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From floating around the fringes of the national team, Chirag Suri has received an unexpected boost in the pursuit of his cricketing dream

Paul Radley26-Feb-2017Chirag Suri is already feeling the effects of being “the IPL boy”. The day after becoming the first UAE player to be recruited to any of cricket’s big leagues, he was back in the nets at the ICC Academy in Dubai.Dougie Brown, the UAE coach, congratulated him on his feat in front of his national team colleagues. His fellow players, Suri says, were “ecstatic” about him signing for Gujarat Lions. But they are gunning for him too.”There is a bit of extra pressure on me now, even in training,” said Suri, a 22-year-old batsman who was born in Delhi and raised in Dubai. “The lads have been joking around, telling me I can’t do this or that in the IPL. And it feels really bad whenever I get out now.”That will make me concentrate more. I think people feel I have always had it in me, but it is all about being consistent. I need to put more of a price on my wicket now.”The realisation has not taken long to dawn on him. Making it onto an IPL roster was quite some achievement, but the hard work starts here. “I’m really enjoying the moment,” Suri said. “But I’ve been back in training, trying to work harder with a goal like this in mind.”Suri watched the IPL auction on TV at home in Dubai from its start until his lot, No. 245, came up. His father, Bobby, had gone to his construction-firm job in Dubai before returning in time to see his son’s name go under the hammer. Between those two, and mother Gauri, plenty of tears were shed when he was bought by Lions, for a base price of Rs 10 lakh (approximately US$15,000).

“There is a bit of extra pressure on me now, even in training. The lads have been joking around, telling me I can’t do this or that in the IPL”Suri on the immediate effects of his IPL signing

His has been a startling elevation. When Lions play their first matches in the IPL, against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 7 and Sunrisers Hyderabad two days later, UAE will be playing a four-day Intercontinental Cup match against Papua New Guinea in Abu Dhabi. Suri has not thought to ask to be excused from that yet. He does not presume to think he will even be in the UAE team.He has been on the fringes of the national team since he debuted against Kenya in the World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand in 2014. In the few chances he has had to make himself undroppable, he has missed out.It is fair to suggest he has jumped the queue when it comes to UAE players reaching the big leagues. Four UAE internationals, for example, have made it into the Pakistan Super League draft list in the past. Shaiman Anwar, UAE’s leading batsman and No. 24 in the ICC rankings for T20 batsmen, was on the list ahead of the league’s first season in 2016. Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Naveed and Ahmed Raza did the same this season. None of them were picked, though.Suri reasons that his chances of making it were enhanced by his youth. He is within the under-23 bracket for emerging players. And now, he says, he hopes he can push the door further ajar for everybody else.”All the lads were ecstatic for me, giving me their best wishes and support,” Suri said. “Shaiman has been really trying to get into the PSL. Hopefully next year he can get through as well. The lads are more confident of getting through now, because Associate players are getting more of a name in the leagues.”In becoming the first UAE player to break into a high-profile league, Suri has leapfrogged more established names, such as his country’s leading batsman, Shaiman Anwar (in picture)•Peter Della PennaThere are eight full-time professional players contracted to the Emirates Cricket Board. Suri is not one of them. Alongside playing cricket, he studies for a degree in business management at Heriot Watt University in Dubai, as well as learning the family marble and granite construction business.Talented players are often lost to the system in the UAE between the ages of 18 to 21, when they travel abroad for study, or enter the workplace. Bobby Suri, though, is encouraging his son to pursue his dream of playing cricket for as long as he can.”Their parents want them to make their careers somewhere else and not in cricket,” Suri Sr. said of the cricketers who fall by the wayside in the UAE. “To be honest, I am a businessman. I have always told Chirag, ‘While you keep playing, I will remain young. So keep playing, please, do this for me.’ That is all the reward I want: for him to keep playing.”Bobby moved his family to Dubai from his native Delhi in 2003, when he relocated for work. Chirag, who had just started playing cricket when they moved, subsequently went on to represent UAE at all age-group levels, occasionally as captain.One of his junior coaches was Shahzad Altaf, who played as a bowler for UAE in the 1996 World Cup on the subcontinent, and has since produced a variety of players for the national team via his academy.” I was surprised when I heard Chirag got an IPL deal, but it is good for him and hopefully he will perform,” Altaf said. “I think he could do something, but that level is very high. I think he could do it, if he gets regular chances.”

“I have always told Chirag, ‘While you keep playing, I will remain young. So keep playing, please, do this for me.'”Chirag Suri’s father, Bobby

According to Suri, Aaqib Javed, the former UAE coach, told him four years ago that he would play in the IPL at some point in the future. That was either unbelievable foresight or a conceit designed to boost a player’s self-belief ahead of coming challenges.Back then, Suri was part of a UAE side that was facing matches against the likes of India and Pakistan in the Under-19 Asia Cup, and then in the Under-19 World Cup. India’s side had the likes of Sanju Samson – who was already an IPL star – and Sarfaraz Khan. Pakistan had Sami Aslam. South Africa won that World Cup, largely thanks to the excellence of Kagiso Rabada. With pedigree like that in the opposition, Suri and the schoolboys of the UAE team probably needed a pep up.Aaqib maintains Suri has the talent to impress with Gujarat, though. He thinks his former protégé has a “personality suited to challenges”. “It is a good opportunity,” said Aaqib, who coached the UAE until last year. “The IPL is a huge thing. It is really encouraging for any UAE player.”Suri understands Aaqib’s assessment of his personality traits. “When I get something positive or negative in my life, I don’t get fazed by it,” he said. “If something happens to me, I don’t think about it a lot, I just keep a positive outlook. Things always charge me up, and that is probably what Aaqib meant. If I am seen as the IPL boy, I will take that as a positive.”

