ESPNcricinfo previews the first T20I between Australia and Sri Lanka at the MCG

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale16-Feb-2017

Match facts

February 17, 2017
Start time 1940 local (0840 GMT)Aaron Finch needs 26 runs to reach 1000 in T20Is•Getty Images

Big Picture

On Friday, February 17, two different teams will represent Australia in two different matches on two different continents. The country’s best cricketers – Steven Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood et al – will begin a three-day tour game in Mumbai ahead of the first Test against India. But the match considered a full international is the one that will take place in Melbourne, where Aaron Finch will lead Australia’s Twenty20 outfit in the first of three games against Sri Lanka. It is a remarkable scenario, but one that will at least give a few new faces – Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner and Michael Klinger, for example – an opportunity to represent their country. Still, the absence of such key players makes it hard not to view this as nearer to an Australia A outfit than the true national side.Sri Lanka enter the series with closer to a full-strength squad, although like Australia they are without their regular T20 captain – Angelo Mathews is unavailable due to a hamstring injury, and Upul Tharanga will stand in as skipper. But it is a squad with plenty of changes from their most recent T20 group, with allrounders Dasun Shanaka and Milinda Siriwardana, as well as batsmen Dilshan Munaweera and Chamara Kapugedara included, having been left out of the touring party that won in South Africa last month. But the most notable inclusion is that of Lasith Malinga, who has played virtually no cricket for nearly a year due to injuries. It didn’t take him long to have an impact on his return against the Prime Minister’s XI on Wednesday: he struck in the first over of the game.

Form guide

Australia: WWLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: WWLLL

In the spotlight

This international call-up has been a long time coming for Michael Klinger. A long, long time coming. He made his first-class debut in 1999. He has piled up 22,163 runs across first-class, List A and T20 cricket – the most for any player prior to an international debut in the past decade (at least). He has been around three Australian states, two English counties, and gone grey in the process. At 36, he will be the fifth oldest T20 international debutant for any full member nation, behind Rafatullah Mohmand (Pakistan), Rahul Dravid (India), Floyd Reifer (West Indies) and Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka). Expect this to be an emotional evening for Klinger and his family.Lasith Malinga‘s return will be watched with great interest, for prior to Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s XI game in Canberra, he had not played a high-level match since February last year due to injuries. But Malinga is one of the most accomplished bowlers in Twenty20 history – only Dwayne Bravo has more wickets in the format than the 300 Malinga has taken for nearly a dozen teams. Expect Australia’s batsmen to view Malinga as a man to be respected and seen off rather than attacked – even if he is a little rusty.Lasith Malinga is set to play his first international match since February 2016•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Team news

Australia have plenty of options to open the batting – Finch, Klinger, Ben Dunk and Tim Paine all did so during the BBL. The selectors also need to decide on the make-up of the attack, with Pat Cummins and James Faulkner potentially the only two certain starters in the bowling group.Australia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 Michael Klinger, 3 Ben Dunk, 4 Travis Head, 5 Moises Henriques, 6 Tim Paine (wk), 7 Ashton Turner, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Andrew Tye.Sri Lanka might have given a pointer to their likely XI with the side they picked for Wednesday’s tour game, although there is a chance they might bring Nuwan Kulasekara in to strengthen the bowling.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 2 Upul Tharanga (capt), 3 Dilshan Munaweera, 4 Asela Gunaratne, 5 Milinda Siriwardana, 6 Chamara Kapugedera, 7 Seekkugge Prasanna, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Isuru Udana, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Vikum Sanjaya.

Pitch and conditions

The MCG’s drop-in pitches can sometimes hold up a little, and in this year’s BBL scores around the 150 mark were the norm. The forecast for Friday in Melbourne allows for a slight chance of a shower in the evening, though it should not be heavy.

Stats and trivia

• Tharanga will be the third man to captain Sri Lanka’s T20 side in 2017, after Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal
• Finch is two games away from becoming the man with the most international appearances for Australia without any of them being Tests – David Hussey (108 games) is the record holder
• Finch needs 26 runs to reach 1000 in T20 internationals; if he does so at any stage during this series, he will be the second-fastest to the milestone behind Virat Kohli

Quotes

“If you look at their squad, everyone has recently played the Big Bash and have performed really well. I feel like they still have a really good team.”

Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman KL Rahul is expected to have surgery to his left shoulder and will miss the 10th edition of the IPL due to begin on April 5

Arun Venugopal31-Mar-20170:41

KL Rahul’s stats in the IPL

Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman KL Rahul will miss IPL 2017 with a shoulder injury he sustained during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. According to a source from within the team, he will soon be travelling to London to undergo surgery.It is understood that Royal Challengers had been looped in on Rahul’s situation and were prepared for his imminent injury-enforced exit from the tournament. The 24-year old had hurt his left shoulder five weeks ago, in the first Test against Australia, but continued to play through pain for the rest of the series.Royal Challengers did not name a replacement as they felt they had enough players who could step up to keep wicket. “His absence will be definitely felt by the team but both Kedar Jadhav and AB de Villiers are accomplished wicket keepers and we would look at one of them to take up the charge,” coach Daniel Vettori said.*During the second Test in Bengaluru, when he made two match-winning fifties, Rahul spoke about how the injury restricted him from playing extravagant strokes.Overall, with six half-centuries from seven innings, he finished the third-highest scorer on either side with a tally of 393. Along with Cheteshwar Pujara, Rahul was India’s batting mainstay, helping them win back the trophy. In fact, he struck the winning runs in Dharamsala that sealed the 2-1 result.Rahul is Royal Challengers’ second major injury setback after captain Virat Kohli had also been ruled out for at least a “few weeks” at the start of the IPL. He was the team’s third-highest run-getter in the last IPL, behind only Kohli and AB de Viliers, with a tally of 397 from 12 innings.*0930GMT April1: The story was updated after a statement from Royal Challengers Bangalore

By not announcing its squad and keeping the uncertainty on India’s participation alive, it appears the BCCI wants the ECB to facilitate negotiations with the ICC

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Apr-2017Will the BCCI use its participation in the Champions Trophy as a bargaining chip in its tussle with the ICC over its share of global revenues? On Wednesday the BCCI was outvoted 13-1 (nine Full Members, three Associates and the ICC chairman) as the ICC Board approved the finance model which granted the Indian board a share of US $293 million from ICC events until 2023.Although that is still $17 million more than the $276 million that was proposed in the original model in February, the BCCI remains disgruntled. In the words of one Full Member director, present at the meeting, BCCI representative Amitabh Choudhary managed to walk away with “some pieces”, and not an “insignificant” amount.Not significant, says the BCCI. Choudhary, along with the Indian board treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry, tried hard to sell a deal to other members in which the BCCI got $570 million (as per the Big 3 distribution) while the rest got the enhanced amounts promised in the ICC model. The BCCI found no buyers. Even the old trick of using bilateral series as bait proved futile.The ICC chairman Shashank Manohar has remained firm in his negotiations with the BCCI. He has kept alive the prospect of an extra $100 million that would take the BCCI share close to $400 million, leaving the ball in the BCCI’s court. What the BCCI does now, and what options it has, will become clearer when the board holds a special general body meeting (SGM) on May 7 in Delhi.According to one BCCI source, the Indian board might settle somewhere “in the middle” of the two figures: anything in the range of $450 million could be satisfactory. Manohar, it is understood however, might not be keen on any further negotiation.The BCCI has already delayed announcing a squad for the Champions Trophy and, according to one source, it has been done as an attempt to pressure the ECB, the hosts for the tournament. The ECB is an influential voice at the ICC Board – its president Giles Clarke was part of the working group that has drawn up the new model and constitution. Clarke is also said to have aspirations to replace Manohar – when Manohar returned as chairman after his short-lived resignation, it was supposed to be until the AGM in June, though there has been speculation he may carry on.”All the India games (in Champions Trophy) are sold out. The BCCI will wait to an extent to see if it can make the ECB sweat.”By not announcing a squad and keeping the uncertainty on India’s participation alive, the BCCI wants the ECB to facilitate negotiations with the ICC. This kind of brinksmanship is something the BCCI is good at. But given that it isn’t legally straightforward to revoke the Members Participating Agreement (MPA, which governs participation in ICC events) this will not be so easy to do. There could be financial consequences, according to an official well-versed with the MPA if India doesn’t play.Importantly the new ICC constitution and the latest finance model will only be ratified at the annual conference in the last week of June, after the Champions Trophy. “The concern is India could pull out of the Women’s World Cup which follows the annual conference,” said one official.For now the ECB and the Champions Trophy organising committee, led by Steve Elworthy, carry on as normal with the preparations. Neither are losing sleep, not yet at least. The feeling is, however, if matters come to it, the ECB will want to have a dialogue with the BCCI. “The BCCI is in a very difficult position because it had five representatives in five ICC meetings,” the Full Member director said.”That is a hugely problematic for the ICC to build up a relationship. But there are some of us who consistently feel we need to be having a dialogue with the BCCI.”By this director’s assessment, India will not pull the trigger on Champions Trophy. “No, I don’t think so. The BCCI, ECB, PCB etc. are all members of the ICC. The ICC is an entity on its own. We members on the other hand deal with each other and are involved in developing and running cricket around the world. BCCI have some things to consider now. But there is always scope for a dialogue. Most of the senior administrators at BCCI will take a long-term view. I am confident.”Elworthy told the that the uncertainty on India’s participation so far has not hurt the preparations. “The blow, if you think of the number of games we have sold out across the tournament, would be huge. India have an incredibly strong support base in this country. Never mind the operational issues, which would be immense. But at the moment we are just cracking on and planning everything as if they are coming.”Meanwhile, the Committee of Administrators (CoA), appointed by the Supreme Court of India to supervise the BCCI, is following the developments closely. Vinod Rai, the CoA chief, said the committee was not thinking too far ahead about the subsequent steps they would take if the BCCI pulled out of the Champions Trophy at all. “This is a hypothetical question. Let the SGM first take a decision,” Rai said at a book release event in Mumbai on Friday. Rai also said India were well within its rights to delay the squad announcement. “There is no such thing as a deadline. The Champions Trophy will start on June 1. The deadlines are fixed so that there is some kind of system in place,” he explained.

