All posts by h716a5.icu

Shafali Verma: 'I played 150 bouncers at a time, practising the same thing over and over again'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The young India batter is confident she’s ready for a busy year of international and franchise cricket

Annesha Ghosh31-May-20215:22

‘Looking back, there was a lot of struggle, but I’m happy with where I am today’

Shafali Verma laughs shyly when asked if selfie-hunters come calling when she’s at home in Rohtak, Haryana. “Sometimes,” she says, her nod indicating a young athlete’s growing ease with new-found fame.In the 21 months since her international debut, Verma, 17, has hit more sixes in T20Is than any other female cricketer, helped take India to their maiden T20 World Cup final, and twice topped the women’s T20I batting rankings.Her distinctive power game has helped fetch her deals in the Hundred in the UK, and the WBBL in Australia. She has also been called up to India’s one-day and Test sides for the upcoming tour of England.”My target has been to take lessons from every series and keep improving as a cricketer,” Verma, currently the No. 1-ranked T20I batter, says. “After the T20 World Cup I worked on my skills, fitness, and choosing the right deliveries to play. I felt I did better there in the South Africa series. I could sense some improvement in my fielding as I had focused on working out and strengthening my body during last year’s lockdown.”Verma’s scores of 23, 47, and 60 in the T20Is were one of the few highlights of India’s series against South Africa in March, their first since the T20 World Cup a year ago. They lost the T20Is 2-1 and the ODIs 4-1.”After the T20 World Cup I worked on my skills, fitness, and choosing the right deliveries to play. I felt I did better there in the South Africa series”•Mike Owen/Getty ImagesVerma looked far more at ease against the bouncer in those games than she had previously. She says it was down to the work she put in. “If you try to get better at something and get complacent after trying just once, it never works out. I chalked out a plan and played 150 balls [bouncers] at a time, then rested for a bit and faced more bouncers. I focused on practising the same thing over and over again.”Verma had an opportunity to crank her game up a gear when the Haryana men’s team set up camp ahead of their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign earlier this year.”I feel that I benefited a great deal from that Ranji camp,” she says of the preparatory period ahead of the South Africa series. “My back-foot game was a bit weak earlier, but facing the Ranji bowlers, who would come in at around 140kph, has helped better my technique and confidence on that front.”I interacted with Harshal [Patel], who recently played in the IPL, Mohit [Sharma] , Rahul Tewatia, and picked their brains about dealing with the bouncer. They shared their inputs with me and so did their coach. He gave me his feedback on my batting. I’m very grateful to everyone at the Haryana Cricket Association for the opportunity.”To get around pandemic-related difficulties like lack of access to facilities, Verma’s long-time coach, Ashwini Kumar, a former Haryana first-class player, set up nets and a bowling machine in his backyard for additional batting sessions to supplement her training at Rohtak’s Shri Ram Narain Cricket Club.In the national set-up, too, Verma says, there has been no want of encouragement since she earned her maiden call-up in September 2019.From left: Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav and Verma at the BCCI Awards in January 2020. Verma was named the best woman cricketer (junior domestic) of 2018-19 and won the best international debut award•Vipin Pawar/BCCI”All of my team-mates, coaches and support staff encourage me to bat in my natural style,” she says. “Whenever I don’t play a shot well, Smriti [Mandhana, her opening partner] points out the mistake and suggests how I could have approached the ball better, say, by timing it better or something else. She gives me sound feedback. We discuss a lot about what we think of each other’s batting.” The two put on a 96-run stand inside nine overs in India’s only win in the T20I series against South Africa.The series against South Africa was also head coach WV Raman’s last assignment with India. He has been replaced by Ramesh Powar, who has returned to take charge of the side after being let go from the job in 2018.The T20 World Cup in Australia last year was Verma’s first major tournament and the teenager was the object of a lot of media interest and buzz. If she didn’t blink in the spotlight, it was partly due to Raman and the management, who made sure she didn’t look much beyond the task at hand.”I worked with him [Raman] for two years,” Verma says. “He would back me to the hilt to bat the way I bat. ‘Ball game ,’ [Focus on the ball, focus on your own game] he would say. He motivated me since my debut. Whether or not I did something correctly or did it well, he would encourage me. I will miss him and I want to thank him. It was great playing under him.”The England tour, Verma’s first trip to that country, will kick off a busy season overseas for India, and she has been preparing to embrace the new experiences and challenges that will come along.Verma was among India’s top run scorers in the 2020 T20 World Cup and hit 15 sixes in five innings in the tournament•Paul Kane/Getty Images”I want to remain fit. That’s my primary goal, because if I’m fit, I can carve out a long career for myself. And to simulate skiddy conditions [overseas], I have been training with wet synthetic balls, to allow them to skid more.”I watched the IPL as well. One gets to learn a lot observing and watching the IPL players, their shot selection, especially.”Verma is excited at the prospect of playing a Test. The last time India played one, at Mysore in 2014, she was ten years old. She hasn’t ever had a taste of multi-day cricket at any level, and though she likes watching Steven Smith in Tests, most of her idols in the sport, she says, smiling, are from the shortest format.Already one of the most compelling T20 batters around, Verma will have a shot at learning from some of the best in the business when she teams up with multiple World Cup winner Alyssa Healy at the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL this year soon after India’s bilateral series against Australia.”Healy is a good batter,” Verma says. “I watched her bat in the [T20] World Cup. “If I get to open with her or bat with her in any other position, I would like to pick her brains, speak to her about what it’s like playing at this level and learn from her experience.”A promotion in the central-contracts tiers has also boosted her salary by an additional 20 lakh [US$27,500 approx] this year. The raise is welcome. She grew up in a family with a modest income; her father, Sanjeev, runs a small jewellery shop.”I sense that everyone who has been part of my journey is happy to see that I have found an aim in life. When I look back, I think of my younger self cycling 15km to school and then cycling back [home] and then to my cricket academy…. [Growing up], I would try motivating myself by reminding myself that if I work hard, my name might come up for selection.”There has been some struggle in my journey, but [I’m happy to see how things are going]. As Papa says, if I stay diligent, keep learning and work on my mistakes, I can do better and support the Indian team in every way I can.”

Five talking points about South Africa's new domestic structure

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The franchise system is out, and a lot of other things are in

Firdose Moonda23-Sep-2021It took a legal challenge, a consultation process headed by former ICC CEO David Richardson and 75 job losses, but finally it’s here: South Africa’s new domestic system. Gone are the complications of franchises and back is the simplicity of a provincial structure, with some additions.Not only are each of South Africa’s nine provinces represented in the new system, but some of them have multiple teams. Gauteng has three: the Johannesburg-based Lions, Northerns in Centurion and Easterns in Benoni. The Western Cape has Cape Town’s Western Province, the Rocks in Boland and South-Western Districts in Oudtshoorn, while Eastern Province has teams in Gqeberha and East London, and Kwa-Zulu Natal has a coastal and inland team. Each of the Northern Cape, Free State, Limpopo, North-West and Mpumalanga also have their own teams, ensuring that cricket crosses the length and breadth of the country to broaden the talent pool available to the national selectors.Related

