All posts by n8rngtd.top

India’s injury-ravaged squad means Manoj Tiwary could play on Tuesday hours after landing in London

Nagraj Gollapudi05-Sep-2011By Monday evening, Manoj Tiwary had taken two domestic flights in little more than a day, and was faced with a long-haul journey to London. Still, he was anything but exhausted. On Sunday Tiwary left for his home town of Kolkata from Bangalore after his BCCI Corporate Trophy match was rained out. He had already heard about Rohit Sharma fracturing his right index finger the previous evening. He sensed he had a chance. The call from the BCCI official came late afternoon, informing him that he was booked on a Monday evening flight from Mumbai to join the Indian squad.With Sachin Tendulkar being ruled out of the series on Monday, a development which caught even the Indian squad by surprise, there were strong indications from the Indian camp of Tiwary being rushed from Heathrow airport on Monday straight to Southampton to play the match. It might seem cruel on the player but with only six specialist batsmen left in the squad India don’t really have much of a choice other than playing five bowlers and going a batsman light.Nevertheless Tiwary is no stranger to being dashed across continents to join the team at the very last minute. In the 2008 CB Series in Australia, Yuvraj Singh was forced to return home due to knee injury and Tiwary was called in as reinforcement. He reached Brisbane less than 48 hours before the match against Australia, and walked in to face Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson with barely a day’s break. It was his debut. The jet lag was evident as he was bowled by a searing Lee yorker for 2.It took Tiwary three years to make an India comeback, returning during the ODI series in West Indies in June. In his first match of the series, he was played as an opener and once again failed. In the next he batted at his regular No. 4 position but could only muster 22. India lost both matches.But Tiwary stayed confident. In the Emerging Players tournament in Australia last month he did well in the three-day games, finishing fifth on the run charts with 306 runs from three matches at an average of 76.5 including a highest of 188.”I made a point to myself to become to be the highest run-getter in the three-day matches as well as in the Twenty20 matches (in the Emerging Players). That was my main motive,” Tiwary told ESPNcricnfo, over the phone from Mumbai.Tiwary said he was lucky that the Indian coach at the Emerging Players tournament Bharat Arun played him as No. 4, his favourite position where he has played through his career. In the previous Emerging Players tournament in 2009, he had batted in the lower middle-order, something that did not allow him to settle down.Tiwary said setting goals and trying to achieve them has only helped him stay in focus. “Last year the domestic season had gone really well for me. I knew if I had to make a comeback, domestic performances along with the IPL would definitely count. And I got a reward by getting on the West Indies tour followed by the Emerging tournament.”In the Ranji Trophy, Tiwary had an aggregate of 525 runs from seven matches at an average of 75. He even had unbeaten double century (233) and three fifties. In the IPL, his 359 runs was among the reasons for Kolkata Knight Riders reaching the semi-finals.If he does play on Tuesday, Tiwary would not have much time to think about anything except making sure he has got his protective gear in shape. If the flight is on time, Tiwary will land at 7.40 am and then rush to Southampton, another two-hour drive. “It is a big opportunity to grasp because not every time such opportunities come along and I have a good chance to do well against a good side (England).”

Young batsman says isolation from family within bio-secure bubble has been challenging

