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India’s dominance on the first day of the second Test in Hyderabad was built on an incisive opening spell from medium-pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Sharda Ugra02-Mar-2013India’s day, three wickets to their support spinner and allrounder, and much wispy, alluring turn past the bat. Was Hyderabad going to be another Chennai? Not so.At the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in suburban Hyderabad, two slips and a gully could be sighted at the start of play and India’s earliest advances in the second Test against Australia, came from a medium pacer who had not bowled at all in the second innings in Chennai.On Saturday, Bhuvneshwar Kumar opened the bowling for India in his second Test. In an extended first spell he lopped the top off the Australian batting order. David Warner, Ed Cowan and the dangerous Shane Watson were all gone by the time Bhuvneshwar ended his nine overs with 3 for 36.Australia’s final session blancmange-wobble had five wickets falling for 28 runs to the spinners, but Bhuvneshwar triggered it. Just when the Australians had settled down with a century partnership between the perpetual rescuer Michael Clarke and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, Bhuvneshwar dived to his left to interrupt a Wade cut off Harbhajan Singh. Then came Australia’s implosion and Clarke’s dramatic declaration just before stumps.Bright-eyed and spindly, with an action that unfolds in clean-limbed lines, Bhuvneshwar is every bit the contemporary Indian medium-pacer. Swing, movement off the seam and discipline over raw speed is his staple. Bowling in the region of 130-135kph, he was able to hit the seam to deck the ball in and asked annoying questions of the left-hand openers. Warner’s leg stump was knocked out of the ground off an inside edge in Bhuvneshwar’s second over, as the ball looked to be angling across the batsman but straightened and nipped the bat.Six balls later Bhuvneshwar’s dismissal of Cowan came off an iffy lbw because the ball had pitched outside leg, but there was no doubting the fact that it had once again come into the batsman and would have hit his stumps.Watson was far more surefooted and clear-sighted than the batsmen before him, for more than 45 minutes. In his eighth over, Bhuvneshwar had been spanked for two boundaries as Watson tried to dominate territory and punish weariness into disarray. Bhuvneshwar had gone for 18 runs in the 25 balls he had bowled to Watson. When a juicy short ball in the mid-120kph turned up, Watson pounced and jumped into the pull. The ball didn’t bounce as high as expected and struck him on the pad and Australia were 57 for 3 in just over an hour of play.Hyderabad offered conditions of the kind Bhuvneshwar has plied his stuff in for the last six years of first-class cricket for Uttar Pradesh, taking 149 wickets at 26.36. The days are hot and the wickets slow and abrasive. They require steadfastness, precision and a willingness to absorb punishment, yet rein in flamboyance even when receiving any benefits.After cleaning up the Australian top order before lunch, questions were asked why Bhuvneshwar was not given a spell after the break. As had happened to R Ashwin, who had taken the fourth wicket in the first session. The television chatterati wondered about it as the Clarke-Wade partnership grew, but once the Australian innings folded, all debate melted. Bhuvneshwar bowled two short three-over spells as Jadeja and Harbhajan ran rings around the batsmen.What Bhuvneshwar was able to do with his bowling was raise a metaphorical hand to selectors looking for a wicket-taking bowler at home, who can bowl with steady unwavering pace and control at the stumps. You miss, he hits, either bowled or leg before. He comes, like so many Indian cricketers now do, from the hinterlands. Bhuvneshwar’s hinterland is Meerut in western UP, better known as the badlands of India’s most populous state.Until now, he was only regarded as a new option for India in T20s and ODIs, starting with his 3 for 9 on Twenty20 debut against Pakistan. According to his UP coach Venkatesh Prasad, Bhuvneshwar is a man for the longer form. “I have always said he needs to be tried out in Test matches. He can be an ideal third bowler or even second bowler for India where conditions help his type of bowling.”Bhuvneshwar plays for the Pune Warriors IPL franchise and, after his first season, he was asked about tips received from Allan Donald and Michael Clarke, the giants in his Warriors dressing room. His answer was simple: the one cricketer he paid attention and listened to was Praveen Kumar, fellow UP allrounder, swing wizard and his opening partner at Meerut’s Victoria Club.If the series against Australia helps Bhuvneshwar cement his place in the Test squad, it will place on a young medium pacer’s body the burden and demands of playing all three formats. Prasad, a former bowling coach with the Indian team, said the team management must help him to “manage his time, his training and his lifestyle.” For the moment, the Australian batsmen must find a way to handle him.