New Zealand and South Africa played each other at the start and end of their seasons, and plenty went on in between

Firdose Moonda in Hamilton29-Mar-2017The sky was smiling. Lit up a gorgeous shade of golden-blue, it looked down on Kingsmead and declared that an early summer had dawned.It was only August 2016 but South Africa were hosting New Zealand for some unusually timed Tests in an attempt to elongate the season. Things were going well until a massive storm on the second evening caused damage that rendered the recently relaid outfield unplayable for three days. And so it began.Two teams on similar journeys were at the start of an 11-Test campaign to redefine themselves. Here’s how it went.The situation
New Zealand started a few weeks before South Africa with a gentle introduction in Zimbabwe, but one they took seriously. Far more challenging tasks awaited – away in South Africa and India before a seven-Test home summer. Their initial goal was to start winning away from home more often.South Africa were starting from as low a base as they have known. Their defeats to India and England the year before put them at No. 7 in the Test rankings and they had to overcome the embarrassment of falling so far. They started and ended with series against New Zealand, with a trip to Australia and a home series against Sri Lanka in between.The captains
Kane Williamson was confirmed New Zealand’s all-format captain in April and it was seen as nothing more than a man fulfilling his destiny. Despite being only 25, Williamson was thought capable of dealing with the dual responsibility of leading with the bat and leading the side without many problems. And the numbers proved it. In his 13 Tests as captain, Williamson scored 1079 runs at an average of 59.94 – higher than his overall average of 51.16 – with four hundreds. Two of them came in the home series against South Africa, and though they were made in drawn Tests, they were among his classiest knocks, full of composure and confidence against a strong attack.”The thing the team likes most is the fact that he so selfless,” Mike Hesson, New Zealand’s coach, said of Williamson. “He doesn’t do it for effect, he does it because that’s what he cares about. That’s his priority – the team. And what drives him is to win games.”Faf du Plessis was filling in as captain for most of the season, but took South Africa to No. 2 in the end•AFPFaf du Plessis was only standing in as South Africa’s Test captain when the season began but did such a good job that the injured AB de Villiers handed over the responsibility permanently. Du Plessis is a more natural leader than de Villiers, measured in his decision-making and inspirational in his actions. His team-mates threw their support behind him through a ball-tampering scandal in Australia and have responded to almost all of his challenges.Since taking over, du Plessis has scored 744 runs at 57.23, well above his overall average of 44.92, including two hundreds.”He walks the walk. He demands a lot from his players but he’s willing to go out there and live up to those demands that he places upon the team,” South Africa’s coach, Russell Domingo, said of du Plessis. “I’m very proud about the way he’s gone about his business.”The coaches
Following a successful 2015 World Cup, Hesson was guaranteed he would stay in charge of New Zealand until 2019, so he went into this summer secure about his job, unlike Domingo, who faced the chop after the ODI team was booted from the Caribbean tri-series. At the time, Cricket South Africa had also instituted a review process (later postponed, and then finally completed) and one of the areas under scrutiny was Domingo’s position.Domingo entered the summer with all of that weighing on him, but by October, he could breathe easier. He was given an extension until the end of the England tour, in August this year. Irrespective of the outcome of that series, though, Domingo’s job is not assured. Good corporate governance dictates that CSA must advertise for a coach, and though Domingo can reapply, he remains unsure of whether he will do so. South Africa could head to the 2019 World Cup under a new coach.Ross Taylor’s season was interrupted by injuries•AFPAbsent senior batsmen
After tearing his calf in the Dunedin Test, Ross Taylor joked that his only goal for the next few summers was to make sure he can get through them uninjured, particularly against South Africa. Taylor has missed some part of New Zealand’s last three series against them for various reasons. He also underwent eye surgery, which kept him out of the Chappell-Hadlee series, to add to problems with his hamstrings and fingers. He remains hopeful of staying fit for a swansong in 2019.AB de Villiers started the summer with an elbow problem that was treated conservatively at first, but then required surgery. He was ruled out of action until early 2017, and then he announced a Test hiatus for most of the year. De Villiers wanted to manage his workload so he could make it to the 2019 World Cup and has committed to playing only ODIs and the IPL for the moment. He said he will aim for a Test comeback against India in the home summer this December.JP Duminy and Hashim Amla drew a lot of focus in a troubled top order•Gallo ImagesFragile batting line-ups
Both teams had to settle on new opening combinations this summer and only one of them has had success. New Zealand dumped Martin Guptill for the technically sound Jeet Raval at the start of the home Tests, and Raval has combined well with Tom Latham, who had a great summer despite a slump early on at home against South Africa.South Africa invested in Stephen Cook at the end of the 2015-16 season and gave him a run until Hamilton, by when his three hundreds in 11 Tests had been overshadowed by his poor away form. Theunis de Bruyn may be given the same chance, but early indications are that South Africa need to find someone else to partner Dean Elgar, who has bedded in as the senior with hundreds in three of the four series played.The teams also have questions in the middle order. Neil Broom did not have the best start at No. 4, but Henry Nicholls finally came good at No. 5 with a hundred in Wellington and will hope to build on that. For South Africa, JP Duminy continues to misfire, and with Hashim Amla also struggling, their seniors are in a slump. Temba Bavuma made up for it, though. Despite no hundreds this summer, he scored runs when South Africa needed them most – in Perth, Hobart and Wellington – and has been compared to Ashwell Prince for his ability to be the bridge over troubled waters.Wicked keepers
In years to come, there will be calls for both BJ Watling and Quinton de Kock to move up the order, but they are both kingpins at No. 7. Watling’s solidity adds depth to New Zealand’s line-up, while de Kock has the ability to change Tests single-handedly and is savvy in batting with the tail.Colin de Grandhomme was a revelation in New Zealand’s bowling attack this season•Getty ImagesInjured fast bowlers
This summer New Zealand went through what South Africa did in the last one, as their two premier pacemen took turns being injured. Tim Southee’s ankle ruled him out of the India Tests and his hamstring forced him out of Hamilton. Trent Boult picked up a groin strain and missed the last two Tests of this series.That Neil Wagner had played only one Test without either of them since debut tells you how much New Zealand have come to rely on Southee and Boult. Unlike South Africa, who shuffled through various options without success, New Zealand’s second-tier stepped up. Matt Henry took his opportunities against both Pakistan and South Africa, and so did Colin de Grandhomme, whose medium pace puts him in the Vernon Philander mould. Wagner was his usual relentless self and gave New Zealand a lot to work with.South Africa had a more settled attack following Philander’s comeback, mostly because of the control he provides. Dale Steyn came back too, but was soon injured again and remains out until June at least, but Morne Morkel’s return was the most inspiring. After 14 months nursing a career-threatening back injury, Morkel returned against New Zealand with pace and precision to lead South Africa’s attack. Add Kagiso Rabada and Duanne Olivier to the mix, along with Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell, and South Africa seem well stocked.Keshav Maharaj was the find of the summer, according to his captain•Getty ImagesThe spinner
New Zealand’s opted for a young spinner in Mitchell Santner at the start of the season, and then included a more senior player in Mark Craig, before he was injured in India. Their most interesting inclusion was Jeetan Patel, who was called back from a successful county stint, for the South Africa series. Patel may not be a long-term solution but New Zealand see him as a mentor.”He is helping us develop a few other spinners at the same time,” Hesson said. “He is the most consistent spinner we’ve got and a really nice filler for us now. He gets the best out of the other bowlers and has sped up their learning.”South Africa fared better in this department with left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, described as the “find of the summer” by du Plessis. Maharaj was the top wicket-taker in New Zealand and also performed admirably in Australia. Although not a big turner of the ball, his control is his asset and he benefitted from pressure created by the quicks. Dane Piedt started the summer against New Zealand and was then dropped; he was recalled at the end, and though he did not play, he remains in contention.The end
The sky was sullen. Hidden behind stubborn clouds, it could not look down on Seddon Park. It is March 2017. South Africa and New Zealand have met again in an intriguing contest, but the rain forecast for all five days fell on the final morning. And so it ended.