Valkerie Baynes24-Jul-2020Ollie Pope has admitted to feeling a weight lift from his shoulders as he neared a possible second Test century at the end of the opening day of the deciding match against West Indies.Pope entered the match with a high score of 12* from four innings in the series, but when bad light stopped play late on Friday, he was 91 not out, having shared an unbroken 136-run partnership with Jos Buttler and guided England out of trouble at 122 for 4.”It does feel like a little bit of a weight off the shoulders,” Pope told Sky Sports. “With the pandemic, we haven’t played cricket in a long time and to miss out in the first three innings and, to be to be honest, to be in such an intense environment – we’re not able to get out and see any family so you just sort of go back to your room and then you’re back looking over the cricket pitch – so it is nice to get a few.”ALSO READ: Brathwaite defends Holder’s decision to bowl first againPope came in with his side 92 for 3 and effectively a specialist batsman down after Zak Crawley was left out to make way for another seam bowler given that Ben Stokes is unlikely to bowl much, if at all, because of a quad muscle injury.He admitted to feeling as though he had taken time to settle into his latest innings, especially against West Indies quick Kemar Roach. But perhaps just as challenging had been the month-long isolation from family after entering the players’ bio-secure ‘bubble’.”To be honest, I have found a little bit challenging,” Pope said. “Second innings at Hampshire, I got out very late in the day for 12, chopped on, and I think 20 minutes after getting out I was back in my room and I wasn’t able to go for coffee or go back and see the family.”Then it just sort of ends up playing on your mind over and over again, so it has got its challenges. But I think you get around the lads, the lads get around you and everyone’s sort of very tightly knit so if anyone is sort of mentally struggling a little bit, then we’ve got each other’s backs.”Pope particularly felt for his team-mates who had been able to spend a lot of time with their young children during the Covid-19 enforced lockdown, only to then go into the squad environment where they could have no physical contact with them.”It’s good just to try and sort of check in and see, try to read people and check how everyone’s doing,” he added. “Some of them might find it a bit challenging, but I think everyone in general has been pretty good and we do really enjoy each other’s company so we’ve sort of enjoyed what we can.”Ollie Pope is forward to drive•Getty Images

Pope believed that, as was the case in the previous Test at the same ground, the Emirates Old Trafford pitch seemed to be favouring the new ball. It was a sentiment echoed by West Indies batsman Kraigg Brathwaite, who defended his captain, Jason Holder’s decision to bowl first.West Indies took the second new ball late on Friday but only managed 3.4 overs with it before bad light intervened, with Pope nearing his hundred and Buttler on 56 not out. Pope said he felt comfortable given that both had faced more than 100 balls each.”If you’re in is probably the best time to bat, because it just comes off that little bit quicker, the bowlers are looking to challenge the stumps and the pads so it gives you scoring opportunities,” Pope said. “The older ball did slightly offer not as much, but it did spin a little bit as well, so that’s encouraging for us.”Hopefully the rain’s not about tomorrow, it could be a long time in the 90s.”Given an unpromising forecast, it could indeed be a long time.

The team thumped 115 in the last seven overs to score 209, and Quetta Gladiators fell 37 runs short in reply

