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Siraj is expected to link up with the squad later today in Guwahati

Shashank Kishore30-Sep-2022Mohammed Siraj has been named as Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement in India’s T20I squad for the remainder of the series against South Africa. Siraj is expected to link up with the squad later today in Guwahati, ahead of the second T20I on Sunday.Siraj’s late call-up comes on the back of fresh injury concerns for Bumrah, who was required to undergo scans on his lower back in Bengaluru before the National Cricket Academy’s medical staff takes a final call on his participation in the T20 World Cup.Siraj last featured in a T20I for India in February against Sri Lanka and is seen mainly as a red-ball option at present. His latest outing was a one-off appearance for Warwickshire against Somerset earlier this month, where he picked up a five-wicket haul.So far Siraj has played only five T20Is, picking up as many wickets at an economy of 10.45. Since 2020, however, he’s been a regular feature for Royal Challengers Bangalore, and was also one of three retentions for them ahead of this year’s auction.Siraj isn’t the only late addition to the squad. Just before the series opener, Shreyas Iyer, Shahbaz Ahmed and Umesh Yadav were also included in the side.Iyer came in for the injured Deepak Hooda, who is also under the supervision of the BCCI’s medical staff at the NCA, while Umesh filled in for Mohammed Shami, who is recuperating from Covid-19 having returned a negative test. Shahbaz, meanwhile, replaced Hardik Pandya, who is undergoing “conditioning-related work” at the NCA.The Guwahati T20I on Sunday will be followed by the final match of the series in Indore on Tuesday. The World Cup-bound squad is expected to depart later that week for Australia, where they will have a short camp in Perth. The selectors are likely to announce a second-string squad, led by Shikhar Dhawan, for the three-match ODI series against South Africa.India squad for 2nd and 3rd T20Is: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul (vice-capt), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Umesh Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj

There was a familiar name at England’s training session at Lord’s on Wednesday. The Tendulkar on show this time, however, was not Sachin, but his son Arjun

George Dobell15-Jul-20151:15

Tendulkar’s son bowls at England in the nets

There was a familiar name at England’s training session at Lord’s on Wednesday. The Tendulkar on show this time, however, was not Sachin, but his son Arjun.Arjun Tendulkar, a 15-year-old left-arm seamer, is a regular at the indoor school at Lord’s and was invited to join a group of net bowlers helping England prepare for the second Investec Ashes Test starting on Thursday after a polite request to get involved the previous day.The Tendulkar family have an apartment not far from Lord’s which they often use at this time of year – Sachin was a spectator at Wimbledon a few days ago – and where once Sachin was a regular visitor to the MCC Academy, now it is Arjun in the nets and gym at the ground.Neil Burns, the former county keeper who now mentors several players and is a friend of the Tendulkar family, made the initial request. Burns asked Paul Farbrace, the England assistant coach, if Arjun could watch training on Tuesday and then if he could participate on Wednesday.While most of the England players had no idea of the surname of the young net bowler, several chatted to him and were surprised when they realised his young age. While not quite ideal preparation for the left-arm pace of Mitchell Johnson, Arjun is impressively sharp for one so young and maintained an admirable, probing length from a pleasing action throughout the session. At the end of it, Farbrace could be seen congratulating him and Arjun shook hands with several of the England players and coaches.”Arjun is a regular user of the facilities here,” a spokesman for the MCC, who usually arrange net bowlers ahead of international games at the ground, told ESPNcricinfo. “So he was invited to bowl against the England team in training today.”Arjun was also involved in pre-match preparations in 2011 when Yuvraj Singh bowled to him in the nets ahead of the Test between England and India. Arjun was just 11 at the time.During this year’s IPL, Arjun met Wasim Akram, who gave him some advice on left-arm swing bowling.”He is as enthusiastic as any 15 year old passionate about cricket in India and Pakistan would be,” Wasim told NDTV. “I gave him some general tips about fitness and wrist position. I told him how to bring the ball back into the right-hander. I told him to practice it for three months and then I promised him to teach how to take the ball away from right-handers.”He can also bat. Last September, he thrashed 188 off 42 balls for Dhirubhai Ambani International School Under-16s and he has played for Mumbai at age group level.

