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Injury sidelined her, but after a few technical adjustments and a lot of hard work – including against East Bengal’s men – she just keeps on striking for Mumbai Indians

S Sudarshanan09-Mar-20236:22

Are Mumbai Indians making the WPL boring?

“Bowler wicket [I am a bowler, so I am here to pick up wickets].”The confidence in Saika Ishaque’s voice was unmistakable as she put on the purple cap, having become the highest wicket-taker in the WPL with two strikes against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday. On Thursday, she stretched her lead at the top with three more wickets against Delhi Capitals, sending them on their way to 105 all out. Capitals headed into what was a clash between two unbeaten sides with back-to-back 200-plus totals. But they were undone by the brilliance of Ishaque, who’s taken a rough path to the glitz and glamour of the WPL.Ishaque comes from a humble background in Park Circus, a neighbourhood in south Kolkata. She was introduced to the sport by her father, who passed away 15 years ago. She did the hard yards at the Under-19 and Under-23 levels for Bengal before playing for the senior side. But a shoulder injury in 2018 pegged her back for a couple of years and the road forward was tough.Ishaque struggled to pick up wickets on her return and was then left out of the Bengal side. Low on confidence, she was introduced to former Bengal left-arm spin allrounder Shibsagar Singh in 2021, and he helped her make technical adjustments. Watching some footage of her, Shibsagar observed that Ishaque was bowling very full and not letting the ball turn enough.”I saw that she is talented and there is something different about her, and made her understand what her issue is,” Shibsagar told ESPNcricinfo. “I asked her to pull her length back a touch, that allowed the ball to deviate, rather than bowling it full and not letting it turn. I also told her to not try for wickets but concentrate on bowling in the right way.”I told her to focus on bowling one ball at a time and not think of the entire over or other stuff. Her mindset slowly began changing. Her earlier focus was on wanting to pick X wickets in Y overs.”Former India allrounder Rumeli Dhar, who also captained Ishaque at Bengal, loved the gusty, fighting character that Ishaque was in the side. Bowling to batters who attack was something she particularly revelled in.

“[Ever since her comeback from injury] she knows where she should land the ball to get it to spin and trouble the batter.”Rumeli Dhar, who was Ishaque’s captain at Bengal

“When I was the captain, there were a couple of instances where I have asked her if she would be able to pick up a tough wicket and she upfront used to say yes and did it too,” Dhar said. “She is [naughty] but she is fun-loving. She knows to have fun and also knows how to make people laugh.”[Ever since her comeback] she knows where she should land the ball to get it to spin and trouble the batter. She has learnt how to respond to captains’ and coaches’ calls of bowling in specific areas and situations. She has a lot of control with her bowling.”Capitals would learn of it the hard way.Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma, easily one of the most dangerous opening pairs in the WPL, had a 162-run stand in Capitals’ opening game and then put up a half-century partnership against UP Warriorz heading into the game against Mumbai. Ishaque, though, struck the first blow off her sixth ball, having Shafali play around a flighted delivery that was slanted into the stumps to bowl her. Capitals were briefly buoyed by a fifty-run stand between Lanning and Jemimah Rodrigues – going from 31 for 3 to 81 for 3 – but then Ishaque was at it again.Brought back in the 13th over for her third, Ishaque again attacked the stumps and just fired it in a touch, only for Rodrigues to go back and miss her cut and be bowled. The left-arm spinner then struck a telling blow on the last ball by floating one up outside off and enticing Lanning to charge down and take the aerial route only for her to hit it to extra cover.Saika Ishaque is congratulated after an early strike•BCCIThis all came after a four-wicket haul against Gujarat Giants at DY Patil Stadium to set up her team in the WPL curtain-raiser. While it was captain Harmanpreet Kaur who stole the show with her scintillating fifty, Ishaque’s exploits made sure everyone took note of her too.And so far, of her nine wickets in the WPL, seven have been either bowled or lbw.Ahead of the WPL, Shibsagar took Ishaque to the East Bengal club to train with male cricketers. He specifically asked them to attack her in a bid to prepare her for the WPL, and he liked what he saw.”She is (intelligent). Never afraid to bowl the tough overs – she will bowl two overs in the powerplay and then also want to bowl at the death,” Shibsagar said. “Any bowler can get hit but she is always confident of picking up wickets.”The WPL, it is expected, will be a means to unearth uncapped talents and fast track them into the national set-up. Given Ishaque’s WPL performances have come at a time when India’s incumbent left-arm spinners Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Radha Yadav are struggling for consistency and penetration, Ishaque could well be on this path.

The problem, however, is he averages just 16.55 with the bat in the last four years and has not scored a half-century in 29 innings

Alex Malcolm09-Sep-2023Marcus Stoinis opening the bowling for Australia is raising some eyebrows.Australia’s new-ball bowling stocks in white-ball cricket are the envy of the world. When Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood play in the same team, one of them doesn’t get a new ball as Mitchell Starc has a mortgage on the other.They’ve left Spencer Johnson out of the World Cup squad although he could make his ODI debut in South Africa. Jason Behrendorff took five wickets against the eventual champions England in the 2019 ODI World Cup and is still a new-ball force in franchise and domestic cricket yet, he has hardly played for Australia since.Related