Bangladesh scripted a stunning turnaround through centurions Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah, who put on the highest partnership for any wicket in ODIs for their team, in a five-wicket win over New Zealand

The Report by Mohammad Isam09-Jun-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:20

Tait: A big confidence boost for Bangladesh

The world called it the mother of all miracles when little Bangladesh beat the mighty Australians in Cardiff in 2005. Twelve years later, in a toe-to-toe battle with New Zealand at the same ground, Bangladesh staged a comeback for the ages, winning by five wickets after being blown away by their pace attack. The stunning turnaround was scripted courtesy Bangladesh’s highest stand for any wicket in ODIs between centurions Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah who added 224 at over a run a ball after their side had been reduced to 33 for 4 chasing 266.All of Bangladesh will now back England to beat Australia or pray for a washout in Edgbaston for them to reach the Champions Trophy semi-finals in their return to the tournament after 11 years.Bangladesh had lost their top order by the 12th over and looked on their way out of the tournament in what was a must-win for both teams. But that was as far as New Zealand’s success went. For the umpteenth time, Shakib confirmed his status as the premier allrounder in world cricket with an almost run-a-ball 114; Mahmudullah finished not too far behind, hitting 102 not out off 107 – he brought up his third ODI ton with a hook off Trent Boult.The Shakib-Mahmudullah stand went past the 178-run Tamim Iqbal-Mushfiqur Rahim stand against Pakistan in 2015 to set a new record for Bangladesh. It was Shakib’s seventh ODI hundred, and he got there by helping the pacy Adam Milne over fine leg for six in the 46th over. By the time his stumps were breached, Bangladesh were just nine runs short. The New Zealand fielders standing nearby congratulated him before he walked off, even as the whole ground stood up to applaud.New Zealand wouldn’t have imagined it would come down to this when they struck four early blows. After a difficult final 10 overs of their batting innings, Tim Southee and Boult combined brilliantly to give them a dream start with the ball. Boult produced plenty of late moving deliveries that drew “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd, while Southee made the inroads – he removed Tamim, Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar in his first three overs.Tamim was trapped lbw in the first over, with the ball jagging back, while Sabbir nicked a late-moving outswinger with the score on 10. Soumya was undone by another delivery that skidded in sharply; replays suggested that it would have gone over the stumps but Tamim had used up Bangladesh’s review. Birthday-boy Mushfiqur got hit on the fingers and was also dropped by Ross Taylor at slip on four, before Adam Milne’s 146kph thunderbolt blew out his middle stump in the 12th over.All seemed lost at this point. But in Shakib and Mahmudullah, Bangladesh found quite the rearguard. Neither does defensive cricket too well, and they duly began with a counterattacking four each in the 13th over. Mahmudullah brought out some audacious shots, blasting Neesham over midwicket for a big six and following up with a dinky pull next ball. Not long after, he ramped Corey Anderson.Shakib brought up his fifty and the century partnership in the 29th over with one of his trademark strolled singles to third man, very Arjuna Ranatunga-like. Mahmudullah, the more elegant of the two, reached his fifty in the 31st over before lifting Kane Williamson over long-on for six. Soon the target was down to double digits.There was a brief lull after the equation was down to 70 off the last 10 overs, but Shakib and Mahmudullah opened up again with cuts, chips, full-blooded drives and an upper-cut to bring the asking rate down to below a run a ball. A single in the 45th over made Shakib and Mahmudullah the first Bangladesh pair to have a 200-run partnership in an ODI.The winning moment came when Mosaddek Hossain, Bangladesh’s hero with the ball, flashed a boundary through third man off Milne. The scenes of the batsmen celebrating and their team-mates screaming in sheer delight from the balcony were a flashback to 2005 when they slayed Ricky Ponting’s men.With the ball, Bangladesh had once again proven miserly in the slog overs, conceding just 62 runs in the last 10 overs and picking up four wickets. It derailed New Zealand’s effort as part-time offspinner Mosaddek, brought on as late as the 42nd over, took three of those wickets. Mosaddek removed a set Neil Broom as well as the big-hitters Anderson – for a golden duck – and Neesham in the space of 18 deliveries.Mashrafe and Bangladesh however had to ride out some efficient New Zealand batting leading up to the 40th over. Martin Guptill and Luke Ronchi got them off to a quick start, before Williamson and Taylor took over. The captain and Taylor added 83 runs for the third wicket. Both got fifties; Williamson’s was his third score over fifty in three games in the tournament.But then New Zealand’s lower-middle order unravelled liked it had done against Australia and England. While Mosaddek had the best figures, Rubel Hossain and Taskin Ahmed bowled well at both ends of the innings – the first 10 overs and the last 10.This efficient bowling performance was backed by astute captaining by Mashrafe, and made sure New Zealand did not get away to a total that was out of reach. From then on it was the Shakib and Mahmudullah show.

