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Bringing a bugle out of hibernation and donning face-paint for a unique hat-trick of India’s World Cup quarter-finals

Sudhindra Prasad20-Mar-2015Choice of game
After watching bits and pieces of most tournaments, it was my dream to achieve a 4-2-1 – watching all four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and the final of the World Cup. The way the Indian team turned itself around after the tri-series, and the schedule – which made it impossible to travel from Adelaide to Wellington before the fourth quarter-final – made me settle for a 3-2-1.Team supported
India. My first World Cup game was the second quarter-final of the 1996 World Cup – against Pakistan in Bangalore. Between that match and Melbourne, India have played only one other quarter-final game – during the 2011 World Cup, also the second quarter-final of that tournament. I was present at the Motera stadium on that amazing day in Ahmedabad, when Australia were knocked out. By planning to be in Melbourne, I was hoping to extend my (and India’s) unbeaten (second) quarter-final record.Choice of attire
The standard ODI fare – 1999 World Cup jersey, flaming hair-do, face-paint and the works. With most Indian and English grounds banning the use of musical instruments, my poor old bugle was in hibernation since the 2013 Champions Trophy final. Given the leniency of the Australian ground authorities, it made a deserved comeback on my accessory list.Wow moment
Virat Kohli’s wicket. Rubel Hossain ran in hard in his first spell and hardly gave away runs. No sooner had Kohli edged the ball behind to Mushfiqur Rahim, one saw a huge contrast among the two sets of fans: the Indian supporters faces’ dropped in despair, while the Bangladesh fans belted out their chants and waved their flags, as an opportunity to fell another big team beckoned.Crowd catch
In the 46th over, Rohit sent a ball sailing over long-on. Positioned bang behind the Bangladesh team bench, an Indian supporter took a step to his right and took an excellent two-handed catch. He was so overjoyed that he held on to the ball, fist-pumping and celebrating for almost half a minute.A thin line
The review of lbw decision against Suresh Raina was interesting. When the big screens showed slow motion replays of the ball hitting the pads, it appeared to pitch in line with the stumps and the decision seemed inevitable. However, a closer look at the pitch map showed that the ball had pitched outside leg by the thinnest of margins. If the outcome of that appeal were different, the Indian total would have likely been much lower and could have given Bangladesh an opportunity to provide a stiffer fight.Crowd meter
With over 51,000 fans on a week day, one could call this game a success in crowd terms. Though a majority of the crowd was Indian – and they also won the volume stakes hands down – the excitement of the passionate Bangladesh fans was visible during my journey from the Sydney airport all the way to the MCG. It was good to see the Bangladesh team provide some joy to their loyal fans during the course of this tournament.Close encounter
Being seated quite close to the Bangladesh bench, I could see Heath Streak make his way repeatedly to the fine leg and third man fielders for quick chats. On one such occasion, it seemed like the request was to attack more and get men in catching positions. Though the request came in the middle of the over, the third-man fielder immediately relayed instructions, and a second slip was put in place before the next ball was bowled.Shot of the day
Raina’s six to long-on off Shakib’s first ball of the 37th over. It sailed over the ropes and confirmed that India’s charge was well and truly onFancy dress index
With two sub-continent teams in this contest, it promised to be a very colourful occasion. The Indian fans sported different shades of blue to go along with the tricolour making an appearance in paint, on dresses and even contact lenses! The Bangladesh fans displayed tigers in many forms – soft toys, face-paint, small tigers stuck on caps etc. The standout for me was the headgear of a few cricket tourists from Mysore.The drive
During the presentation ceremony and well after the match, a man in the No. 84 jersey made his appearance often. Stuart Binny went jogging around the MCG after the game was over. He kept going, for five or six rounds and this provided a glimpse of the drive MS Dhoni, Ravi Shastri and the team management have instilled in the squad.Marks out of 10
8. It was a good win for India, but not clinical by any means. If Raina or Rohit had fallen before the 35th over, the final score may have been lower and the game itself would have been much closer. The atmosphere at the G was fantastic.

Sticking to a set formula has worked in the past for Chennai Super Kings and it helped them top the league stages, but things didn’t go so well in play-offs of IPL 2015

Arun Venugopal25-May-20155:38

Do Chennai Super Kings need a revamp?

