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A balanced account of the country’s chaotic and often misunderstood cricketing history, from an outsider’s perspective

Tim Wigmore16-Aug-2014Pakistan cricket has too often been subject to clichés and stereotypes in how it has been reported on in the West. As Peter Oborne observes in his new history, “Pakistan cricketers emerge as caricatures: Javed Miandad as a hooligan; Imran Khan as a princely scion in the tradition of Ranji; AH Kardar as a fanatic.”Partly, this reflects the reality that the game in Pakistan has historically been the subject of far fewer books than India, and there has been no equivalent to Ramachandra Guha’s seminal . Oborne’s work goes far to bridging that gap. takes the story far beyond the World Cup triumph of Imran’s “cornered tigers” in 1992. After partition in 1947, Pakistan had to wait five years for their first Test. Unlike virtually every other sport, cricket retains an anachronistic obsession with “status”, and, as Ireland have discovered, status is about politics as much as on-pitch performance.Oborne believes that Pakistan could easily have become a satellite Test country, with players qualifying to play Tests for India in much the same way that Irishmen qualify to play for England today. Every cricket fan should be inordinately grateful that Pakistan did not go down this route. A victory over the MCC in November 1951 was critical in creating a case for elevation. The win owed much to the fast bowler Fazal Mahmood, who but for the protection of the Indian cricketer CK Nayudu on a train from Poona to Bombay in September 1947, would probably have been killed by Hindu fanatics. Fazal and Kardar – who Oborne believes can “be classified with a very small group of cricketers who were nation-builders as well as sportsmen” – were the unbeaten batsmen when the win was secured. In July 1952, Pakistan were elected to membership of the Imperial Cricket Conference.Yet even then, and after squaring their first Test series in England in 1954, Pakistan’s schedule often remained barren. In the entire 1960s they only played 30 Tests, and topped up their total with unofficial “Tests” against Ceylon and Kenya.Pakistan have to be equally inventive with their scheduling today. Oborne calls the post 9-11 era Pakistan cricket’s Age of Isolation. Pakistan have used a range of homes from home – Sri Lanka, England and even New Zealand (where they played at times of the day designed for a Pakistani audience) – in recent years. They have now settled on the UAE, but this is still problematic. Oborne estimates that the opportunity cost of terrorist attacks, resulting in all tourists refusing to tour Pakistan, and India refusing to play Pakistan at all (though this stance has recently been relaxed) may have been as much as $80 million.The isolation has created further problems, too. It necessitates players being away from home for 11 months a year, while, as Oborne notes, Saeed Ajmal has still yet to play a home Test. How much better would his, and Pakistan’s, record be if he had done so?The story of Pakistan cricket is far too diverse for a straight narrative to do it justice. Alongside the portrait of leading players – the author is particularly effusive in his praise for Miandad, noting that his win percentage at Test level was far superior to Imran’s – critical themes are explored. After 1992, Oborne abandons the sequential approach altogether, “to reflect the exuberance and chaos of Pakistan cricket itself”. Corruption on the pitch and periodic crises off it are addressed. But so too are more surprising – and heartening – aspects of the game in Pakistan: the development of women’s cricket; and the expansion of cricket beyond the urbanised middle-class into the North West of the country in the past 35 years.When he turns his attention to reverse swing, Oborne asserts “the cricket world did not really take notice of reverse swing until its victims started to complain about it”. Few noticed when Wasim Akram enjoyed success for Lancashire with the technique. But when he combined with Waqar Younis to decimate England’s middle and lower order in the 1992 Test series – the roll call of collapses included 6 for 42, 6 for 38 (both at Lord’s), 9 for 50 (Headingley), 7 for 25 and 5 for 21 (both at The Oval) – it provoked outcry in much of the English press. “Laugh, not them, they’re too prickly and nationalistic… Pakistanis being even hotter on apologies then they are in ,” one sportswriter wrote. This underscores Oborne’s judgement that “cricket writing about Pakistan has sometimes fallen into the wrong hands. It has been carried out by people who do not like Pakistan, are suspicious of Pakistanis, and have their own preconceptions.”Criticism of “British condescension” to Pakistan is a common feature of the book. Oborne recounts the Shakoor Rana affair but also a lesser-known incident involving to the Pakistani umpire Idrees Baig in 1956. With England furious about Baig’s decision – and about to lose a Test – Baig was forcibly taken to the room of an MCC cricketer, with over half the tour party in attendance, where he had buckets of water poured over him. The MCC did their best to ignore the incident; it was not even mentioned when the squad was summoned to Lord’s after the tour.This is just one of many surprises in a pulsating account of Pakistan cricket. It is a shame, though, that a few sloppy mistakes slip in: one sentence refers to “papers on energy policy, landholding reform and energy policy”. More attention could perhaps have been paid to the significance of the T20 revolution in Pakistan and its domestic cricket. And on occasion the book reverts to a straight narrative of Test matches and series.But none of this obscures Oborne’s magnificent achievement in producing a book that is as enchanting as the cricket it describes. And for all the divergent problems of Pakistan cricket, the narrative is uplifting and full of hope. Cricket “is enjoyed by all of Pakistan’s sects and religions,” Oborne writes. “It is part of Pakistan’s history and also its future.”Wounded Tiger: A History of Cricket in Pakistan
by Peter Oborne
Simon and Schuster
592 pages, £25

