Meet Jim Perchard, who turned his agricultural land in Jersey into a world-class cricket ground

Peter Della Penna06-Jul-20185:35

The story of the Farmer’s Field cricket ground in Jersey

“If you build it, he will come.”Those are the words whispered by a mysterious voice to Kevin Costner in 1989’s Field of Dreams, whereupon the Iowa corn farmer decides to plow out part of his farmland to build his very own baseball field.Hollywood fantasy turned reality the better part of two decades later – albeit with a slight twist toward another bat-and-ball sport – on a tiny island off the north-west coast of France. That’s where Jersey potato farmer Jim Perchard decided to convert his farmland into a cricket field.”There were hundreds and thousands of little smallholdings in Jersey,” says Perchard, a 61-year-old whose family history goes back several hundred years on the island. “Every little corner was cultivated. To see a field, a patch of this size now, I suspect my great grandparents would be surprised that it’s not growing food for cattle, or potatoes or vegetables. But that’s it now. Life changed and recreation is an important part of life. People need space like this.”Officially the Farmers Field belongs not to Perchard but to Farmers Cricket Club, founded in 1977, and named because, you guessed it, most of the club’s membership were farmers who played socially in their spare time. Perchard’s brother Rob is the club’s president, and Jim leases the ground to the club for a nominal fee of £50 per year, but for all intents and purposes, it is Jim Perchard’s baby.”I come out sometimes early morning at 6 o’clock in the summer, the birds are tweeting away, there’s quite a racket, the sun comes up just on the east boundary and I just watch it peering over those trees,” says Perchard, whose family home is on the same property as the cricket ground and remaining potato farmland. “It’s good, it’s a great feeling, I do get a buzz and I’m never bored of it.”It’s fabulous and it’s seasonal, which is good. It’s not grinding you all the year round. So I look forward to September, when we start to wind up the [cricket] year. The field does nothing in the winter. All I do is just maintain it, which is very low maintenance. So it’s a sort of six-seven month project and then I switch off. But I’m always delighted when April comes again and off we go.”The agricultural shot: Jim Perchard turned his field in Jersey from crops to cricket•Peter Della Penna/ESPNcricinfo LtdSo how did it all come about? When it was founded 41 years ago, Farmers CC lacked its own facility. Perchard says the members of the club would routinely toy with the idea of building their own ground during post-match pub sessions, but discussions usually died down by the final round of drinks. It partly took pressure from Perchard’s own kids to turn the huff and puff into tangible plans.”They didn’t want to play just friendly cricket with their dad, so they joined a cricket club,” Perchard says. “We used to go watch them on other fields, play cricket.””I suppose all that conspired to me saying, ‘Well, I’m only here once. I own land and I’m very fortunate. I’m going to apply to the local authorities for permission to change the use from agricultural to recreational and apply for a cricket club.’After two years Perchard got permission from the planning department, in August 2003. Over the next 18 months it was all hands on deck from Farmers CC to raze the crops, level the ground, grow outfield grass and lay a turf square, as well as building a pavilion.And so it was that small potatoes turned into big aspirations in the form of a cricket ground that has hosted a host of cricket personalities and teams in the years since Mike Gatting and Geoffrey Boycott helped christen the facility at its opening in May 2005.”It’s literally amazing to have a ground like that on the back doorstep,” says Charles Perchard, Jim’s son and the current Jersey national captain. Jersey, which has an island-wide population of 100,000, punches above its weight in WCL Division Four of the global 50-over rankings ladder.”Me and my brother and my dad used to go down there every day after school, in the nets training hard, it’s really brilliant and I’m so lucky. He’s unbelievably committed to it.”Meet the Perchards: Jim and Susan (first and fourth from left) with their children Holly, Charles and James•Peter Della Penna/ESPNcricinfo LtdWithin a few years that commitment helped the ground earn a reputation as one of the premier non-stadium facilities in Associate cricket. In the pavilion hang flags of all the visiting countries that have played there, and plaques of recognition from the ICC for each time the ground has served as a host venue for international tournaments – among them World Cricket League events in 2008, 2013 and 2016.Aside from the various Associate sides, such as USA, Nepal, Oman, Germany, Vanuatu and more, who have all toured Jersey and played at Farmers Field, numerous county sides and junior festival touring teams have come through, including, among others, the likes of a teenage Joe Root.”Some set-ups bring the best out of you,” says USA fast bowler Usman Shuja, his country’s leading one-day wicket-taker, who in 2008 claimed a pair of five-wicket hauls in that year’s WCL Division Five. “Farmers Field is one of those special set-ups for me. That wicket was very kind to me. I wish I could pack the wicket and take it with me all around the world.”USA wound up losing in the semi-final to Jersey in that tournament, in a match played elsewhere on the island, causing Shuja to lament that the match wasn’t scheduled at Farmers. Upon returning to the ground for the third-place match, against Nepal, he took another five-wicket haul.To Shuja, an important aspect of Farmers is of the Perchard family’s association with the facility. Apart from Jim and Charles, oldest son James Jr is the Farmers CC fixtures secretary and first XI captain, Jim’s wife Susan is Farmers CC treasurer and sometimes tea lady, along with daughter Holly. “The history and the homey feel of the club made it special,” Shuja says. “Cricket is truly a way of life for the Perchard family and Farmers cricket community.”It rained a lot during our tour, so the fields required a lot of work. I remember seeing Jim in his hat working diligently and tirelessly to get the field ready for the Mozambique game. Then someone told me that he is also one of Jersey’s senators, which took me by surprise.”The club, run by a community of farmers, has gone on to produce several national players for Jersey•Peter Della Penna/ESPNcricinfo LtdIndeed, Perchard served one six-year term in Jersey’s government after winning an election bid to serve as a senator in 2005. But six years later he decided not to run for a second term, announcing he wanted to pursue personal and business interests.Perchard’s children have all pursued professional opportunities outside of the world of agriculture, which makes them the first generation of Perchards who won’t be continuing the centuries-old family tradition of farming. This contributed to the family patriarch’s decision to lease his remaining potato cropland out to other farmers, generating an income that allows him to spend the majority of his time maintaining Farmers Field.Perchard says his background in farming gave him the best training possible for creating a cricket field. “I spent a lifetime in agriculture, so I’m used to using machines, tilling soil. We had a herd of cows, so we were good at growing grass. I knew soil and water. I’d spent my lifetime with it.”I’d also spent a lifetime loving cricket and just watching carefully what the groundspeople do and what a good wicket is: a dry wicket, a grassy wicket, a wicket that has been hammered and been cut too close. So I’ve learnt my skills, but I’ve sort of got my own brand of cricket strip up here and it’s popular at the moment, so I’ve been very careful not to change too much.””The loam I use up here is a heavy clay loam, 35% clay, imported from the UK, only responds if I water it. I need to water it and then bake it, and between those two find the optimum time to get the roller on. If you can imagine pastry or Play-Doh, it’s nice and pliable when it’s just moist. If it’s too wet, it’s sloppy. If it’s too dry, it crumbles. It’s actually not very different to what I’m doing there.”Timing is critical, and understanding weather forecasts. As a farmer, I used to have to make sure I understood the weather. What can happen in one day sometimes takes three days if the weather is not quite the same.”Perchard says the biggest point of pride for him is seeing the number of Jersey national team players who have developed by virtue of being a part of Farmers CC in the era of Farmers Field. Of the recent national squad, five players – Charles Perchard, Ben Stevens, Ben Kynman, Rhys Palmer and Harrison Carlyon – are members of Farmers CC who get to play on a weekly basis at the facility.Farmers Field has regularly hosted Jersey-Guernsey matches in recent years, and Jersey have got the best of the rivalry•Peter Della Penna/ESPNcricinfo Ltd”They may never have made the Jersey team, their passion for cricket may not even exist, had it not been for this club,” Perchard says. “Throwing balls at those kids ten or 11 years ago, when they were just ten or 11 years old, it’s incredibly satisfying to see them walk out in a Jersey jumper, knowing that I had a little bit to do with that.”I remember saying once, ‘They’re all my sons.’ I feel like that about even the lads that don’t play at this club. They practise here. I know they like coming here, and I leave them messages on the changing room wall, ‘Welcome home boys, get stuck in today.’ It’s great that they like playing here, they want to be here, and it makes you proud.”Despite its already impressive reputation, there’s always room for improvement. Perchard says they try to add “a little bit” each year. A few years ago that meant a barbeque patio on one side of the pavilion to contribute to the social atmosphere for big matches. Another addition was a Lord’s-style honours board inside the pavilion, marking centuries and five-wicket hauls taken at the ground.Farmers hosted the annual Inter-Insular against Guernsey in 2014, as well as two other matches between the two sides at ICC tournaments in 2015 and 2016, all three of which resulted in wins for Jersey.In 2017, floodlights were installed, and Jersey’s inaugural T20 club match under lights was played between a Farmers CC XI and an all-island Jersey Royals XI.It was another milestone for the ground at the intersection of La Rue du Hucquet and Rue de la Vignette in the Jersey parish of Saint Martin, about six kilometres north of the port capital of Saint Helier.”I’m not quite sure what I envisaged when we started out other than playing some friendly games on our own cricket field,” Perchard says. “There was no master plan, but as is often the case, when you become a bit compulsive-obsessive, you’re always looking to improve what you’ve got, and I have become a bit compulsive-obsessive with this cricket ground. It takes over my summer, my family’s summer, and I love it. It’s the best place to be.”