ESPNcricinfo previews Somerset’s prospects for the 2017 season

George Dobell03-Apr-2017Last season:

In: Steven Davies (Surrey), George Bartlett, Ben Green
Out: Chris Rogers (retired), Alex Barrow (released)
Overseas: Dean Elgar (SA)2016 in a nutshell
Mixed. They came tantalisingly close to that much-anticipated first Championship title – they eventually fell four points short of Middlesex after what some viewed as a controversial run-chase in the final match against Yorkshire at Lord’s – and enjoyed a good run to the semi-final stage of the Royal London Cup. But they won fewer games than any other side in the NatWest Blast and saw the progress of some of their highly-talented young players – particularly Jamie Overton who, to be fair, was good before a back problem laid him low, and Tom Abell – stall just a little due to injury and loss of form. That they enjoyed such a successful Championship season was, to a large part, a reflection of the ability of their spinners to exploit helpful Taunton surfaces (four of their six of their wins were at home; they also enjoyed a notable one in Leeds) and some heavy run-scoring from two of the finest batsmen the club has ever produced: Marcus Trescothick and James Hildreth. Peter Trego and Chris Rogers also made 1,000 runs in the Championship season. Most of all, though, it was about Jack Leach claiming 65 Division One wickets – only Jeetan Patel took more – and helping Somerset recover from a start in which they won only one of their first nine games (and that by one wicket after the last three batsmen, one of which was Leach, added 64 for victory) to a breathlessly tight finish to the season. There were few, if any, grumbles about his action at the time, so it was quite a shock when it was found to be illegal during ECB testing at the end of the season.2017 prospects
There’s no reason Somerset shouldn’t challenge again. While Chris Rogers has retired, Dean Elgar replaces him at the top of the order and will open with Trescothick. Abell may benefit from a move down to No.3 and Steven Davies, recruited from Surrey, will fill the No. 5 position – a problem in 2016 – and keep wicket at the start of the Championship season, at least. Ryan Davies is likely to gain keeping opportunities at some stage, though. With the Overtons, Lewis Gregory, Leach et al, they have a nicely balanced (and locally developed) attack, with Jim Allenby and Peter Trego adding all-round depth. T20 overseas signings are likely to follow, but there no reason Somerset shouldn’t improve sharply in that format with Steven Davies moving up the order in the white-ball formats. It is anticipated that Taunton’s wickets may well again provide some assistance to spinners but, after years when the county ground was a bowlers’ nightmare (and bearing in mind England’s record in turning conditions) that may well be no bad thing.In charge
The promotion of Tom Abell to captaincy in the Championship is something of a risk. While there’s no doubting his talent, his returns in 2016 – he averaged 25.61 in the Championship, finding some form in the latter part of the season – suggest he is still in the developmental stage of his career. Aged 23, why wouldn’t he be? So the added responsibility may be the making of him, or it could be a burden he could do without. Either way, it was a bold move to give him the leadership at such a young age. Matthew Maynard remains as the coach, with Rogers back in a role as batting coach until the end of June. Allenby continues as limited-overs captain, with Jason Kerr as assistant coach and bowling coach.Key player
When Leach struggled on the Lions tour – he was left out of the first unofficial Test in Sri Lanka and proved expensive in the second – it was feared that he may be having difficulty adjusting to his remodelled action. Evidence since, such as in pre-season games in the UAE, suggests he is growing more comfortable with it, but whether he has fully recovered remains to be seen. As the man who gave Somerset their attacking edge in 2016, his success may go some way to defining their season.Bright young thing
There’s quite a choice in this category for Somerset. Abell, aged 23, is a fine, locally developed player and George Bartlett, just 19 and good enough to score 179 in the recent Under-19 Test in Nagpur, may follow him into the side soon. Dominic Bess, the teenage offspinner who took his 13 Championship wickets at a cost of 10.46 apiece, is promising, while Craig Overton already looks a terrific allround cricketer who, aged 22, is pretty much a senior player. But it remains his brother Jamie who has the higher ceiling as a cricketer. Capable of bowling with the pace required for Test level, he also has ability with the bat and in the field. If he can retain his fitness – and he is understood to have had an encouraging winter on that score – he is really is the sort of player who could make a difference in an away Ashes series.ESPNcricinfo verdict
There’s quite a lot going right at Taunton at present. The club is developing (with significant help from Devon) good young players who promise to support the more experienced spine of Trescothick, Trego and Hildreth (all of whom can again be claimed as local) in competitive campaigns across all formats. Yes, there is support from some South African-born players, but Somerset is proof that a smaller ground can produce players, compete and sustain itself financially. Somerset also host a T20I between England and South Africa (June 23) and expect to sell out their Blast tickets. Many clubs could learn from their example.Bet365 odds: Specsavers Championship: 8-1; NatWest Blast 12-1; Royal London Cup 12-1