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All 15 sides, along with the South African under-19 team, will be in action in the first competition of the season, a T20 tournament, that kicks off on Friday. It’s a fitting start because September 24 is a public holiday; the day on which South Africans celebrate their diverse heritages. The only drawbacks are that none of the members of the T20 World Cup squad will be involved as they go into a camp to prepare for the tournament, and then to quarantine in the UAE. While this competition competes with the IPL for eyeballs, it still signals the start of summer in the southern hemisphere. To mark the occasion, we take a look at five major talking points ahead of the South African domestic season.Map of South Africa’s new domestic teams•ESPNcricinfo LtdSame, same but different South African domestic cricket has, for the last 16 summers, been fairly confusing for outsiders to understand, because of the franchise system. The six teams were amalgamations of provincial teams, some of whom would never have imagined joining together to form one unit, but did anyway. An example is Northerns, who play in Centurion – as the name would suggest, to the north of Johannesburg – who partnered with Easterns, who play in Benoni, to the east of the city, to become the Titans. Inevitably, most of the Titans activity took place at SuperSport Park while Willowmoore Park was the forgotten cousin. All of that has been restructured away, even though some of the provincial unions will keep their franchises names, so each province plays independently.Northerns, the bigger of the teams that became the Titans, keeps the Titans name and Easterns will be known as Easterns. The Lions’ name has been retained by Gauteng, the Dolphins by Kwa-Zulu Natal, the Warriors by Eastern Province and Knights by Free State. The Cobras name has been dropped entirely and Western Province will be known as such. The Titans, Lions, Dolphins, Warriors, Knights and Western Province are joined by the Rocks (based in Paarl) and the North-West Dragons (based in Potchefstroom) in Division 1. Border, Easterns, Northern Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and South-Western Districts make up Division 2.What hasn’t changed is that there is still a hierarchy in the domestic system but it is no longer based on professional franchises and semi-professional provinces as was the case before. Now, it’s simply Division 1 and Division 2 but actually, that’s all just semantics. Teams in Division 1 have the budget to contract more players (16) than teams in Division 2 (11), have the nationally contracted players on their books and, when first-class and one-day matches are televised, it will likely be Division 1 on the silver screen. But, these divisions are not set in stone and a promotion-relegation system will be in place from the 2023/24 season, though it is yet to be decided if one or two teams will be moved between divisions. Both divisions play in the season-opening T20 competition.Getty ImagesBig movers While many players have stayed with the provincial unions attached to their former franchises, there have been some notable moves – most obviously in the formation of the two new top-tier teams, Boland and North-West. Boland have acquired the services of international batters, Janneman and Pieter Malan from the Cobras (now Western Province) while North-West have signed Dwaine Pretorius, who played at the Lions, and Senuran Muthusamy, the third-leading wicket-taker in last season’s four-day competition from the title-holders, Dolphins. Thando Ntini has moved from the Titans to the Dolphins, having started his career in Cape Town, Beuran Hendricks has gone from the Lions to Western Province, and Dane Paterson will play for Eastern Province after spending the bulk of his career in Cape Town before a stint as an overseas player for Nottinghamshire.Returning KolpaksKyle Abbott will be eligible for South Africa selection again•Cricket South AfricaThe South African domestic set-up also welcomes back several players who ended their international careers to take up Kolpak deals. Boland are the biggest beneficiaries and have secured the services of batter Stiaan van Zyl and fast bowlers Hardus Viljoen and Kyle Abbott. North-West have also laid claim to a share of the returnees and signed Heino Kuhn. Duanne Olivier will play for the Lions, Simon Harmer for Titans, and allrounder Wayne Parnell returns to Western Province, where he will captain the team in the T20 tournament. The Kolpak system no longer exists, which also makes these players eligible for South Africa again.Involvement of former internationals in coaching structuresThough South African cricket has suffered a brain drain with the loss of Cobras coach Ashwell Prince to Bangladesh as a batting consultant, and Vernon Philander, who was due to play for Western Province, to Pakistan as a bowling coach, there are still former players in the system. For instance, Imraan Khan, who played one Test for South Africa in 2009 and was a stalwart of the domestic set-up, won the first-class tournament with the Dolphins last year and remains their head coach. Robin Peterson head Eastern Province, Allan Donald is in charge at Free State, and Paul Adams has landed a role as head coach of Border, after last coaching at the Cobras in 2016.There’s also a big-name among the support staff. JP Duminy, who retired from international cricket after the 2019 World Cup, is the batting consultant for the Lions and has been seconded to the South African team for the T20 World Cup.Other former players, albeit not internationals, who are involved are Adrian Birrell, former Ireland coach and South African assistant coach, who will be in charge of Boland, former Lions player Richard das Neves, who will coach Easterns and will join Namibia for the T20 Word Cup, and Dumi Makalima, former Border and Gauteng player who will take charge at Limpopo.Commentary in isiXhosa The high-profile names don’t stop on the field. Three former international bowlers will be behind the microphone for dedicated isiXhosa commentary. Makhaya Ntini, Monde Zondeki, and Mfuneko Ngam make up a five-person team which also includes seasoned broadcasters Mluleki Ntsabo and Sixolele Sotyelelwa. Though this is not the first time commentary will be offered in isiXhosa, it appears to be the start of a more regular offering in a language outside of English or Afrikaans and will hopefully be the trend throughout the summer.

For Bangladesh, time in the middle and not runs was the focus, and 'the execution was perfect'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

After losing all their previous nine Tests in New Zealand, the visitors have changed the narrative with solid, fighting cricket in the first Test

Mohammad Isam03-Jan-2022Bangladesh carried all their doubts, poor form and an overall bad vibe from the disappointing home series against Pakistan last month to New Zealand. The prospects were bleak. But three days of solid, battling cricket in the first Test has changed the visitors’ outlook.They hold a 73-run lead against the Test world champions after the third day, and if Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Najmul Hossain Shanto frustrated New Zealand on the second day, it was the turn of the more experienced Mominul Haque and Litton Das to do it on the third. The two put on 158 for the fifth wicket, and Yasir Ali and Mehidy Hasan Miraz didn’t allow a lower-order collapse after Litton’s dismissal. Before them, while he scored only 12, Mushfiqur Rahim batted close to an hour, facing 85 balls.Related

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“It was a fantastic partnership between Mominul and Litton,” team director Khaled Mahmud said after the third day’s play. “They batted very well against a New Zealand attack that always comes at you with discipline. Mominul played an excellent innings. He spent a lot of time in the middle, he left a lot of balls, like Joy had done earlier. Mominul is a more experienced Test cricketer than Litton but both batted superbly. By Allah’s grace, we are now in a position to dominate the match.”I think New Zealand bowled superbly with the second new ball, but we stuck to our plan. They weren’t giving us many freebies. They were bowling such tight lines that, at the start of the day, Joy and Mominul couldn’t even get singles. But we spent time at the crease, rather than thinking about runs. Mushfiqur [Rahim] and Mominul, both experienced players, did a great job in that situation. The execution was perfect.”Mominul and Litton got together with Bangladesh 203 for 4, in a strong position but just a bad hour away from undoing the good work. Mominul scored 88 in over four hours, facing 370 balls, while Litton’s 86 came in just under three hours, off 247 balls.

“I particularly remember telling them that we lost nine Tests in New Zealand. In 2017, we lost despite declaring on 595 in Wellington. I told them that we can’t keep losing here. One group has to stand out, so why not this group?”Khaled Mahmud, former Bangladesh captain and current team director