Much like his famous uncle, the 33-year-old Irfan Afridi bowls legspin and gives the ball a mighty whack

Peter Della Penna08-Nov-2018At the top of his mark stands a man called Afridi. The wily legspinner struts in, whirls through his action, left arm swinging through first and ending fully extended to create a beautiful straight line in sync with his left leg, pirouetting à la Mikhail Baryshnakov on the crease. The right hand with his rubbery wrist gives the ball its snappy revolutions out of the hand, with an extra bit of action imparted with a flick of the fingers.Seeing how his team-mates have failed to keep Afridi from knocking back the stumps while trying to defend him on the front foot and the back foot, the batsman tries to attack with a sweep, but the skiddy pace is too quick for the shot and the ball hits the pad. A deep-throated “Howzat!” is roared. The umpire’s finger goes up, and Afridi strikes an unmistakable starfish pose, both arms hoisted up and out at a 60-degree angle, index fingers pointed to the sky in triumph.Everything looks so familiar… except the receding hairline, and the yellow jersey. This isn’t the elder statesman with a full, Grecian-formula black mane, wearing green with the gold star over the heart for Pakistan. It’s a slightly younger – albeit balding – man dressed in bright yellow with black-and-red trim, and a crane stamped over his heart for Uganda. This Afridi is the 33-year-old Irfan, bowling his adopted homeland into a promotion slot to climb up the World Cricket League ladder so that one day he might be able to play in a World Cup just like his more heralded uncle Shahid.Since making his international debut against Qatar at Nairobi in September 2016, Afridi has quickly emerged as a devastating match-winner. Perhaps not since Kenneth Kamyuka, the star medium-pace allrounder of the 2000s, has Uganda possessed a talent that can pose a threat to higher-ranked Associate opposition. Which makes it all the more remarkable that Afridi says he never played a game of hard-ball cricket in his life until moving to Uganda in early 2013, at the age of 28.”The whole time in Karachi, I didn’t play hard ball. Just tape ball, tennis ball,” Afridi tells ESPNcricinfo. If that’s not enough of an obstacle to making an international debut, consider that Afridi barely played any cricket of any kind during his prime years of 24 to 28 because he was doing electrical wiring for a business in Seoul, South Korea. He might still be there today if his uncle Mushtaq, Shahid’s younger brother, didn’t have plans for a new venture in Kampala.”My uncle wanted to start a business in Uganda so that’s why he told me to go to Uganda,” Afridi says. “My uncle sent me here for business. We started a business for import and exporting cars. So from there I started my cricket. I never played hard ball in my life before. I started in Uganda.”Irfan Afridi does the starfish in homage to his uncle after taking a wicket•Peter Della PennaUganda’s East African neighbor Kenya may be considered by most to have a much richer cricket history, thanks to five straight World Cup appearances beginning in 1996 including a trip to the semi-finals in 2003, but Uganda has its share of achievements as well. A little-known fact is that a pair of Ugandans debuted in the World Cup long before anyone from Ireland or Afghanistan. John Nagenda and Sam Walusimbi opened the bowling and batting respectively for East Africa – a squad comprising players from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia – against New Zealand on the first day of the inaugural tournament at Edgbaston in 1975.Afridi knew nothing of this, let alone much else to do with Ugandan cricket culture, before arriving to work on behalf of his uncle Mushtaq, but before long he saw that cricket was plentiful in a healthy club scene. Former Ugandan pace bowler Asadu Seiga was friendly with Afridi, and invited him to come play a leather-ball match for the first time for Seiga’s club Tornado CC.”I played one game for his club. From there I started my career,” Afridi says. “When I played the first game, from there they saw me. My friend Asadu told me, ‘You can play hard ball. So why are you not trying?’ So from there I started to play. Then I tried to come into the national team.”He was the one who brought me in. Every time he was telling me, ‘Afridi do that. Push yourself, work hard. You will get a chance. I want to see you in a yellow national-team jersey for Uganda.’ So he helped me a lot.”Seiga may have helped Afridi get exposure locally, but Afridi has helped Uganda in a big way at recent tournaments. At WCL Division Four in Malaysia this past May, his mystery spin – “80% legspin, 10% offspin and 10% carom balls”, as he puts it – produced a tournament-best 15 wickets to propel Uganda to the tournament title. He followed that up at the ICC World T20 Africa T20 Region B Qualifier with another tournament-best haul of 13 wickets to help Uganda progress to the next phase of qualifying.”He’s been bowling well, and has the ball he pushes with his finger and it’s not easy to play it,” Uganda captain Roger Mukasa says about Afridi’s variations. “People have been struggling with it a lot. His performance is so big for the team and he works hard. He’s played a big role in the team especially in bowling. He’s the guy who gets wickets for us and batting, he can hit the ball far.”Though bowling is his main weapon, Afridi is also capable of producing blistering batting cameos in the middle order just like his uncle. At 2017 WCL Division Three in Uganda, he clobbered an unbeaten 108 off 71 balls featuring 10 sixes in a win over Malaysia while his 51 off 17 balls against Vanuatu at Division Four got Uganda out of a sticky situation to lift them to another win.Afridi’s success is also significant due to the turbulent history of the Asian population in Uganda, who were mostly driven out by Idi Amin in 1972, early in the dictator’s reign. Only in recent years have Asian cricketers been accepted into the national team, and Afridi says he owes a huge debt of gratitude to the support shown to him by captain Mukasa, vice-captain Brian Masaba, and senior spinner Frank Nsubuga.”Every time they push me and they help me, just saying, ‘We are with you, we are with you. Push yourself, work hard.’ Everyone in the team is with me and they help me a lot,” Afridi says.”They’re saying I’m a good bowler and I’m playing for Uganda. I’m in the national team so from there they try to push me more. They help me and push me so that the more that I can do more for my country, for Uganda, I do more. So they help me a lot.”Aside from Seiga, Mukasa, Masaba and Nsubuga, Afridi has also been motivated in a peculiar way by uncle Shahid. The Pakistan international Shahid’s career took off after a century in his first ODI innings against Sri Lanka as a 16-year-old in 1996, meaning he was hardly around while Irfan was growing up. Instead of getting hands-on tips, Irfan has taken to studying as much of his uncle’s video footage as he can in order to improve his own game.”I just watch him on TV,” Afridi says. “The way he’s bowling, the way he runs up, the batting style, just I’m following from the TV. Mostly I’m watching his videos on YouTube, so I’m picking from there.”Now he knows I’m playing for Uganda. After the 17-ball 51 runs, he heard the news so I got a text message from him saying, ‘Very well played.’ I’m feeling very happy and appreciate it from my uncle.”As the start of WCL Division Three approaches in Oman, the starfish celebration may be ready to break out once again for Uganda. The jersey color might be a striking yellow instead of green and the hair a bit thinner on top, but there’s little doubt about the match-winning impact of another Afridi in international cricket.

