All posts by h716a5.icu

The former West Indies captain says that to understand racism, cricket needs an open conversation

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi11-Jun-2020This week, Daren Sammy watched a video by the US stand-up comedian Hasan Minhaj. Halfway into the 12-minute video, Sammy heard Minhaj talk about how ” or “” is a word often used in the Indian subcontinent to describe a person of colour, and “not in a good way.” That prompted Sammy to jog his memory back to his stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2013 and 2014. Sammy recollected some of his Sunrisers teammates nicknaming him and the Sri Lanka allrounder Thisara Perera .Disturbed, Sammy posted an Instagram video on June 8, wanting to know from those players whether there was any racist connotation to the nickname. Many, including those at Sunrisers and BCCI officials at the time, are asking why Sammy was talking about an issue that happened about six years ago.On Wednesday Sammy spoke to ESPNcricinfo to explain exactly why.Why did you feel it was important to talk about something that happened about six years ago?If you listen to my video, you’ll understand why now. Like I said I was watching a video by Hasan. In that video I learned that something I was being called had a different meaning, rather degrading meaning to it. So if I’m in the dressing room or I’m speaking to you six years ago, and you’re calling me a name or word which I thought had a different meaning to it, why should I bring it up when I was not aware? If you understand what I mean. I’ve heard BCCI and Sunrisers said there was no complaint. There couldn’t be a complaint if you are not aware what’s going on.It’s only because I listened to that video (of Minhaj), once he started describing the word being used to describe people of colour from these parts, once he said the word, I instantly remembered. Because it was my nickname for almost two seasons (at Sunrisers). Do you understand? But I did not see it at that time as anything degrading because I thought it meant they were calling me a strong stallion.So, no, I couldn’t speak about it then. It’s only because now I have information that I was being a called a word that was degrading, that’s why I am talking about it now. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned: every time you are talking about the right things, anytime is the right time.What was the meaning of that word described to you, then?I thought it meant a stallion. If you notice back in 2014 I sent a Happy Birthday tweet to VVS Laxman. I said: “Happy Birthday to you brother. Hope you have a great day.” And I started laughing. And I said, “remember dark kalu.” So I was saying: remember the dark stallion. So, imagine (now) you listening six years later and somebody from that culture telling you, “Hey, bro, this word has a degrading meaning to you because of the colour of your skin.” Then automatically you want to have a conversation.Like I said to the guys, let’s have a conversation about it. I don’t know what’s in people’s hearts. I challenge anybody to question my commitment to team building in all the dressing rooms I have played in.One of the guys (a 2013-14 Sunrisers teammate) has reached out to me and we are having a conversation about it. It’s someone I could bet still has a big poster of me and him hung up in his dressing room where I signed it and I said: “Brothers for life.” And I still mean that. But it doesn’t take away or change the fact that certain words that are being used could come across as degrading because of the colour of your skin. And whether you are my friend or I see you as a brother, we will or we should have the conversation about that.

“One of the guys (a 2013-2014 SRH teammate) has reached out to me and we are having a conversation about it. It’s someone I could bet still has a big poster of me and him hung up in his dressing room where I signed it and I said: ‘Brothers for life.’ But it doesn’t take away the fact that certain words that are being used could come across as degrading because of the colour of your skin.”DAREN SAMMY

I see this now as a(n) opportunity to educate instead of trying to pinpoint ‘this guy is a racist’. No, that’s what I’m about. And I clearly stated that, reach out to me, let’s discuss. Because I am always about moving forward. Just because it is a tough subject, or a tough conversation, I will not shy away. That’s not what Daren is.You think your [Sunrisers] teammates back then did not tell you the meaning of that word because it would have offended you?With the information that I know now I can’t say because apparently it means so many different things. From what I am learning now it has so many different meanings. I believe the way the dressing room was back in that IPL season, the unity that we had was what got us through to the play-offs. Everybody was talking about how strong and how united this team was. And I still feel that same away about it. That’s why I am saying it’s important to have that conversation to know what context in which you were calling (me by that word). Because I thought we were operating from brotherly love. And I believe that. But believing that and not have the conversation about the bigger picture is still going to be wrong. We have to educate people to stop using such words that could be offensive.So far one player has reached out to you?Yes, one player has reached out to me. And I’ve spoken to Tom Moody, the coach of that team. You have to look at the bigger picture. I always look for the positive that will come out of something. I think now with everything that is happening around the world it’s an opportunity to educate. And I’m not going to sit down here and say, ‘this guy is a racist.’ No, that’s not me. I am not in a position to do that. But what I could do is, use this platform and the conversations that me and these individuals may have, use it as an opportunity to shed light. I have heard so many other cricketers come out and talk about it. Yes, they have not experienced it, but they know, they are aware that it happens. And it’s a conversation, uncomfortable, but there’s a need for it to happen.ALSO READ: It’s time we South Asians understood that colourism is racismDid the person apologise?Aaah…not yet. I could be standing here and looking at one object. You are on the other side looking at it and we have two different views. Let me make this clear. You see this beautiful chocolate man you see here, I’m very comfortable in my skin. I refuse to allow any other person to make me mentally feel less than who I am. I am very proud of the skin that I am in. So whether I get an apology or not, it doesn’t change the mentality of how proud I am to be a black person, to be a black man. It doesn’t change.In hindsight, asking for apology I shouldn’t have even done that. If me and my team-mates have done something not intentionally, but now I realise that could be deemed or termed as something that could be hurtful to a team-mate of mine, I would instantly call that person and say: “hey bro, you know what, in spite of what is going on, I really didn’t mean in that sort of way. For what it’s worth I apologise even though I didn’t mean it in any way, shape or form. And it’s an opportunity now for us to all get together and educate because we all are leaders in our own right and when you lead people tend to follow.”

I’m please to say that I’ve had a really interesting conversation with one of the guys and we are looking at ways to educate rather than focusing on the negatives. My brother reassured me that he operated from a place of love and I believe him.