The Report by Danyal Rasool03-Mar-2020Well, don’t adjust your device or reach for thicker reading glasses, because what you’re about to read actually did happen.Lahore Qalandars beat – no, walloped – defending champions Quetta Gladiators by 37 runs to storm to their first win of the tournament. It came thanks to a blitzkrieg of big hitting from Ben Dunk and Samit Patel, whose 155-run partnership saw Lahore surge to 209 after what appeared another disastrous start from the bottom-placed team.A stunning 115 runs were added in the final seven overs, including 80 off four overs from the start of the 14th over as the wheels came off the Quetta bowling completely. Powerless in the face of the onslaught, they could only watch as Dunk broke the record for most sixes in a PSL innings, with 10 in his 43-ball 93, while Patel’s 41-ball 70 gave him stellar support from the other end.Lahore bank heavily on Chris Lynn and Fakhar Zaman to get them off to a powerful start, but when that didn’t happen in a subdued Powerplay for the openers, things looked bleak for them. They became gloomier still when the two fell in quick succession, the worries compounded when Mohammad Hafeez was felled first ball by a reflex catch at first lip from Shane Watson. Going at barely above a run a ball in the first ten and little batting to follow Patel and Dunk, the English-Aussie duo took responsibility, and carried the innings through to the final over, the 155 they amassed the second highest partnership in the league’s history.It stunned Quetta, who needed equally incongruous contributions from their key men, but when Jason Roy and Shane Watson fell relatively early, there was no coming back. Wickets fell in regular succession as Lahore simply let Quetta give away their wickets in the face of mounting pressure from the asking rate.Sarfaraz Ahmed, Azam Khan, Mohammad Nawaz and Anwar Ali all fell that way as the bowlers cashed in, with Salman Irshad bagging career-best T20 figures of 4 for 29. He found more swing than usual with a remodelled action, and was responsible for putting paid for Azam Khan’s innings before it had really begun, as well as Ben Cutting’s resistance which threatened to bring the flickering game back to life briefly.Cutting had been fighting what looked like an insurmountable battle all on his own. All he could do, however, was bring the margin of defeat down. No matter what damage he inflicted, it simply couldn’t compensate for the carnage that Lahore had wreaked in their final overs, and there was simply no recovering from it for Sarfaraz’s men.Those seven oversThe final seven overs in the first innings cost 19, 27, 14, 17, 10, 11 and 17. That, really, is the story of the match. Quetta had a firm grasp of the game at the 13-over mark, having inserted Lahore in to bat. Lynn, Fakhar and Hafeez were gone, and Lahore were 94 for 3, needing a big finish to remain competitive in the second innings. But the floodgates opened when Dunk smashed Anwar Ali for six off the second ball of the 14th, and were blown right off in the madness that followed.Mohammad Nawaz was launched for four sixes off as many deliveries in the following over, and from thereon, it appeared the bowling side had run out of ideas. Mohammad Hasnain and Naseem Shah were put under pressure, conceding 10 and 12 respectively off the first two balls of their overs, and an unstoppable Dunk appeared able to hit sixes at will. Two more would come in the final over, and by the time Patel and Dunk holed out in the final over, Lahore had coasted past 200, and well past what Quetta would be able to hunt down.The lone handIn any normal game, Cutting lower down the order would have done enough to ensure he had taken his side over the line. But chasing 210 with all the usual suspects back in the pavilion, it was left to the Australian allrounder to help his side get over the line. He had managed it against Islamabad United last week, but an asking rate of 55 off five – the requirement that day – was a piece of pie when compared to the Herculean task that faced him today.Soon after he walked out, Quetta required 94 off 36, and while Dunk had Patel for company, number nine Fawad Ahmed doesn’t quite have the Englishman’s batting prowess. This was an impossible task with two batsmen of your choice, but with Cutting forced to farm the strike and score nearly three a ball, it would inevitably be found wanting. That didn’t mean he didn’t provide entertainment along the way, smashing Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Faizan for 27 in two overs as he brought up a half-century in 25 balls. Given it was Lahore at the other end, the feeling the game might not yet be done lingered for longer than it otherwise would have, but when the Australian holed out to cow corner in the 18th over, it was evident even Lahore couldn’t fluff this up.Where the teams standLahore post their first points on the board, though they’re still bottom of the table with two points in four games. Quetta slip one position to third behind Karachi Kings on net run rate, with three wins from six matches.

