By being aggressive upfront and more busy in the middle overs, they can give themselves a chance to make the playoffs

Deivarayan Muthu12-Oct-2020Veer away from their rigid tactics
Start slowly. Explode in the slog overs. Spin to win. Super Kings’ tried-and-tested template at Chepauk. That, however, has not worked in the UAE. The three-time champions have been the slowest off the blocks (in the powerplay), continued to lag behind in the middle overs thus over-burdening the lower-middle order in the final four overs.Evidence of the pressure can be seen in the middle order where batsmen have been shuffled unsuccessfully. If the two left-arm allrounders Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja batted ahead of their captain MS Dhoni in victory in the tournament opener against the Mumbai Indians, two debutants Ruturaj Gaikwad and N Jagadeesan were unsuccessfully promoted to No. 4 in a few matches.Kedar Jadhav, anointed No. 4 by head coach Stephen Fleming, now has been dropped after dawdling to 7 off 12 balls against the Kolkata Knight Riders, having walked in with 39 runs needed from 21 deliveries.Against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, with the asking rate mounting over ten per over right through, Curran only walked in only in the 16th over. His first 10-ball strike rate is 226.67, the best so far this IPL, but the Super Kings have failed to fully utilise his aggressive strokeplay.The Super Kings’ batsmen just don’t need to be bold at all time, but adapt quickly to the match situations and move away from the conservative template of the past.Can’t hit sixes? Then rotate the strike better
The Super Kings have managed only 35 sixes in their seven matches – the fewest this IPL. Sure, the bigger boundaries in the UAE are difficult to clear, but the Super Kings haven’t been able to rotate the strike either.In the middle overs (6-16), they have a dot-ball percentage of 33.09 and they have the second-worst run rate (7.61) behind Royal Challengers’ 7.21. During this phase, the Super Kings have lost 13 wickets – the fewest among the eight teams – and it is this lack of intent and muddled approach that’s ailing them.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe slow-moving legs came into sharper focus during the partnership between Ambati Rayudu and Jagadeesan last Saturday. When the younger Jagadeesan was searching for the double, Rayudu was simply settling for singles. And Jagadeesan himself was run-out while strolling across for a single.This lethargy has often left Fleming animated and it was exposed by Virat Kohli who was turning ones into twos for fun on Saturday. Most of the Super Kings batsmen are still rusty midway into the season, but they need to swiftly find a way past it and show more urgency.Can CSK find a place for Imran Tahir?
Why? And how? Firstly, because pitches in the second half of the tournament will become slower, thus favouring spin. Tahir, who was the highest wicket-taker in IPL 2019, could be a handy option.At whose expense? Probably Dwayne Bravo, considering Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis and Curran have all displayed strong form. Leaving out Bravo would be a tough choice considering he has been a key player in Super Kings’ success over the years. But he has batted only once in four matches this season after recovering from a knee injury. Also, Dhoni didn’t even complete Bravo’s quota of overs against the Royal Challengers.Although the Super Kings have relied on Piyush Chawla and now Karn Sharma, Tahir is one of the most experienced and successful wristspinners. He was also impressive in the CPL recently and can step up in the slog overs, having taken 22 wickets in 34.5 overs at an economy rate of 8.57 between overs 16 and 20 in the IPL.

The board believe they have a strong legal position, but the key day will be next Tuesday when payment instalments are due from broadcasters

Daniel Brettig11-Sep-2020It was amid the warm glow of Gold Coast temperatures and booming Commonwealth Games “special event” ratings that Channel Seven was convinced to shell out some A$450 million as the free-to-air component of a A$1.18 billion broadcast deal with Cricket Australia in April 2018.Those friendly environs might as well be a galaxy away from the current September chill of relations between the network and the governing body, as Seven’s game of brinkmanship reaches ever more hair-raising heights in pushing CA for a discount to its fees.Headlines claiming that Seven wants out of the deal entirely arrived on Friday, ahead of the due date of its next shared cash instalment with Foxtel on Tuesday. At the very least, Seven is chasing a dispute resolution pathway to save money. This spiral downwards in the time of coronavirus is in marked contrast to the giddy race upwards to meet CA’s asking price two years ago.ALSO READ: ‘Ten nights only’ BBL roadshow on drawing board to navigate Covid-19The 2018 Commonwealth Games saw broadcast audiences of more than two million at times for Seven, and helped add to an atmosphere of euphoria that helped convince the network then led by the chief executive Tim Worner, alongside chairman Kerry Stokes and his son Ryan, to go with cricket. In particular, a major expansion of the BBL on the basis that it would give the debt-saddled network an array of special event days all summer, every summer.At the time, both parties were happy to look the other way in the face of a couple of red flags. For Seven, the fact that the BBL had already been trending down for a couple of seasons off its 2016 peak seemed a minor detail given all the cross-promotion potential of having both BBL and Test cricket on the same network for the first time. Worner spoke of “mega days” starting at 10am ahead of a Test match day and not ending until the final ball of an evening’s BBL clash about 10pm.

In contractual and legal terms, there can be little doubt that CA holds a strong, even unassailable position

