A baby-faced defender of Australia’s homestead left England’s unwelcome intruders looking like Christmas movie villains

Daniel Brettig in Perth16-Dec-2017Steven Smith’s Ashes torment of England recalls nothing quite so much as Kevin McCallister’s encounter with the burglars Marv and Harry in . It’s the lead-up to Christmas and the unwelcome visitors intend to ransack the house, but the baby-faced defender of home territory has all manner of dastardly, unorthodox genius to unleash upon them.Like the McCallister’s multi-storey Chicago home, the WACA Ground, with its rock-hard pitch and pristine outfield, provided ideal circumstances for Smith to deal out punishment, something he relished with a simple sense of hungry glee that is childlike in its purity. In raucously celebrating his 100, then 150, then 200, Smith could almost be heard shouting “you guys give up, or are you thirsty for more?” By the end of day two, Joe Root and his deputy James Anderson looked as bedraggled as Marv and Harry, their ownership of the Ashes slipping away just as surely as the wet bandits headed for prison.The monumental nature of Smith’s achievements are matching Home Alone’s astronomical box office takings (US$467.7 million against a budget of $18 million) in ways that are placing him in the rarest of company. After 108 Test innings, no-one has made more runs, leaving Sir Garfield Sobers in the shade. Among Australians, only Sir Donald Bradman has taken fewer than Smith’s 59 Tests to reach 22 Test hundreds. At 229 and counting, this Perth innings is Smith’s highest in Test cricket.McCallister, of course, did not seal the fate of Harry and Marv alone. He had important help from a figure considered sinister and unwanted for much of the film’s duration – “Old Man” Marley. Derisively accused by Kevin’s older brother Buzz of murdering his family with a snow shovel, Marley’s presence is forbidding until the pair meet in church, and he then shows up right on time to apply the final blows. He does so, naturally enough, with the aforementioned snow shovel.In the remodelled hands of Mitchell Marsh, his cricket bat became just as damaging, and his arrival on the scene just as helpful for Smith. Australia still trailed by 155 runs when Marsh replaced his brother Shaun at the crease, with plenty of questions still hanging in the air about his capabilities as a Test batsman. But five hours and 181 unbeaten runs later, both Marsh and Australia sat back with a sense of confidence greatly enhanced and domination of England ruthlessly maintained.Reflecting on the problems created by Smith, England’s assistant coach Paul Farbrace outlined the kinds of headaches he had created for opponents around the world. “We’re trying very hard to get him out,” he said. “We’re trying to bowl lengths to get him out, trying to set fields to get him out, but he’s played exceptionally well over the last two days.”Every team will talk about where to bowl at him, you try to bowl a fifth-stump line, you try to drag him across his stumps, but the way he’s playing at the moment – he seems to get into some awkward positions – but the thing he does do is get his head back into the ball and he keeps the bat face open. He hits the ball from what seems like strange positions but he seems to hit the middle of the bat on a consistent basis. We’ve had plans for him and been thinking about them for quite some time, but we’ve come up against a player in the form of his life playing absolutely fantastically.Steven Smith averages 75.25 in Tests since 2014•ESPNcricinfo Ltd”Anybody who moves around the crease, it is very easy to start following them, so when someone moves across the stumps you can easily think we can attack the stumps and his pads a little bit more, but that’s exactly what he wants. We’ve tried to be disciplined and hit a good length and get the ball through somewhere around a fifth-stump line, but he does get into positions where he’s able to score both sides of the wicket. One thing he does do, which all the best players do, is they score off your good balls and put you under pressure to bowl bad balls, and he doesn’t miss.”While Smith’s abilities to score runs right around the ground are well known – tiresomely so for England – the approach to be taken by Marsh was a source of far more intrigue. In his previous 21 Tests, reaping only two half-centuries and both of those in Asian conditions, Marsh had struggled to find the mental application and technical proficiency to survive in the middle for extended periods, offering an approach where he often propped on the front foot and threw hard hands at the ball, creating the possibilities not only for edges but also bowled and lbw dismissals.However an extended period out of the game due to shoulder surgery allowed him the chance to reset his mindset and his method away from the spotlight of the international game. Working quietly with his batting coach Scott Meuleman and also the Western Australia coach Justin Langer, Marsh was able to build a more three-dimensional game, better utilising both front and back feet to be more secure in defence and versatile in attack.Two years ago in England, James Anderson and Stuart Broad glimpsed Marsh’s firm feet and hard hands, and this time around offered the sorts of deliveries that might well have undone him early. One of Marsh’s key drills with Meuleman was to deliver throw-downs of an “in-between” length to press the batsman to make more decisive decisions about moving forward or back. Over numerous weeks and hundreds if not thousands of throw-downs, Marsh built confidence in better weight distribution, and when challenged early on by bouncing balls around off stump offered sure-headed leaves of the ball and solid defence to straighter deliveries.Frustrated by this newfound security, England’s bowlers then floated up fuller, more tempting stuff, which drifted handily into what has always been Marsh’s “kill zone”, the cover and straight drives. At times it seemed Marsh had murderous intentions for the umpires at the bowler’s end, so straight and powerful was his driving straight back down the pitch as to cause Marais Erasmus in particular to take the sort of evasive action he would have required in his playing days. Anything short, particularly wide of the stumps, was then attacked with plenty of enthusiasm, including the forcing stroke that took Marsh to a first Test hundred in his 22nd match – four fewer, incidentally, than it took Steve Waugh.The emotion of Marsh’s subsequent celebration, charging towards the dressing room and screaming with the purest of joy, demonstrated the pent-up emotion he had channelled so effectively throughout, showcasing a pre-ball routine that has allowed him to more effectively “switch on” and “switch off” between deliveries. As the day wore on and England’s bowling and fielding slackened, it was a lapse in concentration alone that was likely to bring a wicket, but Marsh refused stoutly to offer it. At the same time he was able to take some scoring pressure from Smith’s shoulders, allowing the captain to preserve some of his remaining energy for further run-making on day four: it was that sort of mutually supportive partnership.In captaining WA against Smith’s New South Wales recently, Marsh empathised with England. “I think he’s certainly got an aura,” Marsh said of Smith. “I know what its like because I’ve captained against him a couple of months ago and it’s not very nice. You come up with all these plans and none of them seem to work. He’s a special player for Australia, he’s a great captain, leads by example, and hopefully he and I can keep going tomorrow.”It would be unkind not to conclude theparallels without mentioning the men whose roles most closely mirror those of the film’s producer and screenwriter John Hughes and its director Chris Columbus – Australia’s selectors. Faced with plenty of questions about their thinking when choosing Shaun Marsh and Tim Paine for the first Test, then recalling Mitchell Marsh for the third, the panel comprising the chairman Trevor Hohns, the coach Darren Lehmann, Greg Chappell and Mark Waugh have had their decisions handsomely vindicated with a series of vital displays by the players they ran against popular opinion to choose. In each case they have chosen players feeling comfortable in themselves and their games, ready to perform under pressure.As Marsh put it: “The whole build-up for this game I’ve been a lot more relaxed than in the past, quietly a lot more confident in my game because I’ve worked so hard. When you go into a game knowing you’ve done everything possible to try to succeed then you can hopefully just relax and enjoy it, and that’s what I’ve been doing the last couple of days.”Those successes, then, raise the possibility for England thatmay well be followed by and in Melbourne and Sydney. Perhaps fortunately for those cast as the wet bandits, there is no plan to extend this Ashes series any further than that.