This wasn’t a madcap dash like his 169-ball 162 in Galle two years ago. It was, instead, a quiet epic, the innings of an extravagantly gifted batsman adapting to leadership

Osman Samiuddin in Abu Dhabi29-Sep-2017It’s cruel, it really is. It’s cruel for everyone else of their breed that they make it look so easy, that they swan in like this is exactly what they’re supposed to do in this position and then they do it like it’s no big thing. And not just like it’s no big thing, but that it’s a tiny thing and maybe the easiest of all things they’ll do in a given day.The pre-eminent batsmen of this age happen also to be captains of their sides. Whatever their merits as captain, look at the batsmen they are as captain. Virat Kohli averages 59.53 as captain, and 41.13 otherwise. Kane Williamson averages 59.94 as captain, and 49.23 otherwise. Joe Root, small as his sample is, averages 60.75 as captain, 52.80 otherwise. Steven Smith averages 69.02 as captain, 51.83 otherwise.They haven’t broken a collective bead of sweat between themselves in doing so either. It’s superhuman and insane. If anything they’ve become, by numbers, better batsmen and in presence too they’ve grown. Which, if you think about it, goes against the very grain of human experience – normally the more pressure you apply upon humans, the more you begin to see what fragile constructions we are. It is not supposed to be easy, to be captain and to be the best batsman you can be. It’s not mutually exclusive, but it takes some doing to be as good as a batsman as you were before captaincy, or even just the same kind of batsman.It would only be natural, actually, for something to give way as a batsman when you take on the burdens of captaincy; not necessarily performance, but some little essence of what makes a batsman. Maybe a particular shot is put away. Maybe an innings just begins to creak a little under the weight of the role. In every single Misbah innings, as a recent example, it was clear that nearly every decision he made as a batsman, every shot he played, came only after he had weighed up every single beneficial or deleterious side effect on his captaincy and that in the shadow of so many shots Misbah did play was hidden a Misbah who wasn’t captain who would’ve played that shot differently.Smith, Kohli, Williamson and Root, by contrast, wear their captaincy so lightly on the batting crease, they hardly look like they’re playing competitive cricket, let alone leading their countries.Which brings us to Dinesh Chandimal and his quietly epic, nine-hour-long and unbeaten 155, a vivid illustration of what captaincy can – and by rights, should – do to most batsmen; which is, take a difficult, fraught task and add a level of neurosis to it. If you haven’t followed Chandimal’s career as closely as that of the big four, you might still remember him as one of a number of young and audacious batsmen who emerged in the subcontinent across the latter years of the aughts. Once upon a time, Sri Lanka had Dinesh Chandimal, because Pakistan had Umar Akmal and India had Kohli, and we had a golden age ahead of us.It didn’t work out that way but most likely, if you’re asked, you’ll recall Chandimal’s 169-ball 162 against India a couple of years ago, a very different kind of epic and among the most memorable Test innings of recent years.This is what you will definitely not recall from his innings spread over Thursday and Friday: that it took him 15 balls to get off the mark; that he got to double figures off his 52nd ball, that he was on 35 off 100 and then, surely set at that stage, still took 37 balls over his next three runs; that he ended yesterday 60 off 184 and it took him 273 balls and nearly six-and-a-half hours to get to his hundred. Not until deep into his innings today could anyone have been able to recall a shot of his, and when it did come it was something – a drive, on the up, wide of mid-off off Hasan Ali. A while later, a more expansive cover drive brought up the hundred, a release in so many ways.Out of character? Maybe, though more like outside your expectations of him. Earlier this year he made 5 off 54 balls against Bangladesh (though he did make 50 off 75 in the second innings). A year ago he took nearly eight hours to make 132 against Australia. So if you thought he’d be that modern, all-shots attacker who only knows one mode, then no, clearly he isn’t.He isn’t the rule and neither is he the exception, because there are others around who can scale back and grind one out. What this was for sure was a reminder that being a captain and extravagantly gifted batsman is not as easy as we have come to believe.”Chandi is a leader,” said his coach Nic Pothas and words can sound cheap, but these couldn’t but help to have acquired some value in the aftermath of his innings. “He expects high standards from the team whether it is preparation or fielding or fitness. He sets a great example. We have worked on a few things on his batting and he is very happy that those things have come good. That was a great Test match innings.”The mark of a great batsman, Pothas added, is that they can adapt. Usually we take this to apply to conditions, or surfaces, or certain situations within a game. Not often enough anymore do we recognise that it means adapting to leadership itself.