Virat Kohli and Sanjay Bangar have said the shot selection of India’s batsmen, and lack of support for MS Dhoni from the lower order cost them in the fourth ODI in Antigua

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jul-20173:45

Batsmen let the team down – Bangar

India captain Virat Kohli and batting coach Sanjay Bangar have rued the shot selection of their line-up, saying the batsmen let the team down in their narrow 11-run loss to West Indies in the fourth ODI in Antigua. Chasing 190, India were steered by opener Ajinkya Rahane’s 60 and a 114-ball 54 from MS Dhoni. But Jason Holder’s 5 for 27, that included four wickets in the last five overs, bowled India out when they needed 14 runs from the last over.”We bowled really well to restrict them to 189,” Kohli said after the match. “Our shot selection wasn’t up to the mark, losing crucial wickets at crucial stages. You’ve got to keep up the momentum through the game. Credit to the West Indies bowlers, they created those dot balls that induced those mistakes. The pitch felt a bit two-paced, apart from that I don’t think there was anything else in the pitch. We faltered with the bat and that can happen in this game. We just have to put this behind us and come back fresh for the next game.”Apart from Rahane and Dhoni, no other India batsman in the top five reached double figures as Shikhar Dhawan fell for 5, Kohli for 3 and Dinesh Karthik, who came in for an injured Yuvraj Singh, for 2. In the lower order, too, no batsman crossed 20 as India struggled to get the runs ticking in the middle overs, scoring only 54 between the 21st and 40th overs.”It (the pitch) kept getting slower and slower because shot-making wasn’t really easy and those have been the nature of wickets we have seen so far because, again, we are playing on the same track [we played on] just two days ago,” Bangar explained later. “So the wicket kept getting slower and slower, we didn’t really bat to our potential because it was a gettable score. I just felt that batsmen let the team down. When Hardik [Pandya] got out it was still run a ball, when Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) got out, it was still run a ball, so in these situations shot selection was really crucial. And at times I just felt that they erred in that.”Plan was definitely for someone to bat deeper into the innings and that’s what Ajinkya did till the time he was given out. Till that time we were really on course and we also lost couple of wickets after Ajinkya, even Kedar got out to a good delivery. Those wickets in the middle overs actually pushed us back and the run rate kept on creeping higher and higher.”We encountered this situation even in the previous game where we lost couple of wickets in the first 10 overs. But we still managed to get to 260 on a wicket which was very very damp. Suffice to say that we’ve been playing on some wickets which have been difficult wherein some wickets have been damp. So shot-making was a bit difficult but credit to them that they executed their plans really well. I just felt that it was a very very gettable score.”A lot of questions will be asked of Dhoni’s innings, as he brought up his half-century off 108 balls, the slowest by an Indian batsman in ODIs since 2001. Even though he had scored an unbeaten 78 off 79 balls in the previous match, on Sunday he started cautiously to provide some stability after India lost early wickets but failed to see them through by hardly taking any risks. Bangar said it was difficult for Dhoni to play with freedom when the batsmen after him did not give him able support.”See, you need to assess the conditions. At times you need to play the situations well and when you’re batting higher up the order, which MS is doing, and with the kind of depth that we have at No. 6, 7 and 8, and when they don’t really come off, he can’t play with the kind of freedom that he should. It all boils down to how the batsmen at the other end are also batting and how many wickets we have in hand, because one of our plans is to not lose too many wickets in close intervals and when the wickets fall, we try to rebuild.”