Playing reverse swing is as much of an art as any other in cricket

Aakash Chopra10-Dec-2012Quashing all the many “educated guesses”, Eden Gardens has sprung a surprise for many of us who believed it would help the spinners during the third Test. Instead, fast bowler James Anderson proved to be the giant-killer with his persuasive reverse swing.Conventional wisdom has it that the inswinger is the most lethal delivery when the ball is reversing, and that bowled and lbw are the two most common modes of dismissal in these circumstances, especially for right-hand batsmen. When the old ball starts reversing, the toughest delivery to play is the one that tails back into the right-hander, for nothing in the flight of the ball (except the shine, if you see it) suggests that the ball will dart back in at the last moment.If one half of the ball is extremely rough and the other is shiny, even a trundler can generate reverse swing, but it won’t be half as effective as what a genuinely quick bowler would produce. The slower the pace, the earlier the ball swings in the air; and the later the movement in the air, the tougher it is to handle.To delay swing, all good bowlers bowl an inswinger as they would an outswinger, and vice versa. This basically means that the bowler will use the same seam position, wrist position and overall action as he would for an outswinger. In fact, he will also bowl it as an outswinger, pushing the ball towards the off side. Only when it loses a bit of pace (and the quicker you bowl, the later it loses pace), does it tail back in. The likes of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram mastered this art.Bowlers with slightly lower bowling arms create more problems than the ones who bowl with a high-arm action. That also explains why Anderson was more effective than Steven Finn in Kolkata, or why the likes of Lasith Malinga and Waqar have been more dangerous than Glenn McGrath, Javagal Srinath and so on.The first and most trustworthy giveaway while countering reverse swing is to look for the shiny side of the ball. This isn’t always a completely accurate indicator because every now and then the ball will misbehave, but when it starts reverse-swinging, it by and large always moves towards the shiny side. So if you manage to see the shine, you can generally set yourself up a fraction in advance. This means opening the stance up a bit if the shine is facing midwicket (for a right-hander), and issuing yourself a mental warning not to fish outside off if the shine is facing covers. It isn’t always possible to spot the shiny side, though, for good bowlers also master the art of hiding the shine while running in. Waqar and Wasim managed to hide it till the very last moment, which made them even more lethal.

The ball comes back in a lot more than it goes away when it’s reversing, so most batsmen try to play inside the line at all times. While that takes care of the balls coming in, it leaves you vulnerable to those that hold their line or go away

Since you don’t have much of a clue about the ball’s final destination, it’s important to resist the temptation to play the lines, and instead to delay your movement till the last instant. This means that even when the ball is outside the off stump in its flight, you’re best off not taking the front foot too far across – once you’ve committed to the shot, it will be impossible to bring the foot back in if the ball dips back at the last moment.For some reason, the ball comes back in a lot more than it goes away when it’s reversing, so most batsmen try to play inside the line at all times. While that takes care of the balls coming in, it leaves you vulnerable to those that hold their line or go away fractionally. That’s what Anderson exploited on day one in Kolkata – he used the indippers almost as decoys to induce outside edges with the balls that held their line. Both Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar were the victims of the same strategy.Another way to deal with reverse swing is to shorten your backlift considerably: the higher the backlift, the tougher it is to dig yorkers out. Tendulkar appreciably diminished his backlift against Anderson on day one. However, while this helps keep the toe-crushers out, it adversely affects shot-making ability because of the lack of momentum.While a short forward stride is recommended while countering reverse swing, it’s important to not mistake it with not moving the feet at all. In order to counter any kind of lateral movement, be it off the pitch or in the air, it’s imperative to use the feet decisively to get into the right positions.Just like getting the ball to reverse-swing effectively is a craft, playing it efficiently is one too – one that calls for a lot of skill and a slice of luck.

Lancashire’s promotion push can only benefit from the commitment of two men who both went to King Edward VII School in Johannesburg

Paul Edwards04-Apr-2019Media day at Emirates Old Trafford. Organisation battles chaos and there is much pointless scurrying. Laptop and camera bags litter the floor. Sponsors gaze proprietorially at the players, one or two of whom seem hypnotised by their mobiles. One wonders if the world is about to end.Soon, though, the cricketers are summoned to sit for team photographs and they adopt expressions suggesting steely-eyed confidence. On the front row are two old boys of King Edward VII School, Johannesburg. Both are major batsmen and both are deeply committed to the Lancastrian cause. But while one has shut the door on Test cricket, opting instead for a career in the English domestic game, the other batsman, seven years his colleague’s junior, is hoping weight of runs will force that door open for a third time. This should be an interesting season for Dane Vilas and Keaton Jennings.”Playing for your country is the ultimate and if you can do it, you should do it for as long as you can.” Vilas is talking. He is explaining why he called a halt to his international career in 2017 after just six Test matches.”I did have a difficult decision but it was made easier by the fact that my main rival was Quinton de Kock. He’s a great player who has gone from strength to strength and he’s a bit younger than me. It was tough but I always wanted to play county cricket and to be part of a big club like this is fantastic.”Vilas’ enthusiasm is not feigned. Even as Lancashire were slipping towards relegation last September his performances were earning the praise of the members. And in a rare moment of harmony the county’s officials endorsed that opinion when they offered Vilas the captaincy after Liam Livingstone stepped down. The 33-year-old had already done the job last summer when Livingstone broke his thumb and he had kept wicket when Alex Davies was injured. In addition, his 792 runs made him Lancashire’s leading scorer in Championship cricket. No one doubted his commitment.There is, though, more than that. Lancashire supporters have tended either to take overseas players to their hearts – one thinks of Clive Lloyd or VVS Laxman – or they have seen them as mercenaries. Vilas is rapidly becoming a member of that former group and the fondness is reciprocated.