In a line-up filled with batsmen seemingly built for Twenty20 cricket, Michael Hussey has proved the most important cog

Siddarth Ravindran25-May-2013Most of the best Twenty20 batsmen are all about big shots and flamboyance. Chris Gayle’s innings are likely to be remembered for brutal hits onto the roof, MS Dhoni for helicopter shots, Shane Watson for ultra-effective slog sweeps that send the ball sailing over midwicket and AB de Villiers for sheer mind-boggling innovation.This season’s highest run-getter, however, has been Michael Hussey, who manages to combine consistency and efficiency with an almost anonymous brand of batting.Despite 700-plus runs this season, perhaps the batting sequence that will be most recalled and Youtubed will be the three successive reprieves he had from Kieron Pollard at point. Just as in his international career, Hussey continues to collect his runs unobtrusively, with protractor placement and without the flash that marks most game-changing Twenty20 innings.It helps that Chennai Super Kings have the batting firepower that is the envy of the league. Suresh Raina has been the most consistent batsman over six seasons of the IPL and is yet to miss a match. Dhoni is widely acknowledged as one of the best finishers in the game. M Vijay has repeatedly shown his ability to play decisive innings in the playoffs, while Albie Morkel and Dwayne Bravo can hit the ball as long as anyone in the tournament.That stockpile means Hussey isn’t under pressure to come out all-guns blazing, and can take a few overs to assess the conditions. His role has been to provide stability at the top before the power-hitters take over in the second half. The Super Kings’ winning mantra of scoring 60 in the first half of the innings before pillaging more than a 100 in the final ten has been perfected based on Hussey’s all-surface batting.Versatility has long been a hallmark of Hussey’s batting. He effortlessly slotted in the Australia middle order after many years in the domestic circuit as an opener, and adeptly switched gears when called upon as a finisher in limited overs. That flexibility has been in abundant display this IPL season as well.When he has had to set up a target, as in the playoff match against Mumbai Indians, he does the early groundwork before joining in the run spree later on. But when confronted with a big chase, as against Rajasthan Royals, he has turned to a more expansive game, dishing out boundaries from the start.The fluid game has been complemented with a staggering consistency, a rare quality in the Twenty20 format. In nine of his 16 innings this season he has reached 40 at least nine times, and has only three single-digit scores.The sustained run stems from a deep knowledge of his game, and a range of strokes that makes it impossible to stop him from scoring. Plenty of his early boundaries come through punches through point or cover, and when the time comes for the big hits, his trusted shot is the shovel to the leg side, which nets him sixes in the arc from long-on to midwicket. While he relies on the orthodox most times, he can pull out the reverse-sweep when needed or innovate by moving across the stumps and tucking the ball past short fine as he did repeatedly against Lasith Malinga.The barrage of runs has meant that Faf du Plessis, South Africa’s Twenty20 captain and a man who has grown rapidly in stature since his successful stint with Super Kings last year, has been confined to the bench all season even after regaining full fitness.This is only the second time that Hussey has been available for the entire season, with his Australia commitments keeping him away on several occasions. He was around for the 2011 season, when again he was again the highest run-getter for Super Kings and topped off the season with a 159-run stand with Vijay that virtually guaranteed a second straight IPL title. He will seek a similar finish this time as well.

Players who burned bright briefly? Here you go

Andy Zaltzman01-Oct-2013The Confectionery Stall Editorial Board has decided that, having watched approximately ten balls of cricket in the past five weeks, this week’s blog should consist of the All-Time Test Match Flash-In-The-Pan XI. As has become traditional with Confectionery Stall XIs, the wordcount has ballooned, so it will appear in two parts.If you can contain your excitement, here are the qualification criteria:* A minimum of nine Test matches. Candidates must have played enough matches to have proved that the flash in their particular pan was a genuine one-off micro-flambé. The nine-match qualification standard was selected because most of the Confectionery Stall’s all-time favourite cricketers have had at least nine toes.* Players must have had one performance that stands out from the rest of their careers, like Daniel Barenboim playing a Beethoven piano sonata in a primary school concert for dangerously unmusical children. This could be a single innings or a single series. It is not enough for a player to have had one statistically stellar series, if he spoilt it with several useful ones, or to have had a Vaughanically good six-month statsblitz, unless that peak is unsullied by reasonably proportioned numerical foothills. We are looking for bona fide bolts from the statistical blue.* Players must have verifiably completed their Test careers, by doing one or more of: (a) retiring; (b) dying; (c) having rendered themselves eternally unselectable through persistent failure to replicate their pan-flash; or (d) run away and joined the circus (an actual circus, not just the IPL).* The selectors’ decision is final. All complaints to be addressed in neat handwriting to Mr BK Moon, c/o The United Nations, New York, in an envelope marked: “There’s More To The World Than Sorting Out Wars, Big Horse.”Part One: Numbers 1 to 61. Joe Darling (Australia): 537 runs at 67, including three hundreds, in the 1897-88 Ashes. Rest of career: 1120 runs, average 22, in 29 Tests, highest score 74
Darling was the first man to score three centuries in a Test series. Sixty-six other players have done so since (on a combined total of 105 occasions). Darling is one of only two who have never made another Test hundred. (The other is Denis Lindsay.) (See below.) He played in six other Ashes series, and did not average over 30 in any of them. A flash-in-the-pan pioneer, he combined a decade of numerical mediocrity with a sudden outbreak of unprecedented bat-raising brilliance.2. Andrew Sandham (England): Scored 152, 51, 325 and 50 in the first and fourth Tests in West Indies in 1930. Rest of career: 301 runs at 15.8 in 12 Tests
Few have managed to flash themselves in cricket’s pan in their final throes as a Test cricketer. Usually the mere fact of having done something incredible earns the pan-flasher the right to return to the humdrummery whence he emerged, enabling his Kilimanjaro of personal success to stand proudly above his otherwise Belgian statistical lowlands.Sandham, however, clocked out of Test cricket in style. His ten Tests in the early 1920s brought him an average of 19 and a highest score of 58. After five years out of the England team, watching Hobbs and Sutcliffe carve themselves into immortality, he returned for England’s first Test tour of the West Indies, in 1930. He scored 152 and 51 in the first Test in Barbados, before proving that his previous travails were no fluke by scoring 0, 5, 9 and 0 in the next two matches. Then, in the fourth and final Test, he scored Test cricket’s first triple-century, followed by 50 in the second innings.Hobbs and Sutcliffe returned for the 1930 Ashes, and Sandham’s England career was finished. He remains the only man to have scored a triple-hundred in his final Test. As the old saying goes: “It is better to have scored a triple-hundred and lost your place in the Test side than never to have scored a triple-hundred at all.”3. Frank Hayes (England): 106 not out on debut v West Indies in 1973; did not reach 30 in 15 subsequent Test innings
Scoring a debut century against West Indies might seem like a good career move for an aspiring batsman, but it used to be the kiss of death for a player’s Test career. Three men did it before 1975. None ever scored as many as 60 again. Hayes was the third of these, hitting an outstanding unbeaten hundred in the second innings of his debut as England sank to defeat against Kanhai’s West Indians.In his next innings, he ground his way to a painstaking 29 off 149 balls, which proved to be his second-best Test score. His final 14 innings (all, perhaps foolishly, against West Indies) brought six ducks and only two scores over 12.Not many batsmen can claim that they bagged a duck in two-thirds of their Test matches. Then again, not many batsmen can claim that they scored their country’s only hundred in a Test series against West Indies.Hayes was the 14th Englishman to make a debut Test hundred. He was the seventh of them to never reach three figures again, and only one of those 14 – Peter May – went on to score more than two Test tons. There was a 20-year debut-centurion hiatus whilst the issue was rectified by the ECB, since when Thorpe, Strauss, Cook, Prior and Trott have thankfully bucked the trend, and bucked it hard.