“We were definitely under pressure with a young team, lacking maturity in these conditions,” Mahmud said. “But hats off to the boys today. They batted really well. Litton is always good to watch. He was brilliant today; [he] always seems to have time while batting. He negotiated the fast bowlers so comfortably. He didn’t look under pressure. We know what he went through in the T20 World Cup, but we knew of his capability.”Shanto played an exciting, dominating innings. Young Joy, playing only his second Test, took his time in the middle. Mominul, too, batted for time, which was important for us in this Test match. They have ensured a 73-run lead, but there’s a lot of cricket left in this game.”Joy, who was dismissed for 78, said that he was reminded by all three of his batting partners that time spent at the crease would bring him runs.”I planned to play as many balls as possible. I didn’t want to focus on runs. I knew that I could score runs when I am set at the crease,” he said. “I had a good partnership with Shadman [Islam] and then another good partnership followed with Shanto . He also told me to be in control when I tried to become too aggressive. Mominul told me that playing a lot of dot balls was not a problem.”Khaled Mahmud: “We want to do well – even if we can’t win, we definitely want to draw this Test”•AFP/Getty ImagesMahmud is known in Bangladesh cricket circles as a good motivator. That side to him had to come to the fore on this tour, considering Bangladesh’s poor record in New Zealand.”I usually speak to everyone individually. I particularly remember telling them that we lost nine Tests in New Zealand,” he said. “In 2017, we lost despite declaring on 595 in Wellington. I told them that we can’t keep losing here. One group has to stand out, so why not this group? Why can’t we play better cricket?”Results will come later, but we can play with courage. These are tough conditions for every visiting side, but I felt that we could do well here. I tried to pass this on to this young team. Definitely, there was fear within us. We have five batters – Shadman, Joy, Shanto, Yasir and Litton – who are not very experienced in Tests. They all possess the ability to play well, but working in specific areas really paid dividends for us.”Mahmud said Bangladesh were looking forward to a positive result in the next two days, particularly if they bat deep and take a 150-plus lead on the fourth morning.”They [the players] have worked hard, did everything to get to this stage,” he said. “I still think it is too early to say anything in this game. We have two more days left. We want to do well – even if we can’t win, we definitely want to draw this Test.”

Under-19 World Cup title defence: Memories of 2020 drive undercooked but determined Bangladesh

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Covid-19 has affected the build-up, but coach Naveed Nawaz feels the players have responded well to the challenges

Mohammad Isam15-Jan-2022It was a homecoming worthy of national heroes. Thousands lined the 15-kilometre stretch from the Dhaka airport to the Shere Bangla National Stadium as the bus with the Under-19 World Cup winners passed. There was then a rousing reception at the ground, in front of a few thousands more. The players cut a cake, they collected their rewards. “The memories are unbelievable,” Naveed Nawaz, the coach of the team then and now, says.This was still a month off from the first reported case of Covid-19 in Bangladesh. There was no restrictions. It was, after all, Bangladesh’s first World Cup win, at any level. They beat Under-19 giants India in the final, and everyone who watched them loved the way the boys held their composure in tense moments.Related

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Two years on, as Bangladesh attempt to defend the title in the West Indies, Nawaz remembers the tears of joy most of all.”When we won the final, we understood that it was a big achievement for Bangladesh,” Nawaz tells ESPNcricinfo from St Kitts, where the team is based this time. “We were all happy and celebrating [in South Africa]. But it didn’t really hit us until the day we arrived in Dhaka.”When we saw the crowd celebrating on the streets, and then in the Mirpur stadium, we were actually in tears. All of us were crying. We didn’t realise the enormity of it until then, the impact that we had on the whole country.”The celebrations have, in a way, continued.Just over a year later – Covid-19 stopped cricket, and much else, for some time – after three international series for Bangladesh following the World Cup triumph, Shoriful Islam, the left-arm quick from the triumphant squad, made his T20I debut against New Zealand in March 2021. He would go on to play in the two other formats within the next two months.Shamim Hossain made an impressive T20I debut in New Zealand as well, before his fortunes took a nosedive, while Mahmudul Hasan Joy got his break more recently. Playing only his second Test, Mahmudul, as well as Shoriful, played a stellar role in Bangladesh’s unexpected Test win in Mount Maunganui earlier this month.Mahmudul Hasan Joy played a big part in Bangladesh’s recent Test win in New Zealand•Getty Images”It’s incredible, Joy, Patu (Shamim) and Shoriful going into the national team, and coping with the demands at the highest level,” Nawaz says. “It shows their improvement, from the Under-19 programme to doing well in the senior circuit.”I think I was the happiest person on the planet to see these Shoriful and Joy performing in New Zealand. They are both very close to me. How Joy tackled their highly skilled bowling attack, in their backyard, tells you a big story about him. We have discovered a star for Bangladesh, who can occupy the opening or No. 3 position for a very long time if guided properly.”Shoriful’s attitude and aggression on the field is an unbelievable change. When you look at him bowling, it seems like he has been playing international cricket for five-six years.”

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The 2022 team hasn’t been able to prepare as well as the 2020 team had because of the Covid situation. Multiple cases affected the training schedules and camps, and travel restrictions meant they couldn’t replicate the build-up of the previous group. While Bangladesh played 30 youth one-dayers, and won 18, in the lead-up to the 2020 World Cup, they managed to play only 12 such games this time, winning just three.”Preparation-wise, we are far behind this time. Most of our [preparatory] camps were affected, so our preparation hasn’t been ideal,” Nawaz says. “We managed to get in a couple of series. Since there was no time, the main target was to get the players match-ready.”We had to make sure we had the right players to form a strong team. We did our best within the time frame that we had. I think we got the best out of everything possible. In the West Indies, we will rely mainly on our strong bowling attack.”Shamim Hossain made a bright start to his T20I career before hitting a bit of a low•AFP/Getty ImagesAfter reaching the Caribbean, Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by 155 runs [DLS method] in a warm-up game. From their “strong” bowling pack, left-arm spinner Naimur Rohman (3-18), offspinner Ariful Islam (2-6) and right-arm medium-pacer Abdullah Al Mamun (2-15) stood out in that win.

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It was a bit iffy prior to the team coming together as it has.Following a 5-0 drubbing from the hands of Sri Lanka Under-19 in October last year, the BCB brought in 2020 team stalwarts Rakibul Hasan, a left-arm spinner and useful batter, and quick bowler Tanzim Hasan Sakib, appointing the former as captain.”Rakibul and Sakib give us a bit of strength in our bowling department,” Nawaz says. “It is good to have them back. They have been working with me for the last couple of years. They also played a couple of series with the high-performance squad, so they are more experienced and ready.”Rakibul is very much a hands-on captain. He has built a very good rapport in a short time. He shares a lot of experience and knowledge with others. He is very much a dedicated team person. He puts the country before himself. It is a good example. He is very respected within the team.”Since Rakibul and Sakib joined the team, they won a triangular one-day series against two India Under-19 sides in Kolkata, and then made the semi-finals before losing to eventual winners India in the eight-team Under-19 Asia Cup in the UAE.Rakibul Hasan, a part of the 2020 team, has been brought in to lead the 2022 side•Getty Images

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Bangladesh have had a decent development programme in place for a while now, but the 2020 World Cup win gave it the fillip it needed.Nawaz was part of the leadership group led by Khaled Mahmud, chairman of the BCB’s game development committee, with AEM Kawser, the game development manager, and selector Hasibul Hossain Shanto in the mix. “The trophy inspired the younger generation in Bangladesh,” Nawaz says. “They have the belief that they can beat any team in the world. This is the difference winning a World Cup makes to a country. The whole culture and system will change.”Nawaz is himself a product of Sri Lanka’s famed school-cricket system, although he only played a single Test and three ODIs at the senior level for Sri Lanka. When he joined the Under-19 team as coach in 2018, there were murmurs in local cricket circles that Nawaz didn’t have the right credentials. But he has the results to show.”I wanted to create a method based on which the players can succeed,” Nawaz says. “I was successful in doing that in the first two years because of the unbelievable talent in Bangladesh. But talent alone is not enough. They had to play the mental game right. It was also important to create the right methods for batting, bowling and fielding. I am trying to do the same with the second group. They have responded quite well, though we see some inconsistency in their performances.”My idea was to show people that if you can instil discipline and good work ethic, if you get them to believe in the concept of a team, complement and help each other, and work really hard as a team, you can achieve anything.”It worked once. Repeating the feat will, perhaps, be an even bigger achievement than the one two years ago.