Tournament overview

MS Dhoni said at the presentation ceremony after the final that Chennai Super Kings “never reached 100% efficiency.” That was pretty much the story of their tournament. They haven’t quite exuded the menace they used to in the past, and even looked vulnerable on many occasions. That they still topped the table in the league stage and made it to the final tells you how good they are at winning games when not completely on top of things.Their third defeat in IPL finals since 2011, though, has shown how much other teams have caught up with them. Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, with two titles each, are now level with Super Kings.Their most vaunted strengths – consistency of selection and a reliance on familiar methods – have lost some sheen. Super Kings might have often been rewarded by their continued investment in a few players, but there is a hint of intransigence to their strategy.It mightn’t be a bad idea to look at a more optimal use of their squad players. They used only 14 players in the tournament – not a bad thing in itself – but the likes of Irfan Pathan, acquired at Rs 1.5 crore, and Rahul Sharma didn’t get a game even when someone like Ravindra Jadeja was struggling.Their batsmen, except Brendon McCullum, underachieved throughout the tournament. This was best indicated by Suresh Raina’s failure to pass 400 runs for the first time in eight seasons. On the brighter side, the performances of players such as Ashish Nehra and Pawan Negi – on opposite ends of the age spectrum – and Dwayne Bravo, who finished with the most wickets in the tournament, must have been heartening.This was the first season in eight years that Suresh Raina could not tally 400 runs•BCCI

High Point

It came in the early part of the competition, when they won six of their seven games. They demonstrated great range in their victories during this phase. While most of their wins were by comfortable margins, they held their nerve at the clutch to close out tight games against Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders.

Low Point

Defeat in the final wouldn’t have rankled them as much as the way they lost it. Everything that could go wrong did. After making a not-so-sound call at the toss, Super Kings conceded 202, easily 20 more than they would have wanted to. To make matters worse, they ambled during the Powerplay, helping Mumbai put the contest to bed inside the first 10 overs.

Top of the class

Brendon McCullum’s contribution went beyond being the leading run-getter for Super Kings. He scored 436 runs in 14 games with two fifties and a hundred, but perhaps more valuable was the daring he displayed at the top that covered up for some sluggish batting from his team-mates.His acrobatics set the tone for an already competent fielding unit as well. So McCullum’s absence in the climactic phases, as Dhoni and head coach Stephen Fleming conceded, was a body blow. And it showed with fumbles and dropped catches becoming a more regular occurrence.

Under-par performer

Ravindra Jadeja hasn’t quite been the same cricketer after his shoulder injury. After modest returns in the World Cup, there was no redemption for him in the IPL. Even as he produced the odd good performance with the ball, he couldn’t do justice to the finisher’s role. It was only after Negi’s arrival, and his strong hitting towards the end, that Jadeja the batsman could relax. Despite his obvious talent, Super Kings could have considered benching him at some point in favour of either Pathan or Rahul Sharma.

Tip for 2016

They might need to reassess the make-up of their squad. Michael Hussey might dig deep to conjure a gem every once in a while, but, at this point, it appears beyond him to deliver consistently as a player. More than anything, Super Kings need to be a lot more flexible on the tactical front.

With 11 consecutive Test fifties, he has more than proved his worth to the team. Yet, there still remain doubts over his supposed problem against short-pitched bowling and his apparently low strike-rate