Somerset fast bowler Lewis Gregory took three wickets as the visitors enjoyed the better of the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship clash with Hampshire

ECB Reporters Network26-Jun-2017
ScorecardSomerset fast bowler Lewis Gregory took three wickets as the visitors enjoyed the better of the opening day of their day-night Specsavers County Championship clash with Hampshire.Gregory along with his fellow attack bowlers Craig Overton, Tim Groenewald and Jack Leach, who celebrated two wickets a piece, seemed to enjoy bowling with the pink ball – which failed to offer any great assistance for much of the day.The quartet battled through a seemingly flat track, which seemed to grow livelier in the evening and night sessions, to give the bowlers the advantage.Only a promising partnership between Liam Dawson and Jimmy Adams, and James Vince’s 47, handed the hosts any positives during the maiden day of day-night Championship cricket.Hampshire eventually declared on a modest 211 for 9 before bowling six overs at Somerset – who reached 18 without loss.Hampshire won the toss and elected to bat in the warm afternoon sun, with a wicket appearing primed for high-scoring batting.Adams and Dawson made that early pitch prediction seem correct as they blustered through the opening exchanges.
The pair, who scored ten of the day’s 19 boundaries between them, looked comfortable with driving through the covers a common sight.They reached 74 for lunch, with just Adams dropped at first slip by James Hildreth off Leach the only blip of the session.
After the tea interval, Somerset turned the screw to gain control of the game.Overton, who missed out on making his England debut in the T20 series against South Africa, was the first to eke life out of a flat wicket.The fast bowler broke the 84-run partnership between Adams and Dawson in the fourth over after lunch, when he had the former caught at first slip by Hildreth.While the ball to get that wicket had jagged away slightly, the delivery to see off Rilee Rossouw was a standard short delivery.The out-of-form South African top-edged before Steven Davies pulled off a wonderful diving catch to hold the steepling chance – Rossouw has now scored five ducks in his last eight Specsavers County Championship innings.Dawson, who returned after his stint in the England team, appeared in complete control as he was promoted up the order to open – with the out-of-form Michael Carberry dropped.He patiently reached a 132-ball half-century before Gregory got one to keep low and move in to see the England international lbw.Captain George Bailey soon followed when he clipped a Groenewald delivery off his legs to Overton at midwicket – who struggled to keep out of the action in the session.The Australian’s wicket saw Hampshire fall from 84 without loss to 132 for four and after supper the collapse would continue.Sean Ervine got tempted into a late cut to Leach and feathered behind before James Vince reached a sluggish yet classy 47 before attempting to tickle the spinner around the corner, but only found the gloves of Davies.Groenewald took his second wicket when he cut Ian Holland in two with a sharp inducker.Hampshire appeared in danger of missing out on a batting point entirely when Gregory had Gareth Berg leg before and Lewis McManus bowled – with the score on 198 and 199.But a hoick into the leg side from Kyle Abbott secured a point before Bailey decided to declare and have a short burst at the Somerset batting.But Marcus Trescothick and Zimbabwean debutant Edward Byrom saw out the remaining overs under the floodlights.

A day after he was dropped from the Test side, Bangladesh’s Mahmudullah has been picked by Jamaica Tallawahs for the remainder of the CPL

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Aug-2017A day after being dropped from the Test side, Bangladesh’s Mahmudullah has been picked by Jamaica Tallawahs for the remainder of the CPL. Mahmudullah will be a replacement for Pakistan’s Imad Wasim, who played five games for Tallawahs so far this season, but was recalled by the Pakistan Cricket Board to undergo fitness testing.”We are gutted to be losing Imad Wasim but Mahmudullah is a great replacement,” Tallawahs coach Paul Nixon said. “He is a proven match winner at international level and he is exactly the kind of player we need to claim back to back Hero CPL titles.”Wasim had picked up four wickets in the 17 overs he bowled in five matches, at an impressive economy rate of 5.35, the best for Tallawahs so far. Mahmudullah, though out of favour in Tests, scored a century against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy in June, helping Bangladesh to the semi-finals. In T20s overall, he has 2344 runs from 123 innings, at a strike rate of 114.28, and 67 wickets with an economy rate of 7.04.Mahmudullah will join Tallawahs on August 23, before their match against St Lucia Stars on August 25 at Sabina Park.