Health, family, security behind Paul, Bravo, Hetmyer’s decisions

Nagraj Gollapudi04-Jun-2020Concerns about their families are understood to be the primary reason behind Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul declining to be part of the West Indies Test squad for the England tour. Both the prospect of leaving their families for seven weeks and concerns about how quickly they would be able to see them on their return to the Caribbean at the end of July are understood to be key factors in the players’ decisions, with uncertainty around the quarantine requirements that may be imposed by their respective governments.On Wednesday, Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced a 25-man squad including 11 reserves for the three-Test series in England which is scheduled to start in Southampton on July 8 subject to the UK government’s approval. CWI said it “fully accepts and respects” the decision taken by Bravo, Hetmyer and Paul to opt out of the tour and would “certainly not hold it against” them in future selections.Talking to ESPNcricinfo, Johnny Grave, CWI chief executive, said that the board wanted players who were “comfortable” travelling without any “nagging doubts” as otherwise it might impact their performances. Grave said he totally understood the doubts and fears expressed by the three players after speaking with Bravo last Friday and receiving emails from the other two players over the weekend.Grave said Paul, the 22-year-old allrounder, wrote an email to CWI explaining how difficult a decision it was for him to not travel to England. “Keemo Paul is the sole breadwinner in his entire household and wider family,” Grave said. “He was really concerned if something happened to him how his family would cope.WATCH: CPL Life Stories: Keemo Paul on growing up in Saxacalli“He wrote a personal note to us to explain it was with a heavy heart that he had decided not to tour but that he just didn’t feel comfortable going to England. He wrote passionately about how hard a decision it was for him and how much he loves playing for West Indies, but with consultation with his family he doesn’t feel he can leave them and doesn’t want to go on the tour.”According Grave, Hetmyer said that he “didn’t feel comfortable from a safety point of view, leaving his home, leaving his family and heading over to England”. Paul and Hetmyer both come from Guyana, where the number of Covid-19 cases is under 200.As for Bravo, who lives in Trinidad, Grave said he was concerned about the situation in the UK. “Darren Bravo had concerns about his health and any consequences that it may have on his young family. He also mentioned he made his decision with great remorse as it was always a huge honour for him to play for West Indies. So, yes, perfectly valid reasons and the ones that we fully respect. We were never going to force or try to coerce and we didn’t ask them to reconsider.”Bravo, Hetmyer and Paul are centrally-contracted, all-format players. Among the three, only Hetmyer has consistently featured in the Test team since his debut in 2017, but all three have struggled with form in the last year. Last year, Bravo managed just 106 runs at an average of 13.25 which included the two-Test series against India. The selectors dropped him for the one-off Test against Afghanistan with chief selector Roger Harper saying Bravo needed to be “away” from international cricket to find his form back. Hetmyer, too, had a forgettable 2019 in Test cricket, scoring 244 runs at 24.40, while Paul has played three Tests in his career with six wickets to his name.Keemo Paul “wrote passionately” to explain his decision•AFP / Getty Images

In May, Grave had pointed out that he understood why players who come from smaller Caribbean islands would be nervous about going to England, which was seen as “one of the eyes of the storm” with the official death count due to the virus nearing 40,000. Subsequently, the players grew more confident once they heard of the “robust and safe plan” the ECB had put in place to conduct the tour within a bio-secure environment behind closed doors.ALSO READ: Bio-secure venues can withstand second wave – ElworthyOn June 1, both ECB and CWI medical experts had another call before the tour schedule was made public. On the same day, CWI had a call with the wider pool of players from which the final squad would be picked to update them on the final arrangements. “We gave them all the most up-to-date information on the tour,” Grave said. “All I clarified to them on Monday on the call with Professor Nick Pierce (ECB chief medical officer) and our medical practitioners was: were they happy that they had all the information and did they have any further questions.”I then explained that Roger Harper, CWI lead selector, would contact them regarding whether they were selected or not and that they had until the following day, having slept on it, to confirm their position.”Ultimately, we want a group of players that are comfortable to be there so that they are not worried about these things and therefore they have got a chance to perform at their best. If they have got nagging doubts or worries about their families they are not going to be performing at their best.”It is in everyone’s interest if you are not comfortable to say so and not tour and be certain that it is not going to be held against you. Rather than go, be worried, and ultimately don’t perform or want to come home. So it is a good decision all round. We are still taking a strong Test side to England.”CWI is now waiting for the test results for the squad to come back from Miami, which are expected within the next 48 hours. Anyone who tests positive for the virus will almost certainly not take the charter flight that is set to leave on June 8 from Antigua.