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Nathan Ellis has also missed the World Cup squad. He isn’t known as a new ball bowler, but he has proven his versatility in any pressure situation.Sean Abbott is in the squad and was in the team in the first ODI against South Africa in Bloemfontein, but even he didn’t get the new ball with Starc and Cummins absent.Instead, it was Stoinis brandishing the new Kookaburra, as he has done in three of his last four ODIs and two of his last three T20Is with encouraging success.In the T20I series, Stoinis took three wickets with the new ball in the powerplay at an economy rate of 6.75. In his last three ODI bowling performances, dating back to Australia’s last series in March, he has bowled 48 balls in the powerplay with the new ball, conceding just 26 runs and dismissing Ishan Kishan and Quinton de Kock.He was helped in Bloemfontein by a difficult surface, with both de Kock and Temba Bavuma struggling for rhythm.Marcus Stoinis has had an impact opening the bowling•Gallo Images/Getty ImagesBut Stoinis has turned himself into a new-ball weapon in the powerplay of late. His ability to swing the ball sets him apart from Australia’s specialist right-arm quicks. He hits the bat harder than the speed gun suggests with his extra bounce often causing problems. His control of length has been a feature of his bowling recently, and he can use cutters and scrambled seam deliveries when the swing disappears.The how is impressive. The why is intriguing.Australia’s selectors have been trialling various combinations for the ODI World Cup over the past 12 months. One of which involves playing eight batters in an XI, including four allrounders, as they did in the first ODI against India in Mumbai in March. Another involves playing two spinners, which they did in the third game in Chennai in that series and the first ODI against South Africa.Aside from his ability to swing the new ball and bowl well with just two men out, Stoinis opening the bowling allows Australia’s captain, whoever it is, more flexibility with his bowling resources. The move will allow the specialist quicks to bowl more overs in the middle, and potentially strike through that period, or leave more overs up their sleeve for the death. It also means when two spinners play, one of them might not be risked in the powerplay.So far it has worked out superbly with the ball. Except there is one glaring problem.For all those benefits, Stoinis’ ODI batting is a major concern. If he wasn’t bowling so well, likely, he would not be in the team given what has happened with Marnus Labuschagne.Since March 2019, Stoinis has averaged 16.55 and has gone 29 ODI innings without a half-century. For those wondering if that is just a byproduct of being a finisher like he is in T20 cricket, it is not the case in ODIs. He has batted at No. 5 or higher in 21 of those innings and even batted at No.3 three times.Marcus Stoinis averages just 16.55 with the bat since March 2019•AFP/Getty ImagesThe only difference between Stoinis and Labuschagne, who was left out of the World Cup squad after averaging just 22.30 in his last 14 ODIs before his supersub heroics in Bloemfontein, is Stoinis has maintained his strike rate above 90 throughout four lean years while Labuschagne struck at under 70 during his recent lean run and just above 83 over his career.Stoinis opening the bowling to make Australia’s batting almost bulletproof has also not exactly worked in the way it has been drawn up. The intention is to give Australia the depth to chase down anything or set enormous totals. But at the Wankhede Stadium in March, with Stoinis batting at No. 8, Australia were bowled out for 188, batting first, and lost handsomely.Although on difficult surfaces, the extra batting has paid dividends. In Chennai, with Stoinis at No. 7 and contributing 25, they mustered a winning score of 269. In Bloemfontein, albeit with the help of a concussion substitute, they chased down 223 after slumping to 113 for 7 with Stoinis managing just 17. Likewise in Cairns last year against New Zealand, Australia were 44 for 5, with Stoinis out for 5, and still they chased down 233 thanks to Cameron Green and Alex Carey sharing a 158-run stand for the sixth wicket with the insurance of Glenn Maxwell at No. 8.The other complicating factor to consider is the fitness of Australia’s allrounders. Stoinis’ bowling becomes even more important given Mitch Marsh’s ankle is still being protected. Marsh is yet to bowl a ball in four matches in South Africa, despite being captain, after a heavy and unexpected workload in the Ashes. Green’s body is always a concern, and his white-ball bowling remains a work in progress. His concussion will now limit his buildup to the World Cup. Maxwell’s leg remains a major concern and will need to be managed carefully.Stoinis himself has been managed carefully due to his previous side injuries that plagued his 2019 ODI World Cup, among other soft tissue problems. In India, he bowled in the first and third ODI but played as a batter only in the second given the short two-day turnaround. The same plan was rolled out for him in the T20I series against South Africa. There were four days leading into the first ODI which allowed him time to back up.The new ball experiment is working well for now but runs remain Stoinis’ major priority.

Return to the Wankhede brings memories of record World T20 chase against South Africa in 2016

Andrew Miller20-Oct-2023There’s been a strange and unfamiliar intruder in England’s dressing-room over the past few weeks. A haggard old demon of doubt, sitting on the shoulders of some of the most unfettered cricketers of their generation, and cramping their style with whispers of impending doom.Perhaps it’s not a fear of failure per se that’s been holding England back in their anodyne displays against New Zealand and Afghanistan, but a recognition of finality – an unconscious acceptance among this remarkable group of players that the end is nigh, no matter how well or badly they play.After November 19, come what may, many of these players will never play another ODI, let alone feature in another 50-over World Cup. Some, like Liam Plunkett after the 2019 triumph, may never play for England in any format again.Related

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As such, it would be understandable if a few real-world concerns have overwritten the team’s keenest exhortations to “play our way” and “attack” the World Cup, as per Jos Buttler’s oddly manic pre-tournament pronouncement.And as the squad gathers in Mumbai ahead of Saturday’s immense clash with those inveterate World Cup worriers South Africa, the shrinks have been out in force, seeking to defankle the knots in England’s psyche.There’s Ben Stokes, the team’s “spiritual leader” in the words of head coach Matthew Mott, calling for England to “go down doing what we’re known for”. And then there’s Brendon McCullum, whose role as an ambassador of the New Zealand meat-exporting industry just happens to have given him an excuse to stay in the team hotel in Mumbai this week.England “need to stay true to their method which has brought them so much success,” McCullum told the Times this week, and seeing as it was his influence, way back at the start of their journey in 2015, that instilled the method in the first place (long before he transferred it onto the Test team), no one’s better placed to preach that particular message.Without wishing to get reductive about the mindset that has given England their superpowers across formats in recent years, the broad thrust of “Bazball” (as no one in McCullum’s presence will dare to call it) has been about embracing the joys of playing sport for a living – of casting aside the doubts and cynicism that come with age and wisdom, and just remembering how much fun it used to be to play the game as carefree kids, without a jot of expectation about the endgame.

For it was at this venue seven-and-a-half years ago, and against the same opponents too, that England’s white-ball thrusters took their first steps towards immortality