Kolkata Knight Riders bank on Iyer power

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

They also have an immensely strong bowling attack, but they might be lacking in local batting talent

Himanshu Agrawal23-Mar-2022Where they finished in 2021Runners-up to Chennai Super Kings. When the IPL was postponed midway through the season last year, Kolkata Knight Riders were placed seventh after just two wins from seven matches, but by the time the league stage ended in the UAE, they were second on the points table.Potential first XI1 Venkatesh Iyer, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Sheldon Jackson/B Indrajith (wk), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Shivam Mavi, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun ChakravarthyRelated

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Capitals have solid first XI but player availability a concern

Death bowling could be a worry for Rajasthan Royals

Player AvailabilityAlex Hales pulling out of the IPL citing bubble fatigue opened a door for Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch. However, with Australia’s white-ball series against Pakistan to conclude on April 5, Finch will not be available for the first handful of games. Pat Cummins, meanwhile, is understood to fly back to Australia after the Pakistan Test series to attend Shane Warne’s memorial on March 30. He will join the side after serving the mandatory three-day quarantine and should be available for their fourth match, on April 6.*Like his other New Zealand team-mates, pace bowler Tim Southee will be available for the tournament despite his country playing Netherlands in a white-ball series at home. However, with New Zealand set to tour England for three Tests in early June, Southee may have to miss the playoffs and the final should Knight Riders make it that far.Kolkata Knight Riders squad for IPL 2022•ESPNcricinfo LtdBattingKnight Riders have two in-form batters to bank on: Venkatesh Iyer, who played a big hand in their turnaround last season, and Shreyas Iyer, who enters this IPL with a bagful of recent runs.Venkatesh cracked 370 runs in the UAE last time, and followed it up with 155 at a strike rate of 140 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Although he has played as a finisher for India since, Knight Riders will likely prefer him at the top of the order, taking advantage of powerplay restrictions.Shreyas has been riding a tremendous wave: after establishing himself in India’s limited-overs sides, he was picked by Knight Riders for INR 12.25 crore (USD 1.6 million approx), making him the highest-paid pure batter to come out of the auction. Then the franchise named him captain, which seemed to agree with him quite well given he reeled off three successive unbeaten half-centuries against Sri Lanka in a Player-of-the-Series performance.Shreyas has batted No. 3 in 41 of his 87 innings in IPL, but he can be used at No. 4 too if, in addition to Venkatesh, Knight Riders include both Ajinkya Rahane and Finch.Rahane is at his best when the ball comes onto the bat. That means he needs to bat in the top three. But even then, he strikes at only 120.13. Knight Riders are going to have to make do with that because they don’t really have a lot of established local batting talent. There’s Anukul Roy, who could be utilised along with Andre Russell, as finisher, and B Indrajith, who for all his skill in the longer formats last played a T20 in 2019.Sunil Narine is the jewel in a strong Knight Riders bowling attack•BCCIBowlingWhat Knight Riders lack with the bat, they make up with the ball. With three mystery spinners in Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Ramesh Kumar, and the pace of Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Cummins and Southee, they have a veritable bowling armoury to call upon. Add to that the all-round options provided by Russell and Mohammad Nabi, plus the useful medium pace of Venkatesh, and they become the envy of the whole tournament.Narine and Chakravarthy’s economy rates of 5.91 and 6.34 respectively in the powerplay, plus their ability to turn the ball both ways, make them a captain’s dream.However, Ramesh is the only left-arm option they have in their entire roster. Nicknamed “left-handed Narine”, the 23-year old is more of a wristspinner and although he has raw talent he still hasn’t played any cricket at a competitive level.Young players to watch out forA product of the tennis-ball circuit, Ramesh could turn out to be one of the finds of the season. Despite a late initiation to playing with an actual cricket ball, he became an integral part of the Moga district team and one of the best young bowlers in Punjab.Among the batters, the 23-year old Roy oozes promise. He has batted at Nos. 6 and 7 for all but two of his 24 T20 innings thus far, and strikes at 141 overall. A useful understudy, just in case Russell breaks down again. Plus, being a left-hander, he can also help his side mix things up in the batting order.Roy enters the IPL on the back a 59 and 153 against Nagaland in the Ranji Trophy pre-quarter-final, and although they came in a format altogether different and against an attack lacking bite, Knight Riders will hope he can carry that confidence into the IPL.Coaching staffBrendon McCullum (head coach), Abhishek Nayar (assistant coach), B Arun (bowling coach), Omkar Salvi (assistant bowling coach) and James Foster (fielding coach)Poll question

5.45pm GMT, Mar 24 The availability dates for Finch and Cummins were updated.

Shahbaz Ahmed: 'Prepared and waiting to finish matches on my own'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The RCB allrounder has been setting the pace with both bat and ball this season

Hemant Brar08-May-2022Algebra and calculus have troubled Bengal and Royal Challengers Bangalore allrounder Shahbaz Ahmed more than any opposition bowler or batter has.In 2011, Shahbaz’s father enrolled him in a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, but until last year he couldn’t get past Mathematics 101, a subject from the first semester. It was only last season, when he was playing in the IPL for RCB, as it happened, that he took the exam for it online and passed. “So you can say I have completed my engineering,” Shahbaz says.Apart from that, he has also been working hard to upgrade his cricketing skills. Here, too, the results have gone largely in his favour.Related

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Bought back by Royal Challengers at the auction in February, Shahbaz made over 25 in each of his first five innings in this year’s IPL. That’s some consistency for a player who bats mainly at No. 5 and 6. He hasn’t been as successful with his left-arm fingerspin but has bowled a couple of handy spells.Shahbaz’s stronger suit is batting but in 2020, his first season with Royal Challengers, he played only two games and faced just one ball. The next year he got a longer run but could score only 59 runs in seven innings at an average of 8.42 and a strike rate of 111.32.While his returns with the bat were not stellar, he gained valuable insights about his craft. “I realised I was struggling to hit against fast bowlers,” Shahbaz says. “Whenever I tried big shots, I was ending up in an open-stance position. Simon Katich [then Royal Challengers head coach] and Mike Hesson [director of cricket at the franchise] sir told me if I can maintain my shape, I can score in any situation. That’s something I have tried to address this time.”At RCB, he has also had the opportunity to pick the brains of two of the best hitters in T20 cricket. “Big players such as AB de Villiers sir and Glenn Maxwell sir don’t talk much about technique,” Shahbaz says. “Whenever I spoke to them, it was about planning, conditions, and how to plan for different conditions. What the good boundary options are against fast bowlers and spinners. Or how to keep the scoreboard moving irrespective of the situation and build a platform from where we can win the match.”Shahbaz enjoys batting with Dinesh Karthik: “With him you don’t feel any pressure as he can change the momentum of the game in one over”•BCCIAll that culminated in one crucial knock after another this season. And his strike rate against pace zoomed from 125.00 last season to 143.01 this time.In the match against Kolkata Knight Riders, he went in at 62 for 4 and scored 27 off 20 balls to put his team ahead in a chase of 129. Against Rajasthan Royals he entered at the same scoreline. This time RCB were chasing 170. He smashed 45 off 26 balls and along with Dinesh Karthik (44 not out off 23), took the side to a win.Batting first against Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers were 75 for 4, which soon became 92 for 5. Shahbaz and Karthik then added 97 in an unbroken sixth-wicket stand, lifting Royal Challengers to a winning total.”I enjoy batting with DK [Karthik] . He is so cool and calm even in those pressure situations,” Shahbaz says. “He just says we have to take the game deep. If I play a rash shot, he would tell me that this is not needed at this stage. Only if I get a loose ball I should try for the boundary. Else, I should take a single, or even if it’s a dot ball, it’s okay. With him, you don’t feel any pressure as he can change the momentum of the game in one over.”Shahbaz mentions the Rajasthan Royals match, where Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin had stifled the batters on a pitch that was taking spin. “I wasn’t able to figure out how to take the game deep. Ashwin had an over left, and I was thinking of playing him out as it was easier to score against fast bowlers. Then DK came and attacked Ashwin. In that one over, the game completely changed.”RCB spin-bowling coach S Sriram suggested Shahbaz work on a faster run-up, which helped him find his rhythm and increase his bowling speed•Royal Challengers BangaloreWith 82 needed off 42 balls, Karthik hit Ashwin for three fours and a six in a 21-run over. It was another lesson for Shahbaz in his cricketing education.