Sunil Gavaskar, Milind Rege and Chandu Borde pay tribute to Bapu Nadkarni

Nagraj Gollapudi and Vishal Dikshit17-Jan-2020In a heartfelt tribute to Bapu Nadkarni, who died on Friday aged 86, Sunil Gavaskar has hailed the former India allrounder’s attitude and cricketing acumen. Gavaskar was in Rajkot, as part of the commentators’ panel for the India-Australia ODI, when he heard the news of Nadkarni’s death.”He came as assistant manager for quite a number of our tours,” Gavaskar said. “He was very encouraging. His favourite term from where we all learnt from was ‘ (hang in there)’. He was gritty despite playing in the days when gloves and thigh pads were not very good, not much protective equipment as you would get hit, but still hang in there as he believed in . You are playing for India. That thing we learnt from him. “Every time he was on a tour he was very very helpful in terms of strategy. At lunch time or tea time, he would say ‘try this’, if you were a fielding captain. He would tell, ‘bring this bowler, or ask this bowler to bowl around the wicket.’ He was fantastic. Indian cricket has lost a real champion.”Gavaskar also recalled Nadkarni’s role in getting Sandeep Patil to bat in India’s second innings in Sydney in 1981, after he had retired hurt following a blow to the head from a Len Pascoe bouncer in the first innings. Patil went on to score 174 in the next Test match in Adelaide.”He [Nadkarni] was the one who kept urging Sandeep that ‘it doesn’t matter, you are here and you should go out and bat again.’ Bapuji was the assistant manager on the tour. It was only because of him that Sandeep went on to score that 174 in the next Test match because Bapuji was constantly there with him.”Bapu Nadkarni with fellow Mumbai and India stalwarts Dilip Vengsarkar and Ajit Wadekar•Getty Images & Hindustan Times

Milind Rege, the former Mumbai captain, said Nadkarni was a true allrounder.”Bapu Nadkarni was a great allrounder of Indian cricket and definitely a pillar of Mumbai cricket,” Rege said. “He didn’t get the accolades he deserved. He was one of the lead spinners and then would bat at No. 5 for Mumbai.”Rege reckoned that Nadkarni’s figures of 32-27-5-0 in his famous spell against England in Chennai would never be eclipsed. “Records are meant to be broken, but 21 overs and 5 balls without giving a run will never ever beaten by anybody.”Rege would call Nadkarni ‘Bapu ‘, as a mark of respect. Rege, along with his friend and teammate Gavaskar, learned a valuable lesson from Nadkarni, a characteristic Mumbai cricket is often associated with. “The thing that applies to Mumbai cricket, he would be right at the top. He was not a stylish player at all. With that stance he had, he managed to score important runs including the 283 not out against Delhi in the 1960-61 Ranji Trophy semifinals. He just would not give anything away, he was that .”Off the field, Nadkarni was a soft-spoken man, known to be particular about details. “Bapu was a lovely person,” Rege said. “The gentleman cricketer. Sunil and I played with Bapu when we were 17. He was among the Mumbai greats who nurtured us. He had a great sense of humour. And he could take a joke on himself and laugh it away.”Bapu Nadkarni (fifth from left) during a corporate tour of Pakistan in 1961•SD Rege/ACC Ltd

Chandu Borde, one of India’s leading lights in the 1960s, presented an example of Nadkarni supporting him at what he called a “crucial” time in his career. “It was one of the early Tests of my career,” Borde said. “I do not recollect exactly which one, but it was in Calcutta. I got a telegram from Pune (Borde’s home). It was to inform me that my relative Dayanand, who had played a big role in my cricket during my young days, had passed away in an accident.”Bapu hid the telegram under the pillow while I was batting. Later when I read the telegram I confronted Bapu: “What is this Bapu? Why did you this?” Bapu calmly told me he did not want me to be distracted. It was a crucial match for me. Till then my performances were not exciting or big. This was a crucial innings for me and Bapu did not want me to be disturbed.”Nadkarni, Borde said, always put the team first. “He was, what we in Marathi say an , one who had only friends and no enemies. Bapu was a very good team man, always appreciating his teammates’ performances.”According to Borde, Nadkarni’s upbringing and his family’s interest in sports was a major factor in his open personality. Borde recounted that Nadkarni was good at more than one sport, having played badminton at a high level. As for his cricket: “He was a very useful man to the team, a great contributor, stayed long at the wicket, was a good close-in fielder, and was a very accurate left-arm spinner.”