— Daren Sammy (@darensammy88) June 11, 2020

You mentioned you understand there are different meanings to the word especially in the subcontinent where it is at times used endearingly. But defining a person using his colour is racial you feel?Anything that is done to someone because of the colour of their skin and it is not meant to be in a positive way I think it shouldn’t be done. For instance, when you see a tall person you say, tall man, what’s up. That is based on your height. Once you start racially profiling people and it comes because of the colour of their skin, this person is better than you because he is fairer or because he is darker then it becomes an issue. My thing is to educate now that let’s not do it. See everybody, whether they be red, black, yellow, white, as a human being. That’s the movement for equality and justice especially against people of colour because they have been subject to racial slurs, God knows for how long.Talking on a podcast on BBC this week, England’s rugby player Mario Itoje and some of his teammates were discussing racism in their sport. They talked about how black players are asked to take it as part of banter. It is the black man’s responsibility to treat words with a sense of humour, they were told. Do you understand?I understand, but I don’t agree to that. Why must my people endure 400 years of slavery and still have to adapt? Why is it always the people of colour that have to adapt to oppression? Why is it the people of colour that always have to do something different? Why can’t the other side change and see us differently? And just not do it. So, no, you cannot use something that is degrading to the colour of my skin and tell me to take it as banter. I will never agree to that.’I believed we were operating from brotherly love. I still believe that. That’s why it’s important to have a conversation’ – Daren Sammy on his time with Sunrisers Hyderabad•BCCIAnd this is the message that you are trying to send to your past teammates?The message, to me, is simple. If I am operating from a place of love and I know within my heart this is what I’m doing, I’m okay with that. But if from operating in that space is still being hurtful to somebody else because of the colour of the skin and what I’m saying, then part of the love is diminished as well, whether you see it that way or not. You should now acknowledge that you shouldn’t do it.Is there casual racism in cricket?Look, until I was made aware of certain things like what the meaning (of that word) was I could have proudly sat here in this chair and said I have not experienced anything like that. Because you have to understand, as sportsmen when we go out and play, you focus on the game. There’s no time to think about maybe this guy said something, oh, this could be racist. But I know of situations where players have been subject to such: recently in New Zealand, Jofra Archer was subject to such (a) thing. I have had players in my team who have experienced such things.Going forward, the same emphasis the ICC has placed on anti-corruption, where you bring awareness to the subject to the point that the youngest player coming in before any tournament has been educated about that, the same set of effort should be put towards anti-racism. That will be a step in the right direction.In the 2013 and 2014 IPLs, was there a rule or policy in place to deal with racism?We have always had the anti-racism in the code of conduct of the ICC. You hear it every time it has been recited. But to make it a subject of discussion – like match-fixing and all these things are a subject that is given special attention. If you go waaayyy back I think about my West Indies team. I watched , I see what my players had to endure and you think about Australia with Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, these guys were quick, causing terror around the world. I didn’t see the MCC or the ICC changing the rules, trying to limit them to 2 bouncers or something like that. But the moment a team of colour, which was the West Indies, started dominating, “Oh, they are gonna make us grovel.” “Oh, these guys are criminals. They are bowling to kill people.”But when the other teams were doing it and guys getting broken fingers I didn’t hear all these chants. But the moment the West Indies started to rise and dominate the world you saw the system trying to limit how successful we could be with the resources that we had. So if you go back, there’s a history of things being said or done to people of colour to try to keep us down. And I’m saying let’s address that. There’s a bigger picture to what is happening.Just like George Floyd been murdered and the world witnessed it and the uprising and the movement that it has caused is the bigger picture. Right now people of colour, the minorities, feel for once they could say something and be heard.So your point is create a forum, create something where you have a discussion in cricket (on racism)?Yes. And after discussion they must have action. Discussion without action is still just discussion. Action should be taken to eradicate such a thing and educate people.Is there also an issue where among players there’s not much discussion between themselves (on racism). Because if you have an open discussion then there’s more understanding of what one feels, right?You have to understand it’s an uncomfortable subject. Just imagine me talking to a white person, who has never really been profiled because of the colour of their skin. Some of them probably don’t even understand what’s really going on. Some people are even afraid to say ‘Black Lives Matter’. But with awareness and something that is being discussed slowly, people will be more comfortable. It has to start from the top in putting the measures in place, implanting it, so that it filters downs to the roots.Chris Gayle has come out and supported you. Have you had a word with your Caribbean teammates on this subject?Not everybody is brave enough to challenge certain people because that is where your bread is coming from. It is not easy to challenge people of power. Sometimes you are afraid of the backlash, you are afraid of what could happen next. But that’s them. That’s not me. I have always stood up for what I believe in no matter who it is. That’s how I was raised.If you had known the meaning of the word in 2013-14, would you have had made the same comments you have just made?Of course, I would. 2013 I was the leader, man. I was captain of the West Indies team. I was the leader in that dressing room. We just had won a [T20] World Cup in September [2012]. My leadership was growing. Maybe it would not have been as powerful as it is now because of what is happening in the world, but I would definitely speak about it.

“No, you cannot use something that is degrading to the colour of my skin for me to take it as banter. I will never agree to that.”DAREN SAMMY

So you are not being opportunistic as some people perceive?People are also entitled to their opinion. The only thing I have to do is listen to you. It doesn’t define who I am. But there’s no wrong time to talk about the truth. Is anybody denying that I was being called such a thing? I am not mad. I am angry that the word has another meaning to it, but if I reflect on the memories I had, it is one of the best times I had in a dressing room.Possibly you were not curious to know the meaning of the word back then?No, I knew. I knew the meaning. For me it meant strong stallion. That’s what I understood it meant. So there was no reason for me to go back and say it was a racial or a degrading thing.So did you not get the same feeling when last year, Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was sanctioned by the ICC for calling South African allrounder Andile Phehlukwayo by the same word?I heard Sarfaraz used (a) racial slur, but I did not really dive into the story. I saw it pop up, but I did not get into the details. I wasn’t aware it was that word he used back then. But I know he issued an apology right after. That in itself is why I am having this conversation – whether you didn’t mean it in any way like that we need to stop. That is why I want to have a conversation with the people who used it in the dressing room. Let’s stop it for us to avoid situations like what Sarfaraz did thinking it was innocent. If it could mean anything that could be taken as degrading or insulting, you don’t use it. Full stop.England and Liverpool player Raheem Sterling said a task force should be created in football to deal with racism. Do you think cricket should have a similar task force?Just like there is a task force for anti-corruption there should be the same energy put towards racism. But you have to understand why is it there is so much attention paid to anti-corruption? Because it diminishes the cricket game. But now racism is personal. And it is uncomfortable. I think yeah they should have something put in place to ensure that the education starts.Finally, Daren Sammy is not being opportunistic. He is not being an activist for black cricketers. What he is trying to do by coming out and talking, opening up a discussion forum which is very important in cricket?There is no special time to speak about the truth or the issues. I could care less what they think about me, but it’s a conversation, it’s an issue that is within the game that has to be addressed. Whether you say I am an activist for black people, why not. Who has been speaking on our behalf?Like I mentioned, we dominated the world for 17 years and within that period look at the laws that have changed in cricket. Who has been our voice? Right now West Indies is in England, among all the coronavirus, helping. We are compassionate people. Where is the compassion shown towards us? I am just speaking about my experience and how I think the cricket world could be better. If that’s wrong, then I am okay with that.

The fast bowler talks about his journey as he swaps his red Knight Riders jersey for a purple one

Peter Della Penna21-Sep-2020Five days after his 28th birthday in December 2018, Ali Khan was sitting on the front steps of a Florida mansion known as the Cricketplex Resort, sobbing. Minutes earlier, Khan and three friends – Maq Qureshi, Shawn Qureshi, and former Pakistan Test batsman Faisal Iqbal – had been watching the IPL auction on a giant plasma screen with climactic excitement.After waking up at 5am for the auction coverage from Jaipur, Khan and his pals had waited more than four hours for the moment his name would be put up. It only took another 29 seconds for the auctioneer to turn Khan’s dream into a nightmare, slamming down his gavel to shout, “Unsold!”An IPL roster spot that moments before had felt so close suddenly turned as distant as the 8420 miles separating Boca Raton and Rajasthan.”That day I was very upset and I just couldn’t watch it anymore,” Khan says. “That’s why I just stepped out. I thought that was the closest I could ever get to the IPL.”Maq Qureshi, a close confidant of Khan, tried to find a silver lining. “This isn’t the end,” he told Khan as the latter left to head back home, to Ohio. “It’s just the beginning. You have to stay positive.”Qureshi is the proprietor of the Cricketplex Resort but is better known in US cricket circles for being the founder of the US Open T20 cricket tournament, held in Florida every December, as well as the US All-Stars team that plays in the event.Dwayne Bravo spotted Khan in the US Open T20 tournament and signed him on for the Winnipeg Hawks in the Global T20 Canada, before recommending him to TKR•Peter Della PennaKhan had been playing in the team since 2013, but it was at the 2017 event that Qureshi roped Dwayne Bravo in to play for the US All-Stars. The sight of Khan slinging down yorker after yorker convinced Bravo to draft him in at the Winnipeg Hawks in the 2018 Global T20 Canada, and then to recommend him to the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) management as a replacement for Ronsford Beaton in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).Khan became an indispensable part of TKR, taking 16 wickets in a title-winning campaign. He had initially arrived in the CPL in 2016 with the Guyana Amazon Warriors, but only played once during a two-year stint. He had nearly given up on his professional cricket aspirations when Bravo’s intervention came about.This past week, Khan lifted his second CPL title in three years with TKR. After missing the previous four matches with a right hamstring strain, Khan had returned to the starting XI and taken 1 for 10 in two overs including a maiden as the Knight Riders stormed into the CPL playoffs. On the eve of their semi-final showdown with the Jamaica Tallawahs, everyone in the Knight Riders squad gathered for a team dinner in Port-of-Spain.”As soon as everyone sat in their seats, [Knight Riders coach] Brendon McCullum welcomed everyone to dinner and then he said, ‘A man from USA will be joining us in Kolkata Knight Riders. I want to take this opportunity to announce that…'”As soon as he said that, I was just like, ‘Is this real?’ DJ Bravo was sitting next to me and then he hugged me. I started crying because it was so emotional. It’s something you dream about and then all of a sudden you hear it in your ears that this actually happened. I was very emotional and I was very happy. Everyone came and congratulated me. We had dinner and Baz gave me a big hug and said, ‘You deserve it.’ I said, ‘Thank you, Baz. I will not let you down.'”From tears of sadness to tears of joy, Khan is living the American Dream. It was five years ago this month that he arrived in Indianapolis, Indiana from Dayton, Ohio as an uncapped, unheralded, unknown prospect – literally referred to simply as “#19” and “#64″, the numbers of the generic jerseys he was given to wear by coaches who had never seen him – at a trial organised by the ICC Americas development office. They were looking to come up with a squad of 15 Associate players to represent the region in the West Indies Regional Super50 tournament. That would in turn become a further audition for six players to become rookie-slot draft picks in the 2016 CPL.Ali Khan picked up eight wickets in eight matches in the 2020 CPL•Getty ImagesThe odds were stacked heavily against Khan, with dozens of players who had already represented USA, Canada and Bermuda in the fray. He had never played organised hard-ball cricket before moving to the USA with his family as a teenager from Fateh Jang, near Attock in Pakistan’s Punjab province. But from early on in the 2015 trial, Khan stood out for his ability to consistently bowl accurate yorkers – from a slingy action honed through formative years spent playing tape-ball cricket in Fateh Jang – ones that were clocked as high as 146kph in the 2020 CPL final.Though others were taking more wickets, this particular skill caught the eye of former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh and Australia’s former fielding coach Mike Young, two independent selectors at the trial.”How could you not want him on your club?” Young asked the other talent evaluators. “And he can bowl. Now, you know, he tries. But he’s got some skill.”Besides TKR staff, one of the first people Khan went to have a chat with in his CPL bio-bubble after he heard he would be in the KKR side was Walsh, who served as the bowling coach for the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.”He was on the same floor as me, just a couple rooms down,” Khan said of Walsh. “I was like, ‘Coach, if you wouldn’t have picked us at that time in Indianapolis, we wouldn’t be here today.’ He was like, ‘I just see the talent. That’s my job, to pass it on.’ When I got injured [before the knockouts], he asked about my leg. When I played again, he said, ‘It’s good to see you back playing. Keep working hard.'”There are others in the Associate sphere, USA in particular, who might be more naturally talented than Khan. But his work ethic and desire to improve stand out. He hopes he can be an inspiration to future generations of USA players in the same way that Rashid Khan has been for young cricketers in Afghanistan looking not just to play for the national team but to make it big in franchise cricket. Khan has not only played, and won, the CPL but also in the Pakistan Super League, the Afghanistan Premier League and the Bangladesh Premier League.”Maybe I can be the same guy from USA who can throw a rope back and bring more players to other leagues and hopefully we can have a few more players in the coming years,” Khan said.Less than 24 hours after winning the CPL with one Knight Riders team, Khan was boarding a nine-seater private jet to take him and his KKR team-mates – and TKR team-mate Bravo – to the UAE. But this is not the fairy-tale ending: Khan’s IPL Cinderella story is just beginning.