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When he was struggling with the bat in the 2021 IPL, it was his bowling that kept Shahbaz in the frame at RCB. He picked up seven wickets, including a game-changing 3 for 7 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, at an economy of 6.57.This year he has been assigned the role of fifth bowler, alongside Maxwell. While he has been a bit expensive at times, he also bowled a spell of 4-0-25-0 against Lucknow Super Giants. Against Gujarat Titans he took the wickets of Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya to bring his side back into the game, and in his most recent match, against Chennai Super Kings, he broke the opening stand by dismissing an in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad.Shahbaz credits S Sriram, the Royal Challengers batting and spin-bowling coach, for giving him belief. “When I first came to the IPL, I had doubts if my bowling skills were good enough for this level. But in the last two seasons, I have learnt a lot from S Sriram about how to bowl to each batsman and get them out. He knows my bowling inside out.”The biggest improvement, Shahbaz says, has been in his rhythm, which he had struggled with. Sriram suggested making his run-up faster, which helped with that aspect. It had another benefit as well.”Earlier, my bowling speed was too slow. If you bowl that slow in the IPL, batters can always attack you. So my biggest worry was how I can increase my speed by 4-5kph. As I worked on my rhythm, my speed also increased.”Now I aim for 94-95kph for my normal ball, and my slower ball is at around 88-89kph. If I can maintain 95kph, it helps a lot in these conditions. Otherwise, on these flat Mumbai wickets, it is very difficult for spinners.””There will be a time when I will have to finish games on my own. I am prepared and waiting for that time”•BCCIIn T20s, the conventional wisdom is that a left-arm fingerspinner isn’t as effective against a left-hand batter. But Shahbaz has been trying to up his game against left-hand batters as well.”Ever since I started playing, I bowled from around the wicket. It’s a good option but now I am bowling over the wicket as well, to left-hand batsmen. Because that gives you a lot of options, and the more options you have, the more you can control the game.”If you are bowling over the wicket, you can bowl wide outside off. If there is some turn available, then you can turn from outside off. Then the leftie has only one option – to hit down the ground. The leg-side option is no longer available.”From over the wicket, you can bowl the leg-stump line as well, which is effective this season because most games are being played on side wickets due to limited venues. So one square boundary is generally bigger than the other. That makes it difficult for left-handers to hit on the leg side [if that’s the bigger boundary]. This also creates more wicket-taking options.”While Shahbaz is tightening up his bowling, it’s batting he enjoys more and wants to make more of an impact with. At the top of his to-do list is to see games to the end with the bat.”In domestic cricket, I have finished a few close games, so I have that experience. Against KKR, we were chasing 127 [129], and I scored 27 in a tough situation but then I got out. Akash Deep [Bengal and Royal Challengers team-mate] said to me, ‘You could have finished this game but you lost your wicket to a bad shot. What happened?’ I told him this was my first innings in the IPL where I had batted well. The more experience I get of batting in this position, the more games I can finish for the team.”Right now, I am mostly playing a supporting role to DK , but there will be a time when I will have to finish games on my own. I am prepared and waiting for that time.”

Jos Buttler: 'Managing risk is a big part of T20 batting'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

England’s white-ball captain opens up about the evolution of his short-form game

Matt Roller07-Oct-2022The stage is set for Jos Buttler. He turned 32 last month and is at his peak as a T20 batter heading into the World Cup in Australia, his first as England captain. He is mentally fresh after a calf injury and if he finds his best form, he has the ability to win the trophy almost single-handedly.He spent England’s recent tour to Pakistan throwing balls and carrying drinks but is expected to return to the side in Perth on Sunday, the first of four warm-up games – three against Australia, one more against Pakistan – before the main event. Even for a team with England’s batting resources, his return will be transformative.”I’ve had confidence in my game for a while now,” Buttler tells ESPNcricinfo. “I feel like I have good experience and a good understanding of the T20 game.” Earlier this year he produced one of the greatest-ever IPL seasons, scoring 863 runs including a record-equalling four centuries, and his career record now compares favourably with the format’s all-time greats.When Buttler broke through at Somerset over a decade ago, it was his innovation that set him apart. He played the most audacious shots English cricket had seen since Kevin Pietersen, reverse-slapping spinners and paddle-scooping seamers to create gaps and leave opposition captains feeling one fielder short.But since he started to open the batting on a regular basis in 2018, he has become more orthodox, particularly against the new ball. In the World Cup, you are much more likely to see Buttler finding a gap in the off-side ring with a back-foot punch or a cover drive than shuffling outside his off stump and ramping over short fine leg.”It’s changed because of where I’ve batted,” he says. “When you’re opening the batting, you don’t need to take as big risks to get the same reward. Obviously in the powerplay, there’s only two fielders outside the 30-yard circle so the bowlers’ hands are tied in that sense and if you beat the infield, there’s nobody on the boundary to stop it.”You don’t have to take such big risks in the powerplay to be able to score at a certain rate. It’s one really good thing for my game that I’ve spent a long time in the middle order and now a reasonable chunk at the top of the order as well: I feel like I can try and marry the two areas of the game up and try and bat for a long time in a T20 game.”Buttler has enjoyed remarkable, sustained success at the top of the order. Chris Gayle is universally accepted as T20’s GOAT but Buttler has the superior record as an opener: he is more consistent (averaging 43.04 to Gayle’s 37.94) and more destructive (striking at 149.34 to Gayle’s 146.67).In the IPL, he came close to achieving batting perfection as he took Rajasthan Royals to their first final since 2008. “I had some really good chats with Kumar Sangakkara [Royals’ director of cricket] about waiting for the time when you feel in, and understanding that you can still catch up after that if you need to,” Buttler recalls.”That period might come within five balls, but sometimes it might take 15 or 20 balls. We spoke about not worrying about that, knowing that I’m able to catch up later on if I have to, and that I can play differently once I feel more comfortable at the crease.Buttler made 863 runs in the 2022 IPL, including a record-equalling four centuries•BCCI”I think a lot of that is about swallowing your ego as a batter: not feeling like you’re out there having to prove anything, but just playing what’s in front of you and what’s required on that day; not looking back and thinking ‘I got runs yesterday, I must go and do exactly the same thing today’. It’s very much playing the game in front of you.”There were two clear features to Buttler’s approach in India. The first was a tendency to give himself three overs to get ‘in’ before accelerating during the second half of the powerplay, a method informed by conditions and by Royals’ lack of batting depth, with Trent Boult often carded at No. 8.”Early on in the tournament, it felt like the ball swung a lot more so it felt like it was a hard time to bat in the first couple of overs,” he says. “So tactically, it was about trying to come through that period of time, not to take too many risks when the ball was moving about and then cash in at the back end of the powerplay if there was less movement. Managing risk is a big part of batting.”The other was his ruthless targeting of bowlers, particularly when he spotted an inexperienced player he felt he could take down. Across his 17 innings, there were 12 occasions in which Buttler scored 15 runs or more in a single over, and four when he scored 20 or more.”It’s certainly something I’ve thought more about: those big overs, and trusting my six-hitting ability; looking at the West Indian players and, in general, how they hit more sixes than other teams. I’ve seen that as a huge positive and a way to take pressure off myself: to know that I have the ability to hit sixes.”That probably means I don’t take as much risk at certain stages because I feel like at any point in an innings, I could hit two sixes in a row and I look at what that would take my score and strike rate to. That’s been a way my batting has developed: I’ve certainly looked to back my six-hitting capability more than I used to in the past, or I wait for a ball that’s in my area.”Related