How much fun it was, to use a random example, when Joe Root sidled up to Buttler in the middle of the Wankhede on March 18, 2016 and – with 82 runs still needed from 48 balls – declared to his team-mate: “We’re cruising this – we’re absolutely cruising this.”For it was at this venue seven-and-a-half years ago, at a similarly make-or-break juncture of their first major tournament of the post-2015 era, and against the same opponents too, that England’s white-ball thrusters took their first steps towards immortality.”Embrace the naivety” was Eoin Morgan’s rallying cry in his team’s unlikely run to the final of the 2016 World T20, a seemingly throwaway slogan at the team’s arrival press conference in Mumbai, but one that took on a life of its own as his greenhorn charges defied expectations time and again (at least until their fateful ending in Kolkata, when the limits of winging it finally caught up with them).Going into that tournament, Morgan had been the only member of England’s squad with prior IPL experience. Under the directorship of Andrew Strauss, the ECB were on the brink of a new, more laissez-faire attitude to overseas franchise leagues, and in February that year, Buttler had become a notable signee for Mumbai Indians.But until that moment that Carlos Brathwaite launched Stokes’ final over of the tournament into the history books, England had cast aside any doubts about their readiness for the challenge, and simply set about enjoying the ride of their young lives. And never more so than in their group-stage clash with South Africa, where they hunted down a massive target of 230 – still to this day the highest chase in T20 World Cup history.Then as now, England’s backs had been against the wall after a shellacking in their previous group game – albeit there is a world of difference between being bested by arguably the greatest exponent of T20 batting, Chris Gayle, in an 11-sixes onslaught, and being hounded out of Delhi by Afghanistan.England must lift themselves for South Africa after a shock defeat to Afghanistan•Associated PressNevertheless, as many as ten survivors from the South Africa contest might find themselves locking horns once again this weekend – a remarkable seven from England’s ranks alone, with Root, Buttler and Stokes returning alongside Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, David Willey and even a young Reece Topley, whose second and final appearance of that campaign comprised two overs for 33 runs, and would be his last in England colours for four injury-plagued years.For Root, however, the South Africa match was his single finest hour as a T20 batter. He would play six matches in that campaign, and had the final gone England’s way, he would have been a shoo-in for Player of the Match and Tournament. And yet, for reasons of raw power on the one hand, but moreover the time constraints of his Test captaincy and ODI pre-eminence on the other, he’s only ever featured in 12 subsequent T20Is, and none since 2019.But on that night of nights, Root’s 83 from 44 balls was a declaration of his genius – a performance of incredible stillness, not unlike Aiden Markram’s recent 49-ball century against Sri Lanka in fact, in which the virtues of placement and poise transcended the blood and fury of headlong attack. In fact, until the moment of his dismissal, with 11 runs still needed from 10 balls, Root faced a mere two dot-balls out of 43 – and the first of those he would swear blind was a wide.In the course of his innings, Root even unfurled a prototype Root-scoop – a startlingly effective inverted ramp over third man for six, to bring up a 29-ball fifty. “How do players think of shots like those? Let alone execute them. What a world…” wrote Will Luke on ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary. Root for his part later admitted in White Hot, the recent book about the team’s rise and rise, “my heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest … thankfully it was exactly where I wanted it”.The first sighting of Joe Root’s reverse-ramp came at the Wankhede in 2016•AFP/Getty ImagesThis contest was not the first stirring of England’s bold new approach – that had come the previous summer against New Zealand and Australia, a thrilling pair of seat-of-the-pants rides that would finish 5-5 across the ten ODIs but later be recalled by Morgan as his favourite games in their run to the 2019 title. And to all intents and purposes, the World T20 had arrived too soon to draw any long-term conclusions about England’s new-found aptitude. Even so, an early elimination from yet another global tournament would have done the rebooted project no favours whatsoever. Whether they embraced the implications or not, the Wankhede chase was a de facto stress test of their no-consequences attitude.In the final analysis, they passed it with flying colours, with Jason Roy’s thrilling powerplay onslaught providing the bugle blast. He cracked 43 from 16 balls, including five fours, three sixes and – in league with Alex Hales – 44 runs from the first two overs of the chase.Kagiso Rabada bore the brunt of the first of those – he disappeared for 21 runs, including one of the most rifled straight drives that has ever been executed on the world stage – and he’ll be one of three South Africans back for the rematch on Saturday. Neither Quinton de Kock (52 from 24 balls) nor David Miller (28 not out from 12) has any personal reason to regret their efforts on the night, and the presence of each of them will be a reminder of quite how much situational knowhow will be distilled into the coming contest.”It was a fantastic game, one of my favourite games,” Buttler said in Mumbai on the eve of the rematch. “It had a lot of value in terms of where we were going as a team. It’s a long time ago, and that style is a different format, but we want to find different ways to put the opposition under pressure. It doesn’t always mean fours and sixes, it means can we push back when the opposition is on top, or take the initiative in different ways? That’s what we want to live by as a team, and when we commit to that, that gives us the best chance of positive results.”The challenge for both teams, therefore, will be to play without fear – like the kids that they used to be – yet manage the clutch moments with the wisdom that comes from such vast tournament experience. In terms of accessing such an elusive mindset, therefore, “embracing the naivety” is clearly no longer an option for England’s weary worldbeaters, although the manner of their eventual defeat in that year’s final might yet offer them some solace in their current plight.With two global titles in 2012 and 2016, and a further run to the final in between whiles, West Indies’ T20 team of the mid-2010s is perhaps the only recent international dynasty to rival the side that England have compiled over the past eight years. And the cool-headed mugging that they instigated in the heat of the moment in Kolkata serves as timeless evidence that – contrary to the impression that England’s frazzled veterans are currently giving off – experience when the going gets tough actually counts for everything.

The offspinner-allrounder talks about his time in the BPL, playing under MS Dhoni, and what he makes of England’s young Test spinners

Interview by Mohammad Isam08-Mar-2024This is your third season with Comilla Victorians. How has playing in the BPL been?
I played the BPL years ago but that experience wasn’t great. Over time, it got better. Comilla approached me a few years ago through Tamim [Iqbal]. He obviously left. [Umpire] Richard Illingworth asked me. He knows [team owner] AHM Mustafa Kamal.Comilla looks after me really well. They are professionally run, and one of the best franchises I have played in. I enjoy coming here. I like to play for the right reasons, that’s why I come to play for Comilla. They want to win. BPL has become a stronger competition this year. I just want to win trophies in my career.You got the second hat-trick of your career in this season’s BPL.
My son always asks me to get a hat-trick. I always tell him that it is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. When he found out that I got a hat-trick here, he was really happy. I never got even one hat-trick in backyard cricket, so I’m really happy to get two in professional cricket!Last year when Ben Stokes sent you a message to return to Test cricket, you came back into something called Bazball.
Test cricket is the best. I love playing Test cricket. It is the best format of the game. When I first retired, I was a bit down. I finished not playing so well. [Brendon] McCullum and Stokes gave me this opportunity, which I couldn’t turn down. It was the Ashes at home. I finished Test cricket with such great memories, such a high. I just absolutely loved it. I batted three, bowled spin.I feel like they are changing the face of cricket. I know they are 2-1 down in India [this interview was conducted on February 24] but they have played unbelievably. They have taken to India on difficult wickets. I love that about Bazball. There’s always a chance. The belief is there. India are also playing really well. They are also taking the game on. Look at the way [Yashasvi] Jaiswal is playing. He is doing unbelievably well.It is the way the game needs to go for people to watch. Like ODI cricket changed, Test cricket also has to change. There’s still time for proper Test match batting, but it needs to get forward. This is what Bazball is doing.Related