Eleven players who were on the plane to Oman for a three-match series last year are guaranteed to be absent when USA return next month

Peter Della Penna03-Oct-2018When USA organised a squad to go off to the Middle East last December for five matches – one each against Kenya and Nepal in Abu Dhabi followed by a three-match series in Oman – the initiative was labeled by USA Cricket as a development tour to “build on” momentum from USA’s historic Auty Cup win over Canada. Ten months later on the eve of USA’s return to Oman for WCL Division Three, that exercise from the end of 2017 is retrospectively looking more like a teardown tour.Eleven players who were on the plane to Oman last year are guaranteed to be absent when USA return next month. That list now includes Ibrahim Khaleel, who was named USA captain in September 2017 with a long-term vision to lead the side through the end of the 2020 World T20 qualifying process in 2019, but found himself abruptly written off by USA’s selection panel on Tuesday. In a period of instability where there has seemingly been no clearly defined strategy for building and keeping faith in a core unit of players, Khaleel’s axing further highlights the issue.A major catalyst for the high rate of turnover since the start of the year can be traced back to the ICC’s decision to revise its player eligibility guidelines which lowered the threshold to three years of residency with no limit on non-passport holders in a starting XI. And yet the how and why for who has been chopped and changed in favor of newly eligible talent is peculiarly hypocritical. Mediocrity has been punished for some (younger players who have mostly come up through USA’s junior programs) and not for others (anyone with a first-class career overseas before moving to the USA) barring Khaleel, which makes his axing all the more surprising.First, the bare facts. Ibrahim Khaleel was a statistically average player for USA. In 26 matches for USA across formats, he only crossed 50 once. In some ways, his slow batting arguably cost USA a few wins at the Regional Super50 in February. His 50-over average of 19.60 in 21 innings underlines his status as someone who was steady but hardly a match-winner and a strike rate that typically hovered around 50 – it was 47.97 at the last Super50 – didn’t help matters either.”We don’t want to get into a situation where we always have good starts and struggle in the middle order,” USA coach Pubudu Dassanayake recently told ESPNcricinfo about his frustrations over the lack of performance beyond the top three. “If you’re a top-order batsman, you need to put runs at least three innings out of every five or six innings. You can’t have one innings in seven or eight innings. It’s the same for everyone if you can’t produce.”Judging by that standard, Khaleel’s one half-century in 21 50-over innings made him expendable. However, he is hardly alone in this regard. Sandwiched around him on USA’s 50-over averages list are three other players who have hardly set the world on fire of late but whose roster spots are safe for the Super50 in Barbados: Sunny Sohal (20.75), Roy Silva (19.00) and Timil Patel (19.96).Sohal, 30, made his USA debut in January at the Super50 seven years removed from his last appearance in the IPL when he was at the peak of his powers, and it showed. He began with back-to-back ducks before scratching his way to a pair of fifties later in the tournament. At a USA selection camp in Texas in June this year, he struggled against top-tier bowling during intra-squad trial matches. Similarly at the recent ICC World T20 Sub-regional Americas Qualifier, he muddled through both contests against Canada by scoring 10 off his first 20 balls before ending with 38 off 39 in the tied match that USA lost in a Super Over, then followed it up with an awkward poke at legspinner Junaid Siddiqui to be bowled third ball in the rematch.Sunny Sohal clips off his pads for a run behind square•Peter Della PennaSilva, 38, is supposed to be in the team for his batting but has routinely failed from his spot in the middle order. In the Super50, he was arguably USA’s most underwhelming batsman, making the least out of his many opportunities. Putting aside a 50 against Kent in USA’s second to last match, he scored 25 runs in his six other innings. Likewise against Canada in North Carolina, he produced two more failures with scores of 13 and 8. But he has been given an exceptionally long leash thanks to his part-time medium pace. Since making his debut against Canada in the 2017 Auty Cup, nobody has taken more one-day wickets for USA than Silva’s 24.Along the same lines, 34-year-old Timil is now holding down a spot in the team thanks to his secondary duty. The legspinner is USA’s leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket and tied for second all-time in 50-over cricket as well, but in the last 18 months his output with the ball has nosedived. It started at 2017 WCL Division Three in Uganda where he took just five wickets and was largely hidden from the attack by then captain Steven Taylor in a crucial showdown with Uganda.At the Super50 earlier this year, he only bowled 42 out of a possible 80 overs, taking six wickets at an average of 40.66. Sandwiched between those tournaments though, he was USA’s leading scorer in the 2017 Auty Cup. He also played a pivotal role with the bat in USA’s two-wicket win over Canada last week in the T20 Qualifier by holding down an end for Steven Taylor in a 47-run seventh-wicket partnership. However, he failed to take a wicket in a four-over spell one match earlier against lowly Panama and was only used for a wicketless over on both occasions against Canada.Nitish Kumar runs in to high five Hamza Tariq after teaming up to run out Timil Patel•Peter Della PennaThe point is that if such mediocrity is endorsed amongst those three in particular, what motivated those in charge to take such drastic action against the captain rather than his underlings who performed in identical fashion? A contributing factor may have been USA’s total lack of energy in the field, which led to habitually poor fielding displays once again in North Carolina. USA missed 16 chances in their last five matches at the recent T20 Qualifier, including six in one innings against Panama.Regardless of finishing as tournament champions by virtue of a superior net run rate to Canada, USA simply did not look like a team capable of promotion at Division Three as they were constituted in North Carolina. The fielding was one issue but beyond the top three of Jaskaran Malhotra, Monank Patel and Taylor, the batting order was also a serious concern.Khaleel never seemed to grasp the gravity of the on-field sloppiness and how it reflected on him as captain though. He always had a glass half-full view of things – almost to a fault – frequently saying, “overall, we are happy” when asked about the team’s poor fielding and “we don’t have any concerns” about underperforming players like Sohal and Timil in various post-match media interactions.His replacement in the squad brings more questions than answers though. If Khaleel was regarded as USA’s best player of spin, Alex Amsterdam is also right near the top in terms of technical proficiency. But like Khaleel, Amsterdam is a player who has a nasty habit of taking a long time to get in and then getting out once set, and it’s been nearly two years since he crossed 50 for USA when he did it in back-to-back matches at WCL Division Four in Los Angeles.Meanwhile, Fahad Babar remains on the outside looking in. Babar was the second-highest scorer at June’s USA squad selection camp in Texas and if team selection was a simple matter of picking players based on stats, he’d be a shoo-in. The red strike marks against Babar are his technical flaws, in particular a tendency to push with hard hands away from his body making him vulnerable against the moving ball. In spite of runs, the likes of Sohal, Amsterdam and debutant David Wakefield don’t have this issue. As a result, their techniques are all more appealing to the eyes of a selector.But USA’s selectors seemingly never put any stock in batting temperament. As ugly as Babar’s technique can be at times, few USA batsmen have shown greater stomach for fighting hard and digging deep when the chips are down. There’s a reason why he’s scored a fifty once every three innings for USA, and has more 50-plus scores for USA than anyone in the current squad except Taylor.If you’re going to drop the captain, the best reason to do it would be because his replacement is a major upgrade, but that doesn’t appear to be the case with Khaleel. If anything, history has shown that dumping a senior leader just before a major tournament doesn’t bode well, demonstrated by USA’s failure to gain promotion following the axing of Aditya Thyagarajan and Usman Shuja ahead of 2013 WCL Division Three in Bermuda. Time will tell whether Khaleel was a middle-order millstone or if chopping off the team figurehead only helps prolong USA’s Division Three curse instead.

A severely weakened batting lineup meant Australia needed to accumulate the pressure with the ball and in the field in order to stay competitive. Lyon and co were up to the challenge

Daniel Brettig in Perth17-Dec-20184:54

Kartik: Lyon’s greatest strength is his subtle variations

A lot has been said and will continue to be said about Tim Paine’s run-ins with Virat Kohli during this Test. After all, familiarity over the course of a long series breeds increasing levels of tension, if not quite contempt.However, the parallel tale is one of accumulating pressure with the ball and in the field from an Australian bowling unit that, as Lyon himself has observed, has been able to keep Kohli’s returns, and that of the whole Indian batting lineup, within the sorts of levels that have allowed a severely weakened home batting lineup to remain competitive.The collective performance of Australia at the Perth Stadium, aided by the winning of a toss more important than its Adelaide equivalent, has been encouraging for Paine and the coach Justin Langer. The captain has played a central role behind the stumps and with the bat, while Lyon has acted as the perfect counterpoint to the steadily more confident, revving engines of the “big three” pacemen Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.Australian plans for Kohli have been extensive, revolving principally around finding the right lengths to pressure him around the stumps but also to challenge him to play balls outside his eyeline. In all four innings of this series, Kohli has been dismissed by balls drawing him wider than he might have liked to be, with Lyon’s effort on the fourth evening in Perth a masterpiece of the concept.For seven deliveries, Lyon encouraged Kohli to shape his shots towards the legside, whether through deliveries that were flat and straight, or slower off-breaks that turned in the same direction. With his eighth, Lyon twirled the ball down with drift and drop to drag Kohli into a forward defensive posture for the very first time, and watched with obvious delight as the bounce, natural variation in the region of the footmarks and Kohli’s somewhat exploratory prod did the rest.Usman Khawaja’s catch was low but never in doubt, while Paine, having said plenty to Kohli over the preceding two days, kept his celebrations within acceptable bounds on the commonsense basis that the battle had been won.Lyon’s seventh dismissal of Kohli in Tests was soon followed by the deception of M Vijay, maintaining a rich run that in the first innings made him the first Australian spinner to take five in a Perth Test since Bruce Yardley as far back as 1982. His past nine first-class innings read as follows: 4-88, 4-83, 5-94, 3-34, 4-86, 2-83, 6-122, 5-67, 2-30 and counting.Also see: Kohli, Paine collide and exchange words before umpire interruptsLooking on was the vice-captain Josh Hazlewood, who after play was able to say that so far the planning concocted by the hosts to Kohli and others had been vindicated. Hazlewood insisted that the focus between India’s leader and the rest of the batting order had remained finely balanced so as to ensure no one else was able to escape the pressure so evident whenever Kohli takes block.”We’ve obviously got our plans and we feel if we can do those plans the majority of the time, that we can get his wicket,” Hazlewood said. “We definitely dry the runs up and I think the way Nathan’s bowling especially, both sides of the bat this Test, to all their batters he’s been phenomenal, but I think when we stray from that plan he’s good enough to score the runs.”It’s about just depending on those plans we’ve talked about and come prepared and put them into action. I probably see [Cheteshwar] Pujara as the big wicket as far as when I’m bowling, the glue that holds them together I think, he’s batted the most balls this series and scored nearly the most runs. I see him as a big wicket and [Ajinkya] Rahane as well. So the Nos. 3, 4, 5 as the key wickets and we see it a bit unstable in the other parts of the order. Certainly not all the focus is on Virat.”There was, of course, a mental and verbal element to the Australians’ approach, best exemplified by Paine’s passive aggressive niggling of Kohli, whether by making conversation with the Indian captain or offering unflattering references to him and his relationships with team-mates.When Paine stated to Vijay “I know he’s your captain but you can’t seriously like him as a bloke – you couldn’t possibly like him”, he was doing what he had promised pre-series, to try and make the environment uncomfortable for India without lapsing into abuse.Nathan Lyon claimed the big prize of Virat Kohli for the seventh time in Tests•Getty ImagesSo far, this chatter has not strayed into code of conduct territory, but there is always the danger of deterioration over the course of four Tests, much as a pitch can crack and dust up over five days of constant foot traffic. To that end, the umpire Chris Gaffaney seemed eager to ensure that of all the players, the opposing captains in particular “play the game” as a first priority, without letting it become merely the backdrop to personal feuds.For Hazlewood, the way that Paine has been working to fashion a new Australian balance between hard cricket and greater public trust has been a source of fascination and some admiration, allied as it is to the team’s gradual build-up of confidence and poise after the traumas of South Africa.”He [Paine] keeps things quite calm and composed and he doesn’t get too flustered at any stages really and you could see that with the bat today,” he said. “The way he batted and he was pretty unlucky to get that one today. In the field he leads very well, nice and calm.”I think he’s just getting more confident as time goes on, whether with the bat or in the field. He’s quite an experienced player, and I think he’s had time out of the game as well, so he knows himself quite well, not just as a cricketer but as a person, so off the field he’s great to talk to about life, and the cricket side takes care of itself. He’s been really great.”So while Paine’s balance between cordiality and hostility has attracted headlines, the other accumulation of plans, spells and collective contributions with bat and ball has told arguably the more forceful story of this series so far.There will be a change of course after Adelaide and Perth, given the different nature of the pitches expected in Melbourne and Sydney, but what is not in doubt is the Australians know that, as exemplified by Lyon in particular, their best is good enough for Kohli, and for India.