Mohammad Saifuddin’s injury might worry Minister Group Rajshahi, while Beximco Dhaka depend on youth and Gazi Group Chattogram on quality batting

Mohammad Isam22-Nov-2020Gemcon KhulnaGemcon Khulna easily seem to be the best team on paper. There were expectations that each of the five sides might opt for one of Shakib al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mustafizur Rahman with their first call from Grade A, but Khulna got both Shakib and Mahmudullah after Minister Group Rajshahi instead went for Mohammad Saifuddin. That has left Khulna with the best middle order any team in this tournament could have hoped for.Khulna’s draft calls were also praiseworthy. Following picking Shakib and Mahmudullah for their middle order, they also selected experienced openers Imrul Kayes and Anamul Haque. That apart, they have the cushion of Ariful Haque and Jahurul Islam – both of them did well in the Bangladesh Premier League. Shuvagata Hom, Zakir Hasan, Salman Hossain and U-19 allrounder Shamim Hossain remain back-up choices in the batting department.Khulna have also picked two of Bangladesh’s most prominent domestic T20 bowlers: Al-Amin Hossain and Shafiul Islam. Either of Hasan Mahmud and Shahidul Islam is likely to be the third seamer, while left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam and legspinner Rishad Hossain make up an impressive spin department to go with Shakib.Potential XI: 1 Imrul Kayes, 2 Anamul Haque (wk), 3 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Mahmudullah (capt), 5 Ariful Haque, 6 Shuvagata Hom, 7 Shamim Hossain, 8 Shafiul Islam, 9 Nazmul Islam, 10 Hasan Mahmud, 11 Al-Amin HossainGazi Group ChattogramAnother team with good potential, Gazi Group Chattogram have a number of high-quality top and middle-order batsmen. Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar will open the batting in a line-up where Mohammad Mithun, Mosaddek Hossain and the veteran Shamsur Rahman follow. Young Mahmudul Hasan Joy also has all the makings of a solid middle-order presence.Coach Mohammad Salahuddin opted for a left-arm pace attack with Mustafizur as his Grade A pick, as well as Under-19 World Cup winner Shoriful Islam and the little-known Mehadi Hasan from the current U-19 camp. Salahuddin also took left-arm spinners Taijul Islam and Rakibul Hasan – also an Under-19 World Cup winner – as well as talented offspinner Sanjit Saha.Potential XI: 1 Liton Das (wk), 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Mominul Haque, 4 Mohammad Mithun (capt), 5 Mosaddek Hossain, 6 Shamsur Rahman, 7 Ziaur Rahman, 8 Taijul Islam, 9 Rakibul Hasan, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Shoriful IslamMushfiqur Rahim during net practice ahead of the Bangabandhu T20 Cup•BCBBeximco DhakaCoach Khaled Mahmud has gone for a mostly young squad for Beximco Dhaka. But on picking Mushfiqur with the first call of the draft from Grade A, he has set in motion a batting line-up that looks both exciting and dependable.Youngsters Tanzid Hasan and Mohammad Naim are slated to open, followed by Mushfiqur, Sabbir Rahman and Yasir Ali before a bit of inexperience sets in. Akbar Ali and Shahadat Hossain, both likely to bat in the middle-order, will have their work cut out if coach Mahmud ends up picking four bowlers. But on the slow Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch, offspinner Nayeem Hasan and left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed are essential, while Rubel Hossain has shown good form recently and left-arm quick Mehedi Hasan Rana had a good 2019-20 BPL outing.Allrounder Muktar Ali and left-arm quick Abu Hider are also part of the youthful squad.Potential XI: 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Mohammad Naim, 3 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 4 Yasir Ali, 5 Sabbir Rahman, 6 Akbar Ali, 7 Shahadat Hossain, 8 Nayeem Hasan, 9 Nasum Ahmed, 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Mehedi Hasan RanaMinister Group RajshahiA lot will depend on Najmul Hossain Shanto, Nurul Hasan, Mahedi Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin – who enters the tournament with an ankle injury – for Minister Group Rajshahi to progress in the tournament. They have been in the BCB’s training camps during the last few months and also looked in good touch during the President’s Cup last month.But with Rajshahi not picking a single cricketer from the previous Under-19 side, their squad has got a slightly older look, having chosen veterans Mohammad Ashraful, Raqibul Hasan and Arafat Sunny. Allrounder Fazle Mahmud would be batting in the middle order along with wicketkeeper Nurul and Jaker Ali, and around allrounders Farhad Reza and Saifuddin.Coach Sarwar Imran also went for experienced bowlers like left-arm spinners Sunny and Sunzamul Islam, with Ebadot Hossain and Mukidul Islam in the pace department.Potential XI: 1 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 2 Rony Talukdar, 3 Mahedi Hasan, 4 Nurul Hasan (wk), 5 Fazle Mahmud, 6 Mohammad Saifuddin, 7 Jaker Ali, 8 Farhad Reza, 9 Arafat Sunny, 10 Sunzamul Islam, 11 Ebadot HossainFortune BarishalFortune Barishal start off as arguably the weakest team on paper. Despite picking Iqbal with their first call, Barishal went on to take three other openers. That has left them with few middle-order options and just one allrounder. A lot will depend on wicketkeeper-batsman Irfan Sukkur, who showed decent form during the President’s Cup, as Barishal lack batting depth after Mehidy Hasan Miraz.Barishal have picked Taskin Ahmed and Abu Jayed among their four pace bowlers, as well as left-arm spinners Tanvir Islam and Sohrawordi Shuvo as well as legspinner Aminul Islam.Theirs remains a team with a lot to prove.Potential XI: 1 Tamim Iqbal (capt), 2 Afif Hossain, 3 Saif Hassan, 4 Irfan Sukkur (wk), 5 Towhid Hridoy, 6 Mahidul Islam, 7 Mehedi Hasan Miraz, 8 Sohrawordi Shuvo, 9 Tanvir Islam, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Abu Jayed

Also, should Ruturaj Gaikwad have played the full season?

