We analyse MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Steve Smith, David Warner and Dinesh Karthik’s leadership styles in the league

Gaurav Sundararaman and Nagraj Gollapudi10-Sep-2020Down the years, teams that have won the IPL have had successful captains. Shane Warne, MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, to name a few, shaped their sides into match-winning units with their leadership.The IPL is considered the world’s best T20 tournament because of the high quality of talent overall and the intense competition for spots. Captains have the challenge of not just formulating tactics but also building a unified group from a pool of 20-plus players who comprise Indian and overseas stars and young, uncapped newcomers. Their ability to bring the best out of a diverse group of players in tight match situations is what has earned Warne, Dhoni and Rohit the tag of great IPL captains.We take a look at seven of the eight captains in this year’s IPL and their styles. (KL Rahul, the Kings XI Punjab captain, is not included because he has never led before in the IPL and has captained in only one senior level match.)

MS Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings

Dhoni owes much of his reputation as arguably the best T20 captain in the world to the Super Kings franchise, which bought him in the first IPL auction. Since then Dhoni has grown to become the final voice on cricket at the franchise, above even N Srinivasan, the owner. The Super Kings have made the playoffs every season, won the IPL three times, played eight finals and remained the most consistent team in the league. Man-management skills Dhoni possesses the ability to rally his players to adapt to his style, and he can manage his resources efficiently. Many players who have flourished under his IPL captaincy have gone on to play for India: Manpreet Gony, Sudip Tyagi, Mohit Sharma, Deepak Chahar among them. Winning the IPL in 2018 with a “Dad’s Army” is a testament to how Dhoni can mould the available resources into a winning unit. The team’s slowness in the field has been somewhat mitigated by Dhoni’s emphasis on them making up with better catching.Instinct or data? Dhoni has always been in the former camp – to the point where he has sometimes done exactly the opposite of what a data-led approach would recommend. A good example came in last year’s IPL when he asked Harbhajan Singh to bowl to Sunil Narine in the powerplay, counter to most teams, who looked to unsettle the Kolkata Knight Riders’ pinch-hitter with pace.As a wicketkeeper, Dhoni reads the pitch and sees angles better than other captains. He sets his fields diligently, positioning his fielders based on the pitch and the batsman at the crease.Remember the time? One example will not do justice to the legend of Dhoni and his tactics, but his getting Rayudu to open in the 2018 IPL took everyone by surprise. Rayudu delivered, scoring 602 runs at a strike rate of nearly 150.Girish TS/ESPNcricinfo LtdThe same year, Dhoni did not give a single over to his premier spinner, Harbhajan, in an all-important Qualifier clash against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. “I have a lot of cars and bikes at home but I don’t ride all of them at the same time,” he said when asked about it in the press conference. Dhoni has also sent the likes of Deepak Chahar and Harbhajan ahead of himself to counterattack after a top-order collapse.Where he could do better At times Dhoni seems to get rigid with his plans and does not look to innovate. This could mean he risks becoming predictable in unfamiliar conditions.What people say “You always got the feeling that he was one step ahead – whether he was or wasn’t was another thing, but you got the feeling he was.”
– CSK’s batting coach Michael HusseyIn his own words “After the first ball is bowled, it’s only chaos. What you are trying to do is you are trying to manage the chaos. It’s not like a script that happens.”

Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians

Rohit has won a record four titles with the Mumbai Indians, who appointed him captain in 2013. For tactical acumen he is second only to Dhoni, and like Dhoni he is calm in the face of pressure, but where the latter is all about instinct, Rohit is big on planning.Man-management skills Rohit’s leadership is based on simplicity, and he is not the sort to impose himself – an approach that has worked with players like Sachin Tendulkar, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan, the Pandya brothers, Jasprit Bumrah and others. As a captain, Rohit has given his players room to express themselves, and he has helped ensure the core group stick together.Instinct or data? Rohit is well known to be an intense tactician and a meticulous planner. He spends time with the analyst carving out plans for each batsman, which helps him make informed decisions on the field, particularly when it comes to match-ups and lines and lengths his bowlers need to pitch at each venue.Rohit Sharma: “I believe that when you are captain, you are the least important person”•Bikas Das/Associated PressRemember the time? Rohit has had his fast bowlers bowl bumpers at 140-plus to Chris Gayle and Narine, and deployed Bumrah against Glenn Maxwell and Krunal Pandya against AB de Villiers – evidence of planning. He also has surprised oppositions a couple of times with some X-factor selections: most famously, starting with uncapped Indian legspinner Mayank Markande in 2018; then replacing the successful Markande to play Rahul Chahar in 2019. Perhaps Rohit’s best-remembered move was in the last ball of the 2019 IPL final against the Super Kings, when he had Lasith Malinga bowl a slower ball to his Mumbai team-mate Shardul Thakur.Where he could do better Possibly the only area of concern is his own batting record in the IPL, which is significantly less impressive than his T20I record, where he strikes around nine runs higher, at 138.78. This has perhaps been down to the fact that for long he was not sure whether to open or bat at four – a question that has seemingly been answered in favour of opening.What people say “Rohit is an instinctive leader, for sure. But at the same time Rohit gathers a lot of information as well, I think that’s his strength.”
– Mahela Jayawardene on In his own words “I believe in a theory that when you are captain, you are the least important person. Others become more important in the larger scheme of things. It works differently for different leaders but as far as I am concerned, this theory works for me.”

Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bangalore

If captaincy is defined by titles, Kohli has done dismally in the IPL, while remaining his team’s best batsman. He is also still the best candidate for the job, as the franchise chairman Sanjeev Churiwala said recently. Kohli has said he wants to continue to lead by example and improve his players and make them more accountable, responsible and better.Man-management skills “Intent” is a word Kohli commonly uses while addressing media conferences. He is intense and expects the same intensity at all times from his players, at times forgetting that not everyone can turn it on the way he does, regardless of how many hours they spend working on their skills. However, over the last few years, Kohli has become more subtle about expressing himself as captain: instead of confronting, he now cajoles his players and gives them the space to grow, while not losing sight of the notion that in order to bring the best out of a player, you need to keep them on their toes.Those who have worked with Kohli, though, believe he needs to spend more time with the squad, and get to know particularly the Indian players better as people, which could come in handy in match situations.Although he helps check the runs with his fielding in the deep, Virat Kohli possibly needs to spend more time talking to his bowlers during the death overs•Rafiq Maqbool/Associated PressInstinct or data? Kohli reads the game like few can, and he can visualise outcomes and adapt quickly. He is not big on numbers, though not closed to it, and relies more on his reading of match situations and players. Occasionally he can be impulsive and go contrary to plans. In team meetings he is known to talk about opposition bowlers’ strengths, go-to balls and field placements, which his batsmen can utilise to plan accordingly.Remember the time? Kohli’s self-belief as a batsman is reflected in his leadership. Unlike Dhoni, who can quickly adapt to changing match situations, Kohli can be impulsive. However, in the 2019 IPL, he showed more clarity of thought. One good example was how he utilised Yuzvendra Chahal and Navdeep Saini. Chahal was tossed the ball to take care of overseas batsmen frequently, while Saini was let loose on the Indian batsmen, who were discomforted by his extreme pace and vicious inswing.On a sticky pitch against CSK in Bengaluru, Kohli brought Saini back into the attack in the seventh over to bowl to Dhoni. The bowler very nearly trapped Dhoni lbw with an inswinger after which Chahal kept things tight in the middle overs. Saini returned at the death and held Dhoni in check by bowling back of a length outside off stump, denying him his usual scoring areas.Where he could do better While Kohli has shown he can think on his feet, his grasp of match situations is occasionally questionable. And unlike successful IPL captains like Dhoni, Warne and Gautam Gambhir, Kohli fields in the deep, as one of the most athletic fielders around in the death overs. That is the phase of a match where Royal Challengers’ bowlers have struggled consistently and could perhaps do with counsel and an arm around the shoulder. Umesh Yadav, Saini, Mohammed Siraj have all shown they can dominate batsmen, but not regularly.Kohli could do with a little more focus on how to extract the best out of his players, how to convert an ordinary player into a consistent match-winner, and how to rely on his instincts and plans and experiment a bit more with combinations, which could provide more belief to his players.What people say “Virat has a different style of captaincy. He likes to be right in front every time, he likes to be leading from the front and be aggressive all the time. It is his style and it has suited him. Dhoni and Rohit keep the dressing room calm, while Virat makes sure that everyone is on their toes and they all keep pushing themselves.”
– Parthiv Patel, Royal Challengers’ wicketkeeper-batsmanIn his own words “I don’t care whether I am going to be judged on this [not winning IPL] or not.”