My desire is just as great as it was when I was a five-year-old wanting to play international cricket. It does become a bit of a drug … There are experiences you can only get playing Test cricketKeaton Jennings

“I didn’t think I’d form such a close association with the county,” he said. “When I first came over, it was just a taster. I always wanted to play county cricket but I’ve loved every moment of being here. I’d heard some great stories and South Africa has always had a close relationship with Lancashire. Ashwell Prince always had great words for his time at Lancashire and we spoke a little bit about that.”Vilas’ attachment to the county is such that he has effectively decided to immigrate to England. That decision was partly prompted by the fact that his wife’s family lives here but it has also been influenced by his voiced desire to play for Lancashire for as long as he can. He may visit South Africa to play in the Mzansi Super League and one or two others but he is now looking to buy a property in England. He is also intent on fulfilling what he calls “the mandate” to lead Lancashire back to Division One of the County Championship. Achieving that goal will be helped if Jennings finds the sort of form that compels England’s selectors to take another look and see what may have changed since the dark days of the West Indies tour.”Dane’s a child in a 37-year-old’s body – I think I’ll call him 39 just to wind him up.” Whatever the last few months have done to Jennings’ cricket they seem not to have affected his good humour or his exquisite courtesy. Every question at the round table all-in is greeted with understanding and self-awareness.”It was a tough winter,” he said. “It was really hard work. Mentally the disintegration when you see yourself in the news, especially when you aren’t doing well, is tough to handle. But I’ve always been a level-headed guy and I’ve been quite good at staying isolated in the last 18 months, which is probably why I’ve stayed sane at times.”I’ve also been lucky in that I’ve got a supportive family around me but I’m also a proud person and I want to do well whether I’m playing for England, for my local club side or with my seven-year-old nephew. There’s a huge amount of pride there but it dents you.”Keaton Jennings smiles ruefully after being bowled off his thigh pad•Associated PressThe problem was not simply that Jennings failed to score more than 26 since his century at Galle in November. It was that he was being dismissed making the same error, pushing stiffly and far from his body at quicker bowlers and playing shots which could bring him nothing but woe. His selection for the St Lucia Test seemed almost cruel. Some critics pitied him; others were less kind.”You can walk into a room and feel that everybody’s thinking about you playing your cover drive when in reality they are just going on about their day,” he said. “You need to be able to take cricket out of your personal life. But you also want the hardest and most competitive level of cricket you can get. You look at a cricketer like Alastair Cook or Joe Root who have played so many Test Matches. In order to sustain a career for that length of time you have to be so awesome at just staying in your lane.”There’s no point crying yourself to sleep because at the end of the day you still have a job to do. I’m paid to open the batting and score runs and that is the reality of it. If you stop doing that you need to find another job. It’s hard when other guys have out-skilled you but there is no shame in that. You need to acknowledge it and be able to come up with another plan.”Finding that other plan is what Jennings has been doing over the last month or so and you can be quite sure Vilas will help him in any way possible. There are technical faults to be addressed but there is also the question of the extent to which Jennings wants to force himself through the rigours that come with international sport. His answer to that query is very clear.”My desire is just as great as it was when I was a five-year-old wanting to play international cricket,” he said. “It does become a bit of a drug hearing Deco screaming ‘Jerusalem’ at the top of his lungs and I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about it. They are experiences you can only get playing Test cricket.”The pavilion is nearly deserted. The hotpot has been cleared away and the final interviews completed. The media pack, some of whom will not attend a match at Old Trafford this season, have gone home to transcribe and file. The players have returned to their dressing rooms on the opposite side of the stadium. The squad for the final warm-up match against Loughborough MCCU will be announced shortly (Lancashire do not play in the Championship until next week). And Dane Vilas and Keaton Jennings will face the next trial in their chosen profession.

Bharath Seervi01-Feb-20176/25 Yuzvendra Chahal’s figures – the best by an India bowler and the third-best overall in T20Is. This was only the third six-wicket haul in T20Is after two from Ajantha Mendis. No India bowler had taken a five-for before; R Ashwin’s 4 for 8 against Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam last year was the previous best an Indian. Chahal had picked up only five wickets in 20 overs in his first five T20Is before this. The only other five-wicket haul against England prior to this was Lasith Malinga’s 5 for 31 in Pallekele in 2012.8 Runs for which England lost their last eight wickets – the second-worst eight-wicket collapse in international cricket. New Zealand had lost their last eight wickets for five runs in a Test against Australia in Wellington in 1946. England slid from 119 for 2 in 13.2 overs to 127 all out in 16.3 overs (that is, 19 balls).1 Number of bigger victory margins for India in terms of runs in T20s; they won this match by 75 runs. They had won by 90 runs against the same opposition at the Premadasa in the 2012 World T20, which is the biggest margin. For England, this was the fifth-worst defeat.1 This was the first T20 bilateral series won by India against England. In the previous four, England had won three and one was drawn. This was the fourth three-match T20I series in which India took part – they have won all of those.ESPNcricinfo Ltd5 Number of England batsmen out for a duck – the joint-most in an innings by the top-eight teams and overall the joint second-most. New Zealand also had five ducks against Pakistan in Christchurch in 2011. Before this, England never had more than two ducks in any of their 91 T20I innings.76 Number of matches taken by MS Dhoni to score his maiden T20I fifty, easily the most by any batsman. The previous most was 42 matches by Ireland’s Gary Wilson. Overall, this was his 19th fifty in T20s. He also completed 5000 runs in his T20 career today.2010 The last time Suresh Raina scored a T20I fifty – against Zimbabwe in Harare. Today’s half-century was his first such score in 38 innings. He had made 13 scores of 30 or more in this period though. This was his fifth 50-plus score in T20Is and first in India.0 Number of younger players than Rishabh Pant to debut in T20Is for India. Pant debuted at 19 years, 120 days. The previous youngest for India was Ishant Sharma at 19 years, 152 days.