On CA’s side, the yearning for as much cash as possible out of the deal, after the board set a number for its negotiating team to reach, allowed the governing body to look past the way that Seven’s debt levels were spiraling. Ultimately, Seven’s winning bid was little more than the offer tabled by Ten, which had been strengthened when purchased by the American network giant CBS.But Seven’s alliance with Foxtel allowed the duo – which also shares the rights to the AFL – to outstrip the incumbent Nine (international cricket for 39 years) and Ten (BBL for five years) networks to become new partners with cricket. Nine and Ten were not happy with the circumstances in which the changeover played out, making their discontent known in various ways over the past couple of years as CA has itself undergone a change in direction due to the fallout from the Newlands scandal.AB de Villiers goes aerial•Getty ImagesThe Gold Coast spirit endured in the months afterwards, as both indulged in a race to sign commentators. Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist were considered the most prized assets, and all were able to enjoy having their already handsome fees effectively tripled by the dueling networks who were also conscious that the banned Steven Smith and David Warner were going to be absent for their first season.Neither Foxtel nor Seven have since enjoyed the kinds of booming cricket audiences that their executives were dreaming of when they put pen to paper. However, they have not been disastrous either – simply a fairly accurate reflection of the kinds of ratings cricket can expect to deliver over a full summer, when the focused attention of a two-week special event like a multi-sport games or even the Australian Open tennis can provide, as Seven once knew and Nine has more recently enjoyed.If BBL audiences have continued their slide, then they have done so logically in line with the dilution of the competition with extra matches, growing from an initial eight games per team, to 10 and now 14 in the past couple of seasons. Australia’s white-ball captain Aaron Finch was happy to express the view that this was too much, too soon, and not even the BBL’s inaugural head honcho, Anthony Everard, can dispute him.Undeniable, too, is the fact that with the BBL’s rights fee rising enormously to be worth anywhere up to half the total value of the deal with Foxtel and Seven, the amount of CA investment in the league should have gone up by a commensurate factor. Instead, the salaries on offer to players only rose by the sorts of increments already in place under an MoU struck in 2017, while a host of top overseas players – and several of Australia’s best – elected either to look elsewhere for richer T20 cheques to play fewer matches, or simply took a rest.That being said, neither Seven nor Fox Sports raised too much in the way of hackles ahead of the 2018-19 tournament, and had their reservations assuaged at least somewhat in 2019-20 by a tweaked finals series and the signature of AB de Villiers to play for the Brisbane Heat. The howls of complaint currently being weathered by CA have followed a winter of coronavirus-related anxiety, and the other seemingly inexorable trend: Seven’s drop in share price and ever-increasing levels of debt.India are all but confirmed to tour Australia later this year•Getty ImagesThe network’s current chief executive, James Warburton, has been given to bold statements since he replaced Worner in late 2019, and is clearly intent on delivering as much of a cost-saving as possible. Whatever his actions in the realm of cricket or elsewhere, however, he has been unable to turn back the stock market tide. Seven’s shares, above A$7 back in 2010, were last valued at more than a dollar in October 2018, just as it began paying its instalments to CA. As of Friday, they were down to a decidedly sickly 12 cents.In contractual and legal terms, there can be little doubt that CA holds a strong, even unassailable position. Seven’s arguments have shifted from assuming content could not be delivered due to Covid-19, to saying it would not be of the required quality due to hubs, to now complaining that the flip of the schedule means that there may be no international matches on free-to-air until mid-December when India plays its first Test.ALSO READ: We’re still the biggest show in town – BBL’s first boss defends tournament That most recent debating point conveniently omitted the fact that Seven actually has cricket to broadcast in two weeks from now, when the first match of a scheduled series between Australia’s women and New Zealand begins in Brisbane. After that there is a veritable carpet of WBBL matches planned to be played, all cost-effectively located in Sydney. Were they to be played against the backdrop of a legal dispute, CA has plenty of history, precedent and the broadcast contract in its favour. The governing body has accordingly resisted any public response to Seven’s goading.But the unseemly spectacle of open warfare from cricket’s current free-to-air partner cannot be good for the game. It serves as a belated reminder of the increasingly febrile territory CA was entering as it got ever more combative at both cricketing and corporate levels leading into Newlands and the subsequent cultural review. Certainly, CA would likely have been forging smoother territory had it retained Nine and Ten as partners two years ago, or even if it had been more conservative in its estimate of how big the BBL should be.Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and David Warner have rarely featured in the BBL due to Australia duty•Getty ImagesSimilarly, the move of men’s white-ball matches behind a paywall toyed rather too freely with anti-siphoning legislation meant to keep such matches available to all and created unintended friction between the two partner networks over scheduling. As it currently stands, the BBL cannot be made stronger for Seven by including Australia’s best limited-overs players without having a direct and detrimental effect to Fox Sport’s share of exclusive content. The fine balance of the season required by the BBL is thus made harder to sustain.As it is, CA’s retention of a sponsorship deal with KFC this week, despite a competitor offering significantly more cash, underlined a change of tack. Its commercial division, and broadcast relationships within that, are now meant to be characterised by loyalty and shared interests, as opposed to the fast dealing and cash-grabbing, with the Miami Vice backdrop of a Gold Coast party, in 2018.Whether that makes any difference at all to Seven, ever more paranoid about its debt levels and openly questioning its own capacity to pay up, will be known more clearly when CA checks its bank accounts for rights fee instalments on Tuesday afternoon.

He and the rest of the South Africa line-up will make sure they take the fight to England in the upcoming series

Mark Nicholas26-Nov-2020How many cricketers on this earth are a shoo-in for a World XI in all three formats of the international game? Not many. David Warner and Jasprit Bumrah, perhaps? Maybe not Virat Kohli right now, after an IPL that seemed to have left his T20 game somewhat in limbo. Then again, maybe Kohli is an unwise omission. Babar Azam? Kane Williamson possibly? Ben Stokes surely! And which of Kagiso Rabada, Jofra Archer and Pat Cummins, or all three? Trent Boult? Mitchell Starc? Ah, here’s one. Quinton de Kock. Yes, certain tick – Quinny the Quiet, with his gifts from the gods.You can argue the point, and doubtless will, but I can’t think of a wicketkeeper-batsman who maintains such standards while switching from one format to another. Jos Buttler and Wriddhiman Saha are potential contenders but de Kock has the title. Come to think of it, a single team can be chosen that would perform brilliantly well in all formats – the surest illustration of a game and its players that is moving into a new age. Increasingly, cricket allows for innovation – demands it, even – and the impact on the players has been to unlock their imagination.In the early 1970s the Dutch football team, inspired by Johann Cruyff, was credited with “total football”, a phrase loosely meaning that the 11 players could interchange roles without any obvious effect on their performance. This wasn’t quite true but it gave the magic a little extra myth. Holland lost the 1974 World Cup final to a pragmatic West Germany; of course they did: art undone by architecture.ALSO READ: Five areas of focus for South Africa as international season beginsSir Matt Busby is supposed to have said that George Best was not just the best player at Manchester United but the best player in every position – “but don’t tell Alex Stepney,” added Sir Matt. Stepney was the goalkeeper.Often it seemed that Cruyff and Best hypnotised their opponents, so flat-footed were the responses to their control and use of the ball. Neither saw this high level of skill as an excuse to not do the hard yards; both earned general respect for their all-round contribution to matches played in conditions good and bad. They were glamorous too, and typically surrounded by acolytes and parasites. Best was rather “looser” than Cruyff when it came to lifestyle, but in both cases the admission money was cheap at the price. It wasn’t just the dribbling – it was the dash and the derring-do.Cricket’s litmus test is the three formats and de Kock passes that test. Let’s deal with the keeping first. He catches the ball, which is a good place to start. It’s not an exemplary technique but with the keenest eye and a ball player’s natural hands, he gets the job done. Sometimes he flies like a bird to pluck the ball out of Johannesburg’s thin air, other times he stands on his regular spot, all understated humility, to gather it in like a clergyman accepting Sunday morning’s collection. Up to the stumps, he uses instinct above all else, waiting late to strike early. If the feet go, so too does his head and all is well; if they remain stuck, it’s those hands again, like lightning, to save the day. You wouldn’t swap him for anyone because of the possibilities. MS Dhoni was similar: an unorthodox in the clothes of the conventional.Now, let’s look at some QdK stats. 47 Test matches, strike rate of 71, five hundreds, 21 fifties, average a tad under 40; 121 one-day internationals, strike rate 95, 15 hundreds, 25 fifties, average 44.6; T20 strike rate 138.6, average 33.5. Very good.ALSO READ: Which players would make it to a current World Test XI?And at Adam Gilchrist – 96 Tests, strike rate 82, 17 hundreds, 26 fifties, average 47.6. 287 ODIs, strike rate 97, 16 hundreds, 55 fifties, average 35.8. T20 strike rate 140, average 27. Very good.Amazing really, both of them. Quite similar in their way. Richie Benaud thought Gilchrist the cleanest striker of a cricket ball he had seen, just pipping one Garfield St Aubrun Sobers to that place in the pop charts. Is it an advantage to keep wicket and open the batting, at least on the occasions when that is the sequence? Probably this is because the eyes have done their adjusting. But these occasions only apply for approximately half the number of matches they play. The rest of the time they are in the pack. Fact is, very few wicketkeeper-batsmen swing the bat with fear; it is as if the hard part is with the gauntlets on and the rest is easy.Perhaps the best thing we can say about them both is that, like Cruyff and Best, you make sure you are in your seat when they walk on out there. At the recent IPL, de Kock was quite likely to hit the first ball into the stands. This was never a slog, more a brushstroke with vigour. His cutting of the ball is killer, his shots over wide long-on as powerful as those of the big men, and he is only a slip of a thing but wiry-strong and blessed with timing. Only when he went rogue – ramping and scooping – did he miss. When he kept it straightforward, the sound of ball on bat was very Gilchrist. He’s a thrill a minute is the South Africa captain, with a hint of genius thrown in.

