The allrounder was a key figure for Madhya Pradesh after they endured a shift from boiling Puducherry to freezing Dharamsala

Shashank Kishore06-Feb-2024Venkatesh Iyer can’t remember playing a game in India in sub-zero temperatures. That’s until earlier last week, when he landed in Dharamsala for Madhya Pradesh’s Ranji Trophy Group D fixture against Himachal Pradesh.”My first thought was: I shouldn’t be out here playing,” Iyer tells ESPNcricinfo.The HPCA Stadium was covered in snow. There were sheets of rain and icy-cold winds. A day earlier, Madhya Pradesh had finished a game in 32-degree Celsius heat with over 90% humidity in Puducherry.”Temperature-wise, the chill in Ireland two years ago [when Iyer was part of an India squad that toured the country for a T20I series] was a lot more, but this was unique, a first for me in India. Even three layers of sweaters didn’t help,” Iyer says. “It was freezing, the entire ground was covered in snow. There was heavy rain as well.”MP’s situation was compounded by logistical challenges. From Puducherry they had to drive down four hours to Chennai and board a flight to New Delhi before reaching Dharamsala. A three-day break between games was whittled down to two.”From extremely hot, we came into freezing conditions, but weather can’t be an excuse for poor performance,” Iyer says. “That said, it was tough. That’s why we had to go there a couple of days prior to know how the body is going to react, how we’re going to recover. Else we would have been caught completely off guard. The two days of training was very crucial to our conditioning.”So what did it entail?”It was more about mobility exercises and warming up our muscles,” Iyer explains. “We also tried to leave the hotel for the ground a lot earlier than usual. If we used to leave usually at 7.45am, we left for the ground at 7.30.”Even 15-20 minutes of extra warm-up time was massively important in that weather. You can’t enter the ground and immediately start running in that weather, it can take a toll on your back. The entire schedule was superbly planned by our trainer.”What were the key aspects to training in such weather?”A lot of stretching for starters,” Iyer says. “It’s normal for muscles to cramp, they tend to become stIff, so it was important to keep them loosened in that cold. Even whe we were in the hotel, we were called to the gym for stretching more than any other form of conditioning because you never know which muscle you will end up pulling.Venkatesh Iyer missed MP’s journey to the 2022-23 Ranji title due to a combination of injuries and India duty•Getty Images”In the room, we were advised to use heaters at all times, and keep our bodies warm throughout.”On the field, Iyer had a memorable performance. He first picked up a three-for to help skittle Himachal out for 169 and then contributed a vital 72 in tough conditions to help MP eke out a first-innings lead. This earned him the Player of the match award in a drawn, weather-impacted fixture during which no play was possible on days two and three.”The forecast is very accurate there,” Iyer says. “The first day we arrived, the ground was covered in snow, but the first day’s play, the sun was shining bright, and we got in a full day of cricket. Overall, we knew we’d get probably 2-2.5 days to try and push for an outright result.”They got a good partnership lower down the order [Himachal recovered from 36 for 6 on day one]. Had we bowled them out for 70-80, and we got what we did, it would have been game on.” As it turned out, Himachal were 42 for 5 in their second innings, still six runs short of making MP bat again, when the game was called off.”Batting-wise, this is an innings I’ll remember for a long time,” Iyer days. “I had to battle the conditions. It was so difficult that you were never set. But once you know which direction you need to head to, the clarity makes this slightly better. I knew we had to make 170-180, that gave me increased focus.”Iyer found himself struggling at different times. He was recovering from a back spasm, which made it tougher given the conditions.”There was genuine travel fatigue” he says. “You’re on the bus for a long time. And then with the distances we had to cover, it took a toll, but you have to take care of it as a professional and ignore things you can’t change.”Iyer is driven by the desire to win the Ranji Trophy, having missed out on the team’s journey to the title in 2022-23 due to a combination of injuries and being on India duty.”We now know what it takes to be champions, we have the ability to win,” he says, with MP potentially one win away from entering the knockouts. “That belief has come since our win. For someone not part of the set-up there, to come in here, I find this an amazing place to be.”More than the team goal, it’s my burning desire to do something special to help us win the Ranji Trophy. Some things complete you as a cricketer. A Ranji Trophy win will complete it for me.”

Team’s valiant efforts on first three days undone in 23.1 overs on fourth afternoon