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur09-May-2015Even without his face hidden behind a visor, Mominul Haque can often be difficult to read, so when Asad Shafiq dived full length to take his catch at cover, you couldn’t quite see the batsman’s face. However, as his upper body dropped in disappointment and his head bowed, it was clear what little fight Bangladesh had in them had evaporated on the fourth day. Not that there many signs of a fight.Mominul walked off after making 68. He has been getting at least one fifty-plus score in every Test since his 181 against New Zealand in 2013. Mominul now has a score of fifty or more in 11 consecutive Tests, joining an elite club of Viv Richards, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Only AB de Villiers has managed more, in 12 successive games, and Mominul will have a chance to catch the South African in the only Test against India next month. Mominul had also broken Bangladesh’s record for successive fifties in Khulna last year with a 54 against Zimbabwe. Tamim Iqbal had made fifty-plus scores in seven successive matches in 2010.Mominul’s batting average is exactly 60.00, and there are very few players in Bangladesh’s short history of Test cricket who has shown such stability in their first two years. He started off as a No. 4 batsman and since the Zimbabwe series last year, he has been batting at one-drop.But there is very little focus on Mominul’s consistency. Mushfiqur Rahim did not mention him even once in the post-match press conference on Saturday. There wasn’t even so much as a question about him. Bangladesh will only know the value of Mominul’s run of fifties when it ends.In fact, Mominul himself does not want to talk about his scoring spree. After the first day of the first Test when he fought to make 80 on a low Khulna pitch, he was asked to comment on a tenth consecutive Test in which he scored a fifty. “I didn’t know about this feat, and I don’t even want to know,” he said.Mominul is a shy, soft-spoken individual. The world knows very little about him. Those who know him know that Mominul was born in Cox’s Bazar and by the time he was a teenager, he was sent to study and learn cricket at the BKSP, Bangladesh’s largest sporting institute. He came out as one of the brightest in his batch and after a couple of years of domestic cricket, he was picked in the senior team in 2012. All four of his Test hundreds have been either in wins or draws for Bangladesh. He remained unbeaten during three of those tons.Apart from avoiding attention from his feat, the other reason why Mominul has regularly stopped short of talking about his consistency in Test cricket is because there is a lot more focus and questions about his batting in the limited overs format. Mominul is no longer an automatic choice in Bangladesh’s ODI team, and the last time coach Chandika Hathurusingha was asked about his view on the batsman, he said that Soumya Sarkar’s emergence in the top order will keep Mominul out.Soumya has been a breath of fresh air with his stroke-play, particularly in the first Powerplay. His opening stands with Tamim in the ODI series against Pakistan would also have done enough to establish his spot in the side. He also impressed at No. 3 in the World Cup.On the other hand, Mominul’s lack of big numbers or flashy stroke-play in ODIs and T20s has meant very few people show interested in him. When he was among few batsmen failing in an ODI series against Zimbabwe in 2013, he was the first to be dropped. The same happened in the India and West Indies ODI series last year. He played one ODI against India, and none against West Indies.There was also some whisper that he cannot handle short-pitched bowling, but in his career so far, he has not been dismissed once with a bouncer or a short ball. In Gros Islet last year, he failed once against Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel but made up for his first-innings 3 with a second-innings 56. It couldn’t help Bangladesh avoid a large loss, but it showed Mominul knew how to handle short bowling.”I didn’t know about this feat, and I don’t even want to know,” Mominul had said when asked about his current run of form•AFPMominul has acknowledged that he has a problem with his strike-rate in limited-overs cricket, but a low strike-rate is common among Bangladesh batsmen considered aggressive. Nasir Hossain, Tamim and Mushfiqur all have strike-rate in the seventies like Mominul. The likes of Mahmudullah, Mohammad Ashraful and Anamul Haque have a lesser strike-rate despite playing more than Mominul. But still, only Mominul’s batting is deemed slow, and he has missed 15 out of the 41 ODIs played since his debut in November 2012.His lack of game time in ODIs means that he has to sit out a lot between Tests. Spending time on the bench also makes him miss domestic first-class cricket, his last match being in May last year for East Zone in the Bangladesh Cricket League. He was sent with Bangladesh A to the West Indies in mid-2014 and got a hundred in the second four-dayer there.His fifties in the 11 consecutive Tests have come in 18 months and 26 days. It took Sehwag 10 months and 15 days, Richards a year and 26 days, Gambhir one year and three months to do the same. De Villiers reached 12 successive Test fifties in just over 14 months. It clearly shows that Mominul has had to bring back his focus after long gaps during which he was paused as a cricketer.That doesn’t mean he is being rated as well as any of these great batsmen, but it is hard to ignore Mominul has climbed steadily since the start of his international career. But in a country where only limited-overs cricket is held to the highest regard, Mominul has every reason to not feel appreciated.And what is it that every Bangladesh cricketer, coach and official say of striving in international cricket? Consistency.

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-2015Johnson was in a fearsome mood in the opening minutes of the second day, the wicket of Bairstow was his 300th in Test cricket…•Getty Images…and two balls later, Ben Stokes became his 301st•PA PhotosJoe Root kept the scoreboard moving with a fluent half-century to carry England into a first-innings lead•Getty Images… but he then chased a wide one from Mitchell Starc to be caught behind•Getty ImagesStarc looked sheepish after striking in a wayward spell•Getty ImagesJos Buttler was lbw to Nathan Lyon but could have saved himself with a review•Getty ImagesMoeen Ali struck a vital 59 to give England a lead of 145•Getty ImagesStuart Broad was a vital foil in an eighth-wicket stand of 87•Getty ImagesAli’s second fifty of the series carried England to a first-innings total of 281•Getty ImagesChris Rogers couldn’t drop anchor for Australia this time…•Getty Images… he fell lbw to Broad for 6•Getty ImagesBut David Warner counterattacked with a 35-ball half-century•Getty ImagesSteven Finn tore the momentum back for England, removing Michael Clarke for 3…•Getty Images… and Adam Voges for a first-ball duck•Getty ImagesFinn’s rhythm was irresistible as he ripped through Australia’s top order•Getty ImagesJames Anderson came back to remove a well-set Warner for 77, making the score 111 for 6. But he soon left the field with a tight (left) side•Getty ImagesIt was only Peter Nevill after that for Australia who batted with the tail to save them from an innings defeat and end the day on 168 for 7, for a thin lead of 23, with a gritty unbeaten innings of 37•Getty Images

When Colin Povey arrived at Edgbaston he found a ground – and a club – in a state of disrepair. Although issues remain, both have been transformed