Sometimes he flies like a bird to pluck the ball out of Johannesburg’s thin air, other times he stands, all understated humility, to gather it in like a clergyman accepting Sunday morning’s collection

To the captaincy we come: the job in which when you win, you’re supposed to, and when you lose, it’s your fault. Captaincy is a hard-knock life, unless you’re Clive Lloyd with attack or Steve Waugh with other. Will de Kock rise with the responsibility or shrink with the burden? He needs his young players to grow up fast and his support staff to take care of the myriad off-field distractions that plague captains. He is not a waster of words but neither will he mince those words when needs must. Strong tactically, trusted and liked, his time has come in short-form cricket, and if it is his wish, will come soon enough in Test match cricket too. The trick for the selectors is to not paralyse him with promotions.This short series against England brings to end South Africa’s longest period without international cricket since returning from isolation in 1992. There will be rust in the joints and blips in the minds of all except those who were at the IPL. Now, of course, isolation has a new meaning and the coaches will be aware of the need to keep tabs on their number. The bubble is easier for some than others.The pitches at Newlands and in Paarl are likely to be slow, and the skill sets required to take a game by the scruff of the neck all the more demanding because of it. The South African IPL stock – de Kock, Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, and Lungi Ngidi – have all had plenty of time with bat and ball. Their names are a reminder that England will not have it all their own way, so too will the scoreline last February, when some nerve-shredding matches had folk jostling for position in front of TV screens.

Mark Nicholas’ current all-format world XI

1. David Warner
2. Quinton de Kock
3. Babar Azam
4. Ben Stokes
5. Kane Williamson
6. Jos Buttler
7. R Ashwin
8. Rashid Khan
9. Jofra Archer
10. Kagiso Rabada
11. Jasprit Bumrah

It is clichéd to say that these matches mean a great deal to South African cricket. Chaos reigns within the corridors of power but attention is turning to those who play instead of those who administer, which is a boost for morale in itself. England’s willingness to return so soon after the last visit reflects a world that is joining up the dots. From the tour, South Africa will make something in the region of 70 million rand (approximately US$4.6m), crucial money at a troubled time. This will kick-start the television-rights pathway, allowing CSA to sell its wares far and wide.One thing we know, they all want to watch de Kock bat, and Stokes. They all want to watch Rabada bowl, and Archer. This is a golden age for sport on television simply because there is nowhere else for it to be. An empty ground promises little but realises a great deal. The IPL was proof of that, so too England’s summer series against West Indies and Pakistan. That the game has come together in this way is a thing of beauty in itself. Come Friday evening, 6pm South Africa time, don’t miss the moment when Archer sprints in to de Kock. It’s the knuckle of sport.Oh, and as for that team… in T20 batting order (to be tinkered with for a Test match by swapping de Kock and Williamson): Warner, de Kock, Babar Azam, Stokes, Williamson, Buttler, R Ashwin, Rashid Khan, Archer, Rabada, Bumrah, with Kohli the floater, stirred up and busting to stamp his authority on everyone and everything. And Boult (or Starc) in the party of 13. You could travel the world with that lot and not go far wrong.Mind you, it is a list without Rohit Sharma – such a talent! – and one that sorely misses AB de Villiers, whose retirement from Tests and ODIs still breaks the heart. In him is a bit of both Best and Cruyff, and of course, a signpost to “total cricket”. These may be far from the days of our lives but from sport comes a sense of optimism and the chance to marvel at performances that continue to evolve and entertain. We can be thankful for that, even without de Villiers at Newlands on Friday evening.

A look at the records set by the Sunrisers Hyderabad opening pair against Delhi Capitals

Bharath Seervi27-Oct-2020
77 – Runs scored by the Sunrisers in the powerplay, which is the highest for any team this IPL season. The previous highest was 69 by the Rajasthan Royals in their successful chase against the Kings XI Punjab in Sharjah. Only once have the Sunrisers scored more in an IPL powerplay – 79 against the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2017.ESPNcricinfo Ltd219 for 2 – the Sunrisers’ total was their second-highest in all IPLs. The only bigger one was 231 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore last year, when both David Warner and Jonny Bairstow scored hundreds.10 – Instances of teams reaching 150 and 200 quicker than the Sunrisers did in this game, off 12.5 overs and 17.3 overs respectively.3 – The Sunrisers innings had only three boundary-less overs. Incidentally, two of those came in the last five overs – the 16th by Axar Patel and the 18th by Marcus Stoinis. The other one was the eighth, bowled by Tushar Deshpande.54 (26) – Warner’s score at the end of the powerplay. He became the first to complete a half-century inside the powerplays this season. The highest before this was 42 by the Capitals’ Prithvi Shaw against the Royal Challengers in Dubai. This was the sixth time Warner had reached his fifty in the first six overs in the IPL, already the most such instances for a batsman.3 – Instances of both openers – Warner and Wriddhiman Saha on this occasion – scoring 50-plus at a strike rate of 190 or more in the IPL. The two earlier occasions were: the Royal Challengers’ Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli against the Kings XI in 2016, and the Knight Riders’ Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine against the Royal Challengers in 2017.ESPNcricinfo Ltd25 – Number of consecutive IPL matches with at least one wicket for Kagiso Rabada before this outing. The last time he went wicketless in the IPL was back in 2017, also against the Sunrisers. In that game, he had conceded 59 runs. This time, he gave away 54. These are his most expensive T20 figures overall.0 – Wickets for Rabada in the powerplay overs this IPL. He is the leading wicket-taker with 23 strikes overall, but has taken no wickets in 16 overs bowled in the powerplay. He has taken 11 wickets in the middle overs and 12 in the death overs. He now has the most powerplay overs without a wicket in an IPL season. Jasprit Bumrah had 15 wicketless powerplay overs in 2014.

