All posts by h716a5.icu

Plays of the day from the third ODI between Australia and South Africa in Canberra

Daniel Brettig at Manuka Oval19-Nov-2014The silence
Steven Smith drilled a yorker through his legs and into the fine leg boundary in the 50th over•Getty ImagesIan Craig never played an ODI, but his standing as one of Australian cricket’s most respected figures was underlined by a moment’s silence at Manuka Oval. Craig died on Sunday after battling cancer, aged 79. During the observance, both teams had time to ponder Craig’s debut for New South Wales at 16, for Australia at 17 and captaincy of his nation at 21. It probably left them wondering how much they had achieved so far, and how much they had left to give.The part-timer
Dale Steyn had complimented Farhaan Behardien on how hard he was working to be a viable fifth bowling option for South Africa, at a time when the batsman and sometime-bowler JP Duminy’s fitness for the World Cup next year is clouded by knee surgery. It may be slightly early, but Behardien may now be able to claim Shane Watson as his first international bunny. For the second match in a row, Watson miscalculated a swing at Behardien’s slow mediums, this time finding David Miller in the deep.The nutmeg
Steven Smith gathered momentum steadily through the back end of Australia’s innings, before exploding with a starburst of strokes in the closing overs. The best of these came from a free hit offered up in the 50th over by Morne Morkel, who had already overstepped once before. This no-ball had the added vinegar of being caught, by a nonchalantly diving Faf du Plessis at wide long-on. Morkel then produced a decent enough yorker angling in towards leg stump, but Smith’s riposte was a wonderfully nimble flick, almost through his own legs, to the vacant backward square leg boundary. It was a moment of rare class.The push
Though he did not sustain it, AB de Villiers still provided a reminder of his outrageous talent by putting on the afterburners midway through South Africa’s innings. Watson was carted for a six and two fours, then Mitchell Marsh cracked for a hat-trick of boundaries. The first of these was a leading edge to third man, but given de Villiers’ recent record against Australia, Marsh might have been forgiven for thinking that this too was a deliberate stroke.

Plays of the Day from the Group B game between South Africa and Zimbabwe in Hamilton

Firdose Moonda in Hamilton15-Feb-2015Do the hokey-pokey Zimbabwe fans were dancing hours before the game at Garden Square in the city centre, and carried that into the ground where they took over the corner under the main scoreboard. Tinashe Panyangara could not help but carry on when he got Hashim Amla to play on. Panyangara got down on the ground, put his right hand in, took his right hand out, put his right hand in and shook it all about. It was part mock-swim, part worm-wiggle and all hokey-pokey. His team-mates could only watch and smile.The superhuman effort Craig Ervine showed remarkable composure when AB de Villiers sent a ball his way at long-off that seemed destined for six. Ervine made good ground to take a one-handed catch and when he saw his momentum would carry him over the boundary, he threw the ball back up in the air while he steadied himself, stepped back onto the playing field, and collected with both hands. Sometimes, it takes a superhuman effort to dismiss the man many consider a superman at the crease.Miller-time It seemed like it would never come after the man known for being a bludgeoner, was forced to bat like a big boy with South Africa in a tricky situation at 83 for 4. But Miller did the hard work and gave himself the opportunity to show off his best, which came after he brought up an 81-ball century. Solomon Mire was brought back on in the 48th over but like his team-mates, he could not find the yorker and presented a full toss instead. Miller had his eye in by then and lofted him for 86 metres over his head to kickoff an over of punishment. Mire’s next five deliveries went for 24 in an over that cost 30 runs.I’m here tooJP Duminy was content to play supporting actor to Miller for most of the innings but decided to steal the show as his century approached. The last over had begun and Duminy went for the paddle-flick over his head and the wicket-keeper’s. With a short boundary behind him, even though it seemed as though the ball had gone straight up, it carried high over the outfield and onto the embankment while Duminy raised arms and punched the air in celebration.What’s in a name? This is not the first time Hamilton Masakadza has been to Hamilton. But it is the first time he has made a name for himself here. Zimbabwe’s in-form No.3 took on the best bowler in the world with so much confidence, he even thwacked Dale Steyn over the covers to bring up his fifty. Masakadza stepped down the crease, made room and launched Steyn onto the grass embankment. It was Hamilton’s moment in Hamilton and not even the most fearsome fast bowler could take it away.The deflation Zimbabwe were making a fight of the chase until the end of the final drinks break when Brendan Taylor was deceived by a Morne Morkel slower ball which he chipped straight to mid-on. The dismissal had none of the bravado of a man falling on his sword, nor the bad luck of a big shot gone wrong but it was so limp, it silenced the singing crowd. As Taylor walked off, an eerie quiet settled over Seddon Park.

How Richie Benaud’s passion for work and attention to detail precipitated a relationship with me that lasted until his death

Ric Finlay14-Apr-2015Today is the first day of my life in cricket without Richie Benaud in it.I know where I was on November 30, 1962, because my database tells me. I was at home in bed afflicted with the cursed bronchitis that frequently interfered with my primary education. I know this because it was the first day of the 1962-63 Ashes series at the Gabba, and Richie was captain of Australia. I must have had some idea of cricket before this date, but I have no memory of it. That day, therefore, marked the start of my conscious cricket life.I was permitted to have my mother’s transistor radio, and I tracked the performance of the Australian batting that day in my father’s ABC cricket book – but not accurately enough for him. He noted that I hadn’t entered the batsmen in the order in which they batted, and I was made to rub it all out and start again. My first scoring lesson.Brian Booth made 100 that day (112 in fact: I can still remember the individual scores made that day without recourse to a scorecard), and thus became my first cricket hero. In this day of high definition TV and slo-mo, I find it amazing that a child can generate heroes in his mind without the images that would seem to be essential. Radio still has its place in developing a strong affinity with the game, even with the very youngest. It may not be a coincidence that radio has been the dominant environment in what I call my cricket career.Booth was out before the day’s end, and Richie came in. Not out overnight. Tonight, over 52 years later, will be the first night for me where Richie is not “not out” overnight. The end of an era.I remember my disappointment when Richie retired the following season. I had only caught the tail-end of his career, of course, but that was my first brush with the phenomenon of retirement, and the first realisation that cricketers don’t play for ever. I sulked for a week.In my first year of high school not long after, we were asked by the school library what books we would like to see added to it. I plumped for Richie Benaud’s , not expecting much joy since it was hardly the erudite tome that I assumed would be favoured. To my surprise and joy, the book was duly acquired.For my pains, I had to present a book review of it to the whole school in assembly one day. I tackled the assignment feverishly, and delivered the resulting masterpiece with all the aplomb of Rahul Dravid delivering the Spirit of Cricket lecture, and at an intellectual level that was clearly above the listening recipients. The silence that followed it was a salutary reminder that that not everyone, in fact, hardly anyone, shared my passion.Richie rushed back into my life a decade later when Kerry Packer bulldozed his way into Australian cricket. I remember Richie being placed on a proscribed list created by the ACB because he was involved in the setting up of the rival cricket structure that threatened to destroy life as we knew it. I was initially angry at Packer, but when it became known to me that Richie was involved, my personal opposition to it softened.In time, as we now know, the two parties united, and Richie was on our television screens, splendidly attired in his trademark coat. Channel 9 replaced the ABC as mandatory summer watching, although the ads were always a pain. But Richie was the swing to the advertising roundabout.In the early ’90s, a work colleague and I devised a computer Test cricket database, and released it to the unsuspecting public in 1994. When covering an ODI at Bellerive, I received a phone call from Ian Chappell, working for Channel 9 at the other end of the ground. He had seen the database somewhere, and wanted it. Not long after, Richie made contact, and precipitated a relationship that lasted until his death.Richie’s insatiable desire to master our software knew no bounds. In his late 60s by then, I was astounded by his understanding of what it could do for the reporting of the game. Early in his involvement with our product, Richie, the consummate journalist, came up with the testimonial, “There’s a story in every table”. In time, we added ODIs, the Sheffield Shield, women’s cricket and T20 to our offerings. Richie wanted the lot, yesterday. He would follow each acquisition with the question, “Are you sure I have everything?”It was one thing to drive the database, but quite another to manage the incessant files that come with updating. One day, Richie was surprised to find himself appearing in the women’s database. He had taken a wrong turn in the updating procedure. Every time he came to Hobart to cover a Test, we would get an invitation to his hotel room to make sure his files were in order. Over a civilised glass of red, we would work together to ensure his system was functional and efficient. During the winter, I would frequently receive emails from his summer house in France asking for technical advice. When in Sydney, he would utilise the excellent expertise of his computer man, Greg Culpan. He spared nothing to ensure all was in working order.I held my breath when I sent out the annual call for re-subscriptions shortly after his recent car accident. I needn’t have worried – his positive response was by return email, and so for the 21st time, he continued being my client. I am genuinely sorry that he wasn’t able to see it to its conclusion. He was never anything but a delight to liaise with. I will miss him.So far, my life has had a pre-Richie era, and a Richie-era. The post-Richie era starts today. The game will never be quite the same.If you have a submission for Inbox, send it to us here, with “Inbox” in the subject line.

The display of a young and hungry pace attack and Steven Smith’s steel won the World Cup final and there were signs that this group can go on to dominate ODIs for the next five years

Daniel Brettig at the MCG29-Mar-2015Inside three balls, a world record MCG crowd of 93,013 saw precisely why Australia would be lifting the World Cup six or so hours later. Mitchell Starc was too fast, too accurate and too composed for Brendon McCullum, New Zealand’s warrior captain made to look foolish by the bowler of the tournament. The sight of McCullum’s off stump tilted back was enough to sink New Zealand hearts and set Australian ones racing. Michael Clarke’s team never quite came down from that high.Australia won the World Cup final the way they won the tournament as a whole. Fast bowling that was as aggressive as it was accurate, personified by Starc, agile and alert fielding accompanied by intimidatory snarls, and batting adequate for the task thanks mainly to the undeniable class of Steven Smith. There was strength in depth, underlined by the fact that every member of the final XI produced at least one match-turning display over the course of the tournament.This was a most Australian team, playing in a most Australian style in Australian conditions. The coach Darren Lehmann brought beers back into the dressing room, per Chappell, per Border. Australia’s supremacy down under is yet to be followed up by consistent success abroad. It is also true that they are not the most loveable bunch to set foot on a cricket field, and at times can be outright boorish. But on home soil they are Cup winners, a garland that can cover all manner of sins less enduring than defeat.If this was the end of the road for the captain Clarke, and probably others in terms of World Cups such as Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin and Shane Watson, it certainly was not the end of an era for Australia’s cricket. A victory built on pace bowling was also built on youth – Johnson is the only member of the bowling attack over the age of 25, let alone 30.In Starc (25), Josh Hazlewood (24), James Faulkner (24), Pat Cummins (21) and the not selected James Pattinson (24), Lehmann and Clarke’s likely successor Smith have the sort of firepower to ensure they need only score a moderate amount of runs to remain at or near the top of world cricket for at least the next five years. Some had questioned the omission of Ryan Harris from the Cup squad when it was announced. On final day he was at the MCG commentating, and it reflected great credit on his younger compatriots that he was not overly missed.Starc’s marriage of precision and penetration has been breathtaking at times. His dismantling of McCullum will come to be remembered as the moment Australia effectively won the final, for it was a blow as psychological as it was technical. Bowlers have feared for their own safety in McCullum’s presence this tournament, but in three balls he was as powerless against Starc as his lower-order counterparts had been in the frenzied finish at Eden Park.The effect of the early wicket was to cause the rest of the New Zealand top order to retreat, and for Australia’s bowlers to swarm all over them. Short balls were avoided and parried but never taken on, dead bats and leaves were common, and when Glenn Maxwell came into the attack, a tentative Martin Guptill was bowled by a delivery that he might have struck for six during his double hundred in the quarter-final.Clarke marshalled his troops as expertly as ever, using his resources so tidily that while Grant Elliott and Ross Taylor put on a partnership that saved some face, they were never able to dominate. When Faulkner winkled out Taylor then zipped past Corey Anderson, Clarke recalled Starc and Johnson to round up New Zealand in a chillingly swift manner. The last seven wickets mustered just 33.When Tim Southee and Trent Boult conjured early swing, as expected, and Aaron Finch and David Warner struggled initially to counter it, as expected, Smith served once again as Australia’s stabiliser in the best traditions of Nos. 3. Smith was the only Australian batsman in the top 10 World Cup run-makers, but critically the most spinal batsman of the tournament’s second half.At the start of the event, Smith was slightly out of sync and somewhat wasted at No. 5, but his move to No. 3 following the loss to New Zealand in Auckland was arguably the moment at which Australia established their winning formula. In truth, he had looked the team’s best option at first drop from the moment he cuffed a fine hundred against Pakistan in Sharjah before the home summer, but it took some more travails for Shane Watson and defeat to New Zealand across the Tasman to put him there more permanently.Smith’s assured bearing at the crease was not just reflected in his performances. By looking so calm and making his runs without undue risk, others were granted the freedom to play their own expansive games. The ball from Matt Henry that Smith squeezed back onto his stumps without dislodging a Zing bail was the exception that proved the rule – he has passed 50 in all five innings since his promotion and offered barely a chance in doing so.Watching Clarke try to muscle balls to the boundary, an emulation of other more powerful team-mates, was like watching Shane Warne delivering a bouncer: the effort is obvious, but it’s just not his gig. After a while at the crease Clarke grew comfortable, and pinged the ball down the ground with superb timing that illustrated why he should remain a fulcrum of the Test batting line-up for some time to come. By the end he was striking the ball sweetly, providing a fitting epitaph to his ODI career.Clarke’s exit left little for Watson and Smith to do, but it was entirely fitting that the man to strike the winning runs would be Smith, swinging the ball away to square leg for the final boundary. Thus Australia’s victory was topped by the team’s outstanding bowler and tailed by their finest batsmen, both 25 years of age. World Cup finals signify the end of something, but for Starc, Smith and much of Australia’s XI, this giddy night will be the start of something too.

India’s packed schedule, coupled with the BCB’s delay in adhering to the proposals put forth by the Big Three last year meant there was little room in the international calendar to organise a full series

Mohammad Isam in Fatullah12-Jun-20152:39

Why India’s Bangladesh tour was scheduled for June

A Test match in Bangladesh in June, coinciding with the onset of the rainy monsoon season, might seem like hurried and last-minute planning to fit in any kind of cricket. However, it was a series agreed upon last year, and the timing is a consequence of India’s packed schedule and Bangladesh’s place fairly low down in the rankings pecking order.It is common knowledge that cricket in the monsoons will be hostage to the weather – Bangladesh’s cricket season, like India’s, is traditionally from October to May. So tight is India’s schedule, though, that even a change by a couple of weeks was not possible.The upshot is that the current Test – the first Test played in Bangladesh in June – has seen one day washed out completely, with 56 overs possible on the first day and the third day also losing out at the time of writing. There is rain forecast for the rest of the match in Fatullah, and for the three ODIs – though each has a reserve day to accommodate any delay.India’s last tour of Bangladesh – in June 2014 – was also affected by rain. The third ODI was abandoned in the 35th over and the first two were also interrupted due to rain.The rain has refused to relent in Fatullah•AFPBoth tours were part of the original 2011-20 Future Tours Programme, according to which the 2015 tour was to have two Tests and three ODIs. But the FTP’s nature completely changed last year when the Big Three announced their plans to restructure world cricket.Since then, a bilateral tour, to be confirmed, required the two boards to enter a members’ participation agreement (MPA). Bangladesh and India duly signed the MPA last February for four tours, from 2014 to 2020, and the agreement was announced by the BCB president Nazmul Hasan after he returned from an ICC meeting. The tours were ratified in April 2014 on the sidelines of the ICC executive board meeting.The February negotiations were held at a time when the Big Three’s position paper was out in the public domain but not yet formalised – it needed votes from the rest of the full members to have it sanctioned. The BCB was initially silent on the revamp consequences and later said that they would decide on the draft based on the “response of other boards”. The negotiations that ensued in the ICC headquarters, between the Big Three and the other boards, included working out tour details.Many of the boards got their wishes of India tours granted during these parleys but since the BCB was one of the last boards to agree with the Big Three’s proposals, they had very little choice but to stick to the previous FTP’s scheduling that had India touring in June 2014 and 2015. The BCB declined to comment on the matter.

Plays of the day from the first T20 international between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Colombo

Andrew Fidel Fernando30-Jul-2015The sleight of hand
From Rangana Herath’s carrom ball, to Ajantha Mendis’ two-finger googly, and Muttiah Muralitharan’s wrist-spinning offbreaks, Sri Lanka spinners have found novel ways of contorting their fingers to send down unique deliveries over the years. So every time a new attacking bowler debuts for Sri Lanka, a little mystique is expected. The Premadasa didn’t have to wait long for Jeffrey Vandersay to unveil his own tricks. His first ball was a regulation legbreak, but the second was a split-finger, seam-up slider, seemingly coming out of the front of the hand. Not expecting the ball to go on with the arm, Ahmed Shehzad aborted his attacking shot and just kept the ball out instead.The incision
Shoaib Malik might have preferred to hit his 1000th T20 international run off the middle of his bat, but as edges go, this one off Angelo Mathews at the end of the 15th over was about as good as they get. Aiming a shot over the on side, Malik got a thick edge to a full-ish delivery and split backward point and third man so perfectly, the fielders bumped into each other, but could not prevent the ball from passing between them to the boundary.The Cinderella reprise
All through the tour, Tillakaratne Dilshan’s shoelaces have appeared to malfunction. Twice in the ODI series, he lost his boot while in pursuit of the ball, and he left his boot behind in the ninth over of this match as well, this time allowing the Pakistan batsmen to sneak a second run as he slowed down. Shoaib Malik merely pushed Vandersay on to the offside, but though the cover fielder did not collect cleanly, Dilshan would have kept it to a single had he kept his gear on.The slide tackle
With youngsters flooding this T20 side, Sri Lanka put on one of their best fielding efforts of the year, but not all the stops were conventional. Running around from deep cover to stop lofted drive from Malik, Dhananjaya de Silva dived full-bodied, but he went legs first. He managed to parry the ball with his shin and keep it inside the rope. He threw it back before the batsmen had completed the third run as well, but unaware of the run-out opportunity, bowler Binura Fernando simply collected the ball and loped back to the top of his run up.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the opening one-day international between England and Australia

George Dobell03-Sep-2015Run out of the dayShane Watson will surely not reflect on this tour with much joy. After losing his place in the Test team after the Cardiff Test he is enjoying no more luck in the limited-overs games. After a comical dismissal in the T201 – he was bowled off an inside edge after he missed with his attempt to kick the ball away from his stumps – here he was run out by yards after being called for a most unlikely single from Matthew Wade. Despite playing the ball straight to cover – Ben Stokes of all people, probably the best fielder in the England side – Wade set off for the run immediately. Watson would have been justified in turning his partner down but, seeing him committed, did his best to answer the call. Stokes’ accurate throw – and Jos Buttler’s efficient removal of the bails – did the rest. Not for the first time this summer, Watson returned to the pavilion with laughter ringing in his ears. It can be a cruel game.Decision of the dayAll too often, umpires only seem to warrant attention when they make an error. So it seems only fair to recognise a fine decision by Joel Wilson – the fourth umpire in the game between these sides at the MCG when James Taylor was incorrectly given out – that ended Glenn Maxwell’s promising innings. The ball from Mark Wood would probably have been called a leg side wide had Maxwell, attempting to flick it to fine leg, not gained a thin edge. But while Buttler, who took an excellent tumbling, low catch, hardly appealed, Wilson had heard the nick and was quick to give the decision. Maxwell briefly looked as if he would utilise the DRS but, had he done so, it would have done him no good. Replays suggested there was no pad involved and snicko suggested contact with the bat.Shot of the dayJason Roy has earned his reputation – probably unfairly – as a big of a slugger. But here he provided evidence that he is far more than that. While there were a couple of gorgeous drives and powerful pulls, many top-order batsmen can play such strokes. It was a back-foot clip off the hip – a perfectly timed clip that sent the ball scurrying in front of square to the midwicket boundary – that really showed his class. It was not, perhaps, the best stroke of the match – a back foot drive through extra cover for four by Maxwell was a thing of rare beauty – but it was evidence that Roy is a better player than he is sometimes credited with being.Selection of the dayAustralia had a tricky decision to make ahead of this game. On a surface which, in county cricket at least, tends to favour spin bowlers, they had to decide whether to include a specialist spinner, in Ashton Agar, who the seam-bowling all-rounder in Mitchell Marsh. While England’s two spinners were probably the pick of their bowlers, Marsh’s performance vindicated the Australian decision. Marsh scored an important unbeaten 40 and helped Wade post a match-winning 112-run stand in 13 overs for the seventh-wicket.Near miss of the dayEoin Morgan had scored just 5 when, poking at another fast, full delivery from the impressively quick – if not especially accurate – Pat Cummins he was only able to make contact via a thin inside edge. The ball flew to the fine leg boundary for four but replays suggested that it might have brushed the off stump on its way. England’s captain can rarely have enjoyed such a near miss, though he was unable to fully capitalise on the fortune.

Virender Sehwag talks about why he hung up his boots when he did, flaws in the Indian domestic system, and his coaching ambitions

Interview by Gaurav Kalra06-Jan-201626:44

‘You realise your impact only after you retire’

Last year around this time I asked you when you were thinking of quitting the game and you said “two or three years” and here we are. What made you change your mind?
I am still playing the game. When I said two to three years, I meant domestic cricket and leagues like Masters Champions League (MCL) and All Stars. I was not playing international cricket then and I’m not playing it now. I have retired from international cricket and the IPL but I’m still playing. I will play another two to three years.Have you reconsidered your retirement from international cricket?
No. Thirty-seven is a benchmark for me. Ashish Nehra is lucky that his body is so fit. He bowled really well in the IPL and deserved his place in the team. I am really happy for him and Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh. They are just 34 or 35, they can play international cricket for another two to three years, subject to fitness and performance. They are doing well in domestic games and they deserve their places. There are no regrets or reconsiderations and I’m happy living the retired life and getting ready for the MCL.A lot of people described you as “a complete original”, a kind of player that has not been seen before. Is that something that you realise as well? Do you think you have changed the game and the approach to opening the batting in a fundamental way?
Do you think I’m that knowledgeable? I never thought like that and I knew my game better than anyone else. When I was growing up, I played a lot of ten- and 12-over games, and I would bat in the middle order. I got only ten-odd balls to face and I tried to score as much as I could. I applied the same approach in domestic and international cricket and people were appreciating my strike rate being more than 80 or 90 in Test cricket. I was just playing my game and not thinking that I have to score quickly or do something different except when I joined the team and wanted to bat like Tendulkar. I realised there could be only one Tendulkar and I changed my stance and backlift. I realised I should change my game and I did it. After that, I was playing with my own technique.It’s the All Stars and MCL for the next two to three years for Virender Sehwag•Getty ImagesPeople say there is only one Sehwag as well…
Yes, because of my mindset and the impact I had on the team but there was only one Tendulkar.Do you have people coming up to you and saying that I wish there were a couple of other people who would bat like Sehwag? People say David Warner is the young Sehwag. Do you think you have impacted the game in that way?
I don’t know because when you play you don’t realise the kind of impact you are making. You want to play day in and day out. If you ask the same question to Warner, he’ll tell you that he is just playing his natural game. When he retires, people will say that he was an impact player in Test cricket. No other Australian opener played like that other than Michael Slater, who was very aggressive in Test matches as an opener. You don’t realise that when you play. You only realise that when you retire.Why did you decide to not play in the IPL?
Indian players play in the IPL to get into the Indian team. There is no point playing in the IPL when I have retired from international cricket. I did not want a youngster to miss out because of me.Manan Vohra can now play all the 14 games and if he does well, he can also get into the Indian team. I didn’t want to stop a youngster from playing.

“I would love to be a coach, mentor or a batting consultant. I would love to commentate in Hindi, as most people who watch the game are more comfortable with Hindi in India rather than English”

Is that the only reason?
Yes, because I have earned a lot of money. I am not playing the game for money. If I do commentary, write articles or am an expert on a news channel, I can still earn money.A lot of people talk about the positive and negative impact of the IPL. What do you think about the IPL’s impact?
I think it is a platform for a young Indian player. If you look at 2000-01, when I joined the team, we took 20 games to get used to international cricket. Now, someone like Shikhar Dhawan, who has played in the IPL, is used to the pace, and he scored 180-odd on Test debut against Australia. When I or Yuvraj joined, our game was not great and we took 20-25 games to score 150 or 100. Look at KL Rahul. He went to Australia and got a hundred in his second Test there. That’s the impact the IPL has had on a domestic player. There has been the negative impact of spot-fixing and match-fixing but it is the individual player’s responsibility to look after that because if a player wants to do that it is difficult to stop him. It is the individual player’s responsibility to play fairly.There are concerns about the impact of the IPL on the mindset of young players who only focus on T20. Some say cricket is taught in academies around the country now with the IPL in mind.
What is the harm if a domestic player plays in the IPL? It is only the good players who get selected to play. Give me one player who is not good and playing in the IPL. If he’s good enough, he can get selected for India as well, as it is a platform. A lot of players like Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan, Warner and Glenn Maxwell were noticed at the IPL first. It is a platform for players all over the world and not just Indian players. If a player is playing the IPL and earning money, it is not his fault that he is not playing for India. He is not quitting the game. He is playing first-class, one-day cricket and the IPL. If the selectors don’t pick him, what can the player do?”The 293 [against Sri Lanka] was the most satisfying because we won that match and became the top-ranked Test team”•AFP You have had two long stints in domestic cricket, one before your debut and one after you were dropped. Have things changed at the domestic level and what are the things that you would like to see happen?
I played three seasons and the gap between matches is three or four days. You play eight games in a row and only get three or four days off. You play one-dayers immediately after that and it is not fair on the fast bowlers to play back-to-back one-day games. Batsmen and spinners can manage. That’s how Mohit Sharma got injured and he could not be a part of the Indian team. If you give two days off, his body will get rest and he can play. That’s the problem. They want to finish first-class cricket as soon as possible instead of giving it more time.I would give this suggestion to the BCCI. If they can consider this, and give respect to domestic cricket and the same rest period as international cricket, players have a chance of performing better. You can start in October and finish in March or February. Let’s have a five-match window for domestic cricket. You have eight games, followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final, and give proper rest periods, which will keep players fresh. I faced this problem as captain of Haryana – the players were not getting enough rest and it was difficult to play four four-day matches with a three-day break. My team bowled 150 overs and we had to bowl again after three days as I lost the toss. It is asking too much and difficult for the fast bowlers. We have to give longer breaks if you want to produce good fast bowlers.The other thing is how state associations are run. You have had enough experiences with your state association. Is it a problem that state associations are not run very efficiently?
Yes. It is not just Delhi. There are other associations which have problems as well. You need to change things at the Under-19 and U-16 level because that’s the problem area. If you pick over-age players, it is a problem that needs to be identified. If you have a player whose name and stature is big, you won’t have this problem.So will we see you in such a role?
No, there is a conflict of interest. I have my Sehwag International School. So I cannot be a part of it. I cannot be a selector but if any association wants me to be a part of it, I would love to do that. There are other cricketers who have a reputation but they are not getting the opportunity to be a part of the selection panels. What is happening is that the guys in power introduce names to the selectors and the selectors then act according to these people’s whims.I think there was a time when you were dropped from the Delhi U-19 team as well?
I never played U-16, and played two years of U-19 because I scored 150-odd for my club against the Delhi state team and hit 17 sixes. That is when they realised that I existed and could change the game.

“If a player is playing the IPL and earning money, it is not his fault that he is not playing for India”

You have the three highest scores by an Indian in Test cricket. Which was the innings that gave you the greatest satisfaction?
The 293 against Sri Lanka in Mumbai, because we won that match and became the top-ranked Test team. The Chennai Test was drawn and the Multan Test was the first of that series. We won another match and the series but 293 was the most satisfying. I took signatures of all the players on the shirt I had worn in that innings.”I’ll be a friend more than a coach”•PTI You said recently that if there is one regret of yours, it is not having a 400 in Test cricket. Is that one thing you wanted to achieve?
There were two opportunities. When I scored 319, there were two days to go, and three days were left when I scored 293. I regret it as I had an opportunity but missed it. I am happy that I am the only one to have three scores in excess of 290.Would you have liked to captain India more? Many observers like Ian Chappell said that you would have been fantastic captain.
I did captain India in all three formats. When Rahul [Dravid] resigned, I was not a part of the team. If I had been a part, probably I could have captained for a couple of years. I could have continued had I done well as a captain then, but it is all about opportunities. Dhoni was the right guy and he did a great job as captain. The important thing is that we won the World Cup and became the No. 1 Test team, which is what we sought to achieve. You can’t fight with your luck.A lot was written about your relationship with Dhoni.
We had a good relationship. People complained that I didn’t thank him but I thanked all my colleagues. So that includes him.Was it fine when you were dropped?
Absolutely.So was it all media speculation?
Yes, but you have to ask Dhoni as well. We went to London to play a charity game this year and had a good chat. That shows that we are friends because only friends have a chat, or else you mind your own business. We spoke about Indian cricket and strategies and we had a good time.What’s on your plate now? How would you like to be involved in the game, since you have a sharp brain?
I would love to be a coach, mentor or a batting consultant. I would love to commentate in Hindi as most people who watch the game are more comfortable with Hindi in India rather than English. If any IPL team wants me to be a mentor or a batting consultant, I would love to do that. I can share my knowledge with the youngsters.What kind of a coach would you be?
I’ll be a friend more than a coach. The moment you think I’m the head, you don’t do the right things. If you’re a friend, you let them do what they want, and that’s the best part about cricket because everyone has a different mindset and you need to understand what they want to do and how they want to improve. I will just guide them the way I spoke to Warner, Maxwell, David Miller, Manan Vohra or Gurkeerat Mann. Gurkeerat is a good example as he doesn’t practice for two or three hours in the nets but is always ready for the game. He has to tune his mind and I talked to him a lot and understood how he thinks. I gave him a couple of ideas and told him that he has to get 200 or 300 in domestic cricket to play Test cricket. He scored a double-hundred and is now a part of the Test team as well as the limited-overs teams.You did very well as a team overseas. Do you think that travelling better should be the biggest focus area for India?
Yes. When I joined the team there were expectations that we will not do well abroad, but we did well in England, Australia, South Africa and the West Indies under Sourav’s captaincy. We never won a series under him but when Dravid took over, we won in the West Indies and England. We started winning outside India under Sourav, though we didn’t win a series despite coming close to defeating Australia in 2003-04. I was not a part of the team that won in England under Dravid but I was a part of the team in the West Indies and I contributed by scoring runs. We were proud of that team and these youngsters have to score outside Asia, like Virat, Vijay or Rahul have done. The one thing they have to realise when touring outside Asia is that they have to match the home team’s first-innings performance. If they score 500 and you score 475, you are in the game because they will try to win the match and they will lose.How would you like to be remembered?
With my record, everyone will cheer till the time I am alive but I want to be remembered as a good human being who helped a lot of people. We still remember Don Bradman for his average and hundreds. People will remember my record but I want to be remembered as a person who helped a lot of cricketers when they were going through a rough patch.

Thanks to Ajinkya Rahane, India have posted the highest total of the series, and his average in India is past 22 now. That absolute failure of a series, which looked likely, can wait despite such tough conditions

Sidharth Monga in Delhi03-Dec-20151:44

Manjrekar: Rahane benefitting from playing a lot straighter now

The last time Ajinkya Rahane played a Test in Delhi he was a nervous youngster debuting on a square turner. He had got there after scoring heavily, and after long resistance had managed to get past the preference for anyone but him: flashier batsmen, batsmen returning from injury, batsmen over the hill; even Ravindra Jadeja had got in ahead of him. It was understandable he was nervous; this debut had just taken too long coming. He played two shots befitting a nervous debutant, the second one under no pressure of the match situation, and we were left wondering if he had blown his chance because he was dropped for the Tests against West Indies later in that year, 2013.Then India embarked on a testing spell of 13 straight Tests outside Asia and four more outside India. Sachin Tendulkar had just retired. The timing of that retirement, not letting the replacement bed in during home Tests, was unfortunate, but you can’t say Tendulkar planned it that way. He must have been confident he could make it to South Africa too. At any rate this left Rahane with a big challenge: you want to get yourself a Test spot, do it in these testing conditions.In the 17 Tests that he played away from home, Rahane succeeded on every tour. He missed a hundred in Durban by four runs, scored one in Wellington, went on to score a match-winning hundred at Lord’s, surprised the aggressive Virat Kohli with his aggressive batting in Australia, which took some heat off the future captain, and piled on top of them a second-innings hundred in Sri Lanka.Rahane’s biggest challenge of conditions, though, came at home when India chose to play on rank turners to negate the might of AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla. They were prepared to pay collaterals, for which they deserve their due credit. The biggest price was perhaps paid by Rahane, coming in at No. 5 by which time the ball has scuffed up and starts to turn even more. He also has to score runs with the lower middle order, considering he was the last specialist batsman in the first Test. Coming to Delhi, Rahane averaged under eight at home.It is easy to make a flawed argument that only one of four Rahane’s dismissals was down to the pitch, when a half-volley found enough time to stop at him and take the edge. On two other occasions he had played without reaching the pitch of the spin and once played a loose drive to Morne Morkel. Rahane was making mistakes on tough pitches. It is ironic that Rahane was having his first poor series at home. . In his last chance, Rahane has turned it around, at the venue that might have had some demons for him.To add to the demons from the debut was India’s position in the game. At 66 for 3, on a pitch that played easier than Nagpur or Mohali, India needed a big effort from somewhere. Rahane came in determined. It helped that Kohli looked in great touch. Along with certain periods in de Villiers’ innings in Bangalore, Kohli looked the most authoritative a batsman has looked this series. Rahane could afford to bed in a little inconspicuously.”I think what has been happening in the past two Test matches was that he was slightly hurrying through his shots earlier on in his innings,” batting coach Sanjay Bangar said. “But he reworked his strategy a bit and is willing to spend time in the middle during initial stages waiting for the loose balls. All credit to Ajinkya for the way he turned out after first two games with low scores to turn things around for himself. It speaks a lot about his character, speaks a lot about the character young Indian batsmen possess.”There seemed another small change, which batsmen usually make on pitches with variable bounce: stay low, cover the low bounce, have a low back lift. When preparing to face spinners here, Rahane hardly took his bat up. The tap on the pitch as the bowler ran in came from a much lower height than it did earlier.While Rahane was looking to take his time early on, he was lucky he got two loose balls pretty early. Two boundaries hit in the first 22 balls he faced – off a short ball and a full toss – and Rahane looked in for the long haul. The responsibility, though, grew after the freak dismissal of Kohli after more than an hour of the most assertive all-round batting in this series. Two more wickets fell soon, as they tend to do on such pitches, and India were 139 for 6.At Lord’s, on a similarly testing pitch, India were 145 for 7 once. Rahane was on 28 then, he was on 31 now. He spent 16 balls on that score. Between Kohli’s dismissal and this spell, he had scored one run in 22 balls. This is the time of his innings when Rahane likes to flow freely. Here a combination of the team situation and a testing pitch asked for caution. He had paid the price for pulling the trigger too early in the series, he wasn’t going to do that now.At Lord’s, Rahane got support from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and here Jadeja provided him solidarity. Thanks to Imran Tahir’s inconsistency, South Africa’s three-man attack had to wilt at some time. Smart Rahane kept his back lift short until the fingers grew tired in the longest session of the day. And then he punished every error in length severely. What was more remarkable was his defence, and his being prepared to defend, until such bad deliveries arrived.Rahane now has the highest individual score of the series. Thanks to him India have posted the highest total of the series, and his average in India is past 22 now. That absolute failure of a series, which looked likely, can wait despite such tough conditions.

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2016After a slow start, Jason Roy was unable to control a top-edged pull…•Getty Images…giving Kagiso Rabada a wicket in his third over•Getty ImagesJoe Root attempted to the lift the tempo of the England innings•Getty ImagesRoot and Alex Hales put on 69 for the second wicket…•Getty Images…but Imran Tahir had Hales caught on the boundary after reaching 50•Getty ImagesThings quickly began to unravel for England, as Tahir removed Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes•Getty ImagesKyle Abbott got rid of the danger man Jos Buttler for 1…•Getty Images…then picked up Moeen Ali cheaply too, as England fell to 108 for 6•Getty ImagesBut Root rebuilt England’s innings with skill and style•Getty ImagesHis brilliant 109 was his eighth ODI hundred and allowed England to post a competitive 262•AFPStuart Broad then struck in the first over of his comeback to remove Hashim Amla•Getty ImagesAmla was bowled for 0 off an inside-edge•Getty ImagesQuinton de Kock made 27 before falling to Ben Stokes•Getty Images… while Faf du Plessis was bowled by Chris Woakes for 34•Getty ImagesJP Duminy survived a let-off to help rebuild South Africa’s innings•Getty ImagesAB de Villiers also survived a drop at point on 9 before hitting his stride•Getty ImagesBut he was run out for 36 to tip the scales towards England•Getty ImagesGetty ImagesReece Topley’s dismissals of Behardien and Kagiso Rabada looked to have sealed the match•Getty ImagesChris Morris’s brilliant 62 from 38 balls hauled South Africa back from the brink•Getty ImagesHe drew the scores level before falling to Adil Rashid’s googly•Getty ImagesBut Tahir sealed a thrilling victory with a first-ball four•Getty Images