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Buttler has also changed his method while chasing, viewing a target in terms of how many boundaries he needs to hit rather than worrying about the required rate. “I heard a few guys talk about it like ‘there’s eight overs left, if we hit five sixes in that time, we’ll win the game’. It’s just a different way of thinking.”It actually came from Darren Bravo in the Bangladesh Premier League. He was in my team and I remember him running out and saying that to Marlon Samuels. I’d never really thought like that before. I’d always be thinking about how many runs we needed per over. I’ve just found it’s a way of taking pressure off.”The next step in the evolution of T20 batting, Buttler suggests, could be batters turning down singles to stay on strike when they think a match-up is in their favour. “It’s something you see at the end of an innings quite a bit – [MS] Dhoni used to – but maybe you’ll see that early in the innings as well.””I’m sure that will happen more and more often: when someone does it with good success, it will give other people confidence,” he adds. “The question is who wants to be the first mover.” Don’t bet against it being Buttler himself.Jos Buttler was speaking on behalf of Booking.com, whose new research shows over half of cricket fans would travel over 3,000 miles to watch their team.

Pakistan's craven conservatism no match for England team on a mission

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Determination not to lose at all costs defeats the purpose of inviting the big teams to play

Danyal Rasool05-Dec-2022It was a scene of high comedy, and yet also the most succinctly damaging assessment of where Pakistan’s Test cricket sits. With half an hour to go in the Test and the sun sinking rapidly beneath the Shoaib Akhtar Enclosure, No. 11 Mohammad Ali decided to pop off to the bathroom, timing it to coincide with the end of the final drinks break, desperate to drain a few more seconds out of this Test match.As fourth umpire Asif Yaqoob frogmarched Ali swiftly back to the middle as England waited impatiently to finish Pakistan off, the optics were brutal: Pakistan would literally rather hide in the toilet than set up to win a Test match.

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Early winter had just crept in and cricket season was starting. The square at Rawalpindi Cricket Ground was just about ready, having seen off a first-class season that offered an engrossing contest between bat and ball. This was the first time this particular strip would be used for a Test match since the format returned to Pakistan in 2019, and it couldn’t look readier. There was enough grass on this wicket to suggest lessons had been learned from the debacle nine months ago, when this venue had accumulated 1,177 runs and one demerit point. The next morning, the England contingent landed at Islamabad airport from their training base in Abu Dhabi to presidential-style security and cordoned-off roads. Amid the frenzied activity around the visitors, it was easy to miss something equally significant taking place at the place they’d spend much of the next week. By the time they arrived at the cricket ground, there wasn’t a blade of grass to be seen on the surface.Over the next five days, England ensured Pakistan were left as nakedly exposed as the pitch they had prepared. Showing what was possible even in the most unconducive conditions, England found one more move every time it seemed Pakistan had set them up for stalemate.Azhar Ali, hampered by a finger injury, failed to complete the job of saving the game•Getty ImagesWhen Pakistan pushed their field out, England simply hit it over them. When Pakistan looked to shut up shop, England brought their fielders up so close it would have breached 2020’s social distancing guidelines. When the ball didn’t swing, England scuffed it up by thumping it short into the lifeless surface, reaping the rewards with late movement on the fifth afternoon. No sooner had Pakistan found a hiding place than England flushed them back out yet again. Pakistan took every precaution to prevent what they feared would be a humiliating defeat, and yet, the victory England conjured up was more chastening than any three-day thumping could have been.Pakistan have spent the best part of two decades trying to lure the big teams, or the “Western bloc”, as Ramiz Raja pointedly put it last year, back home. So when a deal was struck that saw Australia, England and New Zealand agree to play Test cricket in Pakistan in the space of ten months, it was more than either fans or administrators could have imagined in their wildest dreams just a few years earlier. Since then, however, the surfaces Pakistan has prepared for these series would make younger fans in Pakistan wonder what they’d been missing anyway. What was the point of playing at home against the best teams if it was deliberately designed to be the worst possible spectacle?Before being appointed chairman, Ramiz had one of the most-followed YouTube channels in Pakistan, known for regularly entreating the side to play with more (bravery) and lambasting them when they didn’t. That fiery, truculent attitude was reflected in his first press conference since becoming chairman, and he cannot be accused of changing his tune in the following months.Related

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Repeatedly, however, this Pakistan side under the stewardship of Ramiz, Babar Azam and this team management have shown that they’re willing to wound, but afraid to strike. The neutralisation of the first Test against Australia could be justified to some extent, what with Australia’s pace battery and Pakistan missing key fast-bowling personnel. But the three Tests that followed have shown it up for the cravenly conservative template that it was, rather than the shrewd tactic the team management wanted us to believe.Australia is a kind of mythical sea-monster for Ramiz, anyway, one to be spoken of in hushed tones rather than competed with in full flow, but against an England side whose seam attack posed none of the same menace, Pakistan could not find the within themselves to compete on even terms.Bazball might be as tired a cliché as , but at least England actually stay the course with it. Pakistan spent the previous evening insisting they were here to win this match, suddenly finding their voices after England’s munificent declaration seemed to take a draw out of the equation.But on the fifth morning, that Pakistan talk of victory felt increasingly like a fever dream. Out there in reality, they spent the first 14 overs scoring just 13 runs, with England bowling eight maidens in the 12 overs before drinks. James Anderson and Ollie Robinson kept the pressure, and the field, up, while Pakistan blocked, nudged and left. They had made clear they wanted nothing less than a draw from this match, and despite England’s best offers, nothing more than that, either. If ever there was an exhibition of contrasts – in style, philosophy and ambition – this Test was it.England’s will to win overcame Pakistan’s determination not to lose•AFP/Getty ImagesIt isn’t just the chairman though. Babar Azam’s own penchant for conservatism, much like his presence in the Pakistan side, straddles all three formats. Mohammad Yousuf was already in Multan today, apparently to have a chat with the pitch curator. Saqlain Mushtaq is likely figuring out how to balance the scales of cosmic justice rather than balance the team he improbably finds himself in charge of. The circlejerk of enablement is complete.Even when Pakistan took control of individual passages of play, England recognised them for the aberrations that they were. With Azhar Ali, a man living on borrowed time anyway but the only recognised batter standing between England and an inexplicably long Pakistani tail, England brought one more fielder up. When he did fall with the job unfinished – as he was destined to, perhaps, as his career drags towards its unseemly close – Pakistan’s defences were fatally breached.Soon, England would have 11 fielders close to the bat as they scrambled to triumph in a game Pakistan had tried to ensure was unwinnable (but more importantly, unlosable). Rawalpindi might be a stone’s throw from the seat of power in Pakistan, the place where every decision that matters to this country is made. But it was Ben Stokes’ men who felt at home against a Pakistan set-up that, at present, barely seem able to comprehend England’s philosophy, let alone replicate it.England were the ones struck down by illness before the start of this Test, but the malaise that afflicts Pakistan shows no signs of being short-term.

SA20 aims to bring light to dark times

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

South African cricket has not exactly been switched on for the past few years, but there is every hope that could slowly change

Firdose Moonda07-Jan-2023When the lights come back on after a power cut in South Africa – and they happen as often as four times a day – people cheer. They don’t do it because they’re particularly pleased (who would be, given that the country is into its 16th year of rolling blackouts?), or even with a sense of irony – they do it because they’re relieved that their two-and-a-half hour outage has ended on time, and in the light.”People feel it’s a dark time right now,” Faf du Plessis, in his role as captain of the Joburg Super Kings said, and he wasn’t talking about the electricity.Just like its power utility, South African cricket has not been switched on over the last few years, and their problems are worsening. The Test team is currently in Australia, facing the possibility of being swept 3-0 there for the first time since 2001. Less than two years ago, du Plessis was the most experienced batter in that side. Now, he is a T20 league specialist and part of the brigade that has promised to bring the light back into the country’s game through the SA20. “We need this competition for the game to grow,” du Plessis said. “Hopefully it will make people very optimistic about the future of South African cricket.”Related

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It has already made people more interested in the game. The opening match between MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals on Tuesday – which is also the first match with fans at Newlands in the post-Covid-19 era, is a sell-out. More than 20,000 people have bought tickets to the game. Who knows if the same number of South Africans woke up at 1 AM to watch their already-defeated Test team try to save face in Sydney?Ask around and you’ll hear that interest in the national team is lower than ever before. The combined embarrassments of losing to Netherlands and being booted out of the T20 World Cup, teetering on the brink of not being able to automatically qualify for the ODI World Cup and two successive Test series defeats – including seven innings where they could not cobble together 200 – has taken its toll.”That’s been the state of South African cricket for a while now,” Graeme Smith, SA20 league commissioner, told ESPNcricinfo.But Smith and the tournament he is putting together have taken it on themselves to change that.”One of the things we really wanted to do was to re-energise and revive the cricket fan. It’s a hard job in a negative climate,” he said. “Season one and that first week for us around the country is going to be big for us. I’m not sure when last we had a full house for a domestic game.”And for an entire competition? Maybe never.”Trying to sell out 33 games almost back-to-back is different for South Africa but we are seeing a very positive response,” Smith said. “The goal for us is to bring the cricket community together and to revive those dormant fans.”But they’re also looking to lighten the mood, after three heavy years that saw CSA fall into an administrative abyss, grapple with the much-needed Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings, and begin to rebuild, from the ground up. It’s been a time of introspection and angst, two words that were nowhere near the SA20 captain’s press conferences.Instead, there were jokes about du Plessis wearing a normal-sized (not “mannequin-sized”, as he likes to call the rest of his wardrobe) yellow-shirt, and being envious of David Miller in pink. “This feels like a fashion press conference,” du Plessis quipped at one point.There were giggles when Rashid Khan, the only foreign captain in a team, was asked a question about the Stormers (the Cape-Town based domestic rugby team) and whether MI Cape Town could draw on them for inspiration. “What is that?” Rashid asked, as he looked around at the other captains. “A ballerina,” du Plessis told him. Happily, Rashid was not fooled.Quinton de Kock brought his dry humour when he said his only hope for the Durban Super Giants team he will lead is that they “get some game time in,” referring to the rain that often cancels play at Kingsmead at this time of year and revealed his partnership with coach Lance Klusener has not yet involved much talking. As two of the least chatty cricketers about, they will know that that’s probably not likely to change. “We like to keep things relaxed,” he said.South Africa are on the brink of a 3-0 defeat in Australia for the first time since 2001•Getty ImagesWayne Parnell temporarily shed his identity as an out-and-out Cape Town influencer to head up the Pretoria Capital and already understands what’s expected of him.”Centurion is a place where there has been a lot of success. There’s pressure from the people of Pretoria to do well and we hope we can live up to that,” he said. And Aiden Markram admitted to being “refreshed” (and may also slightly relieved) after being dropped from the Test side and is ready to take a new role as the skipper of the Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Markram has cut a particularly dejected figure in his last few international outings and to see him upbeat was something of a metaphor for the new frame of mind.The six captains and Smith then headed off to the colourful Bo-Kaap, where they posed with the trophy, which has been designed by the same people who made the Test mace. In a video explaining the process by which the SA20 cup was conceptualised, there was an image of Smith, a decade-younger, holding the mace after South Africa became No.1 in the world in England.

“We want to play our role in reviving cricket. We want to get people into the stadium and cheering again.”Graeme Smith hopes the SA20 can do for South Africa what the IPL did for India

For a moment, time stopped.We were taken back to the glory days, when South Africa won series in England and Australia, challenged India at home, and looked as though they were heading towards a World Cup trophy. The 2010-2016 period was a golden age in the country’s game but they missed one massive step. CSA was slow off the blocks to launch a T20 league and then failed in their attempts to do so, twice. That meant the country’s domestic cricketers, in particular, were not exposed to the innovative thinking of league cricket, and the system has stagnated to the point where the players it produces cannot make the step up to the international stage successfully enough. The Test top six is a clear example of this but now, with them at their lowest ebb, that could start to change.”The professionalism that’s going to come from the franchises, who are the most experienced franchise teams in the world, brings huge credibility on and off the field in terms of coaching, management, medical staff, media,” Smith said. “All of that is now coming into South African cricket.”Much like the way the IPL allowed India to deepen and develop its talent pool, Smith hopes the SA20 can do the same for South Africa. “My wish is that there’s one or two great storylines that come from younger players, that they put in great performances and use this platform and make a name for themselves,” Smith said. “We want to play our role in reviving cricket. We want to get people into the stadium and cheering again.”

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

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

RCB’s team director talks about the side’s performance in the first half of the 2023 IPL, Faf du Plessis’ captaincy, and how Maxwell and Siraj have dealt with additional responsibility

Interview by Matt Roller30-Apr-2023Royal Challengers Bangalore have had an up-and-down IPL 2023, winning four and losing four of their first eight games – six of which have been at their home ground, the Chinnaswamy Stadium. They will play their next five away due to the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections.Mike Hesson, RCB’s director of cricket, sat down with ESPNcricinfo in Bengaluru the day before their defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders to discuss his first three and a half seasons in charge of the side.This is your fourth season with RCB, but your first based in Bengaluru. How have you found it, being here at home base?
It’s been great. Everyone involved in RCB has talked about how great Chinnaswamy is, and it certainly hasn’t under-delivered in terms of the intensity and the whole environment around it: the drive to the ground, seeing the whole city behind the team. It’s a pretty cool place to be. We are pretty keen to put on a show, and we’ve played pretty well at home this year as well.We’re about to get on the road for three weeks. The IPL is always pretty intense, and obviously with ten teams now, there’s no break or respite. It’s been good fun.What has the challenge of playing so many of your early games at the Chinnaswamy been like?
You get used to the conditions. Each pitch here is slightly different, so it’s not like you can just plug and play; you have to adapt to it. It’s a great place to bat, especially for top-order batters, and as the tournament unfolds, different players will be exposed to different challenges. But when you play six of your first eight at Chinnaswamy, it’s a tough ask for some.Related