David Warner, Sunrisers Hyderabad

Appointed regular captain in 2015, Warner led Sunrisers Hyderabad to their first IPL title in 2016 and the team then made the playoffs the following year. The team’s best batsman, Warner has earned the respect of his peers and shares a good rapport with his leadership group, which also includes fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Warner will return to lead the side for the first time in two years, having featured as just a player in the 2019 season.Girish TS/ESPNcricinfo LtdMan-management skills Luckily for Warner, the Sunrisers have never had too many senior players in their squads, and Warner has been a role model for the younger players, who have seen up close not just his intensity with the bat but also his thorough commitment in the field, where he is one of the most electric fielders. In addition to Rashid Khan, Warner has encouraged a lot of youngsters who have played a big hand in Sunrisers’ growth, including Siraj, Mustafizur Rahman and Siddarth Kaul.Instinct or data? Warner balances the two about equally. There have been occasions when he has looked at match-ups to dismiss batsmen. Getting Kumar to outwit an in-form Aaron Finch (his Australian opening partner) of the Gujarat Lions with an inswinger in 2016, for instance. Or, in the final that year, bringing on uncapped left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma to get rid of AB de Villiers at a crucial stage.Remember the time? In that 2016 final, Warner went against the tide in deciding to bat first after winning the toss, although the data suggested that it was wiser to field first at the Chinnaswamy, and the Royal Challengers were a strong chasing side back then. “We knew how well Virat went in that edition,” Warner said, looking back at the final earlier this year. “It was about backing ourselves. We won the toss and elected to bat first. I felt as a team our best attribute was defending the totals.” It was certainly a gamble, and in the 13th over of RCB’s chase, with the score at 140 for 1, Warner might have had some doubts about whether it would pay off. Standing at long-on and long-off, he remained in constant discussion with the bowlers and when Kohli fell in that same over, he held Mustafizur Rahman back for the death and continued with Bipul, who rewarded him with de Villiers’ wicket.Where he could do better Warner as captain has no real major drawbacks. He has missed captaining in the last two seasons due to off-field incidents and now has two IPL tournaments in the space of eight-odd months to showcase what Sunrisers have missed. Batting positions and overseas picks have been thorny issues for the side over the last two seasons and it will be interesting to see how Warner deals with them.What people say “Both the players [Warner and Kane Williamson] lead from the front as captains and I am sure it will continue in that way in whatever capacity these guys play. Also, I don’t see much difference in approach, but all I know is they are willing to do everything for the team
– Bhuvneshwar Kumar, in the David Warner, who led Sunrisers Hyderabad to the title in 2016, returns as captain after a two-season stint as a player•Mahesh Kumar A/Associated PressIn his own words “I don’t see it as a redemption tale, I just see it as an honour to captain the Sunrisers. I’ll put my thinking cap on and try my best to move us forward to another IPL title [he was captain when Sunrisers won the title in 2016].”

Steven Smith, Rajasthan Royals

Smith has a win percentage of 65.5 as captain in the IPL, having lost just nine times in 29 matches. He has had multiple captaincy stints with three different franchises; in fact, his first match as IPL captain was way back in 2012, when he was not a regular in the Australia set-up. He captained the Rajasthan Royals to a playoff spot in 2015, and missed winning the title for Rising Pune Supergiant by one run in 2017.Man-management skills Smith replaced Dhoni as captain at Supergiant in 2017, at a tough time for the team, which had finished seventh in 2016, and got them to squeeze through into the playoffs. Although it was not easy to step into Dhoni’s shoes, Smith did a good job. A number of young players came to the fore under his captaincy, among them Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar and Lockie Ferguson. Smith also backed senior pros Jaydev Unadkat and Manoj Tiwary by giving them specific roles in the team that allowed those two players to have their best IPL seasons during his tenure.Instinct or data? Smith strikes a good balance between the two. Royals are known to be scientific in their approach to picking players at auctions, as well as in planning for games. Smith’s stints with Australia, Royals and Supergiant have featured many strategies that have been role-specific and optimised for maximum success.Remember the time? The 2017 campaign had multiple instances where Smith played to his team’s strengths. Grooming Sundar to be a powerplay specialist for Supergiant paid off, particularly when Sundar took 3 for 16 against Mumbai Indians in the first Qualifier. Another time Smith took a leaf out of Dhoni’s book by placing three men straight down the ground for Pollard, which saw Pollard caught the very next ball while trying to hit Imran Tahir over deep extra cover.Rajasthan Royals haven’t reached an IPL final since winning the title in 2008. Can they do it under Steven Smith?•Bikas Das/Associated PressWhere he could do better Like Warner, Smith has not had recent IPL captaincy experience. He has three gun overseas players to help him out, but it remains to be seen whether he can rally youngsters and inexperienced Indian players to a title win. The Royals have not made the finals since the first IPL, in 2008, and Smith needs to be well up on the tactics front and also lead from the front with strong performances.What people say “MS is one of the greatest minds I have interacted with. And he is the best wicketkeeper in the world. The one mind ahead of Dhoni’s is Smith’s.”
– Sanjeev Goenka, Supergiant’s owner, to in 2017In his own words “My record probably is better when I’m captain than when I’m not. That sort of pressure doesn’t really bother me.”

Dinesh Karthik, Kolkata Knight Riders

Karthik was appointed captain by KKR in 2018, his debut season for the franchise. He was 32 then, one of the most experienced players in the squad, but had only led 18 times in the IPL, as interim captain during his stints at five other teams. It did not help that he was taking over from Gambhir, who had been the captain for seven seasons, during which the Knight Riders won the IPL twice. Man-management skills One of Karthik’s strengths is his approachability. Players have talked about the ease with which they can communicate with him. He has also not been averse to copping the blame when things go wrong, which allows players to trust him. Take the incident where Andre Russell criticised the team management over his place in the batting order in the first half of last year’s IPL, when the Knight Riders successively lost matches. Karthik soothed ruffled feathers one on one with Russell before things could descend into a blame game.Girish TS/ESPNcricinfo LtdInstinct or data? Unlike Gambhir, who was more instinctive, Karthik is big on planning, does his homework, and seeks information from the backroom staff on match-ups and strengths and weakness of the opposition.Remember the time? Karthik’s tactical strengths came to the fore against Chennai Super Kings in 2018. When Dhoni came to bat around the 12th over, Karthik brought Mitchell Johnson back into the attack, not giving Dhoni any time to settle. He then bowled Johnson out before the death, surprisingly reserving the final three overs of the innings for the spinners, Piyush Chwala, Narine and Kuldeep. Dhoni, accustomed to speed at the death, couldn’t take the attack to the spinners, who combined to give away 31 runs. KKR chased down the 178-run target with more than two overs to spare.Where he could do better Observers have spoken of how Karthik’s tendency to overthink as a batsman occasionally affects his leadership too, which can lead to him losing faith in players or his own decision making. Take the example of Yadav, who is no longer the go-to bowler he was under Gambhir. During Karthik’s captaincy, Knight Riders have played 30 matches in the last two seasons; Yadav has missed five of those, and in ten of the 25 matches he has played, he has not finished his quota of four overs.Those who have seen him up close believe Karthik could be more inclusive in taking on ideas from players before making his decisions.What people say “Just to remind you that under DK’s captaincy, we were one game away from the finals in 2018 and missed making the playoffs in 2019 because of NRR.”
– Knight Riders chief executive officer Venky Mysore, in the How will Dinesh Karthik utilise Kuldeep Yadav’s skills this season?•BCCIIn his own words “As a leader, I think having different opinions and dealing with it is one of the most important things.”