No Test centurion classed as a specialist batsman has played more than Maitland Hathorn’s 20 Test innings without reaching 50 at least once. Assuming you do not consider Ajit Agarkar to have been a specialist batsman. Which is a matter for the courts to decide upon

4. Faoud Bacchus (West Indies): 250 in the Kanpur Test, February 1979. Otherwise: 532 runs at 18.3 in 18 Tests
Question 1: what have only Jack Hobbs, Bill Ponsford, Don Bradman, Denis Compton and Faoud Bacchus ever done in the history of Test cricket?Answer: Been out hit-wicket after scoring more than 150.Question 2: What have only Jack Hobbs, Bill Ponsford, Don Bradman and Denis Compton ever done in the history of Test cricket?Answer: Been out hit-wicket after scoring more than 150, but also scored other Test hundreds, and become immortal cricketing legends.Question 3: What have only Wasim Akram and Faoud Bacchus ever done in the history of Test cricket?Answer: Made 250 in an innings but ended with a career batting average below 30.Question 4: What has only Wasim Akram ever done in the history of Test cricket?Answer: Made 250 in an innings and ended with a career batting average below 30, but also taken more than 400 Test wickets. And scored two other hundreds.Question 5: What have only Rohan Kanhai, VVS Laxman, Younis Khan, Virender Sehwag, Mahela Jayawardene, Hashim Amla and Faoud Bacchus ever done in the history of Test cricket?Answer: Scored 250 or more in a Test innings in India.Question 6: What has only Faoud Bacchus ever done in the history of Test cricket?Answer: Scored 250 or more in a Test innings in India, without also scoring at least 14 other Test hundreds and having a career average of more than 45.But for his Kanpur monolith, Bacchus – who also scored two of his three half-centuries in the same series – would have the 474th best average of the 477 batsmen who have batted 25 or more times in the top six in Test cricket, ahead only of three Bangladeshis. Of course, but for that innings, he would not have batted more than 25 times in Test cricket. Nevertheless, Bacchus still managed more Test hundreds than Jupiter, Neptune, Mars and Apollo combined, which is some consolation.5. Maitland Hathorn (South Africa). Scored 102 against England in Johannesburg in 1905-06. Otherwise, in 19 innings in 11 Tests, averaged 12, with a highest score of 45
Selected for two reasons. Firstly, I had never heard of Hathorn until I started writing this article. There are not many Test cricketers of whom I have not heard in my disastrously mis-spent 32 years as a cricket obsessive. Hathorn thus had my full, undivided attention. And secondly, no Test centurion classed as a specialist batsman has played more than Hathorn’s 20 Test innings without reaching 50 on at least one more occasion. Assuming you do not consider Ajit Agarkar to have been a specialist batsman. Which is a matter for the courts to decide upon.6 and wicketkeeper. Denis Lindsay (South Africa): 606 runs at 86 in the five-Test 1966-67 series against Australia. Rest of career: 524 runs at 22 in 14 Tests. Next highest series tally: 123 runs
Lindsay played in six Test series for South Africa. He made his five highest scores, including his three hundreds, in just one of them, against Australia in 1966-67. His performance in that series stands out from the rest of his career. Sort of how it would have been if the Rolling Stones had released album after album of farmyard noise impressions either side of their 1972 masterwork . Furthermore, Lindsay took 24 catches in the 5 Tests in 1966-67. His next highest series tally was 10.Lindsay was one of only three wicketkeepers in the first 115 years of Test cricket to don the gloves in ten or more Tests and to average 40 or more with the bat (alongside Les Ames and Clyde Walcott). However, if you discount his one big series, his average bobsleds downwards from exactly 40 to 21.8, and in the list of the 100 men to have kept wicket ten or more times in Tests, he plummets from eighth (just behind Prior and Sangakkara, just ahead of MS Dhoni) to 57th (gazing up longingly at the likes of Geraint Jones and Nayan Mongia, communing with Lee Germon).Next time: numbers 7 to 11. Including Ajit Agarkar. Obviously. First name on the teamsheetOver the next few weeks, I’ll be blogging and videotically diarising about my cricketing stand-up tour around India, which begins with shows at the Canvas Laugh Factory in Mumbai (3rd to 6th)