There are challenges ahead but the prospect of a full county season is something to unite us in anticipation

George Dobell08-Apr-2021At the end of the Second World War, England (and pretty much everywhere else) was in ruins. The debts were huge, the damage was vast and most families were mourning in one way or another.But it didn’t stop the street parties. Because there was a sense that, whatever the demands of the future, they had come through the worst.So it is with the start of the new county season. Yes, the game faces challenges. Yes, there may well be trouble ahead. But, after one of the more difficult years in living memory, the prospect of being able to gather together once more to watch our great game is within sight. Here comes the sun, as George Harrison, put it. It really does feel like years since it’s been here.Related

Group One: Essex the team to beat once again

Group Two: Somerset aiming to finally go one better

Group Three: Lancs, Yorks go head-to-head in pursuit of glory

There will be scars. The shop that stood on the high street may well have gone. The pub that stood on the corner, too. And yes, given the demographic of spectators at county cricket, there will be some empty seats where familiar faces once sat. They will be missed.But every spring – and every new cricket season it contains – offers a fresh start and this one more than most. Whatever our differences, whatever our struggles, we have the hope of better days ahead. And while we might disagree about the merits of Joe Denly or Moeen Ali or even the 18-county system, it will be a joy to disagree, once more, while watching our game.Who will prevail this year? No idea. And does it really matter, anyway? Probably not. The most important aspect of this season is that it is taking place at all and that spectators will, soon, be in attendance. There will be a lot of people relishing their return to live sport with greater appreciation than ever. It really does seem reasonable to hope that the summer of 2021 will be, like those post-war summers, something of a celebration.There is no avoiding the fact that the county season has a different look. And there is no avoiding that, for many of us, the Hundred remains a flash newcomer we mistrust. It’s still driving a car it can’t afford. It’s still talking a game it hasn’t delivered. It’s still spending more than it earns. And it’s taken the best seat in the house.More importantly, it is still threatening the existing formats. It still seems incredible that, having spent five years building the game around the 50-over format, the ECB should relegate their own domestic competition – played at the same time as the Hundred this year and therefore lacking most of the best limited-overs players – to the brink of irrelevance. News that the competition’s final is going to be played on a Thursday, following semi-finals on Tuesday, tells you everything you need to know about its current standing in the eyes of administrators.This may change. There is another 50-over World Cup in 2023 and, ahead of that, there is every chance the domestic 50-over competition will be prioritised once more. Instead, the County Championship is likely to be played at the same time as The Hundred.Some have welcomed that prospect. They point out, quite rightly, that such a competition will provide opportunities for young players and the prospect of more games at outgrounds. But such a format already exists. It’s called 2nd XI cricket. And while it plays a valuable role in developing players, it won’t provide the preparation required for Test cricket. Whatever the benefits of the Hundred, there seems every chance the costs will be greater.

Maybe if England struggle in Australia the penny will drop that marginalising the Championship season does not support the best chance of competing in Test cricket

But that does not mean it is entirely without merit. The return to free-to-air television is welcome and vital. As is the push for a more diverse audience. If the price for that is playing a reduced length game – and it seems that was a key factor for broadcasters and the potential new audience – it may be a price worth paying. Maybe, in retrospect, the T20 Blast could have become the T16 and played in two divisions with promotion and relegation. Either way, if The Hundred can bring new spectators to the game (just as T20 would have done had it been shown free-to-air), it will have served a purpose. Whether it’s worth the cost – financial and otherwise – is another issue.The introduction of the Hundred is not the only change. Partially as a mechanism to reduce the number of matches while maintaining the integrity of the competition, the Championship format has also altered for the 2021 season. It will start in seeded conferences, before moving on to divisions and play-offs.Again, there may be some positives to this move. For one thing, it is argued that, by removing the issue of promotion and relegation, coaches will be free to take longer-term decisions about player development. So a youngster might win selection ahead of an overseas player, for example.It is also argued that giving every county a chance of winning the competition at the start of the season might provide an incentive to those who had all but given up on the format. This could revitalise those counties who have found themselves at the bottom of Division Two rather too often.Maybe. But the thought persists that, if any county really has been accepting their millions from the ECB but going into the season feigning interest in the Championship, it probably requires a change in management rather than a change in the competition’s playing conditions.That is one of the primary concerns about the conference system. Without the peril of relegation and the motivation of promotion, there is a danger head coaches will have a place to hide without the immediate judgement of tangible success and failure. The role of a head coach has always been to balance the needs of the present with planning for the future. We cannot make the Championship environment remotely cosy if we are serious about preparing players for the brutal realities of touring Australia or India.Sanitiser breaks will continue to be a feature of the summer•PA Images via Getty ImagesWe have, at least, a season to evaluate the worth of such a system. No decision on the shape of the 2022 season will be made until autumn, at the earliest. Maybe, if England struggle in Australia, the penny will drop that marginalising the Championship season does not give England the best chance of competing in Test cricket. Maybe, then, it will be accepted that a window for limited-overs cricket in the prime weeks of summer is damaging England’s Test ambitions. England, it might be remembered, have won just one of their last 23 away Tests against other sides in the top four of the rankings (New Zealand, Australia and India) dating back to November 2013. They have lost 18 of them.Covid has not been the only challenge over the last year. The killing of George Floyd in the USA sparked a conversation about inclusion that, you suspect, has a long way to run. But even before reviews are completed and commissions have reported, the focus on the subject has brought progress. Not only have the last few weeks brought a noticeable increase in the number of non-white coaches working at high levels within the professional game, but it has brought a roll out of an anti-racism education programme, a commitment to appoint more non-white match officials and the introduction of bursaries for non-white coaches. More than anything, we are more aware we have an inclusion problem than we were a year ago. That’s the first step towards solutions.If we really want our game to be more inclusive, though, there are steps we can take immediately. For one thing, we need to end the practice of charging youngsters identified as worthy of inclusion in county age-group squads for their kit and coaching. It contributes to the disproportionate amount of privately educated players in the game and has turned what should have been a talent development programme into a grubby little money spinner. It could change tomorrow if the will was there to do it.But at least we can have these conversations now. And at least we can have them – or will soon be able to have them – sitting in the sun at the cricket. Yes, there’s lots about which we may disagree. Yes, there are real concerns for the future. But there is more that unites us than divides. Cricket is back and that, at least, we can agree to celebrate.