Michael Hussey says he is wary of saying he is in good form and believes the second new ball on the third day will be crucial to the fate of the match

Daniel Brettig in Colombo17-Sep-2011Ladies and gentlemen, your Man of the Series. If match awards in Galle and Pallekele were not enough, Michael Hussey strengthened his grip on the individual garlands still further by constructing an expert 118 to hold Australia’s middling first innings together at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground.He did it in much the same style with which runs were collected in the first two Tests, demonstrating patience, placement, and hands that were in equal part deft and powerful. Hussey now has four centuries in five Tests against Sri Lanka. However it is his 95 on a spiteful surface in Galle that sticks strongest in his memory.”I think the first innings in Galle really stands out at the moment,” Hussey said. “Because the conditions were so challenging and to get our team into a great position to win that Test, the first Test of a series, gives me a lot of pleasure. Having said that you’ve got to work hard for every Test match hundred, so I’m elated with all of them.”Well as he has played, Hussey still began this Test with a demotion in the batting order, to accommodate Shaun Marsh at No. 3. The move down to No. 6 seemed scant reward for the form Hussey has demonstrated over the past 12 months, during which he was the only batsman to consistently defy England’s rampant Ashes tourists, and in Sri Lanka has held the entire home attack in thrall.”I’m not fussed at all about being at No. 6,” he said. “Opposition teams will look at our batting order and think it is pretty daunting; if we get some guys in and doing well, it is going to be a very powerful batting order.”Hussey also said he did not want to read too much into his recent run of good scores because form can be a fickle thing. “I’ve always wondered about this good form and bad form thing; there’s such a fine line between them. Sometimes you just need that little bit of luck. Getting a good score early in a series does wonders for your confidence. You feel like you can just relax, play your game. But I’ve never liked to say I’m in good form because it only takes a couple of good balls and you’re suddenly in bad form.”Two of Hussey’s more significant partnerships in this series have been in the company of Marsh, who has made 141 and 81 in his first two Test innings to provide the other major bulwark of Australia’s batting. Marsh’s dismissal late on the first day saw the Australian innings take a turn towards mediocrity, and Hussey said, despite his effort, Australia had fallen a bit short of a good total.”The conditions, as the ball got older, were very good for batting, so it would’ve been nice if we’d gone over 350. Having said that we did lose the toss and on the first morning there was a little bit of juice in the pitch.”The shortfall has placed Australia in their most tenuous position of the series, more or less at the mercy of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara on their beloved SSC strip, where they have now scored 1607 runs in partnership with each other. For this reason, Hussey pointed to the third day as the most important one of the series.”It is a little ominous I must admit. They keep putting the statistics up on the board and you can look it at one of two ways, you can either say ‘oh dear’ or you can say ‘well they’re due to fail’, so hopefully it is the latter. It’s certainly going to be hard to dislodge them with the older ball, but hopefully with the second new ball we can make a few inroads; that’s going to be a key part of the game I think.”It is probably the biggest day of the series coming up tomorrow, if we can bowl well, restrict them and take the wickets, then it is going to put us in a fantastic position to win the Test match, but if we can’t get rid of Kumar and Mahela, they’re going to give themselves every chance to win the Test as well.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers in Chennai

The Preview by Sriram Veera30-Apr-2011

Match facts

Sunday, May 1 Chennai
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)With nine wickets to his credit, Amit Mishra is third behind Iqbal Abdulla (10) and Shane Warne (10) in the list of spinners•Indian Premier League

