Four talking points from a comfortable win that sealed Gujarat Titans’ spot in the playoffs

Shashank Kishore10-May-2022Gill shines, but Titans top order needs to fire
Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 49-ball 63 was his second straight half-century, but his approach raised a ​debate on the ESPNcricinfo show T20 Time:Out. On 40 off 32 at the 12-over mark with Titans on 76 for 3, Gill took another 10 balls to reach his half-century in the 17th over, having got through the stretch without looking for a single boundary-scoring option.Even so, Gill still ended up with a better strike rate than every other Titans batter apart from Rahul Tewatia, who finished the innings with an unbeaten 22 off 16, and Matthew Wade, who only lasted seven balls. This suggested the pitch wasn’t the most straightforward to hit boundaries on. His approach may also have been dictated by Titans’ lack of batting depth, with Rashid Khan slotted at No. 7.Related

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With the likes of B Sai Sudharsan, Abhinav Manohar and Vijay Shankar failing to cement spots in the middle order, even Hardik has had to change his style of play, accumulating his runs early on while batting higher up the order.Over the course of the season, Titans have been consistently bailed out by David Miller and Rahul Tewatia, and occasionally by Rashid, but they’d be the first to admit they need more contributions from the rest. On Tuesday, they tried to shore up the batting by including Wade, but he fell for 10 while attempting a cheeky scoop that he gloved to the wicketkeeper.A debut to forget, A debut to remember
A first-class captain on Ranji Trophy debut for Uttar Pradesh, Karan Sharma, 23, was brought in for his first IPL game on Tuesday in Pune. Since 2006, Karan is the first player in India to captain a top-division team on debut. Five others have led the newer teams from the Northeast.The Delhi-born Karan is an allrounder who bowls handy offspin and bats in the top order. In 10 T20s before this game, he had struck 301 runs at a strike rate of 136.19. Seemingly in a bid to strengthen their batting, Super Giants handed Karan an IPL debut at the expense of legspinner Ravi Bishnoi.On Tuesday, Karan came into the action almost immediately when Shubman Gill’s attempted cut flew low to third man, where he grassed an opportunity sliding forward. On 0 then, Gill batted through the innings to make 63 not out to help Gujarat Titans post 144 fir 4 after they elected to bat first.Then, having walked in at No. 4, Karan had the opportunity to make an early impression, but lasted all of four deliveries. After two dots, he punched his Uttar Pradesh team-mate Yash Dayal through the covers to open his account but fell off the next delivery when he steered an attempted cut straight to short third.Wriddhiman Saha pulled off back-to-back stumpings – this one of Ayush Badoni off R Sai Kishore•BCCILater in the game, left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore bowled his first over for Titans. It was an emotional moment for the 25-year-old, who had warmed the bench for three seasons at Chennai Super Kings prior to this. A key bowler for Tamil Nadu, much of Sai Kishore’s success as a T20 bowler had come as a smart powerplay operator. Here, he was brought in during the middle overs, and struck off his fifth delivery when he beat an advancing Ayush Badoni to have him stumped. The roar afterwards told you how much it meant. He ended with figures of 2-0-7-2.Hardik vs Krunal, part 2
In the first meeting between the two sides, Krunal dismissed Hardik early, but refrained from celebrating too exuberantly.Today, Hardik comfortably knocked Krunal around for singles even as the left-arm spinner varied his flight and angles on a surface with good bounce. Later, in Titans’ defence, Hardik brought Rashid into the attack as soon as Krunal came in to bat to try and avert a top-order wobble, but he didn’t last long.Rashid Khan picked up his first four-for in the IPL•BCCIRashid came into the game with a favourable match-up against Krunal, having dismissed him twice in 17 balls while conceding just 16 runs. On Wednesday, he deceived him both in the air and off the pitch as an off-balance Krunal misread the line of the wrong’un to be stumped for 5. That left Super Giants at a precarious 45 for 4.Rashid on a roll
He was taking catches, constantly giving Hardik suggestions from the infield, and taking wickets when it came to his part of the bargain. The typical fizz, the wrong’uns, and the sharp turn from a length were all part of a spell that brought him figures of 4 for 26, his best in the IPL. He set the game up with Krunal’s wicket, setting him up for a legbreak only to slip in the wrong’un and have him stumped. Jason Holder played down the wrong line to fall to a ripping legbreak, and the set Deepak Hooda, who was involved in a mix-up that led to the dismissal of Marcus Stonis, top-edged a sweep to short fine leg. Rashid then topped it off by dismissing Avesh Khan, whose hoick resulted in a thin inside edge through to Saha as the playoffs spot was sealed.

Series played in 45C weather carries huge importance for World Cup qualification

Danyal Rasool07-Jun-2022It’s 326 BC. The Internet hasn’t been invented. The first Test match is yet to be played. We’re talking about a time well before even the first Shahid Afridi retirement announcement. A time when incursions of any kind are dictated as much by the weather as any other tactical considerations; launching one in the winter – with defence against the cold virtually non-existent – is perhaps the most unforgivable blunder one could commit. Even 2,000 years later, two of the most famously disastrous military debacles – Napoleon’s invasion of Russia and Nazi Germany’s in the Soviet Union – will largely by done in by the extreme cold.And yet, when Alexander was plotting a move against the Mallians in what is now widely considered to be Multan, he ruled out waiting till the summer months. He picked instead the miserably wet winter months to launch his campaign, catching the inhabitants by surprise. The citadel was besieged, and by February, the city had fallen, before winter was forced to begin its annual eight month retreat from South Punjab’s most prominent city.2,348 years later, it perhaps becomes clearer why the ancient Greek emperor preferred to give Multan a wide berth once the summer sun had set in. An incursion of a very different kind is upon us, with the West Indies cricket team to play Pakistan’s in an ODI series carried over from last year and much has changed in one of the cities most redolent of the subcontinent’s uniquely storied history. It is now a bustling modern metropolis, a hub of commercial and economic activity with state-of-the-art infrastructure. Little has changed in one aspect, though; there remains virtually no defence against the oppressive heat.The temperature on each of the days the three ODIs are due to be played will regularly exceed 45C, forcing the games to begin well into the evening, likely finishing after midnight. Multan was by no means Pakistan’s first choice as host at this time of year, with the slightly cooler Rawalpindi originally slated to host the games. But political uncertainty forced a change of venue, and with Lahore and Karachi’s surfaces being relaid, the Pakistan Cricket Board had little choice but to move a series being held at the hottest time of the year to the hottest city with an international cricket ground.However, this isn’t the first time a series is being held in uncomfortably hot weather, and with empty spaces in the calendar shrinking ever further, it certainly won’t be the last. Indeed, the PSL last year famously took place in Abu Dhabi in June and July, and the BBL and IPL are regularly held at times when dry heat in a number of host cities is high. Add to that the fact this series was a victim of Covid-induced havoc the previous winter, and originally scheduled for December.2:48