Firdose Moonda at Johannesburg28-Dec-20130:00

Kallis played the almost perfect innings – Petersen

Beyond the guard of honour, the handshakes, the hashtags and the heavy hearts, there was a Test to win. The most important person knew that.

Jacques Kallis, who all the above gestures were for, blocked out the occasion and batted in his bubble. The same one many thought he had left when he announced his decision to retire from Test cricket. Kallis showed them he hadn’t, because there was a job to be done.He constructed an innings that Alviro Petersen described as being the antithesis of someone on the verge of the end. “You wouldn’t say he was playing in his last Test match,” Petersen said. In fact, because of its cautiousness, this knock was befitting of someone at the start of his career.At first, the wariness was out of necessity. South Africa had lost Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla within six overs of each other, Ravindra Jadeja had found turn and India’s seamers were searching for reverse swing. “Even before he faced a ball, there was a wicket,” Petersen remembered. He was the man out, which meant Kallis was one of two new batsmen and, like he has often had to do, needed to provide South Africa with backbone.With that responsibility, Kallis took 16 deliveries to score his first run. In that time, AB de Villiers got off the mark and Kallis got hit on the hand by Zaheer Khan. It wasn’t a body blow like the one Dale Steyn gave Ajinkya Rahane on the second day. Neither was it a delivery that exposed Kallis’ reactions, like the one he bowled to Ricky Ponting in Adelaide last year, which literally floored the Australian batsman.Ponting had said he was “embarrassed” by that ball, so much so it confirmed in his mind that his time was up. Something similar could easily have happened to Kallis, which would have vindicated and even explained the reason for his retirement. There would have been proof to back up the whispering, a result of the number of times he has been lbw playing across the line recently, that his technique was waning. Kallis seemed to be consciously guarding against that. He concentrated on solid defence, for the team and himself.Jacques Kallis batted in his final Test like he had done early in his career•Neil Lane/ESPNcricinfoZaheer got the ball after the blow to the hand to bounce more but Kallis was prepared. He pushed the delivery behind point for his first run. Four overs later he had added only one more, when he changed tack. He charged Jadeja and lofted over mid-off for four, twice. The Kallis who could entertain had arrived.De Villiers, as expected, played the more adventurous innings but Kallis grew in confidence too. He had not passed 40 in seven innings before this, stretching back to February, but as he spent time in the middle he brought out the sweep and the cut.By lunch, de Villiers had overtaken Kallis and after the break Kallis needed to resettle again. He outside edged Mohammad Shami but with no slip in place, he was safe. It was only when the afternoon wore on that Kallis brought out the drive he has built his reputation on. He treated the crowd of 6900 to a couple against Zaheer, one off the back foot and one off the front, to enter the 40s.For the next 46 deliveries, Kinsgmead waited as Kallis retreated further. In that time, de Villiers put in a dive that might have given him a painful grass burn to avoid being run-out, and was later dismissed. After what seemed an age, Kallis punched Jadeja through point and a misfield brought him his half-century.There was a roar of appreciation, enthusiastic applause and for a moment, Kallis allowed himself to enjoy it. He removed his helmet and whirled around to acknowledge the crowd, which included his sister, and his smile spoke of satisfaction and relief. “With all the pressure of the last Test, he stood tall,” Petersen said.After that, Kallis stood firm once more, firmer than before. With India getting a fair amount of turn with the old ball, he focused on defence, and South Africa’s run rate slowed dramatically after tea. In the 15.5 overs before bad light and drizzle stopped play, they scored only 32. Although the pitch may not have facilitated a run-rate of four an over, like South Africa had on day two, such a go-slow may not have been needed for survival.Everybody noticed Kallis’ introverted approach, including Mark Boucher who thought he looked “more focused than before.” With Kallis in his zone, comparisons were drawn between this innings and his maiden Test century at the MCG 16 years ago.It speaks of the consistency of the man that he can go out in a way that is eerily similar to the manner he came in. But there is a difference between what was needed in Melbourne in 1997 and Durban today. Then, there was a Test to be saved. Now, there is a series to be won.Some are of the opinion that Kallis slowing down could have hurt South Africa’s chances of winning. Others believe he has given them the platform to push for a result. Petersen believes Kallis played “the perfect innings for the situation we were in,” but that his job was not done.”If Jacques thought he could just cruise through his last Test match, he was wrong,” Petersen joked. “We are really going to need him tomorrow.”It is the last time South Africa will be able to say that and know Kallis will be able to respond. That is still sinking in. “We haven’t really thought about this Test team without Jacques Kallis. But lucky, it’s not quite here for us yet,” Petersen said. “We’ve got two more days to focus on.” The most important person knows that.