Alan Gardner21-Jul-2024They had kept at it throughout the morning and afternoon, despite the inhospitable conditions and the odds stacked against them. As England’s fourth-wicket pair pressed towards a double-century stand and the chances for their side apparently receded, spirits remained high. “Baby don’t worry, ’bout a thing, cause every little thing, gonna be all right…”Perhaps it was due to Trent Bridge only being half full for this fourth day that the support for West Indies was more visible – certainly more audible. A clutch had banded together in the lower west terrace of the Radcliffe Road Stand, maroon shirts and funky headpieces, the colours of Dominica, Barbados, St Kitts and Nevis on display. Regular calls of encouragement floated across the ground, with Jason Holder turning on more than one occasion to acknowledge their enthusiasm.Sometimes a Test match resembles a tug of war. One team flexes their muscles and pulls the game their way, only for the opposition to dig in with their heels and start inching the rope back towards them. West Indies may have collapsed in an ungainly heap at the end, but they had made England sweat and strain throughout, at times threatening to pull the contest from their grasp.Few gave them a chance of competing on level terms after defeat inside seven sessions at Lord’s. Few will say, certainly with hindsight, that West Indies had much of a shot of chasing 385 to win in the fourth innings here. But neither did it look like a done deal for England, as Joe Root looked to chisel out as many extra runs as possible with the tail, Jayden Seales hustling through the crease to the end to claim a deserving four-wicket haul.The chase began in confident mood, England again denied early success with the new ball. Kraigg Brathwaite had exhorted his players to “find a way” with the bat before the game and he set the tone in the opening over by calmly drilling Chris Woakes through cover point for four. As Brathwaite cracked along at a run a ball, the West Indies openers put on 50 together for the second time in the match – the first time they had achieved such a feat in England since 1991.Then came the drinks break, a third of the way through an extended evening session that was theoretically set to see 48 overs bowled. West Indies were 61 without loss and seemingly building a sturdy platform from which to carry the fight into day five. Who knows, on a flat pitch, against an attack playing together for the first time, maybe history could be made?Few thought they were capable of levelling the series against Australia at the Gabba in January. Few thought they would pull off a 300-plus run-chase against England at Headingley in 2017, a game in which Brathwaite notched 134 and 95 after the tourists had been pancaked at in the first Test.Jamie Smith and Joe Root go up in unison to celebrate Kirk McKenzie’s dismissal•Getty ImagesBut the naysayers, it turns out, had this one right. The reversal was as swift and brutal as it is possible to be in cricket, where three-and-a-half days of graft can be rendered futile in 23.1 overs of spiralling madness. A punch to the gut just as West Indies fans might have been daring to dream.Brathwaite said afterwards that disappointment was the overriding emotion. “But the main thing is to learn from it,2 he said. “It’s gone, it’s history, we can’t bring it back. Test cricket will always bring challenges. There were positives in the game we can speak about and it’s important that we just learn, learn from different scenarios, different situations in a Test match. Because with 240-odd runs remaining, potentially if we had six/seven wickets in hand on day five, you can think about these things and say we’re not far away. But it’s important to learn.”A Test that had seen West Indies seemingly take a great leap forward with their batting was summed up by one cruel juxtaposition. While the first-innings 457 at Trent Bridge, underpinned by Kavem Hodge’s maiden century, was their highest Test total since 2014, the second-innings implosion marked the first time they had been bowled out in a session since 2013.For Brathwaite, the urge was to make building blocks from the rubble. The next few months amount to a rare period of concentrated cricket for his side, with a third Test against England to come ahead of visits to the Caribbean by South Africa and Bangladesh.Related

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“The big positive was our first innings, scoring 400 runs was great,” Brathwaite said. “A guy scoring his maiden hundred as well, that was good. I think with the ball we weren’t as good as we were supposed to be in the first innings. We dropped a few chances, which will happen, but I think we need to be a lot more disciplined. We went both sides of the pitch a little too much, too easy at times. That’s one thing we’ve got to get better at. They made 100-120 too many first innings, especially if we caught better.”The more you play, the more you’re in these type of pressure situations in international cricket, once you’re learning and thinking about how to get better, it can only be beneficial for us. The two defeats are gone but we still have five Tests matches remaining for this year. So we keep learning and by the end of the year we’ll be better off, once we have that correct mindset.”The problem for West Indies is that the learning curve is so steep. With the Richards-Botham Trophy back in English hands, there is only pride (and World Test Championship points) to play for at Edgbaston next week. But as those fans in the Radcliffe lower would tell you, pride is no small thing. Time to get up, stand up, and give them something to sing about once again.

England captain in “a really good space” after extensive work with batting coach Sid Lahiri

Matt Roller29-May-2024When England left India in mid-November, it was the lowest moment of Jos Buttler’s tenure as white-ball captain. His side were eliminated at the group stages of the ODI World Cup after three wins in nine matches – and only one in seven when they were still mathematically alive. His own form was non-existent.Buttler managed 138 runs across nine innings, 43 of which came in the tournament’s opening match, and looked worn down by England’s string of defeats. Innovative and impish at his best, he instead became restricted and robotic: he reverse-swept just two of the 142 balls he faced at the tournament, and played neither a sweep nor a scoop.But as England prepare for the T20 World Cup, Buttler looks ready. After missing the Cardiff washout to be with his wife Louise for the birth of couple’s third child, he is set to return as captain on Thursday night at The Oval. He does so after winning the player-of-the-match award in the only completed match in the series so far.In his first international innings of the year at Edgbaston, Buttler took Pakistan’s attack for 84 off 51 balls and seemed to have recaptured the spirit of the player that broke through as a 20-year-old. He used his feet against the seamers to create different angles for himself and destroyed Shadab Khan, looting 40 runs off the 15 balls he faced from him.Related