Leaders of a winning team, check. Blessed with a strong bowling attack, check. Unstoppable run-machines, double check

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Nagpur26-Nov-20172:00

Chopra: Kohli looked in complete control

The Nagpur Test against Sri Lanka is Virat Kohli’s 62nd and Cheteshwar Pujara’s 53rd. They have both been part of 30 Indian wins, and a 31st seems imminent. Pujara’s 143 here could be his 10th hundred in a Test win, and Kohli’s 213 his ninth.Already, Pujara has more hundreds in Test wins than all other Indian batsmen barring Sachin Tendulkar (20) and Rahul Dravid (15), and it looks like Kohli won’t be tied with Virender Sehwag for too much longer.Think about all the greats of Indian batting who made hundreds all over the world, and only rarely made one in a winning cause. Sunil Gavaskar scored 34 Test hundreds, more than anyone else for a long, long time, but only six – six! – in Indian wins.Test-match batsmen are moulded by fate, the contours of their innings shaped by the teams they were destined to play for. Unlike any generation of Indian batsmen before them, the current one plays for a team habituated to winning, a team that has won 20 of its last 27 Tests.Bowlers win Test matches. Batsmen do what they can to better their team’s position – strengthen a good one, rectify a bad one, turn parity to superiority.At various points during this run of 27 Tests, Pujara and Kohli have had to fight challenging conditions or good bowling attacks or bat in difficult situations. Their runs have often turned these situations around.But Pujara and Kohli have found themselves batting when India are frontrunners far more often than occupants of Indian line-ups past. Batting is not necessarily easy in these situations – Kohli’s 81 in Visakhapatnam, for instance, came when India had a first-innings lead of 200, but it was nonetheless a masterpiece on a pitch with treacherous low bounce – but quite often the bowlers are weary and the fields spread out.This is perhaps truer in the case of Kohli. During their run of 20 wins in 27 Tests, India’s average first-wicket partnership has been 35.54, while their average second-wicket stand has been a best-in-the-world 60.40. This means, crudely, that the average Kohli innings has begun with the scorecard reading 96 for 2.So, even some of his best efforts in this period, were an elaboration of the solid foundations laid by the batsmen above him. When he made his 235 in Mumbai, he walked in with India 146 for 2 in response to England’s first-innings 400. Plenty of work still needed to be done, but it wasn’t 46 for 2.Virat Kohli plays a strong bottom-handed whip for six•BCCIKohli was often compared to Ricky Ponting early in his career, for his confrontational attitude more than anything. Now it’s perhaps even more apt: he is the alpha batsman in a team that wins often, and if Ponting followed one of Test cricket’s great opening pairs into the middle, Kohli often follows the incredibly prolific second-wicket pair of M Vijay and Pujara.For most of their careers, Brian Lara didn’t have either a match-winning bowling attack around him or top-class batting support, while Tendulkar had one but not the other; Ponting had both. So does Kohli, at least in this phase of his career.Like so many Ponting hundreds, Kohli’s double in Nagpur – his fifth overall – was an innings of relentless, remorseless feasting on an already wilting opposition. It was exactly what he had to do, and it was exactly what he did. When he walked in, India were already in the lead and only two down. He came in after a second-wicket stand of 209. Right from the time he arrived, he was faced with damage-limitation fields.But even in those circumstances, it takes an exceptional batsman to score 213 seemingly risk-free runs at a strike-rate close to 80. When he was at the crease, the batsmen at the other end, and extras, scored 154 off 299 balls – that’s a strike-rate of 51.51.This is what Kohli can do. He took a lot of singles and twos to fielders in the deep, but often he made them possible, usually by taking balls from off stump or just outside and working them into leg-side gaps. Every now and then he put away a bad or marginally bad ball, but he also manufactured boundaries off reasonably good ones.A couple of examples stood out on day three, both against Dilruwan Perera’s offspin. On 111, he received an off-stump ball that pitched just short of a good length; Kohli rocked back and created just enough room for his arms to extend into a punch that beat mid-off diving to his right. On 188, he leaned forward to a flighted, good-length ball pitching two feet outside off stump and used all the power in his bottom wrist to whip it hard and flat over the midwicket boundary.Sri Lanka could find no way to stop him or slow him down, and in the end they just crossed their fingers and waited for a mistake. Ponting gave numerous oppositions this feeling in his pomp; over the last couple of years, Kohli has done this too.In just a few weeks, though, India will begin a journey that will test just how good they are. It will ask their bowlers if they can be just as threatening away from their comfort zone, and their top three if they can be just as solid. The answers to those two questions will shape the questions that Kohli is asked.

A new season comes with new teams and combinations – how are they all going to shape up?