George Dobell at Edgbaston17-Sep-2015
ScorecardEdgbaston was in a bad way when Colin Povey became chief executive•Getty ImagesThe first time Colin Povey visited Warwickshire in his position as chief executive – but before his appointment was announced – the first member of staff he found was too busy to welcome him as he was studying – if that is the correct terminology – a porn mag.As Povey explored the ground, he found a “water feature” – actually a serious leak – in the committee room, a “broadcast facility” that was actually a garden shed perched precariously on the roof of a dilapidated pavilion, a club with an ECB staging agreement that was close to expiry and a coach – Mark Greatbatch – who was hopelessly out of his depth. The data cables to the broadcast facility were fed through a cat-flap, which was fine except for the fact that it also let in cats, and there were no commercial deals in place for the following season. In short, the club was living on past glory and was in no way prepared for the cold wind of modernity that was about to hit.A decade later, he leaves with the ground established as among the best in the country. He leaves with the club having regularly challenged for trophies and regularly provided England players. He leaves with the club guaranteed an excellent package of major matches – an Ashes Test in 2019, an India Test in 2018 and several top games in the Champions Trophy of 2017 and the World Cup of 2019 – with membership rising, with 27 commercial partners tied in for next year and the non-cricket business growing rapidly.At a time of recession, despite planning objections, despite covenant issues and membership resistance, despite battling an amateur culture that did not understand the gravity of the club’s situation, he raised £36m – that figure, the real figure, has never been quoted before – for the new pavilion they had been trying to fund since the 1940s and negotiated a £20m loan from Birmingham City Council. The ground went from one that was rated as no longer fit to purpose by the ECB, to one that surpassed all required specifications.Where would Warwickshire be without him? Not at Edgbaston, that is for sure. While the club might – at a push – have been able to continue to host domestic cricket, they were in danger of part of their ground being shut for health and safety reasons. There was talk of ground-sharing with football and rugby clubs; talk of relocating to Coventry. It is no exaggeration to state that Povey saved the club in recognisable form.There have been setbacks. Not long after the completion of the pavilion, the ECB declined to award the package of matches that were required to begin the repayments. There was no Ashes Test for them in 2013; no India Test in 2014. Povey, it was said, was paying the price for having met the IPL founder Lalit Modi – an arch enemy of the then chairman of the ECB, Giles Clarke – in a fact-finding mission to India.A repayment holiday was agreed with the council, tickets were pre-sold for future series, non-cricket income was driven up and a professional management team was installed. It was tough, but Warwickshire survived. And, in the middle of all that, Greatbatch was sacked and Ashley Giles appointed to his first coaching position. It was to prove a happy union.There is debt to service, it is true. Substantial debt that will focus the mind of the next chief executive long into the future. Work continues to unlock the potential in the largely Asian inner-city community that is only starting to thaw in its attitude towards a club that has not always welcomed them as it should. Encouragingly, the final of the Parks Leagues is to be played on the main square at Edgbaston in the coming days.Povey hasn’t been to everyone’s taste. He is a man who get things done and sometimes, on the journey from amateurism to professionalism that Warwickshire have undertaken, he has ruffled feathers. Things needed ruffling at Edgbaston, though, and his was to prove a wise appointment. Make no mistake, Warwickshire owe Povey as much as they have owed any player at any stage of their existence.But while players leave the pitch with a raised bat and ovation, administrators hand back their car park pass and shuffle out with a wave from the gateman. The day Warwickshire won the County Championship in 2012, Povey found himself fielding angry calls from a club member who was unhappy with the quality of coat pegs in the women’s toilets. He will slip away in the next few weeks – earlier than originally planned – with little fanfare.So perhaps it was fitting that his final day overseeing a professional match at the club should be such a low-key affair. While Nottinghamshire may, if they finish second in the table, look back on it as an important couple of days, two days of rain had reduced this contest to an accumulation of bonus points. It made for a prosaic spectacle.Warwickshire, wearied and disappointed, lacked the intensity required to sustain a competitive performance. While their bowlers found the edge of James Taylor’s bat on four occasions, the fielders were unable to cling on to the chances. Keith Barker, swinging the ball dangerously, deserved his five-wicket haul, while Jeetan Patel finished the innings off with consecutive deliveries, claimed his 50th wicket of the Championship season.”It shouldn’t be difficult for the players when there are only bonus points to play for,” Patel said. “There shouldn’t be a loss of motivation because we have lost two days to rain. You have got a job to do and as individuals we probably weren’t up to it over two days.”We bowled well, but when you drop the same player four times… And we didn’t bat very well. We had 64 overs to bat and batted for 45 of them. That’s not good enough.”By contrast, Nottinghamshire’s trio of young seamers – Brett Hutton, Jake Ball and Luke Wood – appeared to be relishing the contest. In claiming full bowling bonus points for their side – and denying Warwickshire any batting points – they surpassed 100 Championship wickets for the season between them.For a club that has not always done everything it might to encourage their young players, it was a pleasing performance. Luke Fletcher, far too good a performer to spend much of the season in the seconds, is home-grown, too. Warwickshire, with eight points from the encounter, slip to fifth; Nottinghamshire, with 12, retain hopes of second.”It was a satisfying draw,” Nottinghamshire coach, Mick Newell, said afterwards. “We wanted to give ourselves a chance of overhauling Middlesex next week and we can do that if we have a big win.”And, credit to bowling coach Andy Pick, it was great to have four Nottinghamshire-born young bowlers in the team. Chris Tolley and Paul Franks deserve credit for discovering them.”