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How do you think Ben Stokes has captained spin bowling on the current tour of India?
He did really well. The way he backs his spinners – even when I played in the UK, he had [innovative] field settings against Australia [like] a guy dead-straight behind the [bowler’s] arm. He is always willing to do things like that. I had Joe Root and Alastair Cook as my captains [previously] but Stokesy was just different. Everyone knows that. The way he’s taking the game and team forward, it’s really amazing. In such a short period of time, he took England from not playing great cricket to amazing and entertaining cricket. Everyone is talking about Bazball. [The team themselves] actually don’t believe much in [the term]. They just want to play this brand of cricket. I think he is a special captain and a special player.What do you make of England’s spin trio – Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir – in India?
They have done really well. It’s not easy. India is a very difficult place. I know the wickets have spun nicely, still they have carried their own. I thought Hartley did really well in the first game. No matter what wicket, on debut, under pressure, the way he has battled is really, really good.This is a very inexperienced bowling attack. It is not even experienced in domestic cricket. You have to give them a lot of credit. They have kept England in the games. They bowled well. Hartley bowled really well in the first game. Bashir bowled really well today [day two in Ranchi]. Rehan hasn’t taken wickets but he has learned a lot. I think he has changed the way he bowled in red-ball cricket. They have done an excellent job. People don’t realise how hard it is against such good players of spin.How hard is it to convert from a child prodigy like Rehan was to doing well in Test cricket in India?
It is very difficult. He is a talented young player in England that everyone is talking about. There is big hype around him. They are used to this in India. They have seen become unbelievable players. They have seen people fail completely and go off the rails. Rehan will get the backing from Stokesy. He has, already. We know it will take time. They are prepared to give them as much time [as they deserve]. As long as he is doing well, Rehan will naturally take over from Adil Rashid in the white-ball formats. There’s no doubt that Rehan will come good. There is a bit of pressure. He has a good head on his shoulders. He will be fine.Moeen Ali expects 19-year-old Rehan Ahmed to go on to become an England spearhead in the white-ball sides, taking over from Adil Rashid•Ryan Pierse/Getty ImagesYou are available for the T20 World Cup that’s coming up in June. What are your plans going into the next few months?
Obviously home from here for a bit and then the IPL. After IPL, we have Pakistan [playing T20Is in England] and the World Cup [in the West Indies and USA]. I really want to defend this World Cup. We have a particularly brilliant team in T20s, provided everyone is fit.It is changing a bit now. Before you could prepare for a series or a World Cup properly. Now everyone is all over the place and you get together with the international side. I think we will do well. I think we have a very good chance.How do you regard this cricket calendar, with all the T20 leagues?
It is a great time for me. I am 36. There’s leagues everywhere. I think it is brilliant. When you have too long a break at this age, you have more chances of getting injured. I like to keep playing. As long as you are mentally fresh, two weeks of time off is enough.It is also tough. You retire from international cricket to spend more time at home, [but] you actually end up being away a lot of the time [when playing in leagues]. It is just as tough. The pressure of Test cricket is not there. Playing for a franchise has a different pressure. It is really good, but I can see that it can be a problem at the same time.You mentioned that you want to defend the T20 World Cup. Will you take lessons from the ODI World Cup last year, where England lost six out of nine games?
Definitely, it will be silly not to. I think we have learned a lot. I think we were expecting to do decently and see where it goes. The balance of the team was difficult. We changed a few things. I think we have a great chance in this T20 World Cup. It is too early to say if we are favourites, but we will be fine.Are you happy to have a floating role with bat and ball?
Whatever is good for the team. It is not just with England – in most places, a lot of the time I float. I don’t mind. When the left-handers are in, captains like to bowl me. Batting-wise, as long as I feel like I can adapt, I like to do whatever the team needs. I try to do the best I can.

” I want to look back in my career and think about what trophies I have won. It is not about my averages. It is about winning trophies and being part of a team that leaves a bit of a legacy”

Is it hard for younger players now to play a lot of red-ball cricket?
People might see a lot of players playing white-ball cricket all over the place, but it is not the same. You have to play a lot of red-ball cricket to know your batting and bowling. Your technique has to be different. It is easier to go from red ball to white than sometimes the other way around. Batsmanship has to be there. Knowing and understanding why you are not scoring runs.A lot of the players who go big in T20 cricket, when they are out of form, they are out of form for a long time because they don’t understand their own batting technique. Whereas a guy who has played a lot of red-ball cricket, their bad form in T20s is not massive because they know the techniques. They have played a lot of first-class or Test matches. I think that’s the only thing that’s going out of the game.As a young player coming through now, I would still want to play a lot of red-ball cricket to understand your own game. You just play, play, play. T20 leagues and the money will always be there.You said that Bazball is the way forward. Isn’t that sort of cricket what kids would like to play too?
Bazball is not just slogging. These guys are sweeping and reverse-sweeping more than they ever used to do. For example in India now they have sent bowlers back under pressure in tough situations. They have also soaked it up when they need to. It is about winning games at the end of the day. They won in Pakistan on three unbelievably flat wickets. They did it by scoring 400-500 runs in a day. They understood that they could move the game forward by scoring 500 in a day. It leaves enough time to bowl teams out. That would be what Bazball is, really. It is great for Test cricket.Is it trickling down to county cricket?
I think somebody who is going to bat 300 balls for a hundred nowadays is probably not going to play as much as someone who can score a hundred in 150 balls. I think that has changed in county cricket. Before Bazball, we won one game in 17 Tests. Since Bazball, we have won many games and we’ve got a great winning percentage away from home. I am a massive fan.”I think we have a great chance in this T20 World Cup. It is too early to say if we are favourites, but we will be fine”•Ashley Allen/Getty ImagesSouth-Asian-origin players like Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir are now in England’s XIs. Do you think diversity and inclusion are better in English cricket now?
Ever since I have played, it has always been good. I don’t know what it felt like before me. If you are good enough, you are going to play wherever you are from. Shoaib Bashir has hardly played any cricket. But they identified him as someone who can bowl well in India. Hartley is the same. They liked his style of bowling. They felt he can do it in India. Stokesy and these guys will go on gut feel.The ECB have been doing a great job in terms of diversity and inclusion over a period of time. Nobody ever gets it right straight away. It takes a bit of time. It is happening. I still believe that if you are good enough, you will play.You mentioned that you love the T20 leagues. Do you see yourself playing into your 40s?
I will play as long as I am playing well, as long as I feel like I can contribute to the team. I watch players like Imran Tahir. He is a massive inspiration at 44. Shoaib Malik has been playing for a long time. Not playing Tests and ODIs will prolong my career in terms of playing domestic cricket all over the world. I know there will be a time physically when I can’t play. I want to play till then.What’s it like to play under MS Dhoni in the IPL? You have been heavily involved in Chennai Super Kings’ title wins recently.
Everyone knows that Dhoni is a special player and a special captain. He is a very good guy. I have played three seasons but I don’t know what he is going to come up with. His strategic persona is really good. It is exciting as a player – what role he has for you. When you are playing for CSK with Dhoni as the captain, whether the team is weak or strong on paper, you always have a chance of winning.

“Before Bazball, we won one game in 17 Tests. Since Bazball, we have won many games and we’ve got a great winning percentage away from home. I am a massive fan”

From a personal point of view, I want to win as many trophies as I can. I want to look back in my career and think about what trophies I have won. It is not about my averages. It is about winning trophies and being part of a team that leaves a bit of a legacy. With Comilla, for example, we won the last two BPL trophies.Given cricket’s changing landscape, what would be your advice to any young cricketer starting off now in Asia, Africa or the UK?
I would tell a young kid to play as much red-ball cricket as you can. It will help your game. The reason why there haven’t been good legspinners in Tests after Shane Warne is because they haven’t played enough red-ball cricket. You have to play red-ball cricket to be a proper cricketer.It looks good from the outside, chasing all the money and playing the leagues, but for your own cricket, red-ball is the way forward. As a young cricketer, I would play overseas first-class cricket instead of T20s. Those leagues will be there [even later].The other thing I would like to say is: don’t chase after things that won’t be good for your game. Do what is right for your own game first, even if it is means staying home for a winter. Do the basics right. Get a good shape on the ball if you are a spinner. Spin the ball, become accurate. You can be an average spinner in T20s and get away with it. You have to bowl well to get wickets in red-ball cricket. I have very rarely seen people taking a lot of wickets bowling badly in red-ball cricket. Understand your game first before you want to do other stuff. That’d be my advice.