Shreyas Iyer, Delhi Capitals

At 25, Iyer is the youngest captain in the IPL. In 2018, the Daredevils bought Gambhir solely to get themselves an experienced captain, but the experiment was short-lived. Local boy Rishabh Pant has led Delhi in the Ranji Trophy, but when picking the captain, the team management, led by Ricky Ponting, went with Iyer, who had been the Emerging Player in his debut season in 2014.In 2018, the Daredevils finished bottom of the table but beat Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians in their last two matches. A year later the team, rebranded the Delhi Capitals, reached their first playoffs since 2012, under Iyer’s leadership. Man-management skills Iyer has never been short on confidence, and his cricketing success has boosted that. He has been able to connect with players, including senior ones and overseas pros, easily. A lot of the talking in team contexts is done by Ponting, but on the field Iyer has been given the freedom to express himself and he has done well.After a long wait, Delhi Capitals reached the playoffs last season. Can Shreyas Iyer take them to their maiden final this season?•Surjeet Yadav/Associated PressInstinct or data? By his own admission, Iyer relies on instinct. But then he has Ponting in the camp, who takes data seriously, so Iyer can afford to take that kind of approach in what remains a learning phase for him.Remember the time? Iyer brought his reliance on gut feel into play in the last match of his first season as captain, in 2018. Mumbai were chasing 174 for a win and needed 18 runs off the final over, with an in-form Ben Cutting on strike. Both of Iyer’s two primary bowling options, experienced England quick Liam Plunkett and Haryana medium-pacer Harshal Patel had gone for at least 15 in one of their previous overs. Figuring that Cutting was comfortable reading Plunkett, Iyer backed Patel, who also had a better slower ball. The first ball was short and slow, going down leg, and Cutting hit it for a six. Patel followed it up with another short and slow delivery, this time wide outside off. Cutting tried to drag it to the leg side but mistimed the shot while reaching for it and was caught at deep midwicket. He wrapped up the game in the next ball to eliminate Mumbai from the IPL.Where he could do better Iyer is something of a straight talker, in the Ponting mould. As he grows into the leadership role, he might need to learn to temper that tendency, but without losing his honesty.What people say “He’s definitely become more comfortable in the role now, and has matured immensely. I’m very happy with how he’s shaped up as a leader, and all the international cricket exposure he has had is going to improve him further.”
– Ricky PontingIn his own words “When I got the Delhi Capitals captaincy in the middle of the 2018 season, I was not prepared for it. But I took it up as a challenge. Then in 2019 when I got to know that I was going to captain for the entire season, that helped me prepare mentally. I enjoyed it immensely, and in some sense it made me a better player. It helped me grow.”

We discuss the pros and cons of each of the potential replacements

Sruthi Ravindranath13-Jan-2021Jalaj SaxenaSaxena, now 34, has been waiting to make the step up to the highest level for a really long time. The offspinning-allrounder is a first-class veteran with 123 matches to his name, matches in which he has scored 6334 runs and picked up 347 wickets, putting up outstanding numbers year after year. He’s hit over 500 runs in six out of the last eight Ranji Trophy seasons, and has taken over 40 wickets in three out of the last five seasons. Saxena seemed to have fallen off the selectors’ radar after being kept out of the India A frame for nearly six years, but returned to play against England Lions and South Africa A in 2019. He made 138 runs in four games then, with highest of 61* and picked up nine wickets.In his favour: With R Ashwin as the primary spinner, Jadeja usually plays as the second spinner and a lower-middle order batsman. Of the options, Saxena probably comes closest to being as versatile as Jadeja is, and might be the best fit in Jadeja’s absence.Against him: Saxena’s experience is definitely a plus point, but would India prefer a younger player? Also, if Ashwin is fit, would they want a second off spinner? Saxena’s performances have certainly not dipped over the years, and most recently, he returned 3 for 13 in Kerala’s opening Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match, playing after nearly a year. But seeing that he has been in and out of the ‘A’ side, one wonders if the selectors want to turn to him again or not.Axar PatelThe left-arm spinner picked up 27 wickets in six matches in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season, and also made handy contributions with the bat in Gujarat’s run to the semi-final. A regular in the India A teams for a while now, Patel has 134 wickets and 1665 runs in 39 first-class games.In his favour: He’s played for India and has been a regular in the IPL and in the frame for the Indian white-ball sides, known for his match-winning cameos and monstrous hits in the shorter formats, and also has one first-class century and 13 half-centuries to his name. Patel, almost 27 now, also provides the left-arm spin option and has grown as a strike bowler, especially in the shorter formats, having added new dimensions to his bowling over the years. Knowledge of playing in home conditions in Gujarat might also come in handy for the two Tests scheduled to be played at the new stadium in Ahmedabad.Against him: Lack of first-class games at home. While he comes with international experience, having played 38 ODIs and 11 T20Is, will Patel’s lack of red-ball experience – 15 Ranji games in the last three seasons – have an impact on his selection? It does seem like he has been slotted in as a short-format player, and not one for the waiting game.Jayant Yadav has the experience of playing England in home Tests•AFPJayant YadavFour wickets on his India debut. The first India No. 9 to hit a Test century. Just when his international career was about to take off, Yadav hit a roadblock with a finger injury, and eventually fell out of favour after playing four Tests across 2016 and 2017. He returned to the domestic circuit for the 2018-19 season and picked up ten wickets in six games for Haryana, and in the 2019-20 season picked up nine wickets in just two games.In his favour: He’s a more-than-useful lower-order batsman besides being a specialist spinner, with 2172 first-class runs – including a career-best 211 – and 162 wickets. There’s a fair bit of ability there, not to mention Test-playing experience.Against him: Injuries have denied him game time in the last few years – he’s played just eight Ranji matches in the last couple of seasons. He doesn’t have the weight of recent performances on his side, even if reputation and ability are very much on his side.Shahbaz NadeemPerhaps the best left-arm spinner in India for the past many years, Nadeem is perhaps the No. 1 candidate to slot in for Jadeja even if he isn’t quite the batsman some of the others are. Nadeem has 443 first-class wickets, 83 of which have come for India A at an average of under 30. After years of picking up wickets by the sacksful across formats, Nadeem was rewarded with a Test debut against South Africa at home in 2019 – his only Test so far – where he finished with match figures of 4 for 40.In his favour: He’s featured regularly for India A and has impressed across the world, and his class is beyond doubt. Since 2017, he has picked up 75 wickets in 18 matches – there’s form on his side too, even though he isn’t getting any younger at 31.Against him: He is a specialist bowler, with a first-class batting average of 14.64. Not quite the bowling allrounder one would ideally want to replace Jadeja with.