Matt Roller29-Oct-2020Did MS Dhoni feed Nitish Rana’s strengths?The Knight Riders decided to bring in an extra batsman, Rinku Singh, and fielded him at No. 4 after Sunil Narine’s innings lasted only seven balls as a pinch-hitting No. 3. Both of those moves appeared to be a clear ploy to stack the batting line-up with left-handers against the Super Kings’ three spinners, all of whose stock balls turn into the left-handers: Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja.Rather than changing his plans by using seamers through the middle overs, Dhoni instead asked his bowlers to spear the balls in at the pads, with both left-arm spinners operating from round the wicket and bowling quickly.While that worked well enough against Narine and Singh, both of whom scored at a strike rate of 100, it fed Rana’s strengths: across this season, he has scored at a strike rate of 159.8 against spin, compared to 124.0 against seam, and has averaged almost twice as much. That was particularly apparent in the 16th over, when Dhoni gambled by giving Sharma his final over: Rana promptly struck each of his first three balls for six.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhy did Dinesh Karthik shift down the order?Karthik’s batting position has been a point of contention throughout this season, with plenty wondering why he had been coming in at No. 4. Tonight, he shifted down to No. 6 and the move paid off: he struck three boundaries in his new role, leading the Knight Riders to a competitive 172 with a late cameo of 21 off 10 balls.In fact, the better question may be why the Knight Riders persevered with Karthik so high up the order for so much of this tournament. When he has come in inside the first 14 overs this season, he has averaged 18.88 with a strike rate of 127.8; coming in during the final six, he has averaged 50.5 and struck at 183.6.Dinesh Karthik – better as a finisher?•ESPNcricinfo LtdWhy did Rana bowl?Singh’s inclusion at the expense of Prasidh Krishna meant that the Knight Riders had only five frontline bowlers in their XI, as they again struggled to find the right balance with Andre Russell unavailable through injury. With the Super Kings creeping to 58 for 1 after nine overs and both Varun Chakravarthy and Narine proving economical early on, Eoin Morgan threw the ball to Rana in the hope of squeezing in a cheap over and giving himself additional flexibility among his frontline bowlers.Ambati Rayudu was new to the crease, having scored four runs from his first five balls, but did what the best T20 batsmen do and decided to take on the part-time spinner. He struck him for three consecutive fours, injecting some impetus into the chase, and took the Super Kings’ win probability from 26.85% at the start of the over to 43.52% at its end, according to ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster.In fact, Russell’s absence was particularly apparent when compared this match to the Knight Riders’ first fixture against the Super Kings this season. On that occasion, Karthik held his spinners back in the absence of dew, and tied the Super Kings down in the second half of the innings before Russell bowled two crucial overs at the death; tonight, Morgan had to bowl his spinners earlier on with dew coming into play, and had to rely on his three main seamers to finish things off.What happened to Lockie Ferguson?After a return of 5 for 62 in 12 overs across his first three games of the tournament – plus a vital Super Over – Ferguson has tailed off since, recording 1 for 32 against Kings XI Punjab and then 0 for 54 in his spell tonight.Perhaps some of that change can be attributed to dew: Morgan said it was “extremely challenging” from the eighth over onwards, and Ferguson bowled three full tosses, including a no-ball. He also found himself having to bowl in the powerplay for the first time tonight, due to the Knight Riders’ decision to field only five frontline bowlers. Finally, the pitches have not suited his length balls: in his first three games, he conceded 21 runs from 22 length balls, compared to 26 from 9 in his last twoShould Ruturaj Gaikwad have played the full season?It is easy to be critical with the benefit of hindsight, but Gaikwad’s second consecutive match award made a mockery of Dhoni’s comments earlier in the tournament that the Super Kings’ young players hadn’t shown the “spark” they needed to. Indeed, it felt almost surreal to think that M Vijay and Kedar Jadhav had played eight and three games this season respectively, with Gaikwad playing only his fifth tonight.In fact, Dhoni said in the post-match presentation that Gaikwad had taken longer than expected to recover after testing positive with Covid-19 shortly before the tournament, which might be part of the reason behind his exclusion. Either way, he has shown plenty in his last two innings to suggest that he will be an excellent IPL batsman moving forwards; his checked punch for six off Chakravarthy in the sixth over was one of the shots of the tournament.

After a famous win in Chennai, we take a look at some of England’s best recent Test performances in Asia

Alan Gardner10-Feb-2021vs Pakistan, Karachi, 2000 – won by six wickets
England only won 12 Tests in Asia between 1933 (India’s first on home soil) and 2000 – and none at all in the preceding 15 years – but a memorable winter in Pakistan and Sri Lanka was to prove the turning point. Nasser Hussain’s side set off in good spirits and a clear game plan to take the Tests in Pakistan as deep as possible, securing high-scoring draws in Lahore (the last time before Chennai that England had batted into day three of a Test unaffected by rain) and Faisalabad. Then came the series-sealing victory in the dark in Karachi. First, England ground their way towards parity on the back of Mike Atherton’s ten-hour 125; then, when Pakistan slipped to 158 all out on the final afternoon, they stole off with the game thanks to Graham Thorpe’s cool head – plus a little help from Steve Bucknor. Cue “Who Let the Dogs Out” in the away dressing room.vs Sri Lanka, Colombo, 2001 – won by four wickets
Hussain’s England carried lessons of victory in Pakistan to Sri Lanka a few months later, though this was a very different series. Hammered in the first Test in Galle, they bounced back in Kandy, amid umpiring controversy and complaints about behaviour on both sides. For the decider at the SSC, England were again reliant on the understated genius of Thorpe as they prevailed in a low-scoring scrap. Hussain lost the toss, but England’s bowlers fought back on day one to limit Sri Lanka to 241 after they had been 205 for 3, and Thorpe marshalled the response with a masterful, unbeaten 113 (none of his team-mates scored more than 26). Sitting on a slim lead, England then blitzed the home side for 81, with Darren Gough and Ashley Giles coming to the fore. Chasing 74 on a Bunsen was never going to be straightforward, though, and it needed Thorpe to get them home again – his 32 not out “like getting a hundred in each innings”.Shaun Udal removed Sachin Tendulkar on the way to a match-winning 4 for 11 in Mumbai•Getty Imagesvs India, Mumbai, 2006 – won by 212 runs
One of the great one-off victories, as an England side shorn of Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Alastair Cook (who was taken ill two games after his debut in Nagpur) and Steve Harmison, and being led by a stand-up captain in Andrew Flintoff, bounced back to level the series in dramatic fashion on the final afternoon at the Wankhede. They benefited from some generosity, after Rahul Dravid’s decision to insert them allowed England to stack up 400, underpinned by a century from Andrew Strauss; James Anderson (yes, the same one) then took four wickets as India posted 279 in reply. However, after Flintoff’s second fifty of the match saw the hosts set 313 in just over three sessions, the game seemed to be heading for a draw, India 75 for 3 at lunch. Then Flintoff stuck “Ring of Fire” on the CD player, and England ran through Sachin Tendulkar and Co in 15.2 overs – 37-year-old Shaun Udal the hero with 4 for 11.Related

Kevin Pietersen: 'Since that Mumbai innings, I absolutely murdered left-arm spin'

England's victory in India – Pretty much the perfect performance

James Anderson and Jack Leach consign India to rare home defeat

James Anderson's magic spell conjures up memories of Andrew Flintoff in 2005

vs India, Mumbai, 2012 – won by ten wickets
England remain the last visiting team to win a Test series in India, and they did so in 2012-13 despite a drubbing in the opening encounter in Ahmedabad. Cook, however, had led the resistance in the first Test with 176, and he backed that up with another century in Mumbai, on a livelier surface that brought England’s spinners into the contest. But, undoubtedly, the difference between the teams on this occasion was some Kevin Pietersen magic, as he peppered the Wankhede boundaries on the way to a majestic 186 from 233 balls. Pietersen had been struggling against left-arm spin, in particular, but took on Pragyan Ojha, R Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh to blistering effect as England gained an 86-run lead. Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar then rattled out all ten India wickets in the second innings – they shared 19 in the match – as England completed a comfortable win inside four days.Kevin Pietersen was at his scintillating best in 2012•BCCIvs India, Kolkata, 2012 – won by seven wickets
England had to chase the game at Eden Gardens, too, after MS Dhoni won the toss for the third time in a row. But India could only manage 316, as Anderson and Panesar continued to harry them, and then it was over to Cook once again, as the opener compiled his third hundred in succession – and fifth in five Tests at captain. Cook was eventually run-out for 190, as England sailed past India’s score three down, with their eventual total of 523 giving them an iron grip on the Test. Anderson picked up another three-for in the second innings and only an unbeaten 91 from Ashwin prevented England from winning by an innings. The tourists sealed the series by batting their way to a draw in Nagpur a few days later – a game largely memorable for the debut of a certain JE Root at No. 6.Joe Root made consecutive 150-plus scores in Galle•SLCvs Sri Lanka, Galle, 2021 – won by six wickets
Root’s England have won five Tests in a row in Sri Lanka, but arguably none was more satisfying than their most recent victory. Root lost the toss twice in Galle, but while Sri Lanka threw the game away early in the first Test by being bowled out for 135, they put in an improved showing the second time around, as Angelo Mathews’ century took them to 381 – England again reliant on Anderson to stay competitive in alien conditions, as he became the oldest seamer to claim a Test five-for in Asia on the way to immaculate figures of 6 for 40. With Root in fabulous touch, following up his first-Test 224 with an eight-hour 186 in sapping heat, England battled their way to 344 and a deficit of 37; the spin pair of Jack Leach and Dom Bess, wicketless in the first innings, then found their range to skittle Sri Lanka for 126, before Dom Sibley’s unbeaten half-century settled the nerves in a tricky chase.

“Not a team to set your watch by but almost always worth watching for glorious or abysmal cricket”

Jarrod Kimber15-Dec-20211:00

Bell hoping England can ‘bounce back quickly’ in second Test

England are the most innovative team in the world. That’s not a joke.Depending on your age, you’re now processing this in vastly different ways. Some of you will be nodding, others laughing hysterically. If you are under 35, you most likely grew up with the 2005 Ashes, England’s 2010-14 reign as the No. 1 Test side, or the bit where England dominated white-ball cricket. This England are dynamic, fearless and always innovating.If you’re over 35, you grew up in an era when English cricket was a punchline. There is an entire industry around English cricket’s good ol’ bad days in the ’80s and ’90s. Quiz questions about how many captains they had, jokes about waistlines, and David’ Bumble’ Lloyd’s “we flippin’ murdered ’em”. That England was stale, broken and sad.You could see the dynamic of the two kinds of English fans playing out during the Gabba Test. Those from the older generation saw doom and gloom in every critical moment as a sign of the Apocalypse. And a newer generation that couldn’t help but notice that Australia had a good run with a flawed side and England batted out nearly an entire day for only two wickets.Related

The opening act: Rory Burns is off, way off

Joe Root: 'I expected too much from "superhero" Ben Stokes'

England pin hopes on pink ball despite Australia's flawless day-night record

Australia hold all the aces, but Cummins doesn't want to 'forward-plan too much'

