For the third year in a row, Warriors were nowhere in the running for a place in the playoffs

Amol Karhadkar20-May-2013Where they finished

Even in their third season in the IPL, Pune Warriors – the most expensive team – showed no signs of having got their act together. After finishing second from bottom in their maiden season and at the bottom of the table in 2012, Warriors started the season thinking things could only better. And they appeared to have got the resources right this year with one of the strongest squads on paper at the start of the season.Just before the season began, though, they received a jolt as Michael Clarke, who was set to lead their campaign, pulled out due to a back problem and Warriors could never recover from that. They employed three captains, tried 26 players in 16 games and yet won only four games.Had it not been for their successive victories in their last two games, they would have finished the season at the bottom of the table. For most of the season, Warriors were jokingly called the most consistent team in the IPL, as they were set to finish a lowly ninth for the third year in a row. They didn’t maintain that record, though, finishing ahead of Delhi Daredevils after beating them in the battle to avoid the final spot.What went right

In a season where hardly anything went right for them, only three players showed some sort of consistency. Aaron Finch, who came in as Clarke’s replacement and ended up leading the side for most of the season, and Robin Uthappa helped the team get off to solid starts. Both Finch and Uthappa finished in the bottom half of the top-10 run-getters in the IPL. And Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the bowlers, mixing accuracy with his typical early movement to finish with a superb economy-rate of 6.50.What went wrong
Everything. Well, almost everything. Ashok Dinda’s death bowling became something of a joke, and the middle-order batsmen were miserable than even Daredevils’. If two captains in the second season wasn’t enough to unsettle the team, three captains this season made it even
worse.The root of all these problems lay in the fact that the team could never get their right balance. Head coach Allan Donald had said before the start of the tournament that, unlike last season where they had to chop and change the team combination constantly, they were looking
at creating a core group and sticking by them through the tournament. It wasn’t something they were able to achieve.Best player
It’s a close call between Aaron Finch and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But one would be inclined to pick Finch, first for agreeing to lead a sinking ship and then keeping his chin up despite the team’s losing spree for much of his stint as captain. More importantly, he continued his form with the bat even after taking charge of the team.Poor performer
Another close call. Dinda had a torrid time, while Yuvraj Singh and Abhishek Nayar had seasons to forget as well. Yuvraj, the man who was supposed to lead the Warriors’ batting charge, failed miserably, scoring just 238 runs from 13 innings, with highest of 34. Nayar, the most sought-after Indian in the auction ahead of the season on the back of a sensational Ranji season, managed just 66 from nine innings at less than a run a ball. What tempered a bad season a bit for Yuvraj was his contribution with the ball, even though he didn’t bowl regularly. And Nayar’s lack of opportunities would help him avoid the tag of being the worst of the lot. As for Dinda, the less said the better.Surprise package
There was no debutant who shone for Warriors. But Finch could fit the bill. After going unsold at the IPL auction, he was belatedly signed on as Clarke’s replacement, and he ended up as the stand-out performer for the franchise.Moment to remember
Unfortunately, the most memorable moment for Warriors was when they suffered at the hands of Chris Gayle who piled on unbeaten 175 – the highest individual score in T20s – and helped Royal Challengers Bangalore register the highest ever T20 score against a hapless Warriors attack.On a positive note, their moment of glory came when they beat Chennai Super Kings in Chennai on April 15. So what if it was followed by a run of seven successive wins for CSK and nine losses on the trot for Warriors. Beating the most successful team in IPL history is always an achievement.Recommended for retention
When the campaign has been a shambles three seasons in a row, it is time for a complete overhaul.

Plays from the IPL game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Kolkata

Sidharth Monga14-Apr-2013The mistake
Young Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman Hanuma Vihari might have got Chris Gayle with his first IPL delivery, but giving him the second over today – ahead of two specialist spinners – proved to be a mistake. Bowling to Indian opening batsmen, Vihari delivered from round the stumps and flat. Manvinder Bisla took him for two fours, Gautam Gambhir one. Kolkata Knight Riders never struggled for momentum after that.The eye
Eoin Morgan had a Sachin Tendulkar moment when in the 18th over he asked the bowler Thisara Perera to remove all the bandages on the fingers of his bowling hand. Perera had no choice but to oblige. Morgan must have begun to sight the ball much better: the next four legal deliveries went for four, six, four, four.The yorkers
Slower balls might be all the rage nowadays, but Sunrisers at least would have realised today that there is no substitute for a good old-fashioned yorker. They were assaulted ruthlessly by Morgan and Jacques Kallis in the last five overs as the bowlers went through the whole catalogue of their variations, but Ishant Sharma finally produced two yorkers to end the innings. Kallis faced both of them, and could manage only one run.The catch
The fielding in this IPL has been a bit of a mixed bag, but there has been a quite amazing highlight reel of some sensational catches. Yusuf Pathan added to it today with one overhead at long-on. Cameron White had just about got going with back-to-back fours in the 11th over of the chase, but Yusuf cut short that resurgence with his highness. White had thought he had hit Kallis for a six, but he hadn’t reckoned for the tall Yusuf, who jumped about three feet in the air and caught it at full stretch.The miss
It was inconsequential for the match, but could end up having a bearing on whether Sunil Narine gets the purple cap. Perera tried to hit Narine for a second straight six, but mis-hit flat for what looked like a sitter for Morgan at long-on. However, Morgan lost the ball in the lights, and instead ran for cover lest the ball lands on his head. After that, he seemed to point that the flood-light tower is a bit low. He will get a taste of lower lights when he plays in Mohali in two days’ time.The celebration
For a man who said before the start of the match he doesn’t know why the hell injuries keep chasing him, Manoj Tiwary is not the most cautious player on the field. Twice he took catches in Sunrisers’ chase, and twice he kicked the ball hard in jubilation. The last thing an injury-prone player would want to do is get hit by a hard cricket ball on the ankle when celebrating a catch.