Can you crack this quiz and be as dominant as the Aussies at the Gabba? Go on, take a stab and find out

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2017

Too many variations, poor fields, and a lack of first-class bowling experience

Aakash Chopra17-Jun-2018What makes him an irresistible force in T20?
Legspinners have a distinct advantage over fingerspinners in being able to turn the ball either way without much changing the action or bending the arm. The fact that they can take the ball away from both left- and right-hand batsmen makes them successful in T20 because most big hits are through the on side, using the bottom hand, and legspinners make batsmen hit against the spin.Leggies do have to change the way they deliver the ball while moving from bowling legspin to googlies. From 22 yards away you can usually see the back of the hand when the googly is bowled, and so can play accordingly. In Rashid Khan’s case, it’s almost impossible to differentiate between the two variations because you see the back of his hand even when he’s bowling legspin. The only difference is the split-finger grip for legspin and joined fingers for a googly, but that’s too difficult to spot. In addition, he has a quick-arm action that leads to higher bowling speeds, which in turn make stepping out a difficult option to employ. Such is the speed of his deliveries that some of the hittable balls go unpunished because batsmen don’t have time to latch on to them.Why didn’t Rashid’s methods work in the Test match?
The value of patience in Test cricket, for both batting and bowling, can never be overstated. The key to Rashid’s success in T20, like for most other successful bowlers in the format, was not bowling two identical deliveries on the trot. The idea in the shortest format is to keep the batsman guessing by mixing it up almost every ball. In the first two sessions on the first day of the Test, Rashid did exactly that, and it didn’t work.In Tests, you need to focus on one stock delivery and use the variation only occasionally. The art of bowling six balls in an over in almost the same spot is the first requirement to succeed in Tests. It was only later on the first day that Rashid started bowling a lot of legspin deliveries and only few googlies. Also, bowling different variations too often makes it impossible to set the field, for unlike in T20 cricket, you need to pack one side in Tests and have few boundary riders.Why the field placements did not work
Rashid has always bowled to a spread-out fields in T20 cricket, which meant that some good shots, and many relatively loose balls, only went for singles. It doesn’t work like that in Test cricket, where every loose ball is put away for a boundary.Since Rashid doesn’t pause in his delivery stride, he has a tendency of bowling a little short once in a while, and these short balls are dispatched for boundaries in Tests because of the lack of protection in the deep.Rashid and Afghanistan started with an overly attacking field, which resulted in a lot of runs being scored off him. His economy was over seven per over in the first session.In addition to the loose balls and attacking field, the change in the batsmen’s mindset also contributed to making him a slightly lesser force. In T20 cricket, the situation forces batsmen to make a move, and they are compelled to manufacture shots. Since time is not of the essence in Tests, batsmen are happy to wait for the bad ball to come their way, and that seemed to have forced Rashid to try a little too hard.How the lack of first-class cricket hurt
The advantage of coming up the ranks in countries like India, Australia and England is that you usually have played about 40-50 first-class matches by the time you break into the national team. So you’re well versed with the demands of playing the longer formats. It’s one thing knowing that you need to bowl ball after ball at a similar spot for many overs at a stretch, but it can’t be executed if you haven’t done it many times over in the past.Afghanistan’s first Test was only Rashid’s fifth first-class game, and it was optimistic to expect him to acquire a new skill and muscle memory overnight.While he did show considerable improvement as the match went on, it’ll take a lot of cricket with the red ball before he becomes the same force in Test cricket as he is in T20.Also, lots of people seem to be advising him to bowl slower to become more effective in Tests, but I wouldn’t do that. His success doesn’t depend on the speed at which he bowls but how consistently he bowls at one spot. He will also need to choose either the legspinner or the googly as his stock ball, and stick to using the other for variation only once in a while.The art of setting up dismissals in Tests is quite different from that of setting up dismissals in T20. A few dot balls are enough to make the batsman jittery in T20, but in Tests, Rashid will need to master the art of boring batsmen with consistent and persistent line and length to induce mistakes.He is a finished product in the shortest format but a work in progress in the longest.

Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal has been officially charged with ball tampering in the ongoing Test. Here is the sequence that led to the state of events