Adelaide 1960, Jo’burg 2013, Hobart 1997, Mumbai 2011, and more – teams fighting their way to safety from near-hopeless situations

Anantha Narayanan13-Feb-2021To start with, an update on my feature on upsets in cricket, published last month. Quite a few readers wondered where India’s magnificent upset win in Brisbane would have fitted in.The TSI (Team Strength Index) took a dive for India with so many new players at the Gabba. The TSI-gap shot up to 36.2 (77.8 to 41.2) and moved this match up quite significantly. The Recent Form Index for India picked up, while it dropped for Australia – both these factors pushed the match down a little in the overall list. The result margin was relatively narrow, and India got a middling 5.33 points. The net result was that the Upset Index for this match was 64.53, which put it in seventh place. If I had written the article a month later, this Test would have featured prominently. I suspect it might have got an even higher placement, possibly in the top five, since I would have tweaked the dead-rubber situation for a few other Tests.Also, an update on the batting performance ratings, the Golden Willow 25. I am glad to inform all that the expectations of Kyle Mayers’ unbeaten 210 achieving a high rating have been justified. It has received 798.8 GW 25 rating points and has come in at the eighth position in the table, just behind Brian Lara’s 153* (803.9) and above Virender Sehwag’s 201* (796.9). This is a fantastic position since the Bangladesh bowling attack is not the best in the world. However, other factors worked in his favour and I am glad that the innings got its vaunted position.Joe Root’s Galle innings of 228, with a good HSI (High Score Index, which looks at share of team score and batting support received) of 1.75, excellent IPV (Innings Peer Value, a ratio of the batsman’s score and that of his other team-mates in the match) of 13.9, away win against a team closer in strength (England away and Sri Lanka home), coming in at 17 for 2 and a middling PQI (Pitch Quality Index), clocked in at around 750 points and comfortably made it to the GW 25, in the 19th position. Root’s 186 in the second Test in Sri Lanka was a similar innings, but smaller. It got around 710 points and is comfortably in the top 60. Not content with this double strike, Root conquered Chennai with a match- and series-defining double-century. This innings gathered 676 points and finished in the 99th position in the GW 25 table. So, in the course of 25 days, Root has played three top-100 innings. No one else has ever done this.It is interesting to know that five innings from recent times have made it to the top echelons of GW 25, indicating the quality of batting on show today: Kusal Perera’s 153 not out in Durban; Steven Smith’s 144 at Edgbaston; Root’s 228 in Galle; Ben Stokes’ 135 not out at Headingley; and Cheteshwar Pujara’s 123 in Adelaide (which just missed the top 25).Related