The Bangladesh-Australia series is moving towards taking place as scheduled, according to BCB chief Nizamuddin Chowdhury, after a second day of security-related meetings and assurances in Dhaka

Mohammad Isam28-Sep-20151:13

Bangladesh offers Australia extra security

The Bangladesh-Australia Test series is moving towards taking place as scheduled, according to BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury, after a second day of security-related meetings and assurances in Dhaka. Though the Australian High Commissioner was non-committal, ESPNcricinfo understands the BCB is expecting Cricket Australia to give the go-ahead on Tuesday, with the team likely to arrive this week.The BCB has already acted on its optimism about the tour and at 5.15 pm on Monday named the squad for the first Test in Chittagong from October 9. The team, which began training this afternoon, had been approved by the BCB president before the Eid holidays – September 24 to 26 – but the squad announcement was delayed because Cricket Australia postponed its team’s departure to Bangladesh, citing security concerns.An hour later, the BCB sent out the accreditation form for local journalists, another sign that it is positive about the tour going ahead.Perhaps another positive sign is that only Cricket Australia’s security manager Sean Carroll will return to Australia on Tuesday. Team manager Gavin Dovey and team security manager Frank Dimasi, who arrived on September 27, are staying in Dhaka presumably to receive the Australia team.On Monday, Carroll, Dovey, Dimasi, and the Australian High Commissioner in Bangladesh Greg Wilcock, had discussions with the Home Minister and the heads of the country’s security agencies. BCB president Nazmul Hassan, directors Mahbubul Anam and Lokman Hossain, and chief executive Chowdhury were also present. Later in the day, the CA security contingent also met with another security agency.After the meeting at the ministry, Chowdhury said they were looking to conduct the series according to the original tour schedule, with the first Test in Chittagong from October 9.”We are expecting all the matches to be played on schedule,” Chowdhury said. “We will try to have the main matches of the tour be played as scheduled, because there is plenty of planning that goes behind each international match.”We haven’t discussed any issue with regards to Chittagong as a venue. We have confirmed the facilities which will be given to them in Dhaka will also be given to them in Chittagong.”The Australian high commissioner Wilcock said that the talks at the ministry were a part of an ongoing process. “I want to make it clear that I speak on behalf of the Australian government and I want to send a very short message about this meeting,” he said. “The first is I think as two cricket loving nations we all want to play cricket. The Bangladesh squad has been doing very well recently.”At the same time, the Australian government very recently issued an update travel advice communicating additional guidance on safety and security in Bangladesh. The result of that is that we are here discussing these safety and security measures with the Bangladesh authorities.”We have enjoyed the time, the generosity and the expertise of the honourable minister and his senior police officials. This is part of our consultations with the Bangladesh Cricket Board, with the Bangladesh authorities and with Cricket Australia to address our shared interests. That work continues. This meeting has been one part of that. That work will continue for the rest of today.”

England quick thought he’d seen it all in 20 years of Test cricket. He has now

Vithushan Ehantharajah29-Jun-2022Across 20 years of Test cricket, James Anderson has endured and so far out-lived many different dressing-room regimes. He has served under six head coaches and eight Test captains, in a variety of combinations, all imposing their whims and ethos (or trying to at least) with varying degrees of success. So when he says there is something unique about the environment he is experiencing under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, it’s probably worth taking him seriously.We are only three matches into this era, albeit all wins, and McCullum has only been in the country for a month. And with India up next on Friday at Edgbaston in the re-arranged fifth Test of last year’s 2021 series, the visitors will be more than willing to burst the bubble as part of turning their 2-1 series lead into a 3-1 win. Yet after three successful chases, the most remarkable being their pursuit of 299 in just 50 overs at Trent Bridge, those involved feel they are at the start of something truly special. And that includes a 39-year-old who has seen it all. Or at least he thought he had.”I have never been in a dressing-room before when we have chased 300 (299) on a pitch that is turning and everyone being so calm, believing we were going to chase them down,” said Anderson. “That for me, after 20 years of playing international cricket, I had never seen before.”You always get a few jittery people but one to 11 and the staff included were just calm and believed. I think that belief can go such a long way, especially with the young players we have got. We’re trying to develop their confidence and experience, I think that will do wonders for them.”Anderson played the first two Tests, taking 12 wickets before missing the third with a sore left ankle, though he admitted he would have pushed through the pain had the series been level. He is likely to return to the attack this week and took part in training on Wednesday along with Ben Foakes who was pulled out midway through the last Test after testing positive for Covid-19. The three quicks who featured at Headingley – Stuart Broad, Matthew Potts and Jamie Overton – did not bowl.Anderson was in the home dressing-room to watch England seal their 3-0 series win in style. It was another final flourish, as they knocked off 296 with ease, with Jonny Bairstow the catalyst once more as he smashed 71 off 44 deliveries to end the game in a hurry, as part of a 111-run partnership with Joe Root (86 not out) off 14.3 overs. As entertaining as it was, Anderson admitted to feeling sorry for New Zealand’s attack.James Anderson has credited Ben Stokes for the attacking nature of his fields•Getty Images

