Players who discovered that home isn’t where the art is

Mohammad Isam27-May-2020Gehan Mendis
Born in Colombo, Gehan Mendis moved to the UK when he was 12. His prime as a cricketer coincided with Sri Lanka’s ascent as a Test team, but despite his vast first-class experience and his widely regarded skill against fast bowling, Mendis never represented his country of birth. Part of that was because he held out hope of playing for England, but also, he did not want to lose his status as a local player in county cricket. Between 1974 and 1993, he played 366 first-class games and 313 List A games in England, for Sussex and Lancashire, scoring more than 20,000 first-class runs, with 41 centuries.Cardigan Connor
Professional cricket did not pick up in the Caribbean island of Anguilla until late 2007. The first competitive cricket recorded in the island was in 1977, so when an 18-year old Cardigan Connor decided to take his fast-bowling skills to England in 1979, the move made sense. Since Anguilla is a British overseas territory, he was eligible to play county cricket as a local, and he became one of the lesser-known feel-good stories from the 1980s. After making his first-class debut in 1984, Connor took more than 1000 wickets for Hampshire in all competitions, was briefly considered for an England one-day spot and walked away with £147,000 ($180,250) from his benefit year. Connor was much loved in Hove. Later in life, he coached Anguilla before becoming an administrator and politician there.Basil D’Oliveira, seen here batting in a Test against Pakistan in 1967, played 44 Tests for England after moving there from South Africa at the age of 29•Getty ImagesKevin Pietersen
The poster child of modern-day migrant cricketers, Pietersen moved from South Africa to England in 2000, aged 20. When, in December 1999, he bowled 55.5 overs for KwaZulu-Natal against a touring England side, dismissing Michael Vaughan among four wickets, he would not have known what an important figure he would end up becoming for the opposition. Less than a year later, he signed for Nottinghamshire as a Kolpak player, and made his county debut in 2001.Pietersen’s decision was fuelled by worries that he may not get to represent South Africa due to their diversity targets. He found support in mentor Clive Rice, then director of cricket at Notts. His success in England paved the way for many other South Africans – Kyle Abbott, Simon Harmer, Rilee Rossouw and Duanne Olivier among them – to make the move to England in later years.Basil D’Oliveira
Before Kevin Pietersen, there was Basil D’Oliveira, whose journey from Cape Town to England’s West Midlands made him one of the most important figures in cricket history. Being a Cape Coloured, D’Oliveira was not permitted to play for South Africa during apartheid, but on broadcast-writer John Arlott’s insistence, Middleton, a Central Lancashire League club, signed him as a professional in 1960, when he was 29, rescuing his career. Worcestershire contracted him four years later, and in 1966 he made his Test debut for England.The most significant moment in D’Oliveira’s career came when, after scoring a match-saving 158 at the Oval in the 1968 Ashes series, he was expected to be a part of the MCC squad to tour South Africa in 1968-69. His initial omission sparked an outcry in the England, and when he was later picked as a replacement, the South African regime declared it a political move and said they would not admit the team’s entry into their country. The MCC ended up cancelling the tour, and the cricket world boycotted South Africa until the end of apartheid.D’Oliveira, who passed away in 2011, said he never intended to set so many wheels in motion. His on-field performances ensured he would be remembered for more than just the controversy that surrounded him. With nearly 2500 Test runs and 47 Test wickets to go with his 19,490 first-class runs and 551 first-class wickets, he is considered one of cricket’s great allrounders.Billy Ibadulla (left) opened the batting for Warwickshire alongside Bob Barber for long stretches in the 1960s•Getty ImagesKhalid Ibadulla
An opening batsman and offspinner, Khalid “Billy” Ibadulla was born in Lahore but ended up playing more matches against Pakistan than for them. At just 17, he was picked in a Pakistan touring squad, but missed out on the 1954 Pakistan tour of India, which, according to Peter Oborne’s , left him “bitterly disappointed”. He sought a career in England and became Pakistan’s first professional cricketer in the county circuit, debuting for Warwickshire in 1954. After success in England, Ibadulla did make his Test debut for Pakistan, in 1964, and scored 166 against Australia in Karachi. But he played just three more Tests for his home country, owing to first-class commitments in England and New Zealand, where he played for Otago.He played many matches against Pakistan, as part of a Commonwealth XI tour in 1963, and one for Otago in January 1965 in the Plunket Shield. Just a month later, he switched sides and played for Pakistan in a Test against New Zealand. He repeated the feat during Pakistan’s England tour in 1967, when he played for Warwickshire in a tour game and then for Pakistan during the Test series. He ended his career with more than 17,000 first-class runs and 462 wickets.Jofra Archer
One of the hottest young talents in world cricket might have played for West Indies if Barbados-born England seamer Chris Jordan hadn’t alerted Sussex to his abilities in 2013. By then, Archer had played three matches for West Indies Under-19 and seemed on track to play in the 2014 Under-19 World Cup. Instead, he moved to England in the spring of 2014 and declared his intention to play for his new country. Within five years, he would become one of the stars of the 2019 World Cup and make his Test debut for England too.