Andrew Fidel Fernando and Osman Samiuddin17-Jun-2018Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal has been suspended for one Test for ball tampering. In addition, Chandimal, coach Chandika Hathurusingha and team manager Asanka Gurusinha, have also been charged with a Level 3 spirit of cricket offence, for their part in having kept the Sri Lanka team off the field for almost two hours on day three of the St. Lucia Test. If found guilty of the spirit of cricket offence, the three men could receive suspensions of between two to four Tests. Here is the sequence of events that led to this situation. Following play on the second evening, in which Sri Lanka were straining for wickets, umpires Aleem Dar, Ian Gould and television umpire Richard Kettleborough, had had some concerns over the methods Sri Lanka had used to maintain the ball. As a result, they asked the television crew if they had any suspicious footage. The next morning, the umpires viewed footage (which may be viewed here) of Chandimal retrieving something from his pocket, putting it into his mouth, and only a few seconds later, applying that saliva to the ball before handing it to bowler Lahiru Kumara. Upon viewing this footage, the umpires laid the charge of ball tampering, about 10 minutes before the teams were due to take the field on day three. Incensed partly by the timing of this charge, and the fact that the ball had been changed by the umpires, the Sri Lanka team refused to take the field. Over the course of two hours, in which Sri Lanka team management was seen in animated discussions with match referee Javagal Srinath, and had also been in contact with cricket administrators in Colombo, the matter was discussed at length. Among Sri Lanka’s concerns was the timing of the charge. They believed it should have been laid on the second evening itself, rather than having been sprung on the team just before play. Eventually Srinath issued an ultimatum: either Sri Lanka take the field before 11:30 am (the scheduled start had been 9:30), or forfeit the game. Sri Lanka resumed play just before this period elapsed. That Srinath allowed Sri Lanka such a lengthy grace period is because the team was in constant contact with him and the other match officials. In fact, there was one false start – Sri Lanka had taken the field to resume play before being hauled off it again by team management. In the time they were on the field, Chandimal was in discussion with at least one umpire. Later on day three, Sri Lanka cricket issued a release stating that the team strongly denied all charges, with the support of its administrators. Chandimal pleaded not guilty to the charge, and play went on as usual. The match was eventually drawn – Sri Lanka essentially running out of time as they attempted to dismiss West Indies in the final innings. The rain had also washed out most of the final session. West Indies had five wickets remaining. A hearing was held following the end of the second Test, during which Chandimal was shown the footage. According to ICC release, Chandimal had said at this hearing that he did not remember what he had put in his mouth. Finding this explanation unconvincing, Srinath imposed the harshest possible sentence for a ball-tampering offence: a one-Test suspension. In the wake of the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal, match officials had in fact been instructed by the ICC to impose the harshest possible penalties on ball tamperers – a fact that Srinath had conveyed to both teams before the start of the series. In addition to this suspension, the match officials charged captain, coach and manager with a Level 3 spirit of cricket offence. If coach and manager are found guilty, they will not be allowed to be in the dressing room while they serve out their suspensions. Chandimal is allowed to be inside the dressing room, but cannot step out into the field of play, even to carry drinks.

It is hard enough to win away Tests, but India keep making it harder for themselves by misreading conditions and selecting poorly

Sidharth Monga in Perth14-Dec-20183:30

Kartik: Bhuvneshwar would have been more effective on this surface

At the end of a hard day’s grind for India, after the other 10 had left the field, Ravindra Jadeja walked along the length of a treacherous pitch, giving it a close look. Although Jadeja easily spent 15-20 overs on the field – substituting for Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli and M Vijay – he was not allowed anywhere near the pitch, which is exactly where he should have been wheeling away over after over to do what R Ashwin did in Adelaide: plug one end up, exploit the bounce, allow the fast bowlers short, sharp spells from the other end in the 39C heat, take whatever wickets come your way; in other words, be the frontline spinner.India didn’t have any. Yet again, the team management had misread a pitch. It is hard enough to win away Tests. It is harder still to do so after losing the toss. India just keep making it harder for themselves by misreading pitches and selecting poorly. You could tell from how Virat Kohli spoke a day before the Test – “we hope no grass is shaved off”, “we are more excited than nervous”, “we have the fast bowlers to exploit these conditions” – there was a real danger of India getting carried away.This was only the third time in their history that India went into a Test without a specialist spinner – not counting Sydney 1991-92 because India did have the now-coach Ravi Shastri, a capable spinner in a variety of ways. There is a sound reason for that. Actually a variety of sound reasons. Good spinners help control the pace of the game. You get caught out on a stinker, they help you keep the fast bowlers fresh. You need to bowl last, they become crucial. You need them for over rate. You need them as a fail-safe; if the pitch is helpful for fast bowlers that you think you can play four of them, three of them should do the job anyway. Most importantly, as the team management of a professional Test side, you can’t be misreading conditions so often.The Kohli-Shastri captain-coach team has led India in 12 Tests outside Asia and the West Indies. Here is a non-results-based assessment of their team selections.

Adelaide 2014-15 – Play Karn Sharma – 66 first-class wickets in 34 matches at the time – ahead of R Ashwin. Karn goes for nearly five an over while opposition spinner Nathan Lyon takes 12 wickets.Sydney 2014-15 – Drop Cheteshwar Pujara, who had just helped India draw a Test. Play out-of-sorts Suresh Raina.Cape Town 2017-18 – Drop Ajinkya Rahane based on his form on slower pitches. Play Rohit Sharma.Centurion 2017-18 – Continue excluding Rahane, and also drop Bhuvneshwar Kumar, India’s best bowler and second-best batsman in the previous Test.Johannesburg, 2017-18 – Finally get Rahane back, but play five bowlers on a brutish pitch where extra batting cover is required. Hardik Pandya is required to bowl only eight overs.Birmingham 2018 – Shikhar Dhawan is picked again. Only one spinner when Ashwin takes wickets even on day one. Pandya required to bowl only 10 overs.Lord’s 2018 – Two spinners in a four-day Test on a pitch kept under covers and moist with the weather around.Trent Bridge 2018 – Get it right.Southampton 2018 – Play Ashwin, who has not yet fully recovered from an injury. Believed to be 75-80%.The Oval 2018 – Pick Hanuma Vihari ahead of Karun Nair, who has been with the squad for ages and might never get to play a Test again.Adelaide 2018-19 – Get it right. Perfect combination. Six batsmen on a difficult pitch, balanced attack of three best quicks and No. 1 spinner.

2:35

‘We bounced back very well in every session’ – Vihari

That bring us to Perth 2018-19. Part-time spinner Vihari is the leading wicket-taker for India after day one. Lyon must already be chomping at the bit thinking of bowling on this track to right-hand batsmen not very adept at avoiding bat-pad catches.This could be the cost of Adelaide where Australia kept India on the field for most of the last day, which is when Ashwin bowled with early signs of the injury. The next day was a three-and-a-half-hour flight, which also put them two-and-a-half hours behind Adelaide time. They then had two days to get their body clocks right, and more importantly recover from the wear and tear. India’s premier spinner couldn’t. What’s probably more disturbing is that, knowing this Indian side, they might still have gone with no spinner even if Ashwin had been fit and available.It also begs the question if India don’t trust Jadeja enough. There has to be a reason why Kuldeep Yadav played at Lord’s when they felt the need for two spinners, and Jadeja was kept out even when Ashwin was not a 100% for Southampton. The last time Jadeja played a live rubber as the only spinner in the side was way back in 2014, at Old Trafford. If there is no trust in him, does Jadeja travel only for his substituting abilities? India didn’t even use them in Adelaide, with Vihari doing the job for most of the time.Ashwin’s bowling is not the only thing India will miss this Test. He scored 25 in a crucial 62-run stand with Cheteshwar Pujara from 127 for 6 to turn the Test around India’s way. Now India’s tail will begin at No. 8. They could have of course gone for Bhuvneshwar Kumar to address that situation, but India chose Umesh Yadav, who went at 3.77 an over, got a wicket off a long hop and kept releasing the pressure with easy scoring opportunities.It was a day when all that could go wrong did. India lost the toss. Ishant Sharma, under the scanner for his missed no-balls in Adelaide, was called when he had not even overstepped. The umpire in question was also under the scanner, Kumar Dharmasena, from whose end Ishant did a lot of bowling in Adelaide. Here Ishant had to change ends, struggled for rhythm with his no-ball problems, and finally returned to Dharmasena’s end only when the second new ball was taken, taking wicket first ball.Despite all that – poor selection, lost toss, wayward start, slow over rate – India showed a lot of heart and resilience on the field. Jasprit Bumrah, unsurprisingly, was the leader of this revival. Once again he showed his aptitude by immediately correcting his lengths after a first spell that read 5-0-20-0. He built pressure all day long with subsequent spells of 4-2-6-0, 5-3-3-1, 1-1-0-0, 3-1-4-0, and 4-1-8-1. India rallied around him, fielded well, and toiled hard on the kind of day teams are known to totally fall to pieces.India still are the best Test team in the world, but when you watch them fight through spiritedly in these difficult situations, when you see the skill on offer, you actually wonder how much better they can be if they don’t misread the conditions so often. And there’s no spin anyone can put on that.

It’s not only India fans who are obsessed with him

Melinda Farrell14-Jan-20191:37

Has a cricketer ever had as much attention as Virat Kohli in 2018?

“If you want to win a series away from home, it has to be an obsession. And once you are obsessed, changing your decisions according to opinions is not an option at all. Instinctively, you have a gut feeling of playing a shot or bowling a particular ball. And inside if you feel good about doing something in a particular Test match, you should just follow that. You can’t change for someone else.”

***In the concrete bowels of the SCG, Virat Kohli climbs the steps and takes his seat at the table, behind the microphones, facing around 35 journalists and more than a dozen cameras.India lead the series 2-1; the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been retained but the historic series win is not secure. Australia could still draw the series with a victory in Sydney.A journalist asks if history matters to Kohli.”If you ask me very honestly, no,” Kohli replies. “Because what’s gone is not in our control and what is going to come is not something you need to think about. We need to stay in the present and focus on the things we can do.”Kohli goes on to talk about “the controllables” and regurgitates the standard lines that a captain is wont to do when the game ahead means everything and a loss is too awful to contemplate. Best to minimise and deflect expectation. Control the controllables. Focus on the present. Any Test victory is special.The table in the press conference room is draped with Cricket Australia’s slogan in its attempt to reconnect with fans after an annus horribilis: “It’s Your Game.” It could be there solely for Kohli. It’s his game, after all.Before the series started, it was all about Kohli. It’s always about Kohli. Six months earlier, in England, it was the same, and it precedes every other series involving India. How do you stop him scoring? How do you take his wicket? Can he be provoked? Will he provoke? Is his captaincy up to the mark? What about that other time Kohli did that thing and people reacted?Other Indian players starred in the series win in Australia, so why are we still obsessing over Virat Kohli?•Getty ImagesIndian fans laugh at the opposition. Kohli lives in your heads, rent-free, they say. They are right.Kohli has moved in, set up his furniture and is sitting on his comfy couch in a smoking jacket with his slippered feet up, watching a highlights reel of a historic series victory. If he smoked, he’d be puffing on a stogie. If he drank, he’d be sipping a fine whiskey.But it’s not just opposition fans, it’s India fans as well. It’s the media in every country he visits, it’s the media at home.The phenomenon that is Kohli could not have happened in any previous era. There have been other rock-star cricketers in India, from the moment Sunil Gavaskar became a national obsession, to the age of the venerated Sachin Tendulkar, but they came before the world transformed into its own social media microcosm.ALSO READ: Bat, breathe, bat: the essence of KohliBut it isn’t also just a question of timing. Kohli is a magnet for attention because of who he is as a cricketer and a person. His playing style is as attractive, domineering and entertaining as it is technically and tactically sound, and as a result, it seems to eclipse all else. A video of his nets session in Adelaide caused worldwide rapturous swooning of Beatlemania proportions. In terms of the contest about to unfold it was meaningless. Kohli himself had a modest – by his ludicrously high standards – series, although his century in Perth ranks among the best of his career. A more telling video would have shown Cheteshwar Pujara modestly practising his forward defence and his patient leaves in the Adelaide nets – turn sound on for the gentle thwack and whoosh of the ball hitting the net, folks! – but that wouldn’t have generated the views or the clicks. It’s all about Kohli, Kohli, Kohli.Fox Cricket commissioned at least two promos for their coverage in Australia that feature only the visiting captain. One shows him in action with the bat – familiar scenes: smiting the ball, interspersed with intense close-ups and the message, The King is Coming. In another, a cartoon Kohli appears smiling in different heroic guises: as a flying Superman, as Usain Bolt striking his winning pose, as Ethan Hunt carrying out a Mission Impossible.***You suspect he is acutely aware of his own magnetism and uses it to the team’s advantage. Last time India toured Australia, Kohli was majestic with the bat, took over the captaincy from MS Dhoni, and lost the series. This time around, with all eyes and cameras on him again, Pujara and Jasprit Bumrah were the chief destroyers; one an immovable object that blunted Australia’s bowling attack, the other an irresistible force whose quirky, jerky catapult action scythed through the fragile batting.1:17