“‘I think it’s horrible,” he said, speaking from a bowler’s perspective. “I don’t want to think of someone coming at me like that. I thought New Zealand bowled really well to be honest, especially that spell when they got us 55 for 6, it was one of the best opening spells I’ve seen for a long time. But the confidence our batters have got at the moment – they’re fearless and we saw the way they all played. They just want to progress the game, I guess.”Anderson did, however, suggest that England’s success so far has been largely down to the state of the pitches, and the 2022 edition of the red Dukes ball which goes softer earlier, resulting in several ball-changes in the series, some well before the usual 80 overs were up. He admitted to being “frustrated” watching the previous Test, as players on both sides regularly approached the umpire to check the shape of the ball.”It was like, ‘get on with the game’! But that’s the real frustration, they go out of shape so quickly, they go so soft, they don’t really swing,” Anderson said. “There’s obviously something fundamentally wrong, something about the ball and it’s annoying to keep on changing it. I’m sure the umpires will be annoyed as well.”The pitches against New Zealand were also flat, and while England were able to out-gun New Zealand, that may prove trickier against India. Though the tourists have had hampered preparations with just one warm-up match against Leicestershire and Covid issues that, among others, have left their captain Rohit Sharma as a selection doubt, they certainly have the players on paper to match England if they wanted to go shot-for-shot. And an attack that will have taken hints from the first four matches of this series, last summer.”You have to just keep trusting yourself and tell yourself to bowl your best ball and hope they make a mistake, hope that one of the balls that goes in the air goes to hand, or they nick one or something,” Anderson said, when assessing how to manage with an unreliable ball and an all-too reliable batting surface.One theory about the lack of movement seen over the last year or so has been the prohibition of saliva for shining the ball. It was initially a temporary measure to prevent the spread of Covid on the field, but it has since been brought in permanently. “Potentially it could be that,” Anderson said. “But I’m not sure it’s ever going to change, certainly in the foreseeable future, because of the Covid situation.” He revealed both sets of bowlers chatted after the last Test, and are very much in favour of bringing saliva back, but appreciated that that time may have gone.Related

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Nevertheless, playing attacking cricket is not limited to batting, and Stokes has been a key driver of a bolshier approach in the field, even at times when the game looks to be getting away. After taking ten wickets in the match at Leeds, Jack Leach credited Stokes with the stubbornness for not letting the left-arm spinner push his mid-on back to the boundary, and a uniform approach to field placings that was adopted for all the attack.”He is always thinking and talking to the bowlers about different field settings and different ways of getting people out,” Anderson said. “We talk a lot about it in practice, away from the field as well. It is really enjoyable to think outside the box because I’m not that creative. I have always been three slips, gully, cover. Having someone that thinks outside the box like Stokesy and Brendon is really good.”When it was swinging at Lord’s we had lots of slips in, we didn’t have a backward point. Just trying to get fielders in the eyeline of the batter to put them off and try to make them think of stuff. We have had leg slips in. It is constantly [about] looking for the wicket-taking option.”

Mithun Manhas has switched from Delhi to Jammu and Kashmir for the forthcoming domestic season