The 23-year old batsman from Tamil Nadu took India Red from 205 for 9 to 383 to give them a chance in the Duleep Trophy game against India Blue

Deivarayan Muthu15-Sep-2017Double-hundred in maiden Duleep Trophy match. First Indian to hit a double on pink-ball debut. Rallying India Red from 205 for 9 to 383. Dominating the highest tenth-wicket stand (178) in the tournament, and the second-highest in Indian first-class cricket. B Indrajith could not have asked for a better start to the 2017-18 first-class season.The 23-year old batsman from Tamil Nadu was in his sixties when the ninth wicket of the innings fell. Scoring a hundred, let alone a big one, seemed far fetched.But Indrajith combined with Vijay Gohil and blunted the India Blue attack under the floodlights to lead a remarkable recovery. “This is a very, very special innings for me,” he told ESPNcricinfo from Kanpur. “I did not expect to score a hundred after we were nine down. To reach a double-hundred from there is very special. Vijay Gohil defended tightly and I found a rhythm. Without his support and partnership, it would not have been possible.”After closing the first day at 120 off 181 balls, Indrajith reached his 200 off 280 balls, smashing 20 fours and six sixes. This despite India Red captain Suresh Raina posting five men on the boundary as soon as the batsman had moved past his century.”I later took calculated risks when the ball was in my area,” Indrajith said. “I hit out against the spinners and targeted some medium-pacers. I told Vijay ‘I will face the first three balls of the over and then try to turn the strike and give it to you’. I asked him to push for two and run hard whenever he found the gap in the outfield and dealt with the situation. He also showed good application, defended tightly, and left balls outside off.”In addition to the match situation, which was complicated enough, Indrajith had to deal with a couple of issues with the pink ball. “At times, it is hard to spot the seam,” he said. “I usually play the red ball looking at the shine, I could not do the same against the pink ball. It swung in the first five-six overs; once you see that off and settle down, you can score runs.”I did not find it easy to pick the spinners, too, particularly under lights. Wristspin is more difficult to pick but India Blue did not have a wristspinner. At the nets, I found it difficult to pick my team-mate Karn Sharma under lights… The trend has been that wickets fall to the new pink ball under lights. But me, Siddarth Kaul, Basil Thampi and Vijay Gohil hung on.”Indrajith is into his fifth season as a first-class cricketer. In 2015, two years after his debut, he was named the Tamil Nadu vice-captain but a sharp decline in form forced him out of his leadership position. Able to concentrate solely on his batting again, he struck 697 runs from 14 innings in 2016-17, playing a vital part in Tamil Nadu’s run to the Ranji Trophy semi-final. He was selected to play for India A against the touring Australians on the back of that performance.Indrajith starting the new season with a back-to-the-wall double-century was the result of his preparation leading up to it. His personal coach and former Railways player S Balaji said: “He has been working hard at training before the season and there a few aspects to it.”Firstly throwdowns, sometimes we use a steel pipe instead of the bat – the pipe is roughly the same weight as that of the bat. Then visualisation: what length the bowler might bowl and respond to various situations. Then during 22-yard practice, we ask for certain wickets, whether seaming pitches or turners. We also practiced at [team-mate] Vijay Shankar’s terrace, where one end of the make-shift indoor pitch has tiles. The ball turns madly and sometimes jumps from there. It has helped all three [Indrajith, his twin brother Aparajith and Shankar] of them deal with uneven turn and bounce.”Balaji hoped the Duleep Trophy innings was the start of a Indrajith rectifying a flaw in his career so far: “I have been telling him in the last few years the impact innings haven’t been coming and that he needs to improve. He is due for bigger call-ups. He has been hitting fifties and hundreds in Ranji Trophy, but there weren’t many high-impact innings. In fact, 10 days back, VB Chandrasekhar called me and asked ‘why he hasn’t been scoring big’? Hopefully, this turns out to be that innings.”

ODI cricket has been a tough stage of late for the women from the Caribbean. Two senior players tell us why that may be