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2016Both batsmen scored fifties as they added a 101-run opening stand inside 11 overs•Getty ImagesSri Lanka then pulled things back by dismissing both batsmen soon after they had reached their fifties•Getty ImagesCorey Anderson – playing his first international game since May 2015 – failed to make an impact, as Sri Lanka’s bowlers thwarted New Zealand’s momentum in the death overs•Getty ImagesNuwan Kulasekara was Sri Lanka’s best bowler, with returns of 2 for 26, as New Zealand were pegged back to 182 for 4•Getty ImagesTrent Boult and Matt Henry gave New Zealand the upper hand in chase, with four wickets in four overs to reduce the visitors to 42 for 4•Getty ImagesDanushka Gunathilaka, however, kept Sri Lanka’s runs flowing, taking his side to 84 before he fell in the tenth over•Getty ImagesSri Lanka’s lower order, steered by Milinda Siriwardana, then took the visitors closer to the target with handy contributions…•AFP… as the equation was reduced to 13 off the last over•Getty ImagesGrant Elliott, however, pulled it off for the hosts, giving away just one boundary, to seal a three-run win•Getty Images

A look at the fast bowler’s recent hot streak, and statistical highlights from the meltdowns in Johannesburg and Canberra

Andy Zaltzman20-Jan-2016England have emerged from their 17-Tests-in-nine-months marathon with a record of two series wins out of five. But as sequences of two-series-wins-out-of-five go, this has been a highly promising one, emerging as it did from an actively atrocious World Cup and what now looks like the genuinely remarkable achievement of not beating West Indies.They have won in South Africa without significant performances by either Alastair Cook or James Anderson, and they now have a core of still young but already experienced players, led by Joe Root, who after 38 Tests is looking like the most complete England batsman to emerge since the war, combining consistency and adaptability with a tendency to seize decisive moments.Naturally, the apparent speed of an ascent can be relative to how fast something else is plummeting downwards, and if England are on an up escalator, South Africa have been bobsledding downwards on the other side. England have played some spectacular cricket; they have also shown spectacular timing, in choosing the best moment to play South Africa since their readmission to the international game (and possibly since the 1940s), shattered by their humiliation in India, and shorn of Dale Steyn, the greatest and most consistent bowler of his era, a man who could paper over a large number of cracks in any team. Having played only three Tests against South Africa in the past six years is starting to look like a strategic masterstroke, rather than wilfully bad, money-oriented, Ashes-obsessed scheduling, as it may have appeared at the time.The third-day capitulation in Johannesburg was South Africa’s fourth sub-125 Test dismissal in the last two and a half months, after only one in the previous seven years. Two of those innings – 79 all out in Nagpur, and their 83 last Saturday – were their lowest scores since 1957.At least, for fans of the late 19th century, there has been a certain nostalgia value about South Africa’s batting. They were bowled out for under 100 in seven of their first eight Test innings (all against England), back in the days when Test matches sometimes only became Test matches some time after they had happened. Things improved somewhat with seven consecutive innings of 99 or more (only one of which was over 180), before they concluded their contribution to 19th-century international cricket in appropriate style, by being skittled for 35 at Newlands in April 1899.As so often, Stuart Broad was the prime agent of destruction. He may not look like a classic agent of destruction, but he has again reaffirmed his statistically provable destruction-bringing, series-turning credentials in the past six months. His masterful exploitation of propitious conditions in Johannesburg took out the whole of South Africa’s top six; he had taken four of the top six in the first innings in Durban to give England control of the game and an ultimately decisive 89-run lead; and on that tumultuous Ashes-seizing morning in Nottingham, his 8 for 15 included five of Australia’s top six.On Saturday, Broad became the 13th bowler to take six wickets in an innings on 10 or more occasions in Tests, and just the fifth seamer, after Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Glenn McGrath.In his 10 six-fors, Broad has taken his wickets at an average of 7.68, and a strike rate of 16.9, comfortably top of the 13 bowlers on the list (Derek Underwood is second in average [8.53], Imran Khan has the next best strike rate [22.9].)To update a similar stat I wrote about in May, before England’s Test summer began (and when Broad had, for some time, and while remaining reasonably effective mislaid his opponent-devastating mojo), this was the 26th time that Broad has taken four or more wickets in an innings.He is now one of exactly 100 bowlers who have taken four or more wickets at least 15 times in Tests, spanning from Hugh Trumble at the turn of the 20th century to R Ashwin this decade. Counting only those innings in which they have taken four or more wickets, Broad has the best average of those 100, at 10.69 (ahead of Jason Gillespie, who averaged 10.78 in his 16 four-wicket-plus innings), and the best strike rate, at 22.6 (ahead of Shoaib Akhtar, 22.8 in 22 innings).