Once excited to play in a game that was being telecast live, the left-arm seamer put up a great show with his five-for against Saurashtra

Hemant Brar in Rajkot01-Mar-2020Arzan Nagwaswalla is excited. The 22-year-old will be opening the bowling for Gujarat for the first time, but that’s not the reason for his excitement. If anything, there’s extra pressure on him with Roosh Kalaria absent and his side all-out for 281, against Punjab during the league match in Ranji Trophy 2019-20.His family is watching him from the stands, but he is used to that also by now. After all, they are in attendance whenever he plays in Valsad.The reason for Nagwaswalla’s excitement is that the match is being telecast live. And he did make sure to look good on TV: the left-arm seamer ended up taking five wickets in each innings.”It’s a great feeling playing at home and taking five wickets in a live match. Everyone has a dream of playing in a live match and taking wickets,” he would tell after Punjab’s first innings. ” [It’s fun playing a live match].”That tells a lot about Nagwaswalla the person: simple, humble and real. A soft-spoken guy who lets his bowling do all the talk, and that was on display during the semi-final too as he picked up 5 for 81 to bowl Saurashtra out for 304 on the second afternoon. That Gujarat handed back the advantage by being 119 for 6 at stumps was on their batsmen.On Saturday, Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel had put Saurashtra in on a pitch where the hosts anyway wanted to bat first. After seeing off a tricky first session, Saurashtra moved to 102 for 1. The early moisture in the surface had dried off. The ball was 46 overs old, means there was neither the conventional swing nor the reverse. And the first-day pitch was too young to help spinners. With all this, Saurashtra were set for a big total, threatening to reduce the match to a one-innings contest.But Nagwaswalla, the leading wicket-taker for Gujarat this season, wasn’t ready to give up yet. Third over into his second spell, he was running in hard, bowling the fifth-stump line and trying to force an outside edge. He wasn’t to be denied for long even though the dismissal didn’t happen the way he would have envisaged.Harvik Desai, who was batting on 35, sliced a wide, low full-toss to short cover where Bhargav Merai flung himself to his left to take a brilliant catch. In the next over, Avi Barot played a rash shot to gift Axar Patel his second wicket.After that, Sheldon Jackson and Vishvaraj Jadeja batted patiently, adding 60 for the fourth wicket to take Saurashtra to 162 for 3. With the partnership budding, it was once again Nagwaswalla bringing his side into the game. This time with a double strike, as Vishvaraj and Arpit Vasavada fell on successive balls. Both chased the fifth-stump deliveries, Vishvaraj trying to steer one to third man only to edge it to the wicketkeeper and Vasavada offering a nervous poke to first slip. Now those were as per the plan.On the second morning, he almost had Jackson too when the batsman tried to chase a wide one but Parthiv couldn’t hold on to a regulation chance. Jackson was on 84 at that point and Saurashtra 237 for 5. Jackson went on to bring up his 19th first-class hundred before falling to Kalaria for 103.Jackson’s was the seventh to fall, but there is no tail in this Saurashtra line-up: their No. 11 Chetan Sakariya averaged 20.33 before this game. When Prerak Mankad and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja had added 31 for the eighth wicket, there were murmurs of Saurashtra posting a total in the vicinity of 350.That, however, wasn’t to be the case. Nagwaswalla came around the wicket and start peppering Dharmendrasinh with short balls, who eventually fended one to short leg. In the seamer’s next over, Mankad tried for a single to third man but the ball kept coming in and uprooted the off stump via the inside edge.It’s still early days but Nagwaswalla has put up some impressive numbers: 60 wickets from 16 first-class games at an average of 22.03 and a strike rate of 44.2. What makes them even more special is that he is generally the first change, and therefore, doesn’t get to use the new ball often.Despite being only into his second season, Nagwaswalla doesn’t consider himself a newcomer anymore. According to him, he has grown a lot since the last season, and that’s reflecting in his bowling as well.”This season, I am more disciplined,” he said at the close of play on Saturday. “There was a time today when we required a breakthrough. Had it been the last season, I would have perhaps pitched a couple of deliveries here and there, straying from my line. That’s something I have learnt this season, that you have to stick to the plan. So mentally you need to be prepared and bowl with discipline. That’s something I have been able to do this season.”And what else has changed from the last season? “Last year I was just thinking about my own performance. But now I have played 15-16 matches, I am no more a newcomer. So I want to take more responsibility and live up to the expectations. Also, there were some minor issues with my run-up and the release point last time. In the off-season, I analysed my mistakes and worked on those areas. That’s why I am more consistent this year.”Nagwaswalla may not realise but one more thing has also changed. Till the last season, people knew him as the only active Parsi cricketer in India. Now they are aware of his bowling credentials as well.