Pooran on Netherlands series, challenges in Pakistan and assessment of debutants

Pakistan have made preparations to combat the heat, holding training camps in advance to ensure they’re as acclimatised as they possibly can be. There are, after all, Super League points at stake, and Pakistan, with only six wins out of 12 this cycle, will need to push themselves further up the table if they are to avoid the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe. Babar Azam’s men are fresh off an impressive come-from-behind series win over Australia at home, and will field a largely full-strength side. They should be firm favourites against an opposition that, until their 3-0 series win in the Netherlands last week, hadn’t won an away ODI series for more than a decade.With preparations for the World Cup next year gradually kicking, it’s that series against Australia that perhaps offers the clearest blueprint for the brand of ODI cricket Pakistan want to play, and the quality they bring to the table on batting-friendly tracks. West Indies don’t possess Australia’s quality in either department, and the bone-dry pitches Multan will offer up look set to produce big scores once more. That might mean Pakistan’s soft underbelly – their middle order – stays shielded once again, but Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq and Babar have glorious opportunities to pick up where they left off.West Indies face challenges on multiple fronts. You don’t need Google to know Amstelveen’s conditions are unlikely to equip them to handle what they will experience in Multan. You also don’t need to check the ICC rankings to know victory over the Netherlands is probably not indicative of the way things might go against Pakistan.But even so, West Indies will be buoyed by the variety of performers they had in the Netherlands. The three hundreds were scored by three different top-order batters, while rising star Brandon King smashed two unbeaten half-centuries to finish that series off. Akeal Hosein and Alzarri Joseph were consistently solid with the ball, and victory, regardless of the opposition, will always provide the one thing that all sportspeople need: confidence.Even for this city, teeming with 1000-year old Sufi mystic shrines, temples and mosques, as well as the saintly tombs that give Multan its sobriquet, this series is historic. It’s the first international cricket held outside the three major power centres in Pakistan since the 2009 attack, allowing Multan to savour something it has been deprived of for far too long: the spotlight. It’s a glorious place to pay a visit, but – as even Alexander knew two millennia ago – perhaps when the weather’s a little bit cooler.

The allrounder sent down a barrage of short balls at Old Trafford, and it resulted in his career-best performance

Nagraj Gollapudi18-Jul-20222:02

Why Hardik Pandya’s short-ball tactic worked

It is like watching two combatants trade punches ruthlessly in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. At one end is Hardik Pandya the bowler. His opponent is Liam Livingstone, the ultimate destroyer of the cricket ball. Pain, if felt, is never shown. Blinking is not an option.Hardik has just been brought back for his second spell in the
series decider at Old Trafford. His first spell of 4-3-2-2 had left England badly bruised. His victims were Jason Roy and Ben Stokes, who had tried to step out of his crease only to fall to a beautifully-planned short delivery rearing towards his throat.On the second ball of his fifth over – the 35th of the innings – Hardik faces Livingstone for the first time, and sends down a short delivery just outside off stump. Livingstone tries to hook but fails to connect. Hardik responds with a smile. It is the smile of a warrior who has recognised his equal.Related

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Hardik places Ravindra Jadeja on the edge of the boundary at deep square leg. He also has a deep fine leg. There is no subtlety: Hardik is telling his opponent he is going for his head. The next ball is short again at 140 kph. This time Livingstone ducks and returns the smile.Now Livingstone is ready – he knows what is coming – and unleashes a pull so powerful that the ball smashes through the boards fencing the new stand under construction beyond deep square leg. The fifth delivery is short again from Hardik. Livingstone thinks about another pull, but checks his shot.One final round remains in the over. Another searing short one – the fifth in a row – from Hardik at 140kph. Livingstone doesn’t hold back either, and pulls, only to wear it on the grille of his helmet. Hardik goes up to check on his opponent.An amber alert has been issued across the UK on Sunday because of the heat wave. It is already hot, and Old Trafford is now simmering with excitement and anticipation.Hardik Pandya took four wickets with short deliveries at Old Trafford•Getty ImagesBefore Hardik begins his next over, Rohit fine-tunes Ravindra Jadeja’s position at deep square leg, signalling to Livingstone there is more short stuff coming his way. The plan is sound: Hardik is challenging Livingstone to take on the long square boundaries.The short ball disappears 88 metres over square leg, 12 more than the hit in the previous over. After hitting two of the six consecutive short balls for six, Livingstone steps out of his crease, thinking that perhaps the bowler will change his plan. But he is wrong, and has to duck out of the way of another short delivery.Is Hardik foolish for persisting with the barrage of short-pitched deliveries? Is he not becoming predictable and losing the battle? At the end of the game, Hardik revealed his mindset to Michael Atherton at the post-match presentation.”I don’t mind getting hit for six sixes as long as I take the wickets,” he says. “That’s his [Livingstone’s] game as well. He likes to take the chances on – some shots which he played I think, as a bowler, can break you.”But Hardik is far from broken. He has been pulled for two sixes, and yet he sends down an eighth consecutive short delivery at Livingstone. The ball is flying towards Jadeja, whose heels are a hair’s breadth from the boundary at deep backward square leg. He takes the catch and keeps his balance. Hardik and Rohit are wearing smiles of satisfaction.”What I have observed about Livingstone is that he likes to take the short ball on, and when someone does that it just gives me goosebumps – either you win that battle or either I win the battle,” Hardik said after the first innings at Old Trafford.”Even after two sixes, I told [the] captain as well: even if I go for four sixes, if I can take one wicket there, obviously it makes a big difference.”And the short stuff isn’t over with Livingstone’s departure. Two balls later, Hardik sends one down at Jos Buttler, who pulls from outside off towards deep midwicket. Almost everyone at Old Trafford thinks it is going for four, except for the person who has taken a start as soon as the batter rotated to play the shot.Jadeja runs like a cheetah, covering the ground between deep square leg and deep midwicket in a flash, and dives to complete a stunning catch. While everyone rushes to mob Jadeja, Hardik is smiling once again in the middle of the pitch.”I always feel that I am shameless as a bowler,” Hardik tells Atherton. What he actually meant to say was that he is thick-skinned. Winning the IPL title in his maiden season as captain of Gujarat Titans has allowed Hardik to think and plan differently.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn the first ODI at The Oval, Hardik bowled four wicketless overs for 22 runs. In the second at Lord’s, he took 2 for 28 in six overs. And in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence in the series decider at Old Trafford, Hardik produced a career-best performance: 4 for 24 in seven overs.According to Hardik, he found his rhythm days before the second T20I in Southampton, when he bowled in an empty net to rediscover his energy and speed. While he gets joy from bowling fast, Hardik says he is being smart about managing his workload. In the third ODI at Old Trafford, he pitched 27 deliveries short or short of a length according to ESPNcricinfo’s data log, giving away only 17 runs and taking four wickets.”I was smart. I only bend my back or only come out and bowl as quick as possible when required,” Hardik said after the game. “If you see couple of games back, I was bowling 130s, 132s [kph] not because I was not able to do it’ it was more about that situation. At that time, I felt that that would have been the ideal thing rather than coming and bending the back because they are used to top pace.”Today, the ground had big sides, and I wanted to focus and wanted them to take on the deep square leg player and the fine leg [fielder], and so that’s the reason I kept banging it hard and I was fancying my chances.”IPL captaincy has helped Hardik view his role differently: he is the main allrounder, but now he thinks like a leader. On Sunday, he had left the field briefly to strap his left hand, and as he was returning, he noticed that Rohit was about to bring on Yuzvendra Chahal from the Brian Statham end. Hardik jogged swiftly to take the ball and bowl that decisive second spell.Hardik’s contribution to India’s series win, however, did not end with the ball. While Rishabh Pant won the Player-of-the-Match award for his career-best, unbeaten 125 that sealed the chase, he couldn’t have without Hardik at the other end. Hardik’s calculated and aggressive 71 off 55 balls helped rescue India from 72 for 4, and he became the first Indian player to take four wickets and make a fifty-plus score in an ODI since Yuvraj Singh in 2011.Hunger, power, bowling smarts and intent define Hardik’s game now. The allrounder India have sorely missed for the past few years is now truly back in a vastly improved avatar.