During his Under-19 days, he saved his daily allowances to help his family repay their debt. Now, he saves the senior team from precarious situations

Hemant Brar in Lucknow15-Jan-2019Rinku Singh is no stranger to adversity. Born in a lower middle-class family in Aligarh, a young Rinku saw his father deliver LPG cylinders to take care of the family. Around 2015, when they had run up a debt of INR 5 lakh, Rinku was playing for Uttar Pradesh in the Under-19s, and had started saving up from his daily allowance to help repay it. If that wasn’t enough, he once almost took up a job as a domestic worker, where his primary tasks would have been sweeping and mopping.Compared to all that, even if dealing with the former might not necessarily prepare one for tricky situations on the cricket field, walking in on Tuesday with his team at 54 for 4 would have appeared trivial, even in a Ranji Trophy quarter-final against a strong Saurashtra side that is unbeaten in the tournament so far.It wasn’t a new task for the 21-year-old Rinku, though.In the league game against Jammu and Kashmir, UP were at 79 for 5 when Rinku walked in. His 66 off 88 balls from No. 7 helped lift the side to 188. Then, against Haryana , UP were in similar trouble at 53 for 4. Rinku’s 43 from No. 6 ensured that when he was last man out, his side had the first-innings lead. They went on to win both games.Coming into the quarter-final, Rinku had 803 runs from 11 innings at an average of 114.71 and a strike rate of 71.25. His tally was already the most for an UP batsman. On the eve of the game, Rinku had said that he was aiming for 1000 runs for the season and wanted to get to the mark against Saurashtra as there was no guarantee of another game.Before he got a chance to bat, Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat had used the new ball and early moisture to dismiss Rahul Rawat and Mohammad Saif for ducks. Madhav Kaushik and Akshdeep Nath had then taken the side past 50 before left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja removed both in one over.Rinku is known for his fearless approach, and brought it to the fore when on just 3, stepping out to a flighted delivery from Jadeja and hitting the ball down the ground for a one-bounce four.There was a distinct feeling of déjà vu for those present at the ground during UP’s practice session on Monday. The only difference was that Rinku’s team-mate Saurabh Kumar was at the receiving end on that occasion.

Just a glimpse of Rinku Singh's power hitting. U.P. takes on Saurashtra in the second quater-final this tuesday. #adelaide #happymakarsankranti #kitesurfing #indvsaus #ranjitrophy #upca #CricketMeriJaan #bcci #icc #ipl #lucknow #mondaymotivation #monday #mondayquotes pic.twitter.com/YEqdXFAdR9

— EkanaCricketStadium (@EkanaOfficial) January 14, 2019

Two balls later, when Jadeja cut down the flight, Rinku reverse-swept him behind point for four. Left-arm seamer Chetan Sakariya was pulled off the front foot while Unadkat was punched through the covers as Rinku reached 36 at lunch.After the break, with the sun out and the moisture having dried out, Rinku started toying with the bowling. Unadkat was taken for four consecutive boundaries. Twice he was flicked off the pads and once steered behind point. However, it was the fourth that really helped Rinku stamp his authority. Unadkat went for the bouncer, but the youngster was up to the challenge. He rocked back and pulled behind square with disdain as if telling the opposition that he would dictate the terms thereon.Along with Priyam Garg, Rinku added 145 for the fifth wicket, but such was his dominance that he scored 94 of the runs. While Garg fell for 49, Rinku brought up his hundred – his fourth of the season – off just 136 balls, celebrating the milestone with a David Warner-esque leap.When Jadeja returned to the attack after tea, Rinku once again used his feet to dictate the length, driving inside out through the covers. The next ball was short of a length, and was cut off the back foot for another four.In all, Rinku scored 56 runs from the 47 deliveries he faced from Jadeja, and 35 off 27 from Unadkat. Of his 19 hits to the boundary, 15 came off the two premier opposition bowlers. Saurashtra’s hopes of bowling the home side out cheaply were well and truly dashed as a result.Rinku, though, played his efforts down afterwards, saying that he hadn’t done anything special. “I just batted the way I have been batting,” he said after first day’s play, with UP at 340/7. “To be honest, those were actually loose balls (off which he scored four fours in a row). I just put them away.”He also had an interesting take on his aggressive approach against Jadeja. “I just love batting against spinners. When a spinner comes on, I feel like scoring all my runs in that one over itself.”The only chance Saurashtra had during Rinku’s 150 off 181 – that too a tough one – was when the batsman was on 122. A Jadeja delivery had kicked off the surface but Rinku opened the face of the bat at the last moment and the ball went between the wicketkeeper and first slip.While Rinku fell 47 short of 1000 runs for the season, his counter-attacking innings ensured UP finished day one with their noses ahead.

India’s T20I captain talks about the mental struggles she faced, and what the team needs to do to have a shot at winning the World T20 in Australia next year