Anderson replaces Wood for Adelaide Test; Leach retained in squad

Most of us aren’t English fans; this is less about emotion and how the cricket world sees England. They were once Mother Cricket, and then the doddering old aunt who’s been collecting ceramic owls for a long time. Now they’re that fun older sister, showing you all the stuff adults won’t.England cricket has become brilliant and bonkers.But by the start of the 2000s, this was a broken cricket culture.The first professional structure in cricket – however half-hearted it was – was already looking decades behind Australia. The Asian boom had occurred with Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka all producing champions and winning World Cups. The West Indies had been more dominant than England in a tougher era, and would then work out T20 quicker than anyone else. South Africa played a more disciplined and conservative cricket, and with better results.The most important cricket nation was suddenly just another team. England looked ancient in a way that Australia did not. The county game still produced some interesting trends: home to Franklyn Stephenson’s slower ball, and off the field it gave us the T20. But in the ’90s, cricket was becoming a colourful global game, and England were still wearing whites.And there was no real reason for this. England were still a rich cricket nation. The professionalism may have only been for six months every year for county cricketers, but at least they paid their first-class players, which is something New Zealand were not doing at that point. But there were also divisions within cricket, like the county dressing rooms in which players from the same side sat in different walled-off spaces within the room based on their seniority within the side. This was happening until the mid-90s and it showed that English cricket was stuck in another era.English cricket tried to give us something new on the field from time to time, but even when they had success with it, cricket wasn’t always paying attention. They were perhaps the first team to really pick batters who could keep, over keeper-batters in the ’80s. In fact, it started with Jim Parks in the 1960s. But by the ’80s players like Ian ‘Gunner’ Gould were being manufactured into wicketkeepers because of their batting. Other teams had tried it as a one-off to see if it worked, but England had it as a selection mantra in ODIs before finally committing with Alec Stewart.Alec Stewart practices his keeping•PA PhotosIn the 1992 World Cup England are now remembered as a team who got Wasim Akram-ed in the final. But this was an early prototype for all-round white-ball cricket. They had Derek Pringle – list A average of nearly 26 – batting at No. 9 and Ian Botham as a slogging opener; multiple bowling options and a long batting line-up. South Africa would be renowned for this, but only years later. That same decade, England appointed Adam Hollioake as their ODI captain; the following decade they were opening with Mal Loye who was sweeping super-fast bowlers for six.These were still rare one-offs, and none of them worked enough to change the direction of the game. England’s control on cricket was fading from an administrative perspective, but their effect on how the game was played had fallen off completely.And then, little by little from Duncan Fletcher through to Eoin Morgan the most straight-laced, beige team in cricket became – to use a Warneism – funky. If you follow trends in cricket, then England is currently the style icon, for most probably the first time since the ’60s.No matter what the format, they are doing something interesting and trying to change the game. They’ve had success in every format, but also failed a lot; interesting rather than successful, but almost always fun.In T20s they unlocked their young batting talent by letting them go out and hit a bunch of boundaries. It differed from the West Indies’ dot-or-six method. It was freer, and often lasted longer. Their T20 batting line-ups were as deep as cricket has seen, so it allowed their top to swing away consistently.These methods took them within a Carlos Brathwaite mishit of winning the World Cup in 2016, and this year they looked like the best team in the competition even with a weakened first XI. By the time they got to the semi-finals they were missing five players, and still it took some luck for Jimmy Neesham and incredible hitting from the Kiwis to get over the line.Considering how good England has looked in both the 2016 and 2021 tournaments, missing one or two editions in the middle has probably cost them a fair chance of winning the title.There are other T20 trends they are associated with. Morgan and his chief analyst Nathan Leamon have a dugout code they exchange when England are fielding, to ensure that Morgan is making data-led decisions – successfully transplanted to Multan Sultans in the PSL.In T20s outside the international level, Worcestershire have played without a wicketkeeper in order to have an extra fielder. County cricket has also provided two extraordinary bowlers: Benny Howell would ordinarily be considered a medium-pacer and Pat Brown fast-medium. But when you look at what both of them do, they are like spinners at varying speeds. They’re beyond just change-up bowlers with cutters. Even Harry Gurney was, in a way, one of a kind – a slow left-am change-up death bowler is not exactly what teams even knew they wanted until it existed.In ODI cricket England completely smashed the boring middle overs, turning themselves from an idiosyncratic team into enforcers. They took lessons from their T20 side, and were also willing to lose early wickets. They unleashed their openers in a way that would make 1996 Sri Lanka blush.They became the quickest-scoring team in ODI history, the first to score run-a-ball for a four-year period. But it wasn’t their openers who made the biggest impact. It was in the middle with Joe Root, Morgan and Jos Buttler where they turned the boring middle overs into 180 runs a match without losing wickets. It was like the difference between hand milking a cow and using a machine. And you could, if you wanted, trace this approach back to the ECB’s decision in 2010 to switch to a 40-over domestic tournament when everyone was playing 50-over tournaments; automatically the format made the middle overs a more attacking phase.They also had a bowler like Liam Plunkett, whose key skill was taking a collection of the ugliest wickets you’ve ever seen. England helped turn him from a standard fast bowler into a cross-seam spoiler. And that worked because Plunkett and many other bowlers could bat or hit big. So opposition batters would push the game, and try and score off Plunkett, which usually ended up with mishits to a legside sweeper.Yet, when they lost the 2017 Champions Trophy semi-final, people doubted them. No team had ever been that good at ODIs and yet less respected coming into a World Cup, as England were in 2019. And in that World Cup, they gave us the greatest final, and they won in the weirdest way possible, after Trent Boult stepped on the ropes while taking a catch, after an umpiring error and after a tied Super Over.Even if they had lost, they had still changed one-day cricket.And then there are Tests. If they’ve been dominant in the other two formats, they’ve been mixed in Tests. Over the last five years they have 27 wins and 24 losses. They are the worst of the best teams. They can be incredible, but they can be truly awful.The 2019 Ashes might be the best example. They lost the first game. They were on their way to losing the second until Ben Stokes played the second-best innings that year. Then they lost and won one more Test to end the series 2-2, but with Australia keeping the Ashes. They are not a team you can set your watch by, but they’re almost always worth watching for glorious or abysmal cricket.England has a decision to make on which bowlers to choose in Adelaide•AFP/Getty ImagesTheir results have been like that for a while; they strolled into India this year and won the first Test, and then barely made a run to finish the series. They lost a Test in Bangladesh, and allowed West Indies to chase over 300 at Headingley.But even in being unsuccessful in Tests, they’ve been trying stuff. First they copied their own limited-overs formula, relying on their allrounders and deploying incredible batting depth. My favourite might be the Bridgetown Test where Adil Rashid batted at No. 10 and Sam Curran was at No. 9.Rashid has ten first-class hundreds. And Curran has batted at seven in Tests – and won Tests. They’ve had Stokes, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, and even Craig Overton. This doesn’t even include their wicketkeeping allrounders in Ben Foakes, Jonny Bairstow, Buttler, and Ollie Pope. This is an abnormally flexible team. There were signs of this in the Flintoff/Swann/Broad (before Varun Aaron hit him in the head) era, but this is a whole new level.Having a team of this many allrounders means they either look fantastic or like boiled sick.It hasn’t worked, mostly because they haven’t had strong batters up the order to make sure that Stokes, Moeen, Buttler, Woakes and Curran could come in when there were fun runs to be scored. Most of these players have been forced higher than you would want; Woakes has even been discussed as a potential top-order stopgap.They’ve been quite interesting with their top order as well. Jason Roy and Alex Hales have opened for England, even though neither were successful openers at first-class level. And that is because they were both good white-ball players. Buttler’s return to England was also on the back of white-ball form, England backing him even though there’s rarely been a long-term consistent Test player who is a gun white-ball player but hasn’t made runs in first-class cricket.And when England stopped trying their best T20 hitters as openers, they went completely the other way and found the most turgid. England players hate when you talk about the 100-ball innings, or as it became known, the Dentury. But the story goes that when England’s team management realised they didn’t have good enough top-order players, they just asked them to try and bat 100 balls each innings. Joe Denly has said this didn’t happen, but it is possible that England just enforced the 100-ball thinking simply by not dropping anyone.Players were clearly rewarded for batting time rather than making runs for a long period. Dom Sibley averaged 29 with the bat, but he was out in the middle for 12 balls longer than the average for an opener during his career. At this point, England were also talking about weighted averages – anything not to mention that their top-order just couldn’t score runs. Blunting the new ball isn’t reinventing anything; but doing it with three players from whom you’re not expecting masses of runs is something else.Also noticeable about England’s top-orders is their techniques. For a long time England players – Graham Gooch aside – batted in a very staid English way. Now the MCC manual has been burnt and snorted, and you get Rory Burns’ over-the-shoulder gaze and Sibley’s one-sided play. It’s not just the defensive batters. Buttler’s just as much an outlier in the other direction. England batters were encouraged for generations to follow their natural techniques and while the jury is still out on how that has gone, there are some fascinating methods out there in county cricket.With the ball James Anderson has perhaps been the main reason the wobble ball has become the most important delivery in the world. While it might be Mohammad Asif’s creation, Anderson’s wrist has elevated it to a global trend. And England are also all-in on platooning fast bowlers, which is not quite cricket’s horses-for-courses selection policy. Essentially England’s plan – which injuries have thwarted – is to have three or four genuinely fast bowlers drop in for a Test at a time, bowl as fast as possible, then rest up for their next chance. It is similar to how baseball pitchers are used.James Anderson warms up•AFP/Getty ImagesAnd how do England make these decisions on selection? Without a selector as such but with a head coach and captain backed up by James Taylor as head scout. In fact, England employs plenty of scouts to go out and look at players based on their speciality – so wicketkeepers are scouting wicketkeepers, spinners are on spinners and so on. They’ve taken crack old selection committees into the future.It’s worth noting again that innovation doesn’t always lead to good results – and it hasn’t. No one is saying that this English team is the best in the world. It’s just the most interesting.On their own, some of these just sound quirky, but England has leaned in on the weird and extreme like never before. This is England, the team that really hasn’t been part of the conversation in pioneering cricket since perhaps the 1970s. Almost all the major teams have been more important to how the game has been played on the field since. India’s spin quartet. Pakistan’s reverse swing/sweep, doosra and attacking middle-overs bowling. West Indies’ four fast men and six-hitting in T20s. Australia’s professionalism, early ODI cricket and scoring at four an over in Tests. Plus, Sri Lanka’s use of the Powerplay and unorthodox bowling actions.These were all sizeable shifts in how cricket was played.England were just stuck, through a combination of poor cricket and negativity at the national team level. But modern English cricket is suddenly the most fast-moving. If there is a freaky new tactic or a way of bowling the ball, there’s a good chance right now it will come from England. There is science in the dietary plans, and creativity in their analysis. That the team doing this is England makes it all the more bizarre, like finding out your grandma likes Grime.England are on their way to fun second-team status. That’s so weird, from the team that everyone hated because of the whole empire thing through to the side that kids like because they’re doing cool things.England are an innovative team. That’s a fact.

We assess how the back-up went against Bangladesh and their prospects for touring England

Firdose Moonda12-Apr-2022South Africa are not throwing the doors open to welcome back the IPL absentees who “vacated their spots”, as coach Mark Boucher put it, after finding a strong second-tier of players in their series sweep over Bangladesh.South Africa dominated the two Tests despite being without their entire frontline pace pack, and with four of their top six batters having 13 Test caps between. That will give the selectors a “great headache”, according to captain Dean Elgar, who encouraged the replacement players to make it difficult for the established ones to get back in.”My message for new guys was to put those guys under pressure, to go out there and make a play for yourself and make a play for the team. They mustn’t undersell their value as young new cricketers,” Elgar said.Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen collectively decided to play at the IPL rather than in the Test series against Bangladesh, after CSA left the decision in the player’s hands. That opened the door for Ryan Rickelton and Lizaad Williams to debut, Sarel Erwee to establish himself as an opener, Duanne Olivier to lead the attack and Simon Harmer to make a Test comeback – and all of them impressed Elgar.Related

South Africa's Test team in 'special place' after acing challenging 2021-22 season

The Maharaj-Harmer partnership – how far can South Africa go with it?

Boucher tight-lipped on future as South Africa coach

South Africa complete 2-0 sweep after Maharaj seven-for demolishes Bangladesh

“By giving guys experience, you create a lot more depth going forward,” he said. “We are in a very fortunate and strong position by giving guys exposure at this level. Guys have put their hands up brilliantly.”While it would be difficult to imagine South Africa looking past the pace bowlers, Markram, who has averaged 16.38 since Elgar took over the captaincy, and van der Dussen (30.81 in the same time) are on shaky ground. Markram was dropped down the order in favour of Erwee at the top in New Zealand and was set to be benched for the Bangladesh series, while van der Dussen has failed to make the No. 4 spot his own. Asked what the plan for the pair on their return would be, Elgar indicated they would have to fight to get their Test places back.”I don’t think the statement of them coming back is a fair one,” Elgar said. “The guys that have played right now have made a massive statement. We’ve got a decent batting pool going forward. I can’t speak on if those guys are going to get selected again. That’s out of my hands.”Here we assess South Africa’s options for the next Test assignment, against England in August-September.Erwee vs MarkramThough Erwee was picked to open the batting in New Zealand, with Markram at the IPL he had an opportunity to make his partnership with Elgar more permanent. So far, so good. The pair average 49.62 in eight innings together, with two century and two fifty-plus stands. Elgar and Markram averaged 31.48, the worst by any opening pair who have been together for at least 1000 runs. Erwee is a patient player, who leaves the ball well, and allowed Elgar to take on a more attacking role. Elgar’s second- and third-fastest fifties came in this series, off 60 and 66 balls respectively.Where Erwee let himself down was that once he got in, he gave his wicket away and was unable to kick on past the 40s. In the first Test, he played on, trying to cut Mehidy Hasan Miraz but under-edging, and in the second, he chipped a catch straight to mid-on. Erwee showed he has staying power in New Zealand, where he scored a century, but admitted he needs “bigger scores on the board to help myself”.Dean Elgar and Sarel Erwee have formed a productive opening partnership•AFP/Getty ImagesErwee should get the nod to go to England as Elgar’s opening partner but his biggest threat perhaps doesn’t come from Markram: Pieter Malan, who played three Tests in the 2019-20 season, topped the first-class run-charts this summer.Rickelton vs van der DussenWith great expectations after a season in which he averaged over 80 in domestic cricket, Rickelton got starts in all four innings against Bangladesh and showed himself to be an aggressive middle-order batter, who is unafraid to reverse-sweep early – it was that shot that brought him his first runs in Test cricket. In search of quick runs, he was out top-edging a pull in Durban and handing a catch to short mid-on in Gqeberha but impressed his captain, who singled him out for making a good first impression in international cricket.”It was nice to see young guys like Ryan Rickelton coming in and taking to it pretty well,” Elgar said. “The intensity wasn’t like maybe playing against England but he still got a little taste and he understands the arena now and what we are expecting going forward as a player.”Given that van der Dussen is known for starting slowly, and that Bavuma performed well in the No. 4 role in this series, Rickelton could be afforded a long run in the middle-order with van der Dussen likely to be dropped for the England series.In the bowling department, South Africa now have even more options with the addition of an offspinner and a bigger pace battery. Here’s how the attack stacked up:Harmer’s comebackBefore Brexit, Harmer would not have thought a Test comeback for South Africa was possible. He would not have even wanted it and might have even preferred to qualify for England, but all that’s changed. Since returning to South Africa’s domestic set-up, Harmer has dominated the field and was the leading wicket-taker in this season’s first-class competition and performed well under pressure. He bowled the Titans to victory in the season finale, taking a nine-for.Harmer was impressive on Test return and stole the headlines in the first innings in Durban, where his brand of attacking offspin got him four wickets. But he was also happy to play the supporting role to Keshav Maharaj, who finished as the leading wicket-taker with 16 in the series. Harmer wasn’t far behind with 13 and has given South Africa a whole new combination to consider.Simon Harmer claimed 13 wickets in two Tests•AFP/Getty ImagesNot since 1970 had they played two specialist spinners at home and if these matches were on the Highveld, they would not have done so in this series. But on slow coastal pitches that took turn, South Africa discovered a new combination to their attack and Harmer believes they can use it in England too.Speaking to the broadcasters afterwards, he said he hoped he had given the selectors cause to think of him as a spin-bowling allrounder and that he believed he and Maharaj could operate successfully in tandem at Lord’s, Old Trafford and The Oval. “All of those venues turn,” he said.Given Harmer’s success with Essex, South Africa cannot ignore him for the England tour and Boucher confirmed that, if selected, even players with overseas deals with counties will be available for national duty. “As far as I am concerned everyone is available. I’ve had personal conversations with most of the guys and they’ve all come into the set-up saying they want to play for South Africa,” Boucher said. “I’d like to think that each guy, if picked for South Africa, will choose to play for them ahead of any county or franchise.” (Ahem, IPL Six.)Williams enjoys his momentOn spinners’ surfaces, Williams had a tough debut series that finished with three wickets at 35.00. He was impressive with the new ball in Durban and then delivered the spell that cracked the Bangladesh middle-order open but went wicketless in Gqeberha, where he also struggled with his lengths and consistency. Williams conceded at over four runs an over in the first innings at St George’s Park.He was preferred over Lutho Sipamla (who then got injured) and Daryn Dupavillon for this series but probably doesn’t need us to tell him Sipamla, in particular, is likely to get the nod ahead of him in future. Williams was the last South African to leave the field in Gqeberha as he knelt down to pray once the series had been won. He is a cricketer who overflows with gratitude for what the game has given him after life handed him some early challenges but Williams is unlikely to make the England squad. A good home summer could see him come back into contention at a later stage.Olivier treads waterA regular since the India series, Olivier has strong domestic form in the first half of the season (he was the leading wicket-taker in the four-day competition at one stage) and Nortje’s long-standing injury to thank for his Test comeback, which promised more than it delivered. Olivier returned rebranded from enforcer to controller and changed his lengths from short to full. It worked, to a degree, for Yorkshire and at the start of this summer but after contracting Covid-19 before the international Test season, Olivier has not looked his best. He was down on pace and struggled to have the same impact he has had at domestic level. In five Tests, Olivier took 11 wickets at 33.63.If Nortje regains full fitness, Olivier may need to have an outstanding county season to be considered for the squad to play England, and even if he is included, it’s likely he has fallen behind Jansen in the pecking order to play.Overall, South Africa’s new players have allayed a fear Boucher had when he took over the job in December 2019, that of the talent pool being shallow. The performances in this series against Bangladesh prove there is some depth and it is continually growing. It also means South Africa can take a varied squad to England, with many bases covered, which is exactly how Elgar wants it to be.”You want more options than none,” he said. “We’ve got a few extremely challenging away series coming up. Our Test side is in a very healthy position. We are very grateful for the cricket we’ve played this summer.”

In beating favourites India comprehensively even as their coach’s disciplinary hearing looms, the hosts have shown focus and plenty of cricketing promise

Firdose Moonda21-Jan-20223:07

Cullinan: Very pleased to see de Kock play so freely

“Critical but stable” was how Janneman Malan jokingly described his status after fielding for four hours and batting for two-and-a-half in the Paarl heatwave that saw temperatures touch 40 degrees C. But the field is not the only place it’s heated in South African cricket right now.The team came into this match on the back of the news that their head coach, Mark Boucher, faces dismissal over charges of gross misconduct but rallied to complete their first ODI series win since February 2020 and their highest successful chase at home since 2017. Asked if the allegations hanging over Boucher served as extra motivation for the team, Malan did not give too much away.”I don’t want to sound ignorant or uninterested but it’s a big series we have in front of us. We can’t have many distractions in terms of personal mindsets,” he said. “I just try and focus on the game, focus on getting the team in winning positions and playing for everyone in the team and the country.”Temba Bavuma in his post-match television interview said a little more. “As a team we have a lot of self belief and confidence in our ability. We believe in each other. The biggest thing is that we go out there and fight for one another,” he said. “We are not a team that prides itself on having superstars or relying on individual performances. We really try and put in a real team effort. Coming into these series, no one had much faith in us and that gave us a lot of motivation. The performances we’ve put in over the last month or so have been really good and hopefully that can grow the confidence of people in us, especially here locally.”Related

de Kock and Phehlukwayo signal South Africa's rise back to the top

SJN follow-up: CSA will argue in favour of dismissing Boucher

Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock help South Africa seal ODI series in formidable fashion

In the months that follow and as Boucher’s disciplinary hearing is held, perhaps it will be brought up that he was at the helm for these successive series wins over India, who came to these shores as favourites. Players from Dean Elgar to Lungi Ngidi have spoken about the good work Boucher has done, which of course will not absolve him for what he has been accused of but may give Boucher some currency to continue in the role.Judging him solely on the way South Africa have played this series, it may be argued that Boucher has engineered a turnaround of a team whose downward spiral appeared bottomless. Specifically, South Africa’s development in terms of their use of spin and their approach against it is noticeable. Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj and the part-time bowling of Aiden Markram outbowled R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal in these two ODIs while South Africa have lost only two wickets (out of seven) to spin in this series so far. “We’ve come a long way as a team,” Malan said. “We’ve been trying to improve and get better plans against spin. And we handled it better than them facing our spinners.”Virat Kohli fell to spin in the second ODI as South Africa’s spin bowlers’ stocks rose•AFP/Getty ImagesSouth Africa scored 92 runs off 99 balls against spin in the first match and 115 off 121 today and have clearly changed their intent against slower bowling. Quinton de Kock was especially aggressive when facing Ashwin and brought up his highest score since South Africa toured Ireland last July.de Kock was embroiled in controversy following his initial refusal to take the knee at the 2021 T20 World Cup and then suddenly retired from Test cricket after the Boxing Day match. He subsequently had a break during the two Tests that followed, and now appears refreshed. This innings was not chanceless – Rishabh Pant missed a stumping that would have seen de Kock dismissed for 32 – but it helped the South Africa opener find his “rhythm” again, he said to the broadcasters afterwards. And it came on the back of energetic performances in the field. Unlike Pant, Kock himself has pulled off two stumpings in this series, both down the leg side while standing up to Andile Phehlukwayo. “Guess lightning strikes twice,” de Kock said.The same can be said for the way South Africa has played against India so far. After losing the first Test at SuperSport Park, they achieved their best Test chase at the Wanderers to square the series and then repeated the feat with a strong second-innings effort at Newlands to win it. They’ve all but bossed the ODIs so far, and in doing so, those who struggled in the Tests have come good.Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma, who are under pressure to score red-ball hundreds, brought up white-ball ones and Markram, who may well be dropped from Tests, found some form in this match and has reinvented himself as something of an allrounder. Crucially, Bavuma’s maturity as captain has kept South Africa together through incidents that may otherwise have destabilised them.”I enjoy it (captaining),” Bavuma said. “I’ve enjoyed it since I did it at domestic cricket. I see it as something to forget about myself and I can try to see if I can serve and inspire other guys within the team. I’m fortunate that there’s a lot of cricket brains within the team. That’s a good thing. Sometimes it can be a bad thing because the guys can confuse you out there in the field, but to call on those guys is great.”But none of the selflessness South Africa so openly speak about has turned down the temperature, on or off the field. Instead, South Africa – and you may go as far as to call it Boucher’s South Africa – are simply learning to operate in the heat.

No blood was spilt, no bones broken, no wickets taken. And still, the bowling was scarily good

Osman Samiuddin03-Jul-2022The over from hell began about half an hour before the close, the ground bathed in sunlight a shade of extreme troll: all day absent only to turn up when there’s barely an hour left. It was the 22nd over of an England innings that had begun nearly seven hours ago.Three breaks for rain meant Mohammed Shami was bowling his 11th consecutive over without undue strain. Shami is not the most famous Lala in cricket. But with his thinning hair and permanent air of a character who has accidentally strolled out from a Netflix series on the badlands of Uttar Pradesh, he is a very endearing one.The ten overs, split by rain into spells of one, two, four and three overs before this one had been both exemplary and an exemplar of Shami bowling. Only, somehow amplified. No water had crept onto the pitch but his balls were skimming off it as if off a body of water, and not clay and soil and grass.Related

Bumrah cameo and three-for make it India's day amid rain breaks

Classical Shami completes his evolution into champion bowler

Kohli: Shami among 'best three seamers in world at the moment'

Each delivery looked fuller and straighter and normally this would make them more hittable, but with Shami they aren’t anymore where they once were. There was swing, there was seam, there were times when those descriptions felt interchangeable. By a manual count, Shami beat both edges, or hit both edges 14 times in those ten overs.There was a ball from hell to poor Zak Crawley, the first after the first rain break. The caveat to Crawley’s summer of torment is that he has been the victim of some ferociously good balls, mostly from Trent Boult. As this one bent away from the angle into him, for once missing the edge, Crawley may have considered he was due that luck. Rishabh Pant got lucky too, his face almost rearranged by the late wobble.No wickets though because as much as Shami is known by the wickets he has taken – over 200 and counting, at a strike rate that is in the all-time top 10 – he is also known by the many wickets that he hasn’t taken, or rather, that he’s come within millimetres of taking. It is an odd reputation to acquire in this day and age when no claim is untested by data and over as long a career as of 60 Tests.It is the kind of thing you might hear about some forgotten bowler from the 1960s who never really made it or didn’t play long enough or who, if there had been greater accounting and less romanticism, it turned out wasn’t that unlucky after all. Plenty of numbers bear this out in Shami though.One of Shami’s more endearing traits is how lightly he wears his ill-luck, how little it seemingly takes from his energy.Jasprit Bumrah needs no luck to complement his genius but because life needs its own balance, Shami’s misfortune was credited to him. Crawley fell in the over after this ball from hell: bowled Bumrah, spooked Shami. Shami looked slightly more threatening; Bumrah had the three-fer.Shami’s efforts earned him the scalp of Jack Leach, a wicket fully deserved but a victim completely unworthy•PA Images via Getty ImagesBall one of the over from hell snaked in late, right through Joe Root’s attempted drive. It wasn’t the wrong ball to be driving at, it was the wrong bowler: this wasn’t New Zealand anymore. Ball two was straighter, shorter and bounced more than Root expected, hitting the bat handle sharply. In any other over, this would be the best ball. In this over, it would eventually be forgotten.Root lives off his late dabs and glides between third man and point. It is a release shot as well as a prolific one. Ball three was, in line and length, there to be late dabbed. It jagged back in so sharply Root was cut in half and beaten on the inside edge.By ball four, Root had been worked into a frenzy. He shuffled out to the ball, not necessarily for the purpose of scoring runs but more to kill the lbw he feared was coming. He did get struck on the pad, India did review it – Bumrah’s one mis-step as captain – but Root had calculated well. By coming out, the leg-before was gone.Ball five and more inswing. In a summer of Tim Southee, Boult and James Anderson, Shami’s inswing has already won; and he has been here only for one Test and has only bowled 13 overs before the third day. This one hit Root on the thigh pad, and invaluably, got him off strike.Root is the world’s best Test batter at the moment, but this was a weird, skittish innings. A hot take would be that it was too Bazball, trying to get bat on everything, attacking when caution made more sense. Three balls in a row from Shami – split by the last rain break – Root tried to drive balls that were very wide and full. Twice he hit air. Off the last, in no control, he edged over the cordon for four.Mohammed Shami knows it was a close shave against Joe Root•Getty ImagesA more considered view might see that the bowling, and Shami in particular, was so relentless that it drew Root into constant indiscretion. He shuffled, he walked out, he tried to manufacture shots and none of it worked. There was no getting away from this, not least because the breaks kept Shami and Bumrah fresh.Because he could or maybe because it was the plan, Shami beat Jonny Bairstow on the outside edge off the last ball of this over from hell. The recalibration of line, seam position and release was immediate and near-perfect. Over.No blood was spilt, no bones broken, no wickets taken. Scars though, not least upon this bold new world of England’s. What happens when the bowling is this good? Also, a microcosm of Shami’s career, all the near-misses and dropped catches, the close leaves and the missed reviews. Cricket is a game of infinitesimal margins, and rarely can that have been better articulated than it was through this over.Root fell the next over, bowled Mohammed Siraj, worked over Shami. Bairstow was millimetres from getting bowled in Shami’s next over and Jack Leach was dropped. Shami soon got Leach, a wicket fully deserved but a victim completely unworthy.

It was a contest for the ages, and ended in dramatic circumstances – with Virat Kohli at the centre of it. Here’s how the cricket community reacted

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Oct-2022

Geeze I don’t think I can ever recall a better game of T20 cricket than what we’ve just seen at the MCG. Amazing stuff from both teams. Virat’s dig one of a kind.

— Mark Waugh (@juniorwaugh349) October 23, 2022