The two countries are on opposite ends of the game’s solar system, which is why a rare India tour is a big opportunity for Zimbabwe

Liam Brickhill17-Aug-2022There’s nothing like staring into a sky full of stars, and feeling as though you’re falling headfirst into the endless deep of the cosmos, to make you feel small and insignificant. India’s visits to Zimbabwe are, like a solar eclipse or the appearance of a comet, rare and spectacular occasions heralded on a similarly cosmic scale. That is, after all, the only scale that might accommodate both of these teams, who, while they may orbit within the same Full Member system, do so at opposite ends of the spectrum.India burn with the brilliance of a billion fans. Zimbabwe bounce from series to series with a gentle lunar lightness, sometimes waxing, sometimes waning. India has the IPL, with its piles of cash and galaxy of stars. Zimbabwe has the NPL, for which the prize money is USD 10,000. The Indian men’s team are, you might say, cricket’s 1%. Zimbabwe are firmly wedged in its working class.Indeed, cricket is an increasingly proletarian game in Zimbabwe, and while privilege will still get you somewhere, hard work and skill gets you further. Still, it’s been a long and often bumpy road for Zimbabwe’s cricketers. For many of them, that road started in dusty and dirt-poor places like Highfield, or Chitungwiza, far from Harare’s leafy green northern suburbs.Related

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In just the last few years, Zimbabwe’s players have endured suspension, missed World Cups, Covid-19, a coup, cancelled tours and pay cuts. Thankfully, the days of perennial salary delays and money worries do appear to be gone under the current Zimbabwe Cricket administration, which has cleared the debts that nearly sunk the game in the country.But, like all other Zimbabweans, the cricketers still have to deal with queues for essentials, shortages, inflation and the country’s unhinged financial system – a system that is utterly indecipherable to outsiders and defies explanation. After a long day in the field, Zimbabwean cricketers still have to drive home on roads as puckered and potholed as Ryan Burl’s old shoes (before Puma slid into his DMs). And they won’t know whether the lights will be on at home when they get there. Harare residents regularly endure electricity blackouts which can last for days at a time.If you have running water in your home, chances are it comes from a borehole. Indeed, there are parts of the capital that have not had running municipal water this millennium. Working streetlights are exceedingly rare. That makes driving at night a white-knuckle affair, but on the flip side there’s very little light pollution and you can get lost in that sky full of stars, just by looking up, in the middle of a city of more than two million people. It is perhaps contradictory and counter-intuitive, but there’s a sort of ramshackle glory to this place. An undeniable beauty. And whatever you may have read about Zimbabwe, should you ever visit, it will not be what you expect.Zimbabwe’s cricketers have had to endure and overcome hardships that most of India’s players will never know•AFP/Getty ImagesZimbabwe is a country teeming with such contradictions. Here’s one more: in a Zimbabwean context, the senior men’s cricket team, however humble their beginnings, and whatever hurdles they may leap in their daily lives, are better off than the vast majority of Zimbabweans. Being a Full Member nation, they are better off than most Associate cricketers too. Nevertheless, they still inhabit a different cricketing universe to that of the vaunted Indians.Take, for instance, KL Rahul and Innocent Kaia. They’re both 30-year-old, top-order batters, with ODI averages in the 40s. When Kaia scored his maiden hundred against Bangladesh earlier this month, he mimicked Rahul’s shut-out-the-noise celebration. Their lives off the field, however, could scarcely be more different. Rahul, alone, has about as many followers on Instagram as there are people in Zimbabwe. Sikandar Raza is Zimbabwe’s most popular cricketer, on and off social media. His followers could just about fill the Narendra Modi Stadium. Kaia’s would not fill one stand.India’s cricketers count their pay checks in crores and millions; Zimbabweans in the thousands. In terms of match fees, India’s players would earn about 10 times more than the amount the Zimbabweans are paid to play. The life of an Indian cricket star, with its drip and shine and Lamborghinis and Balenciaga, appears to the average Zimbabwean cricketer as something so alien that he may as well be looking at someone from another planet.Still, it’s not about the money, is it? At least not yet. But if we’re talking dollars and cents, it’s worth mentioning that you can watch the NPL for free, as you can any domestic cricket in Zimbabwe. For internationals, your wallet would be USD 1 lighter upon entrance, with charges going up by a few bucks for access to the more exclusive areas within the ground, such as the Centurion Pub at Harare Sports Club, or the Grandstand at Queens.It doesn’t cost much to get your fill of cricket in Zimbabwe•AFP/Getty ImagesFans, meanwhile, shelled out anything from USD 140 to as much as USD 650 to watch India play West Indies in Florida earlier this month. That seems a bougie amount of money to pay for watching a game. It’s just one more sign of a widening inequality gap in international cricket – the game is becoming more, not less, stratified.There’s also a price to pay for all that opulence. Virat Kohli has spoken about the suffocating – and sometimes frightening – trappings of fame, and a Zimbabwean could never know the pressure that accompanies being at the head of a queue a billion people strong. And so it is that the Zimbabweans have something the Indians do not. They are somewhat well known in the urban areas, but Zimbabwean cricketers get to live very normal lives.On previous tours, visiting Indian journalists have been astonished by the access, the closeness, that Zimbabwe allows. Yes, you can stand a couple of metres away from the nets while the players are in there. Stick around after a net session or a game, and you’ll probably see a couple of the Zimbabweans ambling through the pub to play some pool or meet up with friends. Before the first ODI on India’s current trip, there were a couple of Zimbabwean fans (and journalists) sharing selfies snapped with India’s captain at Harare Sports Club. There were no baying crowds behind them. Just an empty field. It’s all very laid back.What is less likely to be laid back is the cricket. There is pride at stake, and that’s something you can’t put a price on. And what’s more, cricket is a great leveller – perhaps one of the greatest – and though the cricketing world revolves around an Indian team that burns with a solar brightness, if you’re in the right place at the right time, you’ll see the moon devour the sun. Zimbabwe will know that even the most celebrated, and richest, teams can be eclipsed.

