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Com o corte de Gabriel Magalhães, zagueiro do Arsenal que sofre com uma inflamação no tendão de Aquiles, a tendência é que os estreantes Murilo, do Palmeiras, e Fabrício Bruno, do Flamengo, disputem uma vaga entre os titulares da Seleção Brasileira.

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O escolhido de Dorival Júnior deve compor a dupla de defensores ao lado de Beraldo, titular do PSG, presente na primeira lista.

Caso o comandante opte por manter a hierarquia da convocação, o camisa 26 do Verdão entra como “favorito” em relação ao defensor rubro-negro, quinta opção, que herdou a vaga de Marquinhos, cortado em razão de problemas físicos.

Bremer, por sua vez , corre por fora na disputa. Isso porque o jogador foi a última opção de Dorival para integrar o sistema defensivo da Amarelinha.

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No entanto, o zagueiro da Juventus possui experiência no futebol de seleções e participou da última Copa do Mundo, disputada no Qatar.

Em reta final de preparação para a disputa da Copa América, a Seleção disputará dois amistosos na Europa. No próximo sábado (23), o Brasil encara a Inglaterra, no estádio de Wembley, em Londres. Três dias depois,, enfrenta a Espanha, no Santiago Bernabéu, em Madrid.

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Dorival JúniorEspanhaFlamengoInglaterraPalmeirasSeleção Brasileirazagueiro

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Com a temporada do futebol brasileiro chegando ao fim, a Betano preparou uma grande experiência para os torcedores. Para já entrar no clima do verão, a empresa providênciou uma estrutura mais que especial na praia de Copacabana, na Zona Sul do Rio. O espaço conta com diversas ativações, uma delas envolvendo a taça da Copa do Brasil.

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Com base em sua plataforma “Confia”, o espaço da Betano conta com um lounge exclusivo de 150m². As ações no local começaram no dia 3 de dezembro e vão até o dia 22 desse mês.

No espaço, torcedores podem tirar fotos com o troféu da Copa do Brasil, competição que, neste momento, está nas semifinais, com Cruzeiro, Corinthians, Fluminense e Vasco. Além disso, atividades como aulas de foot table, frescobol e futebol freestyle estão à disposição dos amantes do esporte.

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– Queremos que as pessoas vivam uma experiência que conecte a energia do futebol com a energia da praia e do verão. Nosso lounge foi pensado para ser um ponto de encontro, celebração e interação, reforçando a presença da marca em um dos momentos mais emblemáticos do Rio de Janeiro – explicou Arthur Niggemann, Senior Marketing Manager da Betano para Américas.

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Em dias de jogos, como nesta quinta-feira, com Vasco x Fluminense no Maracanã, o lounge Betano recebe convidados para uma experiência especializada. O clima é de muita festa para assistir aos jogos decisivos do fim deste ano.

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Thomas Frank said Tottenham are “nothing without our fantastic fans” as he looked to build bridges with supporters after criticising them for booing Guglielmo Vicario in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against Fulham. Spurs suffered their fourth home loss in all competitions in a game which saw the Italian goalkeeper jeered for his mistake in the build up to the second goal.

Vicario made costly error as Spurs slipped to another home loss

Looking to bounce following successive defeats against Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain in the Premier League and Champions League respectively, Tottenham found themselves 2-0 down inside six chaotic minutes against Fulham. 

After defender Kenny Tete put the visitors in front after four minutes, Marco Silva’s side soon doubled their lead when Spurs shot-stopper Vicario made a costly error in the lead up to Harry Wilson’s long-range strike. 

Racing off his goal line to thwart Fulham striker Raul Jimenez, Vicario mis-controlled possession with his weaker left foot, before clearing the ball straight to midfielder Josh King, who teed up Wilson for his stunning effort from distance.

And following his mishap, former Empoli ‘keeper Vicario was met with the full force of the angry Tottenham faithful, who booed him every time he touched the ball in what proved to be another defeat on home soil for Frank’s men.

In addition to their loss against Fulham, Spurs were also beaten by Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season, while they also drew with Wolves and Manchester United.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTottenham manager Frank labelled fans' boos as 'unacceptable'

Coming to the aid of Vicario after the full-time whistle, Tottenham head coach Frank said supporters who jeered the 29-year-old were “not true fans” of the club, labelling the boos as “unacceptable.”

“I didn't like that our fans booed at him [Vicario] straight after and a few times he touched the ball,” Frank told “They can't be true Tottenham fans because everyone supports each other when you are on the pitch.