Amol Karhadkar03-Sep-2015Mithun Manhas has switched from Delhi to Jammu and Kashmir for the forthcoming domestic season. It will be a homecoming for Manhas, who was born in Jammu, but left his home state in his teens in search of better cricketing opportunities in Delhi.”It’s a sort of mixed bag emotions,” Manhas told ESPNcricinfo. “While it was difficult to move on from Delhi where my cricket career has shaped up, I am delighted to be joining Jammu and Kashmir. Not only is it my home team but also because the team has been doing quite well in the domestic circuit over the last couple of years. I hope I can help them take their games to the next level.”Ever since making his first-class debut for Delhi in 1997-98 along with the likes of Virender Sehwag, Ashish Nehra and Aakash Chopra, Manhas has been a run machine in domestic cricket. While the other three went on to earn India caps, Manhas did not, partly due to the presence of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly in India’s middle order.Manhas has made 9071 first-class runs in 147 matches, at an average of 45.81. He insisted he had “no regrets” and stressed that he was not leaving Delhi on a bitter note. “I spoke with Chetan Chauhan [the former India opener, who is now a DDCA vice-president] and he told me I could help groom Delhi youngsters,” Manhas said. “But I thought there are plenty of youngsters who are ready to shoulder more responsibility, so I should not stick around.”Moreover, experienced players like Rajat [Bhatia] and Gautam [Gambhir] will ensure the youngsters will be taken care of even in Viru’s [Sehwag, who has moved to Haryana] and my absence.”Manhas has plenty to look forward to in the forthcoming domestic season, which starts on October 1: he is 89 runs short of joining Wasim Jaffer (9759 runs), Amol Muzumdar (9202) and Hrishikesh Kanitkar (8059) in the elite club of batsmen with 8000 Ranji Trophy runs.Manhas said he wasn’t too focused on personal milestones. “I am sure I have at least a couple of seasons left in me, so records isn’t a concern,” he said. “The primary focus will be to help Jammu & Kashmir take yet another step towards becoming a consistently top team in domestic circuit.”

Opener’s unbeaten 118 shows benefit of winter technical work

Paul Edwards05-May-2022
Dominic Sibley will never be a gainly cricketer but he might become an exceptionally effective one once more. Those Warwickshire and England supporters who watched Sibley struggle dreadfully when playing Test cricket last summer would be heartened by such a renaissance and they may be further encouraged when he finally talks about the work he did over the winter.The evidence of that labour – apparently Sibley was often in the Edgbaston nets at eight in the morning – was plain during this marvellously well-contested day at Emirates Old Trafford. When it ended, in glorious May sunlight, the opener had 118 runs against his name. He had batted through the three sessions and had faced 278 balls, 15 of which he had hit for four. So much, so statistical. But the true merit of his innings was plain not in its figures – he has made centuries before, some of them big ones, two of them in Test matches – but in the manner the runs were made.It is, of course, absurd to say Sibley should now be recalled to the England side. Yet innings like this revealed an improved technique and underlying that, the sort of humble, illusionless approach any sportsman needs if he is to recover from the setbacks that will certainly be part of his career. The late wickets taken by Lancashire with the new ball may have given their side the slightest of edges but there is little doubt whose contribution will attract the most notice when this game is reported on the media’s many platforms. Sibley’s “journey”, to borrow the current buzz-word, might be one from which other young cricketers can learn and perhaps it began, ironically, with opting not to play for an England team.When selected for the England Lions squad last autumn it would have been easy for Sibley to go to Australia in the hope of picking up a big hundred and somehow getting straight back in the Test team. Instead, he clearly recognised that such an approach would do little for his technical shortcomings and he opted to spend his winter mornings with Tony Frost and the other Warwickshire coaches in the Edgbaston nets, working on his balance and rebuilding a game that had come close to disintegration in two Tests against India’s pace attack.As a result, Sibley’s batting is no longer an unlucky bag of technical problems. He does not fall across the line of the ball; his hands are less likely to grope out towards the off side; his attacking strokes to leg in front of square have become controlled clips rather than wild shovels. He is also playing much straighter, with his head over the ball; a fine straight drive off George Balderson was a perfect example off this modification. In short he no longer topples over like a hat-stand in a stiff breeze. His batting is characterised by commitment without compulsion.There were sins amid all this righteousness; Sibley’s 380-minute innings was chanceless but by no means faultless. Yet one only needed to recall his fraught cricket last year to realise how much has now changed. And one had to see the struggles some of his partners endured to understand the merit of his innings.The first wicket to fall was that of Alex Davies, whose departure from Lancashire last July came as a surprise to most people at Emirates Old Trafford, maybe even, in a sense, to Davies himself. However, the opener experienced a more predictable leave-taking in the third over of the day’s play when he shouldered arms to a ball from Tom Bailey and lost his off stump. Davies had already been flummoxed twice by his former colleague so one can hardly say his dismissal for an eight-ball eight-minute nought was much of a shock.Sibley’s difficulties, though, have never been of the temperamental variety and throughout the rest of the day he bore the departures of his partners with a phlegmatic shrug. Nearly an hour after Davies’ dismissal, Rob Yates was bowled for 15 by a fine outswinger from Luke Wood that curved back from a middle-stump line and knocked out the off stick. The stump had barely stopped moving before Sibley had turned to the dressing room and indicated he needed new gloves. It would be wrong to interpret this as indifference to reverses; rather it revealed a determination to prepare for a new stage in his side’s innings. The over after Yates was dismissed Sibley cover- and straight-drove Balderson for fours. It was hard to recall him playing the second of those strokes with comparable assurance a year ago.Lancashire, though, are a flinty bunch of cricketers and they allowed Warwickshire few liberties in the afternoon session. Sam Hain batted very competently for his 38 runs but then turned a legspinner from Matt Parkinson into a full toss and drove it to straight to short extra-cover where Rob Jones, the substitute fielder, took the catch above his head. Will Rhodes, who seems out of sorts at present, went back to a legspinner from Parkinson when he should have gone forward and was bowled for 16.Warwickshire came into tea on 169 for 4 and by then it was clear that the nature of the day, although not its balance, might be defined by whether or not Sibley, who was on 76, completed one of the most important centuries of his career. That matter was resolved relatively swiftly. A glanced four off Bailey and a cut off Wood took him nearer the nineties and two fours off Parkinson eased nerves. A single off Balderson brought up the landmark but Sibley acknowledged the matter in the most low-key fashion. He probably knows there is so much more to do in this match, this season and his career. Others can kiss badges if they wish.Lancashire, though, struck the day’s final important blows. Bailey, who seems never to bowl badly, had both Chris Benjamin and Michael Burgess leg before wicket, the former for a fine 47, and Hasan Ali snared Danny Briggs well caught at slip by Keaton Jennings. Sibley watched from the other end and then trudged off. Weather permitting, he will be there again tomorrow. And suddenly, it looks as though there might be a lot of fine tomorrows for him.