County captains Rob Key and Andrew Gale speak for and against getting rid of the mandatory coin toss in the County Championship next season

Interviews by David Hopps and George Dobell02-Dec-2015

Rob Key

We had to do something. It got to the stage where some teams were risking everything on the toss. There was period at Cheltenham where whoever won the toss won the game. We had a bit of a heatwave last summer, but despite it not raining for a month, we played three Championship games in a row without our spinners – who are two of the best in the country – and we were right to do so. The pitches were so green.Counties like to talk about doing the right thing for the game, but they also want to get out of Division Two and they end up doing what is best for their side. When I started playing, every county had a good spinner. Nobody would claim that’s the case now.This is not just about encouraging spin. We hope to create conditions that are more like international cricket. Batting has changed massively since I started playing, and opening the batting has never been harder. It’s not that the bowlers are better – there are fewer really good overseas and Kolpak bowlers around – but the [batting] conditions are very tough.When I started, quite a few people would score 1600 or so first-class runs a season, and Mark Ramprakash would score 2000. Now you’re doing well if you scrape to 1000. The conditions are changing techniques. We want to encourage pace and skill in fast bowling and by doing that, prepare batsmen for Test cricket. And yes, we want to encourage spin.

“If we see 15 wickets fall to seam bowling on the first day of a game, nobody bats an eye. But if the ball turns on day one, people start to worry”Rob Key

My original view was that we should have tougher penalties for poor pitches. But that is so hard to police. It just becomes a minefield. But what I still think is that the stigma over spinning pitches has to end. If we see 15 wickets fall to seam bowling on the first day of a game, nobody bats an eye. But if the ball turns on day one, people start to worry. That has to stop.The cricket committee had a two-day meeting and 90% of it was spent talking about pitches. We went through all the options. We talked about everything you have seen suggested on social media. And in the end everyone there agreed that this was the way to go. The rules governing the use of the heavy roller are remaining the same.We want to stop counties producing pitches that just suit their seamers. We want to take that luxury away from them and instead get them to produce pitches that result in a more even battle between bat and ball and require pace and spin bowlers as well as seamers.I’m not surprised by the negative reactions. They are the same reactions I had when I first heard the suggestion. But it was not a decision taken lightly, and I’d just say to people: let’s try it and see what happens. Our original suggestion to the ECB board was to try this for a year in Division Two. It was their idea to try it in Division One as well.We’re not suddenly going to see five more spinners. We can’t expect a miracle cure. But we might see a situation where, instead of spinners bowling 20% of overs in the Championship, they might bowl 30%.It’s not just the pitches, even the scheduling doesn’t favour spinners•Getty Images

Andrew Gale

I admire that the ECB cricket committee are trying to do something, but there is lots about this decision that troubles me. I thought that the ECB were gaining a reputation for consulting more widely with the counties, but we heard nothing about this. We heard rumours it could happen in Division Two and suddenly it was introduced in the First Division as well.It’s a decision that has come straight after a Test series defeat in the UAE, which has brought the problems to everyone’s attention. But we don’t want subcontinent-paced wickets in England. That is not what people want to watch. If we had gone to Australia and won this close season, I doubt that this decision would have happened.Obviously the rule has been brought in to encourage spinners and because of a recognition that the wickets have become too seamer-friendly. The intention is a good one – I know that. But if wickets are that bad, why haven’t points been docked? Fifteen-plus wickets have fallen many times on the first day and it has repeatedly been put down to bad batting. I can see Keysie’s point about something needing to be done, but why haven’t pitch inspectors done their job properly? It comes down to people being strong.

“You only need to dock a couple of points for a pitch that starts excessively damp and it will soon persuade counties that the risk is not worth taking”Andrew Gale

The problem is much bigger in Division Two. You can understand why some counties do it, because, ultimately, the need is to get out of the division and to win matches during a demanding schedule, which can stretch pace-bowling resources. But there are certain grounds where it happens day after day. You know who they are. You only need to dock a couple of points for a pitch that starts excessively damp and it will soon persuade counties that the risk is not worth taking. Yorkshire had an eight-point deduction for a substandard pitch at Scarborough in 2000, and our director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, has been scarred by it ever since.I’d guess that 90% of cricket in Division One is played on good wickets. They left the grass on at the Ageas Bowl last season, but it was not damp. You could see they knew their own square and they were just trying to encourage pace and carry. We played another game at Arundel where the pitch was so slow, our second slip had to stand so close he wore a helmet. Spinners might have wheeled away for hours on that one, but it wouldn’t necessarily have done much good.The fact is that the schedule, as it stands, does not encourage spinners. When you play most of your games in early or late season, you aggravate the problem. How can Durham, as the northernmost county, produce spinning pitches at this time of year? The climate is against it. It’s very hard to do that at Headingley, and our groundsman, Andy Fogarty, has just won the Groundsman of the Year award. When it is overcast at Headingley and the ball starts playing tricks for the pace bowlers, it doesn’t matter how dry the pitch is, it’s hard as a captain to throw the ball to Adil Rashid to bowl legspin. When we did play some games in midsummer, at Hove and Lord’s, he bowled a lot of overs.Next season when it is overcast at Headingley, we won’t get a 50-50 chance to bowl first. Sport is about using home advantage where you can, to try to build your ground into a fortress. Look at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson, with a big playing surface and fast wingers. That is what makes professional sport so good to watch. Winning away from home should be a challenge.I am a traditionalist. I love Championship cricket. The toss has existed since the beginning of time. Why keep messing with the game? It’s too complicated for some people as it is.

Goa swept aside more fancied opposition in the zonal phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali, and are setting their sights high as they head into the Super League