Aakash Chopra06-Apr-20181:20

Chopra: Prefer Uthappa opening over Narine

A new season comes with new teams and combinations – how are they all going to shape up?Kings XI Punjab
Ideal starting XI: Aaron Finch, KL Rahul (wk), Karun Nair, Yuvraj Singh, David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, R Ashwin (capt), Mohit Sharma, Barinder Sran, Andrew TyeIn Finch and Rahul, Kings XI have two fairly reliable openers. Their middle order looks a little below par with two Indians and two overseas options. While Nair’s recent form is good, there’s very little to suggest that Yuvraj could be the same player that he once was. Yuvraj’s middling return in domestic games and Miller’s lack of form at the international level might force them to play Karnataka opener Mayank Agarwal, who scored a record 2141 runs across formats in the last domestic season, in place of an Indian fast bowler. But if Agarwal plays, King XI will have a problem of plenty at the top. They also don’t have enough finishers in the batting order, so they will be hoping Miller finds form quickly and Stoinis has season to remember. In Patel, Ashwin and Tye, they have a bank of 12 overs in almost every single game. Mohit will have to share the burden of bowling in the death overs and could be seen as a slightly weaker option. If Sran’s fast bowling gets shafted for Agarwal’s batting, Stoinis will have to bowl his full quota and one of the spinners will have to bowl in the Powerplay. King XI have a side that can give them a better result than in the last few, but the lack of formidable back-up options could lead to trouble mid-season.Delhi Daredevils
Gautam Gambhir (capt), Colin Munro, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Glenn Maxwell, Vijay Shankar, Chris Morris, Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Trent Boult, Mohammed ShamiOut of the potential six opening options, I’ve picked Munro and Gambhir to open in the first few games. While Gambhir is best suited at the top of the order, there was a like for like choice in Jason Roy and Munro. Both are destructive openers, but I’ve gone for Munro because of his recent form and his successful tour to India last winter. Both Pant and Iyer are at their best if they get in early, so I’d be tempted to send Pant in at No. 3 if Munro falls first and Iyer at the fall of Gambhir. That way one end can be occupied by a striker and the other by a grafter. If Daredevils are to do well, Maxwell will have to fire more regularly, and he will have two more hitters in Shankar and Morris following him. I’m expecting Morris, a fast-bowling allrounder, to get a much bigger role with the bat. He could be used as a floater depending on the number of overs left. In Nadeem and Mishra, Daredevils have all-season spin options. Shami’s performances in the IPL haven’t been great. He will be expected to turn it around but if he fails to do so, the other Indian options of Avesh Khan and Harshal Patel aren’t threatening enough.Mumbai Indians
Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (capt), Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Pat Cummins, Mustafizur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul ChaharMumbai have three opening options but if they are to optimise their resources, Rohit must bat at three, for both Kishan and Lewis might struggle to get going against spin. After three explosive openers, they have three allrounders in the Pandya brothers and Pollard. While allrounders offer balance, too many of them might make you feel the absence of specialists in the middle order. Pollard is expected to play a bigger role, and Suryakumar Yadav could be given the dual responsibility of stabilising the innings in case of a collapse and play as a finisher if need be. In Cummins, Mustafizur and Bumrah, Mumbai boasts of one of the finest fast bowling units in the tournament. Chahar is a promising young legspinner who could turn out to be either the trump card or the weak link – if he fails, they won’t have any Indian spin option. Mumbai have a strong first XI but by retaining five of their last year’s team, they didn’t have enough money left to pick back-up options. The only other issue will be how long Cummins will remain fit, given his recent workload and history of injuries.Chennai Super Kings
Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (capt and wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Mark Wood, Shardul ThakurSuper Kings have picked a team that’s best suited for the conditions they are likely to get in Chennai. The pitch at Chepauk has become really slow, which is why they have picked a bunch of good spinners and plenty of Indian batsmen in the middle order. They do have the choice of playing various opening combinations without tinkering with the engine room of their batting – they can play Sam Billings and M Vijay for either Watson or du Plessis or both. The one major area of concern is their fast bowling – Wood, Lungi Ngidi, Thakur, Deepak Chahar and other Indian options aren’t really the bankable options in either the start or the end of a T20 innings. This could put them in a spot of bother in away games. They also don’t have the finishers who can help boost the score in many games.1:26

Who will be this IPL’s pinch-hitter?

Rajasthan Royals
Rahul Tripathi, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Sanju Samson, Heinrich Klassen, Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, K Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev UnadkatRajasthan Royals are no longer the Moneyball team they used to be. They have not only spent every single penny available to them but have also made some of the biggest purchases at the auction. Since they don’t have Smith, Rahane can bat the way he does – slow and steady, deep into the innings. Tripathi is likely to open with Rahane and bat the way he batted last season (scoring 391 runs at a strike rate of 146.44). But it’s not often that an uncapped Indian player produces two consecutive seasons of the same quality with the bat. While they do have D’arcy Short as an explosive opening option, the lack of an Indian batting option might keep him out at the start of the tournament. In Buttler and Stokes, Royals have two of the most explosive finishers in the tournament. Spin could be their Achilles’ heel since their three spinners have only 19 IPL wickets combined. But in Archer and Unadkat, they have raw pace and some stealth at top and tail of the innings.Royal Challengers Bangalore
Parthiv Patel (wk) and Brendon McCullum/Quinton de Kock and Manan Vohra, Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Colin De Grandhomme, Washington Sundar, Chris Woakes, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad SirajDuring the auction, it felt like Royal Challengers were trying to address the bowling woes of the earlier seasons. While they have managed to address it somewhat, their bowling still isn’t as strong as it should be for a team that plays on a bowler’s graveyard. The strength lies in their batting, with the cream at the top once again. None of the four opening options – Parthiv, Vohra, de Kock and McCullum – is ideally suited to bat outside the opening slots, but if two of them end up in the XI, it will force Kohli to drop himself to No. 3. The top-heavy team doesn’t have the finishers they ideally need, but that’s because they expect Kohli or de Villiers to be there till the end. In Sundar and Chahal, they have two reliable spinners, and if you add Woakes, they have 12 overs taken care of on most days. The problem area will be their death bowling because while Woakes might hold one end, the other will have to be propped up by Umesh or Siraj, both of whom are susceptible to leaking plenty of runs.Sunrisers Hyderabad
Kane Williamson (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Carlos Brathwaite, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma/Syed Khaleel/ AhmedBasil ThampiAt the auction, Sunrisers looked like one of the most balanced sides in the IPL, with back-up options for almost every single spot. Without tinkering with their strengths, they managed to plug the holes in the middle order. They have Pandey, Shakib, Hooda and Brathwaite in the middle, and Mohammad Nabi and Yusuf Pathan (who can both also chip in with the ball) waiting in the wings. In Saha, they have addressed the problem they had with the wicketkeeper, for you want a quality keeper to stand up to Rashid Khan’s legspin. In Shakib, Rashid and Bhuvneshwar, they have a bank of 12 overs, and Kaul, Khaleel and Sandeep aren’t weak options to support the main cast. They also have the part-time bowling options in Brathwaite and Hooda, in case things go wrong. The absence of Warner has put a spanner in the works for Sunrisers. The new captain, Williamson, might not be as explosive an opener as Warner, but he will be able to the hold the innings together till the 13th or 14th over. If that doesn’t work, they can always install Hales at the top with Dhawan and hope for Pathan or Hooda to play the finisher’s role. In that case, Brathwaite will have to wait for his turn.Kolkata Knight Riders
Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa (wk), Shubman Gill, Dinesh Karthik (capt), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Ishan Jaggi, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Johnson/Tom Curran, Vinay Kumar/ Kamlesh NagarkotiHaving invested half their budget on four overseas options in Lynn, Narine, Russell and Starc, Knight Riders found themselves in a slightly tricky spot when acquiring Indian players. They have some of the biggest IPL match-winners but they also have the most holes that need filling. Gill must bat at three, but that means Narine can’t open because sending Uthappa at four would be unfair and it would push Karthik further down the order. Rana had a good season for Mumbai last year at No. 3 but there’s no space for him in the Knight Riders’ top four. It’s anybody’s guess whether he could be effective at No. 5 and play the finisher’s role. Also, Russell must not bat lower than five or six, but that will leave Jaggi to shore the tail in case things go wrong. Their bowling looks fairly sharp and varied. Kuldeep and Narine are wicket-taking options. But since none of the top five bowl, Russell will be forced to finish his quota in every game. It’s also worth mentioning that Knight Riders don’t have fallback options if form or fitness issues develop during the season.

