glimpses of what she is capable of with her 40 off 29 against Capitals, but it was her 61 off just 25 balls against Mumbai that made heads turn. She smote eight fours and four sixes in that game, striking the ball with brute force and targeting the square boundaries.Srinidhi Ramanujam: Perry, with the bat and ball and on the field.Chinelle Henry batted like a boss•BCCI

The biggest surprise from the league phase

Srinidhi Ramanujam: Henry’s 18-ball fifty against Capitals at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.Hemant Brar: Henry smashing 163 runs – the joint-most for UP Warriorz – at a strike rate of 196.38. Her 15 sixes are the third-most in the league stage. All this is in complete contrast to her T20I record: a strike rate of 91.13 and eight sixes in 53 innings.Vishal Dikshit: Rana, 31, was not in contention for India’s white-ball squads throughout 2024 and was released by Giants recently. But she made a WPL comeback as a replacement player for RCB and grabbed headlines for performing with both bat and ball. She bowled in the powerplay, started with a three-for against Warriorz, and hit an incredible 26 off six in the reverse fixture, before ending the tournament with a Player-of-the-Match spell of 3 for 26.Ashish Pant: Gautam. Everyone knew she was good, and that is why Giants splurged INR 2 crore on her in the 2024 auction and retained her despite her not playing last season. But the way she has made her presence felt against some top-tier names is incredible.S Sudarshanan: Sophie Ecclestone’s batting helping Warriorz take their game against RCB into a Super Over. That she can bat is no secret, but she came into the season on the back of a lean Women’s Ashes and hadn’t really set the WPL stage alight with her batting till then.Sruthi Ravindranath: That toss had such a big say. Fifteen out of the 20 matches were won by teams chasing.Shashank Kishore: Arundhati Reddy going off the boil massively, after bowling one of the best spells by an Indian fast bowler in a women’s ODI in Australia earlier this year. Perhaps it’s a reflection of her lack of confidence currently, having been dropped – for reasons unknown – from the national team.Shabnim Ismail will have her tail up against Lanning if they meet in the final•WPL

A match-up you can’t wait for in the playoffs

Srinidhi Ramanujam: Gautam vs Harmanpreet Kaur in the eliminator. Among the uncapped players this WPL, Gautam has been the one to watch.Sruthi Ravindranath: Nat Sciver-Brunt vs Gardner in the eliminator. Two of the best allrounders in the game, they have been crucial in their respective teams’ successes this season. While Sciver-Brunt got the better of Gardner in their first encounter of the season, Gardner dismissed Sciver-Brunt in the reverse fixture.S Sudarshanan: Capitals vs Mumbai in the final, a repeat of 2023, when MI won. DC won both their games against MI in the league stage. If they meet again in the final, I’d be looking forward to the Ismail vs Shafali Verma battle.Vishal Dikshit: If MI reach the final, I can’t wait for the fiery Ismail to steam into Lanning. In the first Mumbai vs Capitals match this season, Ismail made Lanning look clueless against swing bowling. Ismail beat Lanning six times in 12 balls and finally knocked over her off stump.Hemant Brar: Capitals vs Destiny. Despite topping the league stage in each of the first two seasons, Capitals are yet to win a title. They have once again secured a direct spot in the final. Will they be third time lucky?Shashank Kishore: Ismail vs Lanning. One of the fastest bowlers up against one of the best players square of the wicket on the off side. It’s a battle we miss at the international level; cherish it right here, right now.

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