Bangladesh’s decision to go in with an extra quick in place of Abdur Razzak has backfired badly

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur29-Jan-2014

‘We didn’t bowl so badly’ – Gazi

Bangladesh’s batsmen will try survive the next two days, but the wind has truly been knocked out of their sails. They have fielded for more than two days, as Sri Lanka made the highest score against Bangladesh in Test cricket.
The only Sri Lankan wicket to fall on the day was picked up by Sohag Gazi, and on that account, he was brought to face the media. “Such a score can happen,” Gazi said. “This is cricket. We hope to play the next two days. The wicket is okay, but I don’t think we bowled that badly. They got into this position because they batted very well.”
Gazi repeated what Robiul Islam and Al-Amin Hossain have said in the previous days, that the bowling attack is focused on bowling economically. “We have tried to bowl dot balls, and bowl in partnerships. They will make the mistakes and we will get a chance.
“Any batsman, great or not, will make one mistake if you can successfully bowl four or five maidens at him. They come to score runs, and the bowlers try to take wickets and bowl dot balls. We have tried to do what we have planned.”
On Tamim Iqbal’s wild swipe late in the day, Sohag said that the opening batsman was distraught after coming back to the dressing-room.
“He has played some big innings, has been playing for a few years. Probably it was a mistake on his part. He definitely felt bad, it is quite natural to feel that way.”

First-innings figures of 81-5-311-1 are a damning assessment of Bangladesh’s pace bowlers. The decision to play all three seamers in the squad has been questioned a number of times, but it will probably be only answered after the game is lost.The number of catches that went down can be another way of explaining the poor performance. But whatever happened in the last two days has not, apparently, disheartened the pace bowlers. Robiul Islam and Al-Amin Hossain looked to have tried the hardest, with Robiul even exchanging words with Mahela Jayawardene.He tried everything in a six-over spell during the afternoon session. In between the staring match, he bowled bouncers, slower balls and changed his lengths. But it was not to be for the inexperienced pace bowler against a batsman who became the sixth highest all-time Test scorer.”I tried a whole variety of deliveries but he wouldn’t budge,” Robiul told ESPNcricinfo. “So I thought, I can try a bit of staring, just to throw him off. I didn’t say anything but he scolded me. Then I tried to get even, which didn’t work. I mean, you cannot do that to great players. They never lose focus. When he was walking back to the dressing room, I apologised for my earlier behaviour, and being such a senior player, he said that fast bowlers are supposed to be this way, so don’t be sorry.”We are not disappointed, we can’t be. We are international players, and we will bounce back in Chittagong. We have played well against them last year, in Galle, so I am confident that we can do well.”Despite the poor results, the selectors seemed to have a reason for picking each of the three quicks. Robiul Islam’s full fitness confirmed his place in the line-up while Rubel Hossain’s place came on the back of wickets in one-day cricket. Al-Amin bowled earnestly in his debut Test, and followed it up with good domestic performances.Either Al-Amin or Rubel replaced Abdur Razzak from the last Test team, a decision which is most probably due to the three left-handers among Sri Lanka’s main batsmen.Razzak’s Test record against Sri Lanka, and his middling first-class form, should have been enough to cast him aside but Bangladesh management, over the years, has banked on a very basic theory. They prefer having left-arm orthodox spinners against teams with more right-handed batsmen, and right-arm spinners against left-handed batsmen. There was even talk of picking Mahmudullah based on his bowling form in the domestic first-class competition, but Al-Amin was selected instead.He bowled well on the second day, with two catches dropped and a wicket off a “Finn no-ball” and carried over the confidence into the third day. Robiul and Rubel bowled well in patches too but those patches got smaller as the day progressed and the runs piled on.Rubel’s Test average now stands over 81, and his bowling action is unrecognisable with the one he had when he came to Dhaka several years ago. He has long lost his sling, and despite the progress in one-day cricket, he requires basic work to bowl, and bowl well, in the longer version.Al-Amin has been promoted from an understudy role to being the No. 2 in the pace bowling attack, and while he has tried as much as he can, there is a lot of work left to be done in his action.With so little time left between international matches, tours and series, particularly in the next three months, Shane Jurgensen will have his work cut out. So will Richard McInness, the BCB National Cricket Academy head, who will have to work with the pace bowlers who will be left out of the senior side.But the buck stops with the team management. Their theory of playing right-arm spinner against left-handed batsmen, and left-arm spinners against right-handed batsmen doesn’t hold much water these days.Bowlers must have the strength and guile to bowl to both types of batsmen. Had the focus been on playing the best available bowlers, then they have already made a mistake by picking Rubel.

Going by form and experience, Bangladesh and Ireland are the likely teams to qualify for the main tournament

Shiva Jayaraman15-Mar-2014After their spirited showing in the recently concluded Asia Cup, Afghanistan have captured the imagination of the cricketing world as no other Associate team has in recent times. Their recent performances have put them behind Ireland in the pecking order of Associate teams that are closer to laying their claim on playing at the Test level. Come Sunday, Afghanistan will get another opportunity to show that their win against Bangladesh was no flash in the pan as they play the hosts again in the opener of the qualifying stage.However, Afghanistan’s record in T20s does not do justice to their recent form. Their win-loss ratio of 1:1 in T20s (including non-international matches) is lower than those of Ireland and Netherlands – the other Associate teams in this tournament that have played T20 internationals. But Afghanistan’s head-to-head record against these two teams shows how rapidly they have come up to speed with them. They have won two of the three T20Is they have played against Netherlands. Against Ireland, Afghanistan have managed two wins in five T20 internationals, with Ireland managing to trump them on the last couple of occasions.In T20 matches against the Test teams, Netherlands have the best record of the three, having registered two wins – against England in the 2009 World T20 and Bangladesh – in four matches. While Afghanistan have lost all the five T20Is they have played against Test teams, Ireland – who won the World T20 Qualifier last November and are the top Associate team – have managed only two wins out of the 14 T20 internationals they have played against Full Members.

Afghanistan’s loss to Ireland in the final of the World T20 Qualifier last year has put them in Group A where they join Bangladesh, Nepal and Hong Kong. While their unbeaten record against Nepal (3-0) and Hong Kong (1-0) suggests that Afghanistan are likely to outshine them, they should find the going tougher against Bangladesh – a team that would be keen to set the records straight after their loss in the Asia Cup.Bangladesh themselves are not new to being upset in this format, having lost once each to three of the four Associate nations they have played against. They lost two of the last three T20s they played against Associate nations. Nepal, who were the third Associate team after Ireland and Afghanistan to qualify for this World T20 are fresh from their win against UAE in the playoff for the third place in the qualifier tournament. Hong Kong were the sixth-placed team in the qualifier tournament. Barring any unlikely upsets, the first match of the qualifying stage between Bangladesh and Afghanistan should decide who goes through from Group A. The fact that Bangladesh have lost their last 10 games in the World T20, and have an ordinary record overall in T20s, should not amount to much given their experience and the weaker oppositions they are up against.

Ireland, UAE and Netherlands join Zimbabwe – who are yet to play a T20 match against these teams – in Group B. Zimbabwe’s ordinary record in T20s could mean that Associate teams have a better chance of qualifying from this group. Since their first T20 international win against Australia, in 2007, Zimbabwe have managed only three wins – one each against Canada, West Indies and Bangladesh – in 26 matches. Overall, in T20s (international and domestic), Zimbabwe have won only six out of 37 matches. Their win-loss ratio of 0.20 in all T20s is the second-worst among teams (international and domestic) that have played at least 30 matches.
In spite of their rather bleak record in T20s, they will pose a formidable challenge to the other teams in the group: the last time Zimbabwe played an international game, they beat Pakistan in a Test in Harare last September.Ireland haven’t played Zimbabwe in T20s but have an unbeaten record against UAE and Netherlands. They have played UAE in four T20s and have won all of them. Against Netherlands they have won two of the three games, with one ending without a result. UAE are no push-overs either, having beaten Netherlands in both the matches they have played against them. Ireland look the likely team to qualify with only Zimbabwe – in keeping with their reputation of being a Test team – capable of upsetting their plans.

While South Africa are more than ready to offer friendly words cricketing advice to their neighbours, on the field their vacuum of concentration seems unlikely to be breached as they chase yet another away victory

Firdose Moonda in Harare08-Aug-2014If Australia are always among cricket’s achievers and Pakistan are regarded as its perennial entertainers, then South Africa are the game’s road warriors. They are currently the most successful touring team on the Test circuit and rubbish the notion of home advantage when they step onto foreign fields.Since readmission, they have played in 39 series (including one-off Tests) away from home, won 20, drawn nine and lost ten. In the last ten years they have become even better at winning away. In 18 series, they have won 10, drawn four and lost four. And in the last seven years, South Africa have been at their best when on the road. They have played 13 series on the road, won nine, drawn four and lost none.They still have some distance to cover to catch up to West Indies streak of 18 series undefeated away from home but it still translates to this: when South Africa travel, they travel seriously. They are not put off by alien conditions or hostile crowds. It seems as though it would not make any difference if they were playing against Australia at the Gabba, England on the moon, or the Argentinean cricket team at the SSC; their approach would be exactly the same. It focuses intently on improvements they need to make in their game before taking opposition, occasion or location into account.Although that approach is supposed to be uniformly applied to all places and against all teams, for a one-off match a Zimbabwe side that has not played a Test in almost a year, it sounds too serious. South Africa have admitted their usual vacuum of concentration feels a little different over here. “It is a little different. There is a different type of pressure,” Hashim Amla said.South Africa are expected not just to win but to win big and to win quickly, so the usual flames of expectation are dimmed. But they keep them flickering with talk of intensity levels and the importance of not letting their guard down. “You have to respect the game and respect your opposition and I think this team has done that very well over the last few years,” Amla said. “I don’t think we are going to treat it any differently this time.”Filing their Zimbabwean opposition in the same category as they do other people they play against will be second nature for South Africa but how they actually relate to them will be tricky. South Africa will continue to tread a fine line between father figure and fiery foe and they’re being asked as much, about how they will fulfill the former role as the latter.The close proximity of the two countries and the fact that Zimbabwean teams occasionally played in South African domestic competitions means people assume South African players will be willing to extend a hand to Zimbabwean cricketers, offer advice and give guidance. And they are. “If anybody walks up and talks to any of our players, they are willing to share their experiences and contribute as much as possible,” Amla said. “The other day at practice we had a lot of the net bowlers coming to Dale and picking his brain. Not only in Zimbabwe but anywhere in the world. If any guys come through to seek some sort of sharing of knowledge, then we’re definitely here to do that.”The net bowlers are mostly from Zimbabwe’s academy squad. They are youngsters who have not had a full-time coach in months and their thirst for interaction with with high-profile players is high. Amla has even encouraged them not to feel intimidated by people like Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander and to engage with them as often as they like. “When I was a younger player, you felt hesitancy, but I think the personalities we have in our team are very approachable,” he said. “You’ve got to take that step. If you never ask, you never learn.”But becoming mentors is not why South Africa are in Zimbabwe and Amla reminded both himself and others of that. “You know Zimbabweans are good cricketers. It’s not just that we are here to help. We are anticipating it to be a good contest.”For the next five days South Africa will have to keep the competition and not the camaraderie at the forefront of their minds and Amla has indicated they are more ready to get back into road warrior mode. “A win is a win. Ideally you just want to win the game, but if it happens quickly then great. We don’t want to go too much into the result of the game,” he said. “It has been a salient feature of this team to concentrate on the stuff that we do well. We want to keep to that and not get caught up in other distractions.”

Stats highlights from the fourth ODI between India and West Indies in Dharamsala

Bishen Jeswant17-Oct-201420 Number of ODI hundreds scored by Virat Kohli. This is the third highest by an Indian batsman, after Sachin Tendulkar (49) and Saurav Ganguly (22), and the seventh highest overall.0 Number of times that West Indies have successfully chased a target of 300 or more in ODIs. They have been set such a target on 24 occasions and have lost on 23 of those instances. The only time West Indies’ won was when they were set a target of 113 in 20 overs, under the D/L method, after India had posted 309 batting first.2 Number of players who have a 50-plus average at home as well as overseas (min. 50 innings) – Virat Kohli and Michael Bevan. Kohli averages 52.79 at home and 50.83 outside India.4 Number of times that a West Indian batsman has scored two hundreds from three matches in a bilateral ODI series. The last West Indian to do this was Chris Gayle, versus Pakistan, in 2008. Across countries, the only player to score three hundreds from three matches in a bilateral ODI series is Quinton de Kock, versus India, in 2013.138 Number of runs posted by Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli for the third wicket. This is India’s highest third-wicket partnership against West Indies in ODIs.254 Number of runs scored by Marlon Samuels in this ODI series. This is the third highest by a West Indian batsman in a bilateral series of three matches. This is only the 18th instance of a batsman scoring 250 runs in an ODI series under the said conditions.15 Number of opening partnerships worth 50-plus runs for India over the last two years – the most for any team. England, with 14 such partnerships, are next best.20 Number of years since all of India’s top-four batsmen made 35-plus scores in an ODI against West Indies. The last instance was in November 1994, at Vishakhapatnam.22 Number of runs conceded by Ravindra Jadeja in the 26th over of West Indies’ innings, the most expensive of his ODI career. He conceded 80 runs overall, making it his most expensive ODI figures.80 Number of times that India have made 300-plus runs in an ODI – more than any other team. However, India’s win percentage of 80 in such games is not among the best. Six of the top ten ODI teams have a better win percentage than India when they score 300-plus runs in an ODI. The only teams with a worse win percentage in such games are England, New Zealand and West Indies.57 Runs scored by Andre Russell and Marlon Samuels for the seventh wicket today. This was the first time that West Indies have posted 50-plus runs for the seventh wicket against India, in India. Across geographies, this is West Indies’ second highest seventh wicket partnership versus India in ODIs. The 46 runs that Russell scored during this partnership is the second highest by a West Indian batsman batting at No. 8 or below, against India, in India.

He was India’s best player in England, but how would he cope with Australian conditions when the Kookaburra ball fails to swing? Sydney showed he wasn’t able to

Sidharth Monga at the SCG07-Jan-2015Bhuvneshwar Kumar was India’s conscience on the tour of England. Not only was he their best player of the tour, he was their spirit, their fight, their pride even when others capitulated towards the end. Only in The Oval Test did he play a loose shot to get out. Yet there were question marks over whether he would be in the Test XI in Australia because the ball doesn’t seam much. Or swing, it is mysterious.Nobody has ever figured out a fool-proof cause-and-effect relationship with regards to swing. When suggested that Bhuvneshwar might not be effective in Australia because of his low pace and no seam movement, former India captain Rahul Dravid said, before the start of the series, “He swings the ball, boss.” If a cricket ball is going to swing, you can trust Bhuvneshwar to do it.Only the Kookaburra swings the least of the three cricket balls used in Tests, SG in India and Duke in England. And if selected for a match this series, it would have been Bhuvneshwar’s first with the Kookaburra. In Adelaide, the team was spared an uncomfortable decision: do you play your best player from the previous series despite conditions not being conducive to his type of bowling? Bhuvneshwar was injured, and India had no choice. Given the inconsistency of the attack, though, by the time India reached Brisbane they became desperate to get him fit. He bowled in the nets before the MCG Test, but was not match fit.There was much anticipation around Bhuvneshwar when he was finally picked for Sydney. There was trepidation too. His ankle was strapped and he hadn’t quite gone all out in the nets on the day before, or at least that’s how it seemed. The bigger question, though, was what if it doesn’t swing? In this series no bowler has been able to swing the ball conventionally apart from the odd one here or there. What would Bhuvneshwar fall back on when there is no swing?It was apparent soon enough that there was no swing. Or seam. Or variable bounce. The pace soon dropped. The keeper began to stand up to the stumps. Bhuvneshwar even got some treatment on his ankle in the final session of the day. On day two he regularly bowled around 120kmph. When Ryan Harris smacked him around he had to wait and wait – he could have signed a few copies of his newly released book – and wait for the ball to arrive.As usual the areas he bowled was immaculate. If Mohammed Shami starts to bowl those areas he will be a real mean Test bowler. Yet there was no pace or movement. ESPNcricinfo’s graphs have yellow balls for speeds between 55mph and 80mph, and orange ones for 80 to 85. The orange ball is ideally where Bhuvneshwar wants to be. He has them only for left-hand batsmen, who were the openers. By the time he came back for later spells Bhuvneshwar had ceased being a factor, bowling only two balls that breached the yellow zone. You are not going to be a threat at Test level if you don’t do anything with the ball, and hardly bowl 130kmph. At least he didn’t go at four an over.Yellow fever: Bhuvneshwar Kumar barely got past 80mph•ESPNcricinfoThe pitch was so flat the India attack would have conceded 500 regardless. When there is no encouragement from the pitch and when the batsmen are running rampant, it is difficult to keep bowling with the same intensity as when you were successful. Yet you can’t help but wonder if India had been a bit too desperate, rushing him back to Test cricket, with not much cricket under his belt. MS Dhoni had said before the last Test that he was fit for a one-day international, but not quite up to Test-match fitness. Now with Ishant Sharma, too, injured, India possibly fell for the need for experience and got Bhuvneshwar in prematurely. This is only the third time in his career that Bhuvneshwar has bowled at least 10 overs in an innings, and has gone wicketless.The India camp won’t have any of it, though. Shami said at the end of the day’s play that there was no way Bhuvneshwar would have been picked had he not been a 100% fit, and that his fitness shouldn’t be judged based on his pace. What about the treatment he received on the sidelines when the play was on? Was it possible he worsened his ankle during the game? Shami said those were just running repairs.Don’t take India’s words on players’ fitness, though. A day after BCCI sources had ruled Bhuvneshwar out for at least the first two Tests, but on the eve of the match in Adelaide, then stand-in captain Virat Kohli said there was nothing wrong with Bhuvneshwar and that he was available for selection for Adelaide. Go figure.

Samit Patel on better cheerleaders and other ways to improve the game

Interview by Jack Wilson24-Jan-2015You are given the task of making T20 in England better. What is the first thing you would do?
Get fit cheerleaders to the games.The Nottinghamshire squad has an arm-wrestling contest. Who wins?
Luke Fletcher.And who loses?
Chris Read.Which umpire has the best banter?
There’s a few. I’ll go with two: Peter Willey and Ian Gould.Which of your team-mates – past or present – had the worst hygiene?
Oh man, Will Jefferson. He was very, very bad.And who has the worst taste in music?
Chris Read. He listens to rubbish.Who is the best captain you have played under?
Stephen Fleming. He was tactically and mentally strong. He had a lot of nous.Who is the worst runner between the wickets?
Me.If you could change one thing in cricket, what would it be?
For there to be no warm-ups.Are you a walker?
No.Which cricketing souvenir do you treasure?
My current bat.If you could spend a day as another sportsman, who would it be?
Tiger Woods. The man is a legend.You are stuck in an airport. What would you do to kill time?
Get a foot massage.A book is written about you. What would it be called?
.What is the most important thing a hotel room should have?
Wi-Fi.Who is the best character you have played cricket with?
Mark Ealham. He’s just very, very funny.What is the wittiest thing someone in the crowd has shouted at you?
“Stand up.”What are the wisest words of advice you have heard?
Always look up, never look down.How often do your friends ask you for free tickets to games?
Every game.If your house was on fire what would you grab first?
My wallet.