England’s having played only three Tests against South Africa in the past six years is starting to look like a strategic masterstroke, rather than wilfully bad, money-oriented, Ashes-obsessed scheduling, as it may have appeared at the time

This suggests that Broad’s hot streaks match those of anyone in the history of Tests, perhaps reflecting the vulnerability of modern batsmen to adverse conditions, but also testament to the skills and temperament of one of the most high-impact Test cricketers England has had.These are exciting times for English Test cricket. Not many countries are enjoying exciting times in Test cricket, for various reasons, so whether these exciting times lead to exciting matches and exciting series against other exciting teams remains to be seen.

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Catastrophic collapses are all the rage in international cricket. No fashionable side wants to miss out on the hip trend sweeping the cricketing world, and India contributed an absolute classic to the Canon of Cricketing Collapse with a match-losing subsidence in Canberra that bordered on genius. Thirty-seven overs of almost perfect limited-overs batsmanship, a textbook blueprint for a 350 chase, had left them needing 75 off 13 overs, with nine wickets in hand.To lose by any margin would have been an achievement. To lose by 25 runs (and that after an epic last-wicket stand of 8), after losing nine wickets for 46 in a match in which prior to Shikhar Dhawan’s dismissal, nine wickets had fallen for 625, required a truly special effort. We have become accustomed to the previously inconceivable being achieved on the 21st-century cricket field, and it happened once again here, in a cavalcade of poorly conceived, incompetently executed thwoicks, plinks and squirts that must have prompted India’s watching fans back home to think ruefully: “If only we had some form of high-profile domestic limited-overs competition, played in front of big, noisy crowds, so that our players could become accustomed to keeping calm under pressure.”In the games recorded by ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball records, which began in 1999, no team had previously lost nine wickets in overs 36-50 of an ODI chase. This game in Sharjah in October 1999, in which Sri Lanka slumped against Pakistan from 157 for 1 in the 36th to 196 all out in 50th, was brought to my attention by a Mr @smacula on Twitter (it evidently was not recorded ball by ball). That, however, had been a low- and slow-scoring match, not a seven-an-over run-fest.(It was also the fourth time that India have lost all 10 wickets to catches in an ODI innings, and the 20th time that has happened to any team. Fourteen of those have happened since March 2006 – once every 99 ODIs. Prior to March 2006, it had only happened once every 390 ODIs. The T20 era has perhaps made players not only far better at being rapidly skittled in Tests, but also far more proficient at smacking the ball straight up in the air in ODIs.)

Bangladesh have never gone past the quarter-finals of the Under-19 World Cup, but there are heightened expectations from them in this edition, with their team ending the group stage with three wins from three matches