After three days of competing with England on an even footing, Brendon McCullum’s side collapsed in a manner reminiscent of their Cape Town horror show

Nagraj Gollapudi at Lord's19-May-2013In the end all those imaginary fears of countering Graeme Swann and the footmarks never materialised. It took just two England fast bowlers, albeit two of their best ones, to crush New Zealand in under two hours. Their 112-minute struggle with the bat resembled a terrible silent film, with not even one of the 11 New Zealand actors able to voice a challenge let alone put together some opposition.How did New Zealand’s batsmen slide from capable in the first innings to speechless two days later? On Saturday evening, after Tim Southee had put England on the back foot with a spirited spell in the dying light, he pointed out that he would have to return to finish the job to restrict the England lead. True to his word, he delivered: exerting the same control and maintaining the same discipline he had shown throughout the match with the ball, Southee engraved his name twice on the visitors’ honours board. Now it was the turn of the batsmen.Until then, Brendon McCullum’s men had made sure they were alive, if not ahead, in every session of the match. Trent Boult and Southee, along with some tight bowling from left-arm spinner Bruce Martin, had taken advantage of England’s cautious approach on the first day to restrict them to a small total. Friday was lit up by Ross Taylor’s assertive half-century. Although they let England take a slender 25-run lead, Southee had helped New Zealand wrest the initiative back.Barring their defeat to South Africa in 2012, England have been undisputed champions at home in the last few years. So for New Zealand to start the day with a possible victory on their mind was clearly a remarkable achievement. Yet, they could not afford to get carried away, especially considering the target was a steep one.And as much as they had been impressive, New Zealand’s batsmen had not been convincing against good swing and seam bowling in the recent past. During the first innings, Taylor and Kane Williamson had taken advantage of some wayward bowling to raise a challenge. But when England’s bowlers turned up with a more disciplined approach – fuller lengths allied to the swinging conditions on Saturday morning – McCullum and the rest of the New Zealand lower order caved in.

“After South Africa we looked at how we strip things back and work out the balance and make-up of our team. We have shown significant gains with that strategy. It would be foolish to throw out after one hour of mayhem”New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum

A day later, New Zealand’s collapse proved they had still not managed to work out a counter strategy. When the opening pair of Hamish Rutherford and Peter Fulton walked in, their first big test was if they could survive the hour or so before lunch. Fulton left the first five deliveries of the innings, from James Anderson, safely before taking a single from the sixth. But in the next over, facing Stuart Broad’s third ball, he chased a delivery that he could have easily let go and gave a simple offering to Matt Prior. Rutherford hit two fours against Broad, but his off stump was sent flying by one of the best deliveries in the match. For the second time, New Zealand had lost their openers inside seven overs.Against England in March, Rutherford and Fulton had scored three centuries between them in the three Tests and managed to thwart the new ball. Their success had managed to stabilise the middle-order’s failures. On Sunday, though, the whole New Zealand house lost its foundations. In a matter of minutes all the momentum gained during the drawn series at home seemed from the distant past, as New Zealand plunged into the same abyss as during the 45 all out in Cape Town last year.The big question is, have New Zealand really picked themselves up post Cape Town or are they still frail against high-quality bowling? “It is pretty tough to explain at this point of time,” McCullum said, trying to find reasons for the collapse. “For so long during this game we were obviously up with the play and at times I felt as if we were dictating the terms. But within an hour the game turned on its head and England continued to grow in confidence as they kept picking up wickets regularly while our confidence started to subside somewhat. The difference between the two teams came to that one hour of madness.”

Vettori may bolster injury-hit squad

New Zealand will assess their injury situation on Monday after ending the Lord’s Test battered and bruised. Daniel Vettori is in line to be called into the squad after Bruce Martin picked up a calf strain which would have stopped him bowling on the fourth day.

They will also consider bolstering their wicketkeeping resources after BJ Watling’s knee injury he sustained up attempting a run out on the third day and which resulted in Brendon McCullum taking the goves.

McCullum remains a reluctant keeper in Test cricket these days and although Tom Latham is a gloveman by trade doubts remain over whether he would be ready for the role at Headingley. Luke Ronchi, who is due to arrive with the one-day players early this week, is an option if a reserve is required.

The pristine visitors’ dressing room had suddenly been converted into an emergency room. McCullum described how players had to rush to get their “pads on and pads off quickly” during that chaotic period. “You are looking for a calm presence, whether that is out in the middle or in the change-room. There was plenty of calmness about the guys in the change room. I just felt we were not quit able transfer that out in the middle. We have had many of these experiences before. We have put distance between the last one … We had taken some significant steps forward but today we stepped backwards.”Asked about a specific plan to approach the target, McCullum said there was none except remaining positive. “It was just about the guys playing their own games and finding the space in their minds to operate at their best,” he said. “We are a calm batting unit. We are not a unit that needs to be hyped up. We have a group of players who are learning their own games, but also have confidence in what they showed back home.”Yesterday we felt 230 was achievable, but you need a relatively decent start and six for 29 was certainly not the start we were after. Sometimes you lose a couple of early wickets and you just keep hoping to stem the flow of wickets. We probably started to panic and the gap between the two teams started to widen.”According to McCullum, both teams’ top-orders had a tough time batting in the conditions. “Both top orders have struggled a little bit against the swinging ball,” he said. “We were able to expose their top order as well to a certain degree. So they were certainly not good batting conditions, as the scores suggest. It is still important we remain consistent the way we go about things. After South Africa we looked at how we strip things back and work out the balance and make-up of our team. We have shown significant gains with that strategy. It would be foolish to throw out after one hour of mayhem.”The bigger lesson learned out of the episode for McCullum is stay solid and not slip your guard. “It is a matter of knowing that we as a team still need to be completely on song right throughout a Test match, rather than allowing an opposition of the quality of England to run through our batting line-up,” he said.