Interview by Annesha Ghosh24-May-2019Harmanpreet Kaur says she doesn’t remember much from her match-winning 51 in the Women’s T20 Challenge final from two weeks ago, except “what a fun dance party we had after the game!” ‘We’ being her Supernovas team-mates – a mix of capped and uncapped Indian players and internationals from England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, some of whom are also her team-mates and rivals in the WBBL and the Kia Super League. Two months on from completing a decade in international cricket and turning 30, India’s T20I captain opens up about her mental struggles and talks about what the side need to win the T20 World Cup in Australia in February-March next year.You had 87 consecutive ODI appearances before you missed an international series (against England in February-March) for the first time since early 2010.
I twisted my left foot while playing football during a warm-up ahead of the first T20I in New Zealand [in early February]. I somehow managed to play all three T20Is despite being in some discomfort because to call up a replacement at such short notice may not have been possible. Besides, all through my career, I’ve played with fevers, shoulder, ankle and wrist injuries, so I didn’t feel like this was going to be anything significant. The taping and painkillers had been working fine in the warm-ups, so I thought I could deal with it. But during the matches, my movement was severely affected. Scans later revealed that there were some Level 1 and 2 ligament tears near the back of my ankle. I was at the National Cricket Academy [in Bengaluru] from February 22 to April 9, and that break was a blessing in disguise for me. How so?
Because it gave me a much needed break from international cricket and the Indian dressing room. I had almost made up my mind to let my parents know that I wanted to take a break. I don’t want to hold on to a spot in the Indian team just because I am a senior player. I wanted to get away from cricket. Whatever happened around the team before that was immensely draining for me. Some of the things said were so far from reality that I felt, “I need to step away from this madness for a while.” I’m here to play cricket. If people want to drag me into unnecessary things, drag the team into unnecessary things, I have to stop trying to reason with them.ALSO READ: In between email feuding, Raj, Harmanpreet met to break the iceAre you referring to the controversies in the aftermath of India’s World T20 semi-final exit?
Look, I was to play in the WBBL after the World T20, and for a while, after coming from the West Indies, I was even considering only playing in the overseas leagues and then making my way back into the Indian team. I spent hours alone, asking myself, “Why do I play sport?” “Because I enjoy it, because playing cricket is the only thing I’ve ever done in life.” [If I’m not enjoying the game] then I don’t want to block a place in the side, because money is not everything. Yes, we’ve only just started making some money from playing cricket, but if cricket is not giving me joy, I am happy to walk away rather than hold on to that spot just because I have a Grade A contract. So all of these thoughts were bothering me a lot. Mentally I was unwell, unfit, but that injury bailed me out of that terrible head space.Harmanpreet on her way to a match-winning 37-ball 51 in the Women’s T20 Challenge final•BCCIWhy did that whole matter affect you so much?
There have been several times since 2016 where I have been asked by the support staff to go up to people and say sorry, just to keep the dressing-room environment all right. And I have done that, without getting an answer about what I am saying sorry for. But, no, it’s like, “Harry, just try and sort it out for the sake of the team.” But [How many times should I apologise]? , sorry [I’m the one who’s being insulted and even then I should be the one apologising]? Isn’t that funny? But I’ve been like, “If the team environment gets better because of my saying sorry, I’ll do it.” And I’ve done it. Ask the people I’ve apologised to and they will tell you whether or not I have.But this time I was like, “No, I’ve had enough.” These false allegations are way too mindless for me to lose my sleep over. If certain situations are not meant to get better, you cannot fix them, no matter how many apologies you offer. The wiser thing to do is just step away from all that mess and calm yourself, focus on your mental health, your cricket, come back strong and do what you love and what has given you money, recognition, etc.How have you changed as a person and captain since the World T20 last year?
Before the World T20, things that would happen on the field or outside the field used to affect me a lot, because when I’m into something, I give it my all. And when I could see I was giving my 100% to the team but somebody else wasn’t, it really upset me, because in a team sport you cannot put your own interests ahead of the team’s. But the two-month break gave me perspective. I realised you have to ignore those things because no matter how much you try or the team tries, you cannot make everyone happy.What was the dressing-room environment like heading into the New Zealand tour under a new head coach?
I knew if I kept focusing on the noise outside, which unfortunately is still going on, it wouldn’t have helped me or most of the other girls. [WV] Raman sir [the new coach] played a big role in diverting our focus from the noise. He held three-four meetings with all the team members and reminded us that we are here for the cricket and whatever personal issues anyone has against anyone, they’d better keep it outside the dressing room and the ground.Smriti [Mandhana, the T20I vice-captain] and I discussed how to take the team forward.”You have to play fearlessly in the Powerplay, and Shafali [Verma] seems to have that kind of a natural fearlessness in her”•BCCIWhat has having Raman as the head coach been like so far?
I think he’s very good at feeling the pulse of a player and getting the work out of them without much fuss. His suggestions in the nets have helped me. At times, my movements and bat swing are so exaggerated that he says, “Had it been possible, [Will people watch it? It won’t be a flop, will it]? Whatever domestic T20 leagues I’ve played in so far [in the UK and Australia], I’ve never seen as big a crowd as we saw in Jaipur. It didn’t feel as though we were playing a domestic game.This tournament has helped, and with hopefully an expanded version in the coming years, it will definitely bridge the gap between our domestic cricketers and international cricketers. When some of these young girls – like [the uncapped] Shafali [Verma], Radha [Yadav], Harleen [Deol] – come into the national side or play in a World Cup, they will feel fewer jitters than some of the girls during the [T20I] series in Guwahati [against England, which India lost 0-3].”Much of Indian cricket will rest on Smriti’s shoulders [in the future]. The way she’s peaked, she should try and continue that. There’s so much more she can achieve”•Getty ImagesWhat did you make of Shafali Verma, in particular?
It’s too early to say, but we saw she can pack power [in her shots], and her fearless approach is what we’re looking for in an opener. Shafali is very young but we have the time to groom her. If she responds well to the challenges we’re going to throw her way, she could be an opening partner to Smriti. You have to play fearlessly – which is not to say carelessly – in the Powerplay, and Shafali seems to have that kind of natural fearlessness in her.Which of your India team-mates do you think could make it to the WBBL and/or the KSL this year?
There are quite a few of them. Jemi, PY [Poonam Yadav, the legspinner] have done well against many oppositions. Deepti Sharma is also a very good allrounder, as is [left-arm spin-bowling allrounder] Radha Yadav. Radha is a very good fielder, something that is always a bonus for any side, and the kind of confidence she showed in the [Women’s T20 Challenge] final is proof that she has the potential to hold her nerves and finish off games for her side.Fielding has been an issue for the India side for a while now, and we saw some of the India internationals shell catches at the Women’s T20 Challenge. How do you see the team iron out this crease ahead of the T20 World Cup?
Night games are definitely more difficult to play compared to day games. We don’t get to play many night games, so you can’t expect the catching to be error-free in these matches. All year round we practise in daytime for day games and then at the world tournament knockouts we play under lights, under conditions we are not accustomed to. How do we fix it? By playing tournaments like these and playing international series under lights.We are a relatively weaker fielding side than some of the top teams, so that could affect our chances [at the T20 World Cup] but we still have a year’s time and this upcoming fitness camp [at the NCA] will be an important one. We don’t get many fitness camps, so we need to take this very seriously.Other than fielding, what are the other aspects India need to keep in mind to go in as formidable contenders for the T20 World Cup?
The first thing we need to make sure is to not take too much pressure [that we have to win]. If we get a good opening partner for Smriti, someone who can support her well, even if her strike rate is not as high as Smriti’s, then ours can be a line-up to contend with. We are looking for someone in the T20I side who can bat after me, absorb the pressure in the last 12-15 balls. That’s one of the concerns we’re facing right now. We tried [Bharati] Fulmali [in the Guwahati series] as a potential replacement for Pooja [Vastrakar], who is still recuperating from her injury. We tried Harleen [Deol] as an opener. That T20I series told us which youngsters need to work more than the others.What are your thoughts on Mandhana’s run of form over the past one year?
If I’ve seen two cricketers in my career improve quickly and massively, it would be Smriti and Jemi. The young Smriti used to struggle against offspin, so we used to make her play a lot of offspin. She didn’t have the sweep earlier, but look at the way she has picked up skills to overcome those deficiencies.Also, early in her international career, she barely had any faith in her six-hitting. The first six she hit, I remember, she was so happy about it. I told her, “I really have no idea why you think you struggle to hit sixes because you can clear the ropes if you feel like it, because of your timing.” Unlike in men’s cricket, where the boundaries are farther, much of the six-hitting in women’s cricket depends on timing. Smriti has always been among the best timers of the ball. After that six, block , try this and try that; this was good, that one not so much. When you learn something every day from gifted players like these, you feel good. Whether they are younger or older than you doesn’t really matter.Mandhana debuted under you and led India in your absence three months ago. Where do you see her in the next five years?
Much of Indian cricket will rest on Smriti’s shoulders. The way she’s peaked, she should try and continue that. There’s so much more she can achieve. If she keeps playing like this, I think we can win a big title soon.What’s your five-year plan for yourself?
The thought of “I’ve turned 30” doesn’t cross my mind. I wasn’t as fit, self-assured and confident when I was 25 as I am right now.My focus is largely on my fitness and diet now. My awareness around my diet – the timing of meals, quantity, water intake – has also improved. It’s an important aspect of my daily routine because I have a lot of mood swings around food and I can’t survive without Punjabi food.When I met my dietician for the first time two-three months ago, I was hoping ). But the dietician busted the myth that parathas make you put on weight. They don’t, as long as you’re able to time your meals well. So, thankfully, parathas are still there on my diet, along with rice, dal, veggies, curd and salad on match days. It’s mostly a vegetarian diet for me now.What is the top item on your wishlist in your five-year plan?
Once we win a World Cup, we won’t look back. We will keep winning a few on the trot. It’s like that block that I was talking about in regard to Smriti’s sixes and Jemi’s fear of bouncers.I am lucky that I’m 30 and in the next five years we play two 20-over and two ODI World Cups, and if women’s cricket is included in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, we could win a medal there too. So with God’s grace we play well and win the first one in Australia [where the next T20 World Cup will be played].