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This article is inspired by the SCG draw, which ensured that India and Australia reached Brisbane with the series tied one-all. It was not a typical draw with nine wickets down and the last pair playing out a few deliveries. The match was lost for certain around the final afternoon, and a brave stand rescued India.So I decided to look at unforgettable draws from a different angle. I made a shortlist of 86 draws that had long partnerships towards the end of the fourth innings. I went through each Test fully, looking at scorecard and the non-scorecard information, trying to understand what went on behind the scenes. Having followed or watched quite a few of these Tests, I knew what had gone on. It is clear that the SCG Test was a very tough one to save because of the many things that had happened.I arrived at the final list of featured Tests in a manner I am not used to, so this is indeed a very special selection.It should be noted that the information on balls played is at three levels. For the early matches, probably until 1970, there is absolutely no information of any kind. For the next lot, the balls played by batsmen is available. And for the recent matches, the balls at which wickets fell is also available. So I have had to extrapolate at different levels using whatever data and information I could gather, often going through match reports.A draw with five wickets down is seemingly a comfortable draw. However, there are two points to be considered. Against strong bowling sides, a wicket could bring two or three more and suddenly the team could be seven or eight down. The other important point is that while it’s good to have wickets in hand when there’s only 30 minutes of play left, it’s not so helpful when there are three hours remaining. Hence, while compiling these five-wicket-down situations, one mandate I have is a fairly long sixth-wicket partnership. The perfect example is the recent SCG Test.An innovative graph lets us understand the matches clearly.Anantha NarayananIf the 1960-61 Adelaide Test between Australia and West Indies was almost certainly the greatest of saves, the Johannesburg Test in 1995-96 would run it very close. South Africa, having dominated for over three days, set England a target of 479, or more realistically, of saving the match by batting out nearly 11 hours. England started day five at 167 for 4, having lost Alec Stewart, Mark Ramprakash, Graham Thorpe and Graeme Hick overnight. Robin Smith hung around with Michael Atherton for 111 balls, and when Jack Russell joined Atherton at 232 for 5, England still had some 70 overs left to bat. What followed was one of the greatest match-saving stands ever – Russell faced 235 balls, more than Atherton in this partnership, while Atherton’s overall 11-hour vigil took 492 balls.When Sri Lanka played a very strong India in 2017-18 in Delhi, they were set over 400 to win in just over 100 overs. The first four wickets fell for 35 and the fifth at 147 on the fifth day with over four hours left. Dhananjaya de Silva and Roshen Silva took the score to 205 for 5 when de Silva retired hurt. Niroshan Dickwella joined Silva and these two took Sri Lanka to safety. These three batsmen faced 288 balls during the unbroken sixth-wicket partnership.At the SCG last month, India were facing certain defeat at 272 for 5 with over three hours of play still left. Ravindra Jadeja had suffered a blow to his left thumb, Hanuma Vihari had torn a hamstring, and Jasprit Bumrah was struggling with an abdominal strain. Through a combination of grit, determination, strategic play and some luck, Vihari and R Ashwin stayed together for 256 balls to save the Test. The true value of this draw was felt a week later in Brisbane.The third Test of India’s 1986 tour of England was a dead rubber, since India had already taken a 2-0 lead before coming to Edgbaston. However, a Test save is one to savour. After both sides made 390 each in the first innings, England set India the relatively simple task of scoring 236 to win on the final day. But at 105 for 5, with over two and a half hours still left, a loss seemed imminent. However, Mohammad Azharuddin and Kiran More got stuck in and negotiated over 200 balls to take India to safety.In Madras in 1963-64, India took a first-innings lead of 140 against England, faltered in the second innings and set the visitors a target of 293. England were floundering at 157 for 5 with over two hours still left for play. The ball was turning square but John Mortimore and Phil Sharpe negotiated some 180 balls and saved England from losing this first Test. Since the five-Test series finished in a 0-0 draw, this save was important.Now, for the six-wickets-down situations. This again is a matter of batting out hours.Anantha NarayananAt Old Trafford in 1990, India were set a target of 408 and survived from a difficult 127 for 5 thanks to a 17-year-old’s first century in international cricket. Sachin Tendulkar had partnerships of 90 balls with Kapil Dev and 250 balls with Manoj Prabhakar.On their tour to India in 2003-04, New Zealand were set 370 to win in just over a day’s play in the first Test in Ahmedabad. They were floundering at 169 for 6 with nearly three hours left, but Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle put on a match-saving partnership that lasted 229 balls. The bowling attack was a potent one, led by Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.In the first Test of New Zealand’s tour of West Indies in 1984-85, the visitors were all at sea at 83 for 5 against an attack led by Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Michael Holding. Jeremy Coney and Richard Hadlee lasted around 180 balls for the sixth wicket before Coney was dismissed. Then Hadlee stayed on for another 100 balls with Ian Smith and averted certain defeat.Once more New Zealand in West Indies, this time in Kingston in 1971-72. Set 341 to win against a not-so-great West Indian attack, the Kiwis were struggling at 135 for 5. Then Mark Burgess and Ken Wadsworth stitched together a 210-ball partnership. After Burgess’ dismissal, Wadsworth and Bob Cunis saw through the last hour of play, facing more than 15 overs.New Zealand at home this time, in Wellington, against a strong South Africa in 2011-12. The target was 389, well beyond them in the 80 overs available. Defeat seemed imminent when the score was 83 for 5. But Kane Williamson saw New Zealand to safety with a 153-ball partnership with Kruger van Wyk and 96-ball partnership with Doug Bracewell. New Zealand seem to specialise in these six-down-and-recovery situations.At Trent Bridge in the Ashes tour of 1993, despite taking a lead of 50 runs in the first innings, Australia were set the tough task of scoring 371 runs in about 75 overs. They slumped to 115 for 6 and a draw was the only option for them. Steve Waugh and Brendon Julian lasted over 200 balls and saved the Test match.The situation becomes even tougher with the fall of the seventh wicket.Anantha NarayananOn their 1947 tour of England, South Africa found themselves in serious trouble at The Oval. They were 266 for 6, chasing 451 with plenty of overs to play. Opener Bruce Mitchell had two partnerships of around 100 and 200 balls with Nos. 8 and 9, Tufty Mann and Lindsay Tuckett. Mitchell finished on 189 not out and at close of play, South Africa were only 27 runs short of the imposing target.Against a strong Sri Lankan attack, South Africa were struggling at 138 for 6 in Moratuwa in 1993. Jonty Rhodes saved the Test, putting together partnerships with Pat Symcox and Clive Eksteen. The feature of these partnerships was that while Rhodes attacked his way to a near run-a-ball century, his partners scored 25 runs in 162 balls.Against a strong England attack in Antigua in 2015, West Indies found themselves in trouble after being set 438 to win as they lost wickets at steady intervals and were struggling at 189 for 6. Jason Holder was the saviour from No. 8, adding 105 runs in 32 overs with Denesh Ramdin and a further 56 runs in 18 overs with Kemar Roach.In Kanpur in 1976-77, New Zealand were asked to bat out well over 100 overs to save the match. At 114 for 6, everything seemed lost. Two redeeming partnerships added 79 runs but, more importantly, lasted well over 50 overs. Against the spin triplet of Bishan Bedi, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar and S Venkataraghavan, on a crumbling Indian pitch, this was indeed magnificent batting. No. 7 Warren Lees was the hero, aided by Richard Hadlee and David O’Sullivan .The 2013-14 Johannesburg Test between South Africa and India is quite different to the other four featured here. The defining fourth-innings partnership was the fifth-wicket one between Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers for over 200 runs. Then three wickets fell quickly and South Africa shut shop. Why they chose to do so when they needed 16 to win with three wickets in hand is a mystery. Contrast this with the Indian batsmen’s attitude in Brisbane recently.Now, the precipice beckons with the fall of the eighth wicket.Anantha NarayananWhen New Zealand faced England at home in Christchurch in 2017-18, they were tasked with batting out over 120 overs to save the Test. At 135 for 5, with over 80 overs left, it seemed like doomsday ahead. There were reasonable stands for the next two wickets, but despite that New Zealand were 219 for 7 with over 30 overs to go. Then Ish Sodhi and Neil Wagner put together a magnificent stand of 188 balls. It didn’t matter that Wagner was dismissed off what turned out to be the last ball of the Test. One of the great rearguard actions of all time.New Zealand again. The 1965-66 Test in Christchurch against England was a strange one. Two scores nearing 350 followed by 201 indicate it was a good pitch. What happened afterwards was brutal. In 48 nerve-wracking overs, New Zealand managed 48 for 8. The last 16 runs, from Vic Pollard and Cunis, came in an estimated 20 overs.In 2018-19 in Dubai, Pakistan steamrolled Australia for the better part of four days and eventually set them a target of 462. At 252 for 5, Australia wouldn’t have seemed in a particularly precarious situation, except that they had over 50 overs still to negotiate.Usman Khawaja, who scored a magnificent 141, and Tim Paine (61 not out) put together a partnership that lasted more than 36 overs. After Khawaja was dismissed, Paine and Nathan Lyon played out 12 overs.It is really tough to escape the spin web in Sri Lanka if you have to last over 110 overs in the fourth innings. But that’s exactly what South Africa did in 2014 at the SSC. They had several nervy moments – at 110 for 6, 130 for 7 and 148 for 8. Hashim Amla faced 159 balls and Vernon Philander 98 balls. They were well supported by JP Duminy and the other late-order batsmen.In Adelaide in 2012-13, after two high first-innings scores, Australia gave themselves nearly 150 overs to dismiss South Africa. At 45 for 4, South Africa still had to bat out more than 120 overs to salvage a draw. That is exactly what du Plessis achieved on debut. First, through long partnerships with de Villiers and Jacques Kallis and three smaller ones, du Plessis, who faced 376 balls in an eight-hour vigil, saw South Africa safely home.At The Oval in 1979, India were set 438 to win, a target never reached in all of Test cricket. It is possible that William Hill might have offered 500-1 odds against an Indian win. Sunil Gavaskar scored 221 in 443 balls, Chetan Chauhan lasted 263 balls and Dilip Vengsarkar 139 balls. India were coasting at 366 for 1. Then, Kapil Dev, promoted unnecessarily, swung his bat and got out. Wickets fell regularly and finally India shut the doors on a chase. Listening to this chase on the radio, I was extremely disappointed at India missing the win.Both this Test and the Johannesburg Test 34 years later could have easily been among the greatest of wins rather than the greatest draws. I feel that both India and South Africa were content with draws rather than risking a loss while going for a win.Let us move on to the Tests in which nine wickets were down at end of the match, with the team batting last truly a ball away from defeat.Anantha NarayananThe first match featured is an all-time classic and almost inarguably the greatest save of all. This Test featured in the series that also had the first tied Test, between Australia and West Indies. The first three innings produced scores either side of 400 and Australia were left with well over seven hours to save the Test. They were tottering at 207 for 9 with nearly two hours left for play. Ken “Slasher” Mackay dug in and was helped by Lindsay Kline. I have estimated they saw through around 200 balls, that too against a fierce bowling attack.In Harare in 2003-04, West Indies had to bat out just over 80 overs, but they slumped to 103 for 5 with more than 40 overs to go. Each wicket held on for some time and finally a last-wicket stand of over 12 overs saw them through. Ridley Jacobs batted three hours for 60 and Fidel Edwards over half hour for 1.With two challenging declarations in Hobart in 1997-98, Australia set New Zealand a reasonable target of 288 in around 65 overs. They reached 72 for no loss in about 11 overs, but then slumped to 95 for 4. Craig McMillan was still scoring at around four runs per over but after New Zealand lost two more wickets they rolled the shutters down and hung on for a fantastic draw with the last two batsmen scoring one run but lasting 11 overs.In Antigua in 2008-09, West Indies needed to bat over 120 overs to save the Test against England. The last six partnerships lasted 34, 55, 58, 29, 42, 60 balls. These numbers tell the story. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul played well over 150 balls each. This sort of save is a rare one.At the Wankhede Stadium in 2011-12, a rare event occurred. After two huge first innings, West Indies were dismissed for 134 and set India 243 to win. India needed three runs of the last over of the match with two wickets in hand. With one ball left, they needed two, but R Ashwin was run out taking the second run and only for the second time in Test history was a match drawn with the scores level.In Port-of-Spain in 1987-88, after two sub-200 first innings, West Indies found their batting mojo and set Pakistan a target of 372 in 130 overs. The teams exchanged initiatives a few times and Pakistan, at 169 for 5, looked likely to lose. Then at 282 for 5, they seemed ahead. There were useful partnerships for each of the late-order wickets and it required a short partnership for the tenth wicket to save the day for Pakistan. The bowling attack was top-notch – Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Winston Benjamin.Now, we move to a special section – draws in which teams who were behind played magnificent third innings.Anantha NarayananSouth Africa were a very strong team before their ban from Test cricket. In Johannesburg in 1966-67, they had the strong Australians on the ropes, having dismissed them for 143 and taking a 189-run first innings lead. In the third innings, Australia were struggling at 125 for 6. Ian Chappell and Tom Veivers saved them with a 20-over stand for the seventh wicket. Then two wickets fell in two balls but rain appeared in time for Australia to draw the Test.At Old Trafford in 1998, South Africa posted a huge total of 552 and dismissed England for 183. Following on and 369 runs behind, England were rescued by an Alec Stewart century and a six-hour vigil by Atherton. From the comfort of 237 for 2, they slipped to 329 for 8 with 25 overs to go. Robert Croft and Darren Gough nearly got them to a draw, but with five overs to go, Gough was dismissed. These five overs were nerve-wracking since England were still two runs away from safety. Finally they matched South Africa’s score and the match was drawn.In the 1991-92 Test against India at the SCG, Australia conceded a first-innings lead of 170 and were struggling at 114 for 6. Allan Border, with a 157-ball-53, and Merv Hughes, with a 73-ball-21, saved the day for them. They finished the match just three runs ahead.England achieved another defensive coup in the 2009 Ashes in Cardiff. After scoring 435 and still conceding a 239-run lead, England, in the third innings, slid to 159 for 7, 221 for 8 and 233 for 9. A last-wicket partnership lasting around 12 overs saved the day for them.In Port-of-Spain in 1967-68,West Indies followed on and were on the brink of an innings defeat at 180 for 8, collapsing from a comfortable 164 for 2. Garry Sobers and Wes Hall added 63 in an estimated 20 overs to take them to safety. It is worth mentioning that Hall came in on a David Brown hat-trick ball.Finally, the greatest single-innings fightback in history. Who else but the New Zealanders? In the Wellington Test against India in 2013-14, New Zealand were 94 for 5 in the third innings, still trailing by 151 runs. From there, while staring at a devastating innings defeat at home, captain Brendon McCullum took them to an unbelievable 680 for 8. He scored 302 (559), BJ Watling made 124 (367) and Jimmy Neesham 137 (154).Two Tests not covered in this list are the terrific third-innings draws in the West Indies in 1973-74 and in Napier in 2008-09. Dennis Amiss’ all-time classic of 262 not out saved England from certain defeat in Jamaica. However, the fact is that it was a magnificent innings but the match does not qualify for inclusion here since England were already ahead of West Indies by 200 runs. Gautam Gambhir’s 137 is a similar innings. Helped by Laxman’s 124 not out, Gambhir took India to safety but they were well ahead.I have featured 34 matches here. Which five among these would I select as the best saves? Considering all the factors during, before and after the concerned match, my list of five Tests is given in order of preference.1. MacKay and Kline’s magnificent last-wicket partnership against West Indies in Adelaide, 1960-612. Atherton’s monumental 185* and Russell’s equally brave effort in Johannesburg, 1994-953. Vihari and Ashwin’s stupendous rescue act at the SCG, 2020-214. McCullum’s triple-century in Wellington, 2013-145. The Hobart 1997-98 Test in which New Zealand went for a win but had the tactical nous to close shop and play out a draw. Sodhi’s and Wagner’s long match-saving partnership in Christchurch in 2017-18 runs this close.Of these 34 Tests, nine have been played by New Zealand (and of the 84 Tests in the shortlist, 24 featured New Zealand). It is clear that they are the team to bat for anyone’s life.