Didn’t open, didn’t bowl in the first six, but still made quite an impact

Saurabh Somani08-Oct-20201:20

Stephen Fleming: ‘Narine holding overs back made it difficult in the back end’

The question was asked in both innings when the Kolkata Knight Riders took on the Chennai Super Kings. While batting, Narine didn’t walk out to open. When bowling, the Super Kings had gone to 94 for 1 in 11 overs before Narine was handed the ball.He hadn’t had a great time at the top of the order, true, with 27 runs off 31 balls in four innings in IPL 2020; each time he was troubled by short bowling delivered at pace. Narine’s entire career as an opener has been fashioned in the vein of what street cricket calls the ‘hit out or get out’ method. But with four successive games of swinging and missing, hanging on the back foot and unable to capitalise on the balls that didn’t hit that length, it was on the cards that Narine would be moved down the order. Except, the Super Kings didn’t have the kind of attack that could pull off a sustained short-ball barrage. Maybe, the Knight Riders had demoted Narine a match early?As it turned out, they hadn’t. It’s possible that Narine’s failures at the top of the order were playing on his mind to an extent where he would be more liability than asset in that position. “Just hasn’t quite worked for him at the top of the order in the first few games of the tournament so far. A change is as good as a holiday they say,” the Knight Riders’ bowling coach Kyle Mills would say after the match.ALSO READ: Talking Points: Why did Sunil Narine bowl so late?Instead, Dinesh Karthik and the Knight Riders used Narine tactically. Mills described the role he performed as that of a “pinch hitter”. Essentially, that’s what Narine was doing at the top of the order anyway; he just did it at No. 4 in this match. The batting position wasn’t as important as the stage of the game he came in at. The Knight Riders had lost Nitish Rana on the first ball of the ninth over, with Karn Sharma bowling his legbreaks. A left-hander to a legspinner is a natural match-up. So why not send in Eoin Morgan, in great touch himself and one of the world’s most accomplished white-ball batsmen? For two connected reasons. Narine’s wicket was more expendable than Morgan’s at that stage, and what was needed was to inject some momentum into the innings in the middle overs, where traditionally bowling sides control the run rate more. Second, Narine’s entry would have left MS Dhoni with two options: either continue using spinners and risk them going for plenty, or bring back one of his fast bowlers and risk having a few less overs of pace at the death than he would like.

The Knight Riders could have either had one of their rookie pacers partner Russell at the death, or Narine. They went for Narine, keeping faith in his ability to tie down, and fox, even set batsmen.

The only downside to the tactic of sending in a pinch-hitter in T20s is the risk of the pinch-hitter getting into a rut, and slowing things down rather than speeding them up. With Narine, that risk is minimal: ‘hit out or get out’.Tactically, the move worked perfectly. Narine made a typical Narine score of 17 off 9, and the third-wicket stand brought 28 runs in 2.5 overs. Among other things, it also probably played a part in Dhoni not calling on Ravindra Jadeja to bowl at all. Narine was also out early enough that it left space for Morgan and Andre Russell to launch at the death. That they fell cheaply didn’t diminish the tactical use of Narine.The bowling plan was harder to fathom in the first half of the Super Kings’ chase. The Knight Riders had only got 167, about 25 to 30 runs short of what they looked like getting halfway into their innings. Before coming into this game, Narine’s match-up with the Super Kings’ top order was excellent: Shane Watson had scored 88 runs off 83 balls against Narine, being dismissed eight times (89 off 85 with nine dismissals after the match). Ambati Rayudu’s figures were 41 off 50, and dismissed thrice (44 off 55 after the match). Faf du Plessis had 16 off 26, out once. Surely the time to bring Narine was early on? With the new ball, but failing that, within the powerplay at least? Du Plessis fell, Watson and Rayudu bedded in, and Narine continued to prowl the outfield, with Karthik rotating all his other bowlers.Sunil Narine played a useful cameo from No. 4•BCCIIt seemed baffling because what the Knight Riders seemingly needed after a below-par total was early wickets. What they actually needed, was what Karthik and the Knight Riders think-tank sussed correctly: Narine operating entirely at the back end of the chase.The tactic could have failed if the Super Kings had got off to a blazing start, the kind that reduces the required rate by a whole point. It could have failed if Narine had an off-day with the ball. It could have failed even if some of the Super Kings batsmen had made better decisions. Of course, if the match had shaped differently, Karthik might well have called on Narine to bowl before the 12th over. But although Watson and Rayudu were cruising towards the target, they weren’t doing it at breakneck speed. Karthik gambled by bowling out Pat Cummins the over before he brought Narine on. Cummins needed to strike, but failing that, keep things quiet. He kept things quiet. Narine began wheeling away.”If you give an opportunity to an IPL team, an opening, and they’ve got quality players to take it – today with Narine holding overs back, it made it very difficult in the back end,” Stephen Fleming, the Super Kings coach, would say later.When Narine came on to bowl, ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats tool gave the Super Kings a win probability of 78.72%. When he had completed his second over, the match had altered radically with the win probability more than halved at 36.81%.”With the ball, yes he came in late in the piece but jeez the job he did at the back end of the innings,” Mills gushed. “So comforting sitting on the sidelines to know you’ve got an experienced individual with four overs up his sleeve out of the nine overs left in the innings.”The Knight Riders have not used Cummins at the death since he got pasted in their first game. They’ve identified Russell as one of their death-overs specialists. They could have either had one of their rookie pacers partner Russell at the death, or Narine. They went for Narine, keeping faith in his ability to tie down, and fox, even set batsmen. They kept faith in his match-up with Dhoni which is even more startling than the rest, standing now at 39 runs off 80 balls with two dismissals and boundaries. They kept faith in his ability to bowl against a daunting asking rate. And they kept faith in the tactical ploy that had been devised to mount a successful defence.On the day, Narine repaid that faith handsomely.

Dissecting the key moments from the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians

Sreshth Shah23-Sep-20201:23

Moody: ‘Cummins should’ve opened the bowling’