Mohammad Isam02-Feb-2016As captain of the Bangladesh Under-19 side, Mehedi Hasan Miraz will now lead his side into a zone of intensified expectations after his side won all three of their group-stage games in the Under-19 World Cup. Over the next three days, he will feel somewhat similar to the captain of Bangladesh’s senior team ahead of a major game, because there is unusual focus this time on the Under-19 team.Interest in cricket is nothing new to Bangladesh but with the senior team also doing well last year, the momentum is supposed to run through the other representative teams too. Bangladesh have one of the more experienced sides in the Under-19 World Cup with five members of their squad also part of the previous edition in 2014. Tellingly, they have never gone past the quarter-final stage of the competition.Miraz, though, has always maintained a happy outlook. He is a quality offspinner who brings himself on whenever the team needs wickets or has to check the flow of runs. He gets wickets, and after his second scalp against Namibia on Tuesday became the highest wicket-taker in Youth ODIs, surpassing Pakistan’s Imad Wasim.At the end of the game, in which Bangladesh made light work of Namibia, Miraz said he wanted his team to be “serious” going into their quarter-final against Nepal.”It makes me feel great that we won today, became group champions and I got to the bowling record,” Miraz said. “But we can’t feel too happy now; we have to go further in this tournament. With this win against Namibia, our confidence will go up. We are going to face Nepal by becoming the group champions. We have to be careful against these teams, because there can be an accident against them. We have to keep to our process. All doors will be open if we keep to our path.”We saw the India-Nepal game on TV. I don’t think Nepal can do much if we play to our standard but we have to hold on to this level. We can’t take Nepal lightly. They are in the quarter-finals by playing well. Some of their batsmen are attacking, and a couple of their bowlers are quite good. We have to be serious.”In order to keep the players away from distractions, the Bangladesh team management have so far been quite guarded, restricting phone use and – as with other teams, given the high security cordon – hardly any team outings. Media access to the Bangladesh team has been kept at a minimum, unlike teams like England, South Africa and West Indies.Perhaps spending so much time together is helping the players celebrate each other’s success. Miraz said Nazmul Hossain Shanto, who became the highest scorer in Youth ODIs during the course of his century against Scotland, had told him to not think about reaching the bowling record and simply focus on bowling well.”When I reached the highest wickets, everyone hugged me and congratulated me,” Miraz said. “Shanto was very excited that I got to the record. I was hopeful of getting to the record today but it doesn’t happen so easily. It is hard to take wickets when you are looking for one. Shanto told me to bowl normally and not think of the record. His advice worked for me.”There was freshness in the air as the cool sea breeze worked its magic around the stadium. Cox’s Bazar is Bangladesh’s favorite retreat but tomorrow Miraz and his team will be tackling Dhaka and the challenges that come with the metropolis. The biggest of these will be for the players to get their heads clear of the noise that will come with playing the quarter-final of a major tournament, at home, notwithstanding the fact that it is at the Under-19 level. The days of innocence are possibly over for these boys.

Plays of the day from the World T20 match between South Africa and Sri Lanka in Delhi

Firdose Moonda28-Mar-2016The speech Team huddles have become customary at the start of an innings, when the captain usually delivers his final words before the action gets underway, but this one was different. As South Africa prepared for their final appearance at this World T20, it was AB de Villiers, the ODI and Test captain, and not Faf du Plessis, the T20 captain, who did the talking. De Villiers led an animated talk in which the only words the television microphones could pick up were “energy, boys, energy,” but, with rumours swirling about de Villiers’ international workload, it aroused suspicions of his international future.The advice that should have been heededTillakaratne Dilshan wanted to bow out with a bang and had helped take Sri Lanka to 45 without loss by the fifth over. He took on both the quicks and the slower bowlers, and seemed to be in control. But his partner and stand-in captain Dinesh Chandimal couldn’t keep up when the pace was taken off the ball. He went for an expansive cover drive without moving his front foot across off the first delivery he faced from Aaron Phangiso. The ball went straight on, snuck between bat and pad and rattled Chandimal’s stumps. Dilshan had a few things to say as he walked off but whatever it was, it was too late.The secret weapon Farhaan Behardien is South Africa’s most underrated cricketer, but he showed his value with the ball today. After being gifted an opening wicket, Behardien thought he had the biggest scalp when Dilshan tried a switch hit but was struck on the pads. Umpire S Ravi rightly thought the ball was sliding down leg but Behardien got his own back. Dilshan brought out a conventional sweep off the next ball and missed again. He was hit in front and Ravi had no doubt that would have gone on to his the stumps, so Dilshan was sent on his way.The carelessness Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock were involved in a run-out in the previous match against West Indies, which saw Amla lose his wicket, but the pair had not learnt from their mistakes. Amla played a Suranga Lakmal delivery to Dilshan at backward point, took a step forward and then decided against the run, but de Kock was not paying attention. He has halfway down the pitch and then turned back without much haste when he saw Amla’s disinterest. Dilshan had already collected and released the ball and his direct hit took out middle stump at the non-striker’s end with de Kock nowhere near his ground.The near blinder Both teams were playing a match that could have been; it could have been a shoot-out for the semi-finals. Both South Africa and Sri Lanka, however, were knocked out before the last league match of the tournament. In keeping with the mood, a catch that should have been the grab of the tournament was not. Amla had offered half a chance to Lahiru Thirimanne at midwicket the ball before he drove one uppishly to Jeffrey Vandersay at short extra cover. It was hit hard but Vandersay gave it everything. He leapt to his right and got his fingers to the ball, but could not hold on.