It was a superb comeback for the pacer who struggled for form and fitness last season after a bout of Covid-19

Nagraj Gollapudi16-Apr-20212:55

Stephen Fleming: Chahar is ‘so effective when he has the ball swinging’

Deepak Chahar was getting greedy. He already had 3 for 13, and off the penultimate delivery of his third over, Chahar wanted MS Dhoni to take the review after rapping new man Shahrukh Khan on his back knee with a nip-backer. He rushed towards his captain, sheepish smile on his face, pleading, after the umpire had turned his appeal down. Indicating that the ball was high, Dhoni said, “,” asking Chahar to get on with it.Television replays would prove Dhoni right, and Chahar did not have a problem either. And why would he? He was in the middle of one of the spells of his T20 career, having picked up two wickets already in that over – Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran – in addition to the hitting Mayank Agarwal’s off stump off the third ball of the Punjab Kings’ innings.The Wankhede Stadium is a small ground where runs have flown smoothly in past IPL seasons. However, in this edition, the powerplay has become the most difficult session for teams batting first there. In four matches including Friday’s contest, the highest score in the powerplay had been 46 for 1, posted by the Punjab Kings against the Rajasthan Royals. On Friday, they also recorded the lowest powerplay score so far in Mumbai – 26 for 4, a rocket throw from Ravindra Jadeja having accounted for KL Rahul to go with the Chahar strikes.Related

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It was a complete turnaround for the Super Kings’ fast men, who were bruised the other night by the Delhi Capitals’ opening pair of Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan, who blasted 65 runs in the powerplay while chasing the target. Since then, bowling teams have made clever use of the stickiness in the pitch. On Thursday evening, Shaw and Dhawan, along with the rest of the Capitals’ batting order, were drawn into false strokes by the Royals’ bowlers. who cut down on the pace on a surface that gripped. The Capitals’ strike bowlers also dominated the Royals’ top order, making use of the seaming conditions in the evening.At the toss, Rahul pointed out that it would be important to assess the pitch properly in the first few overs before getting ambitious. Rahul and Co., however, could barely get their eyes in, left gobsmacked by Chahar’s variations and cricketing smarts.The ball that opened up Agarwal was clocked in the 130kph region. It shouldn’t have troubled a Test batter, who is used to facing the fresh cherry at much higher speeds, on more testing surfaces. However, with his slingy action and an upright seam, Chahar pitched on a good length, on middle stump, moved it away late, enough to put Agarwal off balance and send the off-stump bail flying. The beauty of the delivery even drew a silent nod of appreciation from Rahul at the non-striker’s end.

This IPL has extra significance for Chahar, with a T20 World Cup spot up for the grabs. His strength lies in his variations, and today he executed them brilliantly – effortlessly and accurately.