What went wrong for Pat Cummins?Cummins conceded 49 runs in three overs and wasn’t given his full quota of four by his captain Dinesh Karthik. He never quite got into his rhythm, and that is likely because when he came on to bowl after four overs, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma were settled already. He started off bowling a wide and followed it up with a short ball to Sharma, a man who has a playlist of pulls to punish you with, to concede seven off one legal delivery. Cummins repeated the delivery later in the over, and Rohit repeated the shot to the same effect.In his second over, the game’s 15th, Cummins was up against the tall Saurabh Tiwary, who comfortably reached out to his length balls to straightaway hit them for a six and a four. His next four balls were slower ones and he conceded just five runs but the damage was already done in the over.ALSO SEE: Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians live score 23th September 2020 Cummins started this third over in a significantly better manner than his first two, rolling his fingers over the ball to Hardik Pandya to deceive him and even force a top edge, but when he overdid the cutters, Hardik was prepared.Predicting Cummins’ lengths, Hardik pulled him to the leg side, twice for fours and once for six because the slower, short ball simply did not bounce enough. The one time he bowled a 146kph short ball, Hardik was nearly floored, a tactic Cummins could have employed more.Whether it was the pressure of his price tag of INR 15.5 crore (USD 2.2 million approx) or just strategic miscalculation on the pace-length combination, it is hard to say. Also, as Karthik pointed out later to the broadcasters, Cummins had only just ended his mandatory quarantine period after arriving from the England-Australia series, so he probably had little time to ease into his role with his new team-mates.And that brings us to the KKR captain himself. Why didn’t Karthik give Cummins the new ball? Wouldn’t you give your seemingly best bowler a go at two unsettled openers?Why is Saurabh Tiwary getting a consistent run at No. 4?In a star-studded Mumbai line-up, Tiwary appears to be an anomaly. Before this season, he last played an IPL game in 2017. But this time, in the UAE, especially in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the square boundaries are much longer than in India, making the straight boundaries your best bet for sixes. And that’s what Tiwary’s strength is.ESPNcricinfo LtdOff his 58 IPL sixes, 32 have been in the “V” between long-off and long-on while a further 23 have been between long-on and deep midwicket So, attacking and putting away balls that are in the slot comes naturally to him. His long stride also helps him negate the turn of spinners if he attempts the big shot. Kishan, the person Tiwary has replaced in the playing XI, prefers playing squarer, relying on his wristwork to accumulate his runs.Perhaps, also, batting him up the order offers something of a safety blanket for Mumbai – they know that Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard are still in the shed and, in an ideal situation, available for the death overs after most of the spin is done.Should teams move away from blindly following the “win toss, bowl first” template?In five games so far, only the tournament opener has been won by the chasing side. That night in Abu Dhabi, the dew factor – which often plays a big role in IPL games in India – was significant but, since then, it hasn’t been a standout talking point.And when dew isn’t as big a factor, the advantage of setting a total and putting pressure on the chasing side perhaps outweighs the risk of your bowlers getting derailed by a wet ball. More so in large grounds, and where pitches aren’t tailor-made for batsmen alone.Take Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, for example. Although it’s not a particularly large ground, the pitches make for a much more even bat-ball contest. Since IPL 2017, 45% of the matches have been won outright by the team batting first. In Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, a larger ground but with a moderately better batting surface, 60.87% of the last 23 completed IPL games have been won by the team batting first.Given the pitches on offer so far and the ground dimensions, games in the UAE – barring Sharjah, a smaller ground where only 11 of the 56 league games will be held – are likely to follow the Delhi and Hyderabad pattern, where batting second is likely to get complicated. It is still early days in the tournament, but perhaps captains should be more wary of letting the potential dew factor play a key role at the toss.

Pick your India XI for MCG to decide who should open and who should keep

Sidharth Monga21-Dec-20203:37

Gambhir: Rahane should go with five bowlers

Predictions before the Adelaide Test expected India to be down 0-1 going into Melbourne, but the way it happened has left the team management second-guessing itself. Add to it the non-availability of Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami, and they have quite a few selection decisions to make. Here is your chance to put on their hat and play selector. As of now, five men are confirmed to start: captain Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav.Openers
The popular demand for a scalp – Prithvi Shaw in particular – is high. It doesn’t mean Mayank Agarwal is in the clear by that yardstick. Both Shaw and Agarwal scored a fifty each in New Zealand, both had stellar home series before that and both failed twice in Adelaide. India have two reserve openers in the squad: Shubman Gill, who opens for Punjab in domestic cricket and scored 43 and 65 in the tour game at the SCG and KL Rahul, who has opened for India before, but has played just the one first-class game since being dropped after the West Indies tour last year.

The team’s bench-strength is yet to assume the proportions of 20 or so years ago when they dominated the cricket world

Daniel Brettig02-Dec-2020When Australia were at their absolute peak as a cricketing power, certainly in the mind of Justin Langer, a number of their finest achievements took place with at least one stellar name missing from their team, if not more.In 1998, Australia won a Test series in Pakistan for the first time since 1959-60, and they did it without Shane Warne as he recovered from shoulder surgery. In 2003, Ricky Ponting’s men lifted the World Cup at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, again without Warne due to a drugs ban and also minus Jason Gillespie. And the twin Test series triumphs in Sri Lanka and India in 2004 took place without Glenn McGrath and Ponting respectively.Those triumphs were instead populated by critical contributions from players who, in some cases, appeared only briefly on the national stage, and in others were longtime support acts, ready and willing to step up as required. The likes of Colin Miller, Andy Bichel, Michael Kasprowicz and Simon Katich were never box office stars, but their ability to step in when required was as sure a sign of Australian cricket’s health as the displays of the legends they occasionally filled in for. Equally, Adam Gilchrist proved himself a highly capable leader in Ponting’s stead.So for Langer, the multiple changes to Australia’s lineup for the third ODI against India in Canberra was more than a chance to see how Cameron Green would fare on debut, how Sean Abbott would perform in a senior role with the ball and how Marnus Labuschagne and Moises Henriques did up the batting order. It was a timely test of Australian cricket’s depth, and whether or not the team was still extremely reliant on the absent David Warner, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.The day’s first significant event was Virat Kohli’s victory at the toss, for it meant that both hosts and visitors were cast in different roles from the ones both performed in unerringly similar fashion at the SCG on Friday and Sunday. Aaron Finch got the chance to marshal his bowlers against an opponent not facing a stratospheric score to chase, and likewise the Australian batting order was handed the chance to chase: the most contentious element of their displays in England earlier in the year.Virat Kohli celebrates after Alex Carey is run out•Getty ImagesFor the majority of India’s innings, the off-peak combination worked exceptionally well. Glenn Maxwell’s use with the new ball was a success, Abbott delivered his slingy fast medium with skill and subtle variation, Ashton Agar paired artfully with Adam Zampa to tie up the middle order and Green offered a tantalising glimpse of his natural gifts by generating disconcerting bounce and not inconsiderable pace while clearly operating within himself.At the same time, Josh Hazlewood’s first couple of spells were those of a senior bowler and a leader of the attack, culminating in the beautiful away seamer that found the thinnest of edges from Kohli to mean he had fallen to the “Bendemeer Bullet” three times in as many games. All the while, Finch looked very much a captain in control, aware not just of the strengths and weaknesses of his senior men but also the support cast he was handed for game three.It will be to Finch and Langer’s annoyance that this did not last. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja got themselves established after Kohli’s dismissal, and once set, they inflicted fearful damage on Abbott and Hazlewood in particular in the closing overs. Eighty-six runs piled up from the final six overs of the innings. For Abbott, this was clearly frustrating but not a first – in the Big Bash League he is known as a high-quality operator with the occasional tendency to have a bad over or two. There are lapses he cannot afford quite so much at the top level.

Australia’s triumphs were always populated by critical contributions from players who, in some cases, appeared only briefly on the national stage, and in others were longtime support acts, ready and willing to step up as required

When the Australians opened up their reply, Finch elected to grant the wish of Labuschagne and promote him to open, after the fashion of Michael Clarke and occasionally Ponting in the late 2000s. This meant that not only was there another opener in place of Warner, but a less than seasoned middle order linking Steven Smith and the six-seven duo of Alex Carey and Maxwell.In his imperial role as the face, voice and most outspoken opinion maker for Fox Cricket, Warne offers all manner of opinions, but perhaps his most enduring this day was a preference to replace Warner with another role-player, perhaps Matthew Wade, at the top and leave the middle order alone. Certainly this seemed a sound judgment when Labuschagne found himself dragging a pull shot onto the stumps, and Smith made it only as far as 7 before glancing into the gloves of KL Rahul.This left Finch in the company of Henriques and Green, who both showed signs of promise but also evidence they will need time to get truly comfortable. Henriques could not have made a better start – two boundaries from as many balls – but thereafter was able to be tied down just enough by India to have him pulling to midwicket having made only another 14 runs from his final 29 deliveries faced.Ashton Agar successfully appeals for the wicket of Shubman Gill•Getty ImagesGreen, similarly, showed that as might be expected from a player who has played more Sheffield Shield than anything else, the nudges, deflections and singles required of all limited-overs players are yet to be found in between stern defence and powerful attack. In the course of the dots Green accumulated, Finch fell while trying to clear the boundary. These innings were not all Langer might have hoped for, but they did at least allow Maxwell to get to the middle in a scenario he knew well from England.For a while it looked as though Maxwell and Carey, then Maxwell and Agar, would pay appropriate homage to another extremely valuable attribute from Australia’s dominant era: that of expert white-ball batsmen finishing the job even on days when the top order did not fire. Michael Bevan, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds – all would have seen much to admire in how Maxwell looked to be shepherding the Australians to 3-0, even if they might’ve gone a bit lighter on the 100 metre switch-hits.Ultimately, however, Maxwell’s hyper-aggression had him playing too presumptuously at a Jasprit Bumrah yorker, and the remainder of the order could not rally sufficiently. Langer, then, was left to make the inevitable conclusion that just as his first-choice team is yet to achieve all he wants it to, the Australians’ bench-strength is also yet to assume the proportions of 20 or so years ago.

Jadeja hit 62* off 28, then picked up 3 for 13, and also effected a run-out with a direct hit

Vishal Dikshit25-Apr-20216:18

Manjrekar: Jadeja helped CSK score 37 in 20th over because of ‘bad balls, awesome hitting’

“Yeah, today was not my day actually,” Ravindra Jadeja said at the presentation after the match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.Jadeja was obviously joking, referring to the fact that he didn’t take a single catch in the match. He had done all right otherwise: a brutal 62* off 28 first, and then 3 for 13 from his four overs. The batting innings included four sixes in a row – and five overall – in a 37-run last over off Harshal Patel. The wickets included those of AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell. And while he didn’t take a catch, there was the direct hit that ran Dan Christian out.Related

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Ravindra Jadeja – Chennai's batting Super King

Three-dimensional Ravindra Jadeja covers for India's absentees

Turning serious, Jadeja agreed that he might not have had a better day in the field than this one. It was a comeback of sorts for the allrounder, who had been out of action for over three months. Jadeja had broken his left thumb in Australia and had flown back to India with a sling around his neck after surgery. He then missed the entire home series against England, and was expected to join the Chennai Super Kings training camp in the first week of April – only a few days before their opening game – but landed in Mumbai and instead joined their bubble in the last week of March itself.That he landed there well before time could be because of his freak fitness levels. During an interview last year, R Ashwin had said Jadeja was “a blessed cricketer who is completely, physically fit and these are all things beyond your control”. But what about the things that are in your control? It seems like Jadeja likes to completely control whatever he can. Ask his Super Kings or India team-mates how he trains, how he prepares, how he works in the nets and one of the first things they mention is his work ethic and the hours he puts in.ESPNcricinfo LtdJadeja could not jump right into the middle of the action though when he took the field in the IPL after such a long gap. He was “a little nervous” while fielding in the first few games, wary of getting hit again if the batter struck the ball really hard. In their second game against the Punjab Kings, Jadeja was at extra cover instead of backward point. He didn’t care about a muffled appeal against Chris Gayle. He sprinted towards cover point when he saw the batters trying to steal a single, picked the ball up quickly and fired in a throw at the batter’s end to find the Kings’ captain KL Rahul short.Jadeja was “waiting for a few games to gain that confidence” while fielding before resuming his position at point. But while he has been at the covers, he has been using every opportunity to run batters out, like it was on Sunday too. This time, de Villiers chopped the ball to Jadeja’s left – his natural side – and yet took off for a quick single with Christian at the other end. Jadeja swooped in as usual and hit the stumps yet again.”I’ve always thought, playing against Jadeja, that he’s always been the most dangerous fielder,” Faf du Plessis said at the post-match press conference. “When South Africa play against India, we always talk about being very careful about running twos with Jadeja on the boundary, because he’s got an absolute cannon of an arm.Ravindra Jadeja hit four sixes in a row in a 37-run last over off Harshal Patel•BCCI/IPL”But what he’s really doing well this season is he’s got a lot of energy in the field, he’s diving around, he’s stopping the ball, so he’s really leading from the front in that department. To be so accurate in the 30-yard circle is a great skill to have; not a lot of people can hit the stumps as consistently as he does. At the moment, he’s just really hot as a cricketer, he’s really enjoying his cricket. He’s batting, bowling and fielding really well.”Compared to a frontline batter or bowler, Jadeja has to put in nearly twice as much work, if not more, in the nets to work on all his skills as one of the best allrounders in the world across formats. MS Dhoni acknowledged after the match that Jadeja had taken both his batting and bowling up a notch in the last few years, and Jadeja acknowledged that he was always on the prowl on the field as well.”I focus a lot on training and running because in T20s one run-out or one catch can also change the momentum of the opposition,” Jadeja said on Star Sports Hindi after the game against the Kings. “I try to make the most of the small chances while fielding because those can also change the game.”I have been working hard on my fitness, skills, everything so luckily today it paid off. It’s been very tough being an allrounder, you have to do well in all the departments. During training, I don’t do all the things together on the same day. I just try and work on my skills one day and fitness on next day. That’s how I manage all the workload.”A batting strike rate of 192.45, the second-best for anyone who has batted more than once this IPL. An economy rate of 6.05 from 18 overs, the second-best for any bowler who has bowled more than eight overs this season. And seven catches, again, second on the list this IPL.Combine all those numbers and Jadeja will emerge not as the second-best but the best allrounder around – at least in T20s, if not across formats. And he has just started to warm up this IPL.