The Afghanistan spinner takes top honours despite playing just 40 matches

ESPNcricinfo stats team08-Dec-2020Rashid Khan’s impact on the BBL has been incredible. In the last three seasons, he has taken 56 wickets at an average of 17.66 and strikes once every 17 balls. Khan concedes a boundary once every 11 balls. This means he conceded just about two boundaries per BBL match. That makes him the BBL’s Most Valuable Player ( MVP) across all nine seasons in spite of playing just 40 matches as per ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats. His conventional economy rate of 6.36 is the best in the league.Khan’s ability to trouble the opposition batsmen year after year shows his value to the Adelaide Strikers who bank on him to bowl all the tough overs. His economy rate in the middle overs in the last three seasons is 6.06 and he averages 14 runs per wicket. The next best average in this phase is 19.61, by Sandeep Lamichhane. Rashid also has taken 25% of the Strikers wickets since his debut in the BBL.ESPNcricinfo LtdAccording to Smart Stats, which looks at every batting and bowling performance through the prism of match context as well as the pressure on the batsman and bowler at each delivery, Khan’s 56 wickets were worth 72 and his Smart Economy was 5.09. While all other bowlers in his team strike at 28.7, Khan Strikes once every 17 balls.D’arcy Short is next in terms of impact points per match. His batting through the seasons has been top notch while his bowling has been useful too, and his impact for Hurricanes has helped him get a score of 53 points per match. There is little to separate the next three, with Jason Beherendoff, Nathan Coulter Nile and Glenn Maxwell completing the top five. Shane Watson, Chris Lynn, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis and Travis Head are the others that make up the ten.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe bowlers dominated the overall impact but the most impactful performances in a match across nine seasons have come from batsmen. Short tops the match-wise top impact for his outstanding unbeaten 122 from 69 deliveries against Brisbane Heat in 2018. The next highest score was just 19 by Ben Mcdermott. While all batsmen struggled to get going it felt like Short was batting on a completely different wicket. Only one other batsmen had a strike rate of more than 100.ESPNcricinfo LtdStoinis features twice in this list – one for his all-round display, though in a losing cause, when he took three wickets and scored 99 from 51 balls, and another for his superb bowling performance under pressure to help Stars defend a total of 134. According to Smart Stats both these all-round displays comfortably trump his unbeaten 147 of 79 balls against Sixers earlier this year. Left-handers Craig Simmons and Matt Renshaw complete the top five.ESPNcricinfo LtdShort is also the best batsman in the BBL, according to Smart Stats. His impact has been outstanding for a team that has been heavily reliant on two players. Short’s batting impact score in the BBL is 40.29. He has scored 23% of the runs made by Hurricanes and plays an average of 29 balls per innings.Short has had to repeatedly play long innings to prevent the middle order from getting exposed, and he has done it with a lot of success. Short has two centuries and 15 fifties from just 43 innings. The fact that he plays for a team that does not have too many high-impact players puts him high up in the Batting Impact rating.Just like Short, Lynn faces the same challenge. Brisbane Heat also are heavily reliant on a couple of players to win matches for them. Lynn has had some amazing seasons for the Heat and has a score of 38.06. He is the league’s top scorer and has a Smart Strike Rate of 167.1, the best in the league. Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh complete the top five in terms of batting impact.

Six months after an incident-free tournament overseas, there was no room for error this time given the ground situation

Nagraj Gollapudi05-May-2021A resurgent pandemic with new strains, multiple positive cases within the eight IPL teams – including a few inside their bubbles – and the variables thrown up by the logistics: venues spread across India and the need for air travel. These were some of the key health-related points of difference between IPL 2020, staged in the UAE, and IPL 2021, which was postponed halfway through on Tuesday.Host cities

There were only three venues, all a drive away from each other, in IPL 2020: Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The day the tournament began, the UAE had 674 new cases; it crossed 1000 a week into the tournament and stayed at that level right through (1096 new cases on the day of the final).By contrast, all six venues in this IPL – Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad – were hotspots when the IPL started. Mumbai, one of the first venues in the schedule, itself reported more than 10,000 new cases on April 6 and India’s total number of daily new cases in the week leading up to the tournament start was 100,000. The graph just kept going up: by Tuesday, May 4, when the IPL was postponed indefinitely, India was recording more than 350,000 new cases every day and 3500 deaths; the pandemic’s epicentre had shifted to Delhi, which alone was recording 20,000 cases every day and more than 400 deaths on a daily basis.What this meant was that any departure from the team bubbles would incur a hugely magnified risk – as is likely to have happened with the Kolkata Knight Riders’ Varun Chakravarthy, who tested positive on May 3. It is believed that Chakravarthy left the biosecure bubble (but followed protocols through the official “green channel”) to get a scan on an injured shoulder and that is one possible spot where he might have contracted the virus.Ahead of IPL 2020, every member of every franchise attended a workshop on Covid-19 to understand the guidelines put in place•BCCITravel

Probably the biggest point of concern for several franchises. In the UAE, the eight teams were based in Dubai or Abu Dhabi and travelled across the three venues by road using their own hired transport. At no instance would they have come in contact with someone outside the bubble.This year, though, teams travelled across four different cities, and all of it by air. Though the commute was on charter flights, and using private airports where possible including separate entry and exit points, there were still a lot of potential gaps in the bubble. For example, teams needed to undergo security checks at airports before boarding and after landing, which meant coming in contact with security persons outside the bubble – a loophole the franchises were concerned about.The concerns were first underscored when former India wicketkeeper Kiran More, who is part of the Mumbai Indians’ set-up, tested positive just before the tournament’s start (but while in the team bubble); it is believed he got exposed to the virus at an airport. More had checked into the team bubble in Mumbai in March, before the entire squad flew to Chennai, where they began the defence of their title. That a positive case emerged in a well-prepared franchise like Mumbai, which created its own bubble as early as in February, put other franchises on high alert.Covid-19 education and management

About a couple of weeks ahead of IPL 2020, every member of every franchise in the UAE dialled into a virtual call to attend a workshop on Covid-19 and understand the guidelines put in place in a biosecure environment, which was new to almost everyone at the time. This session was conducted by the BCCI’s medical experts, including Dr Abhijit Salvi, the board’s chief medical officer and anti-doping expert, as well as Nitin Patel, the Indian men’s team physiotherapist.The audience didn’t just hear the dos and don’ts, but also heard what the virus is and how it could transmit, and consequently, why it was important to respect rules in the biosecure bubble.There was no such session organised in 2021. This despite fears shared by players and coaches across teams, who were anxious about the surging infection rates across India. Around March 19, all stakeholders were handed the standard operating procedures about the medical protocol.A red carpet at the entrance to a ground is sanitised•Ron Gaunt/BCCIAnother difference from the last IPL was the absence of two key digital applications that helped monitor not just the health of the people in the bubble, but also tracked their movements. As soon as a person checked into the IPL bubble in the UAE, they had to download a Covid-monitoring app on a digital device. A thermometer and an oximeter, in some team hotels, had been provided to gather the individual’s health parameters, primarily meant to monitor any symptoms for Covid-19. This self-declaration was mandatory, and had to be submitted daily. Repeated failure to do so would prompt a hefty monetary fine for the individual. The person would be denied entry at the three venues, including for training, as the accreditation barcode was synced to the GPS tracker and health data app. Such a check-and-balance exercise, franchises have pointed out, was beneficial because if someone had symptoms, it was picked up quickly and the potential spread was curbed.Movement tracker

In the UAE, every member in the IPL bubble had to wear a GPS-tracking fob device around their necks like a pendant. This device tracked the person’s movements within the bubble and triggered a beep if there was any breach where the individual had crossed over into a zone where s/he was not permitted access. This was done by creating a geo fence within the bubble with pre-defined boundaries. Every individual had a distinct fob, with specified in-built boundaries based on the individual’s occupation. This tracker was outsourced to a UK-based agency for the 2020 IPL.Related

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However, in 2021, the BCCI engaged an India-based firm; franchises received the GPS trackers, in the form of a wrist watch, only on April 11, two days after the tournament had started and three matches had been played. The device was meant to track the person’s movements as well as log in the body temperature. A person had to download an app, called IPL BioTrack, on his/her personal phone where the data would be collected. But several franchises said that the device started to log in outdated data. One franchise wanted data from their second leg of IPL matches, but the data provided was from the first leg.Due to its unreliability, by the time the second leg of the IPL had commenced, members from several franchises confirmed they had stopped wearing the device because it had either stopped working abruptly or had hung. It is understood that franchises had to return the devices days before the IPL was postponed after being told the batteries would be changed.Bubble-integrity managers

In 2021, for the first time, the IPL appointed monitors in the form of bubble-integrity managers, up to four per franchise. Their sole job was to report any bubble breaches by squad members. However, franchises narrated incidents of their inefficient functioning – in one case, a manager was caught on camera leaving his room while in hard quarantine at one of the team hotels. Another incident involved some of these managers leaving the bubble boundaries during a live match to smoke. It is understood that more than one franchise questioned the IPL about the qualification of the officers, who are believed to have originally served as security liaison officers in previous editions of the IPL.Quarantine protocols