The CSK allrounder has aced many challenges in his career and he’s up against another one at this IPL

Alagappan Muthu27-Apr-20244:16

Should Moeen bat above Jadeja for CSK?

Ravindra Jadeja is having a weird season.A new recruit has bowled more than he has – which considering he plays for Chennai Super Kings – is saying something. He hasn’t been needed to complete his full quota of overs in three out of eight games – two of those at Chepauk.On the flip side, after being with CSK since 2012, last week was the first time he managed to face more than 35 balls in an innings. This is a bit of an inversion of the player he used to be. Back in the old days, people used to say Jadeja was a fielder first, bowler next and batter last.Related

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And it is so tempting to think his bowling informs his batting. Jadeja with the ball is forever urgent. He never gives the batter any time to settle and he beats them because of it. Is that why whenever he goes in to bat, he always gives himself a few deliveries to get the lay of the land first? Nearly 90% of his innings for CSK have been at No. 5 or lower and yet he tends to start slow. This season, for example, his strike rate in the first 10 balls is 120.75. Even his greatest performance for the franchise, in last year’s epic final, started with a couple of entirely non-violent drives down the ground for singles.”One of his strengths,” CSK batting coach Michael Hussey said of Jadeja on Saturday, “is being able to work the balls into the gaps, use his pace running between the wickets and picking the right times and the right bowlers to attack.”Jadeja isn’t, by any definition, a power-hitter. He is a pace-hitter. That is really why he gets pushed down the order. There’s a significantly higher chance of facing fast bowling when you walk in towards the end of the innings. In 2021, he maximised this strength to such an extent that he was not that far behind AB de Villiers’ strike rate (229 vs 195) in the death overs.It is a bit ironic that at the exact time he has won a place in CSK folklore – even gaining a title that the fans only bestow upon their favourites – Jadeja is facing a crisis on not one but two fronts. First, the pitches in Chennai aren’t offering their usual help to the spinners. He has come away wicketless in three of the four innings he’s bowled at Chepauk. And second, his touch is a little off. Last season, Jadeja faced only 21 dots in the first 10 balls of his innings. This season, even though its only halfway through, that count is already up at 16.Jadeja may have a new puzzle to solve this season•AFP/Getty Images”He’s playing, sometimes now, a slightly different role,” Hussey said, “because in the last few years he’s come in very late, batting with MS [Dhoni] towards the back end. And this year we’ve asked him a few times to come in at the No. 4 position. It’s a very different role and sometimes according to the situation, you need to just be free and go quite quickly. But other times you’ve lost a couple of wickets in the powerplay, you need to take a little bit of time to build the next partnership.”I think he’s doing a pretty good job actually, of reading the situation and playing accordingly. I know we’re seeing some games where teams are just teeing off, but if the conditions, or the match situation doesn’t dictate that, then you’ve got to play a different way. I think he’s doing a really good job and he’s adapting to the different situations of the game.”Jadeja isn’t exactly bombing in either discipline – he has a three-for, with an overall economy rate of 7.85, and a 35-ball fifty against one of the top four teams. And his spirits are pretty high. In the match against Kolkata Knight Riders, he helped wind the crowd up by putting on his gear and pretending to walk out to bat only to turn right around and take his seat so that MS Dhoni could take centre stage. It’s just that it almost feels like he’s having to learn the whole game again. What can he do when Chepauk doesn’t grip and turn? How will he deal with promotions up the order, which will expose him to situations where he won’t have pace on the ball to exploit?Jadeja has gone through his entire career with questions like those flung at him and more often than not he comes up with an answer that doesn’t just shut people up, it wins them over. “Need new haters,” he tweeted once. “The old ones are starting to like me.”

Our correspondent hands out his awards for the tournament – to Gulbadin Naib, the ICC’s fixtures planners, and others

Alan Gardner03-Jul-2024After a glorious month of scrappy batting and occasional upsets on the sticky wickets of cricket’s wild western frontiers, the T20 World Cup finished in the most beautiful way possible – with a win for the sponsors, TV broadcasters and marketing guys (and 1.4bn Indians, of course). Truly, the romance of it all was something to behold.Anyway, now the applause has died down and the winners have stopped posing for pictures with Jay Shah, it’s time to come together for the serious business of handing out the Light Roller’s awards.Best laid plans
Pakistan went into the World Cup having prepared meticulously. They had played more T20Is in 2024 than any of the other teams involved. They had coaxed Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim out of retirement – adding to their formidable knowledge bank of conditions from their time at the CPL. Sure, they had a new coach taking charge a few days from the start of the tournament, but this is Pakistan, right? Things should be a little crazy.Then they dropped their bundle against USA and not even could save them. Never mind all that CPL knowhow, they never even made it to the Caribbean.Pluckiest underdogs
Puff out your chest, put on your angriest face and scream into the sky: “USA! USA! USA!” In another magical moment for the sponsors, TV broadcasters and marketing guys, the inspired collection of cricketing waifs and strays bona fide stars-and-stripes heroes who represent the world’s biggest economy snuck through to the Super Eight thanks to memorable wins over Canada and Pakistan, with a little helping hand from the Florida weather. The ICC’s American dream – i.e. cash, and big piles of it – remains alive and well.Related

