Saurashtra captain elaborates on what has gone into the makings of his team’s white-ball revolution

Shashank Kishore01-Dec-2022″We’ve earned our right to be in the final,” a chuffed Jaydev Unadkat says after a rigorous gym session that has kept him busy all afternoon in Ahmedabad. A day out from Saurashtra’s second Vijay Hazare final, Unadkat still has one final team meeting over . He wants to simply remind his players that beating Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, two white-ball giants in domestic cricket, is a good enough endorsement of their credentials as “one of the best white-ball teams in India” currently. Looking ahead to the final, Unadkat, who is the joint-highest wicket-taker this season with 18 scalps, elaborated on what has gone into the makings of Saurashtra’s white-ball revolution.There was a time when making the knockouts seemed big. Now, Saurashtra are consistently making the finals. What has changed?
I think it’s got to do a lot with the overall culture we’ve been able to develop. In 2018-19, we decided it was important to rework our white-ball template. We’d been pretty successful for nearly a decade in Ranji Trophy [Saurashtra made three finals], but we weren’t up to the mark in the shorter formats. With the bat, we lacked that fearlessness. We lacked a bit of X-factor in the bowling. On the field, we weren’t the fittest and you could see it. We didn’t have a full-time fitness trainer until the start of this year.So we identified issues we wanted to work on, and the changes we wanted to incorporate for a while is bearing results now, from last year especially. The good thing about our team is if we decide something, the guys are ready to pounce on ideas and go with the flow. We’re just a close group of 13-14 individuals who keep playing continuously. Our depth isn’t massive, so continuity has helped. This [season] is in many ways has been a reflection of the brand of cricket we’ve wanted to play.Related

• Jackson and Jani play starring roles as Saurashtra win Vijay Hazare Trophy

• Maharashtra to take on Saurashtra in Vijay Hazare Trophy final

• Saurashtra's fantastic bowling vs Maharashtra's marauding batting

You spoke of not having the X factor. How have you developed this?
We weren’t a side that got a lot of early breakthroughs, but over the last two seasons or so we’ve been able to. Having Chetan Sakariya has helped me as well, we’ve been able to create pressure from both ends. Dharmendra [Jadeja], Prerak [Mankad] and Chirag [Jani] have become better white-ball bowlers in terms of taking wickets in the middle overs. The roles have become clearer.With the bat, we had to be fearless. Our batters were restricting themselves from going all out and playing shots, which at the moment is needed in white-ball cricket. You have to take chances in the powerplay; even in the middle overs with five fielders in, you have to take your chances. We didn’t have the mindset to be free, and when batters didn’t succeed with the shots in trying to be adventurous, we didn’t blame them because once you do that, it starts playing on our mind. We controlled that and gave them the room they needed to play shots. That has worked and has become our X-factor now.

“I love playing with this bunch and when you’re looking for the team’s success over individual milestones, that becomes a motivation in itself”Jaydev Unadkat

A lot of teams struggle to have one seam-bowling allrounder. You have two in Prerak Mankad and Chirag Jani, maybe three if you include yourself.
If you see, the way they’ve been able to keep up the pressure after Chetan and I finish has helped. In the semi-final also, if it wasn’t for them, Karnataka may have had a window where they could’ve broken the shackles. It didn’t happen. With the bat too, Prerak comes in at [No.] 5-6, Chirag at 6-7 and they get important runs. With me at 8, they have the freedom and flexibility. The three of us have been able to give the top-order batters the cushion to play freely. They know if they aren’t there for the last 10 overs, we’ve still got capable batters who can hit the long ball in the death overs. That’s given some security in the batting line-up. It’s the allrounders who’ve been providing the balance in this team.You speak of cushion and being flexible. You implemented it by having Sheldon Jackson open. Was that tactical?
Yes, absolutely. Once Cheteshwar [Pujara] went to prepare for the Bangladesh Tests, we thought we needed someone experienced in the top three. With games starting at 9[am] and the ball moving around, you need someone who has that experience. I thought having three young guys at the top would’ve left us vulnerable. We wanted to ensure they can play their game and have the experienced players absorb any pressure there may be. Sheldon had done the job earlier as well, so there were no second thoughts.Tell us about the youngsters coming through. Is the talent pool growing?
The Saurashtra Premier League has been a massive boost. It has helped players play competitive games with the state players and also helped develop game sense. It’s made players less nervous. It has helped prepare them. Someone like Jay Gohil, who just made his List A debut in the quarter-finals. He was fearless, applied himself properly, [and] wasn’t rushed, exuded composure. He looked anything but nervous. Someone like Tarang Gohel, who made his T20 debut for us this year – he also looked fearless. There are a couple of others in the Under-19s and Under-23s who are in my sights, and they too will get their chances soon. We’ve tried to ensure the culture we’ve built at the top is able to trickle down to the age-group levels as well. I see us being a formidable force across formats for a long period of time. That’s always been the goal.Was there a game where you felt the team really turned a corner during this campaign?
In the game against Gujarat in Delhi, we were three down in the first six overs. From there, the way we were able to build an innings on a surface that was doing quite a lot showed our character. That gave us a lot of confidence. It’s not about conditions or about us struggling if the top order doesn’t fire. We have guys who can stand up for the team and deliver at different times. Essentially, we’ve tried to develop a mindset where we aren’t reliant on toss and luck.Let us talk about you. Season after season, you pick wickets but get snubbed when it comes to India selection, or maybe even India A selection. How have you channeled that hurt into this relentless pursuit of excellence with Saurashtra?
The love for Saurashtra keeps me going. Since being captain, I’ve developed this mindset of attachment with the team, not that it wasn’t there earlier. I love playing with this bunch and when you’re looking for the team’s success over individual milestones, that becomes a motivation in itself. Yes, I do look to give my fullest because I know that if I don’t lead from the front, it won’t set the tone. I do look at my individual performances, but from a way that it takes the team through, not in a way where I think if it will help me get selected for India or India A. At the end of the day, that’s the space you want be in and I’m happily trying to help the team win as many games as possible. If you love the way you play the game, all other things will fall in place. I love this space and the mindset I’m currently in and don’t want to change that for anything. But the hunger and fire to play and perform for the country is still burning bright.

Both players were carrying injuries that might have ruled them out in normal circumstances

Matt Roller23-Apr-2023Abdul Basith walked to the middle at Bengaluru’s imposing Chinnaswamy Stadium needing to hit 10 runs off his first two balls in IPL cricket to clinch a victory for Rajasthan Royals against Royal Challengers Bangalore.He looked around briefly to scope out his boundary options, then limbered up as Harshal Patel ran in to bowl. He shaped to power him over the leg side, lining up the stands at deep midwicket, but was foxed by Harshal’s slower ball. The ball dribbled away for a single, and the game was RCB’s.Related

• Mike Hesson: 'There are no soft overs now. Sides keep coming hard at you all the time'

• How much impact has the Impact Player rule had on IPL 2023?

• Maxwell and du Plessis set RCB up for tight victory

This was a moment that exposed the difference in utility that these two teams had extracted from the Impact Player rule, a rule which has fundamentally altered the nature of selection in T20 cricket. IPL games can – and often do – turn in a single ball; off the penultimate one of the game, RCB’s substitute got the better of Royals’ and clinched the points.Faf du Plessis is having a phenomenal IPL. Nearly halfway through the league stage, he is the Orange Cap holder, has scored five half-centuries in seven innings, and is striking at 165.30. Most top T20 batters are either destructive or dependable; this version of du Plessis falls into a rare category that are both.This stellar run of form has come at 38, an age where most cricketers are long retired and working in coaching or broadcasting. Remarkably, du Plessis has done it despite suffering a grade-one intercostal strain, which would have ruled him out of his team’s last two games in any other franchise league.But the Impact Player rule has enabled him to play despite his injury. Against Punjab Kings on Thursday, he made 84 off 56 as a specialist batter, before he was replaced at the innings break. Back in Bengaluru on Sunday afternoon, he set up a second consecutive win against Royals with 62 off 39 before again being replaced at the interval.Faf du Plessis has been carrying a grade-one intercostal strain•BCCIRCB have twice made late decisions over du Plessis’ participation as a fielder. He may be able to return to his role as captain – and boundary-rider – in their game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday, but for now he can console himself with the knowledge that he has made major contributions in games he would not otherwise have played.During their win over Kings, du Plessis admitted his inclusion “probably wouldn’t have been possible” but for the Impact rule. “I saw some of the boys were trying to do this new rule now where they bat and they don’t field, so I thought I’d try it out,” he joked to the host broadcaster.The injury has clearly caused him discomfort. Thirteen overs into Sunday’s game, at the second strategic time-out, du Plessis ran straight to the dugout after batting for over an hour in the afternoon sun; two balls later, he was run out, the first time in three IPL seasons he has been dismissed by that method.Harshal, his replacement on Sunday, provided further evidence of RCB maximising the new rule. He suffered an injury while fielding during their victory over Kings; like du Plessis, he might well have missed the game but for the Impact Player rule allowing him to feature in one innings only.He arrived at the Chinnaswamy with the little finger on his left hand heavily strapped, limiting his ability to grip the bat; he later suggested that he hopes it will heal “in a week or two”. As a result, he was used exclusively as a bowler, replacing du Plessis at the innings break and bowling his four overs in the run chase.After a slow start to the IPL, Harshal put in his best performance of the season, taking three vital wickets as Royals fell just short in their run chase: Yashasvi Jaiswal, mistiming a full toss to long-on; Sanju Samson, fencing an effort ball to short third; and R Ashwin, dragging a slower ball to deep midwicket after giving RCB a scare.The injured little finger in Harshal Patel’s left hand would have limited his ability to bat, if he had been required to do so•BCCI”The way we’ve been able to use Faf as a batter and myself as a bowler in this game has been really good for us,” Harshal said. “Both of us are carrying injuries which don’t allow us to execute one of our skills: for him, it’s fielding; for me, it’s batting. The Impact [Player] rule allows us to just go out and take care of our primary skills.”RCB were even able to find another loophole which they happily exploited. When Harshal briefly went off the field at the start of the fourth over, after fielding a ball at deep third, the fact that du Plessis was off the field enabled them to use an overseas player – Finn Allen – as a fielding substitute for two overs, since they otherwise only had three overseas players on the field.But while most teams have used the rule in a similar fashion to one another this season – effectively picking a 12-man team, and replacing a specialist batter with a specialist bowler – Royals have differed, as their captain Samson suggested at the toss. “We’re starting with the same XI [either way],” he said. “We might add, or we might not add.”Royals have generally selected the same balance regardless of whether they have batted or bowled first this year, featuring six batters and five frontline bowlers. They have often delayed a decision on their substitution until midway through the second innings; some calls have worked well – bringing on Adam Zampa at Chepauk, for example – but others have not.Sunday’s game appeared to expose the issues with their method. In limiting themselves to five bowling options, Royals did not have much flexibility with the ball, with no choice but to use Sandeep Sharma at the death despite his off-day. And in the absence of Riyan Parag, who did not travel to Bengaluru, they found themselves bringing in an IPL debutant at No. 8 – leaving Jason Holder unused with the bat for the fourth time in his six appearances this season.Royals’ results this season have been significantly better when batting first (played three, won three) than chasing (playing four, lost three), and perhaps their use of the Impact rule is a reason behind that. As the conclusion to Sunday’s game confirmed, the rule has suited some teams much better than others.

On the day, he made batting look ridiculously easy and brought up his sixth century of the year

Sidharth Monga15-May-20231:34

Bishop on Gill and Titans’ explosive powerplay batting

On a pitch that others managed 219 runs off 182 legal deliveries for the loss of 17 wickets – an average of 13 and a strike-rate of 120, Shubman Gill scored 101 off just 58 balls. Eight of Gill’s team-mates failed to reach double figures. Clearly Gill rose above the conditions while scoring his maiden IPL hundred.What’s more remarkable is he hit only one six even though he got to his fifty in just 22 balls. It is one of less than a handful of T20 fifties that are quick and without a single six. This is one of only three IPL hundreds with one or fewer sixes, and one of 18 in all T20 cricket. Only three of them have been quicker.Related

Stats – Gill beats Tendulkar's record to a six-less IPL fifty

Gill and Shami seal top-two finish for Titans

Even the fours that Gill hit were bereft of risk. This innings featured the second-highest percentage of in-control runs for an IPL hundred, behind only KL Rahul’s 103 not out against Mumbai Indians last year.This was then a rare innings, but it is not hard to see why. The match was being played on a pitch that hasn’t been used in this IPL. Both sides expected, and extracted, movement with the new ball. In fact, Sunrisers Hyderabad began with two slips in place, and Gujarat Titans did the same a few balls into their bowling innings.Except that SRH came up against one of the best all-format batters who could take a toll of the Test-match lengths they were trying to bowl. Also, as Aiden Markram said, the ball stopped swinging for them earlier than expected, and the attacking fields and lengths allowed Gill to find gaps for fours. Only one of the 13 fours by Gill was hit over the infield. Another one was hit straight to a fielder who misfielded. The remaining 11 he put in gaps.ESPNcricinfo LtdSo you put in a batter adept at finding gaps, show him those gaps by putting fielders in attacking positions, and then also give him loose balls. What else do you expect? You rarely see a batter tucking a ball in front of square on the leg side and taking four for it in T20s. That is a sight reserved for Test cricket. That’s because sides are good at defending where they are bowling in T20s. In this match, you saw it with Gill against more than one bowler precisely because they didn’t quite bowl to their fields.A high control percentage and the ability to hit the ball where fielders aren’t have set Gill apart in most cricket. That’s the hallmark of all excellent batters. However, perhaps there was a small something lacking in the second half of the knock, which turned out to be inconsequential in this match but won’t always be. Once the bowlers got it right and started bowling to their fields, Gill took no risks. His last 19 balls at the wicket brought just 24 runs.It’s possible Titans asked others to hit out while Gill set up to play through the innings, but in the end they did fall 20-30 short of what they looked good for. Perhaps it is Gill’s fault that he made it look so ridiculously easy in the early going that people expected too much. Perhaps it is Gill’s fault that he put too high a price on his wicket when the bowlers began to bowl to their fields.It doesn’t matter at the moment on a night when Gill brought up his sixth century of the year – five in international cricket, one in the IPL. Three of those have come in Ahmedabad where Titans are guaranteed a match after ensuring a top-two finish on the table. Ahmedabad is Gill’s place, 2023 is Gill’s time; little else seems to matter right now.

Our correspondent also finds Barbenheimer parallels in cricket, and looks at what Tamim Iqbal can learn from Stuart Broad

Alan Gardner14-Aug-2023It’s the cross-cultural event of the northern summer. It’s a vibe, it’s a thing, it’s mainly about selling tickets. On the one hand, a big pink slice of neon smiles and feel-good frippery. On the other, classical cinematography, weighty themes and serious-looking men in old-fashioned clothes. We are, of course, talking about Barbenheimer and the ongoing attempts to create a world where Test cricket can happily coincide with T20.It’s not quite the same as watching both back-to-back in one sitting, but launching into a month of the Hundred the day after the conclusion of the one of the most box-office men’s Ashes of all time – not to mention a critically acclaimed women’s series – felt like a pretty similar move by the ECB. Although a BBC-accredited doofus with a microphone literally describing Maitlan Brown as “a little Barbie yourself” during the opening game was probably not the look they were after.No doubt the Ashes will be up for several awards when the academy sits down to take a view. Ben Stokes proclaimed afterwards that the series between England and Australia was “generally what Test cricket needed” – which must be good news for the likes of South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies, who barely have two cents to rub together, never mind two Tests. But then, like , what would the discussion around the format be without a heavy dose of nihilism?As for whether we will ever reach a point with T20 leagues where people say, “I’ve had Kenough” – well, it seems very much moot. The Hundred was dreamed up by the ECB to insulate English cricket from the biting winds sweeping through the game’s shifting global landscape, but while arguably doing more for feminism than , it already faces being cannibalised by the free marketeers investing heavily in Major League Cricket, Global T20 Canada and the like.Where does that leave us, the humble fan? Well, sit down and shut up because cricket’s version of – the bloated star vehicle that is the 50-over World Cup – is soon to be showing on all channels. Just don’t ask about getting tickets to see that one.

****

Tell us you’re a byword for administrative incompetence without telling us you’re a byword for administrative incompetence – amirite, BCCI? Then again, if you’re in charge of organising a World Cup, more than a decade after your team last managed to win the tournament, then perhaps building in a little extra home advantage is to be expected. Touring teams will not only have to spend six weeks getting used to the conditions, the travel and the cultural differences – they’re also going to need a dedicated backroom staffer keeping an eye on the fixtures to make sure their next match hasn’t been brought forward a day and moved from Lucknow to Hyderabad at short notice.

****

It’s okay, everyone. There’s no racism in cricket! Despite what you might have seen or heard from the recent ICEC report, the Azeem Rafiq scandal at Yorkshire, and public testimony from current and former players, everything is just fine and dandy in the English game, because Ian Botham says so. “I have never witnessed or been in the dressing room with any form of racism,” said Baron Botham of Ravensworth (formerly Sir Iron Bottom), to give him his full title. “You cannot generalise as that document does,” he said of the ICEC report, while offering a generalised summary of the whole thing as “nonsense”, most of which he hadn’t read anyway. But he’s friends with Sir Viv and once met Mandela, so we should probably just take his word for it.

****

Stuart Broad was always a man who knew his mind and didn’t try to second-guess. Exhibit A: the celebrappeal, which was not so much asking the umpire’s opinion on a dismissal as allowing him time to catch up on the facts according to Stuart. So when he decided to call it a day, it was done – cue the farewell montages. Contrast with Tamim Iqbal, who has had a little trouble with the decision-making process recently. Last month, he announced his international retirement, only for it to be struck down by Bangladesh’s prime minister on review. Now he has made another bid for freedom by quitting the ODI captaincy. This one appears to have snuck through on umpire’s call, but Tamim could do worse than consult with Broad, the self-proclaimed “best in the world at DRS”, before making his next career move.

On Tuesday, in a match India had to win, he seemingly batted without any burden of pressure to script a fairly comprehensive win

Deivarayan Muthu09-Aug-20231:53

‘When on song, Suryakumar Yadav a nightmare for bowlers’ – Wasim Jaffer

Suryakumar Yadav cycled through two shots when he faced Akeal Hosein in the second over of India’s chase on Tuesday. He had originally got down low to sweep Hosein, but the left-arm fingerspinner spotted it, shortened his length and hid it wide of off stump. Despite one knee on the floor, Suryakumar manufactured enough strength from his upper body to scythe the ball flat and hard over point.It was a portent for the carnage that was to follow.Suryakumar went on to smash 83 off 44 balls on a slow, two-paced Providence pitch that was designed to negate most batters. But Suryakumar is not most batters. West Indies’ bowling wasn’t particularly bad, and the pitch kept getting slower, but he made the attack look pedestrian, and made Providence look like Wankhede.Related

Suryakumar and Tilak do the chase in a canter to keep the series alive for India

After Suryakumar had manufactured a boundary on the off side from him, Hosein adjusted his line and attacked the stumps. But Suryakumar was ready with the flat sweep, and picked him away – both in front of and behind square. Just like that, Suryakumar broke Hosein’s rhythm.He then went about dismantling the best-laid plans of the seamers too. Obed McCoy had drawn a mis-hit from Yashasvi Jaiswal when he banged the ball into the pitch, but when he tried to dig one into the pitch against Suryakumar, the batter swivelled back, held his shape for long enough, and hooked the ball over midwicket for four. This forced McCoy to dart an on-pace full one on the stumps, which was launched over his head for six.But the most extraordinary shot came off Romario Shepherd in the tenth over of the innings. When Shepherd floated a slower offcutter wide of off, Suryakumar walked across off and played a half-scoop and half-sweep to hit the ball over short fine-leg, despite falling on the floor in the process. shot brought back memories of Rohan Kanhai for Ian Bishop, who was on commentary at the time. Suryakumar’s ball-striking in front of square – and gum-chewing swagger – was more Viv Richards than Kanhai, though.After India kept the series alive with their first win in the T20I series, Suryakumar refused to pinpoint the aspect of the game that pleased him more, and simply put down his 360-degree range to practice.”I think it was really important to be myself when I went into bat in the powerplay,” he said after collecting the Player-of-the-Match award. “That’s what the team and the team management demanded from me – to bat as much as possible. I’m very happy with the way things went. I’ve practiced these strokes a lot when I used to practice back home. I’ve loved doing that, and I just stick to my game and just express myself whenever I get an opportunity.”ESPNcricinfo LtdWith Tilak Varma being a stable presence at the other end, Suryakumar continued to do his thing in an 87-run third-wicket partnership off 50 balls. He eventually holed out in the 13th over, but Tilak ushered India home in their chase of 160 with an unbeaten 49 off 37 balls. Suryakumar, who has also worked closely with Tilak at Mumbai Indians in the IPL, was enthused about Tilak’s knock.”I think we’ve batted together for a long time now,” Suryakumar said. “We both understand how we bat together. It was his day to bat with maturity, and the way he batted gave me a lot of confidence. I told him straightaway, ‘Just because you’re batting, it’s giving me an opportunity to express myself’. So it was a great innings from him at the other end, and a great learning as well.”Having lost back-to-back T20Is, and with the series on the line, Suryakumar conceded that India did feel some pressure in the lead-up to the third game. Perhaps, there was some pressure on him too, considering he wasn’t particularly fluent on sluggish pitches away from home in IPL 2023, and on similar tracks during the ODI leg of the West Indies tour.”It [the pressure] was running in the back of the mind – it’s human tendency – but at the same time, we spoke [about it] in the team meeting yesterday,” Suryakumar said. “Our captain said it was really important for someone to put their hand up and show some character, and it was the perfect game.”But Suryakumar batted without that burden of pressure on Tuesday. He batted as if the world was at his feet.

The 100,000-strong Ahmedabad crowd made itself heard, but it was a shame there was almost no green in that vastness of blue

Sambit Bal14-Oct-2023There is noise. And, then there is noise as force: pure, purposeful, and meant to deliver a punch.Through the years of the IPL, and the multitude of T20 leagues, we have grown accustomed to the former kind. It’s constant, blaring, engineered and soulless. Noise for the sake of noise: you must make plenty of it because it’s being demanded, and it’s supposed to be part of the entertainment bundle you signed up for.You scream at fours and sixes, you flail about between balls and overs, you sway sideways, flash your phone lights, become part of Mexican waves: you are part of the performance, you allow yourself to be conducted. You know it, and the players know it. They block it out as white noise.And then you get to places and matches where the crowds know what they are doing.Related

• PCB files complaint with ICC over 'inappropriate conduct by spectators' at India vs Pakistan game

• ICC chair Barclay on Arthur remark: 'Will review all criticisms'

• Mickey Arthur: 'It didn't seem like an ICC event, it seemed like a BCCI event'

• Jasprit Bumrah and spin do the trick as India hand Pakistan another World Cup beating

• India's bowling unit: Gods of small things

The Narendra Modi Stadium is built to be imposing, a nod to muscular exhibitionism and a symbol of Indian cricket’s pole position in the sport. It beats the Melbourne Cricket Ground by at least 20,000 seats, and though not as tall and colosseum-like as the MCG, its vastness makes it feel as gladiatorial. And it’s safe to say that cricket has never seen as many blue jerseys at a venue as it did today.Every inch of this stadium was packed for the last IPL final despite it being pushed by a day on account of rain but never had this ground hosted an India match of this magnitude. The previous ODI games here were played during the Covid era, and the Test match during Border-Gavaskar Trophy, despite the pomp of two prime ministers making a grandstand appearance, was thinly attended. So here it was, the real deal, the day this stadium you hope was built for, to be bathed in cacophonous blue. And when the moments came, it produced the noise so quintessentially organic to the Indian cricket experience.It began in the middle of that phase when Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav, whose originality and wicket-taking threat form the heart of this versatile Indian bowling machine, were hastening a Pakistani meltdown from a cushy 155 for 2. Stadium regulars would know the drill. The routine begins at the start of the bowler’s run-up with a collective swoosh and gathers decibels in sync with the bowler – in this case Bumrah – running in, reaching peak volume at the point of delivery. It’s rhythmic, full of intent, and if you are the batter, full of menace.This is a case of fans recognising a moment and becoming one with it. Players recognise this too, and they feel the energy and feed off it.No Pakistani cricketer would have played before a crowd as large, and as vociferously partisan, as this and though international players are internally wired to steel themselves against it, for them not to sense this air of intimidation would have been impossible. They would have expected it and prepared for it, but having never played India in India, and having played all their World Cup games against other teams in friendly Hyderabad, an experience such as this needs to be lived to be learnt. As forgettable as their performance was at this ground, the experience might remain unforgettable.No ambiguity in whom the fans are supporting•ICC/Getty ImagesIt didn’t have to be this one-sided though. The last time these two teams met at an ICC event, the crowd was nearly as large. And Virat Kohli’s biomechanics-defying six off Haris Rauf, followed by another to tilt a near-impossible equation towards India, turned the match into a humdinger. But though, like everywhere else, the Indian fans easily outnumbered the Pakistanis, there was at least a contest in the stands. And from all accounts, the sloganeering, baiting and banter was good-natured, and it spilt over to the streets and pubs in the evening.I have watched India and Pakistan play in Lahore, Bengaluru, Adelaide, Centurion, Johannesburg, and now Ahmedabad, and never has a cricket ground felt so hopelessly lacking in something so essential: one group of fans. A small group of Pakistani journalists have finally made it to the tournament, after their long wait for a visa to India ended just in time for this game, but no fans have managed to cross the border yet. And there is no word yet on whether they will be able to.Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan team director, didn’t mince his words after the game. “It didn’t seem like an ICC event tonight, let’s be brutally honest,” he said at the press conference. “It seemed like a bilateral series, a BCCI event. I didn’t hear coming through the microphones tonight. Yes, that [the possibility of being intimidated by a partisan crowd] does play a role, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse. For us, it was about living the moment, it was about the next ball, and it was about how we’re going to combat the Indian players.”Pakistan, in keeping with their performance against India in the World Cup – 0-8 with this defeat – were abysmal once again. But despite that, this match was this tournament’s biggest draw. And Arthur was spot on. The World Cup is billed, rightfully, as the biggest festival of cricket, and it will continue to feel like a travesty, and an act of neglect, if the organisers fail to ensure the participation of the whole cricket world in it, particularly those who give it colour and life.

Bangladesh become the latest victims of South Africa’s destructive batting, with Shakib Al Hasan and co powerless to stop an all-too-familiar assault

Mohammad Isam24-Oct-20232:51

Where did it all go wrong for Bangladesh?

A small group of Bangladesh fans groaned collectively in one corner of the Garware pavilion, next door to their team’s dressing room and right above their dugout at the Wankhede Stadium. Bangladesh had just lost five wickets in the first 15 overs of a 383-run chase in the World Cup. The daytime heat and South Africa’s big hitting had flattened their spirits already, and now this. They hardly said a word. Even the most animated among them slumped to his chair.Captain Shakib Al Hasan and centurion Mahmudullah both said that they lost the game by their bowling in the last ten overs. The three fast bowlers and Shakib conceded 144 runs in the third powerplay, the most Bangladesh has conceded during this period in an ODI. South Africa burst from 238 for 3 to 382 for 5. They had gone berserk against England a couple of days ago, and Sri Lanka earlier in the tournament. Against an underperforming Bangladesh bowling attack at the Wankhede Stadium, such a hammering was always on the cards.Quinton de Kock and Heinrich Klaasen were building up towards a big finish between overs 30 and 40 when they added 73 runs. The Bangladesh bowlers tried every combination of line and length, but once Shakib went for 22, his worst over in World Cups, the floodgates had truly opened.Shakib didn’t bowl another over after conceding two sixes in the 44th over. Mustafizur Rahman also went for two sixes, while Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud got smacked for four sixes each, taking the total to 12 sixes in the last ten overs.Mahmudullah, who made his third World Cup century much later in the game, said that around the second drinks break, the senior players were talking about chasing between 320 and 330.”I was talking to Shakib and Mushy around the (second) drinks break. On a good wicket, we were trying to lessen the damage when they were 238 in 40 overs. I think 320 to 330 was chaseable, but it was a tough ask to chase 380-plus. The bowlers tried hard but when Klaasen and Quinny are in rhythm it is hard to stop them,” he said.Mahmudullah said that the Bangladesh team hasn’t created enough opportunities to get into winning positions in the World Cup, a factor that is hurting them a lot in this campaign.”I think we are not getting that momentum. Whether batting or bowling, you have to create an opportunity to win the game. We haven’t got there. The bowlers made the job easy for us against Afghanistan. We haven’t created those opportunities in the other games. We are discussing, doing meetings, but we haven’t been able to execute it.”On this sort of wicket, you need to create the opportunity to be in a position to win a game. We couldn’t do that today. We have a bit of depth but it depends on the partnership progressing in the middle,” he said.South Africa’s batters left Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim with much to consider•AFP/Getty ImagesShakib said he had not seen Bangladesh go for so many runs in the last ten overs of an ODI. “I thought we bowled well in the first 25 overs when we got three wickets. They were going at five runs an over, but they kicked on, especially the way Quinton (de Kock) played. He batted really well. We didn’t have any answer to how (Heinrich) Klaasen finished.”We conceded 144 runs in the last 10 overs, probably the most we conceded in the last 10, 15 years. On a ground like this, it can happen like that. We should have bowled better. We lost the game in the last ten overs,” he said.Klaasen and de Kock hardly allowed for the bowlers to settle on a combination of line and length during the third powerplay. The odd yorker kept them quiet but those that didn’t land were duly struck for sixes. Mahmud’s short balls were mostly accurate, as only one of them went for a six.The death overs’ hitting by South Africa is perhaps a blip for Bangladesh. Maybe it won’t happen again in this way for the rest of the tournament. The quicker Bangladesh can move on from this performance, especially the bowlers, the more helpful it will be to their mentality. They should also be mindful of other teams going for the same pace in the last powerplay, so taking their chances early would allow them more confidence at the death.Shoriful, Mahmud and Mustafizur will be smarter bowlers in their next outings if they can pick the positives out of this performance. There’s a lot riding on Bangladesh’s fast bowlers in the remaining matches, and for their future to remain permanent rather than fleeting.

The genius of England’s approach is that it takes the traditional consequences of dismissal out of the equation

Sambit Bal14-Feb-2024Joe Root has left the crease. It has been nine balls since he arrived. England have shaved 154 runs off their 399-run target, their stiffest in the Bazball era, in just under 31 overs, 87 of those ransacked on the fourth morning. Of the three wickets lost along the way, one belongs to the nightwatcher, who helped himself to five sumptuous boundaries.Root is England’s second most prolific Test batter. He started the Test with more runs than the whole Indian XI, and in the first innings he has gone past 1000 Test runs in India. It is a body of work built on traditionally sound Test-match craft, and in another age it would be natural to expect a batter of Root’s pedigree to bed down and take the chase deep on a pitch still comfortable for batting.But they don’t do it that way these days, and certainly not Root, who has embraced the new mode with the adroitness of a late-life convert. The last nine balls to him have already fetched 16 runs, beginning with a reverse-swept four off the first ball, from R Ashwin. The third delivery Root faced produced another attempted reverse sweep that ballooned off the glove for a fortuitous four. The seventh was belted for a six over long-off. Now he is down the pitch, eyeing the leg-side fence, which has been left unguarded.Related

India and Australia are still the top dogs in Test cricket

Stokes at 100: England's field marshal quantifies the unquantifiable

India vs England, round three: scores level, stakes high

Forget the frivolous narrative, Bazball is a hard-nosed, winning strategy

One year of Bazball: Have England changed the Test game?

But Ashwin is bowling round the wicket. The ball has been pushed wide, and it’s going away with the arm. Root is also deceived in the flight, but he is so committed to the shot that bailing out is not an option. He finishes the wildest of flails with his bat over his shoulder, pointing towards square leg, head tilted towards the off side, and with his eyes shut. It is a horror shot that has sliced the ball up towards backward point, and the horror is fleetingly visible, as a reflex reaction, on Root’s face.To suggest that this stroke encapsulated the essence of Bazball – you hit many and miss a few – would be telling only half the story. The reward that comes with the risk is just a part of it, but what enables the approach is that failure comes with no recrimination, and in that lies its real genius. In another age, this stroke would have brought howls of indignation from fans, and analysts would have zeroed in on it as a trigger for England’s collapse.That none of that happened was an illustration of not merely how England under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have re-engineered their approach to Test batting but also how profoundly they have influenced the game’s discourse. It wasn’t only Root and the England team who shrugged it off as part of the design, but such dismissals from England’s batters have now been so normalised that this one barely registered as a misadventure to those watching. It was a demonstration of England’s success in co-opting mass perception in their repositioning of Test batting as an audacious and gallant pursuit of fast runs irrespective of outcome.This is a fundamental upending of the texture of Test cricket. In that every ball carries the risk of dismissal, batting is the most fraught of sporting endeavours. Test batting is based on the principle of minimising risks. The loss of a wicket, particularly of a top-order batter, is a massive and decisive event in Tests, unlike in the shorter formats, where the restriction on the number of overs makes batting resources seem relatively abundant.Zak Crawley has epitomised the potential of Bazball in this series•Getty ImagesThe liberating effect of the removal – or reduced impact – of the consequence of dismissals is evident in the range of strokeplay in T20 cricket. If the stumps are out of the equation, the crease can become a reference point for positioning to take aim. Being caught is merely an occupational hazard. Hitting on the up is a routine option.It isn’t that good-length balls cannot be driven, or balls cannot be hit square if they are within the line of the stumps, but Test batting is calibrated towards preservation. This gives bowlers larger margins in Test cricket. They can construct spells, formulate plans, set catchers in place, and string together sequences of balls in the knowledge that the construct and rhythms of Test cricket allow them the space to build towards dismissals. Batting is a process of continual risk assessment, but standards of safety are set much higher in Tests, which grants bowlers greater allowance for deviation from the perfect length or line, because batters tend to wait for balls close enough to drive, or short enough to cut or pull.Root’s ten-ball innings in Visakhapatnam might have seemed reckless from the beginning, and Harry Brook’s baseball-style hitting might give the appearance of an absolute disregard of the basic principles of batting, but England’s new batting philosophy is based on reorienting the mind.By removing the fear of consequences and reprisal, the England management have not only unlocked scoring opportunities that always existed but not always been accessed, they have presented their opponents a different challenge. Insouciant strokeplayers have existed through the history of the game, and in Virender Sehwag lies the example of a batter who achieved devastating success by treating every ball as a run-making opportunity, but rarely has a team as a whole adopted this as their approach.Zak Crawley has improved his average by nearly eight runs in the Bazball era, not by swinging wildly but by pouncing more aggressively on scoring opportunities. No one this series has left Jasprit Bumrah as assuredly as Crawley did, and no one has capitalised on marginal errors of length as well as he has done. He is the only top-order batter not to have been dismissed by Bumrah in the series so far. In the second Test he took eight boundaries off him, while the rest managed nine.Just as Crawley has used his reach to maximise driving opportunities, Ben Duckett, his opening partner, has pounced on the slightest offering of width to employ his most profitable shot, the cut. It’s a small sample size but Duckett, who was sidelined after four unimpressive Tests in 2016, which yielded him an average of 15.71, has scored over 1100 runs at nearly 50 since he was rehabilitated as an enforcer by the current management. The most remarkable jump is in his strike rate: to 90.06 from 57.89.