Annesha Ghosh11-Oct-2017It was the best of times; it has been the worst of times. It was the epoch of belief; it is the epoch of incredulity.Rather than a Dickensian narrative, the intervening period between West Indies women’s last two World Cup campaigns lends itself more seamlessly to the German novelist and playwright Gustav Freytag’s analysis of the five-act dramatic plot structure: exposition (a promising 47-41 win-loss ratio in the build-up to the 2013 World Cup), rising action (finishing runners-up in the 2013 World Cup), climax (clinching the 2016 World T20), falling action (finishing sixth among eight teams at the 2017 World Cup with only two victories), dénouement (the following dissection of the previous four acts).As they prepare to play Sri Lanka in the opener of the ICC Women’s Championship’s second cycle on October 11, Stafanie Taylor, the captain, tells ESPNcricinfo how crucial it is to clean-sweep the three-match series in the wake of a “disappointing” World Cup three months ago.”Not just me, but everybody was disappointed with our campaign – especially the fans,” Taylor says. “Apart from the points, winning all of these three games is vital for them; it could help us revive our fans.”It’s no surprise that Taylor attaches so much currency to the fans’ perception. In last year’s World T20, the team fought their way through tears to live out the perfect ending to the underdog story at Eden Gardens on April 3 and enthralled cricket-lovers the world over with a collective display of might. After all, dethroning the Australians requires rallying around each other as a unit and fierce team-work (unless your surname is Kaur).The follow-up to the 50-overs World Cup, however, has been starkly different so far.Like any other instance of a dismal campaign at a world event, the aftermath of West Indies’ World Cup performance prompted the axing of the team’s management, including head coach Vasbert Drakes who had overseen the side even at the World T20 in 2016 after his appointment the previous year. Weighing in on the management restructure, Taylor said the team can only “accept, adjust and adapt to” such uncontrollables.”I’m not sure why a decision like that was made. A few players may have been a bit disappointed [with the decision], given we were close to the previous management. To see how it happened is a bit disappointing, but these are things we can’t control. They [the board] did what they had to do, and I am not in a position to question the board on whom they fire and hire.”A scrutiny of their performance in the 50-overs format in the recent past reveals an anomaly that’s hard to overlook. Between their first Women’s Championship match in May 2015, through to the end of their World Cup campaign in July this year, West Indies lost 14 of their 26 games and were bowled out ten times inside 50 overs during those losses. Only in three of the remaining four defeats, did they manage to bat out the entire innings. Taylor, who took over the leadership reins from Merissa Aguilleira in September 2015, led the side in 12 of those 14 losses. However, she lost only thrice in her 15 T20I assignments, during the period, with one ending in a tie.Identifying reasons behind conceding big-margin defeats in ODIs requires the team and the board to look both without and within. Taylor believes a mix of technical frailties produced by inadequacies in the domestic set-up, clubbed with some sort of mental inhibition have been at the heart of their struggles in 50-overs cricket.”That mindset of batting through a whole day, which essentially means 100 overs, can be developed only when we play more longer-format games – both at the international and domestic level.”We need to play more 50-overs cricket. Yeah, we might be a good T20 team, but we play ODIs as well. We need to have more game time in that format so we can improve. I did have some conversation with the board regarding having three-dayers and four-dayers in the longer format, just to try and get that temperament stronger.”With 22 points from 21 matches, West Indies narrowly evaded having to grind it out in the qualifying tournament for this year’s World Cup, after earning automatic qualification through a fourth-place finish in the inaugural Women’s Championship.Taylor’s assessment of the team’s struggles rules out any insecurity borne out of non-performance, though. “If you look at the structure of our team, most of us, except maybe for two or three players, have been in the team for close to three years. Some of us have been together for a long time, around seven years. So I don’t think there is any insecurity at the back of their minds. However, as players we need to be honest with ourselves, and ask, ‘Are we doing enough to stay in the team?'”IDI/Getty Images