BCCI president expects the tournament to be “as big and grand a success as men’s IPL”

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Feb-2022The BCCI is at the final stages of planning for a Women’s IPL, according to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, who has said he strongly believes that the tournament should take off in 2023.”We are at the level of formulation to have a full-fledged WIPL. It is certainly going to happen,” Ganguly told PTI on Friday. “I strongly believe that next year i.e. 2023 will be a very good time to start a full-fledged women’s IPL which will be as big and grand a success as men’s IPL.”After India finished runners-up to England in the 2017 ODI World Cup, and then second-best to Australia at the T20 World Cup in 2020, the women’s game in the country has cornered a lot more attention than it had previously.But despite prominent voices asking for a T20 league for women in India along the lines of the WBBL or the now-defunct Kia Super League (the women’s Hundred has taken its place), the BCCI has opted not to go ahead, so far, choosing instead to only host a three-team Women’s T20 Challenge alongside the playoffs of the men’s IPL. This started in 2018 as a two-team event, with one exhibition match, and expanded to a three-team affair in 2019 and 2020, but was scrapped in 2021, even though the men’s tournament took place (in two parts because of the Covid-19 situation).The BCCI’s argument against the Women’s IPL has been that Indian cricket doesn’t possess the sort of depth in its domestic circuit that is required for the tournament to be worthwhile. In 2019, Ganguly had, in fact, suggested that a seven-team women’s IPL could well come to fruition in 2023, when he had said, “You need a lot more women players. I see that in four years’ time, to get a seven-team IPL with the best women players [in participation].”As such, there are at least 1100 registered women’s players in India in any domestic season, and around 40 players who have either played for India since the 2018-19 season or are on the fringes of selection.

Sean Williams missing through injury with Craig Ervine named as captain

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2023Gary Ballance is set to play Test cricket for the first time since 2017 after being named in Zimbabwe’s squad to face West Indies in next month’s two-match series.Sean Williams will miss the Tests in Bulawayo as he recovers from a fractured finger, with Craig Ervine, playing his first Test in three years, captaining the side in Williams’ absence.Zimbabwe will also be without allrounders Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl due to franchise commitments overseas, while fast bowlers Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani are both out injured.There are a host of uncapped players in the 16-man squad, with Tafadzwa Tsiga, Joylord Gumbie, Kudzai Maunze and Tanunurwa Makoni rewarded for their domestic form in the Logan Cup.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Innocent Kaia, Bradley Evans and Tanaka Chivanga, who have all played limited-overs internationals, could be in line for Test debuts. Chamu Chibhabha has been recalled six years after his last Test appearance, while experienced allrounder Donald Tiripano has also been included.Ballance played 23 Tests for England between 2014 and 2017, scoring four hundreds and averaging 37.45. He returned to Zimbabwe, the country of his birth, after being released by Yorkshire last year and made his ODI debut against Ireland earlier this month.The series, which begins at Queens Sports Club on Saturday, will mark Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket after an 18-month gap.Zimbabwe Test squad to play West Indies: Gary Ballance, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Tanaka Chivanga, Craig Ervine (capt), Bradley Evans, Joylord Gumbie, Innocent Kaia, Tanunurwa Makoni, Wellington Masakadza, Kudzai Maunze, Brandon Mavuta, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano, Tafadzwa Tsiga

“I didn’t tell the curator to make a pitch according to me. It was the same for Australia, yet we got their 10 wickets”

Umar Farooq10-Mar-2022Pakistan batter Imam-ul-Haq has dismissed the debate surrounding the Rawalpindi pitch, insisting that the hosts were simply playing to their strengths, and that the pitch was the same for both teams. Imam went on to question whether Australia would ever prepare their pitches at home after consulting the opponent.The barren pitch in Rawalpindi became a talking point after only 14 wickets fell across five days in the first Test. While Pakistan managed to take all 10 Australian wickets in the first innings, Australia could pick up only four in total, as the hosts made 476 for 4 and 252 for 0 before the game ended in a tame draw.Imam, in particular, flourished, becoming only the 10th Pakistan batter – and third opener – to score a century in both innings of a Test. Imam and Abdullah Shafique also set a new record for most runs scored by an opening pair against Australia.After the game, Australia’s captain Pat Cummins suggested that the lifeless pitch was made to nullify the visitors’ pace attack, something PCB chairman Ramiz Raja also confirmed though he conceded that a draw wasn’t a good advertisement for Test cricket.”A draw is something nobody wants to see,” Imam said. “Obviously when it’s a five-day Test everyone anticipates for a result. But when we go to Australian conditions, they don’t make pitches consulting us but make it according to their will so I think we should see our strength and should live up to our strength.”But in Karachi, we are looking for a result in our favour. I think the Rawalpindi Test was played well as we managed to get all 10 wickets. Unfortunately 70 overs were not played out due to bad light and rain but had those overs been bowled the result could have been different because we intended to make them bat again.”Related

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Australia’s combined bowling average of 238.33 and strike-rate of 478 were their second-worst in 145 years of Test cricket. The visiting bowlers claimed just three scalps between them across 239 overs, with the other wicket coming through a run-out. Furthermore, none of the Australian batters managed to get into three figures.Imam, however, went about making runs on a docile pitch that barely tested him. Playing a Test at home for the very first time, Imam survived a dismissal on 94 when replays showed he had inside-edged a Nathan Lyon delivery to short leg, only for Australia to miss taking a review. But beyond that lapse, Imam dealt with Lyon without much fuss. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, of the 45 length deliveries that Lyon bowled to him, Imam took 41 runs, including two sixes. On a slow pitch, Imam kept his focus intact, even expertly blocking 49 fuller-length deliveries from Lyon.”Regardless of my settled or unsettled position in the team or even whether I am performing or not, I will always be criticised,” Imam said. “It’s been nearly five years and 60 games I have played so far for Pakistan and yet I face criticism but I am not sad because that’s very normal to me.My job is to score runs and the quality of innings should be judged on the basis of my intent. For me, my captain, my coach and the think-tank are the important ones and what they are expecting from me and how they rate my innings. It is not really important what people say from outside and what perception is made about me that doesn’t matter at all and I don’t care about it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect that any judgement coming from the people in the dressing room is what is all important for me.”I didn’t tell the curator to make a pitch according to me, nor is he my relative. It was the same for Australia, yet we got their 10 wickets and none of them managed to score 100. I didn’t ask for the pitch so that I can score a hundred in each innings. The Karachi pitch will be the same as it has been in first-class cricket and I won’t be playing at it for the first time. But at the same time whatever Test I had played before this I played outside in South Africa, Ireland and England in away Tests. So whatever the pitch will be – either it’s green, yellow or brown – my job is to play cricket and I will play and keep believing in my practice.”The second Test starts from March 12 in Karachi, where in the last five years the spinners have taken 275 first-class wickets at 33.16 while fast bowlers have dominated with a better average of 31.44 and 499 wickets.