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Luckiest overdogs
Talking of feel-good stories… India broke their 13-year drought at World Cups, after which Rohit Sharma planted a weirdly undersized flagpole on the Kensington Oval outfield. All it took, after several near-misses, was the right combination of coach, captain and mindset. Okay, and a schedule where all their games started at the same time didn’t hurt. Yep, and playing their first three fixtures at the same venue (having had a warm-up match there, too). And sure, knowing where their semi-final would be several months in advance. That might have been a teensy bit useful.But still, Goliath smashed each and every David put in his path, no question about it. What’s that? No, we don’t have any more angles on the SKY catch, sorry.Best element
No sport loves its conditions more than cricket – be that the effect of rain, cloud cover or sun (which it’s possible to have too much of). But you didn’t need to tune in for long to observe which meteorological phenomenon was the star of the show in the Caribbean. What direction were the crosswinds coming from? How strong was the gale? Could either team use it to their advantage? England seemingly hired Kieron Pollard explicitly to tell them which way the wind was blowing – not that it helped them as they dropped their title for the second World Cup running.Growing-the-game-(sort-of) award
Jomboy was on commentary. Drake was posting about his bets (on India, obviously). Chuck from Boynton Beach was getting involved. The West Indies as a whole felt reinvigorated by the efforts of Rovman Powell’s charismatic team, though they only went as far in the tournament as Team USA. Which doesn’t make up for the fact that attendances were seemingly affected by the ICC’s own price-gouging (particularly in New York), and the early start times to cater for TV audiences in the subcontinent. As they don’t quite say on Mandalore: “This is the cricket way.”Gulbadin Naib: the hamstring pop heard around the world•ICC/Getty ImagesStar allrounder
Hardik Pandya was good, Andre Russell had his moments. But really, who could top the efforts of USA No. 11 Saurabh Netravalkar, the Super Over superstar of the win over Pakistan? Sure, he batted twice in the tournament and made zero runs. But this guy not only does a tidy job with his left-arm swing opening the bowling, he’s a qualified computer engineer who can play the ukulele and also belt out a tune. Could do with working on his catching, though.Best theatrical performance
Afghanistan’s final Super Eight encounter with Bangladesh contained more tension and drama than an episode of . Rashid Khan chewing out team-mate Karim Janat for declining a second run was pure Hollywood star-vehicle material, while the regular rain interruptions kept the plot twisting and turning until the end. But the Oscar, of course, has to go to Gulbadin Naib, whose sudden attack of cramp just before the rain started to fall harked back to Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and the golden age of silent movies. Was he following team orders? Was there a shooter on the grassy knoll? Perhaps we’ll never know.Life-comes-at-you-fast award
One week you’re openly musing about the possibility of helping to engineer your oldest rival’s exit from the tournament by rigging the net run rate in your group – and shame on you, desperate scoundrels of the media, for faithfully transcribing the words as they came out of Josh Hazlewood’s mouth – the next you’re pinning your hopes on Bangladesh doing you an NRR favour in the final game of the Super Eight. Advance Australia fair? Not this time.Undisputed champions in their field
Did you see it coming? Perhaps you imagined that a run of eight wins in a row, several of them by close margins, had put an end to the curse. Perhaps facing the might of India in the final would free them up, giving a free pass to have a crack and damn the consequences. Perhaps you thought they were safe, thanks to the Heinrich Manoeuvre… But never mind the c-word, character is destiny and South Africa know things that we don’t. Like how to stuff a requirement of 30 from 30 balls with six wickets in hand.

Also: how often has a batter been stumped in both innings of a Test?

Steven Lynch03-Sep-2024Gus Atkinson just scored his maiden first-class century in a Test match. How rare is this? asked Jamie Willows from Ireland
Gus Atkinson clearly has a liking for Sri Lankan bowlers: his previous highest score in first-class cricket was 91, for Surrey against the touring Sri Lanka Development XI in Guildford in 2022. Jamie Smith, now an England team-mate, was also playing for Surrey in that game; Nishan Madushka, who also played in the Lord’s Test, was among the opposition.Atkinson’s accomplished 118 at Lord’s made him the 46th player to have scored his maiden first-class century in a Test. Only four players from that list had done it for England before Atkinson – three wicketkeepers, plus Stuart Broad, with 169 against Pakistan in 2010, also at Lord’s. The keepers were Henry Wood (134 not out against South Africa in Cape Town in 1891-92), Billy Griffith (140 against West Indies in Port-of-Spain in 1947-48) and Jack Russell (128 not out against Australia at Old Trafford in 1989). Here’s the full list of players who made their first first-class hundred in a Test .In only his second Test at Lord’s, Atkinson made sure his name was on all three honours boards there (centuries, five-fors, and ten wickets in a match): earlier this summer, on his Test debut against West Indies, he took 7 for 45 and 5 for 61. He’s only the sixth man to have scored a century and taken ten wickets in a match in Lord’s Tests. Four others have made a century and taken five wickets in an innings.Joe Root just scored another Test century at Lord’s. Is that the record there? What’s the most on a single ground? asked Derek Mills from England
Joe Root followed 143 in the first innings against Sri Lanka last week at Lord’s with 103 in the second. The first hundred was his sixth in Tests there, equalling Graham Gooch and Michael Vaughan, and the seventh gave him sole possession of the ground record. Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen both hit five centuries at Lord’s. The most by a visiting player is three, by India’s Dilip Vengsarkar.The most on any ground is 11, by Mahela Jayawardene at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, where he played no fewer than 27 Tests. Jacques Kallis scored nine hundreds in 22 matches at Newlands in Cape Town, but Don Bradman made nine in only 11 appearances in Melbourne, where he averaged 128. A later Australian captain, Michael Clarke, scored seven centuries in only ten Tests in Adelaide.Bangladesh hold the record for the highest declared first-innings total in a defeat – 595 for 8 in Wellington in 2017•Getty ImagesPakistan lost to Bangladesh after declaring with only six wickets down in their first innings. How many teams have declared in their first innings but lost? asked Tariq from Pakistan
Pakistan’s defeat to Bangladesh in Rawalpindi last week turns out to be the 26th time that a team has declared their first innings in a Test match but gone on to lose. Six of those involved higher totals than Pakistan’s 448 for 6: highest of all is Bangladesh’s own 595 for 8 declared against New Zealand in Wellington in 2016-17.However, only two other teams have lost after declaring their first innings with only six wickets down: England (551 for 6) against Australia in Adelaide in 2006-07, and India (306 for 6) against West Indies in Kingston in 1975-76 (a controversial match in which several Indian batters were injured).Saud Shakeel was stumped in both innings in the Test against Bangladesh. How often has this happened? asked Ayan Ghosh from India
The double stumping of Saud Shakeel during Pakistan’s defeat by Bangladesh in Rawalpindi last week was the 24th time this had happened in a Test. Shakeel was the first Pakistan player to suffer this fate, although as it happens, the previous man to be stumped twice in a match was born in Pakistan – Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe, who suffered this fate against Sri Lanka in Harare in 2019-20.When Brian Lara scored his quadruple-century, which bowler conceded the most runs? It looks like Gareth Batty, but that’s not certain… asked John Hastings from England
When Brian Lara amassed 400 not out – still the highest individual score in Tests – in St John’s in Antigua in 2003-04, 130 of his runs came off the bowling of England’s offspinner Gareth Batty, who finished with 2 for 185. Lara scored the following off the other bowlers – Simon Jones: 83 runs, Matthew Hoggard: 50, Steve Harmison: 38, Andrew Flintoff and Michael Vaughan: 36, and Marcus Trescothick: 27.According to the indefatigable Australian statistician Charles Davis, Batty lies third on the list of runs conceded by one bowler to a single batter in a Test innings. He’s behind the Sri Lankan offspinner Suraj Randiv, who leaked 143 runs while Chris Gayle was running up 333 for West Indies in Galle in 2010-11; and the Australian slow left-armer Chuck Fleetwood-Smith, who conceded 136 to Len Hutton during his 364 in the Ashes Test at The Oval in 1938. Fleetwood-Smith finished with 1 for 298, still the most expensive figures in Test history.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Captain Bavuma and head coach Conrad are happy for curators to prepare the pitches as they would like