Throwdowns and majestic pulls: Kohli hits the Adelaide nets

But Pujara is so modest and quietly unassuming, he fades to almost invisibility around his more boisterous team-mates as they cheerfully mock his inability to dance. And Bumrah is the smiling puppy of the team, bounding around the field and politely answering questions with the refreshing demeanour of a newbie who suddenly realises he is one of the world’s best bowlers and can’t quite believe it.Kohli, meanwhile, sucks eyeballs and camera lenses his way. No other player has their own islolated camera follow them for such extended periods of time. Whether it’s intentional or a natural consequence of his animation, even on days when India are fielding, the agency photo files are crammed with Kohli shots. And why not? He glares, he laughs, he gestures with more intensity than anyone else.ALSO READ: How Kohli has changed India’s attitudeThe moment of his century in Perth was pure Virat. Having withstood a peppering by the quicks and a stinging blow to the elbow, he leaned into a slightly overpitched delivery from Mitchell Starc and imperiously drove straight back down the ground past the bowler to equal Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of centuries in Australia. He pointed to his bat and made talking motions with his hand. I let my bat do the talking, he seemed to be saying. But Kohli doesn’t just talk with his bat. His hands and his eyes do plenty of talking, whether it’s flipping the bird as a tempestuous youth, admonishing Joe Root’s mic-drop celebration with his own, or blowing kisses to his wife. After Bumrah took six wickets in the first innings at the MCG, Kohli doffed his hat in a show of deference as they walked off. That image, more than the one of Bumrah holding up the ball, was the one that captured the imagination. Even when he tries to shift the spotlight away it’s impossible for him to hide.***

“With the stump mics and cameras and all these things, honestly, when the bowler is bowling you aren’t thinking whether the stump mic is on or the camera is on or not. And when you are facing that ball, literally there is no one in the stadium apart from you and that ball. So, these things are totally irrelevant, and you are actually not aware of them when you are on the field. It’s never bothered me, it’s never been something that’s of importance to me.”

Players say such things all the time, of course. They don’t pay any attention to the media or fans or critics, they tell you. But Kohli gives the impression of being more intensely focused than most. Perhaps his ability to switch off the outside world was gained when he suffered a great loss. He was 19, playing a first-class match for Delhi, when his father passed away. He famously went on to make 90 runs.Now he has to shut out the obsession of the entire cricketing world, and since the start of his relationship with Anushka Sharma, the world of Bollywood celebrity. He sits in the intersection of scrutiny few others inhabit. While there is adoration for actors, they don’t have to bear the responsibility of carrying an entire nation’s obsession with them.The media feeds on Kohli as much as he feeds them. Run a story about Kohli and you’ll get clicks. Videos get views, social-media posts get likes. Mention him in a tweet at your peril, such will be the passion and sensitivity of the response. Some love him, some hate him. When Kohli plays well, he is the story, when he doesn’t play well, he is the story. It’s a never-ending circle between the man, the fans and the media.Kohli is not only a sporting hero, he’s also one half of a celebrity couple, which makes him ideal fodder for the paparazzi•Getty ImagesAt ESPNcricinfo, as at any other media organisation, it becomes a matter of editorial judgement and even debate: go for an easy win or search for something else? It’s not always a straightforward answer; you can’t ignore the story of the day. Some journalists hate it. Others enjoy it. Many accept it. The plethora of random photos available beg to be used. A day in the life of his helmet. A series of his reactions.Around 45% of this site’s Instagram posts from this series feature Kohli. Sometimes an intervention is required. Conversely, you can’t ignore the world’s best player. Because here you are, reading almost to the end of another piece centred on a man we don’t really know.***

“What I do or how I think, I am not going to take a banner outside to the world and explain that this is who I am and you need to like me or stuff like that. These are things that happen on the outside. I literally have no control over that.”

We can only guess at what life must be like at the centre of this hurricane, but he at least gives the impression of residing in the calm eye. In the final days of the fourth Test, with victory in the series all but assured, Kohli seemed more relaxed than he had ever been. After becoming just the second Indian captain to enforce the follow-on in Australia, he walked out and took his place at second slip, next to Pujara. He looked over at Ajinkya Rahane in the gully and laughed. After bad light forced the players off the field, he was laughing with Ravi Shastri and the umpires. The intensity had made way for satisfaction.Kohli walked up to the dais on his own and collected the trophy, a moment alone on the stage. When his team-mates joined him on the stage, he handed the trophy to Mayank Agarwal and stood to the side. But there was no missing his presence.***After the celebrations, in the concrete bowels of the SCG, Kohli climbs the steps and takes his seat at the table, behind the microphones, facing about 35 journalists and more than a dozen cameras.India lead the series 2-1; the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been retained and history has been made.A journalist asks if history still doesn’t matter and, just for a moment, the standard replies of inward focus and shutting out the world are put aside. He smiles.”We all play mind games, don’t we?”Because whether we – or he – like it or not, Virat Kohli is living in our heads.