Australia A captain balances life as a new dad with his rise as a cricketer and a potential future leader of the national teams

Daniel Brettig09-Nov-2019Run your eye down the list of Australian cricketers going out to play in the tour game against the Pakistanis at Perth Stadium from Monday, and Alex Carey’s name stands out for a couple of reasons: one, most obviously, is that he is the only wicketkeeper, and two, more intriguingly, he is the only father among the group.Referring to Carey’s parental responsibilities, along with his partner Eloise, towards 14-month-old Louis as part of his CV for captaincy may be something of a stretch. But there is little doubt that the maturity he has developed over a life that has featured an attempted AFL career, a spell working in a “real job” in the financial services industry and, latterly, the joys and trials of fatherhood have all contributed to Carey’s rise as a leader in Australian cricket.Cricket Australia, its board, management and selectors, have been on the lookout for moral and ethical as well as tactical and strategic leadership since the Newlands scandal, and the rise of Carey as a potential successor to Tim Paine and Aaron Finch cannot simply be attributed to cricketing factors. Paine, of course, brought plenty of his own perspective to the role of Test captain, after having also become a father while coming within a phone call or two of retiring from the game in 2017.But for Carey, a sporting life in which he has already seen and done so much by the age of 28 puts him not only in rare company in Australian cricket but in society in general. Parenting is increasingly becoming a part of life for those in their 30s rather than 20s, and so Carey’s range of experience is not something to be commonly seen. The Australia A team to play in Perth can and will benefit from a captain who has seen much more of life than the inside of a dressing room.

I love going to games and playing, but I think it’s also great to come home to a smiling little one-year-old. It takes your mind off – if it was a good day or a bad day, it keeps you pretty level

“I’ve got a family now, a little 14-month-old, and having to be away from them, Eloise and Louie quite a bit, is something I’m still managing to get right,” Carey told ESPNcricinfo. “Eloise has been fantastic with the past 14 months of Louie’s life to carry the absolute load. I was lucky enough to have them come over for part of the World Cup. So keeping it as natural as possible, to have them come on tour when possible and making sure that I’m still trying to be a good dad when I’m away, getting on Facetime and doing that.”But I also think it’s great for my cricket to have a family. I love going to training and trying to improve, I love going to games and playing, but I think it’s also great to come home to a smiling little one-year-old. It takes your mind off – if it was a good day or a bad day, it keeps you pretty level. So it’s something away from cricket rather than cricket 24/7. When things are going well you naturally feel pretty good about yourself, and when you have a few tough days, that’s when it can get quite tough to manage.”But I think through my learnings over professional sport, having some setbacks early on in my career with some football and also with cricket, it’s made me realise that this game’s pretty tough – when you have good days, make them really good days. When you have bad days, don’t dwell on them too long and learn pretty quickly from those mistakes.”In a season where the matter of mental health of Australian cricketers has become an even greater issue than before by the high-profile withdrawals of Glenn Maxwell and then Nic Maddinson from the international set-up, Carey has a decent wellspring of memories and life chapters that keep him remembering that this is all just a game in the end. At the nascent Greater Western Sydney Giants, Carey was deemed the best man to be the club’s inaugural captain, but then not good enough to make the senior list when the club graduated to the AFL proper.Tim Paine and Alex Carey in the nets•Getty ImagesAnd, in addition to the advice of Adam Gilchrist, who has grown very much into a mentor for Carey, he also carries with him the words of Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara about exactly how often even the best of cricketers are going to fail. “Kumar Sangakkara said it to Jake Weatherald, and he shared this with me – he was one of the best batters in the world and 66% of his innings he failed,” Carey said. “So naturally you’re going to have some pretty bad days, but it’s about staying up, learning and keep rocking up with a big smile on your face.”Working in finance for two or three years before I got my opportunity with the SACAs has made me realise it’s a pretty privileged job to be a part of if you can call it a job. It’s more a dream come true, really. You want to play well every game, you want to win every game of cricket, and it doesn’t always happen that way. But for me it’s having a really good balance between on-field and off-field, staying level as much as possible, and I think that comes with maturity too.”Starting to play some more games of cricket, I still think I’ve got a lot of learning ahead in my career, but just through the World Cup, through the last 24 months of playing in the green and gold, it makes me realise what’s important. Training the right way, rocking up game day, making sure I’ve got the team’s interest in mind every time I go out to play, how can I help the team win. I’m starting to develop that really healthy balance.”Balance arrives, too, in how Carey weighs up his best fit as a cricketer in any team he is a part of. With Paine ensconced as Test captain, he ponders the possibility of squeezing into the national team as a batsman alone but remains strong in his belief that it is in the all-round skill of wicketkeeping and batting in the middle order that his chance will finally arrive. “For me it is wicketkeeping, it’s my No. 1 craft,” he said. “But there’s such a big role now to play with the batting, I’ve moved up to No. 6 for South Australia with the red ball, which is great.”I’m loving my batting at the moment and I feel really confident every time I go out to bat. I think there’s a lot of great batters around this country that are suited specifically for that role, and for me, it’s to keep improving with the gloves and keep improving with the bat. Hopefully one day the dream of playing Test cricket comes true, but at the moment I think through that World Cup [in England this year] I’ve learned a lot about my batting and my keeping.”Leadership as well, I’m really enjoying that role through the middle order. Big role to play with the bat definitely, but first and foremost, it’s catch ’em.”

In a hypothetical T20 spell, the sultan of swing faces up against the top batsmen of the modern era

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan02-Aug-2019Wasim Akram is sitting by a window on the 11th floor of a hotel room in Toronto, but he is imagining himself at the top of his bowling mark on a hot afternoon, with a belter of a pitch laid out for a T20 match. In this hypothetical game, Wasim has the new white ball in his hands and is up against two of the most dangerous batsmen in world cricket: Chris Gayle and David Warner.Up in the hotel room, Wasim is sporting all black: a Nike T-shirt, a pair of shorts, and a 2XU cap. On his left wrist is an Apple watch – also black – and one wonders if the manufacturer is aware of the magical wrist around which their gadget is wrapped. ) with his famous helicopter shot. With the awayswinger, I have a chance. Probably he would have top-edged… “

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The imaginary game has lasted a mere ten minutes but Wasim has held the room in thrall. The two cameramen, a photographer, and the two interviewers – all rapt in attention. It has given us a glimpse into his thought process as a bowler, but also a hint of what a good captain he must have been: ever alert, adjusting his field depending on the batsman on strike and the game situation, signalling to his team-mates and inspiring them with his magnetic personality.There is one aspect of the game we haven’t touched on, though. Surely he would have fancied himself as a batsman in T20s? Making room, charging the bowlers, lofting and slapping the ball?Wasim chuckles and swats the questions aside. “I would have been handy in the last couple of overs,” he laughs. “Just go in there and whack it… whack it towards midwicket.” He laughs some more.And with that the game is done.