Amol Karhadkar07-Apr-2014Goa were one of the surprise packages of the Ranji Trophy, and though they missed out on a knockout spot to Jammu & Kashmir by a quotient difference of 0.001 their improved performance gave the team a lift going into the limited-overs leg of the domestic season.However, their confidence was shattered as Goa, typically the minnows of the South Zone, lost all five of their one-dayers in the zonal league last month.Swapnil Asnodkar’s boys then staged a remarkable turnaround to not only qualify for the all-India Twenty20 Super League, but also maintained a clean slate during the zonal league at Visakhapatnam last week. Despite their impressive Ranji season, Goa cricket were usually mentioned in the domestic fraternity due to the presence of a foreign coach, former Sri Lanka fast bowler Nuwan Zoysa.But their five wins in five at Visakhapatnam last week has made everyone sit up and take notice.They started their T20 campaign with a comprehensive win against a strong Tamil Nadu, clinched a thriller against Kerala, rolled over Andhra and Karnataka, and justified their top ranking with a last-ball victory against Hyderabad.Going into the Super League, which will feature top 10 teams across India, opener Sagun Kamat is the highest run-getter
while allrounder Harshad Gadekar has emerged the highest wicket-taker.The outstanding display has exceeded the expectations even of some of the Goa players themselves. “I would term it as a sweet surprise,” Kamat, the left-handed opener who scored four fifties in the league stage, said. “At the start of the tournament, we had set ourselves a target of winning at least three of the five games, which could have given us a chance to qualify. That win against a star-studded Tamil Nadu team gave us the confidence of going all the way.”The coach Zoysa credits the Goa Premier League, a local franchise-based Twenty20s tournament that was sandwiched between the one-dayers and the zonal T20s, for helping his boys get into the best frame of mind. Besides all the local cricketers, the fourth season of GPL featured a bunch of players from Hyderabad.”The presence of outstation players gave our players an idea about the need to raise the level of their game,” Zoysa said. “To their credit, they have managed to do that and have been able to execute all our plans to near-perfection.”Goa’s dream run was remarkable, especially considering the fact that the BCCI had forced all the domestic players with IPL contracts to play their respective zonal T20 leagues. As a result, the Tamil Nadu team that faced Goa featured six cricketers who have been regulars in the IPL, including India players Dinesh Karthik and M Vijay.Moreover, the star-studded Karnataka team, also including six players who will feature in IPL-2014, could manage just 66 runs against a disciplined Goa attack.Goa, on the other hand, have been one of the also-rans on the domestic circuit. While Asnodkar, whose heroics in the inaugural IPL season helped him earn an India A spot, remains their most familiar player, the spin duo of Shadab Jakati and Amit Yadav have also featured in IPL in previous seasons.Jakati, the veteran left-arm spinner who was with Chennai Super Kings till 2012, is set to be the only Goa player who will feature in this year’s IPL, having been signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore.There is a plus to not having too many IPL stars in the side. Goa will go into the Super League with an almost unchanged combination while many of their opponents will lose several of their main players to the IPL.While Zoysa remains cautious about Goa’s prospects, saying his boys “aren’t favourites but no more underdogs as well”, Kamat is more upbeat.”If we can chase down 150 against Tamil Nadu with more than two overs to spare and bundle Karnataka for less than 70 after scoring 170, we can beat any team in India,” Kamat says. “We just have to continue in the same vein in Rajkot and hope the results go our way.”If Kamat and his team-mates continue in the same vein, don’t be surprised if after the Super League in Rajkot, Goa travel to Mumbai for the final of the domestic Twenty20 next week.

South Africa appeared clueless after Kallis left the field today and the allrounder’s absence is something the team needs to plan for in the near future when he finally retires

Firdose Moonda at Adelaide Oval22-Nov-2012When Mark Boucher was thought to be nearing the end of his career and the South African domestic landscape was scanned there seemed to be no other wicketkeeper in sight. Even though some of them where good enough, Boucher’s stature and legacy loomed so large, it was as though nobody could fill the space he would leave behind.The same can be said of Jacques Kallis. Retirement is not in the allrounders’ immediate plans. He hopes to play until at least the 2015 World Cup and for as long as he can contribute, which on current form appears to be endlessly, but it will have to come. Avoiding it is impossible because it serves up a reminder regularly: Kallis has been injured on each of South Africa’s three away tours this year.Boucher can also testify that things don’t always go according to plan and South Africa would do well to heed that warning because they don’t have one for life after Kallis. As the most complete “two-in-one-cricketer,” as Gary Kirsten has called him, Kallis actually does need to be replaced by two other players when he is unavailable. When he suffered a stiff neck in Wellington and could not play in the match, JP Duminy replaced him with the bat and Marchant de Lange was brought in as cover with the ball. That threw out South Africa’s team balance and they had to leave out Imran Tahir.His absence in the field today was also marked. South Africa’s bowling effort turned around when Kallis was brought on at first change. They went from conceding more than four runs an over to Australia’s openers to creating serious damage in the space of 16 balls, 12 of them bowled by Kallis.Both his yorkers resulted in wickets, a sign to the rest of the attack that a fuller length would not go unrewarded. When he left the field, the South African effort sagged visibly. It may have been the panic at losing another player mid-match whose role with the ball was being relied on, but the bowlers were consistently too short. The only tactic that remained was them trying to bounce Michael Clarke, but every other strategy seemed to have left them.Gary Kirsten wearily admitted that was the case. “When we did bowl a fuller length, we were more of a factor. We might have bowled a bit short early on and they left well. But someone like David Warner, we could have made him play more and I thought that Rory [Kleinveldt], when he got fuller, bowled really well,” he said.After the lunch break, perhaps when the news had been conveyed that Kallis would be taken for a scan and was unlikely to make another appearance on the day, South Africa completely lost it. In the ten overs following the interval, they leaked 100 runs as Warner and Clarke pounced. Imran Tahir was the guiltiest party as he continually offered up full tosses and had minimal impact.On a pitch that will only really offer Tahir something later on, he would not have been expected to get much turn. But it also would not have been expected that he would be so expensive. His 21 overs cost 159 runs the most by anyone who has bowled more than 20 overs in Tests. Kirsten was sympathetic without being harsh on his legspinners’ predicament. “He didn’t play the last Test so he was hoping to make an impact,” he said. “I don’t think it’s easy for a guy like that who is trying to find some form and trying to exploit everything.”Neither Morne Morkel nor Kleinveldt are senior players and when even Dale Steyn had to leave the field, Graeme Smith could have used a strategic partner to consult. Kallis is that person. None of the team apart from him has played a Test in Adelaide before and although that may not count for much in an age where information can be sourced, a quiet word from the stalwart here and there would have probably been appreciated.Kallis is more involved in team leadership these days. He is part of the think tank and the discussions that happen on the field and his vast knowledge is always of assistance. An intangible like that speaks volumes for what Kallis offers that cannot be explained by numbers.It should also serve as a wake-up call to South Africa about what they will be without. A player like Kallis can never be replaced instantaneously. From an experience perspective, South Africa have the likes of Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Steyn to lean on. From an abilities one, they need to begin the search for someone who can develop into an all-round Test player.Of the players on the circuit now, those whose batting is almost as good as their bowling or vice versa are few. Chris Morris could become a player in the Kallis mould with time. Others include Wayne Parnell and Ryan McLaren although one needs to do serious work on his bowling and the other may be running out of time.A few spinning options have emerged like Jon-Jon Smuts but a genuine allrounder, the kind that once seemed to be coming off a conveyer belt in South Africa, is starkly lacking. Vacuums are too easily filled with things that should not be there and it is about time for South African cricket to realise that Kallis will leave one behind. As much as they value him now, they do not want to be in a situation where they value him more in absentia and the breeding grounds must be combed for someone who can step up.