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When you arrived at RCB, they hadn’t qualified for the playoffs for three years, and had a reputation as an up-and-down team. How do you reflect on the progress you’ve made?
We’d obviously struggled for a couple of years. It was just about coming in and working with the people we had here to try and give some real consistency and structure around how we want to play the game, and how that would work with the types of players we want for the conditions we are likely to play in.That was challenged, because we didn’t really know where the tournaments were going to be each year. You could pick a team for Chinnaswamy and not know whether you’re going to be here or not. But I think across the last three years, we’ve provided a really stable platform for the playing group. It’s very hard to think that you’re going to be consistent on the park if off the park we are inconsistent, so that’s one of the things we’ve definitely worked really hard to bring.There is some satisfaction of being the only team that has made the playoffs three years in a row, but it’s also provided some frustration as well: the fact that we’ve got ourselves some opportunities and we haven’t quite played our best cricket at the right time. Winning tournaments is about firing at the right time – and making sure that obviously you make the playoffs first. There is a little sense of satisfaction but also a sense of a job unfulfilled just yet.One of the biggest decisions of your tenure was identifying a replacement for Virat Kohli, when he stepped down as captain after the 2021 season. How did you settle on Faf du Plessis?
Virat’s a very hard man to replace – and to be captain when your ex-captain is still there is incredibly difficult. You’ve got to be quite a strong character and really have the changing room [on your side]. You can’t be a developing captain. We thought we had to have an established captain with a lot of those core experiences.We’d spent a lot of time looking at all the gaps that we had in our squad. We looked at Indian players as well, and we went pretty hard for one or two. We settled relatively late on Faf, but we thought he ticked a lot of our boxes: he was highly experienced and still a high-quality player. We never knew at that time whether we’d be able to get a full three-year cycle out of somebody at that age [37, at the time of the mega auction], but the fact that he’s incredibly fit gave us a lot more confidence.He was almost a “plug and play”. He knew Virat and [Glenn] Maxwell very well; they had a great relationship. He had a reputation for working equally well with overseas and domestic players, which is critical – to have an overseas player that comes in [as captain] and doesn’t have that empathy towards how a team works could have been a disaster. The more we talked to people about Faf, the more he was our target.”Mohammed Siraj’s seam presentation is as good as I’ve seen it, and he’s bowling a good bouncer. Add that to the fact he’s bowling quick, and no wonder he is challenging the top order”•Aijaz Rahi/Associated PressIn 2021, you brought in Glenn Maxwell, who had just come off a poor season with Punjab Kings. What has helped him become a more consistent IPL batter over the last three years?
Often people think of Maxwell as a finisher. We saw him in a different light, as actually someone who can bat throughout the innings. Just because he can play shots all around the wicket, it doesn’t necessarily mean he can hit from ball one when the field’s out; that’s a tough ask for anyone, especially when some of the wickets are slow.We gave him responsibility. We said, “We actually think you’re a high-quality batter, rather than just a finisher”, and he’s thrived on that responsibility. We know he is a wonderful player of spin but we also know that his game’s developed hugely against pace. We’ve also tried to give a bit of clarity around the idea that if you have to go in early, we trust that you can do that, rather than potentially trying to hide him or slide him down to have a certain entry point.Maxi is a great team man. Hugely passionate, which I like. I like that competitive spirit. That’s why him and Virat get on really well. Any good team has a lot of different types of characters, and he’s a nice free spirit combined nicely with the other two [du Plessis and Kohli].The three players you mention – du Plessis, Kohli and Maxwell – have scored over two-thirds of your runs this season, and the rest of the batting line-up has struggled to make an impact. It’ll be hard to win an IPL without them contributing at some stage, so how do you intend to get more out of them?
We saw that last year: our top order wasn’t as successful, and the likes of Shahbaz [Ahmed] and DK [Dinesh Karthik] held our team together. [Mahipal] Lomror was very good towards the end of last year too, and different players stood up to get us through the playoffs. This year we’ve played six of our first eight at Chinnaswamy, which is very much a top-order type of surface – if you get in, you cash in – so therefore, the opportunities for the middle order are limited.Three of those games have been played on slower surfaces, so when the ball gets soft, it’s harder to score. Other than the Chennai game – which was at night and on a very good wicket throughout, where you could accelerate – the opportunities were slightly different. We have a lot of confidence in the rest of the batting group, that when the opportunity arises, they’ll grab it.Last year our top order was getting hammered in the powerplay and we were saved by the middle order, so I think it’s more conditions-based. We’ve got a lot of confidence in that Indian middle-order domestic group. It’s a long tournament, and they don’t actually have put their mind back that far for when they were some of our best performers.Hesson on the Impact Player rule: “If you got three wickets in the powerplay previously, you could squeeze the middle. Now they keep going hard at you”•Manjunath Kiran/AFP/Getty ImagesMohammed Siraj has had a breakthrough season after a tough 2022. What is he doing differently? His lengths have been much more consistent with the new ball.
I think those lengths in the powerplay are probably a flow-on from confidence. He’s played a lot of one-day cricket, where you’ve got to do your core skills over and over again, and he’s become very good at those core skills. When you get confident doing that, you can repeat them; if you’re not, you can go searching a little bit.He’s been exceptionally good at what he does. His seam presentation is as good as I’ve seen it, with both his outswing and his three-quarter ball, and he’s bowling a good bouncer. You add that to the fact he’s bowling quick, and no wonder he is challenging the top order. With that, you grow confidence with your back-end bowling as well. You’re coming back with confidence and you’re used more as a weapon rather than the captain thinking, “Where can we fit you in?”I’m delighted for Siraj. Everyone knows he had a tough year last year but the fact he’s been really good for India – he’s one of their first picks in white-ball cricket – has flowed into his work here.And he’s been leading the attack in the absence of Josh Hazlewood.
He’s thrived on it from the very first game. We gave Siraj the first over and said, “Look, you are the leader of our attack.” He thrives under that sort of confidence. Every time I’ve asked him to deliver in the powerplay, he has set the tone for us. If you add [David] Willey or Hazelwood to that, it’s a challenging opening attack.How much of a difference will Hazlewood make?
Look, he will [make a difference]. But also to be fair to [Reece] Topley, [Wayne] Parnell and Willey, they’ve been really good for us. When you miss a guy of Hazlewood’s quality… obviously we invested a lot of money in him, because we knew he’d do that job, so the fact that our back-up bowlers have done such a good job is exciting for us.Wanindu Hasaranga arrived late this year, and has had a fairly quiet start to the season. Do you see him coming into the game more during this stretch of away games?
I thought he was exceptional against RR [Rajasthan Royals]. Chinnaswamy, for spinners, is an incredibly tough place to bowl. It took Yuzi [Chahal] a little while, and now he’s a genius at it, but it’s a tough place to bowl for any spinner. Any bowler has to learn to adapt to distinctly different conditions: altitude, small boundaries, mishits going for six, you’ve got to find a way of having some more defensive skills, and I thought he was very good.”Everyone involved in RCB has talked about how great Chinnaswamy is, and it certainly hasn’t under-delivered in terms of the intensity: the drive to the ground, seeing the whole city behind the team”•AFP/Getty ImagesWill we see Hasaranga batting up the order at some stage? That seemed to be a major reason that you brought him in, having released Chahal.
Absolutely. The beauty of Wani is that he’s versatile in how he plays. I think the Impact rule has probably meant that all sides are playing an extra batter, so that’s probably limited his opportunities so far. But that doesn’t mean that, in different parts of the tournament, we won’t be very confident to throw him in and get him to take on not only spin but pace as well once he’s set.What have you made of the Impact Player rule?
Personally, I’m not a big fan of it. I think that it takes the Indian allrounders out of the game, which a lot of our squad have spent time working on. I wouldn’t say I’m a traditionalist, but I think there needs to be a good reason for change. If you’re trying to develop allrounders, some of them don’t start as batting at No. 5 and bowling four overs – you have to transition them into that role. I think this has made that a little bit harder.Looking at the positive side of it, I think it’s made a heck of a lot of close finishes because the game’s never over. If you got three wickets in the powerplay previously, you could squeeze the middle. Now, they keep going hard at you. The game has definitely changed; it’s probably one reason why we haven’t seen too many one-sided games.Do you think there’s been a change in how top-order batters have played, with the extra batting depth?
Yeah, I mean, we’ve faced Shahrukh Khan at No. 8. They just keep coming at you. It’s more in the middle overs than the top. At the top, sides come hard anyway, but in the middle overs, between 7 and 11 used to be sort of “soft” overs. Now, sides are still coming hard at you. That’s where I think the game has changed the most.RCB have often taken early wickets – but opponents have still been able to attack, as we saw in the defeats to CSK and LSG.
You’ve got to shift your targets. Five [wickets] in 15 [overs] used to give you an open end; now, you’ve got to probably get at least one more. That means you have to continue to attack, not just defend.Those middle overs – the little soft overs – are now a heck a lot more challenging and your middle-order players now can’t just get themselves into the innings cause they’ve actually got to continue to take the game on. It’s definitely changed the game.

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