When asked if the management has tried to identify players who may be better suited to the different styles of play required in the two limited-overs formats, Taylor’s response was grounded in reality, albeit one that doesn’t bode well for the health of women’s cricket in the West Indies and in general.”We haven’t been able to narrow down to any such player so far. It’s kind of hard to choose seven to eight players separately for ODIs and T20s, because we don’t have a substantial pool of players.”In the West Indies, scouting of young talent for the national side mostly relies on the West Indies Regional Women’s Tournament, comprising the Super50 and Twenty20 competitions, but the quality of cricket in these competitions, by Taylor’s own admission, may be subject to debate.”It’s not the best. Every year we come together for a tournament that lasts for about three weeks. That’s definitely not good enough to try and build international players and even younger players coming through.”We need to structure our cricket here better. If we can get it right, we could definitely get better as a 50-overs side. Our regional cricket is not so good, so a set-up needs to be put in place to create a pool of youngsters.”Elaborating on the paucity of “polished” players in the domestic inventory, Taylor, who hails from Jamaica, cited the Kiddy Cricket programme – a flagship initiation programme managed by the West Indies board at the primary-school level – as one that could be used as a template for building the senior side. Having produced men’s international cricketers such as Kraigg Brathwaite, Shai Hope, Roston Chase and Jermaine Blackwood, along with women’s fast bolwers Britney Cooper, Kiddy Cricket has been catering to both genders since 1999 – much before women’s cricket was integrated into the operations of the West Indies board in 2006.”In Jamaica, Kiddy Cricket has yielded players as young as five and six from primary school. If you ask some random kid in the country if they’ve played Kiddy Cricket, they’d say yes. The structure is there, so maybe West Indies could have a set-up at a bigger level like that.”Echoing Taylor’s thoughts on the need for an overhaul of domestic cricket, Aguilleira, the former captain, underlined the non-uniformity of cricketing engagements across the Caribbean as being detrimental to the national side’s growth.”The depth of cricket in different parts of the Islands is not the same. In Trinidad and Tobago, my country, there’s cricket through the year: the Under-19s, the secondary-school [competitions]. So the younger girls are able to experience cricket in the form of T20 competitions, the 40-over games, and the knockouts. We even have some of the other girls coming over [to our island] and playing in our competitions. But not all the countries have a proper set-up to sustain the players. When you think about the level of domestic cricket being played there, it’s not something that could compete with the Australians and the English set-up.”Aguilleira, who captained the side to the final of the 2013 World Cup and the semi-finals of the Women’s World T20 in 2010, 2012 and 2014, sounded a note of caution over finding replacements following the future retirements of senior players.”If you look at the age group of the current West Indies players, a bunch of them will be going out at the same time. You don’t want a scenario where the team’s moving but there’s nobody to fill their place. So that’s something Cricket West Indies could look into and ensure the younger generation is nurtured.”Aguilera further pointed to “inadequate mental preparation” and a lack of match fitness in the lead up to the World Cup as reasons for the team’s underwhelming performance.”We really need to be mentally tough; cricket is just so far beyond just your skills and your fitness level. Because we’re from different countries, we don’t come together as a team regularly enough. It’s just that [five-day] camp we had before the World Cup. So it’s vital we get to play more cricket together as a team and not just in our respective countries. That’s how we can identify our problems, fix those and be mentally ready.”In a little over a year West Indies will be defending their World T20 title on home soil, but for now the significance of the Championship games, Aguillera said, is not lost on the side.”As professional cricketers, the team understands the requirements of the different formats. As defending champions, we know how important the World T20 is for us. But we’ve also been a side who’ve dominated in 50-overs cricket.”We were 2013 finalists and I think that hasn’t gone beyond us. We’re still fresh and thinking about those situations. It’s only about blocking out the negative and getting back on the winning ways with help from Hendy Springer [head coach] and Mr [Gus] Logie [assistant coach], and this series could well initiate that.”Considering her team’s history of overcoming the odds and emerging champions, despite the system, that might not be mere fanciful thinking.

A quickfire half-century from Ahmed Shehzad provided just enough for the Lahore Blues bowlers to defend in Rawalpindi

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2017A whirlwind half-century from Ahmed Shehzad helped Lahore Blues to a thrilling three-run win over Peshawar. Shehzad, who has recently struggled for form in a Pakistan shirt, scored 50 off 22 balls to get his side off to a flying start. Hussain Talat and Mohammad Hafeez scored 37 and 30 respectively as the Blues amassed an intimidating 173 by the halfway mark. It might have been higher but for an excellent spell from fast bowler Waqas Maqsood, who took 3 for 23 in four overs.Peshawar, in response, hurtled to 81 inside seven overs, thanks to 41-year old Rafatullah Mohmand, who scored 40 off 25 balls. Having pushed ahead of the asking rate, it looked as if they might pull off a spectacular win. Naved Yasin was in the zone as well, finishing unbeaten on 62 off 44. But wickets continued to tumble from the other end as tailenders failed to provide adequate support, and in the end Lahore Blues bowled them out with a ball to spare, and three runs still in the bag.The day’s second game continued the sequence of exciting matches in this year’s tournament, with Islamabad sneaking home to victory over Faisalabad in the final ball of the contest. Mohammad Irfan was the unlikely hero in the end, coming to the crease with his side needing three off the last two balls. Irfan collected two off the penultimate delivery to level the scores, before settling the game with a single off the last ball.Faisalabad had accumulated 170 on the back of a handful of useful contributions, most notably 43 from Sahibzada Farhan. Sohaib Maqsood (38 off 22) and Khurram Shehzad (37 off 17) upped the scoring rate, even as Adil Amin constantly dealt blows to Faisalabad with figures of 4 for 27.Saad Ali, who has been the leading run-scorer in this year’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy by a distance, anchored the chase with 52, after Shan Masood’s brisk 32 at the top of the order. Gallant bowling performances from Taj Wali and Pakistan international Yasir Shah kept Faisalabad in the contest, before Irfan hauled them to victory in a tense finish.