The IPL laid out quarantine rules both for before entering the bubble, and once inside the biosecure environment. The quarantine rules ranged from serving a hard weeklong period inside the team hotel and clearing mandatory tests before starting to train. In the case of any positive or asymptomatic case, the isolation period varied between a week and ten days outside the team bubble. The protocols applied not just for squads, but also for the franchise management as well as owners and family members.Devdutt Padikkal not serving a hard quarantine before the start of IPL 2021 had raised eyebrows•BCCIHowever, the inconsistency of the protocols was highlighted by the case of the Royal Challengers Bangalore batter Devdutt Padikkal, who tested positive on March 22. It is not known when exactly Padikkal tested positive, but the franchise said he had done home isolation of ten days.Subsequently, Padikkal travelled by road from his home in Bengaluru to Chennai, where his team was based during the first leg of the IPL, and even participated in training. Rival franchises questioned the logic behind allowing Padikkal to join the Royal Challengers’ training session without having undergone the mandatory quarantine and the testing process mentioned in the SOP. Franchises asked why the IPL did not allow senior franchise management officials or owners into the IPL bubble, subject to them clearing the required tests.Stadia

Both the 2020 and 2021 editions of the IPL were played behind closed doors. In the UAE, all venues were cordoned off with only authorised personnel allowed in. This edition, too, the IPL created different layers within the bubble at the stadia, with no one allowed to enter the area demarcated for the players and match officials. This included the groundsmen and the officials of the local state associations. The risk was highlighted in early April, when a swathe of groundstaff at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, which hosted ten matches in the first leg of the tournament, tested positive, forcing the Mumbai Cricket Association to quickly find replacements from other venues within the city.It was shown up again in Delhi, where it is understood that two members of the groundstaff at the Feroz Shah Kotla, who were not at the ground over the May 1-2 weekend, had tested positive and had been placed in quarantine.Another example relating the vulnerability of the bubble was narrated by an official at one of the four franchises based in Delhi. This official said when his team was training at the Roshanara ground, owned by a private members-only club, in Delhi, the boundaries were porous and trespassers could easily access the zone where the team was training. There was barely any security to stop them, which was not the case during the first leg in Chennai and Mumbai. It is understood that a few of the club’s members wandered around the training making the squad members apprehensive. By Wednesday, two of the four franchises based in Delhi – the Chennai Super Kings and the Sunrisers Hyderabad – had reported four positive cases.

Jaykishan Plaha tells of physical and mental struggles after training accident involving Australia star

Valkerie Baynes25-May-2021Since Jaykishan Plaha was floored by a ball, driven at point-blank range by David Warner into his head during a net session at the 2019 World Cup, he has been trying to show that he is so much more than “that guy who got hit”. But that was just part of the problem.A fractured skull, severe concussion that led to a temporary loss of feeling and strength down his right side, anxiety and depression followed as he came to terms with the setback in his cricket career, and the net-bowling opportunities he had enjoyed with some of the world’s best players dried up in that moment. Things spiralled so badly that he began to feel like he “didn’t want to be here”.”The ball before, one of the guys actually asked me to swap nets,” Plaha recalls. “I was like, ‘no, I’m all right, I want to bowl to David Warner, I’m liking this, I’m liking how it’s going’.”I bowled an inswinger and the ball came crashing straight at me. I thought either it’s going to take my eye out, or it’s going to hit me one way or another, hit my nose maybe. When the ball hit me, I heard a loud beep in my ear which was a concussion. So the right side of my whole body switched off completely. I couldn’t feel anything, that’s the reason why I dropped to the floor.”I was just in a state of shock, I could see everyone three times. Everyone came rushing over, David Warner was obviously shocked.”David Warner looks on after net bowler Jaykishan Plaha was struck on the head by a ball•Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP via Getty ImagesThankfully there was top medical support on hand at the Kia Oval as Australia and India prepared for their group stage match that day. Plaha was taken for CT scans, which revealed a depressed fracture to the left side of his skull. He was able to walk again within a day or two and was released from hospital after four days.He began to regain strength in his right side and “everything was responding pretty good”, but then came the blackouts and his progress stalled. A recovery that was expected to take six weeks took seven months.”In my mind, I just thought ‘I’m not going to be the same player’,” Plaha says. “Whenever I was going out, shopping or something, everyone knows about it, so they’ll be like, ‘oh you’re the guy that got hit’. When people keep saying it, you get frustrated, then I just stopped going outside.”It did affect me very, very badly. I was getting very angry. I was getting anxiety, depression. I would just sit there on my own in the house, I just wanted to be left alone.”It was all down to myself to pick myself up and understand what was going on because I was slowly getting to a stage where I didn’t want to be here no more.”

“When I started playing again, someone was like, ‘oh, this guy was bowling to David Warner and now he’s playing with us, he’s not the same’. Stuff like that affects you mentally”Jay Plaha

Plaha, 25 and from west London, started out as a spinner, picking up fast bowling relatively late as a 17-year-old, but he was always a kid who just loved the game and it took him far. Before the World Cup, he was a net bowler for India and Pakistan tours of England and enjoyed a stint in the Kolkata Knight Riders nets during the 2019 IPL.Like most young players with ambitions to play at the highest level, Plaha has always put pressure on himself to perform. The opportunities on offer as a net bowler for elite teams also brings pressure; not only are you able to talk to and learn from the best, you’re in prime position to be seen by the best too. When he was injured, he feared all that could be over.”When I started playing again, I had a match and someone was like, ‘oh, this guy was bowling to David Warner and now he’s playing with us, he’s not the same’, stuff like that, and it does affect you mentally,” Plaha says.Plaha’s family recognised that he might be suffering with mental health problems after the accident and supported him as he sought help from a specialist.”As men, we’ve been told we have to look a certain way… we have to talk a certain way”•Kamini Plaha”That period of time, I was struggling really bad and I think if I didn’t ask for help, it would have been a very, very different story and it would have had a different impact on my whole life,” he says.”As men, we’ve been told that we have to look a certain way, we have to be built a certain way, we have to talk a certain way.”But inside there’s a lot of people out there, including myself, that don’t show it. We just smile it off, we laugh: ‘We’re all right, we’re okay, we’re fine.’ But when we go back home, you lock yourself in, headphones in. It’s a very, very dangerous place to be in, your own mind can be a very, very dangerous place to be in.”When the Covid-19 pandemic hit and the UK went into lockdown for the first time last year, Plaha weighed 86kg compared to his usual 72kg. He took time off work, began training in the gym again, started boxing and playing NFL with friends and got into better physical shape than ever. He also began a video diary, documenting his experience over two years with a YouTube series called “The Comeback”. But his comeback wasn’t easy.”In the garden I was working with my dad, countless hours with tennis balls, I thought a tennis ball was going to kill me,” he says.Warner is reunited with net bowler Plaha after the training accident•ICC via GettyBut he has found something of that young kid who just loved the game. Now playing for Staines & Laleham CC in the Surrey Championship Division Four, he says he has gained pace and become a batting allrounder – he leads the club’s batting rankings with 174 runs from five innings and a highest score of 85 not out. His return to bowling has progressed more slowly this season due to a calf injury.Plaha hopes to go on to play in the Surrey Premier Division and plans to spend a few months honing his game in Australia with the aim of eventually securing a professional contract.”I’m seeing my options now, and that’s the main thing,” Plaha says. “Seeing that, you know, ‘he had a head injury but he’s gone to the top’. That’s what the dream is right now.”

With several of their key players leaving for India, there is an opportunity for those on the fringes to step up

Firdose Moonda04-Apr-2021This, South Africa think, is their best ODI XI. On the early evidence of their performance in Johannesburg, you might agree. Four of the top five scored half-centuries, two of those at a strike rate above 160. They had two century stands, and an overall run-rate that was consistently close to seven. Having asked Pakistan to pull off their highest successful chase, the quicks applied pressure and made enough early breakthroughs to swing the advantage their way inside 20 overs of the opposition’s reply.Related

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But in the last quarter of the match, they very nearly lost their way. With only five frontline bowlers, South Africa did not seem to have enough options to stop Fakhar Zaman. Tabraiz Shamsi was particularly expensive and probably should not have bowled his final spell, especially as Lungi Ngidi had an over in hand. Pressure, as it so often has in the past, threatened to take over but Andile Phehlulwayo held his nerve in the penultimate over, leaving Ngidi to defend 31 off the 50th. Off the first ball, Aiden Markram fired in a strong throw, Quinton de Kock’s gestures led Zaman to believe the ball was heading to the non-striker’s end when it was actually heading to him and Fakhar was run out, all but guaranteeing South Africa their first points on the World Cup Super League.They have those now, and remain in contention to win just their third trophy in nine series under Mark Boucher, but we all know one victory doesn’t make a summer and this one won’t make South Africa’s. All it does is give them an indication of what they can do when most parts of their game are working, just in time for this combination to be separated ahead of the decider. Almost half the XI will leave after this match for the IPL.The debates around the squad splinterting are multi-layered, not least because Pakistan have sent a full-strength playing group to South Africa in a pandemic and one argument is that the least the hosts could do is present their strongest side too.The reality is that Cricket South Africa (CSA) cannot afford to do anything else. Apart from the fact that the CSA and the BCCI have an agreement that the April-May window will be kept empty for the IPL, CSA’s Rands are no match for the IPL’s dollars and the contracted players would prefer to earn the latter. The next question will be whether this series could have been played at another time but in a calendar affected by Covid-19 postponements and rearrangements that is unlikely, so this is what South Africa have to deal with.”I wouldn’t say I am nervous,” the captain Temba Bavuma said. “We’ll go into the (final) game wanting to win the game and fortunate or unfortunate that we don’t have our main players available, the IPL boys. At the same time there is an opportunity for the guys on the fringes to really make a play for the team.”South Africa will be significantly weakened in the bowling department in the absence of Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi•AFPLet’s start by looking at the players South Africa won’t be able to call on. At the top of the order, they’ll be without de Kock, who didn’t look entirely at ease in the middle, but managed an assertive 80, came alive in the field, was often seen in conversation with Bavuma and played his part in the crucial run-out. They also won’t have David Miller, who Bavuma said is “hitting the ball as well as he has in quite a while,” and who contributed two aggressive half-centuries in the series, including his fastest, off 27 balls today.Perhaps most importantly, their first-choice pace pack of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje are all India-bound, leaving South Africa light on attack. As you may expect, that will test their depth. Replacements include Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Junior Dala, Daryn Dupavillon, Lizaad Williams, and Sisanda Magala who bring a selection of skills including control, variation and speed but have just 13 ODI caps between them.It will also ask questions of their team balance. In these two matches, South Africa opted for only five bowlers, which does not accommodate for the possibility that one of them could have an off-day. Today that was Shamsi. The only alternative option was Markram’s offspin which was used earlier in the innings and there is no doubt South Africa will want a more threatening alternative. The IPL exits present the option for an allrounder such as Wiaan Mulder or George Linde to be considered, which could also change the length of the line-up. Currently, Phehlukwayo is in at No.7 but South Africa may prefer to move him one down and include a second two-in-one player.At least South Africa will be able to keep the bulk of the batting lineup, including those who have found form such as Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma. Van der Dussen followed up his maiden hundred with a carefree 60 off 37 balls, although he was dropped on 0 for the second innings in succession. Unlike at SuperSport Park, when van der Dussen had to drag South Africa to a competitive total from 55 for 4, at the Wanderers, he had to build on a base of 169 for 2. He took on the spinners and was particularly strong on the sweep and is exuding a confidence in himself that South Africa will want to continue. He’ll want to avoid offering early chances, but won’t complain that Pakistan aren’t taking them.Temba Bavuma struggled initially but picked the pace later on; he will be key to the hosts’ plans in the final ODI•Getty ImagesSouth Africa will also have Bavuma, who would have been disappointed not to score his first hundred as captain. The pace at which he starts his innings could become a talking point, but he caught up quickly and played an array of attractive shots. Although not always known for it, Bavuma is an attacking player, who uses his feet well, punishes the short ball and drives beautifully.What they need is for Markram to start emulating the senior pair, especially after he looked in sublime touch for his 39. Markram has been dismissed 15 times in his 26 ODI innings for scores between 20 and 49, so his conversion rate is a concern that South Africa will hope can be addressed before this series ends.Janneman Malan is likely to partner Markram in de Kock’s absence while Miller’s departure opens up an opportunity for Heinrich Klaasen to bat higher and Kyle Verreynne to play. Klaasen had a good series against Australia last year and has not had much time in the middle in this series so far but can use the final match to make a strong case to claim a middle spot permanently.The reality is that South Africa’s best ODI XI is blurry as one victory suggests it should be. There are some personnel that are obvious keepers and some positions that are still up for grabs. Although Bavuma noted that “the batting effort was much better,” than in the first ODI, he acknowledged that “it would have been nice to finish the game a lot more clinically today.”So their best XI, it seems, is yet to be decided.

Home truth for hosts on a sobering day: they can’t rely on Anderson forever

George Dobell27-Aug-2021Well, life can’t be all sangria and zoo visits, can it? There’s often a hangover the morning after a perfect day.It wouldn’t be at all fair to suggest that England didn’t bowl well on the third day in Leeds. Neither fair or accurate. There were times, particularly in the first half of the day, when Craig Overton and Ollie Robinson bowled beautifully. And while, in India’s first innings, 71 false shots produced 10 wickets, in the second, 88 false shots have so far produced two wickets. We might not always like to acknowledge it, but luck plays its part.That’s not to say England’s performance couldn’t have been improved. There was, for example, a failure to review a leg-before decision (Joe Root actually appeared to call for it, but after the permitted time) which would have seen Rohit Sharma dismissed for 39. These things happen, of course, but an earlier review – also off Robinson – had looked optimistic and perhaps led to them not reviewing this time. It’s an area where calmer heads might lead to an improved performance.You could also make a case that England allowed the emotion of the situation to affect their performance for the second match in succession. On the second afternoon of this game, for example, with England three wickets down and the lead approaching 300, there was a case for knuckling down and grinding out an innings that lasted anything up to 200 overs. This would not only have kept a jaded-looking Indian attack in the field for longer, but put more wear into a pitch that looks easy-paced now. It might have been a tactic that had consequences for later into the series in terms of exhausting those bowlers.Instead, England took the attack to India. And while that was a perfectly reasonable tactic – they may have known they would need a long time to bowl India out – it was, perhaps, just a little naïve. It was the second day, after all. There really wasn’t any need to hurry. It’s just possible they could yet face a tricky final day.Related

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James Anderson wasn’t quite at his best, either. So good has Anderson been for so long, that there might be a temptation to take his performances for granted. But he is 39 and here, in between trips off the pitch, he was hit for nine fours in 19 overs (he didn’t concede any in his eight first-innings overs) allowing Cheteshwar Pujara to settle in with a leg-stump half-volley to get off the mark.It’s now seven Tests – including this one and England’s innings defeat in Ahmedabad in March – since Anderson took a wicket in the second innings of a Test. Given how sparingly he was used in the first innings here and you wonder how relevant a statistic it is. But equally, given that he has taken 18 in the first innings of Tests in that same period it is hard to dismiss this as a coincidence. Indeed, going further back, he has now claimed just five wickets at a cost of 66.60 in the second innings of his 14 most recent Tests including this one. It might be noted he didn’t bowl in two of those second innings.But his record in the first innings of those 14 Tests is 40 wickets at an average of 17.30. It’s hard to dismiss that as aberrational.That’s not to say that Anderson should be dropped. That would be ridiculous. But he probably does need more support, not just from the other bowlers but from England’s batters who, all too often, don’t allow him they time he requires to recover between shifts with their inadequate performances. There might be a case for rotating him in series involving back-to-back games, too.In other circumstances, that support might have come from the likes of Stuart Broad or Jofra Archer. But, as it is, neither of them are available. And with England’s two best seam-bowling all-rounders, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes, also on the sidelines, England have been persuaded to pick Sam Curran as a fourth seamer and No. 8 batter.There’s some logic in the selection, too. With his left-arm angle, his ability to swing the ball and his aggressive lower-order batting, he is, without doubt, a handy cricketer. It might be remembered, too, that he was England’s player of the series the last time India’s Test side toured in 2018.But in this series he’s taking his wickets at a cost of 79.33 apiece. And he’s conceding 3.21 runs an over, too. A batting average of 18.50 is hardly off-setting that relative impotence with the ball, either. Going back further, to the start of 2020, he is taking his wickets at 47.53 having not taken more than two in an innings in any of his 10 Tests. In the same period, he is averaging 17.08 with the bat.Blessed with neither great pace or great height, there are days when he looks short of the weapons required to be a viable frontline seamer. And for all the talk of his batting talent, he has played well over 100 professional matches – 73 of them first-class – without registering a century. He is, in short, looking more Ian than Tony Greig.England still hold many of the best cards in this match. They have a new ball to utilise at the start of the fourth day and they will know that India’s tail remains long and fragile. There’s not much margin for error available for India. But this was a sobering day for England. They can’t rely on Anderson forever.

They have always stuck to their plans on this tour, but while it didn’t result in a win in Johannesburg, Cape Town has been a completely different story

Karthik Krishnaswamy12-Jan-2022It was a picture that seemed to sum up India’s day.Cheteshwar Pujara, their first slip, was flat on his stomach, watching the ball roll away from him, and Virat Kohli, their second slip, was setting off in futile pursuit as it made its way towards the helmet lying behind keeper Rishabh Pant. Temba Bavuma had just flashed at a wide one outside off stump from Shardul Thakur, and the edge had gone low between keeper and first slip. It reached Pujara at catching height as he dived to his left, but he failed to hold on.A drop, and five penalty runs. The wound and the salt.India’s bowlers had been at South Africa’s batters all day, hovering in the corridor outside off stump, extracting movement both ways, and usually either beating the edge or finding it only for the ball to fall short of the cordon – or, in this case, reach it and get shelled. And if there was an lbw shout, height inevitably came to South Africa’s rescue.For their second successive innings on the field, India were doing most things right without getting the reward for it. The previous time had been South Africa’s fourth-innings chase in Johannesburg, where the bowlers had induced 62 false shots and only picked up three wickets. Other factors had contributed to India’s defeat, such as rain making conditions easier to bat in on the fourth day, and the taller South African bowlers being able to better exploit an up-and-down pitch than India’s, but you couldn’t deny the role luck had played.It seemed to be happening all over again. India had been bowled out for 223, and South Africa, following that drop, were 143 for 4.During India’s innings on day one, South Africa’s bowlers had induced 64 false shots while picking up ten wickets in 77.3 overs. India induced their 64th false shot in the 56th over of South Africa’s innings, 5.3 overs after Pujara’s drop. This time, Mohammed Shami found Bavuma’s edge with a ball that straightened dangerously in the fifth-stump channel. The edge may have fallen short of a less athletic second slip, but Kohli dived to his left to complete an outstanding two-handed grab, his 100th catch in Test cricket. South Africa were 155 for 5.India have at times been rather unlucky on this tour of South Africa•Associated PressIndia’s bowlers had induced the same number of false shots as South Africa’s bowlers, for exactly half as many wickets.But their luck was beginning to turn. Two balls later, Shami straightened another from that hard-to-ignore line, and Kyle Verreyne poked and nicked. Another low chance, and Pant completed it with a dive to his right.Process. You’ll hear the word at every pre-, post- and in-match press conference, and you’ll hear it so often that you’ll ask yourself if it has any meaning beyond this set-piece situation that neither you nor the player really wants to be part of, deep down, but it truly is the cricketer’s bread and butter. It really is all about the process.Right through this series, India’s bowlers have stuck to their processes, whether they’ve brought about the desired outcomes or not. Even when Dean Elgar was steering South Africa to a stirring victory at the Wanderers, India – except for a couple of passages late in the game, when a bit of desperation set in – didn’t waver too much from their plans to him or his colleagues. The ball kept going past Elgar’s outside edge, and they kept looking for it.On day one at Newlands, Jasprit Bumrah found Elgar’s outside edge with the kind of ball he had bowled multiple times without luck to the same batter only a few days earlier. Bumrah and Elgar will both know that Elgar not out 96 and Elgar c Pujara b Bumrah 3 were wildly fluctuating outcomes of the same processes.Those fluctuations aren’t unusual on an innings-to-innings or match-to-match basis. But they tend to even out over longer periods, and over the course of series, seasons, careers and eras, the players and teams who execute their processes in the most relentlessly skillful way usually end up tasting the rewards they are due.Jasprit Bumrah finished with 5 for 42•Gallo Images/Getty ImagesOn day two at Newlands, the quality of India’s bowling eventually reaped the rewards it was due. It earned their team a narrow first-innings lead that may well prove critical in their quest for a first Test series win in South Africa.And most fittingly, Bumrah, who had taken just one wicket over 38 mostly excellent overs in Johannesburg, ended up with figures of 5 for 42.
Inevitably, Bumrah’s press conference at the end of the day’s play featured a heavy emphasis on process.”Nothing extra-special or out of the ordinary. I was just focusing on what I had to do, and I was trying to focus on my routines and my processes and what I do, basically, before a Test match, or whatever has to be done whenever I prepare for a Test match,” he said, when asked if he had been especially fired up for this occasion. “So, nothing out of the ordinary; I was not giving any extra attention or I was not really angry or, I was just focusing on what I had to do, I was just trying to be in the present.”Coming into this game, there had been plenty of scrutiny around Bumrah’s recent form. His lines and lengths had been pored over in other publications; this website had noted a seeming lack of bite in his shorter lengths.There may well have been merit to all those critiques, but the dominant feeling Bumrah has evoked over the last few months is of bowling well without necessarily picking up bagfuls of wickets. And Bumrah knows how capricious the relationship between process and outcome can be.”See, the success, whatever comes, is a byproduct, so what we try to do is have a routine, try to follow that again and again, and maybe create pressure as a bowling unit,” he said. “Some days I would get wickets, some day somebody else would get wickets, but we as a unit want to focus on our routines and we know what has worked for us, so trying to stick to our plans, and then evolving the game around it.”Yes, there will be doubters, there will be people who’ll be praising, but that is something that an individual has to decide, so I try to focus on what I have to do. If I’ve given any attention to the outside noise, it doesn’t really help, so at the end of the day when I bowl, I try to control [what I can control], and I try to have my perspective towards bowling, so I try to avoid whatever else is going on around the world.”Maybe some people like my bowling, some people might not, but my focus is always to back my processes, back my routines, and try to give the best that I can for the country.”If Bumrah has fallen short of anything at all over his last few Test matches, it’s probably only been his own absurdly high standards.On Tuesday and Wednesday, he lived up to those standards. And as he always does, he left you with moments you’ll remember for a long, long time. The first ball of the day jagged away from Aiden Markram, perhaps inducing the batter to leave the second, which pitched on virtually the same spot and nipped back in to knock back off stump.You’ll remember that ball, and you’ll remember the look Bumrah directed at Marco Jansen after straightening one past his outside edge to hit the top of off. You’ll remember those moments, but to really understand the excellence of Bumrah and this India attack, you must also remember all the balls in between that didn’t take wickets but induced just as much discomfort.

Pat Cummins enjoys “luxury” of rotating his quicks as Scott Boland and Cameron Green continue to thrive

Alex Malcolm15-Jan-2022Only four times in 104 Test matches has Nathan Lyon not been required to bowl in a completed innings, and two of those have come in the last three Tests.Lyon’s main contributions on the second day in Hobart were three hooked sixes while batting and a stunning catch at point, as Australia’s four-pronged fast bowling cartel carved through England again.England’s inept batting aside, this innings was slightly different to the three others where Lyon has been a spectator. In Cape Town 2011, Adelaide 2020, and Melbourne 2021 Australia’s quicks routed their opposition for under 100 inside 28 overs.Related

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Pat Cummins takes four as England stutter again on 17-wicket day