In the first match, Chahar, Sam Curran and Shardul Thakur had pitched mostly in the slot or given too much width to worry Shaw and Dhawan. Against the Punjab Kings, Chahar was far more disciplined. Gayle had hit him for two consecutive fours in his second over. The first one was against a delivery that Chahar had meant to cramp the batter with, and the second came against a leading edge that flew over slips. Next over, his third, Chahar unleashed one of his go-to balls, the knuckle ball, which was fuller in length, but just 120 kph. Gayle drove with hard hands, and it was whisked inches off the turf by Jadeja – spectacularly. Chahar should actually have sent back Gayle in his first over itself, but Ruturaj Gaikwad had failed to latch on to a hard-hit drive at point. Jadeja replaced Gaikwad in the position.ESPNcricinfo LtdChahar then challenged Pooran’s ego by banging in a short delivery halfway down the pitch. Pooran had been dismissed for a duck in the Punjab Kings’ first match trying to fend off a short delivery. On Friday, he again made a duck, lured into playing one he could have let go considering it was only the second ball he was facing.Two wickets in three balls and Chahar nearly had a third – the one that wasn’t, of Khan. While Dhoni was not generous with his man of the moment, he did know that the conditions and the momentum were in favour of Chahar finishing his quota straightaway. High on energy and success, Chahar did not need to work hard to force another false shot, this time from Deepak Hooda, one of Punjab Kings’ best batters in their opening match. Hooda spooned an easy catch to cover against another seaming, away-going delivery.It was the seventh occasion in the IPL where Chahar had bowled out in one go, the joint most along with former India quick Praveen Kumar. In these seven matches, Chahar has taken ten wickets at an average of 15.70, at an economy of 5.60 against an overall economy of 7.55.Chahar delivered 18 dots in his four overs on Friday, and his tally of 4 for 13 was his best in the IPL. Little wonder, then, that he was chuffed by the end of it, especially after struggling for form and fitness in IPL 2020, having come into the tournament following a bout of Covid-19.This IPL has extra significance for Chahar, with a T20 World Cup spot up for the grabs. His strength lies in his variations, and today he executed them brilliantly – effortlessly and accurately.

The future of Pakistan pace bowling looks safe in Afridi’s hands, as long as those who manage his workload remain vigilant

Danyal Rasool25-Aug-2021The 2018-19 Centurion Test had Pakistan succumbing to a defeat in less than two and a half days but is broadly remembered – in Pakistan anyway – as the game that saw their most valuable asset come of age in the longest format. Watching Babar Azam’s assault on Dale Steyn as batters around him fell helter-skelter to a lesser-known Duanne Olivier, there was a general consensus that Pakistan cricket was entering the age of Babar Azam. With 1271 runs at an average of 52.95 since then, that assessment has stood the test of time.But in elevating that innings to the legendary, almost mythical status it has come to assume in the Pakistan captain’s story arc, another equally pivotal moment slipped by. It’s difficult to imagine now with Shaheen Shah Afridi’s status so secure in the top tier of world fast bowling, but the then 18-year-old was playing just his second Test match. He had got an early taste of the impossibly low totals Pakistan batters too often set up for their bowlers to work with but, in just two balls, he turned the match situation around.Using his height and the exceptionally spicy tracks South Africa had laid out for Pakistan, Afridi banged one into the surface, working the channel outside off stump he had patiently probed all innings. Dean Elgar hung his bat out, and with the ball shaping away, got an edge that went straight to first slip. South African captain Faf du Plessis was targeted with a bouncer straightaway, the ball flying off the handle and looping up to gully. Afridi, like Babar, had arrived, seemingly fully formed, on the Test stage.That 18-year-old boy is still only 21 years old, but what transpired at SuperSport Park wasn’t the only foreshadowing for what he achieved at Sabina Park in the recently concluded Test series against West Indies. Those 18 wickets this series – nearly a quarter of his career total – stem from constant improvement over these three years on an already high bar, making him perhaps the most exciting prospect in Pakistani fast bowling in a generation. There was the false dawn of Mohammad Amir and the breathless comparisons with Wasim Akram he invoked, but the incremental progression of Afridi feels more sustainable.Over the past three years, there are just two obvious all-format selection candidates for Pakistan: Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam•Getty ImagesHe retains the ability to bang the ball in short and watch batters dance as they take evasive action; Jermaine Blackwood’s first-innings dismissal in the second Test was an example of Afridi at his exhilaratingly raw and unrestrained best. But you don’t get to open the bowling for Pakistan if you don’t pitch it up and move the ball, and Afridi’s control over that fuller length is formidable.This is significant because bowlers of Afridi’s height don’t necessarily match Afridi’s pace. In the opposition ranks, Jason Holder certainly isn’t as quick, and adjusting for that high release point combined with Afridi’s extra pace likely makes the fuller balls much harder to spot. Add in the new-ball swing, and it’s perhaps not difficult to see why West Indies’ top order struggled as much as it did over the two Tests. And it isn’t just West Indies’ stuttering top order either; since his fifth Test, Afridi has never failed to take the wicket of at least one opposition opening batter.Afridi plays nearly all international cricket for Pakistan; the rare occasions he sits out have primarily to do with workload management. As far as Test cricket goes, he’s a dead certainty to open the bowling regardless of opposition, irrespective of location. Over the past three years, there are just two obvious all-format candidates for Pakistan; the other is Babar. One reason he keeps company with a contemporary legend is he can mix with the best when it comes to historical legends, too.Comparisons with Akram didn’t age especially well for Amir, but when Afridi’s nascent career is pitted against Akram’s early years, Afridi comes out looking rosy. Afridi has 76 Test wickets to his name; Akram at this stage had 63 in 29 more overs. In 12 of 31 innings, Afridi has accounted for at least four opposition batters – that number stood at seven for Akram at the same stage. No Pakistani left-arm quick has been as prolific at this career stage, and the only pacers significantly further out in front are his bowling coach Waqar Younis (93) and Mohammad Asif (94).And all that without so much as a nod to his already glittering limited-overs career: his 53 ODI wickets at 24.62, his constant presence near the top of the wicket charts at the domestic National T20 Cup and the PSL, his four wickets in four balls for Hampshire at the Rose Bowl, five wickets for four runs in just his third PSL match… Oh, and back to the red ball, his 8 for 39 in the second innings of his debut first-class game, still a record for a Pakistani.Afridi hasn’t burst onto the scene so much as taken off after taxiing at high speed, the further inexorable progress and rise a natural outcome of the momentum his previous body of work has set him up for. There will still be turbulence along the way; the biggest challenge remains workload management and how his body manages to stave off side strains and lower-back niggles. Afridi might be bucking the recent trend of young Pakistani fast bowlers failing to live up to their potential, but Pakistan too will need to break out of a culture of insouciance when it comes to physical health of its quicks. The future of Pakistan fast bowling might look safe in the hands of this smiling, baby-faced two-metre prodigy as long as he, in turn, is safe in the hands of those who manage him.