Firdose Moonda25-Nov-2024It’s a stereotype as common as they come: go to the subcontinent and expect to be spun out, come to South Africa and watch your head (and all your other belongings – but that’s a different conversation). Except this time.South Africa will not prepare green tops for their four must-win Test matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan this summer.Despite what gut instincts may say about the best way for them to maximise home advantage and even though they are playing Sri Lanka at venues where they lost five years ago, South Africa will leave it to individual ground staff to and hope for fair surfaces for their matches.Related

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“We’re not at liberty to instruct the groundsmen to prepare what we’d like. We just try to play on whatever has been prepared,” Temba Bavuma, South Africa’s captain said in Pretoria, where the team held their preparation camp before traveling to Durban for the first Test. “And there’s not a lot of concern from my side where we are playing Sri Lanka. Obviously Sri Lanka will be confident in those two venues because they were successful but we’re not going to ask for specific conditions”Sri Lanka beat South Africa in Durban and Gqeberha in 2019 but lost the next series in 2020-21, when they were beset by a spate of injuries. But that 2019 series was the first time a subcontinent side had beaten South Africa in a home series, which some say makes the decision to go back to those venues curious. Durban, in particular, has been a difficult place for South Africa in the last 15 years. Since March 2009, South Africa have played 10 Tests at Kingsmead and lost seven, including two each to Sri Lanka (their first Test win in the country came in 2011), Australia and England and one to India. Their last outing was in March 2022, when they beat Bangladesh by 220 runs, at the end of the Covid-19 restrictions, with a side that was depleted by the absence of IPL-bound players, which made up most of the first-choice attack.But Test coach Shukri Conrad is not buying into the talk that the coastal venues are more suited to subcontinent teams and wants to reclaim them as places South Africa consider their own. “You can’t play all your cricket at Centurion and the Wanderers,” he said earlier this month, referring to the Highveld venues which do give pace bowlers the edge. “We’ve got a fan base in Durban. We’ve got a fan base in Gqeberha and we’re looking forward to playing Test matches there.”Like Bavuma, he does not expect the groundstaff to prepare anything other than what is usually expected of them. “We just want good cricketing wickets,” he said. “That’s all I can ask for.”Keshav Maharaj is expected to play an important role in South Africa’s upcoming home Tests•AFP/Getty ImagesSo what might that be?First up, at Kingsmead, Durban’s long-serving groundsman Wilson Ngobese will retire at the end of this year and has been handing over the reins to his successor Wonderboy Khanyile. Along with former Newlands and Wanderers groundsman Evan Flint, a prodigy of Ngobese’s, who has been working in Kwa-Zulu Natal as a consultant, they have prepared the Test pitch together. It should be livelier than it is for domestic matches, where the local team, the Dolphins tend to prefer it slower and lower.”I was in conversation with Evan and it’ll be one of the new wickets and Evan guarantees me there’ll be some good pace,” Conrad said. “Domestically, they prepare it to spin because of the strength of their bowlers so I think the Dolphins go out deliberately preparing spinning wickets.”That is in stark contrast to the messaging of five years ago when, under Ottis Gibson, South Africa’s groundstaff were instructed to prepare green-tops, particularly for a 2017-18 series against India. The Wanderers got it so badly wrong that the pitch was rated poor and they were handed three demerit points, which have since expired. Gibson wanted to maximise the advantage an attack of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi could give South Africa, at the expense of their batters. South Africa’s ability to score big runs diminished to the point that between January 2018 and December 2021, only West Indies (among teams in the World Test Championship) had fewer centurions.The second Test at St George’s Park could see plenty of movement off the seam and perhaps even reverse swing come into play. “If you look at the records domestically, [Warriors allrounder] Beyers Swanepoel, for example, takes a host of wickets there,” Conrad said. Swanepoel has 52 first-class wickets from nine matches at the venue at an average of 14.44. “It can be very favourable for seamers as well.”It is also known to take turn later on, and South Africa back their first-choice left-arm spinner, Keshav Maharaj, to take centre stage. “You want spin later on in the game and why we play arguably one of the best spinners in the world in Keshav in our side,” Conrad said.South Africa have also included spin-bowling allrounder Senuran Muthusamy, who took a career-best 4 for 45 in Bangladesh last month, in the squad but have no room for offspinner Dane Piedt or wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi, which suggests that even if there is turn, they’re not expecting it to be that big.All the discussion over home advantage is pressing because of what is at stake for the hosts. South Africa need to win all four of their remaining matches to guarantee a place in the World Test Championship final. They could still get there with three wins but would be dependent on other results. Either way, their fate lies in their own hands and they don’t plan on putting it in conditions.

WPL could allow these players to regain their spots, or enter India’s white-ball set-up in a home ODI World Cup year

S Sudarshanan10-Feb-2025Shafali Verma (Delhi Capitals)Shafali returned to domestic cricket after being dropped by India last November. She was the leading run-getter in the Senior Women’s One Day Trophy (527 runs, 152.31 strike rate, 75.29 average) and the Senior Women’s One Day Challenger Trophy (414 runs, 145.26 strike rate, 82.80 average). Few batters can attack the ball at the top of the order like Shafali does, and at DC, she has forged a successful opening partnership with Meg Lanning. Consistently with the bat could help Shafali seal an India comeback with a tour of England in July and then for the ODI World Cup at home to come.”To be honest, the past few months have been tough for me,” she said in a DC media release. “My father suffered a heart attack, and just a couple of days later, I was dropped from the ODI squad. I’ve realised that my job is to score runs whenever I get the opportunity, and that’s where I want to focus. The only thing in my control is my preparation. If I train well and score runs, I know I can come back stronger.”Related