Plus: Is Bhuvneshwar Kumar the best last-over bowler going around, and why did RCB pick Moeen Ali?

Srinath Sripath07-May-2018Why did Sunrisers delay Rashid v Kohli?Kane Williamson has rationed his use of Rashid Khan in the Powerplays this season, even when his side has had a small total to defend. Against Kings XI Punjab, he had held Rashid back till the end of the Powerplay against Chris Gayle, who had carted him in Mohali earlier. Here, with just 146 on the board and Manan Vohra – one of the few batsmen who had managed to get the better of him last season – in the middle, the reasoning could well have been along the same lines once again. Kohli, who had never faced Rashid in T20s before this game, feasted on Shakib Al Hasan’s slow left-arm offerings in the meanwhile, taking 15 runs off the fifth over as Royal Challengers raced to 55 for 1 at the end of the Powerplay.Rashid came on in the seventh over, as he has done in almost every game this season, and almost had Kohli caught at slip, only for Williamson to put down a sitter. Interestingly enough, Rashid went on to bowl three overs on the trot for only the third time this season, a clear plan to try and get rid of Kohli and de Villiers. Having come extremely close to dismissing Kohli, he went on to dismiss de Villiers, who inside-edged a wrong’un into his stumps.Sunrisers were defending low totals against Mumbai and Royals in those two previous instances, and Rashid turned the game for his side both times. Kohli and de Villiers have carried Royal Challengers’ batting once again this season, and Williamson could well have resisted the temptation to attack early on to counter their threat in the middle overs.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhy Moeen Ali?After the first 38 games of the season, every one of England’s 12 representatives had played a game except Moeen Ali. With the out-of-sorts Quinton de Kock back home in South Africa to attend Theunis de Bruyn’s wedding and Brendon McCullum not quite finding his touch, Moeen seemed like the final throw of the overseas-player dice from RCB. They have now used 20 players this season, the joint-most along with Chennai Super Kings.Moeen opened the bowling and returned 2-0-8-0 in the Powerplay, before leaking 11 runs in his final over. With the bat, he adopted an attacking approach, hitting a couple of streaky boundaries before edging one to the keeper. In all, it was a lukewarm debut against the tournament’s best bowling side, and, with every remaining game a virtual knockout, one that could be good enough to keep his place.Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s economy rate in the final over is streets ahead of the rest since IPL 2015•ESPNcricinfo LtdDoes anyone do the 20th over better than Bhuvneshwar Kumar?Not really, and there are strong enough reasons to say so. No one except Dwayne Bravo has bowled more final overs than him since IPL 2015, and no one with 50-plus balls has a better economy rate than him. On average, 20th overs in the IPL have gone for 10.58; Bhuvneshwar goes at 8.03. While wickets matter little in this phase of the game, he gets one every 8.5 balls, once again the best among those who have bowled over 50 balls.Against Royal Challengers, he fared even better, defending 12 runs successfully against a marauding Colin de Grandhomme, landing yorkers and giving him nothing in his hitting arc. Conceding six runs in the final over of a chase might be a pipe dream for most T20 bowlers, but it is just about par for course for Bhuvneshwar. In chases since IPL 2015, his final overs go at an incredible 6.83 an over, bettered only by Chris Morris among those who have bowled more than 24 balls.Bhuvneshwar’s record has been significantly boosted over the years by Sunrisers’ bowling depth, and that came to the fore once again when Siddarth Kaul’s outstanding 19th over went for just seven runs. Sunrisers have been playing their own version of T20 cricket for a while now, but their knack of defending such low totals almost every single time is only strengthening their reputation as one of the format’s most feared bowling attacks.

The South Africa A batsman has had good results personally on his first tour to India, but he’s intent on becoming better

Sreshth Shah in Alur13-Aug-2018The Rondebosch Boys’ High School, in suburban Cape Town, might be the only school in the world to produce cricketers who have played for four different countries. Gary Kirsten (among others) played for South Africa, Jonathan Trott represented England, Ralph Coetzee turned out for Ireland, while Michael Rippon plays for Netherlands.They’re all similar players, full of grit and skill who more often than not punch above their weight, and this seems to be a trademark of the Rondebosch ethos. Take the 23-year-old Zubayr Hamza for example, one of the youngest members of the South Africa A squad currently touring India, their leading run-scorer on the tour, and a recent alumnus of school.Three fifties and two hundreds in his last five first-class games for Cape Cobras helped Hamza earn a maiden A-team call-up, and he hasn’t disappointed. The right-handed top-order batsman smacked 104 in the warm-up game against India’s Board President’s XI, followed it up with a second-innings 63 in the first unofficial Test and then capped the series with a 93 in the second. These returns would satisfy most players on their maiden away tour, but not Hamza. Instead, he’s always thinking about his own game and yearning for ways to refine his skills.”Scoring a hundred in the warm-up game, and then getting a third-ball duck on the first innings of the first Test – it just showed me cricket’s two opposite spectrums,” Hamza said after the penultimate day of the second unofficial Test. “One day may be yours, the other day it may not. In the second innings of the first Test as well, I could’ve converted into a hundred, so it’s the small things mentally, where decisions are made in the moment, that I think I could do better.”One of Hamza’s qualities on this tour has been to play positive cricket: with intent, confidence and a clear mind. His shots, to both spin and pace alike, have displayed a certain clear-headedness, and the extra hours at training have helped him achieve that level of zen.”I worked quite a lot with the batting coaches regarding footwork, playing the ball as late as possible, and kind of respecting the power which a spinner can have in various conditions, Hamza said. “I worked on the simple things – the basics and the strength of my batting. As an individual, you try and learn as much as you can. It’s something all batsmen thrive to do, regardless of conditions – to know how to go about executing their game plan.”For me, it’s more about the mindset. One of the toughest challenges in any match – at any level – is to see if I can try and compete at that level. So It’s a question I keep asking myself, ‘can I compete here?’ Russell [Domingo, the coach] and I worked on some subtle changes in my technique, but a lot goes to the mindset of playing at a higher level than usual.”Despite a successful tour on a personal front, Hamza’s team is destined for a series loss. After losing the first unofficial Test with just seven balls remaining in Bengaluru, a rain-hit second Test in Alur is unlikely to produce a result. But, South Africa A have dominated multiple spells of play over the last four days, and Hamza puts that down to the team’s attitude following the early defeat.”I think we took the loss quite harsh,” Hamza said. “Before coming to India, we were upbeat and positive but getting dominated in the first Test is quite a tough pill to swallow. So, I think for us to have come back, and change our mindset, we had to be positive to come back and try and compete in this game. I think we’ve done well. It was a collective team decision to forget the previous game, besides the learnings we took from it. We had a good momentum shift on the second day, and we’re back in this game, but unfortunately the rains played quite a big part In this fixture.”Next for Hamza, perhaps, is a call-up to the national side – with the senior Test team struggling against spin in subcontinental conditions as seen in their 2-0 loss in Sri Lanka – but the resident of the “Mother City” says he tries to live in the present and prefers working on his own game. As a non-Asian, Hamza understands the importance of batting well in Asia, and knows that acing it abroad holds the key to bigger things in his cricketing career.”I haven’t thought about it at all,” Hamza responded on his hopes for a Test call-up. “As I said before, it’s about proving to myself whether I can play in this level, which is obviously a step above my usual. I’ll take it one step at a time, and I haven’t thought about it yet. The pitches obviously don’t spin as much at home, but if you want to go forward and think progressively in cricket, then you need to be able to play in subcontinental conditions.”

Decision to quit red-ball cricket has paid off so far in white-ball returns, even if Rashid’s home county sees less of him than they’d like

Melinda Farrell at Headingley17-Jul-20180:48

Overcoming challenges a good World Cup preparation – Morgan

How bittersweet was this for Yorkshire fans?There they were, crammed into Headingley with assorted visitors, India and England fans alike, part of sell-out crowd that had snaffled up all the tickets months ago, and cheering on one of their own in Adil Rashid as he cracked India open and exposed middle-order frailties.And there was Rashid, his lilting dip-and-rise run-up, echoes of a gentle rollercoaster, culminating in deliveries that jigged and jagged off a grippy pitch.He delivered a sandwich of wickets, eagerly devoured by England. The first slice of bread: Dinesh Karthik, given his chance at the expense of KL Rahul and withstanding the hard early overs of his innings. Just as he looked set and ready to expand it came: dip-and-rise. The ball tossed up outside off stump and a somewhat flat-footed DK dragging an expansive drive onto the stumps.The accompanying slice: Suresh Raina, desperately trying to make his second chance count in this series after nearly three years out of India’s ODI side. His stay was short. Just four balls of dip-and-rise and Raina was gone, obligingly turning the ball into the ready hands of Joe Root at second slip.But it was the delicious Kohli filling that made the mouth water. A moment for Rashid to savour and play on repeat in his memory. At the start of the over that also claimed the wicket of Raina, a dangerously set Virat Kohli looked in control. One of the world’s best players of spin had been dropped on 23 and was threatening to make England pay. Dip-and-rise. The ball flighted nicely and zigged on leg-stump before zagging into off. It wasn’t the best ball Rashid has ever bowled. He has served up better, by his own reckoning, to lesser batsmen. But this – the second time he had taken the Indian captain’s wicket during this series – this was the most satisfying. King Kohli was castled – the first time by a legspinner in his ODI career – and he couldn’t quite comprehend it. The astonishment was clear on his face as his eyes tracked from the pitch to the bowler.A bitter disappointment for Kohli but how sweet for Rashid?And how bittersweet for Yorkshire fans. Yes, them again. Watching their rollercoaster leggie turning matches for England after turning away from playing red-ball cricket for his county before the start of the season. On Sunday, Yorkshire will play the old enemy, Lancashire, in a County Championship match. A White Rose victory over the Red is the one that matters most in these parts. What wouldn’t they give to see a wave of dip-and-rise at Old Trafford?The leg-spinning role will instead be filled by Josh Poysden, on a one-match loan from Warwickshire. Poysden has played just one Championship match this season, in which he took a five-wicket haul against Kent, the presence of Jeetan Patel making it difficult for Warwickshire to accommodate him.While there have been rumblings of discontent about Rashid’s decision among fans, it would be churlish to judge him. How many people would make career decisions based on others’ desires rather than their own wishes? Rashid may even change his mind and return to red-ball cricket at some point in the future. He is currently 30 years old; he still has time.And there is some evidence that his choice is paying off. From the 2015 World Cup to the time he gave up red-ball cricket, Rashid took 67 wickets in 43 ODIs, with an average of 31.35 and an economy rate of 5.60. Since playing his last Championship match for Yorkshire last season, he has claimed 43 wickets in 24 ODIs, with an average of 27.64 and an economy rate of 5.38.If Rashid’s concentration on white-ball cricket at the expense of the longer form leads to a World Cup-winning contribution, Yorkshire’s loss will certainly be seen as England’s gain.Even Yorkshire fans might accept a few bittersweet moments for such an outcome.At a pinch.

He has now played more Tests since the break in his career than before, but his reputation is largely formed on one season when even Shane Watson was a handful

Jarrod Kimber02-Jun-2018Mohammad Amir is one of those things that seems like it’ll be great, like a cycling holiday, but the reality is never that good. Since his return, Amir has taken wickets every 75 balls. Of bowlers with more than 50 wickets, that’s the worst.ESPNcricinfoThat is the kind of strike rate you might expect from a spinner, except, the spinner he usually plays with, Yasir Shah, actually has a way better strike rate. Amir looks like a strike bowler, but he’s more of an anti-strike bowler.ESPNcricinfoIt’s not just the strike rate.Neil Wagner is the kind of cricketer who wouldn’t be famous in his own house, but he’s really good. Despite little pace, not much lateral movement, he’s one of the most successful Test bowlers over the last few years. You’d have to be drunk to pick Wagner, a pickup truck that can’t go into fourth gear, over Amir, a V12 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4. It’s no comparison.ESPNcricinfoWagner picks up 4.4 wickets a Test; Amir is down at 2.8.It’s not just opposition bowlers but those within his own team; the other Pakistan seamers average 31 since Amir’s comeback. He averages 33.In the Tests that Amir has played since his return, he’s been outperformed by other seamers in nearly every category.ESPNcricinfoThe only thing Amir is above average for is economy. So how did this incredible bowler become so ordinary? He’s now played more Tests as this guy than he did as Captain Wonderpants before his ban.But while we remember the magic balls of Amir, maybe we’ve forgotten that he was really good, but not great before the ban.ESPNcricinfoOf the top bowlers in the two years before his ban, he is placed firmly in the middle. What you can see is his strike rate was far better, but his average was only four runs better.The English summer he took all those wickets was the greatest summer of seam bowling in England in the last ten years. And the second best of this millennium.ESPNcricinfoThat summer Amir was incredible. But then so was Shane Watson, who took a five-fer, and averaged 10.ESPNcricinfoDid we mention that Shane Watson averaged 10 that year?Without getting too Root maths (Root maths is when you try and prove a player is no good by taking out large sections of their stats to make your own point), Amir took 51 wickets before his ban and 30 of them were in that summer.So was Amir a great bowler about to explode, or an excellent swing bowler playing in the best English swing conditions in recent memory?Many seam bowlers from Asia have their records skewed by playing in conditions that don’t work for seamers. But Amir has only played 21% of his Tests in Asia; Josh Hazlewood has also played 20%.If there is anything that Amir has had to deal with, it’s his misfortune.When you look at ESPNcricinfo’s control stats and work out a strike rate (of how often bowlers take wickets from those deliveries where batsmen are not in control), Amir is second worst, better only than Stuart Broad. Both are well over the overall average of 10.2.ESPNcricinfoAnd you’ll see that man again, Neil Bloody Wagner is at the top. Now that could be because Broad and Amir bowl a length that beats the bat but doesn’t take the edge as much, or they don’t attack the stumps as, say, Starc. Either way it’s frustrating.But not as frustrating as how often catches get dropped off Amir’s bowling. It’s become funny for everyone, except Amir. The numbers from CricViz show why.ESPNcricinfoOf bowlers who have created 20 or more chances since Amir’s return, Amir is second worst with 63%. That is, of the total chances he has created, only 63% have been caught. That makes him the only seamer in the bottom five and, you’d have to think, genuinely unlucky.How much better his numbers would be is hard to tell, but Wahab Riaz has the same average in this period, and he’s had 93.5% of his chances taken.Amir is better than Wahab, but he looks better than most bowlers. Yet since his return, he’s been average at best. And maybe he could never be as good as our memories of the 19-year-old who broke our hearts, except for those occasional magic balls.When Amir took Dawid Malan’s wicket today, the ball bounced 40cms more than a normal ball had been bouncing off that level, according to CricViz. It was another in his long run of magic balls.Amir’s comeback’s had some stunning views, but mostly it’s been steep hills, flat tyres and chaffed thighs.

The pacer’s powers might be on the wane, but if he bowls as well as he did on Saturday, Sri Lanka could get a final lap from their warhorse

Shashank Kishore in Dubai15-Sep-20182:00

Dasgupta: Malinga looked like he wasn’t away from internationals

They came in huge numbers with the Lasith Malinga wig, only to find out the long locks had been chopped shorter. And while the disappointment of Sri Lanka’s hiding left the fans sour, they went back with some consolation – of having watched their dear ‘Slinga’ take flight again.The kiss of the ball as he ran in – check. The late movement – check. The roar and fist pump after a wicket – check. Two wickets in an over – check. The slow, dipping yorker – check. Heck, the only thing missing was the Slinga misfield and a clumsy attempt to retrieve the ball. There were bigger fielding culprits on the day, and that no fingers could have been pointed at Malinga told you a story.The humidity in Dubai had touched 90% when he took the new ball. But that isn’t new to him. He has toiled for a decade-and-a-half bowling on listless Khettarama and Galle tracks in such weather, or at times in Mumbai’s sapping humidity, where he is almost as much a crowd favourite as Sachin Tendulkar is.The temperature of 41 C felt closer to 50 as he ran in to bowl the first over. A crowd of 25,000 made it even more of a cauldron. The band was missing, as was his free-flowing mane that bounces up and down as he runs in, but everything else was in rhythm. His four-wicket haul was undone by poor death bowling by the others who bore the brunt of Mushfiqur Rahim’s stunning pyrotechnics, but at least it gave Sri Lanka the hope that their limited-overs talisman’s fuel tank isn’t yet running on reserve.While it could be a stretch to say he rewound the clock, the Sri Lankan fans, and most importantly the selectors, now know he’s still hungry, even with the few extra pounds around his midriff.Lasith Malinga was on fire in his comeback match•ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP/Getty ImagesHe wasn’t by any means leaner than when he was seen in Sri Lanka colours last time, more than a year ago, but you could see he was still sharp – hurling those late indippers at 140kph – and enjoying being in battle. And yet, it’s not hard to believe Malinga was a doubt for the Asia Cup.The selectors have been mighty impressed with 21-year-old tearaway Lahiru Kumara, who bowled 145kph deliveries that spat at batsmen’s ribs in the West Indies not so long ago. Nuwan Pradeep isn’t only quick, but can also swing the new ball wickedly when the stars align. While that is unlikely to happen in Dubai, he and Kumara would have still been a shoo-in had they not been injured. And so by default, the selectors found a calling card in Malinga.The message they sent out to him was simple: we will put you in a squad. If you turn up and play well enough, you will be considered again. And so he turned up and played six matches in nine days for Kandy in the domestic T20 competition, opening the bowling in each of them. Prior to that, he was the highest wicket-taker for Montreal Tigers (13 in six matches at an economy rate of 6.41) in the Global T20 Canada.Nothing symbolises Malinga’s drive more than his willingness to shelve his ego when Mumbai Indians informed him of his non-retention for IPL 2018 in January. Here was a simple yet clear message being handed out to an MVP by his paymasters, a prospect unimaginable three years ago. What made it even trickier was the call couldn’t have been taken without the consent of head coach Mahela Jayawardene, Malinga’s good friend and Sri Lanka team-mate for more than a decade.If Mumbai are to institute a Hall of Fame, it’s unlikely they would look past Malinga for the first set of inductees. So for him to accept the message and continue to mentor the franchise’s bowling group, even if his own goal was to continue playing, was laudable. But in accepting the IPL deal, he also put his Sri Lanka career at risk, missing the Super Provincial one-day tournament.Then there was public mud-slinging with the sports minister commenting about his fitness. Malinga isn’t quite the grin-and-bear-it individual, except when he turns back with a wry smile when a batsman hits him to the boundary. The powers are on the wane, but if he still turns up and bowls as well as he did on Saturday, Sri Lanka could get a final lap from their warhorse.

In an exclusive interview with ESPNcricinfo, India coach Ravi Shastri takes stock of a draining tour of England

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Sep-2018AFPCan you describe your emotions at the end of such an arduous tour?It was a tough tour. And tough lessons to be learned. Deep down we know in every Test match barring Lord’s we had our chances. Lord’s we lost and Nottingham we won. In the other three Tests we had our chances big time. We came close, but could not close the deal. We have addressed what has to be done next time round. We have discussed matters. At the end of a tough trip like this, I think you can hold your head high because you have competed all the way. The opposition knows it, the British public knows it, and we know it. The Indian fans and the Indian public know it, too. So there are plenty of positives to take away, it is time now to address why we have come so close and cannot get past the finishing line, and we have discussed that.In July you told us that you would want to see after this series whether India had learned from the South Africa tour in January? Did they?Yes, they did. In fact, [India] got much better as a bowling unit. I was pleasantly surprised to read in one of the UK newspapers which said if there was a composite side picked, the four fast bowlers would be three Indians (Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami) and [James] Anderson. That was the ultimate compliment you can get.As far as batting goes, it was tough for both sides. When the ball moves around so much and it seams, I don’t care who the batsman is, it is going to be tough. You need your share of luck. And when you weigh the factors – every time India batted it had to be cloudy, every time England batted the sun was out. But that is not an excuse. I’m just saying very clearly that a moving Dukes ball will test anybody. So it took us time, but we got better at it as the series went on. As opposed to guys who are born and bred on these [pitches] who still struggled all the way. That is reality, which should be accepted.India’s slip catching form improved through the course of the series•ESPNcricinfo LtdI thought the other positive, in addition to the [fast] bowling, we improved massively with our catching. And the intensity. For us to fight the way we did on the final day after being 2 for 3, where I have seen teams just throw in the towel – last day of the tour, the Test series is over, game over an hour before lunch on the fifth day, pack your bags, go home. But what I really loved was the grit, determination to take it into the final session, final hour of play. That, as a coach, made me feel really proud.

“Even in my years of coming here as a player, broadcaster and as a coach I have not seen so much movement and seam.”Ravi Shastri

One talking point throughout the tour was about lack of preparation. Do you still think playing warm-up matches against weaker opponents is of no use and you would rather do simulated training? That is what Virat Kohli said in an interview with Michael Holding on Sky Sports ahead of the final Test.If you have two or three games against weaker sides we don’t mind because it is a game. But when you have a schedule as tight as this and when you have a memorandum of understanding that has already been formulated, with a choc-a-bloc calendar, there is very little you can do. Now, we have requested for a couple of [warm-up] games in Australia before the Test series.You have already put in that request with the BCCI?Yes. Already done that. But is there space [to play those matches], that is the question.You are then not against warm-up matches?Absolutely not. Why would we be? You can only see the results. Every time after the second Test we have improved. You can still get better. But why can’t we be in that position in the first Test match?After the Oval Test, Kohli said India lost the series because they failed to capitalise on the openings that came your way. Which were the sessions/situations personally for you where India failed badly?I would not say failed badly. But we tried. We must give credit where it is due. Virat and me were asked to pick the Man of the Series [for England] and we both picked Sam Curran. And that answers your question. Look where Curran has scored, and, that is where he hurt us. More than England it was Curran who hurt us.In the first Test, England were 87 for 7 (in the second innings) at Edgbaston, he got the runs. In the fourth Test, they were 86 for 6 (first innings) in Southampton, he got the runs. We were 50 for 0 (first innings) at Edgbaston, he got the wickets. So at crucial stages in this series he chipped in with runs and wickets. That was the difference between the two sides.ESPNcricinfo LtdSo despite having England struggling at 87 for 7 and 86 for 6, how could India not bowl out their lower order?You have to give credit to Curran. He gutsed it out, he took his chances. It is not that we bowled badly or we dropped catches. It is just that he was tenacious enough to mix caution with aggression in a very impressive manner.Let us return to India’s batting. You had said that in South Africa the batting failed the team. In England, the batting failed again. As a coach how do you assess these failures?I mean there is an endeavor to work towards it. We got better as the tour went on. Like I pointed out earlier, a moving Dukes ball [is a difficult challenge]. For Alastair Cook to admit that in his years as an opening batsman he has never seen so much grass and so much movement, I don’t have to say anything more. The guy has played 161 Tests on the trot out of which more than half were in England. For him to pointedly make this remark with regards to this series says it all. Even in my years of coming here as a player, broadcaster and as a coach I have not seen so much movement and seam.At the same time, opening, you would agree, is a clear area where the first-choice guys have been found wanting?Boss, it was tough (chuckles). These are the best openers we have.Is the technique and temperament or is one of the two areas that the openers lacked?It is the quality of the bowling and getting used to playing that moving ball, which we got better at. If you saw as the series went the guys started playing a lot later. They started leaving a lot of balls, which Virat did from the outset, and hence was successful. And you need your share of luck. For example when Cook came out to bat in the second innings at The Oval, he was beaten several times. Each of our fast bowlers beat him. Beaten means, some 15-20 times. It was not funny. And when our guys went out to bat in the second innings, first ball onwards it did things. Virat goes, first ball he nicks.Were you stunned when he was out first ball?Naturally, out first ball, but I wasn’t surprised because it was mental fatigue. It had been a long tour, [he had] been on the field the whole day and he had not even 10 minutes between innings to pad up and there he was [again] in the middle. It happened so quickly. It was probably the best phase of the match to bowl.You opened in Tests. You showed guts on some occasions to survive. What have you told the openers they have to do to start proving themselves?They are doing that now. You could see what [KL] Rahul did in the final innings. You have to guts it out. As an opening batsman you should not be afraid to look ugly or dirty. You got to be ready to be scrap.What did Rahul do to switch on in the final innings of the series? His innings was full of character. In attack he found the best defence?He played late. He played straighter. He knew where his off stump was. And his shot selection was excellent. It took Cook and Root four Tests to get runs. So it takes time.India played three openers in the first Test, and sent back Murali Vijay for the final two Tests. Why did you opt to send Vijay back?We don’t pick sides. It is the selectors that pick the squad and they obviously must have wanted to blood some youth.Is the lens zoomed in now on the future of Vijay and Shikar Dhawan, based on the lean series they have had in South Africa and England?You will have to ask the selectors. I do not interfere with selection.

“It was shot selection that let [Ajinkya Rahane] down. If he looks back he will himself say, “not the right shot at the right time.””Ravi Shastri

But clearly, both technically and mentally, was that where the Indian openers struggled? Let us leave out Cook, but let us talk about the Indians?Cook, [Keaton] Jennings. What did Root do? He went from No. 3 to 4. My point to people is: it is difficult. That is why you need time [to prepare], but unfortunately the itineraries are such that you don’t have the time. Ideally we would want two three- or four-day games before a Test series. But do you have the time? For example, we have a T20 series in Australia preceding the Test series. There is a 10-day gap before the first Test. These are things that have been approved earlier. It is not in our control.When we went to Essex (in July for the one-off warm-up match), there was not a blade of grass on the pitch. We insisted for the track to have as much grass as possible. That also it lasted for a day. After that the track was flat.Ajinkya Rahane, once India’s best overseas batsman, failed to stand up and deliver each time India needed him. He has not got a century now for 19 innings since last August. Yet he looked so nice and balanced when he started most innings. Where is he falling short?It was shot selection that let him down. If he looks back he will himself say, “not the right shot at the right time.” He had a hundred for the taking in Nottingham the way he batted. Then batted very well in Southampton, and couldn’t do anything once it came out of the rough and kept low. He was unfortunate in the second innings at The Oval – he hit the sweep with the toe of the bat and even if he tried to sweep 10 times from where he picked the ball it won’t go there.The team management did have a chat with him and others, too. We told him the important thing is shot selection and if he stays there, there is no one who can stop him. If he gets in he scores quickly.So he remains one of the pillars of the Indian middle order as you pointed out during the series?Absolutely. The middle order is in safe hands with Pujara, Virat and Jinks [Rahane].Mistakes are committed on a long tour like this. You admitted playing Kuldeep at Lord’s was one such. What was the thought process behind playing a second spinner?We did not expect it to rain as much as it did. You do take the weather forecast into account, but you pick a team still. Whether it will rain, how much it will, whether the sun will come out is not in your hands.Getty ImagesYou wanted India to play fearless cricket…Which they did.You wanted the players to trust their instincts. You wanted them to play their natural game. Results would automatically turn in, you said. The scoreline indicates they didn’t. Did the pieces really fall in their slots?They did. That was evident none more so than on the final day of the series. Barring Lord’s and Trent Bridge, where either team dominated the other, every day, every session of the remaining Tests something was happening. India were creating the opportunities, unfortunately we were not in a position to close it the way we would have like it.Critics want heads to start rolling. How do you temper all criticism of the coaching staff including your role? Are you at all distracted?Absolutely not. Last one to press the panic button when I see so many positives. I head back home with a very positive state of mind. I know exactly what we do. I know exactly and clearly where the team is heading – it is heading in the right direction. People are entitled to their opinions. As long as we know the job we are doing and we are honest to our jobs, as long as support staff we are helping players channelise the energies in the right direction, we are not worried about what critics say.Has anybody from the BCCI called you or asked questions of you?Absolutely not. Nobody has called. Nobody.And you have trust and belief your existing support staff?Total.We must not forget India did play competitive cricket. Overall, what were are positives that you will take home from this series?I have already told you before the series: tell me one team in the world at the moment that goes out and competes all the time. We are the one team. It is just that we need results coming in our favour more often on the winning side. But we are out there competing. And we know it. We are not worried about what people will say and what they will do. We know what this team has done in the last three to four years. In the last four years this team has won nine Tests overseas. They want more. The beauty is they are hungry, they are passionate, and that is why you saw that performance on the last day. They will keep fighting. That is the biggest positive for me to come out of this entire trip: India fought every bloody session of the series despite being blown away at Lord’s.You mentioned you want to take this in a particular direction. What is the direction this team is now heading?It is a team that is believing slowly that it can compete anywhere in the world, against any opposition. It just needs to tighten the screws in certain areas and you will get the results. Each member of that team is fully aware of that and takes pride in doing his job.

“Ideally we would want two three- or four-day games before a Test series. But do you have the time?”Ravi Shastri

Kohli was the guiding light for not just India but also England the way he batted. What did he teach his teammates through those runs, through that attitude and flexibility in his mind?To bury his ego. To be patient. To leave a lot of balls. To take his time. Be disciplined. Above everything belief in his own ability.You addressed long squad huddles, first at Essex and then at The Oval on the final morning. What was the message?Same thing. I told them you are a team, if you play to potential, you know what you can do. And the constant self-belief in striving for perfection is what will make you better and better in what you do. Results sometimes don’t tell the story, but the process does. If you keep banging away in areas where you have to improve then without a shadow of doubt you will improve. And with a little bit of luck, you will pull off spectacular things. So doesn’t worry me one bit. When I look back at the way the guys fought, the way the fast bowlers stood up to the task is commendable.So the 4-1 scoreline does not bother you, does not affect you as a coach?No, not all. We are still the No.1 team in the world. And England know how well we fought. Their media knows how well we fought. Our fans know how well we fought. Their public knows how well we fought. We know inside how well we fought.What is the best compliment you got on the tour?At the Oval, on the final morning, a gentleman walked up to me and said, “I have been following Indian cricket for 25 years. And I am proud to say that you are a team that fights till the end.” He told me this having witnessed India fight from 2 for 3 to 58 for 3 at stumps on the fourth evening. What unfolded was exactly what he said and felt.So results apart, you want the players to develop the right attitude?Prime and most important.What must India do to avoid a repeat in Australia, and in future overseas tours?India has to improve on the things they have done in England.

There’s quality in the spin attack, but the likes of Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad must play strong hands to shore up an iffy batting line-up

Umar Farooq12-Feb-2019HistoryQuetta Gladiators made the title round in the first two seasons of the Pakistan Super League before going down to Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi respectively, and were then knocked out by one run in the first Eliminator in 2018, to the Zalmi again. The absence of key players – Kevin Pietersen and Shane Watson prime among them – for the Pakistan leg of the tournament hampered the side in the past two seasons. Pietersen has now called time on his playing career, but Watson is still going strong in T20 leagues around the world, and will add experience and expertise to the Gladiators line-up, who will be led by Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed.Team overviewQuetta aren’t among the high-profile sides, but they have a number of proven T20 stalwarts like Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo and Watson. Rilee Rossouw, who had an excellent stint with Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League recently, and Fawad Ahmed, who has revived his T20 career of late, lend good depth to the overseas contingent. It will also be a homecoming of sorts for Fawad, who played his cricket in Pakistan before relocating to Australia.The concern for the Gladiators is whether the local players can provide a strong support act to the stars. Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad – picked up in the supplementary category after Multan Sultans released him last season – are two of the big names in the squad, but are not on the radar of the national team at the moment. They will look to impress in the PSL to stake their claims, and the opponents are more than aware of how dangerous the two could be.Mohammad Asghar and Jalat Khan, meanwhile, add some much-needed local flavour to the side.Quetta haven’t won the title despite coming close in all three editions•Getty ImagesStrengthsSpin. Narine and Mohammad Nawaz will relish bowling on the slow, low tracks in the UAE and Pakistan. While Nawaz is known to be miserly, Narine is capable of performing the dual role of taking wickets as well as being economical, not to forget the entertainment he provides with the bat. He was central to Dhaka Dynamites’ run to the BPL final, chipping in with the bat to score 279 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 143.07 and also taking 18 wickets at an economy rate of 6.35. He’s clearly in form.WeaknessesQuetta don’t have enough depth in their seam attack, though Sohail Tanvir and Bravo bring a fair amount of T20 expertise to the table, and the middle order is also a cause for concern. Umar Akmal often blows hot and blows cold, so who will step into Pietersen’s shoes this season?Key foreign playerWatson won the IPL with Chennai Super Kings in 2018, starring in the final with an unbeaten 57-ball 117, and more recently struck a hundred for Sydney Thunder in the BBL. Watson is 37, but he still has it in him to make a big difference, even if he doesn’t bowl as much as he used to.Under-the-radar local playersFifteen-year-old seamer Naseem Shah impressed for Pakistan Under-19s, and was in line to make his PSL debut, but a back injury has sidelined him for the season. But his replacement is another exciting teenaged tearaway – Mohammad Hasnain. The Hyderabad boy is among the fastest in the country, having impressed with his pace in the 2016 Under-19 Asia Cup. He also played two first-class matches for Pakistan Television last season.SquadLocal: Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt), Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Nawaz, Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Asghar, Danish Aziz, Ahsan Ali, Ghulam Muddassir, Ahmed Shehzad, Azam Khan, Jalat Khan, Mohammad Irfan Jr, Mohammad Hasnain.Overseas: Sunil Narine (West Indies), Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), Shane Watson (Australia), Rilee Rossouw (South Africa), Fawad Ahmed (Australia), Harry Gurney (England), Dwayne Smith (West Indies, cover for Bravo).Coaching staff: Viv Richards (mentor), Moin Khan (head coach), Abdul Razzaq (bowling coach), Julien Fountain (fielding coach).