What will it take to get teams to keep in step with the required over rate? We asked a few insiders for possible solutions

Interviews by Nagraj Gollapudi30-Aug-2013Tardy over rates have been a malaise that has worsened in modern cricket. Virtually every international team breaks the existing law, which requires 15 overs to be bowled in an hour. A striking example of how a team can break the rule blatantly and not be punished came on the third* afternoon of the final Test of the Ashes, when England bowled 11 overs in an hour in their aim to restrict Australia’s run rate. No action was taken, though England might have hurt their own chances of a victory as they were robbed of time in the end. ESPNcricinfo spoke to five experts for their prescriptions to remedy the long-growing problem.Ian Chappell
‘Suspend the captain immediately’
I first wrote in 1991 that the captain should be suspended for two Tests if the overs aren’t bowled in a day. I still believe that is the best way to fix this problem. The administrators also need to make some compromises. They would include:1. A back foot no-ball law, so that no-balls are virtually eradicated from the game (this can be done without re-introducing draggers), and this would help speed up the over rate.2. Permanent sightboards, so that they don’t have to be adjusted for a bowler changing from over to round the wicket. And remove all advertising from the sightboards, as they pretty well always cause interruptions to the game. Surely this amount of money can be made up in some other way.3. Change the boundary law so that it’s whatever you run unless the ball hits the rope. This will eradicate the need for replays to see whether the legs, hands, toenails or nose hairs are touching the rope.4. Reduce the DRS to purely line decisions (which are the only ones that can be guaranteed to give you a 100% result), and ask the umpires to start making decisions. This way you might even improve the standard of umpiring as well.5. Drinks are only allowed once a session unless there are special circumstances (i.e. temperatures over a certain figure), and after a reasonable time an injured batsman is told he either retires or gets on with his batting. You can’t have physios holding up the game while a full medical is completed – this can be done off the ground.6. There needs to be a more satisfactory solution to the bad-light law. 
 
The umpires should also be told to remind the captain regularly that he’s heading for a suspension if the over rate is slow.With the administrators making those concessions they can then afford to demand the players bowl a certain number of overs in the day without any reductions. If they don’t bowl them on any one day, the captain is suspended.There will be a huge scream the first time it happens and then the overs will be bowled on time without fail from then on. This will also eradicate over-time, which is a blight on the game. Six hours of cricket is enough in one Test day for everyone.Geoff Boycott
‘Ten penalty runs per over’
For 20 years I have been saying this: it is not going to work, suspending the captain. There is nothing the umpires can do because there is nothing in the laws, which is stupid really. Many times the umpires will tell the captain, “Listen, you are bowling it slow. Better move on.” But captains do not take any notice because umpires cannot punish them. The punishment has to fit the crime.The crime is bowling slow deliberately – then there should be a punishment, but the punishment should hurt them in that match. It is no good saying, “We will fine them”, because they earn so much money that they do not care anymore. Some countries like India have a small salary but high fees for playing. But even if you fine them 10% of the match fee, it is nothing. It is peanuts for all the advertising money they get from broadcasters.The other issue is allowing concessions to the players. People have tied shoelaces. People have walked in front of sightscreens forever. People have got hit on the hand and called the physio to rub it and put the spray on. They make all these excuses, so they don’t really fine them. And if they do have to fine them, they find every excuse under the sun not to suspend them. And if it is a big-name player, if he is a captain of India, England, Australia, it is extremely rare for that to happen. It is nonsense.You work out how long they have been bowling. You allow him 15 overs an hour, which is four minutes an over. Then, based on the time the opponent declares or is bowled out, you divide the batting time by four minutes and determine the number of overs that needed to be bowled. If, say, you are six overs short, you penalise them with ten runs an over. So you give 60 runs to the opposition. That will stop this problem immediately. In tight matches, where runs are absolutely priceless, as witnessed a few times during the recent Ashes, if you give the opposition 20, 40, 60 runs, they will get them down and move them.

“It is no good saying, ‘We will fine them’, because they earn so much money that they do not care anymore”Geoff Boycott

Martin Crowe
‘The DRS must be scrapped’
Slow play has always been Test cricket’s Achilles heel. That’s why Twenty20 appeals to the wider fan base. 