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It was his highest score in any international cricket since an ODI century against South Africa in February 2023, and an innings defined by its impudence. He twice reverse-swept Shadab – once for four, once for six – and scooped Haris Rauf over fine leg to bring up his half-century. He even tried a rare reverse-scoop off Rauf, though toe-ended it towards point for a single.Since he became a regular T20 opener in 2018, Buttler has evolved into a more clinical, consistent player: in T20Is, he averages 47.95 with a strike rate of 151.98 from his 50 innings as an opener. But of late, he has made a conscious decision to dip into his extensive repertoire of unorthodox shots: “What’s really important for me at this stage of my career is to always be trying to improve and get better, and add new things to my game,” Buttler said last week.”There’s certain shots that I want to add to my game more, different things that I want to try. I think that’s really exciting. That feels really motivating for me, and it’s always been a mindset of mine, but it’s more [about] connecting to that again and not being afraid to try new things, and fail in different ways.”Buttler with Sid Lahiri in the Rajasthan Royals’ nets•Rajasthan RoyalsButtler has worked closely with Siddhartha ‘Sid’ Lahiri, his batting coach at Paarl and Rajasthan Royals. “Sid’s had a huge impact for me,” Buttler said last month. When Buttler arrived at the SA20 in January, he was “not really enjoying my cricket, a bit unsure with my batting, trying to find that rhythm. Lahiri told him: “Just give me this tournament, I’m going to work with you,” Buttler recounted.Buttler “gave myself over” to Lahiri, and empowered him to run his training sessions. “He’s got some great thoughts around the game,” he said. “He’s a very positive guy, always reminding you how good you are but at the same time, giving you some honest feedback, and stuff you can do better. He’s had a great impact on my batting.””Jos didn’t have a particularly great time at the World Cup,” Lahiri told ESPNcricinfo. “What I felt was that he had slightly gone away from his usual sync. He’s not a conventional Ian Bell or Joe Root; he’s an unconventional batter whose greatest strength is his hand-eye coordination. It’s all about the time when the bat meets the ball, and his ability to sync that with the way he watches the ball.”Lahiri encouraged Buttler to move away from underarm feeds in practice, introducing “some harder spin throwdowns, where he had to play with the bat because he wasn’t wearing pads”. He also suggested that he should bat against the Royals’ seamers in the nets more often as opposed to net bowlers – another change designed to “ensure that he kept on finding his rhythm”.They also worked on his alignment early in his innings, after some bowlers – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, for example – targeted his pads with the new ball. “We didn’t tinker too much on his basics, more how he positions himself,” Lahiri said. “There were certain areas which he was not accessing, and bowlers were targeting. Now, if they target him in towards him, he’s going to hit it through midwicket for four.””i’ve worked closely with Sid… just [to get] some different ideas”•Rajasthan RoyalsButtler believes that he is sometimes “a victim of my own expectations”. Lahiri agrees: “When Jos is walking out for the Royals, his level of expectation is at its peak; the same pressure is there playing for England as captain. He can’t just think, ‘Let me go and smack a few balls’, which possibly he would love to. It’s a challenge for him.” His main aim, therefore, was simple: “To bring back the fun and the joy, and for Jos to actually enjoy batting again”.They are not major interventions but Buttler believes they have been beneficial and his statistics back that up: he averages 40.36 for the Royals’ teams this year, striking at 142.30. “I feel in a really good space,” he said last week. “I’ve worked closely with Sid… just [to get] some different ideas. He had a couple of drills that he thought would be really good for me. Change is good, change is nice.”Lahiri is an unlikely figure to be working so closely with Buttler: he is a self-described “outsider” who, unlike most IPL coaches, did not have a professional playing career. He played representative cricket in Bengal but went to the UK in his late 20s to qualify as a coach and never returned to Kolkata, instead building his career overseas.He played club cricket for Stoke d’Abernon in Surrey while working at Parkside School in Cobham, and launched his own business, the Star Cricket Academy. It was incorporated into the Rajasthan Royals Academy in 2019 and Lahiri has worked with the franchise’s professional set-up around the world since, including five seasons with their IPL team in various roles.”My coaching journey has come from the grassroots level up,” he said. “I’m very proud that I am a little bit of a trend-setter.” He admitted that he has, on occasion, found it “tough” to get buy-in from top players, but said: “The time is not that far away when people will take coaching as completely different to playing… it’s there already in football.”Lahiri has been empowered by the Royals’ director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara, and is grateful to Buttler for his support: “At the Royals, we talk a lot about trust… Jos has obviously supported me in all of this, and that is why it has been able to work.”His influence on Buttler encapsulates the unlikely multi-national relationships which have been forged in the IPL era. If it helps Buttler play a decisive role at the T20 World Cup, England’s supporters will be grateful.

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-20249.1, Rishad Hossain to Samson, no run
Good length, no turn, beats his slog, hits the pad, but headed down leg9.2, Rishad Hossain to Samson, SIX runs
Too full as he often was last match. Samson clears the front leg, and eases him back over his head for another nonchalant-looking six9.3, Rishad Hossain to Samson, SIX runs
He is having his way with Hossain. Again, right in the drop zone. This is poor spin bowling. You can’t bowl so full that a batter can hit you down the ground without using his feet. Goes over long-off this time9.4, Rishad Hossain to Samson, SIX runs
Dead straight, lower in trajectory, but a third straight six. Again Samson doesn’t even have to stretch himself. Not a half-volley but this is a true pitch9.5, Rishad Hossain to Samson, SIX runs
Goes slower in the air, but gives him another half-volley. This is just average bowling. He clears the front leg, and goes over long-on for the fourth six in a rowAround the wicket.9.6, Rishad Hossain to Samson, SIX runs
That is five sixes in a row. Not a bad ball, but Samson goes deep in the crease to manage to pull it with a vertical bat, and goes over deep midwicket for a small six. Does that matter when it is the fifth in the over? Samson into the 90s

Instant gratification is all that matters to success-starved team, as spinners seal first win in seven