His autobiography tells the story of a flamboyant cricketer better remembered for a batting innings and a sledge than the pace he worked hard to achieve

Alan Gardner31-Jul-2016What is Tino Best most famous for? The title of his autobiography, , suggests that Andrew Flintoff’s cheeky sledge about Best’s batting – he was stumped giving Ashley Giles the charge at Lord’s in 2004, as West Indies attempted to see out the final day of the Test for a draw – takes the prize.Then again, his 95 against England at Edgbaston in 2012 was also pretty memorable. Best briefly held the record for the highest score by a No. 11 in Tests, until Australia’s Ashton Agar – “a number six, not a number eleven,” Best grouses – waltzed his way to 98 the following summer. More recently, thanks to the serialisation of one of the chapters from his book, entitled “The Playboy Lifestyle”, he came to attention for his love of maidens. No, not that kind. As he writes: “I was a man whore.”There are many reasons to remember the name Tino la Bertram Best – not least because of that distinctive, flamboyant “la Bertram” in the middle, which Best claims means “the greatest”. Sadly his bowling is not right at the top of the list; and that really is a shame, given that, for a time at least, he was one of the quickest going around.Despite his relative lack of success at international level, it is impossible not to warm to Best and be impressed by his life story. Inspired by his uncle, the West Indies batsman Carlisle Best, and the example set by his mother and four aunts, Best overcame the apparent disadvantage of being 5ft 8in to open the bowling for Barbados – for whom he has an excellent record – and then West Indies. Capable of getting it through above 95mph, he rubbed shoulders with Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar in cricket’s fast lane.Growing up without the influence of his father, who struggled with drug addiction and never saw Best play for West Indies, he overcame rejection at the start of his career, having turned up late for a trial with Barbados Under-19s. Although he wanted to be like Uncle Carlisle – who hooked his third ball in Tests for six and scored 164 against England in Bridgetown in 1990 – Best discovered he could bowl at the sort of speed revered around the Caribbean as “pace like fire”.In his own, inimitable, words: “I was as fast as a raccoon.” Hard work in the gym, and on the army base that provided his early employment outside of cricket, meant Best was soon being talked about beyond his native island. He was, however, “a Ferrari without a steering wheel”, and it would not be long before he sped off course at one of the many bends in the road encountered over a 15-year career.After being called up to face Australia at the age of 21, he experienced the unique difficulties involved with representing a collection of countries under one flag. West Indies players are “all from different nations, with different cultures and from different backgrounds”, making team spirit harder to build. The fact that he saw Ricky Ponting dropped off his bowling by Shivnarine Chanderpaul – in the gully, where Best observes “there’d be no way” his Barbados team-mate Sulieman Benn would have missed the chance – on his first day in Test cricket did not help. “It was my first big international match and I felt lonely.”There was also the expectation that came with being a quick bowler from a lineage as rich as West Indies’. It was more than a year later that Best bagged his first Test wicket – England’s Graeme Thorpe, caught at long leg attempting to hook, at Sabina Park – and his first crack at international cricket seemed to bring rewards inversely proportional to the effort Best put in. “People said I was the next Malcolm Marshall before I’d even played a Test,” he writes. “I just wanted to be Tino Best.”John Blake PublishingThis was when Best’s off-field performances overtook his impact with bat or ball for West Indies. A father himself at the age of 19, Best cheated on his childhood sweetheart and subsequently decided to enjoy the opportunities afforded by the lifestyle of an international athlete. On a tour of Australia, he was overlooked by the coach, Bennett King. “But I was bowling fast – at night.”It all comes across as slightly cringe-worthy, despite Best’s winning smile and apparent good nature. He says he’s a deeply religious man, and observes towards the book’s conclusion: “I’ve done a few things that God might not like in my time.” He says he is beginning to think about settling down, which might come as a relief to those who prefer to enjoy Best bowling fast in the daytime.Best’s career may have added up to 57 caps and 97 wickets for West Indies but his love for the game pours out, and he certainly left a mark – on Makhaya Ntini, who was struck by his pace as a net bowler on South Africa’s 2001 tour; on Flintoff, who provides the foreword to ; on Sachin Tendulkar, who faced Best in his final Test. Yorkshire fans will remember his lung-busting contributions, too, and there are affectionate mentions for his polar-opposites bowling partner, Steve Patterson, and former coach Martyn Moxon.Best’s philosophy is summed up when he discusses missing out on what would have been a remarkable Test hundred in 2012, when he was caught trying to damage the windows again:”I don’t play cricket for records. I enjoy the game and want to make people happy. I want to be spectacular. I want to be awesome… There’s a place for consolidating and working round: that’s cricket. But I am West Indian and I will be flamboyant. If I’m on ninety nine, I’ll try and hit a boundary to get to a hundred. It’s just how I think the game should be played.”Tino la Bertram Best wanted to be a great entertainer, and in many ways he succeeded. He should always be remembered for that.Mind the Windows: Tino Best – My Story
By Tino Best and Jack Wilson
John Blake Publishing
228 pages, £18.99