In a nutshell, the ICC must change the following:
The DRS must be scrapped as is and replaced by a one-unsuccessful-challenge system, with no predictive-path technology. The system must only be used to protect against an umpire’s obvious mistake.The no-ball rule must be changed back to the back-foot rule to reduce the amount of no-balls bowled, and also eliminate the constant referring to them in replay.Deterrents must be put in place for breaking the spirit of the game. In the case of slow play there need to be severe run penalties on the spot after an initial warning, with match bans for captains after the match concludes.Overall the umpires must regain their confidence to set the tone for teams to play at the appropriate speed, and in common-sense playing conditions. DRS and playing conditions are killing the true meaning of umpiring. This ultimately erodes the controlling of the game, allowing for teams to exploit it.Daryl Harper
‘Have a penalty that impacts the result of the game in question’
Generally it is only when a team runs out of time to score the target of runs that a fielding team’s over rate is discussed disparagingly. In recent times, ignoring rain-affected matches, fewer Tests end in a stalemate than ever before. But when they do, unrest surely follows.Since Sourav Ganguly successfully challenged sanctions against him for maintaining slower-than-required over rates, umpires have become more vigilant about recording any stoppage in play that may hinder the fielding team’s attempts to complete the minimum requirement of overs. In fact, umpires bend over backwards to assist fielding captains, who often appear to be unable or unwilling to help themselves.The crux of the problem is that no actions are taken until the match is completed. A team can be ahead of the over rate when the final stanza begins. But if a loss is imminent, then the over rate can slow to a crawl. Bowlers can amble along between deliveries, regularly re-tying bootlaces, and captains can make endless fielding alterations as if the match situation demanded it. If a team wants to bowl ten overs in an hour when 15 is the requirement, then that’s all they bowl. After all, at the end of a Test match, the over rate will be calculated and averaged over all five days.If there was a simple solution, it would already be in use. Surely the best resolution will be a penalty that impacts upon the result of the game. Perhaps if the calculations were completed each day, and ten penalty runs awarded for every tardy over, play would actually finish in daylight. In limited-overs cricket, the calculation could be applied at the moment when the final over should have been bowled.For a penalty to be effective, it must potentially have a bearing on the outcome of the match in question•Getty ImagesChris Martin
‘Make the fines substantial’
As far as New Zealand goes, my experiences with delaying the game were not that often. Unfortunately, in a high-profile series like, say, the Ashes, a team like England, who are quite ruthless, would like to make the best of an opportunity without losing the game.Most of the delaying tactics used by teams, all simple, are quite evident on the TV: the captain speaking to the bowler regularly and setting fields, other players talking to the bowler at the top of their mark. The latest one (in the Oval Test) was whether the ball was wet and whether it was able to be bowled.Some experts point out the ICC must use a stringent measure like immediately banning the captain to deliver the message. Taking players out of the game would be might alter the whole feeling of Test cricket, in the sense you have lost one of your best players due to a rule infraction. One way to deal with it is to do it without devaluing the game is to make the fines substantial.Also, you cannot solely blame the captain, because it is usually a team-management decision. Most times the coach is involved and the captain is basically out there orchestrating it. So the authorities could consider imposing action against the coach, which might perhaps speed things up.*The day was erroneously mentioned as the fourth

The Australian team that dominated during the nineties and early 2000s were a settled lot, as are the current England side, something the current selectors could take a leaf from

Jack Mendel16-Aug-2013Between 1989 and 2005, Ashes series were won exclusively by Australia. It was barely a contest. As England embark on a similar quest of Ashes glory, their belief in consistency shows strong similarities with that great Australian side of world beaters.More importantly, Australia’s consistent failures show similarities with England of the 1990s, which is like basing a model of a brand new car on a broken three wheeler with engine problems.Contrasting eras can often lose perspective, and statistics often skew reality, but hopefully this can shed some light nevertheless. In order to build a team successfully, the team has to be a settled unit. If it is constantly changing, then it will always be turbulent.Between the 1989 and 2005 Ashes, the relative number of caps given by England and Australia is stark, and highlights that one built a team with minimal change, whereas the other was frenetic and never settled. Guess which was more successful? You guessed it.In that period, England gave 90 players a new cap, beginning with Angus Fraser (#537) in 1989 and ending with Kevin Pietersen (#626) in 2005, according to ESPNcricinfo.Comparatively, Australia gave just 46 new caps out, beginning with Greg Campbell (#347) in 1989 and ending with the only debutant in the 2005 series Shaun Tait (#392). That is half the number England experimented with.Of course, the correlation does not always mean that fewer caps mean more success, but it is certainly arguable that making fewer changes to a team allows for a side to plan and execute more successfully. After all, if a side is unchanged, it means that it is a working formula, so why alter it?Clearly, change is used to try and remedy a failing formula, and too much change can exacerbate an existing problem. Certainly in this current Australian side, only Michael Clarke’s selection is guaranteed, whereas in years gone past, the team would pick itself (see Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn.)In the first home Test of 2009 versus West Indies, England handed out cap # 643 to Tim Bresnan. Since that moment, and up until the present day, England have got to # 655, which is just 12 more. Quite reasonable for a four-year period.Australia, from the same date, have had a much more torrid time. In the 2009 Ashes, cap #411 was handed to Graham Manou, Australia have now reached cap #434. That is 24 new caps in four years. Compared with England, that is like adding an extra team of players.To reinforce the point, not only have England been playing less number of new players, but the number of caps per new player is also important. England’s 13 newest debutants and the number of Tests they have played since 2009 have notched up 150 caps, with a third of that almost going to Jonathan Trott with 47.They are: Tim Bresnan (21), Graham Onions (9), Jonathan Trott (47), Michael Carberry (1), Steven Finn (23), James Tredwell (1), Eoin Morgan (16), Ajmal Shahzad (1), Samit Patel (5), Jonny Bairstow (12), James Taylor (2), Nick Compton (9) and the latest, Joe Root (10).When it comes to Australia, it is clear there are many more they are prepared to discard.Graham Manou (1), Clint McKay (1), Ryan Harris (15), Tim Paine (4), Steven Smith (11), Peter George (1), Xavier Doherty (4), Michael Beer (2), Usman Khawaja (9), Trent Copeland (3), Nathan Lyon (24), Shaun Marsh (7), Pat Cummins (1), James Pattinson (12), Mitchell Starc (11), David Warner (21), Ed Cowan (18), Matthew Wade (12), Rob Quiney (2), John Hastings (1), Jackson Bird (3), Moises Henriques (3), Glenn Maxwell (2), and last but not least, Ashton Agar (2).There are a lot of single figure scores here, much like an Australian batting card, and many of them were ‘victims’ of rotation policies and indeed untimely injuries.Yet it is inescapable that there are five players that have played a single Test, four that have played in two, three that have played in three, two in four, and only eight out of 24 that have gone past 10 caps.Australia have used 11 more players than England in the last four years, yet only two more when it comes to players with over 10 caps. Something is drastically wrong and this is not sustainable. Chopping and changing is simply no way to build a team. Tweaking is fine. England tweak. Australia are not giving their players a genuine chance to cement their place.Of course, there is no more Ponting or Warne, but Australia know that. They have to make do and give it their best shot, and the only way they can conceivably do this, is by setting out a plan, sticking with certain players and investing faith in them on a long-term basis. It is getting to the stage, whereby the Australians don’t even know their best order within the team, let alone who that team should comprise.England have not scored over 400 this series. They win games because they have a formula, and their line-up, although not firing, is less incompetent than Australia’s. They find a way through. Everyone knows their role, and everyone knows that whatever happens, it is highly unlikely they will get dropped.Settled teams are winning teams. Australia must try to be decisive and consistent. Pick a team, their best team, and stick with it for as long as possible.If you have a submission for Inbox, send it to us here, with “Inbox” in the subject line

Rohit Sharma’s career, so far, is short on performances that are proportionate to his talent, but in Jaipur he showed that the support he received from several quarters over the past few years is not wholly unjustified

Abhishek Purohit18-Oct-2013″I think more than me you guys were getting frustrated that I wasn’t getting a hundred,” Rohit Sharma told journalists at the press conference after hitting an unbeaten 141 in India’s highest successful chase, in Jaipur. Surely, Rohit had to be joking. The release of his own frustration had been telecast to the world a little while previously, when he’d reached his first ODI century in three-and-a-half years and 58 innings. His celebrations featured a couple of wild screams followed by plenty of aggressive bat-pointing topped up by a volley of swear words. While there are some who have wanted to see Rohit succeed, one can’t imagine journalists having displayed such heightened emotions on seeing him get to three figures for only the third time in 104 matches.Rohit followed that gem with this. “I can see a lot of smiles here [from journalists], which is really heartening.” Implicit in this sentence was the acknowledgment of support. Of course, if you go through an entire year averaging 12.92, as he did in 2012, after being touted as the next great Indian batsman for years, you will have your place in the side questioned. But on the whole, Rohit can never say he hasn’t had support from most quarters throughout his six-year career. Especially from the selectors, the captain and the team management.At times, this support has gone to ridiculous lengths. Specialist spinners have been pushed out to play his replacement and keep him as well in the team. Team-mates have often come up with superlatives to voice their backing for the man considered by them to be the best of the current generation of Indian batsmen. “He is the best talent India’s ever had.” “He’s the best among us in the nets.” “He is the best of the young lot that we have.” This final endorsement came in Jaipur from the man who blitzed the fastest hundred by an Indian in the same match.One wonders what Rohit would have felt listening to this latest instance of reaffirmation from Virat Kohli, who has 16 ODI hundreds compared to Rohit’s three, who averages 50-plus – Rohit barely tallied 30 before he was made to open. One wonders what he’s felt over the years listening to such statements, reposing more and more faith in him while his international career failed to take off to the heights all those words alluded to. Did he feel he was letting everyone down? Did he feel weighed down by all this expectation? Did he have the same kind of belief in himself that others had in him? Did he feel he was his own biggest enemy?It was not that he was not trying, at least in practice. As he said after the Jaipur match, he had always been training hard. The effort had always been there. He put himself through a strenuous fitness regime after missing out on the 2011 World Cup squad. And then came an utterly forgettable 2012. Did he, in some corner of his mind, start thinking that he might not really be all he was talked up to be?For someone afforded so much leeway, he had started to have the look of a man perpetually playing for his place in the side each time he went out to bat. And then, he started to open. Slowly, the scores started coming. A watchful 40 here, a promising 60 there. When questioned about his falling strike-rate, he would repeatedly say that as an ODI opener, it is difficult to face two new balls. But there was Shikhar Dhawan at the other end, charging fast bowlers and smashing boundaries as if that was the easiest thing for an opener to do.Rohit dearly needed this century. Fifties and forties would have kept him in the side, but they would also have needed periodic declarations from his team-mates of how the big innings that would lead to a flood was just around the corner. This 141 not out will help Rohit make peace with himself, quell the turmoil that surely must have been raging inside. Perhaps it was that turmoil that released itself during that celebration. Perhaps we will see a different Rohit from now on. The one his supporters feel has been hiding behind a façade all this while. If indeed the veil has been cast away, Rohit could do worse than allow himself to slip behind it again.

Plays of the day from the third ODI between Bangladesh and New Zealand in Fatullah

Mohammad Isam in Fatullah03-Nov-2013The reverse pull
The New Zealand batsmen brought out a variety of shots, starting from Anton Devcich’s scoop in the third over of the game. But the most outstanding of shots during their innings was Colin Munro’s reverse pull of Abdur Razzak that went for six. It went over the sweeper cover on the off-side, who turned into a deep midwicket as the ball sailed over his head.The costly drop
Ross Taylor was on 12 when Rubel Hossain made the first big mistake of the morning. He dropped a sitter of a chance during his follow through of the right-hander, although caught and bowled chariness are hardly considered easy. But at this level, you would expect fast bowlers to learn how to manage a return catch. But Rubel dropped the chance, and Taylor thrived thereafter, scoring his eighth ODI hundred, and taking New Zealand past the 300-mark.The body blow
Tom Latham was also given a life when, on 18, stepped out of the crease and missed a Abdur Razzak delivery that spun past the bat. The ball went on to hit Mushfiqur Rahim on his body, which prevented him from completing a safe take as he dropped the ball while Latham stretched back to get to his crease.The soft wicket
Mominul Haque was timing the ball too sweetly in the 17th and 18th overs when he suddenly decided to hit the ball a little too softly. It ended up as a leading edge which was taken easily by the bowler Anton Devcich, his first international wicket. Mominul has now started well in two consecutive innings and on both occasions he has been dismissed before reaching a fifty.Anti-climax of the day
Bangladeshi batsmen off late have been very carefully when batting in the nineties. Shamsur Rahman was a little different, by hitting a four to move to 96, and then trying another big one at that score. But he got out, ending an impressive effort, although a hundred was there for the taking. Although he became the 12th Bangladesh batsman to get out in the nineties in ODIs, Shamsur shouldn’t be too sad as he is likely to take over the second opener’s slot alongside Tamim Iqbal.The threat
It wasn’t anything else but a beamer from Mitchell McClenaghan in the 42nd over. The ball came in so quick that Naeem Islam simply let it go. So did the wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi. The ball went to the fence at a rapid pace. McClenaghan has had a busy day in the field and hadn’t bowled well till that point, with the beamer capping his frustration.The decision
The Mahmudullah decision in the 48th over has highlighted the severe shortage of television cameras at the ground. The front view alluded that there was a top edge to his scoop that took the shoulder and went to the wicketkeeper. But the one behind the wicketkeeper hinted that the ball may not have taken an edge. There were no other angles as there weren’t many of the broadcaster’s cameras at the ground. The third umpire ultimately gave it out caught, but Mahmudullah wasn’t convinced.

Brendon McCullum, who became the first New Zealand batsman to make a Test triple-hundred, reflects on the historic innings during his post-match presser

Abhishek Purohit in Wellington18-Feb-20140:00

‘Watling’s ton a testament of his character’ – McCullum

‘There was no tear in my eye. I am from South Dunedin.’•AFPTalk about that dream run. What was that?It was what was required. That is what it was. We were obviously scrapping to save the Test and therefore win the series. We managed to get some partnerships under pressure and then kept batting and batting and batting. So yeah it was pretty satisfying to get us out of trouble and claim the series win.How big was it for New Zealand to have somebody in the 300 club and for you to get there in these circumstances?Without being disrespectful I probably didn’t know the magnitude of it until the last 24 hours. I grew up and watched the New Zealand cricket team for years on end. I saw Martin Crowe score his 299 and thought it would have been an amazing feat if he scored 300 but probably didn’t quite understand how much it meant to the whole country who support this team and the media and support that has started to gain momentum last night and this morning with everyone willing a New Zealander to finally break that 300 barrier. And Martin as well. His thoughts on it too.I saw him this morning on the breakfast show and he was discussing how significant it would be. I guess that was one of the things that made me realise how big a moment it was. I also spoke to Stephen Fleming last night and he also said the same thing and those are the two guys who sat at 1 and 2 on the table. I feel a little bit embarrassed because I’m not anywhere near the calibre of players that those two in particular are but I think in terms of New Zealand cricket and moving forward for this team, we have finally broken that 300 barrier and hopefully some of these guys in the years to come will continue to break that barrier.Martin Crowe had said in an interview long ago that he got a little ahead of himself on 299 and started to think about what will happen and the adulation. Did you at any point during those last 19 runs get ahead of yourself?I definitely wanted to get 300 so I guess I was thinking in front of myself. That was one thing I tried to do this summer is just play that moment and worry about that ball. If you get beaten or if you play a good shot you don’t get too high or too low, you move onto the next one and try and get though that simple sequence. After the first couple of runs today when I started feeling a little bit nervous which isn’t always normal, one of the things I had to tell myself was get back to the simple things that work and give the ball as much respect as it deserves.How were you feeling this morning when you got up and walked through the gate to go out? Were there nerves or were you feeling good?I wasn’t too bad till I saw the size of the crowd. Every ball that I defended, left or got a single they would start cheering and it made me a little bit more nervous to be honest. That’s probably when I understood the magnitude of the task and how much joy it gives fans of this cricket team to see guys succeed and see records broken. It was the moment when 300 came up and the applause was ongoing for quite a while is really when it hit home to me that it was quite a significant achievement for a New Zealander and one I’ll certainly remember for the rest of my life.

I saw Martin Crowe score his 299 and thought it would have been an amazing feat if he scored 300 but probably didn’t quite understand how much it meant to the whole country who support this team

Can you talk us through the emotions you experienced?I have never experienced anything like that. That’s something I’ll hold onto for the rest of my life. All the tough times and tough periods you go through when you’re out of form at times and you’re just trying to keep the faith in what you’re trying to achieve. You just know there are plenty of good people out there who are backing you as well. At that moment I guess I realised how much satisfaction you can bring people from the way you achieve stuff and that certainly gave me a lot of good feelings.How did you channel your emotions through that entire experience?Sometimes good and sometimes not so good. Thankfully I had partners at the other end who played some brilliant innings. I thought both BJ (Watling) and (James Neesham) Neesh, their innings were outstanding. BJ’s in particular because he came in when were five for 90 (odd) and coming off a duck as well. To play an innings like that is testament to how strong a character he is. Then Neesh in his first Test match with the game still reasonably poised, to come out and play his natural game, which is aggressive, takes a lot of courage so I was pretty lucky to have those guys there.Then I had to try and fight the emotion that I want to hit the ball a bit harder than what I was trying to and make sure that the team goal was first and foremost.Were there tears in your eyes?No tear in the eye. I’m from South Dunedin.There were a few doubts about your back. How did you get through this Test series physically?I don’t know really. The back situation is just going to be there for the rest of my career and there will be times when it flares up and it becomes pretty tough to handle. I’ve got to make sure along with the coaching and support staff that we manage my workload and manage my training regime as well to ensure that I can go out there and perform without it being too much of a hindrance.There were times during the summer that it wasn’t as good as what it should be but it was a major step in the right direction from Bangladesh where it was pretty bad and brought some dark thoughts. Things are feeling okay at the moment so we’ll have to wait and see what the next few months involve.’Every ball that I defended, left or got a single the crowd would start cheering and it made me a little bit more nervous to be honest’•Getty ImagesHow much do you think the captaincy has contributed to this change in batting approach?You want to lead from the front as captain and I haven’t always done that. That’s what the desire is and I hope that’s what I’m starting to do. The hardest time to captain the team is when you’re not scoring runs and that’s when your character and the kind of person and leader you are outweighs your own form. The team needs the captain to be a strong person who enjoys other people’s success and sees the bigger picture. That’s what I tried to do when I wasn’t scoring many runs, knowing that if I kept working hard and kept the faith in my own game that at some point I’d be able to score those runs and then that makes leading a whole lot easier.What did you do last night? Relaxed? Beer with dad?I did go for a beer with my old man. He was up and booked his flight for a month late which everyone says was a bit silly, I just think he’s’ quite cunning. Just caught up with him for a beer and tried to keep it as relaxed and as normal a procedure as possible.Did you have any superstitions going on over the last three days? Wearing the same pair of socks or anything like that?No, I’m not really a superstitious person. The only thing I wanted was to keep using the same bat and I kept ripping the grip on it so I had to keep putting tape on it, which was a bit comical. No real superstitions. It was just trying to staying in the moment and keep willing yourself through.There was probably a period late on that first day when we started batting in the second innings when I was pretty fatigued and then once you break through that I found you were able to break sessions down into drinks breaks or bowlers’ spells as well. And probably the first Test match helped me with that too. Obviously being able to bat for a period of time and get a decent score there gave me the confidence where you could push thorough that time when you’re fatigued and you’d get a second wind at the end of it.What’s going to happen to that bat? Are you going to keep using it or put it somewhere?I’m not sure. It will go in the cupboard for a little while since we’re off to T20 cricket. That will bring out one of my old favourites which has a few more dents around the edges and can handle a bit more of the swashbuckling swings.Did you consciously make any technical or mental changes? You were struggling in the one-dayers and suddenly you found the confidence in the Tests.One-dayers are circumstantial and the team required us guys in the middle to lower order, after the foundations we had, to come out and try and play the shots to continue to up the run rates. That’s a little bit circumstantial and the situation of the team far outweighs your own personal agendas at the time. I wasn’t too unhappy about my form after the one-dayers because we won 4-0 and that’s what you play for.Leading into the Test series, I worked pretty hard, well, I have worked pretty hard through my whole career. But leading into this summer I put a lot of emphasis on my Test game and defence and trying to ensure that I’m trying to defend straight and I know where my off stump is. If you trust that then the shots you try to play are a lot more effective than trying to go to attack as your first form of defence. Because you don’t trust that. Those are some of the changes I have tried to make. It doesn’t always work as we saw in the first innings here. I still play the odd rash shot but it is nice when it does come off to get the success of doing so.How are you going to celebrate?I’m going to have a quiet beer with my team-mates. Just catch up with the boys once all the formalities are taken care of and pledge up in the change room and just reflect on a season that’s been pretty important for us and the game in New Zealand.How about a bottle of wine for Kohli (who dropped him on 9)?I’m not sure what sort of wine he drinks but he probably got his little bit of karma back this afternoon (when he was given not out by umpire Steve Davis after nicking behind). I very much appreciated him putting that one down but thankfully I didn’t offer too many chances after that.

For the second successive day, Pakistan’s bowlers struggled on a flat pitch. The team, however, could take heart from the success of their pacers, Mohammad Talha and Junaid Khan

Umar Farooq in Sharjah17-Jan-2014Pakistan bowlers may have started the second day optimistic about their chances of ending Sri Lanka’s resistance but had little success as the visitors reached an imposing 428 for 9. While Pakistan’s bowlers contained the Sri Lanka batsmen well – conceding only 208 runs in the day – they could grab wickets only after the batting side had managed to build themselves into a position of strength. However, there were positives for Pakistan on the second day, specially the bowling of pacers Mohammad Talha and Junaid Khan.Talha, bowling in only his second Test after a gap of nearly five years, provided the much-needed breakthroughs on both days and finished with figures of 3 for 99 in 32 overs. He is one of the fastest bowlers in Pakistan’s domestic cricket circuit, but was pushed back with the emergence of Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan. Talha remained on the periphery of national selection for a long time and was left out for the squad for the first two Tests, but his performance showed an eagerness to make the best of an opportunity that came out of the blue.On an unresponsive surface, Talha experimented a tad too much but though he was short of length, his patience was rewarded with the vital scalps of Prasanna Jayawardene (35) and debutant Dilruwan Perera (95). Junaid, at the other end, charged in throughout the day and was tidy, although he did not get too much movement with the ball. Junaid was Pakistan’s most successful bowler, taking 3 for 81 at an economy rate of 2.53.Saeed Ajmal, on the other hand, struggled again. He had picked up two wickets on the first day, but the Sri Lanka batsmen tackled him sensibly on the second and scored more fluently off him. He was wicketless throughout the day and was left cursing a pitch that did not offer much help. He finished the innings with 2 for 120 in 55 overs. Prior to the Sharjah Test, Ajmal had called for more supportive pitches but as Pakistan’s strike bowler, he is expected to take wickets irrespective of conditions.Like the first day, Pakistan also had a few issues surrounding umpiring decisions, as many reviews ended up in Sri Lanka’s favour. Had those decisions been in their favour, Pakistan could possibly have restricted Sri Lanka before the tea break. It may not have made an overwhelming difference but it was better than nothing on a day when the team struggled.”This is what Test cricket is,” Junaid said, after an unproductive day. “We tried hard to extract the best out of the day, but it was a flat pitch. The way the batsmen have batted in last two days, there is nothing much for the bowlers.”Given the current match situation, the onus is on Pakistan’s batsmen to show composure in their innings and Junaid was optimistic about the team’s chances in the match: “The way pitch is acting, our batsmen can push hard tomorrow to make quick runs to turn the pressure back on Sri Lanka. We are hoping the pitch can do a bit later in the match.”

After a tough winter, India must be lauded for putting in such a commanding performance all the way to the final that somewhere along the way, they became title favourites

Abhishek Purohit07-Apr-2014This was a team that had not won anything at all in any format on its two winter tours and was beaten by Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the Asia Cup. They had come close, of course, they had competed, but that winning feeling had last come for them against West Indies at home in November last year. Yes, Bangladesh is much closer to home for the Indians compared to South Africa and New Zealand – home is just a “forty-minute flight away” as MS Dhoni said – but a winless environment is not what you want to take with yourself into a world tournament. Yes, the conditions played a big part, but India have to be lauded for putting in such a commanding performance all the way to the final that somewhere along the way, they became title favourites.This after entering the tournament with only two wins – against Bangladesh and Afghanistan – in nearly four months. And with a World T20 record in the past three editions that suggested the format began and ended for them with the IPL – they are not allowed to play in any other domestic T20 league, and they couldn’t perform in the World T20. This time, not only did India win consistently in Dhaka, they won every game convincingly till the final, so convincingly that the victories started to look formulaic.Bowl first, bowl aggressive wicket-taking spin, restrict the opposition, and hunt down the modest target with ease. This approach
worked to perfection in their first three games against Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh, and made them the first team in the tournament to qualify for the semi-finals. They wanted to bat first in their final group game against Australia, were put in and recovered to post a decent total before the spinners, led by R Ashwin, demolished the opposition.The batsmen, led by Player-of-the-Tournament Virat Kohli, took over in the semi-final against South Africa, hunting down 170-plus against the might of Dale Steyn and co with nearly an over to spare. India made this match appear like a typical subcontinent ODI chase, where their batsmen were capable and confident enough to surge past whatever their bowlers had conceded.India can take credit for showing in this World T20 that it is possible to play formulaic cricket in the shortest format in familiar
conditions and develop a measure of consistency in winning, something thought to be nearly impossible in T20. Almost all their wins were one-sided. Their matches lacked the kind of chaotic thrill a crowd expects from a T20. This lack tells you a lot about their dominance in a format which, due to its ultra-condensed nature, produces nail-biters almost by rote.It seemed too good to be true, and things came unstuck spectacularly in the final, where the mighty line-up was hamstrung by its most experienced member and by a charged-up, disciplined opposition attack. The signs had not been encouraging from Yuvraj Singh in the first couple of games, where he fell short in whatever he tried to do on the field. When he came good in a no-pressure game – from the team point of view – against Australia, it seemed India had ticked the one final box on their sheet going into the knockouts. It was to prove misleading. Yuvraj’s struggles were back in the semi-final, and peaked in the final, where he had one of his worst off days ever, simultaneously draining whatever momentum Kohli was providing at the other end.That said, it is a reflection of the unbelievably extreme pressure under which Indian cricketers play, when reports come in that Yuvraj’s house was stoned after the final. Not only was it utterly disrespectful to the man who had won India the 2011 World Cup, it was also unmindful of the fact that it was the last hurdle at which the team had fallen, and not in the qualifying rounds. And before the final, they had won five successive matches, something they did not manage even when they took the title in 2007.The man who had fallen one match short of becoming the first captain to hold the World Cup, the Champions Trophy and the World T20 at the same time, was satisfied with how India had performed in Bangladesh. “Overall if you see the whole tournament we played really well,” Dhoni said after the final. “Right from the practice matches, and it was (also) evident from the fact that we didn’t have too many changes in our side as the tournament progressed. Spinners contributed when there was a bit of turn for them. Throughout the tournament, more often than not, they bowled well. And Virat has been brilliant for us for last one, one and a half years, even more. He is someone who has been very consistent. Yes, overall very happy with how everybody performed.”That is the conclusion Indian cricket’s well-wishers should take from this World T20. Bangladesh 2014 emphatically ended the disappointment of England 2009, West Indies 2010 and Sri Lanka 2012. The abiding image should be one of Kohli mastering the chase in the semi-final, although the chance is it will be that of Yuvraj bottling up in the final.