“And we do everything we can to perform. After, fair enough, boo, no problem. But not during. That's unacceptable in my opinion.”

Dane attempts to soothe relations with 'fantastic' Spurs faithful

However, Frank has now looked ease tensions by stressing the importance of the fans’ support as Tottenham look to get back on track when they travel to Newcastle in the league on Wednesday.

In his pre-match press conference, the Dane said: “As I said after the game I completely understand the frustration, if you don't win there will always be a frustration. That is normal, it is part of it.

“Especially as we haven't won as much as we would have wanted to at home, not only this year but the last long period, maybe years, maybe more.

“So the frustration grows a little bit more. That's understandable. It is my job to do what I can to make sure we are calm and look at the things in a way where we split things up in terms of performance, what is impacting it, how we try to build the team.

“We are nothing without the fans. No club is anything without the fans. Tottenham Hotspur is nothing without our fantastic fans, nothing. We need each other.

“There is nothing we want more than making them happy in every way and my point that during matches that is where we need each other.”

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Getty Images SportVicario refused to criticise Spurs supporters after Fulham match

Vicario is expected to remain between the sticks as Tottenham look to gain revenge over Eddie Howe’s Newcastle, who defeated Frank’s charges 2-0 in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on 29 October.

Speaking to after the Fulham game, Vicario was big enough to address the Spurs fanbase after his error, saying: “The second goal was a mistake of mine, I take responsibility for that.

“The intent was to clear the ball long and I just hit the ball in a bad way. It was an even bigger mountain to climb.”

And when asked about being booed by his own fans, Vicario added: “I’m a big man, what can I say? We cannot be influenced by the situation in the stands. The fans have the right to do what they think. It's on us to stay more calm, to focus on ourselves. We are lacking in composure and calmness to overturn results. Today is a bad defeat and it's tough to accept.”

If SRH had a bit of a hole at No. 3 last season, they may have found the perfect candidate to fill it this time around

Karthik Krishnaswamy23-Mar-20252:46

Rapid fire: Are Kishan and SRH a perfect match?

Did you see that?Did you see Abhishek Sharma step out, realise that Fazalhaq Farooqi had followed him with a bouncer into his body, and still have the time to lean back, manufacture room, and carve the ball over backward point?Did you see Sanju Samson hook Mohammed Shami for six, and slap and chop him either side of point for a pair of surgical first-over fours?Did you see Dhruv Jurel welcome Pat Cummins to IPL 2025 with a 90m six over long-on, with a bat-swing like the smoothest golf drive?Related

'Do I have to come and hit every ball?' – Kishan's thoughts on being bought by SRH

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Ishan Kishan revelling in 'a lot of freedom' at SRH

Kishan's 106* ensures SRH ease to win in 286 plays 242

This was quite a match if you were a top-order batter, keeper-batter, or keeper-batter who bats in the top three and has been part of India’s recent T20I squads. Abhishek and Samson are India’s current opening pair in the format, and Jurel their reserve keeper in their most recent series.Between them, they scored 160 off 83 balls.It wasn’t quite the match for Yashasvi Jaiswal, but it could so easily have been that. If he had uppercut Simarjeet Singh a few inches higher, or if Abhinav Manohar had mistimed his jump at point by a few milliseconds, you might be reading an open-mouthed appreciation of his gifts.2:06

‘Kishan hammered everyone to every corner’

India’s T20I present was there, as was India’s all-format future, in a clash between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) that produced an aggregate of 528 runs, the second-highest in IPL history.The defining innings of this match, however, came from someone else – another top-order batter who keeps wickets, who could easily be a defining face of India’s present and is young enough to be their future too, but whose innings on this day, for complicated reasons, felt like a blast from the past.A blast, perhaps, from November 2023, when Ishan Kishan was India’s Test keeper in the long-term absence of Rishabh Pant; their back-up opener in ODIs, with a double-hundred in that format; and possibly their first-choice T20I keeper, with his last three innings in that format including two blistering fifties against Australia.November 2023 wasn’t all that long ago, but try measuring that in Indian cricket time. The Kishan of March 2025 is a cricketer who hasn’t played for India in nearly 16 months and is out of the BCCI’s central contracts list. Others have taken his place in India’s squads, and taken full ownership of their roles. Time has stood still for Kishan, seemingly, and Indian cricket has simply kept moving.An unfettered version of Ishan Kishan was on show on his SRH debut•BCCIBut then, he’s only 26. And did you see that?Did you see Kishan step out to Maheesh Theekshana on Sunday afternoon and send him whistling over the ducking umpire’s head with that trademark, unfettered follow-through? Did you wonder why the sight of this familiar figure kitted out in unfamiliar colours made so much sense?The shot brought up SRH’s fifty, and it was just the fourth over of their innings. It was just the third ball Kishan had faced. Travis Head and Abhishek had put on 45 in 3.1 overs, and it made so much sense that another no-holds-barred intent machine would follow them to the crease. This has been the SRH way since their revolutionary 2024 season, and this has always been the Kishan way.Interviewed between innings, Kishan gave a glowing endorsement of the SRH management, particularly their captain Pat Cummins, and if you were so inclined, you could have listened to his words and heard less-than-glowing assessments of previous captains and managements.”The captain especially, the skipper in our team is just giving a lot of freedom to everyone, doesn’t matter if you get a lot of runs or if you get out early. [As long as] you’re doing everything for the team, it’s all fair, and that is the confidence every player needs, so hats off to him, and hats off to the management.”Now everyone says pretty much the same things about the captains and managements they happen to play for, but SRH can only play the way they do if they fully empower their batters to keep taking the high-risk option. There’s a clarity to how Abhishek and Head bat, a seeming absence of the thought of failure or its consequences, and Kishan, at his best, plays the same way.Ishan Kishan slammed his first IPL hundred•BCCIOn 25, for example, he went after a short ball from Sandeep Sharma that was angled away from him, aiming for the gap to the left of deep point. The ball bounced a little more than ideal for this horizontal-bat slap, and there was perhaps less width than ideal, but Kishan threw himself into the shot. He didn’t quite middle it, and was perhaps lucky that the ball didn’t quite carry to the fielder. But from the way he played that shot, it was clear it would have been okay for him to get out that way.On 39, he leaned across to the off side to try and scoop Jofra Archer over short fine leg, and this shot was almost entirely premeditation, hugely dependent on guesswork as to the bowler’s intended line and length. He guessed the line right, but not quite the length, and only managed a top-edge, but it went for six anyway.It’s precisely this sort of educated abandonment of control that unlocks the ability for teams to score at 14 or 15 an over as SRH did right through their innings. It was the first ball of the over, and Kishan had shown Archer he was coming for him, no matter what. Under these circumstances, the bowler running in can’t just think of the field he’s set and the line and length he wants to bowl, but also the means by which the batter can manipulate those things. Kishan hit two more sixes in that Archer over, the 13th of the SRH innings, and they too were all about manipulation – both times he stepped away to the leg side and freed his arms to launch full balls aimed at the base of the stumps over the cover point boundary.Kishan hit 11 fours and six sixes in all, and while some of these flew unstoppably off the middle of his bat, there were others that could count as miscues or chancy hits that could have led to his dismissal on other days. Those, though, were in one sense his best shots of the day, because they fully captured the spirit of his innings: that top-edged scoop that put Archer under pressure; that low full-toss that was close to being a well-executed wide yorker, stabbed off the toe-end to just elude mid-off; the collapsed back-knee slog-sweep that barely cleared deep square leg.This is the SRH way, and this is the Kishan way. If they had a bit of a hole at No. 3 last season, they may have found the perfect candidate to fill it this time around. And along the way, he could yet find a way to force himself back into conversations about India’s present and future.

كشفت تقارير صحفية إسبانية السبب الذي دفع سيرجيو راموس لمغادرة مونتيري المكسيكي حيث ينتهي عقده في نهاية ديسمبر المقبل.

وأفادت صحيفة “آس” الإسبانية أن المدافع الإسباني المخضرم يغادر مونتيري المكسيكي بهدف إحياء حلمه بالعودة للمنتخب الإسباني مرة أخرى.

ويتمثل السببان الرئيسيان اللذين دفعا صاحب الـ39 عاماً لاتخاذ هذا القرار، في تفضيل عائلته الحياة في إسبانيا ورغبة راموس في الاستدعاء لقائمة كأس العالم 2026.

ويعتقد راموس أن مشاركته بشكل منتظم في دوري أقرب إلى أسلوب اللعب في إسبانيا وفي مسابقات أعلى مستوى، قد تقنع لويس دي لا فوينتي بإعادة النظر في ضمه.

أقرأ أيضاً.. سيرجيو راموس يحسم موقفه من البقاء مع مونتيري المكسيكي

ولعب راموس أسطورة ريال مدريد آخر مرة مع منتخب إسبانيا في 2021 ولم يتم استدعائه لبطولة يورو 2020 أو كأس العالم 2022 أو كأس أمم أوروبا 2024.

جدير بالذكر أن سيرجيو راموس سجل 7 أهداف خلال 30 مباراة خاضهم بقميص مونتيري المكسيكي، ويحتل الفريق المركز الخامس في الدوري المكسيكي ب31 نقطة.

Game 7 of the 2025 World Series simply had it all.

There was Bo Bichette’s no-doubt homer to get things started, Blue Jays manager John Schneider vocalizing complaints about a little-known rule, and a hit-by-pitch that cleared both benches. And then, of course, there was the ninth inning—one that will be remembered for Miguel Rojas’s game-tying solo shot and Andy Pages’s game-saving catch in center field.

After 11 innings of baseball, it was the Dodgers celebrating on the field at Rogers Centre on Saturday night, closing out the best-of-seven World Series with a dramatic 5–4 comeback win over Toronto.

The Dodgers are MLB’s first back-to-back champions since the Yankees won three straight titles from 1998 to 2000.

Before the Los Angeles area heads into a champagne-stained celebration that hopefully lasts for days, here are three takeaways from an unforgettable Game 7:

The Dodgers are inevitable

If we learned anything Saturday night, it’s to never count out a $350 million payroll.

When they needed a big play late in Game 7, though, it wasn’t Shohei Ohtani or Mookie Betts or Freddie Freeman authoring a signature moment. It was 36-year-old veteran infielder Miguel Rojas crushing a 3–2 pitch from closer Jeff Hoffman to tie Game 7 with two outs in the ninth inning.

In the 11th inning, one of the Dodgers’ prized franchise players did step up. Los Angeles catcher Will Smith hammered a solo home run to left field for a 5–4 lead, enough for the Dodgers to hang onto at the end.

The Blue Jays were no Cinderella story—they boast the fifth-highest payroll in baseball. But the depth of star pitching the Dodgers threw in Game 7 alone—Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto—made it clear Los Angeles is truly in a class of its own.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, World Series hero

Yamamoto threw 96 pitches in the Dodgers’ 3–1 win in Game 6. Entering Game 7, Los Angeles manager David Roberts told the media that Yamamoto would be available for Game 7 if needed.

And, boy, did they need him.

Yamamoto entered a 4–4 game in the ninth inning with a runners on first and second. He hit Alejandro Kirk with a pitch, but then got out of the jam with a groundout and fly out. Yamamoto sat down the Blue Jays in order in the 10th and was on the mound in the 11th when Betts tagged second base and threw a strike to Freeman for the game-winning play.

In three World Series outings—two starts and a relief appearance—Yamamoto allowed just two runs in 17 2/3 innings.

Game 7 Ohtani wasn’t quite cinematic

Late Friday night, Ohtani learned he was going to start Game 7 on the mound. It set the stage for a potential unbelievable Game 7 with baseball’s brightest star shining both on the mound and in the batter’s box while fighting for a championship.

Although Ohtani had a nice night at the plate, he didn’t quite meet the moment on the mound.

Ohtani cruised through the first inning and got out of a bases-loaded jam in the second. But he was pulled in the third inning when Bichette crushed a three-run homer to center field for a 3–0 Blue Jays lead.

Ohtani wrapped up his second career postseason batting .265/.405/.691 while logging a 4.43 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings in four starts.

Batter enjoyed chance to have a go at India ‘in the right manner’ during feisty third Test at Lord’s

Vithushan Ehantharajah21-Jul-20251:14

Brook: ‘Dawson is always willing to fight for the team’

Former All Blacks mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka has been moulding the minds of the England men’s Test squad this summer. And the man famous for the New Zealand rugby team’s “no d*ckheads” policy has been reinforcing the mental fortitude of the group, at a time when Harry Brook says they must ditch their “nice guy” persona.Enoka, who has recently worked with Chelsea Football Club, spoke to the team at Emirates Old Trafford at the start of their first training session ahead of the fourth Test against India. A friend of head coach Brendon McCullum, having previously worked with the Blackcaps, Enoka has been with England on a freelance basis. He first addressed the squad in May, when they met up in London ahead of their first Test of the summer against Zimbabwe, and he will remain with them in Manchester until the end of the week.At this stage, Enoka has been working primarily with McCullum and Ben Stokes. However, his methods proved integral to a cultural shift in New Zealand rugby that brought about back-to-back Rugby World Cups in 2011 and 2015, and the hope is that his expertise will ignite a similar period of dominance for England’s cricketers. Beyond the current series against India lies the Ashes in the winter, both of which are seminal moments in this team’s lifecycle.On the field, England showed a notable degree of togetherness during the third Test at Lord’s, particularly when they rounded on India on the final day. Victory in the final session gave England a 2-1 lead in the series, after plenty of effort and just as much chat, with close-in fielders – notably Brook – not shy of a word towards India’s batters.The touch paper was lit on the third evening, when Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett faced the full wrath of the India team after the former successfully employed delaying tactics to keep an awkward mini-session to a single over. Shubman Gill led the protestations, pointing the finger at Crawley for time-wasting, who immediately pointed right back at the India skipper, after his own time-wasting efforts earlier in the match.Related

• India seek injury-time fightback at the other Old Trafford

• Eight Days Later: evolved England are in the hunt for statement display

• 'England openers came out 90 seconds late' – Gill on Lord's sledging

• Injured Akash Deep ruled out of Manchester Test

• Sledging, swearing, send-offs – Lord's needling promises explosive series ahead

As it happens, McCullum had mentioned before the Test that his team were a little too nice. Brook believes England’s opportunity to have a go at India, in the same way that India had gone at them, was one they had relished in pursuit of a new edge.”It was good fun,” Brook said. “We watched the Indians go hard at Creeps (Crawley) and Ducky. We had a conversation, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to not be the nice guys that we have been in the past three years, to go out there and put them under more pressure than what they have probably had before.”He (McCullum) actually said a few days before that we are too nice sometimes, and I brought it up the night before the last day: ‘Baz said the other day we’re too nice, I think tomorrow is a perfect opportunity to really get stuck into them’.”I don’t know if it had an effect on how we got the wickets, but it certainly had an effect on the atmosphere, the crowd. We bowled really well and got the wickets in the end.”Both teams shook hands at the end of the Lord’s Test, with Stokes and Gill accepting the on-field chat had inspired a fierce contest. England expect India to come back at them hard in Manchester this week, not least given the must-win nature of this match from the tourists’ perspective. And though Brook is relishing the prospect of more feistiness, particularly given how much more engaged the spectators became as a consequence, he feels it has not – and will not – cross a line.”I’ve had a lot of compliments,” he said. “Everybody said it was awesome to watch and it looked like there was 11 versus two when we were fielding. It was good fun, I have to admit, it was tiring but it made fielding a lot more enjoyable.”I don’t think it’s against the spirit of cricket. We weren’t being personal, we weren’t being nasty, we were just putting them under more pressure.”We were doing it within the spirit of the game. We weren’t going out there effing and jeffing at them, and being nasty people. We were just going about it in the right manner.”

Mohammad Mithun has become the new president of Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) after winning the players body’s election, held in Dhaka on Thursday. Election commissioner Iftekhar Rahman announced that Mithun got 154 votes, beating Salim Shahed who was the interim CWAB convenor since May this year. Shahed got 34 votes.”We will try to solve everything through negotiation,” Mithun said shortly after the election results were announced. “If that’s not possible, as I have come here to protect the rights of the cricketers, I have to speak for them. The BCB is our guardian. We can go to our guardian with whatever demands that we have. I hope the BCB sees those demands positively.”CWAB was established in 2004 but it hasn’t had any elections in the 21 years of existence. Naimur Rahman, the former Bangladesh captain and Awami League MP, was the CWAB president for 11 years, alongside general secretary Debabrata Paul. The pair quit their posts earlier this year, before Shahed was made the interim head of an ad-hoc committee.After many years, CWAB saw involvement from the country’s top cricketers. Before Thursday’s elections, the other positions in the executive body were filled uncontested.Former batter Shahriar Hossain is the senior vice-president while Nurul Hasan is the vice president. Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shamsur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rumana Ahmed, Khaled Mashud Pilot, Imrul Kayes, Irfan Sukkur, and Akbar Ali are new executive committee members.CWAB is an affiliate of the World Cricketers’ Association (formerly known as FICA). It came under the spotlight when Bangladesh’s top cricketers went on an indefinite strike in 2019, and one of their demands was CWAB’s overhaul at the time. CWAB bosses Naimur and Paul promised elections, but it was never held in the following five years.

The 2025 MLB season has certainly not gone the way Justin Verlander hoped when he signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco Giants in January.

Through 14 starts, Verlander has posted a 4.84 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 60 strikeouts in 70 2/3 innings pitched. He also has yet to record a win.

Verlander has qualified for a win—going at least five innings on the bump—in 10 of his 14 starts this season. The Giants have gone 3-11 in his 14 outings and haven't won a Verlander start since May 18—a 3–2 win over the Athletics when he allowed two runs on three hits and five walks in four innings.

The 42-year-old Verlander is just the eighth pitcher this century to fail to record a win in his first 14 starts of the season (minimum 70 innings pitched).

MLB pitchers with no wins in first 14 starts of season (min. 70 IP; since 2000)

To Verlander's credit, he has logged five quality starts (at least six innings and three or fewer runs allowed), but San Francisco haven't given him much run support, especially in those games.

There have only been four pitchers in MLB history to start at least 14 games and not record a win over a full season—Paolo Espino (2022), Spencer Howard (2021), Ryne Stanek (2019) and Vida Blue (1983). Espino started the year in the bullpen for the Washington Nationals, and Howard and Stanek were used as openers for their respective teams. Blue floated in and out of the bullpen for the 1983 Kansas City Royals.

The good news for Verlander? All seven other pitchers on the above chart were able to notch their first win of the season in their 15th or 16th start. Perhaps a bit of good fortune awaits the veteran before the All-Star break.

He delivered a masterclass in control and seam movement, dominating without taking a wicket and proving that perfection in bowling isn’t always measured by numbers

Sidharth Monga23-Oct-2025One of the idiosyncrasies of cricket is that not all new balls are the same. Sometimes you can end up with a bum ball that doesn’t swing. Sometimes you get a good one that hoops. So the choice is given to the bowling team. They pick out a new ball (two in ODIs) from a box of new balls. Usually the experienced fast bowler in a side does so. They look for balls that feel “small” in their hand. Which, you can imagine, might be a problem when Josh Hazlewood chooses the ball.Every ball seems small in Hazlewood’s hands. And he lets it go so beautifully from his high release point that if there is any seam movement available from the pitch, he is certain to get it. You give him some moisture in the pitch to work with, and you get the kind of spell for ages that Hazlewood delivered in Adelaide.Related

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Short, Connolly, Zampa guide Australia to series victory in Adelaide

Kohli and Rohit's ODI legacy can't be measured in runs and centuries

It is not often that you watch a close match where the result margin is two wickets, and your lasting memory of the day is the work of a bowler who didn’t take any wicket. And yet, if rain or some other circumstance had ended the game at the 38th over of the first innings, the organisers would be justified in refusing any refunds because Hazlewood’s 10 overs for 29 runs had already been worth the gatemoney.Forty-three of the 60 deliveries were dots, 21 times he beat the bat, got the edge on six occasions, but was just not lucky enough to get a wicket. In an ODI that eventually featured runs at well over five an over, batters were in control only 55% of the time when facing Hazlewood. And he didn’t bowl to the tail. Fifteen of those 21 plays and misses were defensive shots.It is just his luck that Rohit Sharma comes out to play the only format he now plays for the first time in seven months and in front of him is Hazlewood on early-season Australian pitches with bounce and moisture. After getting done in in Perth, Rohit decided to give himself some time in Adelaide. He even played out two successive maidens from Hazlewood. It didn’t matter, though, how much time he gave himself. Hazlewood was not leaving the good length outside off with subtle changes in release. Some balls nipped away, some jagged back in. Even the ones that went straight on were so accurate you couldn’t take liberties with them.Like a fine machine, Hazlewood kept going on and on for seven overs with the new ball. Poor Rohit faced 31 of those 42 deliveries. Shreyas Iyer faced nine, and even in that brief period he was made to dance and fumble for the ball.Not once did Hazlewood go searching. He was happy to keep bowling the good length and wait for the wicket. If he didn’t get it, he was at least creating chances for the bowlers at the other end.After Hazlewood’s first spell was over and the movement settled down, Rohit and Iyer displayed their quality in scoring half-centuries. The vexing part, though, is that when Hazlewood came back for his second spell in the 34th over, the ball started nipping around again. It started to look small in his hands again. The high release, the high vertical speed, and whatever juice was still available was extracted again.On another day, Hazlewood could have easily walked away with a five-for with a performance of this quality. Somewhere in a deep sadistic corner of his heart, you wonder if he enjoys such tormenting of helpless batters just as much as he does taking wickets. Especially in limited-overs cricket, where these tight overs still have a significant impact on the wickets others get and the overall score.