In a country where being a Test specialist is usually seen as a hazard, Taijul Islam could have very easily slipped through the cracks. Thankfully for Bangladesh, he didn’t

Mohammad Isam24-Nov-2018It’s unlikely Taijul Islam will be the toast of Bangladesh tonight. He is not the type who floods his social media pages with photos, graphics or heartfelt messages. In fact, Taijul was not even adjudged the Player of the Match during the first Test against West Indies; that honour went to Mominul Haque for his 120 in the first innings.Nope. Taijul simply took a six-wicket haul – his seventh five-for in Tests – and ran off with the stumps as souvenir.While the entire Bangladesh team deserves credit for the win, most of the attention is likely to head Shakib Al Hasan’s way. Besides becoming the first Bangladeshi to take 200 Test wickets and the fastest to the double of 200 wickets and 3000 runs, the 64-run win was also Shakib’s first Test victory in his second stint as captain.Shakib is a charismatic presence on the field for Bangladesh. With him around, his team-mates feel secure, knowing their backs are watched. On Saturday morning, Shakib knocked West Indies completely off course at the start of their 204-run chase, removing Kieran Powell and Shai Hope just before lunch.But even with Shakib’s heroics, the first Test was all about Taijul. He got into the act with a six-wicket haul, while also complementing Shakib, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nayeem Hasan with tight spells from his end. Whether he gets noticed or not, Bangladesh’s win in Chattogram had a lot to do with Taijul’s accuracy.Even on a pitch that started to turn from the first afternoon, a bowler still has to be precise in pitching deliveries. Other bowlers might have been tempted to get carried away, but not Taijul. It should have come as no surprise. Throughout his career, Taijul has been unfazed by both success and failure.In a country where being a Test specialist is usually seen as a hazard rather than an advantage, Taijul could have very easily slipped through the cracks in the selectors’ table, joining an unfortunate list of Javed Omar, Rajin Saleh, Enamul Haque jnr and Robiul Islam.However, in a day and age where consistent performers in Tests are hard to come by for Bangladesh, Taijul has stood out. He has 94 wickets in 22 Tests, and is primed to become the fastest to 100 scalps for Bangladesh, beating out both Shakib (28) and Mohammad Rafique (33).In the seven Tests during the last four years that Bangladesh played without Shakib, Taijul proved his worth by taking four five-fors as well as a 10-wicket haul.Thankfully, Taijul’s efforts, even when they have not yielded a lot of wickets, have not gone unnoticed in the Bangladesh dressing room.”He really works hard on his bowling,” Shakib said. “He got only one wicket in the first innings but we all agreed in the dressing room that he was our best bowler on the second day. A bowler sometimes doesn’t get wickets despite bowling well, but we notice these small things and ensure that everyone gets the message. Taijul bowled really well. I hope he bowls the same way in the second Test, and perhaps takes two five-fors.”Shakib, however, called for a balance between his spinners. He noticed that several times during the first Test, whenever one bowler was attacking and taking wickets, the bowler at the other end also tried to follow suit, instead of containing the flow of runs as planned.”All of us are attacking bowlers. Sometimes it is difficult for us to bowl defensively. We always opt for the attacking option. We have to learn how to string together tight overs so that someone at the other end can attack. I think we have to develop this game sense and learn to do this.Taijul’s worth has not gone unnoticed by his team-mates•AFP”But at the same time, it is good to have wicket-taking bowlers around all the time. Even if we use four proper spinners, we don’t have to cut down on the number of batsmen. It is a plus point.”Shakib also singled out debutant Nayeem for showing courage with both bat and ball.”Nayeem bowled really well as a debutant. There was less help for spinners yesterday and yet he bowled so well. He has a good future. He can learn quickly. I think the best part is, he is brave.”Mehidy did his part too, removing Shimron Hetmyer in both innings, as well as breaking the crucial Jomel Warrican-Sunil Ambris partnership which had started to threaten Bangladesh on the third afternoon.Graham Gooch once famously described Richard Hadlee’s New Zealand bowling attack of the 1980s as, “the World XI at one end, and Ilford Second XI at the other”, a blunt but honest assessment that could very well have also applied to Bangladesh over the years.But since Taijul and Mehidy came into the fold, Bangladesh have had a lot more attacking options, particularly in home Tests.
Taijul is still unlikely to the toast of the nation, but he will be more than happy working in the background, biding his time and then pouncing on rare opportunities to play Tests.

The young Bangladesh batsman’s ability to extend his T20 approach to other forms is setting a template for his peers to follow

Mohammad Isam08-Dec-2016Sabbir Rahman is at a delicate point in his career. He has been embroiled in off-field trouble, and has to pay an unprecedentedly high fine for what the BCB has described as a “serious disciplinary breach”. The amount of money involved would make anyone’s head spin, let alone that of one as young as Sabbir.The next few months could define which way he heads in international cricket. He needs to repair his reputation after this transgression, and the best way would be to quickly revert to doing what he knows best: batting with a free mind.The predominantly aggressive mindset with which Sabbir approaches every kind of cricket, and which has its roots in his origins as a T20 specialist, has become representative of a shift in the mentality of Bangladesh batsmen at large.When Indian satellite-television channels started to become available in Bangladesh in the early 1990s, the current lot of cricketers in the country picked up most of what they know by watching matches telecast from around the world. But though the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya, Virender Sehwag, and now David Warner, have been watched keenly, very few Bangladesh batsmen have been able to bat aggressively like those players in a sustained fashion.Mohammad Ashraful and Aftab Ahmed were the first to bat at higher speeds against quality bowling but both lacked consistency. Tamim Iqbal started off as a bit of a dasher but modified his game to suit the wider needs of international cricket. And Shakib Al Hasan’s batting ability seems to have shrunk due to his over-exposure to T20.

Sabbir brings his bat down in a flash to play the square-cut. When pulling the ball, he unwinds fast from his stance into a fiery shot, not always lifting his front leg for balance

Sabbir’s approach has provided a more localised blueprint of the Sehwag and Warner template. He differs from some of the best Bangladeshi batsmen in that he had his aggressive mindset before he made it to international cricket.

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With no chairs in sight, we plonk ourselves down on the ground behind where the Rajshahi Kings players have placed their bags. Space is at a premium at the small Academy ground in Mirpur, with three teams training on the day, one on which no BPL games are due to be played. Sabbir speaks with the distinct Rajshahi cadence and gives off a smile every once in a while.At the crease, he doesn’t move as the bowler approaches, and only reacts according to the length. He brings his bat down in a flash to play the square-cut. When pulling the ball, he unwinds fast from his stance into a fiery shot, not always lifting his front leg for balance. His driving in the arc from in front of point to midwicket is also full of simplicity. There is no big backlift or flourish. See ball, hit ball.He only recently made his maiden T20 century, a 61-ball 122 with nine sixes. Rajshahi couldn’t beat Barisal Bulls in the match but the innings was a standout for its sheer quality of clean hitting. It followed an assured Test debut against England, in which Sabbir nearly won Bangladesh the match with a fighting half-century. Earlier in the year, he had produced a 54-ball 80 that gave Bangladesh their first T20 win over Sri Lanka.He says that his fondness for big hitting developed at an early age, as far back as 1996, when a 37-ball century in Nairobi took the world by storm.”I think a batsman should play more shots in Tests; there are simply more opportunities to score with the field settings”•Associated Press”Since I followed Shahid Afridi in those days, I was attracted to big hitting,” Sabbir said. “Afridi had made that century, which made me think that even I should start hitting like him. But the problem was, I couldn’t hit the ball too far. My friends didn’t give me batting in tennis-ball cricket. The madness started within: how can I become a big-hitter?”He found the solution quickly enough. “I used to hang the ball in a sock and practise the big hitting at home. In school once, I ended up hitting six sixes. My confidence started building from that point.”Growing up in cricket-mad Rajshahi, 250km northwest of Dhaka, Sabbir followed the well-trodden path of cricketers in the region, joining a cricket academy. He started at the Rashid Bari camp, from where he went to the Al-Rashid Cricket Academy, and then to the North Bengal Cricket Academy, a well-known finishing school that had a team in the Dhaka Second Division Cricket League.His coach at the time, Jamilur Rahman Saad, ferried him between cricket grounds during the Dhaka Premier League season as a substitute fielder. Teams that saw him repeatedly would complain to the match referee, but he mostly got away with it.When he was still studying at the Rajshahi Bholanath BB Hindu Academy, he played in the Dhaka Premier League for the first time, for Young Pegasus, a club that has been home to many Rajshahi players, among them Farhad Reza and Junaid Siddique.Sabbir’s progress wasn’t easy. He faced opposition at home, especially considering his older brother had joined the police force, which took him away from the family for long periods. Cricket in Bangladesh was big in the mid-2000s but it still sounded too adventurous a career path for a boy from a middle-class family that missed their oldest son.

“Afridi had made that [37-ball] century, which made me think that even I should start hitting like him. But the problem was, I couldn’t hit the ball too far. My friends didn’t give me batting in tennis-ball cricket”

Sabbir was such an energetic kid that his coaches couldn’t stop him from keeping wicket and bowling pace and offspin, which he did for months before settling on legspin and batting. He rose through the age-group ranks quickly and in 2010 gave a first glimpse of his hitting ability in that year’s Under-19 World Cup, batting at a 100-plus strike rate in six innings. A few months later his unbeaten 18-ball 33 helped Bangladesh win their first ever gold medal in the Asian Games, an innings that he called a career breakthrough.When, three years later, Sabbir was dropped after three T20s for Bangladesh, it led to introspection and a realisation of what he specifically needed to do to be a consistent international cricketer. “Mashrafe told me to face a lot of balls in the nets as long as I am playing cricket,” he says. “So in the last three years I have tried to face at least 500 to 700 balls per day, however I can.”This boost in his training volume paid dividends for Sabbir, who became an ODI and T20 regular from the end of 2014, and against England last October he was an assured presence in his debut Test series.

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Sabbir says that the base of his confidence comes from T20. This is an attitude new to Bangladesh cricket, where hitting out like he does is considered sacrilege. You can hit a six but you cannot hit the next ball for one as well. If you defend it instead, your club officials and coach will appreciate your maturity; if you do it in front of a packed stadium, there will be long applause.The way Sabbir sees it, each player has a favourite format and his happens to be T20. It helps that he has found a bridge between his T20 outlook and how he should bat in Tests.Heartbroken in Chittagong: Sabbir at the end of the first Test against England earlier this year, where he nearly got Bangladesh over the line•Gareth Copley/Getty Images”The biggest thing for a player is his mentality and how it builds his confidence. It is very important to believe in yourself. I always have extra confidence when I am playing T20s because I like it.”I have only recently found some runs in first-class cricket because I changed my mentality when batting in this format. I think a batsman should play more shots in Tests; there are simply more opportunities to score with the field settings. A batsman can think of defending or leaving the ball, but I think a batsman should have the same mentality in all three formats.”I got out of the two Tests with confidence. I played my way. I left the ball, and I also played the shots.”He says that it is important for him to back his methods, even if it raises questions regularly. “Even my friends sometimes ask me why I got out for a duck. ‘Why did you go for an early big hit?’ they ask me sometimes.”But if I am confident, I can get over the bad innings and have the confidence to score a hundred in the next game. A batsman who works really hard has that inner confidence and knows his game – he will always be in the right frame of mind,” he said.The Sabbir way has influenced younger players. He has showed in the last two years that it is not just cool to play the way he does but useful too. Even older batsmen, like Shahriar Nafees and Mominul Haque, say that Sabbir’s approach has encouraged them to bat differently in T20. While they haven’t exactly tried to imitate him, both those players have looked more proactive in this year’s BPL. Having realised a while ago that they needed to do well in T20 to sustain themselves in the game at large, it is only now that they have figured out what will work.

“A batsman who works really hard has that inner confidence and knows his game – he will always be in the right frame of mind”

“There are things that I have picked up from Sabbir, who is an amazing hitter of the ball. But I cannot just start hitting sixes from the first or second ball like him,” said Nafees. “He is super-fit.”I think I have more understanding of the format, and it is crucial to bat according to the situation.””I haven’t had to make too many changes to my technique,” Mominul, who had a strike rate of 118.13 in nine innings as Rajshahi’s opener, said. “It is all in the mentality, the belief. I think it has a lot to do with changing the mood of my batting. I have been playing Tests for the last two years, so it was always tough to readjust to T20s.”I will take this confidence into international cricket.”Nafees made some fundamental changes, which included his bat weight. He has batted in the BPL with one that weighed 2.10 pounds, while he previous played with a 2.7-pound bat. He also worked on his bat-swing during the off season so as to be able to hit sixes with more ease. Nafees has had success in the BPL before – he struck his maiden century in the 2013 tournament – but the freedom with which he has batted this time was plain to see. The ten sixes he has hit in this year’s tournament have more than doubled his overall T20 sixes tally.The change of approach involved putting effort into becoming leaner, and spending more hours in the gym than before. “At the start of my career, all the focus was on Tests and ODIs but now T20 gives you a lot of exposure,” Nafees said. “I think the difference this year has been my fitness. I feel a lot lighter on my feet, so my agility has improved and I feel more strength overall. This power game is now the standard in international cricket.”

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Sabbir has only just started out in international cricket and hasn’t yet had the inevitable first bad season. Chinks in his make-up will probably be exposed soon enough by the teams he comes up against, but he knows that if he remains confident in being able to carry out his method day in day out, he will be a consistent international batsman.He also won’t want a pile-up of off-field controversies early in his career, and will do well to understand the responsibilities that come with being an international cricketer and, consequently, role model. If he lets incidents like the recent disciplinary breach dent his impact as a batsman, Sabbir stands in danger of losing the most beautiful thing about his game – the mental clarity with which he bats.

Stats highlights from a day completely dominated by Australia’s batsmen

S Rajesh05-Nov-2015389 Runs scored by Australia, the most ever on the first day of a Gabba Test. The previous-best was 364, also by Australia against England in 2002. It’s the third-highest on any day of a Gabba Test: the highest is 459, on the fifth day of the 2001 Test against New Zealand, while the second-best is 404, on the last day against India in 2003.161 The opening partnership between Warner and Joe Burns, which is Australia’s fourth-highest for the first wicket in a Test innings against New Zealand. The highest is 224, also at the Gabba, between Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer in 2001. That was also the last instance of an Australian opening pair putting together a century stand at the Gabba. The partnership of 161 is also the highest by a new Australian opening pair since Ian Redpath and Bill Lawry added 219 against South Africa in Melbourne in 1964.2 Instances of partnerships of 150 or more for the first two wickets for Australia in a Test innings. The only previous instance was at Lord’s in 1930, when Bill Woodfull (155) and Don Bradman (254) made merry against England. This is the 12th instance of century stands for the first two wickets in an innings in Australia’s Test history. The last time it happened was also against New Zealand, in Adelaide in 2004. Three of the last four such instances have been against New Zealand.3 Number of successive century stands for Australia in Tests: in the 2015 Ashes, Warner and Rogers added 113 in the second innings of the fourth Test at Trent Bridge, and 110 in the first innings of the fifth, at The Oval. It’s the first such instance for Australia in Tests.13 Test hundreds for Warner, which puts him in joint fifth place among Australian openers, along with Bill Lawry. Hayden leads with 30, which is well clear of Mark Taylor, who is next on 19 hundreds.2 Fifty-plus scores for Warner in eight Test innings at the Gabba – on both occasions he has gone on to convert them into hundreds. In 2013 against England he scored 124 in the second innings, after being dismissed for 49 in the first.57.78 Warner’s Test average when he opens the batting but doesn’t take the first ball – 12 of his 13 centuries have come in the 60 innings when he has started at the non-striker’s end. In the 20 innings when he has faced the first ball, he has averaged only 24.50.102* Usman Khawaja’s score, his first Test century, in his 18th Test innings. In 17 previous innings he had gone past 20 ten times, but his highest was only 65.4 Instances of two of Australia’s top three batsmen getting hundreds in a Test innings against New Zealand. It happened twice in the 2001 home series, and once in the 1993-94 series. Each of those Tests have been played in November.