A Jharkhand lad decided to attend the latest weekend of Test cricket in Ranchi, and got to enjoy the Rohit Sharma show after a scramble to get tickets

Nikhil Jha22-Oct-2019Choice of game
Having witnessed the first ever Test in Jharkhand, my home state, I made a pledge to watch every Test match hosted in Ranchi. As soon as the dates for the tour were announced, my friend and I got our travel plans in place. The tickets for the game though, proved to be a scavenger hunt.I would have preferred the third Test to be a decider. But the way India have steamrolled South Africa in this series, I was hoping this Test would be closer than the others.The ticket travails
I have watched quite a few matches across India and have become used to the difficulties in procuring a ticket. But this experience in my own backyard beat all of them.It all started the moment we landed at Ranchi airport, where a huge poster for the match invited us to book the tickets online. The partner site mentioned did not have any tickets listed on the website. On searching for the tickets, we came across a distressing news item which claimed only 1500 tickets were sold.Not to be deterred easily, we headed to the stadium. At the counter, the partner agency told us that the tickets of our preferred stand (North Pavilion) were not available and that we needed to come at 7am on Saturday (day one of the Test) to collect them. We woke up early and made it to the stadium, only to find out that the ticket counters were closed and would open at 8am. Once they did, the personnel behind the counter told us that we could only purchase tickets for that day, and not a five-day pass which is the standard across Test venues. Not to mention that the day pass, priced at Rs 600, is more expensive than at any other Test we have watched in India.It’s not ‘disinterest’ or ‘apathy’ that keeps fans away.Team supported
We were rooting for India to win the match and increase their lead in the Test Championship. However, we also wanted South Africa to put up a fight to make this a close encounter. The first session almost granted our wish, as three India batsmen were dismissed in an inspired Rabada spell.Key performers
In overcast conditions, South Africa’s pacers had a promising start and it seemed like Rabada would own the day. But, as the day progressed, Rohit Sharma weathered the storm and picked up the pace after lunch. He was undoubtedly the standout performer of the day, reaching his century with a six that almost reached our stand. Rahane also played an aggressive knock and would have got to his century had the weather not intervened.On day two, Rohit went about his business and got to his double just after lunch. Rahane had already scored his first hundred at home since 2016. The latter part of the day, however, belonged to Umesh Yadav, who entertained the Sunday crowd with his blitz of 31 off ten with five sixes. He followed that up with a short testing spell, which got a wicket.The Rabada vs Indian batsmen interplay
Rabada’s early spell on day one showed what South Africa were capable of. Once three early wickets were down, the way Rohit and Rahane cautiously saw out the inspired pace attack was great to watch.Filling the gaps
The session breaks were mostly spent lining up for food or water, and deliberating rage-tweeting about the ticket fiasco. Some time was also spent browsing through ESPNcricinfo’s live text commentary.BCCIWow moment
On both the days, we were up on our feet anticipating a Rohit milestone. He did not disappoint, almost Sehwag-esque in his approach. His century came off a six over long-off. He brought up his double-century, on what was Sehwag’s 41st birthday, with a six off a pull shot, sending the limited crowd into raptures.I always enjoy mimicking Ravindra Jadeja’s sword celebration whenever he reaches a milestone. He didn’t disappoint later in the day, and out came the imaginary sword.Player watch
Day one was a field day for trespassers. During one of the drinks breaks, a fan ran towards the pitch, eliciting an amused glance from Rohit. The more interesting incident happened later, when one fan breached the rather porous security and headed towards the pitch at top speed. He suddenly stopped near a surprised Quinton de Kock, and bowed down to touch his feet. The security personnel caught up, and rugby-tackled the fan to the ground before escorting him off the field.Crowd meter
The crowd was sparse on day one but picked up on day two – probably owing to it being a Sunday and to the fans having cracked the code of getting tickets. Rohit’s double got the most cheers, Umesh’s blitzkrieg had everyone on their toes, egging him to hit the ball in their direction.Fancy dress index
Most of the fans turned up in replica jerseys, which were also being sold outside the stadium. The distribution of Virat and Rohit’s names at the back was almost even, with a few Dhoni jerseys to remind us of the venue.The usual superfans, with body-painted Sachin and Dhoni messages, were also in attendance and helped raise the tempo in the stands.Overall
Once we made it to the stadium, the pleasant weather and competitive first session on day one was an amazing experience as a cricket fan. As the day progressed, the gulf between the two sides started to emerge, further extending on day two. It made for less pleasurable viewing as a cricket fan. The only upside was a better atmosphere with more spectators on day two, cheering the dominant Indian display.Marks out of 10
All things considered; I would rate this a 7 out of 10 in terms of experience.
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India’s new opener racked up some amazing numbers against South Africa in Visakhapatnam

Bharath Seervi05-Oct-201913- Sixes hit by Rohit Sharma in this Test – the most by any batsman in a single game. He broke Wasim Akram’s record of 12 sixes, against Zimbabwe in 1996. The previous Indian record was held by Navjot Sidhu, who hit eight sixes against Sri Lanka in 1994.Rohit Sharma broke the record for most sixes in a Test•ESPNcricinfo Ltd27 – Sixes hit by India in this Test – the most by any team in history. The previous record was held by New Zealand, who hit 22 sixes against Pakistan in 2014, and the old Indian record dates back to 2009 when they hit 15 sixes against Sri Lanka in Mumbai.

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525- Runs scored by India’s openers in this Test – a national record . Rohit scored 303 and Mayank Agarwal got 222. The previous highest was 414 by Sunil Gavaskar (278) and Chetan Chauhan (136). There have been only two instances of a team’s openers aggregating more: South Africa accumulated got 550 runs against England at Edgbaston in 2003 and England openers 536 versus India at Lord’s in 1990.Rohit Sharma emulated Sunil Gavaskar in his first Test as opener•ESPNcricinfo Ltd2- India openers to score centuries in both innings of a Test match. Rohit joined Sunil Gavaskar, who managed it three times in the 1970s. Overall, Rohit is the sixth India batsman to score twin centuries in a Test after Ajinkya Rahane, who too got them against South Africa in 2015.1- Rohit became the first batsman to score two hundreds in his first Test as opener. The 303 runs he made in this Test are also the most by a batsman opening for their first time. The previous highest was 215 by Tillakaratne Dilshan (92 & 123*) against New Zealand in 2009.1- Rohit also became the first India batsman to be stumped in both innings of a Test; overall though it was only the 22nd instance. Ironically, he had never been stumped in his entire first class career prior to this Test.