Danyal Rasool18-Oct-2024The food in Pakistani press boxes can vary, both in cuisine and quality, but as the media lined up after lunch on the first day, it was clear a dessert popularity contest would be rather one-sided. One journalist piled his plate high with , ping-pong ball-sized impossibly sweet milk and dough balls, before contentedly sitting down at the nearest table. Pakistan is the land of the sugar hit.Looking across the glass window and onto the field, Pakistan cricket had decided they wanted in on the action, too. Sticking to a long-term plan, putting themselves through pain, never quite knowing if their goals would be realised had begun to take its toll. Pakistan had lost six Test matches in a row, and the benefits of consistency in selection and a long-term plan appeared increasingly illusory. They had slipped to the bottom of the World Test Championship table, and their impassioned supporters were merely feeding off scraps. They didn’t need a lecture on caloric restriction; they wanted a session of comfort eating.And so they delivered (Pakistan’s version). They had the ingredients already in the pantry for whatever they were trying to rustle up, even if they had to recycle and reheat. The pitch had already been prepared, with four-and-a-half days of cricket under its belt. The spinners had been assumed to be past their sell-by date, but they’d had a look at the packaging, and they were just about usable. Pakistan would need to go shopping again, soon, but crucially, not today.Related

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It was time to start cooking. They glanced at the time; it was already getting a bit late. No one quite knows what time the gas supply cuts out in Pakistan these days; the only surefire way to know is to turn the knob and see what happens. They flipped that coin; it landed correctly, and the stove burned up. Pakistan knew much of their work was already done.Perhaps it’s churlish to belittle the rest of the game at the expense of that moment, but even captain Shan Masood acknowledged the value of that toss. It was the moment they were handed the key to unlock a style of play they had deliberately locked away, almost because they believed it was somehow morally wrong to win a game this way. They had spent the last year looking for success in a manner they felt did justice to the legacy of their charismatic fast-bowling forebears. They invested in young quicks Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah and their perfect hairlines, while older, balding spinners sat willing to do the job at a fraction of the price.In football, such pragmatism has made devoted heroes out of Jose Mourinho and Thomas Tuchel, whose laser focus on results override any concessions to style. Pakistan, particularly in its current, dysfunctional set-up should theoretically make the strongest case for a similar approach, if perhaps at Sam Allardyce or Sean Dyche’s level instead. Most journalists in this country have, after all, rolled their eyes as they sit through the unveiling of the latest chairman or coach as they talk about their long-term vision, and the structural long-term changes they are going to make, knowing they’ll be sitting there in a few months or years hearing the same talking points from another recycled face. None of those grand plans will come to fruition, and any progress made will be discarded as the loop repeats.The day four pitch in Multan … on day nine, if truth be told•Getty ImagesIn a brief moment of lucidity last week, this is an epiphany the PCB seems to have had. Masood had gone 0 in 6, and his job was under threat. The captain and the coach, having talked up consistency in selection, were omitted from the selection committee altogether. A new selection committee, one that took the selector count over the last three years to 26, had just been announced. Some of the players they had invested in over the Test summer weren’t that keen to play, others needed a rest for their own sake. Pakistan didn’t need a long-term plan; they needed a win.The culmination of no long-term plan is 20 wickets for two spinners who haven’t held a red-ball since January. This Test – that final innings in particular – tells us no more or less than we already knew about Masood’s captaincy. There were no bowling changes at all, and fielding changes were generally limited to switches for a left-handed batter, or the addition of an extra fielder to a close catching position. No one quite knows what Pakistan are thinking of come December when they go to South Africa; indeed Masood already understood what they’d just managed would be difficult enough to replicate as early as Rawalpindi next week.But the selectors have already arrived in Rawalpindi; the curators were there a few days earlier to work out a bespoke plan for a ground that has never traditionally taken spin. The cricket team finally appears to be on the same page as everyone within the cricket board, entirely focused on surviving the next day, and worrying about the distant future later.As the morning unfolded, it became immediately clear the 297 England needed to win was academic. Sajid and Noman romped through an opposition with a ruthlessness Pakistan had believed they were no longer unable to muster. A warm, fuzzy feeling spread around the sparsely populated ground. With every ball threatening, many in the press boxes got carried away, exclaiming “out!” every time a ball hit a pad or whizzed past an edge. When Ben Stokes danced down to Noman, losing control of his bat as it flew high behind fine leg, there were delighted cackles.When Noman got Shoaib Bashir to take his eighth and finally complete the web Pakistan had spun around England, several loudly applauded, and had to be sternly shushed by the others.Perhaps it was the.

They had beaten Pakistan in the 2022 World Cup and in a Super Over in late 2020. Zimbabwe would want to repeat it in the upcoming ODIs

Danyal Rasool23-Nov-2024Perhaps even an attempt to preview this series is a bit of false advertising, because it implies a wider context in which a three-match ODI series between Zimbabwe and Pakistan is placed. It is not. It was a series earmarked to happen in the Future Tours Programme (FTP), so a window had to be found, and the last week of November sounded just about the right time for it.There is, after all, no logical planning sequence that takes anyone directly from Hobart to Bulawayo, a journey much of this Pakistan squad has made. Just last Monday, they wrapped up the final game of a six-match white-ball tour with a T20 in Hobart, with another six matches now scheduled over the next fortnight in Zimbabwe. Unlike that tour, where each game was played in a different city, Pakistan will not leave Bulawayo at all on this tour.Zimbabwe’s calendar is much more open for obvious reasons. A romp through a T20 World Cup sub-regional Africa qualifier last month is their most recent international engagement. It caused something of a murmur on the wider cricketing stage due to a record-breaking rout Zimbabwe inflicted over Gambia, totting up the highest T20I score and the biggest win in the format’s history.Related

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A win over India in the opening game of a T20I series in July, though, is the more impressive result, even if a Test defeat at Ireland’s hands is more indicative of the true position Zimbabwe’s cricket is currently in. They all might have been different formats, but with a shallower player pool to draw from, it is safer to map Zimbabwe’s results cross-format than it is with most Full Members.It’s also necessary, because Zimbabwe have no recent ODIs to read into, anyway. Their most consequential 50-over games came in the summer of 2023, when, for the second consecutive qualifying campaign, they were among the two best teams of the tournament only for one damaging loss to keep them out of the World Cup proper. They followed that up with a pair of losses against Ireland and Sri Lanka either side of the turn of the year, their last ODIs.They do have a familiar-looking squad, though. The batting stalwarts include captain Craig Ervine, Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza, with fast bowlers Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava also part of the side; all five were part of the team that beat Pakistan after a Super Over in an ODI in November 2020. Flashy top-order batter Brian Bennett has been in decent List A form in Zimbabwe of late, while Tadiwanashe Marumani has shown sparks.With no Champions Trophy involvement ahead, this series will be a big deal in itself for Zimbabwe, a chance to test themselves against a vastly superior opponent, but one they have the canny ability to spring surprises upon from time to time.Pakistan come in with new head coach Aaqib Javed, who earlier this week declared ODI was the most important format for them at the moment. The Champions Trophy is a home tournament for Pakistan, who are also defending champions, so making sure the 50-over side is perfectly fine-tuned matters more to them than most. They come fresh off the back of a commanding ODI series win in Australia, their only 50-over cricket to date since the 2023 World Cup. But this series is part of that rare bounty of ODI cricket that now tends to cluster around a big 50-over tournament; they follow it up with three such games in South Africa, followed by a home triangular series that New Zealand and South Africa will also play in.While Aaqib said Pakistan wouldn’t tinker too much with the ODI side, there are a few departures from their full-strength team. Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah have all been rested. With Fakhar Zaman also missing owing to a mix of disciplinary and fitness issues, it means some unfamiliarity both at the top and tail of the innings.Captain Mohammad Rizwan may have to shoulder more batting responsibility, while Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub have opportunities to make the opening slots theirs. How Pakistan balance the side is also a point of interest after they went into the Australia ODIs playing just four specialist fast bowlers, planning on simply bowling Australia out in 40 overs. It’s likely Pakistan go with a less gung-ho approach on tracks that may not offer the same zip, with spinners Abrar Ahmed and Faisal Akram getting chances to showcase their skills against perhaps less storied opposition.And that’s that, really. There’s the risk of the odd shower for much of the next week; Zimbabwe tends to get seasonal rain around this time of year. Bulawayo will offer a nice atmosphere; Zimbabwean fans always tend to make sure of that. The relationship between these sides is convivial, and for Pakistan, it’s one of very few places where they will not be thronged by local media or supporters. It’s not the highest-profile cricket tour in the world this week, but it’s a laid-back one in a country that enjoys its cricket. If that sounds like your sort of thing, that’s really all the context that matters.

Vote for the best individual Border-Gavaskar Trophy performance by an Indian in Australia since 2000

Alagappan Muthu12-Nov-2024Update: The fan voting exercise has ended. Rahul Dravid’s Adelaide 2003 performance has been picked as the winner.ESPNcricinfo LtdRahul Dravid celebrates a famous win at Adelaide Oval in 2003•AFP via Getty ImagesRahul Dravid – 233 and 72* in Adelaide, 2003India win by four wickets, lead series 1-0Long before Rahul Dravid was immortalised for revealing that he too had the ability to yell his head off, he was immortalised for having the ability to yell his head off and also punch the air. The image of him doing so as he hit the winning runs in Adelaide almost 20 years ago is part of Indian cricket history. It was only the fourth time they had ever won a Test match in Australia – and their first victory since 1981 – and they had to come from behind to do it. From way behind, 556 runs to be exact. But Dravid kept whittling away at it, wearing Australia down not once but twice. Finally, after 12 and a half hours at the crease, scoring more runs than he has ever done or will ever do in a single Test, it made perfect sense that he would be there at the end, soaking in the Adelaide sunshine, teeth gritted, arms up high, the personification of triumph.Dravid’s heroics in that match gave India a 1-0 lead, in a series they went on to draw in Australia for the first time since 1985.Round of 16: Dravid’s 233 & 72* beat R Ashwin’s 3-57 & 3-92.Quarter-final: Dravid’s 233 & 72* beat Sachin Tendulkar’s 241* & 60*.Semi-final: Dravid’s 233 & 72* beat Jasprit Bumrah’s 6-33 & 3-53.Watch the highlights of these performances on the Star Sports network at 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm IST, from November 12 onwards.Rishabh Pant – 89* in Brisbane, 2021India won by three wickets, and the series 2-1All the things that didn’t make sense on this tour – India all out for 36, their three jillion injuries, the hassle of cricket in quarantine – found meaning when Rishabh Pant began to play the innings of a lifetime. He was 23 and he helped obliterate a record that had stood for way longer than he’d been alive. Australia’s undefeated streak in Brisbane was 32 years old when it was finally laid to rest. “This is one of the biggest things in my life right now,” Pant said after a performance that proved just how dangerous a batter he could be when he adopts even the smallest bit of restraint.Chasing 328 at the Gabba – 324 on the final day – India still needed 161 runs with about 43 overs to go when Pant walked in at No. 5. He got going, and kept going, even as wickets fell and the overs ticked by. Eventually, with only minutes left on the clock, he lashed Josh Hazlewood down the ground to accomplish one of the greatest series wins in Test history.Round of 16: Pant’s 89* beat Ajit Agarkar’s 6-41.Quarter-final: Pant’s 89* beat VVS Laxman’s 167.Semi-final: Pant’s 89* beat Virat Kohli’s 115 & 141.Voting closes at 11am IST on November 17. The winner of this match-up will be decided by the total votes cast on polls conducted across ESPNcricinfo, Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar platforms.

As IPL 2025 resumes after a break, here are answers to all questions about schedule, player availability and a lot more

Ashish Pant16-May-20254:40

What happened to home advantage in IPL 2025?

What is the situation on the points table?No team is yet to seal a playoffs spot, but a few are almost there, while Chennai Super (CSK), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are out of the race.Related

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IPL 2025 scenarios: GT and RCB one win away from playoffs, MI in control of their fate

Gujarat Titans (GT) lead the points table with 16 points and are just one win away from cementing a place in the final four. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), second with 16 points as well, are also one win away. Punjab Kings (PBKS) are on 15 points and need two wins out of three. Mumbai Indians (MI) are fourth with 14 points, while Delhi Capitals (DC) are fifth with 13. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are closer to elimination than the playoffs.Here’s everything you need to know about the IPL 2025 playoffs scenarios.Will the abandoned PBKS vs DC fixture be replayed?Yes, the fixture, which was abandoned after just 10.1 overs in Dharamsala on May 8, will be replayed from scratch on May 24. The runs scored and wickets taken will not be added to the players’ records. The venue has been changed to Jaipur, where PBKS will play all their three remaining league games.So what’s the new schedule?IPL 2025 will restart on Saturday, May 17, with RCB taking on KKR in Bengaluru. The 13 league games (including the PBKS vs DC rematch) that remain will be played from May 17 to 27, which includes two double-header days on May 18 and May 25. Qualifier 1 will take place on May 29, the Eliminator on May 30, Qualifier 2 on June 1 and the final on June 3. The venues for the four playoff games have not been announced yet.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe league matches will be played in six venues: Bengaluru, Jaipur, Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The match timings remain unchanged: evening games will begin at 7.30pm IST while the afternoon games will start at 3.30pm IST.There will be no matches in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata or any of PBKS’ home venues. Hyderabad and Kolkata were originally scheduled to host the playoffs.Here is the full list of IPL 2025 fixtures.Did all the players return home during the interruption? What about the overseas players – is everyone coming back?The status of overseas players – available or unavailable – has been rapidly changing ever since the IPL announced it was resuming. While a majority of the players are coming back, some high-profile names, like Mitchell Starc, are not, while some England and South Africa players are available only until the league stage ends due to international commitments. For a detailed list of players available and not, click here.GT: They are likely to have their full set of overseas players available, but Jos Buttler will miss the playoffs should GT make it, and so will Kagiso Rabada. Sherfane Rutherford will be available for the rest of the season despite being named in West Indies’ touring squad to Ireland.RCB: Romario Shepherd, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Lungi Ngidi, Tim David and Phil Salt have rejoined the RCB squad ahead of the KKR clash. Out of them, Shepherd will be available for the rest of the season, Bethell will be available for only two matches, while Ngidi will be available for the three league games. Josh Hazlewood’s return, however, remains uncertain.6:13

Chopra: RCB were smart in picking players for right slots

PBKS: Xavier Bartlett, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mitchell Owen and Marco Jansen have confirmed their participation, while PBKS are still waiting on Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis and Aaron Hardie’s availability. Jansen is part of South Africa’s WTC final squad and will leave once the league games end.MI: MI will have Trent Boult back along with Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton, Corbin Bosch, Mitchell Santner, Reece Topley, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Bevon Jacobs. Out of them, Bosch, Rickelton and Jacks will leave once MI are done with their final two league games owing to national commitments, while the rest will be available for the rest of the tournament. It must be noted that MI only play their first game upon resumption on May 21.DC: Australia opener Jake Fraser-McGurk and Mitchell Starc are not returning, while Faf du Plessis’ availability remains unclear. Tristan Stubbs will be back but will leave before the playoffs begin.3:01

Can MI still miss out of the playoffs?

LSG: The overseas LSG players, which include Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, David Miller and Matthew Breetzke, will link up with the squad by May 18. Out of the lot, Markram is the only player who will leave post the league phase in case LSG qualify for the playoffs, while Shamar Joseph is not coming back.KKR: Most of KKR’s overseas players are back in India, barring Moeen Ali and Rovman Powell. “Powell is undergoing a procedure, while Moeen and his family are down with a viral infection,” a KKR statement said.RR: Jofra Archer will miss RR’s last two games because of a thumb injury, while Maheesh Theekshana is also recovering from a niggle. Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kwena Maphaka and Lhuan-dre Pretorius have joined the team.4:43