In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, he says he loves data, he loves batting at No. 4, he knows bowling legspin is his calling card; he wears his fame lightly and at 24, he isn’t about to lose perspective

Danyal Rasool22-Oct-2022Shadab Khan laughs bashfully, hesitates. He could easily go through the motions, answer the question in the most inoffensive, prosaic way, and get the interview done with. But spouting banal platitudes about T20 cricket he doesn’t believe in won’t work for him. And so, while trying to clear his fatigued mind – he has just arrived in Australia – he starts to answer.He’s been asked to rate, on a scale of one to ten, Pakistan’s reliance on data analytics in T20 cricket, holding his franchise, Islamabad United, as a constant at ten on that scale. “It’s a tricky question,” he tells ESPNcricinfo. “Franchise cricket is mostly data-based, whereas I think nations don’t rely on data to that extent. But, then again, in franchise cricket, even if you lack something, you can fill those gaps with overseas options. You can’t do that in international cricket.”Related

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It’s a diplomatic answer, but also a deeply thoughtful one. It’s what makes Shadab perhaps the most fascinating character in this T20 line-up. His career rose at the cradle of the data revolution in Pakistan, when United were becoming dominant forces in the then-nascent PSL. The franchise made no effort to conceal their belief that data analytics and match-ups were at the centre of the future of T20 cricket, and Shadab bought into the concept whole-heartedly.Empirical evidence suggests the national side wasn’t quite sold on the idea for quite a while longer, and comparing the way Shadab has been used by franchise and country throws this into the sharpest relief. Shadab batted in the top four 29 times for domestic and franchise T20 sides – doing so for the first time as far back as the 2018 PSL – before he first reprised that role with the national side.It has paid off in a statistically significant way, with his strike rate batting in the top four rising to nearly 147, a full ten runs higher than when he bats lower down. The most obvious explanation for this is Shadab’s predilection for attacking spin; he’s arguably Pakistan’s best hitter of slow bowling.That reflects well on him, but even so, Shadab throws in a caveat. “As an allrounder, you’re a bit more fearless with the bat compared to specialist batters. Because you know if it doesn’t come off with the bat, you have a second skill to fall back on. [Mohammad] Nawaz and I played for our franchises up the order and we performed there, too. But we’re bowling allrounders. Batters, by comparison, can’t be as fearless.

“I’ve now stopped caring what people say. When I return home at night I just assess myself and ask myself if I gave my all. If I did, then it’s fine”

“In that game against New Zealand, though, I wanted a shot at No. 4, and it was very satisfying it paid off.”And then some. Coming on while Pakistan stuttered in a chase, Shadab smacked the first ball for four before tucking into the match-up he favoured most, against legspinner Ish Sodhi. In six balls against him, Shadab hit 19 runs, including two fours and a six. It broke the back of New Zealand’s low total, and a game that threatened to turn into a scrap ended up in a canter for Pakistan.So why had it taken so long for Pakistan to cotton on to the fact that this was the most effective way to use Shadab the batter?”We wanted to give our middle order the chance to bat at their designated positions so they could feel more confident,” he says. “We wanted them to carry the confidence of runs under their belt going into the World Cup. It is a position where we have struggled in the last 12-18 months. What we lack in domestic cricket is a depth of middle-order performers; even in domestic cricket, the guys performing bat at the top of the order. The middle order has had plenty of unnecessary pressure placed on it.”But Shadab’s primary skill, as he’s keen to point out, is bowling legspin. Having celebrated his 24th birthday earlier this month, Shadab is already Pakistan’s second-highest T20I wicket-taker with 87; a solid World Cup in Australia should see him go past all-time record holder Shahid Afridi (97). Despite his youth, he is one of Pakistan’s most seasoned T20 cricketers, experience his side will need to draw on in Australia where, aside from himself and Haris Rauf, most of the side has played almost no T20 cricket.Shadab Khan might have found a home he likes at No. 4 in Pakistan’s T20I side•Getty Images”Different grounds pose different challenges. In Brisbane, there is extra bounce so you have to use pace. The square boundaries are large and the straight boundaries are short. So you have to use the bowlers’ pace,” he says. “The guys I played with here used to use the bowler’s pace. In Asia, we don’t get that kind of pace or bounce; you have to generate it yourself. You don’t have to do that here. You have to be flexible with what ground you’re playing it. Whether the square corners have large boundaries or the straight, you have to adapt.”Shadab’s game is so all-round it gives him a level of flexibility even a contortionist might envy. In the BBL as well as the PSL, he hasn’t been averse to bowling in the powerplay, even opening the bowling in the BBL. With Pakistan, he has become a valuable go-to option through the middle overs, where a blend of economy and potency means he almost always bowls out by the 16th over. He has also become far more frugal with the ball over the past two seasons after a difficult couple of seasons prior. Between July 2018 and December 2020, his economy rate had surged to 8.03 with his average doubling from around 15.33 to 30.19. But, since 2021, the economy rate had dropped down to 6.81, and the average to 21.79.”I think my judgment of how to use variations has definitely improved,” he says. “When you get experience, you understand which variation to use and when to use it. I’ve been playing for a long time, so I can judge it better now.”I didn’t change much, I kept things simple. I used to try and do something extra, looking to get a wicket with every ball. But now I’ve developed my own theory. I’ll just bowl in the right areas. If those balls still go for runs, I don’t really care. Sometimes you can be hit for six off a good ball and get a wicket off a poor one. But I can recognise that that wicket was off a bad ball. So I just try and bowl good balls, and not worry about the runs and wickets. I just want to keep my plans simple.”

“When we were young, we used to say, ‘oh, as long as you beat India, nothing matters’. So there’s some unnecessary pressure that can come. But we’ve beaten them a few times of late”

But Shadab also accepts he’s less likely to bowl up top for Pakistan simply because, in Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris and Naseem Shah, Pakistan have three of the best new-ball bowlers in the world. And with no place for legspin at the death – unless your name is Rashid Khan or Wanindu Hasaranga – the middle overs are the most obvious time to throw in four overs from their frontline legspinner.Shadab may geek out over the latest T20 strategies, but back in the subcontinent, the game currently commands the attention of millions of casual observers who don’t get, or care about, match-ups. India are about to take on Pakistan in a T20 World Cup, one year on from Pakistan’s maiden win over their rivals in a World Cup game.The players on both sides get on with one another, but even at the best of times, the relations between the two nations don’t get much warmer than an uneasy truce. To add further intrigue, the build-up to this game was overshadowed by a contretemps over where next year’s Asia Cup (where Pakistan are the hosts) would be held, and if Pakistan would participate in the 2023 ODI World Cup, to be hosted in India.Shadab has a sharp brain for T20 cricket, and that means he recognises when a matter concerns the heart rather than the head. “There’s pressure playing against India. It’s a different kind of pressure because of the atmosphere generated on both sides,” he says. “When we were young, we used to say, ‘oh, as long as you beat India, nothing matters’. So there’s some unnecessary pressure that can come over you. But we’ve beaten them a few times of late. The team that starts well in this format is the one that’s successful, but now that we’ve beaten them in a few big games, the pressure that used to be on us is now on them.”2:03

Shadab: Our goal is to be known as a champion team

This tournament has set just about the perfect platform for Shadab to showcase his talent. He’s in form, and just shook off a niggle during the series against England at home, and says he understands his body much better now. He’s finally being used the right way. He is just entering what should be the prime of his career and is one of the most marketable cricketers in Pakistan. He is a clever batter, an excellent legspin bowler, a gun fielder. He’s vice-captain of the Pakistan team, and captain of United.The gratitude he expresses doesn’t seem feigned, but that doesn’t mean all of this hasn’t come at a cost. Everyone wants his time and attention, and the criticism can be as toxic as the adulation overwhelming.”Fame can be tricky in our culture, because our personal lives are scrutinised a lot,” he says. “I’ve seen a lot of criticism at a young age. Our personal lives effectively come to an end. In other countries, players still enjoy their own private lives, but ours comes to an end with fame. If you’re enjoying your personal lives, that can be viewed in a negative light. And god forbid if you don’t perform, people say your focus has been lost. But I’ve now stopped caring what people say. When I return home at night I just assess myself and ask myself if I gave my all. If I did, then it’s fine.”Such burden on 24-year-old shoulders can wear anyone down, but for now, Shadab stands tall enough to carry it. Of course, it helps if those shoulders also carry a wise enough head to understand his craft without allowing him to lose perspective. On those counts, Pakistan’s premier short-format allrounder has little to worry about.

Rishabh Pant’s accident is a cause for concern, as is the lack of a credible back-up for Hardik Pandya

Sidharth Monga09-Jan-2023

The top order – has Dhawan dropped out of contention?

It is a little too late to drop someone you have invested in for the last three years, even making him the captain in the absence of the regular captain, but Shikhar Dhawan has made himself droppable. In the last couple of years, his returns have dipped, and it’s not like his replacement is going to debut at the World Cup: Shubman Gill has played 15 ODIs, Ishan Kishan ten.It will take extraordinary circumstances for Dhawan to return so close to the World Cup, but he remains an outside shot given his experience should both Gill and Kishan hit wretched form. At the moment, though, they have only strengthened their case with runs in New Zealand and Bangladesh. Kishan has even scored a double-century.ESPNcricinfo LtdOther top-order batters since the last ODI World Cup
Rohit Sharma
Innings: 18, Runs 745, Average 44, Strike Rate 96Made a comeback after injury during the ODI series in Bangladesh. It is important he gets a string of matches and some rhythm under his belt in the lead-up to the World Cup. Time for resting might be over.Ishan Kishan
Innings 6, Runs 401, Average 67, Strike Rate 127Brings the dynamism and left-handedness needed at the top of the order to capitalise on the powerplay. Was only an outside contender two series ago, but the injury to Rohit left a gap in the door for him, which he has burst open with the double-century.Shubman Gill

Innings 13, Runs 671, Average 67, Strike Rate 102Wasn’t a part of the squad in Bangladesh, but scored a 50 and 45 not out in New Zealand. Will definitely be part of the plans.Virat Kohli

Innings 27, Runs 1169, Average 45, Strike Rate 93Master of the format, scored a century in the shadow of Kishan’s double-century. ODIs also happen to be his best format.

Middle order – the Pant situation is a worry

Rishabh Pant’s road accident means he may or may not be able to present a case for the World Cup in time. On the other hand, it will be heartening that Hardik Pandya is back.ESPNcricinfo LtdMiddle-order batters since the last ODI World Cup
KL Rahul
Innings 14, Runs 698, Average 58, Strike Rate 106Back to the middle order, where he has scored runs, after having been tried in other positions. Might also keep wicket if Kishan doesn’t play in the series against Sri Lanka.Shreyas Iyer

Innings 24, Runs 955, Average 45, Strike Rate 97Keeps going from strength to strength in the middle order in both ODIs and Tests. Important spin hitter in the middle overs.Hardik Pandya

Innings 10, Runs 429, Average 48, Strike Rate 116Time to take this vital cog out of cotton wool. The only doubt over his place in the XI can be fitness-based, if it prevents him from bowling.Suryakumar Yadav
Innings 14, Runs 350, Average 29, Strike Rate 98Hasn’t yet had a proper run in ODIs, but there are those who believe he can challenge Rahul in the middle order based on his exploits in T20s.Rishabh Pant

Innings 17, Runs 638, Average 40, Strike Rate 111A definite force in the middle order, or even the top order, if he is fit and ready in time.It might be time to move on from other outside contenders except maybe Deepak Hooda, that too because he bowls.