As it happened – Australia vs England, 5th Test, Hobart, 2nd day

But here England made 188 and batted for nearly 48 overs. Admittedly it is a green seamer at Bellerive where England have played without a spinner and 22 of the 23 wickets to go down in two days have fallen to seam, with Rory Burns’ run out the only outlier.Pat Cummins was magnificent again, picking up four wickets for the 14th time since 2017, more than any other bowler in world cricket, and Mitchell Starc bagged three. Scott Boland and Cameron Green picked up one apiece but both bowled far better than their figures suggested, with Boland’s Test average finally reaching double figures as luck eluded him for the first time with two catches shelled in the slips.There was a moment when Lyon could have been used. Ollie Pope and Sam Billings cracked five boundaries in five overs off Starc and Cummins as both men flagged towards the end of their respective five-over spells, which were both their second bursts of the innings.Lyon’s stranglehold over Pope in the first two Tests would have crossed Cummins’ mind. But instead, he turned Boland with eight overs under his belt already. The 32-year-old metronome from Melbourne locked in on a length again and never let up. Pope duly nicked a ball he didn’t need to play at. Chris Woakes nicked Boland’s next ball straight to first slip and David Warner dropped it. Usman Khawaja dropped a similarly hot chance at third slip off Woakes two overs later.The discovery of Boland and Green has had a two-fold effect on Australia’s attack. In seaming or bouncy conditions, Australia can continue to attack with two quicks at either end after the new ball. But Australia’s two least-experienced quicks aren’t just attacking England, they are defending at the same time, grinding scoring to a halt which is usually Lyon’s role in the first innings in Australia.Although Green’s final figures of 1 for 45 were a tad expensive, the control of length that he and Boland demonstrated was exceptional. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, the pair bowled 48 balls on a good length at an economy rate of 1.62. No other bowler in the game has an economy rate under 2.4 from good-length balls. Cummins took four wickets off good length balls but his economy rate was 4.12 while Starc only bowled 15 good length balls and conceded 20 runs (or 8 runs per over).Boland and Green also beat the bat relentlessly as they have all series and produced three nicks although only one was held. Cummins can’t believe his luck as a captain having four high-class quicks to rotate through on a daily basis.”I just felt like, especially in cool conditions, we could just have two quicks operating, then just literally switch both ends and the next two quicks operate, it’s just a real luxury at the moment,” Cummins said. “Everyone’s bowling so well. Nathan Lyon, I’m sure would have done a great job. He’s been fantastic this series and to not even need him it’s a sign that we’re in a really good place. Again, I think everyone bowled around between 10 and 15 overs. So hopefully we’ve got some fresh legs going to the second innings as well. Scott has been obviously fantastic but Greeny as an allrounder, he’s a genuine fourth quick, keeps a tight, takes big wickets.”Cameron Green had Sam Billings caught on the hook•Getty ImagesIn the grand scheme of things, it gives Australia extraordinary depth. Josh Hazlewood has only played one Test this series while Jhye Richardson took five wickets in the fourth innings in Adelaide and is running the drinks in Hobart despite being fully fit.Both Cummins and Starc have stressed throughout the summer that the quick bowlers don’t want to be rested or rotated. But the emergence of Boland and Richardson and Starc’s finish to the series might finally give the selectors the ammunition to make such a brave call that they didn’t against India last summer.As well as Starc has bowled in this Ashes series, taking 18 wickets and leading Australia’s attack at times, he has the second-highest average and second highest strike-rate of Australia’s seven quicks used and he is the only one to play all five games.It is worth noting his diminishing returns in long series across his career. He averages under 25 in the first two Tests of any series and 30.47 in the third. But that drops away to 41 in fourth Tests and fifth Tests. His strike-rate drops to 67.8 and 74 in fourth and fifth Tests as well. He picked up three wickets in Hobart but two were tailenders and he wasn’t as menacing as he usually is in pink-ball games. Given he bowls at high-pace and maximum effort all the time there is certainly a case for him to be managed differently across long Test series moving forward, despite his want to play as much as possible.The same can apply to all of the quicks, especially since the only one to play in the IPL and the T20 World Cup prior to the Ashes, Hazlewood, broke down with a side strain in the first Test.Boland only added to his already tremendous value by producing an incredible nightwatchman effort in brutal batting conditions, after Australia slumped to 3 for 33. He faced 25 balls and was unbeaten copping blows on the hands and body as he shielded Steven Smith from the strike.Lyon, so often the man tasked for such a difficult assignment, was once again a spectator. For the first time in a long time, Australia are building options across the board.

Who has scored the most first-class hundreds without ever making a double-century?

Steven Lynch19-Apr-2022Dewald Brevis made his IPL debut before playing a single first-class match. I know some Indians have done this, but is it unique for an overseas player? asked Shekhar Mehra from India
Mumbai Indians’ 18-year-old South African signing Dewald Brevis – one of the stars of the recent Under-19 World Cup – is actually the sixth overseas player to appear in the IPL before making his first-class debut. The first was the Jamaican seamer Krishmar Santokie, for Mumbai Indians in 2014, and he’s been followed by the Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Nepal legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane in 2018, Australian allrounder Chris Green in 2020, and the hard-hitting Singapore-born batter Tim David in 2021.Santokie played a dozen T20Is for West Indies, and 119 T20 matches in all, but never did appear in a first-class match; Green (137 T20 games) and David (91, including 14 internationals) have not yet played first-class cricket. Mujeeb has played just one first-class match to date, and it was a Test – Afghanistan’s first one, against India in Bengaluru in 2018.No fewer than 63 Indians have played in the IPL before making their first-class debuts.I notice that Shan Masood has a List A average of 57.46. Is he top of the list? asked Tom McGuirk from Canada
The Pakistan left-hander Shan Masood, who has made such a good start to his county career with Derbyshire, is actually third on this list at the moment (given a qualification of 50 innings). His current List A average of 57.46 puts him just behind Michael Bevan (57.86), but ahead of Virat Kohli (56.83) and Babar Azam (56.07).The identity of the top man is rather a surprise: it’s Warwickshire’s Sam Hain, who’s yet to play for England despite a List A average of 59.78.Keshav Maharaj took seven wickets in the second innings of both recent Tests against Bangladesh. How many people have done this? asked Richie Knight from South Africa
South Africa’s slow left-armer Keshav Maharaj, who took 7 for 32 in Durban and 7 for 40 in Gqeberha, was only the tenth man to take seven-fors in successive Test matches, a list headed by the old England bowler George Lohmann, who actually did it in three consecutive matches, against South Africa in 1895-96.The others to manage two were England’s Tich Freeman (1929), Clarrie Grimmett (in what turned out to be his final two Tests for Australia in 1935-36), England’s Alec Bedser (in his first two, in 1946), South Africa’s Hugh Tayfield (1956-57; he took 8 for 69 and 9 for 113), Tony Lock of England (1958), the distinguished Pakistan trio of Imran Khan (in the year 1982), Abdul Qadir (in the year 1987) and Waqar Younis (1990-91), and India’s Harbhajan Singh (in two matches against Australia in 2000-01 in which he took 28 wickets in all). Of these, only Tayfield, Lock and Maharaj took both their seven-fors in the second innings.Keshav Maharaj became the tenth man to take seven-fors in consecutive Tests•AFP/Getty ImagesWho has scored the most first-class hundreds without ever making a double-century? asked Gokul Mohan from the UAE
The leader here is the New Zealand opener John Wright, who made 59 first-class centuries with a highest score of 192, for Canterbury against Central Districts in New Plymouth in 1986-87. Next come the former England batter Arthur Milton, whose 56 first-class centuries included a highest score of 170, and Bill Athey (55, highest score 184). The most first-class runs without a double-century is 34,994, by Brian Close, whose 52 tons included a highest of 198 for Yorkshire against Surrey at The Oval in 1960.In Tests, both Mohammad Azharuddin (highest score 199) and Colin Cowdrey (182) made 22 centuries without a double, while Alec Stewart scored 8463 runs with 15 centuries, the highest being 190.Further to last week’s question about one-cap wonders, how many people have played just the one Test for Australia? asked Kraig Tyrrell from Australia
To date, 72 men have been lucky enough – or unfortunate enough, depending on your point of view – to win just one Test cap for Australia. That includes a few who might yet play again, notably opener Will Pucovski and seamer Michael Neser, who both made their debuts during 2021. The stories of the other 70 have been collected together in a beautifully produced book, Fifteen Minutes of Fame, by the industrious Melbourne writer Ken Piesse (for details, see his website www.cricketbooks.com.au).There are also 40 women (again including some current players), who have played one Test for Australia.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions