The 121 against West Indies showcased something important in his pursuit of greatness

Alagappan Muthu22-Jul-20231:17

Dasgupta: Kohli wants to prove certain things to himself

Virat Kohli blah blah. Intent blah blah blah. Control blah blah. Legend blah blah blah. Words only go so far. Actually, wait… Yeah, it’s possible if you tie all the web pages and column inches, tweets, reels and various painted messages on various human bodies together, you could make a walkway that reaches Mars. The man has been the ultimate muse for 14 years – 15 this August – and 500 games.Brash and loud in 2008. Cool and confident in 2012. Broken and unsure in 2014. Walking talking vindication, also in 2014. Then, for the longest time, perfectionSeventy-six international hundreds. The easy gag is to say it’s 2x Viv Richards or 3x VVS Laxman. But that’s basically because he has played a lot more innings. And there’s the actual rub. He became too good to ever be dropped; often he was too good to even be injured. His fitness is as crucial to his longevity as his form.Related

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All that combined with this era, where cricket’s cup has runneth over, has given Kohli plenty of chances to influence history, considerably more than all the legends from the past. Of course, by the same token, hundreds of bowlers from every corner of the world could have also reduced him to a footnote. It was a 50-50 battle.Kohli tipped the odds in his favour with his focus. The game gets his juices flowing. The desire to win pushes him further. And soon enough he is in the zone. Or to use a term that is common among gamers, the flow state. It denotes a period where you function at 100. The challenge heightens your senses. The information they send up to the brain is processed quicker and as a result every move you make is the right one and you keep making them over and over again.Hobart 2012. Mohali 2016. Perth 2018. Birmingham 2018. Melbourne 2022. Kohli’s flow state has spanned a decade, minus the Covid years. And while everything feels amazing when you’re in the middle of this high, the moment you lose it, your whole life goes for a toss and it’s all you can do to try and get it back.Kohli, for example, began “faking his intensity.” It didn’t work. So he has started paring his game back. Sacrificing the pretty cover drive that fetch him four runs for the leave that ensure he stays at the crease. Karthik Krishnaswamy wrote a brilliant piece in the aftermath of the first Test about how a lot of his big runs now are coming at a slower pace. This is perhaps because he has figured out how to do well whether he is switched all the way on or just half the way on; how to work within the limitations he is all of a sudden having to deal with.The century in Port-of-Spain wasn’t quite the same as the half-century in Dominica. He middled 94% of the balls he faced and came away with a strike rate close to 60. But this wasn’t flow state Kohli. Honestly, the coolest thing he did – until the second morning at Queen’s Park Oval when his shots alone seemed immune to the horribly slow outfield – was the running between the wickets. The stump mic even caught him saying “been stealing doubles since 2012”.And yet, these runs have offered India the platform to push for an away win. Also, unlike on the first day, when the cameraman had to prod a section of the crowd to yell and clap – that had to be the most celebrated legbye in the history of Test cricket – they brought authentic joy. The square drive that took Kohli to his century had the dressing room up on its feet and the crowd dancing in the aisles. He had been hinting at three-figures for almost the entire length of the innings even though a lot of it was hard graft, and that on its own was a triumph. This 121 – and the 76 in the previous match – probably won’t make his career highlights but they must have reinforced a truth. Even at less than 100, he is scary good. He doesn’t need the flow. He never has to chase it ever again.

There was music, fireworks and top-notch on-field action as a sell-out crowd braved the searing heat, with MLC making a grand debut

Peter Della Penna14-Jul-2023The sun began to set behind the luxury suites on the west side of the Grand Prairie Stadium on Thursday night, to the sound of 2000 yellow whistles handed out to fans coming through the gates. Members of the Grand Prairie fire and police departments began to take the south side of the field, opposite the Texas Super Kings (TSK) and LA Knight Riders (LAKR) squads lined up on the north.Moments later, a Texas-sized American flag was unfurled by Grand Prairie’s first responders ahead of a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, as the sound of cricket married the sights of American sporting pageantry. The first night of Major League Cricket (MLC) was here.”The American flag, I think was massive. It was half the field,” said TSK’s David Miller in the post-match press conference, when asked what he’ll remember most on a night where he was named Player of the Match for a 42-ball 61 in his team’s 69-run win over LAKR. “We’ll look back on this day one day and there was a lot to it. Just taking in everything and being really welcomed and really loved. Probably the win was to top it off.”Related

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As the first responders and colour guard left the field before the first ball, there was still a bit of uncertainty as to how the night would unfold. In terms of on-the-field historic firsts, USA star and Texas local Ali Khan had the distinction of bowling the MLC’s first ball. It was something that team-mate Andre Russell said afterward was a conscious decision by a team leadership cognizant of the historical significance of the moment.But as Ali charged in from the southern end, the stadium was half empty. On a night billed as a sellout for the last week, there was a slightly peculiar vibe. That got slightly more awkward when the very partisan Texas crowd saw their captain and birthday boy Faf du Plessis caught driving the first ball of the second over from Lockie Ferguson straight to extra cover, a moment that silenced most of the whistles temporarily.”Oh, my God! Faf got out first ball?!” shouted Ruhaan Oberoi, a 12-year-old from Dallas who is part of the MLC-affiliated Mustangs Academy. Oberoi was there with his sister Alisha, 15, as well as mom Jess and dad Ankit. He was decked out in a new TSK “Whistle for Texas” t-shirt, one among a number of promo giveaways on the night, along with yellow flags as well as TSK bucket hats emblazoned with “GO. BIG. TEXAS.””Some guy I’ve never heard of is coming in,” Oberoi said of Texas No. 3 Lahiru Milantha, who was one of the highest domestic scorers in the 2022 Minor League Cricket tournament, the local feeder competition for MLC. “So… that’s good… I’m supporting CSK today.” A few seconds later, someone nearby reminded him that it was TSK on the field, not CSK. Most of the fans interviewed at the final training day in Grand Prairie who came for a glimpse of du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo identified themselves as fans of the Chennai parent franchise. Autograph and selfie seekers of the local American players were in far less demand.It was fitting that Ali Khan, a USA star and Texas local, bowled the first ball in MLC history•SportzpicsSoon after du Plessis got out, Milantha gave Oberoi and others a reason to follow him a bit more closely as he flicked the first six of the tournament into the stands. The moment popped literally and figuratively as fireworks burst into the sky behind the Race Track End, as fans continued to steadily trickle in.At this stage, a few thousand were still stuck in a bottleneck at the lone entrance gate on the west side of the ground. It wasn’t just that fans were desperate to get in to watch the cricket; the temperatures near the entrance gate, with the sun bouncing off the concrete, touched 103F (39.45 degree Celcius) and felt like 115F (46.1 degree Celcius). MLC organisers and Grand Prairie Fire and Police collaborated and made the call to stop scanning ticket barcodes and let everyone inside.”Today’s experience on match day is probably the most intense, draining and fulfilling but certainly full-on day I’ve had in nearly 100 matches I’ve done,” MLC Tournament Director Justin Geale told ESPNcricinfo at the end of the night. Geale arrived in the USA three years ago, hired by MLC with a track record of operations experience at the IPL from his eight years at IMG. “We were out here until 4am last night. We had an emergency alarm drill at 5:30am. The stadium was just in time delivery and we were still bolting down seats at 3:30 in the morning.””I think from a broadcast perspective, everyone is relatively happy. It is really hot here. Logistically, we probably need to look at our entry. The lines to get in today were a bit too long and we acknowledge that. I will say the local police have been fantastic here in Grand Prairie. We can adjust. Ultimately, a good problem to have is too many people. But we don’t want too many people having a bad experience. I think overall, the feedback I’ve had has been fantastic. I think it’s a fantastic base. I pinch myself a little that we’re sitting in a ground here in Texas, in a baseball stadium, watching cricket. We’ve dressed it like you would anywhere else in the world.”Fans line up to enter the Grand Prairie Stadium•SportzpicsOnce all of the fans in the 7200-capacity venue jammed in, the noise was immense. And not just from the yellow whistles. The fans were jumping out of their seats early and often at the boundaries coming off the bats of Miller, Devon Conway and Mitchell Santner. A pair of sixes were flicked high over cow corner that landed within 20 feet of each other in the same section. A mad scramble for the ball from fans ensued, including first-time cricket watcher Jason Adams from Thibodeaux, Louisiana, a small town of 15000 people located 500 miles southeast of Grand Prairie.”I’m gettin’ that ball!” Adams replied in a thick Cajun accent when asked what was going through his mind as the first six in the sequence in the 17th over came screaming toward him off Miller’s bat. “It’s exciting for the amount of fans that they have. It reminds me of… what we used to is college football.”Adams is a season ticket-holder for LSU college football, who play at 102,000 capacity Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge and won the CFP National Championship in 2019. Like most fans to his left and right, Adams was enjoying a few beers with the action, and the only thing that could make the night better in his eyes would be Mike the Tiger, a real-life Bengal that lives in a habitat on the LSU campus as their official mascot, and of course, “we need some cheerleaders. That’s what we need!””I’m Indian-American and I never thought I’d see a Major League Cricket match in my lifetime here,” said Ashish Cheerath, from Houston, Texas, who was sitting next to Adams along with a group of friends who flew in from southern California. “It’s awesome to see the Commonwealth community in the USA – the UK community, Indians, Brits, Aussies, all together here. It reminds me of the same kind of crowd feeling of the Houston Rodeo. Everyone’s happy to be here. Everyone’s excited.”MLC Tournament Director Justin Geale (middle) mingles with some new fans in Texas•Peter Della PennaThat excitement in the first innings was capped off by a six from Dwayne Bravo, a moment which might have been almost too on the nose for any scriptwriter. It sent the fans into the biggest frenzy of the night. While the night was a special occasion for all fans, it took on special significance for coaches and players who are embedded in American cricket culture. Numerous former USA players were in attendance, such as Houston resident and former USA captain Sushil Nadkarni as well as Amer Afzaluddin and Abhimanyu Rajp, who flew in from Michigan and Los Angeles respectively, to take in the festivities.Out of all of them though, former USA captain and current USA men’s national team selector Orlando Baker, a longtime resident of Fort Worth – the sister city of Dallas in the metroplex – had a bigger grin than usual. A former Jamaica player before migrating to the USA in the early 2000s, Baker’s appreciation for everything unfolding in front of him took on greater value, knowing the struggles that players like himself have had to deal with in the USA cricket ecosystem, whether playing in front of a handful of fans or struggling to get support from the home board to fund tours. There was deep inspiration to be drawn from the way Baker, and several other USA players and local officials, continuously talked about the occasion.”Everything is big in Texas and it’s a big thing happening tonight,” Baker said. “This opens doors for a lot of kids. Kids who are in the academies, they could see where they can play at the highest level without going outside of America. I’m really happy to see something new. I just want people to come out and enjoy it and I want kids to come out and take a look and see what it’s like to play at a high level.”

The problems they’re facing – injury and key players carrying a lot of miles in their legs – have no easy solutions

Karthik Krishnaswamy15-Oct-20235:31

Finch: ‘Australia need a way to freshen up mentally and physically’

David Warner. Mitchell Marsh. Steven Smith. Glenn Maxwell. Mitchell Starc. Pat Cummins. Josh Hazlewood. They were part of Australia’s World Cup squad eight years ago; they’re still part of Australia’s World Cup squad now.No other team at the 2023 World Cup has as many survivors from 2015. India and New Zealand, with five each, come closest.And it isn’t just that Australia have seven survivors. All seven are key members of their first XI.This, in one sense, is a reflection of how good Australia were in 2015, when they won a home World Cup with barely any hiccups along the way, and of how good these seven players are. It’s possible to wonder, though, particularly after the rocky start they’ve had to their 2023 campaign, whether this level of continuity is entirely desirable. At what point does continuity turn into stasis?It’s no doubt a view coloured by recent results and the mediaperson’s tendency to hanker for shiny new things to talk about, but there’s a definite jadedness to Australia’s ODI set-up. Where some other teams – India, for instance – have torn up their ODI template and started over more than once over the last two World Cup cycles, Australia continue to play the way they’ve always played. They have an explosive line-up buttressed by a pair of busy anchors, and they trust in their best – which usually translates to Test – fast bowlers no matter what the conditions are.It’s not an unsound template, per se, but this World Cup has almost stretched it to breaking point. They’ve lost a key player who would have strengthened their top order and given them a spin option, for potentially the entire first half of their campaign; their one real wicket-taking spinner has been playing at less than full fitness; the allrounders in their middle order haven’t fired with the bat; and conditions have shortened the window in which their fast bowlers are most effective.Some of this is the kind of bad luck that could befall any team at the start of a tournament. Some of it, however, you could have seen coming from the time Australia picked their squad.Here’s the thing; Australia may have themselves seen it coming. They are probably aware that their attack is light on spin options, and that their lower middle order is filled with players who are either going through lean patches in ODIs, unproven in the format, or coming back from injury. It isn’t out of obstinacy, though, that they’ve backed this set of players and this way of playing.3:01

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They’ve done it because they don’t have easy solutions to their problems. Take their lack of spin options. The bowlers who could have conceivably played the second specialist spinner’s role are either injured (Ashton Agar), lack match practice since returning from injury (Nathan Lyon), or lack ODI experience (Tanveer Sangha, Todd Murphy, Matt Kuhnemann, Mitchell Swepson and so forth).That third category, which also includes a number of batters and fast bowlers who’ve been on the fringes of this Australia side, speaks to a larger problem. It’s an Australia problem, but it affects enough teams for it to be an ODI problem in a wider sense. A number of teams simply haven’t played enough ODI cricket in the lead-up to this World Cup to be able to build a proper pool of players.Australia exemplify this issue. They played 44 ODIs between the 2019 World Cup and this one, as compared to 76 between 2015 and 2019.The fewer games you play in the lead-up to a major tournament, the harder it is to balance the conflicting aims of giving regulars game-time and testing out new faces. You can do one or the other, at best, and Australia chose to prioritise the former. Only 16 of their players played 10 or more ODIs between the 2019 and 2023 World Cups, of whom 14 are part of their squad in India. The other two are Agar, who missed out due to injury, and Aaron Finch, their retired ex-captain. Josh Inglis, who played eight ODIs between World Cups, is the only member of their squad from outside this group of 16.You can see why Australia stuck with the tried and tested, even if there was a growing sense of tired and tested about it.There’s another kind of tiredness in the mix too, the tiredness of the all-format player. Nine members of this World Cup squad were part of Australia’s Test tour of India earlier this year, and 11 were in England for the World Test Championship final and the Ashes. Seven were involved in the IPL. Three players featured in all the above assignments, of whom Hazlewood and Warner had what they may now believe to be the good fortune of leaving the India tour with injury. The other member of this trio, Cameron Green, has only spent two weeks at home, approximately, since boarding the flight to India on January 31.This World Cup is a long one, forgiving to teams that get off to slow starts. Australia are by no means out of contention for the semi-finals just yet, but no matter how their tournament goes from here, they’ll be utterly exhausted when it’s done.

The United head coach speaks about the importance of being flexible, their numbers-driven approach and more

Danyal Rasool09-Mar-2024Islamabad United had one idea, and licked the bottom of the glass with it before any other side had the chance to sit down for a drink. It comprised a strong, young local core combined with an overseas top order that filled in the power-hitting gaps that existed in Pakistan at the time. They used data analytics to tease out the best match-ups against each opposition, creating an internal flexibility that meant they adapted to live in-match situations more effectively than any other side.They batted deep, fostered a culture where there were no recriminations for erring on the side of belligerence. They would occasionally crash and burn, but for the most part, sizzled, and at that bubbling best, there wasn’t a PSL side in the land that could live with them. In Pakistan, where the stale, conservative ideas that dominated had seen them being dumped out of the 2016 T20 World Cup, such ideas were little short of revolutionary.Mike Hesson, then coach of New Zealand, watched from afar, but he had his eye on this side. “I’ve got a bit of a link to Islamabad United back to when Dean Jones was coach,” he tells ESPNcricinfo, sitting in the lobby of the Pearl Continental Hotel in Lahore. “I worked with Deano a lot at Star [Sports] when he was setting up the franchise from an original perspective. So I remember having coffee dates with Deano and talking through strategy, getting up to the initial drafts around Islamabad and looking at players like Shadab [Khan] and Faheem [Ashraf]. So I had a bit of inside knowledge into Islamabad and how they operated, and into Deano with his little red book.”Related

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Hesson was highly regarded at the time, but it wasn’t until this year that the chance to be more involved with the PSL sprung about. A four-year stint with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL ended, and the New Zealander was on the market once again. United’s owner Ali Naqvi had a very short shortlist for head coach, and his name was at the top of it.”When Ali rung up, I was certainly very interested in talking further,” Hesson says. “They were talking to other people, so I just displayed my interest, and a week or so later we had another chat and then we agreed terms. And both of us were pretty happy to get stuck into it because it was a pretty quick turnaround.”United had swept to the title in two of the first three seasons, winning the battle of ideas so comprehensively every franchise serious about winning had little choice but to fall in line behind that. United had given the PSL the DNA for success, but DNA is great at printing out copies of itself to survive, and soon enough, mini-Uniteds proliferated across the league.

“For some players, [data] helps them and it gives them information that they want to get. There are others for whom it just clouds their judgment. It’s a matter of understanding the player rather than giving everybody the same information.”Mike Hesson

Hesson has not necessarily been sought because the franchise is in crisis, but there is no doubt its heyday of imperious dominance has long passed. Every side bar one has won the title since United’s last win in 2018, and this is the only team not to have reached any of the last five finals.”Oh, I just think competition [explains the results of recent seasons]” Hesson says matter-of-factly. “Any competition as it evolves, you’ve got to move with the times as well. The competition is tight and you can’t take anything for granted. And I think that’s what a good league is about.”Multan Sultans, who unashamedly took their data-driven blueprint from United, have surpassed them to become the most consistent winning machine in the league, their win-loss ratio of 1.43 is the eighth best among teams in top T20 leagues (min 50 matches). By contrast, United’s plan of going hard – and if that doesn’t work, going harder – suddenly appears to lack the brash ingenuity the franchise oozed in its early years. Their win-loss ratio since their last title epitomises the hit-and-miss nature supporters have come to associate with them – 32 wins and 32 losses.Hesson doesn’t have a complete overhaul on his mind, but a coach of his stature doesn’t come into any side and let things drift. “I think United have, through my discussions with Ali [Naqvi, the owner], clearly recognised that we need to adapt a little bit. A lot of the things that Islamabad have been doing have been great, but we still need to tweak a few areas as well. And that’s part of my job, to come in and identify what’s worked really well and the areas that haven’t how can we just tweak those slightly. It’s about being a little bit smarter to give us more ways of winning games rather than just one.Islamabad United last won the trophy in 2018•AFP”Our slogan is , isn’t it”, he says, turning to the media manager to ensure he’s got the pronunciation right. “To me that means playing smart, and that’s one of my philosophies. It’s all very well if conditions suit to be able to play that way that you referred to [attacking from first ball to last]. And we’ve got a lot of players who can play expansive cricket and if conditions suit, absolutely we want to play that way.”But there are some times you need to modify that slightly. And it might not mean be cautious in the powerplay because we might actually be in a pretty good position in the powerplay [to attack], and it might not even be in the middle overs. All it is, is being able to adapt your skills to those conditions. And that’s about problem solving.”The almost stubborn rigidity to one gameplan has cost United at crucial times over the years. Earlier this season, they needed 21 runs in 13 balls against Peshawar Zalmi with seven wickets in hand, before a slew of ill-judged shots saw them lose five wickets in seven balls, and the match by eight runs. In a famous Eliminator in 2022 against Lahore Qalandars, they lost their heads in a chase that boiled down to 10 runs off as many balls, with tailenders refusing singles and playing low-percentage swings as the Qalandars stole a six-run win.Islamabad United like to go hard, and failing that, go harder•PCBUnited have almost made a virtue of insisting data plays a significant role in the way they set up for games. Captain Shadab Khan is a huge believer, having bought wholesale into the strategy ever since being appointed captain in 2019, and, especially in his early years, mentioned it at almost every opportunity. Hesson, who calls Shadab “a very fine captain” and isn’t bashful of highlighting the crucial role of the edge attention to data can give a T20 side, says there is more to data than just knowing numbers.”I always want context to be surrounded by data,” he says. “Data is no good unless it’s got some context around it. You need to have some cricket nous to be able to interpret what data is important and what is just data. Also, who in your group can benefit from getting some of the information? We’re lucky we’ve got Cricviz with us with us who have a really good understanding of not just the data, but what actually makes a difference to a game. We’ve also got a coaching staff that can identify that and then probably share it with those that can understand it, and interpret it so it makes them better. That’s the whole idea of using data is to try and make a side more efficient.”From a scouting perspective as a bowler, you’ve got to be aware of what your strengths are first. And then if there are some clear deficiencies in your position, you can exploit that by doing things that you do well. No one’s providing data to try and say you have to bowl a delivery or do something you’re not capable of doing.”But while Hesson’s deconstruction of the value of such numbers can essentially be described as well-researched analysis, the word itself – perhaps like Bazball – is in danger of being lost to the culture wars in Pakistan. Qalandars, who have often been described as an “anti-data” side, and at times even proudly embraced that sobriquet, were something of a laughing stock in the first four years of the PSL, when United scooped up title after title.In the last four years, though, they made three finals, without necessarily leaning into the numerically academic side of T20 cricket; there is no reference to data when the Qalandars players and staff talk about their consecutive titles in 2022 and 2023. With Shadab’s enthusiastic buy-in to the concept, contrasted with several players’ dismissal, if not outright hostility, of it, the numbers themselves have become an emotive talking point within the PSL.”I think some players are far more interested in data than others,” Hesson concedes. But I don’t think it’s resistance [from others]. For some players, it helps them and it gives them information that they want to get. There are others for whom it just clouds their judgment. It’s a matter of understanding the player rather than giving everybody the same information.Islamabad United enjoyed significant early successes•Pakistan Super League”When we have those discussions and we share that data with players, we have to have it in a way where it actually applies to these guys. Otherwise, we won’t share it. It’s our job to understand it and see what’s usable. And if there’s something that’s just a little bit grey and not really definitive, then it’s not worth sharing. Knowing that someone scoops, or that someone can reverse lap, knowing when someone’s under pressure they come down the wicket straight, is important information to have. So when we know that we share it.”Hesson is also eager to break United’s historic dependence on needing to bowl first to win games. No other side’s results in the PSL have as deep a correlation between success and chasing totals – United have 14 wins and 24 losses when batting first, as opposed to 33 wins and 16 defeats when hunting down a target. As you’d expect for a numbers-oriented side, they are perfectly aware of this; just four times in 45 matches have they won a toss and opted to bat first. So far this season, though, their record is more balanced: two wins and two losses when batting first, and exactly the same chasing.”This year is quite different than the last few years” Hesson, who followed the PSL even when he wasn’t involved, says. “In previous years, United have been stacked from a batting perspective and probably haven’t had the depth of bowling. Here, we’ve almost defended scores around 140. So from a bowling point of view, it’s been exceptional. From the batting point of view, we’ve had one middle phase and one finishing phase with the bat where we were quite poor, and those are probably the difference in very close games. You do either one of those phases half well, and you potentially win by 10 or 15. We know those things are within our control. So I think we a far better balanced side in terms of bat and ball than potentially we’ve had in the past.”But Hesson is just settling in, enjoying the PSL and is optimistic of the changes he can effect at United. He revealed he was surprised by the pitches, especially in Lahore and Multan, which were slower than they have at times been in the past. That, theoretically, isn’t what suits United’s game best, but for this franchise under Hesson, it’s a good early test of their flexibility.”It’s actually good in terms of challenging you from a skill perspective rather than just being flat. I’ve actually enjoyed that challenge, and the closeness of the competition so far. We’ve got a depth in the squad so it doesn’t really affect that. Our squad can cater for all different surfaces. I think when you do your research, in the last couple of years, the scoring rates have been incredibly high. Night games, there’s been a lot of dew. There hasn’t been a huge amount of dew other than the first game we played, and that evens the game out which I like. You don’t want games to be decided by the toss. It’s just whether we are able to play some smart cricket when we need to.”As the game evolves and as the ball softens and conditions change, it’s about being able to just instinctively know to shift gears in terms of how you operate, what your high-percentage options are and what aren’t. What is the par score now rather than what did it start at? It’s that problem solving and problem solving as a batter is so crucial. And that’s the skill we are trying to develop at Islamabad United, and. we’ve got a lot of highly experienced, highly talented players who over the next little while will show that they’re good problem solvers.”Jones’ revolution was a trailblazing success. Now it’s time to see whether Hesson’s evolution can follow in its wake.

The Madhya Pradesh batter has a reputation for scoring tough runs, and is fresh off a century against England Lions

Shashank Kishore24-Jan-2024Since 2000, only six Indians have made their Test debut after turning 30. Rajat Patidar could be the seventh, and only the second specialist batter after Suryakumar Yadav, if he earns his Test cap during the series against England beginning in Hyderabad on Thursday.Called up late as a replacement for Virat Kohli in the squad, Patidar has grown up batting at Nos. 3 and 4 for Madhya Pradesh for much of his first-class career. His numbers in red-ball cricket are impressive: 4000 runs in 93 innings at an average of 45.97, with 12 centuries and 22 half-centuries. Over nine years of domestic cricket, he has gained a reputation of being a batter for tough surfaces.Patidar’s composure has impressed Chandrakant Pandit, the Madhya Pradesh coach. Pandit’s old-school coaching methods have often divided opinion, even though he’s produced results, but for someone as hard-nosed as Pandit to say he simply let Patidar be speaks volumes about the player’s maturity.”Before every game, I have a whiteboard where I list out strengths and weaknesses of every batter and what I feel they need to work at the nets,” Pandit had once said. “While going through this at our meeting, one of the players innocently remarked, ‘Sir you’ve missed out Rajat’s name’. I told him, ‘ (let it be, he will manage. I’m not worried about him)’.”Related

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Patidar was sidelined for much of 2023 because of an Achilles injury that required surgery in London and wondered if he’d missed his big chance. Now, his career graph has surged to an unprecedented high, having made his ODI debut in South Africa in December.Last week, Patidar made 151 off 158 balls in India A’s innings of 227 in the first unofficial Test against England Lions in Ahmedabad. Before that, he smashed 111 in a two-day fixture against the same opponents. This wasn’t him trying his hand at Bazball.It is just who Patidar is. For him, batting is all about the “feel”.”I don’t judge myself on performance,” he had told ESPNcricinfo after helping Madhya Pradesh win their maiden Ranji Trophy title in June 2022. “I need to get that batting feel – the shots are good, the balance is there, the head is in the right position – till I don’t get that feel I don’t feel I’m in good form. Obviously it’s every batter’s job to score runs, but for me, if I feel good about my batting the runs come automatically.”Rajat Patidar made his ODI debut against South Africa in December•Gallo ImagesAnother strength of Patidar is his ability to deal with setbacks. Four days after finding no takers at the IPL 2022 auction, he began the 2021-22 Ranji season with twin fifties on a rank turner against Gujarat to help Madhya Pradesh win despite conceding a first-innings lead. The crunched nature of the group stages – thanks to the effects of Covid-19 – meant each team had just three matches and every one was crucial. Patidar scored 335 runs in four innings at an average of 83.75.Patidar was in the middle of planning his wedding in May when he got a call from Mike Hesson to join Royal Challengers Bangalore as an injury replacement. Within 24 hours of the call, he had postponed his wedding and was on the plane to IPL 2022, where he became the first uncapped Indian to hit a century in a playoff game.That knock at Eden Gardens against Lucknow Super Giants was followed by a half-century in Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals. He finished that IPL season with 333 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 152.50. A week after that breakthrough IPL century, Patidar was playing for Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy knockouts, hitting 323 runs at 80.75, including a match-winning hundred in the final against Mumbai.He had scored nearly 1000 runs across formats over three months and passed 50 in every knockout game he played. It was around then that his reputation of being a big-match player gathered momentum.”He’s a class player, a superb touch player,” Amol Muzumdar, who was Mumbai’s coach in that final, had said. “His bat flow was really good. I enjoyed… I mean didn’t ‘enjoy’ enjoy it, but loved the way he approaches batting. It’s clean. He’s a good player and I’d like to congratulate him for getting a Ranji Trophy final hundred. Not many achieve that.”Patidar made his India A debut later that year, against New Zealand A at home, and hit two hundreds in three red-ball games. Those performances have been the springboard to where he is today.Rajat Patidar is the only uncapped Indian to score a hundred in an IPL playoff game•BCCIIt’s a landmark moment in the life of someone who had wanted to be a fast bowler, but a lack of opportunities – he didn’t play age-group cricket for Madhya Pradesh until 18 – meant he had to try and do something different. He switched to offspin, “basically to do anything to find a place in junior cricket.” But when an anterior cruciate ligament injury forced him to rethink his choice of discipline, he turned to batting after working with Amay Khurasiya, the former India batter and MP captain.Patidar marked his first-class debut with a hundred against Baroda. He followed that with another century on a rank-turner in Gwalior, where offspinner Jalaj Saxena took the second-best figures in Ranji Trophy history to win Madhya Pradesh the game inside three days.Patidar made 113 off just 131 balls in that game, a knock he rates as among his best. “It was turning square, so you could either survive or look to score quickly,” he had said. “I thought while I’m in it, I should take the game forward and score runs. It’s not like I didn’t trust my defence, but the situation demanded that I look to be positive. Everything clicked.”With Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and a wicketkeeper likely to form India’s middle order in the first Test against England in Hyderabad, Patidar might have to wait for his opportunity. But should the need arise, India can call on a seasoned 30-year old who’s played high-pressure innings in tough spin-friendly conditions.

An extract from the West Indies legend’s new book looks back at their eventful tour of England in 1991 – where he was under the steely gaze of Viv Richards

Brian Lara15-Jul-2024I was fascinated by players who could play pace, and I’m talking real, serious pace. I knew how difficult it was to face our guys. I’d faced them in the nets and played against them in the Caribbean, so I knew what batters were up against. I would always look out for the best players of pace and study their movements, because any batter who defied the West Indies was worthy of fascination.What Graham Gooch did at Headingley in that first Test match was a lesson in batsmanship. It was incredible. My mind was so young, so inexperienced in my learnings about the game. I’d played a lot of first-class cricket but this was different, this was levels up.I was struck that Gooch was dominating in his late thirties more than in the early part of his career.What had he learned? That innings in Leeds, 154 not out to carry his bat, was the result of all the experience he had gained over the years, and I’d yet to find myself. I remember thinking: this is the level. I wanted to spend some time with him, to pick his brains. I wasn’t upset that he scored those runs. Disappointed that we lost, sure. But in awe of what I’d seen. No one else scored a hundred or got close to it, only Viv (Richards) really stood up for us with the bat with 70-odd in the first innings.Something else from that Test match. There was a lot of talk in our dressing room about Devon Malcolm and Phil DeFreitas, these two West Indians opening the bowling for England. Back then I felt there was this need to show West Indian fast bowlers coming up against us that the only team they could make was the one they were in.It wasn’t disrespect, but it wasn’t far off. It didn’t work in that match. DeFreitas picked up eight wickets and Malcolm bowled fast. For us, it was our first loss in England since the ’70s.

I was struck that Gooch was dominating in his late thirties more than in the early part of his career. That innings at Leeds, 154 not out to carry his bat, was the result of all the experience he had gained over the years

So this is where I was. After that first Test defeat, I went into the zone of thinking that there is an opportunity here. Brian, man, you’ve gotta score runs. It doesn’t matter what happens in the match, whether we win or draw, they’re practice games, and there’s maybe three, four innings before the Lord’s Test and I’ll be on trial in every one of them. I got myself into that way of thinking.And what happened? I couldn’t score a run. Back-to-back failures. I couldn’t understand it. I was focused, sure, but I was nervous, too uptight. My feet wouldn’t move properly and I couldn’t time the ball. That was me done. Three low scores and that was me out of Lord’s. Don’t even think about it.Yet still I couldn’t shake it, I was so confused. I wasn’t doing the business to even be , and it hurt. My brain was working overtime, overthinking, tying myself up with all these ideas. My tour was hanging by a thread.

****

When I think back to that Lord’s match I see the class of Carl Hooper. Man, what a player. The ease in which he batted brought out a kind of awe in us, and in all of us, even the senior players. You felt that when Carl went out to bat, they enjoyed it – Haynes, Richards, Greenidge, all these guys would stop what they were doing just to watch him.He was so talented, yet he didn’t understand just how good he was. People would ask why he didn’t do full justice to his brilliance, and you know what, there is no clear reason for it. But I will say this: Viv used to make me cry every three weeks, but he would make Carl cry once a week. Viv’s tone of voice is intimidating and if you’re not strong enough, you can take that personally and be affected by it. Me, I was never really affected by it. In a way I welcomed it, because I was so much under his arm that I knew abuse was coming and I was a strong personality. Carl? I know for a fact that Carl shied away from Viv Richards.I don’t think Viv wilfully intimidated you. It was just his make-up. He’s not a bully. Viv Richards is not a bully. But Viv has a very strong personality. He’s a very aggressive person who dealt with most things that way. If we had a team meeting, he would inspire. He would back his players forever. He would talk in such a way that it left a mark on you. Even now, he’s not a soft person. Maybe he has a soft side, but a soft person?No, Hooper, no cry: Carl Hooper often found himself at the sharp end of Viv Richards’ tongue•Getty ImagesPut it this way. Viv was Viv, with everything that went with it, at all times. I was on his tail all the time so I might have received more tongue lashings than most, but it never affected me badly because I knew that what he was talking about was what West Indies cricket needed to hear. If you sift out all the toughness and the so-called arrogance and listen to what he’s really saying, he means well for West Indies cricket. Sure we had a couple of run-ins, especially later when I was captain and he was selector, but I think I stood up to him most of the time.A lot of players wouldn’t dare admit they didn’t like Viv Richards, or that they felt intimidated by him. I would say that I love Viv Richards and he did try to intimidate me but never succeeded. I have seen with my own eyes big men brought to tears, including me, under the wrath of the King.Now listen, it needs to be said that Viv Richards never cried down on a person because he didn’t want them to be great like him. His sternness was who he was, but he never wanted you not to do well. It was just how he was. And look, Viv loved Carl. Much more than he loved me, that’s for sure. But the way Viv shows love didn’t resonate with Carl.Carl was easily one of the best players I’ve ever seen. I would say that not even Tendulkar and myself would come close to that talent. Separate Carl’s career from playing to captaining and his numbers are very different. As a captain he averaged near to 50, so he enjoyed the responsibility. It’s sad that only as a captain did he fulfil his true potential.That week at Lord’s, there was a lot going on. After Carl’s hundred, we were in the field and at the end of play Viv called a team meeting. He sat us all down and went round to the bowlers.”Curtly, big man, good effort, keep working hard.””Maco, soldier.””Young Allen. Good effort, young man. First Test match. Impressed.” Then he pauses. “But some of us don’t wanna bowl the ball.”So Courtney Walsh starts getting emotional and he’s stood up and shouted, “Manager, give me my ticket.”Lance says to him, “Why, what happened?”And Courtney says, “What you mean, what happened? The man calls everybody else and I ain’t called and now he says some of us don’t wanna bowl the ball. He must be talking to me!”

A lot of players wouldn’t dare admit they didn’t like Viv Richards, or that they felt intimidated by him. I would say that I love Viv Richards and he did try to intimidate me but never succeeded

Lance has to try and talk Courtney down, but Viv won’t shift. Eventually our reserve keeper David Williams, who’s very religious, got us all to put our hands on each other’s shoulders and he said a prayer. That seemed to do the trick, but it was that kind of mood.With Viv, he doesn’t understand if he’s hurting someone or not. The match was a wet one and I remember at one point the players came off the field for rain. I was making sure that as the guy on the bench, everybody’s comfortable. You help the fast bowlers with their boots, knocking the turf off the soles, and you go to the captain and vice-captain with any requests. They’re your focus. I did that job as professionally as I could. I remember taking Ambrose and Marshall’s boots and cleaning them up as best I could, and taking their wet tops to the dryer.Lunch was called, and after doing all that and preparing the lunches for the senior men to have downstairs, I went back upstairs to see the legendary Nancy, who dished up the Lord’s lunches, for my own plate. So I’m up there in the line, waiting for my lunch, and Viv looks at me and says, “What are you doing?” I say to him that I’m queuing for my lunch, and that his lunch and the other lunches are all prepared downstairs, where he likes to eat.”Put that plate down,” he says. “I want you to go for a run.”So I have to go out and run around the Lord’s outfield for 15 minutes, until the umpires are heading out again, at which point I have to run back in and change into my whites to prepare for any eventualities as 12th man! Man, I was hungry that day.Same Test match, I broke the curfew.

****

So there was this soca party happening in Brixton. I understood how to play it. Even if you go out through the front door at 8pm, you’ve got to know where the fire exit is on the way back. I overstayed past the midnight curfew because the party was going so great, and you know, I come back in about 2am via the back door and crawl into the room I’m sharing with Malcolm Marshall and quietly into my bed.The next day or two, things aren’t going great. The tour manager is talking about guys disturbing their room-mates and stuff like that, but I didn’t remember Malcolm stirring or getting up, so I didn’t think too much more of it. And look, trust me, I’m not the only person in that team breaking the curfew.The 1991 tour of England was also Viv Richards’ final Test series•Claire Mackintosh/EMPICS/Getty ImagesRain was falling at Lord’s, and I’d done all my duties. I’m slumped in my chair, dozing a little. And suddenly I’m feeling like I’m in an MRI machine, and I open my eyes and he’s right there, his face up against mine.”Did you have a late night?””No Skip, the rain is falling, so you know, and I thought the guys were okay, and, you know, it’s raining…””Okay, if the rain is falling, get yourself up and go and watch it.”I go to sit on the little balcony and watch the drizzle.A little time later, I hear Lance, the manager, who likes horse racing as I did, come running in and I can hear him saying, “Where’s Brian?” So he finds me alone on the balcony and says, “Come, come, I’ve got a horse!” But as I get back up to re-enter the room, I see Viv standing there with his towel around his waist, staring me down. I make an immediate U-turn and sit back on the bench. You see, with Viv, he knew everything.The following that the West Indies had on that tour was just amazing. Unlimited amounts of Caribbean food delivered to our hotel, London teeming with West Indians wanting to be with you. So yes, I enjoyed myself, and yes, I broke the curfew that one time.Okay, it might have been twice.But I wasn’t a reckless person who smoked or drank a lot. My eyes were open to London. You’d go down to Piccadilly Circus and you’re alive to it all. I spent a lot of time looking around London and cutting it close to the curfew, and I don’t mind that. I knew that the West Indian presence in London was very heavy, so there was always a phone call, always an offer of something. I was 22, just turned. You felt like you were right in the heart of it. The Caribbean melting pot. And then you had your travellers who would follow the team around. There was Keith the Pipe Guy, and all these characters. It was beautiful.Not so beautiful: I got fined. Twenty percent of my tour money. That late night caught up with me. I only found out after the tour was done. I had to travel to Barbados to meet with the board and I had my lawyer with me, because I was a little surprised. He said to me, “What did you do to lose money on that tour?” Turns out it was for breaking that curfew.

So I’m up there waiting for my lunch, and Viv looks at me and says, “What are you doing?” I say to him that I’m queuing for my lunch, and that his lunch and the other lunches are all prepared downstairs. “Put that plate down,” he says. “I want you to go for a run”

Man, so much went on during that tour, I had to ask who else lost 20%? There should have been a few, I can say that much. I couldn’t deny that I broke that curfew, and if 20% was the norm and the same for everyone, then fine, I deserved it. But it left a sour taste. I was a first-timer and I guess I got what was coming to me. I took it on the chin but it was hard not to feel a little more cynical by the end of it.

****

After Lord’s we drove down, Viv and me, to Hampshire, where I decided I got to be a little more aggressive. I’d been poking around and I felt I needed to free myself up and be more attacking. I walked out to bat at Hampshire and let it all go – square-cuts, drives, pulls, flicks, every shot in the book, and I was on 30-odd in no time. I look up and see David Williams running onto the field with a pair of my gloves in his hand. I haven’t asked for any gloves but there he is anyway.”What’s wrong, what you out here for?””I have a message from Viv, he says to stop batting like a millionaire.””Tell him where to go.”Fairfield BooksNow, David is from my country. We know each other pretty well. He’s already turned to head back to the pavilion and now I’m shouting back at him.”David, David! Where you going?!””Well, Brian, you’ve got a message for Viv, I’d better go tell him.””Come on, man, were you really gonna tell him that?!””Of course not, Brian. But I was sent out to send this stupid message, what choice did I have?””Okay, cool,” I say. “Just don’t tell Viv I told him where to
go, all right?”Viv wasn’t wrong. I playing a shot a ball. I’d had no runs on the tour, I felt anxious, all I could think about was, ‘What’s next?’ So I went out blazing away, perhaps out of desperation. I think, again, it’s Viv’s way. He was watching me closely, could see what I was doing, and was concerned. I think it was his way of saying, “Slow down, man, it’ll happen, it’ll happen.” I most likely wasn’t gonna get anything out of that sort of approach. A shot a ball, you might score a hundred one day, but that’s not the way to play in England. You need to grind. And it was his way of telling me that, and showing me love.Lara: The England Chronicles

Capitals plundered 53 runs off their last two overs, but Titans nearly pulled off a miracle of their own thanks to Rashid Khan

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Apr-20242:17

Aaron: Pant’s World Cup spot is pretty sealed now

Sai Kishore into the attack to bowl the 19th. A right-hander’s presence helps Gill introduce Sai. From around to Stubbs.18.1Sai Kishore to Stubbs, 1 runFull and wide of off, and he leans into pushing this to deep pointStays around to Pant18.2Sai Kishore to Pant, 1 runPant falls over, but manages to swipe this low full toss on middle and leg to fine leg18.3Sai Kishore to Stubbs, FOUR runsDrilled between long-off and deep point! Seemed like Sai went for a variation, and bowled full and wide of off. Neither fielder moved, as Stubbs thrashed that back18.4Sai Kishore to Stubbs, SIX runsJust clears deep square leg! Sai angled this in, and bowled another full toss. This one dipped on middle, but Stubbs had his front leg out of the way in swiping at that18.5Sai Kishore to Stubbs, FOUR runsFinds the gap again between long-off and deep point! He swats at this short-of-a-length ball around sixth stump, and rams that wide of long-off18.6Sai Kishore to Stubbs, SIX runsSmashed over long-on! GT were hiding Sai all this while, waiting for a right-hander to arrive, but Stubbs shows what he can do to spin. Again clears his front leg, and clubs this length ball angling into the stumps for a huge hit.Related

Pant and Axar star as Capitals cling on to win topsy-turvy thriller over Titans

It's too many runs, somebody make it stop

19.1Mohit to Pant, 2 runsWell fielded by Sai, who moves and dives to his left from deep point! He keeps it to two, as Pant looked to loft this slower ball, which was on a full length, and wide-ish of off. No pace to work with for Pant, though19.21wMohit to Pant, 1 wideBowls full, and really wide of off. Pant looked to get across pretty late, and it is called wide19.2Mohit to Pant, SIX runsGoes through Shahrukh’s hands! Some luck for Pant and DC. Shahrukh had his hands above his head and jumped a little at long-on, but the ball still breached them. Pant got another low full toss on the stumps, and he swung liberally for another six, even as it came off the lower half of the bat19.3Mohit to Pant, FOUR runsHe loses his balance, but it is four! He is Pant, after all. Reaches out for this yorker-length ball which is angling across to finish wide of off. He opens the face of the bat, though, and manages to crash it to deep backward point even as he falls on his knee19.4Mohit to Pant, SIX runsAlmost a no-look six! He swivels to pull, and the ball is over fine leg even before he has swivelled entirely. Mohit followed a yorker with a bouncer arriving on middle, and Pant hooked powerfully19.5Mohit to Pant, SIX runsAnother full toss… and another huge six! This goes a long way up into the sky before landing beyond the long-on boundary. Mohit went back to going for the yorker, but Pant is standing outside of his crease. Pant swings incredibly well for another six19.6Mohit to Pant, SIX runsFinishes off in style! Creamed over deep square leg! The last over gives DC 31 runs. Mohit went on the shorter side of a length around off, and Pant swivelled again to slam that just past the boundaryRishabh Pant hammered four sixes in the last over•AFP/Getty Images18.1Rasikh Salam to Rashid Khan, 1 wideFullish length, and pretty wide of off. Left alone, and wide called18.1Rasikh Salam to Rashid Khan, FOUR runsSwung away between the keeper and short fine! It was a low, dipping full toss which finished on his pads, and Rashid almost took his eyes off in swinging at that18.2Rasikh Salam to Rashid Khan, 1 runWow, what a save by Stubbs! He has saved five crucial runs at an important stage. At long-off, he leaped across to his right, and caught the ball. While realising that he was falling back, he threw the ball back. The third umpire checks replays, and sees that his right leg is well clear of the rope. Salam had bowled from back of the hand, and on a length outside off, as Rashid lofted down the groundFrom around to Sai18.3Rasikh Salam to Sai Kishore, no runFullish ball angled in outside off, and a slower ball. Sai went swinging, but missed18.4Rasikh Salam to Sai Kishore, SIX runsBashed over deep midwicket! Sai got a back-of-the-hand slower ball on a length just outside off, and Sai saw it early to swipe across the line. The ball went soaring, and landed beyond the boundary18.5Rasikh Salam to Sai Kishore, SIX runsSix again, superb! This is clubbed hard and flat, and down the ground. Sai spots another slower ball arriving from the back of the hand. The length is fuller, but the line outside off again, as Sai pumps it back for six more18.6Rasikh Salam to Sai Kishore, OUTBowled him! Salam hits back with an inswinging yorker, which Sai isn’t able to keep out. But Sai has done a terrific job, and invariably ensured that Rashid has the strike for GT in the final over. The length of the ball was too full for Sai to try and clip across the line, and he missed. Salam is thrilledTristan Stubbs saved a six with an incredible effort•BCCIGT need 19, and it is down to Rashid19.1Mukesh Kumar to Rashid Khan, FOUR runsHelicoptered wide of long-on! He is deep in the crease, and whips it in Dhoni style, with the ball being in the slot on middle and off. Clearing his front leg helped too19.2Mukesh Kumar to Rashid Khan, FOUR runsSlashed to deep point! A one-bounce four this time, as Mukesh goes on a length, and wide of off. Rashid waits for it, and rams the slower ball away from his body in the gap11 off 419.3Mukesh Kumar to Rashid Khan, no runOhh, he has missed out on a full toss! And amid some mockery, it is a dot ball, and GT don’t lose a wicket! The ball is a slightly high-ish full toss outside off, and Rashid reviews with some hope. But it is not an above-waist full toss, as he swings and is beaten. There is a mix-up for a run or two after Pant misses too, but in the end, Rashid retains strike after sending Mohit back19.4Mukesh Kumar to Rashid Khan, no runAnother dot ball! Now Rashid will feel the pressure. It is a low, dipping full toss just outside off. He swipes across the line, but on the bounce to deep midwicket. They don’t run19.5Mukesh Kumar to Rashid Khan, SIX runsClobbered over long-off! Rashid takes it to the last ball of the match. Another full toss from Mukesh, and this is dipping on a fourth-stump line. Rashid squats, and sends it flying over the ropes5 off 1…19.6Mukesh Kumar to Rashid Khan, no runAnd GT don’t even run the single! Rashid swiped this on the bounce to long-on, where Stubbs jumped and got hold of the ball. It was yet another full toss from Mukesh, but the fact that it was quite low somehow worked in DC’s favour

He missed four years of top-flight cricket after being dropped by MP but has reignited his career as a six-hitter in domestic cricket and IPL

Ashish Pant19-Apr-20242:20

Jaffer: Ashutosh impressed everyone in Kings’ trials

Ashutosh Sharma is a six-hitting machine. In 18 T20 innings, he has clubbed 43 sixes; that’s an average of 2.38 sixes per game. He hit seven of these on Thursday to revive Punjab Kings’ floundering chase of 193 and put them on the brink of an unlikely win against Mumbai Indians.But it was that one six off the penultimate ball of the 13th over against Jasprit Bumrah which is likely to linger in his – and the people’s – consciousness for a while though his blitz ended in vain.Sure, it was a free-hit, but this was against Bumrah – the leading wicket-taker in IPL 2024, going at an economy rate of under six this season. Before this, Bumrah had conceded just two sixes in the tournament. But Ashutosh wasn’t going to let an opportunity pass. He anticipated the yorker, went low and across his off stump, down on one knee and swept Bumrah over deep backward square-leg.No wonder Ashutosh was smiling ear to ear as he walked across to his partner and bumped fists with a little jump and child-like enthusiasm. “That was a dream to sweep Bumrah for a six and it came off today. I have been practising these shots, and I played it against the best bowler in the world,” Ashutosh said after the game.Related

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Ashutosh breaks Yuvraj's record for fastest T20 fifty by an Indian

Ashutosh has batted four times in IPL 2024 and each time walked in with Kings in trouble. On debut against Gujarat Titans, he came in with the required rate at 11.11 (50 off 27), and took Kings to an unlikely win with an unbeaten 15-ball 33. In his next game, the required rate was 15.33 (69 off 27) when he arrived. Kings lost by two runs.Against Mumbai, Ashutosh had to rebuild the chase after Kings had slipped to 77 for 6 in the tenth over. It was the first time that he was batting inside the first 15 overs in the IPL. At that stage, the asking rate was at 10.88 (116 off 64) and he hit the ground running.The 25-year-old had earlier in an interview said he idolises Suryakumar Yadav and Glenn Maxwell. Both batters would have been proud of some of his wristy hits to the leg side and beyond. His first six, a nonchalant whip off Akash Madhwal over fine leg had Suryakumar, who had been subbed out after the first innings, nodding in approval in the Mumbai dugout. His reverse-scoop off the same bowler a few overs later was Maxwell written all over it.ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster had Kings’ win probability at 1.88%. By the time he fell, on the first ball of the 18th over for a 28-ball 61, it was 76.13. Kings faltered at the finish once again, but that they eventually made it to within nine runs of Mumbai’s total was down to Ashutosh’s brilliance.ESPNcricinfo LtdIt isn’t the first time that Ashutosh was showing off his six-hitting prowess. Barely six months back, he rewrote the record books when he slammed an 11-ball fifty for Railways against Arunachal Pradesh in a Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 clash, eclipsing Yuvraj Singh’s record of the fastest T20 fifty by an Indian. He hit eight sixes and one four in that match and finished the tournament with a strike rate of 277.27 in six innings, the most for any batter who faced more than five balls. In this IPL, Ashutosh has been striking at 205.26.But behind all the recent highs, there is a story of years of toil and heartbreaks. Born in Ratlam, a town in Madhya Pradesh, Ashutosh was just eight when he moved to Indore to hone his cricketing skills as his hometown did not have adequate facilities. Away from his parents, he was staying in a small accommodation and often didn’t have money to eat. He even took up umpiring so that one meal was ensured. But joining the MPCA academy in Indore under the tutelage of former India batter Amay Khurasiya was the turning point of his life, according to Ashutosh.”Amay Sir has played a very important role in my life,” he said during a media interaction earlier this month. “He has taught me a lot of discipline and a lot of things about mental health. I have worked a lot with him with regard to my batting.”Ashutosh rose up the ranks, playing age-group cricket for MP, and soon made his senior debut at the 2018 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The next season, he finished as the second-highest run-scorer for MP with 233 runs which included three half-centuries. But the following year, he fell out of favour with the MP set-up. It was heartbreaking for the then 22-year-old, who was given no explanations for his ouster.1:58

Rapid Fire: What stands out the most about Shashank-Ashutosh duo?

“In 2019 I scored 84 runs in my last game for MP [against Puducherry]. Then next year, there was a professional coach who came in and he had his likes and dislikes. He did not like me and sat me out of the team,” Ashutosh said without naming the coach. ” [I went into depression]. That was the Covid time, so only 20 people used to travel, and I used to stay back at the hotel.”I stayed at the hotel for one to two months. I was not even able to see the ground. All I did was go to the gym and come back to the room. I got really frustrated and slipped into depression. It was tough to come out of that. I kept thinking, where did I go wrong? I could not sleep for days. No one even said anything. I was driven out of the set-up without explanation. Those two to three years were pretty bad.”Ashutosh then found a new home at Railways. He was offered a job and made his debut for them in the 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. While he missed out on playing top-flight cricket for four years, a move to Railways, he said with conviction, was what changed the course of his career. Two months later, he was picked by Kings in the accelerated round of the auction for his base price of INR 20 lakh.Ashutosh credited the work put in the pre-season camp with the Kings’ head of cricket development Sanjay Bangar and captain Shikhar Dhawan for his IPL success.”In the pre-season, Sanjay sir told me that you are not a slogger, you play some extraordinary cricketing shots,” Ashutosh said. “Believe in that. That one statement meant a lot to me. I was just focusing on timing the ball and playing cricketing shots.”Ashutosh has faced 76 balls in IPL 2024 and sent 13 of those over the ropes. Having missed plenty of top-flight cricket, Ashutosh is not just making up for lost time, but also doing it in style on the biggest T20 stage.

All the big numbers from Australia’s breathtaking chase against Scotland in Edinburgh

Sampath Bandarupalli04-Sep-202462 Balls remaining when Australia achieved their target of 155 against Scotland. This is the biggest win margin by balls in successful 150-plus chases in men’s T20Is. The previous-biggest margin was 43 balls, when Romania chased down 158 in 12.5 overs against Greece in 2021.Australia’s 62-ball win is also the joint-biggest in a 150-plus chase in all men’s T20s, equaling Sunrisers Hyderabad’s win against Lucknow Super Giants earlier this year while chasing 166.Related

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The 155-run chase by Australia is also the highest to be achieved inside ten overs in men’s T20Is. Only two teams have successfully chased higher targets in ten or fewer overs in all men’s T20s.113 for 1 Australia’s total in the powerplay, the second-highest by any team in men’s T20Is where ball-by-ball data is available. The highest is Romania’s 116 for 0 in only 5.4 overs against Serbia in 2021.73* Travis Head’s score in the powerplay is the highest by any batter in men’s T20Is where ball-by-ball data is available. The previous highest was 67* by Paul Stirling against West Indies in 2020.16 Boundaries struck by Head during the powerplay, the most by a batter in men’s T20Is. He went past Colin Munro’s 14 boundaries against West Indies in 2018.Mitchell Marsh added 113 with Head at a run rate of 19.94•AFP/Getty Images97.5 Percentage of Head’s runs scored in boundaries (78 runs out of 80, with 12 fours and 5 sixes). It is the second-highest percentage of runs scored through boundaries in a 50-plus score in men’s T20Is. The highest is 98.04% by Mirza Ahsan, whose 51* for Austria against Luxembourg in 2019 included 50 boundary runs.24 Boundaries hit by Australia in the powerplay, including 14 in a row off the last 2.2 overs. These are the most boundaries hit by a team in a powerplay in men’s T20Is, surpassing the 21 by Romania against Serbia in 2021.The 24 boundary hits by Australia are also joint-most in men’s T20s, equalling Sunrisers Hyderabad’s feat against Delhi Capitals earlier this year.19.94 Run rate of the 113-run partnership between Head and Mitchell Marsh for the second wicket, which came in only 5.4 overs. It is the second-highest run-rate for a century stand in men’s T20Is, behind the 20.47 by Ramesh Satheesan and Taranjeet Singh, who put on an unbeaten 116 for the first wicket for Romania against Serbia in 5.4 overs.17 Balls Head needed for his fifty, the joint-fastest for Australia in men’s T20Is. Marcus Stoinis scored a 17-ball fifty against Sri Lanka in the 2022 T20 World Cup.

The England batter is swiftly rising up the charts for most Test runs and tons

Sampath Bandarupalli31-Aug-202434 Hundreds in Test cricket for Joe Root, the most by any England batter, surpassing Alastair Cook. He achieved the record with his second century in the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.5 Batters with more centuries than Root in Test cricket – Sachin Tendulkar (51), Jacques Kallis (45), Ricky Ponting (41), Kumar Sangakkara (38) and Rahul Dravid (36). Root is level with Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Mahela Jayawardene, and Younis Khan on 34 Test hundreds.4 Players with hundreds in both innings of a Lord’s Test. George Headley scored 106 and 107 for West Indies against England in 1939, Graham Gooch did it against India in 1990, Michael Vaughan against West Indies in 2004, and now Root against Sri Lanka.1 The Lord’s Test was the first time Root scored two centuries in a Test match. His second-innings ton, off 111 balls, was the fastest of his 34 Test hundreds. His previous fastest was off 116 deliveries against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in 2022.Getty Images2022 Root’s Test runs at Lord’s, now the highest after surpassing Gooch’s 2015. Root’s 2022 runs at Lord’s is the fifth-highest aggregate by a batter at a venue in Test cricket.7 Root’s Test hundreds at Lord’s, the most at the venue.6733 Root’s Test aggregate at home. He is now the leading run-getter in Tests in England (and Wales), going past Cook’s tally of 6568.50 Hundreds for Root in international cricket – 34 in Tests and 16 in ODIs. He is the first from England and only the ninth in international cricket with 50 or more hundreds.200 Number of catches Root has taken in Test cricket, after catching Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka on the third day at Lord’s. He’s joint third with Jacques Kallis and only ten behind the leader Rahul Dravid.