Allrounders – still no back-ups for Hardik

There is no seam-bowling allrounder to be back-up for Hardik should he get injured again. All the other allrounders are spinners. India will still play at least one of them or possibly two depending on the pitches.ESPNcricinfo LtdRavindra Jadeja
Matches 18, Runs 335, Strike Rate 95, Wickets 13, Economy Rate 5.4On the weight of his improved batting, the first choice, but his injury layoff mysteriously keeps getting longer. Might he have to prioritise formats when he is back?Axar Patel
Matches 8, Runs 168, Strike Rate 120, Wickets 10, Economy Rate 4.39A better bowler than Jadeja in limited-overs formats, and his batting has only been improving, as seen in his crucial innings when promoted in a tense chase in the Mirpur Test, followed by a blinder of a T20I half-century against Sri Lanka in a chase that India lost.Washington Sundar

Matches 11, Runs 212, Strike Rate 87, Wickets 13, Economy Rate 4.4Providing variety as opposed to the two left-arm spinners is his biggest draw. Has been injury-prone himself.

Spinners – will Chahal or Kuldeep pip a fingerspinner?

If pitches assist spin, India might not play either of them in the XI because then they can bank on their fingerspinners. However, on flatter pitches, a wristspinner is extremely valuable.ESPNcricinfo LtdYuzvendra Chahal

Matches 21, Wickets 34, Strike Rate 30, Economy Rate 5.7India’s second-highest wicket-taker since the 2019 World Cup, taking one every 30 balls. Unlucky not to have played a single game in the last two T20 World Cups.Kuldeep Yadav

Matches 22, Wickets 26, Strike Rate 46, Economy Rate 5.76Not being fielded in ODIs, but slowly being rehabilitated into international cricket after massive drop in confidence. Left-arm wristspin could be a point of difference.

Fast bowlers – Shami and Malik in the frame

There has been no clear direction here either, which is only getting compounded by the extended injury layoff for Prasidh Krishna. They need to get a middle-overs enforcer back-up. It just brings Mohammed Shami and Umran Malik into the picture.ESPNcricinfo LtdJasprit Bumrah

Matches 14, Wickets 18, Strike Rate 38, Economy Rate 5.16Coming back from a stress reaction of the back, which kept him out of the T20 World Cup. His performance on return will be followed with bated breath.Prasidh Krishna

Matches 14, Wickets 25, Strike Rate 27, Economy Rate 5.32Has an excellent strike rate of 27 balls per wicket, but needs to get back on the park soon.Mohammed Siraj

Matches 15, Wickets 24, Strike Rate 31, Economy Rate 4.62Continued bowling well in Bangladesh. Can bowl with the new ball and also bang it in in the middle overs. Minus the height of Krishna.Arshdeep Singh

Only just coming back from an illness. Left-arm angle, swing each way, experience of bowling death overs in T20s could go in his favour, but needs some more ODIs under his belt.Mohammed Shami
Matches 15, Wickets 25, Strike Rate 30, Economy Rate 6.16Has kind of become the man India go to for all World Cups even if he plays little cricket in that format in the intervening years. Great seam position, lot of experience, bustling pace.Umran Malik

Matches 5, Wickets 7, Strike Rate 28, Economy Rate 6Raw pace, but is showing signs of higher accuracy having stayed in the India bubble. Is an outside chance especially if Krishna’s fitness remains under a cloud. His selection for the Sri Lanka ODIs says as much.Deepak Chahar
Matches 12, Wickets 15, Strike Rate 32, Economy Rate 5.58Again, fitness dodgy, but when available, he is a genuine swing bowler with decent batting ability in the lower order.Shardul Thakur

Matches 26, Wickets 38, Strike Rate 32, Economy Rate 6.23If batting down the order is something India hold dearly, Thakur is that man. Takes wickets quickly but concedes runs just as quickly. Not part of the current squad.

A look at the records that tumbled during Quetta Gladiators successful chase against Peshawar Zalmi

Sampath Bandarupalli08-Mar-2023241 Target chased by Quetta Gladiators in Rawalpindi. It is the highest successful target chase in the PSL, surpassing Multan Sultans’ 207 against Lahore Qalandars in 2022. The chase by Gladiators is also the fourth-highest successful target chase in T20 history.ESPNcricinfo Ltd243 for 2 Gladiators’ total against Peshawar Zalmi, the third-highest team total in the PSL. Islamabad United’s 247 for 2 against Zalmi in 2021 is the highest PSL total, followed by 245 for 3 by Multan Sultans against Gladiators in 2022. Zalmi’s 240 for 2 on Wednesday is the fifth highest total in the league and the highest by the franchise.145* Jason Roy’s score against Zalmi is the highest individual score in the Pakistan Super League. The previous highest was an unbeaten 127 by Colin Ingram for Karachi Kings against Quetta Gladiators in 2019.ESPNcricinfo Ltd27 Innings Roy needed to complete 1000 runs in the PSL. He is now the fastest batter to the milestone, bettering Shan Masood, who needed 29 innings. Roy is also one of the three batters to score multiple hundreds in the PSL.44 Balls Roy needed for his hundred, the second fastest by any player in the PSL. The fastest is by Rilee Rossouw, who scored a century in just 43 balls for Multan Sultans against the Gladiators last year. Babar Azam, who took 60 balls for his hundred, recorded the joint-slowest of the league.ESPNcricinfo Ltd88 for 1 Gladiators’ score in the powerplay. It is the second highest powerplay total for any team in the PSL, behind United’s 97 for 0 against Gladiators in 2021. The Quetta Gladiators raced to 100-run mark in 6.5 overs, the second fastest team 100 in the PSL behind United’s in 6.2 overs against Gladiators.8 Hundreds for Babar Azam in T20 cricket, the joint-second-most by any batter. Only Chris Gayle is ahead of Babar with 22 centuries, while Aaron Finch, Michael Klinger and David Warner, all have eight tons each.ESPNcricinfo Ltd162 Partnership runs between Babar and Saim Ayub for the first wicket, the second highest stand by any pair in the PSL. The highest is 176 by Karachi Kings’ opening pair of Sharjeel Khan and Babar, against the Islamabad United in 2021.483 Runs between Zalmi and Gladiators on Wednesday, the highest aggregate for a PSL match. The previous highest was 479 runs between Islamabad United and Gladiators in 2021. The aggregate of 483 runs by Zalmi and Gladiators is also the highest for a T20 match in Asia.

Fast, skillful and entirely homegrown, the left-arm quick is Ireland’s brightest ambassador on the global stage

Matt Roller03-Apr-2023As Ireland’s squad gathered on Friday night, their first-ever win in Bangladesh was not the only cause for celebration.Instead, they crowded into the team room of their Chattogram hotel with a few Hunter beers for the first meeting of what captain Andy Balbirnie called “the newly-formed Irish Gujarat Titans supporters club”, toasting the achievements of an absent squad member.Eoin Morgan was the first Irishman to play in the IPL some thirteen years ago, but Josh Little’s debut for Titans on the opening night of the 2023 season was different: he became the first Ireland player involved in the competition, taking 1 for 43 as the defending champions started with a win.While Little suffered some rough treatment from Ruturaj Gaikwad and MS Dhoni, his maiden wicket – ripping out Ambati Rayudu’s middle and off stumps – demonstrated his ability. Most pertinently, his comeback after his first ball was swung over square leg for six in front of 100,000 people suggested that he has the temperament to perform on the biggest stage in franchise cricket.Related

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It was a significant night for Irish cricket. For many years, their leading players have crossed the Irish Sea to further their ambitions in the game – either to play for England, like Morgan and several others, or to develop through the county system. Little, by contrast, is a product of the Irish pathway alone.”He’s come through the system, all the way up from under-age cricket – and hasn’t had to go to England to learn his trade which a lot of us had to do,” Balbirnie says. “He’s just come up through the ranks and naturally done well. I’d like to think it’s shown to a lot of youngsters back home that you’re never too far away. He’s a great ambassador for that next generation now.”

The natural who lit up Pembroke

As a ten-year-old schoolboy at St Andrews Primary School, Little picked up a soft cricket ball and threw it hard and flat back at Andrew Leonard, now an established broadcaster but then a development cricket coach in Dublin. “I have a vivid memory of it,” Leonard recalls. “I asked him, ‘Who are you? Which club do you play for?'”He told him his name was Josh, and that he didn’t play cricket; Leonard insisted that he should follow his friend Sanil Gupta down to Pembroke Cricket Club in Sandymount, the affluent Dublin suburb he lived in. He called his boss, Brían O’Rourke, and told him, “you won’t believe this kid I found!”A week later, Little rocked up at Pembroke for the first time. “He ran up and bowled,” O’Rourke recalls, “and he just had everything. He didn’t need any coaching, just a bit of mentoring and the opportunity to play. He came straight into our Under-11 programme, and looked really good, really comfortable.”Before long, word started to spread about the young left-armer who was making an impression on everyone who watched him. Balbirnie, who rose through Pembroke’s ranks himself, remembers watching Little play for their Under-15s in an age-group final.”I actually felt that the game could have got dangerous with the way Josh was bowling,” Balbirnie recalls. “He was just so much quicker, so much better than the other team. I was a bit concerned about the welfare of the opposition.”Throughout his teenage years, Little was a keen player at Monkstown Hockey Club and even represented Ireland at age-group level. “We’ve lost that battle a few times over the years,” O’Rourke says, “but luckily we won it with Josh.”Little gets an extra yard of pace from his wrist snap at delivery•BCCI

Ford meets Ferrari

Two months after his 16th birthday, Little went to Bangladesh to play for Ireland in the Under-19 World Cup, where his 11 victims in the tournament included India’s captain Ishan Kishan. Later that summer, he was used as a net bowler when Sri Lanka toured for an ODI series.”I remember there was this young lad bowling left-arm, lively pace, swinging the ball nicely in the nets,” recalls Graham Ford, who was coaching Sri Lanka. “I overheard a few of our players asking him why he wasn’t in the squad.”It didn’t take long before he was: he made his T20I debut later that summer, against Hong Kong. Balbirnie believes that early exposure to international cricket was a major reason that Little ended up choosing cricket over hockey: “Being capped at 16 might well have swayed his decision.”But a year later, when Ford became Ireland’s head coach, he encountered a young bowler in his final year at school who did not resemble an international athlete. “I don’t think he fancied academics,” he recalls, “but he would use it as an excuse not to come to training.”As an 18-year-old, Little was more interested in his social life than thoughts of a professional career. “He went on holiday as soon as he finished school and he missed some training sessions because of that – which the hierarchy didn’t like,” Ford says.”He was out of nick, he put on weight. He missed an interprovincial game to go to Electric Picnic, the music festival. My common terminology for a bloke like that is, he was loose.”Before long, Ford decided to intervene. “I called him aside, and I told him, ‘you can make a lot of money playing this game. I’ve seen a lot of players in my time, and you’ve got what it takes – and it’s a far easier way of making money than having to study, or work, from 8 until 6 every day. With the talent you’ve got, you can live a wonderful life.'”Credit to him, because after that, it was like a switch had been flicked.” As Little recently himself told the : “That five-minute chat changed my entire perception of things… Ever since then I’ve been head down, just gym and cricket.”Josh Little bounced out Eoin Morgan on his ODI debut•Getty ImagesPerhaps the first sign of that turnaround came on Little’s ODI debut, which came in May 2019 against an England team preparing for an imminent World Cup. He took 4 for 45 in his eight overs, including the scalp of the returning Morgan for a third-ball duck, fending a sharp bouncer behind via the glove.”He wasn’t shy: he certainly didn’t care who Eoin Morgan was,” O’Rourke recalls. Ford adds: “He gets into the battle, switches on competitively, and he goes like hell. He’ll get into the scrap and is very happy to do that. You need to have that – particularly as a fast bowler.”Little’s competitive streak got him into trouble early in his international career. In 2020, he was reprimanded for a sweary send-off after dismissing Jonny Bairstow; a year later, he was adjudged to have made “inappropriate physical contact” with Quinton de Kock, barging into him with his shoulder.”He was a bit raw,” Balbirnie reflects. “The emotions can bring out the best in him, but he’s learned to control them a bit more. But I’ve never pulled him aside, and I’ve never really seen him cross the line. He still has that fire in his belly to do well, which is what makes him tick.”Over the last 18 months, Little’s stock has soared on the T20 circuit. He won his first franchise contracts during the 2021-22 season; after impressing in the Hundred and the T20 World Cup in 2022, he has been in high demand in 2022-23, picking up deals in the SA20, the PSL and the IPL.His point of difference as a bowler is his whippy wrist action, developed playing ‘stumpy’ – a variation on tape-ball cricket in which batters use a stump instead of a bat – in the Pembroke nets. “You bowl off 12 yards with a tennis ball, and have to snap your wrist to get some pace into it,” Leonard explains. “His extra pace comes from that.”Those who have worked closely with him describe a headstrong individual, who sees no point in preparing for the sake of it. “He will do the bare minimum,” O’Rourke says. “In his warm-up, he might bowl two or three balls to the keeper. If it’s coming out nicely, he’ll say, ‘that’s enough. I don’t need any more.'” At last year’s IPL, he left his stint as a net bowler with Chennai Super Kings – his opponents on debut – ahead of schedule, unhappy at his limited opportunities to impress the franchise’s coaches.Little’s stocks have risen after he impressed in the Hundred and the T20 World Cup in 2022•Getty ImagesIreland’s challenge is to keep hold of him. His IPL contract is worth INR 4.4 crore (€0.5 million approx.), around six times the value of his central contract; he is missing their first three Tests since 2019 in order to play for Titans, though will return home in mid-May for an ODI series against Bangladesh that Ireland must win 3-0 to qualify for this year’s World Cup.”It’s a situation that is going to have to be managed pretty well by the people above me,” Balbirnie says. “Money is always the elephant in the room when you’re talking about things like this, but it’s huge amounts – money that could take five, six, or even more years to earn while playing for Ireland. There is a fine balance there.”We want to have Josh available for our key games, but you can’t begrudge a player getting picked up like that.”Ford puts it simply: “If they played hardball and said ‘no, you can’t go’, then they’d lose him completely. They don’t want that; Ireland need to keep him in their system.”Back at Pembroke, Little’s rise makes him the club’s latest success story, representing them in the men’s national team alongside Balbirnie, Barry McCarthy and Lorcan Tucker. Kim Garth, who became a dual international last year after moving to Australia, is another graduate of their system. “Pembroke are very proud of all those five,” O’Rourke says.The club’s end-of-season dinner last year coincided with the final of the Hundred, where Little was playing for Manchester Originals. “The man was ringing the bell saying, ‘lads, the food’s on the table’,” O’Rourke recalls. “And everyone was saying, ‘no, no, Josh is into his second over here, we want to watch him!'”And so, he expects Pembroke’s bar to be busy during Titans’ games over the next few weeks: “It’s what sport is all about. You never forget your own.”

They haven’t played together often but seeing them operating in tandem on a famously spin-friendly pitch was nothing short of spectacular

Andrew Fidel Fernando16-Jul-2023Shaheen Shah Afridi surges in for his first Test-match spell in a year, nips it away from the right-handers, zips it into the leftie, beating edges, eliciting jittery prods. If there is a first over you don’t want to miss in world cricket, he is most-often the one bowling them.Naseem Shah doesn’t quite have Afridi’s record, doesn’t quite have his height, or his control. But he does have that action. He doesn’t just run to the crease, he races. At the crease he is a throwback delight, the back unloading like a slingshot.They haven’t been seen together much over the past three years, in this format at least. Afridi hasn’t played in whites since tearing a ligament in his knee at the same venue he is currently playing at, in July last year.Largely owing to injury, Naseem bowled in only the single Test innings in 2021. All up, they’ve bowled in 19 Test innings together. Even in those, Naseem has often been used first-change, where Afridi operates with the new ball.Related

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But this being Galle, the world’s leading venue for ritual shaming of batters at the hands of spin bowlers, no one dares play more than two seamers. And so, you get Afridi and Naseem tearing in, in tandem. For most of two hours, split by a long rain break, they were a fast-bowling spectacle – the kind that greater Pakistan teams than this one had made the pillar of their identity.Afridi didn’t quite send an opener packing in his first over, but it didn’t take much longer – his seventh ball of the day nipping away, effectively setting up the wicket he claimed on the eighth. Nishan Madushka was first beaten, then edged one feeling for it away from the body, to become Afridi’s 100th Test victim.ESPNcricinfo LtdKusal Mendis should have been out first ball of Afridi’s fourth over, only Pakistan had not installed a third slip, who would have swallowed the edge off the bat. When an extra slip comes in after a potential catch goes through a vacant area, the commentary cliche is to suggest that there is no point shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted. But such was the quality of this over from Afridi, he re-caught the horse and put the padlock on the door himself. Fourth ball, pitching just outside leg, darting it away with the angle, Afridi collected Mendis’ edge.Naseem would not make a breakthrough until later, but right through their opening spells (which the rain break helped extend), they fed off each other’s menace, Afridi roughing up a batter with a short ball, before Naseem tested him with a yorker, the Galle pitch offering some semblance of pace and carry for once.Between them, they decked Sri Lanka’s top order, Afridi getting three, as Sri Lanka slid to 54 for 4 before lunch, having chosen to bat.”They were very nippy,” Angelo Mathews said after play. “They were seaming and swinging the ball both. It was high-quality bowling. They were landing the ball on the seam, and most of the time you saw the wicketkeeper take the ball above the waist.”Shaheen showed his quality. To bowl like that on a deck like this – I haven’t seen too many fast bowlers do that.”Pakistan’s effort deflated after that, the spinners unable to match the tension created by the riveting new-ball spells. Mathews got past fifty; Dhananjaya de Silva moved into the nineties by the end of a rain-hit day.There is no telling if we are in the early days of an Afridi-Naseem dynasty, because cricket doesn’t work like that for fast bowlers who bowl at this pace. Pakistan cricket careers especially are wild, winding, capricious things, players headed for the stratosphere one moment, plummeting spectacularly the next.So let’s just live in the moment and say that on a morning in which Pakistan had lost the toss, and with an inexperienced spin attack in their ranks, Afridi and Naseem put their side in the match. With the new-ball, they were intense together.

Another title for Australia, but what next for India?

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jun-2023Is a one-off final enough to decide the winner of a World Test Championship cycle? Did India really blunder it at The Oval? What’s up with the India-A programme, and how should the BCCI look at structuring Indian cricket going forward?Sidharth Monga joins Kaustubh Kumar and Vishal Dikshit to discuss all the burning questions.