Big picture

They win one and they lose one but Deccan have slowly picked themselves off the bottom and are beginning to inch up in the points table. They were almost a two-man bowling attack, with only Dale Steyn and Amit Mishra contributing in the first half of the tournament, but suddenly, from nowhere, Ishant Sharma announced himself in some style in their last game. Admittedly, the pitch was helpful but Deccan will hope he will rouse himself to greater deeds from here on.As far as their batting is concerned, Deccan have depended heavily on Kumar Sangakkara. Their domestic batsmen have failed, their big signings like Cameron White, Daniel Christian and JP Duminy haven’t quite managed to live up to their billing yet. So, it’s no surprise that they haven’t been consistent so far.Deccan’s opponents Chennai Super Kings have lost three games but it took some exceptional performances, and iffy conditions, to beat them. Paul Valthaty dropped his cloak of anonymity one day, Harbhajan Singh picked his maidenTwenty20 five-for on another day, and rain played a big part in the game they lost to Kochi. They have won all their home games and won their first away game in the last encounter against Pune. They return to Chennai where their spin-heavy attack can be expected to test Deccan’s batting.

Form guide (most recent first)

Deccan: WLWLW (sixth in points table)
Chennai: WWLLW (fifth in points table)

Team talk

Will Deccan Chargers opt for the off-colour Pragyan Ojha at Chepauk? Ojha, who was a star performer in previous IPL editions, has been looted for runs but they might be tempted to give him a go on Sunday. Surely, now, JP Duminy, or even Michael Lumb, will be given a go in place of Cameron White?Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.

In the spotlight

S Badrinath has been one of the most classically pure batsmen in this IPL. Everything seems to have fallen in place for him this IPL season; he hasn’t been dismissed in his last three games and has harvested runs in some style. Interestingly, he will face Dale Steyn, the man who made him look like a novice in his last Test match. The ball cut in, swung out, reared at the throat, and Badrinath struggled; his critics have used that failure to fuel their arguments. Will there be a mini-redemption for him on Sunday?India loves their quick bowlers because there haven’t been many in their history. And so when Ishant Sharma harassed Ricky Ponting in a furious spell at Perth, they thought they had found a new hero. However, Ishant slowly lost his mojo and with it his place in the national team. He sparkled on a pitch that had something for the seamers against Kochi. Will it be the start of his journey back to the highest level or was it just a one-off?

Prime numbers

• Kumar Sangakkara and Badrinath are the top scorers for their respective sides and both have made 235 runs. Chennai have two other batsman who have tallied more than 200 but Deccan’s second highest run-tally is 144 (Bharat Chipli).
• Doug Bollinger is the only bowler from either of these teams who has an economy rate of under 6 an over (5.93)

The chatter

“Our captain [Sangakkara] is playing beautifully at the moment, Sunny Sohal has done well, [Bharat] Chipli has also done quite well. Mishra’s been outstanding, probably one of the best bowlers in the competition. Everyone’s beating everyone out there. No one’s really slipping away at the top of the table. If we win tomorrow it will be our fourth win and we’ll be pretty close to those top four positions.”

Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan fast bowler, has questioned the PCB’s decision to appoint 36-year-old Misbah-ul-as Haq as the limited-overs captain

ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-2011Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, has questioned the PCB’s decision to appoint 36-year-old Misbah-ul-as Haq as the limited-overs captain in place of Shahid Afridi, saying the move is “at best a stop-gap arrangement.””The present Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq is on the wrong side of 30 and I don’t see him leading the side beyond six to eight months”, Akram told on Friday
.
Earlier this week the PCB decided to hand Misbah the reins for the two ODIs against Ireland at the end of the month, but chose not to offer a reason for the move. It is likely, however, that the decision came after the board decided they had had enough with Afridi’s penchant for awkward public statements. The latest situation arose when Afridi returned from the Caribbean and hinted at unhappiness with coach Waqar Younis over matters of selection.Out of 34 ODIs, Afridi had won 18 and lost 15; a stretch which included tough series against England and South Africa, and took Pakistan to the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup, and Akram believes those results mean it was wrong to sack Afridi over such “trivial matters”.”Arguments between captains and coaches are not new in Pakistan cricket,” Akram said. “Afridi was hailed as a national hero after the World Cup, and came back from the West Indies after winning the ODI series only to find out he has been sacked. What is the PCB up to?”It is a wrong step taken by PCB, and only [chairman] Ijaz Butt is to be blamed for this. In Pakistan, the coach wants all the power and when it doesn’t happen, the fight begins.”Akram was not the only one critical of the board’s decision. Abdul Qadir, former Pakistan legspinner, felt the board should not have been so quick to change captains. “Afridi should also be careful in giving media statements,” he told . “But the fact is changing the captaincy is a cricketing decision and this one is not a sagacious one. Dropping Afridi as captain and retaining him in the side to play under Misbah appears a bad move,” he said.And former chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said the PCB was to blame and called for the government to intervene. “Players are the ones who bring in money for the board and attract people to the sport. Afridi didn’t commit a crime if he spoke about problems he was facing as captain. Instead of listening to him the board sacked him as captain this is unjust and unfair and the government should take notice of this.”

Mark Wagh has announced that he will retire from professional cricket at the conclusion of Nottinghamshire’s ongoing Championship match against Worcestershire at New Road after five years with the county

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2011Mark Wagh has announced that he will retire from professional cricket at the conclusion of Nottinghamshire’s ongoing Championship match against Worcestershire at New Road after five years with the county. He had originally planned to bow out in August to pursue a career in law but has decided to make an early exit to focus on his new career.”I will always look back fondly on my time at Nottinghamshire and I have been privileged to play alongside some excellent players here,” said Wagh.”Being part of the Championship winning team last season was a major highlight for me and I would like to thank my teammates, the coaching staff and all of the club’s members and supporters for all they have done and continue to do for Nottinghamshire.”Wagh moved to Nottinghamshire from Warwickshire at the end of the 2006 season and enjoyed consistent success with them.He averaged 56.95 in his first season at Trent Bridge, and passed 1,000 Championship runs in two of his four full summers with the county, his leanest spell coming in 2009 when he scored only 814 runs but still managed three centuries.”Mark was an excellent acquisition and he gave stability to our batting order during a time when our fortunes in four-day cricket made a significant and sustained improvement,” said Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket Mick Newell.”His century at Edgbaston last season was a particularly good innings and he made a solid contribution to our success. He wouldn’t have featured in our Twenty20 fixtures and we agreed that it was best for all concerned if he was to bring forward his retirement.”Wagh’s place in the batting line-up could be taken by left-hander Neil Edwards, who is expected to return from injury in time for the match against Lancashire which begins on June 20.

New Zealand batsman twice filled in during 2019 season

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Oct-2019Hamish Rutherford, the New Zealand batsman, will return to Worcestershire as their overseas player for the whole of their 2020 campaign.Rutherford twice filled in as a replacement for Callum Ferguson in 2019, making a pair of 50-over hundreds – against Lancashire and Northants – and another on his Championship debut.He was flown into Sri Lanka by New Zealand in September for his first international game in four years – though was out first ball as he missed the T20 Blast quarter-finals – but is unlikely to be absent due to international duty much next season.”I am really excited to be returning to New Road for the 2020 season,” Rutherford said.”I really enjoyed my two stints with the club last season and hopefully I can contribute to some success for the club next year. I look forward to catching up with my team-mates and support staff in April.”Paul Pridgeon, the club’s cricket steering group chairman, said that signing Rutherford for the full season would be “really good for continuity”.”He did well for us and we thought trying to sign him for the entire summer was worth persevering with,” Pridgeon said. “He is available for all cricket.”Hamish was very keen to come back, he is enthusiastic and has gelled with the rest of the lads in the dressing room.”