Moody: SRH were stubborn to change

SRH: Despite already being eliminated, SRH will have the services of Pat Cummins and Travis Head for the remainder of the league. Heinrich Klaasen, Eshan Malinga and Kamindu Mendis will also be back.CSK: Jamie Overton has pulled out of IPL 2025, while it’s unclear if Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway will return. Among those available from their overseas contingent are Afghanistan left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad and Sri Lankan quick Matheesha Pathirana.Have there been any tweaks to the rules because of the rearranged season?Yes, the IPL will now allow franchises to sign temporary replacement players for the remainder of the season, but those players will not be eligible for retention ahead of the next auction.DC have brought in fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman in place of Fraser-McGurk using this rule, while Kusal Mendis will come in for Buttler for GT if they make the playoffs. Here are some other replacements for the rest of the season.Meanwhile, Mayank Yadav is out with a fresh back injury.Lastly, what’s the latest with the orange and purple cap lists?Only ten runs separate the top five batters in the race to the orange cap. Suryakumar Yadav leads the run-getters list with 510 runs, but GT openers B Sai Sudharsan (509) and Shubman Gill (508) are hot on his heels. Virat Kohli is marginally behind on 505 runs while Buttler is on 500.On the purple cap list, GT’s Prasidh Krishna and Noor are top of the pile with 20 wickets apiece, while Josh Hazlewood and Trent Boult with 18 each are next in line. Varun Chakravarthy has 17 wickets and is in fifth position.

The thumping heartbeat of their IPL 2024 triumph is flatlining, and the numbers don’t look pretty

Sreshth Shah25-Apr-20252:33

Cricinformed: KKR’s middle-order muddle

There’s a fine line between being inconsistent and being completely out of sync, and right now, Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) middle order is in danger of crossing it. The thumping heartbeat of KKR’s batting in IPL 2024 is flatlining this season. KKR’s inability to find any fluency through the middle overs has mirrored their broader batting slump this season. Their capitulation in Mullanpur — where they failed to chase a modest 112 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) – felt like a breaking point. A limp performance against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Monday only deepened the malaise.What’s most concerning is that the personnel hasn’t changed much – the output certainly has. Among all teams in IPL 2025, KKR’s middle order (positions 4 to 8) has the lowest collective average (20.00), and KKR’s average through the middle overs (7th-16th) this season (17.4) is also the worst in the league.Still, it would be unfair to pin the blame solely on the middle order. Their success last year was built on strong foundations laid by the openers. In IPL 2024, the Phil Salt-Sunil Narine combo had the third-highest aggregate among opening pairs, and averaged 46.58. Salt has moved to Royal Challengers Bengaluru this season, and Quinton de Kock has struggled to replicate his success alongside Narine: their average opening stand this year is 18.16. KKR dropped de Kock in their last match against GT, only for his replacement Rahmanullah Gurbaz to begin his season with a first-over dismissal.It’s no surprise, then, that KKR have the worst powerplay dot-ball percentage of all teams in IPL 2025 (49.82).It’s a domino effect: the same middle order that once thrived on momentum now finds itself forced into damage control. Other teams with struggling middle orders such as Lucknow Super Giants (average of 22.24 from Nos. 4 to 8) and PBKS (25.47) have top-order runs to fall back on, which has kept them in contention for the playoffs.Following the defeat to GT, KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane pointed to the need for batters to be “brave” with their intent despite the form slump. Ahead of Saturday’s home game against PBKS, Moeen Ali echoed that sentiment, but framed it differently. According to Moeen, the key lies in a shift in mindset, with the batters needing to almost trick themselves into confidence.Andre Russell has scored just 55 runs in six innings this season, at an average of 9.16•AFP/Getty Images”It’s about having the mindset where you kind of fool yourself into thinking you’re playing well and just go all out,” Moeen told reporters. “We need to go out there, express ourselves, and just have a bit more fun. Sometimes from the outside, it seems the pressure is too much on players, but it’s about taking that off and showing your skills.”Moeen remains optimistic about the line-up’s potential. “The real strength is we have guys who can go ultra-aggressive like Sunil Narine, and also classical players like Ajinkya, who’s in red-hot form. Angkrish [Raghuvanshi] is doing brilliantly, and then there’s Venky [Venkatesh Iyer], Rinku, myself, Russell. Everything is there. We genuinely have one of the stronger batting line-ups in the competition. Some players like Angkrish and Ajinkya have done well, but as a unit, we haven’t clicked. It’s just a matter of turning it around.”It won’t be easy, though. Bravo admitted, after the 39-run defeat against GT, that the KKR batters were just “out of confidence.” And KKR also have scars from their previous capitulation to 95 all out against PBKS. Three of Yuzvendra Chahal’s five best IPL performances have come against KKR, all since IPL 2022, and Venkatesh has been out three times in 18 balls against Marco Jansen.But PBKS have one weakness – powerplay bowling, with only 11 wickets in eight games – and KKR will hope to exploit it come Saturday. A strong start could fix a lot of their problems, and they only need to look at Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) last season and Mumbai Indians on numerous occasions to know that comebacks are possible even when all looks lost. However, time is running out, and with KKR needing to win five of their last six games to make a strong case for the playoffs, it’s now or never for the defending champions.

From “the next Dhoni” to a 13-year-old wonderkid, here are eight exciting players set to make their IPL debuts

Shashank Kishore and Deivarayan Muthu20-Mar-2025

Robin Minz (Mumbai Indians)

A motorcycle accident denied him an opportunity to break into the IPL last year, but he’s back again, this time with Mumbai Indians who signed him for INR 65 lakh, staving off competition from Chennai Super Kings. Minz has played fewer than ten representative T20s so far, but MI are excited about his raw power, having tracked him during their development camps in the UK and the DY Patil tournament in Mumbai. Dubbed as Jharkhand’s Chris Gayle and “the next Dhoni”, Minz can generate incredible bat speed and even play the helicopter shot. Could this hard-hitting, left-handed, wicketkeeper-batter be the next gem from MI’s scouting network?Vaibhav Suryavanshi is 13 years old but is already turning heads•Associated Press

Vaibhav Suryavanshi (Rajasthan Royals)

At just 13, Vaibhav Suryavanshi has made waves by becoming the youngest Indian to earn an IPL contract (INR 1.1 crore with Rajasthan Royals). A left-handed top-order batter, he impressed with a record-breaking 58-ball century, the fastest by an Indian in youth Tests, against Australia U-19s. Suryavanshi also scored two half-centuries in the U-19 Asia Cup and boasts an unbeaten triple-century in an U-19 tournament in Bihar.Suryansh Shedge had a breakout Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season•Punjab Kings

Suryansh Shedge (Punjab Kings)

A key contributor to Mumbai’s Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 title, Shedge was bought by Punjab Kings for his base price of INR 30 lakh. He scored 131 runs at a strike rate of 252, the highest for anyone facing 20 or more balls.Related

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His crucial knocks included an unbeaten 12-ball 36 in the quarter-final against Vidarbha and another unbeaten 15-ball 36 in the final against Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, he took eight wickets in nine innings with his seam-ups. Although he is yet to play an IPL game, this will be Shedge’s second stint in the tournament, after having previously been a late replacement for Jaydev Unadkat at Lucknow Super Giants in 2023.Ryan Rickelton prepares for his first IPL season•Mumbai Indians

Ryan Rickelton (Mumbai Indians)

A South African wicketkeeper-batter will likely open along with Rohit Sharma for MI in the IPL. Sounds familiar? During their title-winning campaigns in 2019 and 2020, Quinton de Kock was a powerful presence at the top of the order. MI tried to get de Kock back for this IPL too, but Kolkata Knight Riders outbid them, so they picked Ryan Rickelton, a younger, taller version of de Kock.MI’s investment in Rickelton’s big hitting paid off earlier this year when he had helped deliver a maiden SA20 title for MI Cape Town. He had a chart-topping strike rate of 177.41 in the powerplay and showed that he could explosive outside of that phase of play as well. Rickelton had also clattered a 63-ball century for Seattle Orcas in the Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA last year. Can he crack the IPL too?Priyansh Arya at Punjab Kings’ pre-season camp ahead of IPL 2025•Punjab Kings

Priyansh Arya (Punjab Kings)

A left-handed opener, Arya gained widespread recognition for hitting six sixes in an over during a Delhi Premier League match, finishing with 120 off 50 balls. He also put on a partnership of 286 with Ayush Badoni. Arya topped the DPL run charts with 608 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 199. His impressive form continued in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he scored 325 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 177, including a century against Uttar Pradesh just before being bought by Punjab Kings for INR 3.4 crore at the IPL mega auction.Corbin Bosch won the SA20 title with MI Cape Town•SA20

Corbin Bosch (Mumbai Indians)

Corbin Bosch’s name didn’t even come up for bidding at the mega auction in November last year, but he could well be a wildcard player for MI after being picked as a replacement for the injured Lizaad Williams. With Hardik Pandya certain to miss MI’s opening game on Sunday, against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk because of an over-rate offence from last season, Bosch could be thrown into the mix right away to provide the balance that Hardik usually does.Bosch, a South African bowling allrounder, is a bit of a late bloomer. At 30, he made his international debut and had a good SA20 season with MI Cape Town. He usually operates in the middle and death overs and hits hard lengths. While he was slotted down the order at MICT, he can also float up and hit boundaries like he demonstrated during his CPL stint with Barbados Royals in 2022.Eshan Malinga is known for bowling some pretty good yorkers•SA20

Eshan Malinga (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Eshan Malinga’s action isn’t as slingy as Lasith Malinga’s, but he operates in the death too. At the time of the auction, Eshan was one of the two uncapped overseas players to be picked along with New Zealand’s Bevon Jacobs. Soon after SRH acquired him for INR 1.2 crore, Eshan made his ODI debut for Sri Lanka and SA20 debut for Paarl Royals.Eshan had first emerged on Sri Lanka’s radar in 2019 after winning a nationwide fast-bowling contest where he clocked 141kph. While Eshan doesn’t hit 140kph as consistently these days, he swings the new ball and bowls accurate yorkers at the death. He floored Mohammad Haris with an inch-perfect yorker in the Emerging Asia Cup semi-final in Al Amerat in October last year. Eshan then attended an IPL trial with Rajasthan Royals, but SRH eventually outbid them. He could be a fourth overseas option for SRH, perhaps in place of Adam Zampa, when conditions favour pace.Vipraj Nigam has played with IPL winner Rinku Singh in the UPT20 league•PTI

Vipraj Nigam (Delhi Capitals)

At 20, Vipraj Nigam has had a rapid rise in senior cricket and was picked up by Delhi Capitals in the auction. A legspinner inspired by Rashid Khan, Nigam is known for his airspeed and the bite he gets on helpful surfaces. He gained attention in the UPT20 League with Lucknow Falcons, taking 20 wickets in 11 innings at a strike rate of 11.15 and an economy of 7.45. His strong performances led to a senior debut for Uttar Pradesh in the 2024-25 season, and he also showcased his lower-order hitting, scoring an unbeaten 27 off 8 balls to help UP reach the Syed Mushtaq Ali quarter-finals.