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Arundhati Reddy (Delhi Capitals)Reddy was dropped from the India side despite making decent returns. She bagged seven wickets at the T20 World Cup last year, the joint-most for India. Then she played just one match on India’s dismal tour of Australia, where she picked up 4 for 26 in Perth although India lost the ODIs 3-0. It was Reddy’s WPL 2024 show with the ball for DC that had enabled her to make a national comeback.She can move the ball both ways and has the ability to bowl a mean yorker. A return to familiar comforts of the WPL could help. With Pooja Vastrakar under an injury cloud, India could use a seam-bowling allrounder like Reddy in the side.Kashvee Gautam (Gujarat Giants)Gautam had first made headlines when she picked up ten wickets in an innings, including a hat-trick, for Chandigarh in an Under-19 one-dayer in 2020. Then, in December 2023, she was selected by GG for a record INR 2 crore at the auction. But an injury had ruled her out of WPL 2024. Gautam made a successful comeback in the domestic one-dayers earlier this season. A fast-bowling-allrounder, she can hit the deck hard and bowl at high speeds, a quality which India seemed to lack in the ODIs in Australia as well as in a few home games last season.During the 2024-25 domestic season, Saika Ishaque worked on her fitness and fielding skills•BCCISaika Ishaque (Mumbai Indians)Since the last ODI World Cup in 2022, India have tried six left-arm spinners, with none being able to cement their spots. While a good show with the ball for DC in WPL 2023 – ten wickets in nine matches, third-most for them – allowed Radha Yadav to make a comeback, a similar showing from Ishaque could help her add to her four international caps.During the 2024-25 domestic season, Ishaque worked on her fitness and fielding skills while captaining Bengal to a runners-up finish in both white-ball domestic competitions. She also returned 17 wickets in the one-dayers, and 13 wickets in the T20s, both the most for Bengal.Raghvi Bist (Royal Challengers Bengaluru)A hard-hitting middle-order batter who bowls seam, Bist could well force herself into the reckoning for the World Cup if she has a memorable maiden season in the WPL. Bist has been vocal about her love for hitting sixes and helped Uttarakhand make the final of both the domestic T20s and the one-dayers in 2023-24. In 2024-25, along with Nandini Kashyap, who will play for DC, Bist helped Uttarakhand to the quarter-final of the T20 competition. There she scored 158 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 129.50, and hit five sixes. Bist even bowls medium pace with a wrong-footed action.Injuries haven’t helped Yastika Bhatia’s cause•Getty ImagesYastika Bhatia (Mumbai Indians)The presence of a big-hitting finisher like Richa Ghosh may provide little or no scope for another wicketkeeper-batter in India’s XI, but injuries haven’t helped Bhatia’s cause either. She played the three ODIs against New Zealand at home last October, but injured her wrist during her maiden WBBL stint afterwards, causing her to miss the tour of Australia.Bhatia was not picked for the subsequent home series against West Indies and Ireland though she was fit, and was part of the Senior Women’s One Day Challenger Trophy instead. Harleen Deol is the incumbent No. 3 for India, but Bhatia’s ability to get off to quick starts could help her case. Bhatia’s road to reclaiming her spot in the national side, at least as a back-up wicketkeeper, could pass through WPL 2025, where she will face some of the world’s best bowlers while opening the batting for MI.

And which Indian Test bowler has sent down the most overs after age 35?

Steven Lynch02-Sep-2025Mackay in Australia hosted a one-day international again recently for the first time in 33 years. Was this a record gap for a single venue? asked Karthik Ramanan from India
The Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay staged two matches in Australia’s recent off-season white-ball series against South Africa. The ground – formerly known as Harrup Park – had previously held just one men’s international, the match between India and Sri Lanka during the 1992 World Cup. That one lasted only two balls before it rained, so the locals had to wait a long time for some meaningful cricket (men’s, anyway; the ground has staged five women’s white-ball internationals).The 33-year gap between men’s internationals is the second longest for any ground, and the identity of the first one is a bit of a surprise, considering the ground concerned had held its country’s first Test: it’s St George’s Park in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), which saw no international cricket between Tests against England in February 1914 and March 1949, a gap of more than 35 years.Mackay lies second, but there’s another slight surprise in third place: Edgbaston in Birmingham did not have an international match for nearly 28 years between 1929 and 1957. There were only Test matches back then, so no opportunities for occasional ODIs or T20Is.The Bulawayo Athletic Club in Zimbabwe went more than 25 years without staging a men’s international (1992-2018), while Essex’s County Ground in Chelmsford went almost 24 years without one between the 1999 World Cup and Ireland’s transplanted home series against Bangladesh in May 2023.I noticed in On This Day that Richard Illingworth scored 13 in both innings of his Test debut. I’m assuming that two ducks is the most common such double, but what’s the highest? asked David Cohen from Australia
Ten men managed a higher debut double than Richard Illingworth’s brace of 13s against West Indies at Trent Bridge in July 1991. Highest of all was two 36s, by South Africa’s Dan Taylor against England in Durban in February 1914. Dan was the younger brother of Herbie Taylor, one of South Africa’s early greats, and their captain in that series.Syed Abid Ali of India and Bangladesh’s Soumya Sarkar both scored twin 33s on debut, while in the 19th century Bernard Tancred made two 29s in South Africa’s very first Test, against England in Port Elizabeth in March 1889. The England pair of Arthur Carr and Mark Ramprakash both started their Test careers with two scores of 27.You’re right that a pair of ducks is the most frequent (and most unwanted) debut double: in all, 46 men and nine women have suffered this fate.Who has bowled the most overs among Indian Test fast bowlers after 35 years of age? And who has taken the most wickets? asked Chetan Mishra from New Zealand
The fact is there haven’t been many Indian fast bowlers aged 35 or more: top of the list is Lala Amarnath, with 28 wickets, followed by Zaheer Khan with 16 and Umesh Yadav with 12. Amarnath bowled the equivalent of 503 overs, Zaheer 195.3, and Yadav 124. Vijay Hazare bowled the equivalent of 199 overs at a fairly modest pace, and took only nine wickets.If you lump in all Indian bowlers then Anil Kumble leads the way with 154 wickets after turning 35, while R Ashwin took 114 (note that this could exclude wickets taken in matches during which the player celebrated his 35th birthday).Among pace bowlers worldwide, James Anderson took the remarkable total of 224 Test wickets after his 35th birthday, while Courtney Walsh had 180 and Richard Hadlee 116.Lala Amarnath sent down about 503 overs and took 28 wickets after turning 35•Getty ImagesWhich Test ground (which has staged more than ten matches) has the highest average runs per wicket? I’m thinking Adelaide Oval… or perhaps somewhere in Pakistan? asked Andrew Dowling from China
An interesting question, and your first guess is not far off: as this list shows, Adelaide Oval lies seventh overall, with an average of 35.07 runs per wicket, and it has staged many more Tests than the grounds above it – 83 so far, with Georgetown’s Bourda Oval (36.26) next of those higher up, with 30 matches.On top overall is the Antigua Recreation Ground, with an average of 38.47 runs per wicket from 22 Tests: next comes McLean Park in Napier, which just scrapes in with ten Tests, in which the average is 37.99. After Bourda (and not including Adelaide), there’s a run of subcontinental grounds: Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium (36.07), Mohali (35.7), Chattogram (35.16), Lahore (35.05), Kanpur (34.9), Delhi (34.86), the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo (34.73), Rawalpindi (34.71) and Ahmedabad’s Modi Stadium (34.5). The top English ground is Trent Bridge in Nottingham at 32.55.I gather from Wisden that Shane Warne dismissed 236 different batsmen in his career. Is this a record? asked N Ravikanth from India
I suppose this is the opposite to last week’s question about the bowler with the most unique wickets. You’re right that Shane Warne dismissed 236 different batters in Tests, but the list is headed – as you might expect – by the overall leading wicket-taker, Muthiah Muralidaran. He’s clearly fond of round numbers, as he took 800 wickets in all, made up of 300 different opponents.Warne actually lies fourth on this list, also behind Anil Kumble, who dismissed 264 different batters, and James Anderson (263). He’s just ahead of Stuart Broad (234).Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions